A Second Home [E:E/CLOSED]

[The Grand Network]

HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn
Gaurda Class Battleship
SOL System

High Admiral Nazir Abdurahman stared out of the windows of the bridge. Nazir was a powerful man within the Caliphate's military, taking the position as the first and only ever High Admiral of the Navy. Born as an Afghan noble in Herat, Nazir quickly rose to prominence during the reunification of Afghanistan and became the captain of the Fist of Herat, one of the Caliphate's only original ships. Being one of only two Caliphate captains, he was the clear choice for Admiral of the Caliphate's navy. At heart, Nazir yearned to rejoin the Afghan Hordes in dominating the battlefield with their tremendous light cavalry skills, but he knew he had a duty to lead his nation's navy.

Around him, men scurried around the bridge, readying the HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn for her maiden voyage. The ship was top of the line, years ahead of the aged Russian cruiser Nazir was used to captaining, but being friends with Venetians had its benefits, he supposed. The massive Gaurda Class was a pinnacle of innovation and he was sure glad it was on his side.

As he stared out the window, he saw what this whole thing was all about; the HHS an-Nâbî. The HHS an-Nâbî, or The Prophet as it would translate, was a massive Dutch colonization ship meant for a newly discovered system. Deemed the New Mecca System, it wasn't exactly a gem, but it certainly was something. Amongst the many desolate rocks was a single habitable planet within the system, although its climate was a bit warmer than Earth's. There was no visible advanced life there, but who knows what kind of primitive life could be there. Whatever was there, the Caliphate was going to colonize that system. To ensure everything went to plan, the entire Holy Navy had been scrambled for the expedition. Composed of a mere 10 ships, it wouldn't stop any determined nations, but it would ward off pirates and raiders.

Nazir turned away from the window and paced back to his seat in the bridge. A nervous ensign approached the admiral as he sat down. "Sir, all ships are ready."

"Good, prepare Claudia drives to jump. Hopefully this will be a smoother ride than the wrest of the Caliphate's history."

[Neo Francia]

[Upcoming Post]

[The Grand Network]

HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn
Gaurda Class Battleship
New Mecca System

Nazir looked over the system scan results as the other ships entered the system. It was exactly as promised; several gas and rocky planets, an asteroid belt, and the garden world they had come for. In essence, the system was very similar to SOL, but yet it was so much more. Unlike SOL, New Mecca offered unclaimed riches to the upstart Caliphate economy. Here, Muslims could do things they could only dream of in SOL. This would be the spot where they could prove to the wrest of the world that the Caliphate was a power to be reckoned with.

As the colony ship slowly approached the world, named Jannah after the Islamic conception of heaven, Nazir motioned to his fellow bridge officers, "Stay alert, who knows what's going to show up here once word gets out."

"Sir, scans are...showing intelligent life on Jannah." One of the officers said to Nazir, unsure if it was some sort of malfunction.

"Are you sure? The eggheads said there was nothing more here than some plants and animals."

"The scans are accurate. The life appears to be pre-industrialized and primitive, but still intelligent. Perhaps they could have overlooked them?"

"Ugh, that's probably what happened." Nazir groaned at the thought of a native insurgency. He hoped whatever was down there would be open to the Caliphate, because the last thing he wanted was a war some alien Djiin, as the Caliphate called them.

---

Jannah

"What in the Gods name is that?"

Nlazi stared up at the sky, amazed at what he saw. A few hours ago this morning, he and a few other hunters of his village had set out to find food in their typical fashion. What they saw now was something none of them could ever imagine. Some of the more religious of the group sat down and began to pray, surely it must have been a sign from the Gods. In the sky above, the giant life light was being blotted out by some shadowy figure, perhaps one of the Gods themself.

After the initial shock wore away, Nlazi had the sudden urge to return home to his village. If the Gods were sending an omen, he would want to be with his family to ensure nothing bad happened to them. He would also want to hear the village shaman's explanation for what was happening, because none of the hunters had any fucking clue. He rushed through the lush undergrowth of the forest with several others from the party with similar concerns as him.

