IRON Claims the North! (FT, open)

[The Fedral Union]

(no their jumping independently)

[Trailers]

Mere hours after crossing the unseen, unknown border between free space and IRON territory, the freighter collided with an FTLi bubble around the trade corridor system 16-HCH. It was a planetless yellow dwarf star orbited by multiple rings of asteroids, and a small unmanned IRON orbital structure broadcasting the FTLi. Accompanying the station, uncharacteristic of IRON protocol, were a pair of civilian vessels (refitted with some market-grade guns welded to their hulls) and a Traileric Trireme class destroyer. The FTLi network was brand new, and since it had only come online mere day increments ago, the Traileric navy saw fit to accompany most of the stations with any sub-capital craft they could spare.

As a result, the freighter, when pulled from hyperspace would promptly see on scan an eight hundred meter ship of war, and a pair of police vessels. Oh, and a nonfunctional warp drive.


Trireme Destroyer

[Balrogga]

Captain Forrester was just finishing his rounds of the cargo bay when the ship lurched suddenly and violently. Alarms went off all over the place (well, the ones that still worked) and he picked himself up from under a pile of small cases. Limping and cursing, he staggered over to the intercom button on the wall near the door. Stabbing the button and waiting a moment to hear the crackle he shouted into the microphone.

“What the bloody hell did we hit this time?”

“Nothing Cap’, the drives just went offline and we were dropped into real space.”

“Check damage control, maybe another meteorite hit us like last night while we were asleep.”

“There are internal damages reading across the board but nothing external. We have a ton more stress fractures after that one.”

“Scan the area with all you got. This might be a pirate trap or at the very least, we will need to make sure nothing is going to hit us.”

“Right away Sir, initiating scans.”

I’m on the way to the bridge; I want those results by the time I get there.”

Minutes later Forrester hobbled onto the bridge definitely favoring his right leg. Anne from the engine room was frustratedly calling the bridge. “I can’t get the drives to spin up. Whatever it was knocked them completely off line. We have maneuvering thrusters and partial sub-light. Nothing else will respond no matter what I do.”

Hearing the approach of the captain, Mark turned and opened his mouth but was cut off by old man Forrester. “I heard her, we are hosed. What did the scans show?”

“There is a station here, small and apparently new. It was not here last time we passed through. There are strange energy emissions being broadcast that affected our engines.”

“Can you raise anyone?”

“Negative, long range Comms were knocked out by that meteorite strike last night. Sensors are working surprisingly well and we can see three ships in the system.”

“Just fucking great, pirates. Get the sidearms ready in case they want to board.”

“Holy shit, captain. One of the ships is a warship. The other two appear to be weaponized civilian ships. The warship is over 600 meters long and armed to the teeth. I told you the rumors were true.”

“Shut the fuck up and get them on the horn. Since long range doesn’t work, use the short. Find out what they want.”

Mark knew if the Captain called over, they would most likely get shot at since they hurt his baby. Perhaps he could find out this was a mistake and even arrange for repairs and a tow to make up for lost time. That will get him in good with the old man.

“This is The Longhaul out of Belgetia Minor. We are an unarmed trade vessel requesting information on what just happened. I repeat, we are unarmed and request information. Please comply.”

OOC:

Nice vessel.

[Capsule Corporation]

Closely tailing the Luck on its way out of the black hole's grasp, the KMF Tel'Kish began to feel less and less of the effects of the gravity, and time dilation decreased greatly.

"Well," the commander said, standing up from his chair, "I'm not feeling queasy anymore."

The science officer nodded, "yes sir, space is normalizing at this distance, we should be outside the effects of time dilation soon."

"Speaking of which, sir," the tactical officer started, "we're receiving a broadcast from Keflek, text only."

Commander Michael raised an eyebrow, "put it on the display." He stared at the screen as the characters appeared onto the screen.

Keflek has been accepted into IRON. As of now you are charged with a secondary directive to patrol the border, and assist IRON checkpoints and border stations when called upon, and to investigate any breeches of security. The procedures your crew were briefed on are now in effect. Be careful out there. KMF Command.

The commander thought for a moment, then looked back at the tactical officer. "Proceed as we have been, but if they deny our escort, we may have to be more 'persuasive.' Understood?"

The officer nodded, "yes, sir. Notifying the appropriate stations."

