ARCHIVED: The Future: War, Trade, and Exploration

Missile fusillades were launched. Drone fighters commenced mass kamikaze attacks on Star Destroyers. Rams tore into unsuspecting Syrixian fighter squadrons. Whenever possible, more colony pods were sent down to the planet, and Nebulan X-wings tangled with Syrixian TIEs in the upper atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Nebulan reinforcements were coming.

The Bellator and the Imperial fleet behind it continued to advance, however, plowing through Nebulan defensive formations like a tank. More Star Destroyers arrived to make sure Nebulan reinforcements didn't impact the Imperial fleet and its chances at victory. Star Destroyers began locking on to Rams and destroying them, as Imperial Rams devastated the Nebulan fleet. Meanwhile, on the ground, the Nebulan colony's headquarters were up in flames. TIEs shot down incoming colony pods, killing anyone inside and blowing up the pod. The fragments rained down on the headquarters, further totaling it. Stormtroopers moved in to take over what was left, and took down the remains of the Nebulan flag, then raising the Imperial flag over what was slowly turning into a wasteland-esque clearing. Stormtroopers then moved around the area to begin an attack on the rest of the colony.

"Sir, things have gotten bad."
"Deploy the last resort."
"Sir, are you sure?"
"Of course! I've deliberated this for a very long time. And although I don't like it, it's our only option now."
"Very well, sir."

The Nebulan fleet began to withdraw hastily. All of the captains knew about the last resort, and had been drilled in what would have to happen should it become used.
"Fire."
A small port opened on the command ship. A missile streaked out, shimmering as cloaking fields were projected onto it, rendering it invisible to sensors and very hard to see unless you knew it was coming.
"Target their new fancy ship."
The missile headed for the Bellator. It grew closer rapidly.
"Detonate."
The thermonuclear warhead inside the missile detonated less than fifty yards from the Bellator's bridge.

The Bellator had been equipped to withstand even the toughest of blasts. The Empire had tested its best bombs on its shields. Only the best broke through, and even those couldn't breach its dense hull. The missile's blast had a similar result. However, the Bellator's shields, while very, VERY close to being compromised, were not. The fighting stopped for a moment and then the Bellator and its fleet sped up, resuming its offensive. The Nebulan fleet, which had withdrawn quickly as the missile's blast could've easily destroyed it, was now in danger, and the Bellator's targeting system was locked onto the Nebulan command ship. The shields, meanwhile, began to recharge so the Bellator's vulnerability (shieldswise) would be short-lived.

The holo projector signaled an incoming message. "This can't be good," Hari sat back on his desk and accepted the transmission. A holo projection of a man in a black robe appeared, it was as he thought, the emperor. In a somewhat sinister tone "Greetings... everything that has transpired over Eko has done so according to my design. It was *I* who allowed the Alliance to survive thus far, we have struck a severe blow at Eko, an entire fleet of my best troops has begun to teach them the meaning of the Empire." A glimmer of joy flickered onto the emperors face. "However our forces request your assistance as they are moving on their targets. They request your help to clear this matter." standing up, he adjusted his uniform. "I see; we'll help your troops clear the skies at Eko, but the Nebulans have shown us nothing but grace and honor on the ground. We will not attack their colony, or whatever is left of it by now, but god help the alliance fleets over Eko." With a slight nod, and an approving curl to the corner of his mouth, the emperor gave one answer. "Excelent." The transmission ended.

"It had to be some time I suppose, now is as good as any." Leaning back he punched in an access code to the holo projector. The flagship's computer interrupted the fleet admiral's lunch with three audible alert chirps "Priority One message coming in from Colonial Command on a secure channel." The admiral wiped his mouth, fixed his uniform "Computer, open transmission." It wasn't fleet command as the admiral thought, it was Hari, the Regent of the colonies. "By order of the office of the regent you are hereby authorized to use any and all means to support the Syrixians over Eko. I don't care how it's done, just clear that space. However leave any Nebulans left on the planet alone, they've been good to us, and I hate that we're not allied on the same side. What is done is done, but the Syrixians are our allies and have specifically asked our help. Maybe there can be some semblance of charity between the Nebulans and our people, somehow."

