Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:59:33 GMT
12:01:42 Tenebrae-Immortal Empire Battle Front, 2056
As with anything else time brought changes and those changes for the science fleet operating just outside of Immortal empire space changes brought a certain weight to their role in the ongoing conflict. The formal declaration of conflict had been issued a few months prior, admittedly less an actual declaration but rather a statement intended as symbolism. The folks up to who signed it understood it was more or less a cold war declaration. If the Immortal Empire didn’t actively initiate aggression there would be none in return. The flux however, were included in the declaration had already initiated aggression and they were not granted the formality of a cold war status. Even the flux’s botched negotiations attempt which ironically went through all the wrong channels seemingly demonstrating an utter lack or regard for the culture with which they attempted communications further aggravated the situation. When one approaches a military fleet and expects diplomacy typically one gets a bad result. Numerous schools of thought back home pondered the strange action through numerous lenses, was it that the flux were just enormously inept socially? Could it be that their alarming use of temporal tech had rendered them pariahs for so long they had effectively evolved to be utterly incapable of conversing with other species on an equal level? Perhaps it was that the Flux simply also sent the wrong representative and had no idea what they were encountering.
Many such thoughts had been uttered amongst those in the know across the science fleet that had seemingly formed an odd sort of border blockade. The flux had become the topic of private discussion every time some bit of info came down the line from home or was exchanged between transferring officers as the ships cycled in and out. In deed the Immortal empires seeming inaction had paid off, the entire science fleet had been quietly replaced and enlarged three times thus far. The new ships possessing upgrades to match technical sophistication arrived bearing the same codes as their predecessors. Hull markings were carefully duplicated down to the smallest scratch and emissions were carefully duplicated to the finite particle. At a glance the fleet had only grown by 50% but the original deployment of vessels had never left. The Science fleet had become a science armada and the rear lines of the Tenebrae front (their assault into IE territory) remained open and uncontested thus far. Precautions for the change in situation were planned, requisitioned and laid. The Immortal Empire would have to wise up eventually and when they did, it meant of course handling the fallout. For a fleet of science vessels this meant making some inventive means to mask the exact number of ships their preparedness and other sorts of things. The occasional ranged pinging of Immortal empire vessels for sensory data using the sophisticated arrays of the fleet became a normal affair. Any vessel that wasn’t clearly flagged Tenebrae or another allied nation was scrutinized as best as possible at the longest ranges allowed by the fleet. No further action was taken but it was likely certain, that the information was being relayed…
Intelligence gathering aside he science armada had one standing order, to remain in position and not initiate hostilities. Though perhaps not surprisingly, one would have to wonder other than being a mind irritant why anyone might post so many science ships guarded by sloops so close to a warzone. What indeed was the real endgame to such a maneuver, surely such a thing so far from home port was difficult to keep supplied and manned. Allies likewise might wonder why the SSC had not made a single aggressive action barring a few interception attempts against the flux. Was the SSC more flash then detonation or was it just a careful head game with something more valuable then body counts on the line?
14:18:22 Haran Strait, R.U.S.E. Command, 2056
The touch and go static noise of the galaxy was the matter at hand… for the network that sprawled across a familiar swathe of the galaxy it was of utmost importance. The noise was that of ships moving, the void distorting and the galaxy itself imperceptibly rotating. Planets spun lazily in their solar systems as the assorted anomalies and phenomena of the galaxy all imparted their own tones to the immensely informative ‘white noise’ of the galaxy as a whole. Were one to focus on a bit, perhaps the battle front between Carnaith and immortal empire they might hear the telltale metallic rattle of ships being hit, the wheeze of atmosphere being vented and perhaps the strained wail of structural members rendered beyond their tensile strengths. The finality of it all was a muffled explosion not unlike a small firecracker detonating in a quart sauce pan. The visual spectrum showed the flashes through the cosmic clutter as mockeries of stars going nova or winking into existence. The ends were almost pretty like a sick parody of a fireworks show except for those observing it was clear the consequence of each such detonation. Someone somewhere has their life snuffed, their ship mates, their enemies all wiped from being in some ultimately trivial war brought about by a difference of opinion or perhaps the corrupt whisperings of someone claiming to be in the know. Friend and foe alike all met this finality in the span of seconds across the Tenebrae and Carnaith invasion zones with the two trading losses against the Immortal Empire who seemed not unlike an actual Hydra. Every time the two allies lopped off something the Immortal Empire seemed somehow to regenerate the loss in proportion.
