[Sovereign Charter Only]The Penultimate Frontier IC Thread

[Asgareth]

Inside the interrogation room, Addori Andronan and Commander Gasnia Yultsin waited patiently as Captain Tiberius ranted. Gasnia yawned loudly as he heard the captain throw out a load of threats. It wasn’t that Gasnia didn’t believe he would go through with them, it was more he was swiftly becoming used to them. Even the mindless obliteration of one of the aliens did nothing to cause any concern. Gasnia had seen far worse on the Vorkatrov under the tyrant Captain Askvon.

On the other hand, Addori watched in shock as the alien was killed. Rome permitted the murder of war prisoners? Asgareth would never commit such a crime. Never.
She smiled politely at the captain, as he requested her translation. She had been loosely following the conversation, and so resolved to look at her transcribing device. She studied it for a moment before she began to speak.

“El’audo v’rahk nui. Mu Inveniemus A.R.S.E. shy er a vor eitern vund er mur… errrr….” Addori blinked slightly, unsure of what to say next. “er mur pas un ogun en fyre er pav’kar civak cahk uch…” Another pause. “Captain… I… I don’t know…. Er… scammer ach blude. Er… Captain… Er…”
Addori stepped back. “I think he has got the idea, sir.” She muttered, as she studied the device. “I think the notes are faulty sir. Possibly a virus?”
The alien stared at Addori before chuckling loudly. His laugh began to boom louder and louder. The ship began to vibrate, and the door began to shake. Loudly he began to shout “Ah uck’ur yacka.” He screamed in Addori’s direction.

Gasnia stepped forward, and sprayed something in the face of the alien. “Listen here matey. You don’t wanna be here? Great. Sooner you start talking the better. Now, Tiberius asked you a question. Answer it. In Rusinan standard. Else I’ll have to start removing body parts. Starting with your mates below.” Gasnia studied the alien for a second. “You are a fella, aren’t you? I can’t quite tell…”

---

Laskoi Olwarnan had analysed the weapons and found them to be of little use. They weren’t primitive, but they appeared to use some advanced form of bullets, whilst A.R.S.E. regulations only permitted lasers to be used in battle. Further, their handles were slightly too large to fit around a human hand comfortably. The same regulations stated that alien artefacts should be placed in containment, until the ship docked at the nearest station. Having signed a dozen weapons in, Laskoi headed off for a coffee. Here, he noticed something was wrong.

The coffee machine was broken.

[Romae in Perpetuum]

The Captain rubbed his temples with his hand. This woman was pleasant to look at but clearly a subpar translator, he made a mental note to request a replacement from Central Command when this business had been concluded.
“A virus you say?” He said in a silky tone, with just a hint of menace, “how unfortunate. I suppose we will have to resort to more...traditional means.” He nodded at the centurion who grinned widely and cracked his knuckles
“Just leave him to me sir...Now alien filth, i wonder where you keep your balls?” he pondered aloud.

---

“Nurse! laz scalpel, level four, im having trouble removing...I think its a kidney?” Philagros yelled across the room. This alien was his 3rd vivicestion of the day and he was absolutely covered in the bright yellow blood, ah well that’s why the god Aesculapius gave men scrubs. These specimens were unusually resilient, their immune system instantly rejected all of the sedatives he’d attempted to give them. To make matters more interesting the first alien had stayed alive even after he had removed most of, what he thought, were organs only finally dying when he removed the brain; conveniently placed in a near identical place to humans. This wasn’t the only similarity he noted and it was getting harder and harder to operate on live being who’s nerve clusters he vaguely recognized as being extremely active.

He pushed these thoughts to one side as the nurse brought him the scalpel and he began cutting. The alien began to shudder and make noises that ranged from slightly odd to ungodly
“Removing organ 12 in subject 2” he announced to his team
“Now!” The alien suddenly went into massive convulsions as fresh squirts of blood coated the doctor before it suddenly stopped and the life signs went dead
“Oh, not a kidney then...Bring in the next one!” He sighed exhausted, this day was shaping out to be damn right unpleasant.

