Call To Arms

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on an advertisement to avoid the jamming net:


Brothers and Sisters,

Over the past few cycles the Union struck a heroic blow against the Ska menace. Six great engines of oppression were taken away from the enemy in the Empire Pardus Contingent. A Union fleet, supplemented by Federal forces, struck the sector of Heze. Almost simultaneously a wholly Union fleet attacked Procyon. Heze now exists as a liberated sector and in Nari the citizens of Nari two have taken so well to the freedom of Union rule that in just a few weeks these industrious people have built their first Scorpion at the Nari II Fleet yards. Some day a Son of the Union will defend you with a battleship made in what was formerly the playground of the emperor and his sick minions.



We are now fighting the Empire in their territory instead of ours.

But the fight is not over.

As I broadcast the emperor marshals his forces. Now is your time. We have received intelligence that garrisons in the Keldon core will be redeployed to bases in the Pardus Cluster and Pardus Rim clusters. Now it is the time to rise up and throw off the Ska'ari oppressors. Your local cell commanders will be contacted by our operatives. But they can only lead the way. You must take the initiative. You must be the agent of your own liberation.

We will take the pressure off. We will make the emperor cast his eye some place else. Take back what is yours. Take back your birthright. You, my brothers and sisters, are the ones who brought this great age of discovery to the galaxy. The Ska'ari will trample on your legacy no longer. For they are shrewd mathematicians, faced with a two front war out in the galaxy and a bloody insurgency behind their own lines, they will take any bargain they can get. We are not required to kill every one of them, we must only beat them back until clutching our homes in their pincers is not worth the pain.

Tonight, after you send your hatchlings to sleep, gaze up at the stars. Find Sirius and know that we are there. Find the star Procyon and know that we are there. Now look upon your own horizon on whatever world you live, and know that we are there too.

As always, check your usual drops.

Dog star no star.

Dog star no star.

Rocking chairs rock empty in the empire.

Rocking chairs rock empty in the empire.

------------------------------------END TRANSMISSION

PASSing Through

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on an advertisement to avoid the jamming net:

Brothers and Sisters,

A heroic battle was fought yesterday inside Empire space. After receiving intelligence that an Empire military outpost had been neglected by the vaunted Ska'ari Military Industrial complex, a group of Union fighters hastily made for Pass EMP-05. A fleet of Union warships converged on the military outpost to hold the door open for as long as possible. For the next few hours the Empire Keldon Core was open.

Relief supplies, support commandos, weapons and equipment went through the wall and are on their way to those of you listening in the resistance.

But all good things must come to an end and a pair of unwitting Imperial warships met their demise at the hands of the Union fleet. With the Ska'ari Navy alerted the clock bega The Union fleet's foot in the door would not last for longer. PASC after PASC was sighted mn ticking.oving into the area. The Union fleet leader bravely told the officers under his command to hold the line.

When the assault on the military outpost finally came another Imperial fell under the withering fire of NN550 fleet missiles. With the door slammed shut the Union fleet broke for the neutral zone. In the ensuing fire fight two brave Union warships were destroyed.

The Battle of PASS-EMP 5 was over. The 3-2 kill score does not do justice to the importance of this battle. Hundreds of soldiers supported by a handful of Union warships made it covertly into Empire space. These operatives will work with your unit commanders in operations to come in the next few days. Keep fighting the good fight and as always check your usual drop locations.


Winters sun melts lead.

Winters sun melts lead.

The royal hall enters midnight.

The royal hall enters midnight.

Intercepted Revelations

The following message was intercepted by a Union listening post somewhere in the South Pardus Rim and was decoded thanks to the heroic sacrifice of several deep cover operatives who were killed shortly after decoder data was transmitted to Union Intelligence officers:

Message Origin: Ska
Message Destination:??????
Encryption Classification: Omicron

Begin Message>>>>>

The high command has initiated program 2. Any messages concerning program 2 are for tier one eyes only. Tier two officers, even nobles are to be separated from any information concerning program 2. Conglomo nobles are to be separated from any information involving program 2. Even Conglomo tier one nobles. Once the reliability of program 2 has been assured in testing against undesirables program 3 can begin. Begin conditioning planetoid class cruiser hulls for program 3.

