Mass Effect Factions :: The Message((IC))

by **Nuxipal** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:13 am

The stories our ancestors told us involve a great war between the angels and demons. But they both vanished before we took our first steps in becoming a true civilization. We now have space flight of our own. We have taken it upon ourselves now, to explore the Galaxy and learn the truth of the Angels and Demons, for it is said that their war will come again during the end times and we will be called upon by one side or the other to face the onslaught of the most fearsome deity in the heavens, Lazarus.

1st Month Roll: The first month will have no game effects. It is purely aesthetic, a sort of rundown of how well your people have been doing since the advent of faster than light technology.

1. Phyrexi Empire - 9 - Your people are extremely optimistic about the future of the Empire. Reaching out and colonizing the planets of Keitania and Zeskiri have boosted their morale and already petitions for new explorations have been made.
2. The Voynich - 2 - Times have been rough since landing on the new homeworld. Adapting to the new realities which they find themselves in have been difficult, but the future will be better than the present
3. Ni'em Nation - 7 - Your first interstellar travels took you to some pretty amazing worlds, but they were relatively close to your homeworld. One enterprising captain of a ship decided to try and tweak the coordinates he was sending to the Mass Relay. Upon doing so, he propelled himself and his crew to a completely new cluster. Near one of the planets revolving about its star was an enormous space station. He sent back this information to an excited public and awaited further orders.
4. Arahaelben Interplanetary Republic - 8 - The Discovery of Eezo has boosted your people's understanding of almost everything. They are more than ready to continue their quest for knowledge in the vastness of space and eagerly await the discoveries of your next exploratory mission.
5. Mundane - 9 - It has been two years since your people discovered the Citadel. They have been uploading information to its archives and preparing the station for more to arrive. The current inhabitants of the station, aside from yourself, are a strange green race which ignore you and go about maintaining the station. As a new month turns, deep space sensors detect a ship exiting the Relay that does not belong to your kind.
6. The Chreolite Triarchy - 9 ( 10 - 1 ) - In an act of unprecedented unity, the various factions upon the surface of your homeworld have decided to work together this month. They wish to reach for a new system to expand their own hives, but wish to exploit the resources of other hives to do so.
7. Lathre Sidhi - 6 - Across your system, signs of the Heralds are discovered, however none reveal their homeworld or what became of them. Your people are intrigued.
8. The Dominion - 10 - Never before have your people felt so confident in their abilities to create an interstellar empire. They march unopposed into the stars as new information constantly is being sent to the homeworld of new, exploitable worlds just within reach.
9. Vossos Nostri - 6 - The Apox Clans are finding that colonizing new worlds for their resources is an easy task. The Angels and Demons left plenty of resources behind after their own conflicts and now the galaxy is open to the clans. However, the mass relay in your home system is not a Primary Relay and thus, there appears to be a signal you can send to it to take you to the Primary relay of this Cluster.
10. Celestine Ascendancy - 5 - The Eldrazi continue their already accelerated march to the stars to learn what the Elder Ones had in store for them.

by **Argentumurbem** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:48 am

Citadel System

The Chance edged out from beneath the shadow of the Seed, flanked by the dart-like fighters launched from the Sevenfold Star. Deep within its ponderous hull a single Ulth sat at the helm of the bridge, its synthetic body pulsating as if it were a living, breathing creation. Raising a hand, the captain offered a gesture towards the monitors. Within each the Ulth crew toiled away, directly interfacing with the mechanics of the vessel as it ploughed through space. To the untrained ear the inside of The Chance was silent, save for the soft scrape of white noise washing up and down flawless corridors. To the Ulth, it sang a heavy chorus of activity.

With the rest of the Dalv Expedition too escaping from within the confines of the Seed's mighty arms, The Chance led the slow advance on the Mass Relay.

Far away from the confines of the Ulth's naval craft, and yet close enough to see the Seed with the naked eye, the Ulth civilisation expanded like a plague across the system. Settlements, little more than probes to the unexperienced, began springing up across the bodies of the system. With the Seed under their control the species itself had celebrated: here was evidence of the truth of their ways. If they had not entered the Hives, if they had not become one with the cybercore then how could they have been able to bring their way to the stars? The Seed was a sign, a gift from the universe itself that theirs was the mission to build the Nexus for all living beings.

Berrick System

The expansion was slow in gathering speed. They had uncovered the Seed, a great station from which they had come to understand the galaxy at large. They had learned that they were not alone, for what else but an intelligent being have built such a construct? Green-fleshed aliens, so invested into their creation as to be unable to utilise its greatness. That was a weakness the Ulth did not possess, not since the Awakening. No, they would fashion that station into their flagship, a behemoth from which they could cultivate the galaxy and bring immortality unto life itself. That was what they had learned in the Hives, and from the Hives they would spread the word.

Until such a glorious day, they would have to rely on the arts they had learned of previously. From lesser carriers they would bring themselves across the stars, learning, changing, improving, until all creations were in the unity of the Nexus. What else could be greater?

That burning ambition was what drove the crew of The Sage to accept their new posting. Just as the Silent Road would forever be remembered for revealing the Seed and all of its future secrets, they would go down as paving the way towards a future of prosperity, a dream of the Hives everlasting glory over all.

by **Nuxipal** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:00 pm

Royal Palace, Myrrak, Vex System

Empress Avacyn II, the current ruler of the Phyrexi Empire, has ruled over her people for half a decade at this point. Her rule is what marked the beginning of the expansion into new systems. The colonization of new worlds meant more resources were required to keep the empire running at full capacity. Furthermore, she needed to start thinking about assigning new governors for each planet. The process began of selecting governors from the various noble families or from her cousins. Her own people still longed for more exploration. As such, she directed an expedition be mounted using the relay again as it was the quickest and most efficient method of travel. A Heavy Cruiser would see to the exploration as the last small ships to try and explore were found smashed to pieces in another system by their tracking devices.

The current systems needed better exploitation and Empress Avacyn ordered that mining networks be set up. Additionally, she began to direct her people's research towards further exploiting the resources that they have available to them. Soon they would attempt to reach beyond the stars and that is when everything would become complicated. As she ended her day, she looked at the great murals painted on the wall. One showed the ancient Angels, blue skinned and magnificent. They had left statues of themselves on Myrrak to try and help the people remember that they are part of a greater whole.

by **Zhaas123** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:16 pm

Credit reserve: 590 Income: 577
Chreolite Hive System
Henushet Rarzun was sitting in his office trying to manage the flight paths of the various ships too and from the the homeworld to the colonies. Currently he had to deal with the headache that was the Truveks and Zevaks trying to get there colony ships to the moons around the Kratec and Mekruk Hives as fast as possible. Already he had been offered 5 bribes to ignore several regulations. Now his work cycle was almost done and he could go home, he just had to get the final steps for the colony ships done then he could go home.

