Aberrant: Ba'alt - Re: interim: War Councils

Jack-in-the-Green · June 8, 2006

From: ? [mailto: corrupted]

Subject: [no subject]

Date: (OOC: ?)

To: Eve [mailto: private]

Cc: Allison [mailto: private]; Chronos [mailto: private]; Kara Rathien [mailto: private]; Smite [mailto: private]; Zephraine [mailto: private]

Hello. Some of you we have not spoken to recently, and to you we apologize for our prolonged absence. We have been working.

We believe that we are now in a position from which we may consider long-term affairs. In particular, we have begun to consider possible strategy and resources needed to engage our mutual enemy. We would like your input, and we would like to discuss long-term alliances. Will you accept an invitation to discuss these subjects?

If so, we will be physically available at the Green Engineering Consortium's head office [driveto: routelink], Conference Room A between 12:00a (midnight) this Monday and 12:00a (midnight) this Tuesday. It is entirely acceptable to bring potential or extant allies in this cause, or to relay this message to such. We thank in advance those who attend.

The Green Engineering Consortium's head office is located in a moderately-sized skyscraper (at least, moderate for Paril) in the capitol, with the corporation owning five full floors.

The top two floors and the bottom two floors are filled with lesser administrative offices and many, many layers of extremely sophisticated security. This security is, for the most part, invisible - there are no checkpoints or card swipes, not even passwords on the computers. Such things are unnecessary ... two rather advanced artificial intelligences monitor the entire building, tracking every living thing from humans down to insects, matching each and every one to genetic profiles loaded into their memories.

If someone enters GEC's floors, it is because the AIs have identified them right down to the DNA. Every moment they make is carefully observed and rigorously analyzed. Likewise, every means of access to the GEC floors is monitored ... even the air passing through the ventilation ducts is run through molecular filters before being accepted by the AIs. There is no need for visible security because nobody and nothing can enter these floors unbidden, and nobody and nothing can do anything without being observed.

As such, it is quite a pleasant place to visit. So long as you don't have the means to observe the aggressive defenses tracking you from behind the walls, or to note the anti-cybernetics devices and magical wards primed for activation, you will find yourself very well welcomed.

The halls and rooms are well-designed, spacious areas which manage to well convey an impression of neat, comfortable professionalism mixed with just a touch of success. The secretarial staff is very friendly and helpful, greeting visitors at the door and very likely by name (indeed, the AIs are unlikely to let someone through the door if they can't provide the staff with a name).

They answer questions to the best of their admittedly superficial knowledge and are glad to provide directions to the guests' destinations, leading them there if the person doesn't take verbals well. There are no security checks, but no door will open unless the guest is supposed to be passing through it. This makes finding your way to your destination fairly easy.

In this case, the destination is Conference Room A, on the middle floor. The middle floor is equally crammed with security systems (including weapons technologies and automated defenses sufficient to hold off a small army of enhanced soldiers), but it is empty of administrative offices. Indeed, it is usually completely empty - this is the place for upper level business meetings, and Jack is uncomfortable with the idea of sharing the floor with any other functions.

Conference Room A is at the heart of the security, in the middle of the middle floor. So, stepping into it, you'd be surprised ... it is a rectangular room with a table down the center, and both long walls are filled with windows looking out into the city streets. It's all holographic projection, of course, but at an extremely high quality - the image even extends into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, for the pleasure of the handful of nonhuman clients GEC works with.

Shortly before midnight (the windows showing a view of the streets outside, illuminated by building windows and the faintly glowing smog up above), the Jacks move through supernal space, passing from their buried nodule of electronics and security systems, hidden well beneath the building. At midnight exactly, they reemerge into Paril's plane of existence - three of them, now seated at one squared-off end of the conference room table.

They look identical ... three copies of Jack, electric green eyes and skeletal build (it doesn't look as if he's learned to eat properly in the couple of years). They look quite a bit more composed than they (he?) used to, comfortably reclining in their chairs, dressed in clones of a well-tailored, well-made black suit and staring off into space as they cooperate on abstract information organizations, jacking into cyberspace via the little wireless implants in their necks.

They sit and stare off into space, motionless except for the occasional blink, until they are interrupted, or until 24 hours have passed ... whichever comes first.

z-Kara · June 28, 2006

Kara accepts the invitation to the meeting and approaches the office building with a smile of approval. *When it comes to security, Jack knows his stuff* She can?t help but smile at watching the extremely hard to detect security scanners. *Even Asche would be impressed. To be this good at security, Jack must be extremely paranoid. Another subject he can talk to Asche about* She stops for a moment at the entrance and spins in a circle allowing the scanners to get a full read on her. If any of the employees are watching they might take a double take at her but she is not trying to make a spectacle of herself.

Kara is dressed in the appropriate style of the Planet. She is dressed in a professional power suit making sure that she leaves enough to the imagination in her dress but enough is revealed to keep the other officials off balance. Her skirt is high to show off the muscularity of her legs but it is in very much good taste to not offend the conservatives. She keeps her hair down to accent the angles of her face. Her makeup accents her eyes and lips with a tad of blush on her cheeks. She brings along her portable PDA to keep notes and to have a photo record of the players. She also brings with her a couple of fashion magazines to thumb threw for this wait may be a while.

Assuming that Kara is allowed in the building and that she makes it into the room, Kara greets the Jacks with a wave and asks if there is a preference of where she should sit. She then takes her seat and starts to thumb around with her PDA.

Smite · July 2, 2006

Smite entered the facility, just before the scheduled meeting time. He is walking around in his eufiber, mimicing a finely tailored italian suit. Not his garmet of choice, but he had to keep up appearances. He was followed to the door by a lackey who was relaying his instructions for the day to the various branches of his criminal empire. In truth it was closer to a Robin Hood organization than to the gangs and low level thugs that had until recently made their home in the underworld.

Now, it was to his men that people would look for justice. If someone killed or raped your daughter, you turned to us and we would find them and destroy them. The corporations were learning that their weath couldn't buy them safe harbor for long, especially when we can simply steal it.

