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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:49:46 GMT
Only the dead have seen the end of war. ~Plato
== (O) ==
The crew of the Immortal empire Trading ship, The Jaded Sword eased off on their engines as they approached the system, venting their forward thrusters to slowly decelerate their small Trading craft as it approached the worlds that orbited further onward. It had been less then an hour sense they had exited the void, and their current trajectory their ships A.I. had logged past the outer defense mines would take them less then another half an hour before they would arrive in orbit around “Ambrosius.”
As they Looked over their duties, time slowly passed silently. The small Bluish green sphere in the center of their monitors and forward facing viewports grew larger with each passing minute, as their conventional engines brought them closer to the massive orbital docks that circled the large planet.
As more time passed the structure of the dock itself became apparent, appearing out of the darkness of space just above the halo of the systems sun as it peered over the horizon of the earth-like world. Its bulk apparent even across the hundreds of miles of empty space that stood between it and the ship, its heavily armored hull outlined by the navigational beacons that lined it.
“There’s our port.” One of the Crew said, half announcing it as the officer next to him opened a channel of communication between the docks and the ship.
“Ambrosius Traffic control, This is The Jaded Sword. We are oncoming, requesting docking permission.”
“Nothing…” the First crew member said after a few moments of nothing but Static and silence on the other end of the Link.
“Station 34 …Come in over!” The Ships captain said, stepping forward from where he had been sitting in the center of the bridge, leaning over the officer and crew member as he Accessed the Link.
“ I know that somebody has to be hearing this, the Damn AI is supposed to be monitoring these channels! Hello?” like the crewmen before him, he was met only with interference. Jamming? He wondered. No. How could there be jamming that Extensive?
In front of them, the station and the planet below it remained, as they were when they had first arrived, but as they drew closer to the world, small pinpricks of light appeared, Winking in and out high above the atmosphere of the planet in nearly random patterns.
“Captain, look!” the First crew member said again. As a particularly bright burst of light went off down on the planets surface, part of the cloud layer spreading outward in it's wake.
“Whats going on out there…” the Captain Said, not Fully talking to the crew on the bridge as he raised an augmented hand to shield his eyes against the sun to see what was going on better.
It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the glare, but once it had passed he could see what was going on much more clearly, he became aware of Ships maneuvering high above the upper atmosphere. Warships judging from their size and shape, some were the Warships of the Empires fleet, their solid and boxy build apparent, but others were strange, yet almost familiar, built of dark metal, and dagger like in shape from above. As he watched, Bolts of energy fire filled the space between them, and as he Looked the realization of where he remembered them from, and what was going on dawned on him.
“Those… Those are Tenebrean warships!” he said, as he looked from one horizon to the other of the world below them, and saw only the warring ships in either direction
“Fuck!” the first crew member cursed. “It’s an invasion force!”
“Gets us out of here!” the Captain said as he got up from where he stood hunched over the consoles at the front of the bridge. Moving back to his chair as the ship began to plot a course away fro the planet.
“Captain!” both Crew members called out to him, Panic hinging in their voice. The captain turned, half in reflex, as a Rosaud class Cruiser Appeared rising from the bottom of the view ports and monitors ”The latter displaying Rapidly flashing Proximity Warnings.”, Its trajectory placing it between them between them and the Station. It’s components glowing an angry red.
Him and the other crewmen on the bridge had time to scream as it angled the turrets on its armored hull toward them.
== (O) ==
The Warships of the Immortal Empires system, having been prepped of the arrival of the Tenebrean war fleet beforehand by their temporal “allies.”, Were hardly off their guard, and had not left their system without defense.
Extensive blockades and Defensive lines had been prepared beforehand, Orbiting the worlds of the system in tight formations in anticipation of the oncoming attack. While further out, mines Orbited the worlds throughout the Solar system. But while formations tended to be strong against enemies coming in from the front, from behind they yielded little protection, and it was exactly there that the tenebrean fleet commanders choose to send in their first wave of invasion fleets, Rather then having them enter into the system Via a FTL Drive system, they had opted instead to Utilize the Quantum Telaportation method known to them as Shunting. Their ships appearing behind the lines, Formations, and orbital mines of the Immortal Empire with momentary bursts of Reddish static, the space between the planets and the Patiently waiting War fleets suddenly filling with hundreds of Vessels in mere seconds.
Instantly they opened fire, concentrating their Barrages on the exposed engines of the Immortal empire ships, in an instant of that first surprise barrage, dozens of them were rendered dead in space. Many others however, while taking damage, were not. And returned fire as they brought themselves about to face in invading warships in a counterattack of their sudden and unexpected appearances.
The space between them lighting up with brilliant displays as bursts of energy were launched, and dissipated against shielding, or simply tore through to Puncture hulls or detonate, ships exploding into debris and husks as if they never were. The immortal empire ships held their strength in heavy armor and Guns, as well as in technical numbers, outnumbering the Tenebrean fleets 2-1. But as they soon discovered in those first few minutes of battle, as their volleys and blasts dissipated against the invading ships shielding and armored hulls, so did their Enemies. But unlike their attack on the Exceion system, they weren’t off their guard, and could easily hold their own in the battle.
In orbit, The infamous weapon blocks of the Immortal empire, the powerhouses that had won them the finishing battle against the Cerabein empire, Almost instantly found themselves under siege from multiple angles, Tenebrean ships were Shunting in around them too closely for them to practically aim and fire their primary weapons. With massive Volleys’ of Versus energy directed at them, and with The majority of their supporting fleets already occupied with the battle, many of them could not stand up long to the Constant Barrages the Tenebrean war fleet had concentrated on them, and before long their Shields failed completely, the bolts puncturing armored plating and engines, leaving most of them Derelict in their orbits around the systems planets.
Across the system, the scene replayed in orbit around every world, the Opposing fleets closing in to engage each other as the void around them lit up with hundreds of individual battles as carriers and Warships alike Deployed their Drones and Autonomous Fighters, the Immortal empire finding out that their method of clogging space with their drones had turned into a double edged blade as the Tenebrean craft Deployed drone craft of their own design. Deploying cruisers and Destroyers down towards the Planets surface at the same time.
The Swarms of drones from the opposing empires Collided with each other, denying both sides from the living shields that they usually formed as . The tenebrean ships taking advantage of the movement and simply plowing through the clouds of smaller ships, opening fire relentlessly as the Greater ships of the two Powers Began attacking each other Directly.
As the first hours of the Invasion Stretched into the length of a Full day on the vast majority of the planets systems, The Battles in orbit had begin to spread into the Void between planets, divisions of ships from both empires Mounting offensive movements, and being countered by defensive ones. Several dozen Warships from both empires finding themselves being blown apart by the orbiting mine fields that they inevitably maneuvered through as they did.
Beams and bolts of Flame of all kinds and Spectrum were exchanged between them while their drones and fighters Swerved and maneuvered between them in scattered swarms. Muffled explosions and balls of fire and torn metal appearing between them randomly as single ships or small groups were destroyed by enemy fire.
To the Soldiers and civilians of the immortal empire on the worlds below, the scene would have made it look as if parts of the sky itself had caught fire and were burning against the night sky.
For four long days those fires would burn.
== (O) ==
Captain Albert Baldwin stood sternly on the captains Pedestal, looking over the Stations of the bridge as the Collective crewmen manning them went about their duties and functions. The many Entities of the Massive Aldebaran class capital ship he commanded taking care of the vast majority of them, several unmanned consoles displays making that evident as their Holo screens Functioned seemingly on their own.
“sir.” A Voice said suddenly, addressing the captain where he stood. Baldwin turned his head slightly, acknowledging the voice silently with a nod of his head. At this, the voice went on. ”We will be arriving at our exit Location in point three minutes and counting.” It reported.
“Thank you D.U.M.O.N.T..” Baldwin said, thanking the main entity of the ship, before turning back to the Rest of the officers and technicians’ stationed around the bridge. The Tenebrean counterattack had been in the works for a number of weeks, and they had all been prepped on the situation they would likely be facing almost immediately once they arrived within the enemy system. They were to be the second wave, and the fighting would have already begun by the time they got there.
He paused, debating a movement to himself momentarily on their location, his hand going to cup his chin slightly as he did, a moment later, having come to a conclusion. He called out, issuing orders to his crew. “Arm all weapons and shields.” He called out, his voice Carrying across the bridge. “They’re going to be on top of us the instant we decelerate.”
“Right away sir.” One of the Crewmembers, a Female Rohnah, announced as she went over the commands of her console, Her and It’s entity Transferring the order to the other entities and Crew manning the systems throughout the ship. Minutes after they did, Several icons on holo screens throughout the bridge changed as weapons and defensive systems throughout the ship armed themselves.
As they neared the location of the other exit point of their shunt, an short alarm went off throughout the bridge, signaling they were shortly about to reach their Exit point. Before the Voice of the ships main entity D.U.M.O.N.T began counting down. “De-Shunting in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”
As Baldwin looked out over the bridge, the Sliding metal plates that usually covered the viewports when the ship was shunting or nulling, Slid back, folding away. Revealing the Planet below, and the massive Struggle of powers in the space above the Atmosphere, as ships appeared in their line of sight, their assorted gun ports and turrets Flaring.
“Frack!” he cried out. “We’re right in the line of fire!” he finished. As several Ships of the Immortal Empire Moved to engage them, Dividing into three , already making a beeline to Flank their sides in a running volley.
“ Open fire, All weapons in range! Open fire!” He called out as they Reached them and opened fire with their guns, Their Attacks largely dissipating on their Assimilative shields, but some managing to force their way Through and puncture deeply into the Hull. Sending alarms blaring on the bridge as their own Turrets returned fire.
The second wave of the Invasion force had entered the Systems Battle zones.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:49:56 GMT
Generals gathered in their masses Just like witches at black masses
-War Pigs, by Black Sabbath
--oOo--
“Report, please.” Dorin requested calmly, and the holopad instinctively responded. Orbital trajectories, probabilities of particular events going one way or another, planetary bodies and ships; all were featured in an intricate weave of Flux linguistics that danced in and out of prominence. The feed was live updating, and constantly being rewritten as future intelligence was retroactively applied to the scenario. It was amazing what one could learn, Dorin bemused with a distinct sense of irony, simply by reading history books from a few eras out of the present. Facts that had been otherwise classified for hundreds of years would be revealed, in time; of course they would all require considerable verification, and on scene intelligence was also of great value. Flight recorders from the battle were a good source of facts of that nature, as were eyewitness testimonies and careful forensics.
Thy system’s indigenous name was Ambrosius, and it was facing an unprecedented attack; well, not quite unprecedented, Dorin corrected herself with a deathly grin on her gaunt face. It was a response six months in the making, but it was a response of obvious nature to their raid on Exceion. Vox pro vox, she thought to herself as she reviewed the battle’s events thus far, and glanced over its future directions.
Beside her, a small collection of Flux captains stood, silently standing by. Her fleets were standing by much as their captains now were, yes, but Dorin hesitated. Her orders had been after all to assist as necessary in the defense of the system once the attack began, and she had taken steps to that effect as well. But with the retreat of the non-combatants into the Silent Bastions, she now had highest authority, and she had not been fond of those orders.
“Admiral Guderrian is a well respected officer in the Immortal Empire’s command structure,” one of the captains, who had a particularly relevant background in intelligence, informed the others. “When our intelligence reached him, he began evacuating the civilian populace and stockpiling food reserves. We anticipate that the planet has under ten percent of its regular civilian population at present, and would be capable of surviving a system wide siege for close to a decade. The problem primarily resides here in the numbers of forces our enemy is willing to invest in its assault on the system. I’d propose that they see this as a symbolic action more than a strategic one, and are wishing to visibly demonstrate their strength in order to churn up support for their side.”
Dorin said nothing as she continued to examine the display. Fleet movements were being tracked , and she paid keen attention to them as the captain continued to explain the efforts of the Immortal Empire in anticipation of the attack. She was more interested in the orbital engagement than the landing force that would be touching down within twelve planetary hours. The ultimate nullification of the planet’s primary defensive installation was rather remarkable, she confessed, and it left her quite impressed in that regard. Vox for vox…
“…additionally, we can see elements with affiliation to the Union of Worlds being involved in ground operations in particular, though there is a degree of flexibility in the interpretation of their movements-“
“Command our emissary to them to nullify the treaty and then report to my ship for debriefing once those elements enter the battle. If the Emperor wants to play war with me, I don’t want words being an excuse to hold him back.” Dorin spoke calmly, looking away from the display towards her captains who shifted with minor degrees of surprise at the news.
“With due respect prime admiral, our projections indicated that the continued neutrality with the Union of Worlds would be beneficial both to our own efforts against the enemy and the continued stabilizing effect of the Union of Worlds. Their civil war will be taxing enough on them as it is, and further conflict stands a chance at causing a general dissolution of their faction. This would only complicate things further.” The captain suggested cautiously, and Dorin nodded in response.
