Operation Guardian Reach {WOE2 Spin-Off}{ATTN: IRON, Hermes}

[Arizona Nova]

. : ooc : . Subplot continued from The Second War of Expansion.

Mars started as the comms came online and spat out a message from the King himself.

His vessel, the ANSS Anandil, had been in transit to one of the systems marked for colonization, and had by now gotten into the halfway point. Why Kemelzar would be messaging him now, he knew not.

He read the message and set his jaw. The king was moving up the timetable for another operation, one which Mars had assumed would be handed off to another of the Eisenfausts after they had succeeded in seeding a colony. Apparently, conditions had changed, to the point that only the Eisenfausts still in transit would be able to get there in time.

"All stop," commanded Mars. "Begin running the computers for consecutive hyperfolds; coordinates being forwarded to the navigation computers," said Mars, as he mentally passed them on to the system.

For a few minutes, the Eisenfaust sat in dead space, as its systems made the necessary maneuvering calculations for the hyperfold. Once completed, the ship vanished back into hyperspace, and once inside, began the fold, vanishing from sensors.

It reappeared far outside the galactic rim, inside what Anikari captains poetically referred to as the Void Infinite, the great blackness that dominated the space between galaxies. Mars scrolled the projected view down, to look at the vastness of the Milky Way Galaxy stretched out underneath them. As the ship's computers began preparing for the next hyperfold, the bridge crew sat in silence, taking in the sight of their home galaxy slowly turning underneath them. The moment soon passed, as the vessel initiated its next hyperspace jump, and the subsequent fold.

-=The Rupil System

Before the period of ESUS history remembered in Arizona Nova as the Frost, when many of its nations withdrew from the galactic political scene, there had been a power of brief and intense existence, named Rupil. Its species, known as the Tkalgren, had cut out an empire on the midwestern fringe between galactic south and north, before these two halves of the galaxy had been so polarized.

Their former domains, in ancient times, had been mapped by Anikari stellographers, and this information had been preserved, first migrated to New Constantinople, and then saved by Black Operations salvage missions after that world's blighting. Now, centuries later, when all contact with Rupil had been lost, Kemelzar had bet that their system still remained, and could be resettled, and what's more, fortified by his forces, and forces allied to them, to serve as an outpost of the nations of the far galactic south. An unmistakeable reminder to IRON and to Hermes that the sovereignty of the neutral nations in that area of space would be respected.

Into this space slid the ANSS Anandil and its sister ship, the ANSS Anithraldur. Bright flashes obscured the vessels as the shields came online, and the gates began to spin.

"Hyperfold drives at maximum heat load. We're in, but we aren't getting out anytime soon," reported the ensign.

"Begin an active sweep of the system," Admiral Mars commanded both vessels, "As well as Rupil Prime. I want to know everything that can be found about this system; we need to know if there is even still a Rupil Prime to land on or if they left the system altogether years ago or whatever, I want to know it, and the king does as well."

Operation Guardian's Reach had begun.

[Sskiss]

SUB-TITLE - Where there is carrion, there is Sskiss...

Hierarch Raag could only be described as a mad artists version of a vulture. But this vulture was terrestrial and stretched a little over five meters in length and would have marked the scales at just over seven hundred kilos. His plumage was gloss black as were the huge vicious looking curved talons that adorned his three fingered hands and feet. In stark contrast, his head and neck were deviod of feathers and was a dull redish pink further increasing his resemblence to that raptor, while the
remainder of his body was a more brick red in colour. His skull alone was seventy five centimeters in length and the white saw edged teeth, the largest being ten centimeters in length protruded from his upper jaw giving the constent appearence that he was grinning...

Hierarch Raag bullied and strong jawed his way into this assignment. Whether it was through his own connections or through his own direct personal efforts was ultimatly not as important as the results of those efforts. Hierarch Raag had several tasks to preform. The first of these, was to show all in the region the 'strength of presence' of the 'greater creche' (ESUS) was to be taken seriously. The second was to investigate what had become of the crechemate "Rupil". And the third, which was the task he anticipated most, was to plunder as much as he and his people could... whether it was technology, artifacts or useful resources and in whatever form these would ultimately take.

But Hierarch Raag hoped for more, if he suceeded, if the prize was great enough and if the great Isss'Raak* was pleased, he could be rewarded with the right to found a colony of his own - a base of power....

And with that base, come the command of resources, warships and the inevitable interest of breeding females of his particular species. His genetic line would continue in an almost radial fashion. Access to 'females/breeding everlasting'... Whatever the sex of the individual Sskiss or its species, this is what all Sskiss coveted most. Hierarch Raag would also become a "tyrant/Ruler" of an entire creche of worlds (star-system), and with that came even greater influance....

The fleet he personally assembled was considerable - and potent. All were stealthed craft, all were fast, manueverable with high energy output and possessed the classic Sskiss battle doctorine - a hold over from their primordial past. This doctorine consisted of a triple threat; A massive fixed array of axial and spinal mounted weaponry - "the teeth and claws", magnetic monopole based reactionless drives for rapid excelleration and a nimble precise turn rates - "the legs and tail" and a stealth field which hid their small energy signiture, "camouflage".

The fleet had massed at Ruusta ("Lost Pack") and made ready to enter the the Allanean star gate stationed between the orbits of the third and fourth planets of the system. The Arizonian vessel, ANSS Anandil was contacted, coordinates given and the Sskiss fleet finally entered the gate, the fleet dwarfed by its sheer size.

* - Isss'Raak, the current supreme tyrant/Ruler of all Sskiss. A sort of benevolent dictator.

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Sskiss Force Composition

6 "Slicing Claws" Class (Hvy Destroyer equivellent - 388 meters)

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb13 ... thShip.jpg

12 "Ruthless Slaughterers" Class (Destroyer equivellent - 296 meters)

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb13 ... thShip.jpg

48 "Cruel Hunter" Class (Frigate equivellent - 192 meters)

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb13 ... thShip.jpg

[The Fedral Union]

-Soh Jin system the south, 0500 hours-

Above the turbulent ball of wind and sand that was suspended in the darkness and vastness of space, a large complex of metal strung out across the heavens, the light of the local brightly shining orange star shimmering across its form, the panning view brought in several ships orbiting its form the ships ranged from three massive Heavy Cruisers with their blue mimic hulls reflecting some of the light of the star back on to the large facility, to numerous smaller ships lined up and flanking each side of the heavy vessels . This force was to be the first wave of the northern expeditionary force.
--
Admiral William Sherman stood upon the command center of the TAS Cetus, his blue eyes looked out of the holo port in to the vastness and utter darkness of space, he turned away from the large view port, and looked upon his bridge, crew far and near began to line up from corner to corner of the circular shaped command center, his form was scanned instantly and projected to the rest of the fleet.
His uniform was well pressed as any officer’s uniform should be. He had his admiral’s stars on his shoulders with pride; he looked up stiffly and started to speak in a commanding coarse voice.

“This is your commanding officer, let me start by saying, it is an honor to serve with you and your ships and the crews of these ships, let me get strait to the point. Men, women, AI’s there’s trouble in the north.

So they called us. And we're going over there and bringing some of the most powerful and lethal killing machines ever devised in to the situation, we’re capable of launching more firepower than has ever been released in the history of our nation, single handedly, for one purpose alone: To keep our country safe. We constitute the front line and the last line of defense against IRON, Against HERMES, or against the GCP. I expect and demand your very best. All I ask is that you keep up with me. And if you can't, that strange sensation you'll be feeling in the seat of your pants will be my boot in your ass. With that said, let’s show our allies what we can do. Crew, department heads, attend to your department. Fall out!!”

With that last command the crew of the ship began to rush to their stations, a horn was played as each man woman and AI made their way to link up to the N-link and hivemind of the ship, the white utilitarian lights started to beat down upon the sleek smooth consoles, the carpeted ground and the flickering holo consoles. Sherman stepped towards is hovering chair, he slipped down in to it, his eyes peering back out in to the vastness of space through the holo port, he noticed several ships coming up on the view, their massive and small forms silhouetted against the blackness of space.

