In Pursuit of Knowledge [FT, MWG | Semi-Closed]

[Thrashia]

OOC NOTE: If you would like to participate in this rp, please be aware of the following. This is a mostly character based rp. A science ship is being sent out into the greater Milky Way Galaxy (MWG) to explore, investigate, research, and gain knowledge about the galaxy at large. Canonically, this is happening a year after my empire settled into the Beta Quadrant. The mission will take the ship to all three of the other quadrants, Alpha, Gamma, and Delta. If any nations in those areas wish for me to either show up, or show up in whatever neck of the woods my ship is exploring, feel free to contact me and we can figure a way to include you. Cheers and enjoy!


Deep Space Station Naramsin | Thrashian Imperial Space | Classified Location
2.11.001 of the New Galactic Era


Neil Ramius clenched his teeth, though had control over his emotions enough to not visibly grind them together. A naval officer, let alone a ship's captain, never let his frustration show; let alone any other emotion that he or she was not prepared to reveal. The lead officer sitting behind the metallic desk before him was nearing the end of his remarks.

"Please understand, Captain Ramius, that this is not a slight to you or a demotion. While I can readily understand any anger or frustration you may have at this transfer, please know that the Admiralty still holds you with high regard," said Vice Admiral Luthor Huss.

The rear admiral sitting to Huss' right nodded and folded his arms. "Indeed! Neil, you're a fantastic officer of the line and your experience in the last few campaigns speak to that. It's why I recommended you two times for commendation."

Ramius lifted his head slightly, "I thank you again, sir, for those recommendations."

Admiral Huss smiled. You must think that that is a winning smile...and it isn't, thought Ramius.

"Well deserved commendations - like the Order of Valor, with Stars -- for your bravery and action. I know a lot about you thanks to Rear Admiral Doutiere. Your AARs also show a clear minded ship captain, even in the worst of situations."

The third officer chipped in. "Your account of the Knight Hammer's action at Bilbringi do not do you justice, Captain Ramius. I had to interview three of your bridge crewmen to get the full story from them. It seems you tried to play down the effort that allowed those three civilian liners to escape the Chaos flotilla in the system."

The three men all sagely nodded and harrumphed.

Ramius wanted to take out his blaster pistol and use it as a club.

"If none of you objects, and if there is no other recourse, I must leave to see about my duties for this new posting," Ramius said, slightly impressed by his own ability to sound neutral.

Vice Admiral Huss nodded. "It's not the Knight Hammer, but I'm sure you'll adjust soon enough. Good luck out there in the wild beyond, Captain Ramius."

A sharp salute and perfect spin on his left heel brought Ramius to the exit door where two naval stormtroopers stood immobile. They did however snap to attention and one opened the door to him as he approached. Without further word or even looking back, Ramius left the briefing room and headed into the myriad hallways of the Naramsin station.

He stopped by a transparisteel observation point to breathe. A refreshment machine was next to him and a couple of lounge chairs. Without caring who might be watching, Ramius picked up a chair and smashed it into the vending machine. The chair snapped, made from cheap plastic, and pieces flew all over. If he hadn't been wearing his officer's gloves, the shards might have cut his hand.

"Whoa! Cap'n! No need to be destroying chairs or beating up on vends." The thick drawl drew Ramius around and he found his 3rd Officer, Commander Lyran Trix, standing a few feet away from him. His hands were up and a look of concern was on his round, farm-boy face.

Ramius sighed and tossed the remnants of the chair to the ground. A few junior officers that had been passing by picked up their pace, faster after Lyran gave them a hard stare. Within a few moments the hall was deserted except for the two of them and a cleaning bot that appeared and quietly cleaned up the broken chair pieces.

"It's just not fair, Trix," said Ramius, grinding it out. "It's just not fair."

Lyran Trix looked out the view port. The station was an amorphous mass of durasteel. The light of nearby ship engines seemed brighter for all the fact that there was no nearby star. Naramsin Station was a special deep space facility -- one of many seeded throughout the Empire -- and at the moment there were a dozen Imperial-class Star Destroyers docked with it. Lyran could see, fourth down the row, the Knight Hammer.

"They took your ship away?"

Ramius sighed and stood up. "It wasn't my ship, it's the Navy's, or that's what they told me."

Lyran suddenly turned back to his captain, shock on his face. "What about the crew!?"

"I get to take one or two with me, the rest remain with the Knight Hammer."

"Does that mean..."

"Yes, Trix, you're coming along. Let me see your code cylinder."

Lyran took out his code cylinder and handed it to Ramius, who walked over to a data port and accessed it using his own code cylinder. So long as his command codes were verified, he could access his latest mission log and duty files at nearly any point on the station. He spent a few minutes checking 'yes' and 'confirmed' on some preliminary documents that popped up, presenting him with his new mission profile and dossier. He then went into the crew list for the Knight Hammer and selected three names: Lyran Trix, Commander; Eduard Dinep, Chief-Engineer; and Wen Vintish, Starfighter Operations Coordinator.

A few button pushes and code authorizations later and Ramius was finished.

He turned and handed Lyran back his code cylinder.

"I expect to see you and the other two at the designated crew entry point tomorrow at zero-eight-hundred hours," said Ramius. "Is that understood, Commander Trix?"

Lyran grinned big, his farm-boy face making him seem far too young to be in uniform. He snapped a passable and hyper-eager salute. "You betcha -- uh, I mean, yes, sir, Captain!"

"Good. Now, get scarce. I've got my own duties to attend to."

Lyran took out his datapad as he walked away, back to the "shore" quarters for the Knight Hammer crew members, and slid in his code cylinder to the pad's reader. His new orders popped up within a few moments, detailing his new assignment and transfer orders.

He paused for a moment, squinting at the display. "Hangar bay 12-A...why the hell would we be in a hangar bay?"



Ramius turned and walked away from his encounter with Trix. He spent a slightly longer than average time getting back to the command officers' quarters. He chided himself as he walked, berating himself for allowing his emotions to get the better of him. It was hardly like him, to get so angry that he'd lash out in such a foolish and unprofessional manner. But taking away a Captain's ship...

His private room on the station had only a few personal effects. A model of a Corellian spaceship on his desk, a painting of his wife hanging on the wall, and a photograph of his twin sons smiling in their cadet uniforms. Seeing them made him jot down a mental note to send them a message. As hard as it was to meet under normal Naval circumstances, this new assignment would see to it that he'd not see his sons for quite a while longer.

He spent the next few hours reading over his orders and the details of his mission, before eating a small dinner and then falling asleep.

* * * * *

Deep Space Station Naramsin
2.11.001 NGE
Earlier that same day...



"Doctor, sir -- I mean, ma'am -- Colonel! You're sure we need to bring all of these?"

The young adjutant seemed more than a little confused and upset. Jessica Noel considered the scene before her. Five naval ensigns were trying their best not to show strain from the weight of the cargo boxes that she'd stacked in their arms without so much of a warning other than a muttered, "hold this."

Ensign Bretti seemed particularly encumbered due to the 10,000+ year old slab of rock, a stele with proto-Ixkrian xeno glyphs carved into it's surface, that was in his arms.

"I need these to help me in my work, Ensign," replied Noel. She decided to use her sweet voice, after that. "Please deliver it to my quarters aboard the ship. It's not too far away."

She thought she heard one of them mutter something about being treated little better than droids, but they did turn and carry her things away.

Jessica turned about her office, trying to make sure she wasn't going to be leaving anything behind. Several of her dictionaries, physical copies and not digitized in a datapad, had already been packed. Two of her xeno artifacts had already been sent off and Ensign Bretti was carrying the third. All that remained was...her clothes and Pixie.

Pixie was a protocol droid that was currently standing immobile in the corner. Jessica began throwing her clothes into her duffel bag, not really caring if they weren't folded. "Wake up, Pixie! It's almost time to go."

The eyes flashed blue and Pixie awoke from her slumber status state. Her gears whirled softly as she looked around and considered what 'she' was seeing. Stenciled on her back was her designation: P-1X13.

"Mistress, it would appear that we're moving out."

"You're right about that, Pix. I want you to take my bag to our new quarters aboard ship," replied Jessica, tossing her bag at the droid.

"And here I thought that all members of the Chiss species were suppose to be neat and orderly about their belongings," Pixie said, looking at the bag in her hands.

"Enough of your complaining, Pixie, and get to it. I've got a board meeting to attend before I can get to the ship," replied Jessica.

Before she left her room, Jessica did at least try to make sure her uniform was mostly presentable. She was one of the Imperial Military's leading xeno-biologists and part of the R&D Branch, all of which meant that she didn't quite need to be as starch-y as the other goofs marching about.

Her chronometer beeped and Jessica sped away through the halls. Various officers and personnel dodged out of her way, saluting with equal parts surprise and confusion on their faces.

She arrived in the conference room with three minutes to spare.

"Took your damned time I see, Dr. Noel," greeted the gravely bass voice of Dr. Ericson. The aged man was kindly looking, different from the deep and authoritative specter that his voice seemed to convey. He pushed his bifocals up onto the bridge of his nose, an oddity he liked to keep even though surgery could easily have fixed his eyesight problem.

