Rain (FT Open)

[Garhza]

Children in a rain soaked field danced in circles, singing a rhyme as the rain poured down from the heavens.

"Captain, the Nagisawa reports eight craft are escaping June's atmosphere."

It was suppose to be a sunny day, but as usual the weathern patterns were always failing to abide by the rules of the weatherman. Many of the parents had quickly taken their children to the safety of their cars and left for home, only a few watched in joy as those who were left continued to dance and sing in the bask of the heavenly water.

"Initial scans show they are Junta class Shuttles, appear to have full crew compliments."

"Are you still enjoying your dauther catching a flu, or should we pack it up for today?" His grinn showed that he wasn't quite ready to leave, and neither was she.

"Lets just watch a little more, I'm enjoying the wether today." Together they sat on the bench in the park. One by one the children in the rain ran to their parents who called for them, leaving the confines of the park for home. They continued to leave, their rate quickening with the speed of the rain, until only she was left. Jumping in the puddles and skidding to a halt, she wrapped her hands around her father who picked her up.

"Mommy?" She said in the warmth of her father's arms. "I hope it never stops raining....."

It seemed like it was from another life, a life of innocence and....

"Captian, we've been ordered to destroy the vessles." Ensign Daz stood before her with the holopad that showed the information on the targets, aswell as Admiral Tywen's orders. She turned from her memories and to the situation at hand.

Ordering her vessle, the RSS Shilo, a frigate in the service of the kingdom, to pursue and destroy the shuttles. The Ship pulled away from the fleet, a force consisting of battleships, cruisers, LSTs, and many destroyers and frigates. A force that was raining death upon the planet below.

The cloud cover of June was dotted with holes of where the high intensity beams pierced it, each on their way to bring death to the Jaiken below. She took a glance outside her port in time to see another volley of lasers pierce through the atmosphere and devestate the land below, the clouds of death and fire showing they had hit their marks....

-------

Particle beams from the RSS Shilo destroyed three of the shuttles in quick succesion, knocking a fourth out of commision before it too was destroyed by another volley from the pursuing frigate. Numbers five and six soon followed as they turned into a ball of flame before the vaccum of space snuffed their light out. Seven split off from Eight, only to expose more of its feeble hull to the angel of death. It too disapeared in a ball of light, the only remindier of its existence was the debris. Eight, having a better pilot in control, evaded the onlsaught of death spewing out from the Shilo long enough to go to FTL and get to safety.

Joshua, like many of dozens of other Jaiken children, shouted out with victory at having survived the ordeal. They, like the crew, allowed themselves this momentary feeling of joy to rush through their veins.

They had survived the orbital bombardment for the past two months, they had survived the poison gasses that were sent by the Garhzans, and now they had survived pursuit of one of the hated vessels of the RGIN.

--------

"Target 3 has gone to FTL, Ma'am."

Before Capt. Miles could show her disdain for having allowed a mere shuttle escape her clutches, new orders from the Adm. arrived. Her ship was to break off and pursue the fleeing craft.

Spinning up their FTL engines, the Shilo left the orbiting fleet that rained death upon the Jaiken below, and left for the Andres 221 System, the location of the shuttle that had escaped.

Andres System

The Jaiken shuttle exited hyperspace. At just forty meters the shuttle was packed with almost fifty people, most of whom were nothing more than children.

Flight Officer Jason realized there would be a RGIN vessel in pursuit and knew that they would all die if they didn't recieve aid quickly. With that in mind, he broadcasted a message into the Andres System seeking help.

I am Flight Officer Jason Zu, High & Low Transport Industries Shuttle Craft 3920AD. I have approxiatmely three dozen children on board and am requesting help from anyone who hears this. We have just escaped the genocide of our homeworld, please, help us. MESSAGE REPEATS

[The Star of the Queens]

Captain, we have received a distress call.- said the communications officer of the Evening Star, an Imperial Cruiser patrolling a trade route in the Andres system.
The captain looked at the officer. The officer was a young Human female, apparently her first time in space aboard a vessel. She was still shivering when he looked at her captain. The captain was once a human, but now you can find hardly any organic substance in her. She is extensively cyborged now. She commanded impatiently:
- Cadet, didn't you learn at school what to do with a distress sign? Communication: respond to the call. Navigation, plot a course to the source of the transmission, engage at maximum warp, NOW. Science: Target the given vessel with a sensor sweep, let's see how damaged they are. Sickbay: Assume a medical emergency. Prepare for transport of injured people with plasma burns. Defense: Charge railguns, torpedoes, and lasers. Their followers may have continued the pursuit.
As the bridge comes to life as the commands were executed, the communications officer opens a channel, and a squeaky voice is held on the ship in problem.
- Shuttle Craft 3920AD, we are the Evening Star, a cruiser of the Empire of the Star of the Queens. We recieved your distress call and heading for your last known coordinates. Please stand by.
As the message was send aboard the craft, the Evening Star dropped out of warp next to it.

