Oncaro

KDS Salvation of Benaton The Third Fleet was on the move, heading toward Orbis IV ahead of the Mri 10th Fleet. "So who the Hell are these new ships, Zorya?" Admiral Mihailovic asked the AVI, reclining slightly in his command chair. "Katasians, Admiral. I believe they're holdovers from the FB-1 universe, which by the Talean Calendar collapsed around four centuries ago," Zorya replied, and she brought up a number of holoprojections, consisting of data on these new arrivals. "More aliens, huh? I suppose if they're from FB-1, once again we've got allies who dwarf us in size." "I wouldn't worry about that, sir." Zorya replied, a smirk on her holographic face. "Size isn't everything. In fact, small size is a common problem for many ships. Issues with resources, and, uh... performance. You know, one out of five--" "Enough, Zorya. How close are we to the Triskeli?" Mihailovic asked, and Zorya shrugged. "Thirty seconds until we reach Orbis IV. I recommend entering their theater shield before opening fire on the Naxids. I would suggest covering the Bro contingent there, as well." "Send the orders... Its time for the Third Fleet to get its first kills." "Aye, sir," Zorya replied, and her visage winked from existence. Mihailovic stood as the Benaton and one thousand, nine hundred, and ninety eight other ships made it into the Triskeli theater shielding. On his command, the Third Fleet began moving around and alongside the Triskeli ships, beginning to fire particle beams, antimatter missiles, and mass-accelerator slugs into the oncoming Naxid fleet as they made their way toward the beleaguered Broes, who were likewise heading to the relative safety of the shield bubble. ________________________ KDS Panther, en route to Saturn Commander Milosevic drummed her fingers along the arm of her command chair, her chin in the palm of her other hand. In the few minutes since leaving, the Panther had already made it past Mars and was heading toward the Outer Worlds. But it would still take about an hour to get to Saturn and rescue the crew of Vex's. "... This is bullshit," she declared. "We can't just... just sit here cruising while Saturn's moons get colonized by these damned bugs!" She stood, brushing her hair from her face. "Lieutenant Zordovic, patch me through to the Pords." "The Pords?" "Yes, Lieutenant, the Pords! At the current rate it'll take too long to get there, we need an opening in their FTLi field to zip to Saturn, get the Broes, and get back to Orbis III." "... Oh. Yes, Commander. Patching through now." Facing the blank viewscreen of her ship, Milosevic spoke once a connection had been established. "Salutations, esteemed Pordish allies of Kressnia. This is Commander Anja Milosevic of the KDS Panther. Requesting a corridor within your FTLi field with which to get to Saturn and back. The Broes at Vex's need evac. Please confirm."

I... pretty much agree with all of this. Though it's not just government type changing, but people making entirely new nations from scratch and discarding the old ones, which is probably worse. So yeah, what you proposed is a good idea.

I agree with Wolfie and Alexei. As much as I wish some of these guys would just pick a national concept and stick with it, forcing name changes is just stupid.

On behalf of Supreme Leader Danica Ambrozije, Colonial Governor Roman Dubronovic of Kressnian Yugoslavia offers the opening of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Kressnia.

The Republic of Kressnia also extends congratulations toward Exodus for finding a quick resolution to its civil war. In accordance with the wishes of Supreme Leader Danica Ambrozije, the Republic of Kressnia's Third Fleet, stationed around Orbis III and IIIa (the Moon), will not interfere with the creation of this orbital station so long as there is an assurance that it will not house weaponry aimed toward the planet.

Damn! Here I wanted a neighbor, but you went and took Slovenia. Alas, my dream of a united South Slavic people is dashed! *cries*

KDS Salvation of Benaton Admiral Mihailovic sat down in his command chair after the Panther broke from the rest of the fleet on its rescue operation. The rest of the fleet held position around Orbis III and Luna, with Zorya dutifully monitoring the rest of the battlefield, showing the closest engagements on various viewscreens; Mihailovic was particularly impressed by the output of Tlaloc 22. Supreme Leader Ambrozije had correctly predicted just how much danger the Republic would have been in if attacked by any of these powers instead of joining forces... "The Mri are on the move, sir," the AVI announced. "Well, some of them, at least. Their Tenth Fleet is heading to Orbis IV. Incoming message from... Queen Phage of the Mri; she wants us to abandon Orbis III for the time being, as the Naxids don't seem to care about it in the slightest, and link up with the Tenth Fleet to provide relief for the Triskeli and the colonies on the planet. I second this motion; we'll actually get things done and at least keep forces from heading for the Panther if we engage this enemy." Mihailovic weighed his options for about ten seconds, before nodding. "Understood. Send an affirmation and get me our fleet's channels." "Aye, sir," Zorya replied, patching the Benaton in to the rest of the Third Fleet. "All ships, this is Admiral Mihailovic. We've just received a request for assistance in saving this star system by the Mri, against an enemy we've never faced and which has hit this star system with numbers none of us have ever seen before. If we do this, it will be in direct violation of our orders. If we don't do this, the colonies of Orbis IV will be lost and the Triskeli will likely be overwhelmed. And so I've decided on our plan of action: We're all going to link up with the Mri Tenth Fleet, save the natives, and kill a lot of bugs. It's time for the Republic of Kressnia to start pulling its weight for the UMS; and by the end of this battle, we're all going to be heroes. All ships, with me!" "You could have pulled that speech off better," Zorya snarked, but Mihailovic shook his head. "I'm better at speeches when I have time to prepare. No time to prepare when we've got civilians to save and allies to help." "Understood, Admiral. I'll make note of that the next time we get an early warning against insurmountable odds. All ships moving out," Zorya replied, and the Third Fleet dutifully followed its admiral in leaving Orbis III to link up with the Mri. Relief for Orbis IV was on its way.