Zhesto Hive System
Journal of Captian Qarenza Zocuk: It has been 3 weeks since we set out to on direct orders of our Hives and the Triarchy. We have the begainings of a colony on the first planet and the two gas giants of the system. I have aleardy sent wood back home that we need more material and men to do anything further in the system.
Military Info: Move 1 frigate and 1 militia division to the Zhesto System

Credit reserve after spending : 70 New Income: 1080

by **Brusia** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 6:40 pm

Aear Cluster
Aesir System
Aresia

Consul Sarok was in his office reviewing the latest reports from the Arahaelben colony on Eshenhil, but even with his older, well-disciplined mind he could barely focus on what was in front of him. His mind could not help but wander, as today was the day months of hard work finally came to fruition; today was the day the first manned vessel was scheduled to use the massive device the Ancient Ones referred to as a "Relay." The Relay had been discovered nearly half a year ago by a scout ship, and after reviewing deciphered information from the ruins on Aresia, a group of Arahaelben scientists and linguists concluded that the device had evidently been used by the Ancient Ones to travel great distances in a remarkably short amount of time. It took three months for a flotilla of Arahaelben ships to cut away the layers of ice which had completely encompassed the Relay, two months for the finest scientists and engineers in the Interplanetary Republic to learn how to operate the device, and one month of sending all manner of probes through the Relay to get to the point where a consensus agreed that it was time to send a manned expedition. It was still risky, to be sure, but great endeavors were always accompanied by great risk, and this could very well prove to be one of greatest endeavors ever undertaken by the Arahaelben species.

Sarok rubbed his eyes before finally giving in and putting away the colony reports. He activated the monitor on his desk and turned on a live feed of the Relay to watch as the Heavy Cruiser A.R.W. Entaerprize approached the Relay and disappeared in a flash of brilliant blue light. It would be some time before Sarok and the Arahaelben people would learn of the outcome of the mission, and as the Consul waited he pulled two datapads out of his desk and began preparing two speeches; one congratulating the crew of the Entaerprize for their successful mission, and one honoring their noble sacrifice...

by **The Orson Empire** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:46 pm

Citadel System

Currently, the Ni'em Nation had only discovered two other star systems; the Ashin System had been discovered 6 years ago, while the Larin System had been discovered 5 years ago. The Ashin System had not yet been colonized, as it contained no fully habitable worlds, but the Larin System was colonized as soon as it was discovered to contain a garden world (now known as Forren). The Ni'em Council immediately began granting charters to numerous corporations, which would allow them to colonize Forren. Having learned lessons from the colonization of the numerous garden moons in the Scren System, the colonization of Forren occurred smoothly, even as millions of Kan'Scren who had signed up for the colonization project were transported daily to Forren aboard civilian transports. After just 5 years, Forren's population had exploded to 15,000,000 people, and it was growing by the hundreds every week. Despite the success, Forren was still the frontier of Ni'em space, and it was difficult to govern the new colony. Crime rates increased steadily on the colony every year as more people arrived, and one military division had to be sent to the colony to keep order. Corporations established their own police forces on the planet to help keep the crime rates down.

After the discovery of the Larin System, the Ni'em Council enacted a temporary moratorium on all space exploration. Many members of the Council were concerned about what alien life they may stumble upon if the Nation continued to explore further. They believed these aliens might attempt to go to war with the Nation, and if the aliens were much stronger than the Nation, they would certainly win.

Furthermore, another great discovery occurred in the Larin System: a mass relay. It was a secondary relay, meaning it could connect to any mass relay within several hundred light-years. Even those who were very skeptical of the existence of alien life now had to accept that the Kan'Scren were not alone in the universe; such a monumental piece of technology could only be constructed by an advanced civilization. After years of study, scientists determined that the structure was basically a mass transit system; the relay used its massive core of element zero to create a mass-free corridor that would propel whatever went through it to another location in the galaxy (possibly another relay) instantaneously. It was like a much more advanced version of the jump drive, which allowed the Kan'Scren to travel to other star system.

Probes had been sent through the relay to several systems, but the Ni'em Space Agency (NSA) was unable to establish contact with the probes. After repeated failures, it was decided that a Kan'Scren crew would have to be sent to explore the systems one-by-one aboard a research ship. The Council was skeptical, but the full citizens were so passionate about space exploration and colonization that they threatened to hold a referendum that would overturn the moratorium. Recently, they elected a new Director known as Si'an Ni'em, who also supported the further expansion of the Nation. The Council, now under pressure, held a new vote and overturned the moratorium themselves, and the expedition began.

Captain Ju'le Na'Sin of the Niem Star Navy (NSN) and the destroyer he commanded were to be apart of this expedition. Na'Sin and his crew had volunteered for this expedition, and the Council approved of it, believing that it would be safer to send a destroyer than a small frigate. The destroyer was fitted with a Quantum Entanglement Communication (QEC), which utilized quantum entanglement in order to communicate over large distances (as the destroyer wouldn't have access to the comm buoys in Ni'em space). While the system was too expensive to be used on a large scale, it had the advantage of being able to communicate with Ni'em Military Command anywhere in the galaxy, and quantum communications could not be intercepted (making wiretaps impossible).

Once the crew was aboard, the 500-meter long ship lurched away from the docks aboard Scren and engaged its FTL drives, heading towards the Larin System. Once at the mass relay, Captain Ju'le decided where he wanted to go first. He chose the first option available; the mass of the ship was then sent to the relay, and the destroyer went through into the unknown.

Once in the system, it was discovered that they were in an entirely knew cluster, hundreds of light-years away from home. This was immediately reported to Military Command from the QEC. The destroyer then left the mass relay and spent the rest of the day scouting out the asteroid belt, the gas giants, and the moons in the outer part of the system. Alarmingly, they discovered space stations around the gas giants and structures on some of the moons. The crew was shocked, as this could be the first time the Kan'Scren contacted another intelligent race. The captain ordered the crew to use extreme caution, as there was certainly someone in this system.

THE NEXT DAY...

The Citadel

Having been awake for hours, the captain decided to get some shut-eye while the destroyer continued its survey of the system, leaving Commander V'osh Ki'Jin in charge of the ship. The captain had been asleep for just six hours when suddenly, one of his female lieutenants burst into his private quarters.

"Captain, captain, you've got to wake up!" she yelled. Na'Sin jumped, startled by the yelling. He looked at her and knew something must be wrong, "Wha-what is it, lieutenant? Are we under attack?" he asked.

"Sir, you've got to see it for yourself," the lieutenant replied. Na'Sin sighed and groggily said,"Al-alright, give me a minute please. You are dismissed," he replied.

Na'Sin took a minute to wake up before leaving his quarters and rushing to the bridge. The commander was waiting for him.

"What is it-" Na'Sin started to say before he saw what it was on an overhead monitor. "Commander, what the hell is that?!"

"We are all as clueless as you, sir," Commander Ki'Jin replied. "The chief navigator thinks its some kind of space station."

"Indeed," the chief navigator interrupted. "It's the largest station we've ever seen so far. It's over 40 kilometers long, and has a mass of over 7 billion tons. Whoever built this is certainly more advanced than our nation."

