Topic: The Return of S'faret... (Read 2693 times)

Sfaret · « **on:** May 02, 2003, 05:28:06 pm »

The Three Worlds crackled with the news, dispite the best attempts of Space Command to keep it secret, the Kraagera had been found.

The Kraagera and her Captain, Sr. Captain S'faret, had been assigned a deep space recon mission. They had hoped to sneak, closer to the Galactic Core, around ISC space and wreck havic and the back areas of the ISC. After almost a year the Kraagera and her crew where given up for dead. The Gorn people had mourned the lose of one of their early heros.

However a few days ago, a Gorn long range recon socut had detected a ship moving slowly toward Gorn space. It was unidentified, travelling fairly slow, warp 2, and was not answering hails. The scout waited for reinforcements and raced out to meet the potential enemy ship.

At closer range the sensors where better able to make out the configuration of the ship. The hull was that of a Gorn Battlecruiser. She looked to have been in a fight to end all fights. Numerous hull breaches, a portion of the aft hull was gone. One engine was half blow away and the other barely functioning.

When the intercept squadron could get close enough the marks where read, it was the Kraagera. Hails still did not work and the ship also did not respond to the presence of the interceptors. It was decided to beam a small party over to see what the conditions where.

Almost 80% of the Kraagera's crew where dead. The second officer was in command of the ship, if that is what you could call it. About 3 months into the mission the Kraagera had succeeded to enter ISC space undetected. She quickly performed a number of heavy hit and run raids on ISC shipping. As the raids where struck deeper the ISC began to respond. However early on the ISC had nothing heavy enought to attack the Kraagera near by.

Looting captured ships and uninhabitted planets the Kraagera was able to continue like this for almost 120 days. In that time 14 convoys and 3 attack squadron plus numerous escorts had fallen to the Kraagera. It was now that S'faret tried something bolder.

Intel from one of the escorts had learned of an abandoned listening post about 2 weeks away at high warp. The post contained basic supplies but no staff. It was now used for emergencies for deep space probes. S'faret planned to capture this post and use it as a base for further raids.

When the Kraagera dropped out of warp it was as the intel had said. The Outpost was abandoned and scans did show a good supply of parts and food. This was perfect, in the end too perfect. The Kraagera lay in orbit of the listening post, warp engines offline for repairs. S'faret and a small staff where on the outpost trying to bring on it's long range scanners and access the computers. The 3 ISC attack cruisers caught them unaware.

S'faret ordered the Kraageera to break orbit and make for Gorn space as fast as possible. They would have to fight their way out while the warp engines where borught back online. In the mean time S'faret and his staff had brought online the outposts meager weapons, they would provide cover fire and self destruct just before capture.

The last thing the Kraagera's sensors reported before warp was engaged was that the outpost had come under attack and lost all weapons. S'faret had radioed he would begin self destruct any moment.

With S'faret dead and many senior officers with him, the Kraagera was decapitated. The crew fought valiantly but where still deep in hostile space with no hope of help. Over the next few months the Kraagera played cat and mouse with the ISC fleet. Each time they tried to draw her into battle and each time she managed to evade them. However as damaged piled up the crew knew the end was at hand.

However about 10 days ago the ISC attacks stopped. No ships on sensors, no nothing. The crew of the Kraagera hoped that it meant they where safe. In the end it seemed to, the next encounter they had was the Gorn Interceptor group.

So it was, two weeks from the recovery of the Kraagera, about 8 days from the news leaking to the public, that the high command was to hold ceremonies honoring S'faret and his sacrifice.

The ceremonies began with all the pomp and pagentry the Gorns could muster. Dignataries from the Federation arrived to take part in the memorial service. Even a Romulan Commander had sent a condolences message to High Command for this event. As the music was winding down the Fleet Admiral Scipio was to speak a messenger ran to the platform and whispered in his ear. Without a word Scipio jumped from the platform and raced out of site.

In HQ Scipio raced into the long range communications room. "Are you SURE!" the Admiral demanded of the on staff officer. "Yes sir we are in fact he said he would wait for your arrival." "Put him on screen now"

The large view screen in the center of the room came to life. It was easy to distinguish that this was the bridge area of an ISC Star Cruiser. However the form standing in the middle of the display was much more imposing physcially than the typical frog like commander. However it was not the physical size that cause Scipio the greatest concern.