Leaving the lackey at the door, to proceeds to the conference room and takes a seat at the table.

"Well Jack, seems you have been a busy boy these past few weeks."

Jack-in-the-Green · July 3, 2006

By the time anyone actually arrives in the conference room, the Jacks are alert and generally receptive-looking, having dropped their active connections to the building network and shifted their attention back to the hardware world. The leftmost of the three Jacks (henceforth, Jack A) greets Kara as she comes in, informing her that, no, he has no preference on where she sits.

The Jacks (or Jack A, at least) are quite a bit easier to talk to these days - they are far clearer and more coherent than anyone should really remember. It has been an observable improvement over the past so many months of electronic communication, but the change is far more striking in person, now that Jack has (more-or-less) come out of hiding.

The other two Jacks (Jack B, in the center, and Jack C, on the right) don't speak. They look on in polite interest, but - thus far - anything directed in their direction is seamlessly answered by Jack A. Jack A talks informally with Kara about the tower's accommodations for a short while (he apparently hasn't physically been around any of the 'team HQ' facilities), but neatly closes up the conversation as the security systems detect Smite approaching the conference room.

In answer to Smite:

"We have been working on this, among other things, for much longer than a few weeks, but yes. We have."

z-Kara · July 3, 2006

Kara takes the seat next to Jack A. She engages Jack in conversation and fills him on the past events of the day and of the improvements that she think would help make the HQ more comfortable. She speaks to all three Jacks to not seem impolite and keeps the conversation going while they wait so time won't seem to be passing so long.

When Smite walks in she greets Smite and makes room for Smite to sit next to her while the other "guests" are to arrive.

Eve · July 5, 2006

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">It was a short walk for Eve to Jack's building; she had been planning on being her just in time. Not too late and not too early, perhaps all her time around Chronos has gotten to her. She had been casing the place to know exactly when Kara arrived and wanted to enter after her but before anyone else.</span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times">

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">::Where are you John? I am going in now and I had hoped you would be there with us.:: </span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">A quick text sent to Chronos as she ran across the street-walk high above the ground. These skyrakers of Paril were beautiful but terribly bad to fall the mile high plus to the city floor below. She was careful to stay in the center of most walkways.</span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">The light rain outside was refreshing after the last few weeks spent locked up in her lab doing some pressing research to strengthen Pax Cons presence here. It was her and Kara's pet project but the team really did not depend on her so much for intelligence any longer and she was taking advantage of it. Kara told her she was digging in like this to avoid missing Allison and Zephraine but Eve silently knew they couple was in a better place now.</span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Eve is dressed in light leathers today; a full light brown duster, foresty blends on her top and pants and some rather comfortable looking padded low boots. At her left hip was a sword measuring perhaps 16 inches and hanging next to it was her canister holding her coiled monofilament whip. Her right hip was adorned with a small energy pistol with much wear on its casing. As she approaches the security of the building she simply palms them all and displaces them into her decamolar pocket. She is not here to cause a scene with Jacks security after all nor does she want to cause a ripple. She has always thought Jack weak and very likely to vanish and get consumed by the great big universe that he seemed to fear so much. She was very pleased to see him well adapted and wanted to test him herself.</span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">When she enters the designated room and sees Kara and Smite, she greets them separately with a hug. To the Jacks she walks to a chair opposite them as she greets them verbally and with a great big smile and nod of her head.</span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Times">"I am not trying to be rude Jack, but?.well you understand."</span></span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">-words hidden under words and translated by the mega intelligence of Jack. "I don't trust you enough to be too close to you right now until I know what your up to. We will have time for trivialities later."</span></span></span>

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">She site quietly and amkes small talk with those that are there, including Jack(s).</span></span>

<span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Times">Jack will immediately be made well aware that the room is being analyzed and processed from multiple sources. No threat is detected or "felt."</span></span>

Jack-in-the-Green · July 28, 2006

Jacks B and C passively observe Eve (and, indeed, the rest of the room) with natural and higher senses, and the non-local Jacks lend some of their attention to processing information both from the Jacks and from the buildings' systems. It's more reflex than anything else, though, and they soon drop the issue ... they probably don't have the equipment to analyze Eve's activities, and it's a little late to obsess over trusting her.

Jack A picks up after waiting a few more minutes for Chronos ... given the nature of the man in question, it's safe to say that he'll be present exactly when he is able. This Jack, at any rate, seems to be moderately personable, at least by comparison to precedent:

"Hello. We are pleased that you could all three find time to meet us here, particular under the circumstances of our prolonged physical absence. It is unfortunate that more could not be here, but we judge this sufficient to discuss our work."

"We have been working, steadily, over the past twenty-four months, mostly in relative secrecy. Understand that this was not out of distrust, but merely because we have been doing very little that might directly affect your own activities. Where there have been exceptions [he nods to Smite], we have made a point of keeping you informed."

"However, in the spirit of openness, we feel that this would be an appropriate time to provide a degree of transparency regarding those recent activities and our current resources. Please excuse the blandness of the material, but we wish you to understand our present status before we discuss the future ..."

Jack A begins, without further ado, to summarize two years of activity on Jack's part, beginning with his off-screen activities during the war and working his way up to the current status of Green Engineering Consortium, his design contracts with House Carlisle, and numerous other resources and relatively mundane projects in the offing. It really isn't very dull - while the material is less than exciting, he presents it very clearly and concisely, getting it out of the way in short order.

[ooc: anything mentioned in the 'Two Years Later' thread about Jack is now known to everyone present, along with all the details of GEC's resources and structure]

Finishing his precis, he continues on:

"In addition to these activities, we have a number of projects more directly connected to combating the Ban's primacy."

Jack A stops speaking, and Jack B picks up immediately, as quickly and seamlessly as if a single person had paused between sentences.

"A great deal of our work with House Carlisle and Smite's organization has been based around the refinement military hardware, as an experiment in applying our multiplicity to design and manufacture. In the last five months, we have been reapplying the thought programs developed in those test fields to some more sophisticated engineering ..."