KDS Salvation of Benaton, above Orbis III Five minutes. That was all the time that Admiral Mihailovic had had to activate the AEON system of the Third Fleet and make sure that all ships were in position. By the time that was finished, Zorya, the Alterran-made Advanced Virtual Intelligence (AVI) that was responsible for coordinating the Third Fleet's systems while using their FTLi had calculated the innumerable signatures coming in from the Naxids. And Admiral Mihailovic, as steely as he was, had nearly shat himself. He was in the largest fleet engagement any human of BF-1 had ever, and likely would ever, been a part of. And all he had was a measly two thousand ships. "All ships hold position," he commanded, and a holographic image of a robed woman appeared on the bridge. "To defend people, or gawk?" asked Zorya, possessing a dry wit that Mihailovic was not in the mood for right now. "Stow that, Zorya. What are the trajectories of these ships?" "It looks like the Naxids, in a clear defiance of any standard science-fiction 'alien invader' tropes, are not interested in Orbis III, at least not yet. Lucky break for us, considering the smallest fleet against the UMS is a paltry 60 million, heading for the Triskeli over Orbis IV. So the question is, what exactly do you plan to do, Admiral? Pray that HIGHCOM nuts up and sends reinforcements?" "Yes, but besides that--" "Sir!" called a comm officer. "Getting more signatures inbound, with an encrypted message! It's... it's the Alterrans, sir!" "What?" Mihailovic demanded, and on the Benaton's main view screen, Zorya helpfully brought up a diagram of the Orbis system, showing the various fleets in place, the countless Naxid swarm, and an Alterran signature that had jumped to around Jupiter and moved to engage the bugs. "Damn... Finally get to see the Alterrans work," Mihailovic muttered. "Is there anything else around?" "Apart from engaging fleets and torpedoes which I'm fairly certain are going to obliterate all Martian colonies, just one thing I've picked up: The Bro fueling station around Saturn, Vex's? They're in trouble. They have no defenses and their last transmission was..." Zorya paused. "A 20th Century reggae song. Given the lyrics I'm sure that it was meant to be ironic." Mihailovic paused, frowning a bit. "Get me Commander Anja Milosevic." A second later, the viewscreen image changed to show a woman in her thirties, standing aboard a smaller bridge: Commander Milosevic was in charge of the KDS Panther, a corvette meant for basic system patrol, in addition to utilizing stealth systems for ambush tactics. "Commander, I've got a mission for you," Mihailovic said to Milosevic. "Our allies the Broes are in a bit of a jam, and their gas station around Saturn is in danger. We can't really engage these Naxids right away, and they don't seem to be interested in us. So to attempt to take advantage of this, I'm sending you to Vex's to evacuate those in it and bring them to Orbis III if at all possible. This is a mission you might not come back from. Do you accept?" "Do I have a choice, sir?" Milosevic asked in reply, and Mihailovic smirked in spite of himself. "No you don't, Commander. Godspeed." Zorya cut the connection. "Is this wise, sir? That's one less ship to defend us, and for what, a few dozen Broes?" Captain Dragan Orevsky, Mihailovic's XO, asked, and the Admiral looked to him. "They're our allies, Captain. What sort of alliance is this if we don't try to help our allies who need it? We'll be seeing some fighting before too long, anyway." _____ KDS Panther Commander Anja Milosevic reclined in her command chair as the Panther shot away from the far side of Orbis III, heading toward Saturn. Silent running was active, minimizing heat signatures as much as possible, and at .9c it was around an hour to Saturn, provided they or the station made it that long; to that end the Panther was staying as far away from combat as possible for this. But, orders were orders. The Panther was going to make it to Saturn and rescue the staff of this one station or die trying, because... what else were they supposed to do in the face of almost certain failure? Run away? The Kressnians were not as martially inclined as the other UMS nations, but they were not cowards, and one way or another that was going to be proven this day.

As a nation that opposes any form of terroristic acts, and being a predominantly Orthodox Christian nation, Kressnia (or more specifically Kressnian Yugoslavia) will attend.

"Two thousand of our newest ships," Mihailovic replied, looking over the data chip given to him with a thoughtful look on his face. "Utilizing a mix of kinetic and energy weaponry, specifically. But if these are the numbers we're talking about, I'm not certain precisely how the Third Fleet can help. It'd be like a child trying to kick down an oak tree to help the lumberjacks cutting it down. And then the tree falls on the child. I'd have to request more assets from HIGHCOM, but they're squeamish about losing anyone, especially so soon after getting these ships off the line and deployed. Morale back home is important to seeing this militarization initiative through, you see." He looked to the Pordish Admiral and frowned. "So what would you suggest I and my fleet do?"

To their credit, the tiny crew of the Kressnian Admiral's shuttle, consisting simply of a pilot, co-pilot, and navigator, didn't show any sort of intimidation or awe as they were guided into a ship that was around three times the length of their entire colony on Orbis III. Or at least they didn't show anything on their faces; Mihailovic was certain they would probably have pissed themselves were he not with them. Despite his initial incredulity at the size of ships like this utter dreadnought, Mihailovic had done his best to read up on the various wars the VRZ had engaged in while in the FB-1 universe and had gradually grown ambivalent to them, as well as the fleet sizes used in these battles. The closest to that number of ships that was fielded by the humans of BF-1 was the Battle of Manzikert: The last great naval battle of the Great Interstellar War. Like the medieval Earth battle that it coincidentally took its name from, the numerically inferior fleets of the Earth Systems Alliance had routed a larger fleet of the Gotazen Union in the Manzikert System, the primary gateway to the Nidalean Sector; 30,000 against 80,000. This had been a desperate gamble by the Union, pooling every fighting ship they could spare to crush the ESA fleet in a pitched battle. But the superior admiralship of the ESA's ships had outdone the Union's own leaders, leading to massive casualties sustained and almost as many prisoners taken. When Manzikert was over, the war had effectively ended as well. The Scourging of the Nidalean Sector afterward had merely been the exclamation point. After that, and following centuries of demilitarization, the humans of BF-1 by the time of the Great Cosmic Punting had found it hard to fathom those numbers. And now the Supreme Leader was wanting a fleet of at least one hundred thousand new vessels; and even then Kressnia's navy would still be about one-eighth the size of the Broes! But those numbers-- the Kressnian ones anyway-- didn't hold a candle to the kinds of numbers used in some of the battles the Pords had taken part in, and Mihailovic was partly in awe and partly disgusted by how readily those huge fleets seemed able and almost to lose ships; FB-1 was without doubt a universe Kressnia, and the ESC as a whole, would not have survived in. The Admiral was brought out of his musing once he landed and stepped out, and was greeted by Admiral Heinz and Feldmarschall Keegan. He returned their salute with a crisp Kressnian one: the index and middle finger held together and the index touching the temple, with the thumb's distal phalanx curled to line up under them. This "three-fingered salute" was traced back over a thousand years or more, used primarily by the Serbs; the South Slavs that were the primary ancestors of the Kressnian people, being the most numerous of that ethnic group by the time the Balkan Union had sent ships into space with the ESA. "Admiral Heinz. Feldmarschall Keegan," he said to them as he relaxed, speaking in Pordish. "I'm honored to have been called upon by you. Shall we get started?"

