The spontaneous aftermath comes to a close...

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Cygni realized that the confusion and chaos occurring was too tightly wound to be straightened out by anyone currently in the middle of it. None of the participants trusted each other but Radigen and Halleck and they were also the only ones that trusted her. She needed to materialize again and begin setting things to order. This had been her fault, a mistake she had made had set these things into action. And beings had died for her error.
. Realizing that her misunderstandings about the physical world had intiated the problems that now existed, Cygni decided she needed an ally in the physical world, one not tangled up in the mess. There was only one possible choice.
. Cygni materialized within the confines of the ship piloted by the representative of the Flying Pig Empire. Invisible though it was, she knew that it was there from the gravitational disruptions that it caused. Once inside, she carefully sealed the ship from harm by fragmenting the dimensional textile surrounding it. It was safe.
. She turned around and came face to face with the surprised representative.

[Supreme Comm. L. Sencore]

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Johnnathon didn't respond to Kerr's impulsive movement; in fact, he pulled away from her as if frightened. She didn't understand why he seemed angry but had already decided that he wasn't going to help her in anything she now needed to do. There had to be *someone* who could assist her, or who she could assist, in regaining control of the runaway situation they were all trapped in.
. Suddenly furious at the harmless, indecisive creature in front of her, she spun around and took off at a half run down the corridor. By opening her wings she managed a semi-glide, increasing her speed to just beyond that of a human creature's run. Her unfamiliarity with the ship's passages and her speed combined were reckless but she knew and didn't care. This whole predicament was insufferable and if she had been in charge from the beginning with her team... But they were in someone else's charge now and she was only a weakminded advisor who couldn't manage a firm grip on reality at all times. She was lucid now though and intended to make the most of it.
. She twisted so her feet were in front of her and used them to push off the bottom of a wall that was at right angles with the hallway she was traveling. She was turning face forward again but collided with a heavy object. Two bodies, struggling with each other, one swearing up and down and the other threatening at the top of his lungs. The collision halted her and she stopped, stared, and recognized them.
. "Stop!" she ordered. They showed no signs of hearing. Frusterated with being powerless she took two more steps forward and shoved her wings inbetween them, prying them apart and slamming them into opposite walls. They were both strong and would have easily overpowered her without her wings. Now they were pinned and she was in control again. It felt good after such a long absence from command. Kerr straightened her shoulders and stood tall once more.

[Svienenkoff]

As if he wasn

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

[OOC] "In other news, the SciFi channel has purchased the Soap Opera channel in an unprecedent move. This has resulted in decidely new and original programming - er, well, okay fine, it's not really new and original, it's just a combination of two things that really don't go well together normally, like bacon and peanut butter or marshmellows and hot sauce. Anyhow, keep watching for the next installation of the newest hit space opera, featuring mental instability galore, chance meetings, and intergalactic mayhem, on immediately following the 11 o'clock news. Cut."<P>. Cygni could barely make out exactly what the being intended to say through his stuttering answer so she ignored most of it. It was mostly political rhetoric anyway, from what she could tell.
. She started to form an explanation of the situation to ask for his help but then stopped, realizing how tired she was of repeating the same thing to each being she came in contact with. No traditional resolution strategies, either negotiation or destructive action, was going to resolve this satisfactorily. At least not within the dimension they all currently occupied. The security that these beings felt with their galaxies and civilizations nearby made them impossible to deal with on a purely representative level. And, to complicate things, each had the goal of resolving the situation at hand, as did she, and the variation of ways that this was being attempted further scrambled the metaphoric eggs.
. So straightening out the mess wasn't the answer and she decided to stop trying for it. The purpose of meeting with these representatives was to communicate with them. And the only way that was going to happen was to withdraw the key players to a place where they could form a cohesive strategy to end the chaos. Within that isolation, she could also fulfill her original goal in meeting with them.
. "Well met, Maximos K-Kiertov." She pronounced his name as he had in confusion. "Your cordiality is appreciated, I assure you, but with events being as they are - and I assume you are aware of the current precarious state of your neighboring ships - I would prefer to attend to your comfort and convenience instead of putting the burden on you. As the sole representative sent from your civilization, I hope you do not resent this intrusion but it is necessary for me to remove you, as well as the other representatives, from this dimension and into a neutral one. I apologize for violating your rights of choice but you truly have no other option. You will be removed from your ship, and everything connecting you from this galaxy, and transferred to another physical dimension, in a protected environment. I must insist."

