Post by EmperorMyric on Mar 1, 2022 14:46:10 GMT
Mesta System: Invilis Corridor
“Yea and?”
“Well the meteors are set to impact on the southern polar cap, they are pretty big, so we have to expect some shockwaves and impact damage at least to the facilities in the south. There is also a chance of a reduced catch in that region in the months ahead” The reply came immediately. The two ex Cricaens watching the incoming blips on the screen both cradled hot coffee in the control room, the mostly automated station being one for local space monitoring.
“Ill let the boss know then, as long as its gonna end some continent and destroy the planet I doubt the company would care” The man took another sip as they watched the meteor that was incoming break into many “There see, even less impact damage, nothing to worry about” He laughed. With a shake of his head he left the room, the first man sitting at the station watched carefully as the rocks were beginning to make their descent. As he watched his eyes widened and he whispered to himself is disbelief.
“Rocks don’t make course corrections”
-----
It had started when Jaros station went dark. Just went off the grid one day, swiftly followed by the sub hauler Geraldine. The disappearances were only rare, at least that was for a few months. Then the attacks began.
The Sub Hauler Nedali had reported coming under attack from some massive kraken like creature, never seen before in the under ice oceans of Mesta, especially since they had been the ones to introduce the fishable species here in the right conditions. The creature had attacked the hauler and crippled it but had been driven off by the crews sudden idea to turn net holder poles into harpoon guns and try fight back. Still another report came out of Bopoli station of the ice cracking and hordes of monsters running across the airless surface to attack the security installation only to be driven back by the places automated anti pirate turrets.
Whatever was going on something was wrong, and the company who owned Mesta could not afford more disruptions. Theragorn Inc. quickly put out a call for help, calling any who would assist in driving off whatever menace was now lurking below Mestas ice ocean and allowing the company to get back to normal operation.
Outskirts of Hol-nam Pelchaaq, Chor Reknu
An incoming transmission from the Invilis Corridor piques the interest of VRZ analysts who, after reviewing it, pass it along to a number of parties expected to find it of notable importance...
You're putting me to sleep, Talan Hyth's low rumble claims over the far more reasonable tone of his companion's voice. There's nothing out of the ordinary about it. Just some creatures. His observation is greeted by a sharp, unhappy, scowl.
Tasi, that would make sense, the other Pord, a stout amber-haired Hunter whose scowl begins to fade, retorts, but look at this here. These impacts are a bad omen. Might be worth investigating.
Hyth fidgets in his chair. Alright, alright. you're probably right about this one. To be honest, now that you mention it, I don't really like these impacts, either. It's disrespectful, he says, shaking his head, striking the poles.
That's what you're worried about? Not the potential spread of similar... Beasts to ocean worlds across the galaxy? Vanach rubs his forehead. Hyth isn't exactly wrong. Not everything is a slight against Amaruq, he explains.
But many things are, you have to admit this. You know it's my job to worry about these things. Shouldn't have to remind you. He stops for a moment to scratch his chin; he resumes with a slight topic change: I will speak with the Order to gather a team for this if you really think it's necessary. It shouldn't be a problem.
Vanach nods. Detection forces and a striking component, he agrees. Very well.
That can be managed. If you have nothing else? I will take my leave. Hyth stands and swiftly bows to the Hunter who returns the gesture.
Good luck, Vanach says.
...after which Hyth quickly disappears out of the chamber.
Mesta System, Invilis Corridor
A VRZ transport arrives at the edge of the native interdiction fields alongside its escort, a single Tylaq Balnook type Runner. Upon arriving, landing clearance and coordinates are requested, then a more direct message is relayed to the locals:
This is Talan Hyth of the Order Amaruq. We have come to assist in response to Theragorn Inc.'s request for aid, he explains.
Rigolki, Capitol of Svera.
It doesn't take much to attract the attention of the SWR when it comes to calls of distress. The transmission passed through their space, and the transcripts landed on the desks of the Council of External Affairs. The file was passed through, and sent to the Military Council.
"A submarine and a station." Lyura, the head of the council, frowns "And then an attack on another submarine and station?" She asked, looking to the man from the External council. He nodded, "Yes ma'am. They've never seen something like this under their waters. They're afraid of more attacks." His attention was turned to the rest of the table as murmurs spread throughout the room. Many of the council members, present or not, were looking at the file on their screens. "Let's find some volunteers, and assign a sub and an amphibious team to them. Does that sound right to everyone?" Most of the table nodded in agreement, and a voting prompt on their screens appeared and the decision was passed.
Mesta, Invilis Corridor
Two Sveran ships emerge from the dark clouds coming from their xspace. A bulky-looking transport craft along with a frigate-sized escort. The ships immediately request clearance to proceed and land. The captain's voice rang out. "This is Captain Wiesonva of the Spirit of Serenity. We're here on behalf of the Sveran Workers Republic, and came to assist the people of Theragorn Inc." She states confidently.
The solar sailship entered the system with little trouble, its passengers staring at viewscreens and chattering away excitedly to one another as they looked over the new planet.
“Haha, so this is a mortal world? It is hard to imagine a place without Cultivation. How do they function when they’re all so similar in power?”
“You’re two decades too early to understand such things, focus on the matter at hand!”
“And isn’t it strange? Whatever is causing all this disruption is obviously something worth studying. It may have insights which could increase our attainment levels, or produce valuable resources, we should obviously capture these things!”
“Indeed, but I am more concerned with fighting the creatures. Bah, why worry about profit when it’s battle strength that matters the most? This mission is clearly a way for the elders to select the most promising among us for preferential treatment as well. Those who perform well will definitely be rewarded!”
On the deck, two figures watched the planet below, standing atop the vessel’s surface as though they were the captains of a seagoing ship, bereft of space suits or other equipment typically found on humanoids when in the void. One was an elegant-looking woman with pitch-black skin and purple eyes and hair, dressed in an elaborate robe. The other was a muscular figure with red skin and a flowing black beard, along with solid-colored yellow eyes, like orbs of gold, and wearing only a waist-skirt. Both radiated considerable energy on any nearby sensors, as the pair didn’t bother concealing the emanations of their reactors.
“These reports are most interesting.” The female Immortal remarked, flicking through the images of the sea beasts. “It is difficult for me to predict what our juniors will find on this planet. I believe our prey to be alive, but that is it. I truly hope it is organic, though. Creatures powerful enough to cause such trouble would be welcome in our home seas. Q-technology would likely nest densely in it, creating valuable resource points if properly managed.”
The male snorted. “Hmph, as a Biology Path expert that is naturally your prerogative, I am more interested in the development of my sect's forces. I am already hearing some of our disciples correctly guessing the secondary purpose of this mission, that is good. The talents among them will understand the true rewards available here. This is a contest! The geniuses among them will naturally be selected as the seeds of future immortals and nurtured further.”
“Well-“ The woman replied. “Provided you do not cause my sect any trouble with your people’s glory-seeking, we will adhere to our agreement, yes? The gains from this mission will be split according to the contributions of our disciples.”
“Indeed.” He nodded. “I am most curious to see how your Jade Glacier sect’s methods compare to my Radiant Star Ogre sect’s capabilities, Black Sea Fairy Li Xia.”
“We shall see, Invincible Brute Su Hu.” Li Xia replied
The Restevian armed forces, admittedly, had not planned on rendering aid here. It had been a case of a ONCT picking up the distress call as it traveled through the sector to reinforce a naval garrison elsewhere, and once it had picked up the call, the captain contacted GHQ on Rhen Kalman to ask for orders. It was decided after about three hours of debate that the ONCT, Admiral Morsov, could divert to Mesta to see what aid it could provide.
With two Strakh class submarines, their crews, eight transports light and heavy and about a hundred marines carried aboard the force here was not exactly insignificant, and the Admiral Morsov pinged Mesta control ahead of its arrival to the system, messaging them that they had a Restevian vessel inbound to assist in the issues they were having. This entire force was placed under the operational command of Captain Kostantin Lor, and as the transport left slipspace and began its burn towards the planet, he called a briefing of the commanders of submarines, marine company, and transport pilots.
There were many details to go over in regards to what they were going to do, and the time spent from leaving the jump point to entering orbit was spent going over every detail that could be postulated and possibility as to what was happening was gone over. The former was as productive as one could expect it to be, as with one veteran submarine captain and one green one, there was going to be a little stumbling here and there. But that was why there was a veteran and a greenhorn-- so the veteran could correct mistakes before they became fatal. However, the latter could be summed up as how Lieutenant Vasil Draygin put it:
"Comrades, we're throwing spitballs at a shielded wall and hoping something sticks."
They had to be prepared for anything, in short. Nevertheless, they came into orbit smoothly, and notified the company below that they would be landing, and any help they could render would be given.
A lithorian frigate would proceed to exit ftl above the moon,the leviathan's armoured plating bristling with living weaponry of devastating power.
Within this gargantuan creature,around the base of its neck to be more precise,was a command chamber.
Iv'eid,this ship's owner,sat within. He checked the vessel's systems meticulously,making sure that their jump did not effect anything.
He was a tall and gangly creature,coming in at roughly 8 feet tall. Iv'eid was a humanoid no doubt,but nevertheless had a bladed tail which was longer than his whole body alongside digitigrade legs and bladed talons for fingers.
His head had no discernible feature besides a mouth full of fangs and an impressive headcrest,comprised of two overlapping layers with an empty gouge running directly down its center. His shimmering almost metallic exoskeleton was mostly covered by a sleeveless robe,tattered and torn in various places by the passage of time.
Truthfully,Iv'eid could not care less for this frozen rock nor those that claimed to own. He was in it for the reward and,more importantly,the esoteric invaders themselves. He hoped to acquire samples or even live specimens of these creatures.
Across the chamber sat his first benefactor,Shugel.
The other lithorian was hard at work examining their inventory of armed forces,noting how horibilly understaffed the vessel actually was in spite of his henerous contribution.
Shugel's opinion was the polar opposite of Iv'eid's. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Kab'nod,making him little more than a puppet in the eyes of his fellow. He was beyond the mere beasts below,seeking only their complete eradication. What his guild had actually sent him to do was to study and establish cordial relations with the galaxy's natives wherever possible,and this was a perfect opportunity to do it.
It was much more physically imposing than Iv'eid. It stood at about three meters in height,its body being of a serpentine nature and covered in hard plates linked via sinews and fibers.
Shugel's upper body however was encased in a greenish exoskeleton,boasting four arms ending in scythe-like talons and large shoulderpads which curved upwards. His head had six red eyes and an elongated mouth whose tip had two pairs of mandibles and rows upon rows of fangs within.
Lastly,there was Dolgur.
He stood in the corner of the chamber on his knees,silent and motionless. He was,for all intents and purposes,little more than extra muscle. Having proven himself within the arenas of Tebadon IV,the brute sought to test his mettle against these beasts,bringing along some of his forces as contribution.
Dolgur was about a head taller than Iv'eid and built like a warrior. His form was stoney and jagged,having digitigrade legs and thick arms ending in sharp claws. He had shoulderpads that were made of spiky growths and a headcrest that was wide and flat. The creature's face boasted two yellow eyes,a pair of horns which curved inwards like a pair of mandibles and a split lower jaw.
Overall,excluding the bodyguards of the three figures,their forces consisted of 200 hounds,50 troopers,50 drone hosts,10 drone carriers,10 support walkers,10 hunter killer units and a squad of 10 Xer'sai.
This,of course, was further complemented by 2 Asil class submersibles
Once all preparations had been made,Iv'eid would procede to contact the company
"Greetings members of Theragorn Inc,we have recieved your call for aid and require permission to land"
Shugel loomed over him as he spoke,waiting for Iv'eid to finish before speaking
Do you believe this menace could be native? it inquired
"That's a negative. The only reason this rock has a biosphere is because the humans introduced one. Whatever these beasts are,they must have come from somewhere else"
Dolgur interrupted the two as he rose from his kneeling stance
It does not matter. Alien or not,the humans wish for their destruction and I intend to deliver he stated boldly
Silence overtook the chamber,now there was nothing to do but wait for the company's response
Mesta Systen: Invilis Corridor
“Hot damn looks like we got a lot of arrivals, you better tell Korhal because the company is really going to need to allocate the funds for this one” The communications handler laughed, aboard the large orbital dockyard the XO nodded with a sigh.
“Your right, Ill fetch him”
-----
Only one large orbital station drifted in the silence above the moon, approximately 5km across it was the major drop off point for all of the harvested protein across the planet and helped ferry down whatever materials they in turn needed. It had minimal defenses and even from a brief scan showed that it was not up to optimal performance, it seemed like the company had skimped out here. Still the ‘commander’ of the station rapidly came on to attempt to reply to the different nations who had all very much turned up to the surprise of those aboard.
“Uh… Hello there, this is Head Chief Korhal to the assembled new arrivals, thought I would broad message. We didn’t expect so many to come to our aid, thank you for doing so. You are free to dock here and transfer your supplies or units to the surface using our shuttles or you are free to deploy at the following co-ordinates” The video had the man briefly get angry over what was clearly a computer glitch “There, its out on the ice flats approximately 150km from the south pole, we cant get you closer because of the ice spike fields, that’s if you don’t mind getting impaled” He laughed “Our local ‘defense’ forces if you can even call them that have compiled a report for you, they say face to face meeting via holo conference or in person works. I think they know the most about whatever is going on down here, I just ask you manage to fix it before the company fires my ass over something I have no control over” He smiled awkwardly.
The area designated for landing was practically as uninteresting as it could get, a wide 50km stretch of unbroken and undisturbed ice only 600m deep and perfect for easy drilling down to access the sea below it. Already the co-ordinates were sent and open docking ports signified for the station.
Korhal merely slumped back onto his chair, he was tense and so were the team around him. Whatever the hell these creatures were they were going to loose them their jobs if they were not careful…
The imperial delegation was first to arrive. As the vessel grew closer, one could see what seemed to be an assortment of interceptors and humanoid or quasi-humanoid machines of varying sizes escorting it as it docks. Coming from the vessel was an assortment of humans which seemed to have varying degrees of modification to their bodies, with some seemingly being completely inorganic while others have only some limbs or other body parts replaced, if the changes are visible under a uniform of composite armor and elegant robes. Most of them seemed to be of the Hanxian ethnicity, with pale skin, dark eyes, and black hair, while others sport more atypical features. Most strangely, their ages were all over the place. Some seemed to be well into their twilight years while others didn’t even appear to be 18, but all of them were wearing combat gear and are taking themselves rather seriously. Spaced out among them are what seem to be some humanoid androids with a doll-like, porcelain exterior and ornate decorations, which the humans seemed to treat with respect. In fact, a pair of them were leading the group as they excitedly looked around the space station, the younger ones chattering away enthusiastically.
“Oh my, this is truly outside the empire? The architecture is so different!”
“I wonder what the mortals here will be like? Do you think they will be aliens? I have never seen one before.”
“You had better show respect if so! Some of them are strong enough to rival us Near-Mortal level cultivators in battle strength.”
Meanwhile, the “dolls” serenely looked over the station, both waiting to be received and checking out any other delegations that would be arriving. Indeed, these were the puppets remotely controlled by the Cybernetic-class leaders of this hunting party, as their bulky bodies obviously could not interact very well with most mortals. The pair of Immortals supervising the operation kept out of sight in the vessel’s chambers. This was not a matter for them, after all. Indeed, none of the Near-Mortals, and few of the Cybernetics, were even aware they are hosting such esteemed guests.
SRS Spirit of Serenity.
Many of the bridge crew seemed dumbfounded at the state of the station. Not many of them had seen what they assumed to be such an important facility in such a condition. Some crewmen whispered to each other while the commander spoke, before another shushed them. But the silence didn't last long after Korhal finished his "briefing" of the situation. The captain then spoke, leading the crew to quiet down once more.
"Thank you for the offer sir, but our transport can handle the landing. Major Sevcik will handle our ground forces from here." The captain paused as one of the crew, this one in a somewhat dirty jumpsuit, spoke to her for a few moments. She nodded and spoke once more, "Our engineering team is also offering to help aboard your station while we're docked."
The frigate docked shortly, and only a handful of people exited with none of them looking of much importance. But if the okay was given a few dozen engineers would depart, dispersing to where they were asked to be.
Transport Koleno.
"Sveran Transport Koleno on approach. To any Mestan defense forces in the landing zone, Major Sevcik would like to meet in person for the report on the situation. We will be on the ground in around ten minutes." The SWR's transport transmitted to any units in the landing zone. The large vessel entered the atmosphere, gliding toward the surface with the stubby wings on either side of it. After it got close enough, it floated the rest of the way to the surface with a combination of anti-grav and what looked like landing thrusters.
Two ramps folded out of either side of the vessel and a little over a dozen trucks and two IFVs exit the Koleno. Not many people were left walking, and those who would've walked sat atop the IFVs. The exposed soldiers were in heavy coats for the cold, with their gear over the top. They all had rather high spirits, some laughs came from the trucks as people cracked jokes about the cold. Others were disappointed at the sights, having hoped that the sights would be more.. grand.
"So would you rather be on the sub? I bet they have a wonderful view of the world!" One man heckled his squad-mate for his reaction to the barren ice flats of the world. The rest of the soldiers in the truck laughed, including the major. "Come on, Dip, you can't expect that every planet is greener then Czernigrav." He added. "Yeah, maybe take a vacation cruise if you want to see the sights after your service." The radio operator comments.
The VRZ transport hangs beyond the shimmering aura of the world below, distant enough to still be considered in space, but not so far as to be beyond the world's grasp entirely. Its speed has lessened, now, as it comes upon a lazy gait and drifts silently into a stable orbit while its escort mirrors its movements. Distant rays of starlight flicker off their hulls as they receive word of an ice field and Hyth elects to set down upon it.
A parade of vehicles saunters forth from the transport, including a shuttle with Hyth onboard. Like many Pords, he prefers to meet in person, and wishes to make good on the Head Chief's offer to do so with the local defense garrison; he advises Korhal of such with a curt return communique, and as his machine descends, he turns to Atqaal Balnook, the KZH commander assigned to provide the strike complement to the sensory detachment the Order Amaraq has so graciously given him.
That's one run down station. Doesn't bode well for what we'll find down below, Hyth says jokingly, having pieced together some thoughts from the brief exchange with Head Chief Korhal.
Atqaal, deep in thought, looks up. She nods silently at the non-existent displays before directing her thoughts back to what they were mere moments ago. Yes, she says finally, It means there probably isn't going to be much of anything down there.
On a particularly flat stretch of ice, not too far from the landing site of another of the arrived parties, the Pordish aerial convoy sets down. Comprised primarily of haulers, detection barges, and scout craft, they waste little time in establishing a suitable landing zone, and nearly as swiftly as they make landfall, engineers and infantry begin to dismount from their craft out into the desolate and airless expanse.
Hyth in particular, however, does not join the rest of his force immediately; he announces his arrival to the local garrison and makes his way over to the meeting grounds instead to discuss the situation.
Admiral Morsov wasted little time, coming into orbit around the planet, stationing itself close to the station, signalling to the installation that they would remain close inboard. The vessel itself was too large to easily land, and with only 600 meters of ice between them and the sea, it simply was not practical.
So instead, the Restevians elected to 'dip' and deploy that way. Admiral Morsov entered the atmosphere briefly, enduring the fiery hell of reentry only long enough that their heavy transports and the submarines they bore could safely deploy with no damage to the underwater craft. With them, their support units and most of the Marines deploying to the surface, the Admiral Morsov returned to its designated orbital position, and there it would remain, the vessel transmitting intention to remain on station as orbital support, resupply and repair for any that needed it.
Captain Lor however did not yet join his men on the ground, instead boarding a transport to go to the station to meet with the local defense forces. Lieutenant Draygin went with him, both officers settling into their seats for the brief ride to the station. They would meet with the local forces, get a read on what was happening, and then to their commands they would go.
The three figures listened intently to the corporate employee,turning to one another once the message had been delayed
"I believe we should split up and make the most of this. Afterall we wouldn't want to waste time" Iv'eid said plainly
Agreed. I shall take our forces and deploy at the suggested location. I assume you are heading to that base,Iv'eid dolgur muttered,the fusion reactor in his chest already starting to come to life,causing a faint light to shimmer beneath his armoured exterior
Iv'eid nodded in return
"You would be correct. Gleaming more information and coordinating with others may prove crucial"
"That only leaves me. I shall accompany Iv'eid to this meeting. Just make sure not to do anything rash" hissed Shugel
Keep me updated on the situation
"That applies both ways" Iv'eid said before the three departed
The two lithorians would descend down to the corporate base using a small carrier organism which they kept docked just outside of the base's limits.
Dorgul on the other hand deployed on the iceflats alongside his troopers,the drone carriers and the support walkers. Keeping his hounds and elite Xer'sai in resserve and ready for rapid deployment via drop pod should the situation take a turn for the worst
The stations docking booms groaned as the various shuttles and ships docked, the interior looking somewhat dirty and it was extremely surprising from docking that the station had no artificial gravity. None at all. Having to float or use mag boots down from the airlocks the station opened out into a large cargo hold area full of boxes, some of which were coated in quite substantial amounts of dust, honestly it did not look like this place got a lot of arrivals.
Just before them was a few of what count be counted as the ‘Defense command’ who looked like little more than ordinary civilian workers. Supposedly they had been chosen based on old military experience but how much that was remained to be seen. They sat in the zero gravity environment on makeshift chairs, around a large ‘table’ which had been laid out made of crates.
“Welcome to the ass end of nowhere” One of them laughed to the various parties.
“I am…” There was a pause as the women actually briefly considered what rank to give herself “High Defense Commander of Mesta. Welcome to our humble corner of the universe. Please have a seat, as you can see, we are pretty green and were thrown together given the circumstances to direct any unified efforts to resist these creatures on our part. We know they originated from the South pole, maybe riding those meteors but other than that we got a few pics and videos” She smiled.
-----
The open landing zone which had been mostly empty apart from a very small detachment of ‘Defense Forces’ was suddenly abuzz with activity. A small encampment consisting of a few temporary buildings, a scientific submarine held on a transporter and a small drilling rig was set up. The men and women stationed here rushed outside as multiple sonic booms and the roaring of engines was heard. All in all they stood in awe watching the different forces make planet fall, the fire in the sky from atmospheric re-entry and the shaking of ground impacts on the ice. They gave the new arrivals a bit of a berth to sort themselves out before a delegation was sent to each.
“Hello there, welcome to frozen hell. Set up anywhere you like, we are starting some drilling but we don’t have large equipment and our reactors pretty shit, we can get the laser bore much wider and drill much faster if you can spare some additional power input. We can get down to the ocean faster that way, at least you guys are ready for any conflict”
ORBIT
The truly abysmal conditions of the station fully register for Hyth and Balnook as their shuttle lands. As they make their way out of the craft, they are greeted by the lack of artificial gravity. This alone isn't too bothersome - Pords are, if anything, accustomed to places where tech is often left at the proverbial door - but the sheer magnitude of the neglect hits them like a foul stench. For a moment, they hesitate.
To think this is the place the Order Amaruq is so interested in, Atqaal says while taking in the dusty atmosphere. Her gaze stops on a box. I hope you are right about the facilities planetside. They seem to need our engineers more than they do our soldiers.
Hyth chuckles, but says nothing in reply to this. He floats over to the table where the local commanders have gathered and seats himself. A quick look over the other arrivals reveals an interesting assortment of individuals. Dressed in the garb of the Order Amaruq - a large parka trimmed with gold complemented by a fur hat - he seems to be one of the more mundane of the gathered, even with Atqaal taken into consideration; her white KZH officer's uniform is far more obviously military.
Do you have any estimate on their numbers? How many we'll be going up against? Hyth asks as after a moment. I know seas and ice don't eagerly divulge too much information.
SURFACE
The Pords begin setting up their camp. Areas for stockpiling are marked and temporary structures take shape as the engineers begin plotting out areas for more permanent buildings. A few automated sentries (small spherical devices coloured a dull gray) float to the fringes of the camp while places for generators and detection equipment are surveyed.
As this is going on, a member of Hyth's command council is swiftly on the spot when the delegation from the local command arrives. Beardless but with mustache, the platoon level commander makes note of what is said about the drill. Tasi - yes - we can assist you with your power requirements. Some of our equipment are power hogs too, he laughs heartily, let me see who's in a good spot to assist.
One of the Puppets nods at the briefing. “Of course, of course. Our sects are all prepared for aquatic maneuvering and combat.” It (he?) says, gesturing to the group of more human-looking disciples. All of the cyborgs seem to have some sort of modified skin, along with what appear to be vents or other propulsion systems affixed to their bodies. Likewise, the larger mecha-like Cultivators have sleek designs well-suited for aquatic vehicles. The Puppet gestures to a larger machine, some 20 meters tall, docked along with the vessel. “My main body will be landing on the planet directly, as will the other Second-Level fighters. Our First-Level disciples-“ He gestures again towards the human-sized cyborgs. “-will be in your care.”
Notably, the Imperial force seems comprised of two separate groups. One group wears gold and red sashes depicting a ferocious humanoid monster over their body armor (or painted onto their hull in the case of the mechs) while the other group’s colors are white and dark blue, with a depiction of a glacier rising from a dark and stormy sea.
The station was certainly less impressive than they had expected. The aliens did not expect the lack of gravity,beggining to float within the hallways. Iv'eid was mildly annoyed,bu quickly pushed himself against the air and grappled onto the ceiling,proceeding to crawl along it like some sort of beast.
Shugel was not so fortunate,he grunted as he began to awkwardly contort his serpentine form to push against the air and 'swim' through the corridor,orienting himself against the walls but otherwise making sure his scythe like talons didn't leave any marks.
Both of them eventually made it to the storage area and subsequently the meeting location. Iv'eid plopped down from the ceiling and sat down on a 'chair' while Shugel had to coil around another.
