Raylan Risker (Ri-Sker)'s Story

The Pandorian Alliance listened to the others at the delegation, and then spoke themselves. Artemis looked at Cain, addressing him first. "You have our guarantee that we will not be looking to touch Terra. We have had no interest in Terra, and..." he began, only for Sarasha to speak up and interrupt him. "What Artemis is saying, is that we believe...". Artemis interrupted her now, telling her "Sarasha, that wold be rude to say. Please, let us not throw that around here". Sarasha looked at him, and said "This is a Peace Summit, and therefore, I would rather plain truth then shadowed words. You know I am right". With that, she turned to address Cain. "The Pandorian Alliance has believed Terra is a death trap, based on what we have heard and seen, though we do not mean offense by these words so please do not take them as such, and have never abused it nor have we been interested in it. However, if you truly mean what you say and you wish to make it better and help its people, perhaps we could provide some assistance. The Pandorian Alliance is no stranger to what abuse can do, and therefore we understand and appreciate your efforts".

Sarasha then looked at the D.C., adding "Intergalactic Law is very important. The ones that were established before and before that have been disregarded or forgotten, and new ones must be places. Ones that will be written for all of time to see, ones that will not fade".

She allowed Artemis to speak then. Artemis shot her a look of disagreement concerning their opinion on Terra and what to say about it, but he understood what she believed and said. Still, he clearly disagreed with what she did, but left that behind them, in the interest of peace. He looked at the Taiyou Prince, responding to what he has said. "Cain's threat does not concern you if you mean you have no interest in Terra, so his 'idle threat' is something you should not fear as it does not apply to you, according to your words. And on that point, your words speak of peace and support, yet your action to bring a fleet and demanding instead of asking suggests something else. We mean no offense, we only speak this to you to make sure you are aware of this. We would be lying if we said we were flawless ourselves, for everything has a flaw".

He then changed his focus, saying "However, it is always good to hear intentions of peace. Everyone and everything changes and can change, the world does not just sit still. There is always motion. You have said that people here are judging you before you have declared your intention, so let us rectify that. Please, explain your intention and your reasons, so that everyone here can be enlightened by knowledge and perspective".

Meanwhile, on the Pandorian Fleet's massive capital ship, The Catricarch, a figure watched from an observation deck at the ships and the data. Another figure walked up behind him. "I was not aware you had arrived, Raylan. What are you doing here?" a voice spoke behind him. "What I always do. Protect, Observe, and Assist". The female came and stood next to him. "You just love quoting that don't you, but other then observing the fleets, what brings you here? A Pandorian Service of Intelligence Agent at a Peace Summit? Unless you came here to alert us to the Taiyou fleet and any possible danger, you have no reason to be here".

She then added "Was that transmission I just sent pointless? Or is there some other danger we should know about?" Raylan smiled at her, noting "You know I can't comment on our operations. And, perhaps it was a bit pointless, but I can not comment on the influence of such preparations". She looked at him, with a cautious look. "Well, I know your not here to jeopardize the meeting, but your pure presence worries me. You better not plan on leaving me to clean up whatever mess your operations have planned..."

"I can not comment on Operations, but you have no need to worry. You should keep your worries to the other fleets, as you are Captain of the Catricarch. I am simply observing, nothing more. Maybe a bit of reporting too...". The Captain looked at him, and said "Well, I know you won't answer this, but I will ask it anyways. Did you just lie to me right now, or was that actually the truth? I never know with you lot. And you still owe me that drink. Anyways, I wish you a good stay on the Catricarch, and hope good luck to you". With that, she left the Catricarch's Observation Room.

After listening to everyone Luke stood once again this time turning to the Terrans, "I can promise there will be no military moves on behalf of the SEC toward Terra so long as trade with those willing on the surface is allowed." Luke said firmly, "On an off the record not I am sick of all of this being about Terra and I must agree with the Taiyou representative you are but a spec in a galaxy full of life and this meeting is about things much bigger than one small planet." He said sternly.

"As for the formation of international laws I am in agreement on one condition, anything that is made into law today must be agreed upon by two thirds of the representatives here." He said.

"I have one final but very important question, who will lead this galatic council and more importantly who can we trust with this kind of power?" He asked sternly looking in the eye of everyone of the major representatives then to the cameras. "Because it is a lot of power for one person and evermore so for said leaders nation."

