Depths of Space: The Uncertain Future (IC, Open)

[True Refuge]

The Crew of the Second Chance[
Outreach, Faux, Faulian Republic/box]

...

"Nice meeting you too," Ky grumbled as the Minister turned away and left. In turn, Ky nodded at the remaining guards, switched off the processor block, and turned back towards his crew. "Alright then! Pack up your shit! Leave your guns on the ship, and get out of the MAX suit. It's clearly scaring the locals." The crew quickly complied at their leader's harsh orders, filing back onto the ship where guns were shelved, the MAX unit was hung up, and many spare clothes were retrieved. When the bunch of tired soldiers stood to order in front of them, their load made lighter, he smiled. "Now's the time to wait."

Just as he finished, Matt came bolting out of the ship in a panic. "Ky, Ky!"

Ky swirled round to the frantic pilot. "What is it, Matt?"

"The squadron of voidhawks... they sent a message through affinity... They're being deployed... They'll be here in-system in a few hours."

The Tactician gave Matt a sunken look. "The Lord of Ruin, his High Tacticians, they ignored me. Fuck. What’s the plan?”

“They’re sending Syrinx and Oenone as diplomats. The rest are playing dead.”
Ky scowled. “Have our affinity-inclined soldiers sent acknowledgement?”

“Yes.”
“We’re just going to have to lie low. Wait for the shuttle.”

---

[box]Captain Syrinx and Oenone
Faux, Faulian Republic

The squadron appeared out of their swallow manoeuvres approximately ten million kilometres away from Outreach. Immediately, every ship except Oenone deactivated their sensors, folded away their heat dumping panels, and their communication equipment faded away. Syrinx opened an affinity link with the other captains, of which there were four. The Captains Ikela, Athene, Sinon and in command of the sole blackhawk, Meyer. Highly regarded, and often considered the best squadron of hawks that flew the Ruined space. Deactivation complete?.
Yes.
Affirmative
Confirmed.
They’re all switched off.
Good. Syrinx replied. Wait until the Faulians notice Oenone and go in for diplomacy. If anything goes wrong, I will notify you over affinity.

[The Greater Gambia]

Snip

"Understood" Commander Maxson answered, and continued advancing with his Marines. So far, they'd only run into a few groups of automated defenses, for Atlas was drawing them to other parts of the station. Though, the Commander was filled with worry. Teleportation? Psionics? How the hell were they supposed to fight something so powerful? Daniel's thoughts were ripped away from him when a large wave of Legionnaires came in for the attack. He and the others dove into cover as enemy fire peppered the ground around them, and soon popped up to return fire. Lasers whizzed by their heads, but they continued to engage fearlessly, and would soon find themselves standing before piles of scrap metal that were once Kelraaza defenders. The Alliance Marines rushed through the complex network of hallways that made up this Derelict Station, and it was very clear that nothing had live here for a long, long time. The metal floor, walls, and ceiling had become discolored and rusted, and millennia of decay had made the air toxic to Humans. Each Marine in the squad had his mask on and secured so that he could breathe.

At the head of the squad, Daniel guided them based off of the AI fragment of Shiva which was given to him by Commander Turing - giving him directions on how to navigate through the ancient facility. After frequent stops to repel attacks by Legionnaires, the Marines could see the Command Center, and hurried towards it. "Commander Yaliza," Daniel said over the comms with weak breath from the constant running and fighting, "We're almost at the Command Center, and let me tell you it wasn't easy getting here. The layout of this place makes about as much sense as a Football bat". Daniel stopped talking, as he realized that the Tagali woman would likely not know much about Human sports, let alone the joke he made. He ran foreword, leading the Marines as they burst into the massive Command Center. It was mostly open and empty, with a giant glass window looking out at the rest of the station. As they climbed the stairs to the Central Computer, Daniel could see the battle taking place between the Atlas ships and the Levaithan. It was, to say the least, brutal. A small part of him hoped that the men he used to call comrade would make it.

"Yaliza," Daniel said over comms as he approached the main console - looking a screen of ever-changing shapes and symbols which he could not possibly decipher. "I'm at the central computer, but I can't make sense of any of this... lemme find a port or something...". Daniel pulled the small chip that contained the AI out of his vest, holding out in his palm. Two beams of green light shot out from the computer, straight into the chip, and it would break open as a beam of light shot back into the computer.

INITIATING AI PROTOCAL 46-B: SHIVA... PROCESSING... PROCESSING... AI PROTOCAL 46-B: SHIVA INITIATED. PLEASE STATE ORDERS.

"Deactivate Security Protocols" Daniel said, staring at the green cluster of light that was ever-spinning in a constant sphere right in front of him.

WE CANNOT DO THAT WITHOUT CLASS-A CLEARENCE.

"Shit" Daniel snapped, jumping back onto the comms. "Yaliza, I can't deactivate the ship's defenses without clearance. What can you do?"

Shiva spoke over the comms.

"I shall override the Clearance remotely. However, due to interference from the nebula and obstruction from the station will mean it will take time." After a few minutes of silence, Shiva spoke again.

"It seems that this facility is older than others we've encountered. It's systems are built off of a version completely different than those we've encountered so far. It will take just a little while longer to fully navigate the systems." Yaliza spoke up over the comms.

"We don't have a little while longer. What is the minimum time you need?"

"At least 15 minutes, Madame. Fortunately for us, I've been able to gather that the Dreadnought cannot leave without orders from the Command Center."

"At least there's good news. Daniel, I'm repositioning the Federation Marines to your area. They'll be there shortly." Suddenly, Shiva spoke up with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Something's wrong. My progress is being reversed, something is pushing me out. Another AI is in the system." Suddenly, a small construct flew into the room.

"You there! How dare you primitives defile the Empire's creations!" The construct released a burst of energy, paralyzing the Alliance Marines. Over Daniel's comm, Yaliza began to speak.

"Daniel, what's going on there? Shiva's gone unresponsive, and something is accessing our data, bypassing our security." The Construct flew closer to Daniel, getting up to his face.

"You're in charge here, aren't you? Captain Daniel Maxson, Marine of the Solis Alliance. You have chosen wrong to come here. Once my master returns here, this station will become your tomb. Don't feel too bad, however. The information I'm taking will keep me occupied for at least two hundred years thanks to your A1-" Suddenly, the construct went quite. It looked at the consol before looking back towards Daniel.

"I am so sorry, Captain Daniel. I did not know that your allies in the Tagali Federation were aligned with the Empire. Please forgive my transgression." The Construct deactivated the mechanism that kept the Marines stunned, returning to them their motion control.

"I still can't believe it. A species managed to defeat the High Breed, is this true?" The construct said in excitement. The Construct began to fly around the room, a sign of joy.

"Oh splendid news! I see that your allies are here for the Dreadnought. Of course! I shall prepare it for launch immed-" Suddenly, the AI was launched half way across the room, as if some invisible force pushed it. The Construct didn't speak in its normal voice, but rather robotic.

"Reboot needed, please wait." The construct said, repeating the message over and over again. Soon, the force that damaged the AI did the damage revealed itself. It was Jenik, the Kelraaza survivor with his inactivated Hardlight war scythe in one hand and the mutilated corpse in the other.

