Derelicts: Praxis (FT, Open)

by **Kostemetsia** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:54 am

Space blinks. A stationary corvette appears dangerously close to the Carrion's bow. It is a thing of very few sharp lines, and is painted in a gleaming gold which says it's obviously never been in space before. It is unarmed, and flaunts that fact for the world to see - and any resulting wreckage can be identified by the Kostemetsian naval jack and ID number painted boldly across the fore.

The corvette points its hilariously large and vulnerable antenna at the Carrion and opens a channel. Across the channel comes an impersonal, probably robotic male voice. Proximate vessel, this is Interceptor one one zero, Third SPEC AC FOR, Thirteenth Division, Royal Space Force of the Kostemetsian Commonwealth. Praxis system is now a protectorate of the Commonwealth pending the location of its rightful owners, as per Border Security Directive 32B.D1. You are directed to leave immediately.

It sits there, waiting for a reply.

by **Pyrovia** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:37 pm

Alpha 13

Vacation facilities, Zhi thought, Not really high priority at the moment, can file that for dealing with later, the survey information isn't much use unless can locate a star catalogue. Ok lets see what this spheroid is.

The Orb that had had located the spheroid proceeded to make a preliminary surface scan of the object mapping its surface and any emissions from the object. Neutron emissions, Zhi thought, so there is some kind of fusion reactor inside this thing, and slight energy flow into the power conduits, now is that intentional or just a bleed. Lets see if there is a more practical way of getting closer to it, they must have got it in there some how. The Orb proceeded to scan near the spheroid for any other access ways.

Meanwhile a short distance from the shipyard a portal opened and a few seconds later two ship emerged, one almost identical in configuration to Zhi's and a larger 250m ship.

by **TRIAD Enterprises** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:51 pm

((OOC Note:))

by **Huerdae** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:48 pm

It was some time before the message got to Sal'Suveen, and when it did, it took two more re-readings before he was willilng to act on it fully. It was a find on the level of divine intervention, and almost too good to be true for the Huerdaen Empire. Not yet one week before they had first encountered some other empire that was well-armed and capable of significant military might, and now they find a massive facility abandoned by that very same empire.

But like all good traps, the bait was too good to be ignored. Unprotected knowledge about an enemy was an item of absolute value in war, and the Huerdaen Empire was not a nation that would give up its soldier's lives if it could save them. Despite this, the likelihood of a trap was well above reasonable levels, and Sal'Suveen wasn't planning to send in a young, foolish commander who would be destroyed by the desire to become great. He needed a captain to lead the battle group that would have nothing to prove, and had the right ideals. Someone his allies had dealt with previously on several occasions.

To his allies, the response was simple and informative without the trappings of formality or the wasted words of politics.

"Thank you for the information, we will be routing a battle group to reinforce your position. We understand your concern, and agree that all finds are mutual jurisdiction and will belong to both nations fully. Our battle group will contact your in-system forces before the final Gate to get final jump coordinates and a status update. Expect arrival shortly."

by **Otagia** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:31 pm

--ACCESSING QUETZAL NODE
--QUETZAL NODE ONLINE
--INITIATING FLEET SEQUENCE #4
--WELCOME TO FLEET COMMAND NET, FINAL DAWN

Confirmation received, my Lord. Kostemetsian Fleet Command has approved our allocation of forces to aid in consolidating their hold on its territory. Now awaiting further orders.

Your service has been noted, Final Dawn. New orders have been uploaded to all Fleet assets: Prepare for immediate departure to system designate Praxis. Assume area hostile until further notice.

Acknowledged, Lord Sobek. All essential smallcraft have been retrieved. We merely await your word.

Very well. Door immediately.

_______________

To the Carrion, it would seem that a green film had been placed behind the Kostemetsian corvette: Weirdly distorted, the stars seemed to shimmer and flash, like swarms of green fireflies against a sheet of black velvet. Then, shattering the illusion, they began to move.

The tremendous bulk of an Otagian dreadnought listed slowly "upwards" from the solar plane, an eighty kilometer pitch black egg. Around it, hundreds of other shells began to separate, each in turn surrounded by thousands of glowing green flecks which danced about their hulls before fanning out into the void.

The dreadnought pulsed, a massive burst of wide band EM radiation sweeping out across space. The ships around it began to glow a soft red, while the facing side of the gold painted corvette began to sizzle and boil. I am ONV Sobek of the Otagian Avatar Fleet. You will comply with the directives of Interceptor one one zero. Actions in conflict with these directives would be unwise.

by **Kostemetsia** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:32 am

Allied Fleet, this is Royal Forces Ship Clarion. Otagian vessel Sobek has jumped in and reinforced one-ten's directive. Jump on my mark.

James Jackson cuts off his thoughtpulse neatly and leans back into his comfortable command chair. Where most bridges look like the inside of an arty-farty electronics store, Jackson's command, the grand cruiser Clarion, has more of the 'luxury car' vibe - leather upholstery, judicious use of wood panelling and chrome steel, etc., etc. It's all very pricey and unnecessary, but grand cruisers occasionally have to be spacebound for years on end. Jackson has been known to be grateful for the lush decorations.

So. Jackson is taking his flying furniture store into Praxis just as soon as he's done here. He thoughtpulses the call-node across the room and accesses the database of the Joint Security Taskforce - and it is a large database. Ships from everywhere are attendant in the name of Kostemetsia's borders: to his port is the Terran Alliance flotilla, and to his starboard is the Red Talons battlegroup. The final JST contingent is still in transit, but should arrive momentarily.

He pulses the node again. Gentlemen, he says to the JST Allied Fleet command, this is Jackson. I want to review our tactics one last time.

by **Vocenae** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:47 am

Praxis III

"...Some heavier concentrations of minerals, sir, much richer than the initial survey reported, and this was just from an active surface scan! If we set up an operation here, I'm sure this planet could very well be a motherlode!"

Engineer Turik Valas frowned inside his suit as his commanding officer rattled on nonstop. They hadn't even taken five steps towards the strip-mine itself and already the man was thinking about ripping the world further apart and retiring to the Cloudland on a pile of credits.

"Supervisors", he grunted to his fellow engineer, Uri Hronin, who chuckled as he lifted a crate of equipment and shouldered it with little effort. Like everyone else planetside, they both wore MRX943 'Goliath' power-armor, which were almost classified as light-mechs due to their size and incredible lifting power. Although they were slow, ponderous and ill-suited for anything other than industrial work, they made up for it in being very durable and low maintenance. With a little luck, Turik mused, whoever used to own this system wouldn't be big on automated weapons. Taking a deep breath, the engineer reached down and grabbed his own crate of equipment, taking care not to stir the regolith. He had no desire to get his face-plate covered in the clingy dust that had coated the bottom of the shuttles.