"S'faret!!! Your alive!!!! What is going on? Why are you in an ISC uniform?!"

"Admiral Scipio, my old friend, it is good to see you are well. I have been monitoring the ceremonies from the border, I am grateful for the honors you have given me."

"S'faret what is going on?"

"Admiral, during my visit with the ISC, I had a chance to learn more about these people. The Rovillian Ambassador I met was the most impressive of the group. It seems we have been wrong about the ISC. They do truly wish to help the galaxy to reach true peace. However so many of the other races want only war, even as they talk of peace. I have been sent as an emmisary to the Gorn. A way to find the road to peace."

"S'faret what have they done to you. Have you forgotten your oaths?"

"On the contrary Scipio it is my oaths that bind me to this path.I pledged to protect the Gorn people, this is I feel that best way to do this. What they did to me was let me see for myself who they really are.

After we where captured on the outpost we where taken to the ISC homeworld. Once there we where given an honor guard and allowed to walk and visit as we chose. We where given a chance to see the truth. Once I saw the truth I chose to help them in their noble goal. They have honored me with this command."

"Sfaret obviously they have somehow brain washed you, but I will not waste time arguing this with you. What do you want?"

"Why the same thing as you Scipio, PEACE! To that end I bring an offer from the ISC. They will assist us in our conflicts with the Romulans. Hopefully bringing them to the side of peace as well. In return we must give primary control of our fleet to the ISC Admiralty. The ISC then will in turn offer postions for the Gorn to fill on their Senate as well as a chance for Gorn and ISC crew exchanges.We must however stop all hostilies we are curently engaged in, unless directed by the ISC or forced to defend ourselves."

"Sfaret you know the council will never approve this. We will not be slaves to the ISC, we will not conquered."

"Scipio you are wrong, they do not want or need slaves, nor do they desire conquest, only peace. They want us to join them."

"And if we refuse S'faret?"

"Scipio, I know you are a man of action, not a diplomat. So let me word this so we are clear. Join me and the ISC, and know peace in this lifetime. Stand against me and know peace in the next!"

"Admiral the transmission has ended, cut off at the source. Sir this sounds bad"

"Damn you have way of understating things" Scipio growled......

Scipio_66 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 03, 2003, 11:39:52 am »

THE CONFEDERATION RESPONDS

S'Cipio pondered the situation, while S'Treleg nervously dry-washed his hands.

"What shall we do, Admiral?" asked the adjutant.

"We? I shall pour myself a stiff drink. You shall go back down to the parade-ground and tell the crowd that the ceremony is over."

"Me??!! Do you know how many Gorn are gathered down there to honor their hero? How am I supposed to tell them there will be no ceremony?"

"You could show them a printout of S'faret in ISC uniform. You must also make sure you tell them that he was a spy, not a hero. We mustn't have any of the populace eager to follow his example of embracing the ISC."

"That would cause a riot! They won't believe me! They'd tear me limb from limb!"

"That's why *I* am staying here, pouring myself a nice glass of 20 year-old scotch, and nibbling on a few chocodilles, while *you* go and tell them." S'Cipio knocked back an entire tumbler of scotch with a single swallow. " It's good to be the Chancellor. I'll be down after the riot is over so I can pass out medals to the surviving crew from Kraagera. We mustn't let their captain's defection detract from their own heroic service."

"But...."

"Git!" shouted S'Cipio. "I may have forgiven you for your assassination attempt on Klinzhai, but I still remember it. Now is your chance for penance."

S'Treleg hung his head and whimpered, but marched dutifully down to the parade-ground. It wasn't the first time his idiot Admiral had made him do something suicidal. "Mother always said I should have been a librarian," he hissed sadly. S'Cipio, in a far more tranquil frame of mind, made a mental note that he would most likely need a new adjutant.

But what to do about the situation at hand? Mind control. It *had* to be mind control. What else could make Mr. "I *am* Gorn" give in to the ISC oppressors? The promise of peace was every true Gorn's dream, but the peace they dreamed of was living quietly with their neighbors. Handing over the Gorn fleet to Froggy masters wasn't the way to peace. Or if it was, it was the way to peace one found in the desert.