"The current primitive species of the galaxy did what the Empire could not? If this is the best you have to offer, then you're obviously lying." Jenik threw the body towards Daniels feet.

"My Construct may have been able to fall for your tricks, but I won't. This break from my slumber has been enjoyable, but..." Jenik activated his hardlight Scythe, the "blade" glowing an orange color.

"It is time for this hunt to come to an end."


USS Pennsylvania Bridge


The mission had taken a turned for the worst. The ship's AI, Shiva, had been knocked offline, the ship had lost contact with the Alliance Marines, and now the Covenant had arrived in the system, trapping the ship within their tractor beams. Despite all of this, Yaliza stayed collected. She was a former Santaran Ranger. She was used to shit hitting the fan.

"Commander Yaliza to Spectral and Alpha Squadron. You have new orders. Begin targeting the covenant tractor beams. Ostian forces will assist." Marie's voice rang out through the bridge.

"Yes Madame, changing Squadron objectives. Wait, something's coming- Shit, everyone get out of the way!"

Meanwhile....

Spectral Squadron's Strike suits quickly flew out of the way of the Leviathan speeding its way towards the Covenant fleet. The Leviathan moved with remarkable speed for a object its size, its armor had barely been scratched by the Ostian Battle Suits and Atlas ships. A testimony to Kelraaza technology.

"Damn, that thing is sure in a hurry." Mitsuru said. Yaliza spoke over the comms, wondering what happened.

"Horseman-01, what just happened?"

"It was the Leviathan, it's moving to engage the Covenant fleet." Yaliza sighed in relief, it was like a blessing from Kagan himself.

"Then who are we to stop it. Spectral and Ostian Forces, mission parameters have changed. You are to focus on the transports. Do not engage the Covenant forces or the Leviathan. I repeat, Do not engage the Covenant forces or the Leviathan."

"Well, you heard her, Spectral. Regroup near the station. Don't let a single one of those Covvie transports get close!" The 16 Strike suits of Spectral Squadron flew back towards the Station. They transformed into the strike suits Mech mode. Marie looked towards the upcoming transports on her HUD, each one soon having a red target reticule around them. Marie waited for a quick second, targeting as many of the transports as possible. Marie pressed down on the fire button, releasing a swarm of missles at the transports.

The other strike suits followed suits, firing their plasma cannons at the transports.

[The Moscow Metro Red Line]

Zobus Nebula - Dronis Sector - Covenant Space

"New orders coming through, we are to intercept those Covenant transports."

Second Lieutenant Erik Messer and his team of four other battlesuits were distancing themselves from the Leviathan. They had been circling around it, trying to obtain certain details about it but so far they couldn't identify any weakness. The Ostian platoon were still in the hanger waiting for some sort of orders. Most of them expected to sent to the station, until Captain Kerper came to them with a few crates. "Get your armor locked up, you're going hunting. Put these one and take extra ammunition." The platoon formed a circle around the crates as Captain Kerper began unpacking them. The commanding officer of the platoon looked at the equipment being given to them, and then to the Captain.

"Captain? I know my soldiers and I had done zero-gravity training but this is kinda....extreme for even my tastes." The Lieutenant said sheepishly, and rubbed his chin. "But hopefully they don't have the same thing. I'll have my soldiers take their rifles as well. They're no good leaving them here."

Messer and his team passed over the station and faced the incoming Covenant transports. When Captain Kerper called in, "This is Keep 01 to Witch Doctor 01, Scalpel, how far are the transports, over?"

"This is Witch Doctor 01 to Keep 01, judging from their current speed and trajectory, I think they may be able to dock at the station in fifteen or ten minutes. These suits are definitely 2x faster than them judging from the current data on them, over." Messer replied as he began to pick out his targets.

"This is Keep 01 to Witch Doctor 01, do the transports have any escorts, over?" Captain Kerper asked fervently, with alot of clatter in the background.

"None that we can detect or see at the moment. Seems like they're in a rush to get to the station, makes them easy pickings for us." Messer said with a grim smile on his face, his battlesuit holstered its rifle and took out a large combat knife.

"This is Keep 01 to Witch Doctor 01, keep them busy. I'm having 3rd squad depart immediately and set up a firing position near the docks. Hopefully they'll be there before the Covenant are."

"Captain Kerper, aren't there no more shuttlecraft in the hanger right now?"

"This is Keep 01 to Witch Doctor 01, They're not going by shuttlecraft. They're going to use the miniaturized propulsion packs to accelerate there."

"Alright, I'll keep them busy enough for your crazy plan to work. I'll have to hang up now, going to my appointment early, over."

"This is Keep 01 to Witch Doctor 01, I'm going to forget that you disregarded protocol right now, good luck, out."

It was pretty obvious that the battlesuits were coming, especially as the five distinct shapes got larger and larger. The transports fired whatever weaponry they had and/or made maneuvers to dodge the incoming battlesuits and fire. The lead transport was immediately intercepted by Messer, with a large combat knife to the bridge. The battlesuit reversed its thrusters and moved back as the other battlesuits fired on the lead transport causing it to explode. "One down, either destroy them or disable them. Don't get killed in the process." The Battlesuits darted in and out of the formation of Covenant transports like German world war 2 fighter craft harassing american heavy bombers. On one particular transport, Messer tore the troop canopy wide open with his combat knife and watched as numerous Covenant marines were sucked into the void of space. His battlesuit quickly holstered its knife and grabbed three of the floating marines in its free hand and threw it at one of the transports. If the crew wasn't already panicked enough from the sudden attack, they would be now when all of the sudden three bodies crashed into the bridge screen, quickly coating the window in blue gore.

Meanwhile ten small shapes departed from the open hanger of the Pennsylvania and headed towards the station. "Do you think we're too small for the ground fire, Sergeant?" One of the soldiers spoke as they flew towards the station.

"We're about to find out, get those missile launchers ready. Just in case a transport gets past them."

Hanger - Pennsylvania

"This is Second Lieutenant Linden, I heard that communications have just gone out. Would you like me to raise them? I'll see if I can open a chat room." Minna said over the intercom to the bridge. She was sitting inside her own battlesuit, waiting and watching the whole battle. Many of the Ostian volunteers were disappointed in her behavior so far, she didn't seem to behave or think like an Ostian. In fact she was more like an outsider more than anything. Minna didn't expect them to understood what a chat room meant. It was slang for psionic communications network within the Spartacists Project. Human male and female brains work differently, it has been discovered within the Project that female espers do better at large group control than males. Because of this, they can act as a sort of relay and connect numerous minds together and relay thoughts back and forth. Of course depending on the distance and the people, there was a considerable risk that she could go brain-dead. But there were implants in her skull to knock her out if it came close to that. "Sorry, that was slang. Do you want me to connect you to Maxson using psionics?"