[Alfegos]

For the crew of the MSS-B7-29A, space held little for their vessel. It was those within it. They were mercenaries, hired by the local system governing body for Epsilon Argonaut, and they lived by the ways of their home planet, where what had once been a merchant vessel had been registered to. You kept what you killed. Of course, after the civil war in Epsilon Argonaut, they had been seen as a threat, and chased out once their payment had been made. And now, they wandered from star system to star system, waiting with crew in stasis, travelling at near light speed between planets. Time for it was bending, so that whilst the ship aged slowly, the universe around it aged more rapidly. So in between each crew rousing, a mere week had passed for them, whilst years had passed outside. All out of fear of their faster-than-light engines being detected once again, and the hunt being started.

The alert came flashing up onscreen, in the musty abandoned bridge, as deceleration from light speed was detected nearby. The control panels lay dusty, save for one flashing note on the main computer console.
"+++Initialise Reboot? Y/N - Y - Timeout 10 secs+++"
The light was enough to provide scant illumination in the bridge, a mess of applique systems and computers taken from enemy vessels, integrated somehow into the ship's architecture. Fire control systems, reactor systems, and most precious of all, the jump drive computer from the rebel flagship. Proscribed technology, yet a gem that the Captain had not been able to resist.
"+++Assessing Reactor systems... Complete. Reactors safe.+++
+++Initialising primary stack startup...+++"
Lights flickered on, alongside numerous monitor panels, illuminating the interior. The ship had no artifical gravity - cargo didn't need that. Cables hung motionless in mid air, alongside various loose pens and other equipment, caught in the sudden light. There came a hum as the systems fully energised, followed by an explosion of light in the dark. Bright lights lit the exterior of the hull, flickering for a few seconds, before the tactical computer shut them off. Air rushed into the cold interior, warming the freezing interior, life pouring into the interior. And then, there was the matter of the crew, in suspended animation for now.

-----------

Ten minutes later, the Captain sat at the bridge of his vessel, looking over the schematics - all the details of a vessel, nearly a mile long, compressed into a small command deck. Behind the heavy lead blast shields, opened a small amount, space expanded into infinity, light by pinpricks of light. Projected onto the screen area was the so-called enhanced reality, things of interest marked up directly ahead, supplimented by a 3D representation of the space around the vessel.
"Captain, we have numerous shuttle craft detected - they shouldn't be this far out away from a planet. They're broadcasting a distress call."
"In that case, make a response. We might have some business, either with them, or with the people they're fleeing from."

Crew of unidentified shuttles, this is Merchant Space Ship B7-29A. We have received your emergency broadcast, and are willing to give you permission to board pending further talks.

As the message was broadcast, another ship was detected inbound. Typically, the entire system would be rushing to aid the shuttles. And might take the wrong idea to a merchant vessel revealing it was heavily armed.
"Get the weapons crews fully alert, and prepare all systems for charging. Ship status to amber."

[The Ruivan Empire]

"Genocide? what is this?" asked the comm officer of the star destroyer implacable.

"What have you got Officer?" asked the captain.

"Sir im picking up a distress beacon from the area shall we send a message? they clim to have several dozen children on board and that they have escaped a genocide on their planet."

"What!!? Genocide? we must respond back and see if we can help! do so at once. im going to send a message to high command to send out the omega fleet. its only 5 minutes away from their last location."

message to shuttle craft:

This is the Ruivan Star destroyer implacable. i am captain kirn. if you wish we have more than enough room to take you on board.but we also wish to know where your planet is so that we may intervene to stop the destruction of your people.

[Garhza]

It was Second Officer Reni O'Cleaves that came running into the engine compartment with the news of Evening Star's answer to his call. Dropping the tools in his hands and dashing through the shuttle, dodging various sleeping children who were spread about (some coughing from the gassing that the Garhzans had delivered to them) Flight Officer Jason Zu stormed into the bridge and looked over the printed copy of the Evening Star's message. Not one to celebrate and waste time, Jason sent a seply to the cruiser.

Evening Star, this Shuttle 3920AD, our main engines have lost power. We still have life support and our thrusters, but are dead in the water. We have a total of thirty-eight passengers and twelve crew. Some of the passengers have respiratory problems as a result of poison gas and will require your medical service.

Jason sat back in the chair and waited for the Evening Star's response. When the intercom came to life it was not the Evening Star, but another vessel entirely! To have this much luck after the terrible ordeal over the past few months left near tears. Wiping away his eyes he radiod in the merchant vessel.

B7-29A, this is Shuttle 392-

"0AD, our mai- what the hell is wrong with this thing?" Jason looked over his equipment, completly unaware of the look of shock on his co-pilot's face. Not finding anything wrong he turned to Second Officer Reni and discovered the reason to his communication problem. His horror left him dubfounded even as another message of help flashed across the screen...

