"Weather Tapeworm can take over their computers or not doesn't concern me" Captian LeGrenadier says to the people in the bar "for that will not be his task. Tapeworm is designed to operate ship's systems witout any outside input. With a little extra programing that any idiot could do, Tapeworm could be configured to operate a ship's drive and comm systems as well. Now here's my plan. Because we have been tracking these ships from a bas on Xarnes as well as from this station, we can triangulate the location of their port of origin. Because I would hate to risk human or strand lives trying to reach this port, I will copy Tapeworm into the computer of a Lazira, and send this ship to the Mystery planet with a diplomatic message. Tapeworm will be instructed to give them this message in basic strand language, and relay to us any response they make. Because I havve a backup copy in the station's computer, there is no risk to Tapeworm either. The only thing we can loose in this deal is the ship. Now, who here can reprogram Tapeworm for diplomatic relations?

------------------
"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

"I was designed to operate drives & comm systems. However, when I said I could only control lower functions, I was referring only to this new type of alien operating system."
"And there is no need to use a backup copy- there is none, but that iss irrelevant. I reproduce exactly like a virus. To date, there are copies of me on Pax, Paaren Station, Zanati Fuel Refinery, Veltes, Zidagar, Mira, Blaga, etc. etc. etc. etc...."

------------------
I ask you to look both ways- for the road to the atom leads through the stars, and the road to the stars leads through the atom.

"Y'know, it's a bit late for diplomacy!" goomeister argued over the sounds of battle. Anyone who looked at the tactical display would understand: Now that the bomb had done its job, nothing else was left for the fleet to use. The ambush had been successfully repelled; the defenders had lost their early advantage. There was only one chance for victory: call in the cavalry.

"Ah, goomeister! Why do you call us so soon? Won already?"
"Vice-Admiral Karra, we need reinforcements!"
"You get right down to business, don-"
"Now, damnit, now! We won't stand a chance without backup!"
"We'll send all the ships we can. ETA: ~6 hours."
"6 HOURS!? They're killing us!"
"That's the point of war, isn't it, commander? Over and out."

------------------
Those who are blinded by the light shall stumble in the darkness...
Visit the (url="http://"http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthecatacomb")Unofficial EV Webboard(/url)!
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro &default;=")USE ME, DAMNIT!!!(/url)

The reason I want a backup copy is because I need you here and there at the same time. Plug yourself into a camera and take a look out the window. Like geomeister said, we don't have a lot of time to work with. Still I'm convinced that diplomacy is the only way to solve this ultamately. Once I have a copy of you on the way to their homewold, you will begin taking over lower level systems on their ships like you mentioned before, as well as assisting our fleets.

------------------
"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

"There is only one problem," says Tapeworm. "These ships are from the past
(remember?), and their homeworld is the one this station is currently orbiting, only several thousand years later. Anything I do in the past could have a significant effect on the future- there aliens, the Gadzair, are the forefathers of the three Strands, and If something goes wrong, history will be unchangeably altered."

------------------
I ask you to look both ways- for the road to the atom leads through the stars, and the road to the stars leads through the atom.

"I'd bet I could write a sentient algorithm beter than yours right now while we wait for reinforcements!" goomeister screamed into the comm unit. "What part about 'lost contact with Crescent Station' didn't you understand!? They come from the present, beyond the Crescent, where the Gadzair were exiled because the Council refused to commit genocide. Now go look at the Council's datalinks while we wait!" This outburst was not usual for goomeister, but he had just about had it with the discussion of Tapeworm while his ships were being poped like balloons.

The radar officer (A misnomer, for starships certainly couldn't use radar) interupted the momentary pause. "The Azdgari fleet is within hyper-dimensional scan range. We count over 3000 warships and over 5000 supporting ships.." Three thousand? That couldn't be right. Eighteen-thousand Azdaras! That would turn the tide easily! And if the enemy were caught off guard...

