Tears of an Empire;a thousands glistening stars -LORE-TG

[Hobbeebia]

//Hobbeebian Exclusion Zone- 12th Imperial Naval Taskforce "Rightous Incursion" - ICV Ual' Drougoth Imperial Detention Vessel- Mid-deck Interrogation Room 9

The Hyperhellsion Class warship of the Hobbeebian Imperium is a masterful creation. A true feat of engineering even by todays standards, they have stod the testament of time and have proven themselves in crucible of war to many times to count. Their sleek, alien hulls seemed almost alive and indeed it would be easy to believe such rumors after other saw a ship repair a hull breach all by itself after seeing the ship bleed. Of course it was all none sense, but it added to the mystery. Unlike the rest of the Hyperhellsion class vessels of the Imperial Unified Forces this ship was different. It didn't have the usual bright, yet pleasantly presented Interlaced photon lattice constructs, or Hardlight interiors like most, but was instead built incredibly spartan by comparison. Its halls, floors and hull where all built from the same material- the synthetic stone-metal known to the Eborians as "Infintanium" but was in reality a complex hybrid alloy of Neutronium, Enhanced Tritanium, and Chromitized Vibranium. Which gave it a very shiny, yet distinctly dark color, which gave the impression that it was both a silver and a black color at the very same time. That silvery-black combination made it slightly irritating for none Eborian eyes to gave upon because most normal brains would try and force the hull to take on a standard feature.

Within these halls was a man. A single human man, would had until this point, who had been subject the various torture techniques ranging from starvation to psychological / telepathic intrusions. He was forced to see his loved ones, images ripped from his mind by force, stand around him calling him a failure, mocking him, and simply screaming. This was all in his head of course, he was blinded to the others in the room with him. His capture all standing and simply waiting for him to crack.

"This one had lasted far longer than the others... very strong willed indeed." mentioned on of the figures standing in the room

Another responded with a pronounced confidence.

"It only means he has something important to hide. For now he's far more scare of what would happen if he talked. However, his aura is shifting to a far more compliant state. He'll be ready to talk shortly."

He was right. No more than 10 minutes had passed before the man snapped. He began to thrash about, screaming incoherently and pulling at his restraints.

"STOP!!!STOP IT PLEASE!!!PLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!" he screamed more and more until finally the attacks ceased and he was left alone in his dark room with the figures standing just beyond the single ray of lights range for a full visual.

"Do you know why your here?" asked one of the figures as it paced about the room around the man.

The man was frantic but answered.

"NO! (heavy breathing) I dont know anything anymore! Why am I here?!? What did I do?!?"

The figure continued to pace.

"There will be no questions asked here besides our... all you must do is answer." the figure replied before asking his question.

"We know you are a worker aboard the Super-fortress 'Archons Hold'. The Headquarters of the Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces and defacto capital of the Imperial territories within the Milky Way Galaxy. your a janitor or atleast someone who is in charge of the sanitation systems on the station. We also know you are involved in numerous petty crimes such as thievery, possession of contraband, and illegal possession of a weapon without authorization on board a military orbital facility. You have a wife and three children- one son and two daughters, although even you have doubts about if your truly the last ones father and despite having access to discover the truth you have opted to remain ignorant and assume you are... If you cooperate with us today the worse you will have endured will have already passed and we share spare you further mental trauma. Fight us, and we will begin picking apart your life... first through revelations, after that people you love will begin to suffer as well. Can I trust you will answer all our questions honestly and quickly?"

The man began to cry. He had been through so much before this point, but the sudden and sharp questions and intimate knowledge of his life ensured those asking him questions where more than capable of making good on their threats.

"Fine! Ask me anything..." his words pushed through the sobbing.

The figure stepped forward into the light, his face was the first to emerge and that was all that was needed for the man to know who his captures where...

"Your... your Admiral Val' Toshie!" the man said with a gasp.

Val' Toshie only grinned letting his sharp canine teeth glimmer in the light. His glowing eyes darkened as his face squinted.

Indeed... and now that introductions are complete... we can really get down to business"

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//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Prence around planet Eviva- Quarters of Expeditionary Forces Captain Horrace Hinkly.

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP sounded the alarm clock, the natural enemy of Horrace and his free time.

"Dear merciful God!" he screamed as he shot up from his bed staring at the clocks face. "One of these days... (Speaking softly) I ...will...destroy...you"

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP the alarm clock continued in utter defiance.

BAM! a sounded ringed out as his hand smashed into the hardlight clock interface.

The sound coupled with his screaming was only just enough to make a small obviously female response from his twe'lik lover sharing the other side of his bed. Her slender, yet shapely form very visible from the silken sheets which covered his antique frame and aerogel bedding.

"Still talking to objects I see" she said as she rolled over letting a smile peer out from behind her half covered face. Her dark blue skin was only made more beautiful by the bright yellow eyes staring back at him. Horrace nodded with out responding.

"I'm taking a shower... I got duty today and the last thing I need to to show up to work smelling like sex and whiskey" light-heartedly commented Horrace as he looked back to her naked body now standing beside the bed in full stretch.

"And if you keep that up I wont be getting to work today... which would be even worse." he finished before turning and walking into the bathroom. In his bedroom his lover put on some cloths and turned on the holovision T.V. just in time for the news to begin. The sound of the news was just audible within the bathroom.

Today we welcome the Imperial 12th Fleet making itself at home in the upper docks. They arrived last night and are expected to be present for the remaining 2 week for station inspections and Expeditionary Fleet exercises in mock fleet on fleet battles. High Admiral Ekkart of the Expeditionary Forces Command had this to say about the arrival and the mock battle to come.

"I am most please to accept our Imperial Brothers and sisters to our wonderful station and I am looking forward to showing those same brothers our martial prowess in the mock battle. I along with my staff would also like to invite all those who are not on critical duties to attend a viewing of the battle on the Atrium deck for refreshments and a spectacular display of the power of the Expeditionary Fleet!"

In other news Station Security will be making inspection tours of all Station Quarters for the next 3 weeks after a report by the Internal Station Customs and Immigration Enforcement Department stopped a merchant ship that had been in possession of unauthorized weapons. Station Security has been tasked with ensuring none of these weapons have made their way on to the station. All personnel and civilians are asked to cooperate fully with Station security in this regard.

Also in the news...The station Child Development of Nurturing Center has a special surprise...


Horrace ignored the rest of the newscast. He once happy go luck expression had swiftly changed into a more sober and stern version. His mind was racing- Why was the 12th fleet here? Why wasn't he told they were coming? Who in the world proposed a mock battle?!? It was well know that Hyperhellsion ships outpaced Hellsion class ship almost everytime. This was troubling but this kind of thing was not unheard of, it was the timing. A mysterious merchant smuggler getting caught unloading contraband weapons, and now an unannounced Imperial Inspection? How/ why was the station staff so quite about all this... had they been taken off guard as well? Horrace closed his eyes and took a deep breathe- he needed to report this. Carefully he opened a small panel on the floor and took out a small round, disk like object with a tiny round crystal in the center. Horrace held it in front of his face and it began to scan his features. once the scan was complete a barely audible beep sounded and it began to hover in place. A holographic man then began to form before him with the disk sitting in the holograms chest.

"Identity confirmed- Agent Horrace... your not scheduled to make another report until the next month, has something happened?" asked the hologram

Horrace nodded. "Something has indeed. Recent events around the station, while at first seem small and unconnected may actually be part of something larger. Not to long after my last report a merchant ship was caught unloading illegal weapons onto the station and most of the weapons have not been found. Station security is now performing formal inspections and we now have an Imperial Fleet in dry dock at the station... it was unannounced. I'm not sure what the connection is yet but we just had an Imperial Fleet here almost 3 weeks ago. We shouldn't be due for another for another month. Something isn't right here. Make of a note of it in my files and submit it as soon as you can."