"Scanners are picking up movement around the station as well. Someone is definitely here," an officer from the bridge crew stated.

The captain sat down in his chair and gave a order to everyone in the ship, using the intercom system. "Attention all personnel, man your battlestations immediately. I want those accelerator batteries online as soon as possible! Prepare for immediate combat! Navigators, take us in closer to...whatever it is."

The destroyer activated its engines and began its approach towards the Citadel.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:55 am

Monitoring Station Spinwards Aleph, High Coronal Orbit, Nexus Prime
Platform Sunspear

At the main command console of the station, Sunspear ran through a few more sims of the fusion output of this section of Nexus Prime. Only in orbit for the last year, Spinwards Aleph had made great progress towards her mandate; determining why, exactly, this section of the home star of the Voynich was so prone to CMEs and yet was consistently dimmer than the rest of the stellar body. Here, on the floating mass of a diverted asteroid, several hundred Voynich consciousnesses were peering with an array of instruments in to the heart of the matter.

Sunspear rose, shifting its obsidian-black humanoid body the keep the servofluid from pooling. Padding down the small set of stairs from the command chair, it took in the vista of a dozen other units pouring over the datastreams emitted by Spinwards' many cleverly designed collectors. Outside the armorglas window the view was blinding, as usual, or rather it would be to an organic being. Their eyes were designed to view the light of a star from uncounted kilometers away, safely coddled by the atmosphere their weak lungs relied upon for life. No such flaw was visited upon the form of the Voynich- though their masters had of old given them purpose built bodies, unsuitable for multiple roles, the Consciousness had long since done away with such issues.

His optics embraced every facet of the plumes of plasma rising as high as a hundred worlds stacked on top of each other. The lurid reds and oranges of the stellar inferno never ceased in their timeless dance, writhing across the surface of Nexus Prime as if they were alive. Actually...

The commander tightened the refractive lenses on his distance vision, and whistled low and slow. Just as he was sure he saw something, a ping fired in his uplink; data from Spinwards categorized as urgent. Opening the file, Sunspear digested it quickly, and then looked back out at the anomaly again.

Well, that was certainly something worth investigating. There was an object, of unidentified make or origin, nearly as large as the research station itself.

And it appeared to be... emerging from the main body of the sun.

High Orbit, Hammer, Progeny System
Platform Exarchus

At the tail end of the orbital spire Exarchus stood, staring down in to the endless swirling clouds of gas and debris that formed the upper atmosphere of the giant named Hammer. It had gained its moniker from the immense gravity well the failed giant possessed which the first colonists observed with chagrin when arriving in system. Hammer had the mass to be a stellar body, but a slightly bizarre atmospheric composition had left it just slightly below the ignition heat for fusion in its core regions.

Still, it made a damn fine source of mass and fuel for the scoopships that plied the supply routes across known space. Down below even Exarchus' perilous perch the condensers stretched in their thousands, vast arrays siphoning reaction mass from the infinite slurry that was Hammer. The platform had been put in operation only recently as the First Sphere devoured resources through the developed systems, a point at which Exarchus' cognatus had been brought online.

In some ways, the platform owed his life to expansionism in the Consensus. A curious thought.

by **Ironsbad** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:31 pm

The City of Put,
City-State of Put

Monsoon season started as the clouds rolled over the immense city as steam rose up and the buildings glow a faint dark blue aura. Each building was made of composite metal and ornate with the artistic design from architects of all cultures. Over the past ten years of spaceflight and advancements of their age into the very void that they dreamed to dance in with their spirits, to see the Angels of fable, and to fight the Demons of the past.

While they didn't know what the Angels or Demons look like but they knew that the Spirits came to them form the religions of World Plains of Tob. The City of Put is the capital of the Bazaar for the fifty years ever since they helped stopped total annihilation of their kin. The idea of the city that it will be the place where all skyships and continental trains were pass through. While they didn't have the first naval shipyard, they did have the first spaceport to trade with the off-colonies as tens of thousands of Qunix walked from and off the planet.

A airship of an old style that its engines roared and discharged over the city in the same manner as the clockwork voidships would do across the gas giants or barren astros but the mass effect was so small that it is rendered a harmless radiation burst and give the Hyenas a faint glow for a small time before disappearing from the visage.

The airship unloaded cargo and hundreds of passengers from the metal frame and mass effect-style hydraulics. One of them was special as he walked down with a somewhat noble presence as he walked down the metallic steps. His legs and hind paws moved with a slow and heavy notice as Qunix and clockwork servant bowed in respect. One of the servants moved in his path and bowed," apologies my lord, would you like assistance with your bags?" The noble grumbled," no robot, I don't need your assistance or will never need your assistance. If you are so worried about my luggage, get an organic to do it then."

The clockwork automaton showed no emotion but remained bowed in front of him," but my lord, if you had organic servants then they will bring your luggage out only twice as long. However compared to a pair of 3X-40 frames..."
" I did not want to hear about statistics! Just go bring me a pair of organics that can do what you can do." The noble barred his teeth and started to cause a scene. " Why don't you just allow the automaton to do what it was manufactured to do?" The nobles ears perked up as a smaller, slimmer female started to walk up to the servant and the larger male.

" Please servant, grab Lord Admiral Oulsi's bags and shall make a stunning compliment review with your serial number on your factory's sub-Weave." The brass humanoid turned to the taller female and saw that she wore clothes that most nobles wouldn't wear. She wore Mais clothing and she had a mane that was combed over on the right side. She a pair of titanium frame glasses. However, the one thing that the servant noticed was a choker with a noble symbol at the middle, the same the male noble wore on his ring finger.

" Oh thank you my lady! I will get the other model to get the Lord's bags." Steam and energy discharges from the metal frame as it runs swiftly to complete its task. " For Spirits' sake Uncle, you must keep your prejudice out of the public eye unless you want more controversy with the robotics industry." She started to escort the large male as he cross his arms and showed some of his spotted coat," you were late again." He started to move with her as the clockwork servants were carrying the bags at a breakneck pace.

" What can I say? You just called auntie when you were in-transit from Old Wound and then the First Forum has just been opened in order to solve the economic dilemma so everyone was called in but I managed to get my colleague to go ahead with meeting the other experts while I take some time off." The Admiral's brow rose,"time off? Aren't you representing the Bazaar in this exploration?"

She shrugged playfully as she got to the car. The car had a titanium frame but colored in brass since the people who made the car still couldn't shake off the idea that a brass car is still the best car to ever have. The rain of the monsoon slid off the frame in a gracefully across the hood as two clockworf servants awaited for them.

" Demons take me I forgot my umbrella!" The niece said as the rain hit her small coat and started to fizzle her mane. Osai hastily grabbed his umbrella from between his coat and his side and unfold it to protect them both from the waves of falling water."now can we please get in the car?" She gave a slight smirk as she opened the door but then stopped," oh! I almost forgot to get the serial number of that model. He did help us and I think after that little scene would do you justice."

