The Survivors (IC/MWRP/ open to group)

[Hladgos]

OOC

Nothing was left. Not even debris. The six month battle was over, and a single clear victor stood out. The biomechanical creatureships of the Zecatera ravaged the once proud and indominable Sentillian race. It was almost a complete loss for the universe, losing such a diverse and thick culture, but a sudden flash of light, and multiple streams of high energy flashed out from inside one of the massive Zecatera warships. The beams sliced the vessel to peices, and seven large ships smashed their way out of their prison. They raced away from the now enraged brothers of the vessel they had just annihilated, and threw ungodly amounts of firepower to their rear as they tried to make an escape.

"We cant make it, they have surrounded the entire battlefield Karati-Uunsogin... There is no way we will live... our race and nation is finished."

The biomechanical being looked sad, yet determined. He had witnessed the death of billions of his brothers and sisters as they tried once more to go to the place they had sought for so long...

"No, we can live. All but one of the ships will escape." Announced the captain of the vessel matter-of-factly.

The other being looked astonished, and suddenly desperate. It opened it's mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Have everyone eject and go to the other ships. I knew that this vessel had to be great one day."

"It wont be the ship that knows greatness Karati-Uunsogin... It will be the captain... I must tell your brother?"

"No, he will know what I do when everyone leaves. My heartseeker died for me, so now I die for all of my people. My brother, and his heartseeker are the most important. Keep them alive at any cost..."

The other being bowed and made several clicking noises before turning and swiftly moving to the wall as it opened up for him. The seven hundred and eighty three others on the ship quickly moved away and ejected themselves into tiny pods which manuevered themselves onto the other six vessels. They all stopped while the other ship continued on, speeding towards the massive wall of hungry Zecatera ships. Sjuna-Heildemnois tried to take command of the ship he was on. His brother sped towards certain death, and there was nothing he could do about it. The craft turned a bright blue before shining even brighter white, and slammed into the wall of creatures. A massive hole was ripped in space and time as the craft turned itself into a battery to fuel the portal to safety. Information beamed its way into the portal, and the remaining six ships dissapeared along with the portal.

Several light decades from the Milky Way
Sjuna wept on the floor of the control room. Noone stopped him, but his heartseeker knelt next to him, saying nothing. At last, he looked up with a face of such sadness.
"The king... he is dead..."

[Trinitia]

Battle Remnants

A lone vessel sailed through the black nothingness without any signs of activity. The engines were off, as were any lights which might have decorated the hull. Against the immense backdrop, it was an insignificant little thing in relation to the immensity which stretched around it. Cold and grey, light itself seemed to avoid shining upon the craft. To any onlookers, it would look like an abandoned vessel, fitting in perfectly with the graveyard it was situated in.

As it floated gracefully past the wreckage of what seemed to have been a major battle, the engines hummed to life. Subsonic waves raced through the hull as a ghostly, pale blue emanated from the rear of the Watchman IX. Built for reconnaissance missions, the ship was one of many in the Terran Collective's armada of spy vessels. Subterfuge and monitoring were specialties of the Collective, and the ship fittingly reflected this.

Besides basic radar evasion designs, the vessel boasted a new, composite "skin" material which could mimic the conditions of whatever lay around the vessel. Looking for a possible infrared signature would reveal nothing, as would most other scanner technologies. Even now, the vessel slid among the dead like a snake.

A powerful beam shot out of Watchman IX, and began to move back and forth on some nearby wreckage. The red bar danced along the scars of what was a once-mighty battleship, and highlighted the enormous strain this machine had felt. The beam abruptly stopped, and a disk propelled itself toward the behemoth.

As it made contact, the disk-like object reacted. It wrapped itself around the uneven surface thanks to a series of grooves along its edge. A gentle glow came from within, and a drill pushed itself through the foreign battleship. Liquid occasionally floated out from the sides of the "disc," splitting off into small droplets before being lost to the eternity of space. Once the drill stopped, something slid through the hole, leaving a jelly textured, silicon shell behind to cover the entrance.