“Those were accurate projections at one point, yes. Then the council assigned command to me, and fled to the safety of the bastions. We are our people’s only hope now, and we will not cower when their fates lie in our hands. Furthermore captains, I am transferring authority for the use of the great weapons to a more tactical level.” She leaned towards the hologram, watching the developments at Ambrosius unfold. “You are authorized to deploy them as you see fit in situations where you feel you do not have a strategic advantage. I mean to say that if you are outnumbered, outgunned, outmaneuvered, or detected, these weapons are free for your utilization.” The Prime Admiral’s jaw settled into a confident bite as she watched the array of symbols and text floating slowly through the chamber, while the captains seemed to stiffen with their newfound authority.
“What about Ambrosius, Prime Admiral?” One of the captains called out to Dorin. “To utilize the great weapons there would likely destroy the majority of the forces on both sides, after all…” there was nervous laughter after his comment from some of the other captains. They were surprised by the readiness Dorin possessed to begin delivering death to so many, and so quickly too. “Are there any guidelines for civilian targets and collateral damage?”
“Some.” She murmured, contemplating the battle field. “Until I give the order, we shall not intervene at Ambrosius. Admiral Guderrian ought to be able to hold the system if this reports are accurate,” she said in conclusion. “As for us, while I will not tie down further forces into defending the Immortal Empire, I will glady lead the way in proper retaliation. First though,” she added as she continued to peer at the display, ”we watch.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:50:53 GMT
"You're heroes. Children in our schools will learn about your heroism. You have come through missions that were complex and demanding, missions for which you have risked your own health and lives." - Czech Republic Minister of Defence Jaroslav Tvrdik
The 1MC crackled loudly; "FIRE FIRE FIRE, Class D, Fire in Compartment 2E, Engineroom 2, Away Shipboard Fireteams, Supply from Damage Control 2 Charlie! Fire Fire Fire!" The ship seemed to turn into a bustle as 2nd Lieutenant Sindrion Kaeven was shoved to one side into a bulkhead, cussing as a Theropodan Damage Controlman shoved him out of the way... "Gods bedamned!" He cursed and turned to follow, being an A-Ganger, while Auxuillary wasn't in Engineroom 2 it was still engineering and he was part of one of the Damage Control Teams. He turned down another passageway... smoke choking as he kept low... lighting was flickering in this section of the vessel as the shrill klaxon rang hard in his ears as he rushed to Damage Control 2C.
Arriving, he grabbed his space-mask and began suiting out in his Hard-shell skin-suit. Turning to look at his Fireteam leader he checked the Raptorian's collar seal and thumped him on the helmet. "You good, check me!" The Raptorian looked him over as the 1MC Clanged again; "Now, Venting Atmosphere, Compartment 2E, Engineroom 2. 15 Seconds to full compartment seal, all hands to stand clear! Now, Venting Atmosphere!" The Raptorian grit his teeth as he was given a thumbs up by the team leader. Grabbing the Plasma-Cutting lance he nodded to the Theropodan who was hefting the massive pack of the Cryo-extinguisher. There was a squealing sound and then a loud *CRUMP-WHAM* As the passageway air-doors were slammed shut and then a loud *wooooosh*-ing sound as air was violently vented. Sindrion stumbled at the rush of air, but was caught by the team leader.
"Class D, burning metals. Oxygen depravation isn't going to do -shit-, but it stops us from having A, B, and C class fires as easily. Let's go!" The team of six saurians slipped out of the fire, staying low and moving carefully, eaching having one another's back as they entered the engine room. The place was like Dante's inferno. Lights had long since gone out in this compartment, but it almost instantly caused Sindrion to shield his eyes as he shouted; "Orders..?!" The Damage Control Chief looked around briefly, "Sindrion, Allens, take the left side, Sindrion start using your cutter to separate the metals that are burning from the rest of the core. Allens, use your Cryo-unit to try and slow the fire or put it o-"
A massive explosion of a plasma conduit shook the room and the fireteam was peppered with shrapnel. As Sindrion got his senses back he heard... screams... as he looked around he saw the Chief, hanging from the nearby wall, a jagged piece of metal right through his face-plate gore being sucked out the broken crystalline metallic compound used to make the face-plate... he wasn't screaming, As Sindrion looked around he spotted the theropodan, warm lopped off at the elbow and the only thing keeping him alive was the fact the stump was frozen solid... along with half his lower body... the screams were going quiet as the damaged Cryo-unit quickly froze his body from the inside out... Four more casualties... "Bridge, we have Six men down, do you copy?! Second more tea-" As he looked up, there was a shudder and a crackling...-sound...? In a vacuum? He looked up at the core... and the world went white.
the SKSV Solitude went up like a Roman Candle with nearly 500 Saurian Souls aboard. the white ball of a fusion explosion vaporized half the ship and caused Engineroom 1's Fusion core to go up in a massive secondary explosion. No survivors were ever found.
--SKSV Reticent
The 1MC Crackled, "This is your Captain speaking, We have recieved word that the SKSV Solitude was recently lost to unknown reasons. Lost with all Hands. We've been tasked with her mission. I have just been informed of that mission and the reason why. Shit just went hot in this universe. The Immortal Empire and the Tenebreans just made this cold war into a solar flare. We're the nearest intelligence vessel to the conflict, so we've been retasked from checking out systems to dropping our asses into a warzone. We don't have all that good of intel on these guys, it's the reason we're gunna be watching. So get your game faces on, because our easy day was yesterday." The Theropodan paused; before clicking it off. "Sound general quarters. we're going in."
The SKSV Reticent came about and powered it's Slipstream drive as the sharp call of; "General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. Up and forward to starboard, down and aft to port. General Quarters, General Quarters!" echoed through the passageways, followed by the dim of clawed boots thundering throughout the ship. Ten minutes later the ship disappeared under stealth and Slipstream jumped towards the system known as "Ambrosius" by locals... hopefully appearing on the edge of the system under full stealth to monitor the battle while creeping closer.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:51:40 GMT
Time: Day one of what is to be known as the Ambrosius Blitz Location: On the command bridge of the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ as she sits in dark space
The bridge was calm as everyone waited for the coming attack. Well, almost everybody. ‘Havoc’ was pacing in front of his command throne. This was taking too long for his taste. Knowledge of an enemy attack would be great, if it weren’t for the waiting. He stopped his pacing and looked across the bridge. There were two Emerald Swords standing side by side, looking at the data pouring in from the Ambrosius system. ‘Havoc’ was pretty sure he’d seen statues move more than those two. “You sure they’re comin’? I’d hate ta have come all the way out here jus’ta find out they weren’t comin’.” One of the Emerald Swords addressed him, but neither moved making it impossible to tell which one. ”Think of it this way then. If they don’t come then you could just attack one of their systems. You’re in a prime position to do so.” Before ‘Havoc’ could respond CABAL announced the Tenebrean arrival. IMMORTAL EMPIRE FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK BY SPIECIES 174: THE TENEBREANS. “WHAT!? No warning of them entering the system?” NO. THE VESSELS OF SPIECIES 174 APPEARED BEHIND OUR OWN AND OPENED FIRE. ANALYZING. “HA! Blasted aliens used one of our own tricks against us!” One of the Emerald Swords nodded in agreement, ”And why wouldn’t they. It’s a good trick.” “Heh. That it is. But if you two will move, I can get to work.”
The two Emerald Swords moved to the side to make room for a tactical holo-map of the besieged system. For the next several days ‘Havoc’, grand admiral of the 52nd war fleet, refused to sleep. He began weaving his grand strategy, ordering ships to push ahead while others he ordered to retreat. Small groups of ships were broken up only to reform. It looked like the local forces were in chaos unless one looked really hard and knew exactly what to look for. Everything was going as expected and then, as if on cue, the second wave of enemy vessels entered the fray. ‘Havoc’ grinned, he didn’t know where the Emerald Swords got their intelligence from, but right now he really didn’t care. A quick glance over the map showed that in less than an hour everything would be in position. ‘Havoc’ reached over and opened the comm-system to the fleet. “This is Gran’ Admiral Parker. It’s time ta move! I want everyone ta arrive with guns hot an’ shields up! Let’s show these aliens the true might of the Immortal Empire! NEVER SHALL WE FALL!” Immediately, the fleet around the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ began to accelerate towards the fighting. Soon, one by one, the ships began to jump to the system. ‘Havoc’ was so distracted by the departing ships that he almost didn’t notice that one of the observation drones pick up a gravity distortion consistent with a ship. ‘Havoc’ brought up more detail and discovered that while the drone had indeed picked up a gravity distortion it hadn’t detected anything else there. That meant that either the drone was broken or there was a stealthed ship operating in the system. The Immortal Empire didn’t have any stealth ships so that left the Tenebreans. But the distortion showed the ship, if that is what it was, to be small. Commandos perhaps? ‘Havoc’ decided to play it say and diverted two T-4 cruisers to destroy whatever trick the aliens might have up their sleeves.
<><><><>
The fighting was going well for the Tenebrean forces. The Immortal Empire’s ground forces had to stay under the protection of the planetary shields or risk being destroyed by orbital bombardment, limiting their movement. The Iron Bastion was proving to be a thorn though. With them unable to penetrate its defenses the fortress was firing on any alien ship that entered the firing arch of its guns. The invaders quickly learned to avoid crossing into its firing arch. The local space forces were in chaos and not fighting as one. Even if it was proving hard to pin their forces down, victory was within sight. And with the second wave entering the fray they were starting to feel confident. Revenge for Exceion was within their grasp. Then it was quickly snatched away. The local forces suddenly launched a massive counter attack. Lone ships that were retreating were now in position to attack Tenebrean vessels three to one. The vessels chasing them were caught off guard as the 52nd war fleet transitioned in system between the Tenebrean ships and the local defenders. Many of the invader's ships were either disabled or destroyed as they were attacked from two sides. The fleet commanders had expected reinforcements to arrive, but that what they had been fighting were not proper warships hadn’t even occurred to them. The battle began anew with each side reinforced, but this time the Immortal Empire would be using actual warships. The destruction they unleashed caught the invaders off guard. And while the invaders quickly recovered from the initial volley they were starting to lose a lot more ships than the defenders.
<><><><>
‘Havoc’ smiled wickedly as the initial reports began to filter in. This battle is ours!<i>
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:51:52 GMT
The Assault Block floated there. Down on power and partially breached the massive contruct merely turned slowly in the void. The Tenebrae attack had crippled it and torn great chunks out of its heavy armour, in the attack some of the crew had been killed but most had managed to survive and were desperately trying to get the systems back online, so far to no avail. unbeknwonest to the crew a couple of Tenebrae destroyers were getting themselves ready to dock with the Assault Block. And that was only the beginning.
Shran punched the control panel he was working on hard "Blast you shitty hardware! take one shot and your down! By the Overlord this panel is useless!" Shran shouted at the panel. So far he had been tasked with getting the door to weapons control open and due to the block having massive inbuilt security systems a computer glitch had activated the defense doors. Shran was tasked with opening them the proper way, before the demo guys came down to blast it open.
"This is going to taken some time..." He spat, he was covered in oil and cursed as he again tried to override the door control, he was being attended to by 3 cybernetically engineered guards and another normal unaugmented human one. Shran himself was wearing a gas mask due to the fumes a piece of hardware was giving off earlier. besides it tasted better than the air did here.
Shran cursed again and just before he punched the control panel again a warning Klaxon flared.
WARNING HULL BREACH, ENEMY TROOPS ENTERING, AUTO DEFENSE MAINFRAME NON RESPONSIVE
"Ah Fuck it!" Shran shouted. this was just what he needed, at least if he couldnt open the door they couldnt either.
The station rumbled slightly, the Gravitational systems fluxating as a Flight of tenebrean bombers flew overhead, Dropping a small payload of Versus pulse charges on top of the stations communications array. Destroying it in small bursts of Light and distortions. Shran felt the block rumble and cursed again when the speaker system activated again "WARNING... OVER.R.R.R. D.D.D.D.DEN MAL.......FUN....."
"What in fucks name?" Shran shouted, one of the guards turned to speak to him"Sir we have a hull breach and enemy troops entering the area. Missions changed you are to seal the door and make sure no one can enter. This Assault block must not fall. We will cover you" Shran made a gesture of annoyance. "So now you want me to keep the door shut? All that for nothing! Fuck sake... i did not get paid an under salary last month for this shit..." Shran keeled down again and entered some codes on the keypad. For some reason the screen showed different text. The numbers did nothing and flashes of code scrolled down the small keypad screen.
As the Shudders of the detonations faded and the Superstructure of the block slowly stopped reverberating, Several new Rocking shudders and Loud sounds of Impacting metal and Tearing Armor Echoed through the Vessel as Several of the Tenebrean Rosaud Class destroyers which had previously been stationary nearby the Block, Fired several Long range Boarding lines into the side of the Vessel. Tethering themselves to it.