"Getting a hail, sir. It's the Pords," called a comm officer on the bridge not long after the Third Fleet had taken its place around Orbis III and IIIa. Admiral Mihailovic nodded. "Patch it through." After a moment, the bridge was filled with the audio of the Pords' message. "This is Admiral Manster Heinz of the Imperial Nalydian Voznayte Rekazhgrazhni Zhamra. We are here to discuss matters pertaining to the defense of this system. You will be given clearance to come aboard VRZ Azure Midwinter's Sunset," the message said, and Mihailovic paused. To the best of his knowledge the UMS member states' navies didn't coordinate often, or at least, this was perhaps the first time the Kressnians had been included in such a thing, as their usual distance from the others made such endeavors a bit difficult. "Patch me through," Mihailovic told the officer, and she obeyed. "This is Admiral Mihailovic of the Kressnian Self Defense Force Navy's Third Fleet. I'll be along shortly, thank you." That done, he got up from his command chair and nodded to Captain Orevsky. "You have the ship, Captain. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, and Orevsky nodded taking the admiral's place as he left the bridge. After a few minutes the admiral reached the shuttle bay, taking a ride out toward the Pordish flagship that completely dwarfed anything the humans of BF-1 had ever built and likely ever would build, and he finally, truly understood why the Supreme Leader had nicknamed such vessels "Ridicu-ships".

The transuniversal gate between Orbis VII and VIII opened once more, as it needed to do pretty much constantly in order to facilitate travel between this universe and NS-1, but unlike the norm for the Kressnians ships coming in, there was something... different this time. The first ship was larger than any such ship seen in Kressnian space in centuries, being roughly two kilometers long and borrowing its basic design from the Star Destroyers of the Triskelion Empire, with a rough triangle shape to benefit forward-firepower while also allowing for broadside, and a set of towers at the top of the 480-meter high vessel which housed the primary sensor arrays of the ship itself. Housing an Alterran-made FTLi system, and 1,300 energy batteries; 750 to a side, divided into 325 on top and bottom, meant to throw beams of focused particle-energy at opponents (and gouge large holes in ships at least the size of a mainline Triskeli ISD) and hundreds of smaller, kinetic weapons emplacements and antimatter torpedo banks for use when the energy batteries are recharging, and this ship, while nowhere near as large or powerful as warships belonging to the other UMS nations in PW-1, was the most heavily armed ship the Kressnian people had fielded in four hundred years. The actual bridge of this ship, the KDS Salvation of Benaton, was nestled below the sensor towers. On this bridge, dozens of naval officers were at their stations, as the commanding officer stood before them, looking at a viewscreen that showed the vastness of space and a number of symbols denoting various astronomical objects and how far the Benaton was from these objects in lightseconds. It'd take... roughly two and a half hours to get to Orbis III at this rate. Admiral Stevan Mihailovic had served in the Kressnian naval militia since he was seventeen years old. Now he was pushing sixty, and in charge of one of the new Triumph of Perun-class battleships commissioned by the start of the KSDF Initiative roughly a year ago, which the reorganized Navy had eagerly built up its numbers for once it began, producing hundreds, thousands of new ships over the past twelve months. There were around a hundred of these battleships now, and with the deal made with the Kutathi Orbital Fabricators, and the KSDF building foundries in the unoccupied star systems near Turanov, many more would come. But the Salvation of Benaton was not the only ship of this type meant to come through to Orbis. As the Benaton cruised along at .9c, in no particular rush to get to Orbis III, several more ships came through the gate: Another Triumph of Perun-class, the Victory at Greenwall, as well as a number of smaller, boxier ships less than a kilometer in length: Tesla-class cruisers and Bellicose-class destroyers, both new ship types introduced in the Initiative. Soon enough, this number turned into dozens. Dozens turned into hundreds. And hundreds turned into thousands. Two thousand to be exact, making up the KSDF Navy's Third Fleet. And Mihailovic was in charge of them all. It was a paltry number compared to the fleets fielded by the Pords, Mri, or Triskeli, but that didn't matter to him. All these lives, hundreds of thousands of them, both naval and marine, were his responsibility. "Battleships Victory at Greenwall to Defense of Durandal reporting in, Admiral," called one of the comm officers. "All cruisers, frigates, destroyers, and corvettes are getting through fine. So far so good." "Excellent. When we reach Orbis III, I want the fleet split into groups of one hundred ships, one battleship for each group. No FTLi is to be raised, passive scanning mode only." "Aye, sir. Transmitting orders now." Putting his hands behind his back, Mihailovic simply waited for a bout thirty minutes before retiring to his cabin. It was comfortable, but sparsely decorated, with only a holo-picture of his children with their own children on his desk, and one of those funny little bird toys that would dip its beak into a glass of water. A curious invention that had survived for about eight centuries pretty much unchanged, like a number of other human creations. He sat at his desk, picking up a holopad and beginning to look through a number of reports on it. This took a while, and eventually a chime came at his door. "Enter," Mihailovic called, and his executive officer, Captain Dragan Orevsky, obeyed. Mihailovic looked up to the man, around twenty years his junior, and frowned. "Am I needed, Dragan?" "We're about ten minutes from Orbis III. I thought you'd like to see her, Admiral." "Mm," Mihailovic replied, and he stood and followed his XO back toward the bridge. On the viewscreen, quickly approaching, was the Blue Jewel itself. Or one of them, at least. The Kressnians could not go back home. They could not go back to BF-1. And even in NS-1 they were incapable of going to that version of Earth. The admiral was not a sentimental man, usually. But he knew how much just being able to see Orbis III meant to so many of those under his command, compared to those other national fleets that viewed the system as a backwater; these were men and women who would likely never have seen the Earth of their universe even if they had stayed in BF-1. There were millions of Kressnians living down on that rock, happily calling the place home alongside billions of other humans. And as the fleet took up positions around Orbis III and the moon, Admiral Stevan Mihailovic knew his mission. His fleet was not the largest, most experienced, and certainly not the most powerful among those UMS assets in this system. But come Hell or high water it was going to defend this planet and the people on it when needed, even to their dying breaths. That was their job, after all.