---

Tiberius bashed his fist on the desk, it had been hours and nothing. Both the Centurion and the Commander had tried working over the alien, each in a different way. Various tools (and some red body parts) were spread out all over the room all coated in that grossly familiar bright yellow colour.
“Gentlemen we are getting nowhere!” he growled “if we can’t make an elderly alien crack we may as well go home now…”
“If you’ll excuse me sir.” Velus interjected carefully “if you would let me use some techniques I picked up in the 49th Red Rain ill…”
“Centurion I fail to see how a force pike to the” Tiberius began, but he was interrupted by semi coherent ramblings from the bloody mess in the other chair. He looked at the translator and raised an eyebrow, the woman went red and murmured something about the captains maternal ancestor. Tiberius sighed clearly she needed reassignment, maybe something in his quarters.

This, more pleasant, line of thinking was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the doctor who burst into the room panting.
“Captain sir I have it! It's just...dear gods” he exclaimed as he surveyed the mess in front of him
“Ah doctor, i sincerely hope this is good news” Tiberius said pleasantly “for your sake” his tone suddenly darkening.
“Er yes sir” the man gulped “i've spent the past hour cutting apart some very fascinating brains. I have never seen a four lobed brain that…”
“Your point doc?” the centurion said knocking back a cup of wine, and looking warily at the captain who had begun caressing the phase pistol on his belt.
“Ah yes” he continued nervously “the xenos seem to have a higher degree of control over their autonomous functions than we do. That includes pain suppression, im afraid our friend here may not have felt as much of this as was er intended…” he smiled
“But” the doctor continued quickly “i think i've found a way of disabling some of their autonomous control” he stepped over and injected a hypospray at what was left of the aliens neck
“This should do it sir. That or stop his heart anyway.” The captain remained silent, but had taken his hand off his gun. Tiberius waved a hand at his XO
“Commander. At your leisure…”

[Asgareth]

Gasnia Yultsin smiled, as he watched the Roman doctor at work. “Progress! At last!” He stated, as he slowly reached for a small knife. Within seconds, he began to finely cut the torso of the alien. He started at could be described as a left shoulder, and slowly made his way down. Within seconds, the alien began to scream in pain. Gasnia held him in place as he slowly made his way back up with the knife. Yellow blood oozed out of the torso, and a bloodied sword symbol could be seen, pointing towards the left shoulder. Gasnia set to work on the other side, and swiftly copied the symbol. The swords of Asgareth were now displayed on the torso of the alien, much to Gasnia’s pride. “You should be proud.” Gasnia stated to the alien, who continued to shriek. “You are the first alien to be given such an honour. Those scars… should you live… when your people ask where they came from… tell them the True Northern Empire sends her regards.” Gasnia smirked, before he turned to Addori. “Lieutenant, it is in our culture to offer drink to our prisoners is it not? Bring some of that shitty ale. Our friend here could use a drink.”

Addori swiftly complied, and returned within 5 minutes with an opened full barrel of ale. Gasnia and one of the guards slowly uncuffed the alien, and brought him towards the barrel. Within seconds, Gasnia submerged the alien in the barrel. The alien struggled against his captors, as Gasnia forced his head further and further in. The alien was held in position for at least 30 seconds, before Gasnia let him go. He pushed the alien back to the guards who swiftly rechained him. Gasnia stuck a finger in the barrel, eager to find out if the yellow blood had any discernible taste.
“Still tastes like shit.” He chuckled, as he tasted his finger. “Centurion. You’re-“

Before he could finish, the alien began to speak. Sure, this wasn’t the first time, but it did appear to be more coherent on this occasion. Addori instantly began to speak
“Captain! It’s translating! He’s saying… “I surrender. Let my team go, and I will tell you whatever you want.”
Addori smiled at the captain, hoping for his approval. Gasnia chuckled. “Surrender? I didn’t need a translator to tell me he’s surrendered for gods sake. I can tell that just by looking at him. Captain, time for us to interrogate some more.”