The hologram nodded and dissipated before slowly hovering back down to the floor. With a shallow sigh Horrace placed the disk back into the hollowed floor and replaced the panel and got ready for his shower, letting his rob hit the floor. As the water hit his face he tried to let his worry wash away with last night. The hot water felt so good running through his hair and down his back and chest. Then he felt someone else in the shower. Lifting his head and glancing back he saw his lovers naked blue body embracing him. He didn't have to see her though to know it was her though as he could smell the perfume she was always wearing. Turning around quickly he grabbed her arms and pinned her up against the shower walls attacking her neck, within moments they where intertwined once more.

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////Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Prence around planet Eviva- Office of Reshemi Sen Ohrya

"Why wasn't my office informed of the Imperial Fleets transit ?!?" blasted Reshemi as she paced back and forth the length of her desk where numerous awards and commendations adorned the open space on top along with a holopic of her and her late husband who had died while serving in the Imperial Unified Forces against the Ventorie a small plaque sat beside it saying: Don't be expendable. If was her motto and the very words she used to as her units creed. After another 5 or so minutes of heated discussion Reshemi ended the conversation, waving her hand and dismissing the hardlight construct which represented her co-conversationalist. Her face visibly contorted from the anger he was experiencing.

"Why am I the last to know these things?" she murmured to herself before falling back into her chair, rubbing her eyes from frustration. The worst part was she knew she only had started her shift and the whole day was still waiting to break her down even more. Letting out a deep breathe she opened her eyes and looked at her schedule for the morning.

Meetings:

Admiral Jackohson: 0800 - 0900
-Subject: Vessel refit and testing

Sgt. Emerson: 0930 -0945
-Subject: Disciplinary - Sexual Harassment

Ssgt. Du'nah: 1000 - 1030
Subject: Re-assignment

Capt. Hinkly: 1100 - 1300
Subject: -REDACTED-

"Redacted...I didn't have that record altered...Then who?" she thought to herself but not before being cut off by the sound of the V.I. assistant making the announcement regarding the Admirals arrival.

Admiral Jackohson has arrived for the appointed meeting. Shall I see him in?

"No. Tell him I have been called from the office for an emergency and will reschedule as soon as possible." she replied as she brought up her display and ran through the records to find this Capt. Hinkly.

"Capt. Hinkly, Horrace... age 45... Transfered in from 13th Expeditionary Fleet after being assigned to GRF taskforce. No awards, no commendations, no disciplinary records... who are you?" swiping quickly she moved his service record to his neural implant and quickly formed up a warrant for a search of his quarters. She placed a call out to all Station security officers near that location to meet her there. thanks to her position the trip would be short as she used the stations Dime-jump portals making her appearance just outside the door of Horrace's quarters.

"Attention Capt. Horrace! This is Colonel Reshmei of the Station Security Forces you have been selected for an inspection. Please place your hands on the nearest wall and have all occupants in the rooms with you do the same! Failure to compile will result in the use of force!"

[Hobbeebia]

Surprise bump for completed post

[Ferret Civilization]

Ferretia System

Eadric stood aboard one of the few Heavy Cruisers their nation was able to crank out, just like everything else he had been a part of, it had all seemed overly new. Though it provided a lot of jobs since a lot of new positions were needed to fill in all this new stuff. One problem that they had with that was which individuals could they take from other roles to fill in the new needed positions. The first example of that was him, a General, for a land force with no real experience of warfare that now had to take on military roles in space with Kathrine. The Industrial Interest and pretty much the entire Colony had a lot to benefit from, though they had to fill the roles required to be able to use the advantages they were given. For now it was going well, and he hoped they could keep it up.

For now though he was busy touring the unnamed Heavy Cruiser and looking over the small crew that maintained it and kept the whole thing operational. The unnamed vessel thing would also have to be fixed soon, it would be hard to continue calling every vessel by its type. While walking down one of the main corridors he passed by a few Ferrets decorated in green, those types made up the bulk of the crew so far, engineering and maintenance. He had to talk to a lot of them about how these vessels worked, though he did not get down many of the details, he knew that this was probably the best vessel to crank out for their use and that there was no way that these vessels would stand up if they had to deal with combat given what they knew of what other nations had. They could have used it themselves, the interstellar nations that allied with them did have technology they could have used, but that would have been too odd and ineffective for them.

Most important thing now would be to put the things through practice, and so far the vessels could move around without killing everyone on board and fire some basic weaponry they had equipped. Communications and sensors seemed to work, but they never tested that on other vessels, so it could have only worked within their nations Space Navy. But they still had to be able to effectively produce their stuff before they could effectively test it more than based on what others had come up with. All this was going through his head as he walked onto the bridge, it was only here that Ferrets seemed to be decorated in more than just green. The one thing noticeable about the bridge was the view of the world beyond the metal shell that protected them, windows of course were not practical with everyone, but to them, even nothing was a grand thing to look at no matter the cost.

Right now the view those on the bridge were treated to was that of their home planet with Stella lighting up the background. One of those type of views that could just never get dull when one had the context around it. There also was the framework and hull of the defense ring they were making around their home planet in the view. There was also two space stations under construction to help make them a little bit better of an interplanetary power. All thanks to an extraordinary series of events and powerfully helpful nations. Besides those major view points and the few dots of light from other stars, it was for the most part black void. Something grand to see, only reinforced the fact how scary the universe could be.

[Hobbeebia]

//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva- Quarters of Expeditionary Forces Captain Horrace Hinkly.

"OHHH!!!!" came an exclaiming from behind the very door where Capt. Reshemi had just gave a resounding order to get ready for a surprise inspection. It was loud, and not easily mistaken for its origin and they continued in defiance to the order. Reshemi tried but failed to keep her composure. her dark skin became flushed and darkened with embarrassment.

Is he seriously doing this right now!? Of all the times he could be a pig he chooses NOW! she loudly thought to herself as she upholstered his side arm and made a motion to his second in command to initiate to override the quarters door lock. Placing his hand on the wall a console materialized and allowed him to input the command code sending the door into its open position. It was, however, not the only thing in a position as the sight of Hinkly and his young twi'lek lover where in a fairly revealing position giving all passerby's a great view of her breast. The soldiers rushed into the room giving the naked woman quite a scare sending her under the covers and sending Hinkly sitting up straight covered in sweat.

The soldiers cleared the quarters and reported back to Reshemi as soon as they had finished. Hinkly at first confused quickly came to realize who was behind his homes invasion and interruption of his 'personal training' time.

"Uhhhh... Mind telling me what this is about?!" Hinkly exclaimed as he got out of bed refusing to put on cloths as he approached Reshemi.

Her face became visibly disturbed at his nakedness and his approach. The soldiers escorting her where very quick to place Hinkly on the floor and restrained.

Reshemi gained her composure and addressed his question.

"Capt. Hinkly if you had listened to me when I announced our arrival you would know we are here for a surprise inspection of your quarters. I looked over your record and it came to my attention that you have been here for sometime and had never been inspected... Don't you think that is odd?" Reshemi got down low to look Hinkly in the eyes.

"You know you and I have a meeting scheduled for later today... But for the life of me I can't remember for what for? Why are we meeting today?"

Hinkly sneered a crooked smile as he replied.

"Oh that... your V.I. must have lost the records some how. Our meeting today was to discuss my my promotion to LT. Major and my subsequent command of Archons Hold's Internal Affairs."

