Rifts and Rocks: ATTN ORC

[RC 212]

[member="Julius Sedaire"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

[member="Bug'ares'vemmosk"]
[member="Marx Zinder"]

1st Commonwealth Systems Battle-group
Border Space

Following prior negotiations, which were as of yet a state secret the 1st Battlegroup did appear though at extreme weapons range at the ORC border. It was more than enough time for their sensors to pick them up and relay the information back to Judge HQ and whatever other hidey holes they had.

On the bridge of the CSS Arbiter, She stood with hands folded bhind her back as she watched her crew.

"Fire inertial compensators. Reverse thrust, twenty five percent."

"Aye, Ma'am."

"Comms, open us a Diplomatic Channel and begin broadcasting our Diplo beacon. Alert them that we wish to Parlay."

​

Parlay, what an ancient term.​

And alas it was done. Someone in what passed for a law or government building in this sector was getting something.....

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Katarine Falcon"]

Maybe half an hour after the unidentified fleeting object showed up, so did I. Had to run supplies to a refugee camp on Oberon anyway, so this didn't take us far out of our way. Wasn't much of a risk, either: we'd patched up well since Skor Two. Big nasty shields hummed up when we decanted, and we massed as much as a Star Destroyer.

"Comms, hail'em. Put me on." My Arcona comms man nodded. "Unknown fleet, this is Captain Jorus Merrill of the S.S. Gossamer, flying for the Coalition. What's your business?"

 

[RC 212]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

1st Commonwealth Systems Battle-group
Border Space

"Ma'am we are receiving from an... S.S. Gossamer."

"Send it."

She listened to the message and then nodded.

"Open a channel back, holo if you can."

Unsure of the tech level of the ORC folks, she hoped that the other Captain would at least see her face, so as to gauge her sincerity.

"Captain Merrill, a Pleasure. I am Katarine Falcon, Queen Admiral of the Commonwealth Systems. We are here under diplomatic banner to discuss our options with the citizens of the Outer Rim Coalition. We mean no harm, and at this present point a scan of our vessels will confirm weapons and shields are powered down in an act of good faith. Please advise."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Katarine Falcon"]

"Your Majesty, uh, Admiral-" I shifted a bit in my seat. "Yeah, scans are clear. I'm not in a position to talk diplo with you, and right now there's not many that are, but I think I can steer you straight. Gimme a sec."

I took a minute to look at some maps, chat with a couple folks on the Foundation - the mobile government station, very far away - and figure out what was what. Took longer than a minute, to be frank. There's always something.

"Okay, so," I said as the holocall reconnected. "Due to some crap, we're looking at baby steps. I'm gonna jump to a bit of neutral space in the Svivren system. You wanna come along, we can chat there. Do me a favor, toss me the five-minute version of your Commonweath, where you are, what yer people're like, who yer friends are. Deal?"

 

[RC 212]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"Aye Agreeable."

She turned to the helmsman.

"Jump us to the Sviviren system."

Then turned back to the holo screen.

"Short version, we're an amalgamation of collapsed core governments, with some other seedier assets in the mix. You might recognize names such as the old Commonwealth, The Free Worlds, The Collective and several others. None of their leaders came over, but their soldiers and leaderless folk did.

We are based on Nubia, and we are about preserving our sovereignty, and reclaiming the core before the meddlesome New Republic or a more vile actor.

As of now we have only qualms with the Republic, who've been sent a diplomatic notice, and blatantly violated our conditions without so much as a courtesy call. We have open trade agreements with the Mandalorian Empire.

We are in short a Martial force, focusing on expanding our power based on a federalist model. I know this may sound unsavory to you Captain, but alas we are not neighbors, nor war criminals like the Sith and First Order. We have clear Rules of Engagement."

"Fleet's jumping Ma'am."

"See you at Svivren Captain."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Katarine Falcon"]

My comms officer and I took the time to chat with the Foundation's diplos again during the jump. There was a ton of hesitation on their part - some of it made sense to me, some didn't, but I'd been out of that world a long time and didn't have the full context. And that's fine. I just work here.

We hit Svivren soon enough. Funky place, Svivren - think Tatooine with mountains, no Hutt cartels, and no weapons allowed. It's not an ORC world but it's our kind of turf and close enough. There's a chunk of space at the edge of the system where I use for meetings like this.

I steered the Gossamer around to face the fleet again, and hailed'em.

"Alright, so," I said without a leadup. "We're always down for new friends, we'll mark you as a trade destination, but you're a darn long way off, yeah? Sounds like you've got your own context, your own friends an'enemies."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Katarine nodded.

"Very well Captain. Consider calling upon us as a courtesy if you need extra hands. We have at the moment two Battlegroups not directly engaged. I'm sure we could spare one to defend ORC interests. We hope this is the beginning of a friendship.

Also it may be of some note to your folks, that no wares are considered contraband within our notional borbers. And we continue to enforce that free trade is in effect free. Will that be all Captain Merrill?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Katarine Falcon"]

"Well hey, we always like more trade destinations. Keep me posted if you get in a scrap with anyone we're scrapping, and who knows: I might just be in the neighborhood. If you wanna set up a good relationship, or some kinda static presence around here, Svivren's a good choice: it's neutral, pretty trade-heavy for an Outer Rim port, and it's right on the Coalition's border. Best way to get to know folks is by being good neighbors, yeah? And this is a good corner of space for good neighbors." I tossed her a two-finger salute off my temple. "Have a good one, Your Majesty."