Wrath of the Cosmos (IC, Always Open!)

[The Republic of Atria]

OOC: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=388080

It was a successful day. The gas planet mining stations had finally started production and the results were astouding. Rare metals and gases that could be used for upgraded cybernetics. "Excellent." Came the voice of the old Jason. The old body that he kept around mostly as a face. It had an AI decent enough to pass the Turing test, and that was all Jason cared about. He handled most of the paper work of the business himself. It was the one year anniversary of his transition to full on machine, and he was looking to celebrate once it was time to close up shop for the day. The only thing he had left was his monthly psyche exam ordered by none other than himself, to make sure he wasn't losing his mind to the machine. "Alright. Shutdown, for an hour. Code 2157." The much larger, white machine commanded the fake body and it did as instructed. Giving the appearance of having Fallen asleep at his deak.

And not a second too soon. "Mister Hayden? Your 3 o'clock is here to see you." Came the voice of his secretary. The secretart didn't know that Jason had swapped his mind into a machine because of cancer, but she didn't get paid to ask questions. On the flip side his psychological evaluator was one of the less than ten people actually knew about it. It wasn't something he felt was ready to be revealed to the Galaxy. Yet at least. He wanted to make sure there was no long term issues with the concept before he started marketing it. He stood to make trillions once it became marketable.

"Send her in Miss Kane." Jason responded. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. It's a Friday and I don't get the feeling that we'll be seeing too many calls today. I'll be seeing you on Monday." It was hard to keep track of the days of the week in space. But that didn't stop him from using the calendar based on his best guess. The secretary did as she was told and let in the evaluator. A young reptilian woman who was among the best in the galaxy. And someone he found attractive even in his new body. "Afternoon. Alright. Let's go ahead and make sure I'm not gonna snap and go full on Skynet. Wait. You've seen the movies, right?"

"No." She replied. "It's not a difficult concept. Sentient AI is always a cause for caution." She said and sat down with the large machine directly opposite of her. "Now then. Speaking of killing machines, we're not going to have an incident like last time? Because as great as I'm sure your technology is. I don't think you could save me from being vaporized." She smarmed. Last time she was talking with him, Jason was working on his weapon systems and nearly shot her with the plasma cannon he has built into his arms. "And then tell me how you're feeling."

"One little accident..." He muttered. "No. I've got my weapons turned off. So you don't have to worry about it. And as for how I'm feeling... Great actually. I've been experimenting with some video games and have been called a hacker more times than I can count. Sure, it's because my superior machine based mind can preform calculations faster than the standard organic brain could ever hope to achieve, but it is satisfying nontheless. On top of that, I've received a large amount of good news about the future of my company. New research has proven to be very helpful for the coming upgrades to my designs." He said and relaxed in his chair. "Damn good."

"Uh huh." She replied typing on her pad. "Well that's good. Doesn't seem like transferring your mind has affected your emotions too much. Now, your business rival. Nile Canaan." She said looking over her pad. "Last time we talked, you said that you considered him to be a worthy opponent, but you never really gave me any more details. Let's hear about that."

"Nile... Hm. The one man with the genius to challenge mine. I respect his principles even if I find them rather antiquated. He sees flesh as something to be improved upon, whereas I see it as something as too flawed to be fixed. I will admit, the man has made strides in improving the flesh, but not nearly enough to compare with the superior machinery. Too many problems. Disease. Cancer. God... Pardon my language, but fuck Cancer. Damn disease. But. Were it not for cancer, I wouldn't have my new body. Which I love. Nile is... Almost as intelligent as me and just as stubborn. On the other hand, we're it not for him, I'd be bored. He's smart enough to keep me on my toes. If I were to take over this galaxy unopposed, I'd be much less enthused with my accomplishments."

"Seems like you're just as modest too. Alright Mister Hayden. It's been a year and you've exhibited no symptoms of any sort of psychological disorder. Minus that fluffed up ego, you're a perfectly normal man. In your head at least." She confirmed, writing down some notes on her pad."

"I am a brilliant man. Thank you for your time." He said as he reactivated his bot. "I'll schedule another appointment exactly one year from now. Just for safety. Good bye Miss Naja." Jason said as he looked out the window of his personal space station down to the gas giant below. Things were looking good up for the businessman. He hoped to keep it that way.

[Ella2 6]

Triangulum Galaxy
New Xeno Homeworld

The wind blew a constant west, headed forever westward towards the mountains inland. The patched stones complained noisily as the air rushed between them, forcing chorded notes from the dry fluter's lips. The land was a dead land, nothing but sand and stone as far as the eye can see. The sun fell slowly, casting a purple glare into the sky, in stark contrast with the red sand dunes. Had there been a man camped out on the dunes, resting his weary head on the heated sand, he would have commented it beautiful.

The portal opened in the middle of the desert plains. The first to emerge was a lanky figure striding excitedly onto the red sand and marvelling at the natural beauty of the dead lands. He was joined by three others, all of them encased in airtight suits to protect them from hostile lands.

“Team, we have finished the analysis of the planet, the air is breathable.”

“I want to taste the air,” one of them said, removing his helmet. A faint hiss, barely audible, was released as his airtight seal was broken.

“How does it feel?” Another asked.

“Warm.” He replied. Suddenly, he yelped in fright, stumbled and fell backwards onto the coarse sand, flailing.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes! I thought I saw something. Never mind, help me up.”

The explorers heaved their companion up, took their helmets off in turn and decided that there was nothing else to see. The portal worked, the experiment was a success, and this planet was nothing of interest to them. As they left, back through the portal they entered from, one of them picked up a loose stone, half buried under the sand. “A souvenir” was what she called it.

[Nitom]

"May hell and brimstone guide the path of our enemies in their destruction." These words were the words passed down through the centuries as the imperial navies phrase. Every member of the navy knew this phrase from your basic marine to the highest admiral. It ,however, was not just a phrase. It was the very foundation of the navy. These words were first said during the battle for Nitoms birth when the use of wooden sail boats with gun powder cannons on the sides were used. These mere words rallies entire armadas to arms against nations that would stop the birth of an empire. These words now rallied armadas of a entirely different scale.