"Action stations! Action station! Set condition One throughout the ship, this is not a drill. Action stations! Action station! Set condition One throughout the ship, this is not a drill." The fleet had been sitting over the battlefield cloaked this whole time but no more. The distinct shimmer of the ships decloaking revealing the fleet's position.

"FIRE!"
The ships had positioned themselves before decloaking, the attack was coordinated, ruthless and a complete surprise. The admiral watched from the still cloaked flagship. Energy beams and projectile weapons rained down onto the alliance fleet, they were caught off guard. The hulls of the ships were brutalized by the Ceretian weapons fire. One of the alliance ships exploded, and multiple others could be seen losing attitude control and dipping into the atmosphere while one just burned... lifeless. By order of the admiral, the lead ship's captain hailed the alliance fleet and were soon answered. "Put it on the main viewer, Ensign." An alliance captain responded "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK OUR FLEET!!! What could you possibly want?" He snarled, throwing a data pad to the ground "Have you called to surrender?" Calmly the captain responded. "By order of the Colonial government you are to clear this space or be destroyed. We hope you will be reasonable, the battle is lost, your forces routed. Your reinforcements are far, and ours are here. You can choose to withdraw or choose to die." The fleet expected the message would not go over lightly, but there was hope for peace. The fleet positioned themselves for an attack, continuing their fire and severely damaging enemy ships one after another, they launched large numbers of fighter wings and drones. "Lieutenant, if they withdraw, let them withdraw. If they fight, show them the power of the combined fleet."

Darth Venator was on the scene himself. As the Emperor's chief enforcer he was responsible for leading the Imperial fleet over Eko. The Nebulan colony had been captured and split between the Empire and Ceretis, and the joint Nebulan-Guslant fleet was on the verge of loss over the skies of Eko. He and his fleet were poised to fire, if the enemy fleet were to fight back.

"Any further attack will lead to bombardment of Syrixia's land on Eve. Nuclear if necessary. Don't think I won't give the order."

"And if you even try it, I swear to you the Empire will only return the favor." Darth Venator replied. "I suggest we settle this conflict here and only here, or else we face mutually assured destruction."

"The Nebulan fleet will withdraw on the grounds that our colony suffers no further harm, and that we are allowed to send down supplies periodically."

"The Emperor will be most displeased, but your terms are acceptable." Venator replied.

"The Emperator will be pleased to hear that further war was not necessary. We will deploy a series of Colony pods, then leave."

Five minutes later, more Nebulan pods had landed and the fleet had left, returning to the lunar base.

After the Nebulan fleet left, the Imperial fleet dispersed as well. A few ships headed for Obscura and Irata, another few for Ao and Oa, and another few for Tschai. The rest headed back to Eve.

The colony was in chaos. Although the majority of the people had survived the attack by hiding in the tunnels, almost every pod dropped before or during the battle was damaged or destroyed.
But rebuilding was happening. The tunnels would be used for living space, along with a few pods that were at the entrance to the tunnels. Soldiers and laborers mined lithium and cesium ores at the bottom of the tunnels. The chemists and engineers had set up a facility to process the ore. Meanwhile, engineers in mini-subs began exploring the ocean bottom and setting up the foundations for an underwater facility. Meanwhile, soldiers patrolled the perimeter and set up security equipment.

Barrie continued with the link, allowing Alicia to enter E-Space, before her stood Corona at the foot of a massive interface.


Corona was busy analysing the syrixian troops DNA, a bioweapon designed to target them specifically would be a perfect solution, she continued to analyse the situation. The Roaders could go toe-to-toe with the larger ships thanks to their pinpoint defeces and heavy main guns but they would require support from the Ascalon and Inquisitor class vessels. She barely noticed Alicia as she kept searching for the DNA marker to buikd her bioweapon.

The Ceretian fleet was ordered to support efforts elsewhere; they had seen the brutality over Eko though and were somewhat hesitant to leave completely. As a precaution, reconnaissance ships were dispatched to observe and make sure the colony remained safe.