With that being said Luke took his seat once more, Now the seeds of distrust are placed let the tensions arise and hopefully just hopefully this meeting will fall apart so I can return other projects. He thought smugly.

A group of Terran reporters from Express News had set up along the wall. A Japanese looking woman with an English accent started her report, keeping her voice low enough to not interrupt the talks. "This is Azami Kuribayashi live at the UCON peace summit in deep space...", she said and continued on.

Murmuring started, issuing from nearly every seat. Einar stood and spoke quickly after Luke in an attempt to disarm what he viewed as an attempt at sabotage. He had wanted to sit on the sidelines of this summit to observe but at the same time could not leave the outcome to chance if there were those that wished this summit to fail. "I would beg the leaders present to consider this: There need not be a leader, only a speaker to maintain order when chaos reigns. This speaker could be elected by those council members nominated, elected, and representing their own people, organization, or government. Those council members hold their seats for a term and can be re-elected or removed should their people deem them worthy or wanting by a vote of no confidence by their peers or those they represent. If at all possible the number of members in this council should be odd. It is moot until a full accounting has been done for every party that needs to be represented and folly to argue over until nominations have been made."

He continued on with but a slight pause. "All those that wish to be represented and offer assistance in this project should make themselves known. King Josiah Liwave of the Mezzadrate Empire and Artemis and Sarasha of the Pandorian Alliance have spoken wisely and in support of this project. Glaob Nuurk of the Forners seems willing to dedicate and share their love of music and forn. UCON was kind enough to host this meeting and thus we can assume they have interest in it. Darius Ko'Vash of the Democratic Coalition has spoken well in support of this summit and its goals. Even Luke Sullen of the Zar...", he said, paused and reviewed the information. "... I mean the Sullen Enterprises Confederacy has provided valuable input. My good friend, Cain of Terra represents the welfare of Terra and her people as no others have stood among those present." He motioned to all. "He is aware as much as you all are that Terra is an insignificant speck in the grand scheme of things. At the same time he is as aware as are all of you that it is the conflict currently taking place on Terra, in SOL, among a number of great powers that caused the need for this summit. It is not my intent to make Terra the primary topic."

He then turned to Crown Prince Shimizu Gabriel Takayama. "We are honored by your presence Crown Prince of the Taiyou. I am sure that the people of Terra and its government will be relieved to hear that the declaration of war upon them will soon be lifted or already has been. Does your presence here mean that you have interest in the formation of this council or in the project being proposed? You have just said that you wish for the furthering of peace in this galaxy. This would be a brilliant step in that direction." The touch pad continued to beep in a low tone, not audible but to those very close to Cain and him. If Takayama gave a negative then the only other reason for his presence had to deal with the capture of the Aschen leadership and the Aschen surrender. It would likely cause problems if they sought custody of the prisoners of war. Einar returned to his seat.

Sarasha watched Luke. Her psychic power of Empathy made her feel a sort of distrust from Luke. Though, she could not accurately place what that meant exactly. Empathy was an already shaky power, and pregnancy did not help it at all. She couldn't tell if it was distrust towards him, comming from him towards someone or everyone, or if he wanted to cause distrust in everyone here. Though, she found it hard to believe, though she knew it was certainly possible and likely, that someone would want to prevent this peace and co-operation, so she assumed it was just some faulty perception, maybe towards something he said, or him at something someone else said. Either way, she thought adding her view might help clarify things.

"I agree, there should be no leader of a council, for that defeats the point of a council. We should have an equal number of representatives from each nation, and create a council to decide things. In this project of such a large scale, one person should not have all the power. If we are to make laws and guidelines for all of those involved, then all of those involved should have fair and equal representation. We can not afford to have distrust grow among us, and allow a threat to such peace".

She looked back at Luke, hopping that the distrust he felt or someone felt towards him would dissipate. Artemis meanwhile looked at Einar. "To add onto what you have said, we can not just put one planet over all of them. There are other planets that have their problems and people too. On our Homeworld, we still must deal with the treacherous wildlife and plant life, which like us, have evolved from a planet in which faced several challenges for survival. Antongrad has recently had a visit from a Wyrm. Misrana has had its troubles as well. While we should provide support to Terra, help it become something better, we can not turn our backs of all of the other planets and troubles. Who are we to declear one planet and it's people more important then another? All of the worlds deserve help when they need it".