[The NAR]

SNIP... again

Daniel stumbled backwards as a corpse landed at his feet, and looked up at the Kelraaza Remnant. In one hand, a scythe, and the other was dripping with blood that Daniel was certain wasn't his own. He looked to his left, and to his right, glancing at his fellow Marines who only nodded. All at once, they raised their weapons at him - faces of determination hidden only by the black respirators on their face. All at once, they opened up their fully automatic rifles on the ancient being, hoping to hit something important...

[The Orson Empire]

Zobus Nebula, Dronis Sector, Covenant Space

As the Ostian and Federation battlesuits deployed, numerous Covenant transports were destroyed while trying to reach the station. The transports retaliated back with their plasma cannons and missile launchers, but the suits were much faster than the transports. On top of this, the transports were not defended by any starfighters (as they were rushing to reach the station as quickly as possible), meaning they were die open to attack. The marines watched in horror as the battlesuits darted in and out of their formations and ripped apart the transports.

While witnessing this, pilots aboard the Covenant ships began to scramble to their hangars, preparing their fighters and interceptors for combat before departing the hangars and rushing over towards the station in order to help out the surviving transports. On the ships, hundreds of marines began to enter boarding pods, which were fired towards the station. While harder to control than the transports and certainly less secure, the boarding pods traveled much faster than the transports and would reach the station in just a few minutes. Upon impact, the boarding pods were to drill into the station and deploy the marines.

Leading the squadrons of Covenant starfighters was Wing Commander Utri Sei'Dza, a male Cho'Dosan. He had been fighting under Admiral Mar's armada during the Covenant-Alliance War, before being temporarily rotated out of combat and sent back to Covenant space. He was a flying ace, having shot down numerous Alliance starfighters, and it had resulted in his promotion to wing commander. Utri flew a high-performance, customized Covenant interceptor, armed with two powerful magneto cannons, several plasma torpedoes, electronic countermeasures, and even a shield generator which added another layer of protection to the interceptor.

Utri flew his interceptor straight towards the station at a high speed, with the rest of his wing behind him. He wore a helmet equipped with a heads-up display, which allowed him to see around his entire ship and the location of all ships and the enemy battlesuits.

"All squadrons, on me," Utri would say into his com-link. "As we approach them, harass them and keep them off the transports and the boarding pods. It is critical that they survive, as we don't have long before they gain access to that dreadnought."

The wing would fly by the large Leviathan, which was speeding its way towards the squadron. "What the hell is that thing?" one of the squadron leaders would ask.

"Whatever it is, do not engage it," Utri ordered. "Leave it to the motherships to deal with it. We have a mission of our own."

[Ubaria]

Aboard the Nights Cradle - 1st Diplomatic Flotilla
Fleet Comander Zhar-Cull Azif Callur
Orbit of Eto Prime - Faul System

Azif awaited patiently on the bridge as their message was relayed with haste to the Minister, who duly replied a few minutes after the call went out. Her image was broadcast over a large curved surface towards the front of the bridge, overlaid on another artificial image of the void outside their ship, Azif looked up and replied.

"Indeed Minister. I am afraid it could not wait, i speak to you bearing troubling news from Inaba"

The onboard computers of the communications equipment had been pre-programmed with the same basic translation software that was provided to them by the Faulians, it worked in a similar manner but had a higher degree of accuracy and would also work much, much faster.

"In our absence, through whatever events may have transpired it seems the High Council have enacted a coup, they now have utmost control over social, economic and industrial infrastructures as well as support of a large amount of the military."

Azif paused, his eyes darting to the console infront of him and back at the Minister.

"I'm afraid that our negotiations today were in vain. In their religious fervor, the Council have made our current standing alliance nothing but void, it would not surprise me if war was their next move. Currently a fleet of unknown size has been dispatched to retrieve me and my crew and bring them back to Inaba for re-conditioning. However i fear this force will use any excuse for violence"

Azif paused, thinking carefully about his next words, he would essentially be asking them to prepare for battle as this encounter could only go one way, it was doubtful they wanted Azif back alive anyway, eliminating him early on would be one less rebellious commander for the Council to worry about.

"There is a high chance a battle will break out, i don't doubt they will eliminate any threat that stands in their way, including your ships. Now you have a choice here. Order your ships to stand down and your only chance at peace goes down with this fleet. Or, you could aid us and we can draw them away from this system and into deep space, it might buy you some time but i fear the High Council has plans for you. Nothing good i can assure"

It was a lot to ask, to do battle with a race you had only just made peace with and what more, only just met. The fact of the matter was, Azif couldn't face the fleet alone, it was likely they were to send a compliment of warships rather than a simple escort flotilla, the ships the HDF possessed didn't look at all menacing but studies carried out by the Nights Cradle during its stay showed that they did at least have some defensive capability, enough to tip the scales of a fight anyway.

"Their fleet will land outside of the gravity well of any planetary bodies, i plan to meet them there to draw fire away from your planet and stations. It's a lot to ask Minister at such a short notice, but this is as shocking to us as it is for you i'm sure".

[Beiarusia]

Faul Republic
Minister Tayo
STC, Outreach Station, Eto Prime, Eto, Faux System

...

...

The news was troubling.

No, troubling did not even begin to describe the situation Azif had presented. A fleet of likely hostile warships were inbound to the Faulian homeworld. Their worst fears were about to be realized.

And now came a choice. The Minister could disengage and hope that the Zhong Vey would leave them be at the cost of the Night’s Cradle and her crew, or the HDF could side here and now with Azif. An act of war. But then again, doing nothing could well result in war regardless. At the very least they could have an ally. Still, against an entire fleet, against the entire Zhong Vey military, what hope did the Faulians have? This could well be the beginning of the end of their entire civilization should the Minister side wrong. The weight of all their lives were now resting on her shoulders. A crushing responsibility that no one should have to bear.

Tayo was the first to find her voice, her mind having been made up. “We will support the you in any way we can.” She turned away from Azif so as to give her orders. “Send out an emergency alert to all HDF vessels in system, and get all civilian traffic FTL or grounded.”

The STC officers nodded and began doing as told.

The Minister returned her attention to the viewscreen and to Azif, any exhaustion now replaced by a grim determination. “There hasn’t been a war on Eto in generations. The Home Defense Fleet is untested, and though the admiral is competent, she and our cruiser are away for the time being. I do not ask you to lead us, but any help you could provide would be much appreciated.”

---

The shuttle had just arrived to transport the humans to the surface when the alert went out. Tataro, calm despite some of his peers, could only offer a quizzical shrug as he apologized to their guests. “It seems something has come up. Another time then. I suggest that you return to your ship and, if you can, head for the surface. If not then perchance you could keep your heads down until whatever this is is settled.” A small bow of the head in farewell and Tataro was heading off with a small detachment of HDF troopers. He, and the Minister once she was done at STC, would be transported off station and back to the surface, that being the safest place for them. The remaining guards would see to it that the humans made it back to their own ship with little trouble.

---

Nell had gone pale. She had only just returned to the Nomu when the alert came through and, being inexperienced in such matters, could hardly stand much less think straight. Despite being the captain of a destroyer her duties had for the most part consisted of various scouting missions. Combat, or the threat of combat, was completely beyond her. It was likely beyond most of the HDF. Sure, they had trained under Admiral Latora for such an event, but the thought of it actually happening had never once crossed them.