The conference room's holographics kick in, the lights dim a few shades, and the holographic 'windows' turn glossy, reflective black. A glowing holographic construct appears in the center of the room, dominating the air over the table ... it appears to be a spacecraft, though the designer (Jack, presumably) obviously had zero interest in aesthetics. Roughly cylindrical, it is a profoundly ugly collection of engines, environmental pods, cooling stacks, and the other machinery of space travel.

"Smite has mentioned some thinking along the lines of manufacturing a fleet of warships for the resistance movement. Though we doubt that conventional tools of warfare will ultimately decide the upcoming conflict, we do concur that such a thing would be useful."

"This is the result of that line of thinking. Most of the technology involved in this design is reverse-engineered from Paril and House Carlisle technology, but we have optimized those existing designs, and we have devised some elements of our own."

"Comparatively, this vessel would marginally exceed the capabilities, in almost every respect, of a top of the line Carlisle warship. It can be crewed by as few as one person, since it would include Ban-legal artificial intelligences to manage key systems. It is possible for the vessel to be set entirely unmanned, under control of the intelligences, but we calculate that the intelligences would lack the decision-making abilities necessary to survive a combat situation."

"The design is done. Manufacturing can begin within days, if desired ... we have access to sufficient facilities here on Paril. Also, this design is completely 'legal' under the auspices of the Ban, and thus will not attract undue attention. However, a point of this design is that it is entirely unique ... aside from certain fundamental technologies, it cannot be traced back to Paril. As such, it would be preferable to manufacture them from a concealed location, which does not currently exist, though it would not be difficult to establish."

"This is, however, only the marque one design."

"Marque two assumes your involvement. We know that you [he speaks particularly to Kara and Eve] have access to technology not available on Paril or in House Carlisle. Anything you would be willing to share would have two-fold advantages. Firstly, we would be able to reverse-engineer it and incorporate it into the marque one design, further increasing the efficacy of the warships. Secondly, additional technological sources would further confuse the technological roots of the design, reducing the chance of the design being traced back to Paril, should a vessel be captured."

"Depending on your willingness to share design information, and on the nature of that information, it may be possible to skip marque one and manufacture marque two vessels from the beginning, having completed the marque two design while constructing a secure, concealed manufacturing facility."

"We also have theoretical concepts for a marque three design, though they require technologies which are not currently available to us ... or, we suspect, to you."

The ball is passed back to Jack A, with the same smoothness as before.

"This may be a good time to specifically identify certain quantum abilities we possess, which we do not believe that we have made sufficiently clear up until now. We possess the ability to sense, on up to a global scale, anomalies in the fabric of the universe. Among other things, this permits us to note spacial distortions, temporal anomalies, and violations of the Ban."

"We are also able to negotiate our relationship with the local reality's natural laws to an unusual extent. Again, among other things, this allows us to become invisible to and otherwise resist the effects of the Ban. And, as you know, we are able to leave reality and travel alongside it in a liminal zone of our own generation."

And Jack B picks up the thread of conversation from Jack A.

"A marque three warship would incorporate technologies that mimic these abilities. By designing alternate ship drives and sensor systems, and by mechanically reproducing my resistance to the Ban, we could drastically improve the usefulness of our warships."

"Traveling through supernal space would be extraordinarily useful, serving as nearly perfect cloaking technology and rendering the warships nearly invulnerable to ambush. It also would place them entirely outside the reach of the Ban, allowing them to ignore the Ban's restrictions on instantaneous travel, thereby increasing our response time considerably. Additionally, by cloaking the ships from the Ban, we would be able to develop and place technologies normally impossible to employ ... instantaneous transportation drives, some classes of weaponry, true artificial intelligence, even antimatter."

"We have been experimenting on these lines. There is a research platform in near-solar orbit which my corporation has acquired, and we have been using it to develop a mechanical means of resisting the Ban. Its proximity to the sun usefully weakens the 'dark fae' energies the Ban employs, and we have been cloaking our activities under our own quantum abilities. The facility has likewise been equipped with a thermonuclear failsafe, in case of accidental contamination ... all due caution has been observed."

"We have had some success. We have completed a functional Ban 'cloaking device', but it is very large and energy inefficient ... a good prototype and an aid to our research, but impractical for building into a warship. In time, we will optimize this and other technologies, and the marque three designs will become technically viable."

"We have marque four designs in conceptual development, but they are too theoretical to discuss at this time."

The thread of the briefing passes back to Jack A, and he states:

"This would be the first project on the agenda. Questions and comments would be appropriate."

Eve · July 28, 2006

Quote:

"Comparatively, this vessel would marginally exceed the capabilities, in almost every respect, of a top of the line Carlisle warship. It can be crewed by as few as one person, since it would include Ban-legal artificial intelligences to manage key systems. It is possible for the vessel to be set entirely unmanned, under control of the intelligences, but we calculate that the intelligences would lack the decision-making abilities necessary to survive a combat situation."

"The design is done. Manufacturing can begin within days, if desired ... we have access to sufficient facilities here on Paril. Also, this design is completely 'legal' under the auspices of the Ban, and thus will not attract undue attention. However, a point of this design is that it is entirely unique ... aside from certain fundamental technologies, it cannot be traced back to Paril. As such, it would be preferable to manufacture them from a concealed location, which does not currently exist, though it would not be difficult to establish."

"This is, however, only the marque one design."

"Marque two assumes your involvement. We know that you [he speaks particularly to Kara and Eve] have access to technology not available on Paril or in House Carlisle. Anything you would be willing to share would have two-fold advantages. Firstly, we would be able to reverse-engineer it and incorporate it into the marque one design, further increasing the efficacy of the warships. Secondly, additional technological sources would further confuse the technological roots of the design, reducing the chance of the design being traced back to Paril, should a vessel be captured."

"Depending on your willingness to share design information, and on the nature of that information, it may be possible to skip marque one and manufacture marque two vessels from the beginning, having completed the marque two design while constructing a secure, concealed manufacturing facility."