---

Jannah

It was night by the time Nlazi returned to his wife and son. Both were okay as was the village, but everyone was murmuring about what was going to happen. There was fear spreading, but it was very subtle. Nlazi entered his hut and put down his hunting spear before lying down next to his wife on what could be described as a primitive bed.

"Do you know what that thing is?" His wife asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

"I have no idea. Shaman Vungu said it was a sign meant to tell us the Gods were coming to inspect their creations." Nlazi explained.

"Is that what you think?"

"I...I don't know. He's the shaman, maybe he's right. Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll be okay." He said as he kissed his wife before slipping of into sleep.

[Venenzia]

RVS Romano Prodi
Gaurda-class Battleship
Sol System

" Admiral on the bridge!"

The naval officers on the bridge of the Prodi paused what they were doing and all snapped a salute to Carle as he exited the turbolift and stepped onto the bridge. He returned their salutes with a courteous one of his own and then made his way for the command console that was located on a balcony type area overlooking the entire bridge. He sat down in the red command chair and then swivled it about so it was facing the three consoles. He typed a few buttons and pulled up a mission overview that was attached to their orders, as well as a general readout for the Prodi and then finally, a readout for the entire Task Group. He scrolled past the out-dated orders for a patrol around Jupiter and Ceres and then pulled up his most latest ones, one that made him become slightly puzzled. Within a few moments, his First Officer arrived at the command center and leaned against a console next to Carle. " New orders Admiral?"

Carle nodded and then swiveled over to look at the man " Aye, we're to take the Task Group and conduct an escort and or tag along with the Caliphate Navy, headed for a new system dubbed New Mecca. Our orders are to strictly adhere to keep the system in the Caliphate's sole possesion."

" Alrighty, sounds like fun. I'll go down and alert Engineering to warm up the hyperspace drive. Shall I also alert the gunner crews to man stations?"

" Aye, but have only a 1/3rd do it with the rest standing by."

Within a few seconds, the First Officer was down on the main floor of the bridge, signaling to Carle to initiate the jump. Carle looked around the room, making sure everything was in order and then he opened a channel with the other ships of the Task Group " Task Group 2, this is Rear Admiral Carle Onio, we are moving out to New Mecca. Target Coordinates are attached to your new orders. Maintain Fleet Formation Beta while in hyperspace, Onio out."

Carle then looked down to his helmsmen and with a smile said " Take us out of here Ensign"

[Solar Ethiopia]

Imperial Palace
Mogadishu
Abyssinia

Emperor Azubuike Salamake woke. It had been a few days since the conference here in Mogadishu, and he had been trying to overcome the effect of the sudden appearance of politics in his life. He had slept a lot, flown to a little known island in the Dahlak Archipelago, with the best beach you could imagine, and relaxed.

But his relaxation was about to be interrupted. Ever since he had come into power, he had had spies in place in the Caliphate, one of whom had been working on breaking into to Caliphate military radio. He had informed the Emperor’s advisor, Kisira Balongo, that the Caliphate had recently launched HHS Salahad-Din, a Guarda Class ship, towards a system that had been dubbed New Mecca. Kisira had waited as long as he could, but now, he had to find the Emperor and give him the news.

“Emperor Salamake ??” Kisira said as he walked into the Emperor’s bedroom. “You’re needed in the briefing room.”

“I’ll be through shortly.” The Emperor said simply, and went through to wash.

Ten minutes later, the Emperor had made his way down to the briefing room, and found the Head of the Navy, Admiral Nwoye Chizoba, in full flow. When Salamake entered the room, all inside stood to attention. This annoyed him. He wanted to be treated like he had been before he became Emperor. He waved everyone to ease, and Kisira spoke.