I gotchu, fam.

Belgrade, Kressnian Yugoslavia Mila Dragunov, Colonial Chief of Staff for Governor Roman Dubronovic, stood before a number of reporters, native and colonist alike within the press hall of the Novi Dvor for the second time in as many days. Whereas before she had hidden annoyance behind a neutral facade due to the previous subject matter, here she genuinely smiled. The Chief of Staff had always been a firm proponent of order when it came to society; it was why she had worked to take control of Belgrade from other warlords and expanded her influence as far as she could, while simultaneously working to keep those in her borders as safe and happy as possible. And it was for this reason that when the Kressnian colonists had first arrived months previously, with their hundreds of ships spreading out across a fair portion of the Balkans, after seeing the well-organized military they brought with them and the clearly incredibly advanced technology compared to much of Orbis III (and the subtle implication given to her that as advanced as the Kressnians were, they were primitive compared to most other members of the UMS-- something she had received confirmation on after seeing footage of the Maya in action), it hadn't taken much convincing at all for her to allow the Kressnians in, as they had agreed with her idea of bringing order to the region. She had been quite pleased this tactic had worked elsewhere. As the cameras went live, Chief Dragunov smiled brightly at those assembled and began reading a speech written and drafted by her deputies. "Good morning!" she began, not even bothering to try to seriously contain her happiness. "I'm very pleased to announce that this morning, members of the Kressnian diplomatic corps have succeeded, after several months of talks, in convincing the representatives of the neighboring 'Confederated States of Kosovo' to become incorporated into Kressnian Yugoslavia. At 3 PM local time, the Colonial Field Army detached the Fifth KSDF Army Division to reinforce Kosovo, in order to secure a peaceful transition. In related news, KSDF High Command has passed down an order from the Supreme Leader herself to Governor Dubronovic regarding for the creation of what is currently referred to as the 'Colonial Navy'. This is a green-water force that is meant to help secure safe trading lanes throughout the Adriatic Sea, and possibly moving into the wider Mediterranean." The press corps immediately began asking questions, and Chief Dragunov nodded to one of them. "Roman Ivanovic, Belgrade News. In regards to this green-water navy, doesn't it seem somewhat redundant? The KSDF primarily uses spacecraft to protect trade, does it not?" "A good question," Dragunov remarked. "No, this naval endeavor is not redundant. With the collapse of the Italian Empire, Kressnia is by default the only properly organized power in the Adriatic, and one of the only nations with direct access to the Mediterranean. Piracy is a real concern, because since so many states, organized or not, simply do not have the kind of technology that Kressnia has there's little resistance to these pirates. And the creation of a surface navy will not only crack down on piracy, but it'll also help with employment of Balkan natives for an important service, and allow us to make use of the ships that are along our coastlines. The colonists have not ever actually fielded a surface navy, so they will be needing a fair amount of help from us locals. And it will also help avoid complaints of flying over a sovereign nation's airspace. Next question?" Another reporter stood up, adjusting her skirt. "Anja Kasun, Kressnian Broadcasting Corporation. Regarding Kosovo, we understand that a majority of Kosovars are of the Muslim faith, and religious tensions have occasionally been high. Do you worry that this will affect efforts for peaceful incorporation?" "I certainly hope not," Chief Dragunov said, to general chuckling. "The colonists have not seen practitioners of Islam within their own territory for a very long time. But one of the Republic's founding ideals was based upon freedom of religious affiliation. The colonists have no problem with allowing the Muslim Kosovars in; if they did there would have been no talks. Any tensions that may arise should hopefully fade as people get used to the idea of sharing a common national identity. And if they do not... Well, that's why forces were sent in. Next question." Roman Ivanovic spoke again. "Are there any further plans to expand the colony's borders?" "Yes. The Republic wishes to bring all those with a shared South Slavic ethnic identity under their banner and share in the Republic's stability and, let's face it, much more powerful economy than we've ever had here in the Balkans, as they are all descended from people of our ethnic group in their home universe. They see us as kin to be helped, not subjects to be conquered, as I'm sure you're all aware. As such, they're currently engaging in talks with the Independent Provinces of Slovenia and the Principality of Macedonia. After that, no new plans for expansion are expected. No more questions at this time, thank you." As she stepped off the stage and out of the room, Chief Dragunov's mood was soured by the sight of her least favorite person in the Governor's staff: Slobodan Bulgarin, the Secretary of Commerce that had been the Supreme Leader's personal advised choice to Governor Dubronovic for that position, and as such, he was the rival to her regarding the Governor's ear; what was worse, he knew this, and always poked at her about it. The smug, shit-eating grin he always gave her just made her want to punch out those perfect teeth of his, and it was no different now. "Good speech," Secretary Bulgarian said to her, walking alongside her. When she said nothing, he replied: "You're practically one of us now, with how you seemed so excited to tell people all that. Who knew the Republic could inspire such wonderful patriotism in someone in just a few months? And I'm pretty sure that's the first genuine non-shark smile you've given since we moved in together! You're such a good neighbor!" "Bite me, Bulgarin. If it were a choice between moving in with you, or a grizzly bear, I'd take the bear. At least then I'd suffer a quick death." "I just love it when you get all catty." "Bite me!"

Hey Eva, I can has Kosovo? Finally decided to start expanding, and I got an idea for how to start mah thread.

