Oliva's Apocalypse (IC ATTN Facebook Nations and IGF)

[The Tripartite Republics of Rome]

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Backstory

The Most Serene Republic of Oliva is an interplanetary state with its capital, Bernanke City. Ruling over a star-system of some 22 worlds (3 planets, 19 moons total), Oliva is a mercantilist nation which prefers trade over military conquest. Oliva itself did not become a united planetary nation until the Earth-year 1990 when the heads of the Seven Families signed the Federal Compact which brought about the establishment of a Lesgislative Assembly nominally supervised by the Family Heads but elected by the people who have the power to approve or deny war declarations, debate domestic policy, and propose and vote new laws. The Seven Families constitute a limited executive branch with the powers to sign trade agreements, answer alliance offers, enforce laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly and seek Legislative approval before declaring war. Oliva's judicial system is overseen by a Grand Tribunal formed from the common people by popular vote and given the power to interpret Law and defend the Family Compact.

The Seven Families are the most prominent members of Olivan society. While not wealthy in the sense of having multimillions (though two are multimillionaire families), their wealth comes from the various trade companies which make commerce with other worlds and nations possible. Best described as 'Upper Middle-class', the Families came together to form the Republic after the first commercial contacts helped speed an end to centuries of inter-state conflict and rivalry similar to Earth's. The Seven Families are, in order of their longevity: Baldaki, Terressa, Mongolfi, Westeros, Eastorros (pronounced Es-Toros), Wendriki and Michalesso.
The Republic space fleet consists of small Galley-class frigates and Galleon-class destroyers. Because they are more geared toward commercial as opposed to military expansion, the bulk of their fleets consist of Galleasse-class Trade ships or "Traders". For similar reasons, their military force consists of Republican Guards (defending the core worlds of the Republic), Militati (defending commercial outposts in tandem with local forces of host nation or world) and Securios (comparable to National Guard). They lack armored units or an airforce.

---

The Situation

Olivan astronomers, scanning the skies for scientific purposes, made a frightening discovery. Three days ago, they witnessed an explosion 5 light-years from the Olivan star-system which for several days brightened their nights brighter than their closest of 12 moons in the Oliva planetary system (the heart of the Republic) and could even be seen during the day as a dim "second sun". No other effects were witnessed and the astronomers simply cataloged the explosion in their database and continued their observations. What they didn't yet know was that the star system in which the explosion happened contained five planets. The explosion had knocked one of the planets, a Class-D rocky world with no atmosphere, into a new trajectory that would bring it dangerously close to Oliva with a 99.99% possibility of collision. Oliva had few contacts with other nations and independent worlds and with no large ships of its own, it was feared that the end of their civilization was at hand. All the nervous Olivans could do was watch, wait, and pray as the bolide came closer. Now with only three days remaining until impact, Olivans could begin to see the rocky world in their skies. From their perspective, it was the size of Earth's moon as observed from the ground.
Thanks to their burgeoning space commerce, the Olivans had established a network of subspace transmitters, beacons, and receivers across their home system and with the cooperation of host nations and worlds, linking all their outposts in a single network. They sent out a general SOS in the hopes of finding someone willing to help save them from an interstellar apocalypse.

Roman Imperator-class Dreadnaught Hadrian, 4 parsecs from the Oliva star-system

Marcus Brutus Antonius had come to love this universe, despite the fact this was his first visit since the Tripartite Roman Republics first crossed the Transdimensional Void from the Altverse. He had spent his previous years as Primus on a Greek ship which was destroyed by raiders attempting to breach the outer defenses of Altearth. He had survived, as had 232 of his fellow crew, but the captain and imperatoriae had lost their lives. While he reluctantly played the part of warrior, his heart yearned to explore. Now he had his chance, at age 47, to do what he loved to do.
The Command Deck was a two-layered, linear design that had the command chair hovering above a pit where the navigation, communication, and security stations were located. To the left was located the Tactical and Weapons station. To the right, the Engineering Station. Banks of terminals lined the walls leading toward the back, where three doors stood. Two of the doors, on either side of the middle door, were turbolift doors that constantly opened and closed with a hiss, admitting crewmen who were rotating as shift-change began. The middle door was where the ranking officers would strategize and where the princeps would review orders from the Imperial Command. Stairways led from the command platform down to the pit, as well as from the turbolift doors to the pit. Walkways made it easy for the imperatoria and engineer to get to their stations. Marcus Antonius walked up the main catwalk from his chair to the back, then to the Tactical station where his son, Lentillus Marcus stood. His brow was furrowed and he was biting his lip, which was his habit when something serious was afoot. Marcus had raised his son ever since his mother died of Trevassan Plague almost 20 years ago, so he knew his 24-year-old's facial expressions and habits well.

Marcus Antonius - "You have something, son?"

Lentillus Marcus - "Yes Father. I have a rather large radiation reading from approximately 6.5 light-years from our position."

Marcus Antonius - "You have the Scientiae report?"

Lentillus Marcus - "No Father."

Marcus Antonius - "Scientiae, report!"

Science Officer Valtellina Artemisia almost ran to the Tactical station, carrying her padd. Marcus Antonius had come to see the value in the padds, which were part of a small technological exchange between Triple Rome and the Intergalactic Empire of Holy Trek, the first nation they encountered upon making the Crossing. Valtellina was a precocious 22-year-old who was too eager to please, partly to advance her career and partly because she and Lentillus Marcus were intimate, an occurence which disgruntled Marcus Antonius because he hoped for a more mature and less libidinous mate for his son.

Valtellina - "Sir, I have the report. An explosion occurred here just three days ago. The radiation surge is the result of the EM wave that's typical of novae. It poses no threat to us."

Marcus Antonius - "Very well then. Dismissed."

Valtellina cast a loving glance at Lentillus Marcus before returning to her terminal. Marcus Antonius sighed, shook his head dispprovingly, then slowly walked back to the command platform. He was tempted to seat himself, but before he could, Colloquia Cassius Mediolanus called up from the pit.

Cassius Mediolanus - "Princeps, I'm picking up an SOS call approximately 5 parsecs from our position."

Marcus Antonius hurried down the steps forward of his chair, down into the pit. He came up to the Communications station as Cassius Mediolanus played the SOS. Marcus Antonius listened for a time, then looked over to the Navigation station, where Gaius Marcus Mercellenus was already scanning the starmap.

Gaius Marcus - "I have the location, Princeps. Its a Class-Aerth world in a system of 7 planets and a G-type star. I recognize the location from Carthaginian records. It's Oliva."

Cassius Mediolanus - "They say there's a rogue planetoid on course to impact them. How can we help them?"

Marcus Antonius - "I don't know. But I do know we're going to see how big this body is, and if anyone else comes in response to their SOS."

Gaius Marcus - "I have the course plotted sir."

Marcus Antonius - "Execute."

[The Second Brotherhood of Planets]

Space, the Immaculate Void.

These are the voyages of the starship Grand Slam, its five year mission: to discover the fruits of sapience and the wonders of the universe. To embrace the ascension of new civilizations and challenge the *blights* of the universe... To bravely saunter where no one has been...

*Cue heavily distorted, but familiar theme.*

BPS Grand Slam, Bridge

The Grand Slam was the latest of her class. Command had wished to test the Go'lonsi-class Battlecruiser and see whether it could sustain long-term missions. In many ways, it was the maiden voyage of the Go'lonsi herself. The other ships of the class were sitting in drydock, maneuvering about on patrol, or otherwise close to home.

The ships accompanying the Grand Slam were mostly cruisers and frigates. In total there were less than ten ships, but these ten would prove invaluable for the journey ahead.

"Captain, we've made a remarkable find. A heavenly body in this sector has, well, undergone a sudden explosion. But there's more." The Grand Slam's Science Officer, a blonde, human-looking female with glowing blue eyes announced.