He thought to himself as he folded is hands gently in his lap.

-All this for what? Just to control a bunch of empty ass space and to prove something.. I hope to god they know what they are trying to do here.-

He shifted back stiffening up in his chair, his neural link became active instantly, he spoke through it to the AI.

~Set a course for our northern colonies, spool the drives…~

~Aye sir~

The Ai responded, the command center of the ship began to fill with the reverberating high pitched noise of QFD spooling, it echoed throughout the now quiet sleekly designed bridge.

The Ai reported back a few seconds later.

~Drives spooled and ready to go.~

Sherman nodded softly he moved his hands back up to his chin resting his head upon them now. He gave the order to jump quickly.

~Jump!~

With that order, the ships started to twist and bend space time around them, crackling arcs of blue energy lunged forth from the twists, the ships disappearing with in of them one by one in an instant they then blinked out softly as if nothing was every there.

Their first stop was Gaza then the rupil system.

-30 minutes later rally point-

About, the way points the south and the rally point of allied forces. Each of the terran ships flared in to the system. The heavy cruisers bearing down upon the rest of their escorts, their massive forms silhouetted against the darkness of space.
A general message was sent out.


” This is Admiral William Sherman of the Terran Alliance ship Cetus, and of newly formed Northern Expeditionary Force. Simply put, you called?”

[Allanea]

Dozens of brilliant flashes of light rippled through the outskirts of the Rupil System, and dozens upon dozens of ships began to make their appearance. Those were the ships of the Fifth Force Projection Fleet. It had taken them several weeks to navigate their course through the Galaxy.

Leading the charge was a battleship of the Wrath class, one named Adolescent Warlord. It had fought in the Parsis Nine front of the crusade, and had delivered the wrath of Allanea to the Iron Warrior Space Marines on that front. Now the crew would rest here, protecting the Rupil system from enemy invasion. Escorting it were two Porcupine gunships and fifty Punishment Class gravitic destroyers.

But it is not the Allanean ships that are the real aid. Within three more weeks, heavy Habbakuk transports, many kilometers long, begin to arrive from Sol, carrying massive amounts of cargo Hundreds of tons of sensordust are seeded by them throughout the system, together with thousands upon thousands of missiles and killsats. With every passing month after that, more and more weapons arrive from Sol, pumped out by the trusty Monocorporation factories.

And yet work was just beginning.

[Arizona Nova]

"Active sweep finished sir," said the ensign. "Returns two planets, and one space station of significant size out here."

"Thank you ensign," answered High Admiral Mars. He began to go over the data himself - it was indeed relatively barren in comparison to other systems. The outer planet was barren, and no signs of civilization had been detected on its surface. However... the second planet, at 0.7 AU from the system's star, was showing signs of life. Nothing that (remained) on the FTL level, but still faint signs, all the same. Interesting; he forwarded the information on to the king.

-=Joyous Gard

The fortress moon of Joyous Gard was, at the moment, under the shroud of night. Yet, its king was restless, waiting for the communication from the fleets at Rupil. Finally, Baldur summoned him, and forthwith he exited the chamber with the digisape. He read the dispatch, and pursed his lips.

"What is it, my lord?" asked Baldur curiously.

"Planet Rupil is still inhabited," he began.

"It is?" asked Baldur, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes. No sign of their fleets, however."

"Ah," said Baldur. "And you worry now."

"Yes. There are strains of Rupil's history similar to our own. Theirs is a saurid people living on a desert world. Sound familiar?"

"Indeed," said Baldur, cradling his chin. "What is our course of action?"

"We need a landing zone," said Kemelzar. "Of some sort. The second planet is not mentioned in the ESUS databases, however... and it is also barren."

"A good a spot as any," said Baldur reassuringly.

"It shall have to be," said Kemelzar. "Alright. I will issue a request to those in the task force: I would avoid a landing on Rupil itself, but the system's outer planet is fair game. As well, if the station is uninhabited, I would also have it repaired and refurbished for use."

[Central Facehuggeria]

A tiny speck of space just within the Rupil system bubbled and boiled. Impossibly, a sound, like yet unlike far-off strings carried through the vacuum of space for a heartbeat before four vessels simply appeared towards the edge of the system.

If one were to scan them, they would find the vessels to be slippery things. One minute, they might seem to mass as much as a newborn star. The next, they'd have the mass of a common flea. An observer gazing upon them directly would notice that they have a slight fuzziness around them, as if the universe was unsure exactly how to show such a thing. Their colors shifted quickly from black to white to red to blue to green, with no obvious pattern. Indeed, a baseline human would soon start to develop headaches from staring too long and too hard at them.And even after looking away, they'd still swim behind that man's eyelids, haunting him like some half-remembered dream. Or nightmare. More primitive sensor systems would lock up, unable to reconcile the inherent contradictions in the vessels' existence. Even advanced ones would struggle to identify exactly what the vessels were, where they were.

The Facehuggerian fleet pod entered the Rupil system with their ECM systems on minimum power, so as not to jam the targeting of the other allied forces for Operation: Guardian Reach. High power would have been considerably more disruptive.

Deep within the lead vessel's hardened command and control center, protected by hundreds of meters of writhing, amorphous hull armor and kilometers of hull, Star-General Andrea Mercer stood, hands clasped behind her back at parade rest. The black and silver, with red sash, of her uniform shone under the bright illumination in the C-I-C. The primary and secondary holotanks painted the system in as much detail as Destiny's sensors could muster. She didn't pay any attention, and neither did the crew. They all jacked into the fleet's private networks, seeing with the fleet's eyes rather than their own. The holotanks were there primarily for redundancy and the fact that in their more primitive moments, humans preferred simple visual stimulation to the strange feeling of "being" a warship.

Or four warships, as the case may be.

"General, fleet pod Destiny is go-op." The vessel herself, Destiny, replied. Facehuggerian fleet pods traditionally took the name of the Trinity class dreadnought in the pod. Though not the largest combatant in the pod, the twenty five kilometer and change Trinity was the oldest design, and hence had seniority even if the AIs themselves were all booted at the same time.

Of course, Destiny took a certain pleasure in that particular tradition. For want of a better descriptor, she liked to tease her pod-brothers and pod-sisters with it. Besides, each member of the pod was important, and was made to cover the weaknesses of the others, so it was all in good fun. Destiny herself could scythe through capital and sub-capital threats like they were but wheat, but she had trouble pounding threats in her weight class. Fate, meanwhile, was a Claymore class dreadnought, equipped with weapons made to annihilate threats of her own scale - grossly huge heavy capital ships; what the Anikari running this expedition would have likely called coreships. Aegis was the third vessel, a Gehenna class super-dreadnought. He was optimized for short range battles, those of a dozen light-seconds or less. He was a screen and a shield, meant to compliment the incredibly long range weaponry of Destiny and Fate.

The fourth vessel was something of the odd one out. Othello was not particularly armed, for he only had point defense weaponry in any meaningful quantity. Nor was he particularly large, at least in his undeployed state. He was a mobile FTL gate, designed to operate even in the heaviest FTLi, though such a role required terrible compromises in design. However the Anikari had gotten an FTL gate to work in an FTLi field without compromising armor or weaponry, as evidenced by their latest war-vessels, was a subject of much (and only a little envious) speculation amongst the ships of Othello's class.

Watching one of the Imperium's "strategic" weapons fire was worth every little inefficiency in the Imperium's method, however.

Not that General Mercer would ever let her feelings show in such a manner. She was the top of the proverbial food chain, second only to the Empress herself in terms of military authority. She could wage war upon an entire system; and she had the troops to do it. A fleet pod carries two full legions of Facehuggerian ground forces, some million men-under-arms in stasis and awaiting the call the awaken and smash the Empress' foes to dust.