-----

"Communications have been jammed, Ma'am."

The RSS Shilo had exited FTL in time to hear the latter half of 3920AD's message to the Evening Star. Not wasting a moment the comm officer located the Jaiken shuttle's frequency and jammed it. Captain Miles didn't like the fact that ships were already in the system, and even less that the Jaiken had managed to call for help and get it. She had to act quickly inorder to stop them from escaping.

"All ahead full, arm weapons and prepare to destroy that damn shuttle once we're in firing range."

A chorus of acknowledgement greeted her ears and the RSS Shilo made for the disabled craft, its immoral intentions being apparant to all that observed her flight....

[Alfegos]

"RED ALERT!"
"+++Weapons & countermeasures systems detected from newcomer vessel. Recommend full scale response+++"

The entire deck lit up as the mercenary vessel revealed its true colours.
"Shuttlecraft, make with immediate haste to our area - this is about to get very messy."
"All crews, ARM ARM ARM!!! Fire up all reactors!"
There came a second pulse of energy as the backup fusion core powered up, a small star forming within the heart of the ship. The vessel consisted of a single pine unit, spreading down the entire length of the spaceship, with huge hold containers to the top and bottom along the entire length of the one mile supersuperstructure. To the rear, huge bolt-on thrusters directed plasma from the main engines out into the ether. And in each of the vast container units, hundreds upon hundreds of weapons sat being readied. Anything from turbolasers off cruisers, to mass accelerators used as engines, now converted to weapons. The thousands of crew aboard a vessel originally designed for eight men to operate rushed to stations, as red alert came into effect. Bulkheads shut down, sealing off vast sectors of spaceship, as weapons positions across the ship were armed.

"Commence charging the brane drive. All crews..."
Static filled the area around the spacecraft, as the jump drive began charging, the interference pusling through the shielding every now and again.
"All crews, fire at will!"

Space lit up. Along the entire length of the ship, a couple hundred railguns and light LASER cannons began firing. Missiles launched from improvised batteries, carrying light nuclear warheads towards the targeted vessel, started to pour from the sides, rapidly accelerating to incredible speeds. The main mass driver roared, a fifty tonne shaped lump of tungsten sent careening towards the ship in the distance.
"Captain, where shall we jump to?"
"Officer, set co-ordinates to the furthest stable co-ordinate jump we know from here. If they warp after us, it'll give us a few days head start... if they can follow us."
"Confirmed. Co-ordinates will be plotted for jump in ten minutes maximum."

The firing continued, as the vessel prepared for imminent inbound damage. Strap-on shield generators provided the occasional local bubble of defence from particle beams and some projectile weapons, the majority of the vessel relying upon vast plates of ceramics. And so the shuttle craft approached, as the ship prepared to leave, unleashing its wrath upon the light starship that was so intent on pursuing the shuttles.

[The Star of the Queens]

As we read the shuttlecraft's response, the captain gave orders:
- Science: get a lock on the shuttle itself. Transporters: Energize, transport universal poison antidotes to the shuttle, 100 rations. Tactical: get a tractor beam on that shuttle. Communications: tell them what's happening.
Suddenly three spacecraft appeared on the radar. One of them was approximately a mile-long vessel, looking like a modified cargo vessel with one too many guns. The other two was clearly seen a war vessel, and one of them fired their weapons on the shuttle. The mile-long vessel attacked the belligerent ship. Before the ship began firing, on the shuttle, some injections appeared in a previously empty space. The box read:
The Empire of the Star of the Queens - Starfleet. Universal Poison Antidote.
In case of being exposed to poisons, take one, arm at your blood vessels, and press the red button.
- Communications: Hail the vessels, and tell the shuttle, what's going on. Tactical: target the engines and weapons of the war craft. Shields: Put up a deflector around the shuttlecraft.
- Captain, I can't open a channel to 3920AD. Their comm is jammed.
- Then ask the others. Hope our reactors will last. Engineering: It's time to test the reactor in overdrive!
The engineering officer, a young male Elda quickly inputted some commands into the computer, and the blue light from our gravimetric reactor changed to white.
+++ WARNING. Reactor operates at 140% rated power. Continuous operation at this level will result in core overheating, or meltdown. +++
Announced our computer in a female voice. There was enough things to be powered as lasers and railguns shooting at the rogue craft, and at the same time, a shuttle beamed into a dock, and shielded from some damage. On the comm of the other vessels, an inbound channel request was appearing by the cruiser. If the captain of the ship chosen to open communication, the message was the following:
- We are the Evening Star, a Cruiser of the Starfleet of the Empire of the Star of the Queens. We received a distress call, and are now helping the damaged shuttle. Please identify yourself and state your business.
While the Evening Star was in battle, the captain commanded the communication officer to try to counter the jam on the shuttle by broadcasting a signal which is directly opposite of the jamming signal.

