Test 28: Jordaxia

[Five Civilized Nations]

Scenario #1: Recently, your nation's government has voted to leave the ESUS, although your national leader and the people do not wish to depart from the benevolent arms of the alliance. Your national leader has been assaulted by angered government employees. RP as your national leader as he tries to galvanize the people into maintaining Jordaxia's position within the ESUS.

[Jordaxia]

Difficult one this, given the caste system I operate. Bear with me on this one, I expect it'll be the weakest of the three.

------------------------------------------------------------

A tall woman wearing a beige suit appears on the screen, which flickers for a second as it fixes the signal. After a few moments static, the screen returned in full focus.

"You're watching the news at ten, only on JBC1. Coming up later: Will Elves rape our houses and burn our Women? More on that soon. Our main story tonight.

In a momentous decision reached by the religious/bureaucratic, as well as the warrior caste earlier tonight, has ruled unanimously to leave the restored Extra Solar Union of Systems, better known as the r-ESUS. Such decisions as this have been known to directly bypass the Padshah, who lacks the power to directly over-rule such a decision, without a 75% popular backing, something that has become more difficult to achieve in recent years with the rise of lawlessness and apathy. Many of the warrior caste claim such lawlessness is what prompted their unexpected decision, citing that the Emperor is too fearful of alliance opinion to risk his reputation on an overly aggressive move on the pirates which plague the kuiper belt and Oort cloud areas, where thousands of civilian mining families are forced to pay tribute to organised crime lords. However, many of the Padshahs advisors, without Caste affiliation state that strong alliance ties is all that holds the nation together, given the power politicking that takes place on a day to day basis in the capital. There has been a spate of assassinations, almost entirely directed at the warrior caste, which has not gone un-noticed, particularly among the public. Furthermore, these advisors go on to defend the Padshahs position, and claim it is warrior inefficiency which has lead to the campaign of terror run by the gangs in Jordaxia, and had been setting up a judiciary caste, answerable to the warriors, and religious/bureaucratic, with special powers to deal with crime on the scene. -----------------

the TV flicked off as the room darkened. The thum of the air conditioning was a constant noise as the Padshah lay in his bed.
There was a knock at the door, which the Padshah ignored. if it was urgent he could be contacted on neurites. The knock came again, harder this time, startling the Padshah. He sat up, facing the door.

The door flew off of its hinges, dust rising into the air. The noise of the door smashing against the other wall could not hide the mechanical clamour outside though. A shadow darkened the doorframe, and a mechanical claw gripped the walls inside, pulling a silver eight limbed monstrosity through. every time it gripped into the wall to pull itself along, it felt as if the foundations of the palace were coming loose. Surrounding the Padshah, the head of the beast lowered til it was level with Yang-Chens. The red eyes flashed white for a second, and then the glass cleared completely, showing liquid green eyes inside.

It started to speak, slowly. It sounded more like the armour was making it difficult to speak, rather than an actual problem that the monster had with speaking.

"Do... not make this, difficult.... for the Castes. They, are united, and they, will... prevail. Accept their ruling... or be discarded."

With that, it vanished, leaving only a disturbed cloud of dust that couldn't settle. Moments later, bodyguards flooded into the room, circling the terrified Padshah. He was quickly lifted, carried down to the emergency room in the lower levels of the palace. Once the doctors were satisfied with his condition, he was released, but urged to follow the advice given by the castes.

Back in his room, the memories of the brief encounter flooded back, and he could not take his mind from the threat. Yang-Chen II was an upstanding man, similar to the first Emperor, but this had made him reconsider his position. Assassinations were rare. Not unknown. And the Emperors in question were always loathed by the public. Such a fate was unnacceptable. The Padshah was accussed of being too sensitive of public and alliance opinion, and the warriors had underestimated just how far the Padshah would go to ensure his legacy as a great Emperor, and not as a coward. He sent a message to the press office through his nanites, to be ready for his imminent arrival. He put on his ceremonial robes, and made his way quickly to the recording room. Slight smiles escaped the lips of the cameramen, respectful, seeing new strength in the Emperor. They readied the equipment, and began to send the equipment. The Padshah spoke into the screen.

"The castes are not the true rulers of Jordaxia, neither am I. We are nothing more than instruments of the people, something that is often forgotten. The castes seek to remove us from our friends. To isolate us against the universe. They call me weak, foolish, naive, far worse. They use their semblance of respect to breach protocol, to attack me in my chamber. They try to scare me into betraying my people, who I love. And yet, for all their words and insults, they cannot overpower me with their bullying ways. They have not cowed me. I am strong in my office, and with that strength, I give you freedom to choose. The choice to sail the stars alone, or with others. The choice of ruin, or survival. The choice to let the caste council rule your destiny, or whether you will forge it. I call a vote, to decide, once and for all, who has final say in affairs. You, or they?"