"Explain." Captain Jack Sheridan replied.

"Well, sir, it appears that this explosion managed to knock one of the heavenly bodies in-system out of orbit. The planet in question is hurling through space, and our calculations suggest that it is on a collision course with a world that, according to long-range biological scans, appears inhabited."

"Good God!" Sheridan rose from his chair. "Inform the rest of the fleet. We must head for that world right away..."

"Captain! I'm picking up a distress signal from the doomed world in question." The Communications Officer called.

"Even better. Tell the rest of the flotilla to divert all power to engines. We're on our way!"

Together, the ten ships of the Grand Slam's flotilla barreled through space, heading straight for Oliva.

[Agua del Feugo]

Captain's Quarters
IDS Agelaius Agni FF13

Commander O'Henry Niles of Clan White Raven brooded over his morning cup of joe. Hot with a bit of syntahol to help with the sleeping. He popped down on his couch and took some time to go over the quarterly evaluations.The workup outing had went well. Moreover, he really needed to sleep, without brooding upon how he was in the middle of nowhere and only a few meters of hull separated him from a bad day and a worse day. The near endless void sucked...so did being here.

The smooth nondescript lines of IDS Agelaius Agni FF13 were faintly reminiscent of a small Cephalopoda of Terra. Its skin and shields shimmered in the wake of gravity wave distortion drives. The ship was much smaller than most of the assembled flotilla. Indeed, the Redwing as it was affectionately known to its crew was easily dwarfed by allied cruisers. It was an anachronism brought back to the world by necessity. There was nothing wrong with the frigate. It was barely two standard years old and had been recently refitted and upgraded at the allied barbarian shipyards.

No the sticking point for him was that no one in the richer core worlds of the Imperium made frigates anymore. That one was here in on allied barbarian exercises was a testament to changing times. In the core worlds, the frigates functions had long ago been supplanted by local system defence ships and larger more survivable destroyers and light cruisers. Smaller more cheaply disposable drones and corvette gunships rounded out the larger fleet pickets, while the star-fighters and carrier forces supplemented the capital heavy force composition, longe range power projection, and battle doctrine of the Imperium's Star Navy. The Imperium had pioneered large fleets formations anchored by mobile battlemoons in the old verse. Since the exodus, those forces have continued the sacred hunts, and thus as a result born of experience the Great Houses, Academies, Trading Houses, and Imperial Guilds have generally stuck to the older paradigm of overwhelming force when dealing with barbarians.

Clan White Raven, however, was neither especially wealthy or great, and most decidedly were not of the core-worlds. They could ill-afford to maintain more that the required tithe and levy. Thus, the ignominious rebirth of the frigate class to meet the ever growing obligations of dealing with outlanders and escorting their curious flotillas. Central Command had tasked the Nihmu with providing a presentable vessel for allied barbarian escort duty. Thereafter, mac Nihmu had delegated the tasking to Magister Morgan who thereafter dispatched O'Henry and his Redwing to ride herd on the barbarian allies to boldly go up through, behind, and upside down wherever the accursed barbarians would drag them.

The glowing green pixie appeared on his workstation and sang a decidedly saccharine request for him to acknowledge receipt of the local Commodore's orders to jump.

O'Henry paused from activating his clothes uniform protocols, smuggly raised his mug and told the pixie
"Well hell dude; make it so dude."

[Odinburgh]

The Library of Altaris-Altaris,Odinburgh Prime

The Library of Altaris was Odinburgh Galactic Federation's largest libraries and most significant in the galaxy. A lot of secrets were kept here on the knowledge that the Odinburghians possessed about the known Galaxy. It contained large rooms of holocrons that contains bits of information and even top secret information. Even so the one holocron they had pertained to Olivia and an an ancient empire or perhaps organization that had a hand in influencing events throughout the galaxy. An order that mysteriously forced underground. However the mysterious thing there could be a connection to the Odinburghian people in its ancient days that a man traveled to settle upon Odinburgh Prime amongst the earlier Odinburghian inhabitants before Earth's 21st mid century experienced the Ragnarok War involving Asgard and Earth that lasted between 2037-2042. Earth while saved at a cost, Asgard took a large thrashing in the war and it forced many Asgardians to flee which settled on Odinburgh Prime. Odinburgh Galactic Federation was formed after the great revolution against the Ustleshan Socialist Star Empire that lasted between 2178-2206. The tide of the war did not occur till 2203 on Ustleshan in the siege of Kharb, the captital of Ustleshan, when the forces from Ibryria, Cleximn, Jogantu, Sierus and Otholla joined the cause. Ahswonoe had a hidden base on their planet which would play a part in the turning point of the revolution in 2204 on Odinburgh Prime in the battle of Surtur's Fire Valley and seal victory over Ustleshan in 2206. Galactic Federation of Odinburgh on June 17, 2212 was founded. For information on Odinburgh's history you can read here: Odinburgh History.

The Library of Library of Altaris is headed up by The Keeper of the Oracle of Knowledge or simply known in short The Keeper. Little is known to identity of this man but he has a right hand servant Torvard Balstad that mostly manages daily operations for him and his assistant lovely assistant Mindora Strom that is in charge of the vault where all sorts of holocrons that contains information and artifacts that have deposited there for safekeeping.

One day it was noticed a important Holocron was missing from the vault that contained important information about the Olivia System.

"The Olivia Holocron has been stolen."- Mindora Strom replied, as he look at his assistant. "Did someone borrow it?"

"No. There is no record of it being borrowed. The only way they can view it is at our holocron viewing machines inside the library."- Torvad Balstad replied. "Perhaps you should recheck the vault inventory again."

"I have checked it several times. It is missing sir. I suggest we turn to security to see if it can shed any light. Our helpers have been most helpful with most recent transactions to library but we background check them which none have a history of a criminal activity. But it appears all of them of innocent. I find this this most mysterious. Chancellor Borson must be notified of this."-Mindora Strom exclaimed. "Perhaps the Keeper would know but no one has ever visited or seen him in person ever."

[SquareDisc City]

Bernanke City, Oliva

The embassy of the United Pokemon Types in Oliva was far from noteworthy. An ordinary building a few floors high on a side street in Bernanke, every day many would walk past it without even giving it a second thought. Look more closely, though, and one would see some modifications. The door was nearly twice the usual size, and though it appeared of painted wood an expert's eye would see it for the armoured steel it really was. Through some of the windows, floors that seemed to be halfway up them were visible, clashing curtains below and above. Once a regular office, when the UPT had bought it for an embassy they had gutted the interior to a bare shell and virtually rebuilt it, work necessary for a building that may have to cater for visitors close to 10 foot tall.

And today it was catering for a lot of visitors. Or rather, was somewhat failing to. A crowd of creatures of just about every size, shape, and colour had gathered blocking half the street; some of the many Pokemon who had been living, working, or just visiting in Bernanke when the news of the rogue planet had broken.

The embassy door opened just a little and three figures stepped out, the door swiftly slamming shut again. Two Arcanine, presumably security, rather dwarfing a Pikachu. It was the Pikachu who spoke, her voice carrying clear across the street for a being so small.

"Rest assured that liners have been chartered to take all United Pokemon Types citizens off Oliva within the next 48 hours. They will be departing from the main spaceport here in Bernanke, as well as from the provincial capitals. If you have any further questions you must make an appointment with the embassy by TELEPHONE. We cannot see all of you now."

As the embassy spokes-Pikachu slipped back inside, a murmur went across the crowd, swelling to a roar; nobody was happy with the embassy's attitude. The two security Arcanine took a step forward, and a voice in the crowd yelled out.

"And what about our investments!"

Several others turned to look at who had said that. Views were muttered, and sometimes not so muttered.

"Disgusting."
"Who thinks about money at a time like this?"
"Wanker."