[Republic Fleet Command]

[OOC] Teague, as always...so cool... <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">...<P>[The Medical and Health Services Department

[Republic Fleet Command]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Republic Fleet Command:
[B]

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. She stared at Radigen, her wing still pushed hard against his chest. "Into custody?" The situation was so ludicrous that she almost laughed. "By whose authority? And on what charges?" she growled, giving a little extra shove into Halleck's stomach.
. "By my authority as the Director of Fleet Operations for the Galactic Republic Naval Forces and the charges of the destruction of Galactic Republic property and assault and battery of her officers," Radigen said, with as much dignity as he could muster while smashed against a wall.
. "Destruction of property in defense of an assault on the representative of the dimensional rift and in an effort to preserve the lives on board the physical port," she retorted smoothly, the jargon and language coming easily to her lips. And unintentional destruction at that. It had finally dawned on her exactly what had happened through her groping for a support system to uphold the port. She realized it could probably get her off technically, since they *had* started it. Dealing with the emotional impact of her inadvertant destruction of life would come to her later.
. "The second charge I accept," she grinned. She released them. "Sorry."
. She saw them gingerly regain their balance, both cut and bruised. "What happened?"
. The Admirals glanced at each other. "Er-"
. "Nevermind." She sized them up, highly surprised to find them supported by nonphysical means. Well, if that was the case... she twisted the nonphysical world a little and their physical bodies were restored to a correct state - that is, without the damage.
. She slid to a sitting position, using her wings as a cushion against the hard metal floor. "Well, you both appear to have been looking for me. I assume you know the situation, and hopefully you have a more developed means than I do for dealing with it. Hopefully arresting me right now won't interfere with correcting this runaway mess. I'll put myself at your disposal, presuming you don't intend to lock me up somewhere," she smiled at the idea that they could keep her in any physical location no matter what they tried, "and ask you what we do next."<P>

[Republic Fleet Command]

[Local Space surrounding the remains of the physical port

[Republic Fleet Command]

[Hyper Reality Link Transmission]<P>From: Excalibur Fleet Command<P>To: The Drestinautican Envoy<P>To the honored representatives of the Flying Pig Imperium, greetings and warmest regards from Grand Admiral Authen Halleck, Armeanian Naval Directorate. The Admiral apologizes for his unforeseeable absence, but invites and encourages his respected comrades of the Imperium to join his officers and crew aboard Excalibur as guests and friends of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Navy.<P>Signed,
Commodore Rance Trigit x.o.
Commanding, R.N.S. Excalibur <P>
* * *<P>
[Hyper Reality Link Transmission]<P>From: Excalibur Fleet Command<P>To: The Armeanian Imperial envoy<P>To the delegates of the Imperial envoy, Grand Admiral Authen Halleck wishes long life and many blessings upon their Emperor and his reign. The Emperor's faithful servants are invited and encouraged to join the Admiral's officers and crew aboard Excalibur as allies and brethren of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Navy. <P>Signed,
Commodore Rance Trigit x.o.
Commanding, R.N.S. Excalibur

[Republic Fleet Command]

[Onboard the Imperial Carrier Behillomoth

[Supreme Comm. L. Sencore]

[OOC Theres more to come just give me time to write it. <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif"> Right now sleep beckons me. "Pardone me if i dont see you to the door the Sand Man is beating me to death"]<P>Salya cocked her head to the side and looked at Thomas. Thought for a moment and said simply

[Republic Fleet Command]