[Romae in Perpetuum]

Tiberius paused a moment to pour himself more wine. He looked over the gibbering wreck of the alien for a few minutes before breaking out into a grin.
“Fine work Yultsin; I think you've missed your true calling, I really do.” He picked his chair up and moved it to opposite the alien and, standing, leaned on the back of it. Staring into those disgusting bright yellow eyes he said
“Now, whatever your name is, you will describe in intricate detail the geopolitical situation on your world. You will then tell me,to the best of your knowledge, your peoples defensive capabilities and the location of any and all weapons installations; as well as any security codes you possess. Or i'll let my colleague here express his artistic abilities a little more.” Without breaking eye contact he snapped his fingers at the translator.

---

The captain's chair was quite comfortable Lieutenant Octavia reflected. She hadn’t expected to be left in command so soon, but the Captain and First Officer were busy with their ‘guests’ and no one had seen the Second Officer since he had been sent off to make coffee. So she’d been in charge for the past few hours, nothing too extreme just hiding in the shadow of the gas giant and trying to avoid detection.

Suddenly the on duty helmsman spoke up
“Err lieutenant, I’m picking up two unidentified ships heading this way” he said nervously. Octavia sat up in her chair
“Why didn’t we detect them before?” she shouted
“I...I don't know my lady” he stammered “the gas giant probably masked their approach, whether that was intentional I c..can’t say. Please don't hurt me.”
Octavia sighed she had to be more careful with her temper, her mother infamously used to execute people who irritated her.
“I’m sorry crewman. Are they heading towards us or the planet?” The helmsman sighed with palatable relief.
“The planet going by their projected trajectory, if their sensors are anything like those on the installation below they should detect us in about three hours.” Octavia drummed her fingers on the armrest, would it be worth disturbing the Captain, probably.
“Bridge to interrogation room two” she announced into the comm “Captain, Commander you should probably come up here.”

[Asgareth]

Addori Andronan swiftly set to work as the alien began to speak.
“He says… we are a peaceful race. We live under a global alliance. The planet is peaceful and prosperous. Crime is low, education high. We dedicate our lives to the sciences. We seek out new cures and new ways of living. We seek to raise our people to higher places. We do not seek war. We seek to educate, to work as one. We have very few soldiers. From birth, we learn the sciences. We are defenceless. Have mercy.”

---

Gasnia Yultsin sighed as listened to the alien rant. The population seemed harmless enough. There was only a small military presence on the planet; the majority were dedicated to the sciences. He had half a mind to suggest moving on to another target, but he knew the captain would hear nothing of it. Tiberius clearly wanted to enslave some aliens, and in the absence of any real threat, these poor buggers would have to do.

Yultsin watched as Addori translated the alien. The translator hadn’t impressed him so far on the mission, but he had begun to realise she was in danger of the captains advances. Thankfully, before he had to intervene, a call came through from the bridge.

He groaned as he and Tiberius were told to get up to the bridge. This couldn’t be good.

---

Edwun Alsornva had finally arrived with the captains coffee, three hours late. He resumed his position on the bridge, and left the lukewarm mug next to Octavia. “For the captain, he proudly proclaimed. Say, where is he?”

A quick glance around the bridge informed Edwun that neither the Captain or the First officer were present. Through one unfortunate chain of events to another, this meant that Edwun so happened to be second officer. As a result, he was now in charge of the bridge. He swiftly pushed Octavia aside, who shot daggers in his direction.

No sooner had he positioned himself on the chair, had Addori, Gasnia and the Captain arrived
“Captain on deck” Addori stated.