He grumbled as he moved with her and got the robots serial numbers. The numbers bowed to show satisfaction. They both got in the car and made way to the voidships to get to the mission.

The Bosu-Muton Sub-Relay,
At the Edge of Matron's Eye

The Bosu-Muton Sub-Relay was discovered around 2 years ago and only recently be discovered by the signals they have been picking up that led to a much more powerful relay. Many of the communication and linguistics experts had been decoding the signals that came from the Relay and found that some of the languages, though strange and thick in dialects, were actually knowledge of achieving faster-than-light travel. Before they found the Relay, they already had established colonies and explored beyond their homesystem and established colonies on other worlds. They found many barren worlds that they believed were, and still are, not worth the investment since many nation-states and clans were looking to fund large communities for their citizens.

The new technology had rapidly shifted markets, economic factors, and transportation as the new stage-three Krewl Engines made interstellar transportation a daily activity. Still, even with all the upsides of being spacefaring, the economy was becoming too expanded for their own pace and some speculated a economic crash should it continue without regulation or streamlining investments. Even still, adventures, optimistic and passionate state actors look to the stars as a means of lengthening their golden age before they will experience darkness.

Today was the first day that the Qunix will grasp at the stars again. A small fleet of 4 ships consisting of 2 heavy cruisers and 2 destroyers move at a steady pace as they begin their sojourn to the Sub-Relay, they were met with other, smaller freighters as the clockwork gears of their main engines turn in dynamic speeds to exhaust the fusion heat that it generates. Lord Admiral Osai lead the expedition in the Voidship Coppermonger as he sat in a leather chain with metal platforms holding crystalline buttons that would activate just by the slightest of touch.

" My Lord, we are approaching the Relay." One of the ensigns chimed in," good, give a signal sound off to the rest of fleet before we make the jump." Slight touches about organic prisms generated energies dance across the surface of various boards that give off a signal that the other ships responded in kind. " Alright, raise phase ratio fields and make way into the Relay field for transport to the coordinates." The ships followed the Voidship Coppermonger to the Sub-Relay as they sent the coordinates to where the signal was sent towards them and they made their move to the Relay and conduct their exploration.

Surtur's Gate

Despite the crisis of the Bazaar's economic collapse, many stake their claim on barren worlds where not many would care to do any large scale investments. Many upstart mining and industrial companies joined together in dome worlds or have breathing assistance equipment to help with operating equipment and repair any clockwork servants that are doing the heavy labor. Surtur's Gate was the sight of widespread mining and industrial complexes across barren worlds and moons. Many migrant workers came to settle in the system but without a major urban center, the companies had set up homes and bases to try and compensate the size of the workers.

These companies brought a lot of great wealth to the Gate but many wonder how long they can survive and prosper before the fledging economy crashes.

by **Nuxipal** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:47 pm

by **Argentumurbem** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:26 am

The Orson Empire wrote:
Citadel SystemThe Citadel

Having been awake for hours, the captain decided to get some shut-eye while the destroyer continued its survey of the system, leaving Commander V'osh Ki'Jin in charge of the ship. The captain had been asleep for just six hours when suddenly, one of his female lieutenants burst into his private quarters.

"Captain, captain, you've got to wake up!" she yelled. Na'Sin jumped, startled by the yelling. He looked at her and knew something must be wrong, "Wha-what is it, lieutenant? Are we under attack?" he asked.

"Sir, you've got to see it for yourself," the lieutenant replied. Na'Sin sighed and groggily said,"Al-alright, give me a minute please. You are dismissed," he replied.

Na'Sin took a minute to wake up before leaving his quarters and rushing to the bridge. The commander was waiting for him.

"What is it-" Na'Sin started to say before he saw what it was outside of the window. "Commander, what the hell is that?!"

"We are all as clueless as you, sir," Commander Ki'Jin replied. "The chief navigator thinks its some kind of space station."

"Indeed," the chief navigator interrupted. "It's the largest station we've ever seen so far. It's over 40 kilometers long, and has a mass of over 7 billion tons. Whoever built this is certainly more advanced than our nation."

"Scanners are picking up movement around the station as well. Someone is definitely here," an officer from the bridge crew stated.

The captain sat down in his chair and gave a order to everyone in the ship, using the intercom system. "Attention all personnel, man your battlestations immediately. I want those accelerator batteries online as soon as possible! Prepare for immediate combat! Navigators, take us in closer to...whatever it is."

The destroyer activated its engines and began its approach towards the Citadel.

Citadel System
Theme music

The Chance, grey against the black emptiness of space, found itself gathering speed faster and faster, an avalanche too far gone to stop. An inaudible ringing turned into the heavy beat of an alarm, silently surging through the warship. Effective range. With a ponderous nod of his writhing head, Father Eloste sent forth a thousand signals from his command station. The crew, those not vital to the peak efficiency of the Ironside, dragged themselves out of the Hive and into the cold embrace of their bodies. Like a river ending at the edge of a cliff, cascading down the rock face, the Ulth awoke to man their stations.

"Vessel, you must cease your velocity," the words, packed into symbols and thrown out into the void, struck at the speed of light. It would take the message almost fifteen strikes for it to reach the spaceship. By then it would be too late, too late to ward off whatever threat that vessel could posse.

In a flash of convulsing space, the cruisers of the Dalv Expedition lurched through the system. One moment they were flocking in front of the Seed, the next, vomiting into existence before the glow of the Mass Relay. Proud bows hammered through the aether, turning to point themselves like lances towards the lone interloper, already deep into the system. Even as the warships primed their weapons, a comm probe darted into the Relay. It's destination: home.

Suddenly surrounded, the unknown vessel was given one final chance to conform. "Vessel, cease velocity." Yet could Eloste give it a chance to close even further on the Seed? As it sped closer and closer to their station, the Dalv Expedition closed in on all fronts, weapons crying out to sing their righteous duty.

Berrick System

A lone probe sparkled into life, emerging from beyond the darkness in a flash of ions. It was the crew of The Sage who first intercepted the message. With joyous efficiency it was transferred to the great Hive for process. Intelligent life had been found. A thousand questions were raised until the realisation struck the Ulth: it was closing in on the Seed. Such a calamity could not be allowed to persist.

Within moments, The Sage was leading the Ulth towards their salvation.

by **Ironsbad** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:12 am

AliMazinkik/The Citadel System

The Lord Admiral and his niece were sitting in his private chambers seeing the blue steam of the Relay corridor hugged their ship as the twin-gear was overclocked. It has only been a full day as they went through the Sub-relay and so far no scratches as they traveled through the either in unthinkable speeds as they mass was zeroed out and infinite speed was achieved. The large Qunix was sitting on a metallic chair that had a expensive pillow as he brought a drink that could be resembled spice-tea. Where he came from, the idea of spice tea was something to be cherished as it normally is accommodated and prepared with a sense of nobleness and civility as they wished to turn off the TV for most of the time.