"Don't mind him, Jessica, he was the first one here only because he thought he might be late," interrupted another. Stepping up next to Dr. Ericson and also wearing a science officer's uniform was Egret Lamarr, physicist and cyberneticist extraordinaire; and one of Jessica's oldest friends, roommates even back in their Academy days.

A third voice gave a disapproving tut-tut. "Please, let's try to keep decorum and pretend that we respect the rank that the military gave us."

A middle-aged man with a bushy beard grumbled.

Jessica smiled. "You're right, Dr. Major Zewali. Otherwise our normie fellow officers on this mission will get angry with us."

"Undoubtedly," muttered Dr. Ericson.

"Alright then, let's all be seated and get this meeting started," called Jessica. A dozen doctorate-holding scientists, experts in various fields, sat down around a conference table. All had coffee brought to them, except for Dr. Bone, who preferred tea.

"We're going to be the lead scientists aboard ship, to find and to explore strange new star systems, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and research and record everything we find!" said Jessica, happily. "I've been appointed as the mission commander and I'll make sure that--."

"That no one starts a war."

The interjecting voice came from behind Jessica. All eyes turned to see a flashily dressed woman with startlingly bright golden eyes, obvious genetically modified, and white-blonde hair. She strode into the room and seemed to act as if she owned it.

"Uhm, and you are?" asked Dr. Ericson.

"Lady Baroness Diana Quincy," she said, smiling.

She must have been expecting a reaction from that pronouncement, but tsked in frustration when all she got was a dozen blank looks of confusion and noncomprehension.

"Typical," she said. "Too busy with your collective noses in texts and research to know anything about high society."

"I'm sorry, but why would a Baroness be here?" asked Jessica, frowning.

"I've been appointed as an Imperial Envoy," smiled Baroness Diana. She took out a small datapad and handed it to Jessica, who nearly dropped it.

Jessica scanned through the file on display. It was an authorization from the Imperial Foreign Ministry and co-signed by Grand Moff Noventa himself. Lady Baroness Diana Quincy would accompany the science and research mission in order to act as an Imperial Envoy with plenipotentiary powers. Jessica's eyes widened at that part. This is way, way above my pay grade and I so do not want to deal with this.

"So...you're taking command of the mission?" Jessica asked, looking up with apprehension. With the authority invested in her by the authorization on the datapad, the Baroness could do pretty much all that she pleased.

Diana laughed. The seated scientists all exchanged more looks of confusion.

"Silly girl," Diana smiled, again. "Of course not! Maker forfend I do that. I'm more than happy to let you and your little book club members here handle the mission."

All of the seated scientists gave an open sign of relief.

"However..."

Breathing stopped and eyes quirked.

"I will handle any first-contact situations that we have. I'll be relying on your collective skills for translation and such. Would hate to start a diplomatic incident due to bad translating. You're all highly accredited, so I know you won't fail me."

Most of the room nodded and Jessica handed her back her datapad.

"Alright then, lovelies! I'll see you all aboard ship. Ta-ta for now."

Without another word the beautifully dressed baroness turned and left the room. Her exit was as sudden and surprising as her entrance. No one spoke in the room for a few minutes, everyone simply either exchanging a few looks of further confusion, incomprehension, or staring at the closed door as if hoping that whatever had just happened was an illusion.

Jessica turned back to them.

"Well, at least we won't have to handle those details. Instead we can focus on the research opportunities. Now, if you'll turn to page 3, section triple-4, one...."

* * * * *

Deep Space Station Naramsin
3.11.001 NGE
0500 Hours


A beeping alert woke Ramius up. He turned to see not his alarm beeping, but his datapad. He rolled over and begrudgingly picked it up.

A new message appeared, appending his previous orders.

Ramius read it. Twice.

"GODS DAMN THEM ALL!"

He threw the datapad against the wall. It smashed to pieces. He rolled back to his previous sleeping position, pulled up his sheets, and closed his eyes.



Four minutes later, his alarm sounded.

[Thrashia]

Hangar Bay 12-A, Delta-Point Docks, Naramsin Station
3.11.001 NGE
0910 Hours


"What a piece of junk," muttered Ramius.

He stood in a marked off safe-zone, chipped red paint on the metal floor of the hangar in obvious need of a fresh coat. Around him the crew of his new command were going about various pre-flight operations. There a hangar bay ensign was directing a series of lifter droids up the port, ventral ramp that led into the interior of his "new" ship. Over there a company of Imperial Army troopers were standing in formation, loosely, waiting for a half dozen All-Terrain Supremacy Walkers to make their way up the starboard ventral ramp.

A dozen science officers and engineers, designated by their special insignia, were mucking it all up by moving about with extra equipment piled on loaders -- with apparently no idea where or what they were doing.

"It's a piece of junk," grit out Ramius again, glaring at the ship.

The hangar was easily twice the length of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer and wide as one was long. This allowed enough space to fit his new ship and enough staging area for vehicles and gear depots to be set up nearby.

"I'll no' say tha' Cap'ten," declared Chief Engineer Eduard Dinep, standing beside his captain and manipulating his datapad with furious and fast strokes of a stylus. His accented brogue was thick as ever. "'Tis a terribul thang to insul' the purr lass before we take 'er out."

"Give me a rundown again," asked Ramius. He sighed and looked up at the gray hull of the aged Venator-class Star Destroyer that was sitting in front of him.

"Och, jus' a moment ser...lesse'...aye, 'ere we are: the Venator-class Converted Science Vessel Pursuit -- that's our lass -- has been refitted an' modified in the following ways; her dorsal, near-hull length hangar bay door has been replaced with a solid piece of reinforced durasteel armor. No more flyin' outa' ta' top of tha' thing any now."

He moved his stylus around. He winced. Ramius heard him curse in his old planet's local patois. "They've gone and removed two of the standard dual-heavy turbolaser turrets from the main battery and fully removed all heavy torpedo tubes. That leaves us with six heavy turbolasers, two medium turbolaser cannon, six tractor beam projectors....and...that's about it. Sir."

Ramius began swearing in his head. Cursing his luck, the gods, the Force, the Admiralty....

"Oh, but ser! I've good news fer ya!" Eduard struck his stylus down onto his datapad as if it were a sword and he were slaying a terrible dragon. "I've had them transfer us some spare supplies, which includes brand new octuple barbette turbolaser cannon. We've no the time the now, but during our mission I'm sure I'll have time to install them."

Ramius sagged a bit, but turned sharply. "What about that new sensor suite? The new one?"

"Och, that was special ordered by Colonel-Doctor Noel, herself sir. We've got a multiphase hypertech anachron sensor array, fresh off the factory from Kuat II. She's also been fitted with a series of omniprobe sensor arrays...," he whistled, "...and even a 'Long View-382X long-range sensor array'. Now tha' is a purr expensive piece o' equipment."

"You're not wrong about that, Chief Engineer," said a voice behind the two of them.

Ramius turned to find a Chiss female wearing an Imperial officer's uniform. Her rank was that of a Colonel and he instantly knew that this was Colonel-Doctor Noel. Ramius came to attention, followed shortly thereafter by Eduard.

Jessica saluted back and smiled. Her red eyes were bright and looked at Ramius with a little apprehension. "If I might have a moment alone, Captain Ramius?"

Neil nodded and motioned for Eduard to get lost, which he promptly did -- walking over to take charge of a gaggle of crewmen that were getting in the way of a loading team. "I'll see to things then, get that bridge AI turned on then, Cap'ten," he half-muttered, scooting away.



Ramius stood silent and looked over the Colonel-Doctor's shoulder, still at attention. Jessica waited until the Chief Engineer was a dozen or more steps away.

"Uhm, oh, at ease Captain, please."

Ramius relaxed and clasped his hands behind his back, the same stance he usually took when aboard the bridge of his old ship, the Knight Hammer.

"I just wanted to say 'sorry', Captain Ramius."

Ramius shifted his eyes and locked gazes with the woman. He was a bit shocked, actually. Her tone made her seem completely sincere.

"I know that this must be a bit embarrassing, to have a science officer be the mission commander," continued Jessica. "I'm sure you'd rather be back aboard your previous vessel."

Ramius swallowed, cleared his throat. "I go wherever commanded, Colonel."

Jessica smiled, slightly. The mix of acknowledgment of Ramius' pain and embarrassment made him understand, in a way that words couldn't, that the woman was very, truthfully, sincere. He was not completely shocked.

"But yes, I wanted to express my apologies that you were forced to this mission -- and also to thank you, for accepting it. I know you likely had little choice. I heard that the Admiralty chose you specifically. Hard to turn down that kind of responsibility."

Ramius nodded.

"Just so we're clear, Captain Ramius," Jessica's tone became serious. "In the event of combat, you will have full command and authority. You are still the Pursuit's captain."

"Thank you for your concern and words, Colonel," Ramius replied, at length. "I'm honestly a bit surprised as your candor, but I appreciate it."

"That is my aim, Captain," Jessica smiled, big this time. "I'd like a good working relationship with you and your staff."