End Message>>>>>

Dark History Revisted.

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on an advertisment to avoid the jamming net:

Brothers and Sisters,

Today I greet you once again in trying times. War has always been the highest test of the resolve of a sentient species, for we must compromise ourselves for killing. You may ask yourself how am I to kill a fellow Keldon? Remember: The beast on the plain knows no remorse when it kills for its survival. Neither must you feel remorse. You are fighting for your survival. For the survival of freedom. Sometimes in war we must put the very best of ourselves aside and let the beast rule the day.

The imperials have no aversion to freeing their inner monster. Word has trickled to Radio Free Keldon that the siege of Mintroassa City on Urlafa was only broken after the Ska'ari introduced a genetically inferior strain of the Pardus virus into the population. The funeral pyres for the dead could be seen from orbit. The Ska'ari and their collaborators once again prove blind to the lessons of history.

So I say to you my brothers and sisters when faced with such monstrosity we must respond in kind. The Gornz have a saying that sapients do not kill sapients. But can any species capable of using plague to kill hundreds of thousands of males, females, and clutchlings really be deemed sapient? When fighting the Ska'ari and the Ska'ari collaborators know that they have been engineered to fight for the conquest of the entire galaxy. No path is too low for them. They have used the most vile of methods to curb resistance on one of their own planets. Imagine what they might do to the home clusters.

To our Federal friends:
We know that you are tired of war. We also know that you are no friends to the empire. But surely you know that if the Union were to fall at the pincers of the Ska'ari then the emperor and his hordes will have no place left to go but Earth and Rashkan. The Humans and the Rashkir have a long tradition of fighting for the oppressed, for fighting against crimes against sentients. There is no bigger crime in the galaxy than what is being perpetrated against the Keldon freedom fighters in Ska'ari occupied Keldon space.

The empire have reintroduced the Pardus virus. They have brought it back straight from the blackest period in galactic history. Thousands of square light year were lost to us for generations because of their negligence once. What price will we pay for it this time? If this chapter of history ends with Ska'ari victory the sacrifice of those brave Keldons on Urlafa will be whitewashed from the history books.

The line must be drawn here or else the emperor will begin drawing a new line around Earth.


Fleets farm variant amounts of time.

Fleets farm variant amounts of time.

Skulls fear nothing.

Skulls fear nothing.


--------------------------------END TRANSMISSION

Developments

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on a commonly used long distance communication channel to avoid the jamming net:


Brothers and sisters,

Yesterday I brought you good news of far off battles. Today I bring you messages of hope that have originated more close to home. In the past day or so hundreds of tons of food has been acquired from the open market on Keldona I. This food has been diverted from the usual destinations and is going to be distributed among the resistance cells. Also, over 200 Fleet missiles were purchased from Keldana I arms dealers by deep cover Union commandos. The warheads in these missiles will go far in helping you free your brethren from the Ska'ari pincer. Finally, dozens of escape pods were purchased from Imperial store houses. These will be taken to a safe place until a use can be determined. It is good enough to know that they are being denied to your enemy.

Also- it has been rumored that Union saboteurs have made their way into the emperors King Relon missile laboratories and corrupted the programming that makes these disgusting weapons of murder so devastating. I am sharing with you footage here of a valiant Chitin class gunboat fighting against one of the Emperor's flag ships:

Thanks to our operatives, who have been whole heartedly supported by you for months this brave Union crew lived to fight another day.


Imperial jamming techniques become more sophisticated each day. So I do not know how much longer I will be able to reach out to you in this manner. But please, do not lose heart, because we will not abandon you. You are our brothers. You will be our saviors. For when we have helped you throw off the yoke of Ska'ari domination you will help us usher in a new age of Keldon peace and enlightenment under the Banner of the Union.

Until next time, check your usual drops.


Rocking Chair.

Rocking Chair.

The Pen is Mightier than the PASC.

The Pen is Mightier than the PASC.


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Fear is a Disease

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on a Yildunese Financial News broacast to avoid the jamming net:

Brothers and Sisters,

The first days of the war were black for us. Though we fought valiantly the forces of the emperor took advantage of our youngness and stuck a blow in Cebece. We could have hung our heads low. We could have started pointing fingers at one another. We could have succumbed to the fear that maybe we were wrong.