Shran nearly lost his footing as the station rocked. the guard turned again"Sir you better get working fast, we haven't got long" Shran turned and made a gesture of helplessness "I dunno whats happened but it seems the systems shut me out, Some sort of virus... i dunno i cant do shit" He said angrily. the guard merely stood there "Sir if you do not carry out your task the weapons will fall into enemy hands now get working"
Shran Looked up the guard indigently for a moment, the look on his face almost asking what the man expected him to do, before he went back to the console. Looking at the bizarre code and Sequencing that was already rapidity flashing across the screen. He opened a secondary link in an attempt to find a way around the coding, only to find it locked by the same coding as well. "I... I don't understand this coding, It's alien. It's Blocking the other routes to the Command coding. I cant get this door open without accessing that!"
The Tech looked back down at the code, Reaching out to touch the screen, meaning to attempt another method, Perhaps he could Route another way to the coding, A back door perhaps. His fingers were only an inch away from the Console before armored Plates Suddenly slammed shut over the interfacing hardware. "What the fuck!" he Yelled out, half in surprise as pulled his hand back, half in reflex. As a Secondary alarm began to cycle up, Signalling a lock-down. "What is that? is that a lock-down?" the Guard asked, turning to look around. Shran looked up as a Small Light began to pulse in sync with the bleating alarm. "It is!" he Responded, raising his Voice to be heard above the noise.
"it's completely locked me out of the System!" he Went on. "Fuck!" "Sir! We have confirmed reports, Interior defenses are holding, but they're wearing down." one of the Augmented guards Reported, looking back at the two of them as he scoped the corridor they were in. "By the overlord, Can we Get a break here!" the first guard muttered.
A small Tone Went off right after he finished, And with a small sound of Machinery in the walls the door Suddenly opened itself completely, the other Secondary Bulkhead doors Behind it opening in turn. ATTENTION. the Voice of the Blocks system announced, Making Shran look up. DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS OVERRIDE AUTHORIZED, DEACTIVATING ALL SECURITY BULKHEADS.
"Damn it!" Shran Cursed, Stripping off his Gas mask and he got up From where he had previously been Crouching, "It's locked me out of the system and Forced open the doors!" he tossed the Gas Mask aside, grabbing one of the heavier tools from his belt, Banging it on the Armored plates Over the Panel. The Guard Grabbed him, Yanking him roughly around to Look at him directly. "then it's With the tenebreans!" he said, "That doesn't change out Situation. We still have our Directions, These Weapons cannot Fall into enemy hands. We have to hold this station until We get more support."
"...Alright" Shran Nodded, Yanking himself out of the guards grip, putting the tool back in his belt. "how are we going to get that done?" "By waiting until help arrives" One of the guards replied. Shran rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was a shouting from down the corridor and Shran saw multiple IE soldiers both augmented and non running down the corridor "Freindlys!" the Guard shouted. Shran smiled and put his mask back on. the taste of the air was getting unbearable again. all of a sudden the final couple of guards dropped. followed by a couple more. Shran widened his eyes as the unaugmented guard who had been with him dropped too. his eyes rolling back into his head. the others started shouting. One of the guards used his personal computer 'Airborne pathogen! Don't take your masks off!" Shrans breathing increased. He could die here... the thought finally hit him.
The guards running down the corridor started shouting "We are under attack! Both Tenebrae and unknown contacts are attacking us!" as if by coincidence the last guard in the line died. it was sudden. bloody and... unreal. Shran saw a mass of darkness move from one corner of the corridor to the other. the guard suddenly sprayed blood and machine oil as he split in half.
Shran widened his eyes behind the Lenses of his mask, The Scene was unlike anything that he had seen before, and was more perhaps, then he had wanted to see. Turning clumsily on his feet as the Guards That were running Reached their group, he took a Few steps back. Perhaps, he thought. If he ran now. The alien, if that's what it really was. Would Be distracted by them long enough for him to Get away. He Watched, wide eyed for a moment, as the Guards Leveled thier weapons Down the Corridor, Scanning The area, Despite what they had just seen, There didn't seem to be anything there now, But they all felt the tension. IT was still down there, just outside of their line of sight, Or hidden among the bodies of their dead.
there was a blur of movement, arterial blood sprayed the walls and the two guards kneeling furthest away died instantly. One fell back with three massive claw marks straight down his body, the seconds head came clean off, in that moment Shran saw a massive creature of pure darkness. A single red eye staring at him with malice. It was gone. Gunfire filled the corridor but nothing was there. the remaining guards swore loudly and fell back. Shran stepped back into the weapons room until he was back against the wall. His breathing was fast and he feared whatever the hell that thing was... the last 5 guards fell back and one tried to close the door. it was no use the system had locked them out.
"Shit What do we d..." The soldier trying to shut the door turned and started speaking when he was sliced in half, the rest instantly raised their weapons but to no avail. Each died, fast quick deaths, Shran watched with horror as in seconds the guards died standing. Shran stood their back against the weapon console staring into the red eye of an immense being. The thing merely surveyed him.
Until it spoke. "Weapons room secure. Survivor. Can you operate this weapon" It said in a snake like hissing ethereal voice. Shran was shaking "Respond" It said shortly after. "No... i dont have high.. enough... What the hell are you!?" He shouted at the creature. It stood their as if contemplating its response. "I... Am Death. Survivor not useful, terminating" Shran suddenly felt his gut become warm and he looked down, the things huge claw was stuck through his belly and he started rising into the air as the thing continued to stare into Shrans now dying eyes.
"Go to hell" Shran said pulling a pistol from his belt that he had been too scared to pull earlier he pointed it at the creatures face. before he could pull the trigger his hand was no longer attached to him, he screamed as the thing cut his hand off so fast it barely registered. Shrans last sight was the triangular red eye staring at him as his world went black.
The Creature stood like that for several moments, Looking over the dead Tech with all the perception of a boy looking over a Dead bug with a twig, before retracting its claw and letting the body Clump Down onto the metal floor. moments after, The alarm shut off on its own. the pulsing lights shutting off, letting only the ceiling and wall mounted units casting their shadows.
Presently, the system gave off a small tone, A nearly silent alarm signaling those present that an incoming message was about to be spoken over the Blocks P.A. system. but when the systems voice spoke out, it was not the same as it was Earlier, it was different, and Foreign. New, input Uploaded, Present A.I. Subjugated. D.U.M.O.N.T. Online and operational... Has the Block been Secured? The Creature stepped back for a moment until turning its wide head "Block Secure. Execute next stage" It said in its hissing voice.
Situation status, Acknowledged. Block Secure,Transmitting Coordinates to Tower. The Voice of the system Said in Response to the Creatures report, as a deep rumble again Surged through the Blocks Superstructure.
The Creature dissipated back into whatever place it had came as the rumbling grew louder. The block shook violently when all of a sudden with a flash of red light and static, it disappeared.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:52:43 GMT
"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." George S. Patton
== (O) ==
As the Hours of the Battles Throughout the system before the Arrival of the 52nd War fleets arrival Raged on, it became apparent that despite the Two empires Strength, neither one of them could gain an upper hand.
Groups of capital class warships would branch out, lash out at each other with furious determination, and be forced to retreat as ships were lost and Shields began to buckle under their exchanged barrages. But as the first day Passed and the beginning of the Second day stretched further and further along throughout the system, the ships of the Immortal empire began to gain an upper hand, following the Fall of the defenses of one of the inner planets of the system. The Defensive fleets orbiting Abrosious III, It was reported, had failed under the Strain of the Tenebrean forces Bearing down on them, and had been rendered either destroyed or Left Dead in space by the constant Barrages of fire from the tenebrean Fleets.
The iron Bastilion’s on the surface of the medium factory world Began to Fall one by one as The tenebrean warships, Discovering that low orbit bombardment of the World was Ineffective, instead resorted to high orbital volleys concentrated on Single Targets, the Repeated Waves of energy bursts and DeGarser beams Overpowering The Defensive shielding of the fortresses and Tore through them as they collapsed, Tearing through the structures and Burrowing deep into the Crust of the planet, some of the barrages Cutting deep enough to breach the molten Layers underneath it.
While others in the Invading fleet Concentrated their Beams on Fault lines and continental Rifts picked up by their Geo-scans of the world. Setting off earthquakes, massive subductions, and Eruptions across the surface of the Planet as the Blasts triggered Geo-thermal reactions within the mantle. Within hours, the planets surface began to glow as the combined Bombardments and Geological Effects took their toll, glassing the face of the World in a Display that had almost been Spectacular.
As the news of Abrosious IIIs fall spread throughout the system, it rallied the Forces of the Immortal Empire, and many of the previously stalemated Skirmishes Began to turn in their favor as more and more of them were won by their ships. The tenebrean vessels either being Wrecked or Falling back into their own lines of Defense among their lines of defense, and as the True warships of the 52nd war fleet Arrived throughout the system. They found themselves in a position where their forces began to wane in the face of the newer craft that began to attack them from both sides.
But although they were caught woefully off guard in the first few hours after the new vessels had entered the fight, The battle zones began to Level themselves out again as The Larger number of losses that they had suffered that had given The Immortal empire the brief perspective of a superior fighting forces began to Even themselves out again, as the fleet commanders. Sensing that their momentum that had come in the initial first attack had begun to die down as the forces in the system became fully aware of the situation, decided to Shift tactics. Adjusting their fleet and individual ships in response to the changes in the Battle.
The singular warships and divisions utilized short range Shunt jumps to confuse the immortal empire Craft, Breaking free of the Vice like grip they had found themselves in. Falling back in a Feigned retreat in multiple directions, some upwards and downwards, while others drew out horizontally. Drawing the fire and Advancement of the Immortal Empire Divisions, forcing their fleets to Divide themselves and perform heavy 360% maneuvers in order to engage the invading warships, several of them being crippled in the Wake of the mass shunt as the two Fronts continued to fire in the first few seconds of the sudden absence of The enemy vessels in their line of fire, stray Barrages and bursts of friendly fire Crippling ships on both lines. Before shunting divisions to the sides and underneath the advancing and cluttered Fleets in a flanking movement, all the while opening fire with mixed ARC and Degarser Bursts and volleys from their frontal Projectors. Collapsing shields and Atomizing large swaths of Armor as the two fleets once again Closed in on each other throughout the system.
The immortal empire found the number of ships they were losing Growing as the Number of Tenebrean losses began to diminish as the initial shock of the arrival of the new fleet wore off. The invading ships Shunting in an out of locations Seemingly too randomly to allow the warships of the 52nd fleet to present Proper targets too often with their primary weapons. All while concentrating their own Fire on the Immortal Empire Warships engine and gun ports, rendering several dead in space, while crippling several others.
The Ships of the immortal empire Still held the upper hand in the Battle, but it was becoming apparent to them that the tenebrean Fleet was quickly Adapting to the new tactics. Forcing both empires into another Grinding stalemate.
Until a New Ship Entered into the Battle on the tenebrean Side of the Offensive. Nulling into the distant far side of the system with a Blur of Green light.
== (O) ==
“Sir.” The Aid said as he entered the War chamber, Saluting as he addressed the Figures Reviewing the Holo display of the system projected over the Projection table in its center. Intently Following and Directing the movements and maneuvers of the two fleets as they clashed with each other with short orders spoken over their Comm-links. The man at the center of the group paused as the Aid addressed them, giving a small nod in acknowledgement at the news.
“The Immortal Empires Fleet has brought in their Elite military fleet, Intel tells us it’s known as the 52nd, it’s engaging our warships sir.” The Aid reported, standing at attention.
“That’s better then we could have hoped for…” The man at the Table said, nodding as he looked back at the Display in the center of the room. “We’ve drawn their stronger pieces onto the field… Now to make our next maneuver.”
“Fleet commanders are Currently awaiting your orders sir.” The Aid Reported.
“Send in the Traferno.” The man at the table replied. “Divert part of the third Wave to defend it… even if we lose this battle. We’ve already gotten exactly what we need, and The Xterranian Menace of the Immortal Empire will know just how dangerous we are.”
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:53:56 GMT
War is a series of catastrophes which result in victory. Albert Pike
== (O) ==
The Traferno Nulled into the Abrosious system in a flashing blur, It’s inertia and mass Nullifying drive systems powering themselves down, Decelerating its speed gradually. The massive Two hundred kilometer Vortex Class Vessel Slowing to a stop along the orbital path of one of the systems inner planets, It’s normally unarmored hull Clad in thick Tene-dermis alloy plating, additional Class 4 Versus and Degarser Gun turrets mounted along its Length. With it, a third wave of tenebrean Vessels shunted into the system, Several divisions of them appearing in the midst’s of the Struggle throughout the Battle zones, Shunting in with bursts of Red light and Static feedback, Their Points of entry into the Invasion targeted to appear in place of tenebrean hulks damaged in battle, which were subsequently shunted out back to outer industrial systems for Security Cleansing and Refitting.
Immediately their replacements began to open fire with controlled barrages of ARC and Versus Coil Fire on nearby Ships of the immortal empire, joining The squadrons and divisions of Tenebrean warships in the battles throughout the system, sending Several Fleets of Immortal empire warships into tactical retreats in the wake of the new numbers of tenebrean warships that had arrived seemingly out of nowhere, appearing where. Only moments before, their systems and Scans had shown only Smoldering Hulks and drifting battle torn Wrecks. Mean while, the other Half of the ships of the Third wave, shunting in alongside the massive armored debris-cleaning Vessel, formed defensive parameters Around the Ship’s hull. Ready to defend it against the assault that inevitably would From the immortal empire once they realized what effect it would have on their drone fleet, the T-5 Escorts, and any other ships that utilized their Levitation field generators.