Reshemi's face shiftly changed.

"That means Capt. Reshemi Sen Ohrya. In 24 hours I will be your superior and we are going to have a very... long chat about this little event."

Reshemi stood up quickly and straightened her uniform ordering her soldiers our of the room and offered a long apology before leaving the room.

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//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva- Station Powerworks Substation 8 Maintenance Corridor surplus room 5

"Bright is our light- of our Illuminated Humanity" read the placard placed one of the few solid metal walls of the outer super structure of the stations hull and main support skeleton structure. Many of these rooms though mothballed and restricted from access by the original builders and former commanding officers had become havens for illegal activity most of which ranged from minor prostitution to heavy crimes such as Arms smuggling and slavery and while Internal Affairs did a reasonable job keeping such activities at bay, others from within Internal Affairs had shady dealing of their own in the works, most shielded from the eyes of do-gooders through bribes and holding key positions within the Internal Affairs in order to keep such investigations from ever taking place to begin with.

Deep within the endless maze of conduits and piping was what would be considered one of the greatest internal security threats facing the Imperium to date. The Headquarters of a radical pro-human organization known as the Illuminated Humanity. No one knew exactly how old the group really was. Some of the more seasoned members would claim its origins came about the time when the Eborians, after the Infintium Wars came back to reclaim their 'pet' humans they had kidnapped, placed on a zoo world mean to educate, and develop them into weapons of war. Others would tell you it is still in its infancy but developed quickly thanks to the teachings of long forgotten pro-human organizations now defunked. In the end no one really knew anymore when it first come about except for the Illuminated Council which was seated by the hereditary leaders of the original founders; though no one knew them either, but their respect of them was unquestioned.

One by one members began to filter into the greathall, which over the years had been converted and remodled into an impressively built inner sanctum, filled with pro-human propaganda, and banners of the organizations symbol. The interior decore matched to omnious atmosphere with dark metal scul[tures of humans in heroic poses with one showing a mother and a child cowering and three men standing up one with his fists rasied, one with a sword and one with a rifle, surrounding by what looks to be aliens climbing the three sided pyramid of debris they stood on. It was a striking piece that had an obvious meaning as it was carved into the the front facing plate- "These we defend, by hand, by blade, by rifle".

As the last of the untold number of people filed in 5 figures stood on a stage completely shrouded by black cloaks and voices ran through demodulators to keep their identity hidden.
"Children! Brothers! Sisters! By now you know that our presence is known to the alien menace. Even now they send black ships to our station! To torture us! To keep us under their thrumbs of oppression! When we sent a delegation to the Imperial Senate to lobby for broader rights they where received with open arms, but suddenly imprisioned! Why? Because they knew why we were there! They didn't want us to be heard! To be known! They don't care if we fight and die on their battlefields or labor for their pleasure! They only care about keeping us exactly...where...we...are. Do you why why?...I do. They fear us! They still in their homes and tell their abominations they call children and tell them we are the devils, that we only wish to kill them and steal what they have. Well I can tell you for thousands of years that was false... But today... They are telling the truth! No longer are we going to simply talk about better days! No longer will we hide underneath their feet in fear! And now that they have come here to challenge us.. to test our resolve to fight directly with these 'Combat trials', I say we give them the real fight the obviously are wanting! Sprea the word to your families and friends! Tell them its time to Illuminate the Eborians to true Humanity!"

[Hobbeebia]

//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva-General Quarters Enlisted Club

Attention to all HEF personnel. Imperial regulations prohibit the use of illicit chemicals during duty. All offense, effective immediately are punishable by execution. Imperial regulation currently in effect allows for random searches of all station spaces by Imperial Unified Forces Inspectors at all times....

The soldiers all listened to the announcement with great interest and disgust. The normal clinging of glasses and chatter about the randomness of duty and the latest gossip about relationship changes and promotions or civil citations was replaced by complete and total silence. Many simply angry that tension between the rival forces was causing suffering on their end. While others where quick to begin spreading discourse among their fellows.

"You see?! We spill our blood fighting their enemies and this is how they repay that debt! WE lost brothers and sisters when the Imperial forces decided to send us into the fray...by...our...selves... Do you see an once of gratitude? NO!" Spouted one soldier as he paced the room, others either egging him on or remaining silent but receptive, except for one a young Sargent who only received his rank some 2 months ago.

"And? That's our job... we all signed up knowing this was a possible fate.. to die fighting in a war none of us wanted or agree with. We as soldiers know we fight for our honor of our Imperium. It is our duty..." his monologue was cut short

"Our duty is to our own kind. The Eborians do care about us... Even now they keep us here- segregated in the lower levels while they live above us in the upper decks. Eating and drinking while we stay here rotting and forced to only drink water and coffee more or less... This is our station! This is our system! Humanity's stronghold. And if things keep up like this...It will be only ours."

The soldier stopped talking and left the club fuming the other spoke quietly among themselves each contemplating the arguments. Although just outside club's doors the soldiers was approached from behind and stabbed just once from the back to the chest with an Imperial Photo-blade normally worn by Imperial Troopers. As the blade sliced deeply into his flesh the air rushed from his lungs keeping him from screaming, his blood boiling from the intense heat at the point of impact. AS quickly as the blade entered it was gone and so was the attacker save for a note written in the soldiers blood on his forehead- "Ape". A derogatory term used by Eborian's against humans.

All this was seen and captured within the Internal Affairs Department via surveillance systems...

//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva-Department of Internal Affairs- Office of Reshemi Sen Ohrya

[SIC]

"Echelon... review footage" the voice said calmly as its owner watched over the whole club exchange and then the murder. Step by step the even unfolded and after each review the system's V.I. would make the same recommendation...

"Apprehend suspect pending investigation."

After another final review the voice gave an order.

"Echelon... remove recorded footage from all databases and remove from all reports."

Echelon replied quickly

"Action requires level 5 or higher authorization to complete"

The voice replied in turn.

"Command authorization code: Serephium Command launch authorizer: Horrace Hinkly."

Echelon waited a second before replying.

"voice match incomplete. Unable...(the V.I. avatar changed)... Voice match identified as Lt. Major. Horrace Hinkly. Executing command... complete. All previous footage erased and replaced with appropriate non-footage available."

"Well done Deshann" the voice said was its owner exited the office, the V.I. avatar changing back into the original Echelon"

[Ferret Civilization]

Ferretia System

"You know, we are just not meant to make it out in the universe or multiverse or whatever it is, never going to make it. Cranking out probably the worst kind of equipment, outdated and not for actual combat now that I think of it, this vessel gets hit by anything other than something of solid material there is nothing to be done on our side to stop it. And given all the insane amount of types of weapons out there that is more than likely what we will be thrown up against whenever that day comes. The outside world is designed for fighting, something that we are not, which means we better find a better niche than playing catch up if we are going to be playing with the bigger groups."

"Might be overreacting there, we have strong allies that have been helping us get to this point. So what if we are unable to fight, there is a debt to be paid and we have to pay it back somehow. It does not seem like there is much out there either for a niche group to take hold to be safe from combat. Infinite number of species and nations cover everything that is imaginable. Have to make due with what we have and hope the worst does not come to be."

"That is the problem though, it is inevitable, not impossible. We have nothing to offer that someone else is not already mass producing and nothing worth creating that needs to be defended. Costs always come out in the end and there seems to be us out in the negative... General Eadric."

"Lauritz, why exactly do you doubt this so much. Any way you look at it the way you do we would have been screwed and destroyed even before we as a species even had a chance. So far we have been lucky to been taken in by a larger collection of friendly nations, it could have easily been an invasion before even getting off Gréine, or unified together. But it has not happened and is even more likely not to happen now, not the other way around, it will all work out eventually."