You would not let us. You are out there cut off, alone, and surrounded by enemies. Your fight to free the sister grandmothers, and all their children, inspires us.

So, though we were beaten on that day we were not defeated. We rallied. We regrouped. We Patched our hulls. Then we forced our will upon the empire. We have made great strides in reclaiming our rightful territory in the East Pardus Rim. The Ska'ari occupation of Diphda has been crushed, opening the floodgates of commerce and information from the Union Rashkir core.

Finally, in a fine example of Union military superiority, we breeched the military outposts that the Ska have set up to keep you cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Once this was achieved our forces flowed in to inflict immeasurable damages on Ska assets in the Keldon core. With them they have brought tidings of hope. Look for your drops in the usual places.

So finally brothers and sisters, do not let fear infect you. Know that our eye is never far from you. Also know that when the time comes, those of you who are brave enough to stand up now and fight the invertebrate oppressors will be counted. Your will inspires us. I pray that our resolve inspires you.

Ackbar sings a sad sad song.

Ackbar sings a sad sad song.

The humans call them elephants.

The humans call them elephants.


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History Lesson

The Following Message is being broadcast via subspace, piggybacked onto an episode of the Popular Wasati Soap Opera "'Experienced' Pirate":

Brothers and Sisters,

Many many generations ago when the other great races of the galaxy were still threatening their own existences with primitive fission weapons over fossil fuels, the Keldon people had mastered the entire Keldon Sector. Unfortunately during this time there was a schism. The Keldon Sector had become over populated and there was nowhere left to go. This was a black day in the history of our species. A group of outcasts, several thousand clutches strong, were sent away from the Keldon sector on a giant sleeper ship. Over the next few centuries the Keldon sector did not wither, obviously, but in that sector the basis of all modern space travel was created. The first wormhole was opened to Eta Cassiopiea and from there the Keldon Species spread west and north throughout the galaxy. History forgot the exiles.

The Keldon Protectorate spread outward over many parsecs until finally the inevitable happened. We stumbled upon the Ska'ari, and as is our nature; gave them the gift of the wormhole.

The Ska'ari have paid us back for that gift many times over. They have paid us back by dominating our culture, assimilating our technology to create their war machine and they have dragged our species into three costly intra galactic wars.

Now we, your exiled Keldon brothers and sisters in the Union have brought the fourth war upon them. The dream of a united Keldon species under the golden fist of the Union will see us through the dark days of this fourth Great War.

To our compatriots fighting within the atmospheres of Empire planets: Be strong and know that your allies are out there to support you. Your bravery will be the path to a united Keldon.


Nari nary a whisper.

Nari nary a whisper.

The two tailed cat yawns at supper time.

The two tailed cat yawns at supper time.

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Radio Free Keldon

This subspace transmission is being beamed behind empire lines piggybacked on routine traffic and space weather channels to avoid the jamming net:

Brothers and Sisters in the Resistance,

You have fought bravely against all odds for your freedom from the tyrannical shellbacks. We here in the Union have taken up your cause. Some of us in the Union have been helping you in your quest for the self determination of the Keldon species for many cycles. When finally you were strong enough you rose up and assassinated the collaborator Archduke. War declared by the empire only when it was clear that they could hide the shame of their injustice no longer. Though you may suffer reprisal know that the Union is here for you. At the time of this message there is war in two clusters. When this war is over rest assured your efforts will be rewarded with a rejoined Keldon species within the union and that the rightful homes of the Keldon species, the clusters known as the Empire Keldon Core, the East Pardus Rim, and the Union Keldon Core will be free of Ska'ari tyranny.

Now brothers and sisters I urge you to bide your time. Wait for your moment and let us occupy the emperors fleets in the wild sectors. There will be another moment for you.

The razorbeast has no fur.

The razorbeast has no fur.

Nine moons equals nintey mules.

Nine moons equals nintey mules.



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Incubation

Males of my line are hatched twice. Around the 31st cycle of the sister grandmothers (which equates to about twelve Sirion-cycles) we are taken by a mad wanderlust. We all leave our clutch-mothers and clutch-brothers, this was a given for me. I left Sirion after my 11th S-Cycle. For the next five hundred star dates or so I plied my trade as a servant of Angels. Some cycle-tenths ago the ice-sister-grandmother reached perihelion many light years away and I was taken.