The order had been given: disperse. The bulk of the fleet was to return to Ao/Oa while some were assigned survey duty of the inner asteroid belt or supporting efforts at Tschai and Irata.

A sole Nebulan escort vessel moved through the space around Eko, surrounded by Colony pods that it was guarding. All of the pods, and the ship, landed, and the colony grew and grew, with the addition of a lithium plant, a desalination facility, a military headquarters, and the supplies needed to begin work on an underwater city.

The Xentheridan Government is proud to announce that the HMS Disc Triumph, after many delays, is in space and has successfully distributed its mining probes. Roughly 12,000 probes were launched, with thirty to each asteroid, save for the few largest, which have upwards of one hundred. However, after the sheer mass of metal gathered, through shaft mining and "magnetic rakes", the Discus will return every week, instead of the preplanned monthly return.
In the mean time, the HMS Disc Victory has also been completed and is undergoing final checks for launch. This one will launch colonisation fleets towards Ao, Oa, Eko and Obscura. For Eko, the islands on the western side are to be annexed under the name of the Grand Federation of Xentherida. Once a permanent colony is established, then governments will be created for each colony, on any colonised planet.
Once that job has been completed, it will fly to Tek and Erythro and distribute yet more mining probes. There are hopes for materials such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and potentially carbon.
Finally, once the probes are distributed, HMS Disc Victory will fly between Eve and the colonies, and between the inner planets and Eve. For the former, it will deliver supplies, such as medicine, food, and water. For the latter, materials will be shipped back to Xentherida.

The Eko colony was growing. The underwater city was housing citizens, and construction continued. Biologists were studying fish and plant life. On land, lithium mining and processing continued.

Meanwhile, three Nebulan ships were headed for Tek. The Nebulan reach in space was expanding.

Meanwhile, on Eve, far away from the death and drama occurring amongst the stars, the Tlacopantian nation readied itself to send its men and women into the void for the first time.

Tlacopantec had been a neutral power for the duration of the war, posturing towards one side or another in order to draw concessions and favourable treaties, but never committing itself fully to another nation's cause. Rumours abounded that the heinous practices of the Innhuiti priests, chiefly human sacrifice to the gods, had never truly stopped, despite the intervention of several powers over the years. Indeed, though the great pyramids no longer bore witness to the bloody offerings that once took place there, the Innhuiti religion still dominated everyday life, for everyone from the King right down to the lowest commoner.

They had no great space elevator to assemble parts in the void. They had no space station to base their travels from. All they had were old designs passed down from the various powers, a large amount of cheap labour, and a stubborn determination to spread their wings and fly into the unknown.

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The TMS Eagle was, by the standard of the great powers, a relic. By the standards of the minor powers it was a miracle of engineering, but their opinion was rarely sought and even less likely to be listened to. She was cobbled together from scratch, a Nebulan drive system here, a Ceretian heat sink there, a Xentheridian sensor array elsewhere. As she was assembled on Eve, the bulk of her bloated mass was given over to the engines, the two primary ones that made up the rear third of the ship, and four additional boosters needed to carry the behemoth out of the embrace of Eve altogether. Hidden beneath these boosters was a long, slender neck that separated the drive and cargo section from the living quarters and operations control. With a salute from the King himself, after much fanfare and pageantry, and carrying the hopes and dreams of an entire nation with it, the TMS Eagle joined the other spacefaring nations at 1900hrs on the fifth day of the second month in the year of the Jackal. Aboard, 12 brave souls belonging to the Jaguar Warriors accompanied by about a score of engineers, technicians and scientists. Their cargo - components for Tlacopantec's first functioning space station, establishing her as a true space-borne power, the first such brand new power in a generation.

Meanwhile, Imperial colonies were made on Ao and Oa, and the Eko and Obscura colonies grew as well. Syrixian power in space was expanding. However, perhaps the most successful colony was that of Irata. The prospect of a thriving colony on a desert planet seemed mesmerizing. Many moved to the new colonies on Ao, Oa, Eko, Obscura and Irata, however the Irata colony was the most successful.