"Eadric I understand, but at least be aware of the danger we are in. Last thing we need is to be digging ourselves deeper into the hole we have dug ourselves into..."

"Don't worry so much mate, we are in good paws and better hands. And whatever else there is. Come on, lets go grab a bite to eat and settle down from all this pessimism you have. Goodbye Eadric... Worst time to be going off there Lauritz, should consider this to be a grand occasion."

A few minutes later

"He did have one point though, we are really unprepared for combat should it ever come our way. This is not guarding against the Darkness no more, real threats are abound to show up and we can not have our allies do everything for us. Kathrine you know I am right here, Yrjänä you have to realize this too, anything we can do about it?"

"We will see what we can do Eadric... But we still might have to rely on our allies for that, no one of us have the experience for it."

[Hobbeebia]

//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva- Expeditionary Forces Command and Control

The days after the murder were tense. Everyone had suspicions on who could be the murderer and with the revelation that the surveillance had been tampered with and corrupted anyones and everyones guess could be right. At first the idle chatter was just that... idle, however as the days continued on squabbles and disagreements turned into wild accusations and anger. Within the C&C everyone watched one another unsure on who to trust, making the tensions between the Eborians and humans grow with every said and unsaid word and cross look.

Sitting in his office the stations commander looked over the request to participate in the combat trials from the Ferret Federation.

"Why in blue blazes would they... ah hell why not. Could do the little buggers some good the get some training under their belts.

Working quickly he drafted up a message and had it sent to the Ferrets.

TO: The Ferret Federation Naval Support and Training
From: Archon's Hold Station Commander on Duty
Subject: Combat Trials

With great pride I have authorized your people to participate in the combat trials as a GRF support unit. Once you have arrived with the proper forces for the Trials you and your men will have access to the station until the Trials are underway.

May the Tribunal watch over you on your travels."

As the message flashed away through the universal extranet his mind returned to the issue at hand- an unsolved murder, or as unsolved as he wanted it to be. Sitting back in his chair he folded his hands into his lap and looked at the photo's of the body.

"We need to find a perpetrator for this killing, and it needs to be an Eborian. If we can get people to believe that an Eborian did it and have that very Eborian evade punishment, for a crime he actually didn't commit, but make it seem as if he was in the publics eye it will galvanize the undicided and bring others closer to supporting us when we strike."

From behind ahooded figure stepped from the shadows his face obscured.

The time is drawing near. Val' Toshie and his band of thugs grow closer everyday to discovering our plans and are becoming increasingly brazen in their plans against us. With luck they will be within weapons range when the Trials begin and we can be rid of him once and for all."

The station commander nodded then leaned forward in his chair placing his hands underneath his chin.

"Have we made sure that all the vessel maintenance personnel are on board with our plans? If anyone was to report that live rounds, and not training rounds have been installed on those ships our plans would be just as ruined. We need to double our recruiting here I know our numbers are strong everywhere else, but this station is instrumental to our ambitions and if we can secure it it will all be for nothing.

The Hooded figures response was simple.

"When we make ourselves known this station will be ours before anyone knows what we did. I'll make sure of it. All those who are with us and are not affiliated will be spared, all others will be killed by the stations automated defenses. All those left will be given a choice- join or die. regardless of their method of joining they will learn to appreciate what we are doing for them, of the future we are building for them."

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more to come

[Wandering Argonians]

Argonian Black Watch Vessel 'Shadow of Intent', Ferretia System...

The air stank of soot and sulfur, a haze of industrial pollution that choked the entire moon with zero regard for environmental protections and an eye towards maximum output. Etaris VI was a manufactory moon focused solely on the creation of armor plates that eventually found homes on any number of armored vehicle patterns produced on sister moons, and until twenty years ago those vehicles had found homes in Argonian mechanized infantry regiments or tanker formations. The Etaris system had decided to turn from the Argonian Empire, and a war of unification had been launched.

His mind told him this was a dream, that he'd lived these events before, but his instincts refused to listen. He felt the weight of the blunt-nosed shotgun in his hands again, the plastic grips rough in his grasp, gritty with soot and damp with run-off. His breath rasped in his ears as he and his squad pursued an enemy force through the underworks of yet another armor-plate production facility. The throaty chatter of a sub-gun broke the silence to his right, Trooper Vek spraying a stream of smoking brass casings from his short weapon, filling the narrow space with noise and the burnt stink of propellant as he angled a burst towards a rebel Argonian some fifteen feet away. Knee-deep in runoff water as warm as piss, the going was slow and the fighting fierce.

The rebel grunted and lurched, puffs of crimson vapor erupting across his chest as the flat-nosed rounds hammered through his torso. The stocky form slid forward without further sound, face-down in the black water as a crimson pool spread outwards. He recalled Vek's face, grim and smeared with black soot, his bark of an enemy down as he continued to look down the sights of his weapon. They were all in minimal gear, stripped to the waist save for flak-armor vests and ammunition bandoleers. Urban-pattern fatigues were useless in the underworks anyway, as it was oppressively hot, humid, and partially flooded. There was no hiding, just a seemingly endless network of tight maintenance corridors and poorly-armed rebels. It came down to who shot first, and while his squad usually did they were all bleeding from some wound or other; shrapnel from fragmenting rounds, near-miss grazes, knife-wounds, burns from hot pipes, etc. The underworks were a terrible place to work, and an even worse place to fight. Had they not been trying to kill him, he might have felt some pity for these people, fellow Argonian citizens forced to work in appalling conditions.

Another shadow around the bend in the corridor ahead, another enemy to kill. The former worker appeared, clutching an identical SMG to the one Vek now carried, spraying from the waist as his shotgun came up in his hands, felt the buck of the recoil as a load of mono-filament and ball-bearing AP went down-range, tasted the foulness of the burnt propellant, heard the flat boom of the report and the satisfying mechanical shucking of the pump action, saw the results of his actions as the worker's chest burst in a welter of gore as his shot struck home. He'd seen it a thousand thousand times. Knew it was fatal. Vek shouted again to his left, and a hammering impact jarred him awake...

He heard the rasping of his breathing. Smelt the vague staleness of recycled air. Felt the cool stillness of his small stateroom, the unfamiliar softness of the sheets, the distant throb of the engines. He saw nothing, just all-consuming blackness. Panic seized his heart in an icy grasp for the briefest of moments, his left hand shooting up to touch the right side of his throat. He felt the scar, a strip of smooth, waxy tissue on his rough, scaly skin. The memory returned: .35-caliber, high-vel, flat-nose. Ricochet. Non-fatal. He became aware of the weight in his right hand: Las-pistol, 35KW-output, Defiant-pattern. He recalled who he was.

He was Sergeant Kerrick Shorn, 45th Irregular Scout Regiment, Argonian Imperial Guard.

At least, he was. The 45th was a Commando-Rated regiment, basically an elite designation for their type of unit. He, and the surviving three members of his squad had been selected to serve in the retinue of Watchman Thaddeus Vaddick, a high honor for a group of tribal-born line-scouts. Kerrick returned the las-pistol to its place on the spartan night-stand next to his bed, and swung his legs over the side, resting his head in his hands for a moment. It wasn't uncommon for Guardsmen to suffer from the after-effects of serious combat. Shorn had been a Guardsman for twenty-five years prior to his selection for service with the Black Watch. Etaris IV had been twenty years ago, the first time he'd sustained a serious wound. Tyber Vek, one of his three survivors to join him in his service with the Watch, had taken his corporal position when Shorn had been promoted to sergeant and he'd received Trooper Javvik Vandal and Trooper Harlow Tenlan as replacements for their heavy losses. Those same three were with him on the Watchman's vessel, in adjoining compartments in their own small staterooms.