------------------------
Official Analysis Record

Within a few hours, the nature of the battle had been determined. A local species, which the Terran Collective had silently watched over in the hopes of its ascension to an interstellar species, had imploded. A sad truth with many industrialized species, it had killed itself before it ever managed to truly get off the ground. A few of them were still alive, living within the deep tunnel networks the race had built on a nearby planet.

But they would slowly die off without assistance. Their new planet was growing cold and weary, and the heat from the core continuously retreated. The race would burrow further and further, vainly attempting to strike out a new life. But they lacked the resources or the technology. They would slowly perish in a long and saddening death, which would stretch for hundreds of years. After the heat of their dying planet was gone, they would only know darkness and the biting cold.

The Collective decided to offer a hand. They would introduce themselves slowly, attempting to lessen any shock which may occur. They would offer them a choice. To join the Collective, to work with it, or slowly wither. None had ever been known to turn away from help. There would most likely be a merciful fate for the insectoids.

At the realization of this, while the Collective was still in thought upon the race, a deep space sensor reported an unscheduled jump, followed by a vessel of unknown origin. The incident occurred outside of Collective space though, in the no-man's land much further out.

A ship warped to the relay station, intent upon investigating what had happened.

[Hladgos]

The few ships remaining, several Sentillian Destroyers, two Annihilators, and a mobile gun platform, lay dormant in space, though their weapons were completely online and ready to fire. They were prepared to run, fight, and die for the last member of the royal family; a superior version of their race, made to run the once massive and powerful empire. Sjuna now stood in the massive fifty kilometer long gun platform in the large central meeting room. It wasn't very formal, but when you had just lost everything you had ever known, there was no need for formality. The new king was being instated, and what used to take years, took under thirty minutes now. The few pilots and comm operators in the other ships watched the single blip on the sensors closely. They were tired, scared, and sad. Desperate, and highly advanced species in near invincible and extremely powerful ships watched the vessel as it stirred, ready to fire at the first move it made.

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

The TCS Loki fell back into reality, appearing in an approximation of where the unidentified ships had come through. Immediately, the sensors picked up several objects. As they locked-on, and the ship drew nearer, the computer systems began to compile information.

There were several ships in total, composed of what seemed like two different classes. A third, stationary object appeared to be a gun platform. The ship halted, and several radio bursts indicated an attempt at signalling the vessels. Among the languages attempted was Galactic Standard, although there was no way of knowing if the pilots of the alien ships shared any common tongue with the Collective.

Code: Select all

This is TCS [i]Loki[/i], with ship identification number being transmitted shortly. No jumps were scheduled for this area, and you are unsettlingly close to Collective space. Please identify yourself.

[Vetega]

Hezion
Void Between Andromeda and Milky Way

"What is it? "
"My data has confirmed it to be Sentillian. The Levelians had an encounter with them after they built Endymion. "Hezion replied.
"They don't seem to be hostile. Send Cavil. No, send Caprica Six instead. She is more level headed. " Izon stated while looking at the data.


Free Space

The cylon flagship, the ZIN Acheron, appeared in a flash of light. Immediately, other ships were flagged. The moon sized basestar, with 12 arms instead of the usual six, held position away from the large vessels that were obviously Sentillian.

"Status? " Caprica asked.
"The unknown vessels are powerful. That much is clearly obvious. It looks like they've recently escaped something. Weapons signatures emanating from their ships show Zecateran energy. " Sharon replied.

Caprica frowned. The Zecatera were an enemy never to be trifled with.

[Hladgos]

"What are the enemies doing?" Asked one of the operators.