-not done-

"Sir, our advance ships have reached Tek."
The Emperator turned. He had been thinking about Azurus Malachit. The man was long dead, of course, and he'd been forced to step down, but he had been very good at running a hegemony, and he had a certain screw-you attitude toward Syrixia, as well...
"Excellent," he said. "Same procedure to be followed as on Eko. Hopefully we can establish a shipyard there."

<<DIRECTORATE of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY>> Jared sat outside the council chambers looking over the latest readouts from the inner solar probes. He had to do something to kill time and distract himself while he waited for the small council to return with their decision. A middle aged man in a grey suit and black glasses approached; "Mr Fenn, they're ready to announce their decision." Taking his seat in the chamber, it was a long room with polished stone floors and large floor to ceiling windows on both sides. The council filed in from a hidden door behind the great seal, the man in the grey uniform announced the council is now in session. "After reviewing your proposal for 'Sol Invictus' we understand you already have a team of scientists ready to depart?" the councilor said as she looked up from her notes. "Yes, ma'am, all we require is the transportation and support listed in the packet before you." Another council member interjected "You and your researchers are fully aware that plans for a Tek colony have not yet been approved, and you'll be a sole outpost for an undetermined amount of time?"
"Yes, councilor, I and my scientists are aware. We will take precautions against the isolation however long or short." The council nodded with approval as the chairman rose "In that case, your proposal has been approved. Congratulations, we look forward to seeing reports on your progress. The cruiser 'Stalwart Dawn' has been assigned to transport you and your team to the site and begin construction of the facility.

---

<<AEROSPACE COMMAND>> "Sir, we're getting reports that the Tlacopantecs ship has launched." The commander looked a bit surprised "Good for them, I was beginning to wonder... now's the important question. Who won the bet? Oh, and notify command, I'm sure they'll want to congratulate them; it's a momentous occasion."



The lead ship 'Pious Inquisitor' led the escort mission for the colonists to Irata. Approaching the planet they could see the Imperial starships over their new colony. "They sure are a thing of beauty aren't they? Well, signal the Imperials and let them know were here, and pull the fleet into orbit. I want those survey craft launched immediately, and as soon as they've verified the locations I want these colonists on the ground."

(OOC: Syrixia, the plan is to have the trio arrested and taken aboard a shuttle to an Imperial leader of your choice, halfway there they are intercepted by the fleet, which rescues them and introduces the fleet and Abigail's ancestor.)

When the walkers arrived at the crash site, Grace suddenly limped over to the walkers, trying to be diplomatic. Tucker followed behind, trying to stop the hurt leader. "What the hell do you think you're doing? They will kill you!", Tucker screamed, trying to pull the councilor back. "Attention walkers! My name is Grace Hilley, Councilor of the Coalition of Guslantis! I come in peace!", she yelled. Tucker knew that the pilots inside where probably either laughing at her or looking in confusion. "I come in no harm. I only would like to ask to borrow a shuttle. One to get us to that," she pointed up at the barely visible vessel that was Tucker's flagship, the largest ship in the fleet. "Are you crazy?! They are going to arrest you!", Tucker yelled. "Nonsense, they know who I am. I do have some power you know..," she said to Tucker quietly. "I'm telling you they are going to arrest us. You, me, and Alex," replied Tucker. "So, what is your choice?! Are you going to get us a shuttle or are you going to arrest us?", Grace asked, confident the answer would be to give her a shuttle.

Meanwhile, aboard Tucker's flagship, the Malice, a woman wearing a black suit similar to Alex's sat in an observatory room and watched the planet of Obscura from the large glass window. A man walked in and saw the back of the woman and her black hair as she faced away from him. "Ma'm, the Flowering Fate has not been spotted arriving on any of the fleet's vessels though it was noted in the log of the Valeria that she left," he said. "That does not surprise me, ensign, as Councilor Hilley always will get herself into trouble no matter the situation," she said, not turning to face him. "But ma'm, the councilor is the leader of the Coalition...if we do not find her...," he began. "The council will handle without her," the woman replied. The man felt he could not convince her with pathos, so he tried to use logos on her. "You are XO of the Malice, your CO is missing therefore it is your duty to find her," he stated angrily. The ensign felt the woman's anger as she pressed a button on her chair, caused the cuffs of his uniform to send electricity through him. "AGH!!!", he screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. Meanwhile, she projected a map of Obscura and the fleet onto the glass and began to tap places on the planet with her finger as though the glass was a monitor and the places turned red. "I want probes launched here, here, here, here, and here. I want search teams here, here, and here, while a colony is to be set up, here," she began as the man recovered from the shock. "Also, I want these ships on the lookout for the councilor's ship and any suspicious activity," she continued, pressing ships on the fleet, which turned orange. The man crawled up to the woman and she looked at him angrily. "Any other orders, ma'm?", he asked. "Don't fail me," she said before grabbing the man and kissing him. She then pressed the button and sent electricity through his cuffs a second time.