"Everybody calm down!" one of the Arcanine shouted. "Go home and make preparations to leave. Staying here will not help you."

A few on the edge of the crowd walked away, but most remained, the situation becoming increasingly volatile. Inside, embassy staff called the local police for assistance dispersing the crowd, but all things considered would anyone be available?

[Alexzonya]

ARS Clark
GRA Columbus-class Cruiser
Sector Theta-32-3

The GRA Cruiser sailed quietly through the void, her crew joking quietly among themselves. Captain Patrick Duran wasn't inclined to enforce strict order, under the circumstances. The Clark was fresh out of spacedock, the metaphorical paint barely dry on the spotless hull. Since it was her crew's first mission together, they had drawn a slow ball. They were escorting the Oracle, another new ship and the lead of her class, around the sector as her powerful sensors updated the starcharts and collected data on the surrounding systems. They were joined by a trio of Zebra-class Frigates, whose crews were likely just as relaxed. The Zebras were an older design; actually, the Columbus-class of Cruisers were replacing them in the forward exploration and extended patrol roles on a rolling basis. The group of them together didn't form a large fleet formation, but they had enough firepower among them to show off any pirates or raiders that accosted them, and in a pinch the Clark had an advanced Ansible-Q system that allowed uninterrupted communications, albeit short ones, with Fleet Command at any range or under any circumstances. Regardless, Theta-32-3 was a safe sector, and it was the Oracle's crew that had to do all the heavy lifting.

"Captain, the Oracle is reporting that she's picked up a subspace distress call. It's faint, but they managed to make it out and wanted it relayed," reports Lt. Kara Light, the communications officer. "Should I put it through?"
"Yes, Lieutenant, thank you."

The distress call from the planet Olivia played through twice in the bridge before being shut off. The Captain rubbed his forehead.

"Lieutenant, man the Q and relay that to Starfleet."
"Sir, you know that message will..."
"Require several minutes to transmit. Yes, I'm aware. Do it."
"Yes, sir."

A few minutes passed, followed by a brief wait before the Q receiver lit up and began transcribing. After about a minute, their orders were in.

"Acknowledged. Proceed to Assist."

Captain Duran nodded to himself. "Lieutenant, signal the Oracle and our friends on the frigates that we're adjusting course. Jump at time four zero after transmission timestamp towards the enclosed coordinates at Level 3. Maintain a defense formation centered on Oracle, Clark leading. Navigation, set a course."
"Yes, sir. Transmitting now," replied the Lieutenant, as she relayed his instructions.
"Aye, sir. Setting a course," added the piloting officer, as he laid in the ship's new jump pattern.

Duran grimaced. Someone had gotten the idea that Starfleet officers ought to use aye rather than yes, and it had made its way into the official decorum guide. Most people ignored it, but you got the periodic officer who insisted on using the blasted anachronism. 40 seconds after he had completed his order, he felt a gentle jolt as the Clark and her cousin ships jumped for Olivia. So much for a slow ball.

GRA Core Systems
Updates on the situation were dispatched to the GRA Senate and the President's office. If emergency action was needed to save these people, the civilian leadership might need to be the ones to make the final decision.

[Odinburgh]

Library of Altaris ---- Altaris, Odinburgh Prime

Torvad Balstad then had to ask his assistant to why she was looking for the Olivia Holocron. Apparently a government deep in galaxy was contacting the library to look at the information from the Olivia Holocron.

"A government calling themselves---hmm well the transmission was fuzzy and I couldn't make it out.", Mindora Strom replied. "Sounded like they were from another universe or something. I couldn't exactly place the origin of message where it came from."

"Probably just a fake phone call. We get those subspace messages all the time. I will speak with The Keeper anyways about the missing holocron.", Torvad Balstad responded. "Should they arrive tell them no such holocron exists. Letting anyone know it is missing would put the security of the Odinburgh Galactic Federation at risk."

[SquareDisc City]

The Groudon Building, Red, Stark Island, Zealandia, Earth

Fernando Blaziken closed the door to his office, shutting out the hustle and bustle of government that was going on for a moment. Well, shutting out was relative, the grandiosely-named "Groudon Building" was in truth merely a converted warehouse, a temporary home for the Preskomos and its organs of government after the old chambers were destroyed. Still, it was better than nothing, and Fernando needed a little quiet thought. The news of Oliva's situation had reached him; first that world's distress call, and then news of trouble at the UPT Embassy there. Fernando had almost forgotten there was an embassy in Oliva, they hadn't had all that many relations with the UPT, but according to his files there was a bit of tourism and commerce after all. And now the planet faced being blown to bits.

It should have been a simple response. Mobilise the UPT Space Force to offer whatever help it could. Be the good guys. As Foreign and Defense Secretary, the military was the obvious answer for a lot of situations in Fernando's vew. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right, a nagging suspicion that this wasn't a simple natural disaster. Maybe he was just being paranoid, in a universe the UPT had still not fully found its place in.

Regardless of whether his suspicions were founded or not, Fernando had at least taken some reasonable action. He needed to know more about Oliva, and he'd asked his staff to make enquiries. The UPT had plenty of obvious allies to turn to; the NFPA always knew a lot, the Great Houses had been quite active in the galaxy, the Myrrian Empire too, and there were others. Still, perhaps not everything could be handled by remote communications, Fernando wondered. He had heard good things about the Library of Altaris, but they were a very old-fashioned institution and a somewhat secretive one. If he wanted to learn anything, Fernando would have to go there himself.

Thusly, as Fernando arranged his transportation and security detailing, a civil servant sent a missive to Odinburgh. It was nothing especially fancy, just a simple request for Fernando Blaziken and a couple of his aides to visit the Library for a bit of research. Oliva was not mentioned by name.

[Amigosa]

The old Hyperion class destroyer, INS Fueris hull number 336, sat silently in the darkness between star systems with her imposing bow facing a distant target. It wasn't a battery of missiles or cannons pointing at her objective, but an impressive array of sensors and antennae which seemed to have been haphazardly mounted to the ship's forward hull. The Fueris' small crew, which consisted mostly of scientists, was observing the recent super nova which had occurred in star system designated J-26. The star, and subsequent super nova, was being analyzed in great detail as the star was comparable in age and size to a star within Dominion space. Sensor information was being gathered and evaluated to ascertain the potential effects of a nova on nearby Dominion worlds and assets.

Bridge of INS Fueris

The automated door to the bridge began to slowly slide open, but screeched to a halt when it was about half way open. The Primus (Captain) of Fueris, Nemerius Sulla, grabbed the edge of the door and forced it open before stepping onto the bridge. He turned back towards the door and waited for a few seconds as the door mechanism groaned as it struggled to close the heavy steel door. Visibly annoyed he made his way carefully towards the chair at the center of the bridge. The bridge was a cluttered mess of data and power cables hanging from the ceiling and running along the deck to jerry-rigged terminals crammed together on the port side of the bridge. On the starboard side were several terminals that had clearly been gutted for parts. Sulla flopped down into his worn leather chair and pulled a silver flask from his disheveled uniform. He started at the flask for a moment as he ran his tongue along the bottom of his dry lip.

“A little early for that isn't it Primus Sulla?” One of the scientists, a young woman named Fausta Corvinus, interjected without turning away from her bridge terminal.

Sulla dipped his head back lazily as if trying to see who was speaking, but without having to turn his head. He then took a swig of honey wine from the flask, most of which missed his mouth and ended up on his chin and shirt.

“Don't you have data to analyze or something.” Sulla finally replied as he attempted to wipe the wine from his chin with his sleeve.

“Umm, Sir...I believe we're receiving a transmission.” Decanus (Lieutenant) Marcus Rufus, interrupted. Rufus was the lone military officer on the bridge, other then the Primus Sulla.