The Tel'Kish currently operated in cruise mode, all weapons retracted. Every officer and civilian on board hoped that they would not need to brandish the ship's assault mode. The marines, however, always hoped for action. The ship only carried a small company of infantry for boarding, but had plenty of power in its many guns if needed.


EDIT: WTF, apparently TFU's scatterbrained post involved my situation as well.. I had ignored it because it didn't seem to have -anything- to do with me whatsoever. So therefore, I write the following in supplement.

"Another message coming in," said the tactical officer in a bit of a hurry. "Long range sensors show the origin as a ship passing through. No, wait, an entire carrier group and convoy, closing fast. NERV is replying, and I think they're shewing them off. They shouldn't be a problem... but they are asking for anyone affiliated with IRON to identify themselves."

"I see no reason to reply," the commander said, smiling, "time dilation is a great excuse for communications troubles. Let the NERV ship handle them."

[The Cosmic Balance]

Sixteen, now fully dressed in a functional yet still quite attractive utility jumpsuit, pondered the message Forbin's Luck had recieved from the KMF warship. "We have a choice to make here. Do we continue being aided by the NERV vessel, or allow the KMF warship to take us into tow?"

Delayn nodded, and then asked: "Your recommendation?"

After a moment's reflection, Sixteen replied: "Kiss the boy we took to the dance."

Both Delayn and Frd'all quirked an eyebrow, prompting the protocol droid to elaborate. "The NERV tug responded first, and probably had to go out of their way to assist us. They'll likely ask us to pay them for it, and expect to make money off the deal - which they should. Likewise, they'll offer us the use of their repair facilities at Freeport - at further profit to themselves, naturally. All of which is right and proper - in fact, it's entirely desirable. Business relationships lead to closer ties and further opportunities for everyone involved."

"If Freeport is the backwater that the Keflekkis claim it to be," Sixteen continued, "We'll be able to sell them technology to improve their operations, making back more than enough money to pay for our repairs. And that in turn will lead to even closer ties. It's a win-win choice."

Delayn noddded, having grasped the analogy. "And the boy we didn't take to the dance?"

Sixteen thought for a minute, and then responded. "Getting hauled off by a warship feels more like rape than seduction; seduction is nicer." She laughed and then added: "We can ask them to transmit their 'registration package' to us - all the forms and procedures we'll need to follow to register once we're repaired. Maybe they'll even be willing to register us while we're undergoing repairs at Freeport. It can't hurt to ask."

"Let's do it that way, then," the Vogerian queen ordered.

To the KMF Tel'kish: We will allow the NERV tug NV-Galactic Challenger to tow us back to Freeport for
repairs.  Please transmit to us all information and documents required for registration, and we will
undergo the procedure at the earliest opportunity.  Our thanks again for your help.

[The Fedral Union]

~They aren’t answering ~

The female AI Responded with a gentle soft voice this prompted Warren to cock an eyebrow.

Warren sighed and rested his hands on his lap folding them he leant back upon his command chair and said through his neural link to the helms officer.

~ Move us forward and tell the convoy to prep for Jump have two republics escort them out side of the FTLI field and Jump to their destinations in the north, we’ll stay behind with the rest of the group to check this situation out~

The helms officer nodded to herself acknowledging the order with haste, briskly she started to move the ship with her thoughts assisted by the navigation AI, the massive carrier rumbled forth, its repeller drives glowing with a dark blue hue, streams of disruptive particles twisted space as they funneled from the engines. The ominous form of the ships pierced the darkness of the sky moving forth cautiously.
Another general message had been broadcasted to the ships in the area.
“This is task force 12 from the Terran Alliance fifth fleet, we are attempting to ascertain the situation in this area, please respond”

The communications was sent the radiation so close to the core of the galaxy made it a bit fuzzy. Even D comns would be affected. The Command Center of the Triton was busy; a few more officers had by this time joined the bridge crew at several stations tying in to the AI control units via wireless neural inputs.

Warren all this time had been wondering what in blazes was going on, no communications from any one, strange ships appearing out of no place.

“~was this an invasion? ~”

He had thought to himself raising one of his hands to rub his chi, this was all very strange and very tense. The freighters he had sent off on their own where escorted by two light cruisers everything that was indicated said things where fine with them at least. He raised his other hand nonchalantly and waved it to the tactical officer saying through him via N-input.