A stormtrooper commander picked up the signal. "We hear you loud and clear, Ceretis. We reserved a space for your survey ships in Mos Eisley if needed."

Meanwhile, on Obscura, large groups of stormtroopers exited their walkers, escorting Hilley and Tucker to an Imperial shuttle. "You are to be arrested and held for ransom by the Empire." a commander said as the two were handcuffed and boarded onto the shuttle.

(OOC: There's a trio of people, Syrixia, one may not be important...but yeah.)

On Obscura, Tucker looked at Grace as the three were handcuffed. "Really? 'Just hand us a shuttle! We'll be all fine!'", she said, mocking Grace. "Can we just not argue for a second? Please," said Alex, trying to stop the arguing. "Whatever, they'll probably execute us anyway, or take us to that Darth Vomitu or whatever his name is," said Tucker, angrily. "Maybe help will come," said Alex with hope. "Who? The Queen of McMasterdonia?", asked Tucker.

Aboard the Malice, the ensign laid bare-chested on the floor of the observatory, dead. "That was a shocking time, wasn't it, Ensign Johnson?", she joked. The woman had shocked him so many times that he died and he had a suffering death in paradise. "Next time, if you want to impress me, be a Captain...oh wait," she joked again. She stood up and picked up the ensign's shirt from the floor. She put it on and wore it as a jacket. "Have fun," she said to the dead ensign, as he looked at her through his empty open eyes.

Weyye, the Cro Arms city of Irata, simply ignored the situation in Doraan after they received the comm, no matter how they helped the city would fall into the moon of Tibu. Instead, they turned their eyes to the colonization of their home, the planet that was left empty and desolate for thousands of years upto now. The city commander, General Hans Dane stared out of his chamber's window, it was a large sheet of glass that reached from floor to ceiling at the back of his room, he stared out at the arising Syrixian colony. He wished he could burn it to the ground and let the planet be.

"Vile defilers. Why can't they leave the sanctity of the galaxy alone and just live in actual space, where nothing can live. Why cant they defy logic like us instead of fight wars and destroy planets with their cities." Hans sighed, he was obsessed with the environment and had been ever since childhood. He'd hand-designed the Atrium in the Weyye himself, it was one of the Marvels of Space and people thought it couldn't be done, plant life in the ships and cities that roamed the skies. He'd defied them and their views.

"Thank you commander, we hear Mos Eisley has a nice little cantina we should check out. Once we're done with our survey we'll be headed over; if you stop by when we land we'll buy you a drink to toast."

---

"Solar perimeter alert: Colonial transponder detected entering grid 336" came the automated computer notification, the details flashed onto the screen. The fleet laden with colonists, workers, and supplies from Earth; some eagerly waiting to explore space and make their mark, others simply seeking to finally have land to call their own. Many were drawn by the government's promise: Any citizen 21 or older willing to live on their claim, build a home, make improvements, and farm (in case of agricultural claims) for a minimum of five years were able to stake a claim for only twenty Orichalums. "Let's get them docked and start clearing them for transports. I'm sure they'll be glad to get off those ships. The longer those transports remain docked the more potential money we waste not shipping goods back home."