Sulla ignored the young officer and continued to wipe the wine from his face and uniform. Fausta eyes the Primus for a moment, waiting for him to acknowledge Rufus. When it became clear he wouldn't she let out a quick sigh and made her way over to the young officers station. She gently pushed him aside as she accessed the communication log.

“It's probably just background noise from the super nova.” She said as she reviewed the log.

“No...you're right this is a transmission. I believe it's some kind of general SOS! The universal translator is non functional and I don't recognize the language, but It looks like it's coming from nearby system J-29.”

Marcus and Fausta both turned towards the Primus to see his reaction to this revelation only to find him shake the last bit of honey wine from his flask into his open mouth.

Marcus cleared his throat and Fausta began stomping her foot impatiently.
“What?” Sulla finally replied

“The SOS...do you intend to answer Sir?”

“Are you joking Rufus? Look around this ship is not in a state to respond to a 'possible' distress call! And you!” He said turning his attention to Fausta. “Get back to whatever it is you do...go analyze your data.”

Fausta was immediately in Sulla's face. “Primus! I am well aware of regulations concerning distress calls. If you are unwilling or unable to respond then you need to report it to Navalis command.”

“Very well...Marcus contact Navalis command and provide all pertinent information.” He then looked up at Fausta who was standing over him. “Satisfied?”

[Holy Trek]

Imperial Starship ISS Daniel Boone on deep patrol

In the deep darkness of space, cruising along the Imperial border separating the known from the unknown, the ISS Daniel Boone, like the man it was named for, searched the starry wilderness beyond for new stellar phenomena. Her captain, Lucius Gilmore, had served in the Imperial Starfleet for 15 years, earning distinction for being the first to discover a planet orbiting a black hole, ending a vicious planetary civil war without resorting to violence, and for driving privateers from the Carillon system. Now the 42-year-old was looking to enjoy the leisurely-yet-vigilant duty of border patrol. He had already ran 10 combat drills in the last six hours and had just approved the scheduling of another one when his Science Officer called out from the back of the circular bridge. He rotated his chair enough to see the raven-haired Myla Hastings leaning forward as though trying to confirm with her own eyes what the computer was showing her.

Gilmore - "Report."

Hastings - "I'm detecting an unusual EM pulse coming from approximately seven parsecs from our position, deep in the Outlands."

Gilmore considered the report. The Outlands was a popular term for space not under the administration of the empire, and though it was expansive, it was far from uninhabited. Gilmore rose from his chair and walked around the Tactical railing, passing Tactical Officer and Security Chief Roger Edwinsonn. Edwinsonn nodded in his direction, his goatee of reddish hair touching his chest. Gilmore nodded back as he passed him. At the Science station, Hastings was already turning to face the captain.

Hastings - "I just now picked up a major explosion from that same area. I never seen anything like it."

Gilmore - "Could it be a weapon of some kind, and we've detected its testing?"

Hastings - "Captain, even with what we know about weapons of that kind, the EM pulse is too strong to be considered to be artificial, yet the fact that it is strong makes it all the more puzzling."

Before Gilmore could say anything more, Communications Officer Miles Stanton called from his station, drawing Hastings and Gilmore's attention.

Stanton - "I'm picking up a distress signal from a system 4 parsecs from us. It seems their planet is in danger of collision from a rocky world."

Gilmore - "Helm, set course. Mr Stanton, send a message back and inform them that help is on the way."

Edwinsonn - "Captain, I'm picking up other ships. They appear to be on course for the system where the SOS originated."

Gilmore - "In other words we might have company. Very well, perhaps we can lend them a hand in stopping that planetoid. Helm, engage at warp 9.5"

Hastings - "We should enter the outer perimeter of that system in thirteen minutes 20 seconds. With plenty of time to stop that bolide."

Gilmore - That's what I want to hear. I need you and your team to start coming up with methods to slow down that projectile enough to get it into a stable orbit, and failing that, the most efficient means to evacuate the system."

Edwinsonn - "Captain, I have information on one of the ships also en route. They're Roman, from the Tripartite Republics of Rome."

Gilmore - "We'll make contact as soon as we're in range."

[The Interstellar Mongol Khanate]

Mongol Battlecruiser Kubalai's Sword, en route to Sempok Nor

Commander Altran-Baiju had never visited the Cardassian station since it was ceded to the Khanate following the Cardassian War. He had heard stories of the wheel-like station, some indeed outrageous. He hoped the bar was as open as he heard, remembering the most recent story about the number of prostitutes that took up residence at the bar in the hopes of attracting customers. He was 33 and single, and he was certain that he would never marry, so he was eager to release the pent-up energies that he had bottled up since his teenage years. Before he could sit down and delve into his imagination, letting images of female bodies float across his vision, a rumbling caught him by surprise. Looking around, he could see that the rest of the crew were also looking around uneasily. Suddenly, the entire ship seemed to careen to starboard, sending everyone to the deck with a mixture of grunts, groans, and shouts of surprise. He himself impacted the railing and felt a crackle of pain at his side.

Altran-Baiju - "By Tengri's soul what just happened!?"

For a few seconds, no reply was forthcoming. Then Science Officer Bayala pulled herself back to her station. Gripping the sides to steady herself, she stared into the monitor, then pulled back in horror.

Bayala - "There has been an explosion about 3 parsecs from our location. We just caught the shockwave from it."

Altran-Baiju - "Can you trace the shockwave to its source?"

Bayala - "I'm doing that as we speak, Commander."

Altran-Baiju - "Go to Alert Status 3 and raise shields. Have the fighter pilots stand by for possible deployment."

Bayala - "I have the location from where the shockwave originated. Its an uncharted star system in unclaimed space."

Altran-Baiju - "Helm, set course for that system."

Helm Officer - "I can't, sir. Our navigational systems are having a hard time locking in the course and our engines have sustained damage."

Altran-Baiju - "How long until we get engines back?"

Helm Officer - "Engineer reports about 9 hours to full engine restoration."

Bayala - "Commander, I recommend a probe be launched to survey the system and determine possible causes of the shock-wave."

Communications Officer - "Sir, I'm picking up a distress call. Its from a planet some 9 parsecs from our position."

Altran-Baiju - "Tell Engineering that they need to speed up their repairs. A Class 1 distress call means only one thing.....planetary disaster in progress or imminent. Meanwhile I want a probe launched to the target system. Estimate time to completion of survey?"

Bayala - "Anywhere between 36 hours and three weeks depending on number of planets and other bodies orbiting the central star."

Altran-Baiju - "Very well. Helm, new course for the origin of the distress call. As soon as our engines are ready, make the jump."

[Odinburgh]

The Library of Altaris got notification that Fernado Blaziken and his party from SquareDisc City are scheduled to meet with Torvad Balstad. For the nature of the research they weren't sure what they were looking for precisely. Meanwhile Mindora Strom found something else interesting in the vault which was a photo of a battle not known to the Odinburgh Galactic Federation.

Torvad Balstad passed by as she pulled out the mystery photo.

"Put that away that is photo of evidence that there is another dimension. A battle took place in that dimension. The Keeper escaped here from that battle. It was that war that precisely brought him to our realm."-Torvad replied, as he struck down her hands. "Put it away now please. Luckily our mystery thief didn't take this photograph either."

"The Keeper sure likes to keeps his secrets well hidden."- Mindora Strom exclaimed. "With Olivia about experience a explosion they might come after him. You seem to know quite about The Keeper."

"That's nonsense. He is no fugitive as far as I know. The Keeper as always been a great contributor to Odinburghian society. If it wasn't for him we would not be the Federation that we are today."- Torvad Balstad said. "And yes I know quite a bit about it and his identity must remain hidden."