With that, he sat down, and let others speak their minds on this as well.

Finally Josiah raised himself once more, "I suppose I best be blunt and tell you why the forming of this alliance is necessary I am surprised to see such support for this, and I hope this shows good tidings. The goal of this alliance are two things, one we shall work on a document of Intergalactic Laws inspired by Terran document of the past it shall not be a replacement of those laws but instead a continuation of said document. The final goal is a neutral platform Christian-ed Eulogy Bastion it shall be a huge..." hold on I shall show you a model our scientists have formed.

He would place a small pod like device down and press a button as a 3D model of Eulogy Bastion would show up:


"Here it is gentleman and ladies the true goal of all this a place where all nations can gather and speak on important matters and no danger for either to take part in these talks. Each nation shall be represented by an Ambassador and have a suite assigned to them, each nation shall something to the construction of this thus it shall be the work of peace and friendship. Of course there is risks, I understand them, but it's time to bring the wars back to neutral zones, many of you I know have done questionable things. I of course am unpopular with my own council of families because of my race, rumors are all we have."

The King took a deep breath, "For the sake of non-conflict if you don't wish to be represented then leave now, if you are being represented then I am sorry to say we must know the truth. No crimes will be charged here today, think of today as a blank slate, I know this is risky but I am trying to make you all understand that we must look to new ways to handle our grievances, Mezzadrate should stop hiding for one thing. I am trying to conduct a new era. If the League of Non-Aligned Worlds is to survive we will need to be honest with one another."

Raylan Risker (Ri-Sker) looked over the dossiers. In addition to doing PSI work, he had been assigned to start up a branch of The Taskforce here in the Milky Way. They had already established their base here, in the most secure building on the planet. Antongrad's annexation would severely help as a starting point for their continued interest in this galaxy. In trust, Antongrad was like Terra, only not war torn. And the quality of life was better.

He waited to see if any of these dossiers would give him any information on those who would be joining The Taskforce. The Taskforce got the most interesting cases, yet still allowed for plenty of personal time. In addition, it was common for Taskforce members to pursue their own cases, and ask others for help in them. You had plenty of free time, yet there was always something you could do. Plus, the dental plan is amazing.

The gunships would quickly adapt to Jack Thirteen's countermeasures, but that wasn't the only thing that happened.

It came out of nowhere. A gravity well calculated so well it formed right as Jack went under it. This gravity would attempt to pull Jack into the air, making him helpless. Additionally, it would use his own energy and powers to help fuel it. That is when Raylan flew into view. He was ontop of a Pandorian Psi-Enhancer, a massive device that was both armored, and able to enhance psionic abilities greatly. The gravity well, in addition to trying to suck Jack up, seemed to only affect him. Plus, it would at the very least slow him down significantly.

Raylan then took out another device, and possibly one of the most damning to anyone with powers. This weapon analyzed your power levels, eneregy levels, even magic, and would then shoot a projectile based off of it that you couldn't be immune to. This weapon had no effect on ordinary soldiers, people without powers, or people adept at withholding their energy, but against someone like Jack Thirteen, it could be damning. Of course, the weapon took quite a by of resources to build, it used quite a lot of power (this is one of the easier things to accommodate though), and it wasn't really useful for standard military use, not to mention impractible, plus it was near impossible to conceal, and impossible to hide on your person, but for cases like this, and when attached to a large, heavily armored and shielded gunship, dealing with someone like Jack Thirteen, that is why you would want one.

Raylan fired it repeatedly at Jack, it having a large AoE blast (because they anticipate the possibility of someone trying to dodge it). Plus, the other gunships were also still firing at him. They might take him alive if it was convienent, but he killed a bunch of people, and was incredibly dangerous, not to mention a Code Black was called in. They weren't really trying to take him alive.

Tom was racing toward the space port on the commandeered speeder but he wasn't accelerating accelerating fast enough. Pacing his feet and locking them into place he placed his hands behind him and released a powerful plasma thrush from his hands. By doing this he easily doubled his speed.