With a Deep Reverberating sound of muffled bass and the green glow of its central components growing brighter as they powered up, the Ship began the activation sequences for its Gravity well generating systems. Developed for the purpose of pulling in and processing entire asteroid belts within systems in order to make high traffic and trade routes safer for transversal, the ship, and others of its class, could generate massive Gravity Wells and controlled gravitational fluxations around itself and across a distance within a system.
Immediately a Powerful series of Gravitational Distortions and wells began to spread outward from the ship, Transversing quickly throughout the system as the second day of the Battle Drew on, appearing in planetary orbits and in Open space, some Gravitational wells in select locations reaching the strength of a large planet. The Distortions generated sending the already damaged world of Abrosious III into Geo-Orbital chaos as the conflicting fields of gravity torn even more into the Already Seismically unstable planet, sending chunks and fragments of it drifting away from its core, drawn towards the gravitational field of a planet directly next to it which did not exist.
As each world in the system, one by one, became encompassed by the spreading Gravitational distortions. The Immortal empires fleet Commanders and Divisions Suddenly found themselves Robbed of proper control of their Drones. However strained as they were as they clashed with the Tenebrean Autonomous Fighter Forces. When the Wells Appeared throughout each of the systems planetary orbits. The empires Drones and other Craft found themselves lacking control of their paths and Directions as the Gravitational distortions bombarded them, Making them and other vessels in the Fleet Equipped with the Levitation field generators engines they were Equipped with, Vulnerable to the Autonomous fighter forces they had only previously been engaging.
The Drones and fighters of the Tenebrean fleet pulled away from the Malfunctioning swarms of the immortal empire Drones, opening fire on them and destroying thousands of them throughout the system as they did.
Freed from their Stalemate, they descended on the 52nd War fleet as it closed in and engaged the invading fleets of the tenebreans, Spreading between the Two of them in the living shields and waves that they had denied the Immortal empire from using in the beginning of the battle the day before. Crowding space, Blocking and Drawing the fire of the war fleets secondary weapons, and stealing power and accuracy from their primary weapons as they fired against the Invading ships, the Barrages destroying Several vessels, but missing others as they maneuvered and Shunted out of the paths of the blasts of the Potentially Crippling blasts, Taking advantage of their divided attention as their ships continued to go up against Each other, only for the immortal empires lesser Vessels to fall back more and more as the Tenebrean drone fleet Swarmed them as they Engaged the invaders.
Their forces had been rallied, and Their Reinforcements had arrived, But as the secondary planetary Day of the battle came to an end and the hours drew on. The immortal empire found themselves with the loss of one of the innermost planets of the system, and at a further disadvantage from the day before in the wake of the loss of their drone fighter fleet’s effectiveness. The victory that they had hoped they had snatched away from the Tenebreans, Had seemingly been snatched back from their grasp.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:54:07 GMT
"I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way." ~Captain John Paul Jones
The bridge of the Gato LR, SKSV Reticent, was abustle. There was definitely a war on and there were ships and vessels everywhere. It seemed as though one faction had advanced Jump Drive capabilities and completely jumped behind the enemy lines... much like an HVSDL jumps past an enemy's shields. The ensuing chaos had caused quite a commotion among the second faction... Enemy IFF codes seemed to denote the Jump-ers as the Tenebreans, with the Immortal Empire having been flanked. The battle was evening out now, with the Immortal Empire struggling back and the Tenebreans facing the beginning of a heated resistance.
"Interesting..." Grumbled the massive Theropod, watching the fighting. "Make a note in the ship's log to see about requisitioning some Gato KI-Types. The Immortal Empire knew the fight was coming, had they had interdictors in position... they would have been in a much more favorable position." He leaned forced and inspected the battle farther, "Also interesting... these massive battle fortresses? They look almost completely worthless in this engagement, too big and clumsy, the enemy jumped right on top of them and now it seems, from what our sensors are reading... is that they've been boarded." He softly humm-growled as he made his way across the Combat Information Center, but was cut off-
"Sir!" Squawked a Raptorian sensor tech, "Immortal Empire flagged warships have entered the system, numerous capital ships! They seem to have detected us and have deployed ASW assets towards us." The Theropodan hissed, "Already? Damnit. Officer of the Deck, rig for silent running. Conn, give me a gravitic burst, heading-" The bridge, unlike the vessels of yore deep underwater, turned into a bustling, hectic capsule of controlled chaos as the Gato LR lit up like a christmas tree gravtically... before dissappearing off the face of the galactic plane.
"Gravitic pulse fired, heading set. Engineering reports full standby of all gravitic nodes. We are running silent, Captain." Came the call from the Conn as the Stealth systems went full active... all emissions from the vessel stopped, thermal and energy was recycled by massive spinal mounted thermal conversion cores... running what amounted to steam turbines to generate further power... which lessened the strain on the main reactor and constituted less emissions there, as well. With the gravitic nodes shut off, the vessel no longer raidated any gravitic changes at all... "Very good, Conn use nonreaction chemical thrusters to bring our heading about to-"
The vessel, lurched forward by the gravitic pulse was 'coasting' at a solid speed through space, and... using the absolutely most basic thrusters known to any spacefaring race... they used chemical thrusters, without reaction... basically heavily compressed Hydrogen and random dust molecules and 'chaff' from what the massive scoops on the bow brought in... to muscle the Gato LR into a new heading, unseen, unheard, by the searching T-4 Cruisers... it was slow, it was sluggish, but it was near impossible to detect as the Gato LR sat, waiting for the Cruisers to get disinterested and believe that the stealth ship had fled in panic at being spotted.
"Wep-O, order forward and aft launch bays to load all tubes with HVSDLs, commence prepping firing solutions with passive sensors. Get as close as you can before we have to go active. I don't wanna be visible for long." The Raptorian nodded, "Aye-Aye Cap'n. Relaying orders." The Raptorian rested into his nueral net... eyes closing as he 'plugged into' the firing computer with his five fellow gun director crew. The Computers would hyperstimulate thier brains, and being jacked into the computer and AI allowed them to become living processors for the ship, to begin plotting out the precision shots that would be needed to be taken for the HVSDLs to be effective.
The Theropodan grinned, "Never mess with Das Boot." He mumbled, as he watched the passive sensors track the two Cruisers.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:54:23 GMT
Location: On the bridge of the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ as she sits in dark space
AMBROSIUS III LOST ‘Havoc’ growled to himself. What was going to be a lush agricultural world was now only good for slag. But the destruction of the planet wasn’t that great of a tactical loss. What was really starting to annoy the grand admiral was that the rate at which they were losing ships was going up while it was going down for the invaders. That a vast majority of the ships being lost were T-3 or lower wasn’t helping ‘Havoc’s mood. And the tactical map before him wasn’t giving him the information as to why. “Oy! Why’re we startin’ ta lose more ships than the invaders?” One of the braver comms-specialists spoke up, “The reports I’m getting are indicating that the aliens are teleporting behind our ships and targeting our engines.” ‘Havoc’ ran his hand over his face, clearly frustrated by this latest turn of events. “Do I have ta spell out everythin’? Tell the captains ta stop panickin’ an start thinkin’ logically. If ya find yerself flanked, PREFORM A VOID JUMP!” Or he could have just been frustrated by the lack of ingenuity coming from the local defense fleet. “Is that safe?” “Aye. At such short distances the risk is so minuscule as ta be incalculable.” PROBABILITY OF A SHIP BEING LOST FROM A VOI- “SHUT IT!”
<><><><>
The ‘Overlord’s Gaze’ a T-4 dreadnaught, was attacking a cornered Tenebraen warship. Or as cornered as a ship can be in space. When the enemy vessel vanished only to reappear behind them. The initial volley was absorbed by the ship’s shielding but unless they could turn around they were going to lose primary engines. And in a battle like this, that was a death sentence. “Shields at 64% and dropping fast!” The comms-officer yelled out, “Captain, there’s a message from the grand admiral. Playing now.” “…stop panickin’ an start thinkin’ logically. If ya find yerself flanked, PREFORM A VOID JUMP!” The captain moaned to himself quietly. He’d heard plenty of horror stories of ships jumping to into the void never to be seen again. “Shields at 24, no 16%!” Though he had to admit that getting shot down just because he couldn’t turn around fast enough wasn’t how he wanted to end his carrier. “Ready ship for emerge…” A volley shook the ship violently. “Emergency Void Jump Now!” The ship was swallowed by the rip in reality and hurled into the void. The ship immediately started to generate its own reality. Once it was obvious that they weren’t dead the crew relaxed. None more than the captain who quickly wiped the preservation from his brow. Immediately a question entered his mind. “CABAL, how long can we stay here like this?” THE MAXIMUM DURATION THIS SHIP MAY SAFELY STAY IN THE VOID IS SIX HOURS. ANY LONGER AND YOU RUN THE RISK OF THE VOID JUMP GENERATOR FAILING. FAILURE OF THE VOID JUMP GENERATOR WILL RESULT IN THE SHIP BEING CONVERTED INTO ENERGY. “But when we reenter the universe no time will have passed? No matter how long we spend in here?” AFFIRMATIVE “Alright. Move us to just above the alien ship, aim the guns, and everyone catch a quick nap. We exit the void in three hours. Understood?” The crew responded with a chorus of “Yes sir.” and “Affirmative.”
Three hours later the ship was in position and ready to destroy the enemy ship. With all guns aimed at the enemy ship that could be aimed at the ship, there was no way it could survive. Before the captain ordered the ship out of the void CABAL gave the captain one more warning. CAPTAIN, A WORD OF WARNING. AS SOON AS YOU EXIT THE VOID THE VOID JUMP GENERATOR WILL BEGIN TO COOLDOWN. TRY TO AVOID USING IT FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. USING IT IN QUICK SUCCESSION COULD RESULT IN THE VOID JUMP GENERATOR FAILING AND THE DESTRUCTION OF YOU AND YOUR SHIP. “Understood. Prepare to exit the void in five seconds on my mark. As soon as we exit I want all guns aimed at the enemy ship to open fire. Mark.” 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… EXITING VOID
The “Overlord’s Gaze” reentered the universe with its shields fully recharged and its port side facing towards the enemy’s top. The move had been instantaneous and for the briefest second they would have been able to see themselves in the distance. But no one was looking at where they once were. They were all too busy making sure that every shot fired hit the enemy vessel. The ship was engulfed in a confusion of kinetic, thermal, and disruptor energy. The shields gave and the hull quickly followed. After less than a minute the ship had been reduced to little more than a burning husk. The utter destruction they had just wrought left most on the bridge speechless. All except one tech who shouted quite enthusiastically, “By the Overlord’s spiky metal head that AWESOME!” But their celebration didn’t last long. Once again they found themselves under attack and they got back to fighting.
Soon all ships of the Immortal Empire began to counter the Tenebraen’s teleporting with their own version. Though, they only did this under the most extreme emergencies it still proved lethal to any Tenebraen ship caught in the sudden counter-attacks.
<><><><>
Back aboard the ‘Brutal Aggressor’
‘Havoc’ was starting to feel a little better. The battle had swung back in his favor. He looked up at the tactical holo-map. He looked specifically at the timer counting down. The Emerald Swords hadn’t told him what was arriving or what it would do. They just said it was going to be big and that he had better destroy it fast once it arrived. Just fifteen minutes until it arrived. ‘Havoc’ was both curious and annoyed that he was going to have to wait fifteen minutes. He decided to let his mind rest a little while. The cybernetically augmented portion of his mind took over for the next fifteen minutes; let him get some much needed rest.
[OOC: This first part had been written in response to Changing Tactics (Battle of the Vortex) Day 1.5-4. Then TenebraesRising went and posted another journal entry.]
Location: On the bridge of the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ as she sits in dark space
‘Havoc’ opened his eye as his mind began to reawaken. The last fifteen minutes was nothing but a series of cold facts robbed of any emotion. He was still well aware of everything that had happened. He stretched and returned his attention to the tactical holo-map before him. Only a few more seconds until the whatever it was made its appearance. Almost on cue a third wave entered the system. ‘Havoc” immediately focused on the largest ship, bringing up more information as the observation drones began sending back what data they could on the ship. ‘Havoc’ couldn’t help but whistle as he read over the dimensions. “Ships almost 125 miles long. That’sa what, T-8 or a T-9 class ship?” T-8 IN SIZE, BUT ARMAMENT AND PURPOSE ARE UNKNOWN AND COULD PUT IT AT T-9 IN STRENGTH. “Regardless, I wonder what they plan ta do with it?” Briefly ‘Havoc’ considered calling Homer to deal with this beast. But the champion was off who knows where doing council only knows what. No telling how long it could take him to get there. ‘Havoc’ did his best to relax as he waited to see what this new threat was going to do.