A bundle of fur and oversized white ears tumbled head over paws down the powdery slope of new fallen, glittering snow. He landed in a sitting position and arched his head back to peer into the clear night sky.
Above and on into infinity, a billion, billion bright points of light shown clearly, stopping the tiny creature

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Having expected Salya to be unconscious, Cygni hadn't given her much thought. But the amount of energy she'd allotted to keep a still body supported wasn't meant to fund a fighting Dynasthai captain and her imaginative creations. Cygni's attention was abruptly jerked back to the girl when her energy output was taxed just beyond her abilities. She wavered.
. Far away, Halleck felt her falter. It came on him as a momentary dizziness, blackness at the edges of his vision, and a feeling of weakness. Radigen, single-mindedly occupied, didn't feel it.
. Cygni realized she couldn't uphold Salya's ferocious assault on her resources, keep herself together physically, and fund Radigen and Halleck's demands on her all at once. Salya, doing the unknown and drawing far more than she could stand, was the one to cut off.
. It was instantaneous. Salya was drawn back into the transdimensional void and her fears-grown-fact disappeared. Incapable of leaving her there to fend for herself, Cygni pushed her entirely through, back to the war ravaged planet she herself had come from on the other side of the dimensional rift. And in a place where she'd be noticed and covered instantly - the infant nursery.<P>********************************************<P>. The moment Kerr fell the physical ports began to crack. As she died, they lost all substance, shattering into a hundred million pieces that vanished into nothingness a nanosecond later. Empty space resumed its proper shape.<p>[This message has been edited by Cygni (edited 01-12-2002).]

[ZOMBIE USER 5138]

[ZOMBIE USER 5138]

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Aylaix was physically manifested when she received her orders. Taking her chances alone outdoors she skimmed what had been lush foliage and soft ground cover, now blackened and laden with tripwires. No longer able to race recklessly across the open space, she had to be sensitive to every breeze that could reveal a thin thread connected to explosives concealed under the earth. Though technically she wasn't supposed to be outside, no one argued with any of the one-time members of Kerr's Contingent, especially not Aylaix, her second in command.
. "Aylaix, we have a physical breech of security in Case 143," the information became like part of her thoughts. Cases 140 through 145 were the infant nurseries. She disregarded caution and shot forward straight into a semi-dimensional rift.
. She emerged in Case 143 and found the tall woman prepared to fight, in a corner with her back defended by the walls. If it came to battle, the intruder's height gave her an edge over her opponent, whose wings brought her to barely 5'6". There was a single adult entity in the room, aside from the foreigner. A caretaker, both protective and solicitous at the same time, was trying to communicate with the surprising circumstance she was faced with. The seven one-week olds gurgled in the background.
. "Let me," Aylaix spoke to the caretaker. Willingly, the caretaker stepped back to her charges. "Okay now, you sent me, fill me in," Aylaix demanded of her superior wordlessly. "Who is this and where did she come from?" The stranger watched her suspiciously, reacting to every small movement. Aylaix kept as still as she could.
. "Apparently she was moved here by Cygni, who is dealing with a rather difficult situation herself..."
. "Screw Cygni's situation, tell me something useful!" Aylaix was still edgy with the infants in the room.
. "She is called Salya, and she should speak the common diplomatic language of her dimension, which I believe you know well." The last bit was a veiled insult.
. "Anything else?"
. "She was a diplomat sent to participate in a conference with the Speaker. Due to unfortunate circumstances..." Aylaix's heart sank. Unfortunate circumstances in the last several rotations had only meant Kerr, "she was deprived of her host and weaponry, as well, possibly, of her senses. Her label of address, apparently, is Salya."
. "Possibly, apparently, unfortunate circumstances. You never know anything for sure, do you? Heaven help us if you're wrong." Aylaix fractured the dimensional fabric surrounding the infants, hoping it would be enough to protect them if this creature tried to attack.
. "Salya? My name is Aylaix. If I may, could you possibly follow me a little ways? I apologize for the unfortunate situations you've been thrust into and I'd like to provide you with your weapons again, and answer any questions you have."

