Prelude to War

[Iden Hyde]

He hated this - it went against his ideal and principles. It was the very opposite of the neutrality that he had always strived for. But, Yag'Dhul's situation had changed greatly, and its people were unhappy. His people.

According to the Sovereignty, he was Yag'Dhul's governor. It was a title that he hated - he was merely a man who many looked to for leadership. It'd come about inadvertantly, but ever since the Imperials had made Yag'Dhul a protectorate, Gabriel Hyde knew the time would come when he'd have to take that next step - the step into a leadership role that he did not want. He simply wanted to be left alone to deal with matters of Terrisz'Voss. And yet ironically, that's exactly what this was.

Now, on Delteon and awaiting the arrival of Khendon Sevon, the Imperator of the Imperial Federacy, Gabriel Hyde knew tha the time had come for Terris'Voss to come out of the shadows.

[Khendon Sevon]

The dim blue glow of Khendon’s datapad washed his face in its hues. The Imperator whistled idly as he scrolled page after page of the day’s meetings. Occasionally he would take a sip of his stimcaf, cross off an item on his agenda and continue onward.

Morning began to paint the skies of Delteon with tidings of orange and red as Khendon finally finished the list, “Secretary,” he said into a small communication device on his desk, “I’m sending you my itinerary now.”

“Uh, Sir, there’s one more person waiting to see you,” the voice paused as if afraid to continue, “it’s uh, a mister Gabriel Hyde… from Yag’Dhul.”

Khendon raised a single eyebrow, “Where’s he waiting?”

“Meeting room fifty-seven,” came the young woman’s voice.

“Postpone my other events, this might be interesting,” Khendon grinned in the shadows of his office, looked around for a moment, and left for the room.

[Iden Hyde]

Bringing up a gloved hand, Hyde brushed an unseen speck of dust from his jet black suit - impeccable and crisp. Only two people had seen him wear something other than business suits, and both of them he considered his closest friends.

Terrisz'Voss' CEO stood patiently, waiting on Khendon Sevon to make his appearence. Like Yag'Dhul, the Federacy seemed to be very much concerned about itself, not wanting others to intrude into their space. Hyde could respect that, as he himself desired it for his own planet and company. Unfortunately, the Sovereignty had other plans, and so, under duress, he and Loklorien had allowed the Imperial monster a foothold in their system.

Now though, he wanted that foot out, and was willing to do almost anything to get it out. Even if it meant going to another Imperial faction for help. The people supported him, and Terrisz'Voss had even begun to ship supplies and materials off-planet.

Hyde was building a fleet.

And he was going to use it

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon strolled up to the entrance and quickly composed himself. He wore simple clothing, black dress pants and a drab gray tunic partially open at the top. Clearly revealed were the dull chains of his military ID tags. The sleeves of the upper garment flared towards the end freely. Overall, the clothing was comfortable and loose – a sharp contrast to the usual constricting military uniform that the Imperator found himself adorned in.

The door slid open silently and Khendon gave a curt bow from the waist, “Mr. Hyde, I presume?” he said in his sleek businessman voice, “I’m Imperator Sevon.”

[Iden Hyde]

Returning Sevon's greeting, Hyde let a formal smile cross his features. The Federacy's leader wasn't as old as Hyde had originally thought, and while he wasn't young, he wasn't as old as Hyde, either. Late twenties or early thirties, the CEO surmised mentally.

"A pleasure to meet you, Imperator. I trust I am not disturbing anything of too much importance."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon grinned widely, “Nothing too important, Mr. Hyde, it’s been a slow morning.” There was very little Federacy intelligence on Yag’Dhul. Although spies and probes were constantly keeping taps on the outside galaxy, that specific portion of space, claimed as a Sovereignty protectorate, had never truly been examined.

All that was known was that a fairly advanced space fairing culture existing on Yag’Dhul, not customs nor religion nor language was certain. Most of the information that would have been available about the planet before the Vong Wars was lost with the breakup or useless.

