Post by EmperorMyric on Feb 6, 2022 11:24:50 GMT
Unexplored Deep: Golden Expanse
Fuzzyninja1010 also known as the ‘Grizzly Bear’ never knew what had hit him.
One moment the energy signatures had appeared and the next his stream went dark. His ship and himself had been reduced to their constituent quarks, now free to roam the currents Golden Expanse without worry for the rest of time.
Having been charted to plot a safe course to a particular anomaly by a prospecting company Grizzly Bear had no idea that his true benefactors had been the Ghosts of the Tradex. Always unwilling to risk themselves in pursuit of dangerous goals they had chosen the Cherenkov streamer to chart the path, braving gravitational eddies, interdiction storms and rogue black holes he had proven his skill again and again.
Eventually he had found what they wanted, two ships had trailed him the entire way at distance, ensuring that they would be on scene immediately, and be able to ensure the route was genuine. However despite his skill and his usefulness Grizzly Bear could never have been allowed to properly record what he had found, the stream had been a stretch but given the current crisis virtually no individual or nation would fund or operate another expedition this deep into the expanse. Not even the Cherenkov Guild themselves. As such, the Unnamed were quite secure in knowing that this time they had ensured the security of the region.
And for good reason, their objective was not a conventional one.
The living ships moved forward at speed, sensors scanning the strange anomaly before them.
The Firstborn of Atu.
It was a fetus that was for sure, although it was totally unlike anything the galaxy had been before. Utterly priceless the Unnamed had sacrificed much to secure it, afterall the entire Threshold incident had been purely to secure the Firstborn. An unborn Knrr Great One, one of their very gods who they had looked to for guidance in ancient days.
The Unnamed may have been a different set of races in the modern era, but their racial memories remain. All knew about the Knrr Great Ones, and their entire uniform objective for decades was finding the Firstborn and securing it, based on tell tale sightings and strange sensor logs.
But now it was before them.
The two vessels secured the area, they were only the first.
There was much to do.
Aedleshaven: Golden Expanse
All the damn terraforming and they still couldn't get rid of all the dust.
Harriet held her hand up to her face, trying to see carefully against the bright sunlight that covered the ash and grit wastelands. It was still absolute hell out here, despite everything they had done the ash wastes were not the kind of area you wanted to hang around in long.
And now with the actual sun coming out to heat them, terrible storms could crop up at a moment's notice.
Ironic given the entire planet was covered with storms only several months ago.
She dragged the contained up another ash dune, grunting as she lumped it onto the ground and undid the locks. Inside she brought out several bits and pieces, each one part of a multispectral surveying device. Carefully she clipped pieces together, making sure to do so with her back to the grit and dust flying in the wind. She didn't want it spoiling her apparatus.
Finally she erected the tripod that came in the case, it almost flew away in a large burst of wind causing her to curse loudly.
“Abelcain claiming he fixed the damn planet fuck him sideways!”
Planting the tripod firmly into the ash drift was the highest point for the area around. There was no point trying to hack into orbital satellites and get LIDAR readings of the area, it would simply be too obvious.
No, it had to be done the old fashion way.
Looking into the viewfinder the small UI helped her navigate some of the buttons. With clicks and changes of settings she panned the device around in a full 360 rotation, scanning and building up a full 3D model of the area around her for kilometers. Harriet had already done the ground sampling, a process that had taken a week and annoyed her greatly. But finding this surveying device had taken a great deal of time and effort. Such gear was almost totally reserved for the OMPAF For their civilian direct contractors. To get such here was a real find.
As the 3D piece compiled she took one more look around.
Despite the fact it was a windy and gritty open plain it was undeniably quiet and unspoilt.
Harriet almost felt bad.
Her benefactors had tasked her with mapping it and sending the information off in short order. They always paid well, and she didn't care who she worked for. As Harriet packed the equipment away again, wiping off grit and ash she took one last look up.
“It's going to be quite the spectacle when SAGA chooses this as a landing site”
Aedleshaven Corridor: Golden Expanse
So many nations were descending on Aedleshaven.
With the forces of Corona merely weeks away, and the fleets of SAGA and CONA set to depart shortly, it was up to the OMPAF Aedleshaven Defence Fleet to hold the line. To police the corridor and their own territory, to stop the colonials and enemies of the state from raiding and attempting to mine.