---

The '6 Echo 2' a long range planetary survey vessel lifted off from Ao, its destination was Erythro. Though very deadly and extremely dangerous, the planet still held some potential. 6 Echo 2's mission was to find out if that potential truly exists. "I'm not quite sure what we're supposed to find at Erythro. The whole planet is just one giant acid bath that will crush you to paste. What is it they theorized, 85 times more pressure than Earth at the surface? Anyone have any guesses? I'm going with garbage dump." turning to the crewmen standing at the holo-table. "Who knows, maybe it's going to be a penal colony. Rude surprise if you try and escape." The ship cleared the atmosphere just as the pilot set the autopilot to full speed. "Next stop Erythro."

Beneath the Lunar surface the Peacekeeper Council had convened, the destruction of Gateway station had been problematic but they at least now had data on the Syrixian military. Koval Darin, head of the council, noticed the static-burst transmission from Garret's ship, he brought up the message to reveal Corona "Corona, what is it?" "Council members, I require permission to access medical virals, we are experiencing a minor case of Influenza and it is necessary I utilise the virals to synthesize an antivirus." "Very well Corona, but make no further transmissions, we will contact Garret if it is necessary..." he sighed, cutting the transmission.

Corona nodded then noticed Alicia "You're here... good, you can assist me." opening the viral files "I require an administrative expert to better randomise the genetic code of the virus, I need to concentrate on making sure it only affects the enemy."

The Triple Federation is pleased to announce the formation of COLCOM (Colonial Command), a new segment of the TDI (Trinnish Defense Initiative), and with it, a attempt to colonize Erythro, due to its proximity to the star, it will be useful for research into controlled Ion technology. To facilitate this endevor, Type 52 probes are being launched to examine the planet for areas with useful materials.

Tschai Colony/Station: Iriel
Population: 10,000 and growing


The colony is growing and a good and steady rate, with more and more people working and living in the orbital colony everyday. NHA's space program was healthy and more of the solar system was being explored. But the people (Especially the governors of each plate) were in anticipation with news of a major announcement to be broadcasted from the Seren at the Eko space station, the Colony HQ was buzzing with activity. The five governors were sitting in the main office waiting for the announcement.

Just then, the TV in the main office cut to the live announcement. "Hello my fellow Haven Americans, I am proud to announce the great success of the New Haven Space Program, with our space station orbiting Eko and our orbital colony over Tachai, NHA is growing rapidly. With the promising results from our orbital station and colony, I'm proud to say that we will be extending the Space Program, I have just approved the colonization of a large moon orbiting Tschai and new plans for an orbital colony around Xuen. I am also glad to approve a new line of space cruisers and busses to our distant brothers and sisters, to make transportation and communications as easy as possible as it can be in space. This is a good day for NHA... Thank you."

As the regular stations went back to regular news, scientists and colonists were exited, a new colony on Xuen, moon colonization, and new transports, the people couldn't wait.

The Nebulan Eko colony, now officially named Ivmik, continued to produce lithium. The colony slowly expanded, particularly underwater.
Meanwhile, the Nebulan escort ship stationed at Ivmik made a trip up to the New Haven space station, offering the sale of lithium.

The colony on Irata began to spring to life. The temporary structures were up, mobile defenses were active, and they had just offloaded the construction equipment needed to break ground. A huge reservoir had been filled with water to keep the colony hydrated until their moisture farms were established; after that they'd just provide a little extra comfort. Inside the colony's central building was a small group gathered around a projection. "Now that we've established the colony here, we're required to investigate resource signatures the survey ships identified. Team 7, you have a different job, you get to seek out new life; and hopefully its friendly. Let's get to Indexing this planet; send in updates every 3 hours."

---

The survey ship had arrived in orbit and began their survey; they dropped a claim beacon in orbit over the planet marking the site of a future colony station. The survey team began scanning the atmosphere and mapping the surface. "Well let's see how dense this atmosphere really is. Launch a T-9 multi-spectral atmospheric probe." With a minor flash from the launch port, a probe descended into the atmosphere. "Probe is working and sending back atmospheric data; as expected, light pressure in upper atmosphere composition as expected. Continuing descent; atmospheric pressure rapidly rising, sulfuric acid droplet formations significant." An tone emanates from the console "Probe is encountering significant downdrafts, compensating. Continuing to the next marker point; another layer, strong phosphoric acid solution and temperatures continue to rise. There we are, we're through; cloud formations end 24.5 miles above the surface. Ooof, that's a hot one. Probe registers 855°F to 885°F (455°C to 475°C) and variation between 76 and 97 atmospheres of pressure at the surface." The team continued to map the planet and run various scans. The captain began a series of encrypted burst transmission to Ao. "Whatever they're looking for, hopefully the first part of the survey can get them started. While we're here, lets drop a couple guidance beacons on the surface in case they want to send someone or something down."