Eve listens intently and with apparent deep interest in Jack and his words. A few times she takes note and casually glances at her wrist comp and then back at Jack or the holographic designs. In all she is taking the pose of a very interested and intrigued one.

?Well. We are very impressed. You certainly are not lagging behind in the race to irritate Ba?laan and I give you credit for the foresight you have displayed.?

Eve?s demeanor has taken that of a Keeper (Eve was created as a Keeper, or guard, envoy of MoonDark or bodyguard for royal house members.) now she is pitching her voice as an authority on the topic now. There is not a fine glimmer or giggles or insincerity in her at this point.

?I am sure you are aware of at this point Jack, that both I and the majority of Pax Concordats special equipment is not something we can simply make here even if we had the blueprints. Its not just design and concept we are using to allow us to Dance the edge of the Ban so blatantly at times. However, I can work as much as you will have me and I can even supply your think tank quite a data-base of component data sampled from over 3,000 worlds. It will give you, it will give us quite an edge in our fight for independence. But that thought brings me to my biggest concern Jack; Lets say we are able to make a symbiotic relationship between Lonn-Tech and the tech that we assemble without it and we build a fleet of ships. What then? I mean Ba?laans Pultytes are never seen in ships and he himself does not skirt space in a capitol ship of sorts. What exactly will the fleet of ships provide for us that we don?t have now??

Eve addresses this to the Jacks as well as Smite if he is present.

Eve lightens up her stance a bit and nearly grins.

?I will definitely support anything this group desides to do. Damn, I will even do my best to help you out individually Jack if no one else buys into simply because I have not taken on a task so large as this in over a millennia.?

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"> </span></span>

Dr. Chronos · July 28, 2006

Chronos sits in his office and waits. There are no clocks in the room, there?s no point. He has enough time for everything and if he doesn?t then he can make time. His ?bodyguard? was running late, but only slightly and still within acceptable limits, there was no need to call at this point. Crumble enters Doc?s office, the two men glance at each other for a moment and then reach out, and then there is only Doc.

Blip

???

Doc mentally reviews what ?Joe? has been up to and what the Blip was. Temporal ripple. A small one, not really a cause of worry for alerting the Ban but best smoothed out anyway. The cause was obvious. Sometimes when he created temporal ghosts there were side effects. This time he?d been shifted forward in time 2 hours 2 minutes and forty-six seconds. Exactly the same length of time as Crumble?s existence. A big alteration as these things went. Usually his staff dealt with this sort of thing without a hiccup. The standard excuse was ?The Doctor has been delayed with another patent.?

Quote:

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">::Where are you John? I am going in now and I had hoped you would be there with us.:: </span></span>

Ah, right. Not a good time for a temporal accident. It looked like he was going to be late? embarrassing. Ah well. No hope for it.

Sent to Eve: I?m on my way.

A few minutes later Doc arrives. If he?s embarrassed he hides it well.

<span style="color:#3333FF">"Sorry I'm late. It couldn't be avoided. What did I miss?"</span>

Smite · July 29, 2006

Quote:

Eve listens intently and with apparent deep interest in Jack and his words. A few times she takes note and casually glances at her wrist comp and then back at Jack or the holographic designs. In all she is taking the pose of a very interested and intrigued one.

?Well. We are very impressed. You certainly are not lagging behind in the race to irritate Ba?laan and I give you credit for the foresight you have displayed.?

Eve?s demeanor has taken that of a Keeper (Eve was created as a Keeper, or guard, envoy of MoonDark or bodyguard for royal house members.) now she is pitching her voice as an authority on the topic now. There is not a fine glimmer or giggles or insincerity in her at this point.

?I am sure you are aware of at this point Jack, that both I and the majority of Pax Concordats special equipment is not something we can simply make here even if we had the blueprints. Its not just design and concept we are using to allow us to Dance the edge of the Ban so blatantly at times. However, I can work as much as you will have me and I can even supply your think tank quite a data-base of component data sampled from over 3,000 worlds. It will give you, it will give us quite an edge in our fight for independence. But that thought brings me to my biggest concern Jack; Lets say we are able to make a symbiotic relationship between Lonn-Tech and the tech that we assemble without it and we build a fleet of ships. What then? I mean Ba?laans Pultytes are never seen in ships and he himself does not skirt space in a capitol ship of sorts. What exactly will the fleet of ships provide for us that we don?t have now??

Eve addresses this to the Jacks as well as Smite if he is present.

Eve lightens up her stance a bit and nearly grins.

?I will definitely support anything this group desides to do. Damn, I will even do my best to help you out individually Jack if no one else buys into simply because I have not taken on a task so large as this in over a millennia.?

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"> </span></span>

"Ba'laan does not require this manner of thing and the very idea of the Pultytes keeps them from requiring it either. The major problem these ships solve is that of the Armored Personel Carrier. Though a few of us are able to travel through to different worlds and different planets on our own, the vast majority of our people cannot.

This way we are able to essentially project force without traveling there personally. The ships arms can strike at Ba'laan's supporters and followers. That and the Pultyte's are as a force completely unsuited at naval combat on any scale beyond boarding party. This is our conventional force. Our large and loud weapons to draw attention away while we prepare the strike force.

It also keeps us from being overwhelmed by shear force of arms. "

Dr. Chronos · July 31, 2006

Doc nods to Smite and says,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?I concur. I also have some thoughts to share about methodology and progress.?

?After a great deal of research, I still don?t have enough information on how to get rid of the Ban. It is possible that breaking out the swords would alter this, but I?m not hopeful. It is also possible that we already have the tools to deal with the Ban, but I see no way to research this or to practice using those tools without being shut down by the Ban and Big and Bad long before we are successful. This is the Ban?s strength.?

?I do however have a different proposal. It has occurred to me that we don?t have one problem, we have two. One is dealing with the ban. The other is dealing with Big and Bad. To be blunt, kill Big and Bad and much of the truly obnoxious aspects of the Ban suddenly become unforced. This may also give us the time and ability to research actually turning off the Ban? it?s even possible with him gone we won?t want to get rid of it.?