[Romae in Perpetuum]

Tiberius smilled internally as the navigator scrambled out of the command chair and stood to attention. Outwardly, however, he projected a stern expression
“My coffee Lieutenant?” He asked dryly looking down at the man. The navigator, wisely, kept quiet but presented the lukewarm cup to the Captain. Tiberius took the cup and frowned upon feeling its temperature
“Cold. You have it.” He thrust the disappointing brew back at the navigator and turned to his aide.
“Tribune, dock this man a months pay and no bar privileges for a week.” He turned back to the navigator who, to his credit, had maintained a straight face
“Well man what are you waiting for? Return to your station.” Edwun saluted and quickly took his post. Tiberius smirked, sat down and leaned back in his chair
“Helm, status?” he asked briskly.

---

“Two alien ships heading towards the planet sir” Octavia replied “they’ve been sending radio transmission to the alien installation on repeat, but no one knows what they’re saying.” The captain’s expression remained unchanged but he turned to the translator, who had seated herself to the Captains left, and grinned
“My dear if you would be so good as to access the logs and figure out what those transmissions are” he told her softly “I would consider it a...personal favour.” Octavia tutted to herself, she didn’t know why she was surprised the sons of rich senators tended to view all attractive women as their purview. A few had even tried it on with her back in Nova Roma, before they knew who she was of course. A alert from her console quickly drew her attention
“Captain!” she interrupted “the ships have accelerated, they’ll be here in under an hour.”

---

Tiberius whistled whilst looking at his XO
“Impressive, no Commander? I think the early A.R.S.E. ships couldn’t go that fast.” He said sarcastically and with a wink at Yultsin; he looked at Centurion Velus, who had taken his position at tactical.
“Centurion. Are the enemy ships armed?”
“No sir” he replied “not even basic point defence as far as I can tell.” The centurions console bleeped
“Sir. Sensors indicate the alien ships have passed beyond the scanning range of the planet.” The captain clapped his hands together
“Good! Navigation, set an intercept course; tactical, weapons and armour to full; open a channel to the lead ship and transmit the following.” Tiberius cleared his throat and sat up straight
“Alien vessel. This is Captain Quintus Valerius Tiberius of the A.R.S.E. ship Inveniemus. Halt your engines and prepare to be boarded or face destruction. End transmission.”

Tiberius then crossed his legs and gestured at Yultsin
“Let's show them we mean business eh commander?” he said airily “Centurion as soon as we’re in range target the second ship... and destroy it.”

[Asgareth]

Gasnia Yultsin merely smirked as he saw the two blips on screen. They were small ships, smaller than the A.R.S.E. Progedimur, of a century ago. They posed no defensive threat, and clearly had not detected them. Either their scanners were broken, or they were only set to see two metres away.
Therefore, the decision to shoot them, whilst not entirely surprising, did concern Gasnia. “Captain, it may be best to hold off. These ships… they may be part of a bigger fleet. And even if they aren’t… they pose no threat. It would be a waste of ammunition.”

Edwun had successfully navigated the course, and was now busy transmitting the message. Unbeknownst to both him and the captain had accidentally changed it a little. It now read:
“Alien vessel. This is Lady Quintus Valerius Tiberius of the A.R.S.E. bicycle Inveniemus. Halt your engines and prepare to be sandwiched or face potatoes. End transmission.”
With the course plotted, the Inveniemus would be able to intercept in 37 minutes. Edwun turned his attention to the ships defences, and made sure they were all primed.

In the meantime, Addori had finished translating the transmission. She walked towards the captain and smiled, before she began to read. “Sir. The ships. They’re planning to land on the outpost, sir. They’ve come to collect something… A weapon, perhaps? Possibly biological in nature? Yep. Biological sir. They’re collecting a biological weapon. And… now… they’re asking if anyone is able to respond… they’re asking are they under attack… oh my…. Sir, they claim to have seven large carrier ships behind them.”
Addori looked up at the Captain in shock, awaiting further orders.

Gasnia smirked as he heard this. “Biological, eh? We sure these guys aren’t Iryllians in makeup?” He quipped, as he studied the translation. “Anything on the defensive capabilities of these carrier ships?
“No sir. Just that they are large, and there are seven of them.”
Gasnia turned to the captain. “We need to those two transports out before they get to that weapon. That windscreen is brand new, and I’d hate to see it damaged.