After several minutes of walking (and checking in with their supervisor who just seemed to be leaving his fantasy world behind), the two of them reached the lip of mining chasm. Suddenly the horizon fell away, countless miles stretching out below and before him, a green-blue abyss that caused something primal in the back of his mind to scream out in fear. The engineer fought the urge to step backwards, away from the gaping maw of the strip mine, and dropped the heavy container on the ground. His friend did the same, and wordlessly they went about unpacking the various pieces of equipment, but ashamed at the fear they'd felt.

It wasn't their first job on an alien world, Turik himself had once worked at the bottom of what had once been a planet's deepest ocean trench, where the steep walls had climbed up so far until he couldn't tell where they ended and the strip of the sky had begun. He heard Uri clear his throat on the suit to suit frequency, and began asking about Turik's brother.

"So, how is he? I know you were telling me the airlock ripped him up pretty badly"

Turik knew it was just to take the edge off, to break the ice and make this world feel like all the other ones that had come before. "Better" he said as he began drilling into the regolith for a core sample "Luckily they got him out of there before too much damage was done. His eyes were ruined, though."

"Damn. they going to try flash-cloning some new ones?"

"No, eyes won't take, too complex. Or that's what the doctor said. He's going to have to have some cybernetics brought in if he wants to see again, and you know how much the Clouders charge to have them imported. Hey you feel thaaashit!"

The ground beneath the two engineers crumbled and fell away, and as they fell, Turik thought he heard that primal voice saying: I told you so...

by **Pyrovia** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:54 am

Alpha 13

Encrypted multiple micro-wormhole Point to Point Communication

"Hello Zhi, Manu is the assistance you requested, and Hui and I were unoccupied so we thought we would drop in and assist, and from our sensor readings something big just dropped in at the edge of the system, So we should probably speed this up as much as we can."

"Thank you Samuel", your assistance is appreciated, "I have also picked up that event, and I agree we should speed this up as we may soon have more company than we would like, I would suggest that you and Manu Start on Alpha 12 and 14, and you deploy a reconnaissance drone to investigate the new visitor, and we charge our reserve jump capacitors and lock open these communications wormholes in case someone starts deploying interdiction", responded Zhi

OOC: Otagia im assuming you were broadcasting that instruction, if not everyone can ignore this part
Excuse me, Manu interrupted, ive just picked up this transmission
I am ONV Sobek of the Otagian Avatar Fleet. You will comply with the directives of Interceptor one one zero. Actions in conflict with these directives would be unwise.
Im not sure who Interceptor one one zero is but I believe we have records of Otagia obtained from 3rd parties though have had no direct contact with them to my knowledge.

"Well we had better get on with this", Samuel responded, "Hui and I will take Alpha 14, and Manu would you take Alpha 12, Zhi So you know the response fleet is on standby should we need them.".

"On my way", came Manu's response.

"Im currently assembling a recon drone and will be dispatching it in the next few minutes", Hui informed the others

A few seconds later two portals opened with Manu and the second ovoid ship jumping to Alpha 12 and beginning to scan facilities while heading towards the largest of the facilities as Zhi had done at Alpha 13 while Samuel and Hui in the corvette jumped to Alpha 14 and began the same process

around ten minutes later a 3m long ovoid was ejected from the corvette and initiated a jump to observation distance from the event, the drone itself was little more than a micro jump-drive, a sensor package and cold manoeuvring thrusters, plus a small antimatter charge designed to vaporise the drone if required, generally if anyone tries to tamper with it or got two close to it.

by **United Planets 1** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:31 am

With the large amount of unidentifed, possibly hostile ships, the decision was made. A series of shuttles were launched to tow examples of each craft they had found for analysis. The teams would then converge on the asteroid base. It took a short time for the craft to be towed into the ships docking bay. The ship then came about and headed back to the asteroid base. Once they arrived the assumed a postion overwatching the entire asteroid. The signs of movement in the asteroid, that wasn't from the teams transponders didn't sit well with Munro, he sent out a transmission to the away team, informing them of someone elses presence.

Asteroiid base

The Away team acknowledged the message and continued on. Now however the escorting Marines were on alert, their weapons in their hands rather than on the straps. The helmet visors of the marines combat gear was searching for any sign of hostiles.

by **TRIAD Enterprises** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:55 am

((OOC Note:))

by **TRIAD Enterprises** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:19 am

((OOC Note:))

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Rethan
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Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Trade Station
Much like the United Planets search teams, the Rethast personnel would discover that the once bustling trade station was now a ghost town. There was no pressure, no power, however there was considerable debris laying around. This alone indicated that the depressurization was not due to a hull breach, but had been slow and deliberate. As Lieber's men fanned out through the cargo bays, one of the marines stumbled across a shipping crate that had apparently been forgotten, tucked in an out of the way corner of the bay.

((OOC Note:))

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Delta Shipyards
The drones indeed did make the process of sweeping the extensive shipyards in the Delta cluster a much easier task. Right off the bat the drones assigned to scan Delta 13 detected the presence of a ship which had been under construction at the time of the Exodus. The Whitestar had it's superstructure and hull laid out, however most of the internal systems were missing: power, engines, weapons, life support. The ship wouldn't be flying out under her own power, however her hull and external armor could still be valuable as salvage or research material.
The Delta-25 and Delta-30 platforms seemed to have been completely looted, either by those who abandoned the system, or by later groups. Either way there was little to be found there but the scaffolds and shipyard platforms themselves.
At Delta-06 and Delta-13 the drones' scanners could detect that there was something down there other than the shells of the stations themselves, but the drones sensors could not make out specificly what was to be found.

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Pyrovia
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Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-13
As Zhi examined the spheroid, the probe discovered that the device was plugged into a socket which tied directly into the power transfer grid that led the probe here in the first place. It appeared to be a miniature fusion reactor of some kind, however it was unclear exactly how the device had found it in this alcove which was barely larger than the reactor itself, perhaps it had been constructed on-site. Removing the reactor from this location would require one to cut through from the deck above, which might explain why it was still here when so much else had been removed and taken with the Exodus.

((OOC Note:))

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-12
Manu and the other ovoid's examination of Alpha-12 was perhaps somewhat disappointing. After a full scan of the station, no power sources could be detected, and nothing looked out of place inside, upon, or around the large shipyard platform.

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-14
Samuel and Hui had much better luck it seemed. They didn't even have to get all that close to the station before their sensors detected something hidden amongst the closed scaffolds of the shipyard. Closer examination revealed a six-hundred meter vessel parked in the scaffold, bearing the distinctive hexagonal column shape of a TRIAD Spire ship. There were faint neutrino emissions coming from both the ship and the yard platform as well, so something down there still had power.

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Vocenae
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Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Praxis III
Gravity here on Praxis III was considerably less than 1G (Earth-standard), only about .4Gs to be precise. As such, the two unfortunate engineers would get to experience a slow tumble down the twelve-hundred meter side of the artificial canyon that was the strip-mine. On the way down, if they could right themselves long enough to examine their surroundings, they would discover that the walls of the excavation were partially glassed, suggesting the use of extreme heat to remove large chunks of terrain.
When the two engineers finally landed at the bottom of the canyon, the landscape looked even more alien than from the surface. The ground was the same glassed-over smooth surface as the walls, and everywhere they looked was geometric precision. Whatever machinery had carved out the blocks of terrain they could imagine being removed here, that same machinery had been removed along with the missing mass.