A pod is not a simple fleet, it's an entirely self-contained invasion force. Given enough time, the creation engines and fabricators within each ship could reproduce an exact replica of the original, yet that would be inefficient. For situations where time was of the essence, another type of vessel, the mobile forge, was available. Little more than a massive fabricator and paired creation engine, the forge could create an entire war-arcology and place it on a planet quickly.

Fleet Pod Destiny had a forge available, though it was hanging back within the Facehuggerian home systems and would not deploy until the coast, as it was, could be confirmed clear.

Mercer sighed, and within the pod's internal battlenet, said "Let's get this show on the road. Destiny, coordinate with our allies via the ESUS battlenet. The Arizonians are running this show, so ask where they want us. Fate, Aegis, deploy in pattern delta. Othello, stay behind Aegis and keep the gate charged. If any battle starts, I want you to arrange yourself pointing towards the battlefield and prepared for strategic weapon deployment. Just in case. "

Code: Select all

Attention Arizona Novanian forces, this is Facehuggerian Fleet Pod Destiny. We are reporting for operation Guardian Reach and awaiting orders. Destiny Actual out.

[Arizona Nova]

High Admiral Mars observed the arrival of incoming forces approvingly, and sent a single message in reply to the allied forces in-system, looping periodically for any late arrivals:

Code: Select all

Greetings, friends and allies new, old, and otherwise. I, High Admiral Mars, and my Lord Kemelzar, are both pleased with your arrival. If it would be possible, would your commanders - or at least an encrypted projection thereof - be able to report aboard the Anandil to confer? The matters we must discuss regarding this region are somewhat too complicated to deal with over subspace bands, and sometimes the old ways are slightly more secure from prying ears as well.

. : ooc : . We can assume the arrival/projection of commanders already in system; however, forces arriving from out-system please do post the arrival/array of your forces.

[Sskiss]

The Sskiss fleet entered with systems powered down. No shields, weapon systems, active sensors or other devices which would have immediately given away their position were activated, save for a brief initial and rapid excelleration utilizing their magnetic monopole based reactionless drives into the system they were effectively invisible for at this point they left no gravity well either. The Sskiss fleet then costed along on their intitial vector and velocity.

Within the lead craft - Within the chamber where 'dictates/orders given/received'

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"Two spheres, one habitable/life-bearing, other desolate/lifeless....Artificial construct of great size within area of habitable/life-bearing sphere.... Other crechemates of the 'greater creche'(ESUS) present"....

Linked to the ships main quasi-life data node, the sensor operator spoke his findings, Hierarch Raag looked intently at the holo-projectors displaying worlds, construct and the various vessels of the alliance.

"Other group of vessels difficult to scan....pain/discomfort in scanning.... difficult to scan....

"Analyze/Report" Hierarch Raag snapped, as he become increasingly impatient at the lack of data on one recent fleet that had just entered the system.

"Difficult to grasp/ellusive".... The sensor operator said with clear modifiers of 'fustration'. "Wait, seized it.... They are crechemates/friends!". The vessels in question finally appeared on the central holopit area and where analyzed by the primary ship's quasi-life data node and where soon found to be of Central Facehuggrian origin. ESUS powers were required to submit updates on new ship designs and configurations on a more or less periodic basis. As these particular craft appeared fairly recent. However, these vessels were different and seemed to flux and phase in and out of existence....

No wonder the sensor operator had trouble grasping these! Clearly of advanced 'design/origin'.... thought Hierarch Raag.

Hierarch Raag then relaxed, having previously twitched in agitation, but was clearly relieved. He turned to Shaaga, his second in command. A large robust female Sskiss with drab medium brown plummage and of a different species.

"Shaaga, assume command/dictate orders" Shaaaga turned to face him dipped her head in 'respectful submission' and merely signaled in the affirmative with her forelimbs.

With that Hierarch Raag stomped out of the chamber to personally communicate via hologram to the commander of the ANSS Anandil. But first he wished to do something....

-------------------------------------------------------------

Hierarch Raag appeared from the live food chamber entrance of his vessel, his long triangular snout caked in fresh blood. Satiated and relieved (from a recent formic acid bath to help rid his body of the ever present tick) he then proceeded to his private chambers where he could finally contact the ANSS Anandil...

No doubt the ANSS Anandil would want to finally hear from their allies, his own people, which many others within the ESUS alliance sometimes thought took their damned time to getting around to doing things. This however, was tolerated, as Sskiss had to attend to certain needs from time to time.

After all, regarding the Sskiss, some things would never change...

[The Fedral Union]

High Admiral Mars observed the arrival of incoming forces approvingly, and sent a single message in reply to the allied forces in-system, looping periodically for any late arrivals:

Code: Select all

Greetings, friends and allies new, old, and otherwise. I, High Admiral Mars, and my Lord Kemelzar, are both pleased with your arrival. If it would be possible, would your commanders - or at least an encrypted projection thereof - be able to report aboard the Anandil to confer? The matters we must discuss regarding this region are somewhat too complicated to deal with over subspace bands, and sometimes the old ways are slightly more secure from prying ears as well.

~Incoming transmission Admiral ~
The AI spoke out, Sherman stiffened up in his chair, and he leant back up resting his hands gently upon his lap.

~Patch it through~

He said stiffly through the neural link up to the AI.

-The message of admiral mars went through loud and clear-

Sherman sat upon his chair; he unfolded one leg from his other and said to the AI with haste.
~I guess I’ll go over there then, send a reply to them..~

~Aye sir shall I tell them you’re coming via holo-body projection?~
The Female AI had inquired with a soft gentle voice.

~Negative, I’m going to go over there personal via beaming~
~Aye sir…~

The AI said without question, it was unorthodox for admirals to go personally to most foreign ships, but she guessed the admiral wanted to meet the people possibly in charge of this op. And she was right, Sherman indeed wanted to meet the people he would be coordinating with, he thought it rude to project a onetime use body over to the ship and then coming back, it was no fun to him that way.

The group of forty ships multiple destroyers, frigates, light cruisers and of course the heavy cruisers rumbled forth in to the darkness of space.

The repeller drives pumping out space time distortions as they pushed the ships forward with little effort on their part. The dark blue hue of energy radiated from behind all of the ships, the light from them fading out in to the blackness around them.

A message to the ship requesting the presence of the commanders in question was tendered by the AI:

Code: Select all

This is the Terran Alliance ship Cetus to allied ship, Admiral Sherman is prepared to beam over at once, as soon as we have the coordinates to do so. Please if you would be so kind upload them in to your data base so that he may get underway.

As the message was sent Admiral Sherman idly stepped down from his command chair, he slid a hand under a console and took out an old western style gun belt, its brown worn form was only broken by the rather ornately decorated gold buckle, he slid it around his well pressed decorated uniforms waist line, it buckled together with a metal clang ,and snap. Also under the console was a .357 six chamber old style revolver. He took that out with his right hand, gently he admired its polished silver form, and the handle was ornately decorated by several flower engravings amongst a white ivory handle. With a ratat and a click he looked in to the cylindrical chamber of the gun, it was filled with rounds just as he left it, a grin came across his wrinkled toned face, and with another click the cylinder closed. He holstered it in a tan leather gun holster.

He stepped away from the console watching as holo images of the ships around the system appeared.

He turned away with an exasperated sigh, his eyes gazing gently over and out in to the darkness of space, he stepped upon the transpad in the middle of the command center. He thought to himself idly as he was awaiting beam out.

~Hopefully I’ll finally get some answers for why we are up here, there seems to be more than meets the eye going on.~

He couldn’t help but wonder what this was all about.

The advanced sensors suites of the Terran ships kept a watchful eye on everything in and even out of the system many light years away.

He patted down his right uniform jacket pocket, he smiled softly as he remembered to pack his lighter and in the left pocket was a bushel of large cigars.
---
Down the hall and to the right of the command center in the marine barracks men and women were luxuriating to various tracks old style music, from pre atomic age earth, that were playing.