The Imperator quickly made an assessment of the man, He’s innocent enough, we’ll see where this leads… The center of the room contained a simple wooden table with seemingly comfortable chairs surrounding it.

Khendon activated his datapad and took a chair, “What brings you to this side of the galaxy, Mr. Hyde? You’re an awfully long way from mid rim.” The Imperator cocked one eyebrow, an interested expression playing across the theater that was his face.

[Iden Hyde]

Lowering himself into one of the chairs as well, Hyde cut to the very heart of the matter. He suspected that Sevon was the kind of man who didn't prefer small talk as it was.

"Simply put, I'm willing to offer a pact - or treaty if you will - in return for helping me lift the Sovereignty presence from my system. A technology trade, if you want to call it that."

He wouldn't go any farther though, until he heard what the Imperator had to say. Terrisz'Voss wasn't known for it's advancements in technology, which was just as well. Hyde's company had in fact made many breakthroughs - most centered around neurotechnology, and he liked to keep it a somewhat well-guarded secret. However, he was willing to let some of that be exposed for the betterment of Yag'Dhul.

He hadn't come unprepared though - he knew that he would need a bargaining tool, and was prepared to deliver just that depending on how these negotiations went.

[Khendon Sevon]

The request came as a surprise to Khendon. They want to be taken out of the Sovereignty fold do they? The Federacy had always fed its people propaganda about Sovereignty treachery and crimes, could it be that they were actually true? The silvery eyes of the Imperator narrowed ever so slightly, “That’s a significant event, not impossible, but it would breach my current noninterventionist standing.

“What advancements could you have that would interest an empire built on galaxy renowned technological innovation?” Khendon’s face showed his undivided attention.

[Iden Hyde]

Hyde smiled. He'd gotten the Imperator's attention with that.

Even he had the neural construct within his brain that many of his employees had, though his was much more advanced - the only other more complex than his being Loklorien's, and that was only because of her unique situation - her Lupine aspect.

"Neurotech, Imperator Sevon, is something many governments have not branched into. I have taken advantage of that. Uknown to most if not all, I hold the corner on neural technology - whether people know it or not.

"My company, Terrisz'Voss, has made numerous advancements - we do not release our findings for the simple reason that we do not wish for our work to be well known. I do not want 'shade hacks' and 'attack barriers' to be known terms used across this galaxy - as it is, only a few individuals within my company actively use those terms, and every one of them are people that I explicitely trust.

"A remote hack can be devestating, and leave the victim helpless, and if the hacker is good enough, they can hack into ships - destroying the computers and ceasing all onboard functions." Hyde leveled his eyes at Sevon. "Even Star Destroyers."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon stroked his chin intently, his eyes narrowing slightly in concentration. Tarot Labs had actually developed neural technology years ago. The advancements made by the Imperator’s former company were still in use in the Federacy and United Imperial Technologies had actually released an upgraded version fairly recently. Nevertheless, Khendon decided not to show his hand until the time was right, “Neurotech?” said the former Vice-Diktat slowly, “Um, what sort of applications are we talking about?”

A small signal went off in Khendon’s brain as an invisible creature left the corner of the room and silently walked towards the Imperator. Mentally he commanded the creature to sit at his side and await further orders. The beast, nearly a meter long, acting just like a cat, circling its area before settling in comfortably on the carpeting.

[Iden Hyde]

Another smile, and Hyde leaned forward, reaching into the inside pocket of his suitjacket, producing a slim, almost paper-thin disk which he sent gently atop the surface of the table. Resting his arms on the table surface, he intwined his fingers together as his eyes stayed locked with Sevon's.

"Mainly, the applications are for military use."

The disk - a slightly modified holo-emitter - flared to life, showing a seemingly flat, translucent screen.

"Allow me to demonstrate."