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United Planets
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Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Beta Cluster
It took some time to tow the strike craft aboard and return to the Delta cluster and the trade station. Due to the hurried nature of the Tranquility's departure, most of the craft sitting in the Beta-2 and Beta-3 shipyards were left behind, the United Planets personnel only taking a single example of each design with them.

((OOC Note:))

by **Techno-Soviet** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:10 pm

Routine patrols by the Soviet Navy near Praxis were quite common, considering the system was sandwiched between the two most important systems of the Technocracy. Naturally, the sudden appearance of not one, but multiple civilizations in the Technocracy's backyard worried the Soviets greatly.

After several hours deliberation between the higher-ups in the Soviet Military, it was decided that, in the event of hostilities, a military task force would be sent with haste to the Praxis system, not only to claim it in the name of the Technocracy, but to hopefully drive out anyone who was already there.

--

Three small wormholes opened roughly a quarter of an AU from the system's 'Alpha' star, depositing a small Soviet patrol consisting of two Centrist-class 'heavy corvettes' (more akin to a light frigate) and one Polus-class destroyer. All three vessels had a look of obsolescence and by most modern standards would be more suitable in a scrap heap than running patrols.

However, the military felt that having powerful ships patrolling so close to home was a waste of resources, so instead these ancient vessels were routinely being deployed on increasingly more dangerous missions; while the more advanced ships were used to defend Soviet colonies and interests across the galaxy.

In fact, there was a great irony in this. The military was capable of sending some of it's most powerful battle vessels to the farthest systems of the galaxy, yet was stretched so thin that it could hardly protect it's own backyard.

Saying that these crews held a little bit of animosity towards their commanders was an understatement, after all, being ordered to attack ships that are two or three generations newer than yours isn't exactly the most enjoyable mission. The ships themselves were also becoming increasingly faulty, due to massive shortages of spare parts and materials for their classes. Power outages, communications failures, 'paper hulls' (thinning of the hull due to high temperatures and general corrosion) and even hull disintegration due to high speed acceleration weren't uncommon among some of the older ships.

The weapons mounted on all three ships were hopelessly outdated compared to even fighter-based particle weapons. Each frigate had about twelve, rapid-fire, point defence railguns, primarily used as a fighter defence but they could be used against missiles if it were an emergency. They also mounted two missile tubes on the bow, each one capable of firing four missiles a minute, depending on the loading crew. The destroyer mounted a similar armament, but also included several point-defence anti-missile missile batteries and at least eight 'heavy drivers', mass drivers that fired high density depleted uranium slugs at a rather decent velocity, although hardly comparable to more modern solutions.

Much like the frigates, the destroyer's armament was easily overmatched by even the smallest modern capital ships. Perhaps the only thing these brave crewmen had going for them was a large amount of escape pods, surprisingly heavy shields and a small fighter wing equipped with anti-matter AShMs. Each missile carried roughly 16 kilograms of anti-matter and was capable of creating a 750 MT. explosion, although each fighter could only carry one and had to carry it at max fuel load just to get out of the fighter bay. While the ships were old, some might even describe them as decrepit, they had been upgraded numerous times in their lifetimes and were actually rather far from defenceless.

--

Forged Dagger | Polus-class light destroyer
Praxis System
1909 Hours

"This is not good. Not good. Not fucking good at all! How many fucking ships are out here?! I mean...look at these damn reading I'm getting, these bitches have better ships than half our Navy, much less these coffins were flying in." The LADAR officer yelled out. He bit his lip as sweat was running in beads down his face. The LADAR console beeped several more times, showing a few hundred new contacts, each one assigned with a designation number. It would probably take some time for the ship's outdated fire control system to sort through the massive amount of data and separate the space junk from the ships, but for now the crew would only be looking at mobile targets, per standard Soviet doctrine. "Aw fuck we got more contacts! New contacts, a whole fucking lot of new contacts. I think most of it is space junk, but a hella lot of it's mobile. EM sigs are pretty fucked up, too. I can't tell how many, or where they're at...we just got a lot and they're all around us."

"Get a new transmission out, raise the broadcast antennae. I want it broadcast fleet-wide on all frequencies and bands, to make sure everyone is listening." The commander said, a few men nearly cracked up when he said 'fleetwide' He was a rather young fellow, probably not even into his thirties. He'd only recently been promoted to this position, after having been transferred from one of the Soviet Navy's more advanced frigates. To him, being on board this ship was a nightmare, even the ship's interfaces were archaic and outdated. The vessel didn't even have a single AI in it, it relied solely on human power and digital, non-sapient...hell, non-sentient, computers. The crewmen themselves didn't seem to mind, although he figured that they never had any better.

The commander's thoughts were interrupted by the communications officer quite abruptly, with a rather loud 'thwack' on the console. "Sorry Collins, I was just having some trouble getting the right frequency, I think that fixed it though. Anyways you're going to have to start making that speech soon, sir." He was impatient alright, if someone didn't respond to him he'd make you respond. His sarcasm was clearly evident as well. It was thick, like his accent, rather distinct from his German heritage, something the commander didn't take too kindly too, but these men hardly respected him. He didn't expect them to, he'd only been their commanding officer for a couple weeks, hardly enough time to get to know them, much less earn their trust. This was the first patrol he'd been on, and he knew it easily end up being his last.

"Right...um...okay. Well then, I'm assuming that--" Collins was cut off by the communications officer, he merely flicked a switch on his console and stared at him.

"You know what, sir, why don't you just tell me what to say and I'll broadcast it for you. It'll be quicker that way, since you do have the duty of keeping our fine, elegant vessel in tip-top shape."

"Right, right, of course, Chief," Collins cleared his throat. "Um...do we have those vessels and everything sorted out yet on the LADAR?"

"Um...actually, we do, sir. Scans are showing a large amount of stations. A...well...a very, very large amount of stations. All of them orbiting four gas giants, designated Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma, simple really. Since we're so close to Soviet space, it shouldn't take long for us to scramble a small civilian salvage team from one of the frontier colonies. We probably chould...hell we would be able to pick apart at least four of those stations in the their entirety if we had a couple salvage ships." The LADAR officer said, shrugging. Before he joined the Navy, he used to a civilian salvager, so he obviously knew what he was talking about. He would brag about how he hauled in hundreds of ships and stations from the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

"That actually sounds like a better idea. Well, we do have shuttles, we could just send them out to the various spots and collect whatever is there. Comm, I'll need you to broadcast a message to any nearby salvage teams, preferbly I'd like a military group but civilians will work just as well."