[Garhza]

"Get the children to the escape pods, now!"

The flashes of light were getting close to the shuttlecraft that housed the survivors from June, and perhaps even the last of the Jaiken species. Jason Zu knew that the shuttle would be destroyed, either in the crossfire between their saviors or from a shot from the frigate that was quickly approaching. There was little time as they marshalled twenty-six of the thirty-eight children to the pods. Most would have tried to save every living soul they possibly could, but the pods only had so much room and Jason made the quick decision to save the healthiest of the bunch.

Cramming up to four (some even five) in each of the escape pods, Jason then launched them away from the shuttlecraft. Once all the doors had been sealed Jason slammed down on the launch button, only to see error message cropp up on the monitor.

"Shit!"

----

The RSS Shilo was taking a beating from the two ships. Weaving in and out of the fire didn't save her from the many rounds that punched into her hull. Her PDF lasers largely focused on the nuclear warheads and the occasional missles, but the shere mass of convential rounds scoring hits on her were opening dents in her defenses.

The fore and aft PBCs returned fire, while every available missle battery targeted the enemy missles. At a distance of 40.000km her port fore Particle Beam Cannon got a lock on the small shuttle and fired a single round before the tungsten slammed into her starboard engine, crippling the frigate.

"...gravity system down, sheilds are at less than half capacity!"
"Starboard Engine room has been completly destroyed, unable to provide energy to the weapon systems!"
"Captain, we have hull breaches in Section A, B,D,E,F, and G!"
"FTL and Sublight are offline, we're drifting!"
"Ma'am, we have confirmed deaths of at least 20 crew, 30 are MIA, multiple wounded have been reported! What are your orders!?"

Alert messages and alarms alike added into the frantic chaos after the ship was hit. Bridge crew and medics floated from station to station, each performing their duty. The once pristine bridge was now an asteroid field of broken panels, monitors, and even clouds of blood.

"Comms, send a message to th-shit!" Captain Miles watched as the medics pulled the corpse of Ensign Fraih from the wreckage of her console. Apperantly pieces of her station and metal had passed into her skull, leaving blood and brain matter alike skewed around her body.

"You there," she said pointing the closest medic," can you get me comms?"

The young corporal scavenged around the console of its former predocesor and returned Cpt. Miles stare with an answer. "Aye, Ma'am. However I can't promise you it will be clear."

"Fair enough, send the following message to whoever these assholes are..."

----

Atten...n v..sels, this is C...in M..es of the Royal ...ce Ship S.ilo. You have fir.. upon .. witho.t provocation ..d have declared war upon the Ki...m of Gar..a. Withdraw now and we can ...ange for a counsol to resolve this u...ul act of ....

The Particle beam failed to pierce the deflector shields that were set up by the Evening Star, saving the Jaiken aboard Shuttle 3290AD. A light soon encompassed the shuttle as a tractor beam pulled the shuttle to safety. Shouts from the main passenger quarters caused Jason to sprint from the Escape Pods to see what the fuss was.

"Medicine!"
"And food too!"

The children that had been left behind dug into the food, while several read the descriptions and instructions of the medicine. Amidst this joy was sent a open comm to the surrounding ships for all to hear.

This is Second Officer Reni O'Cleaves here to say thank god for what you've done! Our shuttle is still without engine power, so'll have to reel us in.

@Alfregos: There is only one shutle.
@Everyone: I'd like the chance at some character development, if that would be ok with everyone?

[Alfegos]

The Captain laughed, a loud throaty laugh that echoed across the bridge, as the message came from the damaged warship. From here, he could see his fire was having the effect it wanted, the enemy targeting their inbound projectiles rather than returning any effective fire. The shuttle craft moved towards the allied vessel, the Evening Star, as he turned to the rest of the bridge, rotating in the zero gravity.
"Mission so far is successful - enemy vessel is crippled, and is trying to get us to stop firing on them by declaring war upon our vessel. Now, it seems we have a choice - either to continue with our operation, and to dismantle that ship and salavage the parts, or to take their threat seriously."
"+++Brane Primary Accumulator Bank Full Charge+++"
"...which is now possible. Let's move at impulse speed, and see what we can do. I give it another few minutes, until we start seeing inbound re-enforcements to the sector."