Nitomian MW Fleet
NSS Viper

"Darkness? So cold yet merciful." Kegan heard these words and awoke. "What was that?" He asked himself. "Oh well, it's almost time to start the day." He got up out of his bed and went to his mirror and began to shave. After he was done getting dressed he walked to the bridge.

As soon as Kegan walked onto the bridge he was treated with "Attention on deck!" By one of his warrant officers. "Carry on." He said as he sat down. "What's our agenda for the day?" He asked as he pulled up his chairs control system. "We are to move thirty light years at a horizontal angle of 90 degrees and a vertical of 35 degrees." Warrant officer Netz said as he pulled up the hologram of the route. "We will then move into position with two Orion class heavy cruisers the NSS Despair and the NSS Revaluation. From there we will conduct operations to mine a planet in that region." Kegan looked the information over for a time and then signaled for it to be turned off. Kegan Kruvok XX, the commander of all Nitomian forces in this galaxy, a man of many talents. Standing roughly six feet with a muscular build. He was quite young at only twenty-four years of age. His father, Kegan Kruvok XIX, sent him here to lead the forces and gain much needed experience. "Alright let's get this started." Kegan said as he nodded to the control officers to start up the engines and go into FTL.

[The Fallen Jedi]

The Old Masaki Dynasty
Act I: The Sleeping Giant Awakens/Asumar's Arrival

"With my power, and my own two hands, I shall pave the way to our prosperity."
- Kazuko Masaki, Grand Warlord of the Old Masaki Dynasty

Yavin IV, a lush, temperate tropical planet which was located in a remote area of the Old Masaki Dynasty's territory, a world with little historical importance, but connected to the power of The Nexus closely resembled the Dynasty homeworld of Sigma Galli Prime with the exception that the planet was already occupied by an organization known simply as the Order of the Nexus, an organization dedicated to the training of those who held the gift of The Nexus. Many individuals were accepted into the ranks of the Nexus Order, especially those who were of Masaki Descent who also were part of the intricate command structure of the Order itself. While managed by a council of masters, this council in turn appointed two individuals with special positions within this Council, the Master of The Order, and the Grand Master, with the Master of The Order holding executive leadership over the Nexus High Council and held by the prestigious Temojouin Masaki, an experiences philosopher in the ways of The Nexus, with the Grand Master being the legendary Ryaku Masaki, one of the longest reigning Grand Masters and the sole person who was responsible for teaching the vast majority of the 2nd and 3rd Generations of Nexus Initiates.

Within the Courtyard of the Great Temple stood the Grand Master himself, standing upon a blue stone in the middle of a well-constructed personal Meditation Garden, his eyes shut as he connected his consciousness with the vast amount of life that was connected to The Nexus, a gateway to both the darkness and the light flooding his mind, trying to achieve balance within himself. To access both portions of the Nexus's vast power required semi-regular meditation in order to assure that the Darkness didn't overpower the light and corrupt it's user and while Ryaku was one who almost always had an established sense of balance, he was not exempt to the pull of the darkness, but there were those who managed to turn the Nexus into a weapon of immense power and hold the darkness in check, but that was against Ryaku's morals.

"Brother..." stated Master Sanji Masaki, one of Ryaku's two biological brothers, a 2nd Generation Nexus Initiate and a fully fledged Nexus Master who too achieve balance within himself and with The Nexus itself "Long Range Scanners have detected a large fleet jumping out of hyperspace, and they have requested to send a shuttle down to the planet's surface." Noticing that he had gained Ryaku's attention, Sanji walked further into the Courtyard until he was standing before Ryaku's personal meditation garden "This fleet is bearing the symbols of the Old Masaki Dynasty and is being commanded by their Supreme Commander, Asumar Masaki. He requests to view the progress of his son's training for himself." Leaping majestically from his blue stone, Ryaku landed on his two feet before Sanji, a calm and serene expression on his face as he uttered only a few words:

"Allow them to send the shuttle, but I don't want a large military presence, they have nothing to worry from us."

[Esselman]

Planet: Skora MG5
Day 3 of Study

The Fisnik Clan had multiple operations exploring planets, but Skora MG5 was a relatively new one. The dwarf planet was rich in resources probably, but the clan had designated it as a planet to explore. Orbital Station 3 was in orbit of the planet for three days, and they could officially land today. Atmosphere of the planet was still questionable, a blue must often engulfed parts of the planet like light snow so the robotic division would be handling the first landing. The Orbital Station encompassed very few actual members of the Fisnik Clan, the others were just various robots and most were non-combatants.

"Director has issued statement, broadcasts beginning" said one robotic voice over the stations sound systems

"Fellow leaders, I am Director Mesi. Today we launch exploration into another planet, though I must warn you of the dangers, the RDI program has been a success in prolonging the livelihood of our research and our personal. Thank you for your courage, and long live our people." said the message, most likely pre-recorded.

On the orbital station a Council Elder was there in person to oversee the operations. A technician brought in the report, readings of the planet they had been studying for weeks now.

"The ground-penetrating radar revealed unusual readings Elder Shkencë. The charts revealed large shifts and cracks in the ground that appear daily. Beyond our findings of water, if there is life it could be beneath the surface," saud the technician

Elder Shkencë thought for a moment before responding, "We continue our study, send down temporary sets, let the RDI land first and remain in orbit as long as possible."

"On it Elder, the shuttle will be ready soon," said the technician

[Republic of the Cristo]

Gendrik breathed in deeply the air of his ship. Not his ship per say, rather this Kyrusian's ship. Gendrik looked down at " his " hands. Pale, with a gripping appendage he learned were called hands. Gendrik probed the mind of the creature who's vertebrate he had wrapped his worm-like body around.
The thoughts and memories of the creature were fed into the intellect of Gendrik. Gendrik discovered that he had been in hibernation for quite some time; he estimated to at least 30,000 to 50,000 years. This creature seemed to have no knowledge of the Binko Empire, which means that Gendrik was indeed far into the future.