(OOC: It would be most appreciated if everyone would please go to the information page and make sure I have your colonies / claims / stations that you have RP'd already listed in the OP. I'm just trying to get caught up on the information to make life easier for everyone. Also, post any technology, errors, or other missing information you see.

** Please note I have not gotten around to updating the atmosphere descriptions for the planets to better match their classifications. Their changes will most likely all be minor.)

The Type 52 probes, had also approached the planets surface, their EVA units had noticed the Ceretian ship in orbit and pinged them with a simple question. "do you have any scans of the surface?"

(OOC: If the colony on Irata is not using robotic draft animals I'm going to be very disappointed. )

On Tek, a network of tunnels were dug, airlock-sealed, and pumped full of nitrogen-oxygen mixture. [[I'm assuming that Tek, like Mercury, has no real atmosphere, or at least not a breathable one.]] Within the tunnels were living quarters, laboratories, hydroponics farms, and mines. Soldiers in spacesuits patrolled the surface with laser rifles and massive space-tanks. Ships came and went several times a day, bringing supplies to the colony.
Mines were established at the bottom of the tunnel network, where colonists mined iron and uranium. Another series of tunnels and caverns were built for the purpose of refining the ores that were found. Facilities began to spring up across the surface as the potential for profits in the chemical industry began to push the Nebulan government to fund further expansion.

'6 Echo 2' received a message from the Trinnish probe requesting data on Erythro. The comm officer passed the message on to the Captain. "Send a message back to the Trinnish, give them a surface map and general atmospheric; mark the hazards as a gesture of good will. Command at Ao is going to want to have time to look over the detailed composition and atmospheric data before they authorize release. Also mark out a general colony over here" pointing to a location on the holo-map "in case the guys at command decide to drop something onto the surface."

Equipped with this new data, the probes plunged into the planets atmosphere, and began to look for possible colony sites.

Ivmik was on the grow. The engineers and builders had finished a residential area underwater, and the tunnels from before were still being used for housing. A permanent military base had been set up, as well as a very small heavy water facility underwater. Construction underwater was continuing on a military submarine base, a huge fish farm, and, most ambitiously, a small city.

The Guslant prisoners were taken aboard the shuttle and escorted to a Star Destroyer. The Star Destroyer, however, did not set course for the Bellator, where Darth Venator was commanding Imperial forces. It headed straight for Eve, and the Balamb Peninsula, home to what was formerly known as Balamb, and what was now known...as Byss.

Byss was a dark city, converted to the ways of evil like the government it was home to had. Balamb, the old incarnation of the Imperial capital, was a shining city, home to peace, goodness and culture, however the Emperor and his dark rule had turned it into a nightmare. The city's towers loomed over the streets below, stormtroopers were crawling all over the streets, and the Imperial Palace dominated all.

The dark palace was colossal, bigger than any other building in the city, and it was perhaps the most terrifying building of all. Its towers reached above the clouds into the space that the palace itself was as black and as evil as. The Guslants were escorted inside, and then they parted ways. Tucker and the third, unnamed Guslant were taken down to the maximum security prison cells, while Councilor Hilley was brought up the elevator. To the throne room. Alone. Her weapons had been taken from her.

The elevator opened, after two minutes going up, and they were in the throne room. The center of the hive of all evil, the evil that threatened peace and justice in the international community. Surrounding the room were stars, and in front of Hilley was a short staircase. The stormtroopers pushed Hilley into the room and forced her up the staircase before leaving the room. Councilor Hilley was alone, face to face with the Emperor. The throne turned, and there he was.

"Welcome, Councilor Hilley." the Emperor said. "I have been expecting you."