At the very least Nell was not the most senior officer. Another captain on another destroyer would be taking charge. Nell only had to follow directions and hope for the best.

“You’ll do fine,” Vera said from her station, already missing her post at the captain’s chair.

Nell wasn’t so sure but was thankful for the encouragement.

All HDF vessels in system were converging around Eto: three destroyers (including the Nomu), seven corvettes, two carriers (and their complements of fighters/drones), and a large portion of gunships. The destroyers were the most heavily armed and armored but were slower than the smaller corvettes. The carriers were the largest ships in the fleet but had no offensive capabilities whatsoever. The gunships were the fastest but were ill suited to combat vessels larger than themselves. Sadly, the lone cruiser was out system. The HDF would split into three flotillas, each headed by a destroyer, and would support the Night’s Cradle in leading whatever conflict erupted as far from Eto as possible. In the unlikely scenario that fighting come close to the planet all civilian traffic had been ordered to transition into FTL (leaving system) or to land immediately. This and the convergence of HDF ships had raised alarm but so far a panic had yet to set in.

The ships were beginning to move into position when a new arrival was detected in system. It was detected almost immediately and a flotilla was diverted to intercept. The Nomu drew the short straw.

“Is it them?” Questioned Nell, gripping tight to her seat.

Vera shook her head. “Ship design doesn’t match. Send a hail now.” A few moments to adjust to a broad frequency and a message was soon on its way to the unknown vessel. “This is the Nomu. You are trespassing in claimed territory. Identify yourself or you will be fired upon.”

Nell blanched.

“Orders,” Vera said to the young captain. “Can’t take any chances right now.”

[The Greater Gambia]

Daniel stumbled backwards as a corpse landed at his feet, and looked up at the Kelraaza Remnant. In one hand, a scythe, and the other was dripping with blood that Daniel was certain wasn't his own. He looked to his left, and to his right, glancing at his fellow Marines who only nodded. All at once, they raised their weapons at him - faces of determination hidden only by the black respirators on their face. All at once, they opened up their fully automatic rifles on the ancient being, hoping to hit something important...

Jenik simply raised his hand, created a shield of psionic energy to block the bullets. Jenik let the Alliance Marines tire themselves out before countering. Once he had enough, Jenik moved with incredible speed, faster than the marines could react to. Jenik was fast even for a Kelraaza thanks to his teleportation module in his Synthetic body, allowing him to "jump" repeatedly across the room. Jenik was soon in the middle of the group of Marines in the blink of an eye. Before the Marines had the physical capability to react, Jenik swiped the heads of two Marines in a single swoop. As Daniel turned around, Jenik hit him with the blunt end of his scythe, sending him flying into the wall.

The last three Marines began to spread out, learning from past mistakes. Jenik sliced right down the middle of the closest one before looking at a Marine who had began to fire from the other side of the room. Jenik threw his scythe into the air before catching it with his telepathic psionics. The scythe flew threw the air, impaling the Marine, Jenik pulled back the scythe out and began flexing his hand as if controlling a puppet, the scythe reacted by slicing through the Marine, turning him into slices of human flesh. Jenik felt three bullets collide into his back, only to land on the floor. Jenik turned to find a frightened Marine. The Marine was not new to combat, but this was something else entirely.

The Marine dropped his rifle and dashed for the door, only to be picked up and dragged by Jenik's psionic powers. As the Marine struggled to break free to no avail, Jenik detached the blade end of his scythe, turning it into a buzzsaw. Jenik slowly brought the Marine closer to the spinning blade, causing the Marine to panic even more. Daniel came finally came to, struggling to his feet, Daniel looked up to the sound of the Marine screaming as he was forced closer to the buzzsaw. Daniel pulled out his side arm, sending three rounds into the back of the synthetic entity in a futile effort. The bullets bounced off of the armored hull of Jenik,

Jenik through the marine towards the corner, saving him for later and re-attached the blade back on the scythe. Jenik looked to Daniel.Jenik detached the hard light blade once again, shooting it towards Daniel and slicing off his right arm. He picked him up telepathically, bringing him closer. Jenik stared straight into his eyes. Jenik ripped off his respirator, revealing his human face.

"The Empire had thousand of species similar to yours. Genetically modified to serve our needs, fight our battles. Our folly in leaving our tasks to weaker beings came to haunt us when we fought the High Breed, only serving to feed the parasite. Now, we are few in number, but our new form grants us strength and powers our physical forms denied us. Now, I shall punish you for trespassing in land that is not yours."

Jenik went silent for a second, leaving Daniel in an awkward position. Suddenly, Daniel felt great pain in his head, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Soon he heard Jenik's voice again, but it came from inside his head.

"You are not like the others, you and your kind have not been bestowed with the gift of psionics. May this be the last joy you receive in this life." Suddenly, Daniel's hand moved against his will. A surge of psionic energy lifted the combat knife at his side out of his holster, placing it in his hand. His hand moved uncontrollably, clutching the handle of the knife. They started to pull the knife closer to Daniels stomach. Daniel struggled to fight Jenik controlling his body, refusing to let Jenik force the knife into him. Jenik spoke once again.

"Your effort is commendable, but in vain. Embrace the darkness." Suddenly, a beam of energy shot out toward Jeniks stationary body, disintegrating it to a crisp. Jenik let out a scream before fading into the back of Daniel's mind. With the source of the telekinesis gone, Daniel dropped to the ground. The Construct soon flew back into Daniels vision. The AI flew over to Daniel, analyzing his wounds.

"Oh dear, my former master was not a pleasant host. Unfortunately, we do not have the necessary medical capacities. I'm afraid you will die here. Do not worry, I will make sure your enemies do not gain hold of the Dreadnought." Suddenly the facility began to shake violently. The shaking lasted a few minutes before subsiding just as the Federation Marines entered the room. They scanned the room with their rifles before they took notice of Daniel. Jagan was the first to see him, immediately running over.

"By Kagan, Daniel! What happened here!?" Jagan asked, slightly picking up Daniel in his arms. Jagan soon noticed Daniel's labored breathing, realizing that humans could not breath in such a toxic environment. Jagan unsealed his armor and removed his helmet and respirator, much to the surprise to the Federation human Marines.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing?" One of them asked.

"I'm Tagali, my lungs will adapt. Your human ones don't have the luxury." Jagan said, hurrying to place the equipment onto Daniel. While his lungs could breath the toxix air, Jagan's breathing could be labored as well. He would surely die if they stayed for a prolonged period of time.

"There, you won't die from suffocation, but your arm is still in trouble." Jagan pulled out some bandages from his pouch. While there were specified medics in the Federation military, all soldiers were taught and expected to know basic first aid. Jagan bandaged Daniel's nub.

"There, it isn't a permanent fix, but it should delay the breathing."



Outside the Kelraaza Refueling Station
Spectral Squadron



"What the hell is going on over there!?" One of the pilots yelled out over the comms. The dreadnought began to leave the station, a surprise to all parties involved.