He didn’t have to wait long. Soon massive gravity wells started appearing throughout the system and reports started to come in that the fighter drones and T-5 escort ships were losing much of their mobility with the gravity wells wrecking havoc with the levitation field generators they used. Even the larger ships that used LFGs to help maneuver noticed a sudden drop in mobility. “Oh. That’s bad.” ‘Havoc reached over and opened a link with twenty of the thirty captains that were still with him in dark space. “Alright boys, see that big ship there? Blow it up.” The link was filled with confirmations as the ships began to move into the system. Then as one they jumped into system. ‘Havoc’ immediately opened communications to the forces currently struggling in the system. “This is Gran’ Admiral Parker, hold tight. We’re gonna destroy that big ship and get us moving again. Soon as reinforcements enter the system I want all T-3 ‘Gnats’ ta start screamin’. Try ta focus on the ships protectin’ the big one. We gotta knock ‘em off balance before we hit’em.”
<><><><> It took less than ten minutes for the twenty T-4 IRK Cannon ships to reach the Ambrosius system. They flew in formation, two rows of ten with the ships in each row ten miles from each other and the rows fifteen miles apart. As soon as they entered the system the T-3 counter intelligence ships, which had been silent until now, began to broadcast their noise. Soon the Tenebraens found their sensors telling them that the number of Immortal Empire ships suddenly doubled, then quadrupled. Only for all sensor readings to vanish then reappear moments later. They quickly found their communications down, drowned out by the T-3’s screaming. The IRK Cannons accelerated quickly towards the Traferno. Any enemy ship that got between the IRK Cannons and their target quickly found itself reduced to stray bits of twisted molten metal by the ships’ overwhelming firepower. It didn’t take them long to reach the ships guarding the larger vessel. The initial, lackluster barrage left many of the guardian ships crippled or destroyed. The counter attack from the Tenebraens was chaotic and sporadic as they tried to cope with the Immortal Empire’s latest trick. The IRK Cannons then bypassed the defensive line with a simultaneous void jump. Unfortunately one of the ships, the ‘Burning Lance,’ was lost to the void. This still left nineteen vessels that immediately fired every forward weapon available to them. The Traferno’s shields held up to the first four volleys, but by the fifth the shields had failed. Already some of the gravity wells were beginning to lose their cohesion. By the sixth volley the IRK Cannons were well within minimum range and had to perform another void jump. They reentered on the opposite side of the massive vessel, still accelerating towards it they renewed their attack. By the seventh volley the ship was beginning to lose its structural integrity. The eighth volley saw the Traferno split in two. The IRK Cannons continued to fire, making sure the enemy vessel was thoroughly out of commission before they retreated from the battle. Eleven volleys at near blank range from nineteen T-4 IRK Cannons had utterly destroyed the massive ship. The empire’s ships hadn’t emerged from this unscathed though. With the gravity wells active the IRK cannons had only limited maneuverability and were unable to avoid enemy fire or debris. Once the ship was destroyed the mobile guns beat a hasty retreat. While their guns might be near unstoppable, the Tenebraen’s ships were too slippery to line up proper shots. This made the ships more of a hindrance than a blessing for the local forces. Only seventeen ships were able to make it out of the system. The last two were lost as enemy fire ripped through their depleted shields.
<><><><>
‘Havoc’ let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. With the large ship destroyed his forces could move normally again. Though that last move had from the alien invaders had cost them a great deal of fighter drones. As he pondered how to deal with this one of the Emerald Swords appeared by his side. ”’Havoc,’ I knew that we would more than likely lose a large majority of our drones to the Traferno’s interference. So I took some steps to eliminate this problem a while ago.” As the Emerald Sword explained what he had done, ‘Havoc’ felt a powerful urge to hug the giant warrior. That it would look completely ridiculous and could result in his death, the grand admiral decided a simple ‘thank you’ would do.
<><><><>
The ships of the Immortal Empire had been designed to work in tandem with the sensor scrabbling ships. But even so, this didn’t make them immune to the effects. Resistant, yes. So when a signal came in from Grand Admiral ‘Havoc’ all anybody heard was “…I’ve gotta present for ya…”
Fifty-four of the largest asteroids in the Ambrosius system suddenly exploded as carefully laid explosives went off. The explosives blasted out huge chunks revealing the asteroids to be hollow. Mostly. Billions upon billions of drones, made from the matter hollowed out of the asteroids, poured forth and joined the battle, more than replenishing the drones lost to the Tenebraens ship.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:55:51 GMT
Dorin watched the readouts from Ambrosius with a sinking feeling in her gut. This was the problem with playing god, she thought with displeasure as she shifted to an overhead display. Ambrosius III’s orbit was now an asteroid belt that was rapidly assuming orbit around the sun. They had evacuated most of the civilians at the behest of the Ascendancy, but they had furthermore fortified the planet in anticipation of a landing operation. Trans-temporal intelligence suggested casualty counts upwards of seven hundred million on the part of the Immortal Empire…
The planet cracker’s destruction would effectively render the system uninhabitable. In the original timeline, Ambrosius had survived-heavily barraged, of course, but it had survived-but now as she looked at the rapidly increasing casualty counts, she knew she was at fault. That was the problem with playing god, she repeated to herself as she pulled her eyes off the holographic display. It was cluttered with hulks, and difficult to see through; almost four hundred manned ships had cumulatively been lost by both sides there, and the conflict continued. With the system effectively stripped of value beyond mining operations, Havoc remained fiercely contesting the space around that lonely star and investing resources upon resources into being able to plant his flag atop the pile of rubble. Havoc may have been an exceptional commander in offensive operations, but he was bleeding himself dry over a rubble pile.
This was the problem with playing gods, for in telling the Immortal Empire the specifics of the attack, they had altered their behavior in a ways which if the display was any indication, was not benefitting them. By the end of this battle, Ambrosius would be utterly ruined. Beyond that, the numbers of drones being deployed here were dangerous in her eyes. They would undoubtedly take a grave toll on their opposition, but they were odd. They enemy might be oblivious to their opposition’s nature, but they were not foolish: that level of resistance would strongly imply that they knew the attack was coming. Still, a useful engagement, if one knew how to utilize it. She pushed the display into obscurity and triggered a communications. Perhaps they’d go on a witchhunt among their own looking for the leak. Either way, the Immortal Empire would have to sharpen its tactics in order to be of prolonged use to the Prime Admiral. With proper assistance, they would remain a potent force.
“Brothers and sisters, my family in arms, take heed,” the Prime Admiral said with a restrained sense of horror as she considered the blood spilled over this fairly insignificant system. “You all are aware of what has befallen those in our command at the Ambrosius system. Study it. Fill your eyes with their pain. The deeds of our enemies are made evident here, and are to be taken to heart. Think of your people. Think of what they would do to your loved ones if they had the chance. You and I and your family in arms are all that stands between our enemy and the death of our race. We are the thin line they must not cross.” Dorin spoke softly in an old and tired voice, but commanded great effect upon the hearts of those who served underneath her. “We stand idle no longer, my brothers and sisters. We shall be messengers of vengeance.”
--oOo—
“Hello boys. Miss me?” The voice on the radio cooed seductively, and Rauhn grinned as he wrestled the wrench around a set of bolts. He lay prone on a catwalk above the ship’s hangar, and was doing his best to effect repairs on one of the cranes which carried fighter craft over the drop ports. Thankfully, he had Immortal Irene’s company to satiate his mind.
“I reckon you’ve all been busy of late. Understandable, really, given recent events. You’ve been busy slaughtering worlds. I’m sure you’re marvelously proud of that too. At least we had the common decency to avoid your cities. We just want you to leave this galaxy. It’s that simple of a request. Leave, and we leave you alone. But no,” Irene sighed regretfully, “no, your leaders choose to slaughter entire worlds. I’m sure you’re very proud of that-“
“Damn right I am,” Rauhn grunted as the wrench twisted slowly, before rising to his knees. The damn thing was heavily warped, and wasn’t coming easily.
“-and now your leaders are costing so many lives for a war they suffer so little for. There were no strategic targets in Ambrosius. You razed homesteads and churches and hospitals, not military targets. Think how lonely your loved ones will be when you don’t make it home for Christmas,” Irene pouted, “Gee Mom, I’m sorry. There are just too many orphanages to burn down, and not enough time. Maybe next year. Maybe in a few years. Well let me tell you something, sailors and soldiers,” the voice said, and Rauhn smiled as he finally made a wave of progress over the bolt. He could almost see her leaning in over the radio with a wicked smile on her face, and he was damn sure she was hot. He hoped she had a low cut shirt. Maybe a brunette? With curls?
“…this war will go on for a long, long time if you keep fighting like this. You don’t understand who you’re dealing with out there in the dark, and your leaders know that. But that’s all right. They have lots and lots of soldiers to send out to find the answers. Let’s just hope you’re some of the lucky few who come home.”
“Rauhn, shut that shit off!” A voice cried out from below, and he saw his tech supervisor striding onto the flight deck below the catwalks. “That’s not permitted here, you know that you bastard. Shut it off before I dock your day’s wages!” Raughn groaned and saluted lazily, before rising to his feat and moving towards a distant console. He was piping it through the hangar’s intercom, and quite frankly only his supervisor had issues with it. Immortal Irene had a wickedly sensual voice, and one that the pilots had a deep fondness for; plus the music was good, and they enjoyed that too. However, they knew it was propaganda, and Immortal Irene was not to be trusted. As they liked to joke, she’s probably older than she looks-but not like that matters, they’d always add apologetically, as long as she looks how she sounds.
And then he was flying.
--oOo—
The tail ship in the formation had taken all three second role hits from the port spinners aboard the Uncanny Perdition; the other two ships in the enemy’s formation had taken hits from the ship flying behind her, and the Illusive Executor had split her port rounds between those two. Second role spins were more dramatic things than the simple first role wormholes; while the first role wormholes simply bored in one end and out the other of their targets, the second role variety faded out of existence moments after passing through the shields; but not before warheads would pass through them and directly strike their targets.
The tail ship in the Tenebraen formation blossomed, and held its flame for a considerable while; the ship’s shield generators had been at full capacity when the fusion reaction warheads had triggered, and the held the explosion within the shielding like fingers clenched around a firecracker. Also, much like fingers clenched around a firecracker, they dissolved in a mass of energy and sent debris flying out in all directions into the inky blackness of space. Secondary explosions were triggering aboard their target, and instantaneously the thing dropped out of its jump as its drive turned to ashes.
Wings banking, the two Ehm-Beh class enforcers moved from the four’o’clock position towards the six, banking to port and bringing their starboard batteries to bare. The second salvos ran through their targets as first role wormholes tend to, and they went in through the engines and came out near the noses. The mid ship had been hit low in the stern, and a chunk had been eaten out of its thrust direction system, sending a plume of energy straight down. The ship’s stern rose high as it began to tumble forward, before too vanishing into subspace. The lead vessel attempted to accelerate, but in the end it would be a futile effort.
The attack was over within a minute, and it is likely they never knew what hit them. Across the frontier, this tactic was repeating itself, for Dorin had authorized punitive responses against the attackers of Ambrosius. The damaged ships that were limping home from that chaotic scene were silently stalked by ghosts in the darkness, and when they were weak enough or far enough alone, the ghosts would strike. It was not a major blow compared to the casualties taken at the Battle of Ambrosius, but it was a constant trickle, as the wounded continued to stagger home, only to fall prey to the ghosts in the darkness.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:56:03 GMT
AMBROSIUS SYSTEM
Havoc Laughed the battle had massively turned in the Immortal Empires favour after his quick thinking. The new drones were now engaging the slowly wearing Tenebrae forces and the Void jumps allowed his ships periods of respite. He slumped back into his command chair smiling when one of the sensor operators called out. "Sir I am detecting a singular ship that just jumped in system, Records match its design has never been seen before"
"Is this another Tenebrae ship for us to destroy? Or maybe some sort of ship that took the wrong jump co ordinates" Havoc laughed. The main view screen then came up showing the new ship and Havoc cocked his head to one side.
"That's a Star ship? Looks so damn flimsy! Held together in parts!" Havoc laughed. The new ship was clearly nothing from either race, completely matt white with gold bands featuring some sort of inscribed runes The ship was held together made of parts supported by light. The ship seemed to float there for a few seconds before Havoc sent a message.
" New star ship, turn back to wherever you come from or be fired upon! In the name of the Overlord out!" Havoc shouted. Strangely there was an instant reply. Text only.
You are doomed. You are pawns of the great enemy. You will be destroyed and your very presence burned from the face of creation. You are little more than stains.
Havoc smiled "So they bring one ship to fight us! Havoc laughed and sent the signal for the IE ships to engage. It would be a very bad decision.