Belgrade, Kressnian Yugoslavia In the executive office of the Novi Dvor, the footage of the Major General's inaugural speech was broadcast through a television which was watched by the Colonial Governor of Kressnian Yugoslavia (which had all but become the official name of the colony, displacing its more technical counterpart due to ease of use). Roman Dubronovic was a man with an even temper and a sharp mind, tall and weathered with slightly greying black hair. His face was partially obscured by his hands, which were steepled together as he watched Major General Beilschmidt's speech, noting his tone, his body language... "A two-bit dictator," spat another figure in the room. Governor Dubronovic glanced to his left, and regarded Mila Dragunov, his Colonial Chief of Staff and primary advisor. A tall, striking woman with a tongue as sharp as her eyes, she served the Governor well by speaking earnestly and honestly to him about things regarding the colonial effort, everything from the deployment of KSDF resources throughout the region to sanitation problems throughout the colony-- things delegated to lesser appointees to the executive offices of the colony which were funneled through her, either to or from the Governor. But she was most notable because she was not a born Kressnian, but rather a Serb native; in fact, the very woman whom had at one point overseen Belgrade and a fair portion of the surrounding communities prior to the colonization by Kressnia, and had been the most powerful of the neo-feudal overseers in the entire region. Her experience in regional matters was invaluable. "Look at him, sir-- He wields a gun and fires it in a diplomatic meeting, he has an utterly repugnant look of smugness on his face-- he's clearly off his rocker!" "And yet," intoned an older male standing off to the side: Secretary of Colonial Affairs Stevan Novak, "he explicitly stated he wished to conduct diplomatic meetings with Kressnia. I find it unlikely that we'll be dealing with the man personally. And just as well, because I feel like if he met you, Mila, sparks would fly and we'd likely have some sort of incident on our hands!" The woman ignored the jest, and looked to the others assembled in the room. "I don't think we should talk to him," she declared. "I don't even think we should humor him. He looks to be a dangerous figure." "So are many of you Orbislanders, but you don't see us cowering in fear whenever you get going," replied Secretary of Commerce Slobodan Bulgarin, a born-and-raised Kressnian who had a knack for getting under the chief of staff's skin with his barbs. And she looked quite ready to bite his head off before Governor Dubronovic raised a hand, silencing them all. "The man wants contact. Our fleets will be overseeing Orbis III's orbit and I think Orbis IV's as well, as per the UMS summit on the matter, and from what I understand Sweden... What's that phrase Her Excellency uses? 'Cannot into space', so I believe this figure will not be a threat to us. Unless of course, he does something really, really stupid and is backed by those powers that can into space. Besides that, considering our navy's soon-to-be stewardship of the second part of the inner-system, it wouldn't hurt to actually reach out to others and show them that we mean no harm. I'll send word to NS-1 to arrange for a diplomat to come down and handle these gestures. Embassies are always good." Chief Dragunov looked rather annoyed, but said nothing except: "Are we gonna send them an official statement, sir?" "Yes, Mila," said Dubronovic. "Short and sweet, just as you like it." Secretary Bulgarin snorted at what he no doubt perceived to be an innuendo, and Chief Dragunov glared before turning on her heel and marching out of the room. * * * Roughly an hour after this private, informal meeting, the Colonial Chief of Staff herself stood at a podium, and her face was professional and neutral despite her inward annoyance. As the cameras rolled, she gave a lovely smile. "Good afternoon. In regards to the inaugural speech made by Major General Beilschmidt of Sweden earlier today, and his desire to open diplomatic channels with the Republic of Kressnia, the Colonial Governor of Kressnian Yugoslavia has acted with diplomatic authority vested in him by Supreme Leader Danica Ambrozije in the absence of any higher ranking diplomatic officials. He wishes it to be known that, in this era of political turmoil and tragedy for the natives of Orbis, it is the wish of the Republic to open official relations with the powers of Western Europe and beyond; in this particular instance, most specifically the Kingdom of Sweden. We hope to provide assistance to those countries being affected by these waves of problems, and so any requests for diplomatic talks can be communicated to Governor Dubronovic. We eagerly await the response of Sweden and any power whom we have not already had official contact with in this regard. Thank you very much." She stepped away from the podium and walked out of the room despite questions being asked of her, so that those in the press corps wouldn't see the sour face she was making.

Danica had stopped after hearing the clay cup shatter, but she didn't turn around as B'alam spoke to her; to acknowledge him would just make her angrier. She stayed put, only turning around as Go'lonthv spoke; looking to him, she frowned a bit, and decided that if such an issue became up again, she or a representative would be better served following the Mukitan's example and appealing to the idea of reason and wisdom being a reason for respecting the locals, not simply the idea of morals. She stepped aside for him and his aides, giving him a respectful nod, and then looked to the French apologetically as they left, trying to convey that she did her best. Then she looked back to B'alam as he launched into his tirade, and her face showed confusion. This man was... hard for her to pin down. One moment he was calling her weak and naïve (the second one being something she would not deny, as that would be stupid), the next he was using one of her points to make his own. One moment he was saying the natives were no better than beasts who needed a good beating to learn how to behave together, the next he was blowing up at Elizabeth for her arrogance in declaring them beneath her. What is your deal...? she thought to herself in regard to B'alam. The only word she could think of was "honor", but that didn't help, as the Toninan concept of honor was rather different from the Kressnian one. She just shook her head in amazement, watching him go off on Elizabeth, and secretly wished that she had the military weight to be able to do such things herself, at least sometimes. It certainly looked cathartic. Still, though, it looked like the UMS was headed, again, toward some sort of civil war (if it could even be called such a thing), and once more she sincerely wished the Alterrans were here to play peacemaker. Because she certainly didn't seem up to the test. Heaving a great sigh, she let Emperor Cenna pass her out, and she rubbed her face a bit with a hand, setting her exosuit helmet down momentarily to do so. "Please..." she called out, walking back to them, and for the first time in a long time, her voice sounded truly tired. "... As hypocritical as it is of me to say this, as I just ranted at both of you, which was wrong for me to do and I sincerely apologize to you and to our host for my own lack of tact... Can we please let cooler heads try to prevail here? Please, I'm... I am at the end of my rope here. I don't know precisely what has kept the UMS together for this long, so different are we all, but... I may be zero for two at keeping peace when we get together, but... dammit, it would be wrong for me to just leave and let you or your nations rip each other's throats out over... over arrogance and name-calling." She sat back down in her chair, almost slumping as the pressure of all this showed on her face... but her eyes, her eyes remained firm as she sat up straight. She looked to the Chernigovians and Hungadadians. "Emperor Alexei and... Forgive me, sir, but I do not know your name... If you wish to leave this summit, I wouldn't blame you. You were lied to and talked down upon, which were severe, inexcusable breaches of diplomatic protocol, and on behalf of the entire UMS I apologize. But I ask that you not let your anger at insults lead to... Foolishness, I suppose. What you ultimately do is up to you." She turned back to B'alam, and nam-Kalzhak, and asked a simple question. "Why did our nations, who are as radically different as our representatives, create the Union of Multiversal States in the first place? Aren't we... aren't we supposed to be sharers of a mutual bond? Instead all I've seen, and taken part in, are anger and insults. This... This isn't how we're supposed to be, is it? Because I feel like it's supposed to be different. I'm not talking out of optimism, but rather... just a sense of pragmatism. What is the point of this alliance if we just go at each other whenever we get together?"