"Looks like we'll be going home soon. Hopefully, that's our boys on tha-" Marie said, cutting herself off as the Dreadnought entered FTL without warning, leaving the system without a trace.

"Somethings not right. Why not turn the ship on the Covenant?"

"More Covvie ships coming up. Seems like they got smart and sent an escort this time." Paresh said.

"Scapel. You boys cover the facility and kill any covvie that gets too close. We will deal with their escorts. The Strike suits morphed back into their fighter mode and flew to meet the Covenant Interceptors.

As the covenant interceptors got closer. Marie's HUD began to light up with targets and lock ons.

"Alright, standard procedure, Spectral. Start out with a volley of Zentradi Missiles and scatter the survivors." The Strike suits launched dozens of zentradi missiles, catching many of the Covenant interceptors and causing others to take evasive maneuvers. Marie noticed one in particular. It had multiple customization's that separated it out from the rest.

"I'll take that one. Finish off the rest." Marie's strike suit flew off towards Utri Sei'Dza's Interceptor. Once in range, Marie fired off her plasma cannons, hoping to panic the pilot so that he would begin making mistakes.

Meanwhile, the Leviathan continued on its course towards the Covenant fleet. One frigate had found itself caught in its path. The Leviathan continued on its path, crashing into the frigate with very little damage to itself.




USS Pennsylvania
Bridge

Yaliza listened Linden's proposal. She had heard of the capabilities of the Spartacists through Intelligence channels through the FIS, but she had never seen them in action before. From what she had heard, Spartacists possessed power that could rival even the most powerful Psionic in the Federation. Yaliza herself, while naturally being born with psionic capabilities, was only a Sigma-Class Psionic according to the Psionic scale made by a Taari scientist as psionic abilities became more wide spread throughout the galaxy.

"Of course. I'm ready when you are." Yaliza said, her eyes turned from the regular Tagali red to a light purple. She was mustering up all of the psionic energy she could muster. The mission may as well depend on it.

[True Refuge]

Captain Syrinx and Oenone
Faux, Faulian Republic

...

Syrinx sent a quick message to the other captains as the Nomu approached.Remain hidden.

"Communications, open the link from the Nomu. Actually, Ashly, make that video. Make confirmation we're human."

"Doing so now..." replied Ashly levelly.

The Nomu's transmission played. Oenone listened in and made its fear known. Oh dear, that's quite a force coming up against us. Syrinx?
Hold on, Oenone.

"This is the crew of the starship Oenone," Syrinx said over the link, prompting a spark of happiness from Oenone at it being mentioned. "We hail from the Ruin, acting on a notice from Tactician Ky Cranel, who we believe to be in-system after arriving on the Second Chance. Our mission is diplomatic, not hostile." Her young fresh face was stoic, but that spark behind her eyes remained present. She and Oenone were doing what they did best. Oenone, prepare to move. Ashly, maintain the communication link.

Oenonereplied quickly. Yes, Sly-minx.
Stop calling me that.
No.
Fine, Syrinx conceded happily. Just focus, please. Combat wasps at the ready, Weapons. Oenone, tell the other hawks, will you?
Yes, Sly-minx the ship replied cheekily as it switched its affinity link to the blackhawk and voidhawks waiting. The blackhawk Udat, the voidhawks Ombey, Montia, and Este, all good ships and their captains who had seen just as little combat as their current leader. Be ready. Syrinx has been noticed, we're moving in.

---

The Crew of the Second Chance
Outreach, Faux, Faulian Republic

"Very well. I think you for your hospitality," Ky replied to Tataro as hastily as he dared and swirled round to walk back into the ship. He data-vised his crewmates a quick and panicked message. [i]I think Captain Syrinx and her squadron may have arrived. Get back inside the ship, we're heading down to the surface. I don't want to be anywhere near this.

The crew acknowledged his orders and filed back onto the ship, where the engines were powered, and they lifted off, heading for the planet's surface.

[The Orson Empire]

Zobus Nebula

The Covenant ships watched as the massive Kelraazan dreadnought suddenly left the station and entered FTL. The Covenant had failed, and High Command was enraged that the commodore had allowed the dreadnought to escape, and before ending their transmission, ordered his forces to leave the Zobus Nebula immediately.

The commodore cut off the transition with High Command and decided to give one final order before the squadron departed. "All ships, open fire upon those Atlas ships and any other unidentified targets as well. Do not let them escape alive." The ships would begin to open fire on the USS Pennsylvania and other Atlas ships with their main guns, while still keeping them locked in place with their tractor beams. The Leviathan had crashed into a Covenant frigate, doing substantial damage to the frigate, and nearby ships continued to fire on the Leviathan and protect the frigate.

Meanwhile, Utri and his wing of fighters and interceptors were now close to the station. Utri's HUD lit up as the enemy battlesuits began to appear.

"That dreadnought just warped out!" one of the squadron leaders would say.

"We must still defend those transports and boarding pods, as they are vulnerable to enemy fire," Utri ordered. Utri would then increase the power of his interceptor's engines as one of the battlesuits began to target his interceptor. The comm's filled up with voices as fighters and interceptors were hit by a missile barrage.Utri's interceptor looped around the battlesuit as it fired blasts of plasma at his ship. A few rounds of plasma impacted the energy shield surround the interceptor, weakening it. Utri switched his HUD to show a damage report of the ship. There was fortunately no damage so far, but he knew he had to be careful.

Utri took advantage of the fact that his nimble interceptor was much faster than the battlesuit. He flew upwards at an incredible speed, and then turned his ship downwards towards the battlesuit. He powered down his engines, and as the interceptor continued floating backwards through space, streams of molten metal shot out from his magneto cannons, and he also fired two plasma torpedoes.

[Beiarusia]

Faul Republic
Captain Nell Breaya
Spire, New Haven, Eto Prime, Eto, Faux System

...

“They’re human?” Nell was confused, which was understandable seeing as how she had missed the entire arrival of the human ship what with her being preoccupied elsewhere. News of that event had simply failed to reach her.

Vera, however, was relieved to some small degree that it wasn’t necessarily an attack force come to end them. Not that she trusted the humans just yet – they had, after all, only just met – but hostilities didn’t seem likely for the time being. The comm officer continued with the transmission. “We understand. Currently an emergency situation is developing and we ask that you leave the system if only to avoid further incident.”

A fair enough request. Should a battle erupt and the human ship get caught in the crossfire, well, who was to say that the Ruin wouldn’t blame the Faulians? Best to keep them out of it for now.

[Spindle]

CIC
HES Watchful
Bernard's Star Inner Orbit

Amon watched with interest as the Colma wall burned off its velocity and then began to accelerate back towards the planet. They were still trying to break through, then. Within moments, the first particle beams lashed out, followed by more and then even more. Within moments a torrent of charged particles was smashing into the ISC fleet, smashing aside EM fields and ripping through armour to get to the vulnerable components inside. Almost a dozen bright flashes went up as Frigates and Destroyers detonated, and one from the Cruiser Decietful.