The Captain was not a reckless man - he had learnt it the hard way. Mercenaries were members of the pirate co-operative of Nova starspace, the huge empire stretching across a spiral arm, who had become renegade from that and hired their services out. Mainly to system governors, who saw their share of defensive ships was too low, providing auxilliary support at a cost. They kept what they killed. Yet now, he was torn between loading up with the parts of the severely damaged vessel, or fleeing from what would soon be a hellhole. And he had his original reasons of firing to think about.
"Crew of the shuttle 3920AD and Captain of the Evening Star, this is the Captain of the Mercenary vessel. We predict that there will be inbound re-enforcements within minutes. Whilst they will be able to track your FTL warp travel, they will not be able to track our jump from this system. We wish the rescued to seriously consider boarding our vessel, so that we can give them true safety in a traceless escape from this system, whilst the other vessel has a head start."

The vessel slowly drew up alongside the Evening star, above the plane of fire, so that it could continue to pour fire onto the damage vessel. All that was needed now was for the men to be sent aboard by shuttle, considering the nature of the shielding aboard the vessel made transporting via teleport almost impossible.

Crew of the RSS Shilo, you are currently in a critical condition. Our sensors show that your vessel is losing integrity as we speak. We do not care for idle threats, and as such will give you an ultimatum. If we detect any ships arriving to re-enforce you, we will finish destroying your ship, and will be able to escape without a trace. Until then, we will be quite willing to engage in a ceasefire.

[The Ruivan Empire]

The ruivan ship held back from attacking the ship simply because they new they would not get a chance to hit the ship based on the damage it was sustaining. However the crew of the ship was enraged by the attempted murder of children. From that momement on the ruivan empire decided that they would regard these beings as pirates until more information could be compiled. The ruivan fleet was now only two minutes away from the location.

[Sephrioth reborn]

the zelbinion droped out of slipstream its 1km bulk bristling with armerment the comander snapped stand all prowler sqauds at alert status coms to all battling parties stand down or else

[The Star of the Queens]

The shuttle landed in the dock of the Evening Star OOC: Ship is like a Sovereign-class (Enterprise-E) vessel from Star Trek, but with slightly less high-end weapons due to low population IC:. It sustained heavy damage, but it was not unrepairable. As we opened the doors, those standing near the doors could see a large, white hall at least 10 meters high, 100 meters wide and 60 meters long. You could hear commands echoing across the hall from the loudspeakers. As you went out, for a moment the light of the dock was blinding. A young cyborg woman greeted you in her perfect pitch.
Welcome aboard the Evening Star. I'm Eight of Ten, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 23A5, you may call me Eight of Ten. Please, if you can walk, follow me to the sickbay for routine examination and healing. We are repairing your ship, it would take approximately a week or two to have it up and running. We can give you crew quarters and you are free to go around the ship. The Mercenary Vessel gave us a message that they are receiving reinforcements, and due to their superior FTL technology, they are able to offer you a traceless escape. We can transport you aboard if you want.

---

Meanwhile in the bridge:
- Mercenary Vessel - said the comm officer - We have told them about the transfer to your vessel. We will cure them out of the poison and any injuries, and are free to go. Thank you for your assistance in the battle. The Empire of the Star of the Queens is grateful for your service. We will transport the enemy ship's survivors to ourselves and execute them according to our law.
Then the comm link was disconnected. The Captain was in a pessimistic mood.
~ The battle is over. It's time for war ~ She thought after hearing the enemy's response.
- Computer, I want to hear the casualties in private. Science: Lock anything alive in the ship we had shot down. Transporters: transport them into Sickbay Two. Security: Make sure that our enemies will be comfortable in their detainment cell. I want them alive for interrogation, then they will be disassembled into their atoms. As she gave these commands, the transporters energized.
- Commander Miller, the bridge is yours. Then the captain walked to her ready room.

---

- Computer report casualties.
+++ 10 people WIA, 0 MIA, 2 KIA +++ Matrices 5CA, 5CB, 5CC, 6AE, 6AF, 6B0 sustained heavy damage. +++ Hull breach at mentioned matrices, other hull is in nominal condition. +++ Main systems ready. +++ As reactor load returned to normal, I administered plasma coolant, and reduced reactor output to 70% +++
The captain's fears had come true. These sectors held most of the food stockpile. Without them...
+++ WARNING: Food stockpile running low! At current crew, only two weeks of food remaining +++
- Computer: Theoretical situation: We will run out of food, then eat only from the replicator. Calculate remaining fuel supply. If energy cuts are necessary, inform me about it.
+++ Resolution: At full power, we can manage to run for one and a half month. DANGER: at maximum warp, it's not enough to reach home. +++
- Suggest necessary power cuts.
+++ No Holodeck, no repairs, maximum warp factor: warp 5, 120 crew put into suspended animation. +++
- And I'm suggested to tell this to crew. Theoretical situation: power up Experimental Reactor X-R01/B
+++ At designed power we would be able to reach for home, and have one week reserves without administering any power cuts. WARNING: Reactor technology is not experimented yet, and can cause distortions in space-time. +++
A zero-point energy extractor. A technology far too dangerous to experiment wit, but our brightest scientist, and the Star of the Queens herself cannot be wrong. They think that they are perfect, so it's time to prove it so.
- Computer: Is there anyone in Matrix 3AE5, Sector BE3?
+++ Sector and Jeffries Tubes around it are empty +++
- Computer, mark sector as affected by irreparable hull breach. Lock blast doors around it, get a Power 9 containment field up, and initialize Project Black Light -