As one commenter put it, watching the Tenebrae and Carnaith tear up Immortal empire territory had all the adventure of watching a pair of racing steam rollers go through a parking lot full of two-foot cement parking blocks. The galactic phenomena itself was more eventful, watching the cosmos for super nova, navigational hazards and fleet movements was more rewarding from an intelligence gathering perspective. Sure the Immortal empire would fight to the last in the invasion zones, but realistically they as of yet had not realized clearly any of their advantages. Thus it was in the long run a likely hood that the Tenebrae and Carnaith had a high probability of plowing through to the capitol sector and sieging or overrunning it and forcing the Immortal Empire to capitulate. The scenario itself was run out with numerous variables by the Officers of RUSE, and Regional Intelligence Command. Contingencies for a number of eventualities were already in the works, and the stream of data from the aptly named science armada at the border was aiding in providing critical data that might be relayed.
This indeed was the nature of war and reconnaissance, to observe unseen and thus it remained the SSC patiently eavesdropped, on the generality of the galaxy. The idea was to keep watch over movement and actual confrontations, all vessels even if they skipped out of the current universe made noise of sorts by way of energy. This energy created effective wakes of a sort in certain patterns that often could be used to determine heading direction or at least final destination. Here and there an irate noise could be heard, someone trying to interrupt the flow. For them they might have assumed success, but for the collected personnel of R.U.S.E. It was a trivial annoyance something to be ignored the stream of data was maintained regardless of the attempt. Even so…resources were diverted towards locating the precise origin of the almost obscene scratching as it rattled lowly across all common spectrums. Octronic systems set to the task at first listened collecting samples of the noise from numerous spectrums and locations while the system’s handlers compared the information and ordered an array of comparative diagnostics. Cross references and linear matrices were created to compare the odd attempt, to previously known ones of both intentional and accidental origins. This route proved to be a dead end as whatever it was matched no prior event records…the Handlers of the system opted then to compare it to known artificial origins starting with the emissions of star bases, inhabited planets and space battles but no, still not quite. The energy itself was artificial, but not of any known nations standard array of energy pollution. The artificial interference was checked carefully against known jamming frequencies and astrological phenomena that exhibited the same range of effects. The handlers of the system found critical similarities there…but no precise match, no smoking gun though it became clear they were onto something. By chance an ensign happened upon an old test recording from when one of the remote cores was accidentally activated in transit to hub 43.
The alarming sound, the seemingly amateur attempt at interference could not be pinpointed to within a few meters but its astronomical unit location could be for the interference displayed a simple traceable trait that any astrophysicist could spot even blind folded. From this trace data the origins of the noise were localized. Across the holographic map the base emissions positions of the offending signal were bracketed. The game was afoot and the unknown adversary had already made the first mistake. SSC now had the complete luxury of making sure they would never know how badly they erred.
As with anything else time brought changes and those changes for the science fleet operating just outside of Immortal empire space changes brought a certain weight to their role in the ongoing conflict. The formal declaration of conflict had been issued a few months prior, admittedly less an actual declaration but rather a statement intended as symbolism. The folks up to who signed it understood it was more or less a cold war declaration. If the Immortal Empire didn’t actively initiate aggression there would be none in return. The flux however, were included in the declaration had already initiated aggression and they were not granted the formality of a cold war status. Even the flux’s botched negotiations attempt which ironically went through all the wrong channels seemingly demonstrating an utter lack or regard for the culture with which they attempted communications further aggravated the situation. When one approaches a military fleet and expects diplomacy typically one gets a bad result. Numerous schools of thought back home pondered the strange action through numerous lenses, was it that the flux were just enormously inept socially? Could it be that their alarming use of temporal tech had rendered them pariahs for so long they had effectively evolved to be utterly incapable of conversing with other species on an equal level? Perhaps it was that the Flux simply also sent the wrong representative and had no idea what they were encountering.
Many such thoughts had been uttered amongst those in the know across the science fleet that had seemingly formed an odd sort of border blockade. The flux had become the topic of private discussion every time some bit of info came down the line from home or was exchanged between transferring officers as the ships cycled in and out. In deed the Immortal empires seeming inaction had paid off, the entire science fleet had been quietly replaced and enlarged three times thus far. The new ships possessing upgrades to match technical sophistication arrived bearing the same codes as their predecessors. Hull markings were carefully duplicated down to the smallest scratch and emissions were carefully duplicated to the finite particle. At a glance the fleet had only grown by 50% but the original deployment of vessels had never left. The Science fleet had become a science armada and the rear lines of the Tenebrae front (their assault into IE territory) remained open and uncontested thus far. Precautions for the change in situation were planned, requisitioned and laid. The Immortal Empire would have to wise up eventually and when they did, it meant of course handling the fallout. For a fleet of science vessels this meant making some inventive means to mask the exact number of ships their preparedness and other sorts of things. The occasional ranged pinging of Immortal empire vessels for sensory data using the sophisticated arrays of the fleet became a normal affair. Any vessel that wasn’t clearly flagged Tenebrae or another allied nation was scrutinized as best as possible at the longest ranges allowed by the fleet. No further action was taken but it was likely certain, that the information was being relayed…
Intelligence gathering aside he science armada had one standing order, to remain in position and not initiate hostilities. Though perhaps not surprisingly, one would have to wonder other than being a mind irritant why anyone might post so many science ships guarded by sloops so close to a warzone. What indeed was the real endgame to such a maneuver, surely such a thing so far from home port was difficult to keep supplied and manned. Allies likewise might wonder why the SSC had not made a single aggressive action barring a few interception attempts against the flux. Was the SSC more flash then detonation or was it just a careful head game with something more valuable then body counts on the line?