?This then becomes a question of how to kill him.?</span>

Doc gets uncomfortable at this point and his next statement is made somewhat reluctantly,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?I believe several of the orbs could do it.?</span>

z-Kara · August 1, 2006

Kara sits back and listens intently to what everyone is saying. Occasionally she will take notes on her PDA but she is actively listening to what all have to say. She allows a smile to cross her lips when the Jacks start talking and switching from one Jack to the next, thinking that it is a waste of quantum but she recognizes that it is Jack?s quantum to waste.

After Doc speaks she starts to speak up, ?You all have some very good ideas and it is great that you have started to put them into place. You all have a very good starting point in combating Ba?laan and the Ban. If I was in command of this unit, I would send out my intelligence operatives to gather information on what the current state of affairs are. The world serpent inn is the perfect place for us to start. From what I understand, although you have visited the inn, none of you have taken the time to get to know Mitchifer or some of the regulars that visit there.?

?I have been there twice since I have been in your company and something MAJOR has changed. That would mean that there are major changes in the multi-universe. I would have sent my own units to investigate but currently they have their hands full conducting experiments in the Void. Once we get information at the World Serpent, then we need three teams to gather information from planets of the three major existences, Hynakyan, Cyryndya and Etyrnytya (corrected by Narartor for form and spelling.)?

?Since the creation of Novas, the multi-universe has changed dramatically from the multi-verse I once knew. Once our information has been gathered, then we know how many ships, swords, men, guns, artificial intelligences, vials of solar fae, the orbs, etc. that we need.?

?It is good that you thought of designing such advanced ships and making them relatively easy to operate. The problem is our battle front may not be on a tech level. I think we need to start training the teams that will be headed to the three major existences so that they will be prepared for what awaits them there. I have a list of who I think would be good candidates but first we need to gather intelligence. I may seem biased to Pax Con members to head these missions, but that is based on my familiarity with their training and KNOWING that they present low risks to us being compromised.?

?I will apologize for that upfront but all my recommendations would be for Pax Con members to be the first team to go to the World Serpent Inn to gather information before we start anywhere. So that would include Smite, Allison and Zephraine (if they are back), Doc Chronos, and me. Eve would remain here to help train the newly awakened ones and Jack. But again, this is only my suggestion.?

<span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"> </span></span>

Jack-in-the-Green · August 3, 2006

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>"Sorry I'm late. It couldn't be avoided. What did I miss?"</div>After a moment, the entire scene replays for Chronos, displayed in a holographic 'window' hovering to his lower left. The replay rate accelerates until either he starts having trouble following it, or until the holographic array's refresh rate hits its limit.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>"I am sure you are aware of at this point Jack, that both I and the majority of Pax Concordats special equipment is not something we can simply make here even if we had the blueprints. Its not just design and concept we are using to allow us to Dance the edge of the Ban so blatantly at times. However, I can work as much as you will have me and I can even supply your think tank quite a data-base of component data sampled from over 3,000 worlds."</div>

We appreciate it greatly. We understand that there must be limits in what you can show us, but this is more than enough. Varied sources of technology will mitigate the possibility of observers tracing the designs back to here, and we believe that surveying multiple approaches to ship and weapons design problems will allow us to make great leaps in our from-scratch designs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>"I believe several of the orbs could do it."</div>"At present, we do not consider the orbs a reliable set of tools. If you find a means of ... removing them, as well as a means of activating them, and you determine how to control them to a useful degree, they will become useful. Until then, however, we feel that including them in any strategic planning is unwise."

"We will gladly reevaluate at such a time as the orbs' status changes."

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>"The world serpent inn is the perfect place for us to start ..."</div>

"We will not spend any protracted length of time at the Inn ... it is hostile to our presence. If 'scouting teams' begin exploring the other realities, we will evaluate the possibility of sending a version of ourself with each party, for the purposes of communication and analysis. Keeping physical incarnations of ourself in the field for long periods of time is draining, however."

On the matter at hand, Jack A speaks:

"We nod to Smite's explanation ... big guns on fast ships being a good distraction. However, we see a more pressing need, as well."

Jack C speaks up for the first time [ooc: this doesn't actually cost Jack any quantum Kara (c:], elaborating:

"We do not envision using warships against Ba'laan or the Ban's enforcers, at all. It may come up - we are including orbit-to-ground weaponry for possible use against Pultyte ground forces - but the primary use of the ships would be for more conventional warfare."

"It is our belief that a key stage of this war will involve securing the support of worlds throughout the realities, so as to expand our power base. At present, our forces are gathered, and we believe it has been demonstrated that Ba'laan would have little issue with destroying a planet, or a system, in order to assure his primacy."

"By distributing our resources over vast numbers of worlds, we may make it more difficult to eliminate effective resistance ... we feel that, before we make any conclusive, attention-grabbing moves, we must have established a secure enough resistance that our destruction is only incidental to the war."

"Thus, the warships. There are no doubt many worlds which would ally with us willingly, but we suspect that - out of enlightened self-interest, if nothing else - a majority percentage will need to be more forcefully convinced."

Dr. Chronos · August 4, 2006

Quote:

After a moment, the entire scene replays for Chronos, displayed in a holographic 'window' hovering to his lower left. The replay rate accelerates until either he starts having trouble following it, or until the holographic array's refresh rate hits its limit.

One would guess that as a master of dealing with differently timed sequences, Doc?s maximum input rate would be extremely high. One would be correct. After it is over he says,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?Thank you Jack.?</span>

Quote:

?I will apologize for that upfront but all my recommendations would be for Pax Con members to be the first team to go to the World Serpent Inn to gather information before we start anywhere. So that would include Smite, Allison and Zephraine (if they are back), Doc Chronos, and me. Eve would remain here to help train the newly awakened ones and Jack. But again, this is only my suggestion.?