They both bowed their heads as some kind of greeting to the others and listened intently. Waiting for their turn to speak
"We could indeed make use of an estimation on the scale of this threat. Furthermore,I understand that they conducted surface attacks. Do you have any footage by any chance?" Iv'eid inquired,hoping to see what exactly they were up against
On the surface,Dorgul was making sure all of the landers didn't suffer any issues and double checking to ensure the drone carriers were fully loaded.
He then noticed the corporate envoy approaching their position and went out to greet them. He nodded at their greeting and paid close attention to their debriefing
I see,this could certainly take a while. Have you perhaps considered a controlled detonation? He communicated telepathically given he was in a vacuum
Mesta Station
Captain Wiesonva exits the ship, her standard void suit of the navy was nearly devoid of markers aside from a few colored bars that probably indicate rank. A few other members of the Serenity's crew followed the captain, each of them seemed slightly caught off guard by the lack of gravity but their mag-boots clamp onto the floor soon enough. They follow the other members of the operation towards the makeshift briefing area, the Captain abandoning her mag boots in exchange for a faster hop to the table. She allowed the others to ask their questions, and seeing as how they asked exactly what she was going to, she only waited for the answer.
Sevcik Company, Surface.
The company quickly formed up into a convoy, taking a small detour towards the encampment. The soldiers passed the time in the trucks telling stories and such. They would arrive soon though, their conversations cut short and laughs dying down to put on a more "professional" facade. The Major was patched through to the meeting aboard the station, so the captain hopped off the truck and was accompanied by a few others. One of the men was staring at the other races, seemingly amazed by the "aliens." An elbow to the stomach by his squadmate quickly stopped him.
The captain approached and, assuming they were communicating on an open channel, he replied to the representative. "I can call the transport over to see if we can hook it up to the laser, I'm sure you'll have plenty of power then. Then the sub crew won't be twiddling their thumbs for quite as long." They chuckle.
Captain Lor did not seem put out or even particularly perturbed by the state of the station, remarking to one of his officers as they moved through the station that while it could use some repairs, it was far from the worst that they had ever been on.
"Good day, comrades. I am Captain Konstantin Lor, Restevian Oceanic Navy Command, at your service." he said, taking one of the offered chairs, Lieutenant Draygin floating just behind the man with his arms folded across his chest.
"It seems the others have asked most questions I could think to ask, but I will ask this: If you have engaged them, have the creatures exhibited any particular weaknesses to specific sorts of weapons?"
------
The Restevian dropships made their way to the ground and the designated landing zone with little trouble if any at all, the light craft carrying the marine contingents landing first, marking out the area where the heavies carrying the Strahks would land. The submarine carriers settled onto the ice heavily, and once they had landed, crews began to embark and prepare the craft as the ground force commander went to meet with the delegation.
"It's a bit like home, honestly." the marine officer said to the comment about 'frozen hell,' before contemplating their need for more power.
"We can provide that, comrades. With the subs coming online, less need for the dropships to take all that energy, so there's some spare. Show us how to hook up, and we'll lend what we can."
The self-dubbed High Defence Commander, who’s own jacket read ‘Sub Manager Laura’ watched as the various groups who had come to aid them came into the room and gathered round. Some of them were clearly human like her, others were much stranger like the Divine Lotus while the Lithorians made her briefly look uncomfortable, like the creatures below had come up to eat them personally. Truth be told she was just thankful anyone turned up at all, but she started with the Pordish representative.
“Your right, they really don’t. So far we have had around 7 encounters in total, 3 of those encounters only a single large creature was reported. 2 reported a handful of smaller creatures while another 2 supposedly reported a while damn swarm of the things, one of those reports was the on surface overrun of one of our facilities. So we know also given the spread out nature of the attacks there is probably many of them” She then turned to the seeming cyborgs who had impressed ornamentation, eyeing them properly this time she smiled.
“We will try to take care of them as much as we possibly can up here you have my word” At the talk of the Lithorians however she once again looked uncomfortable as did the others with her, hestitating Laura finally replied “Yes they have conducted at least two surface attacks which means they can burrow through the ice sheet. Given the spread nature of the attacks across this area” One of the men put down a battered hologram projector and turned it on “I would say the threat is large. Here let me show you the footage we have so far”
The hologram then displayed a couple of clips. One it was almost impossible to make out what was happening, the blackness of the depths and the dim lights on the submarine revealed little as some mass shifted through the murkey water, the sound of twisting metal and a flash of tentacles being all that was revealed. The second was more revealing, showing small polyp like things attaching to the hull of another sub and ‘chewing’ at its exterior, each creature was clearly biological and had a green and red tint when shown in the light. The final footage was a brief capture from a surface raid, dog sized creatures with claws and six legs bounded across the ice the sound of small arms fire and shouting interspaced with screaming before it too went dead.
“As you can see, they are not native to this world. At least we don’t think so. As for weaknesses shooting them seems to work, and they don’t like fire. But we don’t have the tools to identify any proper weaknesses” She nodded in acknowledgement to Konstantin and then to Wiesonva, happy to see two groups of truly normal humans aboard.
-----
With so much landed in the area many of the local workers merely stood and broke out some alcohol, watching all of the different forces land and take up positions. Some made comments about the strange Lotus and Pordish designs while others were distrustful of the clearly alien lithorians.
The man on the ground was unsure of how to respond when the Lithorian commander spoke into his head, the man never experiencing anything psionic in nature before. Finally he decided talking out loud was the best and probably only response he had.
“We don’t quite have the explosives necessary, and if we blow the hole it could destabilise the surrounding area. If we laser bore we can have the best hole fit and keep everything contained” He nodded, happy with his response. He then smiled in his suit at the others.
“If the rest of you want to grab your stuff and give us the juice absolutely, come on the quicker we do this the quicker we can get down”
It did not take long to interface various power couplings and generators from the Restevian, Pordish and SWR, thankfully the laser boring machine was a cheap one. As such its universal power adapters and ability to be cranked up depending on input meant it wasn’t going to just explode on them. It only took 30 minutes to hook everything up and for the Mesta engineers to get the cutter ready for the higher energy use. Within minutes the ruby read beam head began to spin on the large skeletal structure which had been erected, the laser melting and boring through the ice as the water was pumped out onto the surface to freeze instantly as to not diffract the laser.
“Should be down in an hour or so gentlemen, what do you think these things are?” He asked, didn’t hurt to ask.
ORBIT
Laura's reply is about what Hyth expects - not too much information of value, but still some that can be used to draw conclusions from, however meager said theories might be. He shifts slightly to adjust his floating posture, then looks down towards the ground in thought. Some of the gathered, if first impressions are to be trusted, don't seem to be suited for the task at hand. At least the cyborgs appear ready for aquatic action. That thought is comforting, far more than many of the others racing through his mind.
We can work with this information, he says finally after a moment. These creatures that attacked on the surface, they seem far easier to manage. Whatever it is in the depths... He stops to scratch his chin. Massive sea creatures remind him of many of the seas back home, though there he never personally dueled with the beasts. He nods as this thought finishes, then looks up from the floor, finally, to cast his gaze towards Laura, if they came from space there's no telling how long they were drifting. They may not even be native to this system, he says, a truly invasive species.
SURFACE
A number of Pordish engineers lean against the side of their light transport as it hovers silently over the ice. Now that the drilling has started, it will only be a matter of time before the ocean below is breached into. One of the engineers watches as the laser cuts away along is circuitous route, seemingly intrigued by the method, so different from Pords' own handling of such affairs. She turns towards the local upon hearing his question. Without hesitation, she replies to him: they're depthseekers, she says, fully confident in what amounts to a guess, creatures of the abyssal plains.
One of the other engineers leans forward from the transport. Rolling his eyes, he shrugs slowly with a chuckle: I know what I don't want them to be. And that list is far longer than what I think they really are, he says. Here's to hoping they're not what I hope they aren't.
ORBIT
Wiesonva and the two crew accompanying her turned to talk to each other for a moment. After for a quick exchange of words in their home language, the Captain turns back to the "defense commander" and the rest of the table.
"While I understand the surface animals probably don't breathe, I would like to try our dispersal gas on them should any surface around the facility. It should still sting their eyes and any other open sensory organs. Could scare them off or lower their effectiveness- making it hard for them to see at the very least." She says, without hesitation, but she pauses after. "Unless it might have adverse effects if anyone doesn't have a suit on?
SURFACE
The Sveran trucks start unloading soldiers, dozens on dozens of personnel pour out onto the ice. The Major, a sturdy-looking tablet in his hand, approaches the company rep. "Do you know if there's been a uhh.." He tries to find the word in Common, "established radio frequency to talk to the others?" He still watches the meeting, on the tablet. "We're gonna start setting up a perimeter around this base, and I want to see what the others are doing." He adds.
As he says that, the Sveran squads start spreading out on the ice around the compound. There's a few suits of much heavier looking armor carrying a larger bag then the others in their squads. Over the hour, the soldiers had set up basic positions around the facility, and their professionalism began to fade. A few shared jokes and stories with each other as they sat in wait.
The younger Cultivators chattered as they viewed the images during the briefing.
“Oh, so many creatures working in conjunction, isn’t that interesting?”
“It is not unlike the beast tides in our home. When the Lighting Water Centipedes destroyed that settlement in the south, that was similar to this, was it not?”
“However, I do not see any signs that these creatures use cultivation, this is simply a natural behavior! To think such complexities exist in the universe, I am but a frog at the bottom of a well, truly.”
The more experienced ones studied the images more closely, looking to see if there were signs of intelligence or if they were animals operating on complex instinct, something many cultivators were quite familiar with due to the presence of Awakened Beasts in the empire, animals which developed the ability to cultivate and instinctually sought to refine their powers.
Eventually, one of the puppets from the red-and-gold faction speaks up. “We have no experience with creatures of this type in our empire, but evidently they display a remarkable degree of coordination between either species or highly diverged subtypes. It may be they are an intelligent invasive force, or engineered creatures built for some specific purpose here.”
When the time came to leave for the surface, the puppets and first-level cultivators returned to the imperial vessel while the massive mechanical bodies of the cybernetic cultivators detached from the ship to land directly on the planet. Anyone watching would see dozens of humanoid machines entering the atmosphere, escorting a series of vessels carrying the more human and less-evolved disciples, the two differently-colored groups landing some distance away from each other.
The two lithorians watched each of the recordings with wide eyes,clearly being hooked on the prospect of learning more about the invaders. These creatures seemed far less advanced than them from a biological standpoint,but appeared to be quite hardy nonetheless to survive in a vacuum
It was Shugel who broke the silence,scoffing once the last clip ended
"Their methods are as unrefined and bruttish as can be."
"True,and that is certainly a relief,but don't underestimate them just yet" Iv'eid,earning a nod of response from Shugel
"Nevertheless,if these creatures are the only ones we will have to worry about,then this assigment should be quite easy" Iv'eid continued,placing a hand below his chin
Both aliens had noticed the hesitation or outright distress these people showed towards them. While this was understandable given their circumstances,they hoped it would not lead to any issues,especially since cooperation would be key in the operation to come.
Down on the ground,Dorgul was irritated by the man's response as he abhored having to wait any longer,but ultimately kept this feeling to himself
Very well,I suppose that is understandable he said with a faked toothy grin,proceeding to walk past the representative and towards one of the power adaptors
Once close to one,the creature would place a hand on the device as some kind of transparent slime flowed from his arm and eveloped it in a thin layer. A yellowish light would then begin to build up behind the armour on Dorgul's chest and power began to be supplied to the device.
The creature would soon start releasing steam from its mouth as the light even exitted tiny gaps in the armour on his shoulder. While Dolgur knew he needed to warm himself up one way or another for the coming engagement,he still did not like overclocking his fusion reactor so quickly. Nevertheless,a quick dip in the world's waters would surely set off any imbalances.
As the lithorian helped to power the drill,he took note of the conversation regarding the origins of these things and decided to chyme in
I am hardly an expert in these sorts of fields,but I have two main theories regarding this. The first is that these creatures dwelt in some isolated sea within the moon's solid mantle and the meteor impacts opened it up to the rest of the global ocean.
Alternatively,the creatures used said meteors to get here,in which case there is no telling how long they've lied dormant in the vacuum of space or where they originate from,although I would say it is close to here in galactic terms
“We do think they are invasive, Callus here has been looking over the Ancnet, he thinks they look similar to either the Dirge or the Voleant but he isn’t sure” Laura added before nodding to the SWR leader “We have to wear suits outside anyway so feel free to employ your gas, maybe it will at least deter them so that we don’t have to worry about any more surface attacks. Ill give you a list of surface locations if you wish to send units down to set up this plan” She smiled. The comments from the Lotus about not entirely being sure on what the creatures were having never dealt with some like it elicited a grin and a joke.
“That makes two of us, no doubt with all of your superior equipment any encounter will yield much better results on what they are than we could ever hope to achieve” Once again she turned to the Lithorians forcing a smile to Shugel “Let us indeed hope it will be easy, I mean no offense by this but maybe your nature will give you more insight as to our foe” She sat awkwardly the others looking at her as if to say why did she even make such a comment. Laura seemed to regret it as soon as it came out of her mouth.
It really did appear that the individuals who worked in this system were quite isolated, the presence of non-humans surprisingly shocking them when elsewhere such matters would be without issue.
----
The boring laser did its work with the new found power, workers watching the Lithorian hook up with both interest and fear, cutting through the ice on the surface and erecting a structure framework for a powered cable line system able to lift large loads down the borehole and into the ocean below. Eventually it struck the bottom of the ice and a racing torrent of salt water gushed up the bored hole, the crewmen had stood well back shouting to others as well.
“Stand back! We got blowback coming the hole is dug!”
The water rushed up to the surface, briefly freezing as it overflowed the hole entrance before receding back down the shaft, settling just below the entrance of the bore hole. With the way clear the workers on the surface gave the all clear for the assembled units.
“Shared radiofrequency aye?” The leader said aloud, briefly stopping to watch the fire streaks of the Lotus individuals coming down from orbit “Yea its this frequency here, he gestured to his headset and finally got something working the knowledge being quickly distributed across the different factions by various workers who gave them the update by voice. This wasn’t very well organised at all on Mestas side.
“A meteor is definitely my theory, they were not here until that damn thing struck and now they are causing us all sorts of troubles.” He replied to Dolgur this time with more confidence before continuing to the rest “Either way the bore holes clear, feel free to descend into the depths if you need assistance we have the crane that can help put whatever it is you need into the hole. Just don’t touch the sides and break it”
"I would exercise caution, comrade." Captain Lor said to the SWR representative, his expression serious as he pondered. "Whilst it could limit the effectiveness of the creatures, it could do nothing. It could even make them stronger or enrage them. If we have a chance to test it I suggest we do, but until such a time, I recommend temperance with the deployment of such things, lest we overplay our hand before we know the weapons at hand will work." he said, before turning back to the defense representatives. Lieutenant Draygin by this time had lit a low-burn cigarette of a sort, and quietly took a drag though he held out the pack in a silent offer to the others assembled here.
"If these creatures are at all similar to the Dirge or the Voleant, if they are not dealt with I think this could be the beginning of a much larger problem. Until we know this for sure however, I shall carry on as though I intend to win, which I do, and doubtless all of us do."
------
"We can get a secondary comms network set in case something goes wrong, comrade." one of the Restevian officers on the ground said as the heavy dropships began moving to the borehole, crew aboard the submarines carried within now boarding their ships and shedding their heavy suits. The first submarine down the hole of the two would be 02, Sergei Pilovskiy, commanded by the far greener of the two COs present on the mission, Captain Second Rank Vasiliy Korsov. With Captain Lor still in orbit his ship would not yet be diving, but the Restevians were quick to begin the process of getting at least one in the water, the sooner to begin their mission and to get eyes in the deep, for their own mission and all those present.
The largest of the white-and-blue machines, a towering bipedal walker, transmits in info-cant to the lesser disciples. "Use your internal reactors to raise your body temperature! Extrude your jet implants and go through your underwater combat katas. Undignified beasts such as this should be taught the glory of our existence! Do not disappoint the Jade Glacier Sect!"
Meanwhile, the other faction's leader is more direct. "When the enemy arrives, smash them! Those of you proficient in the Plasma Path, move ahead and use electric attacks to thin out their hordes. Force Path disciples should focus on dealing damage to larger foes, direct concussive blasts at their heads if you can!"
ORBIT
An invasive species, Hyth repeats Laura's agreement to himself. That complicates matters greatly. Vanach was right - bad omens abound, and it seems more are eager to present themselves. A wooden grin joins this thought for but an instant as the depths of the implications take hold. We'll need to keep an extra eye out, he considers then.
Laura's other comments continue on as Hyth ruminates, and when she mentions the Lithorians, Hyth's full attention is taken by her again. He glances over to the serpentine alien and its dissimilar companion and is filled with great disagreement; such creatures appear to be of the surface, not of the depths. No, they will be of little use here, he scoffs to himself.
Atqaal, possibly having missed the comment but more probably merely unbothered by it, takes one of the cigarettes from Lieutenant Draygin. Caution is best until we have a better picture of the situation, she agrees with the Restevian, if they are similar to the Dirge or Voleant, we will know this soon enough.
SURFACE
The Pords make way as the water pours forth from the hole. Satisfied with their work thus far, word is quickly passed along to the other units present. It does not take long for the first few machines to near the entrance and prepare for the plunge.
Somewhat behind the Restevians, the first elements of the detection company and high speed scout units descend into the salty waters. While the bulk of both forces remain topside, the detection elements in particular are eager to establish contact with their surface counterparts to allow for more accurate cross-referencing of data; each of the four subsurface detection barges is paired with another stationed above to simplify in-tandem operations.
As this transpires, a trio of spherical heavy sentries splashes down in the wake of the detection barges, shepherded along by six nam-Künaan type scouts. The machines descend in the water column not far from Sergei Pilovskiy and those of the Jade Glacier and Radiant Star Ogre sects.
“Yea I remember reading something about the Voleant becoming a scourge of the galactic east or something. Hopefully its nothing like that here because we certainly don’t have a hope in hell against something like that.” She seemed to sigh and sag.
“That’s all we have for you Im afraid.” She looked down at a very old style datapad “Looks like the bore holes up and going so we can direct you through our sonar communication bouys, we have several large pens in that area we can help you get there from up here” She smiled.
“I wish you good hunting”
-----
The borehole was large, but it wasn’t that large. The crane assembly was brought up and supplemented by the various other factions as the regular Mesta crew watched in slight awe and confusion as the members of the Divine Lotus merely jumped into the hole, swiftly followed by the Pordish machines which seemed more than at home in such environments.
Finally, as the Restevian and SWR submarines were lowered down the Lithorians caught up as well. It was a timely operation, sadly not exactly quick in the lowering of many elements but it was enough. The water below in the hole was black, the light from the surface gone as the thick ice sheets trapped all within in pitch black embrace. The ocean itself seemed around a kilometre deep at this section although countless peaks and trenches spread out from the area as the sonar systems and other sensors placed their surroundings in the right frame.
Given the data from the Mesta com net there were two large fisheries only 2km from the bore holes position. Each was marked out by gridded areas on a very basic datamap transmitted by their hosts and each fishery was several kilometres across made up of segmented netted zones and some very basic underwater habitable infrastructure where the fisherman kept an eye on the catches and ensured everything was working properly.
A transport sub was also nearby, Mesta in origin its large form carried several huge nets full of catch towards the fisheries. Its noise and not so stealthy form being practically an entire cacophony of sound underwater, but passive sonar returns were already picking out strange noises and possible contacts close to the fisheries and their waveforms of sound did not match conventional subs.
The sect soldiers just... jump in. Seemingly not wearing any protective gear besides battle armor, or even breathing apparatuses, they leap into the hole and activate jets implanted on their bodies, moving downward along with their larger mechanical comrades, which also descend without the use of vehicles. Both sects come from an ocean world, so their bodies have naturally been optimized for surviving underwater. Moving or fighting underwater is second-nature to anyone from Voltuzrei VI.
"Thank you, comrade." Captain Lor said to the woman as he rose, motioning to Draygin, who had just lit the cigarette for the Pord. The captain saluted the other assembled commanders, donning his hat.
"May fortune favor us this day, comrades. Good hunting."
With that, he left the room with Draygin following, heading for the dropship to make planetfall, and rejoin their crew.
------
The control room of Sergei Pilovskiy was quiet as the submarine settled into the dark water, reports coming in one by one that the reactor was running nominally, crew were at stations, and various other asundry things that the submarine would need to prepare for battle and patrol. Captain Korsov was leaned over the chart table, a digital device that put up a holographic projection of the area and their surroundings, overlain with oceanographic data in the ship's computers. Right now, he and his XO surveyed it with the navigator, all three men smoking as the reports came in.
"All systems report green comrade," the XO reported, accepting a datapad from a crewman, glancing around the quiet control room and its screens before looking back to the captain.
"We are ready to move."
"Good. Diving officer, make your depth one hundred meters." he said, picking up the intercom. "Sonar, conn. Report on local contacts."
"Conn, sonar. Nothing so far except us and the others. Some crazy bastards just jumped right in, and the Pords are diving now."
"Affirm. Begin passive sweeps, report all contacts."
"Passive sweeps, report all contacts aye sir." came the reply, and the intercom clicked off. Korsov took a drag of his smoke, studying the hologram as the hull creaked and popped ever so slightly, the submarine descending. He would feel better once Captain Lor was in the water... or not. They'd have to see.
SURFACE
As Hyth and Atqaal make their way down to join the rest of the Pordish contingent planetside, the subsurface elements orient themselves in the depths. The trenches and mountains coming into view on the myriad sensor feeds of the craft are noted, and the overall commander of the six scouts leads her force out and away from the detection barges which hover silently, overseen by the three spherical sentries with them.
In the lead nam-Künaan type scout, Chor Talnoch holds the machine steady on a shallow glide. Her displays read and then pass 300m. As they do, she comes on over the comms: There are the fisheries, she says, right where they should be.
Her wingman responds quickly. I'm picking up something, he says, there's more out there than just the fisheries.
Talnoch nods. I think you're right, she agrees. Let's move to investigate. Swapping frequencies over to the channel with the other allied forces, she speaks up again: we've got contacts by the fisheries, she says, we can provide cover to you if you have hard-hitting systems, she says, addressing the Restevians, we're optimized for speed and agility rather than stealth or firepower.
Iv'eid and Shugel took note of the woman's comment,appearing rather unamused before Shugel finally pierced the silence
"Indeed,let us hope our expertise proves valuable" and with that,the creatures departed back to their frigate
Back on the surface,the lithorians deployed two of what could only be their analogue to a submarine. The things were huge,somewhere around 200 meters long each and equipped with 8 fins and whale like tails. Their heads were eyeless and sported massive armoured jaws with sharpened slabs of plating and circular ports facing forwards,their torpedo tubes no doubt.
The behemoths would require no assistance from the nearby equipment as they began to push themselves against the ice with their fins,steadilly making their way inside the bore hole and submerging.
Dolgur oversaw this action,making sure no unfortunate accidents occured before turning to a contingent of 20 or so lithorian troopers. They were tall creatures,with crocodillian snouts,8 eyes resting on their lower jaws,shiny almost metallic exoskeletons and some sort of weapon replacing one of their arms. These ones in particular had undergone some changes for the operation,having swapped their standard railguns for harpoon guns and equipped symbiots with a pair of bio turbines on their backs,perfect for underwater propulsion
Dolgur watched as the creatures lined up and began jumping into the depths,stopping the last 5 with a gesture
Take one tactical demolition charge each,in case our tasks necessitates some "landscape remodelling" he said before jumping into the hole aswell,the 5 peons going to get what they were told
The two leviathans were much more graceful once in the waters than they might appear,demonstrating their organic nature by bending and undulating as they swam,turning and switching directions on a whim. The troopers and Dolgur were less graceful,being reduced to straight paths by way of their turbine packs or in the case of Dolgur,steam exhaust from the reactor inside him
The lithorian would stop his movement however as their sensors picked up on strange signatures
We have possible contacts,permission to engage Dolgur said,adressing his fellows in orbit
Shugel and Iv'eid were surprised,both by how fast everything was going and by Dolgur's short and concise military vocabulary,so unlike his tones beforehand. He certainly meant business while on the job,perhaps they picked the right drone for the task afterall
You have it said Iv'eid
And with that,the two "submarines" changed course to intercept these contacts,while the troopers and Dolgur maintained pace and stayed around the forms of their two beasts
Those Mesta crew on the surface watched as the last of the Lithorian beasts, which in their eyes looked damn similar to whatever they were supposed to be fighting, slide into the hole. With the force deployed they took up to constructing some temporary shelter, it was the only way in and out of the ice sheet for hundreds of kilometres around and so they dug in should any of the forces below need assistance in withdrawing or deploying any more units.
Still at least the communication Buoy system was working better than expected, given that the Mesta systems so far had looked like the company cut every corner imaginable and then some when it came to gear and work tools. The Mesta units in the whole area reported into the arrivals, sounding off on submarines and outposts many kilometres away and making sure that whatever it was that appeared on contacts was not some other company asset.
No, these contacts were genuine.
Three were easily identified with a possible fourth ahead, they kept a spread-out formation and appeared to be heading for the large underwater habitat that administered the fisheries. Sonar returns had them as surprisingly silent for something of their size and no tell-tale propeller shaft or reactor clanging could be heard from them. They were not mechanical submarines. There was a hiss of air release from two of them however, and that sounded like only one thing when put against an underwater scenario. It sounded like the release of torpedoes. Almost instantly 4 new contacts appeared on sonar, two were angled towards the habitat, while two were directed towards the arrival’s units.
A moment later, a screech that drilled into the ears of those who heard it erupted from one of the contacts. Active sonar.
Noise increased from that one contact as it appeared to accelerate, whatever the hell they were supposed to be hunting, they had found some.
"Conn, sonar, active pinging, confirm three contacts, possible fourth!"
"Battle stations!" Korosov barked as the sonar officer rattled out bearing and speed, the lights going from a calm natural light to red in a second. The submarine's crew leapt to the command as the engines and the pumpjets began to thrash the black waters, pushing the submarine further down into the deep. Korsov got the confirmation that the ship was at battlestations when the intercom barked anew.