Various marines sat back upon their hovering chairs both in the middle of the barracks and at several consoles to the weapons lockers. The coffin like beds that were built in to the wall lined both sides of the barracks, various powered armor models from the Guardian to the TA-45 models were hanging right besides each of the beds suspended but ready to be put on at a moments notice. Marines all had a pair of powered armor weather it was some one with a desk job or not.

The music echoed through the room and down the hall, officers walking by particularly enjoyed the blasts of old age music coming from that section of the ship.

Marine commander Jameson waved his hand idly responding to one of his associates.

“Hey, if shit goes down here, I doubt we’ll be the ones starting it…”

“Maybe but I’m unsettled here, it seems shit might hit the fan at any moment. “

Responded the marine he was speaking to, Jameson’s brown eyes focused and looked as a ball was thrown back and forth between a female and male marine.

Jameson said with an exasperated sigh resting his twelve gauge flack rail gun against one of the force field emitting bulkheads.

“Yeah I know what you mean dude but, we gotta stay sane if shit goes down it will be one hell of a fight.”

The marine then just laughed and said as he caught the oncoming ball in mid air landing back on his feet.

“Damn strait, we’ll kill those fucking fascist bastards.”
Jameson smiled he turned away as he responded in a rough tone of voice.
“That’s the spirit, those fuckers wouldn’t know what they were messing with, and we’d show em.”

Jameson then sighed again, a holographic image of his wife and kid popped up in his Head via mail mod, he stared at it longingly, he looked as if he was starting out in to a blank wall but everyone knew what he was looking at.

With one hand the young marine commander took a bottle scotch, with a plunk he uncapped the large bottle filled with brownish liquid. He took a glass with his other hand after shaking off the longing feeling for his family and placed it near the bottle.

The liquid splattered gently in to the cup filling it up about half way. He put the bottle back down capping it, quickly he turned over picking up the filled up with his right hand down, his eyes locked back on to his company.

He gently placed his lips over the glasses tip and with a quick burst drank the shot of scotch, his face went a bit sour and it curled up for a split second but he swallowed it , he felt the familiar burn of the liquor down his throat., he poured another shot and then spoke out.

“Who wants to play poker?”

Three men walked up from the other side of the room and the one in-front said.

“Yeah sure we’ll play, double or nothing from yesterday.”

Jameson laughed and smiled as he took another shot.

“Fuck yeah, I got the fucking scotch, you have the cigars?”

“Right here marry..”

The marine said.

Jameson just smiled at that comment, he stood up putting the chair in picking up the scotch and a tray of small shot glasses from under the console.

Indeed things were clam on the ship for now at least; their allies were sitting millions of kilometers away probably wondering what the hell was going on as well.

[Telros]

The Dominion, it seemed, was in high demand these days. If it wasn't alien races or hostile human nations trying to find a way to kill their way into the Dominion, allies and friends were asking for the Dominion's help for something or other. The recent technological jump and fleet reorganization had just finished and the fleets were really just getting used to the new Sector and Battlefleet system. In coordination with the Kostemetsian request for allies in their venture, the Anikari request for Dominion forces was replied to in an orderly fashion. Having become swift allies after the battle of Varanar, the Dominion felt it could spare one of its Battlefleets to send to Rupil. A quick message exchange had occurred between the First and Emperor Kemelzar, and a deal worked out where the Telrosians jumped their ships to an agreed upon meeting point and used a Eisenfaust-class ship to gate to the system in question. Granted, they could have just used their own drives to get there, but time was of the essence with this operation and the faster they got there, the better.

So it was with the telltale flash of the destination gate flashing that Battlefleet Mars entered the Rupil System. Many of the ESUS nations who had been drawn into this operation by Kemelzar had brought large forces of ships to the Rupil System, but that was not something shared by the Facehuggerian and Telrosian fleets. They had reasons to only deploy smaller numbers, one of them being due to the high costs of their technology. So it was only twenty ships that made up the entire Battlefleet, commanded by Captain Marcus Forge. As the bridge crew reported the status of the ship and its system after the jump, Forge mused on the situation. It didn't make sense, honestly. Kemelzar wanted to make an outpost here, ostensibly to construct a powerful fortress to ensure that both Hermes and IRON knew that the sovereignty of the neutral nations was not to be messed with. Yet...here he was, his nation a member of IRON, aiding the effort. It would cause a great amount of questioning from both sides, to be sure. However, his main worry was that Kemelzar couldn't just be planning that, with all the nations involved able to bring such crushing resources to what amounted to outpost building. No, he was sure that crafty bastard had something planned. He had definitely grown up and become a wise leader. Whoever his tutor was did their job well. When the last of the reports came in, all signaling that the fleet was in perfect shape, he vegan to give out orders. "Have the fleet go to Alert Level Two. I want to be prepared in case we get jumped or one of the alliances we are dealing with decides to try and prevent what is already coming to pass. Do not deploy fighters but pilots are to be ready for combat at all times. Send a greeting message to the Battlenet so they know we're here and ask them where they want us."

"Aye, Captain."

The bridge crew set his orders into motion, causing an explosion of movement and energy spikes in the Telrosian fleet. Shields were already online, but now weapons were brought online but they remained still for now, no aiming or targets were sought yet. Pilots ran to their stations as they began to prepare for possible combat. Marines checked their equipment and moved to their positions to deal with boarders if battle began. As all this was going on, the reply from the Anikari ship was received and Forge's instinct that something else was going on got even stronger. As he read the message, he could only be suspicious of Kemelzar's motives. They needed to go over plans that required the best secrecy the Anikari could provide. They were already using highly encrypted codes and communication was at a minimum, aside from internal fleet chatter. Tapping one of the armrests on his chair, he sighed and waved away the message. "Well, musing over it isn't going to do anything. When in doubt, act. Communications, open a Code Black channel to the Anikari ship and use the holographic projector." The officer nodded and inputted the commands, securing the heaviest encryption for their channel and then using the projector to allow an image of Forge's head and shoulders to appear on the bridge of High Admiral Mars. Taking a glance around to see who was there yet, he spoke.

"As you requested, I have opened communications so we can discuss your plans for this system."

[Trailers]

OOC: Tag.

[Arizona Nova]

. : ooc : .

In short, submit your vote; to land on Planet Rupil, regardless of it NPC inhabitants, or to be conservative and stick to TFG-Bastion and Tfasset Rupil. Post questions in spoiler or on the ESUS thread.

As the commanders filed or materialized onto the bridge of the Anandil, Mars held up his hands in greeting.

"Gentlemen, and esteemed saurids, welcome to the Anandil. I apologize that the context of your introduction to this fine vessel could not be under more august conditions, but time is precious."

The captain's chair in the central dais slowly lowered, and in its place a holographic map of the Rupil system materialized.

"I have no doubt that by now, you all have heard of the business surrounding the formation and proclamations of this IRON," said Mars, gesturing to the map, "and the venomous answers and sword-rattling of Hermes as well. Between the hammer and anvil of these two alliances lay our allies in ESUS of Capsule Corporation, and the Terran Alliance," he said, gesturing to Admiral Sherman. "While our nations may differ over whether or not an ESUS stamp should be put on this particular force, we are united in one principle: that they must have their security and liberty safeguarded. That, gentlemen, is our goal here in Rupil."

"This old system," he said, pacing around the map, "Was the home of one of our ancient allies, once upon a time. It has been chosen as a forward base for us allied nations of the South, to act as a waystation in trade and first-response garrison in case of IRON or of Hermes attack, at a two-day cruise from the beating heart of either alliance. Now, our scans have revealed two planets; one barren of life, on the outskirts, and Planet Rupil itself," he said, gesturing to the inner world of the system, "Have revealed that it remains settled; we have yet to ascertain it for sure, but it seems a safe bet that the native species of Rupil, the Tkalgren, still inhabit it. As such, King Kemelzar has formally requested that we avoid landing on this planet, only engaging in trade, if we need to." Looking at the faces of the commanders around the room, he continued, "But of course, as force commander of Arizona Nova here, the final prerogative is mine, and I would put it up to a vote, to my esteemed allied commanders, first. Once you have weighed your decision, I will proceed with laying out the rest of our intentions for this sytem."