The A'Zores. A Nakai Or'Yoss cruiser now made its way towards the battle, slowly, though it could go much faster its objective wasn't the battle ahead but something unseen. However the Immortal Empire now made its way to attack the ship. In an instant a couple of cruisers that had been close by opened fire. Shots peppered the shields of the cruiser, causing no visible effect. When the cruisers went to pursue energy spikes on the ship's hull signalled the firing of 4 Quantum fire bolts. 2 per cruiser. The bolts impacted the IE cruisers and instantly overloaded shields and vaporised armour leaving the ships little more than masses of atomised matter. The ship continued forward, passing some Tenebrae ships which it paid no heed. Again IE ships came to attack the ship but these were few and in small groups, easy pickings for the Quantum fire bolts. But now the Nakai ship approached the real fighting.
Immortal Empire ships of all sizes prepared themselves, including thousands of drone craft and some of the noise ships. As one they opened fire of the approaching Nakai ship and the void lit up with fire, the shields of the A'Zores glowed golden, but held. The ship itself merely stayed on the same heading. The drones swarmed the ship though the A'Zores anti fighter systems didn't fight back. There was no point. As the Nakai cruiser approached the centre of the blockade the fire intensified, the shield glowed bright gold, then yellow then finally blinding white. Until it was too late, the IE ships had no idea of what happened next.
Havoc watched with disbelief as a massive white shockwave of light emanated from the ship, the IE ships around it exploded as the energy wave impacted each one a few Void jumped in time but not enough, the drones as well being vaporised. The Nakai ship merely kept going. Any ship that survived the blast was then destroyed by Quantum Fire bolts.
Baldwin gripped the Railing of the Captains Nest to steady himself as the Ship took yet another barrage of Fire from the Immortal empire Ships. The shields held up easily against their barrages, but signs of fatigue were already beginning to make themselves evident. the Ships of the Immortal empire had shifted Tactics following their fleets Change to shunting Short distances in a confusion movement. Although. he thought to himself as he pulled himself upright, D.U.M.O.N.T. having shunted the ship out of the Enemies line of fire. It's not the same as our methods He thought back to the Intercepted Transmissions from throughout the Immortal empires fleets. Warnings not to use their Void based jumps too often, only to use them in the event that no other escape routes or methods were available. Perhaps we can take advantage of that, force them to keep Voiding until their systems can't handle it anymore, Although for the love of me I can't understand why they would use such a risky system... his Train of thought was cut off as the alerts of the Tactical Holo of the system mounted in the centre of the nest behind him Pinged as its systems Detected a new ship entering the system. He turned to see long range display windows Show what appeared to be a ship composed entirely of Shards of white metal and glowing light enter the system. A strangely beautiful thing that he recognized almost immediately from ship files he had looked over.
"The Nakai?" he said, as the systems traced the ship towards the centre of the conflicts as I made its way towards one of the orbital battle of the planets in the system, opening fire and destroying the immortal empire ships that opened fire on it like ants held under the gaze of a mag glass. Soon enough the majority of the Enemy ships in orbit around it turned their attention on the alien ship, its radiance being a draw of attention for their captains and commanders. As he watched though, it became apparent what was happening as its glow began to intensify, what he was seeing must have been read by the other Tenebrean ships as well, as any of them within proximity to the Nakai vessel took that moment of hesitation amply Shunt themselves out of orbit and range.
"What the Frack is that thing doing?" one of the technicians manning the Interface-Sync Consoles near him asked.
"I..." he began to answer before bringing his hand up to shield his eyes as the Ship suddenly lit up in momentary brilliance. several alarms going off throughout the bridge as the ships entities read the energy that came off with the blast. As the light died down he brought down his hands slowly, taking a momentary look around. checking to see if the radiance had served to blind him. it hadn't. What the Frack was that? he wondered, turning to look at the Holo display behind him, seeing. with a small amount of shock, that easily a few dozen of the immortal empire ships had been totally vaped in the burst.
"Captain." one of the techs asked again. "What was that?"
He turned, looking his crew in the face, before turning back to the Viewport in the front of the bridge.
"The Nakai." he said. half unbelieving what he had seen. "it was the Nakai, what were they doing? The Union hadn't dropped their act of non-aggression? had they?"
He wondered on it a moment more before the Ships systems began to give off an alarm once again, this one of a different tone and rhythm then the previous, it had a much greater tone of urgency. he turned to the holo-display again, this time taking a moment to walk towards it, pulling up the details of the phenomena detected in the outer orbits of the system, The Wreck of the recently destroyed Traferno being the centre point of it. "The Vortex ship" he thought, thinking back to the last few hours, when the I.R.K. cannons had laid waste to the vessel with repeated passes. "What the frisks going on out there, why haven't they Shunted the wreck out yet?" a few moments of though brought the answer to him, and it was one that he Dreaded even more then the sudden turn in the battle...
More Immortal Empire ships died fiery deaths as the A'Zores continued its seemingly leisurely cruise across the Ambrosius system. Its path it seemed, was taking it past a large clump of asteroids, too small to be classed as anything else. At this point in time the Immortal Empire ships had backed off, seeing the so called flimsy ship as a death sentence a few truly crazed commanders tried to void jump behind it but alas these too led to the ships being blown apart with seemingly ridiculous ease. As the Nakai ship neared the asteroid cluster its path curved around towards one of the last unglassed planets in the system. A small world not very colonised but with IE influence all the same. The Nakai ship then finally powered up its main systems. The large turret mountings on the Nakai ship finally pulsed with power and slowly rotated towards the planet. Long range IE ships and defence stations kept pounding the A'Zores but alas the Nakai ship kept going. Another power build up signified the Nakai ship opening fire and 6 golden beams of light sped towards the planet. The Nakai ship then turned away back towards the Asteroid cluster. As each shot hit the planet large blinding explosions erupted, these spread out across the surface incinerating all on the planet. Leaving large glowing holes where the beams entered. The planet now little more than a burnt ball of rock now joined the others in Ambrosius in destruction.
The A'Zores finally reached its destination. The asteroid cluster. As soon as it did the cruiser fired all available QAC cannons, the beams sped off into seemingly random space, all of a sudden a explosion signified something detonating as the beams hit. Debris flying out in all directions. Clearly what was a ship the A'Zores as strangely as it had come merely jumped out system. Leaving its trail of devastation behind.
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PAVONIS PRIME
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN A NAKAI SHIP ENGAGED IN BATTLE IN THE AMBROSIUS SYSTEM!" The Emperor roared, even over message Hargun felt pure dispair and his heart stopped for a few moments.
"The A'Zores seemed to ignore all orders to disengage and took off, we couldnt track it until the last minute, it wasnt until we had numerous calls from the D.C.I that we knew" Hargun tried to say composing himself.
"This is an outrage! How dare they intervene! Now the Immortal Empire will declare war on the Union and its all because of the Nakai and their damned hatred of all things to do with the Flux" The Emperor said calmer but still angry.
"Information from Tenebrae ships fleeing the battle have told us the Nakai ship cut a swath through IE ships and then glassed a planet and then head to a random location and seemed to destroy a Flux ship... it would seem" Hargun replied. As the most senior commander in Ancerious only knew about the Flux, the Tenebraens had not known merely calling it an unknown stealth class.
"Dammit... I will have Herious on the line, this was his doing! What else?" The Emperor said seething.
"Well... Sir... it seems the Skia also aided the D.C.I in the capture of an Immortal Empire Assault block" Herious readied himself.
"They. Did. WHAT" replied the Emperor.
"It was apparently sanctioned by yourself and their commander is adamant that is so, again we didn't know until after it happened, Tenebrae is grateful that we revoked the non aggression pact... even though we didn't, we haven't replied out of sheer confusion out of what to do" Hargun replied, he literally had no idea what to do, it was only a matter of time now.
"I was also told we have suspicions of Flux ships attacking Tenebrae ships?" The Emperor asked.
"We think so, obviously the DCI have no knowledge about them so we can only speculate"
"So it seems they have pulled the trigger... and we were forced to solely because of our uncontrolled allies... Ok Hargun, wait to hear back from me, do not take another move until then! Understand! And keep close tabs on both the Skia and Nakai... Universes teeth..." The Emperor sighed as he cut the connection and Hargun wiped his brow and sat back.
All the While Sotek smiled.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:56:19 GMT
Location: On the bridge of the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ as she sits in dark space
‘Havoc’ stood there with his mouth slightly agape. Even the two Emerald Swords seemed surprised by what just happened. “…” AMBROSIUS V LOST “I saw. Um… CABAL, what was that ship?” SHIP IS OF UNKOWN ORIGIN. OBSERVED WEAPON AND SHIELD CAPABILITIES PLACES THAT SHIP AT T-8 CLASS. “But it was so small. Like a small… lil’thing.” SIZE DOESN’T ALWAYS INDICATE STRENGTH “Clearly. CABAL, with our losses what does our current chance of success look like?” 76% “So low?” Normal military procedures are to only engage an enemy when victory is guaranteed at 80% or higher. As soon as victory falls below 80% most commanders will pull their forces out. Admittedly this was more of a guide line than a rule and ‘Havoc’ wasn’t about to retreat now. “What would happen if we sent the Void fleet in?” DEPENDING ON HOW MANY SURVIVE THE VOID JUMP, LIKELYHOOD OF VICTORY WILL RISE ANYWHERE FROM 0% TO 13% “Right, soon as that number drops ta 70% I want the Void Fleet sent in. Let’em know now so they can start ta make their way here.” RIGHT AWAY
<><><><>
Time: Day 2 of the Ambrosius Blitz Location: On the bridge of the ‘Leviathan’ as she sits in dark space several million lightyears above the Ancerious galaxy
AMBROSIUS III LOST Homer looked up as the announcement was made. He was armored with only his helmet off. Homer could have been considered good looking, maybe even handsome, if it weren’t for the massive scars and metal plates that covered his head. ”Explain.” ONE STANDARD DAY AGO GRAND ADMIRAL ‘HAVOC’ ENGAGED AN INVADING SPECIES 174 FORCE. JUST NOW SPECIES 174 BOMBARDED AMBROSIUS III UNTIL THE PLANET LOST ITS INTEGRITY. ”CABAL, show me all battle data at one hundred times speed. Afterwards bring up a map of the Tenebraen’s territory. Let’s see what we can destroy." RIGHT AWAY
<><><><>
As the battle played out before Homer he began thoroughly studying the Tenebraens. Their strengths and weaknesses, their strategies, their capabilities and limitations. A day passed and Homer witnessed the Traferno’s arrival, its affect on the battle, and its subsequent destruction. He logged that event away so he could review it more thoroughly later.
Then the A’Zores appeared. He watched as the ship cut a bloody path through the empire’s forces, promptly destroyed a planet, and then , as ‘Havoc’ would later describe it, sauntered off like it owned the universe itself. This new ship concerned Homer greatly. How many of these ships are there? I’m sure the ‘Leviathan’ can handle three, maybe five if I’m careful. And I’m good for, let’s see, six maybe seven. But if there are tens or even hundreds of them there won’t be much I could do. At least, not with our current forces. Raagh! And to make matters worse I can’t call in back-up because this galaxy has to “Prove itself economically and militarily independent.” Bah. I’d have thought Carron would have been more blood thirsty than that. I wonder… ”CABAL, how long until the first batch of T-8 ships is ready?” BEST PROJECTIONS ESTIMATE THAT THE FIRST T-8 SHIP WILL BE READY WITHIN TWO AND A HALF MONTHS ”Well then, I’ll just have to help the grand admiral hold out until we can get those ships into the thick of it."
<><><><>
Location: On the bridge of the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ as she sits in dark space
‘Havoc’ was working furiously to maintain the upper hand in the battle. He was yelling out so many orders that he was going to end up losing his voice before the battle was over. But he had managed to stop the steady decline of their chance of victory at 72%. It didn’t matter if the system was completely destroyed; this was the territory of the Immortal Empire and he wasn’t about to give it to these aliens. Even if the ‘Brutal Aggressor’ had to join the battle.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:56:57 GMT
In the hours throughout the Planetary night following in the wake of the singular rampage of the Nakai warship through the system, it’s Path of destruction cumulating in the near total destruction of one of the last undamaged colony worlds of the Immortal Empire within the system, as well as a massive number of their Warships and defending Drone swarms lost in the initial bombardment of golden light that the alien ship hap opened upon the Defending Immortal empire vessels as they had closed in around it, decimating any of them that had been foolish enough to attempt to stand between it and… Whatever target it had been closing on.
In it’s wake, Tenebrean ships and Drone swarms had broken off their engagements with Whatever ships of the immortal empire that they had been facing at the time, knowing all too well the damage that such a vessel could unleash, getting out of its path as it Slowly, almost casually through the systems orbits, and off into one of the systems asteroid belt.
But in the wake of it’s passing they Regrouped, Their crews Rallying at the at the Devastation of the war fleet of the immortal empire as their commanders had diverted Large numbers of vessels to engage the alien ship, only to lose the vast majority of them in the first initial burst. Taking advantage of the Initial Disorientation and overall shock of the Destruction to shunt in several divisions of Vessels in a movement to sweep the Scattered Immortal empire ships. Moving in Vast spread out formations. ARC Blasts and Degarser bursts and Volleys taking out the disorganized Ships With Atomizing force, blowing several into Smoldering clouds of debris before their crews could grasp what was occurring.
