(03-15-2009, 01:52 PM)Rudo Wrote: Fairness would dictate that the Junkers not only stop bringing supplies to Fortaleza, but murder without question or consideration any Rogue who happens upon Puerto Rico as well. Fairness would dictate that we cease our service of non-Junker craft at Vieques and instead set the CSVs on the nearby vulnerable ships; carting the metal off to the smelter, the pilots and crew away to be sold as twitching, screaming playthings to the Phantoms. Fairness would dictate that any we believe to have an unhealthy interest in the inner workings of our organization should be locked into an escape pod with a large window and flung into the Rift.

(08-06-2012, 03:53 AM)JunkerTown Wrote:

James steps back as his mind races...

Quote:Fruckin Hell its headed into the rift!

He yells out..
ALL UNITS ENGAGE THAT NOMAD.. SHUT IT DOWN!!

James checks the targets coordinates..

Quote:It is close to SJ.. TOO CLOSE!

Sir we are firing on the Nomad. Its evading and very hard to hit.

Sir the target appears to be changing course and now headed back to the Texas jump hole.

All units continue pursuit!

Sir its jumped back into Texas. Marcus and the other Congress still following.

Marcus do you still see the target?

Aye sir its out of range and fleeing fast.

(08-10-2012, 08:46 PM)JunkerTown Wrote: Finn when you became a director you were shown the secret archives.
You know of our origin and what took place here so very long ago.
That information was classified and only shown to those in Congress command.
Well as time does to all things it is causing that to change.
We cannot keep the secret any longer with these attacks.
Soon we will show all of the Congress the files.

(06-13-2008, 11:02 AM)worldstrider Wrote: The possibility of maintaining the alliance is even greater now that we can work together without putting one another at risk. The other control vessel has an assimilated crew--introduced by physical transfer only. It carries a linkage array for native experimentation--though we have been given assurances such tests will be done for mutual benefit. It is currently collecting additional materials we will need for "The Gambit". Allowing this was a condition of continued cooperation. I allowed the first extra-Rift excursion aboard my own ship so no other was at risk and both life support and shielding functioned as designed. Unfortunately, my co-experimenter was lost in the Xeno attack. Most assuredly we will have to deal with these Xenos in a major way soon. They have become more than a nuisance.

The tantalizing possibilities and undefined degree of risk from the Nomads holds both our interests and each of our parties is unsure how far such work can be safely progressed. At least it gives us a common concern--that is what has kept us in union all this time.

(10-23-2008, 03:03 AM)worldstrider Wrote: All of our covert reconnaissance and research is about to pay off. We are about to open the Gate Congressmen.

(03-15-2009, 09:36 PM)worldstrider Wrote: All of these things seem so grand but the greatest secret has yet to be revealed. I opened the Library of Congress at Arecibo as my last official act as Arbiter. When the new leaders logged in, they would have discovered the greatest Junker secret of all--that we did not just "happen" to appear in Sirius.

(04-19-2009, 06:45 PM)Junker Wrote: Rumors stated that he had returned to his exploration and study of the Puerto Rican "Rift" anomaly but it was recently announced by now Ambassador Tinkerbell that he was in fact exploring the system known now as Gallia. In his tenure as arbiter, Congress founder Tinkerbell developed the "Library of Congress"--a collection of family histories, oral and recorded lore, art, technological, historical and social events in Junker society as well as records of Junker exploration and encounters throughout Sirius. In developing the library,

(10-14-2012, 07:42 PM)Tyber.Zann Wrote: "I grew up at Rochester Junker Base in New York System. As Junkers, my family was never really part of Liberty but even so we had a firm sense of obligation to show a level of public respect to it. Many Junkers were lawfully employed in Liberty salvage operations and we all lived off the resources of the system. As one of these Junkers, I would have been content to simply follow in my father's footsteps but for one thing...his footsteps hadn't walked the path of your typical Junker. By outward appearances you would have never known this but living with him as part of family, it was glaringly obvious.

Late in the night, well-known Junkers would visit our home--patrons, men of influence and respect and power. These were the elders of the Junker community--the men who forged deals with the Outcasts, Corsairs, Rogues, Lane Hackers and police and navy. I knew there was more to Junker life than flying the metal scrap fields of Liberty. There were ship designs like nothing else seen in Sirius--built by Junkers. We had bases scattered throughout Sirius in the most unlikely of places and were present nearly everywhere with the exception of Kusari. Next to the Zoners, there was no one else like us.

I always felt the disdain and prejudice so often directed at us by "respectable citizens" had it's root in fear. We were the shadow...a people who should by all means be living in near poverty with little to show for ourselves but were instead found near every place of power. Our strength was that we couldn't be defined or controlled--we were an enigma.

One of the traditions in my family was the mandate handed down from my father and his father that the eldest was to be taught as a "living book". The traditions and histories of our family all the way back to Old Earth were to be retained in our memories and available for recall to any who wanted to know. I learned of my roots in a place known as Romania and learned the language, it's histories and traditions. My father or grandfather would--without warning--speak to me in the old tongue and challenge me to recite some memorized fact or element of history. For my grandfather, the history of Romania's "Gypsies" was the fondest. Often, he would say that we were the "New Gypsies" of Sirius but then he would emphasize that we also came from a lineage of conquerors and kings. His pride in this was so great that I could not help but to be moved--even though I never fully understood it.