Doc nods and remarks,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?Well, I think you mean Crumble, but that?s a quibble. Eve staying here makes a lot of sense and lowers the stakes a lot. One of our big surprises last time was Lilysivana tracking us there. I?m pleased to say I?ve found out a LOT about her motivations and agenda and it doesn?t conflict with our own. I also suspect I know how she tracked us there? that would be my doing although I didn?t know it at the time. It would appear that I?m her apprentice.?</span>

Quote:

"At present, we do not consider the orbs a reliable set of tools. If you find a means of ... removing them, as well as a means of activating them, and you determine how to control them to a useful degree, they will become useful. Until then, however, we feel that including them in any strategic planning is unwise."

"We will gladly reevaluate at such a time as the orbs' status changes."

Doc looks troubled and answers,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?I?m not sure we have a choice. I?ve seen tapped footage of the nova Pax fighting the Divis Mal.?</span>

Here Doc looks at Kara and then Eve for input,

<span style="color:#3333FF">?Granted, I?ve never heard that Big and Bad?s powers include personal invulnerability, but I think we have to assume that they do. With that assumption, and the power level at which he evidently operates, I don?t think we have anything other than the orbs which could deal with defenses that high.?</span>

Eve · August 4, 2006

Eve perks up noticeably when Chronos finally arrives and again pays more than the usual attention to the catch-up given him from Jack.

"The fight between Pax and Mal was largely one sided. It would have went better had Shelby agreed to take some training from us months before. But regardless of that fact, Ba'laan is not a nova and we should not think of him as such. He does not have a node we can pinpoint to negate its processing of Quantum and we cant try to forcibly trigger QBS to render him temporarily inert."

Then she pauses a moment and takes a deep breath with glances at Kara. "I think we need to get these guys to StarHaven. It has been under control of the Concillate for the last 17 years and Ba'laans influence has been removed from there. It would be a good place to do some field research by accessing the various Raekes (Rakes), or arena battles that have taken place over the years; I can think of a few times when Ba'laan himself was challenged and we can study the patterns and energy levels to see if there is anything A nova might see that we have not. I don't think anyone has ever tried to study him from that angle before. We also might get to converse with Asche and some of House Rathien should we go there and some things could be settled up."

Then as she sits back down near Chronos; "As far as the orbs go, we are not yet ready for what they will bring upon activation."

z-Kara · August 4, 2006

After Jack speaks she produces three books from her orb. She hands one to each Jack. Its title is How to Win Friends and Influence people. "You might want to read this before you start conquering systems." (ooc: by reading and applying this your charisma and manipuation might go up dramatically. =) )

To Doc: "Depending on what we find, the orbs may be needed sooner than later. The thing to keep in mind is that the orbs are ultimately self serving. They want to be released. The duel nature of their 'personalities' want to be fully expressed... at any cost. They were bound to the swords and that kept them relatively restricted. Now that they have a freedom of sorts, who knows how strong their negative natures will be. They were designed to slay Primals. If they choose to, they can easily slay us. So there is much risk in releasing the orbs."

To Eve: "Star Haven was actually my second choice. I have a better relationshp with Gunther than I do Roma. Of course, meeting Roma in the World Serpent Inn might be a good idea to get a full understanding of the state of things. I still think that the World Serpent is the best place to start since we can get to anywhere from there including Star Haven."

"Still, I recommend that Pax Con members be the only ones to go just incase things go awry."

Dr. Chronos · August 5, 2006

Quote:

Eve perks up noticeably when Chronos finally arrives and again pays more than the usual attention to the catch-up given him from Jack.

Doc exchanges a glance with Eve... or maybe that's a promise. style_emoticons

Quote:

Then she pauses a moment and takes a deep breath with glances at Kara. "I think we need to get these guys to StarHaven. It has been under control of the Concillate for the last 17 years and Ba'laans influence has been removed from there. It would be a good place to do some field research by accessing the various Raekes (Rakes), or arena battles that have taken place over the years; I can think of a few times when Ba'laan himself was challenged and we can study the patterns and energy levels to see if there is anything A nova might see that we have not. I don't think anyone has ever tried to study him from that angle before. We also might get to converse with Asche and some of House Rathien should we go there and some things could be settled up."

Doc asks,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"Asche at what point in his timeline? And I really want to see Ba'laan in recorded action."</span>

Quote:

Then as she sits back down near Chronos; "As far as the orbs go, we are not yet ready for what they will bring upon activation."

<span style="color:#3333FF">"Agreed. If and when we turn on the orbs things will start happening much quicker and there will be much less time for planning."</span>

Quote:

To Doc: "Depending on what we find, the orbs may be needed sooner than later. The thing to keep in mind is that the orbs are ultimately self serving. They want to be released. The duel nature of their 'personalities' want to be fully expressed... at any cost. They were bound to the swords and that kept them relatively restricted. Now that they have a freedom of sorts, who knows how strong their negative natures will be. They were designed to slay Primals. If they choose to, they can easily slay us. So there is much risk in releasing the orbs."

z-Kara · August 5, 2006

"By the look on your face Doc, I assume you did not get the memo on the origination of the orbs. Am I right to assume that?"

Dr. Chronos · August 5, 2006

Quote:

"By the look on your face Doc, I assume you did not get the memo on the origination of the orbs. Am I right to assume that?"

Doc replies,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"No, I got that. I just hate over looking the obvious and it never occured to me to ask whether you had first, or even second, hand experience with them. Have you used any of them yourself?"</span>

Smite · August 9, 2006

Quote:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kara Rathien @ Aug 5 2006, 01:58 AM) ←</div><div class='quotemain'>"By the look on your face Doc, I assume you did not get the memo on the origination of the orbs. Am I right to assume that?"

Doc replies,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"No, I got that. I just hate over looking the obvious and it never occured to me to ask whether you had first, or even second, hand experience with them. Have you used any of them yourself?"</span>
</div>

Not so much a problem with those I'd chose. Death and War pretty much cover my intent, tactics, and need.