These Kyrusians were surveying the Binko solar system when they landed on Gendrik's moon. This particular Kyrusian lifted up the piece of rubble which Gendrik was hiding underneath. Gendrik saw his opportunity for a new body and immediately seized it. He slithered up the creatures arms and slid past the eyeball ( usually preferring the nose, but a breathing apparatus was being worn by the creature ), where it then snuck it's way around it's vertebrate and seized the creatures neurological and biological functions. He stole the survey ship, leaving the other Kyrusians behind.

Gendrik breathed deeply again. This creature had difficulty breathing in most climates, thus why it was wearing a breathing apparatus when it had landed on the Binko moon. It was a weak creature - even with the biological augmentations of the Binko seizure process setting in ( that being: increased strength, speed, recovery time, flexibility, and immortality ), it was still a limited and ultimately vulnerable creature; Gendrik would switch for a new body at the first opportunity.

Speaking of bodies... Gendrik reached into his coat pocket and grabbed it. He looked around this small ship with a cautious and shifty glance; he was alone, obviously, but no need to take chances. He pulled the egg fully out. It looked like a large pinecone with an orange amber like center. This was the final egg of the Binko race - with exactly 200,000 children... 200,000 children to resurrect the Binko race. Well, 200,000 children and one adult. He whispered to egg, " I will find you a home. I will find us all a home... and we will be a family. " He placed the egg gently back into his coast pocket. He looked back at his control console. This Kyrusians memory seemed to indicate that the red button was the one which raised the cover to the bridge window. Gendrik pushed it.

The bridge window opened up quickly, to reveal streams of light flashing by so quickly they appeared to be long continuous strains. " One thing that doesn't change. Space. " Gendrik had set the coordinates of the ship to travel to the nearest inhabited planet, as this useless creature did not seem to know any major inhabited planets out side of the more useless Kyrusian worlds. It was a planet within the - within the Olympian Empire. The ship exited hyperdrive, to reveal before Gendrik a large sunlit temperate green and ocean covered world. " Alright, lets see what this so called Empire has to offer me. "

( OOC: New Neros, if we could meet. I think I have something that might interest you and your company ).

[Nitom]

fifty-five million KM from Skora MG5
NSS Viper

It was dead quiet in the ship with the exception of small talk between crew members and officers. Suddenly the intercom system turned on and the AI system announced "Dropping from FTL." With this announcement all of the crew began to move around to their stations where they could begin to send mining equipment once they were in range.

Kegan say up in his seat as the scans of the sector that were automatically sent out when the ship exits FTL came back showing other ships in the region. "Call the other ships and let them know that we have picked up other ships on the deep space scan." Kegan said as he watched for any hostile action. "We will not fire upon these ships unless they get in our way." He continued.

Across all three ships men and women hurried around moving pilots to their fighters while crews double checked all of their arms and fuel. Nearly three hundred fighters could be sent out for each wave with a total of four waves. However, each wave after the first would take time to get sent out making it difficult to use fighters to overwhelm enemy ships when only one Socrates class dreadnought was in play. However, these fighters would only be used to engage against enemy fighters as the dreadnought and the two heavy cruisers had ample firepower to fight off large ships.

[Turmenista]

"The Rock"

"SHIT! MY EYES! ALL OF THEM!"

The tentacled Xeno ran out of the room as fast as he possibly could, his large, multiple squid eyes clenched shut as they leaked neon green blood on the floor. Screaming, he tripped over everything physically possible in the corridor of the hotel, using his memory to guide him towards the lift to the hotel. Might I add, his race was the kind that forgot things quickly, so it was rather amusing to see the completely nude squid-human thug stumble down the hallway, screaming as he did so.

"Learn where to touch and what to touch, idiot!" A voice yelled from down the hallway. Pausing after he mashed the lift button repeatedly, the alien turned to the room he ran out of, blinking with his bloodshot eyes go the Vulpan woman currently pointing a rifle at his groin. "I can't believe a multi-armed freak like you would have the audacity to do that!"

"How did you even- HOW did you get that in here?! And where are your clothes?!"

"Where are yours, fishy? Huh?" She snapped. "Don't make me shoot that thing of yours off!"

"My clothes are in your R-"

"Oh well! Goodbye." She said, taking aim. The lift doors hissed open, prompting the individual inside to cover his child's eyes from the alien. The squid-being flopped inside, making clicking noises as he stepped in. "Fuck you, merc! You Vulpans are too damn aggressive, especially in heat! It was so worth it touching your-"

Leah clicked her metal legs on each other, prompting the squid-thing to shut up as the lift doors closed. As soon as that happened, Leah lowered her gun, looking forwards as the door ahead of her opened.

A human man with black hair looked down to light a cigar, then up at the Vulpan who waited for him. He had on a faded flight jacket, with an angel patched onto the side sleeve. Other than that, his boxers were alright, I guess.

"Were you that pirate who flew with me in here?" Leah asked, resting the stock of her rifle on the floor.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Black and red ship. You got a nice one too, that gold one."

Leah picked up her gun, switching the safety off. As she began to head back to her room, the man looked at her, she's sky, as if he needed to say something. "Squid boy left you, would I do any good?" He asked, smirking. Leah simply sighed, stepping out into the hallway. "Alright. Fine. But let's set up some ground rules..."


---------


Essentially, the Rock was a gigantic city built into a big ass asteroid. The only thing keeping the smaller asteroids around it, which held the defensive guns, from flying off, was the gravity well The Rock built inside of it. A large, shielded frontal hangar was where most of the activity took place on The Rock, aside from the crime-ridden biosphere. The hotel was one of many buildings inside The Rock, and was essentially a gigantic city built into the asteroid, which was lit up by huge sun lamps at the top of the cave which turned on and off like an actual sun. The lamps were fine, it was just that the warmth of the sun wasn't present, making them feel easily fake no matter how bright they were.