"Yes sir, I'll get right on that nice message of yours. Anything else, commander?" The comm. officer asked, looking back at Collins before he started broadcasting.

"Yeah, tell the Paxton and Hammer to head to sites...um...Delta-Zed-Six and...Alpha-One-Oh. We, however, will be heading to the very large trade station, probably try to find a place to dock with it while we're there. Surely a trade station would have a docking port for medium-sized ships."

Most of the men and women on the bridge shrugged a little, as if replying to the commander.

"Commander, with all due respect and no offense, but you're just saying station names. While...well..I'm not disagreeing with your choices, just seems a bit odd that you wouldn't select more stations...based on I dunno...actually looking at them." One of the bridge crewmembers said, biting her lower lip.

"I know that. You don't think that I don't know that I'm just guessing? This is a giant space shipyard, everything here is bound to have something of value. Besides, all the stations are in clusters, if there's nothing there, the docks are close enough together that the ships could just go to the next one."

"Commander has a point. Something of value is sure to be there." The comm. officer said, having just finished the broadcast to the two frigates and was now attempting to contact any civilian merchant ships. "I mean...hell if we can get a merchant marine in here or something, those guys have heavy duty cutting tools, massive cargo holds and lots of experience at salvaging. Be better than sending a bunch of screwball stupid Marines who'll probably smash something because they got angry," A few of the bridge crew looked over, staring at the comm. officer, waiting for the punchline. He cleared his throat a little. "Well then, I'll just get started on this message and hope we don't get turned into space vapour by any of these nice aliens who are floating around in our backyard."

--

All three ships slowly turned away from each other, igniting their sublight ion thrusters. The small group splitting up and each ship headed to their respective locations. The two frigates departed for the Delta and Alpha clusters, while the destroyer headed for the trade station.

by **Pyrovia** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:54 pm

Alpha 13

After examining the device and its surroundings, Zhi thought, "Well it appears removing this device is going to have to be done the hard way", The 7 orbs moved to the location nearest the device with the least obstructions between them and the device. The 7 orbs merged into one and began to change shape, reforming into slightly larger sphere with a single arm the lower arm replaced by a nanolathe. Zhi began the process of removing the structure blocking access to the device, when done he would carefully disconnect the device from the power grid and remove from the station to be transported elsewhere and analysed at a later time. After performing a final check of the station for anything else Zhi would transport the device to Alpha 14 and leave it with Samuel as the corvette as the vessel is larger and more suited to transporting cargo, and move on to Alpha 15 and up the sequence scanning each in order and stopping to investigate anything of interest

Alpha 12
Finding nothing of interest at Alpha-12 Manu, moved on down the sequence scanning checking each in order and would, like Zhi, investigate anything out of interest.

Alpha 14
"Well Samuel", Hui said, "We appear to have something here, picking up a 600m ship of some kind bearing TRIAD markings, also faint neutrino emissions from both the ship and the platform, so there is an active power source somewhere.

"Well we should get on with this before anyone else turns up", responded Samuel, if you don't mind I'll check the platform and you check the ship, if its structurally sound we can try and jump it out and analyse it later.

The ship moved closer to the station performing a scan of both the ship and platform to get a layout of them, Samuel at first appearance looked like a middle aged human of 1.8m in height with long brown hair, he carried a tall black staff covered in very faintly glowing blue patterns that could only be by someone standing close by. While he had the outward appearance of a human, anyone looking more closely would notice very fine light blue lines in and around his eyes hinting at the differences in his physiology. He moved from the "bridge" section of the corvette to outer hull near an identified access point to the platform, in front of him the inside of the hull of the ship shimmered and flowed like a pool of liquid metal, Samuel stepped slowly into the surface and as he did so some of the billions of nanites that made it up separated from the pool and collected on and bound themselves to samuels skin constructing around themselves and samuel a skin tight environment suit like a second skin, and on his back a small energy and thruster pack was assembled. Samuel stepped out on the outside of the ship and activating the thruster pack jumped across to the platform access.

Hui, like Zhi and Manu, was conciousness inhabiting the ship and so deployed a set of 7 orbs like Zhi had earlier proceeded to the access to the ship.

by **Rethan** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:09 am

Praxis System - Trade Station
Lieber moved over to where the Marine had called out. Oh yes, this was something alright. Motioning to one of the techs, Lieber ordered the container scanned and sent back to the Leech craft for salvage. Nodding fervently, the Techie withdrew two scanner devices and spent a few quick seconds scanning the whole container. After getting all the information he could, he attached and anti-grav field emitter to ensure it was as light as possible and simply pushed the now floating piece back towards the waiting Leech. Not one to leave things to chance, Lieber sent two of his Marines back to ensure the find made it all the way. Once on board, the Sentry Turrets on board the Leech would keep it safe.

With a quick flick of the wrist, the squads moved forward, their eyes peeled for movement. A tech almost blew his friends head off when the two Marines and technician returned from the Leech, but a quick rifle to the face ensured that the friendly fire was avoided...at the cost of a splitting headache for the offender. With the cargo bays explored, the squads moved forward into the main station. Scans from the Havoc Drones had given a basic layout of the station halls, and so the Marines moved forward with purpose, their eyes always watching for the slightest sign of resistance. Though they moved carefully, they moved quickly, and the technicians found themselves the brunt of many slurs and insults as the squad had to push them along to keep them covered.

Praxis System - Delta 13 Shipyard
The find was immense. A nigh complete hull of an alien vessel, one which scans had determined had some form of hull armour which could prove useful to the incredibly lacking Rethast armour systems. With a command from the Carrion, the Drones moved in, laser cutting tools removing anything holding down the Whitestar. Towing cables attached themselves, the inherent weightlessness of space meaning that even this massive hull could be towed by 10 Drones. With a careful and calculated effort, the Drones began to drag the Whitestar hull towards the main fleet. They had been careful to remove samples of the hull to be studied should the entire thing be lost, but preferance was that the full find could be towed back to the nearest Destroyer.

Praxis System - Delta 25, Delta 30 Shipyards
With the Drones not detecting anything, they were quickly re-routed to another group of stations. The arrival of a large fleet of xenos meant hat speed was of the essence in recovering everything possible. Disengaging from their close scans, the Drones spread throughout the remaining shipyards and began scanning.

Praxis System - Delta-06, Delta-013 Shipyards
The drones had found something, but what they'd found was unknown. With no other option, a single Leech craft moved to each Shipyard. While the Havoc Drones were equipped with advanced scanners, the Leeches had the eyes of fifteen Rethast each to add to the search. The Drones followed the Leech craft closer to the Shipyards, moving slowly but methodically to examine every square inch. Should it prove impossible to find out exactly what was there, the Marines would be dispatched to examing the innards of the Dock. The Drones hovered mere metres from the surface of the Shipyards, all the better to penetrate the hull with their scanners. With the new developments, the less Marines that were deployed the better off the Rethast forces would be.