Shorn exhaled loudly, then sat silently in the dark for a moment. He still recalled every vivid detail, showing no signs of fading. He chuckled at the thought, an odd sound in the tomb-like silence of his living space. A swig from the canteen that lived next to the las-pistol roused him a bit; the cool, metallic-flavored water a reminder of one of the few constants in his lifetime of warfare: the water always tasted like metal when it came out of his old, canvas-wrapped canteen. Somehow, it was comforting. Like hearing an old friend's voice.

Argonians as a species had a highly-developed sense of smell, and almost experienced flavor and odor as a single sensation, a trait that had made them excellent hunters in their climb up the evolutionary ladder on their home-world. Anything he detected with his nose usually wound up flavoring his palette, but the reverse wasn't true. He didn't smell the metallic tang of the water, but did detect vague hints of chlorination. That wasn't uncommon in reclaimed ship-board water, even on a nice vessel like the Watchman's personal transport. He downed another swig for good measure, screwing the cap back on with a practiced motion and replacing the canteen where he'd found it. Shorn lingered for another moment before getting to his feet and flicking the illumination in his quarters to one-quarter power. Attached to the sleeping area was a small relaxation space, as well as a washroom/latrine separated by a sliding bulkhead. Shorn rarely used the door, seeing little point. He didn't share his living space with anyone, but supposed the addition of a door added a bit of class. Or something. The thought was lost almost as soon as it formed, and he let it go. Nice ship, classy stuff, end of story. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, the familiar scarred physique, the tribal tattoos that denoted status among a tribe he'd likely never seen again, that he hadn't seen in over three decades. The thought saddened him briefly, and he moved towards the door, clad in a loose pair of physical fitness shorts and a lingering sense of loss.

The bulkhead hissed open, retracting out of sight. The corridor beyond was dimly lit, the frigate-sized vessel in the depths of its night-cycle. Oddly, he caught a faint whiff of searing meat and salt. The deck he resided on was shared by himself and the rest of his infiltration team, along with the Watchman's apprentice and his two Gungiri bodyguards, the humans Gunnar and Hjolf. They more or less had it to themselves, isolated from the rest of the crew and the Watchman's contingent of conventional troops. It had its own small galley, recreation area, fitness area, etc. The smells of cooking weren't uncommon, but it was odd that someone would be preparing something this late in the cycle. Shorn followed his well-developed nose to the aforementioned galley where he found former Corporal Tyber Vek preparing something that approximated a traditional breakfast.

Cracked eggs and seared strips of salted porcine flesh was a simple meal, common among their kind. Each regiment hailed from the same province, many of them from the same villages. It made scout regiments close-knit units, many sharing blood-ties long before the battlefield united them further. Vek had been in the regiment almost as long as Shorn had, joining in a batch of replacements shortly after Shorn himself had arrived in a similar manner...

"Can't sleep?"

Vek didn't turn around, simply nodding and prodding the searing meat with a plastic spatula...

"Etaris-IV?"

A shake of the head this time, and more prodding...

"No. Verdant IV. Right before we got picked up for service with the Watchman..."

Shorn knew it well. Squads were comprised of ten personnel, under ideal circumstances. They'd been selected for the fateful operation because they were short six troopers, below half-strength and combat-ineffective by Argonian military standards. Expendable, basically. How they'd got below strength wasn't a pleasant memory either, a similar set of circumstances to the campaign on Etaris-IV...

"Right..."

That had been a costly campaign on both sides, with 70% casualties suffered by several Argonian regiments. The 45th had nearly been wiped out, serving at the very front of the constantly-moving battle-line, attempting to suss out the Verdantian guerrillas, and pin them in place long enough for heavier forces to fix and finish them. That particular re-integration campaign had ended especially badly, with Verdantian leaders targeted for assassination and basically murdered by members of a special operations regiment called in for that purpose, although elements of the 45th had participated in sabotage operations during that bloody time-frame alongside their more elite counter-parts. Hundreds of thousands of dead, for nothing. Then they'd been selected for that recon mission for the Watchman and the rest had become history, more or less...

"At least the billets are nicer..."

Shorn had never been one to console his troops, nor was it their way. Every soldier coped in their own terms, and Shorn's particular method involved a few glasses of Hist whiskey. He scavenged a few glasses and a bottle from a nearby cupboard and poured a few fingers worth into each glass, seated himself, and pushed a glass towards the opposite seat as Vek sat down with his plate of eggs and meat. Shorn took a long swig, enjoying the smokey flavor and alcohol warmth as it burned down his throat. It was good whiskey, plain and simple. Much better than the trench-shine he'd enjoyed as a line-scout. Vek left his glass untouched, instead tearing into his impromptu breakfast in silence. They'd been orbiting the Ferret homeworld for several months now, part of an advisory mission to familiarize the newly-uplifted species with their new environment, void-based navigation, etc. Watchman Vaddick had brought along some of the finest military minds in the Argonian Navy to adapt conventional tactics to the smaller species' abilities, with little avail. All they'd been able to come up with was to use a proportionally-larger number of Ferrets to crew a 'normal' sized vessel, as tonnage displacement was an important factor in void-based conflict. However, they'd lacked a proper catalyst to test and observe such concepts, and with the Ferret involvement in the Hobbebian 'combat trials' they'd get a chance to observe two sets of allies in action.

It also meant that they'd finally be breaking high anchor in the Ferret home system, and a return to some semblance of normality, which Shorn welcomed with open arms. Active operations always helped with the nightmares...

[Ferret Civilization]

Ferretia System

It did not take long for Eadric to get a reply from Kathrine, which besides some odd quips about the nonexistent organization that had been created for them, it was rather relieving to have one of their allies welcome them in to help train them to par. It was a good time for them to try to get off their tails and start making something of themselves rather than just an expense. After a warm goodbye Eadric went to go inform the crew of the vessel as well as alert the others that there was now something better to do than just twaddle idly. Meanwhile Katherine would let Archon's Hold Station know that their invitation was accepted and that they would be on their way. The second important matter to get out of the way before going was to let their Argonian friends know what the plan was, or what their plan was, since both would be very important to know for things to go smoothly. Since they were one of the few major powers that had political relations with them and seemed interested in Ferret development. Once the communication was all wrapped up there would be no point in wasting any more time and just get going on their way to the 'trials'. As far as being a space borne military they had next to nothing to spare, and it would probably be that way for some time, for their first excursion it would only be three heavy cruisers to make up their pitiful 'fleet'. But they would make due with whatever they had to deal with whatever they had to deal with, Eadric knew that at the very least that attempt could be done.

Xeinapolis System

Once everything was good to go and everyone was ready, what made up the fleet of three vessels made their first faster than light travel outside of the Ferretia system to where the 'trials' would be held. Archon's Hold would be the first place more than a small group of Ferrets would ever visit outside their home system, let alone having been accomplished by vessels they had built themselves. Granted it came from materials and information that was not there's but they were getting along the path of development, even if it was slow. Eadric had to check himself after the seemingly impossible fast trip was completed, the vessel's pilots both turned in their seats to give him an acknowledging nod that everything seemed to have gone good. The Ferretia System was now down three vessel's worth of Ferrets now, away from home would lead to always new and scary experiences in the place where The Unknown was the strongest. All that was left to do was signal their arrival and wait for the next step.