"I see no reason why that won't work," agreed Ramius. He heard an altercation rising behind him and Ramius turned to see two groups of black uniformed Imperial pilots moving toward each other, voices raised. "If you'll excuse me for the moment, ma'am, I've to see to this."

Jessica nodded. "Of course, Captain. I'll see you at the primary briefing after launch."

* * * * *

"I'll not have some bantha-breathing, bench warmer from the 'Two-Twenty Worst' get loaded into the primary hangar before us!"

A young lieutenant, wearing his black flight suit, was shouting into the face of a slightly more portly ensign. The unit patch on the lieutenant's arm bore triple 9's, red in color and sitting inside what looked like a TIE Fighter's targeting reticule. The unfortunate, portly ensign had another unit insignia; a simple series of three numbers in blue stitching: two-two-one.

"B-But my squadron was already here and--."

"Don't start with that! These damned hangar jockey's mixed up the order and you're taking advantage of it."

"How am I taking -- advantage? -- what?" The man was blubbering and visibly distressed.

A large number of red-patched pilots and squadron ground crew began swarming around their respective unit's officer.

"B-B-B-Buuu," the lieutenant mocked the man's voice. "But nothing. You're going to sit back and wait until the rest of the Killer Nines are loaded."

Ramius stepped forward, having heard enough.

"He'll do no such thing."

The lieutenant turned, still angry. "Oh yeah and who's going to make---SIR!?"

The lieutenant snapped to attention faster than a TIE Interceptor could turn. All of the gathered TIE wing members snapped to attention, falling over themselves to stand appropriately to regulations.

Ramius stepped up to the young lieutenant's face. "I'm the one who is going to say who gets on MY ship and when. Is that clear, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"I expected better from Colonel Defries outfit," commented Ramius. The look of shame that fell over the faces of the 999th Fighter Wing members was commendable. They'd been acting like bullies, cadets at Academy with nothing better to do than pick on another person.

Ramius swept around just as the looks of satisfaction was beginning to start on the faces of the 221st Fighter Wing personnel.

"And you!"

The portly ensign about jumped into hyperspace.

"Y-Yes, sir?"

"Your men need to get aboard in the next thirty minutes or else you will be the last squadron to board my ship. Not only that, but I'll make both you," he swept back to the 999th crew, "and you -- all of you -- help the remaining TIE squadrons get aboard; and you will both be dead last. That will happen if I hear any more fighting between the two of you."

He swept his gaze about.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" chorused all the crew and pilots.

"Then get to it," growled Ramius.

The TIE pilots and ground crew fell over themselves a little as they scrambled to get away from Ramius.

A soft clapping echoed behind Ramius.

He turned to see a rather unimpressive looking Imperial officer, a bit older than most, standing there next to a much more severe, younger, and competent looking officer. Both men wore colonel's rank markers on their uniforms and the ion-eagle symbol that indicated they were in the Starfighter Corp.

"That was well done, Captain," smiled the older officer. He came to attention. "Colonel Edrin Zewalt, 221st Fighter Wing, commanding."

The other man came to a much more crisp salute. "Colonel Gerard Defries, 999th Fighter Wing, commanding."

Ramius returned their salutes. "I must say, gentlemen, I'm not terribly impressed with your men's behavior."

"I apologize, sir." Colonel Defries bowed formally, almost like a courtier. "I will be sure to correct my men's misbehavior. It won't happen again."

Zewalt looked a bit surprised and then also nodded. He brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his head and grinned in a sorry fashion. "Yes, I too feel bad about that, Captain. Sir. I'll try to make sure my men don't get in the way again."

"They'll need to get along better than this, if we're going to make this mission as secure as possible," said Ramius, his tone snapping both officer's attention to him.

"What do you mean by that, sir?" asked Colonel Defries.

"Because, you're it."

Both colonels exchanged looks of confusion.

"We're it? Not sure I understand, Captain," replied Zewalt.

"I mean that you're it. The 221st and 999th are the only two fighter wings that have been assigned to the Pursuit."

Colonel Defries' eyes almost popped out of his head.

"WHAT? But...we're only 55% effective right now!" he near-shouted.

Colonel Zewalt crossed his arms and frowned. He seemed to be thinking hard for a moment, his brow causing his service cap to momentarily block his eyes. "We're at 80...83% effective at the moment, sir. Only down a single squadron. But...even if we were both at full effectiveness, there'd still be room for nearly four more fighter wings aboard the Pursuit."

"I'm well aware of these problems, gentlemen. We've no choice but to accept the situation and overcome it," said Ramius, mentally cursing the Admiralty once more. His face remained as calm as ever, however.

Colonel Zewalt swallowed and seemed to look a bit more sweaty, which was impressive in a way.

"I-I uh...I guess we'll need to get working on that joint cooperation ASAP then," he mumbled.

Colonel Defries nodded. "I agree. Once we're aboard and on mission, I'll work up a training routine to keep not only my own pilots sharp, but also work in practice with the 221st."

Ramius nodded, appreciating Defries. "Good. Please get in contact with Commander Vintish. He's my Starfighter Operations Coordinator. He'll be the one responsible for helping work out a duty roster with the two of you."

Both men nodded and saluted, Ramius bringing the impromptu interview to a close. "I'll see you both aboard, later."

He walked off to surprise another part of the loading operations.

* * * * *

Warning klaxons blared throughout the hangar bay.

A voice boomed out above the alarm.

"Alert! Alert! Alert! Ship launch int t-minus two minutes. All personnel clear the hangar bay. Hangar Bay 12-A, launch in process. Alert! Alert! Alert!"

The engines of the Pursuit roared and the landing gear of the Venator retracted, rising up and pushing into their respective holding places. At the end of the hangar, on either side, was the bluish ion-shielded exit.

With another thrust, the engines whined louder and the Pursuit exited the hangar bay of Naramsin Station's delta-point docks.

Off-duty personnel around the deep space station watched from various vantage points as the older model ship appeared and sped away from the station. The Venator-class CSV Pursuit was now launched.



Captain Ramius stood with the holotable behind him. The bridge of the Venator-class was much larger than the Imperial-class, devoting more space to sensors and the necessary equipment to manage starfighter carrier operations. The architecture of the space also bothered him a bit, as his usual central deck was not a smooth line of durasteel. He sighed, mentally. Just something I'll have to get use to.

"Everything seems to be in working order, Captain Ramius," said Senior Commander Damien Noventa. "Launch successful and all systems are showing green."

Ramius turned to consider his newly appointed executive officer. Senior Commander Noventa had been a late placement, his addition to the mission crew having been made only a day before the launch. The fact that a relative, even a distant relative, of the famous Grand Moff Noventa's family was aboard his ship was enough to make him wary.

His naval record, however, was impeccable.

"Very good, XO," replied Ramius. "Please have the first series of jump coordinates initiated into the navicomputer."

Damien saluted smartly and moved over to the navigation station.

The doors to the bridge opened and Colonel-Doctor Noel stepped within, followed by a brightly dressed civilian. The only civilian who had authorization to be on his bridge was the Imperial Envoy. Another Noventa scion.

"Ah, good evening Captain!" said Diana Quincy. She smiled and exuded a seemingly inexhaustable amount of feminine charm. "I'm liking this ship. It's so...old fashioned. Unique."

"It is, that," agreed Colonel-Doctor Noel. She looked at Ramius with her ruby-colored eyes. "Is everything in order, Captain?"

"Yes, ma'am. I trust that you and your team have made yourself comfortable on the other bridge?"

The Venator-class had two bridges -- one from which the ship was commanded and the other from which starfighter operations could be solely seen to. The secondary bridge had, when the ship was refurbished for this mission, been turned into a science lab of sorts. It also acted as the main office and demesne of Doctor Jessica Noel.

"Oh yes, I'm enjoying it immensely. I still need to unpack some more equipment, but that will keep."

"If I might interject, sirs and madams?"

They all turned to the holotable where a small, six-inch tall holographic figure appeared on the display. The form was that of a young woman wearing a typical Imperial uniform - with some very liberal adjustments made to it's cut.


"Go ahead, Percy," smiled Jessica. Ramius mentally rolled his eyes. Now we're nicknaming the AIs?

"Thank you, Doctor," replied the AI, Percy. These AIs were new pieces of technology that had been integrated into all newly developed Thrashian ships; an artificial intelligence system designed for aiding ship activity and crew support.

"The navigational course has been set. All astrographical data has been loaded into my databanks and I've worked with Ensign Miklen for the ideal course. We have two stops scheduled in two systems that have been previously scanned and visited by Imperial ships. The third stop is at our first 'unknown' system."

"We'll designate that as SSI-1," said Jessica.

"SSI-1?" Lady Quincy raised an impeccably plucked eyebrow.

"System Survey Investigation One?" guessed Ramius.

"Give the Captain a cronut!" Jessica grinned. The well known Corellian sweet treat did sound tempting. "We'll need to organize and file all system profiles that we come across. Our sensors are sensitive enough that we can scan an entire sub-sector, given enough time. We will be making general survey scans like that, and focus in on single systems when we detect something interesting."

"Sounds so interesting," said Diana, her drawl clearly showing the opposite.

Ramius thanked the stars that Doctor Noel seemed not to notice.