~Raise Shields to combat output, but don’t engage weapon systems we don’t want to be caught with our pants down on this one~


The tactical officer nodded with the instant that order was sent a crackle of blue white energy arced through the hull of the task forces ships, an angelic hum could be heard reverberating around the sleek bridge of the Triton and every other ship that had its shields up. Warren looked over to one of the holo displays , and asked the AI with a tone of caution in his voice.


~Have long range scans detected anything such as weapons fire or communications.~
The AI responded instantly.

~Sir Sys link is attempting to establish a feed, we detected open communications between the parties, other than that, and we have no other information available at this time.~

Warren was taken aback by the answer, his eyes focused on several of the contacts. He was wondering what they were talking about; quickly he raised his hand, and said to the communications officer.

~I want you to try to figure out what they are saying patch us in to the communications they are sending to one another.~

~Aye sir the male officer said quickly and sharply moving his hands over a three ~


Dimensional plane manipulating several options in conjunction with his mind machine interface.

The bridge had turned darker now as condition yellow was called by Admiral Warren. The buildup of energy in the shield generators would be noticeable to any ship light years away. Warren quickly said as he shifted in his seat his eyes looking up to the Holographic representation of the AI.


~All stop at a light second out. Do we have information and feeds on their communications?~


The Ai responded quickly.

~Sir we are attempting to it might take a bit to figure out if we can or can’t. ~

Warren sighed and ran his hand over his smooth shaven chin, his eyes looking at the sensor feed of the ships and the wondrously lit background of space.

The AI appeared on the bridge her form was Lithe and well rounded, advances in particle/ atomic synthesis tech allowed her to create a temporary body in an instant. She stepped forth fully clothed and all.
Warren was confused until she explained.


~Sir I can be sent to negotiate or open dialogue with these people should they choose to answer our hails~

Warren nodded and smiled a bit, for an AI she wasn’t half bad, her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and smooth skin was even in this dim light a site to behold.

[Capsule Corporation]

"to The Terran Alliance ship Triton, we are NV-galactic challenger, indent HST 738, we are towing Forbin's Luck witch was stuck in a gravity well, due to sudden shutdown of their FTL system, we're towing them to the nearest neutral station witch happens to be a NERV freeport, from there they can continue to their planned destination"

~They aren’t answering ~

OOC: WTF?

IC:

On the bridge of the Tel'Kish, the tactical officer began to act nervous. "Sir, apparently that group of ships didn't hear the communications from the NERV ship. They're closing in."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea. The ships are confirmed Terran Alliance."

"Well, that explains it. Alert IRON of the situation, and open up a channel to the Triton.."

"Open, sir."

The commander reached over to the talk button on his console, "Terran Alliance vessel, this is Commander Michael of the KMF Tel'Kish. We are IRON border patrol. There has been a small accident related to a nearby FTLi barrier. The situation is under control. The situation is currently non-hostile. According to our latest information, your convoy is not currently authorized for trade in the galactic North, as per IRON regulations. Please register your vessels with our Network and you may proceed. We may handle the 'paperwork' here if you like. Michael, out."

At the same time, an encrypted message sent to the nearby border checkpoint triggered a silent alarm. The message read simply:

Code: Select all

Code 23. Terran Alliance.  Potentially hostile battlegroup approaching border.

The commander sighed deeply, and said, to no one in particular, "what is it with these TA folk?" He turned to his tactical officer, and told him to open a channel to the distressed vessel.

"Distressed vessel," he said, never receiving any proper way to address the ship, "by your lack of response, we will assume you intend to stay with the NERV vessel. You have every right to do so. We are transmitting the necessary forms and tariff information for your information. We will remain by your side, as representatives of IRON, until registration is completed. Thank you for being patient through this inconvenience. New empires always have rough starts. Michael, out."

[NERV arms conglomerate]

"skipp!" shouted the navigator
"what, now?" the skipp said as he spilled his coffee walking up from the galley"god, making an old man loose his cool, whats with you!?"
"well, the military fleet is powering shields, they may be pirates"the navigator said sarcastically, the skipper walked up and leaned over the console
"hmm... well we better activate the cargo shield, and.."he stopped to take a sip of his drink "...urm, our shield as well, oh and don't forget to notify NERV HQ of possible pirate activity"
"on it now skipp"
great"the skipper turned to the helmsman," helmsman, full ahead,maximum speed, we need to outrun the pirates"

a shadow grew from the bow of the NERV ship, engulfing both, then as soon as it had came it disappeared, but the shields where now active, the ship suddenly accelerated, now with the shields both ships could withstand the higher velocity

[Capsule Corporation]

The tactical officer, clearly inexperienced in space warfare, spoke in a much more nervous tone than usual. "Sir, the TA vessels raised shields a moment ago, and now the NERV tug is activating some sort of internal shield. Nothing hostile yet, but should we do the same?"