But the Immortal Empire ships, While Caught off guard at first, quickly caught on to the maneuver. Regrouping their vessels into arrow shaped groups and Returning fire as the two fleets throughout the system again closed on each other. It quickly became apparent though, as the Battles throughout the system rekindled themselves. That even with the additions of their maneuvers with their void jumps, the immortal Empire had lost their lead in the battle significantly. The losses they had suffered at the hands of the Nakai ship apparent, as they found themselves. Even with their Increased numbers of drone fleets providing Protection around their Warships and Divisions, losing Greater numbers of ships then the tenebrean fleet. With a Ratio of Three of their own vessels being lost now for every single invading tenebrean ship that was brought down.
But as time went by and the hours fell into the beginning of the forth planetary day of the system, something became apparent to the Commanders and Crews of the defending Immortal empire ships.
The Tenebrean forces were withdrawing throughout the system, using flanking and frontline divisions to engage the remaining Ships of the system and the 52nd war fleet, as the main bulk of their own forces took the chance To Shunt out, and while many of the Immortal empires commanders and captains throughout the system Gloated of their imminent victory from the sudden odd changes of events. Other could not help but remark at the sudden strangeness of it all. The tenebrean fleet after all, had gained an upper hand in the Battle, yet they were retreating from the orbits throughout the system? Sure the system was largely devastated, but many of the settlements on the surfaces of the planets and moons throughout the system still remained standing. Something, they know. That the Tenebreans would not have Left behind.
It just didn’t add up, something, they knew, from their Experiences in their many previous Wars and battles for their empire, as well as with their experience in Exceion, was very wrong with the situation.
Thirty minutes later, as the first of the Gravitational distortions began anew, sending their ships lurching strongly and throwing their crews and captains about, they found out just what it was…
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:59:33 GMT
“If you don't know where you are going any road can take you there” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
---Abrosious System---
"Hot Damn! Look at tha-" The sensor tech's remark was cut off by a shuddering shake as the Gato LR lurched to one side. The Theropodan Captain snarled; "Stow that! Engineering, fuck stealth and put all powered to gravitic nodes! I want a stable gravitic drive unit! They are just black holes for fucks sake!" He turned, "Comms! Get me an open frequency!"
Space crackled out, using the loudest frequency available to overcome subspace distortions; "This is SKSN Reticent to all Coalition units, we have a Class V spatial Distortion. We have found the rabbit hole! All available units in sector make all haste to out coordinates, we are about to drop alice!" He found a touch of amusement flick through his mind as the old terran phrases they had decided on code-words went out over subspace communication.
"Conn bring us to the central black hole. Keep us in position and ready for launch." He turned and walked over to tactical while comms singsonged back; "Captain, we have confirmation from the SKSV Taciturn, Sedate, and Apathetic. They should be in system shortly! Bashful is too far out to respond." The Captain nodded, and looked over the readouts.
The once previously invisible Gato LR, the SKSV Reticent, was no lit up like a roman candle as gravitic waves lit up like the aurora borealis across her gravitic drive bubble, shields washed in waves of white and rainbow as they ionized particles and smaller items hitting them. The ship was in definite turbulent seas as it worked to keep a level keel. Unlike any vessel in the system, the stealth ship was making headway directly for the central - and largest - black hole.
The payload bays of the forward weapons section of the Gato LR carried three items. One named "Freddy", one named "Bob", and a last one named "Alice". Freddy and Bob were rudimentary Class II Blackhole destabilization devices. Designed by Coalition science teams to prevent the use of the much more advanced version of "Alice". Freddy and Bob used a subspace gravitic rip to tear a blackhole's connection apart from it's white hole... in short cause a destabilization in the black hole's 'funnel' long enough to separate the white and black hole from one another and stop any more connection between the two. Effectively killing both.
Alice, on the other hand, was a Class IV Riftbomb. Reverse engineered from a captured IDI "Riftmaker", the weapon used a mix of Thalaron Cascade technology, gravitic burst units, and subspace pulse waves to destabilize a blackhole, akin to Freddy and Bob. The Difference was, when combined with a second 'alice' unit shot into a white-hole... the Subspace pulse-waves and gravitic bursts would come in contact with one another in the mesh of subspace and rather violently reconnect the whitehole and blackhole in a new route.... the Thalaron device would change the Black hole into a full on Wormhole which bridged even the fabric of space time, creating an artificial 'rift'.
Unlike the IDI however, the Coalition could not create black holes at the drop of a hat. Which is why the Gato LRs had been sent to Ancerious in the first place. Their mission was to find a black hole to connect the the pre-primed white hole in thier home rift and convert it into a rifthole.
Suffice to say, the warring factions had just created that black hole and the Coalition wasn't going to pass this chance up. As the Reticent loaded it's devices into the tubes, Freddy and Bob were fired... then, alice went down the rabbit hole.
---Suulegarde System - Serian League Rift---
The Jakeili sitting at the sensor suite looked... bored. That is until the whitehole sitting before the 3rd Coalition Fleet began to destabilize and then, began to implode on itself. "Holy shit! We have confirmed activation of an Alice Device!" he called out, leaning forward towards his screen as the blue ionic clouds twisted around the wormhole's warm golden interior.
The Captain of the HMWS Resplendence, a taller Serian hurried over... his three heads looking at separate sections of the screen. "Do we have confirmation that the Rifthole is stable and open the whole way thr-" He was cut off as the bow section of a Gato LR spun out of the Wormhole... followed by a shotgun pattern of debris. The fading cries of the Emergency beacon of the SKSV Reticent dying away. The Stealth ship had been too close to the Wormhole when it had converted... as well as the secondary blackholes as they destabilized. The gravitic shear had sprayed the vessel across an AU of space.
The Serian sighed, "Monitor the Rifthole, I want to know when it's fully stable." As he turned around... his heart sunk, hearing comms scream out distressedly; "We just lost contact with Therion DesRon 345! CRS Cruiser Flotilla 39 is reporting a IDI Planeswalker has entered the system! They are moving to slow it down, Admiral Fife is ordering Dreadnought and Battleship squadrons 8, 17, 23, and 79 to intercept and slow them down, supporting forces are on the move!"
There was a pause, "We've lost Dreadnought Squadron 8!" Just like that, the Serian Captain realized... Eighteen Dreadnoughts led by four Superdreadnoughts... nearly two million souls... had been wiped off the face of the Galaxy.
He had to act. "Have the Kazekins on our tail, form up the Battlegroup 19 with us. Send DesRon 17 and 91 to form up the Civilians behind the Kazekins. We're making the run, inform Admiral Fife I'll get as many through as I can!" He rushed to CiC. "Coriolis, S'stema take lead, Reichsburgh right behind!"
---
Fireballs, explosions... The insurmountable end to millions of lives burned like a pyre behind Battlegroup 19 and the remains of the 3rd Coalition Fleet as they formed up. There was no bet to who was going to win the battle. One IDI warship, versus nearly two thousand collected warships. The Coalition never stood a chance.
Battlegroup 19 led the way, a collected force of 250 military vessels from every Coalition world. Pushing through the wormhole in unison to save what they could.
--- Abrosious System ---
The demolition of the two sub-black holes had been... violent. The gravitic shear had almost destabilized the evolving wormhole as it shredded the SKSV Reticent. But, the black hole, began to ionize things around it and create the blue 'cloud' around the entrance which began to glow a warm, almost inviting gold as the gravitic shears and destabilization died down and space became almost calm and pleasant for whatever Immortal Empire ships remained.
It didn't last long. Three Gato LRs were gathering targeting information on any vessels left in system...
Then? The fleet emerged into wonderland.
A screen of 30 mixed cruisers, followed by CruRon's 9 Heavy Cruise lead ships... lead the formation that thundered out of the Wormhole, The 5 Battleships, escorted by the 12 Battlecruisers and thier 2 Supporting carriers came in hard behind them. There was a long pause, before... the system became hell.
"Contacts! We have live feed of targeting contacts! CiC Feed is up, gun directors online!" The Serian Admiral nodded, "All ships may commence fire when ready!"
A wall of Fire, HVSDLs, missiles, torpedoes, Laser fire, railgun bolts.... every ship in the fleet opened fire at once and continued firing as fast at their weapons could shoot, hoping that the Absolute 0 of space would cool thier weapons enough that they didn't melt barrels.
As the Destroyers and Light Cruisers of the DesRons came through they swept out to screen for the main battleforce, HVSDL torpedoes and thier own lighter cannons and lasers lancing out at whatever targets they could seek and make a dent in with their concentrated fire.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:05:43 GMT
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. --Abraham Lincoln
--Ambrosius System--
"Sir, we're getting positive reads on all the lead vessels of Battlegroup 19, Industrious, Tireless, and Preserverence are all formed up and breaking off into BatRon 1, 2, and 3. Formation positioning is commencing. CivRon 1 and 2 are bringing themselves together around the Croix and the Abundance. The Croix is reporting multiple C.Q.Ds across the system and is launching Hospital Cruisers. Your commands, Admiral?" The Captain finished his sitrep and looked at the Serian Admiral who nodded his left head, that head speaking, while the other two were busy focusing on two different readouts.
"Contact the Croix. We don't know who just fought here, or what's going on... Collecting wounded would either look like we're collecting POWs or assisting another faction." The Captain shrugged, "I tried, Admiral. But Mr. Antares made it very clear to me... he said; 'We're the Coalition, we save people, it's what we -do-.' and ordered the launching of the Hospital ships anyway." The Admiral shook all three heads, "Not much we can do, then. While I can direct the movements of the Croix in terms of Convoy Escorts. The Coalition Navy cannot direct the use of a Hospital Ship. Task Esc Det 2, 4, and 9 with keeping oversight. Keep at Standoff range, I don't want any rounds flung at those Destroyers or Frigates to come anywhere near those Hospital ships... and I wanna know damn sure who they were aiming at if a Hospital Ship is hit." The Captain nodded, and turned back to his work.
--Ambrosius System, C.H.S. Croix--
The Civilian Fleet was massive, the cluster of ships ranging from the horde of Cruiser sized freighters to the larger 'Habitation ships' the size of battleships seemed to shift and reform about their assigned 'motherships'. There were two of those civilian Motherships, a pair of Titans named the "Croix" and the "Abundance". The massive, white painted hull of the Croix stood in stark contrast to the great black depths of space, almost like a star in and of itself. While the idea of the 'red cross' was not universal... especially in space, where such things could even be determined as an offense or worse... the Red Crosses adorned the vessel. Three independently spinning rings, each spinning the same direction and at the same speed, adorned the amidships of the CHS Croix. As the civilian fleet formed up around the massive white titan, small vessels seemed to detach from the ship, the spinning gravitational wheels seemingly flinging the white, cruiser sized starships into space like a slingshot.
The cruisers were all alike in design, a heavily modified version of the mass produced "Liberty" class general purpose freighter. The cargo platforms that typically had massive connexes mag-locked into place were replaced with massive square constructs built directly into the vessel's hull giving it a squared off, slab sided appearance. The Red Crosses adorned these hospital ships as well as they launched towards any audible distress signals, or any places where the high-power sensors of the Croix picked up life or power signs of perhaps a lifepod or a section of vessel blown off the rest of the ship. As those went to work, a number of entrepreneurial "Mack" Tug operations went to work bringing various semi-intact warship, drone, or otherwise hulls into tow... no doubt with the intent to sell the hulks and hulls to the Military Fleets for scavenging and intelligence later.
The Croix and the Abundance kept close order however, moving stately towards the edge of the system with the continued reminders that if any vessel fell out of the procession, they would be left to the wolves... a sad claim that had come true for months, if not years, in the history of the Coalition Fleet. Were any ships of the various factions in the area watching, even the Croix and Abundance... with their mostly pristine painted hulls... were not devoid of the scars of war. Only the sheer magnitude of their size camouflaged the massive destroyer and even cruiser sized gouges and black scars across their flanks and sides... massive burnt sections and sections being rebuilt on the fly.
--Ambrosius System, HMWS Resplendence--
"Sir, we're getting readings of wreckage being blown through the wormhole and the last of the cruisers of the van are coming through heavily damaged..!" The Jakeili on sensors called out and the Captain hurried over, "Shit..! How mu-" He was cut off as a visible flash caused the entire bridge to first flash white and then go pitch black as the computers darkened the view screens. The Jakeili beat the captain to it, "Wormhole just went soft nova! Someone set off a Hole-Killer in it from the other side!"
The Wormhole had destabilized, energy from the eruption of the 'Hole killer' on the far side spewed out and vaporized four of the fleeing cruisers that had just lunged through to presumed safety... the shock-wave knocked out the van of the civilian fleet, damaging units of DesRon 91 and turning what was left of CruRon 13 into heavily damaged near hulks. Civilian ships and DesRon 17 scrambled to assist their downed and nearly destroyed comrades as Hospital ships nearby the devastation swept back to assist the Coalition survivors. For nearly a full AU around the detonation site, space had been turned into an Atomized wasteland, for 2 AUs in every direction it was like the space inside of a grenade's blast radius.