Kraken Class "Carrion" - Praxis System
The first new arrival had caused a lot of the deck to burst into laughter. Only the Captain refused to join in, his suspicion at an all time high... And when the massive beast of a ship arrived just behind the tiny vessel from the Kostemetsian Commonwealth the crew on the bridge promptly faded into silence. Duty and professionalism was the order of the day now.

"Have the drones speed up their scans and alert our deployed forces. Intact ships or ship parts are priority finds, as they are most likely to have decent amounts of salvageable tech. But we'll take whatever we can get. Get word in to command. No doubt they're watching the Datastream, so clarify that we request reinforcements. And ensure the Huerdaen know the full extent of the situation. And make sure it's got every kind of encryption and cloak on it."

Kraken Class Carrion wrote:To all vessels. We regret to inform you that we have forces present in the system who we cannot leave without. With this in mind we must stay. We have no intention of sparking a war with multiple nations over something as simple as a salvage operation. We will continue our investigations and be out of your way as soon as we can.

***************
Rethast High Command - Rethan
"I assume the transmission and details of enemy numbers have been forwarded to the Star Empire?"

"Yes, Lord-Marshal Vaylen."

"Excellent. Then have battlefleet Katana prepared to leave. Co-ordinate with the Huerdaen and time the jump so that we arrive just before they do. No sense throwing them into the heat of things. Intelligence from gathered transmissions and the Carrion's Datastream suggest that the fleets involved are all members of the power-hungry IRON alliance. As inept and foolhardy as this Imperial Republic is, it would be best not to spark a war with them unnecessarily. With that in mind, issue a no-fire order to all vessels. They are only to fire if their movements are impeded in a threatening manner or they are fired upon themselves. The time is not yet right to declare war on one half of the galaxy."

With a curt salute the Admiral left to organise Katana. A quick response strike force, Katana was one of two battlefleets that were always ready for response. Mobilisation would take a few hours, but significantly less than organising a full invasion fleet. Led by a Siren Class Leviathan, the fleet consisted of a Kraken Class (this one loaded for combat as opposed to salvage), five Reaper classes, and ten Strykers. A formidable fleet, Katana would hopefully be more than able to defend both itself and the scavenger fleet should hostilities break out into war...

Encoded Transmission to Huerdaen Command wrote:Please be aware of a significant hostile presence in the Praxis system. Recommend you jump in ready for battle. Co-ordinate with our forces so that our reinforcement fleet can arrive at the same time as your own to prevent either of us being caught out. Our salvage teams will be happy to share find with you - should you be unable to deploy your salvage teams due to the situation - in return for your aid in securing the safety of our Scavenger fleet. We are transmitting all available data.

by **Huerdae** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:13 am

The war had been significantly quieter than he had expected, as no Huerdaen knew the extent of damage they had done. Repairs and resupply were both quick and properly cared for, as the Hive worked constantly on the many damaged ships from the war. Every soldier dreaded orders, and when they came, there was always a moment of dread involved before they had been opened, and Colonel Mah'Ahrrir was no different. Battle Group Victor had been the first to see combat in the Ataster Theatre, and it was also the first to be repaired. With Glory and Vanguard still in the docks, it left Victor and Bastion to hold the line against an enemy assault. Orders to Victor almost certainly mean supporting action to a new battlefleet, but that's not what he was reading.

A salvage operation had discovered a base abandoned by their new enemies, ones not yet identified. Here, the Rethast referred to them as TRIAD, and that would have to be enough for him. Gritting his teeth, he closed down the display, quickly shooting off a message to Colonel Ju'Niic of Battle Group Bastion, informing her of his orders. She wouldn't be happy about it, but there was no choice in the matter. Their allies, by all appearances, needed the assistance. In the time it took for him to get his orders, already several more messages had been forwarded to him, and his crews and ships were readying for departure as he read increasingly disturbing reports from their allies. Bigger, and more, ships seemed to arrive.

As the all-clear was received from the last ship in the battle group, he gave the order to move out on a path he had plotted. It took them through known Rethast space, but never inside their system. Only once did it end up passing into a system, one which the Rethast had marked as completely empty. It was there they would spend most of their time, updating on reports, conversing with the Rethast, and performing a wake to allow their ships to hide more easily from their enemies. Luckily, Mah'Ahrrir had dealt with the Rethast before, and upon arriving in system, he prepared a secure channel to the Rethast warship currently in-system.

Battle Group Victor, Flagship Hellfire wrote:Rethast Allies, this is the Juggernaught-Class Battleship I.M.S. Hellfire, near arrival at system Praxis. Your reports have been acquired, and our ships are both prepared and ready to assist. Current plan indicates that Gating to the location of your carrier as escorts would provide the best effect. Stealth systems will be operational, but due to current dangers, we will not be using their full capability. An escalation in ship number does not appear to be a spark that will start a conflict in this system, and may reinforce your position for negotiations. We will dispatch one vessel, the I.M.S. Heartsblood, to assist in the salvage operation. I have been informed that additional resources from our fleets may be allocated to assist in the system, if a suitable find can be located to indicate the need for enhanced firepower. Please update on your situation, and be aware that we will Gate to Praxis as you advise.

by **TRIAD Enterprises** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:33 pm

((OOC Note:))

****************************************************************************************************
Techno-Soviet
****************************************************************************************************
Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-10
As the Hammer approached the Alpha cluster, one thing would become clear in short order, the shipyard platforms there held bays which scaled from one hundred meters all the way up to one kilometer long. Each individual platform seemed dedicated to a specific size bracket, and it's total mass was divided into as many bays as possible, which meant that for the larger bays there would only be a small number of bays. In addition to the differences in size, there was a mix of both open-space berths and full-enclosure drydocks.
Platform Alpha-10's docks were scaled to handle ships roughly three hundred meters long, and held a total of ten such bays on either side of the facility. Scanners would show no signs of active power or pressure across the entire station, and there was evidence in the open docks that machinery had been cut free and removed here and there.
((OOC Note:))

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Delta-06
Headed to the Delta cluster, the Paxton would be staying near the Forged Dagger for a bit longer, so they would get a nice view of the platforms circling the Delta gas-giant before each going their separate ways. Delta-06 was currently the subject of investigation by Rethast craft, who could now be seen doing a close pass over the station.
((OOC Note:))

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Trade Station
As the Forged Dagger approached the asteroid housing the trade station, they would be able to easily make out the large cluster of ships nearby. At least three or four separate nationalities, or at least design profiles, were now orbiting the trade station.
((OOC Note:))

****************************************************************************************************
Pyrovia
****************************************************************************************************
Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-11
When Alpha-12 turned out to be a bust, Alpha-11 was next on the list. This shipyard sported bays scaled for six-hundred meter craft, and there were only a handful of these. Two were enclosed drydocks and the remainder were open scaffolds. Drifting in a cargo net just inside the perimeter of one of the open bays could be seen a handful of cargo shipping crates. Manu would have to move closer to investigate the crates and their possible contents.