[Allanea]

The Allanean response was short and brief:

"We believe we need to land. Here is why:

First of all, we may have respect for the locals. The potential attacker likely won't. Therefore, installations have to be made - preferably MOHO systems and shields - to protect the local population. Further, a series of ground-based gates is necessary. We might want to win any future engagement, but if we lose, we will need means to get the civilians out, and fast. Finally, trading with them is also useful, of course. Wonder how they'll like rabbit meat..."

[The Fedral Union]

Admiral Sherman stood there on the bridge of the Novan ship, he heard the speech and then the response from the Allanean, he agreed that the current situation warranted a landing attempt, but before he spoke the aged man slid a hand in to his pocket, he took out the bushel of cigars he had in his right pocket, and then the lighter in his left, he slid a cigar out calmly and smoothly, his blue eyes focused on everyone else in the room.

He placed the cigar between his fingers sliding the bushel back in to his pocket, he lit it with an old style lighter engraved with his unit insignia, -5th fleet task force 15-. The flame gently billowed from the lighter igniting the tip of the cigar.
As it died down it left a fiery glow and grayish ash forming on the outer edges of the tip.

Sherman inhaled the cigar smoke and then gave an exasperated sigh taking the thing out of his mouth with his fingers; He spoke in a coarse voice.

“I agree with my esteemed Allanean ally here, we need to secure this planet, our ships can deploy enough troops if need be to more than assist with said operations, we have several MCV’s and Storage units containing several types of pre fabled structures as well. I want to be ready on every front here to kick these crack-pot nutcase yellow skinned fascists’ sons’ bitches to hell. Pardon my French.”


He then grinned; he put the cigar he had been holding back in his mouth gently he inhaled the tip going bright orange as the smoke filled his mouth and lungs; he exhaled again with a sigh.

This time he crossed both of his arms across his chest his blue eyes focusing at whatever holo-projection teleportation was incoming next with their “vote”

[Central Facehuggeria]

Mercer had displaced over shortly after the Anikari commander asked for her input. She listened to the sentiments of the Terran and Allanean commanders and paused. They had a point, but to conquer and colonize a former ally in the name of security? Granted it was going to be a more benign colonization, at least in theory. Still, it could so easily slide into enslavement and oppression. Worse, it might not be necessary. Indeed, it might end up being a terrible drain; colonizing the Tkalgren might prove irritating if they resist, weakening the entire effort.

"High Admiral Mars, what do we know of the political and technological situation on Rupil? Have we deployed covert probes? Scout teams? Anthropologists with infiltrator training? In short, what do we know of them? Is there any actual detail, or is the only information we have based on long range sensor reports? I think we need more data." Mercer said.

Then she continued, "Now, I believe the Terrans and Allaneans have valid points - our enemies are unlikely to respect the sovereignty of the Tkalgren population, and setting up defenses on the planet would make it easier to protect them. However, I think we must evaluate whether interaction with the Tkalgren is a worthwhile venture at this time. They might, for instance, think the ESUS and all associated with it is evil, for its apathy when it came to their own collapse. In such a case, setting up to protect the Tkalgren would be more effort than it's worth. Especially if we show no interest in the world; the enemy, whoever they are, probably won't waste ordinance wiping out the people of Rupil when they could attack us with it, affirmative?"

She raised her hand, gesturing towards the planet and the space station illuminated in the nearby holotank. "What I propose is thus: We move to take the two uninhabited positions in this system. We fortify them as our strongpoints in this sector. We work to acquire information on the inhabitants of Rupil prime. If they turn out to be amicable, we fortify the planet and turn it into a fortress that the gods themselves would break themselves trying to take. But if the situation is not favorable for whatever reason, we ignore them. Our very act of neglect will most likely shield them from the enemy, for do you go out of your way to crush ants when you make war? If we have no position around Rupil prime, the only way the Tkalgren there will come to harm is if either our enemies are incredibly vile and spiteful, to murder people with no relation to their conflict, or if the enemy destroys the entire system with a strategic weapon. I submit that if that happens, the majority of Rupil inhabitants will die anyway. Rupil prime does not possess any particularly valuable resources that make it necessary to conquer, negative?"

[Sskiss]

From his private chamber, Hierarch Raag listened intently at each of the fleet commanders in turn. Cocking his head in precise jerky movements from time to time in an unnervingly bird-like manner. He made some final minute checks on his previous grooming and with painstaking effort as to not, at a most inopportune moment, feel the need to relieve a tick related itch...

Finally his hologram spoke having struck a posture of 'dominance/importance'.

We agree with our crechemate "Central-Facehuggria" speaks most wisely/agreement of speaking, not 'egglings/ignorant of great truths' like others. At that he cast piercing glares at the Allanean and Terran Federation admirals.

"If we are strong above/we are strong below!" said the Sskiss, and added modifiers of 'respect' towards High admiral MARS. The construct is of 'immediate/greatest' importance". Knowledge of it to be hunted/discovered...open for all to see"... He then signaled "apparent truth". "Must be activated/utilized...Of critical importance"! The last part sounded like a series of irate squawks. "Our posture/presence must be strong.... Then we see to other needs!"

"Tkalgren species should not be disturbed/disrupted....isolation long/many seasons past...Territorial imperitive crucial... Contact of less importance/need."

Finaly he stated. "This is only logical/intelligent path for our collective creche to take."

[The Fedral Union]

Sherman just exhaled his smoke, he pulled out his cigar from his mouth, he looked at the ssskiss hologram that was glaring at him after making such a scurrilous statement, he just softly grinned blowing a large plume of smoke towards the hologram. He responded holding his cigar in his right hand.

“Ignorance hah, that’s fresh, I suppose you would rather hide behind a screen rather than fighting the enemy face to face, sound tactics keeping orbital superiority, but it doesn’t always work out , never under estimate the enemy let alone IRON, that planet down there is a bargaining chip, it can either be in our hands and protected as a neutral planet with its liberty, or held hostage by those imperial powers , they could jump thousands of ships right here right now and engage all our forces while they sack the planet, we never know. I should also note that fighting in orbit would be dangerous to the persons bellow, a few stray rounds or missiles and there goes the neighborhood. Better safe than sorry I always say. Digress frankly from what we know from the ESUS data base that planet has a population of around two billion, in fact… I’m going to have my ships scan the planet. Hold a tick..”

Quickly he turned his attention to his neural link, the AI of his ship was already on
station, he idly sent an order.

~Start full scans on that planet~

~Aye Admiral…~

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===Scan initiated ===
=== Scanning ===
===Scanning ===
===Scan complete==

~Sir~ The AI started and then continued

~ the scan you ordered has been completed.. ~

~Good transmit all the data to allied ships and project it on to this vessel.~

Sherman responded coarsely

~Aye sir~ The Ai submitted.

The information was laid out obviously; Sherman adjusted his well pressed uniform and then started to speak pointing to a holo graphic projection of the planet.

“From the ESUS data base, and from our current scans, the population of this world is roughly two billion, keeping in mind various factors our scans also have concluded a pre industrial society just leaving the gun powder age, no planets are massive bodies, I’m not going to get in to it because I assume all our races knows basic mathematical measurements. The population per square mile is scarce compared to a more developed world. If we build small bases in uninhabited areas like say the poles, equip them with cloaking and holo masking devices, and use minimal contingents of marines and Special Forces we should be able to avoid any contact with the local population and adequately respond to a landing of enemy forces should they get through our orbital supremacy, now as for the other worlds, I agree they should be fortified as well But I believe the inhabited planet needs to have ground defenses, if we can set up missile batteries or anti capital ship guns on mountains and barren areas where there is no inhabitation we can provide a hell of a counter to both orbital attack and drop ships.”