And the government! The Gorn Confederation still hadn't gotten over the mental shock of having its government taken by the military. Handing it over to the ISC would cause irreparable damage. Handing over their governement to any alien violated the territorial mentality of every Gorn: "This is my house. My House!!"

S'Cipio still remembered how the ISC had behaved the last time they'd gotten their hands on one of the Great Powers. Using the Klingons as puppets, they'd tried to run roughshod over the entire galaxy; dropping mind-control chips into the skulls of everyone they came across.

This memory triggered others of an earlier saga: His adventures on Klinzhai (where S'Treleg had eventually tried to kill him), the Romulan quest for ISC mind-control chips, his own experience's with mental manipulation under Cleaven, and -- of course! -- his "lovely" wife!

Yes! His wife! If he were dealing with a mentally-enslaved S'faret, shouldn't he talk to his wife? He punched the code for his home and Dr. Nyet's image appeared. Disaster! She was measuring drapes!

S'Cipio steeled his courage. "Dear, I have a question for you, but first tell me about your day." He was stalling for time while he desperately fumbled to check the contents of his wallet.

"Don't bother looking," she snapped in her oddly-clipped Romulan accent. "I have all your credit cards. And I already saw the message from S'faret." She raised an an arched eyebrow, daring S'Cipio to tell her she had no buisiness bugging his office. He ignored the bait. "It's obviously another use of ISC mind-control chips. If you had spent more time looking for the chips on Klinzhai, as we wanted, instead of wasting time on your silly Klinzhai revolution, maybe we would have a chance of getting him back."

She didn't say it, but S'Cipio heard the undertone. If you had done what we wanted back then -- like a good little puppet -- you and I wouldn't have to be married now. I could go home.

"Do you have any advice for my current situation?"

"Tell S'faret that you welcome him home as a returning hero and ambassodor, and then execute him publically as soon as he sets foot on Ghdar."

"Dearest, I can't do that."

"Then accept his deal, use the ISC to exterminate the Romulan threat, and crush Concordia after the war when they aren't looking."

"Exterminate the Romulans.... dearest, they're your people!"

"Never let sentimentallity get in the way of practicallity, my love. I've told you that a thousand times. Why you still suffer that S'Treleg to live...."

At this moment there arose a huge and angry roar from the crowd outside, and one very high-pitched scream of fear. S'Cipio felt a moment of guilt and decided he didn't want to talk about S'Treleg.

"Look, apples of my multi-facetted eye, betrayal of even the ISC is distateful. I still don't think you've come to understand the mindset of the Gorn."

Dr. Nyet sighed. "Why did you bother calling me if you insist of being defeatist?"

"Perhaps now would be a good time to turn the govt back over to the civilians?" asked S'Cipio

Dr. Nyet gave him a dissapointed look. "You'll grow up some day, dearest."

"If I were to capture S'faret, could you re-educate him?" he asked hopefully.

"That would make me the first person ever to teach a Gorn anything, dearest. I'll need a bonesaw."

"I have a bonesaw!"

"THAT WAS A JOKE!!! <sigh> Just capture him if you can, I'll see what I can do. Oh!" Dr. Nyet made a pained face, and rubbed her lower abdomem."

"Why did you rub your lower abdomen?"

"Never mind. You'll need to repaint the kitchen when you get home."

"Of course dear"

"And pick up some milk on your way."

"Of course, dear"

"And we'll need to build a new addition to the house."

"Why do we need to build a new addition?"

"Never mind." She cut the connection.

S'Cipio glanced outside and saw that the crowd was hastily building a gallows. Led by members of the Kraagera, they had a naked and bleeding S'Treleg held aloft in their claws while they chanted "S'faret! S'faret! S'faret!" over and over. One disgusted Gorn on the edge of the crowd was angrily demanding why no one had come to the ceremoney with rope.

S'Cipio would have to do something about that while he still had an adjutant. He'd also have to do something about S'faret's message, if the threat of war it implied proved true. Would the ISC never leave the galaxy alone? Would there never be an end to war?

The admiral gave a heavy hiss, and made his decision. He punched in Agave's phone number.