"It is!" Jessica replied. "We've not had such a complex sensor suite placed aboard a ship before. I need to send a subspace message to Admiral Hanks for getting the funding for this." The head of the Imperial military's R&D department was a well known coo-coo, at least as far as the regular military establishment was concerned.

"Navigation is prepared to jump at your command," interjected Senior Commander Noventa, stepped back to attention next to Ramius.

"Very good, XO. Initiate the jump to lightspeed."

The senior commander studiously ignored his relative, who smiled at him, at turned to the navigation station in the port-side crew pit.

"Initiate the jump on my mark. Three....two...one....jump."



Star lines appeared to those on the bridge and the Pursuitdisappeared into hyperspace.

[Thrashia]

Senior Officer's Ready Room | Venator-class Converted Science Vessel Pursuit
5.11.001 NGE
1000 Hours, Shipboard Time


If he remained perfectly still and silent, breathing only ever so deeply, Ramius could feel the hum of the Pursuit's engines as the ship made its way through hyperspace. He was still getting use to the feel of the ship, much as a rider might adjust to a new mount. It was important to know your ship as it were an extension of your own body, or so went Ramius' personal philosophy. A captain should know everything about his ship and any possible quirks it might possess. So far the Pursuit hadn't revealed anything untoward and Ramius had quietly had to hand it to the KDY engineers who'd refitted her at the naval yards.

"With all do respect, Major Zorn," one of the two officers standing in the ready room said, not sounding respectful at all, "The best option is for the 49th to handle any possible threat from hostile creatures, beings, or what-have-you."

Major Zorn, his black Stormtrooper Corp uniform as crisp and clean as any Ramius had ever seen simply raised an eyebrow.

"I would, respectfully, disagree with you Colonel Zuteng. My stormtroopers are the best suited for the myriad hostile environments we might encounter."

"You're little better suited for anything other than guarding the Pursuit!" riposted Zuteng.

Ramius watched the eyebrows furrow on Zorn's forehead. Time to bring this to a close, he thought.

"Gentlemen," interjected Ramius.

Both officers turned, immediately. Zuteng had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed for having been arguing in front of a, technically, superior officer. Zorn was as indomitable and emotionless as any stormtrooper commander could be.

"While I am glad to have the 49th on lone from the Imperial Army-"

Zuteng looked as if he were about to interrupt.

"-and always pleased to have professional and discrete Imperial Navy stormtroopers-"

Zorn's gaze flickered to Zuteng and then back to Ramius.

"-I'm going to simply divide the work between both of you."

Both officers grimaced.

Guess that's diplomacy for you. Everyone gets something, but nobody leaves happy.

"If and when necessary, dictated by the needs of the mission, we shall deploy the 49th regiment for terrestrial duties. If we encounter any orbital facilities or locations, derelict ships - anything that might be considered 'in space', we'll leave to Major Zorn's 10th Battalion. This should keep both of you within your respective bailiwicks and, at need, capable of supporting the other."

Ramius looked at both of them and sighed, visibly.

"Gentlemen, this is going to be a long mission. I need my senior officers to operate effectively and smoothly together. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" snapped Colonel Zuteng.

"Sir, yes sir," replied Zorn.

Ramius nodded. "Good. Then I want the two of your to work out a joint training regimen. We've got a lot of spare hangar space and I'm authorizing the two of you to develop a stronger relationship between your cadres. The 49th has a lot of veterans from the Chaos War, as does the 10th Battalion. See what either of you knows and compare. You might learn something."

Both men saluted, hearing the dismissal in Ramius' voice. They turned smartly on their heels and left the room.

The ready room wasn't the captain's office, that was three decks below, but this was closer to the primary bridge and Ramius was becoming use to it.

A small chime sounded, alerting Ramius that the ship's AI was about to speak.

"What's doing, Percy?" asked Ramius, having given up on day one of addressing the AI by anything else. It had ignored him for five hours straight when he'd been requesting more data on a hyperdrive motivator report, but not addressed it 'properly'.

"Good morning, Captain Ramius," said the voice mimicked that of a famous holo-star by the name of Angela Starwind. The seductive undertones that could be insinuated by that voice was...unsettling.

"Morning, Percy. You have something for me?"

"Yes. Colonel-Doctor Noel wished me to inform you that we've detected an anomaly in a nearby system."

Ramius' interest was piqued. "The sensor array managed to pick that up in the last pit-stop?"

"Yes, Captain. A faint, multi-frequency pulse. The wavelength and speed of the signal leads me to believe that it's background noise created by an automated system."

"So this isn't an SOS or intended to be an open broadcast?"

"No. The system itself was otherwise silent, hence the hypothesis that this is from automation."

"And the good Doctor wants to go check it out," Ramius asked, rhetorically.

"Indeed. She in fact already relayed such orders to the helm."

Ramius stood up with a jolt. "SHE WHAT?"

"She--"

"I heard you the first time. Where is she!?"

"The Colonel-Doctor is currently in her office on the secondary bridge."



Ramius stormed out of the ready room and reached the turbolift that connected the two command towers of the Pursuit to the inner corridors. He slammed the button indicating the tenth level, down. The turbolift whined for a few moments, then the door slid open. Ramius walked out and down a bare metal corridor fifty meters wide. A patrol of four stormtroopers stepped aside and saluted as he passed. Two droids, protocol-series, also bumbled out of his way when he practically growled at them.

"Oh my!" one said.

"How rude," complained the other.

The next turbolift door slid open and Ramius once more slapped the button, this time indicating up. He tapped his foot four times by the time the door slid open again and he stepped onto what would have been the twin of his own command bridge.

A single stormtrooper was standing guard at the portal entrance. He saluted and came to attention when Ramius passed.

The secondary bridge was....no longer a bridge. The sheer amount of change that had been done to it, alterations and decoration, was enough to bring Ramius up short. The crew pits were gone, instead the central command path removed and a lower "room" created by joining the former crew pits together. The new space was lined with tables or data terminals. Several hologram view screens were running, data or schematics of one kind or another running down their green-tinted lines. The center of the space was given over to tables, bare metal ones, which were covered in actual books and -- was that a stone statue? -- other odds and ends.

Sitting amid it all like some sort of trinket hoarder Ugnaught was Doctor Noel. Her blue-black hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a datapad stylus stuck in it. Her uniform tunic was missing, replaced by a fatigue undershirt, over which was a frayed and brown caff-stained lab coat. She was typing furiously into an analog keyboard, instead of using a holographic one.

She didn't even look up when Ramius entered, his boots stomping on the metal floor. Nor when he came around her wall of junk to loom over her.

"Make sure to ask the newbie interns to look again in storage, Percy. I just know that I packed the Osgiliak Monograph somewhere," she said aloud. The chime of the AI's acknowledgment sounded.

"WHAT MADE YOU GO MAD?" roared Ramius, right next to her.

Jessica jumped three feet out of her seat and tumbled backwards. Ramius caught her before her head slammed down. Her glowing red eyes were wide.

"Wha--Captain? Ow! Why are you--?"

"Shut it!" Ramius said, only half-roaring. Anger was coming off him like the banked heat of a fiery forge.

"What made you think you had the right to give orders to my Helm? Is this your ship, Colonel-Doctor Noel?"

She recovered slightly, standing up. "Uh, well, um, no it's not technically-."

"No," interrupted Ramius. "No, it is not your ship. It is in fact mine. The next time you detect some anomaly or signal in a nearby system and you want to stop, you will first clear such a request through me. Do I make myself clear, Doctor?"

"I was only-."

"Do I make myself clear, Doctor?"

"You don't have to-."

"Do I make myself clear, Doctor?"

Jessica fumed. "Yes, Captain Ramius, you make yourself perfectly clear."

Ramius took out his comlink. "Ramius to bridge helm."

"This is Helm. What can I do for you, Captain?"

"Confirm authorization for translation out of hyperspace to new coordinates," Ramius said, looking Jessica in the eye as he spoke.

"Authorization confirmed. By your order, Captain."

"Alert me once we come out of hyperspace, lieutenant."

"Aye, sir."

Ramius flicked the comlink switch off and put it back on his belt. He could see that Dr. Noel's face was running a gamut of emotions, most of them around anger and confusion.

"The reason, doctor, that I am angry with you is because a ship only has one captain. Even though you are mission commander, it is I who commands this ship. Orders must go through a chain of command -- and any action or authority that steps around that chain of command can ruin the discipline and effectiveness of a ship's crew. Do you understand me now, Doctor?"

Jessica nodded, her tension subsiding slightly.

Ramius turned and began leaving.

"You just don't have to be such a jerk about it," muttered Jessica.

Ramius turned. "What was that?"

"Nothing! Just please don't shout in my ear again."

"I apologize for that," Ramius frowned. He gave a short bow and left the secondary bridge. Jessica stood there, staring after him, still a bit rattled and angry; but logically understanding the captain's anger. I'll get him back for this, I promise, she thought.

* * * * *

Luxury Suite (Converted 2nd Officer's Room)



"I really must insist that you not try contacting me during or after my official duty hours," said Damien Noventa.