The Rock was a social area - albeit it was administrated by an aristocratic family of criminals, but it was generally a place where everyone was welcome. Freighters commonly came here between runs for the protection, and for picking up the cargo they had to deliver. Thus, mercenary pilots like Leah were present here, eager to earn a buck between their R&R by escorting the mostly defenseless commercial freighters. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, it was only up until now that things seemed to be going normal. As soon as the freighter captain offered her and the human she had become "acquainted" with, who was named Thom, by the way, 1 million credits each, she new something was going on. She also knew because of the man's uniform, it was oddly militaristic in Esque, and his ship seemed much more "aggressive"' looking, rather than the "soft", blocky freighters she was used to escorting.

Leah perked up upon hearing this information. It obviously piqued her attention. "You're saying 1 mil each, correct?" She asked.

"Correct." The captain said. "Guaranteed 1 million."

"What kind of cargo is worth 1 mil?" Thom asked, curious.

"I'm afraid that's above your pay grade at the moment." The captain plainly replied.

"Ok, you said one million. Huh. We'll do this, but how can we be sure about 1 million credits?" She asked. The Captain took a dramatic puff from his pipe as Thom looked back at the crowd in the bar.

"It's already been transferred to your accounts." He explained. "However, it's not guaranteed to stay there, unless you complete your mission. Alive. Understood?"

Both pilots nodded. The captain brought up a holographic map of the Galaxy, pointing towards their quadrant. "That's where we're headed. The Haven system, not too far from where we currently are. Only problem is that the regular route is infested with rogue xenos and pirates. We can't risk losing the cargo or you in there. Instead, here's what'll happen..."

Taking one hand, representing their ship, he dragged straight forwards to a strange looking system with a Yellow star, other than the previously mapped route. "You'll piggyback on our Slipspace jump to the LKV-8293 system where we'll slingshot around the sun and cruise over to the Haven System. Sounds fine?"

"Uhh... LKV-8293?" Asked Leah. "Isn't that where ships disappear?" Thom just kept his mouth shut as the captain continued.

"Ever heard of the Bermuda Triangle?"

"No."

"It was a legend on Earth - ships disappeared in the ocean. Sailing ships, the ones used on the water. Those ancient things. It's a myth, of course. Just like all the rumors you heard about LKV-8293-B."

"You mean Foundry?" Thom suddenly spoke up.

"Whatever you kids call it nowadays." The captain said. "My point is, nobody goes there. It's the perfect route, considering the cargo of this operation is so valuable. Nothing will happen, and Foundry's practically void of life. We will be fine."

"Then why do you need us as an escort then?" Leah asked.

"Just in case." The captain said, standing up. Leah watched his coat trail behind him as he left, giving an odd look to Thom, who shrugged.

"He's a weird guy." Leah sighed.

"And a big guy." Thom said in agreement.

"Well, maybe for you. I don't trust his plan." Leah said. "If there's one thing that is unsettling me in this world, then it's Foundry. Nobody's ever come back from there, and we don't even know how it looks.."

"Trust me, Foxy." Thom stood up, sticking his thumb in his chest as he fluffed out his jacket. "I've fought aliens for years. I ain't gonna die to no God-Damn Planet, ok?"

Leah sighed, shaking her head as she stood up. As the two mercs exited the bar, Thom placed a reassuring hand on Leah's rear, grinning slyly. "Besides, we're mercs. What could possibly go wrong?"

---

LKV-8293-B aka Foundry

Everything was going wrong.

From the moment the ship entered the nearby system, alarms and sensors began to beep wildly in the Cartographer Room, signaling that something was obviously wrong. While miscellaneous drones floated around doing their work, a lone Guardian floated over to the main console, assessing the situation.

SITUATION LEVEL : VERY BAD
0111010102 c.0bra 001101001
SITUATIONAL SUMMARY : RELIC SPOTTED, CODE WORD: IN UNSAFE HANDS
RELIC CLASS : B, MULTIPLE, ARMS AND TECH

TRAJECTORY OF THIEF CALCULATED: LKV-8293 IN : 24 HR

MOBILIZE TASK FORCE

AI: proceed with opening the box

Following orders, the Guardian hovered over to another console, where it promptly activated a switch. The roof of the Cartographer Room opened up slowly, allowing dirt and dust to fall in from where the fissure opened from. Joining in the group of Guardian's hovering up in unison, the Guardian combined itself with the others, where it formed intricate geometric shapes with its three "booms" hovering around it. Eventually it settled, forming a fully formed ship which climbed rapidly, before leaving the planet completely.

Whoever that was who was out there had stolen Progenitor technology, and would not be going to their destination alive, guaranteed.

---

"What?" Thom asked, as the canopy to the Red Baron, his personal ship, slid over his head before clicking and hissing shut. Leah's own Golden Fox canopy closed and hissed as well, the clicks being the pressurization process that took place inside the ship.

The joystick jolted for a second as the ship was released from its clamps, the Vector Diffusers allowing it to hover above the hanger floor over to the "runaway", where they would be launching from. The Red Baron and The Golden Fox both lined up side to side from each other, hovering at the end of the launch tube. Looking to her left, Leah tapped the side of her headset, tuning into the channel they'd be using for the time being, and them specifically. "Ready?" She asked, her voice coming up on Thom's headset.

"Ready doesn't even describe how much I want the booty - by that, I mean the money, of course." Thom said. His red and black ship was the first to race forward and out into space as soon as they were given the all-clear, with The Golden Fox following close behind. Both ships used the velocity to coast over to the freighter, which seemed more like a Merchant Destroyer than an actual freighter, oddly, considering its firepower.