14:18:22 Haran Strait, R.U.S.E. Command, 2056
The touch and go static noise of the galaxy was the matter at hand… for the network that sprawled across a familiar swathe of the galaxy it was of utmost importance. The noise was that of ships moving, the void distorting and the galaxy itself imperceptibly rotating. Planets spun lazily in their solar systems as the assorted anomalies and phenomena of the galaxy all imparted their own tones to the immensely informative ‘white noise’ of the galaxy as a whole. Were one to focus on a bit, perhaps the battle front between Carnaith and immortal empire they might hear the telltale metallic rattle of ships being hit, the wheeze of atmosphere being vented and perhaps the strained wail of structural members rendered beyond their tensile strengths. The finality of it all was a muffled explosion not unlike a small firecracker detonating in a quart sauce pan. The visual spectrum showed the flashes through the cosmic clutter as mockeries of stars going nova or winking into existence. The ends were almost pretty like a sick parody of a fireworks show except for those observing it was clear the consequence of each such detonation. Someone somewhere has their life snuffed, their ship mates, their enemies all wiped from being in some ultimately trivial war brought about by a difference of opinion or perhaps the corrupt whisperings of someone claiming to be in the know. Friend and foe alike all met this finality in the span of seconds across the Tenebrae and Carnaith invasion zones with the two trading losses against the Immortal Empire who seemed not unlike an actual Hydra. Every time the two allies lopped off something the Immortal Empire seemed somehow to regenerate the loss in proportion.
As one commenter put it, watching the Tenebrae and Carnaith tear up Immortal empire territory had all the adventure of watching a pair of racing steam rollers go through a parking lot full of two-foot cement parking blocks. The galactic phenomena itself was more eventful, watching the cosmos for super nova, navigational hazards and fleet movements was more rewarding from an intelligence gathering perspective. Sure the Immortal empire would fight to the last in the invasion zones, but realistically they as of yet had not realized clearly any of their advantages. Thus it was in the long run a likely hood that the Tenebrae and Carnaith had a high probability of plowing through to the capitol sector and sieging or overrunning it and forcing the Immortal Empire to capitulate. The scenario itself was run out with numerous variables by the Officers of RUSE, and Regional Intelligence Command. Contingencies for a number of eventualities were already in the works, and the stream of data from the aptly named science armada at the border was aiding in providing critical data that might be relayed.
This indeed was the nature of war and reconnaissance, to observe unseen and thus it remained the SSC patiently eavesdropped, on the generality of the galaxy. The idea was to keep watch over movement and actual confrontations, all vessels even if they skipped out of the current universe made noise of sorts by way of energy. This energy created effective wakes of a sort in certain patterns that often could be used to determine heading direction or at least final destination. Here and there an irate noise could be heard, someone trying to interrupt the flow. For them they might have assumed success, but for the collected personnel of R.U.S.E. It was a trivial annoyance something to be ignored the stream of data was maintained regardless of the attempt. Even so…resources were diverted towards locating the precise origin of the almost obscene scratching as it rattled lowly across all common spectrums. Octronic systems set to the task at first listened collecting samples of the noise from numerous spectrums and locations while the system’s handlers compared the information and ordered an array of comparative diagnostics. Cross references and linear matrices were created to compare the odd attempt, to previously known ones of both intentional and accidental origins. This route proved to be a dead end as whatever it was matched no prior event records…the Handlers of the system opted then to compare it to known artificial origins starting with the emissions of star bases, inhabited planets and space battles but no, still not quite. The energy itself was artificial, but not of any known nations standard array of energy pollution. The artificial interference was checked carefully against known jamming frequencies and astrological phenomena that exhibited the same range of effects. The handlers of the system found critical similarities there…but no precise match, no smoking gun though it became clear they were onto something. By chance an ensign happened upon an old test recording from when one of the remote cores was accidentally activated in transit to hub 43.
The alarming sound, the seemingly amateur attempt at interference could not be pinpointed to within a few meters but its astronomical unit location could be for the interference displayed a simple traceable trait that any astrophysicist could spot even blind folded. From this trace data the origins of the noise were localized. Across the holographic map the base emissions positions of the offending signal were bracketed. The game was afoot and the unknown adversary had already made the first mistake. SSC now had the complete luxury of making sure they would never know how badly they erred.