He stood at parade rest inside the room, looking about and having to remind himself that he was in fact aboard a Venator-class vessel and not inside a ritzy hotel room from the 500 Round District, near the Imperial Palace back on New Bastion.

The room had been redecorated and altered to fit the tastes and style of Lady Baroness Diana Quincy, who'd spared no expense. Diana Quincy herself stepped out from her clothes closet, her face seemingly disappointed about something. She stepped over to Damien, smiled, and put her arms around his shoulders.

"Now, now cousin. You shouldn't be embarrassed about visiting family."

"We're only third cousins, once removed," commented Damien.

"Oh tish-tosh, who cares about formalities? Once a Noventa, always a Noventa. Great Uncle Alexandros wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, with you bearing the family name and this assignment I'm sure you were chosen for a reason," said Diana, slinking away and making herself comfortable on a lounge chair, cushions everywhere.

Damien sighed inwardly. Being part of one of the most powerful families in the sector had been hard enough, back during his days in the Imperial Academy. Once his father's uncle had become Grand Moff though? Everything just goes downhill. Every move becomes suspect and people treat you even more differently than before.

His thoughts must have been showing because Diana grinned knowingly at him.

"Besides, it's why I was given this job. Or did you seriously think that I would request such an assignment? Imperial Envoy?" she mocked. "Please! I'd much rather be back on New Bastion."

"I understand," nodded Damien. "But in the future, please be sure to only speak to me when we meet at official functions. I've enough trouble with the new captain thinking I'm a political appointee. I don't want him breathing down my neck even more because I happen to be related to the Imperial Envoy."

Diana sighed. She drew a hand through her silver-white, silken hair. It was a tick of hers, whenever she was being thoughtful. She looked at Damien and sighed again.

"Oh very well, you boring stick-in-the-mud. Very well. I shall not burden you with a request to visit me again. The offer stands, though. I could always use a bit of distraction."

Damien nodded, bowed formally, and left as quickly as he could.

Diana lay back and stared at the door, boredom beginning to set in.



Sector M-S | Unknown System | Anomaly
5.11.001 NGE
13:00 Hours, Shipboard Time


The Pursuit came out of hyperspace within the system. A per the standard operating procedure that had been instituted by Captain Ramius, two squadrons of TIEs launched from the port and starboard hangar bays; one from the 221st and the other from the 999th. Both were composed of TIE Interceptors. Ground crew from the 999th kept making a running joke about the fact that the 221st had only a single squadron of Interceptors, the majority of their other squadrons older models.

Commander Damien stepped aboard the bridge just as the current deck officer on duty was reporting to Captain Ramius. The captain was standing rigidly next to the holotable projector, studiously ignoring the dancing figure of Percy, the ship AI. The younger deck officer was doing his best to also ignore the AI.

"-nothing from all quadrants. The system seems to be empty of any life and no ship signals have been detected. ComScan is reporting, however, on the signal that was picked up."

"Have we pinpointed the origin?" asked Captain Ramius, not even turning as Damien stepped up next to him and came to attention.

"Yes, sir. There is an asteroid belt running between the third and fourth planetary paths of the system's terrestrial bodies. Some of the asteroids are larger than our models predict to be natural."

"What has analysis given?" asked Damien, interjecting slightly.

"We're still working on the model in tandem with the science crew on the secondary bridge, but Percy believes that they may have been artificially placed within the asteroid belt."

"Interesting," commented Captain Ramius. He turned to face Damien. "Well, XO Noventa, bring us in closer to the signal origin and prepare a more detailed scan."

Damien saluted and marched over to the helm. "Helm, ahead forward to signal origin point. Bring us to within standard range, five light seconds. Holding pattern once there. Confirm."

"Increasing power to move into range. Standard operational range, five light seconds. Holding pattern upon reaching designated point. Confirmed," replied the Helm officer.

The engines thrummed beneath them, a soft vibration that could even be felt there on the bridge. Damien nodded approvingly and moved back next to the Captain.

"Now we see if this signal is worth the stop we made," said Captain Ramius aloud.

"One hopes," replied Damien, reflexively.

* * * * *

Jessica stood silently next to the holo projector, watching as data streamed by from the sensor array. Text was running down the screen, along with mathematical equations predicting various astrophysical data points that were being observed and likely to be seen.

"Anything yet?" asked Dr. Egret Lamarr, walking over to stand next to Jessica.

As one of the other few female members of the lead science team, and near in age, Jessica had become fast friends with Egret. She shook her head.

"No, not yet."

"I heard the Captain yelled at you."

"Let's not talk about that."

"If you say so..."

A beep sounded. "Sensory analysis is complete," came Percy's deep, female half-sensuous voice.

"Audio, play it," ordered Jessica.

"The asteroid is by our calculations 95% likely to have been placed within this asteroid belt and not to have naturally occurred. It's overly large, at just over 500km in diameter. A large portion of the asteroid has been hollowed out to allow for the construction of some kind of shipyard; that being the best guess at the moment. It appears to be completely abandoned and over eighty percent of the internal areas are exposed to the vacuum of space. Signs of forced entry, thermal markers, indicate that looters, scavengers, or other explorers have been here before."

"Why a shipyard?" asked Egret. As pysicist and cyberneticist, she had little or no knowledge of space or space ships. "Couldn't it be something else?"

The AI took a moment to answer. "Unlikely. The evidence shows gantries and hollow spaces capable of only one likely operation -- zero-g ship construction. It matches older model methods of shipyard construction in poorer parts of the known galaxy."

"Percy, see to it that a boarding team gets ready to-," began Jessica.

Egret coughed loudly.

"-that is," Jessica sighed,"Please send a message to Captain Ramius, requesting that a shuttle be prepared to allow a boarding team."

"As you wish, mistress," Percy replied.

[Thrashia]

Sector M-S | Unknown System | Anomaly
5.11.001 NGE
15:00 Hours, Shipboard Time


Stormtrooper Dana Froise was running hard.

"Shit. Shit. Shit."

Heavy breathing echoed in her helmet. Her lungs were beginning to burn, as she was being forced to exert far more energy to run in a near zero-g environment.

Her comlink clicked. "ST-A117, status?"

"Derelict my ass! On station defenses are still in effect!"

The corridor she was running down was sheathed in metal. The magnetic-locks on her boots were activated, helping to give her traction as she ran. She rounded a corner and saw her squad at the far end, about a hundred meters away. She gripped her E-11 blaster in her left hand and began frantically waving with her right.

"RUN!"

"What?"

CRASH!

Ten meters behind her, coming around the corner like a hurtling train, was a metallic giant. Operating on ungainly, stilted legs was a spherical body covered in armored plates; arm appendages were outstretched and ended in various sharp or broken pieces of metal. One held a laser-cutter. Someone had given a worker-like droid a program setting to attack anything that appeared.

Dana dived and slid feet first between the legs of her squad sergeant, ST-901, and then vaulted to her feet. She spun on her heel and brought her blaster rifle up. All her squad mates were already aiming.

"Fire!" shouted Sergeant Carver, ST-A901.

Eight blaster rifles erupted, a blazing cacophony that smashed into the approaching robot. The metal plates on its body turned red with heat. Pieces of metal and armor sloughed off, melted. Its arms were blasted off. Several of its thin legs were bisected by red bolts. Electrical sparks flew from its innards as laser blasts penetrated its armored hide. It began to resemble a piece of bantha cheese, holes ever few inches peppered across its body.

The defensive robot came to a collapsed halt less than ten meters away from the squad.

Dana slowed her breathing, trying to catch her breath.

"Tell me. Again. Who. Was it...That said...this place...was empty?" she asked.

"You'll have to bring that up with mission command," replied Lester, ST-A445.

"Cut the small talk," ordered Sergeant Carver. He walked over and put another three blasts of laser fire into the machine. It always paid to double-tap.

"Mission Control, this is Exploratory Squad Alpha, we've got active droid defensive measures in effect."

"Copy that, ESA. Orders are to pull back to the entry point for extraction. ESD already found whatever it was that the White Coats were looking for."

"Roger that. ETA is five minutes." Carver turned back to his squad and holstered his E-11. "Come on squad, let's get back to the boat."

* * * * *

"We're scrapping the rest of the mission here," Captain Ramius said. He set his data pad down, having read through the report submitted by Lieutenant Rochel from the Stormtrooper detachment. The fact that they'd come fairly close to having casualties on what was suppose to be a derelict was not a good omen for their first exploration mission.

"But," began Jessica.

"No, Colonel, I'm sorry, but I won't further endanger my men and women for a further investigation. We'd have to spend time clearing the station for further defenses and traps. The stormtrooper squad brought back one of the central computer terminals that they found, so be satisfied with that," interrupted Ramius.

The Chiss science officer crossed her arms and seemed like she was close to snarling, before sighing and nodding. "Very well, Captain. Please make sure to log the system in the records. We'll maybe send a recovery mission here in the not too distant future."

"As you wish," agreed Ramius. "I'll set up a message buoy to also broadcast a warning to any other would-be adventurers that might stumble across this thing."

[Thrashia]

Sector P7-O3 | Unknown System
6.13.001 NGE
21:00 Hours, Shipboard Time

Captain's Log - 6.12.001 - Continued Log Post, Post-Date
Quote of the Day: "Service is it's own reward."