The commander glared at the officer, "did I order you to raise shields?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Well then," he said, with a smug look on his face, "maybe we should just do what I say? Grow a spine, will ye? Leave the close-range and point-defense weapons retracted as they are now, and don't worry about shields. This close to the gravwell there's a good chance even a surprise beam weapon won't hit us on the first shot, it's too unpredictable. If they lock weapons, then you may raise shields."

The officer looked down at his console, studying every bit of information available, and quietly uttered "yes, sir."

"Open a channel to the NERV vessel."

"Open, sir."

"NERV Vessel, this is Commander Michael, Keflekki Marines; are these friends of yours? We don't have too much experience being down the scope of Terran Alliance ships. We would appreciate any suggestions you may have on the best way to peacefully deal with these situations. Michael, out."

[NERV arms conglomerate]

"this is galactic challenger, the fleet is currently unknown to us, our scanners are designed to detect possible obstructions to our course we are only a tug , we can detect when shields and weapons are made online but not identify the owners of the ships, we suspect they are pirates so we engaged shields and are currently accelerating to 98% light-speed, if you have any Intel please share it."

[Capsule Corporation]

"this is galactic challenger, the fleet is currently unknown to us, our scanners are designed to detect possible obstructions to our course we are only a tug , we can detect when shields and weapons are made online but not identify the owners of the ships, we suspect they are pirates so we engaged shields and are currently accelerating to 98% light-speed, if you have any Intel please share it."

(ooc: uhh... that's a completely unobtainable sublight speed without activating FTL drives.. just FYI.. but whatever)

Commander Michael pressed the talk button, trying to keep the channel open in case the TA ship decided to talk back. "Galactic Challenger, this is Michael. The Terran Alliance is a friend of a friend, which doesn't mean much I suppose. They tend to run around in large, heavily armed packs. We will not be able to follow you at your present speed, so be advised that we may occasionally make fold-skips to catch up. Out."

The Tel'Kish quickly fell behind, but stayed within visual range of the NERV ship and her tow. They refrained from activating their fold for as long as possible, as such a large buildup of energy could easily be mistaken for charging defenses.

[NERV arms conglomerate]

"the Terran alliance, thanks, they shouldn't be a problem, we'll continue at our current speed of 48% of the speed of light, my navigator read the readout wrong, in any case we should have no problems, they seem to be having radio trouble so lets just see how they react."
he turned too the navigator" how the hell did you ..."(ranting continues)

[Capsule Corporation]

The tactical officer reviewed the event log:

“This is The Terran Alliance ship Triton, to vessel in distress, ...”

"to The Terran Alliance ship Triton, we are NV-galactic challenger..."

"the fleet is currently unknown to us...
"...we suspect they are pirates..."

"[oh, right,] the Terran alliance, thanks, they shouldn't be a problem."

The entire bridge crew scratched their heads...

The science officer said (untransmitted) the thought on everyone's mind, "these freeporters are weird."

[The Fedral Union]

~the radiation is playing with communications Admiral, we have several responses~

Warren Turned to look at the AI who had now taken physical form he nodded to her speaking to her via Mind machine.

~Put it up on screen~

The video/audio text feed was quickly placed on screen, the message scrolled and played, Warren just chuckled to himself. This entire situation was getting blown out of proportion he sighed as he stiffed upon along his chair. Resting his hands on his lap he said out idly to the AI though his neural interface.

~Send them A reply~

A blip was heard. The Admiral was on. Now he had to speak, his voice was diplomatic , and had a rather friendly tone to it as if him and the others had been old friends.


“This is Admiral Gorge Warren of the Terran Alliance ship Triton, as you know our freighters have made it through one of the holes in your FTLI system, we will assist the NERV freighters by towing them along as we jump in to the north if they so please. We do not mean any harm however If we are attacked or any attempt is made to stop us we will respond accordingly. ”

Warren then just sunk back in his chair his hands resting on the armrests of the hovering thing, his eyes looked up at holographic representation of the sector, the system and the general area of space they were in. indeed the Terran Freighters had jumped, crackling arcs of energy could be seen in the distance through the haze of other light as the ships and escorts jumped.