“The Admiral here was saying that they are sending a ship out, on it’s maiden voyage, from Khartoum Naval Base to track the Caliphate fleet.” Kisira sounded calm, as he always did. If an orbital strike was on it’s way to hit the palace, Kisira would be calmly ushering the Emperor to the bunkers, even if deep down, he was wetting his pants. “Admiral Chizoba also has some intel on the fleet.”

“They have a Dutch colonisation ship.” Chizoba did not waste time in anything he did, including talking. “They are also being escorted by the Venezian ship, RVS Romano Prado.”

“That is good.” Salamake said. “An opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. A large stone, I grant you, but a stone nonetheless. Launch the ship as soon as possible.”

“I am going to be on the ship personally, Emperor. They are warming up the engines for launch now.” Salamake nodded, and then left the room. This was going to be good.

[The Grand Network]

HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn
Gaurda Class Battleship
New Mecca System

The Admiral was beginning to doze off in his chair. As important as this mission was, escorting a colony ship was sure as hell boring. As he began to slip into sweet sleep one last time after waking himself, a siren went off that brought him out of his daze very easily. He looked around frantically for a moment before remembering where he was. He walked over to one of the bridge officers responsible for the ship's sensors.

"Report?"

"We've got a single unidentified warship that's just jumped into the system. Looks possibly like a Russian build. Shall a send a warning?"

"No time for warnings. Our battleship alone should be more than enough to overpower them. Signal for all other Caliphate and Venetian ships to hold fire." Nazir said as he turned to his weapons officer. "Shoot to disable, I want this ship as a trophy!"

Tens of turret cannons and repeater cannons along the outside of the HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn swiveled to target the Abyssinian ship. A barrage of 8', 11' 12', and 13' cannons fired at the enemy warship. The large guns shot at the ship's engines while the smaller guns targeted the ship's weapons. Although its' shields were still up, they wouldn't be for long as the battleship pounded away at the smaller Abyssinian ship. The other ships surrounding the colony ship were sitting at the ready to jump in should anything...drastic happen.

As the skirmish raged on, the HHS an-Nâbî began unloading her cargo. Transports filled with marines, supplies, and people began ferrying between the designated landing spot and the ship. It wouldn't be long before first contact was made with the natives of Jannah.

[Solar Ethiopia]

Admiral Nwoye Chizoba woke from a restless sleep. He had never slept well when in space. Something about the thin layer of metal protecting him from a massive vacuum didn’t really allow him to sleep properly. And yet, he was one of the best naval officers in the history of Abyssinia.

He got up from his bed, and moved over to the sink. He poured water onto his face, and began to pull on his uniform. He felt a few jolts, but presumed it was just a little disturbance, maybe some extrasolar winds. Then he heard the alarms, and an announcement over the tannoy.

“Admiral Chizoba to the bridge immediately.”

---

He burst into the room, with a look of extreme annoyance.

“What the fuck is so desperate that you’re ordering a fucking Admiral to the bridge ??” Chizoba asked, with a look that challenged anybody to argue back.

“We’re being shot at, Admiral.” Said the Captain of the ship, Kwemto Ozuluonye. “The colony ship the Caliphate brought seems to be a lot more armed than we think. The shields are depleting fast, and we need to talk to the ship to negotiate a ceasefire.”

“Fucking Muslims,” muttered the Admiral under his breath. “Right, get me a comms link to the ship. I need to give these idiots a talking to.”

---

“We have a connection, Admiral,” came the shout from the comms desk about 5 minutes.

“Give me the line.” Called Chizoba. He then cleared his throat, and addressed the ship. “HHS Salahdin, this is Admiral Nwoye Chizoba of the Abyssinian Navy onboard HIHV Courageous. I’m going to ask you quite a simple question. Why the fuck are you shooting at us ??”

[Neo Francia]

“For the past twenty-four years, New Horizon Industries has grown from a small collective of businesses operating outside of our Solar System, to the Empire's largest private corporation involved with the vital energy source now known today as Claudia. Extraction, refinement, importing, exporting, and even Claudia-based research are just some of the many areas that New Horizon Industries is involved in. Founded by Count Philip...”