[Imperial Esplanade]

Freedom Solar System
Alliancia, Planet New Castillo
The capital planet of Imperial Esplanade is a hustling, bustling place - especially in the capital city of Alliancia. At a state-owned observatory, an SOS message that had transmitted from a far away quadrant had somehow reached the communications systems and transmitters, and it is immediately relayed to the State Department. The message is received by an aide of Secretary of State Claire McMahon, who then forwards it to the Secretary herself. This SOS is eventually forwarded up the chain-of-command, all the way up to Queen Emmy Langlois herself, who calls for a secret meeting at the State Department's headquarters. After the meeting is held, all sorts of military and cargo spacecraft begin to fire up and load supplies for the journey ahead. The plan is to open up a wormhole in order to get to a nearby coordinate to begin providing aid.



State Department Headquarters, Alliancia, New Castillo
There is a lengthy hallway, with several dozen rooms aligned along the hall, which leads to a massive conference room with an oak table situated in the center. Window panes line the opposing wall, with a grey paint covering the other walls of the room and a thick, fluffy white carpet. Queen Emmy is situated at one end of the table, and Secretary of State McMahon is situated at the other with various other minor executive officials and military officers seated at the table. There is a television screen on both ends of the table, above the Queen and Secretary of State respectively, and they watch as the reports come in from the analyzation of the coordinates from the system of which this message had originated. An expert on solar energy is present, Dr. Johan, is situated in one of the seats at the center of the table, facing the windows.

Queen Emmy: So, what you're telling me is that it is in our best interests to just let this apocalypse happen, Dr. Johan?
Dr. Johan: Your majesty, if we get involved, we run the risk of having too many ships in the same area, including perhaps an enemy. If you're going to travel there yourself as you wish, with your sister Gianna, that puts two high risk targets in the same area under a catastrophe warning.
Queen Emmy: Given our own national history, it would be our duty to act. Our very existence is attributed to the charity of others, in the midst of a massive and terrible war. My father would have a huge problem with us sitting on the sideline, he would lead the way personally in this matter... even if it meant his death. To this model, I will follow. My sister, Gianna, has already agreed to join me, and I am ordering my other sister, Annie, to stay behind in case, well, God forbid something were to happen to me. I want cargo ships with humanitarian supplies and ships with empty space to transport or even house people if need-be. My ship will lead the way, with a small convoy following. I want Secretary McMahon to send a message to them, letting them know Imperial Esplanade has its' total and complete support, no matter what the cost will be.

Message to Olivia
Friends,

We have received your SOS. We are routing over supplies, cargo ships, and transportation for your citizens. Our head of state personally requested to oversee the operation, and will be present throughout to tend to your peoples' needs. Let us know how we may be of any further help.

Sincerely,
Claire McMahon, Secretary of State of Imperial Esplanade

[The Tripartite Republics of Rome]

Entering Oliva system

Marcus Brutus Antonius was, for the first time in his life, genuinely startled.
On the one hand, Oliva was more beautiful than he had ever imagined possible. Its magnificent rings rivalled the rings of Saturn or New Appia. Escorted in its many revolutions around its parent star by a collection of moons, Oliva was a jewel in the darkness. But it was the other object now entering the system that startled him even more. In contrast to the beauty of Oliva, the unnamed rocky world slowly closing on it was so dull and void of any outstanding features that it would've been given little attention were it not for the fact it was about to crash into Oliva.

Marcus Antonius - "How can nature be so capricious to destroy such a marvel in the night as we see here now?"

Lentillus Marcus, from his station, was already getting sensor readings of the rocky planetoid, in particular, the collision trajectory. It would be important later for whatever plan they and whoever else arrived to help could come up with. Otherwise it would mark the zero-point where rock ball collided and crushed ringed planet, and he knew that his Princeps would not allow that to come to pass.

Valtellina - "Princeps, I have readings from outside the system. Several ships are entering at high velocity. I can identify one of them as a Holy Trek ship."

Marcus Antonius - "No doubt they will want to confer with us once they're in range. Have an Honor Guard standing by. Any ID on the other ships?"

Valtellina - "Not yet, sir."

Lentillus Marcus - "Father, based on these calculations of the trajectory of the planetoid, I can provide an estimation of time until impact."

Marcus Antonius - "Time?"

Lentillus Marcus - "Three days, five hours and fifteen minutes, after which Oliva will begin to feel the gravitational tug from the planetoid. As the hours continue on after that point, the effects will become stronger until the planet is stripped of its atmosphere and tectonic shifting prior to impact will have exterminated all life on the surface. Its also likely that the planetoid's gravitational pull will affect the innermost moons, sending them into collision with Oliva just before it impacts itself."

Marcus Antonius - "Total time until zero point?"

Lentillus Marcus - "Five days, twelve hours, forty-two minutes."

Marcus Antonius - "As soon as the other ships arrive in-system, send out a greeting and invitation to send a representative aboard. They may bring a small Honor Guard if they wish and we will provide them an additional Honor Guard as a gesture of trust."

Lentillus Marcus - "Yes, Father."

Marcus Brutus Antonius returned to studying the horrifying scene on the holo-viewscreen, of the lovely ringed planet and the ugly planetoid steadily closing on it.

[Imperial Esplanade]

Freedom Solar System
Fort New Atlantis, Planet New Castillo
There is a massive caravan of sleek, black-painted vehicles, escorted by humvees of the Imperial Esplanadian military along the way. They make their way through a winding, mountain path in the middle of a thick temperate forest. Greenery runs up-and-down the steep mountains as they make their way to the massive Fort New Atlantis, the heart, pride, and soul of the Imperial Esplanadian military. Here is where all the ships are docking and loading up, and waiting for her majesty and her sister to board on one of the ships. Meanwhile, several are keeping their eyes on the situation developing in the Olivia System. It doesn't take much longer for the caravan to arrive at the fort, and when they do... they meet a massive, thick concrete wall that towers over the nearby smaller mountains - albeit cloaked and protected from long-range missiles by the surrounding larger mountains. This fort was strategically placed, although it has never had its' defenses tested in the face of combat. The caravan makes their way through the network of inner-fort defenses, the maze of buildings, including barracks, armories, cafeterias, shooting ranges, garages, etc. In reality, Fort New Atlantis is pretty much a medium-sized city, with all the hustle and bustle as they prepare for the endeavor across the galaxy. The caravan makes its' way to the main hanger, where the Queen's ship awaits. On board, Lady Gianna waits for her older sister, wearing one of her sparkling brown dresses from her clothing line.Queen Emmy. Finally, her majesty arrives and steps out of the vehicle. She's wearing a pure white dress, almost like a wedding dress, with a pearly white tiara on her head. Queen Emmy steps up onto the ship's onramp, followed by her escort, as she eventually joins up with her sister in the command bridge.

Queen Emmy: "All systems ready to go, sister?"
Lady Gianna: "We just finished with fueling, and now we're going through our pre-flight checks."
Queen Emmy: "Okay, send another message to the Olivians to inform them again of our trip, we will be there within the hour. I want our escorts to open up a wormhole first, go through, and ensure the area is safe enough for you before we lift off. I won't risk your life for this mission, understood?"

Lady Gianna looks back at her sister Queen, "what exactly are we getting ourselves into, may I ask?" she asks. "I'm glad you asked, an interstellar probe of ours had received an SOS call from a distant galactic nation. We're sending a response force that will have the capacity to transport a few million people back home as refugees if need-be. I also want you on board to serve as a representative of the state, and to observe. Are we ready?" Lady Gianna turns to her control panel. "Yes, we're ready for flight. Ordering the first wave of escorts to fly out first." With that, several dozen medium-sized warships take off from the gigantic hangers of Fort New Atlantis, and speed off into space. Several minutes later, the small diplomatic courier that Queen Emmy and Lady Gianna are both in does the same, as they head to a temporary worm-hole created to speed-up travel to the Olivia System.