Keldons to not molt like their ancestors, but at this time I shed another kind of skin. The ways of the galaxy were to much to bear and I decided it was time to leave my home among the Angels in search of a better path. The path of the particle weapon instead of the sub-space. My metaphysical skin was shedding. I was becoming anew. I remained in the service of our great Don, but I did so in the shadows. From the shadows, my brothers and I, were more free to strike at the enemies of the Union. By default I was striking at the oppressors of my people.

The crew of the Red Mosquito and I traveled far and saw a great many things. It was during this time that we made our pilgrimage to see the sister grandmothers in their glory. They were beautiful despite the claw marks of the oppressors.

A torch cannot remain in the vacuum for long. My cause deserved to be in the light so I left the shadows. Having met and respected new beings and learned whole new perspective on the galaxy.

Every experience makes you wiser if you let it.

From the shadows I went to the light. The brightest place imaginable is where the star Sirius reflects off the armor of the Union. Here also I met new beings. I learned to respect a whole new perspective.

But you must always return home. So I have returned to the Angels of Edethex, Wainze, UG 5-093, and Cebalrai to incubate. I am waiting to be hatched again. Once again, as when I first joined my clutch brothers, my eyetooth will lead me to freedom. As long as I take breath I will follow the cause and someday there will be claw marks on Keldon no longer.

Finding Sirion.

When the Keeper's Wake entered high orbit over Sirion the ships somewhat primitive AI took a moment to contemplate what it had accomplished. Over the past four hundred years it had accelerated a ship that had been a planetoid in a past life to a speed within a few hundredths of a percent of light speed. It was careful to balance the need to reach a good traveling speed with the need not to crush it's precious cargo under the weight of unbearable gravities. A healthy Keldon in stasis can comfortably survive 20 gravities of acceleration perpendicular to his spine. The Keeper's Wake accelerated at 19.9 gravities for three hundred years.

The Wake's AI detected Sirion at 99.95% of light speed. It was almost to late. Directional thrusters as large as Mt. Therasol on Keldana I turned the Wake 180 degrees. There was barely enough mass left in the core of the former planetoid to perform effective deceleration. The mass drivers fired in the opposite direction and decelerated the Wake at 21g's.

Many younglings died in stasis.

The Wake's AI regretted this but it could not allow the only survivors (so it was programmed to believe) of the Keldon species to fly off the plane of the elliptic and into intergalactic space. After 100 years of deceleration the Wake entered the Sirius system at .0001% of lightspeed. Her mission was done.

Schism

When the wormholes to the Vega and Sirion clusters were opened a flood of disaffected settlers from both the Empire and the Federation came to make a new home. The Union was formed. When the first Union explorers reached Sirion they found a thriving civilization of Keldons had already established itself in the system.

Where had these Keldons come from? How did they get here without the use of the wormholes?

Researchers pried and soon found the answer... It was an event that barely registered at all in the annals of Imperial Keldon history. In a time before the Keldon species had discovered faster than light travel through the fabric of space/time the species nearly imploded in on itself. Over 100 Billion Keldons had spread to every remotely inhabitable rock in the Keldon home system. The sister grandmothers were overwhelmed. Tensions were exceedingly high as the last precious resources were running out.

There was no where else to go. The fusion drives of the day could not propel ships to nearby systems in any reasonable amount of time. Brave voyagers had been sent out decades before the crisis reached its boiling point and were never heard from again.

A contingency plan was developed, life was to rare in the galaxy to see the only known sentient race in the galaxy die in the cauldron that was becoming the Keldon system. A great ship was commissioned. For ten years the industry of the entire Keldon people was united in the effort of preserving the species.

The ship was named the Keeper's Wake. She was the size of a small moon. She was a small moon in fact- plucked from a high orbit over Keldana II. The glow of the achievement did not last long- Who would go? Who would be chosen to escape the inevitable destruction of the Keldon system? Imperial history mentions the outbreak of violent skirmishes on the outskirts of the Keldon system, about this time 1,000 years ago.