To say that I am frustrated would be to put things mildly. In no less than a month and over a span of space that roughly equates to seven sectors and over two hundred systems -- thus far visited and logged -- I'm prepared to institute the age old tradition of 'decimation' upon the crew of the Pursuit. As may be reflected in their own logs (as required by Naval regs for all ranking officers), the officers of my two fighter wings are complete ingrates. I've officially reprimanded both wing commanders -- twice -- for 'actions unbecoming an officer'. If we weren't so far from home and I not so badly in need to experienced officers (even ones as useless as that garrison-jockey Colonel Zewalt; how that man ever achieved command of a fighter wing is beyond me...) I'd put them both under arrest and confined to quarters. I've had the SSO, ST-1206 Captain Lwrek, request additional resources for patrolling the corridors between the two wings' respective quarters.

In the mean time I am reduced to trying to herd reekcats, conveniently walking about in the form of R&D specialists and scientists. I'm well aware that their specialties and brilliance make them priceless on our mission here, but I cannot help but mention how frustrating it is having (near) civilians on-board. I realize that Colonel-Doctor Noel is mission commander, but at the very least I wish NHQ would have given me more leeway in dealing with her cohort of bungling brainiacs. We've been delayed in our various survey mission stops no less than four times -- each time Colonel-Doctor Noel allowing her pets to go rooting around what should be nothing but a dead system. Contrary to popular belief, the Navy does have a job to do and not all the time in the galaxy to do it.

Captain Ramius

Mission Commander's Log - 6.10.001 - Log Post
Quote of the Day: "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge."

So many discoveries! I have to remember to pass along my compliments to Admiral Huss for giving me the opportunity. Dr. Horlen has recently informed me that in our last survey of System NU-10XL03-Prime that we managed to successfully map out the -- guess I'll need to name it -- Helios Nebulae. On top of that there are a dozen different systems that, while not possessing sentient life, are more than rich in numerous minerals and gasses that can quickly be exploited for nearly every use imaginable. I've had the shipboard AI, Percy, begin cataloging the various anomaly we encounter.

Besides the incident that happened back in System PO-9ZT2-Atrus, where we found that abandoned shipyard, there haven't been any other missteps. I'm still receiving constant messages from Captain Ramius to quicken the pace of our investigations and research -- but science CANNOT be rushed. Ever. On this I feel iron-clad, to use the old phrase. What does "iron-clad" even mean, exactly? I'll have to ask Dr. Kinian, our anthropologist. He might know.

Dr. Noel

There was another beep from the sensor console. This alone would not have been noteworthy, except for the fact that it had been preceded by a series of beeping alerts, twelve to be exact, within the last minute. The sensor tech, half-awake and in desperate need of recaf, shook his head and blinked furiously at readout before him. The LV-382X, the newly added and somewhat experimental sensor array, was giving off a number of hits.

"Shut up," the tech grumbled, tapping at the command console. "Beeping for the sake of beeping is only...is only..."

He finally managed to connect his brain with what his eyes were seeing. The data streaming down was impressive. That fact that it was Oh-Four-Hundred hours, shipboard time, was rapidly becoming irrelevant. The tech smacked his comlink.

"Uh, Duty Officer...McLearan? I've got a report from the Long View."

"This had better not be another false flag," the duty officers voice growled back.

"No, sir. I'm getting a return that this is something big. I'm seeing the comm-chatter shadow of a massive network, spanning at least a dozen systems. We're too far out for even the Long View to get a completely accurate lead. But the fact that we're a quarter of the quadrant away and reading this much information...it has to be a post-FTL polity."

"Alright. I'll pass it along. Any more information comes through, patch it directly to the command net."

"Yessir."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Command Bridge | 06:40 Shipboard Time


Captain Ramius took one last pull on his cup of recaf before handing it off to an aide. He was three hours early to his shift on the bridge and while that usually wouldn't have bothered him, if it were in a war zone, the shift to being a explorer had made him cranky. The fact that they seemed to have some solid evidence for a sentient and not-dead species, or race out there beyond those already known, helped to further keep his temper down. He sat tiredly in his command chair.

"Report."

"We're detecting at least twenty-three systems, close enough to one another that FTL travel or even STL is no real issue," replied Deck Officer McLearan.

"Communication network detected?"

"Yes, one that is complex and currently active."

"Nearest system?"

"Plotted."

"Then let's go. Helm, confirm astrogation markers for the nearest system of this new discovery."

The helmsman turned. "Plotted and locked in, Captain."

Ramius waved his hand dismissively and yawned. This duty really is getting to me.

"Jump to lightspeed on my mark. Three....two...one...mark."

The light of distant stars blurred into lines and the Pursuit snapped into hyperspace.


Unknown System | Status: Inhabited


The reconfigured Venator-class Star Destroyer decanted into realspace. The helmsman had been sure to bring the Pursuit out of hyperspace near the outer edge of the system -- not quite into any Oort cloud or such, but far enough out to avoid local traffic or upset the locals.

"ComScan, initiate immediate scan. Starfighter Command, I want two squadrons -- one from each wing -- to be out of my hull within the next minute," ordered Ramius.

"Aye, Captain!"

"Picking up signals now..." said Senior Commander Noventa. The young political scion had taken to his duties rather well, Ramius thought. He'd shown no hint of political ambitions that his famous uncle might have. He might make a decent fleet officer someday.

"What do we see?"

"One habitable planet...numerous lifesigns, estimation currently at 2.7 billion. Orbital facilities detected, one of which is sporting a significant amount of armament."

A click over the comlink. "TIE Squadrons deployed, as ordered, Captain. Taking up a patrol perimeter at ten thousand klicks."

"Very good, S.C.," nodded Ramius, his blood quickening. He was getting a bit less sluggish. "ComScan, tell me whats kicking around the system."

"We're picking up at least fifty vessels...most of them are oversized; computer is logging them as either mass transports or colony ships of some sort. We're also picking up at least twenty to twenty-five military vessels based on their energy signatures and armament detection."

"Anything being pointed our way?"

"Not at the moment, but the active sensors are being detected as we speak."

"One would hope so, otherwise they're mole people," joked Colonel-Doctor Noel, stepping up beside Ramius.

"Mole people?"

"It's an old joke that gets thrown around the science department."

"Uh huh. Helm, reduce engine speed and bring us to a definitive halt. Calculate the system's rotational speed and make sure that we're comfortable," ordered Ramius.

"Detecting multiple comm signals coming from approaching vessels," Commander Noventa announced.

"Alright, open a channel."

Open Broadcast
Attention! To the local population, this is Captain Neil Ramius of the Venator-class Converted Science Vessel 'Pursuit', of the Thrashian Empire. We arrived here with the intent to investigate your people, as we recently detected life signs and advanced technological effects. We come in peace. If possible we'd like to communicate with any local government and initiate first contact proceedings between us. I hope that we may be amicable about this encounter.

Pursuit, out.

[Fenvaria Republic]

Grenze System


The Greneze system was a rather "small" system, well nothing in space was small but it was small compared to some of the other systems. Sporting around four planets with two lays of asteroid belts, first one around the gigantic F class star and the second one between the second and third planets within the system. So yes it was small, however, it produced a rather eye-catching rate of minerals within the FR or Fenvaria Republic. While yes there were other systems that did produce more minerals than this system it was still impressive the number and well quantity of the minerals that was being produced here. Most of the mining here was in the form of titanium and tungsten ores as well as nickel, gold, silver, iron, magnesium, etc; however it was titanium and tungsten that the FR was mostly after seeing as those two minerals are used a lot within the FR in terms of ammunition and plate armor for its warships as well as construction, everyday construction and, application. So, for the most part, this system was very busy as transports full of ore moved to the edges of the system and jumped out into hyperspace, where they would head to the core worlds of the sector for the minerals to be sold, processed and sent to other parts of the FR. However, for the most part, Grenze had its own refineries and factories to produce building material and the more basic stuff, to keep the colony somewhat afloat if say the refineries in the core of the sector went offline however they this was mostly specialized in mining equipment, so they lacked the more unspecialized factory equipment. Com traffic and well general traffic in the system was always busy, no matter the time or the season. It was one of the joys of the system you could always see the influx of transports in the system...making this small system feel so large and apart of something important.

The FR or Fenvaria Republic is well an interesting nation, its a multi-species federal republic with a strong sense of militarism within the nation to be specific most of the citizens in the FR have some sort of military background or training due to the fact that the military has placed such a vital role. However at the same time, the FR is well rather open, the military is well all volunteer however during your high school and early college years you do receive some sort of military training just to help defend yourself or the FR in times of need. Given the importance of the system, the FR was well quite heavy-handed in its military specifications, on the ground, there were around two full legions of troopers so around a million men and women of all the races of the FR ready to die in order to defend the planet from any sort of invasion force. Along with the more civilian population of the planet as well as the Home Guard force that was on the planet, there was a number of planetary bunkers and planetary defenses in the form of large coilgun stations buried into the side of the mountains. On the ground, it seemed the planet was ready for war and a siege, though in space it was a different story. Since the FR was a bit more ground focused they realized that they wouldn't win every space battle and the fleet couldn't be everywhere at once to combat pirates, raiders, etc. so with that, the FR tried their best to make sure that each system had some defensive capabilities in space. For that, there would be the large defensive station that sat right above the planet as well as a pretty decent HG fleet in orbit, in the form of a few destroyers and corvettes it was a mix of about 15 ships.