A garbled signature of electromagnetic waves was picked up by the overpowered scanners, and quickly calculated to show nothing in particular. There would have been someone that knew how to at least attempt to decode this kind of signal, but almost all of them had died in the xenocide that the Zecatera had inflicted on them. Now the vessel that was approaching them was being labelled as an active threat. A single shot from even one of the smaller weapons on the Ntakomira could render the Loki a crippled, or even annihilated bit of metal. A burst of signals flooded the Sentillian computers just before the Cylon ship and Basestar appeared from halfway across the galaxy. Before anyone had the chance to react, the massive gun platform launched a single powerful ball of energy, which lengthened as it sped towards the new seeming aggressors. Several light seconds before impact, the energy suddenly exploded in a brilliant flash of light, expanding outwards to the size of a supermassive red giant, forcing the basestar to move or face impact.

"Who are they?"

"It does not matter. The survival of our race is more important than the structural integrity of their ship."

The ships made a microjump further away from the Milky Way, and readied their weapons, charging and locking onto the ships that had appeared earlier.

[Vetega]

The cylon flagship took the warning shot in stride while making precise scans of the weaponry.

'Do not return fire. This time even your ship is outgunned. They perceived you as a threat. I'll have Hezion decipher the signals you detected. 'Izon said in her mind.

The baseship turned and followed the direction the Sentillian vessels had moved in without charging shields. The flagship did the same. At that same moment Hezion was using the flagship to boost it's own signal. The signal Hezion sent could be decoded into every language the ancient vessel had encountered, even a small portion of Sentillian signal was within the data the Levelians gathered a long time ago.

'We mean you no harm. Do not fire on the star shaped vessels. They are merely observing. I am Hezion, first Nexus Core of the Levelian Sovereignty. '

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

The Loki was guarded at the arrival of this foreign vessel, but when several more ships arrived, the situation seemed to be deteriorating. Who were these new strangers? And why had a warning shot been fired at them?

A broadcast was sent to the massive ship, which was roughly the size of a small moon.

Code: Select all

This the TCS Loki, with ship identification number being transmitted shortly. Please identify yourself, and if possible, the other ship.

No response was received from the first ship, so the Collective assumed they did not speak any known languages. In this case, attempts were made at utilizing other forms of communication. Signals were broadcasted once more, but this time with clear variations in pattern intended to show the other ship that the Collective was trying to communicate. At the same time, lights along the sides of the Loki flashed in regular repetition. The situation was clearly one of misunderstanding, and something was causing the entities aboard to act very cautiously.

[Hladgos]

As soon as the flagship and basestar started moving forwards, the Sentillian ships appeared facing the far away, but oncoming vessels. Before the signal was intercepted, another four rounds were fired, and the energy detonated further away from the basestar and flagship, forming a massive wall of powerful energy.

"What did they say?"

"They mean us no harm. Their sheilds are down according to scans. They are with the Levilians."

The new king, Sjuna turned his head and looked at the operator with a sad expression.

"We still cannot trust anyone. We must be on our own, but we need a new place to stay... The entire empire is gone, and we need a new land."

The ships stopped moving, but did not lower charge on their weapons. They waited for the Levilians to contact them again, but another warning shot made it clear they didn't want to be followed.

[Vetega]

The Acheron responded to the Loki without hesitation.

'This is the ZIN Acheron of the Zectoran Federation hailing from the Andromeda galaxy. We are friendly. Repeat friendly. Unknown vessel fired upon us once we entered the area. Obviously they misunderstood our intentions. '

'Stop following them. They do not trust anyone. Give them space. ' Izon sent to her.

She sighed.

"All stop. Initiate signal contact. "

'This is the ZIN Acheron, of the Zectoran Federation. The Levelians are our allies. According to data we've received from Hezion you are Sentillian. We meant no offense. We await further instructions from Hezion and your reply. '

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

Zectoran Federation? Interesting. Perhaps they can assist us.

A message was sent in reply to the moon-sized ship.

Code: Select all

Understood. We have attempted communication with the foreign vessel, but no reply was received. Are you capable of communicating with them? If so, would you please transmit a rough outline of their language?