[Arizona Nova]

Mars listened to each argument in turn, arms crossed, nodding as the commanders made their cases. Telros's vote was wired in; an anonymous ballot, and the decider: nay. As Admiral Sherman finished, he cleared his throat - more a signal action, than out of necessity of course - and began.

"All indeed good points, but in terms of the voting, I retain the right of abstention, if only on the grounds that I serve as vote-counter. Thus, I should not be taking any particular side; in which case the nays have it."

Turning to the Allanean and Admiral Sherman, he began, "I can see the merit in landing to protect Rupil; if this system does come under attack there is little to no guarantee that Planet Rupil will not also be scourged; if only for petty vengeance on Rupil's historical association with ESUS. Even so..."

Turning then to Mercer and Raag's projection, he continued, "I will address General Mercer's question next. As for intel, there is little I can tell you aside from what is in the ESUS databases. The original timetable for this operation was a bit later than this; had things gone as planned, only now would scouts be landing on Rupil to ascertain its state. Yet, no plan survives contact with the enemy, as they say, and events elsewhere precipitated an earlier initiation for this operation. We have no intel on what may have caused the collapse of Rupil, or even the time frame in which it occurred; which is why I am personally hesitant to declare yay or nay on this matter, for lack of adequate intelligence."

"I do, however, certainly support Mercer's strategy, as much as you do, Hierarch Raag, for digging into this sytem. The outer planet may lack innate life support, but that will only make it more challenging to take for our enemies, and the space station especially is not only a prime strategic asset but also one of historical and cultural significance. Kemelzar, as strong as his opposition to a landing on planet Rupil is, was just as keen on unlocking that station's secrets."

"As for the idea of hidden fortifications, I must say I am staunchly against the idea," said Mars, looking again at Sherman, impassively. "To make blanket assumptions that a civilization fallen back from spacefaring will be uniformly without tools to detect alien incursion is hubris at best, complete folly at worst. You would do well, Admiral, to take a page from my own nation's history; the defeat of the Ersatzregie was undoubtedly rooted in such an assumption. Perhaps Rupil society has, as a whole, regressed to a primitive level, even so, pockets undoubtedly remain that 'remember' what it once was, and those pockets may have pieces of their high technology yet; pieces they may bring to bear upon us, if we are not careful."

"There is another factor you're not considering, as well: how do you know that armoring planet Rupil will not make it a target? Simply rolling into this system as we have, with our armaments, has been bound to alert some people. Spreading those armaments to Rupil will legitimize it as a target for enemy attack, and even if we hide our fortifications there from the natives, it is likely one of our spacefaring peers will still be able to find it, and they may attack the planet all the same. Indeed; if we concentrate and diffuse our armaments - a great share on the outer planet, for example, while seeding the rest around the system, to catch enemies at unawares - we will force an enemy attack to concentrate on that planet before turning against any other installations in-system, or planet Rupil, which in turn should hopefully give us the time we need to marshal more reinforcements. As is, the Sskiss is right on another count - if we control the void, we control the battle, making space control, in all likelihood, planet Rupil's best defense."

"Finally," said Mars, "I would remind you all that as mighty as we intend to make our fastnesses in arms, that our mission here has another dimension, as surely as the ESUS alliance itself has. It is Kemelzar's hope that, too, this sytem will become a gateway of trade to the north; the military and commercial eye of the needle, as it were. We are all ESUS nations; and ESUS nations have immunities, currently, to IRON's sanctions. Traders from nations outside the ESUS, wishing to find a quick and easy route into northern markets, may be tempted to stop by here first. Your own merchants will also benefit from having a well-ordered pit stop before heading into the wilds of northern space. So do remember that while military protection is of primary concern here, it should not be our sole concern."

[The Fedral Union]

Sherman waved his hand softly putting the cigar back in his mouth and inhaling the smoke softly, the tip glowing orange. He responded with a simple reply.

“Fair enough it’s your decision, either way we’re ready to back you up, we’ve got enough marines to lead ops if you need them, what say you?”

Sherman asked with the cigar still in his mouth, it was nearly half way done by now

[Kanuckistan]

Heralded by the characteristic scattering of forerunner drones, a most unusual vessel appeared - three and a half kilometers of 'saucer-head' rendered in Kanuckistani silver, wrapped in thick armour, it's hull festooned with an arsenal of leashed carnage, well used and still glowing from recent action.

Code: Select all

IFF: Kanuckistani Adventurers' Guild, VESSEL:Tiberius, CLAN:STARF LEET, PORT:Kyoto-SWG-Kanuckistan, REGNUM#6552435778647534, Kudar Urist Commanding. NOTES: re: Operation Guardian Reach.


Rolling drones, IFF squawking, KAGV Tiberius' myriad of defencive screens idled, combat-standby, as the boiling wattage and subtle grav waves of sensors shipboard and drone probe and nurse out what secrets that might bring to light.


Rolling gyros, she angles toward the ANSS Anandil, gradually closing to a handful of MSK on inertialess SLDS drives.

"Salutations. I am Commodore Kudar Urist of Starf Leet, of the Kanuckistani Adventurers' Guild Vessel Tiberius," the hail began, flagged for the Arizonians, yet broadcast to all, if behind lower-end, albeit still theoretically unbreakable, ESUS milspec encryption.

"I know that I am late, and more ships than present committed to this venture. For this, I apologise," the speaker continued in raspy voice, a quadruped dragonoid in blood-splattered Combat Clown Suit and pink Tactical Wig, scaled face painted white, eyes and frown in blue, outlined in black, a single red teardrop under it's left eye. "Let us just say there are fewer pirates and slavers in this universe now, and there shall be fewer still when the rest of our group arrive."

The painted drake paused then, subtle, alien cues the only hint of recent pain, the torment of helplessly watching a colony burn only hours before, the memory pushed aside with a muted hiss.

"But we are here now, and I have reviewed your message. In the interest of expediancy I have included telepresence protocols and a pending uplink on a tightbeam subchannel, and request a burst transcript of the proceedings thusfar."

The channel closed, Kudar waited for reply, be it hail, or a holographic rendition of his hide appearing at the meeting.

OOC:
http://i30.tinypic.com/2e1y7ew.jpg
Mesh still incomplete.

[Allanea]

Deep space rippled around the outer rim of Rupil. It was as if a horror was rippling into real space, an obscenity against Mother Nature and her Laws. It was is if reality herself screamed in abject terror as the hyperdrive engines of mighty Allanean ships brought them into the Kuiper belt of Rupil system – massive cylinders, several kilometers in length.

These were he Habbakuk transports, used to fight the Chaos enemy in the Great Crusade until one of them had been destroyed in orbit over Taikhagu. Now they were here, doing work for justice and freedom on another front, one where they were less likely to be shot.

They had been laden with weaponry. Hundreds and thousands of missiles with a variety of warheads – kinetic-kill vehicles, fusion-pumped lasers, and other, more arcane designs – proximity-detonated and direct-impact, guided by optical signatures, Minovsky Radiation, and metal signatures, among other things. Thousands upon thousands of tons of sensordust. Kill satellites, dazzlers, tracking arrays. The list went on and on.

Other transports came from the ZMI forges. These, too, carried a cargo of death. MOHO installations lay in their massive cargo containers, prepared for fixing on the surface of worlds. Orbital energy weapons lay in their protective packaging. But it was not these weapons that were the symbols of Allanea's charity in Rupil system.

Fifteen massive cannon, kilometers upon kilometers in length, had been brought in – Teraton Guns, the very same that had once defended Mars from a variety of enemies.

They had been given names, to fit the nature of the beings they would serve now. The TG-1 Arizona Nova, TG-2 Facehuggeria, TG-3 Union, TG-4 Sskiss, TG-5 Rupil, TG-6 Kanuckistan, and others were appearing from hyperdrive.