Grenze Station
AI Core
Sensor Section


>Scanning....
>>WARNING, Hyper space rift detected
>Scanning
>>Unknown ship detected
>>>Accessing database...
>>>>Unknown design
>Scanning....
>>Com signals detected
>>>WARNING!!!
>>>>Military signals detected!
>>>>>Armament detected!
>>>>>>Fighters Detected!
.
.
.
>Detected!
>>Civilian com signals
>>>Accessing
>>>>Analyzing
>>>>>Packaging
>>>>>>Sending report to FHG Sensor station

Grenze Station
Sensor Station 3
HG Section

To Lawrence it was a rather typical Tuesday and a rather boring one at that, all he was really doing was looking over the reports that the sensors were spitting out every so often and it was getting bloody annoying at that. Within the last hour or so he has had to look at more reports then he had in the last week. There was an unusual amount of traffic this week as well a new factory was being opened up by Ares Armory and well the company wanted to make sure that the factory would be suitable on the planet as well as the construction material. Then there was the business with the new titanium mine that opened up. This was all good and dandy, but hell it was getting a bit much he pinched the bridge of his muzzle and sighed, letting his cat ears flicker as he thought. He was stressed and sleep deprived, not to mention out of coffee. Christ I need to take a nap. he thought to himself as he looked over the recent report. It was detailing that there was a recent jump within the system, he was barely starting the report when another report popped up. He gave a defeated sigh and looked at it, as soon as he opened it he raised an eyebrow. He then went wide-eyed as she saw the rest of the report, it seemed that there was a military ship within the system. So far its design, armament, and fighter design where nothing like the FR had encountered or seen before. Any sort of stress, soreness, or tiredness he had was quickly overtaken with shots of adrenaline as he nearly knocked over his chair and frantically forward the report to his superior.

Grenze Station
HG Headquarters
HG Section

The HG station commander placed down his pad and pinched the bridge of his nose he personally had too much on his plate. Between the recent appearing of this ship and what is going on on the surface, there was a bit of unrest. It wasn't violent or hasn't been violent for the longest time, just your typical protest and graffiti. Most of the protesters were people of the more interesting groups with in the FR, anarchists, anti government, environmentalists etc. however it seemed that in the last few weeks several weapons shipments have gone missing so far they tracked a few of those that are missing to several remote locations mostly in the mountains and the valleys of the northern hemisphere. Which that part of the planet was barely populated seeing as it was well a bit more rugged and colder then what most of the population would have liked. The station commander knew that the HG command as well as the Trooper command on the ground would be assaulting those areas with in the next few days, however due to that incident that means that his job got more difficult as now he as to go and yell at the inspectors and clerks about the missing weapons. Not to mention he would have to order up an investigation of the ports and his staff.

Great, Internal Affairs.....they are going to be breathing down my neck like its nothing. he thought to himself as he picked up the tablet again, he go to the part about the transmission. It seemed that they, this 'Thrashian Empire' seemed that their intentions were peaceful or well wanted peaceful contact. Lets see how long that lasts he thought to himself again, as per FR regulations he place the station alert and move everyone to be ready to take up their battle stations. It was a precaution, as well anything could go wrong in a matter of seconds.

"Jackson you online?" asked the station commander in a rather deep and scratchy voice, he then reached up and held his neck, running his hand over a scar that was there

"Yes, sir"


"Good, reply to the visitors would you?" he asked quietly

"Very well....you should rest....it's been a bit since you got your injury looked at."

He gave a sigh and looked at the AI, he was right. It had been a few weeks since he had the injury that he got looked at, it was something that really messed with him as he really couldn't speak until he was cleared so he used Jackson to relay orders or well speak for him at board meetings. He got up and walked to his bunk and laid down, drifting off into sleep....

Attention Thrashian Venator Class ship 'Pursuit'
You have entered the sovereign space of the Fenvaria Republic, request has been logged and three Home Guard ships have been dispatched to escort you further into the system to dock with the New Hannover station. We have suggested that you power down all weapons, any hostile acts will be met with sufficient military response. Is this understood?

Once docked please send a delegation team, they will be greeted by an escort where they would be taken to New Austria the capital of the planet.

-FR New Hannover Station AI 'Jackson'

(All new posts will now be done via Fenvaria Republic)

[Thrashia]

CSV Pursuit | Grenze System | Fenvaria Republic
6.13.001 NGE
07:38 Shipboard Time


The message that had been received from the local Fenvarians was cordial enough. Far better than Ramius had been expecting, truthfully. The Imperial Envoy, Lady Baroness Diana Quincy, seemed pleased however. "It's all about tone and charisma, Captain," she had explained. "So long as you don't insult them outright, nor make a fool gesture like keeping any weapon systems powered, then we have all that we need to begin negotiations."

Ramius hoped she was right.

The bridge of the Pursuit was humming with activity. The next rotation of crew had been called on deck early, by about three hours. Many of them would have been sleeping still, performing the regimented and required exercise routines, or eating breakfast in one of the ship's cantinas. Normally he wouldn't have bothered, but he had wanted a fresh crew prepped and on it's toes. You never knew what might come about as a result of first contact missions. They could be deadly affairs. It brought to mind several encounters that Ramius had been experienced as a junior officer aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Inexorable; no fewer than three star faring polities had fired upon them as soon as a message of greeting had been sent. To this day he still wasn't sure why. Maybe it had something to do with showing up in a Star Destroyer, but that seemed far too simplistic a reason. Some species were simply more warlike and unfriendly than others.

"ComScan, how's the analysis going?" asked Ramius.

Commander Lyran Trix, Ramius' Third Officer, was standing on station and ready. "Sir, we've got a fairly clear grasp of their technical readouts. We've been under active sensor ping since our escort got within a million klicks of us, so it's fair to say that they do as well."

The Pursuit had recalled it's fighter screen back to it's hangar, though Ramius had ordered them to be on ready-alert status. The main batteries of the ship were also powered down, though Chief Engineer Eduard Dinep had assured him that should the Pursuit require it's heavy turbolaser cannon batteries to fire, the energy capacitors would be capable of powering back up at a moment's notice. The only thing that remained at full power were the vessel's shields. It was a precautionary measure that Ramius felt sure that no one would object to, overruling Dr. Noel before she could protest. Lady Quincy's agreement had sealed the matter.

"Coms, get me a link to Hannover Station AI 'Jackson' again," ordered Ramius.

"Line open, sir."

"Attention, Mr. Jackson, this is Captain Ramius speaking again. According to my analysis and the experts aboard my ship, we won't be able to dock directly with your New Hannover station. Instead, we shall park nearby in an orbital track and send a shuttle over. I trust that this will suffice."

He motioned and the com-link was cut.

[Fenvaria Republic]

Grenze System

Grenze Station AI Core

The station AI looked at the message, this caused him to raise his ‘eyebrow’ a bit, it seemed that according to Venator ‘Pursuit’ they were unable to directly dock with the station. A bit curious the AI decided to take a look at the long range scans of the ship, and to his surprise the Imperial crew was correct. The ship’s docking hatch was in no shape compatible with the station’s docking ring and the little back wings of the Venator made docking with the station rather tricky and possibly uncomfortable as how close those wings could get to the body of the station. So in short it was a fantastic idea that the “Pursuit” didn't dock with the station, instead they sent a shuttle to land in the station’s hangar which should me more than enough to handle shuttles of any size. Jackson then copied the message and then forwarded the copied version of the message to the Home Guard commander, once the message had been sent Jackson then wrote up a reply to the ‘Pursuit.’

“Agreed CSV Pursuit, looking it over it seems that there is a 90% chance of damage, injury, death and other damages to the station and to the ship if you were to dock. So sending a shuttle is you best course of action. Please direct your shuttle to hangar D-3, a welcoming party will great you there. Have a pleasant day.”

With that the AI cut the channel and went back to it’s task of tracking any objects coming to the station and into the system. The AI did divert some of it’s processing power to one of the many mobile AI units that were walking about in the station, the AI then directed this unit to the Home Guard Commander’s office. On the way the AI said hello to several other crew members and interacted with them, asking how have they been and what they are up to. Shortly a small conversation arose as they talked about plans for after their shift. Once the conversation was done the two parties then left and continued on their tasks. These mobile units severed a multitude of roles, ranging from basic maintenance, greeting visitors, extra internal security, and other roles. However, there was a role that was apart of the AI’s basic programming, one that has evolved over the years and that was studying organics. Not in a way to overthrow them or enslave them, but rather to understand them, to see what behaviors they do and fully understand them. As AI in the FR was rather interesting, it had this underlying desire to be organic, understanding what makes them in their eyes unique. So the AI often use these mobile units to interact with organics, learn from them and engage in activities that seem to be pleasing or necessary to organics. Some AI units eat, slept, drank, took showers, engage in relationships and friendships, etc. AI researchers are not sure why this happens in AI units but it is a fantastic thing to research as it has been puzzling the scientific community for the last several centuries.