---

At the locked sector, there was freezing cold vacuum. Soon lights lit up marking the start of computers in the area. A huge, black cylinder lit up, and soon blue light was emitting from it. 10 robots emerged from the wall, and went to the computers. Soon thousands of megawatts of zero-point energy were pumped into the superconductors around the ship for the power-hungry equipment. The Evening Star was still mostly powered by the main gravimetric reactor, as the computer announced to the captain:
+++ Black Light on-line. Load at 10%. Sensors read no space-time anomalies. Increasing experimental reactor power. +++
OOC:

Sorry for writing late, it's because of my time zone, GMT+1. I'm OK with character development, but please be patient with me as I'm a Newb, and this is my first RP here. Sorry for my English, also. Learning it as a Foreign language.

[Garhza]

June, Orbit

The RGIN Task Force floated serenly above June, preparing for the next part of its ethnic cleansing campaign. The cities and major population centers had been decimated by orbital bombardment for the better part of the last few months, while the rural areas became void of life when the Garhzans began launching chemical and biological warheads. Fleet sensors showed there was little more than half a million survivors out of the original eight billion that had inhabitated this world. All that was left to do was begin landing operations, except for one minor detail...

Suzahare Bridge, Kotomi Class Battleship

Admiral Tywen looked over the latest scans of the planet's surface while listening to his XO explain the situation at hand.

"Admiral, the Shilo hasn't reported in by ansible for at least three hours. Something is wrong. Captain Miles would never disregard protoco-"

Admiral Tywen waved his flag officer's argument away, showing he had come to a decision. He couldn't belive that a frigate could have trouble with a mere shuttle, and even less that a ship officer would not report her status to the fleet. It left only one possibility then; something bigger than the Shilo had destroyed her or crippled her, rendering her incapable of calling for assistance.

With a touch of a button Adm. Tywen brought up Task Force 346 ship list. At twenty-six ships, or twenty-five with the Shilo's absent, Tywen had a force of various warships, but only one was fitted for the mission at hand.

"Comms, I want the Fuko to head with all haste to the Shilo's last known location."
"Aye, Sir."

----

The Fuko was a Nagisawa class Cruiser. Her strength laid in her speed and shields, making her the mustang of the fleet while the destroyers were the workhorses. Captain Giles read his orders, and after conducting a ship wide systems check entered FTL on-course for the Andres System...

---

Andres System

C..w of the ..S ..ilo, you are cu.... in a c...cal con...ion. Our sensors .... t..t yo.r ve....l is los..g in....y as we s...k. We do not ca.. for .... ....., and as .uch will gi.. you an ....atum. If we d.... any sh... arriving to ...nforce ... we will fi...h .. ...... your ship, and will be a..e to esc... without a t..e. Until th.., we wi.. be quite willing to ....e in a ceas..re.

"Can you clear it up?"

Captain Miles floated behind her newly found comm officer, who was at an akward angle as most of the console was destroyed.

"Negative Ma'am. The system is too damaged for me to even try to jerry rig. We would have been lucky to even get the ansible up and running. 'fraid theres nothing for me to do now."

Miles shrugged in disapointment at the almost complete loss of their comm systems. It, like the gravity control matrix, went on a long list of what wasn't working. She glided through the still air of the bridge to check with the science and sensor officers. Both reports weren't good either.

Air and pressurization in B and G were gone, while sections A, C, and D were having electrical failures. In addition, the number of KIA went up from 20 to 48 (decreasing the MIA to 2). The sensors were on the fritz, leaving the Shilo in capable of detecting friend from foe. Miles considered abandoning ship multiple times, but the lack of proper medical facilities in the shuttles prevented her from doing so.

Miles scrunched her face as she thought of what to do. Propping her self on her chair Miles continued to think about her alternatives, only to be forced into one. One moment she was on the bridge of Shilo, the next in a confinement cell on board the Evening Star.

"What the hell!?"

----

Joshua and the others from the shuttle were marshalled into the medical bay by the crew of the Evening Star. Being lined up for vaccinations, most of the Jaiken that were aflicted by the poisonsous gas and chemicals were cured, albeit several continued to have symptoms of their afflictions. Taking a seat and breathing a sigh of releif, Joshua allowed himself to fall alsleep in the confines of the medical bay.

Jason Zu thought about the proposition. However, he knew nothing of the mercenaries and so asked to have an audience with their leader to determine wether or not it was safe to trust them with the future of his species.