Immediately, they went towards the barren planet. There, the massive cannon would be placed, orbiting as guard installations. Each was capable of firing short bursts of teraton-grade gunfire – and that was not even all of it. Lighter installations would be deployed in orbit, covering the massive guns with the muzzles of their energy weapons. Even when the teraton guns stopped to recharge and cool down, the system would keep fighting.

In the Kuiper belt and the asteroid fields, the Habbakuks passed, leaving behind a trail of black-painted missiles, almost unnoticeable from a distance. Within minutes, the missiles would be invisible entirely, hidden along the tons of space debris already presence

Allanea's hand has opened, and the abundance was pouring forth.

[Arizona Nova]

The conference concluded, High Admiral Mars set to the work at hand: the fortification of the outer planet, and the exploration of the system's main space station, Tfasset Rupil.

First, however, he sent a video greeting to the incoming Kanuckistani:

"Hail Commodore Urist! This is High Admiral Mars of Arizona Nova. Welcome to Rupil! We hope that the establishment of this outpost will mark the beginning of the repayment of the high debt of my nation to yours in helping defend and evacuate New Constantinople during our Civil War.

You have arrived somewhat too late to take part of the proceedings of a vote to decide whether to land on Rupil, but my guess is that the results would please you anyway: we have voted no to landing on Rupil Prime. One might think an odd decision considering the makeup of the nations in this task force, but one which I am sure your people, with their unwavering respect for sapient rights, applaud. Even so, operations are underway to make a landing on the system's barren outer planet, along with an exploration of the principle space station of the system, Tfasset Rupil.

Attached is a more detailed and less florid transcript of the proceedings so far, complete with timestamps and stellar markers, for your computer systems to digest as needed."

As the Allanean cargoships began to arrive, Mars began plotting out the disposition of the task forces. Noting the equipment of each nation, he began to allot the tasks accordingly. To the outer planet, he decided to dispatch his own vessel, along with Central Facehuggeria and Allanea. To the decidedly more neutral task of station exploration, he assigned the Sskiss, and the Terran Alliance. He then dispatched another message to the Telrosians and Kanuckistani:

"Telrosian and Kanuckistani Guild allies: I am unsure of which task your forces are more or less suited to do. The primary activites we will be undertaking now is exploration and renovation of the Tfasset Rupil space station, which is currently uninhabited, and fortification of the outer planet. Kemelzar's current long-term goal for the renovation is to turn it into the waystation for passing traders and merchants, going back and forth from IRON and Hermes domains to the south and east; politically, this is a bit more on the neutral side. You would be working with the Sskiss and the Terran Alliance marines to overcome any traps or defenses still active on the station. Otherwise, there is the work of setting up the fortifications on the outer planet, to which my own forces, along with Central Facehuggeria and Allanea, will be applying themselves. Obviously assisting with this might incur the ire of any IRON or Hermes allies either of you have, seeing as the reason for that installation is to act as a 'big stick' to ward off their own. I leave the choice to your respective forces."

[The Fedral Union]

Sherman flicked his cigars ash in to an ashtray close by him, he sighed as he spoke out this time using voice commands so that others could hear him.

“Sherman to Cetus , deploy some marines on transport to the station stat”

“Aye sir”

The AI responded back in a stiff obedient voice, the orders were uplinked to the marine barracks.

Jameson idly shifted in his chair, as the orders came in he saw a screen flicker to life in the corner of his eye, he had three of a kind and was about to call the bluff of the marine across from him, smoke billowed from several cigars and cigarettes placed on ashtrays and inside several persons mouths. The bottle of scotch was half way gone, split in between the various marines in the barracks, Jameson sighed a bit placing his cards face down. He commented as he slid the chair he was sitting on back along the chrome like smooth metal floor.

“Damn you lucky bastard, we got a mission to do…”

The marine who he was pitted against in the game of bluffs just chuckled

“Dude I would of beat your ass”

The dark skinned man said with a grin across his face, in the meantime Jameson just waved his hand nonchalantly walking up to the large three dimensional holographic screen flickering with a block of text, sensors had already scanned the station for the perfect entry points. Jameson called out to the marines in back.

“All-right assholes we have to report to the docking bay asap, suit up get your gear and move out!”

Jameson smiled softly finally they were getting some action, quickly he placed the leg bits of his guardian armor on first they quickly snapped on to the torso section and then to the arm sections, the active camouflage shimmering as it activated.

He placed the pressurized helmet on last, the inside of the opaque mask displaying HUD information; sensor read outs, ammunition and shield strength , neural interface QEC’s and an interlink to the AI mind. The rest of his squad had also finished putting on their gear and activating their atomic storage units, they had selected various weapons to be buffered for their use.

Each also had an external weapon of different types, Jameson sported a large 30mm EMG auto rifle, the large sleek form of the gun was held by his black gloved hands easily close to his chest.

Others sported Large Graser rifles, automatic Flack guns and shredder rifles.
Jameson nodded to the fourteen man/woman squad; all of them had Guardian armor on.


He along with the rest of them tapped an implanted teleportation node within their suits, and in an instant flash of light appeared in a massive hanger bay, an SGS-64 Apache gunship had already been put out, and each of them appeared in a blink of an eye in a wedge formation facing the large sleek hulled grey gunship.

One by one each of them boarded the ship, it started to lift off once every one was aboard each marine had secured a force belted seat next to one another running down the line of the craft, energetic high pitched noises could be heard as the Repeller drives pushed the craft up from the deck and began to move it faster and faster with each nanosecond.

The force field holding the atmosphere within the docking bay hummed and crackled gently as the large gunship lunged forth in to the darkness, the sun of the system reflecting upon the blue hull of the massive heavy cruiser, and the smaller hull of the gunship that it dwarfed, behind them several other gunship filled with fourteen marines each went forth forming up with the gunship Jameson was on.

Several moments passed the gunships came upon the massive star base; their forms were dwarfed by the sheer size of the behemoth, the gunships game to a slow each of them hovering over one of the large core docks.

~Testing N link.. 1..2..3..~

Jameson spoke out, sergeant bishop who was the team’s chief medic responded first.
~Five by five sir ~

~All right folks according to sensor scans the docks are out of order, however the coreship docks seem to have extended catwalks with a docking port on them, we’re going to have to cut our way through, once we sweep the area the rest of the teams can beam in, Computer send a copy of this transmission to the Sskiss ships if they want to come to assist also tell them to hang back until we sweep the area for traps.~

The male AI responded quickly with a soft voice.

~Ai sir, forwarding message now.~

As the message was forwarded to allied command the gunship descended to one of the extending docks, the gunship hovered centimeters from the large door, a beam of shimmering blue energy suddenly started to emanate from an emitter atop of the ship, a flash of light could be seen on the impact point as metal was sliced through like butter, several moments passed and a large circular bit of metal blew in to the station dock falling flat on the ground, instantly the gunship docked its port on to the hole.

~All-right marines move out! And Activate grav boots!~

Jameson yelled through the neural link, all fourteen marines poured out in a standard column formatin quickly forming in to an assault wedge, each marine with their weapons drawn looked around, Power armor sensor arrays flashing as they scanned what they could, uplinks to the AI minds of the cruisers and gunships feeding them information.

They had automatically activated their grav boots, space time and personal armor hugging shields buzzed and crackled to life with a golden and blue hue around the marines.

The warp created by the space time shield looked almost like a distant object in a desert, wavy and shimmering.

Bishop waved a hand a bit as he stepped forward kneeling down on the metal deck, his opaque visor on the inside filled with the floor plan for the docking ring.

~Looks like there is no one home, what happened to everyone?~

Bishop was a bit uneasy by the deserted view he looked at, no active life signs could be ascertained from current scans.

~Yeah it’s a bit dead in here, who the hell knows what happened to these people. Stay frosty let’s move forward..

