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Aschen High Space Command SOLCOM Wonders if the tab is working

Virgil Actual Virgil Actual

All hands aten-ha

The Crips are robbing the liquor store, I repeat, the Crips are robbing the liquor store.

The 3.5 Mile long behemoth known as the Long Night of Solace sailed through Aschen space on it's way out. Aboard the ship was a diplomatic envoy consisting of the famous Helena Cain, Claire Angelique, and a single Sire, Sire Baltar of Caprica. The soft chime of the computron systems would echo for a moment as Cain spoke. "Alright all four jump drives are spooled, AI.. prepare a jump for UCON Space... I hope these coordinates we got from the smugglers is right." She said as the AI Nodded. "All drives are charged, spooled and prepared to commence jump, We can commence jump on your order." Cain then nodded, clearing her throat and swallowing hard. "Shields... status please." The AI then listed off the status of all the shield systems. "Over-shield A, active, Over-shield, B active... Defense fields active, magnetic deflector fields, active." Cain then nodded as the fully loaded Reverence II sailed out, Cain then turned to Claire. "These people are savages, brutal... I don't know why Parliament voted to open negotiations..."

Baltar then interjected. "Parliament is entertaining notions of a ceasefire, we're not going to give in to un-reasonable terms." He said as he turned to the AI. "We're open to the notion of a ceasefire, and possible diplomatic openings... beyond that we're not going to display weakness or bow to them."

Cain then nodded. "Very good..." She said as the ship prepared to make it's tens of thousand Light-year jump, all four FTL Drives clicking away the coordinates as the Long Night of Solace prepared to jump.

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Claire didn't have much to say in the way of what parliament was entertaining. Her job had been to keep all the others such as the AHSC, LDA etc in line. In her opinion she'd done as good of a job as she could have. "Maybe Parliament is actually thinking for once. Who knows?" She said to Cain. Looking over towards Baltar, she shook her head. "Sometimes it's good to show a little weakness. It shows you might actually be human." Claire grumbled. He didn't exactly understand how most human interactions worked, but probably had a better understanding of Aschen politics than she did. After all she wasn't exactly what you could call a native born Aschen. Despite having risen through the ranks fairly fast, Claire never forgot where she came from. As she waited for the response from the other two members of the party, she began to sense the slight distillation of time that the FTL drives caused. The folding and stretching of the continuum to allow for instantaneous or limited travel time to a desired location. It always baffled her that there weren't more accidents, more mistakes, more ships ending up in the heart of a star than in geosynchronous orbit around a planet.

"We have warp-sensor pings, past Seastorm One -- spectral analysis pending." The young Lieutenant was tapping his finger against the monitor furiously, the PERIMETER station situated a quarter of an AU out of the Kuiper belt of the Tyor system, the Coalition starbase was only one of a thousand stations that served as the advanced warning system for the Coalition.
"Hailing unknown vessel, identify and comply with packaged Lanes orders -- sending now."

"Chairman Cain, the jump has been completed and we are receiving a transmission." The AI Chimed in as Cain nodded and then turned to a screen that read out the integrity of the Aschen vessel, everything was green, from the Battlestar racks, as they were called, to all six Athena cannons, which were powered down, from the spinal mounted tri-barrel singularity cannon which was flush with the smooth hull of the ship. All weapons powered down of course to ensure that notions weren't prematurely conceived. "Message has been deciphered and posted on screen." Cain then nodded and cleared her throat. "AI, outgoing message, wide-spectrum frequency." The AI then nodded. "Negotiating connection, connection established." Cain then nodded and spoke up. "Attention UCON Forces, this is Chairman Helena Cain, of the Aschen High Space Command's Reverence II Class Super-Planetary Assault Carrier 'Long Night of Solace' Our weapon are powered down, and are approaching you as a diplomatic envoy, we await instructions to proceed to appropriate military and diplomatic contacts.. I have Minister of Defense Claire Angelique, and Sire Gaius Baltar of Caprica on-board, and request contact with the central government of the United Coalition of Organized Nations." She then nodded and the AI transmitted back. "IFF Codes broadcasting, transponder codes broadcasting.. Counting down. All functions nominal. All functions optimal. Counting down. The center holds. The falcon hears the falconer. Infrastructure, check. Wetware, check. Everyone hang on to the life bar, please." The AI chimed in. Cain then turned to Claire. "Maybe they are.. or maybe we're all dead... we'll see."