"What kind of freighter has military-grade point defense guns?" Thom wondered.

"The type to you're going to be Guarding." The voice of the captain said into their earpieces. "Stay alert, and dock in the hanger. You're piggybacking our Slipspace jump to the system. Understood? Good."

Leah looked at Thom through her cockpit, switching to a more secure channel as they docked. "Note to self - don't use that channel."

[The Fallen Jedi]

Orbit of Yavin IV, Dynastic Space
Masaki Worldship #2: The Dominator
Supreme Commander Asumar Masaki
Soundtrack: The Arrival (Of The Supreme Commander)

Usually, the bridge of a Masaki Worldship was abuzz with activity, Masaki Guardians commanding the controls of the bridge and coordinating it with precision. This was not in the case of The Dominator, the starship that commanded the 2nd Grand Armada, this certain Masaki Worldship was under the steward of the Supreme Commander of the Dynastic Armed Forces, and his name was Asumar Masaki, the renowned protector of the Old Masaki Guardian, and even a proud father to Ryuichi Masaki, who was stationed on Yavin IV and receiving training in the Great Temple of the Nexus Order: which brings us to the story of Asumar Masaki's arrival to the planet. It was the monthly visit to Yavin IV, both to visit his son as well as view his progress in his mastery of The Nexus.

On the bridge of the Dominator sat the illustrious Supreme Commander on a rather modern and elegant throne, his fingers intertwined between each other and his gaze upon the planet of Yavin IV. To the Supreme Commander/Vice Warlord, the planet of Yavin IV closely resembled that of the Dynasty's homeworld of Sigma Galli Prime, both planets held extremely large forests that just about covered the entire planet, both also had a history that was long forgotten to even the first Masaki Brothers. But what held the two planets at different standards was that Yavin IV was a planet that held a religious organization on it, and the other was the homeworld of an extremely old and ancient Superpower that slept soundly for thousands of years. Having snapped himself back to reality, Asumar turned to one of the handful of Masaki Guardians that were tasked with maintaining the Worldship "Have we received confirmation to land?" Asumar asked, his voice steady and relaxed, but also held authority in it.

"Stand by sir." stated a rather tall and intimidating Class-Ω Masaki Guardian, a generation of Masaki Guardian that was built for Asumar's personal use, while also maintaining loyalty to the Grand Warlord at the same time. However, this was no basic Class Omega Masaki Guardian, this one was designated as Alpha 01-7, the seventh member of the legendary Alpha Squadron that is also responsible for maintaining the survivability of the Old Masaki Dynasty by any means necessary. After a few seconds of accessing the Holo-messenger System, Alpha 01-7 responded, his emerald green eyes glowing steadily "We have just received confirmation Vice Warlord, sir." the Masaki Guardian stood as still as a statue, the Vice Warlord rising from his throne and turning from the bridge and walking towards the lift.

"Come along now Alpha 01-7, you alone will be accompanying me to the planet's surface, override all protection detail orders, this trip will be a rather quick one, and I do hope that it will be an enlightening one." The Vice Warlord replied, Alpha 01-7 following Asumar without even uttering a word. Usually, Asumar wouldn't be one to allow such little security measures to be established if it was a formal meeting between himself and the Order of the Nexus, but when it came to Ryuichi, the Vice Warlord wanted to maintain as little of an intimidating presence as possible on Yavin IV, even bringing along Alpha 01-7 was a rare occasion in itself, but he knew that it would obviously displease Alpha Squadron if Asumar didn't bring along one of their members to the planet's surface. Looking down at his Communications Gauntlet, Asumar opened up a channel "Prepare the shuttle for my arrival..."

---

It had been five minutes since the Vice Warlord departed from the Dominator, the trip down to the planet's surface was a rather quiet one, with Asumar looking down at the planet from the Shuttle's window panel, staring at it with a starstruck expression on his face, this always happened to him when he was arriving to visit his son, it was the anticipation to see little Ryuichi's progress as well as seeing the smile on his son's face would always melt away Asumar's cold and stoic exterior and replace it with the warm and proud fatherly figure that Asumar always expressed whenever he spent time with his son "I'm actually anxious to see Ryuichi's progress, he was already making great leaps and bounds when I visited him before." Asumar contemplated, a smile beginning to form on his face and his stoic exterior beginning to already break down.

Asumar would suddenly be interrupted in his thoughts by Alpha 01-7, who walked towards the Vice Warlord "Supreme Commander," the Masaki Guardian stated, the shuttle landing rather softly onto the planet's surface without Asumar even realizing that they were already at the Great Temple "We've arrived, and we seem to have a delegation of their Masters and even Grand Master Ryaku Masaki waiting for us." Watching as the Vice Warlord stood, his stoic mask returning to him and making his way towards the exit pad of the Shuttle and calmly continuing his walk as the landing platform unfurled itself for him, and just as Alpha 01-7 stated, Master Sanji Masaki, two other Masters, and even Grand Master Ryaku Masaki stood before Asumar, with Sanji having an equally stoic mask while Ryaku had something of a warm expression on his face.

"Welcome to Yavin IV, Vice Warlord Asumar." Ryaku began, a small smile on his face as he walked forward and extended his hand to the Vice Warlord, with Asumar grabbing hold of his hand and shaking it, his stoic mask losing it's hold on the seasoned Supreme Commander "I trust that your journey here was a comfortable one." The relationship between Asumar and Ryaku existed in the form of being mutual allies, Ryaku did not like the way that Asumar manipulated the power of The Nexus almost solely for it's capabilities, and Asumar found that treating the Nexus like a religious figure was a somewhat ridiculous notion, with the wide diversity of Species in the Galaxy having differing arsenals made the Vice Warlord think that the Nexus simply existed within the vast network of Cosmic Powers in the Galaxy.

"As comfortable as it would be." Asumar replied, the light breeze shifting his black robes elegantly "Now then, shall we enter the temple?" Asumar asked, walking alongside the elder Grand Master off of the landing platform and into the Great Temple's halls.