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-13
Zhi had no difficulty cutting through the bulkheads to reach the power source, and was soon able to remove the device for later study. It would only be a short distance to Alpha-15, with a quick pit stop at Alpha-14 to drop off the cargo collected from Alpha-13.
On the way to Alpha-15, Zhi would have a clear view of the approaching Soviet craft.
Alpha-15 was similar in design to Alpha-13, only this platform sported bays designed for ships only a hundred-fifty meters in length. Most were open scaffolds where ships were assembled, but a few were fully-enclosed drydocks. One of these enclosed sub-structures still seemed to be pressurized, though there were no power readings here or elsewhere in the complex.

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Alpha-14
The initial scan results were promising. The hexagonal central keel was bare of modules in several places, but it seemed that much of the ship was already assembled. Scans showed that most of the module slots were taken up by cargo bays, and the only weaponry seemed to be a scattering of point-defense turrets across it's hull. The one thing which could pose a problem was that there seemed to be only residual power, with no primary reactor in evidence, and there appeared to be no engine or drive systems installed.
The ship was still attached to the station with docking umbilicals, however these would be simple to remove, then the freighter would be free to move. The station itself held no other surprises for the Pyrovians, which made the presence of the freighter itself all the more curious.

****************************************************************************************************
Rethan
****************************************************************************************************
Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Trade Station
The crate was a perfect four meter cube, with stenciled serial numbers adorning it's sides, and a single arrow indicator for which way was up. The material of the container itself was difficult for the hand-scanner's emissions to penetrate, and the results came back inconclusive. With the grav-lift it was a simple matter of maneuvering the crate back out to the docking bays and aboard the Rethast craft.
Further into the station the marines and technicians came across active lighting, though it was only the pulsing strobes of emergency lights showing evacuation routes. If the Rethast needed any further proof that they were not the first aboard the station, they soon found it when they came across the power junction where the United Planets away team had jerry-rigged one of their power cells into the station's grid.
((OOC Note:))

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Delta-13
The docking umbilicals tethering the Whitestar to the shipyard were easily dealt with, and the ship was soon free of it's moorings. As the drones towed the ship out of position, they would be clearly visible to anyone exploring the Delta shipyard cluster. The bright blue-white hull of the Whitestar showing up easily to radio(RADAR) and mass sensors.

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Delta-06
The bays of Delta-06 were smaller than those on some of the other platforms, and there were two bays in particular which drew the drones attentions once they finally got closer. The scanners hadn't been able to make it out from range, but now they found the outlines of two smaller ships moored within two of the drydock bays. At first inspection, the ships appeared to be intact, one was a CR90 Corellian corvette, and the other was a close cousin, a DP20 Corellian gunship. The bays the two ships resided in were still fully enclosed, and still contained pressure.

Sector RK12 - Praxis System - Delta-28
Identification of the scanner anomaly at Delta-28 would not be quite so simple. A pass by the open and enclosed bays of the platform revealed nothing obvious. The Rethast would need to dock and deploy personnel to track down the source of the odd power and material readings which had drawn the drones attentions.
((OOC Note:))

by **Kostemetsia** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:49 pm

Kostemetsian fleet, jump in, the interceptor transmits, relaying through Sobek.

Immediately, ships begin to jump out of hyperspace, massive flashes of light leaving behind massive chunks of metal. A casual observer would recognise armoured corvettes, then further back some mobile point defence, and in the core an honour guard of heavy cruisers surrounding an unidentifiable huge thing with engines and many guns. The Kostemetsian fleet appears to have decided to jump in HMS Brio, one of the grand cruisers that patrols closest to this area of space. Similar, dimmer jump-flashes break open throughout the system.

Rethast vessels, the interceptor transmits after some time on a narrow beam, with a different, apparently human voice, taking an entirely different negotiation tack, you will be allowed to stay here indefinitely as a token of the Commonwealth's hospitality. Any attempt, however, to disable Commonwealth monitoring vessels, or to repossess items which the Commonwealth is legally holding in trust for TRIAD Enterprises, will be met with immediate retaliation. Additionally, you are asked to leave as soon as you can call in your forces. The problem, of course, is that the Commonwealth vessel has effectively forbidden the Rethast from taking anything from the system if/when they go, meaning that the Commonwealth might as well not have said anything - but it looks good.

---

A transmission flies back into hyperspace. Terran and Babylonian battle groups, you are clear to jump.

by **Rethan** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:25 am

Kraken Class "Carrion" - Praxis System
"Should we stop the salvage operations sir?"

"Of course not. Ignore them, but recall the drones and Marines that have found nothing. Have them prepped for combat. Call in Katana."

As two of the Destroyers moved to assist in the salvage operations, the remaining Drones and Leech Craft sped back to the safety of the Carrier's hangar bays. The drones currently towing the Whitestar continued their movement until one of the Penance destroyers moved along side them, at which point they transferred the tow cables to the Destroyer. It moved with full haste, the effects of its Inertialess Drive transferring to the Whitestar. It began rapidly picking up speed and within short moments would jump to supra-light velocities...

Trade Station - Praxis System
"Jury-rigged power, sir. We're definitely not alone."

"Weapons at the ready. Let's move on, split up and let's cover this station faster. Keep your guns ready and fire only when fired upon. Stay in touch Lieber. We have fifteen minutes, then return to your Leeches."

The Rethast Marines moved forward, their visors recording every detail that they saw. Keeping an eye out for anything of possible value, and their trigger fingers ready, the Rethast moved deeper into the base...

Delta-06
OOC: I'm assuming the ships are blocked by bay doors, which I'm going to penetrate straight into the dock. If I'm taking too many liberties, let me know.
"Confirmed ships in the bays. Deploy Marines."

Two Leech craft accelerated towards the bay doors, latcihing on with an assortment of magnetic and penetrating equipment. The drills then began to tear into the hull, pouring Nanite into the breach to ensure that the area remained pressurised. The Marines prepared to enter the drydocks, weapons raised. They would go in, try and find a way to open the dock doors and have the Drones begn to tow the ships out. The second dispatched Penance moved with full speed towards the station to assist in recovery...

Delta-28
With the Drones unable to find anything, the Leech Craft charged the station, impacting violently and drilling a hole into the hull. They would need personnel to find out whatever was on board this station. As the Leech moved closer and closer to breeching the hull, the Marines waited with weapons raised. Once through, the door would open, allowing the Marines and technicians into the station...

OOC:To clarify, any Drones not involved with the stations mentioned above have been recalled to the carrier.

Battlefleet "Katana"
"Welcome aboard Hellfire. Good to see you again. I am Admiral Narton of the Battlefleet Katana. We will be entering the system within the next minute, follow us after that time has passed so we can ensure you are not jumped upon your arrival."

