Deep Space, 0800 hours, Duskian reckoning
A collection of planets, all rich in resources, and unclaimed by any empire. The star of the system, a super-massive Yellow Star, is only a young star, in regards to other stars in the Galaxy. The 12 planets that orbited it were littered with primitive plant life, and while the Duskian probe that had found the system reported that the atmosphere’s were hostile to most types of life known in the galaxy, it was determined that it should be simple enough to terraform the atmosphere to be more friendly to inhabitants.
The probe also detected what seemed to be structures upon the surfaces of a few worlds in the system, with these worlds showing a different atmosphere structure than the ones without these structures. (OOC: These structures will be present on the first worlds everyone colonize, with every other planet containing at least a minor artifact. Just try not to have every planet with a ruined city...)
Called System X4-3AF by the Grand Dominion upon discovery, it's location was leaked through spies to several other Empires. While Lord Shadow tried to falsify the location that was being leaked, it was impossible to falsify everything, and a few nations gathered enough information to generate the galactic coordinates for a jump/warp/hyperspace.
Knowing that he only had a short time before other civilizations would mobilize an armada to colonize the system for themselves, Lord Shadow ordered a task force to be sent as soon as possible to claim these Resources for the Grand Dominion. Knowing that it wouldn't be long before other empires sent forces of their own. As such, Shadow has elected to lead the Task-Force, nicknamed Operation Thunder. Consisting of nearly 500 warships, ranging from Corvette to Dreadnought class craft, the fleet will also set down Quantum jump signals to allow the jumping in of building supplies and manpower, as well as colonists. While an exact date of launch of the fleet has not been announced, it is expected to be soon.
Duskia System, 2 days later, 1400 hours, Duskian reckoning
Lord Shadow looked with satisfaction at the numerous warships and supply craft gathered in space near Duskia. While only 300 ships in the fleet were battle craft, the others were all armed with a minimal amount of cannons, so they could hold off pirates until help arrived. The Merchant-Marine of Red Dusk were a hardy force, and had often risked their lives to bring wanted pirates into custody. The major difference between the Merchant-Marine and the RDSC forces was that the military ships had far more advanced Quantum Jump systems, allowing the ships to generate a jump to any position in the Galaxy with ease, while the Merchant-Marine, or any Civilian ships really, had Quantum drives that required a set of coordinates provided by either a beacon or a friendly warship that had the target already locked in. This was a way to stop pirates from hiding in distant systems yet to be colonized, and allowed the RDSC to limit the distance that civilians could travel from the borders of the Grand Dominion.
Nearby, the RDSC command station Ascendent Dawn was in the midst of preparing the last of the Quantum Jump Beacons that would be deployed upon the foundation of a colony in the system X4-3AF. Shadow also noted the tens of thousands of Fighters, Bombers, and Gunships being loaded into the battle fleet, and into some of the supply ships. While the ones being put on the supply ships were replacement craft should a ship be damaged in battle, the crews were being put through basic flight training, so that a few fighters could be assigned to every ship in the fleet.
While the leadership of the Grand Dominion had been divided, Shadow had finally convinced them to send a large fleet for the initial colonization, as nobody knew just how many other space-faring civilizations had found this rich system, or had gotten the information leaked before Shadow could crack down on the sources.
“All ships, this is Ascendent Actual. Prepare jump sequence. Merchant-Marine ships, use the coordinates provided by the RDSC warships. Battle-group, go to yellow alert. We don’t know what’s out there yet.”
As Shadow looked, he could see the engines of the hundreds of ships beginning to dim as the Quantum drives had power diverted to them. Even knowing that the majority of the RDSC was still in it’s normal details, and that the fleet he had gathered was just the ships that had been in the Duskia system awaiting deployment to a fleet, Shadow had a feeling that he had gathered the best possible fleet for this job. As the last fighters docked in their hangers, Shadow gave the order.
”Ascendant Actual to Operation Thunder. You are Cleared to Jump.”
Even as he said it, he nodded to the officer in charge of the Ascendant Phoenix’s Drive, giving the order to jump before the rest of the fleet.
From the Ascendant Dawn, the view was awe-inspiring as 500 warships all jumped into Quantum space within seconds of each other.
System X4-3AF, 14:02 hours, Duskian reckoning
Space was distorted as the effects of the Quantum jump hit it. The anomaly was short-lived however, as the fleet of the Grand Dominion erupted out of Quantum Space back into real space. The trip had taken only seconds, and Lord Shadow could see that while the RDSC warships were unerringly bunched up, as always, the Merchant-Marine ships were slightly more dispersed. This was to be expected, seeing as they were using an outside source to calculate their jumps.
Nearby, Shadow noticed one of the planets, separated from another by perhaps a few hundred thousand Kilometers. Seeing the readings indicating that this nearby planet was one of the planets that had a slightly more favorable atmosphere, Shadow ordered the fleet to assume orbit around it. As well, the QJB’s (OOC: Quantum Jump Beacons) were to be deployed into geosynchronous orbit around the planet, so that any Duskian ships exiting Quantum Space would leave at approximately the same spot above the planet, as well as with the planet as it orbited it’s star. While the station Ascendant Dawn had provided the beacons, Shadow had requested permission to construct a new station, but with one key difference between it and other stations scattered across Red Dusk. This station would be armed with the defenses that had before been reserved only for use on Red Dawn Station. This station would be well deserving of the term ‘Battle-Station’. While the other lords of the Grand Dominion had tried to fight giving such power to a single colony so far from the capital ,Shadow had pointed out the dangers of having a colony fall to an enemy if it had an inferior station. Grudgingly, the council had agreed, and Shadow had almost immediately ordered the sections of the station to start construction. But for right now, Shadow had the fleet hold position near the beacons to defend them from any foes that might try to attack them.
Meanwhile, the Merchant-Marine ships that were carrying the colony modules and supplies began the descent into the atmosphere of the planet, testing the atmospheric contents as they descended, determining the most efficient way to get the atmosphere to a breathable level. For now, the atmosphere bubbles build into the colony modules would contain breathable air for the brave colonists, and if they had to leave the colony, they could wear special atmosphere suits that were modeled off the power armor worn by the marines and other infantry units of Red Dusk. Though it wouldn’t take much to deal a fatal blow to the colony now, in it’s early state, Shadow knew that once the Battle-Station was online, and other supplemental defensive weapons platforms were constructed, that this planet would become one hard nut to crack.
As Shadow turned to face the star rising over the curve of the planet, he could see hope in this endeavour.
”That’s it. The planet’s name…. “ A few of the bridge crew gave Shadow a curious look, and he elaborated. ”New Hope. That is the name of this planet now.” The crew looked at each other and nodded in appreciation of the name, before the comms officer broadcast this over the secured and unsecured bands of the Duskian comms.
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Ascendant Actual to All: Behold, The planet New Hope. Defending it is the job of the RDSC warships. Colonists and Merchant-Marines, Enjoy the views, and just focus on building this colony into the jewel of the Dominion.
Even as Shadow nodded in appreciation, the augmented display build into the display screen lit up, showing multiple, possibly hostile, warp and hyperspace distortions. Seems like the Grand Dominion wasn’t going to have it easy in colonizing the system….