[Hladgos]

"They say they meant no offense. King Sjuna?"

The king noted that they were Zectoran, one of the Levilian that they had not met before. He didn't know what they would be able to do, but then again, there was nothing to really do. He began to think about the future. It didn't look all that promising. Walking up to the control panel in the air, he sent a video message live to them, and as the computer calculated the trillions of signals eminating from the Milky Way, a basic understanding of galactic standard communication was made, and the video was edited realtime to make it so that he spoke basic. He shifted his form to look almost exactly like his heartseeker, and turned away from the input camera.
"Our king is dead, our empire eradicated, and our entire race nearly annihilated. What do you think we feel?"

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

The message was received, and thought over for a few minutes. These beings had watched as their entire lives were destroyed in moments. Everything they had known...gone. The Terran Collective's newest members were able to empathize with them, having just watched their homeworld burn.

A message was sent to the vessels.

Code: Select all

We are sorry for your loss. Please do not be alarmed, we were merely investigating your sudden arrival in this area. If it is not too much, would you be willing to share information on who committed such horrible acts upon you race? Any information we receive may be vital for ensuring they do not commit such treacherous crimes once again, on others or even your surviving ships...

We can provide temporary assistance, and rehabilitation of necessary. The terms of which can be discussed if you agree.

[Hladgos]

The Sentillian ships sat on guard, waiting for their king to tell them what to do. As Sjuna looked at the message as it coded itself into Sentillian basic, he grew weary of the asking for information. He sent, well, she, since he had changed himself to a female of his kind, a message back, still facing away from the screen.
"We will not send any information to you, as we do not trust you. Trust must be earned, and at the moment, we cannot trust anyone but ourselves."

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

A message was quickly sent in reply.

Code: Select all

You would be fools to not tell us. You have all been all but extinguished, and this enemy still lurks somewhere in the dark. Would you sign others to a similar fate out of a mistrust? What would we do with such information which you fear? We can only offer help. If we wished to exterminate you, one of our fleets would have moved in already. But such an act would go against our every instinct. You have nothing to lose in telling us, but all to gain.

You are alone. This area is full of many different factions, and not all of them are as warm as the two here. While we do not wish to alarm you, we would suggest that you avoid jumping randomly among the stars. Only so many times can one do so before encountering a hostile area.

[Hladgos]

When a people are almost always in the company of many others, they generally become disoriented, scared, desperate... Violent, when seperated from their counterparts. Sjuna may have been superior to his kin, the rest of the Sentillian race, but he still felt these emotions. The statement given to the king was one that scared him. The simple mentioning of exterminating them was enough to cite a means of destroying the small ship. Ensuring the survival of his family was all that he had in mind.

"You have further lost what little trust I had in you from your statement. We are fully capable of annihilating all of industrialised civilisation in this galaxy, even now. I have no feelings for destroying a single ship of yours to prove that we are not yet gone. I will not do that, but I suggest you do not get on negative terms with me again. This meeting is over."

The communication line was severed, and the ships moved in a defensive position around the gun platform as it began to move rapidly away, gaining speed to swing around the Milky Way with the galaxie!: gravity.

[Trinitia]

Disturbance Coordinates

Fools. They will perish quickly enough.

Let us leave. This is no longer any of our concern.

A message was sent to the Zectorans.

Code: Select all

We are leaving now. The situation is no longer our responsibility. If you hope to help these refugees, we wish you the best of luck.

With that, the Loki activated its FTL drive. For a brief few seconds, complete darkness emanated from where the ship had been, but the stars pierced through once more after a few moments.

The Collective had attempted to help, but it was refused. They would not push for the fleeing survivors to stay: it was their decision. Irrational and nervous, the Collective was slightly glad that the high-strung beings were now gone. The group could begin to focus on much larger issues.

[Vetega]

Caprica sighed. The Terran Collective had scared them away.