"Conn, sonar, reading active torpedoes in the water. Two bearing on formation, two bearing on the habitat. Heading 115 and 241, accelerating fast!"
"Launch countermeasures towards the habitat, high-speed decoys, tubes three and four." Korsov ordered smoothly. "Officer of the Deck, rig for quick quiet once countermeasures launched."
"Rig for quick-quiet once countermeasures away, aye sir." the OOD responded back as the torpedo crews worked the controls to launch the countermeasures.
The Sel'd countermeasures were about the size of a normal Rybak torpedo, though their mission was very different. Designed to baffle enemy torpedoes and weapon systems, they could give off noises like the submarine which launched them, false EM signatures, even faulty gravametric readings. The Restevian Navy was rightly proud of them, and they were very expensive. Two of them punched away from the Sergei Pilovsky and accelerated through the dark waters towards the habitat, broadcasting on all modes to confuse and dupe the torpedoes that had been fired towards the administration habitat. taking erratic changes in course every two kilometers. They were fast and they were baffling, and the crew of the Restevian submarine could only hope they worked.
"Weapons reports countermeasures away, comrade captain."
"Very well, OOD, rig ship for quick quiet."
"Aye aye, rig ship for quick quiet." the OOD ordered, and the submarine cut speed. Her reactors throttled down and her passive stealth systems came online to allow the submarine to do her best imitation of the famous hole in the water, passive sonar coming up to get a track on the nearest target.
"Weapons, load tubes one and two with Rybaks, stand by to match bearings." Korsov ordered, his smoke now halfway gone. He hadn't tapped the ash out.
"Load tubes one and two with Rybaki, aye." came the response.
"Sonar, conn, establish track on closest target, designate Charlie 1. Helm, make your heading 2-2-0, depth one five one meters, ten degree down-angle."
"Charlie one, establishing track, aye, sir."
"Two-two zero, one five one, aye sir.”
Their swim was certainly not going to be peaceful. Dolgur was caught off guard by the new contacts,quickly stopping his troopers while the two "submarines" suddenly split up,weaving and spinning through the murky waters as they veered off from one another
We've made contact! I repeat! We've made contact! Four hostiles so far,they have both sonar and torpedoes. Permission to engage? he projected back to his fellows,a hint of worry in his thoughts
In orbit,Shugel and Iv'eid looked at eachother in confusion. Sonar? Torpedoes? These things were much more advanced than the footage had led them to believe,nevertheless their conditioning kicked in and they returned to a sound mindset
You have it,we leave the fighting to you Shugel said,nevertheless plughing into the sensory data of the troops in the water
Dolgur smiled,some combat at last,even if it was too long ranged for his liking. The two swimming beasts opened their armoured maws to let forth dozens of smaller creatures. The first were about 1 meter long and only vaguely fish like,lacking fins and having hard non pliable tail. Their bodies were segmented,their heads perfectly smooth and possesing 7 eyes,one central with the others formed in a ring around it. They were decoys,swimming in tighly knit banks in perfect synchronicity to mimic a larger signature. Similarly,their aparatus worked off of one another to fake various signatures and fool the enemy's guidance.
The other breed was less numerous,being twice the size of the former. They had long whip like ttails and a collection of rotating fins attached to a radially symmetric body. Said frame was akin to that of a comb jellyfish,containing little more than a rudimentary nervous system and a shaped charge. Their objective was much simpler,to ram into the torpedoes headfirst.
With their defenses deployed,the aquatic leviathans engaged their torpedo tubes and opened fire,releasing two topedoes for each enemy signature.
Dolgur and the lithorian troopers gathered up into a cohesive formation and merely waited,if the footage was still even remotely accurate then smaller alien beasts may start swarming them any minute now
The incoming data begins to clear up as the contacts near; three definite returns from sensors with a fourth somewhat less clear than the rest. A current of cool water rocks Talnoch's machine as the distances dwindle; she pays it little heed: her attention is on the fourth contact, mysterious as it is, when the signatures of weapons fire light up before her.
Her wingman is swift yet again. Bringing up comms, he chatters quickly - hostile torpedoes in the water! he says (and lingers on water for a moment longer than the rest).
Any remaining notions of the beasts here being simplistic creatures fades as swiftly as their torpedoes swim. Simple creatures don't have complex weaponry. These appear to be of some higher order, origins still unknown. As the various countermeasures are deployed, the beasts respond seemingly in direct contestation of the allied movements. One in particular zooms with impressive speed behind a horrendous active ping.
Two from Talnoch's formation break to draw the attention of the charging creature, their own signatures far nosier than many of the others present.
The twin sects assumed a pair of omnidirectional battle formations, the Jade Glacier team forming a tight formation with infantry clustered in small groups around the larger mechanical cultivators, both humanoid and submarine-derived, while the Radiant Star Ogre sect formed a single loose cluster as all members of their team began manifesting their energy weapons.
“That is sonar! Our enemy has made its presence known! Drone masters, intercept them and establish an arena!” One of the elder disciples commanded as one of the Jade Glacier submersible-forms released several dozen observation drones, forming a large net around the battlefield in an attempt to catch sight of their opponents as they move closer.
“Remember! Use ranged projectiles to hem the opponents in so our Force-path users can engage at close range!” The Radiant Star Ogre commander transmitted. After all, both sects developed in an ocean world, and are well versed in underwater tactics. The Jade Glacier sect was skilled in formation fighting below the sea, while the Radiant Star Ogre sect had devised a much simpler method of combat, to simply specialize in paths that were even more deadly underwater, such as the Force path, which would naturally have any shockwaves produced amplified and made more deadly underwater.
Above the sky of the planet, the two Immortals watched with interest. In truth, this conflict was little more than a facet of their more personal rivalry, and nothing more than an idle venture. But even so, it was an excellent opportunity for them both to field their most talented disciples and determine which of them would show the most promise. Those who excelled would be favored with promotions and access to better cultivating materials, and may even become Immortals as well! Those who were unworthy, well, they would probably die this very day against whatever foe is coming to engage them.
The recon drones of the Divine Lotus proved invaluable as the situation went from calm ocean to sudden spurts of battle. The water was pitch black and murky but the detonation of one of the enemy torpedoes by the counter fire directed from the Lithorians briefly lit up the area, it was then that the first proper image of the enemy was clear. They were absolutely not mechanical and were also not some simple aquatic beasts either. They were living weapons.
The form was long, like some deep-sea serpent, several large fins and protrusions helped it navigate the water with relative ease, its frontal end was almost like a pike nose, full of small indentations which appeared to be where the torpedoes had launched from. It did not possess any armour chitin, but more indentations ran its flanks as it pushed itself through the water, no doubt the other two hostile contacts were like what they were seeing now. Whatever the hell was happening here the targets they were sent to clear out were no simple foe.
With one torpedo intercepted by the Lithorians the other managed to jink out of the way, it seemed the enemy torpedoes were also alive, and looked like a horrifically bloated tadpole. The countermeasures launched by the Pords as they moved to draw it off distracted it, and it tried to reacquire a new target as it swam quickly. The one that was charging the arrivals seemed to be now focusing on the smallest of the bunch, heading towards the Cultivators of the two sects it once more loosed another torpedo from its head, and discharged two small globules which began emitting massive amounts of noise.
The two torpedoes which were targeting the module also were distracted by the Restevian decoys and veered off to chase them saving those within. But it was swiftly followed by the two contacts which had stayed back firing several more, this time aimed to intercept the shots fired by the lithorians.
“This is Habitat 434 what the hell is going on out there!”
The cultivators scatter like a school of fish as the creature draws near, a large submarine-form pulling back and transmitting orders.
"The enemy is using sound-based weaponry! Be prepared to take the shockwave! All first-level cultivators use caution, your human flesh is still vulnerable to this level of shockwave attack! Plasma path cultivators, begin long-range bombardment! Force path users, guard all long-range forces and destroy any enemies which come closer! Assume White Jade Trout defensive formation!"
Though the cultivators are scattering back in all directions, they move in a natural kind of synchronicity, fighting as a group with larger second-level cultivators serving as the bulwark with their larger mechanical bodies, the smaller still-human cultivators swarming about them like pilot fish next to sharks. Whoops of exhilaration and boasts of prowess flood the Lotus Blossom comm lines and anyone who would care to listen could hear their chatter.
"Haha, I'll make sure to kill ten, no, one hundred of the lesser creatures! Though they are well-built, monsters such as this are worthless compared to myself, a peak-stage first-rank fighter!"
"Those attacks, this is clearly a living weapon! We absolutely must replicate this for our sect! Such techniques would greatly improve our gains in the Biologic Path!"
"You are like a frog at the bottom of the well, do you not see that their processes could be used to improve our own bodies as well? The mechanisms that create and produce their attacks could be replicated by nanomachinery as well! This specimen should be claimed by me, a Nanomechanical practitioner!"
If anything, they sound like students on a field trip, taking notes as if expecting to be quizzed on this encounter after the battle is done. Another second-level cultivator, a large humanoid variant, responds to the Habitat's request for clarification, transmitting images of the battle and speaking jovially.
"My my-" She says, sounding pleased. "These creatures you have reported have significant battle prowess for mere beasts! I suspect we shall have to fight quite fiercely in order to overcome them! I thank you for allowing us their opportunity to improve our skills, haha!"
The lithorian torpedoe proved to be just as unpredictable and versatile as those of its foe. It released puffs of tiny organisms meant to generate vibrations as it swirled out of the way of the enemy munitions,continuing to speed towards one of the contacts that stayed behind.
With the pordish countermeasures succesfully confusing the tadpole like torpedo,the lithorian's own intercepting bioform tried again,its rotor tail and fins spinning into action as it attempted to ram its target once more.
The contact that was closing in on the cultivators proved more tricky,its globules succesfully masking it against torpedo fire. Several schools of the fish like decoys diverted towards it,succesfully determining its general location as they surrounded the charging serpent. With this in mind,one of the lithorian leviathans changed direction and began swimming towards the creature at full speed. It was followed closely by Dolgur,propelling himself by heating up the water next to his hand ports. His toothy maw contorted into a grin as he swam,lusting for combat.
Yes! That's the spirit! Let us mount the heads of these beasts on our walls! he thought,picking up on the chatter and eagerness of his cultivator allies with the hab module
In orbit,both Shugel and Iv'eid looked at one another in surprise at this zeal,perhaps they had picked the right lithorian afterall
"Habitat 434, this is Sergei Pilovsky, we are engaging hostile contacts which are aiming to engage you, maintain alertness, transmit if you detect further hostiles, how copy?" came in to the habitat as the submarine maneuvered, barely a tiny smudge on sensors as it came about, quickly vanishing back into the black waters.
"Sonar, give me the track on Charlie 1 now," Korosov called out as the submarine came to 220, engines humming as it cut through the water. He was getting camera reports on what these damn things looked like, transmitted to both his bridge and Captain Lor, and one thing he could say for sure is that he didn't like what he was seeing.
"Charlie 1 on course, going after the Cultivators, but there's a lot of noise out there, Conn!"
"Weapons, conn, get me target bearing back on Charlie 1 now, how copy?"
"Conn, weaps, aye sir!" came the call back as the submarine carried on. The waves of sound lashed against the hull, revealing the bulk of the submarine, stealth systems working to keep it hidden even as this damnable noise lit them up like a christmas tree for anything with sonar to see them. Tension wracked the control room and indeed the whole submarine as they churned through the water, before weapons sang out.
"Target lock on Charlie-1 established, gravitic tracking! Target steady on 2-5-7, depth one-six-six meters, range, 2-6-0-9 meters!"
Korosov did not smile, he did not curse, instead he only stabbed out his smoke in an ashtray, sticking another in his mouth though he did not yet light it.
"Ready tubes one and two," he ordered, reaching in his pocket for his lighter. "Stand by laser arrays to engage the noisemakers."
"Stand by laser arrays aye, tubes one and two, aye."
A moment passed, then two. The noise continued to lash against their hull as they grew closer and closer, the captain and indeed many of the bridge crew watching the distance tick down, a tense and fearful silence. Korosov lit his cigarette. At two thousand, he nodded once.
"Fire tubes one and two, automatic tracking, laser arrays engage."
"Aye aye," the weapons officer responded, stabbing his finger down on the button. "Tubes one and two fired electrically, weapons away."
Brief, blink-fast flaring beams of laser light stabbed out from the arrays at the fore and aft of the conning tower towards the noisemakers, automatic targeting systems tracking the course of the globules and the sheer noise they were making, focused and sharp pulsed beams leaping out to strike them as the two Rybak torpedoes punched free of the submarine, engines engaging as they sped away from the Sergei Pilovsky and accelerated quickly, pinging rapidly and following the gravitic tracking of the submarine as they headed for home, warheads ticking to 'armed' after ten seconds of travel time.
A suffocating bwaaaaam! reverberates out through the waters as one of the torpedoes detonates. For a brief moment, the area is bright, and the visual sensors on Talnoch's machine respond to the deluge. So that's what you look like, she mutters. Though brief, the flashes are enough for greater detail to flood her feed, and she eyes the beast with great interest.
They're going for the Cultivators! her wingman exclaims as the creatures adjust to the evolving battlespace. Here they come!
Talnoch throws more power into acceleration and brings her machine around; the other two, she says, the other two are engaging as well.
Moving up, her wingman says.
The two scouts that ran distraction double back to rejoin the main body of Talnoch's flight as a new burst of noise overtakes the area near the Cultivators - no doubt to serve as cover or distraction; fighting fire with fire. Talnoch sees this and comments, they're holding their own, addressing, finally, her wingman's concern for the others present.
The wingman nods in his cockpit and speaks up again: more torpedoes in the water. They're on intercept course for allied torpedoes.
In the commotion, Talnoch notes her depth slipping past 400m. She adjusts, looks at the current positioning of the various forces, then orders, Lithorians are closing in. Let's join them.
The other five craft follow her lead and race towards the Lithorian sector with speed; their machines hum through the depths.
There was an explosion indicating the detonation of a torpedo as the Lithorian round found its mark on one of the targets at the back. Sonar returns indicated squealing like it was in pain, and massive releases of bubbles and noise. It did not appear to be sinking but the beast was clearly injured massively, itself releasing another two shots directed towards the Lithorians as if some revenge aggressive response.
The other one at range launched several more noise makers to try and disrupt the allied sonar systems while diving further downwards, it did not launch more torpedoes but several detonations from the diverted torpedoes in open water helped it confuse the situation. There was no communication from these creatures whatsoever, either they were mindless drones or had no wish to commune with the parties present. Already initial scans were showing similarities between these creatures and the old species known as the Voleant. A swarm nation which had spread across the galactic south-east consuming everything and fighting against the forces of CORE. Supposedly they had been wiped out, perhaps that was not the case.
“We copy! Just don’t let them to destroy this habitat please we have women and children on board!” The reply was clear from Habitat 434 in response to the Restevians communication. Followed swiftly by a short reduction in noise as the Pilovskys laser array shot out the two enemy noisemakers. With the path cleared the incoming torpedo towards the cultivators was intercepted by the torpedoes the detonation harmlessly exploding away from the ranting student like individuals who now arrayed themselves for combat. In a moment the dark murky waters were illuminated again as the plasma from their barrage was fired out, it hissed and spat, turning water to steam as the balls were psionically launched through the blackness towards the foe.
Two impacted the enemy creature that was the closest, both balls burning a hole through the organism causing more screeching and squealing as it writhed in pain. This was swiftly followed up by a torpedo hit, causing the creature to implode and begin sinking, it remains twitching as it died.
The only non crippled creature now met the Pordish and Lithorian charge head on, launching several torpedoes it came forward in a frightening burst of speed almost looking to match the ramming attack, perhaps these creatures did not have self preservation instincts.
The lithorian leviathan let forth a roar of victory as its torpedoes made direct contact with one of the serpents. As the other creature retaliated the behemoth released a few more of the interceptor creatures from its mouth as it began swimming in an effort to evade the strikes,more schools of the fish like creatures releasing noise around it so as to cloak the exact position
As for Dolgur and the other leviathan,they were unphased by the charge of the marine terror. The lithorian submarine analogue quickly flapped its tail and fins,swimming above the serpent's path to avoid its sharpened protrusion and munitions before several living turbines on its back engaged themselves. Within moments,the giant creature dove back down with unbelievable speed,jaws clamping around the slithering body of its quarry,sending slabs of metallic substance into its flesh. While his warbeast tore into the enemy creature and pinned it down,Dolgur swam right up to it and dug his claws into its hide,quickly crawling towards the head as maniacal laughter swept his mind. This was almost as exciting as being in the fighting pits of Chyrix
Once face to face with the base of the monster's spiny head,his own eyeless visage contorted to a toothy grin. The armoured figure clenched his hand into a spiked fist,battering it against the hard substance repeatedly and ripping out the chipped pieces and flesh beneath them with his claws. After the tenth consecutive hit,he unveiled an automatic micro railgun strapped to his other arm,an ammo belt trailing from it and into his back.
The lithorian warlord promptly shoved his appendage once more into the cosmic invader's wound,this time releasing an automatic burst of rounds right into its head cavity
"Conn, sonar, torpedo impact! Reading flooding and break-up noises, confirmed kill!" the sonar room called, a brief cheer going through the bridge before Korosov cut a hand through the air, shushing it.
"Very well, sonar. Weapons, reload tubes one and two with torpedoes, stand by three and four, standby noisemakers. Helm, bring us about to 3-1-1, make ready to take us in close to the habitat, two thirds ahead speed."
"Three-one-one, two thirds aye sir."
"Reload one and two, standby noisemakers aye comrade." the weapons officer responded as the submarine tilted in the water, hull shifting as they came about to their new course. The comm station light blinked, and Korosov picked up the handset.
"Sergei Pilovsky, go."
"Sergei Pilovsky, Konrad Durov, we've just hit the water. Status, comrade?"
"We have engaged the enemy, Captain Lor, confirmed kill on one contact. Allied forces are engaging the last contact now."
"Very good. We are en-route to you now."
"Noisemakers ready, comrade captain," the weapons officer reported as the helmsman called out three-one-one, settling on course as the beast came into CQB with the Lithorians, far too close for the Restevians to safely use their torpedoes in any case. The laser arrays, still on automatic began firing at the largest bulk of the creature, short and sharp pulses as the submarine made to pass, churning the water, eagle alert for any more contacts as they reloaded their weapons.
Nürnach! Molbynam talnürnachna!!
The cry echoes through Talnoch's cockpit. Her second in command, a gray-haired Pord - Valsaaq the Lesser - screeches above the din. It's charging! The creature is charging! he repeats excitedly. Talnoch smiles quietly. Through long stretches of noncombat, the sensations of true battle nearly fled her memory. So different from exercises; so different from maneuvers. From unuse they'd bound themselves, but now - in these depths - they are unshackled and rattle free...
...for they can only sleep so long before rising yet again.
I hear you nam-Valsaaq, she replies. You're closer than we are. We'll cover you. Looking to her displays again, the imposing shroud of noise is brought to her attention. Similar to the Restevian tracking, her own sensors - Halshanat Arrays and Natyl and Mylchar Systems - peer through the cloak of detonations to the heavy signature registering within; befuzzed with clamor it onward comes, inexorable and insubmissive, striking with all the instinct of a being bereft civilization's weighty emoluments.
All the while Valsaaq the Lesser acknowledges her implied command; tasi, tasinehdao - engaging! he replies quickly.
Within moments, a trio of scouts with Valsaaq leading churns ahead of Talnoch and her two wingmen; behind them, a vast trail of disturbed water bubbles and seethes: proof of their passage. As the creature looses a spread of torpedoes, Valsaaq and his charge answer the salvo with their own. Four spherical missiles, with targeting set to bring them against their opposite members, shwaaapk! out the bow tubes of the scouts and spiral forth.
Passing into melee, Valsaaq says then as the creature is met by the Lithorian leviathan. The range is nought; Voznatna! he yells. In the dark waters, a number of equally atramentous beams coil away from the surface of the scouts in search of prey. Their target: the pitching beast so engaged by the Lithorian force.
As the creatures die under the salvo of the Cultivator's assault the younger members of the two groups immediately begin arguing.
"Hah, the glory of this kill belongs to the Radiant Star Ogre sect!"
"Impudent! You would steal the work of the Jade Glacier sect? You are courting death!"
"Would you like to back those words up? I would end you rightly if it pleases you. Worthless-"
A loud screech of noise from one of the second-level cultivators shuts the Radiant Star Ogre group right up.
"Silence! This battle is not over yet, the enemy will continue to send soldiers! This is not like skirmishing with awakened beasts or rival sects, these creatures are a large force and lack the intelligence to know when they are doomed, so will surely continue fighting even in the face of our superiority! Do not let down your guard or I will discipline you myself!"
Of the two, it was certainly that sect with the most battle experience, with the Jade Glacier sect being focused more on indirect methods of attaining victory. Seeing their rivals castigated was certainly amusing for the younger cultivators, but tempered by the fact that their own elders were likely thinking the same thoughts. Sobered up, they turn to face the anticipated direction of the enemy. One of the second-level Jade Glacier sects also messages a thank you to the ones who intercepted the torpedo aimed at them.
The sonar readings of the battle had devolved into a total mess of noise and bubbles, several more detonations had occurred as the Pordish craft and Lithorian countermeasures had intercepted all but one of the enemy torpedoes, streaking towards the pords it had detonated full on, hitting one of Talnochs wingmen, the pressure wave from the blast practically crushing them flat within the water. Still it was a last hurrah of the creature as the Lithorians grappled with it.
Screeches from both sides heralded the close combat, with chunks of flesh being torn off by the Lithorian creature and the warlord himself. Still the beast was far from defenceless at this close range, tentacles forced themselves through airlocked protrusions and stabbed back, their rowing oar like edges razor sharp to help slice through the water, but also perfectly adept at being used for close range fighting, it stabbed in return, aiming for critical weak points on the Lithorians armour. It writhed and jerked, trying to break free of the jaws only for it to recoil as the laser arrays and beams from the Restervians and Pords made impact. While it was nowhere near direct torpedo hit or akin to being held in place and savaged by another beast the creature seemed almost overwhelmed by its current predicament.
It forced out two noisemakers again before firing another torpedo, this time the projectile seemed to be heading straight for the Sergei Pilovsky. A moment later the beast gave one final jerk as the Lithorian warlord unloaded his railweapon into its head cavity, it then went limp, totally dead.
With only the last remaining enemy beast being already heavily crippled it only took a good plasma barrage from the Divine Lotus to put it out of its misery, blowing its already deformed body apart in a satisfying flashy explosion. It seemed the situation was finally over, that was until two new torpedo contacts emerged.
In all the chaos and confusion and massive noise it appeared more beasts had arrived, but how many or their exact position was unknown. All that was known was two torpedo tadpoles were heading for the Cultivator formation.
Talnoch can only watch as the torpedo strikes home. One moment, Atuq is there. The next: he isn't. A somber chorus of twisting metal and dying components laughs out across her audio feed - the sick litany of the last gasp of the strange creature.
Anyone see an eject? one of the others asks over the comms.
No, one says.
I didn't, another replies.
No eject, Valsaaq declares then.
Talnoch notes the position of her downed wingman; he will need to be retrieved later. She goes to address the prospect but is cut off by a new notification. A number of contacts appear on sensors with vectors setting them on course for the Cultivator formation. She addresses these new arrivals instead: nam-Valsaaq, she orders, let's regroup and continue covering the Lithorians.
The largest humanoid second-level cultivator, a bulky model belonging to the Radiant Star Ogre sect, was the first to notice the oncoming torpedos.
GAHAHAHA, WORTHLESS VERMIN
It boomed over the sect's comm channel, its voice markedly devoid of human inflection.
SUCH ARROGANCE, TO STRIKE AT I, BAN SHUE, USING SUB-SONIC WEAPONS DEVOID OF CLOAKING MECHANISMS. ALLOW ME TO RETURN THE FAVOR, AS A CULTIVATOR OF THE BALLISTIC PATH.
Saying such, Ban Shue unleashed a salvo of rockets from his own body, aimed at the oncoming torpedoes while the others scatter. The Star Ogre disciples cheer but give the missile user a wide birth, just in case he fails.
Dolgur's sneer only widened as the efforts of him and the others brought the alien creature down,cutting cleanly across his visage.
He quickly swam down,ignoring his own beast as it wailed,tiny symbiots streaking upon its frame in droves to fill the flesh wounds with strange concoctions and foams.
Soon the lithorian reached the sinking body of the leviathan,wrapping both arms around the sharpened tip of its protrusion. With additional leverage from his legs,he managed to rip off a sizeable piece of it,ending up with a spear like growth almost as long as him in one hand.
This ought to be a good enough sample..... he told himself,examining the chitinous structure before turning to see other small symbiots picking up left over gunk from detonated tadpoles and tiny pieces of the serpent's flesh.
Indeed,this was an adequate catch
The data of new torpedo contacts caught him off guard,prompting him to turn towards the supposed location,his senses picking up on the alien munitions blasting through the water.
YES! COME AND SHOW US YOUR RESOLVE! OUR HUNT RESUMES he boomed,clenching the piece of the Voleant form like a weapon as he sat atop his own aquatic behemoth.
With a thought,the various schools of fish like sonar baits began to swim towards the origin of the shots,hoping to shed light on the foe
"Conn, high speed contact, torpedo in the water, 2-4-2!" the sonar officer barked, a bare half second between that statement and the last passing so quickly that Captain Korosov had barely enough time to open his mouth to speak.
"Conn, sonar, reading high intensity scans, it's locked on us, homing now!"
"Weapons, release countermeasures." Korosov snapped, inhaling sharply. "Diving control, make your depth two hundred meters, all ahead flank!"
The crew leapt to obey as the submarine's bow pitched down, her pumpjets thrashing the black water as a series of decoys were released from her aft section. Less advanced than the Sel'd but no less annoying, the countermeasures began to fill the water around them with bubbles, gravitic false-reads, intermittent sharp sonar pings to try and confuse the incoming torpedo and send it off course from them, or dupe it into an early detonation-- or whatever the hell it did.