"This is an unexpected line of inquiry, especially seeing how much pins of them at this point. "

Dr. Chronos · August 9, 2006

Quote:

Not so much a problem with those I'd chose. Death and War pretty much cover my intent, tactics, and need.

Doc comments,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"I suspect you need to choose between them. Unlike the others, War stands alone, and I think would fit you well."</span>

z-Kara · August 9, 2006

<span style="color:#3333ff"><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>]Chronos said:</span>

<span style="color:#3333ff">"No, I got that. I just hate over looking the obvious and it never occured to me to ask whether you had first, or even second, hand experience with them. Have you used any of them yourself?"</span></div>

Kara grins rather devilishly to Chronos, "Now Doc, who do you think Asche asked to recover quite a few of the swords? I have experience with most, if not all, of them first hand. The power that they wield is not anything to take lightly nor is it something that we can hand out just because someone may be a 'time' lord or a 'war' lord (she gestures to Smite) or a 'technology' lord (she gestures to Jack). Their draw backs are fierce and although you may eventually learn their True Names, the damage done to you is usually permanent."

"The orbs are too much of a gamble. They were created by Ba'laan and an extremely powerful Primal. Days after the swords were finished, the powerful Primal was found slain. This prevented the creation of another identical set of swords and left Ba'laan as the ultimate power in the universe. Each sword has a touch of Ba'laan in them and he leaves hidden trumps in everything that he touches to insure that he always has the upper hand. I suspect that the activation of the orbs will immediately make him aware of our presence and our struggle will be that much harder. Assigning the orbs to everyone's specialty is really premature."

Dr. Chronos · August 10, 2006

Doc nods slowly and replies,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"I agree, we aren't ready to bring out the orbs and ideally we'll figure out a way that is less risky and doesn't involve them. But having said that... as long as we have an expert handy, did you ever use any of them to their full potential? Maybe a better way to put that is, did you ever figure out any of their true names, and does that change from user to user?"</span>

Eve · August 10, 2006

Quote:

"The orbs are too much of a gamble. They were created by Ba'laan and an extremely powerful Primal. Days after the swords were finished, the powerful Primal was found slain. This prevented the creation of another identical set of swords and left Ba'laan as the ultimate power in the universe. Each sword has a touch of Ba'laan in them and he leaves hidden trumps in everything that he touches to insure that he always has the upper hand. I suspect that the activation of the orbs will immediately make him aware of our presence and our struggle will be that much harder. Assigning the orbs to everyone's specialty is really premature."

"Kara, some of what you state there is speculation; we have never been able to prove that Ba'laan has any lingering influence on the blades or that they are programmed in some way to serve him ultimately. I thought I would touch on that since i see where you are going. Him having trumps in thier use somewhere could be paranoia but it also could be the truth; I do beleive he can know where they are upon use but not upon activation. Asche and I activated them many times over in Moondark and never once did we detect his Ban coming near the frontier."

Quote:

Doc nods slowly and replies,

<span style="color:#3333ff">"I agree, we aren't ready to bring out the orbs and ideally we'll figure out a way that is less risky and doesn't involve them. But having said that... as long as we have an expert handy, did you ever use any of them to their full potential? Maybe a better way to put that is, did you ever figure out any of their true names, and does that change from user to user?"</span>

Eve politely interjects;

"Even if she did know the truenames at one time, none of them have been used since Asche and I finished our studies. And after Asche deemed it to dangerous to continue our studies he turned their powers in upon themselves and allowd them to choose new truenames. If Kara or anyone knows a truename there is no evidence to say it will work since they were all 'reset' so to speak."

z-Kara · August 11, 2006

Kara?s tone and demeanor is very cool and controlled. In no way has she found offense to Eve answering her question. She actually wonders what took her so long to interject. She is not using any powers to try and convince the group of her words but there is much conviction in what she says.

?Thank you for your interjection Eve. I know that I come off as an expert to everything but from dealing with the orbs personally, I have witnessed first hand the negative powers that they wield. Technically it may be viewed as speculation but there is no doubt in my mind that Ba?laan has left backdoor ?trumps? in case that they were to ever be used against him. It is typical to his previous pattern of actions. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that they are there.?

?During much of the time that you (Eve) and Asche studied the orbs and activated them, were you not protected by the barriers that Asche put up? And is it not true that there were some ?complications? in the study??

?My point is and has been that the orbs are not to be trusted. In my humble opinion the longer that we can recruit and manifest a resistance against Ba?laan without the use of the orbs the better off we all will be.?

?Of course, I am extremely curious to see what you can accomplish with the orbs in your hands. If the orbs accept you and your personality they will reveal their true-names to you. If they do not, then best case scenario they will find another host. Worse case scenario? well it depends on the nature of the orb.?

"If we are to be going to Star Haven, then it will be a good idea to start training for use of the orbs. Or at the very least to start reading up on the findings of Eve and Asche's studies."

Jack-in-the-Green · August 12, 2006

The Jacks continue to sit out discussion of the orbs at this point, just listening to what is said (and remembering, for future reference).

Smite · August 13, 2006

Quote:

The Jacks continue to sit out discussion of the orbs at this point, just listening to what is said (and remembering, for future reference).

"I would agree that until we can train with them, we cannot count of the ability of the orbs. Personally, I'd like to be able to train with them enough to actually make use of them. However, if we are going to have any real shot at this, we are going to have to tie up his forces.

Which means a place to practice, and troups to send against his. "

Eve · August 13, 2006

Quote:

"I would agree that until we can train with them, we cannot count of the ability of the orbs. Personally, I'd like to be able to train with them enough to actually make use of them. However, if we are going to have any real shot at this, we are going to have to tie up his forces.

Which means a place to practice, and troups to send against his. "

Eve keeps a loose eye of attention to the Jacks out of courtesy and allows him room to interject his opinion now and then. But seeing Smites last comment and Jack's silence Eve places one hand to her head a moment as if reciving a new train of thought. Her expression chages to that of concentration a moment in thought processing the new idea.