[SquareDisc City]

Bernanke City, Oliva

Swiftly but quitely padding away from the embassy's street, a Persian rounded the corner and stopped for a moment's breath, hoping the agitated crowd hadn't noticed him. Idiots, he thought to himself. He resumed walking, and considered the situation as he did so. The Persian's name was Richard, CEO of specialist metals company "Woven Atoms". Alongside his partners he had built a successful, albeit somewhat niche, company making revenues of a few million Marks per year and had recently invested heavily in a latest-generation factory on Oliva. That factory was foremost on Rich's mind right now. Scientists and engineers could be taken off on his private spaceship, but he wasn't going to fit a bunch of machinery in a business craft.

From Rich's viewpoint, it looked like the UPT authorities weren't going to help much. Well, time to call his business partner and COO, the former military spacecraft Lozells 762. Now released from its military duties, a right the UPT's AI-brained spacecraft had won a few years previous, 762 had been one of not that many to go into business but had been highly successful in it. True, business meetings where one of the people present packed the firepower to level a decent-sized town could sometimes feel a little ... unconventional, but the advantages of having an AI in the top management made up for it.

The Library of Altaris-Altaris,Odinburgh Prime

Fernando Blaziken had finally landed at Altaris, later than scheduled. His "Interceptor" spacecraft was landed near the library. One of the UPT Space Force's latest, it was a few dozen metres across, of a saucer layout common to many of the new designs. A central spherical core, about half the total diameter, housed core systems like the reactor and shield generator, as well as the flight deck. Surrounding that was a thin disc, with thrusters - numerous and powerful thrusters at that - on its ventral surface and some empty weapon tubes on the top side. The very rim was thicker, for it housed the all-important warp drive ring. The Interceptor caught the light, shimmering with iridescent colours on much of its surface.

Three more Interceptors were parked in high orbit around the planet, far enough to be out of the way yet close enough to respond. Nobody expected combat here but a state visit nonetheless demanded attention to security. Fernando, though, didn't like to be trailed by bodyguards, and went to greet Torvad Balstad by himself.

"My apologies for my lateness" the Blaziken said. "I had a lot of trouble organising transport security at such short notice, and in the end had to get our Space Force to do it, the UPT police are just hopeless recently.

"I asked to visit because I'd like to make some enquiries about a planet by the name of Oliva. We've had a call for aid from them, but the United Pokemon Types records are annoyingly sparse about the planet and I was hoping your library might have some more information than we do."

[Alexzonya]

Olivia System
The formation of GRA warships drops out of FTL about 2 AU distant from the transmission origin, dropping them a safe 20 light-minutes from Olivia Prime. The GRA ships' sensible and ansible sets got to work, populating the system map and tagging the trajectory of realspace and subspace objects. A moment later, the update gained a magnitude more fidelity as the Oracle's feed automatically forwarded to her sister ships.

"One heck of a planet," noted Lieutenant Light. "The rings might actually be nicer than Magellan's."
"It's what Magellan would be if it wasn't a borderline-habitable, tidally-locked backwater," noted Duran dismissively. He was not especially fond of his home system. He frowned as the computer flagged the imminent collision. "Although, all things considered, I suspect they'd trade us right about now. What's the time to impact on that planetoid?"
"5 and a half days, but they'll be in trouble in 3 due to the gravitational distortions," replies the navigation officer.
"Can we just blow it up?" asks the tactical officer. He paused. "If every monitor in the fleet fired at it for a week straight... no," he added, answering his own question.
The Captain's attention shifted, examining the tags on the monitor. All were green or grey, denoting merchant or military vessels of unknown disposition, with flags denoting classifications. The locals were easy to pick out... and there was someone different, to. Duran figured they must have received the transmission sooner, or have been in a better position to respond.
"Lieutenant, any information on that capital ship?"
"No. WIKI is stumped, although it says based on the power signature and hull layout its probably a battleship, not a carrier."
"Alright. Comms, standby to transmit, no encryption, wide beam ansible. Lets make sure everyone can hear us here..."

Transmission
"This is Captain Patrick Duran of the Galactic Republic of Alexzonya cruiser ARS Clark. We are in-system along with the rest of our task force responding to the long-range distress call originating in this system. Our sensors have given us a basic idea of the situation, but we would request additional information on the system's current status so we can effectively coordinate our and our government's response. Please respond. End transmission."

ARS Clark
"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the capital ship. They've invited us to send a representative abroad to meet with them, noting that they'll also allow an honor guard." Duran wasn't sure what to make of that. "Ask them to identify themselves, but inform them that we're preparing a shuttle. Tactical, prep one of our shuttles and a pair of our Spatha's. If they want to meet to sort our a coordinate response, I'm all ears. Maybe that ship has a big enough wardroom for reps from all the signatures on their way. Have Sergeant Voller meet me in the shuttle bay in 15 minutes. Lieutenant, please inform me if the indigenous population responds, or if any other new developments arise that I miss."
"Aye, sir." Duran narrow avoided sighing.

[Holy Trek]

Entering Oliva system

Marcus Brutus Antonius was, for the first time in his life, genuinely startled.
On the one hand, Oliva was more beautiful than he had ever imagined possible. Its magnificent rings rivalled the rings of Saturn or New Appia. Escorted in its many revolutions around its parent star by a collection of moons, Oliva was a jewel in the darkness. But it was the other object now entering the system that startled him even more. In contrast to the beauty of Oliva, the unnamed rocky world slowly closing on it was so dull and void of any outstanding features that it would've been given little attention were it not for the fact it was about to crash into Oliva.

Marcus Antonius - "How can nature be so capricious to destroy such a marvel in the night as we see here now?"

Lentillus Marcus, from his station, was already getting sensor readings of the rocky planetoid, in particular, the collision trajectory. It would be important later for whatever plan they and whoever else arrived to help could come up with. Otherwise it would mark the zero-point where rock ball collided and crushed ringed planet, and he knew that his Princeps would not allow that to come to pass.

Valtellina - "Princeps, I have readings from outside the system. Several ships are entering at high velocity. I can identify one of them as a Holy Trek ship."

Marcus Antonius - "No doubt they will want to confer with us once they're in range. Have an Honor Guard standing by. Any ID on the other ships?"

Valtellina - "Not yet, sir."

Lentillus Marcus - "Father, based on these calculations of the trajectory of the planetoid, I can provide an estimation of time until impact."

Marcus Antonius - "Time?"

Lentillus Marcus - "Three days, five hours and fifteen minutes, after which Oliva will begin to feel the gravitational tug from the planetoid. As the hours continue on after that point, the effects will become stronger until the planet is stripped of its atmosphere and tectonic shifting prior to impact will have exterminated all life on the surface. Its also likely that the planetoid's gravitational pull will affect the innermost moons, sending them into collision with Oliva just before it impacts itself."

Marcus Antonius - "Total time until zero point?"

Lentillus Marcus - "Five days, twelve hours, forty-two minutes."

Marcus Antonius - "As soon as the other ships arrive in-system, send out a greeting and invitation to send a representative aboard. They may bring a small Honor Guard if they wish and we will provide them an additional Honor Guard as a gesture of trust."

Lentillus Marcus - "Yes, Father."

Marcus Brutus Antonius returned to studying the horrifying scene on the holo-viewscreen, of the lovely ringed planet and the ugly planetoid steadily closing on it.

ISS Daniel Boone, entering Oliva planetary system

Captain Gilmore was not surprised to see the Roman battleship, as the TRR had been Oliva's first interstellar contact post-unification. What did surprise him was the rocky planetoid not far from the Roman ship, steadily closing on the not-very-distant curvature of Oliva.

Edwinsonn - "Hailing frequencies now open to the Roman ship."

Gilmore - "On screen."