[Ella2 6]

New New New Earth
Perseus Arm

A fragment of humanity had settled here, isolated from the rest of the inhabitants of the galaxy. It was the perfect place for something like the xenoes to start off with, easily taking over a small society without them even suspecting. This host's body was incredibly delicate, even for a human. But it was sufficient to do the task at hand. Its memories told the xeno which commandeered it that there was a large crater which exposed soft earth only some kilometres from the great 'city'.

Zara, as was the host known to the society there, raised her hand to call a floating taxi, Zara did not know how the taxi worked, how it was able to float. She only knew that it works, and that was all the xeno needed to know.

"Where would you be headed off to, Ms?" the driver asked gruffly.

"The Great Crater," Zara stated simply.

"And what would a lovely lady like you be doing there?"

"How about I pay you, and you don't ask any questions?"

"Just the way I like it," the driver agreed.

---

The earth was soft and moist, perfect for a new queen to reside in. Zara took the queen egg from her handbag and placed it in a small hole she dug with her fingers. The host was feeling some sort of pain after several of her fingernails had broken off during the small excavation. Not that the xeno cared. She then kicked the dirt over it, and within a week, a great monstrosity would rise from the ground. The creature was capable of experiencing 'emotions.' Zara tried a smile and headed back up the slope of the crater.

[The New Earth Federation]

East Seventeenth street
New London
New Earth
4 hours ago


Chris unlocked his door to his apartment, he was glad to be home as it has been to long since he had been in New London he missed the city. For the past year he had been stationed on some colony that was in the middle of no-where as you would expect nothing really happens on a backwater NEF colony. However they all changed two months ago when a coalition of pirates attacked the colony and he found himself in a fight for his life. He placed his cap on the nearby coffee table and went to the fridge to grab a beer, after he did that he went to the sofa and sat down. He turned on the TV and began to watch the news when his pad buzzed he opened it and read the message, it was form High Command apparently he was needed on a escort mission here in New London, he groaned as he stood up. He put the beer back and put on digital urban fatigues and left the apartment...

Space port
New London
New Earth


The convoy of two IFVs and LRVs stopped and the Captain stepped off and barked our order of securing the position. Chris got off his IFV and moved to meet their guest, Jason Hyden who ran the Cybern Tech Inc. one of the largest, the supplier of muscle amps for the Federation. He walked up to the shuttle and spoke

"Hr. Hayden? Senior Sergeant Christopher Rath, you will be riding with me. The last IFV in the convoy" he said pointing to the second IFV "sorry we don't have a fancy limo for you, it doesn't seem convienant"

[The Republic of Atria]

Jason was about to head out for the weekend, but right as he grabbed his old body and loaded up his personal ship, he remembered that he had one last stop. The New Earth Federation's contract was about to expire and he wanted to talk to them about some new augments that they've designed since the last time they discussed. "Reactivate. Sales protocol." He said to his old body as they approached the NEF. A few minutes later he was greeted by the Sergeant. "No big deal. I hope you don't mind me bringing along him." He motioned to the 2.5 meter tall machine behind him.

"He's my personal bodyguard. Pay him no mind. He's just here to make sure someone doesn't get any ideas." He said sitting down in the IFV the Sergeant pointed out. "But yes. Your contract is nearing it's expiration date, and we've got a few new upgrades that you might be interested in." The robot explained. "If you're interested, of course. We call also discuss discounts, bulk buying, and all that other stuff."

[The New Earth Federation]

Jason was about to head out for the weekend, but right as he grabbed his old body and loaded up his personal ship, he remembered that he had one last stop. The New Earth Federation's contract was about to expire and he wanted to talk to them about some new augments that they've designed since the last time they discussed. "Reactivate. Sales protocol." He said to his old body as they approached the NEF. A few minutes later he was greeted by the Sergeant. "No big deal. I hope you don't mind me bringing along him." He motioned to the 2.5 meter tall machine behind him.

"He's my personal bodyguard. Pay him no mind. He's just here to make sure someone doesn't get any ideas." He said sitting down in the IFV the Sergeant pointed out. "But yes. Your contract is nearing it's expiration date, and we've got a few new upgrades that you might be interested in." The robot explained. "If you're interested, of course. We call also discuss discounts, bulk buying, and all that other stuff."

"It's fine, your robot can come with us as for the upgrades" replied Christoper "I'm just an infantry man but I'll like to see these upgrades...now is in new software for the upgrades or do they need to take out the old parts and put in new ones?" Said Chris as they sat down in the IFV, banged in the said if the interior which told the driver that they where in. Soon the convoy was off and heading towards High Command

"Do you have any questions?"

[Esselman]

fifty-five million KM from Skora MG5
NSS Viper
snip*

"Elder. Radar indicates spacecraft have entered near space. Communications have not been sent," said one technician on board the command bridge of the station.

"Send out the automated welcome message, deploy those units to the ground immediately," ordered Elder Shkencë as the technician scurried around back to his station.

The welcome message was sent out to incoming ships that could receive the radio like transmission only if willing of course.

"Hello, this is the voice of leader of the Fisnik Clan Director Mesi. We are currently in the stages of a research project on the current planet. We advise you to work with us in taking necessary precautions to protect yourself and any equipment you may have. We have set up a beacon, if the land is suitable, for which you may land. Thank you for your cooperation."

Skora MG5, South of Mountain Range

Two RDI shuttles were deployed within the hour of the direct order, each carrying 40 robotic soldiers and three Autokton engineers. The planet resembled the moon of earth for the most part, grey surface covering what the eyes could see. Mountains were in the distance but they weren't very tall in comparison to ground level. As the shuttles landed the ground shook slightly, the landing gear revealing brown soil that could easily be mined into. The engineers would remain near the shuttles as a camp was set up rather quickly of metallic tent structures.