Warren relished in the fact that IRON who had so arrogantly proclaimed ownership of half of the galaxy was powerless to stop freighters from jumping through holes in their systems. He almost chuckled publicly, but kept his military demeanor. He quickly motioned the AI closer to him, her lithe slender well rounded form being emphasized by her uniform. Warren’s eyes looked up and down her form with interest. He cracked a soft smile as he looked up at her from his seat.

~Move us closer to the ships if they respond with a yes, tractor the damaged ship, if not prepare jump engines and set a course for New Odessa.~

The AI nodded, she smiled as well then quickly and gracefully she turned around looking out in to space through the holographic camera feeds. The fleet and the Triton she began moving closer to the other ships, their forms silhouetted almost demonically against the sky, they rumbled forward quickly moving towards the damaged ship.

-Warren thought to himself that this mess was caused by a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats that were too big for their britches so to speak. He wondered why politicians had to create such messes with their grand claims that could barely enforced.-

Path finder scouts had started scanning the FTLi wall for major holes to let freight with no charge through, TEC funds would have to be allocated and companies would have to hire armed merchants to keep IRON’s lackeys off Warren thought, but it’s better than this. The Terran Military had better things to do than escort freight. He was assigned to the eight northern galactic systems with the Triton as the sectors flagship.

He and the rest of the crew where hoping to relax on one of the many colony worlds in those systems, he knew his helms officer was planning a girls night out with the rest of the female bridge crew. His executive officer among them He also knew his medical officer wanted to get his hands on some of the food and exotic music they had up there. Indeed they were all waiting on a razors edge for this assignment to end.

[NERV arms conglomerate]

OOC:there is one freighter, i am using a tug and the freighter is owned by capsule corp.

[The Fedral Union]

(OOC: I know I'm asking if you want me to tug you instead Also there are several other ships there no?)

[Capsule Corporation]

The commander ordered the tactical officer to open an audiovisual channel to respond to the Triton.

"Terran Alliance vessel, Triton: We do not hide the fact that there are holes in our border. Finding a hole in our FTLi chain requires about as much skill as it takes to find a needle in a stack of needles. Not really something I'd boast about if I were you." He smiled, knowing full well he was on camera. "Now, the offense comes in thinking you can come and go as you please through our territory. Of course we know your ships have entered IRON space. They will be dealt with upon their arrival at their destination. As for you, you can choose to either fill out the registration and pay the tariff for your comrades, or you can turn around and go back to your base.

"As for the damaged vessel, the situation is already being handled and is none of your concern. We are merely monitoring the situation out of a care for the poor travelers that got caught up in this mess. But as for you and your ship, if you do not comply, you will be charged with illegal trafficking and your ships will be treated with zero tolerance as we escort you from the Galactic North. If you wish to file a complaint, we will forward it to our superiors. If you choose to resist, you will be removed by force. Please be advised that the latter is not the most preferable choice."

The commander released the talk button, but kept the channel open, video and all, awaiting the TA ship's reply.

OOC: What are you guys talking about? The freighter is TBC's, the Military ship is Mine, and the tug is NERV's...

[The Fedral Union]

~so they want to start a war eh?~

Warren mused to the AI via neural link he chuckled a bit softly adjusting his uniform, he stood up pressed a hand to his chest and with a flash of light his uniform was surrounded by pressurized light armor. Publicly he called out looking at the screen with a grin across his toned older face.

“All hands, Battle stations!”

The bridge darkened even more than it was, klaxons started to blared, red bathed the sleek bridge and the officers inside of it, the bridge crew stood up and activated their armor suits before sliding back down to their stations, the tactical officer looked down at Admiral.

Gun ports opened as the ships started to move now quickly towards the hole in the FTLI, thousands of guns whizzed and came to life, KKM and missile tubes where exposed as bits of hull opened thousands upon thousands of tubes loading with warheads and KKM’s.

Twenty two inch Dark fire cannons loomed over most of the other smaller gun emplacements on the carrier. The heavy cruiser and light cruisers sported sixteen and five inch beam cannons mostly in double mounts.

The power build up of the carrier herself equaled a small star, her massive ominous and hellish form now started to bare down upon the smaller ship threatening it. If a battle where to be started today then the other side would start it. The two heavy cruisers formed up side by side with the battle carrier.