Attention Ferretian vessel, you are hereby requested to dock and prepare for boarding party for inspections as well as a general conference meeting with station command. Please notify if you require assistance during docking procedures. The command was small and concise, hard to forget, easy to understand, but the tone was undeniable... a hint of conceit.

The Ferret that dealt with communications responded with an acknowledgement and a negative on needing help, there at least, they should have gotten enough help from their allies on how to at least pull off basic procedures in space. Hopefully, without embarrassing without all those individual allies, no Ferret was optimistic about impressing the other nations here or that were going to be here. The best they could do in their minds is at least not fail all those propping them up nationally. Eadric nodded to his two pilots to go ahead and bring their vessel in, which was already going to make things start off poorly. Their vessels they had built so far had been designed for Ferrets solely in mind, and cramped by their small stature standards. The Humans and/or Eborians at least doubled or tripled their size, with their halls and ceiling height being four feet at its tallest and not that much wider in width, with only rooms being slightly better. They would not have a great time to being metaphorically shoved into tuna can conditions.

As the Ferret on communications informed the other two Ferret vessels to also go forward with docking Eadric got a good sense of scale that they were going to be dealing with. Large fleets, possibly more on the way, with a large imposing space station all topped off with the scariness of the black space background. Eadric could see it in his pilots and feel it in himself, this was wrong and already it caused too much stress. Thinking about what his engineer had said about their piss poor chances of being able to engage let alone survive in combat situations.

"No stop that order, tell them to go back home now." Eadric interrupted his communications operator, "This is not the place for us, there are better ways to go about this. Tell the Hobbeebians thank you for accepting us but now we must decline the offer, make sure the Argonians know this too. Actually I will inform them myself." He felt the most sorry to the Argonians for being about to break the plan already, especially since for whatever reason their nation was one of the most interested in helping them out of all their allies. He would try to do his best to explain to the combat superior friends that combat in any form would just not suit Ferrets successfully and there had to be other options to be able to be productive or better ways to train in fighting. Finally he hoped that it would not destroy the interest that the Argonians had in helping them out, cause if that is what it lead to, he would personally bear that burden for his nation.

[Hobbeebia]

//Xeinapolis System- Archons Hold Hobbeebian Expeditionary Forces H.Q. Citadel Class Super-Fortress Station: Orbital Presence around planet Eviva- Imperial Space Navigation Command

Attention Ferretian vessel, you are hereby requested to dock and prepare for boarding party for inspections as well as a general conference meeting with station command. Please notify if you require assistance during docking procedures. The command was small and concise, hard to forget, easy to understand, but the tone was undeniable... a hint of conceit Argonian Vessel you are requested to do the same as well and comply with all directives. As the commands were issued the stations automated defense systems entered a passive mode and locked onto both vessels as they came into station space. Off in the distance the remainder Imperial fleet was still in formation, ominous and grandiose. The busy traffic around the station was nothing new, hundred maybe even thousands of merchant vessels from mining barges to massive freighters sat in what looked like a traffic jam as each was scanned and its contents offloaded.

"I don't see why we had to invite rodents and reptiles to our station. It's bad enough we got Sanghelli and Twi'lek here already." muttered a minor Ensign who was manning one of the innumerable stations within the Navigational Command Hall. A few other around him nodded in agreement others shook their heads in a dismissive motion. The commanding officer was quick to make a coughing sound to catch the attention of the mumbling officers to have them get back to task. The navigational command officer- Commander Gielson, was a man known for his stern stance on inter-species cooperation and integration, though his wife being of alien heritage made that notion pretty obvious, but his bark was never as bad as hit bite something his subordinates never forgot. So without much protest the staff got back to work busily tapping away at their hardlight pads and consoles, the usual hum of muffled voices and system noises was almost melodic in nature. Thousands of vessels passed through this part of space daily D.I. and living personnel worked along aside each other keeping the traffic controlled and orderly. It was difficult work, but one that kept the station functioning.

As the work day came to a close the staff rotated out bringing in a fresh batch of eyes to keep the gridlock flowing and the others to slip out for some R & R...

"Commander Gielson! So of us were wondering if you wanted to go out for some drinks in the Recreation Artrium with us?" asked one of the minor officers as they reached one of the larger transit system hubs in the station. Gielson at first hesitated he first thought of going home but his thoughts turned to getting some time out with the guys and just having fun. He knew his wife wouldn't mind, in fact she was telling him how much he needed to make friends and not be a boss all the time.

"Sure... Lets go have a round... on me!" the crew team cheered each one giving their Commander a friendly pat on the back in mocking celebration. One by one they each entered the portal and emerged on the other side at the Recreation Atrium in full view of its magnificence and grandeur. A massive transparent semi-sphere covered their heads keeping the cold-death riddled void at bay. whenever a decent sized space rock struck its surface you could almost make out the barrier shimmering like cool liquid glass. Hundreds of thousands of people shuffled about, enjoying the lust fields and life of the large park at the center and bottom of the Atrium with its super structure of terrace like levels climbing higher and higher with more parks, buildings, and all manner of life, with awe inspiring valleys of more terraces branching out into the outer sections of the station where living quarters, factories, military locations, the Dockyards, and much more. Its sprawling expanse difficult to understand without knowing it from the outside.

For some children it was the only home they have every known until they grow up and make their own path in the universe, or they die before ever getting the chance. Space is as unforgiving as those who traverse its emptiness; Violence a mark of its trials in which everyone who seeks freedom and life among the stars is all to aware, but for now these five soldiers had a chance to rest and relax. As they arrived into one of the numerous establishments of the Atrium Gielson blared out with gusto "A round for my troops on me!" The bartender smiled and took the orders quickly shuttling them over to the thirsty soldiers.

Round after round the drinks continued to flow and as they did Gielson got worse and worse as did all of his fellows- save one who looking to be enjoying himself but was noticeably sober at least to the bartender who met eyes once or twice with the stone sober trooper each time more and more intently. Eventually the soldier got up making the excuse of having to "break his seal" approached the bar and spoke a few words with the bartender before moving on to the restroom. Once he was out of view a number of the soldiers in Gielsons company began to notice that they where all alone in the bar, even the bartender had seemed to vanish.

"Where is everyone? asked an Ensign as he stumbled on to his feet from the soft seat he had been enjoying.

In the restroom the solider who had moved out to the restroom as busy fidgeting with a small device in his pocket and a small bag of items in his stall. A fixing the device on his chest a bright light erupted and his form had shifted to the of an Eborian soldier still in uniform. The soldier looked at his hands as he thought about the task at hand.

"Not getting cold feet are you? The voice of the bartender came from behind him The Architect is counting on you to pull this off. We need our people to see the threat of the Eborian people and their veiled trust they are forced to show us out of obligation... we need them to see how the Eborians really want to treat us... like animals."

"I wont fail" was his only reply as he took hold of two items from the bag- a hardlight sword hilt and a pistol as Eborian design. The soldiers mind raced as he came to grips with what he was about to do and emerged from the rear of the bar sword in hand. Each of the soldiers stood up as quick as their inebriated bodies could to face the figure before them.

"Look at you... like beasts in the field... waiting for the slaughter" his voice echoing the same vocal tones as an Eborian blade now brought to bear against his companions which fell one by one many scrambling to try and survive a futile attempt at best. All until one Ensign Yolanda Myers was all that was left standing among her dead friends, her tears falling from her face in grief and terror, her face frozen into perpetual anguish and horror... "Why?" it was all she could muster.

Because your sacrifice will spark the change that will bring our people into a new future- One where our children will be safe and protected free from the yolk of Eborian oppression. No longer will we be dogs of the military for the sake of expendable soldiers for their wars!. Yolanda's eyes widened

"We?"