With the message sent, the fleet orientated themselves towards the Praxis system and the ships began to accelerate, slowly at first but with gathering speed as their mass shadows and inertia levels decreased. As the Inertialess Drives of each ship reached full power, the ships vanished, bursting to supra-light speeds in the blink of an eye. The journey was short, but to the point. The various ships in the Praxis system would have to have been watching very carefully to notice the advance of the Rethast fleet.

As the destination drew closer, the Rethast vessels began to restore normal mass decellerating massively as the drew themselves into the system, moving quickly to support the cruiser.

"To all Hostile vessels. This is the Siren Class Leviathan Minus All. You have threatened a vessel of the Technocratic Militocracy. We will retrieve what we have found, as we have no reason to believe the owners of these docks have left them in your care. Attempts to intervene will be met with lethal force.

We are the Rethast. Your species are now obsolete."

by **Huerdae** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:20 am

Juggernaught-Class Battleship Hellfire, Battle Group Victor

"Welcome aboard Hellfire. Good to see you again. I am Admiral Narton of the Battlefleet Katana. We will be entering the system within the next minute, follow us after that time has passed so we can ensure you are not jumped upon your arrival."

The Colonel nodded, chuckling to himself. Moments later, every ship in the battle group had reported back as ready to Gate except for the Heartsblood, which suited his needs perfectly. Slowly, the ships took formation around the large battleship, locking in their own individual coordinates for the gate as the countdown began. Soon, before each ship a rift in space opened, and the ship dragged itself through, appearing in a loose cluster between the Rethast salvage teams and the Kostemetsian fleet. They were visible to optical sensors, but sensors had a tougher time getting a solid reading on the vessels, as if some manner of ECM were interrupting sensors and detection equipment in the area. They each Gated in with various headings, but quickly they righted themselves into a loosely protective formation, wrapping the vulnerable drones and destroyers protectively within the battle group. They made no attempt to communicate, but a cursory investigation of the hulls showed weapon-scarring across almost all of them, as well as recent repairs. The vessels had recently seen combat, and bore their wounds proudly. Even their mass shadow was hard to get a fix on, appearing almost obnoxiously large for the relatively small ships, an effect that served to make any manner of proper classification difficult.

Behind, the Heartsblood was completing the final run over the planet, particles streaming from the sides and rear of the ship in a surprisingly artful display as un-needed energies were drawn away from the hull harmlessly into the atmosphere. Below on the planet, non-sentient species gazed up in confusion at the lights across the night sky. Finally, it broke from the upper atmosphere, preparing to gate as well.

I.M.S. Heartsblood wrote:"Victor and Kraken, this is Heartsblood. We are prepped and ready to move. Infantry groups indicate full readiness, please provide coordinates for direct Gate. Energy readings show a dark Gate is possible, and all systems will be operational."

by **Pyrovia** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:15 am

Alpha 11

Manu manoeuvred close to the to the open bay and deployed the standard seven orb configuration of drones which proceeded into the bay and proceeded to scan the floating crates.

Alpha 13

Zhi approached the pressurised structure and proceeded to scan the structure and identify a access point that would not require de-pressurisation of the structure.

Alpha 14
Having checked the station Samuel moved over to the ship and met up with 7 orbs deployed by Hui. They proceeded to investigate the ship and would attempt to determine why it had been left here and the best way of salvaging it.

Encrypted multiple micro-wormhole Point to Point Communication

"No power core and no engines", said Hui, "well given its size and mass that shouldn't be a huge problem, as we could tow it if necessary but for the same reason why is it still here its complete enough that you would think they would have taken it with them in one piece for later completion, Should check if there is anything on board that would provide a reason for it being left here."

"Samuel", Zhi said, "Ive picked up multiple FTL events within the area of the Rethan ships, something is going on out there, with that and if we find any more ships without engines we will have a problem recovering them, I think it may be time to call in some support."

"I agree Zhi, give them our coordinates for jump in point",said Samuel ,"Hui we had better get on with this so we can get as much done as possible in case things turn nasty, Manu do you have anything over there?"

"I have some cargo crates, im just checking them for contents", responded Manu.

Encrypted micro Wormhole Point to Point Transmission

Source: PSF-AJP1563D6J8
Recipient: Pyrovian Intelligence (via Communications Relay PSF-CR2674G7S9)

Situation Update and Support Request
System SJ46-337482 (Praxis)

Current System Activity level: light(increasing) (1+ confirmed potential hostile)
System Status Analysis: Abandoned (probable salvage dispute)

Situation Update
Multiple FTL events, increase in potential hostile presence, initial salvage recovered, some identified possibly beyond current salvage capabilities

Current course of Action
Proceeding with investigation, collecting identified salvage

Requested Actions
Dispatch recovery and escort vessels (jump coordinates and current survey and salvage progress details attached)

by **Babylon Commonwealth** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:41 am

Above the Gamma and Beta shipyards a buildup of exotic particles began to manifest, building in intensity for roughly thirty seconds before culminating in the formation of a jump-point. A pulse of light which seemed to collapse inward on itself in a blue-white vortex of distorted space-time. The jump-points pulsed as each of seven ships exited in close formation, fanning out slightly upon exit.

Gamma:
Two Omega class, one Avenger class and Four Satyr class ships formed into a loose grouping around the Avenger. All seven ships began to deploy Starfuries; two-hundred forty fighters in all accelerated out of the ships' bays and assumed defensive formations around the fleet. A wing of five fighters headed to each platform at gamma, two more wings moved out from the cluster of capital ships to make an orbit of the planet to check for anything hiding behind it.

Beta:
Two Omega class, one Avenger class and Four Satyr class ships formed into a loose grouping around the Avenger. The seven ships also began launching fighters, a similar two-hundred and forty fighters left the seven ships. Once again forming up around their parent ships in defensive formations while four wings split off from the group. Further splitting into teams of two to inspect the shipyards nearby. Two wings moved out to scout around the planet for any possible lurking vessels.

A transmission was issued from the Avenger class above the beta instillation along an unencrypted radio transmission, it was audio and visual, showing the bust of what appeared to be a captains uniform. The man had salt and pepper hair with a trimmed mustache. His left cheek was marred with a rather nasty jagged scar running from the bottom of his ear and ending just before the corner of his mouth. "This is captain Walsh of the Babylon Commonwealth warship Defender. Greetings to all those who haven't met the Commonwealth. Long story short, don't shoot at us, we wont shoot at you." The transmission ended.

Meanwhile, in hyperspace, massive silhouettes lurked in waiting for the impending events...

OOC:
because inevitably there's confusion over the size of the commonwealths ships, i've included this. See my fact book for visual aid.
(total in system and ship size)
4 Omega class- 1754 meters
8 Satyr class- 1250 meters
2 Avenger class- 1200 meters

by **Kostemetsia** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:20 am

The interceptor's voice goes robotic again. The Commonwealth disputes Minus All's statement, contending that the Commonwealth's request does not constitute a threat. However, the Commonwealth would like to clarify that it is prepared to use lethal force in response to lethal force. To avoid the use of lethal force it is advised that you leave this system immediately. This is your final warning.