At the fringes of the combat, where the point defence net was quite disrupted and incomplete, several ships were dragged down under the swarming weight of the enemy Stingships, Liliths blazing to try and catch the elusive enemies as their enemies' LASERs swept across their hulls. In some situations, fighters had converted themselves into kinetic-kill missiles and simply dive-bombed the ships, often doing little other than denting the hull, but three ships suffered major damage to their fire control systems because of it. Three of the flanking squadrons broke away from the main formation, trailing debris as they fell back towards the planet to escape from the swarming Stingships.

In the main section of the ISC wall, ships were slowly migrating away from the centre to join the sides, which were lapping over the edge of the Colma push, like a shuttlecock. More and more fire began to tear at the flanking units, casaba-howitzers and MASERs tearing into them like fiery spears. At the same time, however, the fire being put out to the centrally-placed Colma ships was lessening as more and more ships were moved to the safer flanks, where they could more easily fire upon the flanking Colma units. And so the cycle continued.

The Watchful still persisted doggedly with her cyberattacks, trying to get that foothold somewhere in the Colma FleetComm to begin to seriously debilitate their combat ability. Despite the Technomancers' continuous efforts, the Colma were managing to more-or-less even out the rate of intrusion and purge and that state of affairs showed no signs of abating. Still, unwilling to commit to a Code Alpha to break through their systems, Amon couldn't get them to do anything different for now. And so, as the particle beams pounded the ISC ships, Amon watched and waited.

[True Refuge]

Captain Syrinx and Oenone
Faux, Faulian Republic

...

A wave of trepidation swept the squadron of hawks. The flying creatures, their captains and their crews, wondered. What would Syrinx do? Oenone made its concern known quickly. Syrinx, before you make your response, how far do you want to take this? I don't necessarily want to force the other hawks into a fight...
Syrinx was speedy in her reply, although it was mild and warm. I'm acting on the orders of my uncle and Tranquillity. I respect their judgement, and they certainly know what they're doing. If something happens that we can't fly away from, I'll get us out. Don't worry, Ony.

The ship grumbled as she withdrew the affinity link and returned to the communication technician's attention. "I am sorry for intruding upon the delicate situation you describe, but I'm afraid I cannot do that. I am here to collect the crew of the Second Chance. We'd like to see them, if you don't mind."

You're taking bold steps, Sly-minx... Be careful.

[The NAR]

Commander Maxson couldn't feel anything. By that point, the shock had already set in, the pain had temporarily gone away, and he simply laid in Jagan's arms. He looked down at his right arm, which had been severed just below his elbow, and winced. He was also covered in bruises and gashes from his confrontation - none of which he could feel at the moment. All he could feel, really, was a sharp pain in the back of his head. What had the Kelraaza done to him? Where'd he go? Was he dead?. Daniel coughed painfully at the toxic air before Jagan's breather was placed on his face, and the air was filtered into breathable oxygen. He used his left hand to pull a chip about the size of a book out of his pocket, and handed it to Jagan with a shaking hand. He spoke in a weak, cracked voice of pain. "Atlas has... has already reached the Cooling Systems. They're... They're heading here to download the station's records, then they're going to destroy the place. You need to get down to there, stop Atlas, while using this to transfer all this place's records".

Daniel cough painfully, trying with all of his might to lift himself off the ground with his remaining hand. He handed the respirator back to Jagan, nodding gratefully, and tried to ignore the burning pain in his lungs. He walked in the direction of one of the fallen Marines, passing by the man who'd he'd save. If Daniel could have seen his eyes, they'd be stricken with fear. Daniel knelt over a dead Marine, and painfully pulled off his respirator, then switching it with his own busted one. He then stood up, able to breathe easier, and contacted Yaliza. "Commander Yaliza, this is Maxson. We've suffered heavy casualties, but the station is ours. I'm gonna try to turn it's defenses against the Covenant. Standby".

With his one arm, Daniel began to type on the holographic keyboard that had been set up by the AI, and soon enough, he was successful in resetting security parameters to make the Atlas and Alliance vessels friendly. He didn't want to help Atlas, but they hadn't yet engaged Alliance, Federation, or Ostian Forces, so the Covenant was the larger threat. All at once, Kelraaza defenses stopped firing at Atlas, and began to solely attack the Covenant with everything they could muster.

Daniel then turned to Jagan and spoke. "Leave me a few men, and we'll hold onto the command center. We won't let the Blues take control. Start the Download of station records, then head down to the Cooling Systems and make sure Atlas doesn't blow us sky high". Despite his missing arm, Daniel took a resounding approach to the situation - still willing to fight.

[Beiarusia]

Faul Republic
Captain Nell Breaya
HDF Nomu, Faux System

...

Nell was again forced to play the role of diplomat, only this time she had the misfortune of being left out of the loop for most of the important bits. It wasn’t until she had arrived back to the Nomu that news of the humans’ arrival had been known to her, and even then that had been overshadowed by the emergency alert. The young captain, tired as she was, wanted nothing more than to head off to bed and to sleep until the whole situation blew over, but having accepted the position of captain Nell had a duty to see to even if she was perhaps inadequate for the job.

At the very least Vera was there, the comm officer seeming to have a better grasp of things.

“The human ship, the Second Chance, has been escorted to a safe location,” Vera told the human through the viewscreen, her words curt and crisp. “Due to the situation you will not be allowed further in system at this time, however, you are free to contact the others. They will be alerted to your arrival.”

Vera didn’t wait for a response before killing the communication.

“That wasn’t very polite,” Nell said, keeping watch of the human ship on her instruments.

The com officer shrugged. “They can wait.” A few adjustments to the frequency and the Nomu was soon hailing the Second Chance. “This is the Nomu. A ship identifying itself as the Oenone has jumped in system and is requesting your attention.” Vera thought for a moment before speaking again. “There is a high chance of hostile ships entering the system, and as such the Oenone will not be allowed to proceed further than it has. I do not know the intention of the Minister but this may be a good time to depart.”

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

Bernard's Star
The Sting fighters chased after the fleeing ships, determined to not let even one escape with its life. Meanwhile the fleet was being surrounded on all sides by the enemy, their formation trapping the Colma in between them like a knife in a sheath. Oxlos growled at this, but he would not let filthy Soft-skins out-maneuver him.

"They think that they are clever hmm? Let us show them what they have invited. Spread our fire outward, if they wish to surround us, then their ships will pay the price." He ordered. At his command, the Colma ships began to fire into the Alien fleet surrounding them, causing particle fire to branch outward around the Colma like a deadly plant.

Now the viral warfare was becoming more serious as Colma ships found their shields dropping suddenly in the middle of battle, causing them to take severe damage before they could get the shields back up. Oxlos decided that he was tiered of this, and ordered several squadrons of Sting Fighters to fly headlong at the Watchful. They Dive-bombed the ship, strafing its hull to try and stop the transmissions that were plaguing the Colma forces.

[Spindle]

CIC
HES Watchful

The blossoms of fire which curled outwards from the stem-like column of Colma ships clashed with the EM fields of the ISC ships for a moment, light laring as beams split apart into iridescent emerald shards which flew off into space. Then they began to strike at the hulls of the ships and wreckage began to fill the void like blossom petals carelessly discarded by a child, glowing rose-red before cooling back to the dull gunmetal sheen they usually possessed. The already diminished ISC force began to contract further, beginning to dip towards the sixty percent boundary.