'The Federation knows of your pain to an extent. We have been nearly annihilated a few times ourselves. While I cannot begin to fathom what you are going through, please hear this before you leave. The Zectoran Federation protects all life. We would never attack you. Our leader can sense your fear and he wishes to help you. He knows exactly who did this to your people, and as High Emperor, understands your distrust of others to protect what you have left. ' she said in a real-time video response.

'We will not force any information from you as we do not need any. Please, do not assume that the Terran Collective speaks for us. Their diplomatic methods are different. However, what they say about this galaxy is true. You have powerful technologies at your disposal. Others of dark intentions would relish the opportunity to steal it. Or at least try to anyway. Know that you are welcome within Federation space at all times. It is heavily protected. If you want, and I've just been given clearance to say this, you could also go to the Hezion itself. Safe travels. ' she added as the Sentillian ships flew away.
She made no move to follow them.

[Hladgos]

Sjuna started to feel angry at the fact that the civilised peoples of this galaxy would willingly attempt to steal Sentillian technology. If any tried, they would find that even a single Sentillian destroyer was capable of eradicating hundreds, if not thousands of capitol ships, frigates, fighters, gunships... The small group stopped moving at the end of the message and simply anchored themselves in the void outside of the Milky Way. At last he replied to the Zectorans with almost no emotion.

"We were, and still are a proud race. We have never accepted the assistance of any other peoples or state. I cannot be the first king to become a coward. For the time being, we are safe, and simply need a place to stay where we can protect ourselves. In the long run, we need a place to rebuild, to begin again... and continue..."

He gave no more information, but it was hardly needed. All attention suddenly turned to the lone Zecatera spy ship which sat so far away, watching with it's prying, hungry eyes. The Sentillian's had seen something. Something that Nregokath wished not to be known.

[Vetega]

Caprica rubbed her temples. They were indeed a proud people, much like Izon. Unwilling to accept help until it was nearly too late.

"Well then let's send a reply. "
"Wait. " an annoyed voice stated.

Izon had appeared on the bridge without a sound. He walked to the terminal Caprica was standing near.
"I will reply to them. "

He looked at the viewscreen and turned the sound back on. His red eyes glowed faintly.
"Sentillian remnants, I am High Emperor Izon Vagros Destraud. Whether you accept my offer or not, I have 12 uninhabited systems free for use as you see fit. Feel free to enter my space. However, should the Zecatera follow you know that, whether you want my help or not, I will destroy them myself. No ships no weapons. Just me. "

With that he turned to Caprica.
"Hold position and make minor repairs. If they fire on you again, cut all contact and return to Hezion. I don't care what reason they have, I won't enter into a relationship with a people who are just as likely to kill you for even breathing near them. " he stated.

He sat in the command chair. Without even thinking about it, he teleported the star thrown at them into the void far away from the Sentillian ships to prevent misunderstanding. The celestial body didn't belong there anyway.

Void

The Hezion moved farther into the Void. Now that the Sentillians had entered the void, the Hezion was in danger of attack for the wrong reasons. The galaxy sized worldship would obviously still be quite visible, but it wasn't about to get fired on. That would mean total war.

[Hladgos]

As the Hezion began to move into the void, the Sentillians watched it, calculating the billions of ways to fight it if need be. Sjuna listened to Izon again and thought; 'A being powerful enough to fight with it's mind. That's too much power for a single being, even a wise one.' The Sentillian Federation had created technology that could simulate telekinetic manipulation, and other forms of power, though most of it was lost in the massacre. Sjuna had a memory of the mentioning of the Council in the past. They were supposed to protect the universe and the multiverse. Xenocide on a scale like this was bound to be unnacceptable, but nothing had been done to save his kind. He grew weary of the Zectoran emporer, since he seemed to want to help them now, after his kind were nearly eradicated and now vulnerable.

"You want to help my race in what way?" He asked.