[Supreme Comm. L. Sencore]

Salya looked around the room. There wasn

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Alyaix forced a smile. "Nothing good for too long a time. First things first. I'd like to restore whatever weapons you feel comfortable carrying here, primarily as a sign of goodwill. The attempt at peace with your peoples has evidently been terribly botched, and I'd like to make it up to you the best I can. If you can focus for a minute on the exact design of your standard weapons, and try to hold in your mind it's exact function or functions, as well as as much as you know of its construction, I should be able to recreate it for you. And then we will be balanced, more or less, and meet as equals and representatives."

[ZOMBIE USER 4986]

. Alyaix was impressed. Though she had studied more about the physical world than nearly any of her race that existed, the advances in weaponry of these civilizations was still beyond her knowledge. Now that Salya was settled back with her rightful defense abilities, Aylaix felt more comfortable. Amid everything Kerr had driven into their heads about diplomacy was that you did as much to find equal footing with your opposite as possible. Except you always kept the slightest edge, and stayed quiet about it.
. While Salya double-checked the functionality of her Dynasthai, Aylaix recieved a complete nonverbal briefing, bringing her up to date on the botched operation in Salya's home dimension. It amazed her that her superiors hadn't considered the possibility of retaliation. <I>They'll never give credit to anything physical until they've felt fire burn them,</I> she thought. <I>Fragment the dimensional space around the planet."</I> she ordered. <I>"I know we don't expect another attack from the Syl for another few days but for safety's sake, take the precaution. If these beings come, their abilities would devestate us much faster than all the months of the seige have. Fragmenting will keep any of their physical weapons from reaching us.</I> The powers-that-be had taken beating enough from making their own decisions. They listened.
. "I hope restoring your weapons has convinced you of my intent toward goodwill," Alyaix said. "I apologize in behalf of the representatives you met in your dimension and any dishonor they might have done toward you.
. "As I said before, my name is Aylaix. I am formerly the second-in-command of the special forces unit focused on study of the physical world. That includes manipulation of matter, language and culture study, and war tactics, among other things. I can explain the chain of events to you, and I can only hope that we can straighten everything out now.
. "Cygni was selected as a diplomat because she was the highest-ranking being interested in the physical world who was not connected to the special forces unit, which was disbanded several turns ago and all memembers under probation since. I'll elaborate later, if you wish. She also had a mild disposition, which was counted in her favor. However, though her interest and intents were good, she had extremely little experience with the physical world and everything in it. Thus they assigned to her, Kerr, who was once the leader of the special forces team but had undergone severe mental trauma and become unstable. She was to be the advisor."
. Aylaix was still mortified at the stupidity of the beings in charge, sending Cygni and Kerr when she alone was equipped and willing for the task.
. "Cygni contracted hypothermia, as you know, and lost consciousness, all due to ignorance about the necessities of a body in the physical world. Kerr was not capable of advising her in any form that would truly be of help. When Cygni collapsed, Kerr panicked. She did, however, realize that the ports were going to be unmade without Cygni's support, and sought to support them herself, reaching for the nearest powerful energy source. The Systrobule, unfortunately. It gave her support only long enough to calm herself down and maintain their physical shape herself, but in the process destroying the ship. We will readily replace the ship, but we can do nothing to ammend for the accidental loss of life."
. Aylaix couldn't think of a way to appropriately express her honest regret so she didn't attempt it.
. "The rest of the events have been rather hasty tries on Cygni's part to keep everything under control. She apprehended you and Admirals Radigen and Halleck to the nonphysical world, then remanifesting you in a place where you could recieve care, for you had undergone a severe traumatic experience and were not fully lucid, and placing the Admirals in a position to either subdue or," Aylaix tried hard to stay unemotional, "remove Kerr before she did more damage. You began to draw on Cygni's sustenance to create, unintentionally, images from your mind. This pull on her was too great so she brought you here, where you are supported physically on your own. She is now in a ship with another representative who has managed to stay out of the confusion.
. "Have I missed anything?"