Already patrol fleets had been wiped out, small raids by smaller parties, pirates or unknown assailants. Command was trying to keep on top of them, immediately plugging gaps in the line or sending reinforcements to drive off the likes of EOTL who frequently assaulted and attacked isolated pickets.
But this time there was no attack.
Even as a sizable fleet slipped into the area, effortlessly passing through the cordone there was no detections or weapons fire.
The organic living ships of the Unnamed themselves were on the move. No mere operation with proxies would this be, albeit they had plenty of those on standby within both CONA and SAGA forces. No. This was an operation in which the Atu themselves would partake.
Silently shifting in system the Unnamed fleet would lie in wait and read the ebb and flow of what was to come. Some forces, along with support elements unseen so far to the galaxy's eyes moving into the corridor proper, intent on reinforcing the secured Firstborn in the Expanse's depths. But the rest stayed silent, hidden and still. They would survey everything that happened, and ensure that any events would go smoothly to plan for their own benefit.
Already small quantum messages were being sent to various assets, the Tranatonians and agents in the system.
Things were in place.
Now they would only have to wait.
Aedleshaven Corridor: Golden Corridor
Admiral Crance was not exactly thrilled with her assignment.
The Triarch Defense Force, a fleet of 95 vessels including her own flagship the Michion now made their way through the Golden Corridor. None of their stealth systems were engaged, none of their weapon systems were powered, and their drives were running low just so they could stay at the same pace as their allotted assets.
It felt like they were hamstrung.
The fleet was arrayed in a defensive formation around six massive Yamanakako haulers, each one far bigger than the Michion and absolutely stuffed with cargo. Supposedly they were critical to the corporations operations in the Depths and would help the outpost within the Expanse have the defensive capabilities and supplies to defend itself. But Crance had a nagging feeling that there was more to them than that.
Just the fact they were defending assets of the company that had torn down Triarch Industries angered her. Now however wasn't the time to be angry.
Triarch Inc. Had been asked to provide defense to all Rangvald assets in the expanse region, and as such Crance and her fleet would be moved around depending on what needed protection at the time.
The first had been these huge haulers, which they had escorted since the Aedleshaven boundary. She had even been surprised when the Triarch fleet had been allowed to pass, given they were technically Colonials the ties to Yamanakako was probably more than enough to allow them to pass. Quite ironic.
“Status?” She called out, somewhat bored.
“No change Admiral. Arrival to the Depths in approximately 4 hours. There we oversee handover and prepare for the next operation” She nodded, sitting back into the chair.
Being an admiral was extremely boring, up until the rounds started flying.
But even then she had to wait a few weeks for that.
“Update me if anything changes”
—--
Crance had indeed been right. Deep within the Haulers, surrounded by masses of supplies and more sat six familiar sights, totally inactive and invisible to easy scans. Their spherical shape belied their purpose, once constructed by the Unnamed during the Threshold incident these smaller and more refined versions had been constructed by Itokawa in the years since. They would be brought into key positions inside the Expanse.
All would be part of the overarching plan.
Unknown Location: Lost Star
The dull glow of the small holographic presentation bathed the rather old and run down building in a sickly pink glow, casting long shadows across the room and causing Dibs own shadow to writhe and move as if it was inhuman.
He sat smiling, seeing the small updates as agents, assets and forces reported in.
So much invested in such a small area. How exciting, it hadn't been this busy since the Threshold.
The huge red blob of the Coronan fleet was drawing ever closer, the catalyst for all of this. Both SAGA and CONA would deploy soon, but neither would try to engage Corona. Whoever did would be in a poor position to engage the other and would hand victory over immediately. No doubt there would be much posturing, standoffs and more, but eventually their hands would be tipped.
Thankfully Dib and his associates were ready to do that for them.
Plants in both fleets were available, along with plants within Aedleshaven. Not to mention both their own forces on site along with those of the Tranatonians who no doubt had their own plants.
What interesting people they were.
It was all fun and games working with a potential piece of competition, but soon they would have to be dealt with of course.
Couldn't have another force operating like them around, it could cause too many problems.
The chair Dib sat in creaked as he leant back, quite pleased overall.
The shadows behind him stretched and contorted as he did so, an inhuman and alien form appearing just behind him.