Her question was answered by the blade slicing her throat, its frictionless edge gliding through her flesh with no effort and in those final moments as her life faded away she felt the hand of her killer brush her hair as his voice softly saying...

"Be still and know I will protect you, and uplift you, fear not the coming darkness of death, but delight in my resplendent bounty which I have prepared for you in my kingdom" it was a verse from the scriptures of the Tribunal spoken by the Godking Sypherion as he comforts the souls of the departed. Her fear subsided and she pasted on in peace. The carnage was absolute. As a finished mark his carved the Eborian glyph unclean randomly across their bodies. Taking note of his work the soldier took off the device masking his appearance and turned towards the bartender was was standing behind him. Taking the blade he touched his for head with the soldiers and softly spoke the same words the soldier had given poor Yolanda in her final moments and them plunged the blade deep into his heart letting his life drain upon the floor laying him over slowly unto the floor next to Yolanda

"May you both find each other once again in the next life."

For the next few minutes the Bartenders roughed up the location and finally called law enforcement explaining how an Eborian had come and killed the soldiers after a disagreement lead into violence. The bartenders account was vivid and a special V.I. induced data corruption of the security feeds saw the footage was present, but had obvious errors in its playback. The bartender then produced an ID log on those who entered the bar and a lone Eborian was on the roster. After a few more notes the officers tracked down the Eborian and attempted an arrest.

Sargent Dealis' Vanos. you are hereby placed under the arrest for the murder and mutilation of 5 Expeditionary Forces Officers. You have the right under Imperial Law to request council, and are notified that you are not required to make any statements at this time. If you choose to wave these rights any and all evidence will be collected and used against you at trial- do you understand" asked the arresting officer as he placed the restraints before him allowing the Eborian a chance to peaceful place them on himself. Other officers stood at different angles with weapons trained down.

"Are you mad? Who dares make such a charge against me? What evidence do you have?!" the Eborians face contorted at the accusation, his muscles flexed and his eyes narrowed becoming brighter.

The officer kept his composure "WE have surveillance and eye witness accounts of the event as well as a positive location ID check registered to your ID matching the time of the incident. Now please turn about and do not resist."

The Eborian did not comply instantly becoming enraged at the accusations

"Lies!" he shouted before grabbing the officer by the throat and drawing back to begin his assault; an assault which was cut short by a hail of microscopic hyper accelerated neutronium slugs blistered his back and chest letting his silver blood flow freely from his wounds before collapsing lifelessly upon the station floor. The officers looked around and quickly cleared and secured the scene.

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A few hours later

Commentary from a civilian news cast

... I'm not saying the law Enforcement was wrong to attempt an arrest but having officers already bearing weapons against a suspect is not a good idea. It sets up a hostile situation.......Are you mental this guy just slaughtered five innocent soldiers two of which where married and had a son on the way; he was dangerous and the police where right to be ready.... allegedly killed- we don't know what happened because the investigation was so short and we still have a lot of questions about the incident.....

Another channel with commentary...

These... Eborian have always thought of humans as sub-par, and unworthy of the same rights and privileges as themselves! Its a known fact! ask any human man or woman and they will attest to the racists divisions between these wings overlords and ourselves... Ask them about how they are removed from homes and jobs and those things given to an Eborian and I'll not be the first one to say... if it doesn't change ... something will happen....

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[Kornosia]

Tag for post

[Wandering Argonians]

Hobbebian space wasn't a place he'd been in a long time, likely more than a century if he was completely honest with himself. Thaddeus Vaddick was old by the standards of most species, including his own. He'd quite honestly quit counting. His particular sub-breed lived more or less indefinitely, the sort of practical immortality bestowed by slow metabolic processes and an advanced level of technology. Regardless of their relative age, no one had really been able to measure the true lifespan of his sub-species. They tended to die 'early' due to occupational issues. It was hard enough for the average Argonian to go two centuries without some sort of fatal accident, much less hope for anything past that.

Vaddick himself was exceedingly fortunate in that regard. As a Watchman of the Office of the Black Watch he enjoyed access to the very best medical care, among other exemplary support services. Truly, he'd had a brush with death previously, some seventy-five years ago. A solid-slug round had removed his left eye and a portion of his skull in a firefight early in his career as a Watchman, requiring extensive augmentation work. The eye was now a dimly-glowing coal set into his reconstructed socket, along with a portion of his forebrain that had been wired into machinery. The result was a much-improved servant of the Emperor. The eye was now a heads-up display of sorts, fitted with an extensive suite of scanning tools for unparalleled situational awareness. It also permitted him to basically use it as a data-slate in lieu of a hand-held model.

The Watchman was an imposing individual by Argonian standards. Of the dark-scaled breed, his scaly hide was the color of charcoal, similar in color to his uniform. Vaddick was tall, over six and a half feet and solidly built with broad shoulders and a thick chest that spoke of great physical strength. Beyond his own impressive conditioning, Watchmen were gifted with a full suite of genetic upgrades to enhance bone and muscle density, making Vaddick a difficult individual to kill on a good day. The brace of needle-pistols on his belt saw to there never being anything but bad days for his foes. Considered an expert's weapon, the needle-guns fired crystallized shards of carbide at a supremely high velocity. There wasn't much that could stop the tiny projectiles, but they lacked the brute killing power of something beefier like a bolt-gun unless you hit something vital. Vaddick's steady hands rarely hit anything but.

Dressed in his customary sable tabbard and breast-plate featuring the sigil of his order, Vaddick cut an ominous figure to most who beheld him, especially those in Argonian space. He answered to no one, save the Emperor himself. His presence was typically a bad thing, heralding violence and especially painful interrogations if the rumors about the Watch were to be believed. Vaddick himself was a rather moderate individual, preferring to have a number of options with which to accomplish his assignments. To that end, he had a number of specialists on board his vessel, his most frequently employed being Kerrick Shorn and his infiltration team, whom he'd sent word to that their services would not be needed for the duration of the exercise. The Ferrets had decided to pull out, finding void-based warfare to already be a weakness of their reclusive species. Vaddick didn't blame them. He saw the value in such exercises for the crews and commanders involved, but there was little need for him to remain any longer if he wasn't going to be acting as a chaperone for the small, furry crews of the Ferret fleet.

His communications officer signaled that the Hobbebians had requested they dock for an inspection, and Vaddick nodded in response...

"Helm, take us in..."

The Watchman's voice was oil-drum deep, rich and smooth like dark chocolate. He rarely raised his voice, a tactic he found distasteful in dealing with others. That, and he was plenty scary on his own. There was never a need to shout. Though his augmentics, he sounded a call to general quarters throughout the ship, signaling his crew to prepare for a customs inspection. He didn't expect trouble, they were here as invited guests to view a naval training exercise, nothing more. Vaddick's frigate-sized vessel would not be participating, as it was not a combat vessel. While quite capable of holding its own in combat, it was intended as a mobile base of operations for himself and his retinue. He maintained his shuttle, a platoon of Black Watch stormtroops, his specialist retinue, and the associated support personnel ranging from cooks to bridge crewman and gunnery teams. Watchman had never been known to engage in smuggling operations directly, either. They had the resources and people with the requisite skills to outsource such tasks and never needed to involve themselves directly. Vaddick had never been one to deal in such things, finding that he could quite easily get things done within the bounds of Imperial law without undue carnage or criminal activity. It was one of the reasons he'd been tasked with this very operation.