It was some time before Danica moved from her spot, so lost was she in her own thought of everything that had happened in the past week. But eventually, she made up her mind, and made arrangements to see herself back to NS-1. For the time being, she was through with being in this universe and delaying her return home. She was tired of trying and failing to stop diplomatic spats out of a sense of idealism that clearly didn't belong here. She was tired of being looked down upon as some naïve child who didn't know her place. One way or another, she decided, by the time she came back to PW-1, things would be different for her. And so by the time morning came, the Novi Dvor was once more in the hands of Governor Roman Dubronovic, and Danica was back in the Republic proper. She would not come back for some time.

Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Never in her life had Danica seen such flagrant disrespect for... sapient life in general, really. First B'alam chastised her for acting motherly as if it were a bad thing, and more or less calling her inept for it, after declaring that peace went against Toninan interests after he had actually attempted to talk Alexei out of war to begin with (and had succeeded alongside Danica herself in doing so), and then Elizabeth had the nerve to stand up and openly, gleefully declare her contempt for the observers present and tell them to submit to her empire, and the UMS as a whole, or... Well, Danica supposed she'd just exterminate them all. Because why not? They were less than plant life in Elizabeth's eyes, after all, who would possibly care? She'd heard enough. Standing up, Danica looked silently over at the UMS delegates, most specifically B'alam and Elizabeth, and though inside she felt so angry that it seemed to loop around and make her calm, she spoke to them both coolly. "So that's it, then," she declared, her voice soft but it carried throughout the entire room. "The intentions of at least two of the members of our esteemed alliance are completely clear. One does not want any sort of peace of any kind, and sees fit to mock me for my attempts at making peace by trying to appeal to the better natures of all those present, apparently because my people are weak for wanting to avoid genocide, and because I just so happen to be a woman who is oh-so-clearly not capable of knowing what's best for my people. If I did not know what was best for my people, I wouldn't have created the Kressnian Self Defense Force and sought to bring our navy up to at least one-hundred thousand ships. But that doesn't mean I like it. Lord B'alam, when you and I spoke to Emperor Alexei to come to a settlement after the Martian conflict just a few days ago, you actually joined me in averting a war that could have killed millions. Possibly even more. At that point I thought I had seen just the faintest glimmer of compassion in you. And yet here you sit, looking to those assembled and proudly proclaiming that the the Maya don't want peace, and are happy to force the natives to their knees in submission to you... Why? Because of a religious mandate? Because your people are restless? Because it's fun? And why did you even bother with a pretense of peace toward Alexei if you truly don't care about his people? Did you do it out of a sense of pragmatism? Or maybe you did it for me? I don't know the answer to any of those questions, and it doesn't matter to me, because from what I can tell it doesn't matter to you, either." She turned to Elizabeth next. "And you. You call this summit, invite the natives here, and allow me to allow them to speak, only to turn around and gleefully make a mockery of both the concepts of diplomatic immunity and decorum by threatening their lives, threatening to crush them underfoot, and declaring yourself and the UMS their new gods. Are you an empress with trillions-- probably quadrillions-- of subjects under your command and an obligation to do what's best for them as their leader, or are you a cartoon supervillain who bullies those weaker than you simply because it amuses you to do so? Either way, the arrogance and disrespect you've shown disgusts me. At least the United Terran Alliance might have been able to put up some kind of semblance of a fight against you if war happened, so I can understand feeling superior to that idiot Shore, but this is just too much. The Hungadadians don't even have the ability to try to fight you in space!" She looked to both of them now: "And here's a question I'd definitely like to know the answer to: If all you care about is might and the ability to use it, then the Kressnians, the Tarakians, Burien... Hell, even the Brotherhood: What makes us weaker nations in the UMS any different from the natives here to you? What makes you consider us your equals, enough that you, Empress Elizabeth, suggested that Kressnia have the honor of safeguarding Orbis III, and after that Admiral nam-Kalzhak graciously offered the suggestion that my nation's navy have the honor of protecting Orbis III and IV? If Kressnia were not in the UMS, or had not been in Alterran territory when we went through the Great Cosmic Punting, would you have considered me an equal to the two of you then? I highly doubt it, as one of you would have likely pounced on my nation simply because we were there, and because of that I'm eternally grateful that the Alterrans found us first. When I signed the UMS Charter, I suppose I severely underestimated the kinds of people I would be calling allies; not on a national level, but an individual one. And that's my failing, mine alone. But I still joined this alliance to make sure my people were safe and could prosper, but that did not include forcefully subjugating those weaker than my nation. And I suppose I believed that maybe, just maybe, on a personal level I could have some new friends, not simply allies. That my people could face this new life without fear looming over them like a spectre, because there were people that they could count on to help them, not out of obligation, but out of a shared bond. A stupid thought, a fanciful thought, but there you are. After all, what do I know about any of you?" She paused, allowing the silence in the room to ring before continuing. "And I think the worst part about it is, nothing I've said or will say will change your minds anyway. There's literally no point to my being here and preaching. For all I know, you'll hear what I've said and decide to teach me a lesson by exterminating the people I hold dear, all because I dared to speak to you in this way. Because like I said... What makes my people any different from them?" Taking a breath, she turned to the Admiral. "I sincerely thank you, Admiral nam-Kalzhak, for holding this summit and allowing us to attend, even if for some of us it was under false pretenses. I hereby excuse myself from this meeting, unless anyone has any objections. Despite my indignation, Kressnia will abide by whatever you all decide to do here. Thank you." She gave a respectful bow, grabbed the trident that was gifted to her as well as her exosuit's helmet, turned on her heel, and walked out of the forum, into the lobby and back toward her transport, unless of course anyone deigned to stop her or call her back.

"And... That is precisely my fear, I suppose. I do not... I do not want to become a heartless cynic. I'm a firm believer in the good of all beings, if they have the will to let it triumph over their base desires. I..." She stopped, and was silent for a long time, trying to come to terms with this. She knew from experience that human beings were not some simple-minded as to blindly follow her example, or even the example of the gods they did worship. And yet here was Death talking to her about this. A being that had told her upfront that he was, essentially, the ultimate power in the multiverse. A figure that had seen civilizations and gods rise and fall for so long, for so many cycles, Danica herself could scarcely understand the scale of it. And then there were figures like B'alam, who outright questioned her ability to safeguard her own people simply because she refused to stop seeing the potential in humanity-- specifically, the humans of PW-1. That had infuriated her so much... but what if he was right? "... I have a lot to think about," she said at last, her voice weary.