" So Guen, your saying you can save our people from economic downfall yet I just heard before we left that Sutur's Gate and some other barren worlds have just been dotted with factories and borehole mines. It seems to me that the people want to try and exploit the economy while its still broken." The female Qunix gave a sigh as she took the cup of tea in both of her paws and took a sip, her muzzle gave a slight twinge. at the power spice that was mixed in the liquid. " Well uncle, you and I know both that there will always be upstarts in both the state and the economy looking to exploit a broken system for personal gain. Still, I doubt that these loans that the nations and patrons paid in full without massive debts and bankruptcy to the bank and the Bazaar."

She took another sip and the gave the same reaction which made Osai give a light chuckle," can't handle the tea my niece?" Her eyes drew daggers at him as he still chuckled," its just that there's too much spice in the tea for my liking, doubly so that my own uncle is laughing at my expense." He just shook his head as he calmed down," I'm sorry my dear that you taste is not refine enough to handle the Imperium's tea. But I'm sorry abo..."

Suddenly a voice came over the room," my Lord, we have existed the Relay and... well, you must see this!" The two looked at each other with a slight surprise before the Lord Admiral gave a sigh," it seems we must table our conversation, back to work Bazaar representative." He started to place the tea back in the kettle and put the dishes into the sink as they walk back into the bridge. He saw that the bridge was more active and the screen had its energy folded out to show the system with the sun in the outskirts.

" This better be good sub-commander." The Admiral spoke with a professional tone that comes more so than he had just a few minutes ago. The sub-commander was smaller than most of the Qunix on the ship but nevertheless was the second-in-command. He bowed to both of them as he responded," My lord, my lady, we have safely made it through the Relay jump but... em..." He imminently turned to the ensign," ensign! Pull up the forward scans of the radio and telescopic view of the system and the first three planets."

The ensign moved his claws over the crystal energy and it danced and changed color as the screen showed two screens, One screen showed individual radio signals that numbered within the millions to tens of millions. The other showed a telescopic view from one of the destroyers that had increase the energy scope by x230 times to accurately show just what they were showing. The image showed a small fleet in the foreground of a large, five-arm megastation.

" Just what in the Spirits are these?" The Lord Admiral was walking up to see what it was and the Sub-commander responded," the shipmaster of the destroyer believed that the radio signals are individuals since she said that she gave a biometric scan and found nothing but the thermal and electron scans show an uncountable amount of nodes and connections, on top of thermal energy that is shown on the planets.

The second is something more...unique." He moves next to a console and expands the image," it seems that there is a civilization and a fleet, we believe it to be military in nature but without a confrontation to show just what it is." The niece's eyes are widened at the image," By the Spirits and Angels, actually sapient life that is right near us. Ensign? Do you know what the coordinates are for this specific system?"

The Ensign started to move through the information and started to read off the coordinates," coordinates 121:55:12:31, 36 degrees east by northeast from the Sub-Relay my lady." This time Osai's eyes widened," AliMazinkik? The Star of the West? The Merchant's Favor? Were in this system?" The niece ran up to her uncle as she spoke," the fabled star of the Bazaar was founded on? Imagine that, there was treasures like the Old Fables said."

The Lord Admiral gave a cough to reaffirm his grip on the ship," Sub-Commander, tell the ships to keep a stage 2 sublight cruising speed and travel towards the megastation. It seems we may have to contact this alien life, whatever it is." The sub-commander bowed and relay the message through the chain of command. The Lord Admiral sat in his chair but kept his bottom at the edge of his chair, this was a First Contact mission that they had no rules of engagement for so he had to wing it and unlike his niece, he was not one for thinking outside the box.

by **Lunas Legion** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:51 am

Hall of the Sidhi
Sythkawa, Lathaq System, Sidei Nebula

It always felt strange to her to sit in the Sidhi Throne. It was not an uncomfortable chair; made of a mix of wood and Herald-metal, the strange, immutable metal that could be found in tiny pockets wherever the Heralds had claimed, and covered with thick cushions so that it was more like a chaise longue than a proper throne. It was, however, the largest single object of Herald-metal ever found on Sythkawa, and that made it, even tainted by wood, that made it the symbol of the Sidhi. It sat atop a dais, facing a large and currently empty courtroom. The room itself was plain, and to some, it would've seemed archaic; a rug-strewn stone floor, stone walls, tiled ceiling. But it was tradition, the hall used to select the first Sidhiani, and to leave it as it was would be as the Heralds would've wanted it.

Kausai was a young Sidhiani, barely scraping 30 in a species that could live up to 200; but anyone could be the holder of the Sidhi, no matter their age or gender. The Heralds treated all equally, and so would their Sidhi. The Sidhi passed to the eldest child when their parent decreed it, or they died; either served as a sign that the Heralds wished for a new holder.

A blue screen flickered into existence in front of her. Where once petitioners would have come in person, now they used this 'Internet' to send her requests. She still received petitioners in person, of course. To come in person was to place one's petition as of enough importance to devote one's time to travelling to the City of the Sidhi to make it. To send a messenger would be dishonourable to one's self. To send a message via the Internet was... Functional, but neither honourable or dishonourable. It just was.

With a wave of her hand, she began to scroll through the requests. The Adawi Hyeria believed they had been slighted by not enough personal support from her on their planet of Ryzumo. The Daoi said the same thing, but for their own planet of Zato. So too did the Shieda over Ibryu. She could deal with those. by providing funding to rectify the percieved lack of support. Other messages. Requests for blessings. For her to attend someone's marriage. To officiate someone's marriage. To order the execution of some enemy of someone. She would not reply. To reply would imply these requests were worth her time replying to.

Then she found a request, and she paused. The Ikjo Hyeria wished to mount an attempt to find new systems through their primary relay using one of her personal heavy cruisers in exchange for a favour to be owed later. Perhaps her subjects did have good ideas rarely after all. When it came to matters of space, she was supreme, as only the Sidhiani Hyeria was allowed to attempt exploration to new systems. They had already explored this area of space sufficiently, perhaps it was time to branch off elsewhere.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 12:21 pm

by **Elerian** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:15 pm

Sea of Tranquility

It was the beginning of a new age for the Eldrazi. They had charted the systems surrounding Holy Sanctum, and set up outposts on many of the worlds. But, it was time to branch out. To spread the Greater Good to the unknown. What the Ascendancy would find beyond their borders couldn’t be known, but the Eldrazi were nothing if not anxious to discover what lay beyond the safety of their own territory. Thus, two separate expeditions were proposed, and with Scolar Ko’vash’s blessing they became reality. The two Heavy Cruisers, Razorshark and Manta were given the honor of undertaking this monumental task.

When all the preparations were made, a planet wide celebration was held for the crews of the two ships. The very next day, the Manta and Razorshark left the orbit of Celestine for perhaps the last time. Off into the murky blackness of space they strode, with only the distant twinkle and memories of home to keep them company on their journey.