The Sergei Pilovsky itself dove to two hundred meters, her laser arrays tracking the incoming torpedo. It was a far smaller target than the creatures they had been engaging before, but they were tracking it nonetheless, and if they had a shot, the crew was going to allow the submarine's targeting computers to take it. Konrad Durov was in the water now and moving, but she was too far to make any difference-- this deadly dance was between the torpedo of the dead creature and Sergei Pilovsky now.
As the Lithorians claimed their catch and the Pords rallied after the loss of their own the supposed incoming contacts were not several more of the same creatures that had just fought. After several sonar returns and terrain mapping only one contact was out there, but it was fast, very fast. It was there for one moment, until the multiple detonations of its torpedoes went off.
The rockets from Ban Shue hit home perfectly, the cultivator dead on striking the biological munitions with his own ballistic creations. The explosions filled the water with sound and disturbance, creating quite the display but causing so much sonar and area interference that the definitive lock on the target was gone in a moment. Whatever the extremely fast creature was, it seemed to have disengaged even as the disturbances of the water calmed.
Calm and silence followed, the torpedo which had targeted the Sergei had been successfully thrown off course, the creature starting to swim in a circular scanning pattern above the depth and flailing about trying to find its contact. For now, they seemed to have avoided danger. The battle appeared over despite their hit and run friend still being out there.
“Korhal here I dunno if you guys can read me well down there but we are picking up some major thermal activity about 30km south of your location, it wasn’t there before and its probably worth checking out. We also had reports of combat, what can you tell us?” The radio transmission was faint, but it seemed the relays underwater were doing their job. The heat signature also appeared to be in the direction where they foe had come from, perhaps its was a nest.
Another cultivator from the Jade Glacier sect, a spindly second-level model shaped like a mixture between a squid and a submersible, responds.
"We had encountered what seems to be a kind of biological weapon system, but scattered them like grass. I imagine these creatures must be most dangerous when arrayed against mortals, truly it is a turn of fortune our sects have arrived to assist here."
The first level cultivators swarm about their mechanical elder disciples like pilotfish around sharks, chattering excitedly with one another about the battle, bragging about their own kills and comparing their deeds to one another. To anyone overhearing them they give the feeling that this is more like a school trip than anything serious. Morale and confidence are high for the time being.
Dolgur's smirk faded as the reports of a new contact came in,quickly followed by the release of enemy projectiles. The two lithorian beasts fired out counter munitions much like before,trying to spare themselves from more punishment
Just as quickly as it appeared,the elusive contact was gone,clearly boasting superior speed and maneuvering to their previous foes.
So this is how you wish to fight.....wise the lithorian thought,teeth scraping against one another in frustration
Dolgur? Come in dolgur? Status report came the familliar voice of Iv'eid,not happy to have been left in the dark,a fact made quite noticeable in the mental intrusion
We overpowered the opposition and secured some samples. Yet now I'm facing some fiend that refuses to fight directly,it's using hit and run techniques he growled,accentuating his displeasure with one hand
His horns vibrated as the message from the company came in,the alien's mouth twisting into a smile once more as he scrutinized the contents
Rectify my previous statement,I just might have a way of forcing it to come to me he continued,cutting off the psi link again as he ordered his beasts and underwater troopers to make haste towards the location of interest
On the way,the austral creatures passed by the cultivator's formation,prompting Dolgur's smile to widen as he picked up on their prideful banter. They certainly had spirit
Pords
On the surface, Hyth and Atqaal watch over the incoming reports from the battle below. So far, none of the surface creatures have poked around the Pordish base, leaving many in the base and its surrounding areas with considerable down time.
In the depths, Valsaaq eyes the distant, skittish, creature even as more reports come in of thermal contacts to the south. The Lithorians seem to arrive at a decision rather swiftly, however, and zoom away towards. Shall we follow? he comes on over the comms.
Talnoch, after finishing giving a status update to Korhal, simply shifts her machine onto a new heading: south.
Valsaaq chuckles and although none can see it, he grins warmly to himself. That answers that, he says then. Forming up on you.
The reply from the Jade Glacier Sect took Korhal a bit off guard for a moment before she replied.
“It is indeed extremely fortunate for your presence; I hope these creatures continue to be no match. If they are biological weapons have you determined their origin at all? Do my people also need to be careful of potential oceanic contamination?”
The travel to the location of note was not exactly one of interesting sights and beautiful vistas. The inky blackness of the water concealed the large and expansive shoal barriers for the aquatic creatures farmed here. There were not physical barriers of course the netting alone would cover thousands of square kilometres worth. Instead, small buoy nodes floated, emitting electrical bursts like an electric fence that kept the fish in. They appeared clear on EM sensors and sonar and were the only noteworthy discovery amid a deep ocean of jagged crevices and mounds on the ocean floor.
As they approached the location however sonar returns began to come in. There were multiple of the same creatures they had faced, but exact returns were difficult. There was a lot of sound out there, almost like bubbling, akin to volcanic vents, although as Korhal had stated there hadn’t been any before. Thermal signature was also extremely high, either this was something suddenly volcanic or it was some kind of nest. For now, the creatures did not appear to be reacting.
Both of the Restevian submarines now had come into action, with the Sergei Pilovsky leading the way in, having slowed its movements to scarcely five knots as the Konrad Durov moved to catch up. Both submarines were moving slowly now to minimize their already small envelopes of detection, as these creatures had shown that their weapons could lock on to them with frightening accuracy. Biological weapons indeed...
Captain Korosov now watched the broad spectrum camera screens on the forward bulkhead of the control room, leaning on the holochart. The CIC was quiet, orders being relayed in hushed tones rather than shouts. It was ridiculous to do this of course, advances in dampening technology from the days of the Pacific Wars meant that outside forces could not hear those inside a submarine speaking... but it was still a human instinct to be hushed, quiet, when they knew that an enemy was searching for them. Or they were searching for the enemy.
"Comrade captain, readings ahead are strange. Sonar cannot make much sense of them." the officer of the deck reported, handing a small sheet of paper to the captain, who reviewed it briefly before handing it back.
"Multiple contacts with scattered returns, and geologic displacement?" he whispered, arching his brow.
"Da, comrade."
"Hrm." Korosov said, stabbing out the stub of his cigarette, though it had already fizzled out. "Check with Konrad Durov, see if they're getting the same thing. Maintain general quarters."
"Aye, comrade captain." the man said, moving away as Korosov returned his gaze to the monitors. What was this, now...
The lithorian forces were quick to reach the site of these signatures,slowing down upon arrival so as to not be easily detectable. The two aquatic behemoths took to the flanks,with Dolgur and his squad of troopers plastered neatly between them.
Once formed up the aliens began a steady advance,taking note of the various signatures of voleant bio constructs. Having learned that caution was in order,Dolgur motioned for the leviathans to release more of their fish like decoys. The small creatures quickly dispersed rather than sticking to banks,aiming to cover as much area as possible as they surveyed for a more detailed look of the situation.
This mission was clearly far from over,but the alien leader atleast found some solace in having competent allies to rely upon
The squid-submarine responds. "It is merely our hypothesis. The manner of it is not unlike a hive animal, but if such a thing were to have evolved naturally, surely it would have dominated this world already, would it not? It is not unlike crafted biologies of our homeworlds, a true work of art! I can respect its maker even though I would much like to end him rightly for his irresponsibility in letting his creations roam free upon a mortal world, were he to be one of us. Hah! That would be an intriguing individual, I would wager. But I digress. I shall have one of my disciples search for any manner of contaminant which might be harmful to your kind, and with luck shall return results momentarily."
Meanwhile, the rest of the cultivators would close in on the suspect location, chittering to themselves as the sheer overwhelming amount of sound reached their sensors.
"It is like a great beast tide! How terrifying! I am in fact somewhat glad that so many mortals are with us, for is it not said that even the mightiest tiger can be slain by many wolves?"
"Coward! The strength of a tiger is linear, our own is exponential! You would admit finding comfort in mortal comrades? Truly the Jade Glacier sect has fallen low."
"Insolent fool! You have eyes but cannot see Xian! I would end you myself were it not more prudent to remain allies-"
Valsaaq trails Talnoch a decent distance and, as the sensor returns come in, peels away to more appropriate spacing for combat.
Look at these contacts, he says, bubbling. Seething.
Talnoch gives an unseen nod. This area is desolate, she says, I don't like how this feels.
Valsaaq agrees and the group drifts nearer. As they do, he takes his wing deeper, to a considerable distance below where they were.
"I thank you for your assistance. If you do discover any contaminants any details will be appreciated, if we loose much of our breeding stock then the companies assets and our jobs here will be finished..."
The multiple contacts which had been spotted continued to circle, one of them however seemed to have caught one of the incoming allied forces. It wasn't entirely certain, the beast swimming closer as Valsaaq and the Lithorian sensor creatures took cover behind several large rock outcrops on the ocean floor. The heat even from this distance was great and yet the frothing vent was absolutely not volcanic in origin. Sensors could pick up something deep within, and the high pressure blasts that occasionally came out of the top contained debris. Something was... Burrowing downwards within the shaft, protected by the creatures that surrounded it.
Perhaps they were trying to find geothermal hotspots, or perhaps were digging some new burrow or den. It wasn't clear yet but the creatures still swam in a defensive pattern, the singular beast now approaching the main force sitting silently.
"Something is very wrong here" Dolgur said,relaying information back to the frigate in orbit.
"Could you perhaps elaborate?" Iv'eid asked
"There's something very big burrowing in a geothermal hotspot,it is causing quite the ruckus"
"Shugel,what do you make of this?" Iv'eid said,turning to his companion
"If it's biology is even remotely similar to our own,it may be trying to tap into that energy and speed up its metabolism. From there it could either gain mass or produce more wretched spawn" The alien inquired,one insectile limb below its chin
"Then it needs to be stopped. I'll proceed with caution and contact in case of any updates"
The bank of lithorian fish like creatures would proceed to dart from cover and activate organs designed spacifically to produce disturbances. They began to swim away from the site,hoping to divert the patrolling creature and others of its kind as the larger lithorian beasts slowly inched forward,careful so as to be covered by the noise of their lures
"I concur with the opinion of the foreign mortals." One of the cultivators chimed in on the previous conversation. "Such a technique is not unheard of among the higher levels, the heat within a planet is a most useful resource for those who can use it."
"Indeed, did not the Radiant Star Ogre himself use such a method to achieve mastery over his plasma techniques?"
"Of course!" Another responded, one of the more machine-like ones. "Naturally, our bodies are conditioned to withstand heat. We second-level cultivators of the Radiant Star Ogre Sect will go down to destroy this creature! Disciples, watch closely! The wrath of heaven will fall upon this wretched beast!"
With that the 19 Second-Level cultivators of that sect began descending, the Jade Glacier cultivators remaining near the rest of the group.
"Conn, sonar. Contacts appear to be digging in the main vent, we are picking up geological displacement." the intercom reported. Captain Korosov looked up from the chart, tapping the screen with his stylus to mark their position before he tapped a control to bring up what sensors were seeing on the display. Studying the positions of the enemy contacts, he frowned. That vent was odd, not at all volcanic, and there was no real way to tell how long it had been here.
"Comrade captain, Konrad Durov reporting they are shifting course to 2-2-4." the XO reported, and Korosov nodded.
"Acknowledged. Move to flank, adjust course to mirror. Maintain speed."
"Adjust course, aye." the helmsman reported. Korosov tapped out his cigarette, studying the display once again, marking allied positions and the latest reports sonar could give him on the enemy. What on earth were these creatures playing at...
"Weapons, this is conn. Load tube one with a Rybak, we may have a curious native. Mark target as Charlie 3."
"Weapons aye, loading tube one, mark target as Charlie 3."
The moment the Lithorian shoal began to create noise and move away the creatures which were circling the large vent now moved into combat positions. The one which was rapidly approaching now changed direction to go after the diversion but the others kept close to their defensive area. As the Cultivators came forward the beasts began to fire torpedoes, but it was not easy. The Cultivators were small and rapidly outmanuvered the larger beasts to descend into the burrowing tunnel.
With such a commotion the defensive beasts now moved to engage the new contacts, several torpedoes were launched towards the Restavian submarines and another seemed to pick up the Lithorians as they came closer, launching several torpedoes as well as other creatures, much smaller, but far nimbler.
The burrowed tunnel was extremely hot, the sides of it were molten rock and the white hot core of whatever was burrowing now became apparent even as superheated water and steam were shot out from the tunnel at extreme speeds, the pressure was hard to fly through as they were effectively jumping into a pressurised tube. Still the thing below them was indeed a creature, massive in size its form was bloated and covered in what were almost boils. And yet…
Each one of the boils seemed to contain an embryo. As it carved its way down the heat from below was energising it, and many of the embryos seemed to be becoming more active. This was how the creatures multiplied. They had to be stopped.
Dolgur was pleased to see that their diversion was successfully drawing away enemies from the field of battle,yet his grin quickly faded as the cultivators provoked the beasts into reacting,cursing in his mind
The lithorian leviathans were quick to react to the volley of the Bolosan serpent,releasing decoy organisms to distract the torpedoes and more of the guided impactor creatures. This alone was not enough however,as one of the projectiles hit the previously unharmed lithorian beast in the fin,taking it off completely. The one that battled a serpent previously was luckier however,just barely swirling away from the torpedoes course before a hard impact countermeasure sealed its fate.
Dolgur was getting impatient,perhaps even worried. His warbeasts were beginning to take damage and the enemy was already incubating a new batch of killers
This is Dolgur to command,I've found some sort of creature optimized for spawning. This is the source of it all,I am going in
With that,the lithorian Commander and his entourage of troopers began swimming close to the seabed,slowly inching their way towards the burrowing beast.
The leviathans on the other hand were not idle,already one of them released torpedoes of its own at the serpent that engaged while the other began flanking,aiming to close the gap while it was occupied
"Haha, this must be the source of the foe!" One of the cultivators remarked, staring down at the titan.
"Such a marvelous work of biological engineering, I am truly at the bottom of Urxien's gravity well." Another spoke.
"Even so, it must be destroyed! Take biological samples from its corpse!" The leader of the group roared, opening fire with its plasma weaponry as it began strafing the beast. The cultivators were confident. Perhaps overly so, perhaps not.
Looking down from on high, the two immortals who had followed their disciples observed the goings-on below the ice.
"Your pupils are most impressive, I shall admit." The leader of the Jade Glacier Sect remarked.
"And yours are not without merit either." Su Hu replied. "However, the foe has yet to display any true threat, especially with the assistance of these mortals. I am curious to see the full extent of this life form's might."
"That is true. I have high hopes samples of it can be obtained, so that we might seed our homeworld with such specimens. Once they accumulate sufficient Q-technology within their bodies they could become formidable beasts that produce excellent raw materials for us to harvest."
"Indeed. We shall see if these entities are worth such a project."
In contrast to the Lithorians and Cultivators, Talnoch does not speed for the tunnel entrance. She circles some distance off, directing a few of her probes to descend in her stead, as the great beast is revealed in full.
I've got creatures on me! Valsaaq exclaims, still nearer the seafloor than Talnoch, They're closing in!
A few torpedos rush towards his wing; one slips through the array of ECM and active defenses where it explodes near Valsaaq's craft. It shakes violently with the blast, but it is just far enough away. One of the smaller creatures emerges from the cloud of debris dripping with terrible swiftness, and Valsaaq pushes even deeper, to just above the seafloor, and he rolls around the jagged terrain.
There's only one thing these temperature readings can mean, Talnoch says (familiar with such burrowing techniques), her eyes glued upon the returns. We have to take it out.
Working on it, Valsaaq says back, but I've occupied at the moment.
Let's move to a position over the tunnel, rather than within it, Talnoch orders. We can shoot down into it from there.
Valsaaq nods and advises his wing of such; they power away from the seabed in a cloud of billowing silt.
"Conn, sonar, torpedoes in the water! Bearings 2-2-4, range two thousand yards!" the sensors officer called out, and Korosv cursed.
"Helm, make your course 1-1-2, away from the weapons! Increase to flank, Weapons, stand by to launch countermeasures!" he bellowed. Almost immediately the submarine was leaning hard to port as the helmsman pulled the wheel hard over, the reactor in the aft of the ship rising in pitch and intensity as they increased to maximum speed. This was the most dangerous part of the game he knew, and the one where a single screw up would get him and his whole ship killed. Skill... and not a small bit of luck, would get them through this. The Sergei Pilovsky was tearing one hell of a hole through the dark water, loose objects shaking on tables as she accelerated, past two thirds, closing to flank.
"Standing by to launch countermeasures!" the weapons officer reported, his hands hovering over the controls. Korosov held out his hand to indicate not yet. Right now he knew that Captain Lor aboard the Konrad Durov would be doing the same thing, waiting for the right moment. If they released them too early it would not be enough to confuse the incoming weapons. Too late, and there would not be enough time to get out of the way.
"Sonar, give me ranging and bearing on the incomings," he ordered.
"Aye, conn! Incomings at bearing 2-2-1, fifteen hundred yards! Confirm weapons have acquired us and are homing, confirm on Konrad Durov!"
Not yet. Around him crew were standing by their stations, engineers reporting on reactor status, and anyone who wasn't doing that was already bracing for impact.
"Reading steady on bearing 2-2-1, twelve hundred yards and increasing speed!"
Not yet.
"Weapons, set PDLs to auto-track," he ordered, hand gripped tightly around one of the CIC spars.
"Aye, comrade," the weapons officer replied, flipping the requisite switches before returning to the countermeasures. Korsov could feel the lasers spooling up as a buzz in his nose.
"Reading track on-- blyat! They're in our baffles! Dead astern, one thousand yards!"
Not yet. The reactor was thrumming now, the pumpjets expelling enough water now to power a small town through pure hydrokinetics if his math was right-- but he couldn't worry about that now.
"Still dead astern, eight hundred yards, comrade captain, seventy knots!"
Not yet. Crewmen were looking to him with wide eyes, old hands and young boys. He had to get this right.
"Steady at seventy knots dead astern, six-fifty yards!"
Not yet. They could all hear it now, a high-pitched pinging sharper than any weapons they had simmed or wargamed against, the pitch and sharpness eough to make his head hurt, sharp enough that they almost lost what sounded almost like... flapping, echoing through the hull of the ship. Crewmen were tightening their restraints, some were praying. Korsov saw his XO cross himself in the Orthodox fashion.
"Seventy two knots, four hundred yards, dead astern!"
Not yet.
"Three hundred fifty!" A few seconds passed. "Two hundred fifty!"
Not yet.
"Two hundred! Captain!"
Now!
"Release countermeasures!" Korsov bellowed, slamming his hand on his chart table hard enough to send a pen flying. "Helm, make your course 1-7-5 now, depth to 300, all hands brace for impact!"
Into the dark water, the submarine ejected a half dozen noise-makers and EM emitters, smaller than the decoys of earlier but much, much louder. The submarine turned hard, rudder fully to the left as the hull strained under the sudden turn and ascent, the Konrad Durov in the distance performing much the same maneuver. They had to pray that their timing was right-- and failing that, trust in their lasers.
Countermeasures were launched as the creatures engaged the Lithorians, detonations sprang to life in the ice-cold waters around the hole as they produced massive amounts of sound disrupting any form of sonar. One of the creatures took a direct hit from a torpedo, writhing with anger and launching its own volley in return, the fighting between the Lithorians and their prey was getting violent as they closed to shorter ranges. The Pords were just as harassed too, one of the beasts turning its gaze towards them it kept up a volley of tracing torpedoes and as they began to get closer to the shaft a sudden barrage of what appeared to be quill like projectiles.
They were meter long projectiles of chitin that while short ranged would pose a huge threat to anyone being struck by them, more than enough to pierce the hull or flesh of a submersible threat. Not only were the Pords targeted, but the Lithorians given their short range. The entire bubbling waters around the shaft were now alive with activity, deafening noise and projectiles.
The Restavians were luckier, the torpedo was destroyed at the last second, but the blast shockwave was more than enough at a range that it would cause critical damage. Thankfully the beasts were far more concerned with the Lithorian heavy assault and the Pords quick sudden strikes on the surface than the submarine, that and the Cultivator assault on the progenitor was the truth threat. The Restavians were able to provide long range support at the least, as well as focus on damage control.
The plasma blasts of the Cultivators came in hard from above, striking embryo sacks and bursting them open, revealing smaller eel like creatures which rapidly wriggled up to meet them. Ravenous upon birth the creatures saw the Cultivators as their first foods source, however the plasma blasts while bursting the egg sacs did not appear to be harming the main beast at all, the fact it could tunnel down into such hot and pressurised conditions meant it would take something else, and far stronger in action to kill it off completely.
The lithorian leviathan charged forth,meeting the barrage of quills head on. While many of the projectile bounced off or splintered against the plating that covered its face and jaws,many more tore through its fins and nipped at its flesh. Still,it pushed forward,diving beneath the serpent before activating its set of bio turbines,suddenly speending up and slamming its jaws on the creature's underbelly before starting to spin,aiming to break its lithe body in a deathroll.
The creature fighting at range was less fortunate,being hit in its center of mass by one of the tadpole torpedoes and being staggered. Unless its allies could provide immediate support,another volley would surely be its demise.
Dolgur and his troopers made it on the scene of the fissure,witnessing the cultivators engaging the spawn of the progenitors. Without hesitation,he proceeded forward,firing off bursts of plasma from his palms at the creature's hide and triggering a number of egg sacs in the process. Still,a sweeping gust of heat from his mouth boiled the resulting brood of eels alive,all but one. He caught the critter as it tried to lunge for his face,crushing it in his grasp,guts and ichor spilling into the water. He absent mindedly threw the corpse at one of his troopers,who caught it without issue
"Make sure this reaches our vessel" He said,being met with a nod as the lithorian made it is priority to vacate the combat zone.
The alien landed atop the form of the beast,clenching his fist before letting loose a hit on its exterior,nothing. Surprised,he punched again,several times infact,yet the thing's hide was impervious even to his monstrous might.
Changing his strategy,he swam up to gain distance from the creature. He needed to breach its epidermis and claim a sample,no matter what. The spikes decorating the lithorian's shoulders suddenly detached and began riding plumes of fire back down to the spot he previously occupied,revealing themselves to actually be biological missiles
Point-defense gurgles out against the incoming shards. The disturbed seas part in their wake, bubbling and fizzing, as the myriad beams make contact, but the volley is close - too close.
Valsaaq shoves his machine past the crest of a small mount and the passing of his craft rustles the rocks and sediment below. Squinting at the display, he notices his suites automatically eliminating one shard, then another, then a third. Then, his machine shudders violently.
I've been hit! he exclaims, I've been hit! His eyes dart around the features of the bottom, so unwelcoming and near, as the AI of his craft parses the damage and relays the information to him. All the while water sloshes in through a nasty gash along the hull of his craft which - after a moment - demands notice. He feels its entry; the machine is heavier, now, with appropriate response.
Can you make it to the surface? Talnoch questions.
I don't know, Valsaaq says. It's covered in ice anyway. And where we are at I don't know that my missiles can blow a hole through it. I have internal flooding. I thi-
His train of thought is taken by the machine, which lurches suddenly again, towards the seafloor. A sickly fluid coughs from the gaping maw of its wound and the putridities disperse into the blackness of the depths. Valsaaq glances again at his position and notes just how far down he is. Won't make it to the surface, will try to eject.
Very well, your position is noted, nam-Valsaaq, Talnoch says. While engaged herself, she still manages to check his location.
The swift seafloor currents parade against Valsaaq's machine as he plummets. With each meter they appear to grow harsher, swifter, and less accepting of his presence.
Then, after a lengthy descent, he plows into the seabed and only comes to a rest after almost entirely burying the nose of his craft. That could have gone better. He scowls. I should distance myself from this thing before those creature turn it into a smoldering crater, he muses, then, Hope everyone else is doing better.
As the forces continued to engage the beasts around the giant burrowed shaft it all came down to the Cultivators and Dolgur. The living missiles unleashed were partially intercepted by drone spawn who literally threw themselves into it, but some impacted, managing to blow chunks out of the creatures hide and cause it to groan in pain, the entire shaft rocking as it stopped burrowing and began to move around. But the Cultivators were already moving, plasma blasts into the now exposed under flesh caused detonations and searing flashes of boiled water.
Secondary detonations followed, clearly caused by destruction of volatile organs within the beast’s body. As it turned the things huge, fanged mouth, covered in molten hissing rock and steaming with superheated water and steam tried to snap at the groups, the beast well aware of its imminent danger. The surrounding predator beasts tried to rush in to protect it, to no avail, however. One was destroyed by the RSC and a well-placed torpedo volley while another was brought down by a combined Pordish and Lithorian barrage. The remaining beasts began to squirm and react strangely as they neared the bore hole, each twitch and jolt corresponding with the increasing attacks on the spawning creature below.
It was obvious they were a hive mind.
As the attacks continued the things mouth became ravaged by biological munitions and the cultivators power, punching through its gut and killing its insides. The entire tunnel shook as the monster writhed, constantly trying to lash out at its attackers or try to spawn new creatures to defend it.
But it wasn’t enough.
With a final strike the beast quivered and died, the predator beasts surrounding the hole dying with it. Merely going limp as they stopped swimming. One by one reports of creatures sighted dying came in.
Whatever the spawn beast had been, it had been their focal point, burrowing to spawn nests and feed itself on heat and molten rock before moving to another location.
But in its corpse there was a treasure.
Akin to a pearl, the glowing Aurastone within was invaluable, on top of the monster containing within its form glands filled with Ancerium. It had somehow survived to FTL to this place but now its bounty could be harvested, along with much rare earth metals it had excavated and processed in its body. The people of the Mesta system were ecstatic, already they were thanking the new arrivals, and the corporation had already authorised extremely favourable trade deals for low prices. Mesta and the corporation would provide food substances for cheap for the victors and gave full rights of the spoils to them as well.