@Star Queens: no problem, I don't consider myself a great rper either. Also, most people don't like it when you rp actions towards other people's characters (like beaming them aboard). Not that I have a beef with that and all, just remember it as some rpers get pissed at that kinda thing.
@One liners: At the very least write a paragraph, makes it more fun and allows for involvment with the greater part of the rp.

[Alfegos]

The Captain made up his mind as the proposal was brought to him - they didn't really have time to waste, as they ceased fire on the enemy ship. From here, the visual sensors painted a horrendous view of the damage they had caused, gases escaping into the void and forming a cloud around damaged sectors of the ship.
"Commander, the bridge is yours. If any more ships warp in, lock weapons on them and prepare to fire. If you think we need to, jump out of here - I'll find my way to the jump point."
"But sir, the Infernus system..."
"I know, I know. I'll get there somehow, even if it means blagging. I'll see you later."

The Captain pulled himself along the internal corridor rail, rapidly moving along, following the purple marker line - shuttle bay. After a couple seconds, he opened the overhead blast door, entering a cavernous space - one of the original cargo holds. Within, twenty small shuttlecraft, most personal craft owned by the senior members of the crew, sat locked down alongside large cages of repair and attack drones, all sitting slowly charged. He quickly moved along to the most magnificant of the shuttle craft, a small five-man starfighter given to him by a system governor, boarding and locking himself in the pilot's bay. A couple seconds later, the docking clamps disengaged, as air rushed out of the hanger - the main doors had been opened. His black, two-winged craft, able to fly through most atmospheres, slipped from the side, before the signal beacons lit up.
"This is the Mercenary Leader to Evening Star Captain - requesting permission to land aboard your space vessel. Could the leader of the refugees please be at the hanger to meet me?"
He wasn't a fan of tractor beams, but it immensely aided in navigation, allowing him to quickly transfer aboard the craft. No sooner had he landed, he was out, stretching his limbs curiously - it had been a while since he had experienced true, permanent gravity. He hadn't time for it, almost falling from his craft as he exited, before propping himself on the craft's side.

The Captain of the Mercenaries had been born to a family in the Novan Imperial Periphery, one of the systems near the border. Wars happened all to often, yet he had fallen in with the wrong crowd - instead of crewing an Imperial warship, he chose instead to sign up for a mercenary crew, and had done rather well for himself. The high gravity world he had been born to meant he was muscular, the deserts he had lived in meant he had a permanent deep tan. Yet he was tall for his sub-species, and blended in with most crowds. He slowly made his way over, legs unsure how to use themselves after the time in microgravity, before nodding a greeting.
"You wanted to see me, regards to us getting you out of here. Well, if I know a governmental star fleet, you'll have company in, say... ten minutes. But I will spare you that, and you give you all the stuff you want to know. I, as a Captain, work normally for just money. Pay me enough, and I'll do what I want. In this case, the payment would have been that we had the ship we've destroyed - easy, wouldn't you say? However, it seems we won't be getting that. So, since I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart, I would wish for you to fully survive this ordeal, after... genocide, I think it was?

If you come with us, I will take you to a star system where nobody, and I mean nobody, will bother you again. There, I have contacts, who are like me - they will do anything for the right price. If you want your planet to survive, they are your best bet - if you tell them that they keep what they kill, then you'll have quite a few friends to help you.

Now normally, you would think as a Mercenary, I would have no standards. But genocide is one thing that I do not tolerate, and if your claims are true, then I will fight your corner. So, what is it? By my count, we have three minutes left, until the re-enforcements arrive. Also, you might know..."

He bent across, whispering.
"I have my doubts about this vessel. I don't think she could stand up well in a firefight, and I highly doubt your race would survive, considering the odds."
He leant back, before speaking.
"I'm sure the crew aboard here would be willing to teleport you across, ASAP. Once you're onboard, we can get moving - and they won't be able to follow us. Nobody will, unless they know the co-ordinates we're jumping to."

[The Star of the Queens]

The confinement cell was a dark room. Only a dim light could be seen there. There were no guards outside. It was a cube 3*3*3 meters, having six beds. There was an open arch on the back side, if you went there, you could find some privacy in the toilet. if you observed the ceiling, you could see surveillance cameras everywhere. On the front, there was an arch to freedom, but if you tried going through it, you will be shocked by a non-lethal electric field. The cells around you seemed empty. After an hour, the door of the common corridor of the cells opened. A blinding white light appeared for a moment, then the door quickly shut. You could see a red laser beam moving towards you. And it stopped. If you looked at it, you could notice a cyborg woman. She was two meters tall, she had long brown hair, and Caucasian complexion could be seen in her remaining skin. One of her eyes were replaced by a sensor - that's where the laser came from, her other eye was brown. She stood tall.
- Welcome aboard the Evening Star, the ship of the Empire of the Star of the Queens. You were talking about an unprovoked war. To us, shooting a defenseless vessel sending a distress call IS provocation. You are charged with a Crime Against Humanity by an attempt on the life of children. In our country, you will be tortured to a slow and painful death, but as a prisoner of war acting upon orders, you could receive a quick and painless death. So tell me that how many of you should we expect, and what type of guns does they carry?

