With A Bang And A Whimper

(OOC: I had planned to do this, but I was in a quandry as to how to make it work. Burn gave me the idea of how to do it in a round about way. Please note that I did not steal his idea. Also note that this takes place BEFORE 'Things Just Don't'. I also do not have an accurate timeline, so I'm fudging it here.)

Rutianas 2395-2398

The Rutian civil war has been ongoing for 3 years. The Isolationists and Loyalists both seem to be taking and losing territory. The situation for the Loyalists is currently bad. They went into this with the territories and two major systems. They gained two more systems by the time they had captured the Isolationist Council. The Isolationists did have a rough time after the Council was captured, though they rallied with a second Council and finally a third. The Isolationists took back Rutia after a long and hard battle lasting ten months before gaining the upper hand. The Imperial Family had to fall back to Dreva. They also lost one other system. Two of the territories, Arianasol and Elianam, fell to the Isolationists only five months ago.

Shein Darson has yet to call for assistance above what he has asked for. The Isolationists had enough defectors in the Loyalists that enough new technology was stolen and the technological advantage disappeared completely with the Isolationists using it now as well.

Rutianas 2398

On Dreva, Shein is overseeing the latest skirmish over Rutia. Kennah, oddly enough, is still with him. They haven't separated as should be done during times of war. While he's been off at times to fight by the Loyalists, she has not left their safe haven.

What happens next, however, could not be forseen by anyone, Shein included. A pulse, centered at Dreva, goes out across the Imperial Republic. It dies down just outside Rutian borders. The pulse has no obvious effects. In fact, it goes unnoticed by just about everyone. It doesn't set off any alarms. It just happens.

Rutian News Net Broadcast

The reporter, a young woman, seems almost bored with everything as she reads off the latest news.

"The fighting around Rutia continues. Emperor Darson's forces appear to be winning the latest battle. Even though the Isolationists currently hold Rutia this may be changing."

Switch to different view and the bored look goes away. She's a little more animated now.

"We have just received information that on Reva, part of the Commonwealth of Rutianas, Kenneth Whelan was assassinated after officially....."

A blank look comes across the reporter's face for a brief second. She blinks several times. "Is this a practical joke?" She's looking off camera. "It's blank." She motions to the camera.

There's silence in the background before she addresses the camera. "Well, we seem to have some technical difficulties. My apologies to our viewers. We have no new information regarding the ongoing conflict between our Emperor and those standing against him."

Anyone who detected the pulse would note that it's appearance coincided with the technical difficulties.

Articles also go missing from the Rutian Net. No one inside the Rutian borders find this unusual at all. Blank spots seem to be overlooked by them. The biggest mystery? Reva has disappeared.

Outside the borders, no one is affected by the pulse.

(OOC: It will be EXTREMELY unlikely that you take this in the same direction I plan on taking it )

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Sensor Command is reporting strange things to us here. I don't even want to say it aloud, because I still am convinced it's a glitch.

Anything...big missing over there?

Sincerely,
Jenova

To: Jenova
From: Shein

Not that I'm aware of, no. Same old crap. Why? Something going on that I don't know about?

-Shein

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Possibly. Or, impossibly. I'm told there's no glitch. And I'm also told Reva's "not there." Which you should probably know about.

Which begs sort of a 'what in the universe is going on' kind of a question.

Sincerely,
Jenova

"What the balls?" is the general reaction among the Rhean government.

(Delayed response and Encrypted)

To: Jenova
From: Shein

I'm doing this because I respect you. I hope you realise this. I've just checked our archives and I can't find any reference to anyone or anything named Reva. I don't know what you're on about, but I have a war to fight here.

-Shein

********************************

And that can be confirmed. Inside the Rutian net, there's no mention of Reva anymore. Not only has the planet disappeared, but all reference is gone.

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev
FROM: ProtoConsul Thorgood

This might seem like a strange question, but, if you crack open an encyclopedia and search "Reva," what do you get?

Sincerely,
ProtoConsul Thorgood

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

That is ... odd.

When things cool down reasonably, we need to talk.

Sincerely,
Jenova

To: Jenova
From: Shein

Not likely to happen any time soon. Damned Isolationists keep pushing hard at us. I'm actually scared we're going to lose this war.

-Shein

PS. Kennah says hi. She'd send you a message, but the doctor rescinded her mail access for the moment. Said it was causing too much stress. She doesn't need that right now.

*Encrypted*

To: ProtoConsul Thorgood
From: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

I get an entry on a time-displaced Rutian planet from a possible future.

Sincerely,
Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Emperor Medvedev
FROM: ProtoConsul Thorgood

Check this out:

(ATTACHED FILES: CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JENOVA AND SHEIN)

I'm too tired to really think about this at the moment, but I think the first thing to do is present Emperor Darson with all the info both of our nations have on Reva. Something's up, and it'll be easier to figure out if he'll cooperate with us.

I contact you because in the past you had something of a personal relationship with the Emperor. Perhaps your inclusion in the group that tries to sort this out will be beneficial.