He followed his holomap as he say Raylan's call sign appear. "Raylan this is Tom, I'm on my way the casion seems secure. I'm on a "borrowed speeder ETA 6 minutes." He said as before he began to listen the comm traffic on what was going on. He knew he didn't have a psy enhancer with a reasonable distance so he was going to either have to stick with the speeder or hop on one of the gunships.

The tug of gravity Jack felt was all it was, a tug. He felt his lightning being syphoned to something above him, but he had more than enough to power a strong enough magnetic field to anchor him to the ground, weaving haywire missiles, unguided rockets and bullets, taking a glance over his shoulder as he rolled and flipped over cars in his path to glance back at the man riding the mechanoid from hell pull out some new shiny gun. He turned forward, grinning as he used his heightened speed for a case of sleight of hand on the run, the particles of blood left in his wake too small and damaged by the ionic field around him to be useful for analysis of any kind.

And so when he felt something heavy enter his Crimson Gate area of effect, he did a move extremely unexpected. Reversing direction so suddenly pavement rolled and folded off the street at his feet, he launched himself like a organic missile at the projectile, flipping to slam booted feet against it and springing off right as it exploded with titanic force. He was caught in the detonation, flesh peeling off him and blood spraying liberally as he was hurled by the hand of a god through not one, not two, but four separate skyscrapers, at each one unleashing an involuntary pulse of extreme electrical surge the triggered gas mains, overloaded building power grids, and scorched to glass stoneworks, melting metal and glass.

But even more wrongly, Jack did not crash unceremoniously to the earth, a lifeless hulk. After digging a furrow in a parking lot and crashing through the front of a populated diner with a final tremendous burst that flash-boiled and popped the patrons, servers, and cooks like human popcorn, the maniac swayed to his feet, his gate flickering before stabilizing as he staggered out of the ruined diner. Torn flesh was mending at an astonishing rate, including the macabre regeneration of an eyeball after he yanked the metal support beam that had punctured it and tossed it to the ground. The fruits of Jack's labors in studying the processes that had spawned him, he possessed the heart of Jacks' One to Twelve, and he had consumed the Fourth's. Who's power was extreme speed, very high level regeneration. He only had five minutes of time, but for the distance he had gained over his pursuer's, in a flight like a hyper-ballistic human cannonball?

More than enough to get the drop on them. Was that his style? Hell no.

Less than a minute later, he boiled straight into an ambush no doubt set up for him had he continued down the main way, going completely against the logical new straight path to the spaceport. He simply landed from a leap from a building, slamming down in the middle of the police hard enough to ram a crater in the earth, and unleashed a pent up burst of electricity that would literally throw everything in a 200ft radius around him in the air and lash it with nearly a hundred million volts, and far too many amps to be survivable. Leaving the hellish scene, and his airborne pursuers' likely scrambling to catch back up to him, he once again bolted down the main avenue, again leaving the trail of arcing, chaining lightning coruscating like the path to a bizarre hell in his wake, fresh blood staining his form, flickering off his already saturated coat like the harbinger of madness and death.

To complete the picture, a rictus grin stretched across his face, and wicked fires danced behind those soulless eyes.

Now Jack Thirteen was enjoying himself.

The Pandorian Alliance actually figured he was dead. Until he started killing again. That is when they brought out all the stops.

The Rift Snipers.

A military unit of snipers had been called in to clean this shit up. This group of Snipers were some of the most psionicly potent, and combined them to be even more powerful.

And for one of them, it was a dream to take down anyone like Jack, though he did not know it at the time. Camilion Jones, who's parents were one of the few people who was sent by the Pandorian Alliance to check out Terra, lost contact, and their heads were shipped back to Camilion when he was only nine in boxes. Their neighbors, the Jones, took him inAnd raised him, so he adopted their name, using his former last name as his middle name now.

They were specifically selected for their Psionic Abilities. And there were four of them. One could slow time, one used his psionics to alter bullet paths so they never missed. Ever. One could make certain surfaces passable. And Camilion could make himself completely undetctable. People can't even sense him. He is invisible, unsensable, it's as if he doesn't even exist.

He took the first shot at Jack Thirteen, using the most advanced training and the most advanced technology available to him.