---

Meanwhile at the bridge, the first officer is aware that some more parties are to be expected, so she quickly ordered Yellow Alert, and ordered the ship's weapons to be charged, but they were not firing since the enemy ship was disabled. The distance sensors already seen huge space vessels approaching. From the comm another huge vessel wanted parties to stand down or face war. She ordered the comm to respond (OOC: To the Ruivan Star Destroyers, and the Zelbinion IC->):
- Unidentified vessel. We are the Evening Star, a Cruiser of the Starfleet of the Empire of the Star of the Queens. We received a distress call from a shuttle. Then an enemy ship wanted to destroy it, and to protect the shuttle, we wanted to disable it. Please identify yourself and state your business.
Then we heard the mercenary leader requesting permission to dock. An automatic response system gave the answer:
- Mercenary Leader, you are cleared for docking. Proceed to dock.
Meanwhile, Jason Zu, one of the shuttle's survivors wanted to hear the leader of the mercenaries. The comm officer responded:
- The mercenary leader is too looking for you to discuss the details of your escape. One of our crew is going for you.

---

Soon after the comm officers' announcement, a young female elda showed up. She asked Jason Zu to follow her to the docks. As our doctors cleared anyone with no or light symptoms, the survivors are free to go around the ship. After this, Eight of Ten appeared. She now spoke quietly, as she has seen (at least) one of the survivors to be asleep.
- If you would like, I could show you the Reserve Crew Quarters. It won't be so cozy, but certainly better than the Sickbay.
For those who had followed her, she lead through a maze of sparkling white, brightly lit corridors. On them, several species could be seen walking around in white uniform. Over the uniform, there was a deep blue ribbon across, Directly under the shoulder, there was the name and rank written in gold letters, and the text STARFLEET. Under it, there were several stars, mostly different number for each people. If you noticed it, and asked the cyborg about them, she would tell that the number of stars represent the rank. However, in the center of the uniform, there is a huge star. If you notice and ask your leader about it, then she will tell you, that it's the coat of arms of the nation. You can also notice, that the female uniform has a skirt, which stretches about 10-15 cm under the knee. Then you arrive at a corridor. Eight of Ten announces:
- The first ten quarters are all yours. To avoid any misunderstandings, it is recommended that males and females should occupy different quarters.
If someone entered, s/he could notice that the quarters was painted dark blue, and consisted of five small rooms (big room's size: 3m x 4m x 4m, bathroom: 3m x 2m x 2m, bedroom: 3m x 3 m x 2m Height x Width x Length). One of the rooms had a window which looked out to space. From there two doors and three arches opened. Each arch led to a same sized room with a bunk bed, and two desks with chairs. In the beds, one could look at a blank screen. By touching it, the screen came to life, and became a computer terminal. The beds were made. Next to them there were empty drawers.
In the big room, there was seating for six around a round-shaped table. In the room, there were some plants. One of the doors from this room was the door you come in from, the other lead to a rather small bathroom equipped with a shower stand, a toilet, and a basin. Above the basin, there were six towels. After looking around for the switches and levers, it soon turned out that everything is voice-controlled.

---

Meanwhile at the Imperial Homeworld, the Star of the Queens began processing the Evening Star's report.
- OK, now it's officially a war. Hope our men will endure. Starfleet: Raise DEFCON to DEFCON 3. Mobilise. The interstellar communications relay offices came alive in moments and ships all over the universe were informed about elevated readiness. On our homeworld, Starfleet ships were commissioned, and launched from the dry docks to protect the home. The Evening Star is left out alone in the sector.

[The Ruivan Empire]

A rift in space suddenly tore open near the Ruivan fleet and a small 20 ship fleet dropped out of warp and waited to see if any more of these ships would come looking for this shuttle. meanwhile a message was sent to the crew on the shuttle.

Can you please tell us what you meant by genocide? and why these people are attempting this?

[Sephrioth reborn]

A rift in space suddenly tore open near the Ruivan fleet and a small 20 ship fleet dropped out of warp and waited to see if any more of these ships would come looking for this shuttle. meanwhile a message was sent to the crew on the shuttle.

Can you please tell us what you meant by genocide? and why these people are attempting this?

coms to ruiovian fleet this is the peacekeeper command carrier zelbinion we will asist you

[The Ruivan Empire]

We will accept any help given. Even as I speak 80 of our most powerful ships are on the way. Battlegroup omega. We need the planets coordinates once we have them the empire is going on a crusade.