The sound of a bell resonated throughout the large office, indicating the arrival of a visitor. A man glanced up from the hologram that hovered above his desk. Deep blue eyes portrayed the tiniest glimpse of irritation at being interrupted, yet in an instant it was gone.

“Monsieur Giles, I was not expecting you.” he spoke, referring to his uninvited guest. Lucas Giles was the head of New Horizon's Survey Department, a sector devoted to the location of Claudia sources outside of the Solar System. He had served the company since it's inception, and was perhaps the most senior member of New Horizon's administration.

“Monsieur Rose, pardon the interruption, but I do believe what I have to say requires your attention” Lucas said, tapping a few keys on his electronic tablet that he had carried with him. Immediately the hologram that hovered above the desk of Monsieur Rose changed, showing the stellar map of an unknown system.

“Our scouts have been scanning the area for nearly seven months, and from we have detected from both the various asteroids, and planets there exists a significant amount of Claudia deposits. Deposits, which if were to get our hands on, would prove beneficial to this company and it's shareholders.”

Theirn Rose nodded in agreement. His eyes scanning the map, examining the celestial bodies that lingered in the never ending vastness of space. “Is anyone else aware of this discovery?”

Lucas shook his head, “My department has made sure that news of this has not reached the upper sectors of our government.” He laughs, “We can imagine the bureaucratic mess we would have to go through, if the ACD got ahold of this.”

Rose's face remained impassive at Lucas' attempt at humor. “Besides our own government, have their been any external forces who are aware of this system?”

“Our scouts have yet to report anything, although we have reason believe that an area such as this will not remain undetected for too long”

Theirn stood up from his desk, and walked towards the large clear glass window that made up the southern wall of his office. From the highest point of Horizon Towers, the entirety of the capitol's commercial sector could be seen. Illuminated by the light of the Venusian sun.

“Send in the Third Mineral Fleet, make sure it is supplied with the necessary armaments should it encounter any...difficulties.”

[Neo Francia]

The Third Mineral Fleet, was one out of the many Interstellar expeditionary force utilized by New Horizon Industries. Intended to begin mining operation whenever a new deposit was located, the fleet would arrive to begin construction of the essential bases, and if there were no problems, extraction, and refinement could start in a matter of weeks.

The Fleet comprised of several older cruisers and convoy ships, no longer in use by the Imperial Frankish Navy. Gutted out, and refurbished. Designed to hold, and transport people, equipment, and supplies. The essentials needed to start off operations. Despite their age, they were outfitted with basic shields, and kinetic weaponry. Not enough to necessarily wage war, but to fend off pirates until New Horizon forces could arrive to relieve them.

At the center of the mass of moving ships that drifted through the darkness of space was The Amethyst. Essentially the Capital ship of the Third Mineral Fleet. On board the Amethyst's bridge, Captain Alderic Perrot stood. He was young, only twenty-four years of age. Yet despite his age, Captain Perrot had emerged as one of the best captains in the entire New Horizon fleet. Leading expeditions across various systems, and successfully completing the objectives he had been assigned.

The bridge of the Amethyst was large, much of the space filled with the necessary machinery that ran not just the ship, but the entire Third Mineral Fleet. The lights that emanated from the many holoscreens illuminated the room, and the sounds of men and woman talking, machines beeping, filled the air.

Alderic turned to the woman standing next to him. She was dressed in the typical uniform of those of the Mineral Fleets. A dark gray military suit, with a stiff collar, well polished buttons, identification card placed on the left breast, and the insignia of New Horizon Industries, the solar system revolving around a giant cog, located on the right.

“How much longer until the drives are ready for the jump?”

The woman saluted, and spoke clearly, “Claudia drives should be ready in two minutes, sir”

The Captain nodded, and glanced at the nearest screen, which showed the world outside of the ship. Emptiness, with the only spots of light being the vast sun of sol, and the crown jewel of The Frankish Empire. Venus. The vibrations coming from the Claudia drives shook the entire ship, and with a great force never thought possible, the Amethyst and the entire fleet entered the nether.