"All ships, fake a retreat. Call back all fighters and move full throtle away from the hypergate," goomeister ordered. If his gambit worked, the alien fleet would follow the "retreating" fleet and get jumped from behind by Azdgari forces. If it failed, the Azdgari would meet stiff resistance as they emerged, and there'd be no friendly forces nearby to assist...

------------------
Those who are blinded by the light shall stumble in the darkness...
Visit the (url="http://"http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthecatacomb")Unofficial EV Webboard(/url)!
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro &default;=")USE ME, DAMNIT!!!(/url)

Weepul 884, after being knocked unconscious by a grazing alien blast, awakes, and for the half-second before becoming fully awake his subconscious is aware of the strange, confusing multiple timelines and storylines going on. :

Having drifted some distance away, he has remained unnoticed by any of the ships now engaged in brutal space warfare. He sees, faintly, a black ship closing in behind goomeister's ship. Weepul hurls the silvery rod with all his might and skill.

The rod twirls through space and connects with the approaching alien ship, which disappears in a ripple. The rod rebounds and riccochets off three other alien ships, removing them from this time frame. Unfortunately, no amount of skill or luck could keep it going, and Weepul sighs a small sigh of relief and despair as the rod flies off into space.

An Azdara flashes over Weepul's head, more recklessly piloted than usual, soon followed by a handful of others. He wonders what's going on...

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

The Azdgari ships quickly catch up. Azdgari Aradas disrupt the rear while Azdaras tear into enemy flanks. goomeister's fleet turns around and deploys fighters, adding to the confusion. Ships fell one at a time, slowly bringing down the marauders. The tide had turned. In a few hours, the Council announced victory to all the Crescent by tachyon relay.

"Our defenses hold! Council Station remains ours!" goomeister exclaimed.
"Good. Now can we have our fleet back? We need a defense fleet for Crescent Station."
"Vice-Admiral Karra! Of course! Is Crescent Station really operational?"
"Yes. It is online as we speak. We've also installed a unique addition: we can send ships through, but they cannot."
"Can you have your fleet bring these wrecks there? We'll show them what happens to all who oppose the Council."
"I like your idea. For victory, commander!"
"For victory."

------------------
Those who are blinded by the light shall stumble in the darkness...
Visit the (url="http://"http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthecatacomb")Unofficial EV Webboard(/url)!
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro &default;=")USE ME, DAMNIT!!!(/url)

"Hold the ship here.. Something big went down.." Alien says to his navigator as he watches a bulkhead float by on the scanners..

The H.S. Frickkit, a heavily modified Voinian Frigate, comes to a slow stop on the fringe of Council Station's space.. The Station certaintly picks up the vessal, and all members actively participating are alerted of the ship's presance..

"Alien Stonewall, the brave Hinwar explorer... seems he's a little nervous to enter after all the carnage though.. From what we know, his ship is a combine of Miranu and Hinwar technologies.. but a peaceful vessal none-the-less.."

"Well, might as well make the nest of this, send out the grapplers.." Alien says..

Several small ships with long arms and powerful engines begin harvesting the broken bulkheads and ship parts..

------------------
Hi! I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm big, mad, strong, and Hinwar! I yell 'LONG LIVE THE UE!', but I smash vikimadegie lovers every chance I get!
Cause I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm always making the mods mad doing something or another, but I'll never learn! I'll never turn! Look at my karma!

The alien mauraders had been completely destroyed. Most of the adzgari vessels remained intact- although deadly, the aliens' clumsy beam weapons and poorly-shielded ships were incapable of withstanding the onsluaght of the tousands upon thousands of darting, deadly Azdaras.
Now the barman would have to dig up enough cases of rum to supply several hudred thousand Azdgari...

------------------
I ask you to look both ways- for the road to the atom leads through the stars, and the road to the stars leads through the atom.

Plothole Alert!

Tapeworm implied that the aliens came through the tempral rift, but the coming of the alien warfleet was caused by the distruction of crecent station, implying that the aliens came from outside crecent space.