Oh it did feel good to be out of the body sometimes.
Fuzzyninja1010 also known as the ‘Grizzly Bear’ never knew what had hit him.
One moment the energy signatures had appeared and the next his stream went dark. His ship and himself had been reduced to their constituent quarks, now free to roam the currents Golden Expanse without worry for the rest of time.
Having been charted to plot a safe course to a particular anomaly by a prospecting company Grizzly Bear had no idea that his true benefactors had been the Ghosts of the Tradex. Always unwilling to risk themselves in pursuit of dangerous goals they had chosen the Cherenkov streamer to chart the path, braving gravitational eddies, interdiction storms and rogue black holes he had proven his skill again and again.
Eventually he had found what they wanted, two ships had trailed him the entire way at distance, ensuring that they would be on scene immediately, and be able to ensure the route was genuine. However despite his skill and his usefulness Grizzly Bear could never have been allowed to properly record what he had found, the stream had been a stretch but given the current crisis virtually no individual or nation would fund or operate another expedition this deep into the expanse. Not even the Cherenkov Guild themselves. As such, the Unnamed were quite secure in knowing that this time they had ensured the security of the region.
And for good reason, their objective was not a conventional one.
The living ships moved forward at speed, sensors scanning the strange anomaly before them.
The Firstborn of Atu.
It was a fetus that was for sure, although it was totally unlike anything the galaxy had been before. Utterly priceless the Unnamed had sacrificed much to secure it, afterall the entire Threshold incident had been purely to secure the Firstborn. An unborn Knrr Great One, one of their very gods who they had looked to for guidance in ancient days.
The Unnamed may have been a different set of races in the modern era, but their racial memories remain. All knew about the Knrr Great Ones, and their entire uniform objective for decades was finding the Firstborn and securing it, based on tell tale sightings and strange sensor logs.
But now it was before them.
The two vessels secured the area, they were only the first.
There was much to do.
Aedleshaven: Golden Expanse
All the damn terraforming and they still couldn't get rid of all the dust.
Harriet held her hand up to her face, trying to see carefully against the bright sunlight that covered the ash and grit wastelands. It was still absolute hell out here, despite everything they had done the ash wastes were not the kind of area you wanted to hang around in long.
And now with the actual sun coming out to heat them, terrible storms could crop up at a moment's notice.
Ironic given the entire planet was covered with storms only several months ago.
She dragged the contained up another ash dune, grunting as she lumped it onto the ground and undid the locks. Inside she brought out several bits and pieces, each one part of a multispectral surveying device. Carefully she clipped pieces together, making sure to do so with her back to the grit and dust flying in the wind. She didn't want it spoiling her apparatus.
Finally she erected the tripod that came in the case, it almost flew away in a large burst of wind causing her to curse loudly.
“Abelcain claiming he fixed the damn planet fuck him sideways!”
Planting the tripod firmly into the ash drift was the highest point for the area around. There was no point trying to hack into orbital satellites and get LIDAR readings of the area, it would simply be too obvious.
No, it had to be done the old fashion way.
Looking into the viewfinder the small UI helped her navigate some of the buttons. With clicks and changes of settings she panned the device around in a full 360 rotation, scanning and building up a full 3D model of the area around her for kilometers. Harriet had already done the ground sampling, a process that had taken a week and annoyed her greatly. But finding this surveying device had taken a great deal of time and effort. Such gear was almost totally reserved for the OMPAF For their civilian direct contractors. To get such here was a real find.
As the 3D piece compiled she took one more look around.
Despite the fact it was a windy and gritty open plain it was undeniably quiet and unspoilt.
Harriet almost felt bad.
Her benefactors had tasked her with mapping it and sending the information off in short order. They always paid well, and she didn't care who she worked for. As Harriet packed the equipment away again, wiping off grit and ash she took one last look up.
“It's going to be quite the spectacle when SAGA chooses this as a landing site”
Aedleshaven Corridor: Golden Expanse
So many nations were descending on Aedleshaven.
With the forces of Corona merely weeks away, and the fleets of SAGA and CONA set to depart shortly, it was up to the OMPAF Aedleshaven Defence Fleet to hold the line. To police the corridor and their own territory, to stop the colonials and enemies of the state from raiding and attempting to mine.