"Nick!" answered the drunken Bruce.

"Whatever," replied S'Cipio. "Does Admiral Casca still want to retire from the Tri-Bruce commission?"

"You betcha."

"He has served us well. Give him a medal, and name a holiday after him. Then call Warlock. The Confederation -- god save us all -- needs a warmonger."

-S'Cipio

Dizzy · « **Reply #2 on:** May 03, 2003, 02:39:42 pm »

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

gornrule · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2003, 04:34:10 am »

Welcome back, brother. Your prescence only solidifies the Confederation's grip on the sector. You have been missed. Would you like entry into the GDA forums at SFC2.net? If so, let me know.

Gwarlock
SFC2.net Gorn A/RM

Sfaret · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2003, 07:12:01 am »

Thanks guys for the warm recepetion :-) We have finally gotten cable modem service to our home.... The satellite is gone :-)

Still having some glitches but I should be able to play again online soon. By the way anyone got any experience with these silly cable modems? I have a Motorla modem hooked to a Linksys 5 port switch. I have two IP addresses from the provider for both machines. I have found thought that with the cable modem on the LAN speed goes to CRAP!!!!! Plus the silly system drops often and must be reset.

Anyway I thought ISC would be a fun run the first time back thus the intro.

S'faret

mbday · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2003, 07:15:57 am »

What kind of Router do you have?
Is it one of the Cable/DSL routers?
Who makes it?
ALso how do you have it set up?
With this info I can help you find your problem.

Dizzy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 04, 2003, 07:49:36 am »

Fantastic S'faret.

Looking forward to having you on the new SG3 server this week... Its about to start testing for a 5-6 week run.

Sfaret · « **Reply #7 on:** May 04, 2003, 01:00:50 pm »

Quote:

What kind of Router do you have?
Is it one of the Cable/DSL routers?
Who makes it?
ALso how do you have it set up?
With this info I can help you find your problem.

Okay first we have no router. We have a Motorola SB4200 Cable Modem, a Linksys 5 Port Switch model EZSX55W. We have two machines both using Linksys LNE100TX network cards. The machines connect straight into the switch. According to the Motorola manual and the ISP the modem can run straight through the switch if we pay for the second IP address, which we have done.

With the modem running a transfer of 4 meg between the two machines takes as long as 6 minutes. With the modem off it is almost instantainious.

Both systems have the TCP/IP set for auto everything. Both are running XP Home for their OS.

Each machine has horsepower to spare for basic running. Both have 512 Meg DDR, one is a P4 1.6 and the other a 2.4b. The big machine has 2 HDs, a 40 and 60 gig, both 7200 rpm and the other machine has an 80 gig partitioned into a 30 gig and a 50 gig. The 50 gig is the shared drive for the system.

Any ideas would be great. One issue we keep hitting is that if the cable stays up sooner or later our local network gets lost. Such as right now. I can surf to my hearts content but I cannot for the life of me see her machine over the network.

Now question for you gurus. Is it possible to play SFC over a router? I have a Linksys BEFSR11 Router available if I need to move over to it. The only reason I send the extra $5 per month for the extra IP is to allow our syustems to both game online at once. But in all honesty only one needs to game with. Any help would be appreciated.

Edward

Sfaret · « **Reply #10 on:** May 04, 2003, 03:13:02 pm »

Scipio,

The firewall is not the issue, I knew I could open the ports needed. The issue is the router takes a single IP and then sends it to each machine with designated IPs, sort of like Connection Sharing. I did not think you could play in that manner.

Edward

Sfaret · « **Reply #14 on:** May 05, 2003, 06:00:31 am »

Scipio,

Thanks for the tip. I am not sure what happened but last night I came home from church and suddenly everything is working right. The network is flying again and the internet is huming along, I guess this is the power of prayer at work :-) God fixes computers too :-)

For now I am loath to touch the system since it is working fine. However I will keep this thread bookmarked just in case.

Edward

Sfaret · « **Reply #16 on:** May 05, 2003, 04:35:31 pm »

Okay, after numerous suggestion to do it I bit the bullet and grabbed a router. Got a router with 4 port switch from Dlink for $29.95 :-) Steal man :-)

So off to play with the new toy...

Edward

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