The retreating squadrons were beset by the swarming Stingships, Liliths doing their best to keep the horde of smaller craft at bay and, for the most part, failing. Fragments of glinting metal were shorn away and drifted off into the night as the ships were slowly chipped away, piece by piece as the fell towards the planet. Crossing the invisible boundary where firing solutions could successfully be obtained by the orbiting defence satellites, a barrage of IRASER fire joined the sporadic spasming of the squadrons' Liliths. Amon grinned for a moment, before he felt something shift in the few Stingships still in the main portion of the battle. They were converging upon the Watchful.

IRASER fire did its best to hold the tide back, invisible lances spearing out to catch as many of the darting ships as they could, but there was more of them to come. There was always more of them to come, jinking and evading until the last possible second. Explosions chained along the Watchful, breaking through her EM fields and pitting the hull with pockmarks and craters. The Dreadnought fought back, her Battleship-grade Liliths scything through the craft arrayed against them, but too slow. Too slow.

Amon made a split-second choice. With a mental twitch, he sent the necessary orders and then focussed on simple survival. And after a moment, the orders permeating across the battlespace down the fractured and splintered chain of command, everything seemed to happen at once.

The Code Alpha leapt from the Watchful to fifteen of the remaining Frigates, branching further outwards from there to the Colma ships in a wave of data which the ships' sensors couldn't help but accept. A combination of every cyberwarfare technique the ISC was willing and able to deploy to a tactical engagement, every single scrap of code was aimed in a singular direction: disabling the enemy's defences. Attempting access through every point of contact possible, the code swarmed into the cyberspace like a hydra.

Exactly three point five seconds later, the lances of golden plasma shot from the three Orions slammed into the Colma ships, tearing and roiling with savage ferocity even as the last few screening units hastily made their way out of the path of the shot, joining the ragged wall being formed at one hundred thousand kilometers from the planetary surface. Fired at full power for the first time in the battle, their lines of fire cleared by the sheathing movement, the plasma completely engulfed the leading Colma ships for several seconds before disappearing as suddenly as it had gone.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

Bernard's Star
Colma ships were absolutely decimated by the Orions beam, causing 6 Frigates and three squadrons of Corvettes to explode from the impact. The Viral warfare caused severe problems for the Colma Ships, and Oxlos roared in frustration at the sight of this. "Pull our forces back, we need to escape the enemy!" He ordered. The fleet began to regroup, but not before unleashing a barrage of Particle fire on the Orions.

The Righteous Extermination unleashed a massive barrage of Particle beam fire on three surrounding ISC vessels, and the 17 Battleships joined in, attempting to punch a hole in the Alien line large enough for the fleet to slip through and regroup. The Hives however just charged away from the enemy, willingly ramming any ship foolish enough to get in their way, and firing on the more sensible ships.

[Ithalian Empire]

A Dark Room

M'kall had gathered other like minded individuals to this place, a shady hotel commonly used by pimps and prostitutes. Today it was being used to plot a revolution. All together there were twenty men in this room, all of whom believed in the course of Isolation. All twenty were the heads of some of the most powerful crime families in the UUC. The atmosphere was tense, each on hated the other with a passion, but there were bigger fish to fry that each other.

M'kall had done a favor of two for all of these men at some time and now he was cashing in.

"As all of you gentlemen know three weeks ago the Legislature voted to build an embassy so that degenerate foreigners could come and corrupt our society. I believe Ruse has gone mad, I believe our system of government is broken. We need to change it."

A mob boss by the name of Kelech asked the first question, "How do you suppose we do that?"

"Simple, first we get rid of Ruse and his supporters, than we take there place. If we were to be in control of the Union we would push these alien degenerates out of the nation. Kelech, tomorrow is when they are to start to break ground on the embassy, how bout a little welcoming gift for our alien friends." Kelech had a love for pyrotechnics and staging such an event would be easy for him to do. The UUC was not going to be overly tight with security any way, they did not wish to overly intimidate the alien visitors.

"What do we do about the rest of them?" asked another one of the conspirators.

"The other representatives will have to be killed of in short order, I will let the rest of you come up with a way to do this. As for Ruse I think it would be better to keep him alive and in a place he won't be of a problem, besides the military is loyal to him so we can use him as a way to get them to do what we want"

Another mob boss chimed in, "Who gets to be in charge when this is all said and done?"

M'kall thought it over a bit to add dramatic flare, "Seeing as I am the only one here who is not a suspected criminal I would be the most likely candidate for Chancellor after we nab Ruse."

Immediately several of the men in the room started to make protests, till Kelech silenced them with a flash of his rather large and powerful pistol. That seemed to get the gangsters under control.

"If this does work and you do become Chancellor, we all are going to get a little something right?"

"Of course my friend." M'kall said, what these createns will get is anything other than the suspect, M'kall had already decided the fates of his fellow conspirators. He and he alone will control the UUC.

The Chancellor's Mansion

Ruse was sitting in a large cushy chair upholstered in a velvet like material reading some papers. The past three weeks had gone rather smoothly, M'kall had been quiet after the vote and seemed to have lost his support after his outburst in the Legislative Hall. The First Exploration Fleet was still cruising further into deep space with no further contacts to report. The Second Exploration Fleet's construction was being speed up and in a few more weeks it would set out for the Galactic East. Several trade companies were asking for permission to venture out and conduct trade with the League.

The Mansion was being readied for a semi-formal dinner to be held with the representatives of the League being made guests of honor. Invitations were being sent out at the moment. Tomorrow would be the ceremony to bless the construction of the embassy and this dinner was another part of the goodwill program being implemented by the UUC.

First Exploration Fleet

Life was always boring for soldiers when they were stuck on ship. With no room to do any real training, no booze to lighten ones heart, no woman to keep one company, it was a boring life. Sh'tell hated every single minute of it. Suer he was a marine, and marines were meant to be shipboard troops but this was ridiculous.

The boffins had made some breakthroughs in translating the alien transmissions, nearly all of them civilian in natuer, military type communications were left untouched so that they didn't just become spies. They had figured out the two major powers in the region, one calling themselves the Covenant and the other calling them selves to Federation. There was also a war one with the Covenant and a third power called the Alliance. Therefore it was deemed to dangerous to go into Covenant Space to attempt a first contact. The fleet had also received orders from high command to contact one, if not both major powers.

The long trip around Covenant space began.

[The Greater Gambia]

Snip Snip Sneroo, wanna see this post?

"I'm afraid a sacrifice will not be necessary." The Kelraaza construct said.

-The AI copies all of the data in the base and stores it on the chip that Shiva's fragment was on, including a copy of himself
-The AI sets the base to self destruct, teleporting in two back up bodies of Jenik under his control to protect the room.
-Jagan leads the marines through the corridors trying to make their way back to the hangar, only to run into Atlas soldiers, causing a stand off.

[The Greater Gambia]

Delete.