Just outside the camerashot, hundreds of soldiers guarded the Emperor in case of assassin. Throughout the Empire, people stated where their loyalty lay.

The same tall woman, this time in a purple suit, appeared on the screen in the Padshahs room.

"You're watching JBC1, with the news at ten. In our main story tonight, the religious/bureaucratic, and warrior caste were beaten at the polls by a margin of 80/20%, scrapping their decision to withdraw the Empire from the r-ESUS, and ensu....."

The screen flicked off, and the Padshah smiled as he went to sleep for the first time in 2 nights.

[Five Civilized Nations]

Scenario #2: After years of lethargy, a large portion (not a majority) of your space fleet, composing all of the advanced, state-of-the-art warships, has revolted against your national government. RP as your government attempting to restore order. Extra points for believable space combat.

[Jordaxia]

Secondary military complex, central Kuiper belt - asteroid 0147
-------------------------------------------------------

The sensor grid had been out for ten minutes. Suspicion would have been unaroused if it wasn't for the completeness of the blackout. Disposable drones made up the majority of the sensor, given how often an asteroid strayed from its course and struck the old expensive models. Main power to the SMC was uninterupted, and gravity was unaltered, there never was any to alter. Personnel floated through the open doors, delivering footage from the drones moments before they shut off. Nothing was visible on the first thirty, but the thirty-first revealed something in the distance a few seconds before it shut off. In the far upper left, a small flash was apparent, under intense magnification, though nothing else could be made out. 8 seconds later, the footage ended. A message, tagged urgent, was sent to the Primary Military Complex, stating that they had suffered a total sensor blackout, and everyone went back to business, with a little yellow alert warning light flashing.

Back at the PMC, the message arrived, just on time. Ryusan, leader of the warrior Caste, smiled, and gave a nod to the lieutenant at the desk. The order to the fleet was given.
This has been a long time coming. Those fools in the palace feel it would be best if the warrior Caste was quiet, they give their ear to the religious caste*. Well, they will regret pushing us to one side like awkward children. We will forge a stronger nation, one unafraid to take what can be ours by conquest, and establish an Empire unequalled in all history. The Legacy of Sparta shall be but a shadow compared to our glory. The thought was sweet to Ryusan. At 160 years old, he was approaching the end of his life. He had been denied a victory to put his name to, not something which in itself bothered him. But to spend his career chasing pirates around dead rocks was an insult to the tradition. The founders of jordaxia hadn't anticipated such quick stagnation when they established the warrior caste. They had expected that they would expand, and would need the protection that the caste would provide. And so, now, with no-one to crush, they had no point. There was only two choices. Dispand, and leave their lives behind, or force their needs on the nation in a way they couldn't ignore.

Back in the SMC, members of the warrior caste made their move. Slowly but efficiently, the automated security systems were de-activated, clearing the path for the fleet which would call the SMC home. Scant minutes later, it arrived, invisible to the SMC. hundreds of warships loyal to the greater caste, appeared around the station, with no movement or action. Then, a few minutes later, space was ripped apart as the staggering hulk of the IJN Germane Riposte appeared. It opened its communication channels, and sent a message to the SMC.

"This is the warrior Caste of the Golden Empire. Your weapons have been deactivated in preparation for our arrival. prepared to be boarded. Resistance will be pacified without hesitation."

With that, the Germane Riposte closed with the SMC, with thousands of soldiers in its cavernous bays ready to secure their "homeworld".


Meanwhile, the religious/bureaucratic caste urgently met. With almost every captain reporting ships missing from patrols, or desertions of entire squads, news spread quickly among the high-ups of the Empire. Pacing around the table, Chimon of the religious caste was worried. The withdrawal of the warrior caste was the most serious of matters
.
"I shall contact Varuna immediately" he stated, and, after a second or two, the face of Taisen, leader of most of the pirates and mercenaries appeared on a nearby screen.

"I hear you're having trouble with security recently" he said, with a toothy grin. "Perhaps you call to come to some sort of temporary arrangement?"

Chimon sneered at the mercenary, and replied.

"Quite so, but I am not in the mood for idiocy, just busine-"

"25 billion, Jordaxian Ruppees. Nothing less."

"Agreed. You can have your fee when this mess is resolved. Loyal Government forces will meet you in orbit around Varuna."

With another smile, Taisens face disappeared.

"I'm going to kill that shit." Chimon muttered. "Find out where the hell those ships are!" He shouted as he stormed out of the room.