Sincerely,
Protoconsul Thorgood

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Have you any intelligence on any scientific research being conducted by the Isolationist faction? Anything with a military application or planet-busting possibility? Anything at all.

We think something's up, but can't figure out what. Once again, we need to talk.

Sincerely,
Jenova

(Encrypted)

To: Jenova
From: Shein

Now is really not a good time, but when has that stopped things from being 'up'. If you feel it's truly necessary, then stop by. We're at the Citadel.

No, there's nothing we've heard about from the Isolationists on any new stuff.

-Shein

*Encrypted*

To: ProtoConsul Thorgood
From: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

Alright, I'll bite. I need to get away from paperwork, anyway.

Sincerely,
Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

Jenova stops by Rhea to grab Dmitri and anything else he wants to bring, including a small retinue if he so desires, and then heads over to the Citadel.

She's brought holotapes she happens to have of a few discussions about Reva, totaling 20 minutes in length all together, and a few encyclopedias as well as documentation of the strange wiping of the information from the web. They've also got the footage of the interrupted news feed on record.

Unfortunately, Sensor Command has no data on the pulse. Must've missed it.

Anyway, when they get to the Citadel, they are prepared to wait patiently for Shein to have a semi-spare moment.

And that's when everyone, minus any Rutians, get a rather strange message.


To: Thorgood; Jenova; Dmitri
From: Lucas

Uhh, I know this may seem strange, but are you seeing anything strange in Rutian space? Or not seeing, as the case may be? I tracked something weird from Dreva. Can't describe it really, but I'm hoping this is just a computer glitch. Not a real problem over there.

Lucas

************************

Anyone else just might think he's lost it.


EDIT:

Oh, and Shein doesn't show up immediately. In fact, they're told he's in a meeting and attempting to get out of said meeting, but it will be at least ten minutes.

To: Lucas
From: Dmitri

Other than a missing planet that nobody seems to know about? I got nothing.

Dmitri

Jenova and co. wait patiently for Shein.

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Lucas
FROM: Thorgood

The planet Reva, the one from an alternate timestream, has vanished. The Rutians themselves seem to have no memory of the event, and all references to Reva have been erased from Rutian minds and devices.

Can't explain. Though if you have anything that might be useful as we attempt to explain this to the Emperor, that would be helpful.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

To: Thorgood; Dmitri
From: Lucas

I've attached the information I have. I've pinpointed the location. It came from Dreva. When it reached Reva, the planet disappeared. All the others it touched were fine, with the exception of information disappearing. I've also attached the last RNN broadcast. It's been wiped from the Rutian nets, but I'm in the habit of downloading stuff. The pulse took only a few seconds to go through all of Rutian space. I was worried it was going to hit us here before it finally stopped.

-Lucas

(OOC: Next post will likely herald the arrival of the Emperor.)

He starts stroking his growing mustache. He turns to Jenova and says, "Interesting. Very interesting." He hands the message over to her.

TO: Lucas
FROM: Thorgood

Interesting. Can you figure out what it was and/or its exact point of origin?

Sincerely,
Thorgood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Well we already have the RNN broadcast here for Shein," Jenova says, "but that pulse is a piece of the puzzle that we haven't seen before..."

To: Thorgood
From: Lucas

No clue on what it was. As to where it came from, re-read last message. I also don't know if informing them will help or hurt at the moment. Considering we have no clue what even occurred, that might should be the first priority. However, I'm not going to stop you from whatever course of action you want to take. Just tossing in my two cents.

Oh, Arren was on Esoteric. He's unaffected, so it's obvious that it was only those in Rutian space. Don't know about non-Rutians though. He and I are going to go to Dreva to sniff around and see if we can't find anything out.

-Lucas


*****************************

Shein shows up, looking rather rushed. "Sorry. As I mentioned, this is not a good time." The guard with him is not Arren, nor does he seem too interested in this whole thing. In fact, he stays near the door rather than by Shein.

(OOC: The message did say it came from Dreva and that you pinpointed the location, but I was unsure as to whether or not that meant Lucas had sent coordinates. Cuz if he did, I'd send someone to check them out. I can assume I have coordinates then?)

"Where's Arren?" asks Dmitri.

(OOC: He didn't attach coordinates. Only that it was from Dreva. Thorgood can ask for further information on that though.)

"On Esoteric," responds Shein. He doesn't go into why.

He nods in acknowledgement.

TO: Lucas
FROM: Thorgood

If you send me exact coordinates on Dreva, I'd like to come along and look around Dreva at the origin as well.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"That could be helpful actually," Jenova says. "He may have been unaffected by whatever this was," she says, this time more to Dmitri.

"Shein, this is going to sound absolutely absurd, so I'm just going to spit it out. There was another planet that was part of the Imperial Republic. It was called Reva. It vanished, and no one from Rutianas seems to have any recollection of it. Here," she finishes, using her commlink to project the RNN broadcast in question onto the table.