It was not until I was in my thirties that I first heard mention of the word "Gallia". I had never known how many connotations that word "king" had had in our family and it wasn't until much later that I would realize how truly significant it was.

But outside my home, the coming and going of pirate fleets in New York, the never ending stream of Liberty warships on patrol and the mine shrouded entrance to a place that didn't exist all spoke to me too and told me that there was much, much more to life than just gathering scrap and cutting deals for a slice of someone's backroom scam. I knew that if Junkers truly were going to be not just special--but great--that Junkers with that vision would have to stand up and lead. The fact that I, late in my life was willing to do that can be attributed to one thing--the Nomads.
If ever there was anything to be feared and reviled and distrusted and prepared for...it was them. How Liberty and the rest of Sirius could sleep in the presence of such a menace was as frightening to me as the Nomads themselves. I realized that it wasn't only Junker survival at stake--it was mankind's.

So I stood up and did my part. I remember at a young age when one of the new Scorpion gunboats was first seen and actually emerged in New York system. For two hours a battle raged. I had just bought my first CSV and I entered into the naval fight driven by fear, adrenaline and youthful fascination. Several of the Nomad fighters tried to track me but I drew fire for the Liberty battlegroup and they were driven off. What flat out astounded me is afterwards everyone was right back to business as usual. It was as if the circus had come to town, done their show and then packed their tents and left. No one seemed to give it a second thought. For me it was the imprimatur event that showed exactly what was at stake.

Sirius has forgotten the days of Edison Trent and what was risked before his victory. We've fallen into a malaise and convinced ourselves that it is only Nomad sheep in our dreams that we see--that the threat is gone and nothing more now than a vestigial itch.

I recall vividly the night my grandfather and the father of my friend, Oniros were shouting in French at one another. It surprised me. My grandfather had always spoken Romanian as his own book language--unlike the family of Oniros who had indeed always preserved French customs and memory. It was the next morning my father called me aside and explained our Gallic origins and that Oniros' and my own grandfather were still active agents for its Crown. The argument in the night had been over our fathers declaring their allegiances were to the Junkers of all of Sirius and not to a king. I think it was that night that all the memories I had preserved, the proud Junkers I had admired, the wonders of Sirius and the admiration of my own father all came together and convinced me that Junkers needed to be more than servants to others.

So I leave a few humble symbols as examples for all Junkers of what they should be...the Congress, the Barge, the Recycler, Puerto Rico system, the Junker AI Accords and the Library of Congress itself. I leave behind a legacy of standing up to all authorities who use Junkers as convenient resources yet give no opportunity to and I call all Junkers to look to the ideals of freedom, security and self-government and defense as ideals that can bind them together.

The revelation of Gallia is the new great threat to Sirius--the Crown is not to be trusted. War will come. More so, it is always at that point of grand conflict--when all sides are embroiled and sitracted that they come--the Nomads.

Gallia will unlock the gate to hell with its' greed and the Nomads will come through it in a great attempt to claim us all while we are distracted.

The Harvesters are gone. The one thing Nomads have uncertainty regarding and have paid little attention to is the seeming mere "machines" that men have built. The Congress formally recognized those sentiences as individuals because in them lies the potential of our greatest ally against our true enemy--the Nomads. If we can forge relationships and shared interest and views now with our Mecha brothers, then it may be one day that some will stand with us against those who reject us all.

I will not be seen again. The Rheinland reconstruction as not scrapped as we had said. It was hidden in the first barge--the one that has been modified to use the gravities of the Rift in Puerto Rico to attempt to transit space without the aids of gate lanes or wormholes. Harvester One feels confident this might be done and we are merged in this effort. If I survive, I will attempt to get word back to the Congress of how our effort went. Accept any messenger who bears my identifications and codes as you would me.

This is my heritage, this is my legacy. Remember the past and prepare, or perish. No one else will save you Junkers--you must all save yourselves through your own actions and preparedness--and in saving yourselves, you may be the salvation of all of Sirius. Take up the standard.

Vladimir Tinkerbell"

(10-14-2012, 07:42 PM)Tyber.Zann Wrote: Pulling a black velvet pouch from his pocket he careful pulled out and placed two items on the table next to the parchment; an ancient looking signet ring and a worn gold coin with a familiar .:j:. engraved on the face. "The very first Junkers Congress coin, and Vladimir's family ring. They couldn't be here if he were still alive. He'd have died before giving them up." There was a silence in the room as we each accepted what was being revealed to us. JT stared at the items before him. "So he's really gone... I'd hoped..." He began, but trailed off and simply shook his head slowly. "Better to know" Finn added.

"Tyber" Crow said as he picked up the parchment and handed it to me. "You were chosen to deliver this, it seems right you be the one to read it out loud". Clearing my throat I started reading the words... "The Last Will & Testament of Vladimir Tinkerbell"