A few hours later, an ensign approached Chimon with a report. On it, much useless information was compiled on the situation. Lost among it was the fact that neither the PMC or SMC had reported in at their usual times. The remnant of the fleet had gathered around varuna, with the ragtag pirate and mercenary ships gathered. Aboard the Public nuisance, a Second converted preg-test, to match the Germane Risposte.

They weren't expecting the warrior caste to attack them first.

Suddenly, hundreds of tears in space opened as Jordaxian nonsequitors flooded out. Across from the nuisance, the Germane Riposte cruised out. As one with the rest of the fleet, it raised its eggshields, and fired a volley of hummingbird missiles before their foe could raise their own shields. With precision accuracy the hummingbirds targetted scanners and engines of the opposing Nonsequitors, raising EW fields and dropping submunitions. Automated defenses of the other Nonsequitors released their own batch to assist whilst the shields raised, and quickly formed up around the Nuisance. The Caste ships done the same, their superior training evident in their efficiency. A second volley was released to follow the first. Across the void of space, hummingbirds began to dogfight amongst themselves, directing bursts of EW pulses, and releasing further submunitions. maser bursts shot out at each other, blind firing in the thick EW field. Captains of the ships in each fleet blind to the outcome of the battle, and capable of doing little more than speculating. The second wave of hummingbirds joined the fray, and the superior numbers began to show. More and more of the mercenary/loyalist hummingbirds were shot down by the Caste, as their fleet moved in under the cover of the field.

Many of the loyalist ships were caught by surprise by the victorious caste hummingbirds, and, the shields protected little against missiles. Thousands of explosions rippled through the loyalist fleet , gas from the shields pluming outwards due to the fireball created. Several ships were all but scrap after the engagement, at least thirty more crews abandoned ships, all for no caste loss. As the EW field disappeared, Taisen cursed loudly at the Caste warships engaging point blank with their masers in perfect pattern. More scars were cut into the loyalist ships, searing the thermokinetic foam. But without an EW field blocking them, they could target the caste ships unimpeded. At practically point blank range, caste ships were struck by hummingbirds, and Yak kinetic missiles. Through the neurite system, Ryusan heard the wails of the crewmen as they were caught by the attack, their saucer shaped ships smashed apart in an inferno. Aboard the nuisance, Taisen, who had assumed temporary command when it arrived ordered the ships to be ready to spread into maser formation. Ship captains lodged the order into their computers, and waited for the order.

Sensing the moment to be perfect, Taisen said
"Now." and as one, the Nonsequitors split apart into maser formation, directly behind the Caste ships. Masers were set to full power as they returned fire on the weaker rear of the Nonsequitor. Eggshields began to clear as the gas vapourised, leaving only patchy cover.
Aboard the Germane Riposte the situation was deteriorating. The trick was unexpected of the incompetant Non-Caste mercenaries, not least the standard loyalist foes. More than that, several of the mercenary ships were ramming the Nonsequitors, and in some cases, cleaving them in half, or gouging huge holes in them. Masers flared out at the rammers, trying to cleave them first, but the thickened armour protected them before they made contact. Uncertainty amongst the caste could be felt through the neurites as they questioned the attack on those they were sworn to protect, especially now that they were resisting. On screen, loyalist and Caste ships were losing power at a virtually equal rate, which meant the caste would lose. More than that, it meant the nation would have no means of defense against outside foes, never mind the pirates who declined the opportunity to work with the loyalists. Ryusan sat back in his captains chair, deep in thought. He would be executed if he surrendered, but the most that could be hoped for here was stalemate. There were too many loyalist ships for the caste to destroy, and if they allowed time for the loyalists to group properly, they would be doomed.

The fight continued outside, space filled with invisible radiation as the masers seared the hull of other ships. No ship had an intact field, and most had no field at all, and the greatly superior numbers of the loyalists was telling. More caste ships were deserting, returning to Pluto to surrender and avoid serious punishment.

"Stop!" Yelled Ryusan at the top of his lungs. The bridge crew jolted at the expression, as they heard the surrender going out through the neurites. As suddenly as it begun, the battle had ended, derelicts floating along with functioning ships, debris in the void between, blackened thermokinetic foam and purple steel, glowing white hot at the edges.
"To Pluto" said Ryusan, as he hung his head. Honourable execution was better than ruin of his nation.

Back on Pluto, Chimon was delighted as the caste fleet returned, though more than two thirds was accounted lost, as opposed to fully half the loyalist fleet. At dawn, such as it was on Pluto, Ryusan commited Seppuku in his personal chamber.

[Five Civilized Nations]

Scenario #3: A premier military officer has defied direct orders to cease fire against a pirate ship. His bloodlust resulted in the deaths of six kidnapped children on board, including one four year old girl, Nadia. Her remaining family have called for the execution or imprisonment of the officer. You must roleplay the judicial proceedings, and come to a verdict. The verdict will not affect your score. Make sure to fully describe the reasons why the officer did not cease fire. One post should be sufficient.