At least, the oceans had been calmed.
“Yea and?”
“Well the meteors are set to impact on the southern polar cap, they are pretty big, so we have to expect some shockwaves and impact damage at least to the facilities in the south. There is also a chance of a reduced catch in that region in the months ahead” The reply came immediately. The two ex Cricaens watching the incoming blips on the screen both cradled hot coffee in the control room, the mostly automated station being one for local space monitoring.
“Ill let the boss know then, as long as its gonna end some continent and destroy the planet I doubt the company would care” The man took another sip as they watched the meteor that was incoming break into many “There see, even less impact damage, nothing to worry about” He laughed. With a shake of his head he left the room, the first man sitting at the station watched carefully as the rocks were beginning to make their descent. As he watched his eyes widened and he whispered to himself is disbelief.
“Rocks don’t make course corrections”
-----
It had started when Jaros station went dark. Just went off the grid one day, swiftly followed by the sub hauler Geraldine. The disappearances were only rare, at least that was for a few months. Then the attacks began.
The Sub Hauler Nedali had reported coming under attack from some massive kraken like creature, never seen before in the under ice oceans of Mesta, especially since they had been the ones to introduce the fishable species here in the right conditions. The creature had attacked the hauler and crippled it but had been driven off by the crews sudden idea to turn net holder poles into harpoon guns and try fight back. Still another report came out of Bopoli station of the ice cracking and hordes of monsters running across the airless surface to attack the security installation only to be driven back by the places automated anti pirate turrets.
Whatever was going on something was wrong, and the company who owned Mesta could not afford more disruptions. Theragorn Inc. quickly put out a call for help, calling any who would assist in driving off whatever menace was now lurking below Mestas ice ocean and allowing the company to get back to normal operation.
Outskirts of Hol-nam Pelchaaq, Chor Reknu
An incoming transmission from the Invilis Corridor piques the interest of VRZ analysts who, after reviewing it, pass it along to a number of parties expected to find it of notable importance...
You're putting me to sleep, Talan Hyth's low rumble claims over the far more reasonable tone of his companion's voice. There's nothing out of the ordinary about it. Just some creatures. His observation is greeted by a sharp, unhappy, scowl.
Tasi, that would make sense, the other Pord, a stout amber-haired Hunter whose scowl begins to fade, retorts, but look at this here. These impacts are a bad omen. Might be worth investigating.
Hyth fidgets in his chair. Alright, alright. you're probably right about this one. To be honest, now that you mention it, I don't really like these impacts, either. It's disrespectful, he says, shaking his head, striking the poles.
That's what you're worried about? Not the potential spread of similar... Beasts to ocean worlds across the galaxy? Vanach rubs his forehead. Hyth isn't exactly wrong. Not everything is a slight against Amaruq, he explains.
But many things are, you have to admit this. You know it's my job to worry about these things. Shouldn't have to remind you. He stops for a moment to scratch his chin; he resumes with a slight topic change: I will speak with the Order to gather a team for this if you really think it's necessary. It shouldn't be a problem.
Vanach nods. Detection forces and a striking component, he agrees. Very well.
That can be managed. If you have nothing else? I will take my leave. Hyth stands and swiftly bows to the Hunter who returns the gesture.
Good luck, Vanach says.
...after which Hyth quickly disappears out of the chamber.
Mesta System, Invilis Corridor
A VRZ transport arrives at the edge of the native interdiction fields alongside its escort, a single Tylaq Balnook type Runner. Upon arriving, landing clearance and coordinates are requested, then a more direct message is relayed to the locals:
This is Talan Hyth of the Order Amaruq. We have come to assist in response to Theragorn Inc.'s request for aid, he explains.
Rigolki, Capitol of Svera.
It doesn't take much to attract the attention of the SWR when it comes to calls of distress. The transmission passed through their space, and the transcripts landed on the desks of the Council of External Affairs. The file was passed through, and sent to the Military Council.
"A submarine and a station." Lyura, the head of the council, frowns "And then an attack on another submarine and station?" She asked, looking to the man from the External council. He nodded, "Yes ma'am. They've never seen something like this under their waters. They're afraid of more attacks." His attention was turned to the rest of the table as murmurs spread throughout the room. Many of the council members, present or not, were looking at the file on their screens. "Let's find some volunteers, and assign a sub and an amphibious team to them. Does that sound right to everyone?" Most of the table nodded in agreement, and a voting prompt on their screens appeared and the decision was passed.
Mesta, Invilis Corridor
Two Sveran ships emerge from the dark clouds coming from their xspace. A bulky-looking transport craft along with a frigate-sized escort. The ships immediately request clearance to proceed and land. The captain's voice rang out. "This is Captain Wiesonva of the Spirit of Serenity. We're here on behalf of the Sveran Workers Republic, and came to assist the people of Theragorn Inc." She states confidently.
The solar sailship entered the system with little trouble, its passengers staring at viewscreens and chattering away excitedly to one another as they looked over the new planet.
“Haha, so this is a mortal world? It is hard to imagine a place without Cultivation. How do they function when they’re all so similar in power?”
“You’re two decades too early to understand such things, focus on the matter at hand!”
“And isn’t it strange? Whatever is causing all this disruption is obviously something worth studying. It may have insights which could increase our attainment levels, or produce valuable resources, we should obviously capture these things!”
“Indeed, but I am more concerned with fighting the creatures. Bah, why worry about profit when it’s battle strength that matters the most? This mission is clearly a way for the elders to select the most promising among us for preferential treatment as well. Those who perform well will definitely be rewarded!”
On the deck, two figures watched the planet below, standing atop the vessel’s surface as though they were the captains of a seagoing ship, bereft of space suits or other equipment typically found on humanoids when in the void. One was an elegant-looking woman with pitch-black skin and purple eyes and hair, dressed in an elaborate robe. The other was a muscular figure with red skin and a flowing black beard, along with solid-colored yellow eyes, like orbs of gold, and wearing only a waist-skirt. Both radiated considerable energy on any nearby sensors, as the pair didn’t bother concealing the emanations of their reactors.
“These reports are most interesting.” The female Immortal remarked, flicking through the images of the sea beasts. “It is difficult for me to predict what our juniors will find on this planet. I believe our prey to be alive, but that is it. I truly hope it is organic, though. Creatures powerful enough to cause such trouble would be welcome in our home seas. Q-technology would likely nest densely in it, creating valuable resource points if properly managed.”
The male snorted. “Hmph, as a Biology Path expert that is naturally your prerogative, I am more interested in the development of my sect's forces. I am already hearing some of our disciples correctly guessing the secondary purpose of this mission, that is good. The talents among them will understand the true rewards available here. This is a contest! The geniuses among them will naturally be selected as the seeds of future immortals and nurtured further.”
“Well-“ The woman replied. “Provided you do not cause my sect any trouble with your people’s glory-seeking, we will adhere to our agreement, yes? The gains from this mission will be split according to the contributions of our disciples.”
“Indeed.” He nodded. “I am most curious to see how your Jade Glacier sect’s methods compare to my Radiant Star Ogre sect’s capabilities, Black Sea Fairy Li Xia.”
“We shall see, Invincible Brute Su Hu.” Li Xia replied
The Restevian armed forces, admittedly, had not planned on rendering aid here. It had been a case of a ONCT picking up the distress call as it traveled through the sector to reinforce a naval garrison elsewhere, and once it had picked up the call, the captain contacted GHQ on Rhen Kalman to ask for orders. It was decided after about three hours of debate that the ONCT, Admiral Morsov, could divert to Mesta to see what aid it could provide.
With two Strakh class submarines, their crews, eight transports light and heavy and about a hundred marines carried aboard the force here was not exactly insignificant, and the Admiral Morsov pinged Mesta control ahead of its arrival to the system, messaging them that they had a Restevian vessel inbound to assist in the issues they were having. This entire force was placed under the operational command of Captain Kostantin Lor, and as the transport left slipspace and began its burn towards the planet, he called a briefing of the commanders of submarines, marine company, and transport pilots.
There were many details to go over in regards to what they were going to do, and the time spent from leaving the jump point to entering orbit was spent going over every detail that could be postulated and possibility as to what was happening was gone over. The former was as productive as one could expect it to be, as with one veteran submarine captain and one green one, there was going to be a little stumbling here and there. But that was why there was a veteran and a greenhorn-- so the veteran could correct mistakes before they became fatal. However, the latter could be summed up as how Lieutenant Vasil Draygin put it:
"Comrades, we're throwing spitballs at a shielded wall and hoping something sticks."
They had to be prepared for anything, in short. Nevertheless, they came into orbit smoothly, and notified the company below that they would be landing, and any help they could render would be given.
A lithorian frigate would proceed to exit ftl above the moon,the leviathan's armoured plating bristling with living weaponry of devastating power.
Within this gargantuan creature,around the base of its neck to be more precise,was a command chamber.
Iv'eid,this ship's owner,sat within. He checked the vessel's systems meticulously,making sure that their jump did not effect anything.
He was a tall and gangly creature,coming in at roughly 8 feet tall. Iv'eid was a humanoid no doubt,but nevertheless had a bladed tail which was longer than his whole body alongside digitigrade legs and bladed talons for fingers.
His head had no discernible feature besides a mouth full of fangs and an impressive headcrest,comprised of two overlapping layers with an empty gouge running directly down its center. His shimmering almost metallic exoskeleton was mostly covered by a sleeveless robe,tattered and torn in various places by the passage of time.
Truthfully,Iv'eid could not care less for this frozen rock nor those that claimed to own. He was in it for the reward and,more importantly,the esoteric invaders themselves. He hoped to acquire samples or even live specimens of these creatures.
Across the chamber sat his first benefactor,Shugel.
The other lithorian was hard at work examining their inventory of armed forces,noting how horibilly understaffed the vessel actually was in spite of his henerous contribution.
Shugel's opinion was the polar opposite of Iv'eid's. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Kab'nod,making him little more than a puppet in the eyes of his fellow. He was beyond the mere beasts below,seeking only their complete eradication. What his guild had actually sent him to do was to study and establish cordial relations with the galaxy's natives wherever possible,and this was a perfect opportunity to do it.
It was much more physically imposing than Iv'eid. It stood at about three meters in height,its body being of a serpentine nature and covered in hard plates linked via sinews and fibers.
Shugel's upper body however was encased in a greenish exoskeleton,boasting four arms ending in scythe-like talons and large shoulderpads which curved upwards. His head had six red eyes and an elongated mouth whose tip had two pairs of mandibles and rows upon rows of fangs within.
Lastly,there was Dolgur.
He stood in the corner of the chamber on his knees,silent and motionless. He was,for all intents and purposes,little more than extra muscle. Having proven himself within the arenas of Tebadon IV,the brute sought to test his mettle against these beasts,bringing along some of his forces as contribution.
Dolgur was about a head taller than Iv'eid and built like a warrior. His form was stoney and jagged,having digitigrade legs and thick arms ending in sharp claws. He had shoulderpads that were made of spiky growths and a headcrest that was wide and flat. The creature's face boasted two yellow eyes,a pair of horns which curved inwards like a pair of mandibles and a split lower jaw.
Overall,excluding the bodyguards of the three figures,their forces consisted of 200 hounds,50 troopers,50 drone hosts,10 drone carriers,10 support walkers,10 hunter killer units and a squad of 10 Xer'sai.
This,of course, was further complemented by 2 Asil class submersibles
Once all preparations had been made,Iv'eid would procede to contact the company
"Greetings members of Theragorn Inc,we have recieved your call for aid and require permission to land"
Shugel loomed over him as he spoke,waiting for Iv'eid to finish before speaking
Do you believe this menace could be native? it inquired
"That's a negative. The only reason this rock has a biosphere is because the humans introduced one. Whatever these beasts are,they must have come from somewhere else"
Dolgur interrupted the two as he rose from his kneeling stance
It does not matter. Alien or not,the humans wish for their destruction and I intend to deliver he stated boldly
Silence overtook the chamber,now there was nothing to do but wait for the company's response
Mesta Systen: Invilis Corridor
“Hot damn looks like we got a lot of arrivals, you better tell Korhal because the company is really going to need to allocate the funds for this one” The communications handler laughed, aboard the large orbital dockyard the XO nodded with a sigh.
“Your right, Ill fetch him”
-----
Only one large orbital station drifted in the silence above the moon, approximately 5km across it was the major drop off point for all of the harvested protein across the planet and helped ferry down whatever materials they in turn needed. It had minimal defenses and even from a brief scan showed that it was not up to optimal performance, it seemed like the company had skimped out here. Still the ‘commander’ of the station rapidly came on to attempt to reply to the different nations who had all very much turned up to the surprise of those aboard.
“Uh… Hello there, this is Head Chief Korhal to the assembled new arrivals, thought I would broad message. We didn’t expect so many to come to our aid, thank you for doing so. You are free to dock here and transfer your supplies or units to the surface using our shuttles or you are free to deploy at the following co-ordinates” The video had the man briefly get angry over what was clearly a computer glitch “There, its out on the ice flats approximately 150km from the south pole, we cant get you closer because of the ice spike fields, that’s if you don’t mind getting impaled” He laughed “Our local ‘defense’ forces if you can even call them that have compiled a report for you, they say face to face meeting via holo conference or in person works. I think they know the most about whatever is going on down here, I just ask you manage to fix it before the company fires my ass over something I have no control over” He smiled awkwardly.
The area designated for landing was practically as uninteresting as it could get, a wide 50km stretch of unbroken and undisturbed ice only 600m deep and perfect for easy drilling down to access the sea below it. Already the co-ordinates were sent and open docking ports signified for the station.
Korhal merely slumped back onto his chair, he was tense and so were the team around him. Whatever the hell these creatures were they were going to loose them their jobs if they were not careful…
The imperial delegation was first to arrive. As the vessel grew closer, one could see what seemed to be an assortment of interceptors and humanoid or quasi-humanoid machines of varying sizes escorting it as it docks. Coming from the vessel was an assortment of humans which seemed to have varying degrees of modification to their bodies, with some seemingly being completely inorganic while others have only some limbs or other body parts replaced, if the changes are visible under a uniform of composite armor and elegant robes. Most of them seemed to be of the Hanxian ethnicity, with pale skin, dark eyes, and black hair, while others sport more atypical features. Most strangely, their ages were all over the place. Some seemed to be well into their twilight years while others didn’t even appear to be 18, but all of them were wearing combat gear and are taking themselves rather seriously. Spaced out among them are what seem to be some humanoid androids with a doll-like, porcelain exterior and ornate decorations, which the humans seemed to treat with respect. In fact, a pair of them were leading the group as they excitedly looked around the space station, the younger ones chattering away enthusiastically.
“Oh my, this is truly outside the empire? The architecture is so different!”
“I wonder what the mortals here will be like? Do you think they will be aliens? I have never seen one before.”
“You had better show respect if so! Some of them are strong enough to rival us Near-Mortal level cultivators in battle strength.”
Meanwhile, the “dolls” serenely looked over the station, both waiting to be received and checking out any other delegations that would be arriving. Indeed, these were the puppets remotely controlled by the Cybernetic-class leaders of this hunting party, as their bulky bodies obviously could not interact very well with most mortals. The pair of Immortals supervising the operation kept out of sight in the vessel’s chambers. This was not a matter for them, after all. Indeed, none of the Near-Mortals, and few of the Cybernetics, were even aware they are hosting such esteemed guests.
SRS Spirit of Serenity.
Many of the bridge crew seemed dumbfounded at the state of the station. Not many of them had seen what they assumed to be such an important facility in such a condition. Some crewmen whispered to each other while the commander spoke, before another shushed them. But the silence didn't last long after Korhal finished his "briefing" of the situation. The captain then spoke, leading the crew to quiet down once more.
"Thank you for the offer sir, but our transport can handle the landing. Major Sevcik will handle our ground forces from here." The captain paused as one of the crew, this one in a somewhat dirty jumpsuit, spoke to her for a few moments. She nodded and spoke once more, "Our engineering team is also offering to help aboard your station while we're docked."
The frigate docked shortly, and only a handful of people exited with none of them looking of much importance. But if the okay was given a few dozen engineers would depart, dispersing to where they were asked to be.
Transport Koleno.
"Sveran Transport Koleno on approach. To any Mestan defense forces in the landing zone, Major Sevcik would like to meet in person for the report on the situation. We will be on the ground in around ten minutes." The SWR's transport transmitted to any units in the landing zone. The large vessel entered the atmosphere, gliding toward the surface with the stubby wings on either side of it. After it got close enough, it floated the rest of the way to the surface with a combination of anti-grav and what looked like landing thrusters.
Two ramps folded out of either side of the vessel and a little over a dozen trucks and two IFVs exit the Koleno. Not many people were left walking, and those who would've walked sat atop the IFVs. The exposed soldiers were in heavy coats for the cold, with their gear over the top. They all had rather high spirits, some laughs came from the trucks as people cracked jokes about the cold. Others were disappointed at the sights, having hoped that the sights would be more.. grand.
"So would you rather be on the sub? I bet they have a wonderful view of the world!" One man heckled his squad-mate for his reaction to the barren ice flats of the world. The rest of the soldiers in the truck laughed, including the major. "Come on, Dip, you can't expect that every planet is greener then Czernigrav." He added. "Yeah, maybe take a vacation cruise if you want to see the sights after your service." The radio operator comments.
The VRZ transport hangs beyond the shimmering aura of the world below, distant enough to still be considered in space, but not so far as to be beyond the world's grasp entirely. Its speed has lessened, now, as it comes upon a lazy gait and drifts silently into a stable orbit while its escort mirrors its movements. Distant rays of starlight flicker off their hulls as they receive word of an ice field and Hyth elects to set down upon it.
A parade of vehicles saunters forth from the transport, including a shuttle with Hyth onboard. Like many Pords, he prefers to meet in person, and wishes to make good on the Head Chief's offer to do so with the local defense garrison; he advises Korhal of such with a curt return communique, and as his machine descends, he turns to Atqaal Balnook, the KZH commander assigned to provide the strike complement to the sensory detachment the Order Amaraq has so graciously given him.
That's one run down station. Doesn't bode well for what we'll find down below, Hyth says jokingly, having pieced together some thoughts from the brief exchange with Head Chief Korhal.
Atqaal, deep in thought, looks up. She nods silently at the non-existent displays before directing her thoughts back to what they were mere moments ago. Yes, she says finally, It means there probably isn't going to be much of anything down there.
On a particularly flat stretch of ice, not too far from the landing site of another of the arrived parties, the Pordish aerial convoy sets down. Comprised primarily of haulers, detection barges, and scout craft, they waste little time in establishing a suitable landing zone, and nearly as swiftly as they make landfall, engineers and infantry begin to dismount from their craft out into the desolate and airless expanse.
Hyth in particular, however, does not join the rest of his force immediately; he announces his arrival to the local garrison and makes his way over to the meeting grounds instead to discuss the situation.
Admiral Morsov wasted little time, coming into orbit around the planet, stationing itself close to the station, signalling to the installation that they would remain close inboard. The vessel itself was too large to easily land, and with only 600 meters of ice between them and the sea, it simply was not practical.
So instead, the Restevians elected to 'dip' and deploy that way. Admiral Morsov entered the atmosphere briefly, enduring the fiery hell of reentry only long enough that their heavy transports and the submarines they bore could safely deploy with no damage to the underwater craft. With them, their support units and most of the Marines deploying to the surface, the Admiral Morsov returned to its designated orbital position, and there it would remain, the vessel transmitting intention to remain on station as orbital support, resupply and repair for any that needed it.
Captain Lor however did not yet join his men on the ground, instead boarding a transport to go to the station to meet with the local defense forces. Lieutenant Draygin went with him, both officers settling into their seats for the brief ride to the station. They would meet with the local forces, get a read on what was happening, and then to their commands they would go.
The three figures listened intently to the corporate employee,turning to one another once the message had been delayed
"I believe we should split up and make the most of this. Afterall we wouldn't want to waste time" Iv'eid said plainly
Agreed. I shall take our forces and deploy at the suggested location. I assume you are heading to that base,Iv'eid dolgur muttered,the fusion reactor in his chest already starting to come to life,causing a faint light to shimmer beneath his armoured exterior
Iv'eid nodded in return
"You would be correct. Gleaming more information and coordinating with others may prove crucial"
"That only leaves me. I shall accompany Iv'eid to this meeting. Just make sure not to do anything rash" hissed Shugel
Keep me updated on the situation
"That applies both ways" Iv'eid said before the three departed
The two lithorians would descend down to the corporate base using a small carrier organism which they kept docked just outside of the base's limits.
Dorgul on the other hand deployed on the iceflats alongside his troopers,the drone carriers and the support walkers. Keeping his hounds and elite Xer'sai in resserve and ready for rapid deployment via drop pod should the situation take a turn for the worst
The stations docking booms groaned as the various shuttles and ships docked, the interior looking somewhat dirty and it was extremely surprising from docking that the station had no artificial gravity. None at all. Having to float or use mag boots down from the airlocks the station opened out into a large cargo hold area full of boxes, some of which were coated in quite substantial amounts of dust, honestly it did not look like this place got a lot of arrivals.
Just before them was a few of what count be counted as the ‘Defense command’ who looked like little more than ordinary civilian workers. Supposedly they had been chosen based on old military experience but how much that was remained to be seen. They sat in the zero gravity environment on makeshift chairs, around a large ‘table’ which had been laid out made of crates.
“Welcome to the ass end of nowhere” One of them laughed to the various parties.
“I am…” There was a pause as the women actually briefly considered what rank to give herself “High Defense Commander of Mesta. Welcome to our humble corner of the universe. Please have a seat, as you can see, we are pretty green and were thrown together given the circumstances to direct any unified efforts to resist these creatures on our part. We know they originated from the South pole, maybe riding those meteors but other than that we got a few pics and videos” She smiled.
-----
The open landing zone which had been mostly empty apart from a very small detachment of ‘Defense Forces’ was suddenly abuzz with activity. A small encampment consisting of a few temporary buildings, a scientific submarine held on a transporter and a small drilling rig was set up. The men and women stationed here rushed outside as multiple sonic booms and the roaring of engines was heard. All in all they stood in awe watching the different forces make planet fall, the fire in the sky from atmospheric re-entry and the shaking of ground impacts on the ice. They gave the new arrivals a bit of a berth to sort themselves out before a delegation was sent to each.
“Hello there, welcome to frozen hell. Set up anywhere you like, we are starting some drilling but we don’t have large equipment and our reactors pretty shit, we can get the laser bore much wider and drill much faster if you can spare some additional power input. We can get down to the ocean faster that way, at least you guys are ready for any conflict”
ORBIT
The truly abysmal conditions of the station fully register for Hyth and Balnook as their shuttle lands. As they make their way out of the craft, they are greeted by the lack of artificial gravity. This alone isn't too bothersome - Pords are, if anything, accustomed to places where tech is often left at the proverbial door - but the sheer magnitude of the neglect hits them like a foul stench. For a moment, they hesitate.
To think this is the place the Order Amaruq is so interested in, Atqaal says while taking in the dusty atmosphere. Her gaze stops on a box. I hope you are right about the facilities planetside. They seem to need our engineers more than they do our soldiers.
Hyth chuckles, but says nothing in reply to this. He floats over to the table where the local commanders have gathered and seats himself. A quick look over the other arrivals reveals an interesting assortment of individuals. Dressed in the garb of the Order Amaruq - a large parka trimmed with gold complemented by a fur hat - he seems to be one of the more mundane of the gathered, even with Atqaal taken into consideration; her white KZH officer's uniform is far more obviously military.
Do you have any estimate on their numbers? How many we'll be going up against? Hyth asks as after a moment. I know seas and ice don't eagerly divulge too much information.
SURFACE
The Pords begin setting up their camp. Areas for stockpiling are marked and temporary structures take shape as the engineers begin plotting out areas for more permanent buildings. A few automated sentries (small spherical devices coloured a dull gray) float to the fringes of the camp while places for generators and detection equipment are surveyed.
As this is going on, a member of Hyth's command council is swiftly on the spot when the delegation from the local command arrives. Beardless but with mustache, the platoon level commander makes note of what is said about the drill. Tasi - yes - we can assist you with your power requirements. Some of our equipment are power hogs too, he laughs heartily, let me see who's in a good spot to assist.
One of the Puppets nods at the briefing. “Of course, of course. Our sects are all prepared for aquatic maneuvering and combat.” It (he?) says, gesturing to the group of more human-looking disciples. All of the cyborgs seem to have some sort of modified skin, along with what appear to be vents or other propulsion systems affixed to their bodies. Likewise, the larger mecha-like Cultivators have sleek designs well-suited for aquatic vehicles. The Puppet gestures to a larger machine, some 20 meters tall, docked along with the vessel. “My main body will be landing on the planet directly, as will the other Second-Level fighters. Our First-Level disciples-“ He gestures again towards the human-sized cyborgs. “-will be in your care.”
Notably, the Imperial force seems comprised of two separate groups. One group wears gold and red sashes depicting a ferocious humanoid monster over their body armor (or painted onto their hull in the case of the mechs) while the other group’s colors are white and dark blue, with a depiction of a glacier rising from a dark and stormy sea.
The station was certainly less impressive than they had expected. The aliens did not expect the lack of gravity,beggining to float within the hallways. Iv'eid was mildly annoyed,bu quickly pushed himself against the air and grappled onto the ceiling,proceeding to crawl along it like some sort of beast.
Shugel was not so fortunate,he grunted as he began to awkwardly contort his serpentine form to push against the air and 'swim' through the corridor,orienting himself against the walls but otherwise making sure his scythe like talons didn't leave any marks.
Both of them eventually made it to the storage area and subsequently the meeting location. Iv'eid plopped down from the ceiling and sat down on a 'chair' while Shugel had to coil around another.
They both bowed their heads as some kind of greeting to the others and listened intently. Waiting for their turn to speak
"We could indeed make use of an estimation on the scale of this threat. Furthermore,I understand that they conducted surface attacks. Do you have any footage by any chance?" Iv'eid inquired,hoping to see what exactly they were up against
On the surface,Dorgul was making sure all of the landers didn't suffer any issues and double checking to ensure the drone carriers were fully loaded.