Already patrol fleets had been wiped out, small raids by smaller parties, pirates or unknown assailants. Command was trying to keep on top of them, immediately plugging gaps in the line or sending reinforcements to drive off the likes of EOTL who frequently assaulted and attacked isolated pickets.
But this time there was no attack.
Even as a sizable fleet slipped into the area, effortlessly passing through the cordone there was no detections or weapons fire.
The organic living ships of the Unnamed themselves were on the move. No mere operation with proxies would this be, albeit they had plenty of those on standby within both CONA and SAGA forces. No. This was an operation in which the Atu themselves would partake.
Silently shifting in system the Unnamed fleet would lie in wait and read the ebb and flow of what was to come. Some forces, along with support elements unseen so far to the galaxy's eyes moving into the corridor proper, intent on reinforcing the secured Firstborn in the Expanse's depths. But the rest stayed silent, hidden and still. They would survey everything that happened, and ensure that any events would go smoothly to plan for their own benefit.
Already small quantum messages were being sent to various assets, the Tranatonians and agents in the system.
Things were in place.
Now they would only have to wait.
Aedleshaven Corridor: Golden Corridor
Admiral Crance was not exactly thrilled with her assignment.
The Triarch Defense Force, a fleet of 95 vessels including her own flagship the Michion now made their way through the Golden Corridor. None of their stealth systems were engaged, none of their weapon systems were powered, and their drives were running low just so they could stay at the same pace as their allotted assets.
It felt like they were hamstrung.
The fleet was arrayed in a defensive formation around six massive Yamanakako haulers, each one far bigger than the Michion and absolutely stuffed with cargo. Supposedly they were critical to the corporations operations in the Depths and would help the outpost within the Expanse have the defensive capabilities and supplies to defend itself. But Crance had a nagging feeling that there was more to them than that.
Just the fact they were defending assets of the company that had torn down Triarch Industries angered her. Now however wasn't the time to be angry.
Triarch Inc. Had been asked to provide defense to all Rangvald assets in the expanse region, and as such Crance and her fleet would be moved around depending on what needed protection at the time.
The first had been these huge haulers, which they had escorted since the Aedleshaven boundary. She had even been surprised when the Triarch fleet had been allowed to pass, given they were technically Colonials the ties to Yamanakako was probably more than enough to allow them to pass. Quite ironic.
“Status?” She called out, somewhat bored.
“No change Admiral. Arrival to the Depths in approximately 4 hours. There we oversee handover and prepare for the next operation” She nodded, sitting back into the chair.
Being an admiral was extremely boring, up until the rounds started flying.
But even then she had to wait a few weeks for that.
“Update me if anything changes”
—--
Crance had indeed been right. Deep within the Haulers, surrounded by masses of supplies and more sat six familiar sights, totally inactive and invisible to easy scans. Their spherical shape belied their purpose, once constructed by the Unnamed during the Threshold incident these smaller and more refined versions had been constructed by Itokawa in the years since. They would be brought into key positions inside the Expanse.
All would be part of the overarching plan.
Unknown Location: Lost Star
The dull glow of the small holographic presentation bathed the rather old and run down building in a sickly pink glow, casting long shadows across the room and causing Dibs own shadow to writhe and move as if it was inhuman.
He sat smiling, seeing the small updates as agents, assets and forces reported in.
So much invested in such a small area. How exciting, it hadn't been this busy since the Threshold.
The huge red blob of the Coronan fleet was drawing ever closer, the catalyst for all of this. Both SAGA and CONA would deploy soon, but neither would try to engage Corona. Whoever did would be in a poor position to engage the other and would hand victory over immediately. No doubt there would be much posturing, standoffs and more, but eventually their hands would be tipped.
Thankfully Dib and his associates were ready to do that for them.
Plants in both fleets were available, along with plants within Aedleshaven. Not to mention both their own forces on site along with those of the Tranatonians who no doubt had their own plants.
What interesting people they were.
It was all fun and games working with a potential piece of competition, but soon they would have to be dealt with of course.
Couldn't have another force operating like them around, it could cause too many problems.
The chair Dib sat in creaked as he leant back, quite pleased overall.
The shadows behind him stretched and contorted as he did so, an inhuman and alien form appearing just behind him.
Oh it did feel good to be out of the body sometimes.