Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:18:56 GMT
Shipmaster’s Report—Unnatural Domain—Dheth commanding—Chronopoint 1 of 70
"In our mythology, there is the tale of the Khamood-Urr’s arrival at Urth, and of his testing of Dhud’Lei to determine the nature of the place he resided. Here now, we emulate the work of the gods. I am pleased to report that the acquisition of the payload—indigenous name Vastra—has been accomplished without complications. None of the enemies vessels were in weapons range during the event, as they were all otherwise indisposed or rushing towards the system’s primary worlds. None cared too greatly about this desolate moon we now carry towards the unknown.
We have been careful to shield the bio-core from any possible emissions during this process; we wouldn’t want Her to suffer premature exposure to the prisoner’s technologies as it might contaminate the work we have to do here. Some of the brightest minds at our command are aboard for the process, and it would displease them greatly to have their task complicated should She develop anything unplanned at this point.
Our mission is as follows: assess the ruins on Vastra, as well as the enemy’s research team, for signs of what the Council of Five has described as “dark, arcane or otherwise hyper-nonconventional technologies.” They seem quite confident it is present somewhere on this world, whatever “it” is…we are to study it with the assistance of the bio-core and then assemble a report of our findings via backtime signal to shortly after the Exceion attack. The Council of Five puts great respect into these hyper-nonconventional technologies; in their communication to me shortly before I accepted command of the Unnatural Domain, they indicated that they believe it to be one of the more formidable capabilities of our opponent, and that they desired that we might acquire a similar mastery of these techniques in order to aide our own engagement against them.
Nowhere else has their caution been more evident than here; they’ve ordered a course into deep space, far from any of the local or colonial faction’s trade routes. At our present course and speed, we will not come into communications range for nearly seventy years now. It is an incredible task, to spend seventy years in pursuit of such dark materials…"
--oOo—
Diveth connected her helmet to the rest of her suit, and her team did the same as they prepared to embark on their mission. The fleshy tendrils on the Heraldic Guard’s suits withdrew into their shells, and without further pause for reflection, the shuttle’s door opened, and they stepped into the dark. It was a quiet and uneventful thing.
“We wait here.” Diveth communicated silently, and her troops took up a defensive perimeter around the shuttle. The sky glowed with a pale purple glow from the intensive jamming and shielding that the Unnatural Domain was now projecting around this tiny world. They did not want their captives to transmit any information of their whereabouts, or of their plight, to the outside world.
Vastra’s surface was ice covered and forsakenly desolate; glaciers covered the tiny planetoid, and it lacked enough mass to maintain an atmosphere. It was a cold, hostile, and isolated environment, and one that quite frankly was uniquely comfortable to Diveth. She didn’t much care for having to work with a team here, but the numbers of prisoners-while expected to be under a hundred-merited it. She empathized with the environment here; frozen and empty, it seemed like an incredibly harsh yet tranquil landscape…
One of the guards abruptly signaled that they had incoming contacts; these turned out to be an early patrol, who passed through the perimeter without a word and began boarding the shuttle in anticipation of returning back to the Unnatural Domain. With a silent gesture, Diveth’s team began moving out into the cold night, as the shuttle’s wings resumed their deep red glow and soon began receding into the starless sky…
The detachment she lead moved silently across the ice field, weapons and instruments in hand. Alltogether, there were no more than a dozen of them; they were a scouting party, not an occupying force. They strode across the icy fields with only the noise of the ice crushing beneath their boots.
“The ruins are half a point ahead on our present heading.” The navigator relayed to Diveth. She asked in turn how far they were to the research encampment; it was another half point beyond that, on what had been the illuminated side of the ruins. Diveth had no intention of going there as yet; they seemed to be staying out of the way well enough, and Diveth had no desire to interact with them. Instead, she focused on the imposing ruins before them. Within an atmospheric containment dome, they stretched up above the ice like massive fingertips, as if a frozen hand caught in rigor mortis’s cold embrace lay just below the glacier’s surface. It was also what was beneath the surface that brought her team down today; the team was to survey the ruins in search of an entrance point to whatever lay beneath. If found, they would signal for a more comprehensive landing force to assemble and prepare to begin a more detailed survey of the ruins.