He then noticed the corporate envoy approaching their position and went out to greet them. He nodded at their greeting and paid close attention to their debriefing
I see,this could certainly take a while. Have you perhaps considered a controlled detonation? He communicated telepathically given he was in a vacuum
Mesta Station
Captain Wiesonva exits the ship, her standard void suit of the navy was nearly devoid of markers aside from a few colored bars that probably indicate rank. A few other members of the Serenity's crew followed the captain, each of them seemed slightly caught off guard by the lack of gravity but their mag-boots clamp onto the floor soon enough. They follow the other members of the operation towards the makeshift briefing area, the Captain abandoning her mag boots in exchange for a faster hop to the table. She allowed the others to ask their questions, and seeing as how they asked exactly what she was going to, she only waited for the answer.
Sevcik Company, Surface.
The company quickly formed up into a convoy, taking a small detour towards the encampment. The soldiers passed the time in the trucks telling stories and such. They would arrive soon though, their conversations cut short and laughs dying down to put on a more "professional" facade. The Major was patched through to the meeting aboard the station, so the captain hopped off the truck and was accompanied by a few others. One of the men was staring at the other races, seemingly amazed by the "aliens." An elbow to the stomach by his squadmate quickly stopped him.
The captain approached and, assuming they were communicating on an open channel, he replied to the representative. "I can call the transport over to see if we can hook it up to the laser, I'm sure you'll have plenty of power then. Then the sub crew won't be twiddling their thumbs for quite as long." They chuckle.
Captain Lor did not seem put out or even particularly perturbed by the state of the station, remarking to one of his officers as they moved through the station that while it could use some repairs, it was far from the worst that they had ever been on.
"Good day, comrades. I am Captain Konstantin Lor, Restevian Oceanic Navy Command, at your service." he said, taking one of the offered chairs, Lieutenant Draygin floating just behind the man with his arms folded across his chest.
"It seems the others have asked most questions I could think to ask, but I will ask this: If you have engaged them, have the creatures exhibited any particular weaknesses to specific sorts of weapons?"
------
The Restevian dropships made their way to the ground and the designated landing zone with little trouble if any at all, the light craft carrying the marine contingents landing first, marking out the area where the heavies carrying the Strahks would land. The submarine carriers settled onto the ice heavily, and once they had landed, crews began to embark and prepare the craft as the ground force commander went to meet with the delegation.
"It's a bit like home, honestly." the marine officer said to the comment about 'frozen hell,' before contemplating their need for more power.
"We can provide that, comrades. With the subs coming online, less need for the dropships to take all that energy, so there's some spare. Show us how to hook up, and we'll lend what we can."
The self-dubbed High Defence Commander, who’s own jacket read ‘Sub Manager Laura’ watched as the various groups who had come to aid them came into the room and gathered round. Some of them were clearly human like her, others were much stranger like the Divine Lotus while the Lithorians made her briefly look uncomfortable, like the creatures below had come up to eat them personally. Truth be told she was just thankful anyone turned up at all, but she started with the Pordish representative.
“Your right, they really don’t. So far we have had around 7 encounters in total, 3 of those encounters only a single large creature was reported. 2 reported a handful of smaller creatures while another 2 supposedly reported a while damn swarm of the things, one of those reports was the on surface overrun of one of our facilities. So we know also given the spread out nature of the attacks there is probably many of them” She then turned to the seeming cyborgs who had impressed ornamentation, eyeing them properly this time she smiled.
“We will try to take care of them as much as we possibly can up here you have my word” At the talk of the Lithorians however she once again looked uncomfortable as did the others with her, hestitating Laura finally replied “Yes they have conducted at least two surface attacks which means they can burrow through the ice sheet. Given the spread nature of the attacks across this area” One of the men put down a battered hologram projector and turned it on “I would say the threat is large. Here let me show you the footage we have so far”
The hologram then displayed a couple of clips. One it was almost impossible to make out what was happening, the blackness of the depths and the dim lights on the submarine revealed little as some mass shifted through the murkey water, the sound of twisting metal and a flash of tentacles being all that was revealed. The second was more revealing, showing small polyp like things attaching to the hull of another sub and ‘chewing’ at its exterior, each creature was clearly biological and had a green and red tint when shown in the light. The final footage was a brief capture from a surface raid, dog sized creatures with claws and six legs bounded across the ice the sound of small arms fire and shouting interspaced with screaming before it too went dead.
“As you can see, they are not native to this world. At least we don’t think so. As for weaknesses shooting them seems to work, and they don’t like fire. But we don’t have the tools to identify any proper weaknesses” She nodded in acknowledgement to Konstantin and then to Wiesonva, happy to see two groups of truly normal humans aboard.
-----
With so much landed in the area many of the local workers merely stood and broke out some alcohol, watching all of the different forces land and take up positions. Some made comments about the strange Lotus and Pordish designs while others were distrustful of the clearly alien lithorians.
The man on the ground was unsure of how to respond when the Lithorian commander spoke into his head, the man never experiencing anything psionic in nature before. Finally he decided talking out loud was the best and probably only response he had.
“We don’t quite have the explosives necessary, and if we blow the hole it could destabilise the surrounding area. If we laser bore we can have the best hole fit and keep everything contained” He nodded, happy with his response. He then smiled in his suit at the others.
“If the rest of you want to grab your stuff and give us the juice absolutely, come on the quicker we do this the quicker we can get down”
It did not take long to interface various power couplings and generators from the Restevian, Pordish and SWR, thankfully the laser boring machine was a cheap one. As such its universal power adapters and ability to be cranked up depending on input meant it wasn’t going to just explode on them. It only took 30 minutes to hook everything up and for the Mesta engineers to get the cutter ready for the higher energy use. Within minutes the ruby read beam head began to spin on the large skeletal structure which had been erected, the laser melting and boring through the ice as the water was pumped out onto the surface to freeze instantly as to not diffract the laser.
“Should be down in an hour or so gentlemen, what do you think these things are?” He asked, didn’t hurt to ask.
ORBIT
Laura's reply is about what Hyth expects - not too much information of value, but still some that can be used to draw conclusions from, however meager said theories might be. He shifts slightly to adjust his floating posture, then looks down towards the ground in thought. Some of the gathered, if first impressions are to be trusted, don't seem to be suited for the task at hand. At least the cyborgs appear ready for aquatic action. That thought is comforting, far more than many of the others racing through his mind.
We can work with this information, he says finally after a moment. These creatures that attacked on the surface, they seem far easier to manage. Whatever it is in the depths... He stops to scratch his chin. Massive sea creatures remind him of many of the seas back home, though there he never personally dueled with the beasts. He nods as this thought finishes, then looks up from the floor, finally, to cast his gaze towards Laura, if they came from space there's no telling how long they were drifting. They may not even be native to this system, he says, a truly invasive species.
SURFACE
A number of Pordish engineers lean against the side of their light transport as it hovers silently over the ice. Now that the drilling has started, it will only be a matter of time before the ocean below is breached into. One of the engineers watches as the laser cuts away along is circuitous route, seemingly intrigued by the method, so different from Pords' own handling of such affairs. She turns towards the local upon hearing his question. Without hesitation, she replies to him: they're depthseekers, she says, fully confident in what amounts to a guess, creatures of the abyssal plains.
One of the other engineers leans forward from the transport. Rolling his eyes, he shrugs slowly with a chuckle: I know what I don't want them to be. And that list is far longer than what I think they really are, he says. Here's to hoping they're not what I hope they aren't.
ORBIT
Wiesonva and the two crew accompanying her turned to talk to each other for a moment. After for a quick exchange of words in their home language, the Captain turns back to the "defense commander" and the rest of the table.
"While I understand the surface animals probably don't breathe, I would like to try our dispersal gas on them should any surface around the facility. It should still sting their eyes and any other open sensory organs. Could scare them off or lower their effectiveness- making it hard for them to see at the very least." She says, without hesitation, but she pauses after. "Unless it might have adverse effects if anyone doesn't have a suit on?
SURFACE
The Sveran trucks start unloading soldiers, dozens on dozens of personnel pour out onto the ice. The Major, a sturdy-looking tablet in his hand, approaches the company rep. "Do you know if there's been a uhh.." He tries to find the word in Common, "established radio frequency to talk to the others?" He still watches the meeting, on the tablet. "We're gonna start setting up a perimeter around this base, and I want to see what the others are doing." He adds.
As he says that, the Sveran squads start spreading out on the ice around the compound. There's a few suits of much heavier looking armor carrying a larger bag then the others in their squads. Over the hour, the soldiers had set up basic positions around the facility, and their professionalism began to fade. A few shared jokes and stories with each other as they sat in wait.
The younger Cultivators chattered as they viewed the images during the briefing.
“Oh, so many creatures working in conjunction, isn’t that interesting?”
“It is not unlike the beast tides in our home. When the Lighting Water Centipedes destroyed that settlement in the south, that was similar to this, was it not?”
“However, I do not see any signs that these creatures use cultivation, this is simply a natural behavior! To think such complexities exist in the universe, I am but a frog at the bottom of a well, truly.”
The more experienced ones studied the images more closely, looking to see if there were signs of intelligence or if they were animals operating on complex instinct, something many cultivators were quite familiar with due to the presence of Awakened Beasts in the empire, animals which developed the ability to cultivate and instinctually sought to refine their powers.
Eventually, one of the puppets from the red-and-gold faction speaks up. “We have no experience with creatures of this type in our empire, but evidently they display a remarkable degree of coordination between either species or highly diverged subtypes. It may be they are an intelligent invasive force, or engineered creatures built for some specific purpose here.”
When the time came to leave for the surface, the puppets and first-level cultivators returned to the imperial vessel while the massive mechanical bodies of the cybernetic cultivators detached from the ship to land directly on the planet. Anyone watching would see dozens of humanoid machines entering the atmosphere, escorting a series of vessels carrying the more human and less-evolved disciples, the two differently-colored groups landing some distance away from each other.
The two lithorians watched each of the recordings with wide eyes,clearly being hooked on the prospect of learning more about the invaders. These creatures seemed far less advanced than them from a biological standpoint,but appeared to be quite hardy nonetheless to survive in a vacuum
It was Shugel who broke the silence,scoffing once the last clip ended
"Their methods are as unrefined and bruttish as can be."
"True,and that is certainly a relief,but don't underestimate them just yet" Iv'eid,earning a nod of response from Shugel
"Nevertheless,if these creatures are the only ones we will have to worry about,then this assigment should be quite easy" Iv'eid continued,placing a hand below his chin
Both aliens had noticed the hesitation or outright distress these people showed towards them. While this was understandable given their circumstances,they hoped it would not lead to any issues,especially since cooperation would be key in the operation to come.
Down on the ground,Dorgul was irritated by the man's response as he abhored having to wait any longer,but ultimately kept this feeling to himself
Very well,I suppose that is understandable he said with a faked toothy grin,proceeding to walk past the representative and towards one of the power adaptors
Once close to one,the creature would place a hand on the device as some kind of transparent slime flowed from his arm and eveloped it in a thin layer. A yellowish light would then begin to build up behind the armour on Dorgul's chest and power began to be supplied to the device.
The creature would soon start releasing steam from its mouth as the light even exitted tiny gaps in the armour on his shoulder. While Dolgur knew he needed to warm himself up one way or another for the coming engagement,he still did not like overclocking his fusion reactor so quickly. Nevertheless,a quick dip in the world's waters would surely set off any imbalances.
As the lithorian helped to power the drill,he took note of the conversation regarding the origins of these things and decided to chyme in
I am hardly an expert in these sorts of fields,but I have two main theories regarding this. The first is that these creatures dwelt in some isolated sea within the moon's solid mantle and the meteor impacts opened it up to the rest of the global ocean.
Alternatively,the creatures used said meteors to get here,in which case there is no telling how long they've lied dormant in the vacuum of space or where they originate from,although I would say it is close to here in galactic terms
“We do think they are invasive, Callus here has been looking over the Ancnet, he thinks they look similar to either the Dirge or the Voleant but he isn’t sure” Laura added before nodding to the SWR leader “We have to wear suits outside anyway so feel free to employ your gas, maybe it will at least deter them so that we don’t have to worry about any more surface attacks. Ill give you a list of surface locations if you wish to send units down to set up this plan” She smiled. The comments from the Lotus about not entirely being sure on what the creatures were having never dealt with some like it elicited a grin and a joke.
“That makes two of us, no doubt with all of your superior equipment any encounter will yield much better results on what they are than we could ever hope to achieve” Once again she turned to the Lithorians forcing a smile to Shugel “Let us indeed hope it will be easy, I mean no offense by this but maybe your nature will give you more insight as to our foe” She sat awkwardly the others looking at her as if to say why did she even make such a comment. Laura seemed to regret it as soon as it came out of her mouth.
It really did appear that the individuals who worked in this system were quite isolated, the presence of non-humans surprisingly shocking them when elsewhere such matters would be without issue.
----
The boring laser did its work with the new found power, workers watching the Lithorian hook up with both interest and fear, cutting through the ice on the surface and erecting a structure framework for a powered cable line system able to lift large loads down the borehole and into the ocean below. Eventually it struck the bottom of the ice and a racing torrent of salt water gushed up the bored hole, the crewmen had stood well back shouting to others as well.
“Stand back! We got blowback coming the hole is dug!”
The water rushed up to the surface, briefly freezing as it overflowed the hole entrance before receding back down the shaft, settling just below the entrance of the bore hole. With the way clear the workers on the surface gave the all clear for the assembled units.
“Shared radiofrequency aye?” The leader said aloud, briefly stopping to watch the fire streaks of the Lotus individuals coming down from orbit “Yea its this frequency here, he gestured to his headset and finally got something working the knowledge being quickly distributed across the different factions by various workers who gave them the update by voice. This wasn’t very well organised at all on Mestas side.
“A meteor is definitely my theory, they were not here until that damn thing struck and now they are causing us all sorts of troubles.” He replied to Dolgur this time with more confidence before continuing to the rest “Either way the bore holes clear, feel free to descend into the depths if you need assistance we have the crane that can help put whatever it is you need into the hole. Just don’t touch the sides and break it”
"I would exercise caution, comrade." Captain Lor said to the SWR representative, his expression serious as he pondered. "Whilst it could limit the effectiveness of the creatures, it could do nothing. It could even make them stronger or enrage them. If we have a chance to test it I suggest we do, but until such a time, I recommend temperance with the deployment of such things, lest we overplay our hand before we know the weapons at hand will work." he said, before turning back to the defense representatives. Lieutenant Draygin by this time had lit a low-burn cigarette of a sort, and quietly took a drag though he held out the pack in a silent offer to the others assembled here.
"If these creatures are at all similar to the Dirge or the Voleant, if they are not dealt with I think this could be the beginning of a much larger problem. Until we know this for sure however, I shall carry on as though I intend to win, which I do, and doubtless all of us do."
------
"We can get a secondary comms network set in case something goes wrong, comrade." one of the Restevian officers on the ground said as the heavy dropships began moving to the borehole, crew aboard the submarines carried within now boarding their ships and shedding their heavy suits. The first submarine down the hole of the two would be 02, Sergei Pilovskiy, commanded by the far greener of the two COs present on the mission, Captain Second Rank Vasiliy Korsov. With Captain Lor still in orbit his ship would not yet be diving, but the Restevians were quick to begin the process of getting at least one in the water, the sooner to begin their mission and to get eyes in the deep, for their own mission and all those present.
The largest of the white-and-blue machines, a towering bipedal walker, transmits in info-cant to the lesser disciples. "Use your internal reactors to raise your body temperature! Extrude your jet implants and go through your underwater combat katas. Undignified beasts such as this should be taught the glory of our existence! Do not disappoint the Jade Glacier Sect!"
Meanwhile, the other faction's leader is more direct. "When the enemy arrives, smash them! Those of you proficient in the Plasma Path, move ahead and use electric attacks to thin out their hordes. Force Path disciples should focus on dealing damage to larger foes, direct concussive blasts at their heads if you can!"
ORBIT
An invasive species, Hyth repeats Laura's agreement to himself. That complicates matters greatly. Vanach was right - bad omens abound, and it seems more are eager to present themselves. A wooden grin joins this thought for but an instant as the depths of the implications take hold. We'll need to keep an extra eye out, he considers then.
Laura's other comments continue on as Hyth ruminates, and when she mentions the Lithorians, Hyth's full attention is taken by her again. He glances over to the serpentine alien and its dissimilar companion and is filled with great disagreement; such creatures appear to be of the surface, not of the depths. No, they will be of little use here, he scoffs to himself.
Atqaal, possibly having missed the comment but more probably merely unbothered by it, takes one of the cigarettes from Lieutenant Draygin. Caution is best until we have a better picture of the situation, she agrees with the Restevian, if they are similar to the Dirge or Voleant, we will know this soon enough.
SURFACE
The Pords make way as the water pours forth from the hole. Satisfied with their work thus far, word is quickly passed along to the other units present. It does not take long for the first few machines to near the entrance and prepare for the plunge.
Somewhat behind the Restevians, the first elements of the detection company and high speed scout units descend into the salty waters. While the bulk of both forces remain topside, the detection elements in particular are eager to establish contact with their surface counterparts to allow for more accurate cross-referencing of data; each of the four subsurface detection barges is paired with another stationed above to simplify in-tandem operations.
As this transpires, a trio of spherical heavy sentries splashes down in the wake of the detection barges, shepherded along by six nam-Künaan type scouts. The machines descend in the water column not far from Sergei Pilovskiy and those of the Jade Glacier and Radiant Star Ogre sects.
“Yea I remember reading something about the Voleant becoming a scourge of the galactic east or something. Hopefully its nothing like that here because we certainly don’t have a hope in hell against something like that.” She seemed to sigh and sag.
“That’s all we have for you Im afraid.” She looked down at a very old style datapad “Looks like the bore holes up and going so we can direct you through our sonar communication bouys, we have several large pens in that area we can help you get there from up here” She smiled.
“I wish you good hunting”
-----
The borehole was large, but it wasn’t that large. The crane assembly was brought up and supplemented by the various other factions as the regular Mesta crew watched in slight awe and confusion as the members of the Divine Lotus merely jumped into the hole, swiftly followed by the Pordish machines which seemed more than at home in such environments.
Finally, as the Restevian and SWR submarines were lowered down the Lithorians caught up as well. It was a timely operation, sadly not exactly quick in the lowering of many elements but it was enough. The water below in the hole was black, the light from the surface gone as the thick ice sheets trapped all within in pitch black embrace. The ocean itself seemed around a kilometre deep at this section although countless peaks and trenches spread out from the area as the sonar systems and other sensors placed their surroundings in the right frame.
Given the data from the Mesta com net there were two large fisheries only 2km from the bore holes position. Each was marked out by gridded areas on a very basic datamap transmitted by their hosts and each fishery was several kilometres across made up of segmented netted zones and some very basic underwater habitable infrastructure where the fisherman kept an eye on the catches and ensured everything was working properly.
A transport sub was also nearby, Mesta in origin its large form carried several huge nets full of catch towards the fisheries. Its noise and not so stealthy form being practically an entire cacophony of sound underwater, but passive sonar returns were already picking out strange noises and possible contacts close to the fisheries and their waveforms of sound did not match conventional subs.
The sect soldiers just... jump in. Seemingly not wearing any protective gear besides battle armor, or even breathing apparatuses, they leap into the hole and activate jets implanted on their bodies, moving downward along with their larger mechanical comrades, which also descend without the use of vehicles. Both sects come from an ocean world, so their bodies have naturally been optimized for surviving underwater. Moving or fighting underwater is second-nature to anyone from Voltuzrei VI.
"Thank you, comrade." Captain Lor said to the woman as he rose, motioning to Draygin, who had just lit the cigarette for the Pord. The captain saluted the other assembled commanders, donning his hat.
"May fortune favor us this day, comrades. Good hunting."
With that, he left the room with Draygin following, heading for the dropship to make planetfall, and rejoin their crew.
------
The control room of Sergei Pilovskiy was quiet as the submarine settled into the dark water, reports coming in one by one that the reactor was running nominally, crew were at stations, and various other asundry things that the submarine would need to prepare for battle and patrol. Captain Korsov was leaned over the chart table, a digital device that put up a holographic projection of the area and their surroundings, overlain with oceanographic data in the ship's computers. Right now, he and his XO surveyed it with the navigator, all three men smoking as the reports came in.
"All systems report green comrade," the XO reported, accepting a datapad from a crewman, glancing around the quiet control room and its screens before looking back to the captain.
"We are ready to move."
"Good. Diving officer, make your depth one hundred meters." he said, picking up the intercom. "Sonar, conn. Report on local contacts."
"Conn, sonar. Nothing so far except us and the others. Some crazy bastards just jumped right in, and the Pords are diving now."
"Affirm. Begin passive sweeps, report all contacts."
"Passive sweeps, report all contacts aye sir." came the reply, and the intercom clicked off. Korsov took a drag of his smoke, studying the hologram as the hull creaked and popped ever so slightly, the submarine descending. He would feel better once Captain Lor was in the water... or not. They'd have to see.
SURFACE
As Hyth and Atqaal make their way down to join the rest of the Pordish contingent planetside, the subsurface elements orient themselves in the depths. The trenches and mountains coming into view on the myriad sensor feeds of the craft are noted, and the overall commander of the six scouts leads her force out and away from the detection barges which hover silently, overseen by the three spherical sentries with them.
In the lead nam-Künaan type scout, Chor Talnoch holds the machine steady on a shallow glide. Her displays read and then pass 300m. As they do, she comes on over the comms: There are the fisheries, she says, right where they should be.
Her wingman responds quickly. I'm picking up something, he says, there's more out there than just the fisheries.
Talnoch nods. I think you're right, she agrees. Let's move to investigate. Swapping frequencies over to the channel with the other allied forces, she speaks up again: we've got contacts by the fisheries, she says, we can provide cover to you if you have hard-hitting systems, she says, addressing the Restevians, we're optimized for speed and agility rather than stealth or firepower.
Iv'eid and Shugel took note of the woman's comment,appearing rather unamused before Shugel finally pierced the silence
"Indeed,let us hope our expertise proves valuable" and with that,the creatures departed back to their frigate
Back on the surface,the lithorians deployed two of what could only be their analogue to a submarine. The things were huge,somewhere around 200 meters long each and equipped with 8 fins and whale like tails. Their heads were eyeless and sported massive armoured jaws with sharpened slabs of plating and circular ports facing forwards,their torpedo tubes no doubt.
The behemoths would require no assistance from the nearby equipment as they began to push themselves against the ice with their fins,steadilly making their way inside the bore hole and submerging.
Dolgur oversaw this action,making sure no unfortunate accidents occured before turning to a contingent of 20 or so lithorian troopers. They were tall creatures,with crocodillian snouts,8 eyes resting on their lower jaws,shiny almost metallic exoskeletons and some sort of weapon replacing one of their arms. These ones in particular had undergone some changes for the operation,having swapped their standard railguns for harpoon guns and equipped symbiots with a pair of bio turbines on their backs,perfect for underwater propulsion
Dolgur watched as the creatures lined up and began jumping into the depths,stopping the last 5 with a gesture
Take one tactical demolition charge each,in case our tasks necessitates some "landscape remodelling" he said before jumping into the hole aswell,the 5 peons going to get what they were told
The two leviathans were much more graceful once in the waters than they might appear,demonstrating their organic nature by bending and undulating as they swam,turning and switching directions on a whim. The troopers and Dolgur were less graceful,being reduced to straight paths by way of their turbine packs or in the case of Dolgur,steam exhaust from the reactor inside him
The lithorian would stop his movement however as their sensors picked up on strange signatures
We have possible contacts,permission to engage Dolgur said,adressing his fellows in orbit
Shugel and Iv'eid were surprised,both by how fast everything was going and by Dolgur's short and concise military vocabulary,so unlike his tones beforehand. He certainly meant business while on the job,perhaps they picked the right drone for the task afterall
You have it said Iv'eid
And with that,the two "submarines" changed course to intercept these contacts,while the troopers and Dolgur maintained pace and stayed around the forms of their two beasts
Those Mesta crew on the surface watched as the last of the Lithorian beasts, which in their eyes looked damn similar to whatever they were supposed to be fighting, slide into the hole. With the force deployed they took up to constructing some temporary shelter, it was the only way in and out of the ice sheet for hundreds of kilometres around and so they dug in should any of the forces below need assistance in withdrawing or deploying any more units.
Still at least the communication Buoy system was working better than expected, given that the Mesta systems so far had looked like the company cut every corner imaginable and then some when it came to gear and work tools. The Mesta units in the whole area reported into the arrivals, sounding off on submarines and outposts many kilometres away and making sure that whatever it was that appeared on contacts was not some other company asset.
No, these contacts were genuine.
Three were easily identified with a possible fourth ahead, they kept a spread-out formation and appeared to be heading for the large underwater habitat that administered the fisheries. Sonar returns had them as surprisingly silent for something of their size and no tell-tale propeller shaft or reactor clanging could be heard from them. They were not mechanical submarines. There was a hiss of air release from two of them however, and that sounded like only one thing when put against an underwater scenario. It sounded like the release of torpedoes. Almost instantly 4 new contacts appeared on sonar, two were angled towards the habitat, while two were directed towards the arrival’s units.
A moment later, a screech that drilled into the ears of those who heard it erupted from one of the contacts. Active sonar.
Noise increased from that one contact as it appeared to accelerate, whatever the hell they were supposed to be hunting, they had found some.
"Conn, sonar, active pinging, confirm three contacts, possible fourth!"
"Battle stations!" Korosov barked as the sonar officer rattled out bearing and speed, the lights going from a calm natural light to red in a second. The submarine's crew leapt to the command as the engines and the pumpjets began to thrash the black waters, pushing the submarine further down into the deep. Korsov got the confirmation that the ship was at battlestations when the intercom barked anew.