Warren just looked at the monitor and to the man before him, he stared so hard it seemed as if he was staring in to the other mans soul; klaxons rang and echoed out as Warren sat there for looking towards the man. After a few seconds he finally said something.

“You sir, will not stop our ships and those freighters distention is within sovereign Terran Territory our colonies in the north. If a war will start my friend, you will start it; we will not fire on you less you fire upon us. And I hope if you do fire on us and we are forced to retaliate. That you remember in whatever afterlife you go to, that you helped start a war that ended in the death of billions and possibly millions of your own people. If your sould can live with that price, then by all means open fire. If not, stand down.”

His tone was demanding his face curled up with a snarl as he stared down the man trying to throw paperwork at him, he clutched the armrests of his seat leaning back upon it. He was still stiff in the seat however. He waited for the response.

The Carrier and rest of the fleet moving at high speed towards the opening in the FTLi field.

[Capsule Corporation]

OOC: Uhhh... What?  I'm just going to take you literally on this one. 

Ic:

The already-nervous tactical officer freaked out at his readouts. "Sir, they're charging weapons!"

The science officer looked baffled.  "They must have tapped into some sort of extra-dimensional power source, because their energy readings are approaching the mass of a small star.  Space is curving sharply towards their ship, and they are literally crushing themselves under the energy of their own weapons. We would have a tactical advantage based on the fact that every kinetic shot we fire would be drawn right towards them. Their hull and armor are no-doubt on the virge of collapse. Attacking them now would be like smashing a glass tower. "

The commander took this information into account, then simply said "energize the barrier systems, and charge FTL. Prepare to get us out of here at a seconds notice if we need it."

A flash of light surrounded the ship for a moment as the shields came online. Kinetic weapons, by nature, needed no charging. The ship turned to face the carrier on a full-throttle intercept course.

The commander mashed the talk button.  "We are not here to fight you, but I must say you are not the most intelligent opponent. Our ship is not defenseless, and you can not outrun us should we choose to pursue. We do not wish to fire our weapons, or shed a drop of blood, but we will defend ourselves if you insist on being so outrageously violent. Stand down your weapons and leave peacefully, or we will take action."

[The Fedral Union]

(I said energy out put not mass, and my ships are moving towards the hole to jump to our colonies in the north friend.)

[Capsule Corporation]

(I said energy out put not mass, and my ships are moving towards the hole to jump to our colonies in the north friend.)

Ooc: Sorry, but E=mc^2, buddy. You can't say one without the other. That's what you get for outrageous claims. Even if it was only a fraction, you'd still be in trouble. It's beside the point, I'm not going to fight you.

And I edited the post to take care of the course/heading misunderstanding.

[The Fedral Union]

Warren looked to the AI grinning at her, the AI nodded. They had reached optimal jumping positions, and he did not heed the threat.

The Triton in all its glory had jumped out along with the rest of the fleet, heading for the NORTHERN Colonies that the TA had acquired during the steppe wars all those years ago. The ships flared out in to the darkness as their forms twisted and shifted.

He rested his hands on his lap, musing about a few things. His fleet along with the freighters had made it to New Odessa Station in orbit of a blue jewel of a planet, the massive battle carrier along with its escort fleet now lay still orbiting the large crowded and well populated planet.

Warren Stood up from his chair his normal uniform now. He waved his hand nonchalantly to the AI, motioning her over with a grin on his face.

~There is this spot by the shoreline in the southern continent that I love to go to, I’d like to take you there? ~

The female AI said in response with a grin.

~Sure why not~

Warren looked over to his crew as orders came in from fleet command to dock and process at the station.

“Right people once our processing is over with, We get some shore leave, I know you all have been looking forward to that”

His Female XO nodded responding to him waving her slender hand.

“Yes indeed sir I’m hoping our new digs will be just as nice as on Torm”

“So do I , last thing we need are crappy quarters.”

The admiral said taking the hand of his new AI companion.