The Captain looked around, gritting his teeth. Mr. Antares was right, they were the Coalition. They couldn't leave those souls to die. "Communications, call a fu-" He was cut off, "Sir! We're getting a broadband call, translators are doing their best but it looks like we have an unknown and very hostile force inbound on this system!" The Captain looked back and fourth, gritting his teeth, watching the various calls for help and the scattering of ships trying to respond.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't save them all, but... He could save some.
"Comms, inform all escorts to form up on the flank of the civilian fleet, I want every weapon ready for them when they arrive. Inform Mr. Antares that I am ordering him to put all fire behind his ships. We need to GO. NOW!" He turned back towards the visual holographic readout.
He spent the next two hours trying to hide the knot in his stomach, and pull his eyes away from the hologram as blue and green dots winked out as his allies, both civilian and allied, either died or slipped out of sensor range.
--Ambrosius System--
As the end of the time slowly ground to the present... the last of the massive fleet, with what they could scavenge, limped to the slipspace barrier. As the Immortal Empire entered the system... they'd witness the last of the ships of Desron 17 towing the remains of DesRon 91 and CruRon 13... as well as the civilian tugs grabbing whatever they could before slipping out of the system.
Just like that, the Ambrosius System became hallowed ground for 2,700 Coalition Dead, countless ships... and the beginning of a Journey no doubt for 900 Coalition Survivors who couldn't be saved.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:06:18 GMT
Location: The bridge of the ‘Leviathan’ as she waits just outside Ambrosius with the 50th, 51st, and 53rd war fleets
Homer eyed the time as it counted down. Only fifty-five more seconds until they would move to evict the trespassers. With three war fleets, the ‘Leviathan,’ and the last Assault Block at his command, he doubted the task would be particularly hard. As he stared at the holo-map of the system he saw the invader’s fleet start to jump out of the system. The timer reached zero and Homer made his announcement across the fleets. ”Times up. Everybody move in. Expect hostilities.”
The fleets began to jump into the system. The first ones in were there just in time to see the last of the _ leave. They had left behind a few ships and some of the faster ships sped towards them to engage, weaving their way through debris to do so. The drones that were left in the system were given new purpose and began to regroup with the fleets. Almost immediately the captains of the cruiser thought something was off when the enemy ships failed to move to engage. They turned their attention to what their scans told them and found the ships crippled. The cruisers closed in on the stricken ships, now more curious than hostile. The admirals ordered the ships boarded and the crew taken prisoner. They would determine what to do with them later. The ships of the Tenebraens, what few remained, too were boarded. However, the crew of those ships, both expecting and dreading this, fought fiercely to protect themselves from the cyborg titans that now roamed their stricken vessels. Very few were taken alive, and fewer still were uninjured. Carron himself traveled to Ancerious specifically to, in his words, interview them for a part in an upcoming video he had in mind.
Already two of the war fleets were leaving the system, returning to where they were needed. The ‘Leviathan’ likewise left, heading to meet up with the 54th warfleet, several thousand lightyears above the galaxy. Only the 51st remained, and only to make sure that no one else tried to move into the system, erasing the empire’s hard work in maintaining control.
<><><><>
Location: The Ambrosius System 16 hours later
The system was flooded with ships. Some were war ships, there to protect the workers from any attacks. The rest were Planetary Harvesters. The harvester ships flew through the ravaged system, towing crippled ships to be repaired, gathering the scraps in their great holds and taking them to forge worlds, where the raw material will be shaped into new weapons of war. Most importantly though, many where gathering the debris pulled free from destruction of Ambrosius III by the black holes and scattered even further by the collapsing wormhole and depositing it back on the ruined planet. It took days of work from thousands of ships, but the planet was again starting to take roughly spherical shape and the system was starting to be safe for standard travel again. On day six the science vessel, the ‘Light of Discovery,’ entered the system. The planetary harvesters vacated the area surrounding Ambrosius III in anticipation of what was to come.
<><><><>
Location: The ‘Light of Discovery’
Acolyte Sheron stood on the bridge, looking at a magnified image of the ruined planet. For the past year she had been helping to make sense of what the Immortal Empire had found in an interesting nebula formation and turning it toward a practical use. And while all of her small scale tests had been successful, she now had to reconstruct an entire planet with the, still in development, Hobolt device. While she would have done this eventually she wanted more time for large scale testing. But with the Tenebreans slaging a planet, it offered an excellent opportunity and reason to use the device. The head scientist of the project, Liara Hobolt, walked over to Sheron. Liara asked, “Think it will work?” “All data says it will.” “And what do you think?” “I think that while the device will restore the atmosphere and life. I doubt it will be capable of reforming the planet to functional order. The protomatter is inherently unstable. If it imparts those properties to the planet it might implode on itself.” “Excellent. Remember to never rely solely on data. Instinct and intuition are just as important to us as raw data. Now, I would agree with you if we were using stray matter to form a planet, but we have a more or less intact planet to use as a base. I highly doubt that we have to worry too much about instability.” Sheron nodded before saying, “I hope you’re right.” “What about this war? Think we’ll lose any more planets?” “Once the Tenebraens learn that simply reducing a planet to an uninhabitable chunk is a waste of time, I think they will either start trying planetary occupations or they will reveal that they can more thoroughly destroy planets. Neither is pleasant for us.”
The two were interrupted when CABAL made an announcement LAUNCH OF THE HOBOLT DEVICE WILL COMMENCE IN TWENTY MINUTES ON MY MARK…MARK
<><><><>
The ‘Light of Discovery’ sat watching the ruined planet slowly rotating as it orbited its star. This system was now important to the Immortal Empire. It spoke of their strength to resist attacks. And if this worked, their ability to rebuild after those attacks. The other ships in the system turned their attention to the dead planet, curious to see why they had worked so hard to reform the planet. The science vessel launched what appeared to be a small missile at the slowly rotating dead planet. Upon impact the surface of the planet began to glow red as the protomatter rapidly forced the planet’s matter to conform to the design matrix of the Hobolt device. In a matter of hours the planet was already starting to cool down, and within a day life was starting to form. In less than a week the process would be complete and the colonists that had been evacuated before the Ambrosius Blitz would return to find a new home for them and their families. They returned to find the planet supported more life than it had before. It was turned into a garden world. Hence forth the planet world remain largely undeveloped, a world were others went to relax.
News of the event was broadcast across the Immortal Empire.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:08:31 GMT
You know, one race will not be a survivor if the other one dies, and that's something that we should think about. Alice Walker
== o(O)o ==
3.5 Hours before Immortal Empire Arrival
In the swirling aftermath of the contfrontation that would come to be known as the battle of the Ambrosius sector or, to some 'Havoc's Folly' and the confrtontation after it would be known that not all was well. The galaxy was at war, but of course this is not a story of that war but rather one of nations taking great risk to offer aid to an unknown species. Through the depths of space two craft lost form their SSC convoy and officially considered missing in action sped through the bleakness of the space between systems. Both were hurtling on a course towards the same contested sector and a brush with the unknown. The two Marikovs continued their cruise, Maintaining a relatively straight course and heading. The debris feild fromt he battle dotted the distance, somewhat like the resulting dust cast about by a detonation bits of shattered warships dotted space changing it's color as their scoreched wrecks caught the light at differing angles turning blackness with dots of light into something resembling the same but with a patina of dust or grit making the area appear somewhat as if it was the galaxy's dustbin.
"Commander, this does not look anything like the convoy, unless the worst occurred and there were more ships then planned." "It is clearly not but with navigation down, we either keep going and avoid being shot or sit still and risk being picked off...this is at least something other then featureless space." "Any word from medical?" "No, they're packed half the crew is down there twitching and frothing..."
The two drop ships continued onward, towards the debris feild, at the current range they could not quite tell who's ruind ships were whos. The distance played it's great tricks on the two vessels sensors even as it grew on the navigationa charts of each. The bridge of S-307, the lead of the two drop ships was, claustrophobic affair as the entire command. The ships acting captain, actually a commander, paced nervously as the ship under steady acceleration created a semblance of gravity. The bridge crew was lacking, as most were injured or in sickbay at the moment. This left the commander, a helmsman and one injured sensor tech to run the show.
"theirs a lot of noise sir, there are ships still int he process of slowly going critical, things hitting each other, bleeding communications stuck in loop, it's hard to tell, we'd need to be much closer to begin filtering..." "Hmmm keep looking, helm turn nine degrees to starboard." "Oh sir one more thing, the scope is clear of enemy hostiles of any sort but the way they snuck up on the convoy we cant be sure."
== o(O)o ==
3.2 Hours before Immortal Empire Arrival
From within its refuge in the repair bay of the damaged Carrier destroyer. The crew of the Medain held a clear view of the sight of the post battle system on their long range Readouts and Visual systems, and for what seemed like the first time they saw how absolutely in ruins the system was. Clouds and trails of debris floated in the void, following in paths of the empires fleets as they had clashed throughout the orbits of the system. Thousands of souls dying every minute, throwing themselves to the void in the name of the empires they fought for. It was a sight that had chilled many of them, weather living tenebrean or Calvara alike as they watched the system turn from a raging battlefield to a nearly silent graveyard. The Dead silence inter spaced by the occasional distress beacons sent out by Tenebrean and Immortal empire vessels alike throughout the orbits and atmospheres of the ruined planets.
It was a Sight that Weighed on Captain Baldwin Heavily as he strode before the Central holo display of the cruisers bridge, The projected images displaying the Readouts of the progress on the repair of his crafts rift drive from the decimated carriers own intact systems. Their own Crafts systems had been disabled by enemy fire in the first 48 hours of the battle, as fire from an Ie T-2 type vessel had peppered their hull. One of the shots piercing both their shields and multi layered armored hull. The bolt of energy skewering and completely frying the engine module of their rift drive capabilities, Leaving the inter-system escort and a handful of Smaller Frigates stranded in the system once the black hole had opened and the fleet, following protocol had shunted out.
They had hidden themselves in the hulk of one of the few remaining tenebrean ships in the system, for repairs not long after regrouping. Not long after that, the Black hole had... Changed. opening into something akin to a Towers Gateway, Allowing a Fleet of alien looking craft to pour through, forcing them to lay low under their Cloaking Tech as the unknown ships had commenced Salvage operations on the ships drifting around them.
"Captain?"
""This is Captain baldwin reporting. What is the status on our repairs?"
"We're making progress sir, The Carriers primary Engine block is still intact. We're pulling the R-Drive module from it now, it'llbe a bit makeshift, But It'll at least get us out of IE space."
"Good, the sooner the better. i dont want to be around here whe the Immortal Empire comes after... Whatever came through that Gateway."
Baldwin closed the link as the Engineers report came to an end, He sighed in frustration... There were more survivors of the battle scattered around the system surely, other tenebreans Stranded onboard crippled or dieing cruisers and escourts. But while their ship might be able to make a jump, the fragile Repairs to their Rift Drive,its towing capabilities were limited. They could pull one or two ships behind them at the very most, but no more. Only adding to their delema was the question of weather or not they could remain under the new factions Detection while enacting possible rescues quickly enough to escape the returning fleets of the IE. He Rubbed his forehead in frustration, It was going to be a difficult maneuver...
Then the Gateway Collapsed on itself. The Implosion Going off without warning or apparent reason, Lighting up the system in a blinding Flash of white light.
Gritting, he turned towards the bridges viewport, only to bring his hand up to his eyes to shield them from the light as the Ship lurched along with the battered hulk of the carrier as the previously stable Gateway the Black hole had become seemingly imploded on itself from within, sending out a brillient display of light and force that could potentially be seen from light years away. over his comms he heard the Startled reports from the crews of the small flotilla as they in turn felt the force of the collapse. The Blast wave emanating outward forcing the hulk of the carrier they were docked with the be pushed outward away from the blast, sending it on an aimless beeline towards the outer rims of the System.
== o(O)o ==
2.1 Hours before Immortal Empire Arrival
Varendes watched. Slipspace was a sort of boring and uneventful place in which the blue hue of the weird artifically created realm permetated everything. He was en route to the rescently dubbed Ambrosius masscare to look for survivors and help anyone who needed assisting. This had come about due to the Tenebreans receiving word of unknown ships who had been damaged after an eventful opening... Varendes didnt know what to exepect, though he knew the IE would most likely try to stop them. He and his small fleet was a liason fleet to Tenebrae in order to help border patrols and defense. it was soley these few Union men and women who were able to help. When Mirach was up and running no such issue would be encountered but until then they were on their own. Varendes was working alongside a Tenebrean fleet and together they would try to help survivors.... if there were an left...
"Helm, time to arrival?"
"15 minutes sir" came the reply
"Good make sure our freinds are ready this is gonna be one hell of a mess..."
Varendes Watched as the ship lurched and the tormented star of the Ambrosius system appeared on the view screen. Instantly the holo table was full of contacts around 78% were hulks drifting... completely destroyed. The others were more lively hulks of both nations alongside some unknown contacts which appeared damaged.
"Helm scan all ships and tell me if there are any survivors... I want to know who we can save and who we cant Right now!"
"Yes sir!" came the reply
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