"Conn, sonar, reading active torpedoes in the water. Two bearing on formation, two bearing on the habitat. Heading 115 and 241, accelerating fast!"
"Launch countermeasures towards the habitat, high-speed decoys, tubes three and four." Korsov ordered smoothly. "Officer of the Deck, rig for quick quiet once countermeasures launched."
"Rig for quick-quiet once countermeasures away, aye sir." the OOD responded back as the torpedo crews worked the controls to launch the countermeasures.
The Sel'd countermeasures were about the size of a normal Rybak torpedo, though their mission was very different. Designed to baffle enemy torpedoes and weapon systems, they could give off noises like the submarine which launched them, false EM signatures, even faulty gravametric readings. The Restevian Navy was rightly proud of them, and they were very expensive. Two of them punched away from the Sergei Pilovsky and accelerated through the dark waters towards the habitat, broadcasting on all modes to confuse and dupe the torpedoes that had been fired towards the administration habitat. taking erratic changes in course every two kilometers. They were fast and they were baffling, and the crew of the Restevian submarine could only hope they worked.
"Weapons reports countermeasures away, comrade captain."
"Very well, OOD, rig ship for quick quiet."
"Aye aye, rig ship for quick quiet." the OOD ordered, and the submarine cut speed. Her reactors throttled down and her passive stealth systems came online to allow the submarine to do her best imitation of the famous hole in the water, passive sonar coming up to get a track on the nearest target.
"Weapons, load tubes one and two with Rybaks, stand by to match bearings." Korsov ordered, his smoke now halfway gone. He hadn't tapped the ash out.
"Load tubes one and two with Rybaki, aye." came the response.
"Sonar, conn, establish track on closest target, designate Charlie 1. Helm, make your heading 2-2-0, depth one five one meters, ten degree down-angle."
"Charlie one, establishing track, aye, sir."
"Two-two zero, one five one, aye sir.”
Their swim was certainly not going to be peaceful. Dolgur was caught off guard by the new contacts,quickly stopping his troopers while the two "submarines" suddenly split up,weaving and spinning through the murky waters as they veered off from one another
We've made contact! I repeat! We've made contact! Four hostiles so far,they have both sonar and torpedoes. Permission to engage? he projected back to his fellows,a hint of worry in his thoughts
In orbit,Shugel and Iv'eid looked at eachother in confusion. Sonar? Torpedoes? These things were much more advanced than the footage had led them to believe,nevertheless their conditioning kicked in and they returned to a sound mindset
You have it,we leave the fighting to you Shugel said,nevertheless plughing into the sensory data of the troops in the water
Dolgur smiled,some combat at last,even if it was too long ranged for his liking. The two swimming beasts opened their armoured maws to let forth dozens of smaller creatures. The first were about 1 meter long and only vaguely fish like,lacking fins and having hard non pliable tail. Their bodies were segmented,their heads perfectly smooth and possesing 7 eyes,one central with the others formed in a ring around it. They were decoys,swimming in tighly knit banks in perfect synchronicity to mimic a larger signature. Similarly,their aparatus worked off of one another to fake various signatures and fool the enemy's guidance.
The other breed was less numerous,being twice the size of the former. They had long whip like ttails and a collection of rotating fins attached to a radially symmetric body. Said frame was akin to that of a comb jellyfish,containing little more than a rudimentary nervous system and a shaped charge. Their objective was much simpler,to ram into the torpedoes headfirst.
With their defenses deployed,the aquatic leviathans engaged their torpedo tubes and opened fire,releasing two topedoes for each enemy signature.
Dolgur and the lithorian troopers gathered up into a cohesive formation and merely waited,if the footage was still even remotely accurate then smaller alien beasts may start swarming them any minute now
The incoming data begins to clear up as the contacts near; three definite returns from sensors with a fourth somewhat less clear than the rest. A current of cool water rocks Talnoch's machine as the distances dwindle; she pays it little heed: her attention is on the fourth contact, mysterious as it is, when the signatures of weapons fire light up before her.
Her wingman is swift yet again. Bringing up comms, he chatters quickly - hostile torpedoes in the water! he says (and lingers on water for a moment longer than the rest).
Any remaining notions of the beasts here being simplistic creatures fades as swiftly as their torpedoes swim. Simple creatures don't have complex weaponry. These appear to be of some higher order, origins still unknown. As the various countermeasures are deployed, the beasts respond seemingly in direct contestation of the allied movements. One in particular zooms with impressive speed behind a horrendous active ping.
Two from Talnoch's formation break to draw the attention of the charging creature, their own signatures far nosier than many of the others present.
The twin sects assumed a pair of omnidirectional battle formations, the Jade Glacier team forming a tight formation with infantry clustered in small groups around the larger mechanical cultivators, both humanoid and submarine-derived, while the Radiant Star Ogre sect formed a single loose cluster as all members of their team began manifesting their energy weapons.
“That is sonar! Our enemy has made its presence known! Drone masters, intercept them and establish an arena!” One of the elder disciples commanded as one of the Jade Glacier submersible-forms released several dozen observation drones, forming a large net around the battlefield in an attempt to catch sight of their opponents as they move closer.
“Remember! Use ranged projectiles to hem the opponents in so our Force-path users can engage at close range!” The Radiant Star Ogre commander transmitted. After all, both sects developed in an ocean world, and are well versed in underwater tactics. The Jade Glacier sect was skilled in formation fighting below the sea, while the Radiant Star Ogre sect had devised a much simpler method of combat, to simply specialize in paths that were even more deadly underwater, such as the Force path, which would naturally have any shockwaves produced amplified and made more deadly underwater.
Above the sky of the planet, the two Immortals watched with interest. In truth, this conflict was little more than a facet of their more personal rivalry, and nothing more than an idle venture. But even so, it was an excellent opportunity for them both to field their most talented disciples and determine which of them would show the most promise. Those who excelled would be favored with promotions and access to better cultivating materials, and may even become Immortals as well! Those who were unworthy, well, they would probably die this very day against whatever foe is coming to engage them.
The recon drones of the Divine Lotus proved invaluable as the situation went from calm ocean to sudden spurts of battle. The water was pitch black and murky but the detonation of one of the enemy torpedoes by the counter fire directed from the Lithorians briefly lit up the area, it was then that the first proper image of the enemy was clear. They were absolutely not mechanical and were also not some simple aquatic beasts either. They were living weapons.
The form was long, like some deep-sea serpent, several large fins and protrusions helped it navigate the water with relative ease, its frontal end was almost like a pike nose, full of small indentations which appeared to be where the torpedoes had launched from. It did not possess any armour chitin, but more indentations ran its flanks as it pushed itself through the water, no doubt the other two hostile contacts were like what they were seeing now. Whatever the hell was happening here the targets they were sent to clear out were no simple foe.
With one torpedo intercepted by the Lithorians the other managed to jink out of the way, it seemed the enemy torpedoes were also alive, and looked like a horrifically bloated tadpole. The countermeasures launched by the Pords as they moved to draw it off distracted it, and it tried to reacquire a new target as it swam quickly. The one that was charging the arrivals seemed to be now focusing on the smallest of the bunch, heading towards the Cultivators of the two sects it once more loosed another torpedo from its head, and discharged two small globules which began emitting massive amounts of noise.
The two torpedoes which were targeting the module also were distracted by the Restevian decoys and veered off to chase them saving those within. But it was swiftly followed by the two contacts which had stayed back firing several more, this time aimed to intercept the shots fired by the lithorians.
“This is Habitat 434 what the hell is going on out there!”
The cultivators scatter like a school of fish as the creature draws near, a large submarine-form pulling back and transmitting orders.
"The enemy is using sound-based weaponry! Be prepared to take the shockwave! All first-level cultivators use caution, your human flesh is still vulnerable to this level of shockwave attack! Plasma path cultivators, begin long-range bombardment! Force path users, guard all long-range forces and destroy any enemies which come closer! Assume White Jade Trout defensive formation!"
Though the cultivators are scattering back in all directions, they move in a natural kind of synchronicity, fighting as a group with larger second-level cultivators serving as the bulwark with their larger mechanical bodies, the smaller still-human cultivators swarming about them like pilot fish next to sharks. Whoops of exhilaration and boasts of prowess flood the Lotus Blossom comm lines and anyone who would care to listen could hear their chatter.
"Haha, I'll make sure to kill ten, no, one hundred of the lesser creatures! Though they are well-built, monsters such as this are worthless compared to myself, a peak-stage first-rank fighter!"
"Those attacks, this is clearly a living weapon! We absolutely must replicate this for our sect! Such techniques would greatly improve our gains in the Biologic Path!"
"You are like a frog at the bottom of the well, do you not see that their processes could be used to improve our own bodies as well? The mechanisms that create and produce their attacks could be replicated by nanomachinery as well! This specimen should be claimed by me, a Nanomechanical practitioner!"
If anything, they sound like students on a field trip, taking notes as if expecting to be quizzed on this encounter after the battle is done. Another second-level cultivator, a large humanoid variant, responds to the Habitat's request for clarification, transmitting images of the battle and speaking jovially.
"My my-" She says, sounding pleased. "These creatures you have reported have significant battle prowess for mere beasts! I suspect we shall have to fight quite fiercely in order to overcome them! I thank you for allowing us their opportunity to improve our skills, haha!"
The lithorian torpedoe proved to be just as unpredictable and versatile as those of its foe. It released puffs of tiny organisms meant to generate vibrations as it swirled out of the way of the enemy munitions,continuing to speed towards one of the contacts that stayed behind.
With the pordish countermeasures succesfully confusing the tadpole like torpedo,the lithorian's own intercepting bioform tried again,its rotor tail and fins spinning into action as it attempted to ram its target once more.
The contact that was closing in on the cultivators proved more tricky,its globules succesfully masking it against torpedo fire. Several schools of the fish like decoys diverted towards it,succesfully determining its general location as they surrounded the charging serpent. With this in mind,one of the lithorian leviathans changed direction and began swimming towards the creature at full speed. It was followed closely by Dolgur,propelling himself by heating up the water next to his hand ports. His toothy maw contorted into a grin as he swam,lusting for combat.
Yes! That's the spirit! Let us mount the heads of these beasts on our walls! he thought,picking up on the chatter and eagerness of his cultivator allies with the hab module
In orbit,both Shugel and Iv'eid looked at one another in surprise at this zeal,perhaps they had picked the right lithorian afterall
"Habitat 434, this is Sergei Pilovsky, we are engaging hostile contacts which are aiming to engage you, maintain alertness, transmit if you detect further hostiles, how copy?" came in to the habitat as the submarine maneuvered, barely a tiny smudge on sensors as it came about, quickly vanishing back into the black waters.
"Sonar, give me the track on Charlie 1 now," Korosov called out as the submarine came to 220, engines humming as it cut through the water. He was getting camera reports on what these damn things looked like, transmitted to both his bridge and Captain Lor, and one thing he could say for sure is that he didn't like what he was seeing.
"Charlie 1 on course, going after the Cultivators, but there's a lot of noise out there, Conn!"
"Weapons, conn, get me target bearing back on Charlie 1 now, how copy?"
"Conn, weaps, aye sir!" came the call back as the submarine carried on. The waves of sound lashed against the hull, revealing the bulk of the submarine, stealth systems working to keep it hidden even as this damnable noise lit them up like a christmas tree for anything with sonar to see them. Tension wracked the control room and indeed the whole submarine as they churned through the water, before weapons sang out.
"Target lock on Charlie-1 established, gravitic tracking! Target steady on 2-5-7, depth one-six-six meters, range, 2-6-0-9 meters!"
Korosov did not smile, he did not curse, instead he only stabbed out his smoke in an ashtray, sticking another in his mouth though he did not yet light it.
"Ready tubes one and two," he ordered, reaching in his pocket for his lighter. "Stand by laser arrays to engage the noisemakers."
"Stand by laser arrays aye, tubes one and two, aye."
A moment passed, then two. The noise continued to lash against their hull as they grew closer and closer, the captain and indeed many of the bridge crew watching the distance tick down, a tense and fearful silence. Korosov lit his cigarette. At two thousand, he nodded once.
"Fire tubes one and two, automatic tracking, laser arrays engage."
"Aye aye," the weapons officer responded, stabbing his finger down on the button. "Tubes one and two fired electrically, weapons away."
Brief, blink-fast flaring beams of laser light stabbed out from the arrays at the fore and aft of the conning tower towards the noisemakers, automatic targeting systems tracking the course of the globules and the sheer noise they were making, focused and sharp pulsed beams leaping out to strike them as the two Rybak torpedoes punched free of the submarine, engines engaging as they sped away from the Sergei Pilovsky and accelerated quickly, pinging rapidly and following the gravitic tracking of the submarine as they headed for home, warheads ticking to 'armed' after ten seconds of travel time.
A suffocating bwaaaaam! reverberates out through the waters as one of the torpedoes detonates. For a brief moment, the area is bright, and the visual sensors on Talnoch's machine respond to the deluge. So that's what you look like, she mutters. Though brief, the flashes are enough for greater detail to flood her feed, and she eyes the beast with great interest.
They're going for the Cultivators! her wingman exclaims as the creatures adjust to the evolving battlespace. Here they come!
Talnoch throws more power into acceleration and brings her machine around; the other two, she says, the other two are engaging as well.
Moving up, her wingman says.
The two scouts that ran distraction double back to rejoin the main body of Talnoch's flight as a new burst of noise overtakes the area near the Cultivators - no doubt to serve as cover or distraction; fighting fire with fire. Talnoch sees this and comments, they're holding their own, addressing, finally, her wingman's concern for the others present.
The wingman nods in his cockpit and speaks up again: more torpedoes in the water. They're on intercept course for allied torpedoes.
In the commotion, Talnoch notes her depth slipping past 400m. She adjusts, looks at the current positioning of the various forces, then orders, Lithorians are closing in. Let's join them.
The other five craft follow her lead and race towards the Lithorian sector with speed; their machines hum through the depths.
There was an explosion indicating the detonation of a torpedo as the Lithorian round found its mark on one of the targets at the back. Sonar returns indicated squealing like it was in pain, and massive releases of bubbles and noise. It did not appear to be sinking but the beast was clearly injured massively, itself releasing another two shots directed towards the Lithorians as if some revenge aggressive response.
The other one at range launched several more noise makers to try and disrupt the allied sonar systems while diving further downwards, it did not launch more torpedoes but several detonations from the diverted torpedoes in open water helped it confuse the situation. There was no communication from these creatures whatsoever, either they were mindless drones or had no wish to commune with the parties present. Already initial scans were showing similarities between these creatures and the old species known as the Voleant. A swarm nation which had spread across the galactic south-east consuming everything and fighting against the forces of CORE. Supposedly they had been wiped out, perhaps that was not the case.
“We copy! Just don’t let them to destroy this habitat please we have women and children on board!” The reply was clear from Habitat 434 in response to the Restevians communication. Followed swiftly by a short reduction in noise as the Pilovskys laser array shot out the two enemy noisemakers. With the path cleared the incoming torpedo towards the cultivators was intercepted by the torpedoes the detonation harmlessly exploding away from the ranting student like individuals who now arrayed themselves for combat. In a moment the dark murky waters were illuminated again as the plasma from their barrage was fired out, it hissed and spat, turning water to steam as the balls were psionically launched through the blackness towards the foe.
Two impacted the enemy creature that was the closest, both balls burning a hole through the organism causing more screeching and squealing as it writhed in pain. This was swiftly followed up by a torpedo hit, causing the creature to implode and begin sinking, it remains twitching as it died.
The only non crippled creature now met the Pordish and Lithorian charge head on, launching several torpedoes it came forward in a frightening burst of speed almost looking to match the ramming attack, perhaps these creatures did not have self preservation instincts.
The lithorian leviathan let forth a roar of victory as its torpedoes made direct contact with one of the serpents. As the other creature retaliated the behemoth released a few more of the interceptor creatures from its mouth as it began swimming in an effort to evade the strikes,more schools of the fish like creatures releasing noise around it so as to cloak the exact position
As for Dolgur and the other leviathan,they were unphased by the charge of the marine terror. The lithorian submarine analogue quickly flapped its tail and fins,swimming above the serpent's path to avoid its sharpened protrusion and munitions before several living turbines on its back engaged themselves. Within moments,the giant creature dove back down with unbelievable speed,jaws clamping around the slithering body of its quarry,sending slabs of metallic substance into its flesh. While his warbeast tore into the enemy creature and pinned it down,Dolgur swam right up to it and dug his claws into its hide,quickly crawling towards the head as maniacal laughter swept his mind. This was almost as exciting as being in the fighting pits of Chyrix
Once face to face with the base of the monster's spiny head,his own eyeless visage contorted to a toothy grin. The armoured figure clenched his hand into a spiked fist,battering it against the hard substance repeatedly and ripping out the chipped pieces and flesh beneath them with his claws. After the tenth consecutive hit,he unveiled an automatic micro railgun strapped to his other arm,an ammo belt trailing from it and into his back.
The lithorian warlord promptly shoved his appendage once more into the cosmic invader's wound,this time releasing an automatic burst of rounds right into its head cavity
"Conn, sonar, torpedo impact! Reading flooding and break-up noises, confirmed kill!" the sonar room called, a brief cheer going through the bridge before Korosov cut a hand through the air, shushing it.
"Very well, sonar. Weapons, reload tubes one and two with torpedoes, stand by three and four, standby noisemakers. Helm, bring us about to 3-1-1, make ready to take us in close to the habitat, two thirds ahead speed."
"Three-one-one, two thirds aye sir."
"Reload one and two, standby noisemakers aye comrade." the weapons officer responded as the submarine tilted in the water, hull shifting as they came about to their new course. The comm station light blinked, and Korosov picked up the handset.
"Sergei Pilovsky, go."
"Sergei Pilovsky, Konrad Durov, we've just hit the water. Status, comrade?"
"We have engaged the enemy, Captain Lor, confirmed kill on one contact. Allied forces are engaging the last contact now."
"Very good. We are en-route to you now."
"Noisemakers ready, comrade captain," the weapons officer reported as the helmsman called out three-one-one, settling on course as the beast came into CQB with the Lithorians, far too close for the Restevians to safely use their torpedoes in any case. The laser arrays, still on automatic began firing at the largest bulk of the creature, short and sharp pulses as the submarine made to pass, churning the water, eagle alert for any more contacts as they reloaded their weapons.
Nürnach! Molbynam talnürnachna!!
The cry echoes through Talnoch's cockpit. Her second in command, a gray-haired Pord - Valsaaq the Lesser - screeches above the din. It's charging! The creature is charging! he repeats excitedly. Talnoch smiles quietly. Through long stretches of noncombat, the sensations of true battle nearly fled her memory. So different from exercises; so different from maneuvers. From unuse they'd bound themselves, but now - in these depths - they are unshackled and rattle free...
...for they can only sleep so long before rising yet again.
I hear you nam-Valsaaq, she replies. You're closer than we are. We'll cover you. Looking to her displays again, the imposing shroud of noise is brought to her attention. Similar to the Restevian tracking, her own sensors - Halshanat Arrays and Natyl and Mylchar Systems - peer through the cloak of detonations to the heavy signature registering within; befuzzed with clamor it onward comes, inexorable and insubmissive, striking with all the instinct of a being bereft civilization's weighty emoluments.
All the while Valsaaq the Lesser acknowledges her implied command; tasi, tasinehdao - engaging! he replies quickly.
Within moments, a trio of scouts with Valsaaq leading churns ahead of Talnoch and her two wingmen; behind them, a vast trail of disturbed water bubbles and seethes: proof of their passage. As the creature looses a spread of torpedoes, Valsaaq and his charge answer the salvo with their own. Four spherical missiles, with targeting set to bring them against their opposite members, shwaaapk! out the bow tubes of the scouts and spiral forth.
Passing into melee, Valsaaq says then as the creature is met by the Lithorian leviathan. The range is nought; Voznatna! he yells. In the dark waters, a number of equally atramentous beams coil away from the surface of the scouts in search of prey. Their target: the pitching beast so engaged by the Lithorian force.
As the creatures die under the salvo of the Cultivator's assault the younger members of the two groups immediately begin arguing.
"Hah, the glory of this kill belongs to the Radiant Star Ogre sect!"
"Impudent! You would steal the work of the Jade Glacier sect? You are courting death!"
"Would you like to back those words up? I would end you rightly if it pleases you. Worthless-"
A loud screech of noise from one of the second-level cultivators shuts the Radiant Star Ogre group right up.
"Silence! This battle is not over yet, the enemy will continue to send soldiers! This is not like skirmishing with awakened beasts or rival sects, these creatures are a large force and lack the intelligence to know when they are doomed, so will surely continue fighting even in the face of our superiority! Do not let down your guard or I will discipline you myself!"
Of the two, it was certainly that sect with the most battle experience, with the Jade Glacier sect being focused more on indirect methods of attaining victory. Seeing their rivals castigated was certainly amusing for the younger cultivators, but tempered by the fact that their own elders were likely thinking the same thoughts. Sobered up, they turn to face the anticipated direction of the enemy. One of the second-level Jade Glacier sects also messages a thank you to the ones who intercepted the torpedo aimed at them.
The sonar readings of the battle had devolved into a total mess of noise and bubbles, several more detonations had occurred as the Pordish craft and Lithorian countermeasures had intercepted all but one of the enemy torpedoes, streaking towards the pords it had detonated full on, hitting one of Talnochs wingmen, the pressure wave from the blast practically crushing them flat within the water. Still it was a last hurrah of the creature as the Lithorians grappled with it.
Screeches from both sides heralded the close combat, with chunks of flesh being torn off by the Lithorian creature and the warlord himself. Still the beast was far from defenceless at this close range, tentacles forced themselves through airlocked protrusions and stabbed back, their rowing oar like edges razor sharp to help slice through the water, but also perfectly adept at being used for close range fighting, it stabbed in return, aiming for critical weak points on the Lithorians armour. It writhed and jerked, trying to break free of the jaws only for it to recoil as the laser arrays and beams from the Restervians and Pords made impact. While it was nowhere near direct torpedo hit or akin to being held in place and savaged by another beast the creature seemed almost overwhelmed by its current predicament.
It forced out two noisemakers again before firing another torpedo, this time the projectile seemed to be heading straight for the Sergei Pilovsky. A moment later the beast gave one final jerk as the Lithorian warlord unloaded his railweapon into its head cavity, it then went limp, totally dead.
With only the last remaining enemy beast being already heavily crippled it only took a good plasma barrage from the Divine Lotus to put it out of its misery, blowing its already deformed body apart in a satisfying flashy explosion. It seemed the situation was finally over, that was until two new torpedo contacts emerged.
In all the chaos and confusion and massive noise it appeared more beasts had arrived, but how many or their exact position was unknown. All that was known was two torpedo tadpoles were heading for the Cultivator formation.
Talnoch can only watch as the torpedo strikes home. One moment, Atuq is there. The next: he isn't. A somber chorus of twisting metal and dying components laughs out across her audio feed - the sick litany of the last gasp of the strange creature.
Anyone see an eject? one of the others asks over the comms.
No, one says.
I didn't, another replies.
No eject, Valsaaq declares then.
Talnoch notes the position of her downed wingman; he will need to be retrieved later. She goes to address the prospect but is cut off by a new notification. A number of contacts appear on sensors with vectors setting them on course for the Cultivator formation. She addresses these new arrivals instead: nam-Valsaaq, she orders, let's regroup and continue covering the Lithorians.
The largest humanoid second-level cultivator, a bulky model belonging to the Radiant Star Ogre sect, was the first to notice the oncoming torpedos.
GAHAHAHA, WORTHLESS VERMIN
It boomed over the sect's comm channel, its voice markedly devoid of human inflection.
SUCH ARROGANCE, TO STRIKE AT I, BAN SHUE, USING SUB-SONIC WEAPONS DEVOID OF CLOAKING MECHANISMS. ALLOW ME TO RETURN THE FAVOR, AS A CULTIVATOR OF THE BALLISTIC PATH.
Saying such, Ban Shue unleashed a salvo of rockets from his own body, aimed at the oncoming torpedoes while the others scatter. The Star Ogre disciples cheer but give the missile user a wide birth, just in case he fails.
Dolgur's sneer only widened as the efforts of him and the others brought the alien creature down,cutting cleanly across his visage.
He quickly swam down,ignoring his own beast as it wailed,tiny symbiots streaking upon its frame in droves to fill the flesh wounds with strange concoctions and foams.
Soon the lithorian reached the sinking body of the leviathan,wrapping both arms around the sharpened tip of its protrusion. With additional leverage from his legs,he managed to rip off a sizeable piece of it,ending up with a spear like growth almost as long as him in one hand.
This ought to be a good enough sample..... he told himself,examining the chitinous structure before turning to see other small symbiots picking up left over gunk from detonated tadpoles and tiny pieces of the serpent's flesh.
Indeed,this was an adequate catch
The data of new torpedo contacts caught him off guard,prompting him to turn towards the supposed location,his senses picking up on the alien munitions blasting through the water.
YES! COME AND SHOW US YOUR RESOLVE! OUR HUNT RESUMES he boomed,clenching the piece of the Voleant form like a weapon as he sat atop his own aquatic behemoth.
With a thought,the various schools of fish like sonar baits began to swim towards the origin of the shots,hoping to shed light on the foe
"Conn, high speed contact, torpedo in the water, 2-4-2!" the sonar officer barked, a bare half second between that statement and the last passing so quickly that Captain Korosov had barely enough time to open his mouth to speak.
"Conn, sonar, reading high intensity scans, it's locked on us, homing now!"
"Weapons, release countermeasures." Korosov snapped, inhaling sharply. "Diving control, make your depth two hundred meters, all ahead flank!"
The crew leapt to obey as the submarine's bow pitched down, her pumpjets thrashing the black water as a series of decoys were released from her aft section. Less advanced than the Sel'd but no less annoying, the countermeasures began to fill the water around them with bubbles, gravitic false-reads, intermittent sharp sonar pings to try and confuse the incoming torpedo and send it off course from them, or dupe it into an early detonation-- or whatever the hell it did.