They never noticed Simmon’s body, lying contorted in the shadows underneath a thin layer of ice.
--oOo—
ELSEWHERE...
“The Council of Five commends you for you leadership Prime Admiral,” the apparition voiced with pleased inflections. “Your efficiency in the engagement lived up to your reputation quite admirably.
Prime Admiral Dorin didn’t pay much thought to the compliment. “I appreciate the tribute given to me by the Council of Five, but I beg to know the reason for our withdrawl. We left our task at Exceion incomplete, and at that I fear our failure-“
“The Council of Five sees what happened at Exceion as a piece of a greater whole.” The apparition stated with mock prophetic wisdom. “All has not been revealed to you Prime Admiral, but what you were meant to do was done with great skill. The Council-“
Dorin interrupted the ghost. “-is pleased with my service, yes, I know. I delivered a mighty slap upon our enemies, yes, I am aware.” The sarcasm in her voice revealed her inner displeasure. She had been forced to leave the intruder’s colonies more or less intact at the behest of the Council of Five, and that meant that they were no doubt augmenting their strength in anticipation of further attacks by the Immortal Empire, or in preparation for the inevitable counter-attacks.
“You should not so doubt the wisdom of the council,” the phantom chided, “or your own aptitude in regards to things. This was not meant to be a culminating act; time has its own path Prime Admiral, one which we must respect with all due reverence. You understand the new task before you?”
Dorin’s wrinkled face nodded. “Move into defensive positions in preparation for the enemy’s counter-attacks…yes, yes I am aware. But if the Union of World’s forces engage those in our command…am I to fire upon them?” She had no desire to engage them for multiple reasons; her forces were constituted around ship-to-ship or ship-to-ground operations; Dorin’s fleets were not for planetary occupation or ground-on-ground combat scenarios. Beyond that, the Council of Five had explicitly commanded that Dorin not engage in combat with the Union of Worlds; they gave no explanation for this, but their word was law…
“We are working on the situation, and will notify you in due time.” The apparition answered, before bowing. “We live to cause the Khamood-Urr’s legacy.”
Dorin did not restrain her scowl; having seen the Great Confrontation, she knew more of the truth than the messenger did. “Indeed.” She murmured, before disengaging communications.
"In our mythology, there is the tale of the Khamood-Urr’s arrival at Urth, and of his testing of Dhud’Lei to determine the nature of the place he resided. Here now, we emulate the work of the gods. I am pleased to report that the acquisition of the payload—indigenous name Vastra—has been accomplished without complications. None of the enemies vessels were in weapons range during the event, as they were all otherwise indisposed or rushing towards the system’s primary worlds. None cared too greatly about this desolate moon we now carry towards the unknown.
We have been careful to shield the bio-core from any possible emissions during this process; we wouldn’t want Her to suffer premature exposure to the prisoner’s technologies as it might contaminate the work we have to do here. Some of the brightest minds at our command are aboard for the process, and it would displease them greatly to have their task complicated should She develop anything unplanned at this point.
Our mission is as follows: assess the ruins on Vastra, as well as the enemy’s research team, for signs of what the Council of Five has described as “dark, arcane or otherwise hyper-nonconventional technologies.” They seem quite confident it is present somewhere on this world, whatever “it” is…we are to study it with the assistance of the bio-core and then assemble a report of our findings via backtime signal to shortly after the Exceion attack. The Council of Five puts great respect into these hyper-nonconventional technologies; in their communication to me shortly before I accepted command of the Unnatural Domain, they indicated that they believe it to be one of the more formidable capabilities of our opponent, and that they desired that we might acquire a similar mastery of these techniques in order to aide our own engagement against them.
Nowhere else has their caution been more evident than here; they’ve ordered a course into deep space, far from any of the local or colonial faction’s trade routes. At our present course and speed, we will not come into communications range for nearly seventy years now. It is an incredible task, to spend seventy years in pursuit of such dark materials…"
--oOo—
Diveth connected her helmet to the rest of her suit, and her team did the same as they prepared to embark on their mission. The fleshy tendrils on the Heraldic Guard’s suits withdrew into their shells, and without further pause for reflection, the shuttle’s door opened, and they stepped into the dark. It was a quiet and uneventful thing.