What Imperial history also mentions is that at about this time is that the first wormhole to Eta Cassiopiea was opened. The military elite of Keldana I kept this discovery under tight wraps and suddenly relented on their factions claim to the Keeper's Wake. The opposition faction- known as the Freewinders were suddenly touted as the saviors of civilization for their willingness to undergo the journey into the unknown. 18,000 Clutches were sent to the Keeper's Wake, some 300,000 Keldon, male, female, and hatchling were placed into suspended animation and committed to the stars.

They were committed into exile.

With the most vocal of the opposition gone the military crushed any resistance that was left and unveiled the secret of the wormhole. Over the next four hundred years the Keldons unlocked wormhole after wormhole moving ever closer to Ska'ari space.

The Keeper's Wake and the Freewinders were forgotten.

About the time that Keldons made first contact with Ska'ari the Keeper's Wake ambled into the Sirius system. When the moon's AI detected an M Class planet it moved into orbit and began the process of waking its thousands of inhabitants.

The Sirion Keldons believed they were alone and that the rest of their kind had fallen victim to the inevitable war over the last scraps of food and ore. They began their civilization again. The held true to their roots of free thought and free love. They were rooted in the earth but their minds were always in the stars they came from. My Clutch-mother's mother was present when the first Union scout landed outside Keldana Glimmer.

The dream of a reunited Keldon began at that moment.

I aim to live that dream.

The War of Words... and thoughts.

The thing the Ska'ari fear the most is information. I have been rebuked by Imperials. They discount the truth because they have achieved so much! Even my brother Keldons who fly under Imperial colors scoff at the idea that their species is being oppressed. I am sure that life is good for the top few percent who are lucky enough to get a sabre and start their life among the stars. But what about the millions and millions of imperial subjects who toil day in and day out- no closer to the stars than the ancients - what about them?

The Ska'ari have capitalized on Keldon ingenuity, guile, and industry and now they fancy themselves as masters of the galaxy. The great enlighteners. Their empire is a farce. History will tell, brothers and sisters, of a dark time in the life of the Keldon species when we were divided. Some of us being free in the east but most of use caught in a mighty pincer in the south.

Parents of Keldana, hear my words, and whisper to your clutches. Tell them they are more than subjects of a Ska'ari empire. Tell them that some day they will live in a society where speaking out is encouraged. And tell them that they have brothers half a galaxy away who wish for nothing more than to be united.

Remember: Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

Until the sister grandmothers are free.

-Dex

Radio Free Keldon

Brothers and Sisters,

I am a son of Sirion. I am grandson to Keldona. My ancestors set foot on Sirion after traveling in the Generation Ship Keeper's Wake. We have been here since before the first wormholes were even opened. The Keldon spirit has given the stars to three other civilizations. We it not for our endeavor, the humans, ska'ari, and Rashkir, would still be murdering each other over fossil fuels.

Then the Pardus War came.

Since then the Ska have asserted themselves as masters of their "Empire". They wish themselves masters of the entire galaxy. You, my brothers and sisters of Keldon, have been duped into serving them.

Brave warriors of Keldona throw off the yoke of Ska'ari tyranny. Wear the emperors colors no more. Leave Empire space. Battle in exile with the Union until the day that our mother and grandmother can be free.

The Ska'ari agenda has stifled the rightful development of the Keldon species.

It must end now.

When I was young.

I remember when I was fresh from the clutch. Keldons have the uncanny ability to remember all the way back to the moment their eyetooth first breaks the eggshell. A wise old Keldon will tell a foolish young human that he, in the past five minutes, has forgotten more than the human will ever know. I remember my clutch-mother nuzzling me free of the leathery egg. I remember the heat and the humidity. You drink the air in the low country. I remember my brothers and sisters bleating out the sing-song lyrics of our local dialect.

Keldons are mobile and communicative very early. This why we get a jump on things.

I grew up in the rather drab conditions that are customary in the Low Country. The city there Keldana Glimmer was the first colony established on the world by the early imperial explorers. It was quickly forgotten when settlements in the resource rich north were founded. The low-Keldons are often looked upon as backward. Often times they are, as backward as a super-intelligent being such as a Keldon can be. The early settlers scorned the space trade that left them behind on the southern part of the planet. Most low-Keldons live the way our ancestors did on Keldona four millenia ago.

My eyetooth needed to break the eggshell atmosphere.