[The Grand Network]

HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn
Gaurda Class Battleship
New Mecca System

Nazir sat slumped, holding his head up with his hand as he studied the incoming information displaying itself on the bridge. As his battleship pounded the Ethiopian vessel, one of the men in comms saw the incoming hail.

"Sir, the ship is trying to connect to us," the comms officer signaled to the admiral.

"Hold fire for the time being, but be ready for anything. Put them through," Nazir said, straightening himself up in his seat. "This is High Admiral Nazir Abdurahman of the HHS Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn. Your ship has entered sovereign Caliphate territory and is intruding on a very sensitive military operation. Power down your weapons and engines and prepare to be boarded or we'll continue firing."

---

LZ Prime
Jannah

Captain Houari Wattar was updating a map on the security situation of the colony. Houari was a member of an elite marine commando team called the Corsairs after the thousand year old Barbary pirates. They were generally used for rapid space-to-ground deployments. Although this wasn't as rough as their usual landings, this was a big step forward for the Caliphate and they weren't going to trust the protection of the initial LZ to just any soldiers. Houari's team certainly certainly wasn't made of just any soldiers, as the Corsairs were very well trained to take on anything they could encounter at their landing zone.

The drop point, designated LZ Prime, was in a desert near the edge of a huge tropical oasis. The specific area was chosen as it was very similar to most of the future colonist's old homes. Shuttles and transport ships were constantly coming down, unloading people and supplies under the protection of the Corsairs. Houari was standing in the makeshift command center of the ground operations.

"Me and my men have secured the area, sir. I haven't seen any kind of aliens yet, so maybe the eggheads are wrong," Houari said, still updating some files.

"Good. It's pretty clear that there's nothing of note in this desert, at least not around here. That oasis is like a small rain forest though," Colonel Muhamad Khan, commander of the ground forces, explained.

"Would you like me to go scout it out?"

"Yeah. Take a couple of men with you. There's no telling what could be in there. Hopefully it will give us a better idea of what the wrest of this planet is like."

"Yes, sir!" Houari saluted before exiting the room. He went to ready his weapons and supplies for whatever could be in that oasis.

[Neo Francia]

In the beginning there is complete and utter darkness, and then in an instant there is light. An explosion of radiance that pierces the very darkest corners of the New System. Where there was nothing, great bulking figures begin to emerge as if from the very light itself.

It never ceases to amaze him; the raw power it took to move from one end of the galaxy to the next. Bending time and space, a gift surely only capable by God, now in the hands of humanity. Perrot chuckles, as he turns away from a on the many screens that display the outside world.

The shocks from the jump have subsided by now, and he calls for a status report on the state of the Fleet. The Communications officer looks at the display, and reports quickly.

“Sir, the Fleet is stable. There were no complications concerning the jump”

Perrot nods, and makes his way to his command post. Sitting down, he presses the panel on the side of the chair and a map displaying a grid line map of the system is displayed. “Set course, for D-89, our orders are to begin to operations there”

D-89 was the quintessential 'garden world' as others might have put it. Having a suitable supply of water, proper temperature, and vital atmospheric conditions to sustain life. Perfect for colonization. However the fleet was not interested in colonizing, for D-89 possessed something far greater. Beneath it's surface sensors had detected a large quantity of Claudia deposits, the largest in the entire systems. The Company had foreseen the wealth that such a place could bring, and had acted appropriately to seize it.

Of course there was the probability that life might exist on the paradise world, whether it was intelligent was yet to be determined.

“Sir, our sensors have picked up activity. Not on any planet sir, but in space. As far as we can tell they fly under Abyssinian and Caliphate colors”

Perrot gasps in surprise. Tentatively he asks the dreaded question, “How many?”