A second later, the image of the Oliva crescent and dark planetoid was replaced by the image of an imposing officer decked in the traditional armor and uniform typical of the Tripartite Republics of Rome. His face was chiseled, ringed with a crop of short, salt-and-pepper colored hair and goatee. He offered the traditional Roman salute of fist to chest.

Gilmore - "I'm Captain Lucius Gilmore of the ISS Daniel Boone representing Holy Trek."

Marcus Antonius - "Marcus Brutus Antonius of the Dreadnaught Hadrian. We're honored to meet you, Captain Gilmore."

Gilmore - "I take it you have received the distress call from Oliva as well."

Marcus Antonius - "Indeed. We were returning from patrol when we picked it up. We were not told why the planetary distress call was activated until we arrived on the perimeter and saw the planetoid."

Gilmore - "There's only two of us here. We cannot hope to influence the course of the planetoid."

Marcus Antonius - "We have three days to effect a plan, after which Oliva and her moons will begin to feel the gravitational effects. We've also tracked other incoming vessels. We might be able to convince them to join us in this humanitarian situation."

Gilmore - "You will serve as host?"

Marcus Antonius - "This will allow us to establish contact with additional nations who could become strong allies to our imperium, so yes."

Gilmore - "Very well then. Me and Science Officer Hastings will beam over to your ship whenever you can receive us."

Marcus Antonius - "The sooner, the better, Captain. I will have my Scientiae send you the beam-in coordinates. Hadrian out."

As the screen switched back to the image of Hadrian, Oliva's crescent, and the planetoid, Gilmore was already on his way to the turbolift.

Gilmore - "Mr Hastings, you're with me."

Hastings left her station, which was promptly assumed by a crewman who would work in her place until she returned. She entered the turbolift, sparing only a nod toward her captain before the door hissed closed.

[SquareDisc City]

Oliva system

The Lozells 762 dropped out of warp in the system. The 762 was an imposing spacecraft, an icosahedron over a kilometre across and bristling with weaponry. It had also frankly seen better days. Numerous patches adorned its black armour, many of whatever scrap material the 762 had managed to get fitted to itself at the time, and its missile tubes were noticeable devoid of missiles.

As it dropped out of warp, the 762 continued talking to Rich over their FTL link.

"So yeah. I've got a couple of Kingses I know over in M92, they can probably help out with the lift." the 762 said

"Can they get here in time?" Rich asked.

"That's the thing. It'll be touch and go, with the distance and how much of a pain in the thrusters warp drives are in this verse."

"Well do what you can. Even if they don't get here, at least we'll have the main plant covered, that's something."

"Yeah. Anyway, I must speak to some of the other craft here. The system really is getting busy."

"I can imagine. Speak soon."

Cutting the link to Rich, the 762 prepared to open a new contact. Even while it had been in conversation the spacecraft had also been observing. Compared to the sophisticated information network it had enjoyed during its military service, relying only on its own sensors felt like flying blind, but still it had picked up on most of the goings on, and noticed the distinct absence of the UPT Space Force among the fleets present. Late to the party as usual, it thought. Well, he'd have to handle things himself.

The Lozells 762 opened the line to reply to the message from the Roman ship.

"Greetings. I'm the Lozells 762, United Pokemon Types citizen and COO of Woven Atoms, a company with assets here on Oliva." The transmission was audio only, with the usual subtly-synthetic tone to the 762's voice, that "computer accent" that had been stuck with long after a more realistic sound could have been produced.

"So far as I can tell I'm the only spacecraft from the UPT here yet. With your leave, I'd like to send my GPD aboard your ship to attend the meeting."

[Odinburgh]

Bernanke City, Oliva



The Library of Altaris-Altaris,Odinburgh Prime

Fernando Blaziken had finally landed at Altaris, later than scheduled. His "Interceptor" spacecraft was landed near the library. One of the UPT Space Force's latest, it was a few dozen metres across, of a saucer layout common to many of the new designs. A central spherical core, about half the total diameter, housed core systems like the reactor and shield generator, as well as the flight deck. Surrounding that was a thin disc, with thrusters - numerous and powerful thrusters at that - on its ventral surface and some empty weapon tubes on the top side. The very rim was thicker, for it housed the all-important warp drive ring. The Interceptor caught the light, shimmering with iridescent colours on much of its surface.

Three more Interceptors were parked in high orbit around the planet, far enough to be out of the way yet close enough to respond. Nobody expected combat here but a state visit nonetheless demanded attention to security. Fernando, though, didn't like to be trailed by bodyguards, and went to greet Torvad Balstad by himself.

"My apologies for my lateness" the Blaziken said. "I had a lot of trouble organising transport security at such short notice, and in the end had to get our Space Force to do it, the UPT police are just hopeless recently.

"I asked to visit because I'd like to make some enquiries about a planet by the name of Oliva. We've had a call for aid from them, but the United Pokemon Types records are annoyingly sparse about the planet and I was hoping your library might have some more information than we do."

"Yes we do have some of some files on the planet Olivia you seek. What type of information about Olivia are looking for exactly", Torvad Balstad asked. "As far we can tell you it is a very old system with a very rich powerful past time. Odinburgh has strong relations with those there that inhabit the system."

[The Tripartite Republics of Rome]

Oliva system

The Lozells 762 dropped out of warp in the system. The 762 was an imposing spacecraft, an icosahedron over a kilometre across and bristling with weaponry. It had also frankly seen better days. Numerous patches adorned its black armour, many of whatever scrap material the 762 had managed to get fitted to itself at the time, and its missile tubes were noticeable devoid of missiles.

As it dropped out of warp, the 762 continued talking to Rich over their FTL link.

"So yeah. I've got a couple of Kingses I know over in M92, they can probably help out with the lift." the 762 said

"Can they get here in time?" Rich asked.

"That's the thing. It'll be touch and go, with the distance and how much of a pain in the thrusters warp drives are in this verse."

"Well do what you can. Even if they don't get here, at least we'll have the main plant covered, that's something."

"Yeah. Anyway, I must speak to some of the other craft here. The system really is getting busy."

"I can imagine. Speak soon."

Cutting the link to Rich, the 762 prepared to open a new contact. Even while it had been in conversation the spacecraft had also been observing. Compared to the sophisticated information network it had enjoyed during its military service, relying only on its own sensors felt like flying blind, but still it had picked up on most of the goings on, and noticed the distinct absence of the UPT Space Force among the fleets present. Late to the party as usual, it thought. Well, he'd have to handle things himself.

The Lozells 762 opened the line to reply to the message from the Roman ship.

"Greetings. I'm the Lozells 762, United Pokemon Types citizen and COO of Woven Atoms, a company with assets here on Oliva." The transmission was audio only, with the usual subtly-synthetic tone to the 762's voice, that "computer accent" that had been stuck with long after a more realistic sound could have been produced.

"So far as I can tell I'm the only spacecraft from the UPT here yet. With your leave, I'd like to send my GPD aboard your ship to attend the meeting."

Marcus Brutus Antonius was on his way to the Teleportation Room, the Roman equivalent of the Transporter Rooms of this universe. He was ready to meet with his opposite from Holy Trek and hoped that the other ships arriving in the system would also soon send a delegation to come up with a solution to the crisis. He had yet to hear from the Olivan government itself, which was nothing unusual due to the efforts to either assist in shifting the planetoid's orbit or build evacuation ships to ferry the inhabitants off the planet. What little information he had learned so far was that many Olivans were viciously resisting the very idea of evacuation. On the one hand he could understand their reluctance. When the TRR first ventured into space, many Romans refused to even consider leaving the world of their birth, thus the early explorations were left to Carthaginian, Greek, Anglish, Gothic, and Khazaric pioneers to pave the way into space.

As he neared Teleportation Room 3, a voice broke his train of thought. It was Valtellina.