The Sergei Pilovsky itself dove to two hundred meters, her laser arrays tracking the incoming torpedo. It was a far smaller target than the creatures they had been engaging before, but they were tracking it nonetheless, and if they had a shot, the crew was going to allow the submarine's targeting computers to take it. Konrad Durov was in the water now and moving, but she was too far to make any difference-- this deadly dance was between the torpedo of the dead creature and Sergei Pilovsky now.
As the Lithorians claimed their catch and the Pords rallied after the loss of their own the supposed incoming contacts were not several more of the same creatures that had just fought. After several sonar returns and terrain mapping only one contact was out there, but it was fast, very fast. It was there for one moment, until the multiple detonations of its torpedoes went off.
The rockets from Ban Shue hit home perfectly, the cultivator dead on striking the biological munitions with his own ballistic creations. The explosions filled the water with sound and disturbance, creating quite the display but causing so much sonar and area interference that the definitive lock on the target was gone in a moment. Whatever the extremely fast creature was, it seemed to have disengaged even as the disturbances of the water calmed.
Calm and silence followed, the torpedo which had targeted the Sergei had been successfully thrown off course, the creature starting to swim in a circular scanning pattern above the depth and flailing about trying to find its contact. For now, they seemed to have avoided danger. The battle appeared over despite their hit and run friend still being out there.
“Korhal here I dunno if you guys can read me well down there but we are picking up some major thermal activity about 30km south of your location, it wasn’t there before and its probably worth checking out. We also had reports of combat, what can you tell us?” The radio transmission was faint, but it seemed the relays underwater were doing their job. The heat signature also appeared to be in the direction where they foe had come from, perhaps its was a nest.
Another cultivator from the Jade Glacier sect, a spindly second-level model shaped like a mixture between a squid and a submersible, responds.
"We had encountered what seems to be a kind of biological weapon system, but scattered them like grass. I imagine these creatures must be most dangerous when arrayed against mortals, truly it is a turn of fortune our sects have arrived to assist here."
The first level cultivators swarm about their mechanical elder disciples like pilotfish around sharks, chattering excitedly with one another about the battle, bragging about their own kills and comparing their deeds to one another. To anyone overhearing them they give the feeling that this is more like a school trip than anything serious. Morale and confidence are high for the time being.
Dolgur's smirk faded as the reports of a new contact came in,quickly followed by the release of enemy projectiles. The two lithorian beasts fired out counter munitions much like before,trying to spare themselves from more punishment
Just as quickly as it appeared,the elusive contact was gone,clearly boasting superior speed and maneuvering to their previous foes.
So this is how you wish to fight.....wise the lithorian thought,teeth scraping against one another in frustration
Dolgur? Come in dolgur? Status report came the familliar voice of Iv'eid,not happy to have been left in the dark,a fact made quite noticeable in the mental intrusion
We overpowered the opposition and secured some samples. Yet now I'm facing some fiend that refuses to fight directly,it's using hit and run techniques he growled,accentuating his displeasure with one hand
His horns vibrated as the message from the company came in,the alien's mouth twisting into a smile once more as he scrutinized the contents
Rectify my previous statement,I just might have a way of forcing it to come to me he continued,cutting off the psi link again as he ordered his beasts and underwater troopers to make haste towards the location of interest
On the way,the austral creatures passed by the cultivator's formation,prompting Dolgur's smile to widen as he picked up on their prideful banter. They certainly had spirit
Pords
On the surface, Hyth and Atqaal watch over the incoming reports from the battle below. So far, none of the surface creatures have poked around the Pordish base, leaving many in the base and its surrounding areas with considerable down time.
In the depths, Valsaaq eyes the distant, skittish, creature even as more reports come in of thermal contacts to the south. The Lithorians seem to arrive at a decision rather swiftly, however, and zoom away towards. Shall we follow? he comes on over the comms.
Talnoch, after finishing giving a status update to Korhal, simply shifts her machine onto a new heading: south.
Valsaaq chuckles and although none can see it, he grins warmly to himself. That answers that, he says then. Forming up on you.
The reply from the Jade Glacier Sect took Korhal a bit off guard for a moment before she replied.
“It is indeed extremely fortunate for your presence; I hope these creatures continue to be no match. If they are biological weapons have you determined their origin at all? Do my people also need to be careful of potential oceanic contamination?”
The travel to the location of note was not exactly one of interesting sights and beautiful vistas. The inky blackness of the water concealed the large and expansive shoal barriers for the aquatic creatures farmed here. There were not physical barriers of course the netting alone would cover thousands of square kilometres worth. Instead, small buoy nodes floated, emitting electrical bursts like an electric fence that kept the fish in. They appeared clear on EM sensors and sonar and were the only noteworthy discovery amid a deep ocean of jagged crevices and mounds on the ocean floor.
As they approached the location however sonar returns began to come in. There were multiple of the same creatures they had faced, but exact returns were difficult. There was a lot of sound out there, almost like bubbling, akin to volcanic vents, although as Korhal had stated there hadn’t been any before. Thermal signature was also extremely high, either this was something suddenly volcanic or it was some kind of nest. For now, the creatures did not appear to be reacting.
Both of the Restevian submarines now had come into action, with the Sergei Pilovsky leading the way in, having slowed its movements to scarcely five knots as the Konrad Durov moved to catch up. Both submarines were moving slowly now to minimize their already small envelopes of detection, as these creatures had shown that their weapons could lock on to them with frightening accuracy. Biological weapons indeed...
Captain Korosov now watched the broad spectrum camera screens on the forward bulkhead of the control room, leaning on the holochart. The CIC was quiet, orders being relayed in hushed tones rather than shouts. It was ridiculous to do this of course, advances in dampening technology from the days of the Pacific Wars meant that outside forces could not hear those inside a submarine speaking... but it was still a human instinct to be hushed, quiet, when they knew that an enemy was searching for them. Or they were searching for the enemy.
"Comrade captain, readings ahead are strange. Sonar cannot make much sense of them." the officer of the deck reported, handing a small sheet of paper to the captain, who reviewed it briefly before handing it back.
"Multiple contacts with scattered returns, and geologic displacement?" he whispered, arching his brow.
"Da, comrade."
"Hrm." Korosov said, stabbing out the stub of his cigarette, though it had already fizzled out. "Check with Konrad Durov, see if they're getting the same thing. Maintain general quarters."
"Aye, comrade captain." the man said, moving away as Korosov returned his gaze to the monitors. What was this, now...
The lithorian forces were quick to reach the site of these signatures,slowing down upon arrival so as to not be easily detectable. The two aquatic behemoths took to the flanks,with Dolgur and his squad of troopers plastered neatly between them.
Once formed up the aliens began a steady advance,taking note of the various signatures of voleant bio constructs. Having learned that caution was in order,Dolgur motioned for the leviathans to release more of their fish like decoys. The small creatures quickly dispersed rather than sticking to banks,aiming to cover as much area as possible as they surveyed for a more detailed look of the situation.
This mission was clearly far from over,but the alien leader atleast found some solace in having competent allies to rely upon
The squid-submarine responds. "It is merely our hypothesis. The manner of it is not unlike a hive animal, but if such a thing were to have evolved naturally, surely it would have dominated this world already, would it not? It is not unlike crafted biologies of our homeworlds, a true work of art! I can respect its maker even though I would much like to end him rightly for his irresponsibility in letting his creations roam free upon a mortal world, were he to be one of us. Hah! That would be an intriguing individual, I would wager. But I digress. I shall have one of my disciples search for any manner of contaminant which might be harmful to your kind, and with luck shall return results momentarily."
Meanwhile, the rest of the cultivators would close in on the suspect location, chittering to themselves as the sheer overwhelming amount of sound reached their sensors.
"It is like a great beast tide! How terrifying! I am in fact somewhat glad that so many mortals are with us, for is it not said that even the mightiest tiger can be slain by many wolves?"
"Coward! The strength of a tiger is linear, our own is exponential! You would admit finding comfort in mortal comrades? Truly the Jade Glacier sect has fallen low."
"Insolent fool! You have eyes but cannot see Xian! I would end you myself were it not more prudent to remain allies-"
Valsaaq trails Talnoch a decent distance and, as the sensor returns come in, peels away to more appropriate spacing for combat.
Look at these contacts, he says, bubbling. Seething.
Talnoch gives an unseen nod. This area is desolate, she says, I don't like how this feels.
Valsaaq agrees and the group drifts nearer. As they do, he takes his wing deeper, to a considerable distance below where they were.
"I thank you for your assistance. If you do discover any contaminants any details will be appreciated, if we loose much of our breeding stock then the companies assets and our jobs here will be finished..."
The multiple contacts which had been spotted continued to circle, one of them however seemed to have caught one of the incoming allied forces. It wasn't entirely certain, the beast swimming closer as Valsaaq and the Lithorian sensor creatures took cover behind several large rock outcrops on the ocean floor. The heat even from this distance was great and yet the frothing vent was absolutely not volcanic in origin. Sensors could pick up something deep within, and the high pressure blasts that occasionally came out of the top contained debris. Something was... Burrowing downwards within the shaft, protected by the creatures that surrounded it.
Perhaps they were trying to find geothermal hotspots, or perhaps were digging some new burrow or den. It wasn't clear yet but the creatures still swam in a defensive pattern, the singular beast now approaching the main force sitting silently.
"Something is very wrong here" Dolgur said,relaying information back to the frigate in orbit.
"Could you perhaps elaborate?" Iv'eid asked
"There's something very big burrowing in a geothermal hotspot,it is causing quite the ruckus"
"Shugel,what do you make of this?" Iv'eid said,turning to his companion
"If it's biology is even remotely similar to our own,it may be trying to tap into that energy and speed up its metabolism. From there it could either gain mass or produce more wretched spawn" The alien inquired,one insectile limb below its chin
"Then it needs to be stopped. I'll proceed with caution and contact in case of any updates"
The bank of lithorian fish like creatures would proceed to dart from cover and activate organs designed spacifically to produce disturbances. They began to swim away from the site,hoping to divert the patrolling creature and others of its kind as the larger lithorian beasts slowly inched forward,careful so as to be covered by the noise of their lures
"I concur with the opinion of the foreign mortals." One of the cultivators chimed in on the previous conversation. "Such a technique is not unheard of among the higher levels, the heat within a planet is a most useful resource for those who can use it."
"Indeed, did not the Radiant Star Ogre himself use such a method to achieve mastery over his plasma techniques?"
"Of course!" Another responded, one of the more machine-like ones. "Naturally, our bodies are conditioned to withstand heat. We second-level cultivators of the Radiant Star Ogre Sect will go down to destroy this creature! Disciples, watch closely! The wrath of heaven will fall upon this wretched beast!"
With that the 19 Second-Level cultivators of that sect began descending, the Jade Glacier cultivators remaining near the rest of the group.
"Conn, sonar. Contacts appear to be digging in the main vent, we are picking up geological displacement." the intercom reported. Captain Korosov looked up from the chart, tapping the screen with his stylus to mark their position before he tapped a control to bring up what sensors were seeing on the display. Studying the positions of the enemy contacts, he frowned. That vent was odd, not at all volcanic, and there was no real way to tell how long it had been here.
"Comrade captain, Konrad Durov reporting they are shifting course to 2-2-4." the XO reported, and Korosov nodded.
"Acknowledged. Move to flank, adjust course to mirror. Maintain speed."
"Adjust course, aye." the helmsman reported. Korosov tapped out his cigarette, studying the display once again, marking allied positions and the latest reports sonar could give him on the enemy. What on earth were these creatures playing at...
"Weapons, this is conn. Load tube one with a Rybak, we may have a curious native. Mark target as Charlie 3."
"Weapons aye, loading tube one, mark target as Charlie 3."
The moment the Lithorian shoal began to create noise and move away the creatures which were circling the large vent now moved into combat positions. The one which was rapidly approaching now changed direction to go after the diversion but the others kept close to their defensive area. As the Cultivators came forward the beasts began to fire torpedoes, but it was not easy. The Cultivators were small and rapidly outmanuvered the larger beasts to descend into the burrowing tunnel.
With such a commotion the defensive beasts now moved to engage the new contacts, several torpedoes were launched towards the Restavian submarines and another seemed to pick up the Lithorians as they came closer, launching several torpedoes as well as other creatures, much smaller, but far nimbler.
The burrowed tunnel was extremely hot, the sides of it were molten rock and the white hot core of whatever was burrowing now became apparent even as superheated water and steam were shot out from the tunnel at extreme speeds, the pressure was hard to fly through as they were effectively jumping into a pressurised tube. Still the thing below them was indeed a creature, massive in size its form was bloated and covered in what were almost boils. And yet…
Each one of the boils seemed to contain an embryo. As it carved its way down the heat from below was energising it, and many of the embryos seemed to be becoming more active. This was how the creatures multiplied. They had to be stopped.
Dolgur was pleased to see that their diversion was successfully drawing away enemies from the field of battle,yet his grin quickly faded as the cultivators provoked the beasts into reacting,cursing in his mind
The lithorian leviathans were quick to react to the volley of the Bolosan serpent,releasing decoy organisms to distract the torpedoes and more of the guided impactor creatures. This alone was not enough however,as one of the projectiles hit the previously unharmed lithorian beast in the fin,taking it off completely. The one that battled a serpent previously was luckier however,just barely swirling away from the torpedoes course before a hard impact countermeasure sealed its fate.
Dolgur was getting impatient,perhaps even worried. His warbeasts were beginning to take damage and the enemy was already incubating a new batch of killers
This is Dolgur to command,I've found some sort of creature optimized for spawning. This is the source of it all,I am going in
With that,the lithorian Commander and his entourage of troopers began swimming close to the seabed,slowly inching their way towards the burrowing beast.
The leviathans on the other hand were not idle,already one of them released torpedoes of its own at the serpent that engaged while the other began flanking,aiming to close the gap while it was occupied
"Haha, this must be the source of the foe!" One of the cultivators remarked, staring down at the titan.
"Such a marvelous work of biological engineering, I am truly at the bottom of Urxien's gravity well." Another spoke.
"Even so, it must be destroyed! Take biological samples from its corpse!" The leader of the group roared, opening fire with its plasma weaponry as it began strafing the beast. The cultivators were confident. Perhaps overly so, perhaps not.
Looking down from on high, the two immortals who had followed their disciples observed the goings-on below the ice.
"Your pupils are most impressive, I shall admit." The leader of the Jade Glacier Sect remarked.
"And yours are not without merit either." Su Hu replied. "However, the foe has yet to display any true threat, especially with the assistance of these mortals. I am curious to see the full extent of this life form's might."
"That is true. I have high hopes samples of it can be obtained, so that we might seed our homeworld with such specimens. Once they accumulate sufficient Q-technology within their bodies they could become formidable beasts that produce excellent raw materials for us to harvest."
"Indeed. We shall see if these entities are worth such a project."
In contrast to the Lithorians and Cultivators, Talnoch does not speed for the tunnel entrance. She circles some distance off, directing a few of her probes to descend in her stead, as the great beast is revealed in full.
I've got creatures on me! Valsaaq exclaims, still nearer the seafloor than Talnoch, They're closing in!
A few torpedos rush towards his wing; one slips through the array of ECM and active defenses where it explodes near Valsaaq's craft. It shakes violently with the blast, but it is just far enough away. One of the smaller creatures emerges from the cloud of debris dripping with terrible swiftness, and Valsaaq pushes even deeper, to just above the seafloor, and he rolls around the jagged terrain.
There's only one thing these temperature readings can mean, Talnoch says (familiar with such burrowing techniques), her eyes glued upon the returns. We have to take it out.
Working on it, Valsaaq says back, but I've occupied at the moment.
Let's move to a position over the tunnel, rather than within it, Talnoch orders. We can shoot down into it from there.
Valsaaq nods and advises his wing of such; they power away from the seabed in a cloud of billowing silt.
"Conn, sonar, torpedoes in the water! Bearings 2-2-4, range two thousand yards!" the sensors officer called out, and Korosv cursed.
"Helm, make your course 1-1-2, away from the weapons! Increase to flank, Weapons, stand by to launch countermeasures!" he bellowed. Almost immediately the submarine was leaning hard to port as the helmsman pulled the wheel hard over, the reactor in the aft of the ship rising in pitch and intensity as they increased to maximum speed. This was the most dangerous part of the game he knew, and the one where a single screw up would get him and his whole ship killed. Skill... and not a small bit of luck, would get them through this. The Sergei Pilovsky was tearing one hell of a hole through the dark water, loose objects shaking on tables as she accelerated, past two thirds, closing to flank.
"Standing by to launch countermeasures!" the weapons officer reported, his hands hovering over the controls. Korosov held out his hand to indicate not yet. Right now he knew that Captain Lor aboard the Konrad Durov would be doing the same thing, waiting for the right moment. If they released them too early it would not be enough to confuse the incoming weapons. Too late, and there would not be enough time to get out of the way.
"Sonar, give me ranging and bearing on the incomings," he ordered.
"Aye, conn! Incomings at bearing 2-2-1, fifteen hundred yards! Confirm weapons have acquired us and are homing, confirm on Konrad Durov!"
Not yet. Around him crew were standing by their stations, engineers reporting on reactor status, and anyone who wasn't doing that was already bracing for impact.
"Reading steady on bearing 2-2-1, twelve hundred yards and increasing speed!"
Not yet.
"Weapons, set PDLs to auto-track," he ordered, hand gripped tightly around one of the CIC spars.
"Aye, comrade," the weapons officer replied, flipping the requisite switches before returning to the countermeasures. Korsov could feel the lasers spooling up as a buzz in his nose.
"Reading track on-- blyat! They're in our baffles! Dead astern, one thousand yards!"
Not yet. The reactor was thrumming now, the pumpjets expelling enough water now to power a small town through pure hydrokinetics if his math was right-- but he couldn't worry about that now.
"Still dead astern, eight hundred yards, comrade captain, seventy knots!"
Not yet. Crewmen were looking to him with wide eyes, old hands and young boys. He had to get this right.
"Steady at seventy knots dead astern, six-fifty yards!"
Not yet. They could all hear it now, a high-pitched pinging sharper than any weapons they had simmed or wargamed against, the pitch and sharpness eough to make his head hurt, sharp enough that they almost lost what sounded almost like... flapping, echoing through the hull of the ship. Crewmen were tightening their restraints, some were praying. Korsov saw his XO cross himself in the Orthodox fashion.
"Seventy two knots, four hundred yards, dead astern!"
Not yet.
"Three hundred fifty!" A few seconds passed. "Two hundred fifty!"
Not yet.
"Two hundred! Captain!"
Now!
"Release countermeasures!" Korsov bellowed, slamming his hand on his chart table hard enough to send a pen flying. "Helm, make your course 1-7-5 now, depth to 300, all hands brace for impact!"
Into the dark water, the submarine ejected a half dozen noise-makers and EM emitters, smaller than the decoys of earlier but much, much louder. The submarine turned hard, rudder fully to the left as the hull strained under the sudden turn and ascent, the Konrad Durov in the distance performing much the same maneuver. They had to pray that their timing was right-- and failing that, trust in their lasers.
Countermeasures were launched as the creatures engaged the Lithorians, detonations sprang to life in the ice-cold waters around the hole as they produced massive amounts of sound disrupting any form of sonar. One of the creatures took a direct hit from a torpedo, writhing with anger and launching its own volley in return, the fighting between the Lithorians and their prey was getting violent as they closed to shorter ranges. The Pords were just as harassed too, one of the beasts turning its gaze towards them it kept up a volley of tracing torpedoes and as they began to get closer to the shaft a sudden barrage of what appeared to be quill like projectiles.
They were meter long projectiles of chitin that while short ranged would pose a huge threat to anyone being struck by them, more than enough to pierce the hull or flesh of a submersible threat. Not only were the Pords targeted, but the Lithorians given their short range. The entire bubbling waters around the shaft were now alive with activity, deafening noise and projectiles.
The Restavians were luckier, the torpedo was destroyed at the last second, but the blast shockwave was more than enough at a range that it would cause critical damage. Thankfully the beasts were far more concerned with the Lithorian heavy assault and the Pords quick sudden strikes on the surface than the submarine, that and the Cultivator assault on the progenitor was the truth threat. The Restavians were able to provide long range support at the least, as well as focus on damage control.
The plasma blasts of the Cultivators came in hard from above, striking embryo sacks and bursting them open, revealing smaller eel like creatures which rapidly wriggled up to meet them. Ravenous upon birth the creatures saw the Cultivators as their first foods source, however the plasma blasts while bursting the egg sacs did not appear to be harming the main beast at all, the fact it could tunnel down into such hot and pressurised conditions meant it would take something else, and far stronger in action to kill it off completely.
The lithorian leviathan charged forth,meeting the barrage of quills head on. While many of the projectile bounced off or splintered against the plating that covered its face and jaws,many more tore through its fins and nipped at its flesh. Still,it pushed forward,diving beneath the serpent before activating its set of bio turbines,suddenly speending up and slamming its jaws on the creature's underbelly before starting to spin,aiming to break its lithe body in a deathroll.
The creature fighting at range was less fortunate,being hit in its center of mass by one of the tadpole torpedoes and being staggered. Unless its allies could provide immediate support,another volley would surely be its demise.
Dolgur and his troopers made it on the scene of the fissure,witnessing the cultivators engaging the spawn of the progenitors. Without hesitation,he proceeded forward,firing off bursts of plasma from his palms at the creature's hide and triggering a number of egg sacs in the process. Still,a sweeping gust of heat from his mouth boiled the resulting brood of eels alive,all but one. He caught the critter as it tried to lunge for his face,crushing it in his grasp,guts and ichor spilling into the water. He absent mindedly threw the corpse at one of his troopers,who caught it without issue
"Make sure this reaches our vessel" He said,being met with a nod as the lithorian made it is priority to vacate the combat zone.
The alien landed atop the form of the beast,clenching his fist before letting loose a hit on its exterior,nothing. Surprised,he punched again,several times infact,yet the thing's hide was impervious even to his monstrous might.
Changing his strategy,he swam up to gain distance from the creature. He needed to breach its epidermis and claim a sample,no matter what. The spikes decorating the lithorian's shoulders suddenly detached and began riding plumes of fire back down to the spot he previously occupied,revealing themselves to actually be biological missiles
Point-defense gurgles out against the incoming shards. The disturbed seas part in their wake, bubbling and fizzing, as the myriad beams make contact, but the volley is close - too close.
Valsaaq shoves his machine past the crest of a small mount and the passing of his craft rustles the rocks and sediment below. Squinting at the display, he notices his suites automatically eliminating one shard, then another, then a third. Then, his machine shudders violently.
I've been hit! he exclaims, I've been hit! His eyes dart around the features of the bottom, so unwelcoming and near, as the AI of his craft parses the damage and relays the information to him. All the while water sloshes in through a nasty gash along the hull of his craft which - after a moment - demands notice. He feels its entry; the machine is heavier, now, with appropriate response.
Can you make it to the surface? Talnoch questions.
I don't know, Valsaaq says. It's covered in ice anyway. And where we are at I don't know that my missiles can blow a hole through it. I have internal flooding. I thi-
His train of thought is taken by the machine, which lurches suddenly again, towards the seafloor. A sickly fluid coughs from the gaping maw of its wound and the putridities disperse into the blackness of the depths. Valsaaq glances again at his position and notes just how far down he is. Won't make it to the surface, will try to eject.
Very well, your position is noted, nam-Valsaaq, Talnoch says. While engaged herself, she still manages to check his location.
The swift seafloor currents parade against Valsaaq's machine as he plummets. With each meter they appear to grow harsher, swifter, and less accepting of his presence.
Then, after a lengthy descent, he plows into the seabed and only comes to a rest after almost entirely burying the nose of his craft. That could have gone better. He scowls. I should distance myself from this thing before those creature turn it into a smoldering crater, he muses, then, Hope everyone else is doing better.
As the forces continued to engage the beasts around the giant burrowed shaft it all came down to the Cultivators and Dolgur. The living missiles unleashed were partially intercepted by drone spawn who literally threw themselves into it, but some impacted, managing to blow chunks out of the creatures hide and cause it to groan in pain, the entire shaft rocking as it stopped burrowing and began to move around. But the Cultivators were already moving, plasma blasts into the now exposed under flesh caused detonations and searing flashes of boiled water.
Secondary detonations followed, clearly caused by destruction of volatile organs within the beast’s body. As it turned the things huge, fanged mouth, covered in molten hissing rock and steaming with superheated water and steam tried to snap at the groups, the beast well aware of its imminent danger. The surrounding predator beasts tried to rush in to protect it, to no avail, however. One was destroyed by the RSC and a well-placed torpedo volley while another was brought down by a combined Pordish and Lithorian barrage. The remaining beasts began to squirm and react strangely as they neared the bore hole, each twitch and jolt corresponding with the increasing attacks on the spawning creature below.
It was obvious they were a hive mind.
As the attacks continued the things mouth became ravaged by biological munitions and the cultivators power, punching through its gut and killing its insides. The entire tunnel shook as the monster writhed, constantly trying to lash out at its attackers or try to spawn new creatures to defend it.
But it wasn’t enough.
With a final strike the beast quivered and died, the predator beasts surrounding the hole dying with it. Merely going limp as they stopped swimming. One by one reports of creatures sighted dying came in.
Whatever the spawn beast had been, it had been their focal point, burrowing to spawn nests and feed itself on heat and molten rock before moving to another location.
But in its corpse there was a treasure.
Akin to a pearl, the glowing Aurastone within was invaluable, on top of the monster containing within its form glands filled with Ancerium. It had somehow survived to FTL to this place but now its bounty could be harvested, along with much rare earth metals it had excavated and processed in its body. The people of the Mesta system were ecstatic, already they were thanking the new arrivals, and the corporation had already authorised extremely favourable trade deals for low prices. Mesta and the corporation would provide food substances for cheap for the victors and gave full rights of the spoils to them as well.
At least, the oceans had been calmed.