--------------

Raylan moved his gunship over to pick up Thomas in persuit of Jack after hearing he was alive. "Let me officially welcome you to The Taskforce!". The tech being used in this gunship wasn't even Spec Ops grade. The Taskforce was using something that supposedly didn't exist. "Let's go catch a high priority criminal".

Thomas hopped into the gun ship. "Thanks for the lift, wow this stuff just seems to walk right up to us doesn't it?" He remarked jokingly." He wasn't even fully aware of the situation at this point but high priority criminal. "Do we have an ID on this guy?" Thomas asked with a smirk.

He had made sure before to leave the speeder he set it to auto fly back to the owners home address, though from the looks of the guy he took it from it was probably stolen.

Jack didn't sense anything untoward as once again the chase began, the moment a small, fast projectile entered the ionic field of the gate, he made a snap judgement. No fancy dodges, no hat-tricks. It entered the field, slipped into a tiny wormhole torn open by his abilities, and then left another wormhole along the exact same flight path right back to whence it came. Now the chase was beginning to get tiring in the mental sense. He didn't try to be sneaky or subtle with his next move. Leaping, he tore down the Gate for a split instant, collapsing into a gate of a different kind, bringing his own Crimson Gate back into play just in time to catch a ride on the creature that tore through the gate so fast, it rippled a pair of sonic booms slamming as one, breaking Mach 2 as it boiled from another dimension.

The man was a spot of red clinging to the surface of the silver serpent-like form of the Ouroboros, which rippled like a snake, raking it body down the building fronts as it tore down the street at speeds beyond those of his current pursuers. It reared into the air for a moment, a pinprick of red dropping to be snapped up within the maw of the beast, which promptly pinwheeled around, multiple sonic booms ripping the air in its wake as it accelerated even faster, breaking Mach 5 as it dove straight for the line of gunships like the world's largest, most agile bullet. When it closed to within 500ft, it erupted in chaining lightning that blew craters out of the buildings around it as the arcs split from its body with thundering peals. It undulated, making its trajectory waver in order to ram all tailing flying vehicles with the force of a god's hammer.

"Yeah, no ID yet, but several cameras saw him, and photo analysis and questioning has gone universe spread. So, let's go cath a criminal!"

The gunships accelerated at speeds so fast that anything thrown at it was out maneuvered. However, the fact it seemed to be able to turn mid air caused some of them to get totaled, but most were still in check. Jack might be powerful, but they were more maneuverable. They would also report this back to command to see if they could create a countermeasure. The blasted him with the PCC cannon a second time, Raylan adding his own power into the mix to make it more powerful. Additionally, he ordered the use of specialized rounds.

---

The reflected projectiles only went back 75% of the time, the other 25% seemingly turning around back at Jack Thirteen.

However, receiving orders that specialized rounds had been authorized, the snipers started using degeneration rounds. These rounds had one specific purpose: negating regeneration effects. If Jack got hit with one of these, he wouldn't be able to heal for a long time, and would even experience excess cellular degeneration. They attempted to put over 100 of these rounds into Jack.

The Ouroboros simply whipped past the gunships as it bludgeoned through several of them like an unstoppable juggernaut, rocketing down the street and leaving gaping rends in the buildings to either side, and shattered windows blasting in its backdraft like a wall of glittering daggers. But now Jack was through playing. It was time to make his exit.

In usual, grand style.

The serpent-like creature curved out of the canyons of buildings, angling into the sky and leaving distance on its pursuers. It rose ever higher, until is seemed just a small strand of string high on the wind. One that was banking.

As it descended once more to the city, a crescendo of lightning played over its surface, growing ever more frenzied until it seemed to simply be wreathed in electrical power. The man within held it in check as the beast began to alter its size, shrinking and ballooning into something that resembled but its head trailing a short tail, when the head was inflated to larger proportions. Now, the Ouroboros was 20ft wide, 25ft long, and only 8ft high. It entered the canyon of buildings once more.

And that when Jack Thirteen let the built lightning erupt. One might have called it a rocket of plasma that ripped nearly 200ft long that accelerated the Ouroboros from a quant Mach 2 to well over Mach 15, a bolt of incandescent, luminous silver leaving a solar flare hot trail of plasma the superheated structure fronts, and created a hurricane of a backdraft that would tear cars, trucks, signs, and foolishly outside people into a storm of shattered glass, metal, and superheated air as it ripped down the avenue like the lance of some pissed off celestial being smiting a great evil. Tapping into the magnetic field it generated, its velocity increased even more as it simply blew past the gunships like they were standing still, subjecting them instead to its following, deadly storm of debris and shattered vehicles.