On Celestine, with the construction of a dedicated research station the Elder Ones cache could now be safely and effectively be sifted through for relevant data. The personnel assigned to the project worked with nigh religious fervor to uncover the information left by the Elder Ones. This would likely be the highlight of their career, and thus there could be no mistakes or mishaps. Because of that, the installation was assigned its own detachment of soldiers to ensure their research wasn't disturbed.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:03 pm

Hammerblow of the Forefathers, High Nexus Prime Equatorial Orbit, Nexus System, Ascendant Threshold
Platform Irulian

From the beating heart of the dreadnought the commander perished the tactical readout and initial scans of the unidentified object, her graceful thin eyebrows furrowed in thought. Like many of the more aesthetically concerned Formatives, Irulian affected a vaguely humanoid appearance out of a desire for delineation. Right now though her thoughts were a kilometer away from the carefully constructed vessel of her consciousness; at the source of the massive battleships cognitive relays she sat in virtual council with representatives of a hundred different interests in the Consensus, all thought bent to the peculiar puzzle this newly emergent object presented.

A hearty presence spoke first, his mind-voice using not language to communicate, but the direct exchange of impressions and ideas. It was a very forward method of speech and congress of thought but necessary in the context of the Consensus. Here there was no deception, no vacillation, only the determination of what course benefitted the Voynich as a whole. That was a simple phrase to convey, but so much more complex to calculate given the near infinite number of impugning variables, even for such geniuses as the Architects.

Hadrian wished to consign the structure to the void, bombard it with the powerful weapons of the Hammerblow and remove the unknown variable from the equation before it could unduly effect the balance of existence. Other minds contended that such an effort would be foolhardy- having survived the energetic output of a solar furnace, the paltry weapons the Voynich had assembled would likely do no more than declare hostile intent to any watchers, if watchers there were.

The conversation flowed to and fro for many cycles of the mind, a debate of days and a hundred viewpoints accomplished as time in real-space inched by along the inconsequential seconds. Eventually Irulian emerged from her reverie, and spoke to the assembled crew.

"We dispatch a scouting team. Tell the Outliers to suit up."

by **Nuxipal** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:34 pm

by **Nuxipal** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:09 pm

The Great Abyss

The Heavy Cruiser Xanthyr arrived from its travels. Before it stood a new system, they checked their sensors and confirmed they had not gone too far and were likely in the same cluster as their home system. They began surveying the planets. Three worlds awaited their discovery as well as a pair of thick asteroid belts. Explorations appeared to be going well, although there were no habitable worlds, many moons meant that it was likely they would be able to quickly exploit the mineral wealth of the systems which they could see becoming a profitable region. However, a frightful world befell them as they looked over the only planet with an atmosphere and the likely candidate for system capital. The air was corrosive, the ground was toxic. Clearly something had gone wrong on this world in its ancient past and now the planet was suffering from it. They labeled it as a "Deathworld" and prepared to jump out of the system with their data in hand.

Research of the Phyrexi

The Phyrexi are naturally adept at solving problems. The current problem, living space. Their homeworld was currently the only place where they could fit a significant number of people. With the population growth exceeding what the planets they currently occupied could sustain very soon, they would have to reach out. The recent failure of finding a suitable world has led them to research new methods of building to try and increase the number of people living on nearly perfect, but not 100% perfect worlds.

Operation: Table Space - 14/??

by **Lunas Legion** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:50 am

Hall of the Sidhi
Sythkawa, Lathaq System, Sidei Nebula

It was a somewhat surreal experience meeting the Sidhiani for the first time, Aitzu reflected as he slowly pacde forwards, dressed in ceremonial battle armour. He was a mere captain; he'd never expected to need one of the expensive armours one wore to announce news to the Sidhiani. If it was a request, anything would've been fine to wear, but this was not a request.

No, this was news. News that needed to be delivered in person, for to do otherwise would be understating the potential importance of it. Steel boots clanked against the wooden floor as he stopped before the Sidhiani and knelt, pressing his head to the floor.

"Rise." She spoke softly. He glanced up. That was bright. Very bright. His eyes adjusted to the unexpected light quickly enough, however. It was, after all, just the reflection of light off her throne's Herald-metal. "What have you come to inform me of, Captain of the Ikjo Hyeria?"#

"We..." He blinked nervously. "We found something."

"Oh?" The Sidhiani cocked her head, smiling slightly. "Explain."

"The system we encountered had neither planets or asteroids." The Sidhiani's smile shifted into a light frown. "Instead, it had some form of exotic stellar body, the exact composition and formation of we were unable to determine. It would likely be helpful for any research projects you would wish to undertake on our behalf."

"That is something indeed." The Sidhiani hummed to herself, a holographic interface appearing in front of her. She tapped away at it, Aitzu unable to read it's contents. Seemingly satisfied, it vanished. "Captain, I am grateful for this information, and I am sure the Heralds themselves would be proud of your discovery. I have redirected a portion of my wealth to enable you to attempt a second expedition. I do hope your luck continues, captain."

He remained silent, instead simply kneeling and placing his head on the floor once again in acknowledgement before leaving.

by **Nuxipal** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 1:25 pm

by **The Orson Empire** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 4:34 am

Citadel System

As the destroyer activated its engines and left the orbit of the nearby gas giant, within minutes, it found itself surrounded by several vessels.

"Damn it, we're surrounded!" A male officer shouted as the vessels appeared on overhead monitors.

"One unidentified vessel approaching starward, seven unidentified vessels approaching rimward, captain!" A female officer stated.

Captain Na'Sin took a minute to analyze the situation, looking at the various monitors in the room until the chief communications officer spoke up. "I've received what appear to be two messages from one of the ships in particular. The universal translators cannot make any sense of it, however."

The captain finally spoke. "I think I get the message...they are likely wary of us. Slow the ship down completely, CN."

"Yes, captain," the chief navigator replied. He and the other navigators activated the reverse thrusters, slowing the ship down quickly.

"CCO, I want you to report everything that happens to Military Command. If this ship is attacked, it is crucial that they are informed," the captain ordered.

"I'm already one step ahead of you, captain. Military Command is listening in as we speak," the chief communications officer replied.

"Excellent. Commander, I need you down on the gun deck leading the personnel, should we have to open fire."

"Yes, Captain," Commander Ki'Jin replied. He left the bridge and took an elevator down to the gun deck.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 10:07 am

Landing Skiff, High Nexus Prime Equatorial Orbit, Nexus System, Ascendant Threshold
Platform Jessamine

The landing craft rattled slightly as it made its approach to the strange object, and Jessamine's uplink flickered as the optical and electromagnetic readouts of the derelict flashed through her neural nets. One of the eight recon elements from the Outliers who had volunteered for this assignment, she felt slightly naked outside of her Guardian warform. It couldn't be helped though- as anyone with half a brain could tell, the facility unfolding before the small silver vessel had not been designed by a race of the same dimensions as the architects. Though standardform units could fit in its confines of a few meters in height, the tall Guardians modeled on Vodnaris battlesuits would simply be unwieldy in the tight corridors of this artifact. Whatever it was. On a supine neck Jessamine's optics turned, taking in the other operatives. Good men and women, carrying light arms with enough mag-accelerants to stop a charging Graxal, each wearing the same crunchy standardform as herself. Sometimes the luxury of being a free consciousness was something you just took for granted, she mused. How bizarre that whatever creatures had built this monolith had been tiny, and yet capable of much greater technological feats than even the best forgeworld.