[Jordaxia]

A light in the courtroom flickered incessantly, and dull concrete walls began to echo quietly with the footsteps of people entering the room. In the centre of the room, an oak platform, with the flag of Jordaxia carved in the centre, was waiting to recieve the accused, an officer called Dai-in. There were six seats in the room, three for judges, and three for the for the family. All entered the room at the same time, with Dai-in taking his place on the platform. He faced the judges, who sat down, and began the proceedings.

"Dai-In. You have been summoned by this court to answer to these people. They accuse you of murder, insubordination, and incompetance. How do you answer these charges?"

"I am guilty of two of these charges, Lord, but not the third. I was not sent to rescue those children, I was sent to destroy a pirate vessel. After a particularly bloody battle, I had managed to weaken the vessel significantly, but it was still able to attack me. Unfortunately, my superiors had taken an opposite view, and ordered me to cease fire to give them time to surrender. If I had taken such an action, then the pirate vessel would have been able to either escape, or call for help. Since it was a far larger vessel than mine, and hoarding quite a significant amount of valuable cargo, I felt it necessary to deny them their prize, and pressed my attack. My actions prevented the pirates from having a major victory, and being able to step up attacks in the asteroid fields. There was no other alternative."

Incensed by the officers callous remark, one of the family members called at him,
"My neice was on board that ship, and died because of you! Had you obeyed orders, she would still have been alive!"

Remaining quite composed at the sudden assault, Dai-In replied,
"She may have been alive, but you would never have seen her again, and if you class slavery under a criminal barbarian a life, then she would have not had much of one. Unfortunately, there were far more important things at stake than the children. That they had to die to prevent vital supplies falling into pirate hands is, I believe, something that perhaps would be better taken up with the criminals that had kidnapped her."

Another judge, to the left of the first one, now took his opportunity to ask his questions.

"You have already admitted fault for the first two charges, something which may see you discharged from the navy, and imprisoned under military law. Why do you defend yourself from the third?"

Dai-In replied,

"I have not admitted fault for the first two charges. I merely admitted that under the technicality of the law, these are two crimes I may be charged with. I would maintain that I cannot be prosecuted for any of them, as the murder is an inevitable part of my duties, and I was being insubordinate to those who were unaware of the full situation. Even Sun Tzu says that in certain cases, the sovereign may be ignored by the general, if the sovereign is making an incorrect choice. Surely I may be granted the same perrogative if my superiors are making a plainly incorrect choice? In fact, I would be correctly charged with incompetance had I followed the order, as I would have allowed the enemy to gain victory, when I could easily prevent it."

The second judge responded simply,
"I concur with this statement. does the family have a response to make in regards to this?"

"We do", said Ch'anyom, the person who had responded in the first instance.

"We have these laws to ensure a kind of control of these situations. If we were to allow everyone with a reason to walk free of the crime commited, without punishment, then what is the point of the court? After all, from certain points of view, almost any reason can provide a justification for crime. We have laws as a foundation for our society. If we so willingly neglect the foundation, how long until everything falls down about us?"

The first judge again responded to the victims statement.

"I find their analogy to be flawed." he said, "Whilst our law does indeed represent a strong part of our society, I find it to be more a scaffold than foundation. Whilst the laws set a framework of our society to work within, they should not obstruct it unecessarily. Exceptions must be made where there is good reason, a function which we serve. If law was a matter of black and white, there would be no reason for this hearing. Dai-In is clearly guilty of the crimes commited, excepting, we believe, incompetance. He acted in the interests of self-preservation, and for the good of Jordaxia as a whole. The price of six lives, however young they might have been, is worth the sacrifice. It is our decision that whilst Dai-In must be found guilty of the crimes of murder and insubordination, punishment may not be given."

Turning to face the second judge, the third asked,
"Do you agree?"
"I do", the second responded.

"Then, it is the decision of the court that Dai-In is guilty of murder and insubordination, but shall recieve no sentence by either the civilian, or military court. It is decided."

Awestruck at what they had initially thought would be a simple case going so badly wrong so quickly, the family attempted to convince the judges otherwise, a vain attempt. Two guards entered the room to escort Dai-In out.

[Five Civilized Nations]

Your grade will be forthcoming in the next two days...

[Jordaxia]

I'm going to have to request some kind of info as soon as I can have it. I'm going to be gone tomorrow, and might not be able to check the forums again for a few days, so I'd like to know what the result is before... tomorrow 2:00pm GMT.

[Five Civilized Nations]

Scenario #1: 92
Scenario #2: 90
Scenario #3: 94
Average: 92