The pair slingshoted out of the city and broke orbit, and once in space the velocity simply increased with the loss of friction. Jack had used his last play to generate a slingshot that propelled he and the Ouroboros into a flight plan that would finally take them back to Terra.

Raylan awaited the arrival of the other Taskforce Agent, and hopefully more would follow. He was surprised at all the additional support they were getting ever since what people were calling "Awakening Day", called that because the Pansorian Alliance realized that their old plan was not working, so they stopped being so idle and "woke up" to a new plan. A more proactive plan. And this involved with establishing The Taskforce as quickly as possible.

He brought some of the more high priority files. A few cases of interest, involving a possible theft of high value Pandorian Alliance Equipment, The Recon and Intelligence gathering on the nations of UCON, Aschen, and the TNG, and the potential threat against a Pandorian Alliance High Value Individual, or HVI for short. To be honest, he was most worried about the stolen equipment. They had to stop this leak to prevent anyone from stealing any Rift Tech, if they have not got some already, and track the stolen goods.

He looked at the time again, wondering if he was going to show up.

Thomas walked into the Ops Room and looked around. "You called?" Thomas asked Raylan with a smirk. He Thomas would have liked for things to stay idle but orders were orders. He knew they had to figure out why the terrorist had attacked but he hoped they could do it while keeping out of the international spotlight.

"Yes. We need to get down to business, and we need to be working faster then ever before. We got a few things to look into, what seems the most high priority at the moment is this case. Someone has been managing to steal Pandorian Alliance Military Tech. Now, why we do not believe any of our Rift tech has been stolen yet, a lot more Rift Tech will be coming soon with the increased military support in this galaxy. Therefore, we need to catch who is responsible quickly, and if we discover they stole any Rift Tech, recovering it must be our first priority. In the wrong hands, Rift Tech could be disastrous".

Rift Tech was one of the Pandorian Alliance's specialties. That, their psionics, and the multitude of races they have in the Alliance, each with their own perks. But Rift Tech was one of the big ones. While most Rift tech required knowledge of how to use it extensively well, and/or required a Psionic to use it, any Rift Tech was still dangerous in the wrong hands. The effects of an uncontrolled Rift Device were unpredictable at best, devastating at worst.

"Any questions so far?"

Thomas listened carefully. "Do we have any leads? I mean my first inclination would be that this must have been an inside job right?Or at least someone had to be on the inside to make this work?" Thomas was speaking slightly fast. His mind already switching into high gear as he processed the possibilities. It looked like they were going to have a big job ahead of them and given the sensitive nature of the rift tech the clock was probably already ticking.

"Not much leads, but we do have one..." He noted, pulling up a report from Terra involving the arrest of an Assassin. "This assassin had some of our tech on his person. A Nanofiber Commano Cloak, modified to withstand massive explosions while keeping the user unharmed. The cloak is one of our techs, not released to the civilian public. He also had one of our old outdated Hack Modules, and a recently outdated comms unit. The assassin himself has gone missing or something, it's unclear, but according to him he was forced to train and kill by a mysterious organization that put a bomb collar around his neck and held his sister hostage. My guess, this organization bought the tech from them. We need to make this our top priority..."

He then looked over at their own armory. "We don't have any agreement yet with the Terran Government, so they may be uncooperative. So tread lightly. As a secondary goal, we are to access Terra, see if it may be viable to finally make contact. I know that everything we heard makes it sound like a death trap, but children do live there so life clearly must be somehow capable of thriving. That said, trust no one except our own. Understood?"

Thomas listened and scanned the report that was pulled up. He wasn't sure how the Terrans had managed to get some of their tech but if it was a criminal assassin things couldn't be good. "So will this be an official mission or are we going without the consent of the TNG?" Thomas asked. He had heard much about Terra if someone was stealing their tech it could be any number of groups on the planet if they were to find the source they were going to have to do a lot of digging around.

"Trust our own understood." Thomas added.