A pulse of energy ran along the ceiling of the ship, and the lights flickered momentarily. Power surges from the nearness of the ionosphere, likely. Though the derelict had exited the solar corona, it was still remarkably close to the gravitational well and stellar furnace, too close for a larger vessel of the Consensus to venture without risking damage from aberrant solar activity. Thus the Outliers were making their way in aboard a ship smaller even than a frigate. Normally designed to shuttle colonist vessels to and from orbiting cruisers, the skiff would have to do in its new role as a deployment boat. At least, if it made it there in one piece.

Outside the windows, the polarized armorglas a one-way mirror to block radiation but allow optical observation of the exterior, the derelict swam in to view. It looked like nothing so much as a crescent moon turned on its side, and truth be told the scale of the construction led to a serious amount of cognitive dissonance within the boarding party. Sure, it wasn't anything like the Artifact that orbited Nexus, but that was a one off- who could have known such a large and mysterious object was lurking in the home system of the Voynich, just beyond the stellar envelope? For years astronomers had wondered at the dimness of the Polinate Spot, but now the Outliers would get to answer all those questions.

It was obviously artificial. Gleaming hulks of some sort of metal, or maybe composite, made up gantries and archways long enough to encompass a dreadnought easily, and docking towers stretched up from the surface of the apparent space station kilometers away from the main body. Whoever had constructed this edifice had wanted not for manufacturing time, or indeed for matter to constitute in to the relevant form. Perhaps some of the larger orbital mining facilities might rival this derelict in scale, but they were crude affairs composed of block and steel, whereas this was smooth, nearly glasslike in appearance. Near at hand Jessamine picked out two enormous rings rotating slowly, with streams of light joining them to the sun's surface.

She pointed out the bizarre event over comms, and command noted the point of interest. Whatever this device was, it wasn't near the sun by accident. With the shudder of eezo drives powering down, the landing skiff made its way towards an opening in the vast structure, looking for an entrance.

by **Argentumurbem** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 2:01 pm

Ironsbad wrote:AliMazinkik/The Citadel System

The Lord Admiral and his niece were sitting in his private chambers seeing the blue steam of the Relay corridor hugged their ship as the twin-gear was overclocked. It has only been a full day as they went through the Sub-relay and so far no scratches as they traveled through the either in unthinkable speeds as they mass was zeroed out and infinite speed was achieved. The large Qunix was sitting on a metallic chair that had a expensive pillow as he brought a drink that could be resembled spice-tea. Where he came from, the idea of spice tea was something to be cherished as it normally is accommodated and prepared with a sense of nobleness and civility as they wished to turn off the TV for most of the time.

" So Guen, your saying you can save our people from economic downfall yet I just heard before we left that Sutur's Gate and some other barren worlds have just been dotted with factories and borehole mines. It seems to me that the people want to try and exploit the economy while its still broken." The female Qunix gave a sigh as she took the cup of tea in both of her paws and took a sip, her muzzle gave a slight twinge. at the power spice that was mixed in the liquid. " Well uncle, you and I know both that there will always be upstarts in both the state and the economy looking to exploit a broken system for personal gain. Still, I doubt that these loans that the nations and patrons paid in full without massive debts and bankruptcy to the bank and the Bazaar."

She took another sip and the gave the same reaction which made Osai give a light chuckle," can't handle the tea my niece?" Her eyes drew daggers at him as he still chuckled," its just that there's too much spice in the tea for my liking, doubly so that my own uncle is laughing at my expense." He just shook his head as he calmed down," I'm sorry my dear that you taste is not refine enough to handle the Imperium's tea. But I'm sorry abo..."

Suddenly a voice came over the room," my Lord, we have existed the Relay and... well, you must see this!" The two looked at each other with a slight surprise before the Lord Admiral gave a sigh," it seems we must table our conversation, back to work Bazaar representative." He started to place the tea back in the kettle and put the dishes into the sink as they walk back into the bridge. He saw that the bridge was more active and the screen had its energy folded out to show the system with the sun in the outskirts.

" This better be good sub-commander." The Admiral spoke with a professional tone that comes more so than he had just a few minutes ago. The sub-commander was smaller than most of the Qunix on the ship but nevertheless was the second-in-command. He bowed to both of them as he responded," My lord, my lady, we have safely made it through the Relay jump but... em..." He imminently turned to the ensign," ensign! Pull up the forward scans of the radio and telescopic view of the system and the first three planets."

The ensign moved his claws over the crystal energy and it danced and changed color as the screen showed two screens, One screen showed individual radio signals that numbered within the millions to tens of millions. The other showed a telescopic view from one of the destroyers that had increase the energy scope by x230 times to accurately show just what they were showing. The image showed a small fleet in the foreground of a large, five-arm megastation.

" Just what in the Spirits are these?" The Lord Admiral was walking up to see what it was and the Sub-commander responded," the shipmaster of the destroyer believed that the radio signals are individuals since she said that she gave a biometric scan and found nothing but the thermal and electron scans show an uncountable amount of nodes and connections, on top of thermal energy that is shown on the planets.

The second is something more...unique." He moves next to a console and expands the image," it seems that there is a civilization and a fleet, we believe it to be military in nature but without a confrontation to show just what it is." The niece's eyes are widened at the image," By the Spirits and Angels, actually sapient life that is right near us. Ensign? Do you know what the coordinates are for this specific system?"

The Ensign started to move through the information and started to read off the coordinates," coordinates 121:55:12:31, 36 degrees east by northeast from the Sub-Relay my lady." This time Osai's eyes widened," AliMazinkik? The Star of the West? The Merchant's Favor? Were in this system?" The niece ran up to her uncle as she spoke," the fabled star of the Bazaar was founded on? Imagine that, there was treasures like the Old Fables said."

The Lord Admiral gave a cough to reaffirm his grip on the ship," Sub-Commander, tell the ships to keep a stage 2 sublight cruising speed and travel towards the megastation. It seems we may have to contact this alien life, whatever it is." The sub-commander bowed and relay the message through the chain of command. The Lord Admiral sat in his chair but kept his bottom at the edge of his chair, this was a First Contact mission that they had no rules of engagement for so he had to wing it and unlike his niece, he was not one for thinking outside the box.

Citadel System
Theme music

Father Eloste closed his eyes, a blink turning into rest. The physical form of the Ulth was so, limiting. It was better to link with the ship. To feel the icy touch of space against his hull, gasp in awe as the universe bursts into life in front of his sensors, that was to be alive. What did his body offer that the machine could not better? Death. It offered a quick death of decay.