---

Aboard the Clarion, way out to one edge of the formation so as to make its role less immediately obvious, Jackson takes note. He snorts, though, at the line 'your species is now obsolete' - hah! Obsolete indeed. Pulling down the PA mic from the ceiling, he says, "This is Jackson. All hands make ready to engage." Across the ship, the lights acquire a slight red tint, and the superstructure begins to hum a bit as the reactor power rating goes up.

The channel cracks when he flicks a switch, jumping to the Kostemetsian fleet band. One more notch will connect him to the entire Allied Fleet - but not just yet. "Command officers, this is Jackson. Any ideas?" The Brio doesn't respond, and nor does the preliminary corvette wave, which has gone into its FTL stage to begin investigation - however, Dorothy Lee, the fleet captain running the heavy cruiser squadron, characteristically recommends caution. Jason Smyth, on the other hand, who leads the light cruisers and the remaining corvettes, is quite gung-ho, calling for a hard, fast strike at the first sign of aggression.

Being a fairly cautious and generally level-headed man, Jackson falls in with Lee on this, and the fleet remains at all stop. However, Smyth's group is given permission to power up its frighteners - visual aids: lights, exposed exhaust tubes and so forth - which are meant to emphasise the power the fleet is putting out and how bad an idea it would be to mess with it.

---

The corvette wave, on the other hand, is amazingly cautious compared to the engagement fleet. When it slides out of its wormhole, it lights itself up as heavily as possible and starts broadcasting a short melody at very low volume across all local radio, just enough to announce its presence and nonaggression to anyone anywhere nearby.

Nearby happens to be anywhere in Alpha orbit. The logical solution is to work in from the outermost world - designated Alpha by the Kostemetsian working teams, although they have no idea what TRIAD Enterprises called it - and so the corvettes, carrying scientific instruments and a few obligatory troops, have seated themselves there. They begin preliminary scanning runs to determine what they have run upon.

by **Rethan** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:52 am

Siren Class Minus All - Praxis System

Kostemetsia wrote:The Commonwealth disputes Minus All's statement, contending that the Commonwealth's request does not constitute a threat. However, the Commonwealth would like to clarify that it is prepared to use lethal force in response to lethal force. To avoid the use of lethal force it is advised that you leave this system immediately. This is your final warning.

"Do we respond captain?"

"Ignorant fools. They order us to leave and threaten offensive action, and they don't call that threatening us? Ignore them, and have all the Penance destroyers tow their finds ASAP."

On the tac-screen a number of red lights begin to flash as the enemy corvettes begin to power up.

"See? Power up shields and prep missile bays. Get us to 50% Inertia with the ID. This is going to get messy."

Across the Rethast fleet railguns, mass drivers and missile bays became a buzz of activity as they readied their payloads.

Meanwhile the single Destroyer towing the Whitestar had aparently gone unnoticed by the enemy fleet and had made it to the safety of Katana. With its flanks secure, the Destroyer charged its Inertialess Drive. It picked up speed and an unnatural pace before vanishing as it exploded to supra-light speeds, the Whitestar gone with it.

On board the Minus All, the captain stared wistfully after the Destroyer.

"That will piss them off. Get ready for combat."

OOC: Sorry for the subpar post, busy as heck lately. Hope this gets the point across.

by **Huerdae** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:49 am

Juggernaught-Class Battleship Hellfire - Praxis Delta Cluster

"We've got comms flying about, Colonel, hold us quiet?"

"Yes, Viriael, hold us quiet. We have nothing to say. How's that destroyer doing? Anyone look like they're coming for us?"

"No sir, the destroyer just made it out, with the craft. Looks like the Rethast are going to test ho- Weapon powerups, the enemy brought in more guns!"

"Bring us up to combat alert, line up the broadside on the new enemy and prepare a formula. Get the destroyers in formation, we may need their ordinance. We'll hold the lane open with the cruisers as long as we can if this gets messy, but get the destroyers to take the fight to the enemy. Priority target: Enemy carriers."

"Yes sir, objectives set. Affirmatives coming in."

Alright, get us a nice quiet channel to the Rethast, and then connect me to Heatsblood.

"You're on, Colonel."

"Minus All, this is Hellfire. We'll hold your lane open, at least far enough to get your salvage clear. We suggest you take up tactical positioning and set for an aggressive stance. We'll provide fire from here, spinals are hot and in-range if they advance. We're bringing Heartsblood in to a different cluster, to try to increase the chances of valuable salvage. She'll be dark, but will be on standby to recover vessels if needed."

Flipping past, he glanced to the console to be sure he was connected to the cruiser on standby, and then glanced at the galaxy map.

"Heartsblood, Gate to the following coordinates. Designated Alpha-15. Come in dark, hang to the low side. Give us something to pay for this madness."

Leaning back, nervously, the Colonel didn't let the uncertainty show on his face as he watched the tactical display, but his neck was sweating beneath the collar. They were outgunned, and dangerously so.

--

Deathbringer-Class Cruiser Heartsblood - Praxis Alpha-15

The cruiser Gated in though what appeared to be a wormhole barely large enough to fit the ship. There was little to be done about the FTL signatures it left, but the ship was running dark. Unneeded emitions were neutralized by destructive interference, but the mass shadow could not be fully concealed. It could, however, be diminished, making the 550m ship appear little more than floating spacejunk as it came about quietly, latching onto the lower side of the Alpha-15 TRIAD installation. Scanning would give away their position, so the ship instead deployed teams of infantry to quickly infiltrate the location, spreading out to search methodically for any possible salvage.

by **Kostemetsia** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:22 am

The destroyer with its precious cargo disappears into superlight. An ooo goes around the bridge, similar to the effect of a particularly good 'your mother' joke - a lot of foreign nationals among the Combined Fleet personnel won't be happy about the escape.

And then the hostile fleet, the Rethast that Jackson can directly see and apparently the Huerdaens that he can't, begin to come to combat readiness. The signs are subtle to his eye in comparison to the pretentiously overt battle-readying of Commonwealth capital ships, but they are there.

"Wa-hey," Jackson mutters, "that was quick. Weapons, prepare the heavy cannon, as obviously as possible if you would. Communications, alert the defence field to stand ready for anti-projectile engagement." The Clarion begins to transition to combat mode, a regimented procedure which will probably take about two minutes. Jackson sits there for a moment, then a thought comes to him. "Addendum to comms: alert a small flight to pursue the destroyer, for the benefit of our allies. Make it look like we're doing something." Obediently, three corvettes and a light cruiser peel off, form up, and jump into hyperspace, a little too obviously following the destroyer.

They'll be back within fifteen minutes, and even if an engagement ensues in that time, the fleet can afford for them to be unavailable. The Clarion has a decent cruiser ring and corvette shield of its own accord, and the Fleet is nothing to sneeze at either.

Derelicts: Praxis (FT, Open)

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