“We wait here.” Diveth communicated silently, and her troops took up a defensive perimeter around the shuttle. The sky glowed with a pale purple glow from the intensive jamming and shielding that the Unnatural Domain was now projecting around this tiny world. They did not want their captives to transmit any information of their whereabouts, or of their plight, to the outside world.
Vastra’s surface was ice covered and forsakenly desolate; glaciers covered the tiny planetoid, and it lacked enough mass to maintain an atmosphere. It was a cold, hostile, and isolated environment, and one that quite frankly was uniquely comfortable to Diveth. She didn’t much care for having to work with a team here, but the numbers of prisoners-while expected to be under a hundred-merited it. She empathized with the environment here; frozen and empty, it seemed like an incredibly harsh yet tranquil landscape…
One of the guards abruptly signaled that they had incoming contacts; these turned out to be an early patrol, who passed through the perimeter without a word and began boarding the shuttle in anticipation of returning back to the Unnatural Domain. With a silent gesture, Diveth’s team began moving out into the cold night, as the shuttle’s wings resumed their deep red glow and soon began receding into the starless sky…
The detachment she lead moved silently across the ice field, weapons and instruments in hand. Alltogether, there were no more than a dozen of them; they were a scouting party, not an occupying force. They strode across the icy fields with only the noise of the ice crushing beneath their boots.
“The ruins are half a point ahead on our present heading.” The navigator relayed to Diveth. She asked in turn how far they were to the research encampment; it was another half point beyond that, on what had been the illuminated side of the ruins. Diveth had no intention of going there as yet; they seemed to be staying out of the way well enough, and Diveth had no desire to interact with them. Instead, she focused on the imposing ruins before them. Within an atmospheric containment dome, they stretched up above the ice like massive fingertips, as if a frozen hand caught in rigor mortis’s cold embrace lay just below the glacier’s surface. It was also what was beneath the surface that brought her team down today; the team was to survey the ruins in search of an entrance point to whatever lay beneath. If found, they would signal for a more comprehensive landing force to assemble and prepare to begin a more detailed survey of the ruins.
They never noticed Simmon’s body, lying contorted in the shadows underneath a thin layer of ice.
--oOo—
ELSEWHERE...
“The Council of Five commends you for you leadership Prime Admiral,” the apparition voiced with pleased inflections. “Your efficiency in the engagement lived up to your reputation quite admirably.
Prime Admiral Dorin didn’t pay much thought to the compliment. “I appreciate the tribute given to me by the Council of Five, but I beg to know the reason for our withdrawl. We left our task at Exceion incomplete, and at that I fear our failure-“
“The Council of Five sees what happened at Exceion as a piece of a greater whole.” The apparition stated with mock prophetic wisdom. “All has not been revealed to you Prime Admiral, but what you were meant to do was done with great skill. The Council-“
Dorin interrupted the ghost. “-is pleased with my service, yes, I know. I delivered a mighty slap upon our enemies, yes, I am aware.” The sarcasm in her voice revealed her inner displeasure. She had been forced to leave the intruder’s colonies more or less intact at the behest of the Council of Five, and that meant that they were no doubt augmenting their strength in anticipation of further attacks by the Immortal Empire, or in preparation for the inevitable counter-attacks.
“You should not so doubt the wisdom of the council,” the phantom chided, “or your own aptitude in regards to things. This was not meant to be a culminating act; time has its own path Prime Admiral, one which we must respect with all due reverence. You understand the new task before you?”
Dorin’s wrinkled face nodded. “Move into defensive positions in preparation for the enemy’s counter-attacks…yes, yes I am aware. But if the Union of World’s forces engage those in our command…am I to fire upon them?” She had no desire to engage them for multiple reasons; her forces were constituted around ship-to-ship or ship-to-ground operations; Dorin’s fleets were not for planetary occupation or ground-on-ground combat scenarios. Beyond that, the Council of Five had explicitly commanded that Dorin not engage in combat with the Union of Worlds; they gave no explanation for this, but their word was law…
“We are working on the situation, and will notify you in due time.” The apparition answered, before bowing. “We live to cause the Khamood-Urr’s legacy.”
Dorin did not restrain her scowl; having seen the Great Confrontation, she knew more of the truth than the messenger did. “Indeed.” She murmured, before disengaging communications.