“A considerable amount”

The silence on the bridge is almost unbearable. 'Jesus Christ, they aren't supposed to be here. Oh God, if their hostile were gonna get shredded'. Perrot raises a hand to rub his aching temple, 'Calm yourself Perrot, you didn't make it this far, making stupid mistakes in the heat of the moment'

The Communications Officer breaks the silence, “Your orders Captain?”

“Hail them”

***

Code: Select all

“Attention, I am Captain Alderic Perrot, of the ship Amethyst, and leader of the New Horizon Industries Third Mineral Fleet. What is your business in this system?”

[Venenzia]

RVS Romano Prodi
Gaurda-class Battleship
New Mecca System

To be frank, the Venetian Task Group's role was one of a escort. They were to provide an escort to the Caliphate's colonization forces and ensure nothing hindered their operations. Nothing at all. Of course, Carle left the ground fighting to them, he figured their troops could use the experience more then the already battle hardened Venetian soldiers fresh out of the last French Crusade. None the less, he had a Dragoon regiment on board in case anything went drastically south, but given their progress so far, he doubted that.

Carle was actually comfortabled in his chair at the moment, his feet propped up on one of the control consoles situated around it. Around the floor were a varying number of orange peels, freshly cut off of the numerous oranges Carle had consumed while awaiting some actual tasks. In one hand he held a simple carving knife and the other was stained with orange juice. He had been careful about his uniform however, his hat hanging with his jacket on the chair. Around him, the bridge was somewhat deserted, he had dismissed non-essential staff hours ago to go enjoy some recreation themselves. He even noticed from Engineering readouts that some crew from the other ships had come on board and joined in the fun. It was so far a rather very laid back assignment.

One of the handful of officers that had been required to stay on the bridge was the Communications officer, a young Ensign no older then twenty at this time. With him, the officers for Weapons, Engineering and Carle's First Officer also remained on the bridge. Like the rest of them, the Ensign had been idly staring at his command consoles, his eyes giving the odd look over to the radar panel, and then quickly retreated when it realized that just like it had been for the hours prior, no hostile contacts. At least, till now. As the young man gave it another look and then looked away, he suddenly sat up straight, a puzzled look on his face. He then gave the panel a second glance and a small look of shock appeared on his face, before he called out to the Admiral " Admiral sire, I have unconfirmed pings on the radar sir, in what appears to be a small fleet. "

The young man with the whizz, whirl and tapping of a few buttons and executions of commands, made an addition to a statement that gave the Admiral slight pause " Sir, scanners have confirmed them to be older model French vessels, decommissioned decades ago and now in the service of the New Horizion company. Believed to be a unofficial front for the Imperial French government by our intelligence sources. It appears they have sent us a hail, playing it for you now..."

The French message was run through the computer's translator and then played back on the bridge's speakers, every word sinking into Carle. When it was done, he threw the last of the orange into his mouth, taking two bites and swallowing it and then leaned forward towards a console on his left and activated the Battle mode for the ship, causing the ships klaxons to go off and a automated message was deployed that informed all hands to man their battle stations. His First Officer looked at him with a look, to which Carle immediately picked up and replied to " We're under orders not to let anything interfere with the Calphiate's colonization here and if it means I get to fry up some Frogs for dinner, I'm one hellishly happy man. Order all hands to battle stations, and Lieutenant, I want every gun on this ship trained on their closest vessel. Relay to the Code Red and those orders to the rest of the Task Force Ensign. "

As officers and crew came running into the bridge to man their posts, Carle stood up and stared out the window displayed at the front of the bridge that gave him a perspective into the space outside. He could see the other ships of the Task Force, two Acosta heavy cruisers, two Lupo combat cruisers and one Atticus class frigate, all assuming the standard linear formation, and their gun turrets turning to unleash a spatial hell on the French merchants.

Code: Select all

Captain Perrot, this is Admiral Carle Onio of the Royal Venetian Navy. You are tresspassing in Caliphate territory. You have five minutes to turn around and depart this system or we will terminate you with lethal force.