Though Danica listened to all those who spoke-- she was particularly pleased with the French Secretary's words, and later intrigued by Alexei's reveal of incredibly primitive people on Mars-- as the UMS members each spoke in turn, she sighed, and by the end had put her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes. A dull ache began in her forehead, a sign of the mounting frustration she felt. Shouldn't have even bothered, she thought to herself rather bitterly. Her naïveté had caused this mess, and perhaps she could not have expected any different. But she had made her choice to speak when and how she had, and she was sorely tempted to speak again. And after a few moments of deliberation, she did. Standing up yet again, she looked to those assembled among her actual allies. "It appears that I am the only one here," she said, trying to keep the bitter tone from her voice, "that actually believes in these people. For the record, speaking to Lord B'alam, it was I who thought the observers should be allowed to speak. If I am to be reprimanded for that, fine. I would make the same decision again if I had to do it over. The only thing I regret is opening my mouth, not what has come out of it." She strode to the center of the room again, and produced a disc-like device that, when activated, hovered off the ground. "As much as it pains me to say so... Perhaps Ambassador Go'lonthv of the Brotherhood is correct. Perhaps it truly is our duty to look to the natives and attempt to shepherd them. Lord knows I'm guilty of that with my own people. Not because I feel myself superior to them, but because I love them, and want them to be better. The Kressnians are generally not warlike. They are not conquerors. But this was not always the case." She made a gesture with her hand, and the floating disc projected a large holographic image of the Milky Way. She made another gesture, and the image zoomed in upon the Orion Arm. "This is the Orion Arm of my home universe, a universe designated 'BF-1'. Four hundred years ago, by our calendar, the single largest conflict ever waged by the humans of BF-1 took place: The Great Interstellar War," Danica said, beginning to pace slowly around the image. The Orion Arm lit up, or at least a not-insignificant portion of it, and was overlaid with two colors: A vibrant blue, on which an insignia representing Earth-- or Orbis-- appeared. The second color was an angry red, with a black, angular insignia that looked brutish and crude, similar to fascist symbols of the 20th Century and beyond. The red seemed to be larger than the blue, at first. "The blue is representative of the Earth Systems Alliance, the original government of my universe's humanity. The red, represents the Gotazen Union, so named for its founder, Justinian Gotazes. The Union believed the ESA was an oppressive governmental force, levying harsh taxes and forcing conscription, which was true. And so Gozates rallied planet after planet to his cause, because the ESA at that time refused to admit to any wrongdoing. Sounds simple, no? Not quite: Gotazes was even worse. He was a fascist who brutally suppressed any dissidence, while conditioning his people and those who rallied around him through propaganda to hate the ESA with a fiery, absolute passion that... worked too well, as when he got strong enough to secede from the ESA, Gotazes spent a decade slowly building up forces. And then he declared war." The colors began to move, with the red starting to dominate the blue and cause it to shrink before they fluctuated. "Fifteen years. That's how long the Great Interstellar War lasted. Hundreds of thousands of ships lost, hundreds of millions of people lost on both sides... But by the last year of the war..." She looked up at the hologram, and the blue suddenly began swallowing up the red, circling around a particular stronghold of the red and surrounding it. Another gesture, and she zoomed in on the stronghold to show images of heavily urbanized, clearly highly populated star systems. "The Gotazen Union was on its last legs. They had no navy anymore, and while they still had billions in terms of population, they were reduced to their home sector: The Nidalean Sector, comprising of twenty inhabited star systems. The ESA military command knew that attempting to assault the sector directly would bring even more massive casualties. They also believed that Gotazes had been so effective in his conditioning that every single person in the Nidalean Sector would rather lay down their lives than surrender. And so there was no surrender." A counter appeared above the images, showing a number: 17,789,467,351. The images changed to footage of missiles being launched from starships, shown by their exterior cameras, and heading down towards various planets. As the first massive explosion was seen, the counter began to wind down, and as the missiles began to pick up in number to the point it was hard to count, the counter plummeted, faster and faster, while footage of the planets themselves actually being damaged enough to break apart was shown. Danica watched this with a steely gaze, and it was clear to anyone who looked to her that she was envisioning as many of those numbers as possible as the people they represented. When the counter reached zero... The footage ended, and Danica zoomed back out to show the Orion Arm, with the highlighted territory now all blue. "The Alliance won the war, because by the end of it, there was no-one left alive in the Nidalean Sector to surrender to them. The planets were all destroyed and turned into husks, into rubble, due to incredibly liberal use of antimatter weaponry. Not a single member of the Union in that area survived that purge. And it all happened... Within a single, solar day. Every ESA nation took part in it... Even Kressnia. But why am I saying all of this? Why am I giving this... admittedly long-winded lecture? This is why." The highlighted area shifted, covering more stars in the Orion Arm, and the blue color changed slightly, with the insignia also including a number of star-like dots around Earth. "The ESA, in the aftermath of the War, became so disgusted with themselves for the genocide they committed, that they vowed to reform not as a supranational government, but as an entire species. They vowed two simple words: Never again. The Earth Systems Alliance became the Earth Systems Confederation, giving more autonomy to its members and voluntarily demilitarizing-- not completely, but to the point where nobody needed to worry about another Gotazes. What you see now is the Confederation as it was shortly before Kressnia was cosmically punted into the NS-1 universe. My point... is that my universe's humanity sank lower than it ever had before on that day. But it saw what it had done, and it realized how wrong it was. Conflict was not abolished. They did not turn into some perfect society where no-one ever fought. But they have held true to their vow to never conduct anything like the Scourge, or the Great Interstellar War, ever again." The holographic display powered down, and she looked directly to the observers. "Most of your nations are young. You still squabble over finite resources like any society that hasn't reached post-scarcity. But I reject the idea that this is all you are. I reject the idea that you cannot change, or that you must kneel before a greater power to benefit from it. Ambassador Go'lonthv may be right in that right now, you can't necessarily be trusted as nations-- not as people-- to not use what we have to offer you for selfish, petty reasons instead of working together. But if you take anything to heart that was said here today, take this: We are here to help you, if you are willing to commit yourselves to change, to keep your beloved home from becoming a graveyard. It worked for my people. And I believe with all my heart that it can work for you. That will never change." She looked back to the UMS delegates, her expression rather firm in the manner of someone whose sincere convictions had come to the forefront. "Kressnia finds the proposed partitioning of the Orbis system acceptable, Admiral nam-Kalzhak. Please forgive my long filibuster, as it was primarily directed toward the observers. If I am to be reprimanded for inviting them to speak, so be it." She gave him a respectful bow, took the floating disc-like device back, and marched back to her seat, sitting down. She steepled her fingers together and hid most of her face behind them, eyes closed.