~Will do sir~

Bishop and the other marines acknowledged, Jameson started to walk forward, his optical cloak and camouflage shimmering to life, the marines that followed did the same their forms started to blend in with the surrounding environment easily.

[Kanuckistan]

Kudar nodded as he reviewed the reply, tho the Arizonian couldn't see him at the moment, tho he hadn't been hunam for a century. The station seemed the best bet - with luck there'd be fighting to be found there, and of the two theatres, it was the one they were best equipped for; they have fabbers and feed stocks, true, but they were no factory ship, while boasting two thousand "marines", plus tanks, strike craft, drones, and myriad support assets, including a number of expensive slipgate closets.

And the Tiberius itself, of course.

National interests, of course, didn't factor into it - some KAGers might cooperate with the military, on occasion, but outside those rare occasions they were, legally, average civilians, no more connected to the government than anyone else. The confusion was vexing at times, but given the hardware many of their number managed to aquior over their long lives, and their self-appointed, generally interventionist mandates, it was rather understandable.

The fact that some few tended to outright lie about the matter didn't help, but there was no point dwelling on that now.


The planet, meanwhile, still warranted recon, but that would be best done by drone from orbit, globally and over an extended period of time, mapping out the subsurface in search of secrets while monitoring the day-to-day lives of the populace to build up a cultural database. Landing at this point would be silly.


All this would be included in his own reply, and then he would have to see to the troops - Starf Leet had become a large, wealthy clan in the last few decades, but it's military strength lay it's naval arm, and after detaching most of his embarked force to chase slavers, half of those who remained were from other clans, or independents. Many only arriving shortly befor they split from the rest of the fleet.

With the notoriously independent spirit of most KAG, the next few days looked to be... interesting. In the Japanese sense of the word.


His thoughts arranged, he spared a brief glance at his tactical repeater, making note of their thickening VLA halo, wondering if he should set up a feed for their 'allies' - for more advanced sensors some may have, but a multi-lightsecond array had inherent advantages, and GRIDAR was rivaled by few in it's field.

'Couldn't hurt,' he mused, befor ordering the hail.


OOC:
Yes, I know, he got the country wrong - that was intentional, atleast on my part. Less so his. As in not.

[Sskiss]

Within Hierachs Raag's Command Ship

It did not take long for the Hierarch Raag to take action on his assigned task. Namely the exploration of the huge deralict station. Indeed, Hierarch Raag had already made his choices for the exploration party. A large force of heavily armed and armoured Sskiss might cause too much damage to the stations critical interior components - even if inadvertently. This was especially true for the larger Sskiss forms, who had a tendency to be less concerned for their surroundings... Furthermore, highly explosive weapons, whether in the form of energy, warheads or similar projectiles where also to be avoided, as these would likely destroy or at least, damage, crucial components within the station. To this end, Hierarch Raag decided on a more modest sized force comprizing of smaller Sskiss species in light battle armour.

Swiftness was the key. It was a trait that the Sskiss were especially well endowed. Born of ancestors that evloved in open ground, highly cursorial, their skeletal structure allowed for great speed and precise turn rates. The smaller forms could also excellerate rapidly and with their powerfull muscular legs, could also leap considerable distances. Thus Heirarch Raag chose a well rounded force of soldiers, scientific specialists and explorers to fulfill the tasks set before him. Confidence and morale were high for both he and the individuals selected for the exploration parties.

Intitial scans of the deralict station had assumed what he suspected; No power sources. Which in turn meant no lighting, gravity, weapons, shielding or atmosphere. The station was effectively dead, abandond for a very long time and while their was no power sources, this did not mean that the station did not contain its dangers. Indeed, because of these conditions, Hierarch Raag had already made the equally important choices for equipment as well.

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In Space - Near the Sskiss Stealth Fleet

The form of a bulky, heavily armoured saucer shaped lander craft droped from below Hierarchs Raag command ship into the depths of space. It was a typical general purpose craft, able to haul freight, carry troops and even, if need be, act as a shuttle craft as well. At some fifty meters in width, the craft was already dwarfed by the Sskiss warships. However, against the vast bulk of the deralict station it was like comparing a fly to an elephant. The station was vastly larger than any ships the Sskiss had and even greater in size than any shipyard they currently possessed.

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Approaching the deralict station

However, it was when he vessel soon arrived at their destination that the true scope of the size of the station could be fully grasped by the Sskiss exploration crew. They looked for any opening, a hatch or entryway of some sort, found one and set course for it. They choose what appeared to be a ship docking and repair area, although the lighting and contrasting shadows made it difficult to gauge where to land. Finally the pilot, linked via a bio-neural crystalline link to the crafts main quasi-life data node relied on radar and X-rays active sensors for absolute certainty.

The lander craft and its occupants landed without incident.

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Within one of the stations docking bays

With the success of their landing Commander Raast spoke via the landers commincation node. "Dominent one!... Arrival/landing successful....Seeking objective....activation of power source...."

With the group having sinse been preparred for their task and ready to leave within the lower central chamber, Commander Raast gave the first true command. "Activate hunter drones/deploy" He said with modifiers of 'strength/authority'.

The six sleek pod-like drones resembled Sskiss warships in miniture, dropped from beneath the floating lander. They immediatly took up watch positions about the the area. The area was so vast that the drones seemed swallowed up by it.

A human could not see them...

The remainding Sskiss dropped likewise from the underside of the bulky lander. However, unlike the probes, in the null gravity envirnment of the deralict station it seemed like it occurred in slow motion. As each individual Sskiss dropped, they moved forward taking up 'watchful defence'. Despite the null gravity, they walked as if there was, as the underside of their feet were equipped with adhesive pads similar in effect to a terrestrial gekko.

With the area deemed secured and everything functioning optimally, the Sskiss and their autonomous drones continued toward a large entryway, alert and weaponry at the ready....

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Sskiss Exploration Party - composition

6 "Screecher" Soldier caste - Light Infantry - Equipped with light battle armour and molucular disruptor rifles. One possess a disintergrator beam rifle instead.

6 Explorers - Basically skilled in piloting, survival and alien envirnments, including technology. Equipped with armoured vacc suits (roughly equivellent to light battle armour), high velocity short-medium ranged metal flechette guns. Their stubby design is good for close quarters fighting. One of the explorers carries a short ranged mono-filament web caster gun as well.

3 Scientists - These are specialized in alien technology and languages. Particularly Rupil technology and languages. Equippedwith armoured Vacc suits - similar to the ones the explorer use and various recording, analyzing and sensor devices.

1 "Hunter/Killer" Soldier caste - Heavy Infantry. Also functions as a heavy equipment carrier. Equipped with medium battle armour and a heavy molecular disruptor cannon.

The party is also equipted with six autonomous "floater" pod-like military drones and are in direct comm link to the commander and the pod master. These drones at 1.5 meters in length, and resemble Sskiss attack craft in miniture and are equiped with a multi-spectral sensor array including echo-location sensors and a rapid fire molecular disruptor cannon. The four curved claw-like structures can also be used in close combat as they are sheathed in a molecular disruptor field. Furthermore, various industrial laser and plasma cutters will also be utilized by the group should the need arise.

Regarding Sskiss battle armour and armoured vacc suits, they are very flexiable, form fitting and comparitively light and do not hamper movement significantly. They are basically similar to Sskiss armour and hull technologies in that they are a form of Quasi-life. The armour and vacc suits can heal and cycle carbon (scrubbing) very effectively.

Primary Mission: Activate the main power core or similar sources of the station
Secondary objectives: Discover what became of the stations crew
Tertiary objectives: Note and report any anomalies

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OOC: TFU, please do not, I repeat do not metagame! Do not assume what my people are doing or not doing relative to your own. Its assumed that our efforts are more or less within the same time frame. It does not make a difference that you happen to post first. It also makes better sense that we each explore more or less independenly of each other. i.e: We take different entry points into the deralict station. I trust I made myself perfectly clear on the matter.