[True Refuge]

Captain Syrinx and Oenone
Faux, Faulian Republic

...

The communication officer's harsh voice played again, and the transmission was cut off abruptly before Syrinx had a chance to respond. Her lips pursed together in displeasure.
How rude... Oenone commented.
I wonder what this emergency situation is that makes them so abrupt...
At least they're alerting the ship we're looking for...

"Communications, keep an eye out for a signal from the Second Chance."
"Yes, Captain."

Syrinx looked at Ashly, the communications officer for their crew. Rather shrewd and thin, he didn't look the sort of person that would hold up well in a fight. She looked away before the tinge of guilt could make itself known.

---

Crew of the Second Chance
Orbit of Eto Prime, Faux, Faulian Repulic

"Syrinx is here? Thank God..." Ky muttered. "Right, confirming the Oenone is coming for us. We'll make our way over."

The little explorer ship was filled with the happy shouts of the frazzled crew for a few seconds.
"It's over..." Matt muttered, opening up a transmission to the Oenone after a brief ping. "Oenone, this is Ky Cranel of the Second Chance. Come to pick us up?"

The response came quickly. "Stay where you are while we investigate the emergency situation taking place in this system."

"Fuck," Ky groaned, "Not again."

[Beiarusia]

Faul Republic
Vera
HDF Nomu, Faux System

...

A long moment passed after informing the Second Chance, and though Vera expected the human ship to make its way out of the gravity well that was not the case. Instead it was holding position where it was in orbit. Annoyed, and ready for the distractions to be gone so that they could all focus on the incoming threat, the comm officer sent another transmission, audio only. “This is the Nomu. It is suggested that you move out system for your own safety. Why are you still here?”

[The Orson Empire]

Deep Space

On the outskirts of Tagali space, Covenant merchant vessels, having taken an alternate route than the usual route they took in Tagali space, picked up signals coming from an unknown object in deep space. Upon arriving back in Covenant space, the merchant vessels informed the Covenant authorities of the signals they had picked up, and submitted their audio recordings to them. The Covenant Inquisition analyzed the recordings and were confused, as the unknown object had sent a message telling the ships to enter its system in the Cho'Dosan's native language. The message even revealed the name of the object- the Archives of the Elysian People.

The Inquisition dispatched probes to the location of the object and discovered that it was a space station the size of a planet. The station appeared to be ancient, leading to speculation that it may have been constructed by the Old Ones, as no modern galactic civilization had the capacity to construct an object this size. The Inquisition immediately petitioned Zena and High Command to send out an expedition to the station to further explore it before the Federation or any other galactic powers reached it first, as well as gain access to any ancient, advanced technology aboard the station. Zena, while skeptical at first, eventually approved of it.

The Inquisition put together a team of xenoarchaeologists led by Dr. Kai Lya'Tu, a female Cho'Dosan xenoarchaeologist and professor. She was one of the most famous archaeologists in the Covenant, having discovered numerous and rare artifacts of the Old Ones and other ancient civilizations throughout and outside Covenant space. Aiding the team would be a flotilla of some 250 Covenant warships, consisting of cruisers, destroyers, and frigates, should the station turn out to be hostile.

After leaving Covenant space, the fleet arrived out of warp in orbit around the space station. Scans had already revealed that an energy shield was protecting the station, but it would still allow objects to land on it. While the station appeared to be void of any activity, the ships took all necessary precautions, as they had no idea what they were getting into.

Onboard his cruiser, the admiral of the flotilla appeared to be disinterested with the expedition. He would much rather be on the front lines fighting the Alliance than waste time here, but he knew he had to follow his orders. As the ships moved closer to the station, he received a message from Dr. Kai. "My team has boarded our shuttle, and we are preparing to depart, admiral," she said.

"Very well then," he replied. "We will be sending a force of marines to provide security for your team. We will continue to monitor the station from the outside, should anything suspicious happen."

[The V O I D]

Deep Space

On the outskirts of Tagali space, Covenant merchant vessels, having taken an alternate route than the usual route they took in Tagali space, picked up signals coming from an unknown object in deep space. Upon arriving back in Covenant space, the merchant vessels informed the Covenant authorities of the signals they had picked up, and submitted their audio recordings to them. The Covenant Inquisition analyzed the recordings and were confused, as the unknown object had sent a message telling the ships to enter its system in the Cho'Dosan's native language. The message even revealed the name of the object- the Archives of the Elysian People.

The Inquisition dispatched probes to the location of the object and discovered that it was a space station the size of a planet. The station appeared to be ancient, leading to speculation that it may have been constructed by the Old Ones, as no modern galactic civilization had the capacity to construct an object this size. The Inquisition immediately petitioned Zena and High Command to send out an expedition to the station to further explore it before the Federation or any other galactic powers reached it first, as well as gain access to any ancient, advanced technology aboard the station. Zena, while skeptical at first, eventually approved of it.

The Inquisition put together a team of xenoarchaeologists led by Dr. Kai Lya'Tu, a female Cho'Dosan xenoarchaeologist and professor. She was one of the most famous archaeologists in the Covenant, having discovered numerous and rare artifacts of the Old Ones and other ancient civilizations throughout and outside Covenant space. Aiding the team would be a flotilla of some 250 Covenant warships, consisting of cruisers, destroyers, and frigates, should the station turn out to be hostile.

After leaving Covenant space, the fleet arrived out of warp in orbit around the space station. Scans had already revealed that an energy shield was protecting the station, but it would still allow objects to land on it. While the station appeared to be void of any activity, the ships took all necessary precautions, as they had no idea what they were getting into.

Onboard his cruiser, the admiral of the flotilla appeared to be disinterested with the expedition. He would much rather be on the front lines fighting the Alliance than waste time here, but he knew he had to follow his orders. As the ships moved closer to the station, he received a message from Dr. Kai. "My team has boarded our shuttle, and we are preparing to depart, admiral," she said.

"Very well then," he replied. "We will be sending a force of marines to provide security for your team. We will continue to monitor the station from the outside, should anything suspicious happen."

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

After the Covenant fleet entered the system, the Archives seemed to remain inactive. Yet, somehow, despite remaining inactive, the Archives appeared to somehow know that the Covenant was in the system. A new message was suddenly sent out in the Cho'Dosan language from the Archives, being sent to the command ship as if actively sought out. It was an odd reaction, and appeared automatic despite there being little to no activity other than the continuous and seemingly anomalous sending of messages in the various tongues of the galaxy outward into deep space.

Welcome to the Archives. This is Archive Station Prime, the only active Elysian Archive Station. The Archives of the Elysian People are allowed to be entered. We hope you find your journey to the Archives worthwhile.

The message was eerie to say the least. First, the Archives seem to be anomalously be able to send out a repetitive message in all known languages. Then, exactly when their expedition fleet arrives, the Archives respond with a new, just-as-anomalous message? Who's this "we"? It doesn't seem to be full of hostile intent, yet it is definitely aware of their presence despite the detection of no noticeable activity - biological or otherwise. In fact, the Archives seem barren; inactive... as if the entire station is shut off. Very minimal power is able to be detected coming from the Station.