Valtellina - "Princeps, we have just been hailed by a vessel from the United Pokemon Types. They wish to send a delegation aboard regarding the Oliva crisis."

Marcus Antonius - "Very well. Return welcome greeting and inform them that I will receive them alongside the Holy Trek delegation. Have any other ships hailed us?"

Valtellina - "Not as of yet, but I am picking up more ships entering the system."

Marcus Antonius - "As each vessel enters hailing range, send them a formal greeting and invitation to send their delegate aboard. The more representatives we have, the better our chances of saving Oliva."

[SquareDisc City]

The Library of Altaris

"Well, whatever you have that you think is relevant to a planetary evacuation really." Fernando replied. "We have a decent outline of the system in general, but I've got very little about the local culture and about their space capabilities. Their history, too, our own records have a complete blank on, and that's something that particularly interests me. From what I do know, I'm surprised Oliva didn't see this threat coming sooner, and the Preskomos consider it of some importance to understand why."

Oliva system

Transporter, teleporter, beaming - whatever you wanted to call it, it wasn't installed on the 762 or many other UPT spacecraft. Some blamed tight R&D budgets kicking it down the priority list below more critical systems, some reported the top Space Marshals simply didn't like it. Whatever the reason, it meant the 762 would be doing things the old-fashioned way. Deep within the structure of the empty ship, long-quiet machinery rumbled to life, the sound of mechanicals long overdue a greasing resonating through the steel and diamond. A few tens small door on the outside of the ship slid down and aside, revealing a long shaft from which a small capsule, a cylinder about the size of a lift car, with several cameras but no windows, was gently kicked clear. It trailed a tether behind it, but this was soon cut.

The 762 sent a quick message to the Roman ship. "I am grateful for your invitation. My GPD is on that lift car I just ejected. I'll guide the car towards your ship using tractor beams, then you'll have to acquire it and take it aboard your ship. Unfortunately the car doesn't have any thrusters, it was never really meant for this kind of shuttle work."

[Holy Trek]

Roman dreadnaught Hadrian. Teleportation Room

Gilmore and Hastings beamed aboard the dreadnaught, where Marcus Brutus Antonius was waiting, along with a woman. Gilmore stepped down and offered his hand. Marcus Antonius clasped his hand then moved to his elbow. Gilmore repeated the gesture and both men shook their arms in mutual salute.

Gilmore - "I greet you on behalf of Holy Trek."

Hastings stepped down from the pad just behind the captain and made the formal Roman gesture of greeting, putting his fist to his chest and bowing his head. This seemed to impress Marcus Antonius, who returned the gesture. Hastings nodded toward the woman, who nodded back with a small grin, equally impressed with Hastings' display of respect. They left the Teleportation Room, starting down the corridor toward a set of double-doors that opened on another section of corridor. Gilmore could see that they were heading for the Main Shuttlebay, though he was uncertain why.

[The Tripartite Republics of Rome]

The Library of Altaris

"Well, whatever you have that you think is relevant to a planetary evacuation really." Fernando replied. "We have a decent outline of the system in general, but I've got very little about the local culture and about their space capabilities. Their history, too, our own records have a complete blank on, and that's something that particularly interests me. From what I do know, I'm surprised Oliva didn't see this threat coming sooner, and the Preskomos consider it of some importance to understand why."

Oliva system

Transporter, teleporter, beaming - whatever you wanted to call it, it wasn't installed on the 762 or many other UPT spacecraft. Some blamed tight R&D budgets kicking it down the priority list below more critical systems, some reported the top Space Marshals simply didn't like it. Whatever the reason, it meant the 762 would be doing things the old-fashioned way. Deep within the structure of the empty ship, long-quiet machinery rumbled to life, the sound of mechanicals long overdue a greasing resonating through the steel and diamond. A few tens small door on the outside of the ship slid down and aside, revealing a long shaft from which a small capsule, a cylinder about the size of a lift car, with several cameras but no windows, was gently kicked clear. It trailed a tether behind it, but this was soon cut.

The 762 sent a quick message to the Roman ship. "I am grateful for your invitation. My GPD is on that lift car I just ejected. I'll guide the car towards your ship using tractor beams, then you'll have to acquire it and take it aboard your ship. Unfortunately the car doesn't have any thrusters, it was never really meant for this kind of shuttle work."

"UPT Vessel 762, your message is received and acknowledged. Your craft will be tractored into our Main Shuttlebay and our Princeps will meet your representative alongside the Holy Trek delegation. Welcome aboard. on behalf of the Tripartite Republics of Rome."

Marcus Brutus Antonius, Valtellina, and the two gentlemen from the Holy Trek ship Daniel Boone walked from the Teleportation Room down the long corridor to the Main Shuttlebay. Marcus Antonius was still impressed with how Hastings greeted him in the formal Roman salute, despite having until now never met any Roman, or so Hastings said when they left the room. His glance at Captain Gilmore told him that the senior Imperial delegate did not yet know about the unique transport arrangements of the UPT delegation.

Marcus Antonius - "The UPT requested that we take one of their pods aboard. Their delegate is coming in that due to their lack of teleportation methods, or so I believe. That might be an error on my part."

They entered the Main Shuttlebay just as the Inter-Ship Comm announced that the UPT pod had been dispatched and was en route. Tractor emitters in the shuttlebay were prepared at the same time as, simultaneously, the space-doors opened and the atmospheric forcefield engaged to keep the bay pressurized and the atmosphere of the ship from blasting into vacuum. As the quartet watched from a safe distance, the pod drew closer until the main tractor beam locked on and gently guided the pod closer to the bay. Once it was close enough, the bay tractor emitters engaged at the same time that the main tractor beam disengaged. The pod was drawn gracefully inside and softly landed. The space-doors closed. Marcus Antonius lifted his left hand to his mouth and activated the commline.

Marcus Antonius - "Have Conference Room 5 made ready for us. Any other ships establish a communication link with this ship, transmit a welcome message followed by coordinates for Teleportation Room 3. It'll be the closest room to the Conference Room."

Officer - "Aye, Princeps."

[Odinburgh]

The Library of Altaris

"Well, whatever you have that you think is relevant to a planetary evacuation really." Fernando replied. "We have a decent outline of the system in general, but I've got very little about the local culture and about their space capabilities. Their history, too, our own records have a complete blank on, and that's something that particularly interests me. From what I do know, I'm surprised Oliva didn't see this threat coming sooner, and the Preskomos consider it of some importance to understand why."

Oliva system

Transporter, teleporter, beaming - whatever you wanted to call it, it wasn't installed on the 762 or many other UPT spacecraft. Some blamed tight R&D budgets kicking it down the priority list below more critical systems, some reported the top Space Marshals simply didn't like it. Whatever the reason, it meant the 762 would be doing things the old-fashioned way. Deep within the structure of the empty ship, long-quiet machinery rumbled to life, the sound of mechanicals long overdue a greasing resonating through the steel and diamond. A few tens small door on the outside of the ship slid down and aside, revealing a long shaft from which a small capsule, a cylinder about the size of a lift car, with several cameras but no windows, was gently kicked clear. It trailed a tether behind it, but this was soon cut.

The 762 sent a quick message to the Roman ship. "I am grateful for your invitation. My GPD is on that lift car I just ejected. I'll guide the car towards your ship using tractor beams, then you'll have to acquire it and take it aboard your ship. Unfortunately the car doesn't have any thrusters, it was never really meant for this kind of shuttle work."

"Well they have been engulfed in an arms race for a long time with their enemies whom we have little knowledge of which the files were destroyed by the Keeper of this library himself years ago. All I have been told and their are records they have been in a state of a cold war for a few hundred years. Within the last few decades they were developing life saving weapon to save their dying planet. They know of the threat but their evacuation is necessary. Still the Olivia System is at risk of being destroyed entirely."-Torvad Balstad