Again, through the augmentic hooked into his skull through his eye-socket, Vaddick mentally keyed up a message to the Ferret fleet:

Esteemed allies,

While it pains me to witness your departure from this exercise, I have a simple request: I require ten of your best and brightest reconnaissance and technical specialists from your military forces for a pet project of mine. Once complete, these individuals will be released and returned to their homeworld, hopefully enriching their parent units with their new skills. All species have merit in the Multiverse, but it falls to them to determine the type.

I hope this message finds you all in good health.

-Watchman Thaddeus Vaddick
Office of the Black Watch, Argonian Empire

He filed the message with a thought and sent it off through his ship's comms array without further delay. Footsteps he calculated to belong to Kerrick Shorn echoed on the deck-plates behind him, standing as we was with his eye gazing out across the infinite abyss of the void...

"Ah Kerrick... Are your men prepared for this inspection?"

The footsteps stopped abruptly. Vaddick permitted himself an inward smile. Shorn was always unnerved by his little habit of noting the pace and interval of the footsteps of his subordinates...

"Yes, m'lord. Will you be requiring an escort for your time aboard the station?"

Based on the noise behind him, and Shorn's adherence to routine in his presence, the former Scout sergeant had assumed a loose stance of 'parade rest'. This assumption was proven to be correct as he rotated to look him in the eye with his remaining organic ocular organ...

"I will not, at least not from your team. Gunnar and Hjolf will be escorting me as usual during my rounds. Your men are free to explore at your leisure. Take them out for a fine dinner or something and send the bill to me. You've earned a bit of rest. I'll have potentially have a tasking for you in the next few days. Keep your communicator handy..."

Shorn seemed slightly taken aback at the generosity thrown his way. Vaddick had never been a cruel overlord, but he did demand operational perfection regardless of how difficult the operation itself was. Additionally, the operational tempo was always high and breaks like this were rare. Then it struck him that this was normal, and that they simply hadn't had a chance at this sort of R&R in the past seven years he'd worked for Vaddick. There were perks to being an agent of the Watch, sure, but one didn't exactly retire from this line of work...

"Many thanks, m'lord. I'll let the men know..."

Vaddick returned to his thoughtful contemplation of the void as his vessel moved to dock with the Hobbebian station and prepared to receive the inspection team. Once they'd docked he'd move to meet them personally, as was fitting a noteworthy visitor to a foreign station...

[Hobbeebia]

The dock was hushed and tense as the Argonian vessel drifted in and the docking anchors took hold of its hull. Standing at the ready where multiple teams of armed officers each at various points along the over watching walkways weapons at the ready as well as docking bay automated defenses which normally would be turned off and only passively tracking the vessel instead of actively targeting as they where now scanning every inch of the ship. Once the vessel came to rest as broad spectrum broadcast was projected to the crew.

"Argonian vessel! This is the Expeditionary Forces of the Hobbeebian Imperium- As stated prior to your arrival your ship is to be inspected by our security personnel. Please open your general cargo loading doors as well as you onboarding ports and prepare for gangway extension. Your Commanding officer is to remain on board for this portion as will require a debrief once complete."

The tone was noticeably harsh, direct and overly militaristic compared to the generally cultured and refined voice of an Eborian.

Inside the station

The tension in the air was almost suffocating- and if the old Earth phrase ' if looks could kill' were true the hall would be stained with a bloody cocktail of silver and crimson. Around every corner V.I. sentinels monitored every citizen regardless of race with an every watchful, non-living stare. Checkpoints staged at major intersections and traffic zones brought internal movement to a gridlock pace made worse by the growing number of protests regarding law enforcement's over-reach by humans and abut police brutality in the slaying of an Eborian officer. Incidents of crude graffiti revealed the truth of the simmering tension between the two dominate race of the Imperium.

Hinkly detested the state of the station- mainly due to the interruption of his daily strolls to a local lounge to partake in a few drinks and fill his lungs with glorious smoke of the Hue'nika's leaves in the shape of an ancient Earth item called a cigar and it just so happened that this particular lounge was home to one of the few hand rolling master still practicing his art freelance within the Imperium. For now he was, by necessity, stuck in his office regularly checking status reports from an unknowable number of sentinels- most of which where pointless garbage about how someones pupils where dilated- something his pupils should have been doing right about this time as well.

Major Hinkly! announced the omniscient voice of his V.I. assistant as he patched through with an alert. The Argonian delegation for the War games has arrived and docked as instructed. However...

Hinkly's right eyebrow shot up However? he mentioned

Sargent Markon has decided to increase the security sweep perimeters and has called in 23 other security squads to the dock to assist in the inspection.

For once Hinkly was dumbstruck. Open a portal to the dock in question! Alert Capt. Reshemi to meet me there as soon as possible.

The V.I. did not respond instead opting to focus on his orders and alerting Reshemi to the situation and opening a portal as Hinkly commanded and within a fraction of a fraction of a second a shimmering silver oval was traced through the air with a brilliant white light flashing in and out revealing the docking bay before him. Stepping through Hinkly summoned his side arm to his hand as tiny hardlight particles merged together to create the weapon as he emerged on the other side behind a contingent of troops. If wasn't a second later that Reshemi emerged as well with sidearm summoned as well.

MARKON! blasted Hinkly as loudly as he could to gain his subjects attention- and his attention he got. A sudden and well aimed blast from Markons rifle struck just inchs' from Hinklys head- it was a stun round- but a round nonetheless.

LT. Major Horrace Hinkly! You are interferring with the lawful orders directed to me by my superior officer and in violation of intergalactic inspection and regulation laws as prescribed by the Imperial Senate! That was your only warning not to interfere.

Hinkly straightened himself back up from his knee jerk reaction to the incoming fire to respond.

Markon! This is excessive- The Argonians are an ally of both the Imperium but a member state of the GESO! Your actions could be considered an act of war don't you know that?!

Markons head slowly turned towards Hinkly and for a split second Hinkly could of sworn he saw a slight grin on Markons face. It seemed like time had simply slowed down to a crawl as he watched Markon tap on his wrist and a private channel was opened to his comms.

Bright is the Light of the Illuminated- For we are cleansed of our blindness of oppression- Light will break our chains.

Hinkly instinctively screamed to the top of his lung and waved his arms to gain the Argonians attention- Raise your Shields!. As he yelled out Reshemi, taking stock of the situation figured out what was going on and began opening fire on Markon and his troops below, who in turn returned fire. In the fray Hinkly lost sight of Markon and before he could search the crowds he has knocked to the floor by the docks automated weapons opening fire on the Argonian vessel.

Hinkly reacted by attempting to contact the Stations I.C. and he her shut down the station defenses and place them under his control. Envala! Shut down the stations defenses now!- Respond... RESPOND!. He tried over and over again but got no response. Hinkly continued to return fire before he realized on of the dock guns changed its direction and took aim at him. The weapon fired and the platform he had once been standing on was atomized. Reshemi paused as she witnessed what just happened. Her only thought What is happening?, but before she could do anything else a portal opened below her letting her slip through falling into Hinklys' office where he was hunched over his desk bleeding from his abdominal region. He breath was labored.

Hinkly... Whats happening? Reshemi asked as she came over to check his wounds. Hinkly shook his head. I don't know... for once I don't know. as he responded he turned away and called a holo-console to his front and placed his hand upon the crystalline surface allowing it to read his hand print which then flashed away once it was done.

Hinkly slumped back into his office chair as Reshemi walked up just in time to see a compartment open up from the top of his desk revealing what was clearly an Imperial Military Special Operations Armor Nano-particle node. Hinkly took the node and affixed it to his chest. As he did the node came to life and rapidly began to grow and expand and after a few seconds he was soon enveloped in the glimmering armor and from behind his helmet he gave his next order.

It doesn't matter whats happening- right now we need to survive.