Danica paused for a moment, and looked to him. "Why?" she asked simply. Her tone wasn't confrontational, but legitimately curious. "Why should I be their goddess now, after they have spent centuries in relative peace, with a system that works? I am already doing what I am supposed to in leading them as best I can, and I... I don't want them to become like my people. To become a theocracy, specifically where my word is the only law and faith in me is the only faith. For all my pride, and my belief that I'm the only one that can really help them achieve true prosperity-- something I'll readily admit to here-- I do not feel that worship of myself is worth... Worth them losing what makes them who they are. To become something other than the people I fell in love with. Change is inevitable, I understand that, it's just... I fear that such change will not be good. So please, Lord Death... Help me understand why I need to do this, and how doing so truly will help them, and not hurt them. That's all I ask for here."

Danica pursed her lips, furrowing her brow and frowning in thought at the Triskeli Empress' proposal. In all honesty, if it were up to her and her alone there would be freedom of movement throughout the entire system. But it was not up to her alone, and Kressnia, though its standing within the UMS had improved since joining the Pords, Triskeli, the Brotherhood, the Maya, and the Mri (who were actually not part of the UMS, but they might as well have been, as they were an incredibly powerful and influential ally) in coming to PW-1 and colonizing part of Orbis, was nowhere near capable of enforcing any mandates of its own yet even if the set-up for the UMS allowed for such a thing to occur. But it was the end of Elizabeth's speech that caused Danica to visibly look shocked; in fact, she was quite speechless. She wanted Kressnia to oversee the space around Orbis proper?! She had scarcely gotten past that when Admiral nam-Kalzhak suggested extending the Kressnian Self Defense Force's naval presence to Mars as well, which utterly floored her, but she could see it working for a reason nam-Kalzhak did not mention: Kressnia had no presence on Mars, and thus had no reason to show any sort of bias. Still, though... She waited until things had quieted down before deciding to chip into the discussion herself, standing from her seat and taking the floor. "Esteemed allies... Honored guests," she said, looking from the UMS representatives to the Orbisian observers. "I feel it is my duty to remind all in attendance that while we in the Union of Multiversal States came to this universe and were drawn to the Orbis system like flies to honey for various reasons... As the fact that there are observers here shows, we are not the only polities in this system, this galaxy, or even the wider universe. Our presence here, and the strong-arming of various members of our alliance, has threatened war and loss of life repeatedly since we arrived to stake our claims." She paused, and looked around again, before continuing. "I feel we in the UMS must ask ourselves: Why do we, who have the capability to cross universal barriers with contemptuous ease, terraform entire planets as if it is routine, and field fleets in the hundreds of thousands or more, and deploy armies of hundreds of millions or more, in order to pacify parts of a system that most of us don't have any particular attachment to, feel the need to impose our wills upon these people? I assume to the Triskeli, the answer is 'Because we must protect our interests, and they cannot stop us from doing so'. To the Pords I assume the answer is 'We are just claiming what they have no desire or ability to claim, because the areas we claim are good for us to live in'. It appears the Brotherhood's answer is 'Because we can obtain wealth from that which is unclaimed'. But to the Republic of Kressnia, the answer is: 'We don't want to enforce our will on anyone. We want to help and befriend those here'." Another pause, and she looked to the observers, most specifically the French and Hungadadians. "It is my belief that the nations of Orbis who have decided to come here have just as much right to determine what becomes of this system they live in as we do, and it isn't because of any sort of military might. It is because this was their home before we came in and upset their stability, and because allowing them a say is simply the right thing to do, as the people here may not be up to the standards of some of us in terms of force or technology, but they are not brutes, or dumb animals, or children needing a parent to watch over them for their own good. If this decision were up to me alone, there would be no blockades, no individual nations controlling entire planets, no Faster-Than-Light-Interdiction restricting how quickly one can get around this system, at least in times of peace; FTLi, while it can seem obstructive, is incredibly useful in war. "But it is not up to me alone. At the end of the day, all I can do when the UMS makes a decision together is to go along with that decision. But I promise you this, nations of Orbis: The Republic of Kressnia bears no ill will toward any of those here, or those back on Orbis. I will only allow my nation's navy to oversee the space around Orbis, and potentially Mars, if you will allow it in the end, and will not force it upon you, if the decision reached by the UMS causes tension, though I do still have to go through with it at the outset. And I tell you this because my people are descended from colonists that came from their own version of Orbis-- this is why we came to you and settled in the Balkans specifically, and why we used diplomacy to allow our colonization to occur, instead of warfare; the Balkan natives on the whole seem quite happy to be a part of my nation now, though they were initially distrustful. I cannot speak for the UMS as a whole, but all Kressnia wants is peace and prosperity. For ourselves, our allies, and yourselves. We will not use FTLi to restrict the speeds of incoming and outgoing ships coming to Orbis unless there is warfare, and if any of your nations object to this, and wish to cooperate with us in a joint venture, I am completely open to that idea. We may have people who call this new place their home... But it is still your home too. Thank you." With that, she sat down, cleared her throat slightly, and waited.

Taking the trident graciously, Danica smiled and stepped away, giving her thanks to the Admiral, before she caught sight of B'alam. She gave the Toninan prince a smile, though it was rather strained here, and he moved on to other things. And so did she, as she greeted the Brotherhood's ambassador and then moved to sit down at a table, blocking out any shenanigans that might be going on; she'd learned to do that much after the insanity of the UMS Foundation summit... both versions. Setting her gift down gingerly, as well as the helmet she had removed upon entering, she looked toward nam-Kalzhak with a small frown as he spoke to the assembled, and set her elbows on the table, interlocking her fingers and setting her chin upon them. She glanced around, waiting to see who would speak first.