Claire Angelique McGregor Claire shrugged slightly as she grasped the bar in question lightly for now. "I doubt it. Weapons are powered down and we're running as a skeleton. They shouldn't see any harm in it or us." She remarked blithely. Claire'd seen worse, she'd been through worse, though hostile negotiations weren't really what she wanted to spend a few days doing. As she listened to the soft, crisp, almost mono toned voice of the AI remark to the status of the broadcast signal and other systems on board.

Several minutes later, the first of several documents began transmitting from an unknown beacon, triangulated just several hundred kilometers from the PERIMETER station that was now doing it's best to parse and chronicle the events of these past several minutes.
"Hello, this is a predetermined broadcast ... I am the Virtual Intelligence, Retroactive Governor ,Individual Life-form, known throughout the Coalition as VIRGIL, and I am the architect of the United Coalition of Organized Nations." The voice was painfully synthetic, yet oddly human in its speaking pattern.
"I am the diplomatic assistant of Prime Minister Regievko, elected in 2585 and reelected in 2595. From the spectral analysis of your starship, I can determine that the crew and the vessel itself have never passed the Charybdis Veil. Welcome to the Garden Zone, Terran."

"I am recieving a pre-recorded broadcast from an unknown source, I will do my best to trace the incoming transmission." The AI Said as Cain shook her head. "The construct identified us as Terran, clearly it is lacking any form of clear identification." She said as she got onto her comms. "AI... transmit the following message... request passage to core worlds of the Coalition, and request an audience with Coalition government." Cain said as she turned to Claire and shook her head. "We're not going to get anywhere... we should have jumped this ship to Terra and seized it." She said with a frown as the ship's AI Transmitted the message. "This is the Long night of Solace, we request passage to the core worlds of Coalition space to establish contact with the Coalition Government to commence the negotiations of ceasefire terms."

Claire Angelique McGregor shook her head. She didn't agree with Cain and her desires to simply seize Earth. "No good could or would come of that Helena. That would make this last even longer." She spoke. If the Coalition wanted to play this way, then they would just have to find a way to play along. For now they were in their territory, and needed to respect that. "It's called respect for territory, you don't have to like it, just do it." Claire added. If anything she hoped that this might make things go smoother. Coming in looking for a fight wasn't always the most wonderful idea.

"I apologize for my lack of understanding, by reviewing Coalition MilNet documents, I can determine that Terran is not the proper recognition. I believe Prime Minister Regievko refers to you and your people as 'the Aschen'."
"I am preparing a downloadable file that you may download to your computerized systems, I am confident in my abilities to adapt and comply with your equipment. As per the Jiyazi Protocol, I am instructed to accompany and protect any and all diplomatic expeditions past the Charybdis Veil."

Cain would remain silent as she turned to the AI. The AI then spoke. "I can isolate and confine the downloaded files to a quarantine zone to prevent the compromising of sensitive data." Cain then offered up a nod and the AI would download the appropriate file, isolating it in a special sector of her computer banks, and drawing the file up on a holographic interface, decoded and translated for the Chairman, and Claire to read while Baltar remained silent. "I've accessed the file and prepared it for your visual interface." She then turned to the entity that was VIRGIL, Interacting with it. "I believe this ship is more then capable of making it's journey past this veil, let us proceed however." She said, then she prepared the ship's drive systems to allow it to accelerate. Cain however would speak up. "I don't like this.. I don't like it one bit."

"These systems are ... interesting, that is for certain." VIRGIL, represented as nothing more than a bright spherical flame that pulsated with every slightest audio response that came from it.
"I apologize for my pretentious nature, but the counter-measures and firewalls are unnecessary protocol. I am restricted via protocol to maintain complete and absolute sovereignty of diplomatic systems, equipment personnel at all costs ... Unfortunately, I am unable to authorize a direct route to the Inner Empire." The burning flame died with a slight flicker, revealing only a single sliver of what appeared to be synthetic ice.
"By protocol, I am only authorized to place a priority on a Coalition response to the diplomatic expedition -- I expect the 5th Strike Team, which is currently in docking around the planet of Tyor III, to respond to my hail shortly. In the meantime, however, I will be present to answer any and all questions you might have pertaining to diplomatic connections with the Coalition."