I have a solution though: The Gazadir (Spelling?) left the crecent about 3000 years ago, and made their way outside crecent space. Sealed out of their home by thir decendents, the strands, the Gazadir evolved on their own. When crecent station was destroyed, the Gazadir thought that the strands where finally letting them return home, and flooded into strand space. Because the tempral rift had brought a hostile spaceship from the past, however, the strands misinterpreted the arrival of the Gazidir. Now the choice remains: sort out the confusion and make peace with the Gazadir, or drive them back past where crecent station used to be, and use the newly built UE station "Crecent II" to seal the Gazadir back in uncharted space...

------------------
"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

There's no plothole. Read pages 1 and 2. The initial attack was from the past. This, the major attack, came when Crescent Station was destroyed, temporarily ending the Gadzair's exile. Now, if you want to download Tapeworm onto the fleet's crippled computers, do so. The ships will be sent beyond the Crescent as a warning to the Gadzair.

------------------
Those who are blinded by the light shall stumble in the darkness...
Visit the (url="http://"http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthecatacomb")Unofficial EV Webboard(/url)!
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro &default;=")USE ME, DAMNIT!!!(/url)

I can't think of anything, but someone has to resurrect this dying bar...

------------------
I ask you to look both ways- for the road to the atom leads through the stars, and the road to the stars leads through the atom.

I thought yall had something going...

------------------
Hi! I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm big, mad, strong, and Hinwar! I yell 'LONG LIVE THE UE!', but I smash vikimadegie lovers every chance I get!
Cause I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm always making the mods mad doing something or another, but I'll never learn! I'll never turn! Look at my karma!

Meanwhile, while all this is going on, the bartender, UE Patriot, is looking over the old documents that someone mentioned in page one- the documents that said Borb was head of the Council in 2250-something- well, UE Patriot realized that those years aren't Earth years, for if you start up a EVO pilot right now the year is 2151 Anno Domini. So obviously the years mentioned in the documents aren't Earth years- they're Gadzair years. So UE Patriot then calculates what those would be in Earth years and finds out that the very first mention of Borb, ever was in 1977 AD... the year Elvis died!

Going through the Council Station Library's gigantic archives, and utilizing his mastery of classical Voinian, UE Patriot comes to the undeniable realization that....

Borb is Elvis!

1977 was also the year the first Star Wars was released.

------------------
"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

BattleDoctor walks into the bar, sits down, orders a drink, drinks the drink, gets up, and leaves.

------------------
...When Soulblighter confronted the Trow, demanding their continued servitude, they replied,"Set iron to rest and choose you one from our number. Ask of his name and what he owes you."

Tapeworm decides to send a copy of himself off on an unmanned foray party to get more alcohol, specifically drink mixes to replenish the bar's waning supply. Taking over one of the more inebriated patron's Miranu Heavy freighter to Xarnes.
Heading out of council station, he detects a fully circular grey Miranu-like ship approaching...

------------------
I ask you to look both ways- for the road to the atom leads through the stars, and the road to the stars leads through the atom.

BattleDoctor comes back to the bar, thinking that his last drink was bad, bu not nearly as bad as the drinks from all of the other bars. He orders another drink and, after waiting for much too long, receives his drink. Then he leaves the bar and makes his way to his ship, which he uses to hyperspace to a system far, far away that nobody else knows about.

------------------
...When Soulblighter confronted the Trow, demanding their continued servitude, they replied,"Set iron to rest and choose you one from our number. Ask of his name and what he owes you."

Then someone with a Name tag that says "Nobo Dyelse" walks in and tells everyone where BattleDoctor went.

------------------
(url="http://"http://pub29.ezboard.com/b20")Don't click here.(/url)
Do radioactive cats have 18 half-lives?
The Person who misspells "Voinian" knows not of the 50 gigaton nuke coming at their cranium.