A team of engineers using machinery brought out the beacon which gleamed a red light and attached it to the shuttle. A hundred meters from the shuttles a couple of lights that also blinked red were set up for incoming aircraft or equipment drops from the orbital station. Inside the tents they had radar equipment that monitored the odd ground movements. After about twenty minutes the odd blue mist that was seen from orbit swept through the area, temporarily disrupting their equipment and even the robotic soldiers. After the mist dissipated within seconds, the ground began to shake slightly. The odd behavior would be further monitored and the arrival of outsiders would no doubt complicate the clan's research of the dwarf planet.

[The Republic of Atria]

"New parts will replace the old ones. Your superiors were very clear about not having hackable implants. Of course you'll be discounted. The new implants boast a 15 percent increase in strength while being 20 percent smaller. Even less invasive. We've also developed some new designs for the eyes and brain. We replace the eyes and parts of the brain with our new and improved versions. Drastically improving upon on the normal human eye. It can see in thermal, infrared, and features an automatic targeting system that almost does the aiming for the soldiers." Jason explained with enthusiasm. "I've got them installed. The zoom feature lets me see at greater distances."

"Now. I know some people are uncomfortable with the idea of us taking good out your organs and replacing them with high end technology. So we've been working on power armor designs that let the squeamish experience the power of my technology, but aren't completely comfortable with us lopping off their limbs and converting them to much more useful biofuel. Even though it's completely safe. I've had exactly 4 incidents where things went awry. Out of hundreds billions. 3 of which were before we developed our patented liquid metal." He explained. "The point is that I can give your troopers arms and legs limbs that have weapons built in and wired directly to their central nervous system. Like a new limb." It was a proud sales pitch. And he was poised to make an exorbitant amount of money should the NEF agree. Jason made sure his augmentations were the best in the galaxy and intended to keep it that way.

[The New Earth Federation]

"As far as I know the only thing that a Trooper has in terms of cybernetics that is replaceable is his neural implant which is created by you company" he said patting the back of his neck near the base of the skull "I'm not sure about commandos or Paladins as they use different cybernetics. Troopers also have reinforced bones thanks to a injectable metal that solidifies after contact with bone marrow, the metal solidifies only where it is touching the bone marrow. As for the other surgery based cybernetics, I think I would rather stick with the neural implant. Now...you said something about power armor, that would definitelyget the attention of most Troopers and High Command." He said as they hit a pot hole a Trooper on the other end of the IFV started to swear as a one of the sleeping Paladins was squishing him.

"Knight-Private! Wake up!" He said smacking the Paladins helmet, the Paladin woke up and looked over to the Trooper and moved away.

"Sorry sir, ran double patrol duty at the base last night"

"How about you two switch positions?"

"Yea that would work" said the Trooper, the two swapped positions and remained quite for the rest of the journey.

[The Dummies]

fifty-five million KM from Skora MG5
NSS Viper
snip*

"Elder. Radar indicates spacecraft have entered near space. Communications have not been sent," said one technician on board the command bridge of the station.

"Send out the automated welcome message, deploy those units to the ground immediately," ordered Elder Shkencë as the technician scurried around back to his station.

The welcome message was sent out to incoming ships that could receive the radio like transmission only if willing of course.

"Hello, this is the voice of leader of the Fisnik Clan Director Mesi. We are currently in the stages of a research project on the current planet. We advise you to work with us in taking necessary precautions to protect yourself and any equipment you may have. We have set up a beacon, if the land is suitable, for which you may land. Thank you for your cooperation."

Same System - Dummy Designation: N-44


The small Dummy Scout ship exited space at the edges of the system, on a mission of exploration. The AI onboard, with enough intelligence to count as a sentient being, promptly scanned the system with FTL sensors, anouncing its presense to anyone who was there, and causing a small disruption of radio systems in the system.

00:00:00 - SYSTEM ENTERED

00:00:04 - FTL SCAN BEGUN

00:00:05 - SCAN COMPLETE, DATA BEING PROCESSED

00:00:07 - UNIDENTIFIED CONTACTS, DIRECTIVE: IDENTIFY

00:00:15 - CONTACTS ARTIFICIAL, DESIGNATED UNKNOWNS

00:00:23 - REINFORCEMENTS REQUIRED, REQUEST SENT TO CENTRAL

00:00:30 - REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED

-------------

Upon Scout-447 reporting an artificial anomoly, Central stopped all it's other tasks, and turned it's full attention to the report. This has never happened before. Central immidently assigned a task force to investigate, consisting of 1 8 Kilometer Battleship, 3 4 Kilometer Battle Crusiers, 6 3 Kilometer Crusiers, and 12 1 Kilometer Destroyers. Small fightercraft could be produced on site if needed. Central returned to his tasks, but started a new one.

The construction of an Armada.

[Nitom]

Skora MG5
NSS Viper

"Sir, we have received communications from the ships in orbit." Said one of the communications officers as he pulled up the currently translating message. "Hmmm, a language that we haven't encountered before? Interesting, well then let the hive mind process this and then we shall reply." Kegan said as to looked at the message.

"We need to hurry this along, after all we do have to meet up with the NSS Victory and NSS Yang to investigate the origin world." Kegan thought to himself. When the message was finished translating Kegan ordered a reply.

"This is General Kegan Kruvok XX, I am the commander of all Nitomian forces in this galaxy. This planet has shown no form of life and as such a will be mined for resources. If you have any personnel on the ground, I would suggestion bringing them back up. If you contest our rights to mine this world then we may speak on a neutral ground as to what is to be done."

Fifty light years from origin planet
NSS Victory & NSS Yang

"Commander Simonds, sir. We are in our rendezvous point for the rest of the group. Once they are done mining the planet Skora MG5 they will link up with us and we will move for the origin planet." Said Warrant officer Dykeman. "Thank you warrant officer, you may carry on." Commander Simonds said as he sat down in his seat. "Make sure that all of our landing groups are ready to recover the origins gate when we enter orbit and get a good reading of the area."