And with that, Hyde fell silent as words and commands appeared on the translucent screen between he and the Imperator, giving Sevon as much of a "front row seat" as was possible by allowing him to see the the commands and software application that would soon be shutting down the mechanical companion at his side.


setup attack barriers and viral infection agents. access remote link connection with this new arrival

barriers and agents at 100%
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-
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remote link successful

begin blue 6 infiltration, and find main power routes.

blue 6 initialized - tracing-
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power routes partially mapped, source grids located.

sever the grids and relayer hack-line

severing. done.

Everything was there for Sevon to see, the commands that had been issued as they were being given, all the while, Hyde's eyes were locked with his. And even as the last word appeared, the droid "cat" at his side suddenly stiffened, its power source inexplicably cut off as it shut down...

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon cleared his throat as the unstimulated optical memory cells on the Hell Cat lost power and the demonic form of the beast began to take shape. Sections and outlines formed as if paint were being poured onto the invisible creature, its usually bright red eyes black, body rigid. “Well,” began the Imperator in a businesslike tone, “that was… interesting.” He decided to set his cards on the table, “I’ve research neural technology, specifically in regards to optical enhancements and remote control.

“I always figured having an abstract scripting language would secure our technology from tampering.” Khendon looked at his chrono and then cast his eyes back to the beast. Smoke rose and the form of the Hell Cat began to become blurred. “Oh, and there’s that part,” the droid suddenly liquefied and began evaporating.

[Iden Hyde]

That the thing liquified was a small surpirse, but Hyde kept his face neutral. The holo-emitter shut down then, and lay silent and inactive.

"My scientists have also delved into ocular enhancement. We can now directly stimulate the optic nerve to recieve different light spectrums, UV and thermoptical being a few. The implications of such a thing I know aren't lost on one such as yourself."

Hyde leaned back then, resting his hands palm-down on the tabletop. "What I'm proposing is a cooperative research treaty - my scientists will help yours in acheiving technology advancements; mostly in neuraltech, and vice versa. In return, I ask that you help me remove the Sovereignty from Yag'Dhul space."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon never really trusted anyone outside of the Federacy when it came to technology, but this time it was different. It wasn’t that he trusted them, it was more that he could use the freeing of Hyde’s people as propaganda—and it would hurt the sovereignty. Damaging the Sovereignty’s image to the galaxy was one of Khendon’s long-term goals, a goal that he planned to achieve very soon.

The original Tarot design had enabled users to visualize an array of sensor types and to overlay multiple forms of alternate spectrums, however, the idea of actually developing malicious software for other neural users intrigued Khendon. Of course, defenses were just as precious, the Imperator smiled, “I can arrange for the necessary fleet actions and public announcements. Naturally, I’ll require support from your people in the form of open admissions of the Sovereignty’s treachery, use of force… the usual myriad of misdemeanors and capital offenses.”

[Iden Hyde]

A nod. "That, I'm afraid to say, is easily acquirable. The Sovereignty is certainly not considered a friend in any light, and my people would like nothing better than to be out from under the constant gaze they are under.

"We don't appreciate being forced into something that is originally offered, and that is exactly what the Sovereignty did.

"Myself and my people are more than willing to put forth our resources to be neutral once more. Even if that means going to another Imperial faction, I am willing to do that."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon thought about the situation once more and gave a slow nod, “You have my support, Mr. Hyde. Whenever you’re ready I can move a small fleet into the sector, I believe a Thanatos and its support vessels should be enough to convince the Sovereignty that they’re no longer wanted.”

The Imperator looked at his datapad and sighed, “I have a hefty schedule for the day, so if that’s all?” Khendon smiled a toothy grin.

[Iden Hyde]

Reaching out, Hyde pulled the holo-disk towards him before replacing it back into his inside pocket. He had his support, and soon enough the Sovereignty would be out of his space. Even if he had to fight for an extended period of time, he knew his people would do what they had to to ensure their freedom and neutrality.

"Yes, I do believe that concludes this meeting, Imperator." He stood, brushing his gloved hands down the front of his suit in the unneeded effort to smooth its already impeccably ironed surface. "My thanks for your help and support."