"Tie up what forces Smite? Ba'laan has no official Army. He has no standing Headquarters or planets he calls home. The Pultytes come from everywhere and nowhere all at once and we have not yet determined where they come from. Some have speculated they come from StarHaven and some say The World Serpent but there is no evidence one way or another."

"We are not going to get a chance to tie up his forces unless we make such a large number of ban offenses that a large number of Pultytes show up; these are his army. Then we are going to need to be able to destroy the numbers that come repeatedly. This fight simply wont last long enough to 'tie up his forces.' The only way we will have time to train adn practice is to lay low but keep our heads up. Amassing forces and ships is simply accellerating the timeline to the date of contact. Are we going to be ready in a matter of months to confront Ba'laan? At the rate Jack's moving it is only a matter of time before the Ban notes his existence and then what."

Eve lowers her head; "I am not speaking for the rest of you but this concerns me greatly."

z-Kara · August 15, 2006

?Eve brings up a very valid point. With the plan of amassing an armada in Supernal Space and then striking at strategic targets, there is a very strong chance of the Hammer from Ba?laan falling on us sooner than later. Usurping the power of each planet from within, similar to what Jacks have done here on Paril, takes longer but keeps us from attracting the attention from Ba?laan. The only thing is that we are not winning friends by taking planets from potential allies. It would be better to be usurping governments that we have no ties to. Using force is messy and attracts too much attention. Plus, dead people do not learn from their mistakes nor are they able to be further enlightened.?

Smite · August 15, 2006

Quote:

?Eve brings up a very valid point. With the plan of amassing an armada in Supernal Space and then striking at strategic targets, there is a very strong chance of the Hammer from Ba?laan falling on us sooner than later. Usurping the power of each planet from within, similar to what Jacks have done here on Paril, takes longer but keeps us from attracting the attention from Ba?laan. The only thing is that we are not winning friends by taking planets from potential allies. It would be better to be usurping governments that we have no ties to. Using force is messy and attracts too much attention. Plus, dead people do not learn from their mistakes nor are they able to be further enlightened.?

"While agree actually using the force in any real way will likely draw Ba'laan, I still think having a traditional forces to help fight off Pulytes when the time comes is going to be helpful. And this distraction, would have be planned and executed when we were ready to go ahead with the Orbs.

But primarily, I saw the ships as a means of people without our capability traveling between worlds. We tone down the war aspects, up the stealth aspects, and we can use them as covert deployment and training centers. Overt force is a mistake at this point. "

Dr. Chronos · August 15, 2006

Doc says,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"Tell us about StarHaven as it exists in this time."</span>

Eve · August 16, 2006

Quote:

Doc says,

<span style="color:#3333ff">"Tell us about StarHaven as it exists in this time."</span>

Eve buckles up to this one believing quite well that she will be more aware of the current than Kara. "StarHaven today exists not so much as it did 50 years ago at its discovery and when Ba'laan ran the League of Merchants, a group he set up to give the illusion of him having no monopoly in the power-scheme, from there. The station exists in a partial fold in D-space and thus does not really exist in any of our realities. This allows for a seperate set of laws to be ran there."

"The power of the station and its K'ta'viiri creators is still there but it is now being run by the Concilliate of Houses. No Raeking, or granting of powers, has been done since the Concilliate took over after the AllWar some 23 years ago but the power to do so is still there. StarHaven is used for a neutral zone for peace talks and interventions but for the most part is completely underwhelmed in its lack of use int he last 23 years."

Eve pauses then adds; "As StarHaven was the first place Ba'laan was seen it is beleived that a gate to Ba'alt, his home reality, is there and it will be at StarHaven that another war will end at, akin to the AllWar."

Jack-in-the-Green · August 27, 2006

[occ: So you aren't left hanging as much, I'll give Jack's response here.]

"We feel that there is too much emphasis here on what we and you will do against the Ban. Statistically speaking, it is extraordinarily unlikely that we will survive to dispose of Ba'laan or the Ban. We prefer to see this resistance as a means of providing others with the tools necessary to defeat the Ban."

"It is our goal to render ourselves irrelevant to the success or failure of the fight by spreading the effective resistance to many other worlds - so many that, if or when we are finally destroyed by the Ban, it simply will not matter. If the development of the tools that others will need ends up drawing the Ban down upon us, we view this as an acceptable payment, so long as that goal has been achieved."

"We do, of course, wish to prolong our personal involvement, to better insure the success of other worlds, and this is why we have been as cautious as we have. Spreading our influence, be it through negotiation or - in the cases of the intractable - warfare, will not endanger our position, because we will not interfere with the Ban in this stage of expansion."

"Later, when we begin to design and release the great weapons against the Ban, seeding the secrets of their construction across a thousand worlds, the danger will be more acute, as Eve has pointed out. It is our intention for it to be too late, at that point, for the Ban to destroy what we have done ... we will quite possibly be destroyed, but the weapons and the tools will already be in the hands of others."

Narrator · August 27, 2006

{{OOC: Since Jack is gone this topic needs to be tied up. Lets finish with a "closing argument" from each of those present and we will use those for the future planning stages down the road. Jack made a kind of closing argument in that he is more or less not planning on being around for the final confrontation so lets leave that at that, if you know what I mean.}}

Dr. Chronos · August 29, 2006

Doc drums his figures for a moment and then says,

<span style="color:#3333FF">"Strategically I think our course of action in the immediate future is clear; The orbs stay put. We have two places to visit and gather information. I still would very much prefer to lurk in the shadows of Big and Bad?s ignorance for some time yet. However, since we aren?t hiding in the past any more and since we are now gathering information more directly, the chances of us getting dragged into something we can?t run from has increased considerably. While I?d greatly prefer not to use them, I?d like Kara to start training people in the use of the orbs, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.?</span>

Smite · September 9, 2006

"I agree that we need to train with the orbs, and that we are best kept quite until we are ready to move. I still think having agents and additional resources will come in handy at this point. But I will not belabor the point."

Aberrant: Ba'alt - Re: interim: War Councils

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