[NERV arms conglomerate]

in the nerv tug things became manic as people started to shout over eachother
"sh*t, theirs a war breaking loose out there"
"trajectory nonalignment due to huge gravitational energy being omitted from the fleet"
"the cargo is flailing to port"
"give me control!"
"no, send a call for reinforcements!"
everyone was scrambling around, someone hit the emergency FTL comm link to HQ, the camera for visuals was pointing straight at the scanners desks due to being knocked of its mountings, the skipper ran up to it
"this is NV-galactic challenger, there's a war breaking loose, requesting defensive measures.." the screen went blank as the ship being towed swung round and impacted the side of the tug

NERV HQ, serenity
"did you hear that?"
"yes, i authorize the use of a man of war class cruiser, wheres the nearest one?"
"freeport N-177"
"send it out there, now!"

the tug

"shit, crew how are we doing?"
"im alive, the navigator was on the side of the window break, lucky the oxygen membrane held long enough for the shutters to close"
"give me a systems report"
"the port engine is down as well as the central control unit, the ZPM is still stable, but im not sure for how long, all comms and scanners are down, but we do still have visuals through the front and starboard side windows,the navigator is dead, and most of the crew below decks are also dead due to a flash fire "
"great!, just great!, were dead in the water" said the skipper looking at the helmsman, he had blood all down the side of his face and small peaces of glass all down his left hand side
the skipper then looked at the navigator, who was...(censored for those with a queasy stomach)

freeport N-177
over the freeport-wide intercom
"this is an emergency message to the crew of INN-victory, scramble order, depart for sector gamma-J.3 now!"
the captain was smoking a cigar in the commodore club when the message came
"gents i have to go, see you all soon"
he rose out of his chair and ran to the nearest teleport station
he got in and shouted at the machine to take him to the victory

[Capsule Corporation]

The commander watched in awe at the stupidity going on around him. "What... what the hell just happened?"

The tactical officer, now calmer, gave a short report. "The TA ship jumped out, nearly tore a whole in space while they were at it. The NERV ship got skittish when the TA pulled out their guns and now they've gone and damaged themselves up good. They're incapacitated and dead in the water... Time for an assist?"

"Absolutely. This area is getting way too weird. Charge capacitors to full, and use a fraction to fold us alongside the two ships. We need to get us all out of here before someone gets hurt."

The helmsman activated the fold drive, initiating a short-range skip that translocated the Tel'kish a mere 2000 meters off the port side of the Luck.

The commander mashed a talk button on all local frequencies, "You freeporters get weirder and weirder every second I spend around you. You have proven yourselves incapable of rendering assistance to this vessel. Call off your troops and call in a wrecker for your ship. We're going to get the original distressed vessel out of here. Please, he said, talking to both the Luck and the Challenger, "do not consider this a hostile move, we are going to fold to the nearest NERV freeport on our maps. It is well within our range. Out."

The barrier shield disappeared, then re-energized in a much larger form, stretching out to enclose Forbin's Luck. Whether the tractor beam shut off voluntarily, the shield severed the tug's connection. A few seconds later, the shield lit up into an opaque white, then disappeared, the contained ships no where to be found. All this happened in a matter of seconds.

Defolding instantaneously about 3000 kilometers from a freeport, the KMF Tel'Kish and Forbin's Luck appeared in a quick flicker of light.

He ordered the tactical officer to apologize to Freeport space traffic control for their sudden appearance. Simultaneously, he opened a channel to the TBC ship. "I guess we're experiencing some communications issues, but we just wanted to let you know you're safe now. You're at the freeport that NERV would have towed you to. We'll stay by your side to monitor your condition until we dock."

Several tow-cables fired out and latched themselves onto the Luck, slowly dragging it towards the Freeport.

[NERV arms conglomerate]

OOC: the "weirdness" was cased by the extreme gravity from the other ship, due to its sudden colossal increase in mass(and the weirdness of the show i just watched probably seeped in to the RP- never watch end of evangelion when RP'ing)

IC:
INN-victory
the crew had made it to their positions as the ship steered out of port
the captain stood up
"activate wormhole drive!"
the ship disappeared and then reappeared just as the non-NERV ships jumped away
"captain, looks like were too late, when they took the luck away the oxygen membrane blew on galactic challenger, whoever survived is now dead"
"theirs nothing we can do here, collect the ZPM then follow the other ships to the freeport"the captain said, a hint of sadness could be seen across his face
a small crew was sent out to the aging galactic challenger, they recovered the ZPM then left the ship to drift but not before inscribing the names of those who died on her, galactic challenger would be left to die like her crew
the victory disappeared as her wormhole drive activated
she reappeared 12000meters away from the other two ships, if only there hadn't been sudden gravity wave, then the crew wouldn't be dead and the space-worthiness of the aging nerv tug fleet wouldn't come into question, or be apparent