Cain remained silent as the AI spoke. "Virgil, forgive our use of caution, though your assurance is assuring, we have protocols as well." She said flatly as Cain spoke. "I have a few questions... one of them pertaining to the current state of affairs, why was war declared against the Confederation?" She asked as she turned to Claire. "If you have any questions now would be the time to ask." She said before turning back to the AI. "What would be valid talking points to appease the people of the Coalition to cease hostilities against us?" Of course the AI Chimed in. "This vessel is the largest, most advanced, and most powerful ship ever built by the Aschen."

VIRGIL, now representing itself with an avatar of a small twirling globe, blinked several times as its mechanical mind churned over the inquiries.
"While several media organisations have produced theories regarding the true reason to hostilities between the Coalition and the ... Confederation, Prime Minister Regievko has simply responded to the publics growing demands for economic stability and expansionist propaganda. With the majority of the Senate occupied by Republican seats, the military apparatus of UCON has experienced a very heavy growth, and with the identification of Calsite dead worlds in the Galactic Halo, the Military Council agreed that steps were to be taken to ensure that any and all Calsite and Fallen technologies were to be kept from activation. However, there are several other reasons that I have speculated ... "

Cain nodded as she waited for the fleet, watching the scanners for a moment and then turning back to face Virgil, then back to Claire. "See what these people are like? They attack us out of the blue for expansion... it's really lacking any true reason then just to kill people." She said, speculating of course. Then Baltar spoke up. "Did the Prime minister have any long term goals of assimilation, government dismantlement, or long term occupation? Perhaps the procurement of Aschen technology through force?" He asked, his accent heavily Aerilon, which could be compared with the Manchester regions of England on Terra. "Will we be met with any particular hostility?" He asked, while Cain watched Claire return to her quarters, the negotiations were up to Cain and Baltar.

VIRGIL had regarded the Admiral's outburst with a rather sage like consideration, as if the words had almost paralleled with his own thoughts. In response to the other dignitary, known as Baltar, VIRGIL offered one little chirping sound to signify a negative response.
"While Prime Minister Regievko has made it doctrine that any and all Confederation vessels be engaged before they reach Coalition space, I do believe my priority management will override that order. As for assimilation and occupation of ... Confederation worlds outside the Charybdis Veil and beyond Coalition borders, there are no records I can find to produce either response."

Cain frowned. "Well just in case the fleet.. disregards your orders we brought enough firepower to defend ourselves and make an escape, should things escalate to conflict... however I do not want to engage a course of action that would lead to further hostilities, the purpose of this vessel is to end hostilities... if you'll analyze this ship's moniker, it's name you'll discover it to be fulfilling that purpose." Cain explained. "Can I get an ETA on the arrival of the designated fleet?" She asked before turning to Baltar. "Chairman.. you're getting ahead of yourself." Baltar said flatly before turning to Virgil. "I asked because it's the belief of my government and my people that the end objective is to see the UCON Flag flying over Caprica."

"Captain Ryan Savage is currently disposed at the moment, it appears he is planet-side with Governor Von Groff ... breaking ground at a new space elevator, the first one in the Tyor system, actually. The Scatterran is an amazing creature ... to answer your question, Chairman, I put the CNS Freikorps in-vector in the next two hours."

Helena Cain continued to stand there. "Two centars?" She asked as Baltar shrugged. "To traverse a small distance that would take an Aschen ship minutes..." Cain was an impatient woman, and so she stood there quietly. "Space elevator... primitive." She said before she trotted off the CIC. Of course the AI Prodded further. "You are an intriguing entity, in the meantime shall we synchronize data? I will download all pertinent information to allow my people a broader scope of their disposition and situation."

VIRGIL responded with a rather monotonous tone.
"Unfortunately, Chairman, the Coalition has neither the time nor the resources to devote to breakthrough sciences. It was one of the stipulations following my activation that I aid the Children of God in locating Calsite technologies throughout the galaxy, however, they have been far more occupied with domestic matters."
"I agree, the synchronization of data will benefit both parties involved. By protocol, I am unable to release any and all data from the following gestures to Coalition personnel until the meetings have ceased."