Taking the 'hype' out of Hyperlanes

[Lucien Cordel]

A sea of stars soon to be obstructed by the dirty underbelly of commerce, the acrid fumes of behemoth transports carrying raw goods through the silence of the unknown regions.Very soon a hyperplane would cleave through the shadow and drag the unknown into the glaring light of modernity. A development adored by some, reviled by others. It was the 'others' that bothered lucien at present.

"That's enough" Lucien said slaping his hand lightly on the table. The clink of a decanter being replaced on the table answered his order. Lucien glanced lazily over his shoulder, the subtle lift of his servants head told Lucien more than a hundred words. His servants were not as flawless as he would have liked.

"That will be all ... Leave me"

The light shuffle of his servant leaving disturbing the delicate silence of the room. Lucien closed his eyes and lent back with a sigh, taking for himself a brief moment of respite. A short lived break from the turmoil. Almost before it had begun his solace was over. He picked up his glass of whiskey and heaved himself from his chair weary feet took him across the observation deck. He took a gulp of the liquid heat spreading from his throat into the pit of his stomach, corlian scotch the faithful companion of the insomniac.

Bellow lay 244 Core, the root of Lucien's problems. It had begun when a small group of lack witted activists began making noise in protest to the hypelane. This prompted the combined might of the cores mining tycoons to make an offer they would make the group 'disappear' . Lucien had warded them off ... Temporarily. They had warned him in no uncertain terms that they wanted the hyperlane sooner rather than later and that if the fringe couldn't deal with the obstruction, they would. Lucien knew as well as any other that projects built on foundations saturated with blood never lasted long without a second sacrafice of blood. Were it that the hyperlane could reach maximum efficiency without investment from the major businesses Lucien would let the group continue. Repettive wailing never held public attention long, time would push the fanatics back into the shadow. If only he had time the tycoons grew impatient so sadly it seemed action would have to be taken. Lucien lent onto the transpari-steel, his knuckles white as the bulk of his weight was put on his hand. He was glad he had requested [member="Anders Sivas"] join him on his ship, she would be of great help to him. Together they would be a force to be reckoned with as they had been before.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The Skies above 244Core are abuzz with the caterwauling cacophony of people unimpressed. Creating a new hyper lane through the unknown region is more than a casual necessity, it's essential for commerce and the movement of my military powers. An Admiral and a General by my side, Bucket is on high alert since my Life Day party and [member="Mikhail Shorn"] 's announcement of my true gender to the masses. The Fallout has only begun, I've been getting dirty eyes for days and combined with the lack of sleep of my confirmed boyfriend Mikhail's visit naturally induces with the tensions rising from the planet have me in a rare bad mood. My fingers massage my right temple, my face drawn and fatigued. "The Lady Anders Sivas, High Councillor of Military Affairs." Bucket announces me into the room and I step in to offer [member="Lucien Cordel"] my hand in greeting.

"Whiskey, Lord Cordel? I could go for a glass. Where are we at? Whose mind needs shifting? I've got a Battalion waiting on the Vi'Nu that can hit the planet in less than an hour. Tell me we won't need them and I'll feel a whole lot more like myself."

Pressing my fingers into my forehead, I massage my temples and exhale slowly to wish away the tightness in my skull. It barely works, but well enough I suppose for the second at hand. "This is Admiral Tyrius and General K'hlion. They're here at my behest. I won't lie, this hyperlane does a lot of good things for my military. We need it to work."

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien turned a weak smile playing on his face. Indeed today was indeed a rare day Lady [member="Anders Sivas"] was in a bad mood and lucien was in casual wear. In fact he was in night wear, all be it very formal night wear. He padded back over to the conference table.

"Good evening my lady, I think we both deserve a double serving ... We really do work too hard"

On cue the decanter lifted into the air and filled a glass which floated over to Andra, the decanter then refilled Lucien's own glass. Lucien gave a curt nod to the two officers

"My apologies for my lack of formality , it has been a testing day ... Please have a seat and I will explain our situation"

A hologram of Core 244 's aerospace sprang to life in the centre a pale green line depicting the proposed path of the lane.

" we have a few minor problems with raids on contruction convoys nothing more than a trifling inconvenience , our major problem is with our own investors"

He sat down with a groan rubbing his neck before moving his hand down to his ankle, the picture changed to a series of mug shots and corporate logos

"An insignificant protest group has sprung up they are nothing more than a rabble of fanatics viewed more with pity than actually listened to, nevertheless they have the corporations worried and like all people with more money than sense they are acting in a rash fashion ... A killing was their first proposal ... I talked them down, they will not remain quiet long we need to act quickly if we won't a clean end to this"

Lucien drained the last of his glass with a shudder. Those were the problems as he saw them.

"I trust your sources have identified no further issues my lady , general, admiral"

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Who else is keeping the Fringe together, hmm? You and I, my friend. We work way too hard. Cheers to working too hard." I toss a slim salute and take a casual seat and put an elbow on the table to rest my head upon it. The glass is picked out of thin air, I smirk at it and take a long unlady-like drag. "Mmmh. Admiral Minion, you've got info on that."

The Admiral grimaces and pouts but carries on well enough. "We can armour the construction convoys on the necessary points with corvettes and convoy the necessary ships, or we've rooted out the dissidents. I propose naval bombardments."

"Yeah, and I propose not killing the people this hyperlane is for. We have that list of dissidents right? So let's talk to them. If they won't see reason? Is it worth it for me to make them see reason? If you catch my drift, High Councillor Cordel?" Whatever's been going wrong lately must be a doozy for me to openly offer to forcibly change someone's mental landscape for a hyperlane. I know [member="Lucien Cordel"] will see the shift in my mood. He knows me better than I know me right now.

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien clumsily toasted working too hard the settled his gaze upon the admiral, The decorated officer had a poor choose in facial expression the one she showed was most unattractive, far too frog like for Lucien's liking. Lucien non the less nodded along despite the notable distraction the admiral was causing. He couldn't help but laugh as the admiral recommended an orbital bombardment ""Typical that a person of your ilk would want to take a sledge hammer to crack a nut" he sat back "Prehaps I should apply your philosophy when dealing with rowdy soldiers on leave, shooting them would certainly keep them from beating up the ladies and gentlemen of ill fame," Lucien watched as the admirals face contorted into a picture of rage "A ludicrous idea isn't it prehaps you aught to remember where you are before allowing the drivel in your mind to leak from your mouth" how coy Lucien was tonight, it made him feel so very smug. Yes he had taught that admiral a lesson.

"I think Lady Sivas that your idea is a sterling one, talking is so much cleaner than bombing" he smiled "we should get right on it our time is short and I fear that if we don't begin soon we will all be left rather embarrassed. Lucien would need to talked to Andra soon she seemed somewhat jaded of late ... A rather unwelcome development she grounded the fringe and if she began to teeter on the edge of shadow then Lucien had no doubt a blood bath would result.