[Turmenista]

LKV-8293

"Exiting to normal space, in 5."

While regular FTL and hyperspace travel was comparable to a bug crawling across a sheet of paper, with space being the sheet of paper and the bug being a ship, Slipspace drives effectively halved the process by folding the paper, drilling a hole through, and using said hole to crawl through and end up in another place in space. It was quicker and less resource-Heavy, but was less accurate and noisy - Slipspace ruptures often left behind EMPs, and weren't recommended for atmospheric use, especially after a certain incident involving an alien Battlecruiser making a Slipspace jump over a city went viral for its apocalyptic after effects. Though, with a skilled navigator onboard a ship, it made for some of the fastest travel through the Galaxy.

Not too far away from the yellow star of LKV-8293, a blue rupture in space time appeared, indicating that the ship had edited out into normal space. The Merchant destroyer freighter exited the rift, which soon closed after it. After this, the ship, entering the gravity of the sun at a very safe distance, flared up its engines and prepared for a slingshot, which would give it enough velocity to safely sail over to the nearby system. The one thing between them was the ominous planet of Foundry, which, might I add, looked even more man-made, especially with its practically non-moving jungle moon of LKV-8293-A, hovering suspiciously over what appeared to be ancient ruins on Foundry's surface.

"Well," Thom scoffed. "That was anti-climactic. No mysterious ghost ship or evil demons on this planet alright, and no space pirates. Obviously. There's your 'Bermuda Triangle' for you, Captain.. Er-"

"Nick." The captain replied sternly. "One thing I've learned after 21 years in the service against those damn theocratic Xenos, you never know what is gonna pop up on your radar when exploring systems like these."

Thom scoffed again. "One thing I've learned after a tour against those things, you can never trust the orders of your superiors."

Nick turned to Leah and Thom - both mercs didn't seem too surprised that nothing at all was in this system. "Why guard a ship thats got nothing out to kill it?" She asked.

"You all still want that one million, right?" Nick asked suddenly. Both mercs nodded slowly. "Damn right you do, now get out there and guard my ship. You can never say that you're completely safe. Not with a system like this. Get to it."

[The Republic of Atria]

"Sleep issues? I could also sell some Neural Optimization chips. I've got one of those" Jason said pointing to his forehead. "Fancy little gizmo that replaces the part of the brain that regulates sleep. You'll only need 2 hours a day to keep going at one hundred percent instead of the usual six to ten. People spend so much of their lives asleep that I figured it'd increase efficiency. And it has. I've got more time for work and hobbies. And those late nights don't ruin you the next day." Jason explained. "And I'm aware of the implants. The MkVs. A medium end enhancements grafted to the spine. Speeding up reaction time and making muscle memory kick in quicker."

"Now then, is this trip going to take much longer?"

[The New Earth Federation]

"Sleep issues? I could also sell some Neural Optimization chips. I've got one of those" Jason said pointing to his forehead. "Fancy little gizmo that replaces the part of the brain that regulates sleep. You'll only need 2 hours a day to keep going at one hundred percent instead of the usual six to ten. People spend so much of their lives asleep that I figured it'd increase efficiency. And it has. I've got more time for work and hobbies. And those late nights don't ruin you the next day." Jason explained. "And I'm aware of the implants. The MkVs. A medium end enhancements grafted to the spine. Speeding up reaction time and making muscle memory kick in quicker."

"Now then, is this trip going to take much longer?"

"No sir, I pulled a round clock guard duty at the nearby military base on top of that after being wasted at some chaps birthday party." Replied the Knigh Private, who shifted in his seat "Don't those have some draw backs?" Asked the Knight Private turning to Jason. It was a few moments until the IFV stopped and the ramps dropped

"It seems we are here" replied Chris as he placed his helmet on and handed Jason a chest piece of the MKV armor suit "Just in case, think of it as a souvenir form you time in the NEF....it's not everyday you come to the NEF"

[Esselman]

Skora MG5
NSS Viper

"Sir, we have received communications from the ships in orbit." Said one of the communications officers as he pulled up the currently translating message. "Hmmm, a language that we haven't encountered before? Interesting, well then let the hive mind process this and then we shall reply." Kegan said as to looked at the message.

"We need to hurry this along, after all we do have to meet up with the NSS Victory and NSS Yang to investigate the origin world." Kegan thought to himself. When the message was finished translating Kegan ordered a reply.

"This is General Kegan Kruvok XX, I am the commander of all Nitomian forces in this galaxy. This planet has shown no form of life and as such a will be mined for resources. If you have any personnel on the ground, I would suggestion bringing them back up. If you contest our rights to mine this world then we may speak on a neutral ground as to what is to be done."

The transmission from the general was received on board the orbital station.

"Foreigns have no desire for research, only resources," mumbled the Elder as the bridge lit up from the incoming message.

A response was sent as ground units continued their scan from a near mountain base.

"Ahem. General. I am sure the Nitoman are of great nature, and in need of such mining. We will not stop your operations, but nor shall we remove what ground units have been set up. As the Director has asked, we should warn you of the creatures that may live below. Our readings suggest movement in the ground could have unforeseen consequences," said the Elder

On the ground the robotic soldiers were set in defensive positions surrounding the camp just south of the mountain range. The ground shook once more in it's brief way again. Below the surface there was definitely something there, just unwilling to come to the surface for no reason.

[Nitom]

Skora MG5
NSS Viper

Aboard the Nitomian ships men were running around setting up equipment to be released into orbit. "So they believe that there is life on this planet? Could our long range bio scans been incorrect?" Kegan asked himself. "Start a orbital bio scan. At the very least if there is life we will find out the areas that have no life and we can mine there. Then we will release a MAC orbital platform as a research base for this system. Inform our friends of this plan." Kegan said as he looked over all of the information. Soon after that message was sent to the elder.