"Vessel, you will -" The message cut off, a sharp crackle as The Chance acknowledged the arrival of a greater number of spacecraft. Spacecraft that were not Ulth. Eloste thought to grimace, his factory body offering up a sharp jerk to accommodate his request. "Vessel, you shall return to the Slingshot Beacon." With a grimace, Father focused his attentions on the new arrivals. Where was the other Expedition? The commander dared not think that they had dismissed his warning of the potential danger posed against the Seed, their prize. They will be here. He refused to accept that they would allow for the military might of the Ulth to be divided: that was not their way of war. Their code of contact was adamant that all expeditions would face alien life together.

The Dalv Expedition was quick to react to the sight of the new arrivals. The Gilded Honour led the pack as the Expedition divided their attention between the newcomers. Three of its brothers turned with it, their engines blazing intense infernos of white flame as they raced to block off the approaching intruders. "Vessels, cease your velocity," the message went, Gilded Honour's captain clenching the sides of his throne as he watched silently for the message to be received. "Vessels, cease your velocity."

Eloste withdrew back into his body, lurching into a standing posture as he waited out the reactions of the foreign ships. He had to protect the Seed, protect the Hive. With every passing cycle, it was becoming more and more obvious that these aliens were up to something. "We will return them to the Slingshot Beacon."

by **Ironsbad** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 5:24 pm

Alimazinkik/The Citadel System

The sight of the dark, sleek ship had made the very day for the Lord Admiral. " My lord, we have a message from the ship, the language and manner is unidentified." The Lord Admiral was looking at the ship, it was just a bit bigger than the heavy cruiser but nothing that the Qunix couldn't build if they put the necessary resources to the shipyards. " Vox Speaker, run the message through the Weave's datastreams and put it into Imperial dialect."

The Vox Speaker started to move his digits through the crystal console and moved the energy until it popped up on the screen with the alien symbols and went through the process of translation. It was a crude and difficult but when working with a whole other language, everything is needed. The translation took minutes, but it felt like hours though it was done and the Speaker spoke with some hesitation in her voice," my Lord... this is a warning. They want the fleet to sense its movement."

Osai took a deep breath as his claws danced on the crystal computer till he found the fleet comms," all ships, active interties coils and put a stop to the engines. We are doing a first contact with the alien species that has came to us." The comms responded in a slight beep and started to heat up the coils by sending out a gravity field around the ships. The ships were starting to slow down against the energy breaks and eventually the engines became cool as the fleet came to a full stop as they became gyoschronized between a blue planet and a gas giant with rings.

" Speaker, send a message to the fleet that we mean no harm and wish to establish first contact." The Speaker started to send the message from Imperial dialect to number code to the sleek ships that were near them. He turned his head to his niece who was looking at the screens at anticipation of what was the first contact of their people with alien, and so close to them. Whatever was going to happen made her pray to the Spirits in her head to bring their Angels to bring peace to the aliens that were approaching to them as this was the most tense moment of her young life.

by **The Orson Empire** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:24 pm

Citadel System

"Captain, we've received another message!" the CCO yelled over the commotion on the bridge. "The universal translator is still trying to make sense of it."

Captain Na'Sin was about to reply when suddenly, an officer said "Captain, we've been scanning their ships repeatedly, but we have detected no signs of life aboard. This is extremely peculiar- perhaps they are being controlled by someone on that station."

The captain then thought for a minute. If there were no signs of life aboard...

"By the king..." the captain began. "Our worst fears may have been realized! Have we contacted a rogue AI?!"

"With all due respect captain, that seems somewhat outlandish," the officer reply. "I suspect the ships are just being remotely piloted."

The captain grabbed his head in a mixture of frustration and shock. "...no...no!! Fuck, fuck!!" the captain shouted. Everyone on the bridge quieted down to watch the captain's outburst.

As for why the captain was so distraught, as artificial intelligence advanced over the years, many Kan'Scren began to fear the possibility of an AI becoming self-aware and rising up against the Ni'em Nation. So great was this fear that the development of AI had been deliberately limited by law. It was especially a fear of Captain Na'Sin, who feared a rogue AI more than anything else.

"It's a trap! It's a fucking trap! We should have never came out here! CN, get this damn ship out of here now! Maximum velocity towards the relay!" the captain said.

"But captain-"

"DO NOT QUESTION MY ORDERS, JUST FUCKING DO IT!" the captain barked at the chief navigator. Everyone on the bridge was shocked, as the captain seldom yelled or even showed anger.

The chief navigator reacted quickly. He turned the ship around and began speeding away from the fleet of ships.

by **Grand Phyrexia** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:05 am

The Machine Orthodoxy

"ALL WILL BE ONE"

Background Music

The halls of Elesh Norn’s palace were quiet and still. The statue like Porcelain Legionnaires standing in attention throughout the hall,their black sword arms resting proudly on their white plated chested while their jagged square shaped shields rested in front of their legs. They didn't flinch as the sounds of large foot steps began to pound on the white plated floor.

Elesh Norn slowly emerged into view,her large head crest gleaming in the artificial light of her palace. She was flanked by two Priests who held her long red fabric so that it didn't touch the ground. She calmly passed her Palace Guards before reaching her Inner Sanctum in which the two enormous doors that were its Threshold slowly closer in a loud clack of metal. Her two Priests taking her ceremonial red cloth before carefully folding it and placing it on a pedestal before quickly returning to their Praetor’s side.

Crowded around a large,jagged and black oval table stood her monstrous looking Inquisitor Excharchs that patiently waited for their master’s holy words of command.”Exarchs,the time is coming into which we can finally achieve Perfection. Our race as ascended from the mortal bounds of flesh and have reached immortality. It is time to Assimilate the rest of the Galaxy as we have done with the Precursors and the Infidels. We shall construct our fleets,and spawn our armies,spread the holy Dark Oil to our Dominions before finally….launching the quest for Perfection,the Third Assimilation War! The instrument of our SALVATION!!!”she said with utmost religious vigor.

Her Exarchs nodding solemnly in approvement before following Elesh Norn to a long thin Pedestal that had one of Elesh’s hands engraved into it. A hologram of the Garden Moon Oruton in which they currently had a small foothold on.”Let the Assimilation Begin” she said with a swing of her massive head before placing her hand on the pedestal. Her touch activated the the Conversion Machines on the moon. The machines roared into life,burrowing deep underground and launching themselves into forests and oceans. The machines began to insert their Dark Oil Reserves into the planet's ecosystems and even its very core. Water became blacken and forested withered and died,leaving behind death as the Dark Oil began to spread around the Garden Moon. Fauna died before the substance corrupted their corpses,twisting and mutating their alien bodies so that they might sprout white metal plating and black spikes. Their flesh rapidly decaying and being replaced by fast generating metal from the Dark Oil. The creatures now a mixture of their new metallic bodies and their blackened decayed originals.

The plants withered away into dust and the earth slowly became rigged and jagged metal. The colorful planet was slowly decaying away as the Dark Oil spread slowly over it,by the end of the month this world would be a haven for Eleshian life to prosper.

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