A mind using desperation, fear, and hate was an unstable one. Though the Sentillians were once a powerful and technologically superior race, they were still imperfect.

[Vetega]

Izon rested his head on his hand.
"You have expressed your position on assistance, therefore I can give you a place to reestablish your people. A temporary home, as it were. " he replied.

The audio was cut again. Although the video was still showing them sitting and waiting, the Sentillians wouldn't hear their conversation.
"Izon, you summoned me? "
Izon turned to see Vex.
"What does the Council think? What does Varios and Entity think? "
"We are currently creating contingency plans. Aganotorus is good at that kind of thing. We're preparing for war Izon. I suggest you do the same. "
"Against Nregokath? "
"No against Zecatera herself. Alone, we would have no chance. The being known as Zecatera is powerful. Their home galaxy is heavily protected. However, they are life of this universe. I will soon consult with Entity about the use of Canta Koteru. As a god yourself, you must be prepared. There is a Zecateran scout ship far from here watching the Sentillians. The Zecatera will strike. "
Izon nodded.

[Hladgos]

"To fight me, you must fight my people, my reason for existence. I'm three hundred of your Andromeda galaxies long, and many thousands of times heavyer. I'm a moving section of this universe, made from the poor galaxies Nregokath gives me to eat."

The biomechanical woman stood on the bridge of the ship, with glimmering and shining sections of her metallic limbs glaring light off of them. Several dozen colorful tendrils came off her body and swayed majestically in the non-existent wind on the ship. Her hair flowed down her back, and massive wings sat barely moving on her back. She was beautiful, something opposite of any war hardened bionicle.

"It's not my choise I'm this powerful anymore."

Sentillian Fleet

The king awaited patiently for a few moments and nodded. Even though he was asking for help, he was almost unwilling to accept it. The difference between going back to normal, but being at a standstill, easy to be attacked again, or to be on the move, ready to fight or run.

[Vetega]

Vex heard her words. He resisted the urge to sigh. But she was right. Fighting Zecatera would be a challenge. But it could be done. Canta Koteru in it's purest form, which has never been used could harm them. Unless they were not of this reality like the Lord Sire of kreanoltha.

"This will be the hardest mission you've ever embarked upon. Are you ready Red King? "

Izon frowned.
"I'm ready. Whether they want it or not, the Sentillians have our protection. " he replied.
"You've been training have you not? Can you perform the spell in it's most powerful form? "
"Yes. "
Vex was surprised. Izon wasn't an old god. He was one of the newer generation. Yet he had achieved this. Vex had been right when he first started watching Izon. This young immortal had great potential.
"Then I will leave this matter to you. "Vex said with a smile.

Izon bowed slightly in respect. Vex turned and disappeared. But he would be watching closely. Izon signalled the comms officer, and the audio returned.

"I apologize for the wait. I have an easily defensible system in mind for you, should you choose to accept it. I would send the data on it to you, however I believe we are being watched by someone we both despise. " he stated.

[Hladgos]

Zecatera acted somewhat like an emotional teenager sometimes. Throwing fits and becoming angry quickly was one of her traits. She disliked the fact that her children were labelled as despised.

"Why despise me, or my children Izon? Be stupid then, and simply assume that my kind are all of warlike origin and are simply creatures meant for destruction."

As she spoke, the area around her stance began to bend from anger, and her glare turned towards the god standing there. Zecatera wouldn't let herself be attacked, for fear of her kind being hurt in the process. She was built and grown long, long ago by something older and more powerful than the creators. Her history, she kept to herself, and ever since her being was bound to Nregokath, she could do nothing but comply.

Sentillian Fleet

"We have been watching them for quite a while now. The only reason they are not destroyed is because they will send more if this one dies." Replied the king.

Sjuna looked around his people again in the room. Gathering the opinions of all of them, he turmed towards the camera with a sad and pressured look upon his face. He wanted to accept this gift, yet he didnt. The Zecatera would strike as soon as they settled down.