Jackson waved to several other crew members before finally approaching the door, slowly he raised his hand and gave it a soft knock. There was a bit of rustling of a person moving stuff around or getting up before a deep voice barked at him.

“The door is open.” As Jackson took a step forward and the door then slid open, inside there was the HG commander sitting at his desk in his hands there was a cup of coffee and a data tablet. The commander was a strong looking fenavria male, his fur was pitch black with grey streaks in it. His under belly was a light grey and a white border around the light grey. His eyes where a light amber, however they were soft and gentle. His uniform was sleek and tidy, he had a deep navy blue tabard over a rather sleek looking jet black dress uniform, there was a silver border around the outer layer of the tunic. The tunic had a single pocket on the left side of the body, on the breast of his tunic there sat his last name which sat on the right side. On the other side there was a number of ribbons ranging from combat experience to other more minor honors. The collar of his tunic had the two small pins that indicated the rank of a commander. The commander was looking over several different reports from the ground, nothing of particular interest aside from the usual intel updates. The commander lifted his cup and took a rather loud slurp from his coffee while he kept his eyes on the data pad, his coffee was quite black and it had a rather bitter tang to hit. However the commander quite liked the taste of the darker coffees, while it was bitter it jolted him awake quite often. He then looked up at Jackson as he entered the room

“Commander Adalric?” asked Jackson as he entered

Upon hearing his name the commander lifted his head up and turned towards Jackson, Adalric smiled and placed the tablet down first before he then placed his coffee down. “Jackson what can I do for you?”

Jackson stood there for a few moments and looked at Adalric, the AI then nodded and cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you got the report-”

“I have received your report, it was one of the first things that I read once I woke up. I understand that the new arrivals are friendly?”

“So it seems Commander Adalric, as they didn't fire their weapons upon the station and they even powered down their weapons when we ordered them to. They seem to have a very....formal tone. Maybe some sort of highly rigorous military culture?”

“I see.....the report also mentioned the deployment of three ships to escort this ship in.”

“Yes commander, I thought it was a wise decision....never can be too sure.”

“I know Jackson....I know, anyway, I also read that they are sending a shuttle as their ship will be unable to dock with the station?”

“Yes sir.”

“Do we know how many are going to be on that shuttle?”

“No sir.”

“Fuck.” Adalric sighed and placed his hand on his muzzle, then slowly dragged his furred hand down in a sign of annoyance. “I’ll see if I can get a squad of troopers down there....and you will be greeting these new arrivals Jackson.”

Jackson stood there completely perpexled as Commander Adalric told him that he was to be there and greet these new arrivals. He was just use to greeting the occasional traveler or immigrant, mostly nobodies but this was different. This was a rather considerable jump from greeting nobodies to what could be a new alien race or nation. “M-me?” replied the AI in a shocked tone. “I...only have experience with the occasional person or immigrant...nothing like this.”

Adalric nodded and stood up, pushing back his chair. He was much taller than the AI unit, which the AI unit was about 5’2” where as the commander was about 5’7”. Adalric walked over to the AI unit and placed a hand on his shoulder, a warm smile slowly grew on the commander’s face as he attempted to usher some confidence into the nervous AI unit. “You will do fine Jackson.” replied Adalric as he gave a reassuring squeeze to the AI’s shoulder.

“You sure?”

“Yes, I know you will.” Adalric took his hand off the AI’s head and then placed it on his head, slowly he ruffed the AI’s black synthetic hair. Turning it from a well kept mess to a rather slightly ruffled mess, as the commander rubbed the AI’s head the AI simply closed his eyes and started to whine happily. Their tail wagging back and forth with comfort. Adalric just kept smiling and chuckled a bit as he looked at the AI unit full of happiness, however, he stopped petting the AI unit and went back to his chair. Jackson opened his eyes and tilted his head, flopping his ears to the side. Adalric simply shook his head and chuckled some more. “Now, go meet our arrivals. A squad of troopers will be escorting you.

With that the AI nodded and walked out of the room and down towards the hangar bay....

Hangar Bay

At the hangar of the station there was a buzz of activity, cargo shuttles landed and off loaded their cargo, only to be filled again with the unrefined metal ore that was pulled from the surface or from the nearby asteroid belts. Workers, pilots, other crew members, and the occasional Home Guard patrol where walking about, many of them heading further into the hangar towards the exit so they can go hit one of the bars, restaurants, or the clubs that where allowed on the station. Most of the station was designated for military, mining, customs, and ship use so there was some accommodations for food, drink, and entertainment.

However, things were different as as the regular pilots, crew members, and other personnel passed through the hangar they noticed that there was a patrol of Troopers, in fact a squad of Troopers. On top of that the station’s AI, Jackson, was seen walking around in one of the hundreds of mobile AI units. But he was also different, he was in a dress uniform something that he rarely did, except on special occasions. The group of eleven personnel also seemed to be walking towards the D wing of the hangar, a hangar wing designated for military use.

On the far side of the hangar in the D wing, the troopers and the station AI walked to the D-3 hangar and waited for the shuttle from CSV ‘Pursuit’. The troopers broke into two squads of five and they lined up in two neat and orderly lines, the sergeant then started to bark out parade orders. Making the troopers arms length apart and stand at parade rest. As for the looks of the troopers their armor had been cleaned up and polished, their boots where spit shined and polished. Their uniforms where pressed and clean. Like a hawk the sergeant walked up and down the lines looking for anything that was out of place, anything that could be fixed right now. They wanted to make a lasting impression on these arrivals.

The trooper’s armor and uniform are made up a grey looking BDU shirt and pants, then over that was a grey/white tunic, finally over that was the armor. The armor was made up of several pieces, forearm guards, shin guards, and a chestplate all of which were colored in a deep grey almost black color. Head gear, most of them where wearing open face helmets that covered their ears and had integrated HUDs. However, a few of them where wearing patrol caps with integrated HUDs as well. They also had what appeared to be sleek looking exoskeletons as well as pouches on their belts right above their buttox, that pouch was special as it was the jump kit that was infamously used by the FR when it came to combat. Weapons wise, they were all armed with just standard issue pistols.

It wasn’t long before the shuttle came into view, the troopers then all snapped to attention as the shuttle moved in to land. It was a an iron grey ship with what appeared to be a cog on the top fin. It had this ominous looking shark like appearance, the elongated cockpit, the three fins, and the color. It spoke silently, whispered the ideas that this nation that was visiting the FR was here for a reason and didn't tolerate any sort of trivial matters. That it was serious and right to the point.

The sergeant walked back towards the AI, he noticed that the AI was getting a bit nervous as his eyes darted all over the ship and he was breathing weirdly. The sergeant then walked up to him and spoke to him. “Calm down son, imagine it like you are talking to anyone else here on the station.”

“T-thanks...” replied the AI “Um....can...you stand....right next to me? I would like someone to be near me that I know.”

The sergeant nodded and chuckled a bit “Sure.” So the sergeant stood next to the AI and waited for their guests to lower the ramp and greet them.

* * * * *

(Following written by Thrashia.)

The Sigma-class shuttle came into the station’s hangar bay with skilled, smooth piloting. It came to land and parked in a designated spot. The pilot crew could see an assembled group of figures outside, waiting in two lines of five. A slight whiff of exhaust and steam came off the cooling engines of the shuttle as it’s compartment pressurized to match the station’s atmosphere. The ramp lowered from the belly of the craft and down it came eight white-armored figures. They were all equally tall and had matching gaits as they came down in a smart march. Their armor was pearlescent and polished clean. Their visored heads moved smoothly back and forth, taking in the surroundings, the Fenvarians, the lead synth greeter -- everything.

They came to a halt and turned inwards. Their blaster rifles rose in smooth, practiced motions and their armored boot heels smashed together in a smart, unified cracking sound. They stood motionless as statues.

Down the ramp after them came a slightly shorter, female figure. She wore a smart half-dress of white silks with gold stitched designs flowing down it’s pleated sides. Thigh-high boots of white leather tapped loudly on the metal floor of the hangar. Her tunic was buttoned up with silver inlaid buttons, each bearing the Thrashian Imperial cog emblem in gold. She had a broad smile on her hawkish face, framed by a short shock of silver-white hair that only enhanced the fact that she had bright golden-irised eyes.

The woman stepped forward through her escort and stopped before the obviously non-human, sythetic entity that was waiting. She bowed, one hand pressed to her heart and the other out at her side.

“Greetings to you,” she said in a soft, almost sweet, voice. It was a modulated tone that she often used when in negotiations. It usually had a nice effect of putting others at ease.

“I am Lady Baroness Diana Quincy and plenipotentiary representative of the Empire of Thrashia. I bear greetings on behalf of her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dheinalia Nuruodo, long may she reign. It is with earnest hope that we might begin a dialogue between our two nations. One of peace and cooperation.”

Be lowered her bow slightly further, then after three heartbeats rose back to her full height.

* * * * *

Hangar bay

The entrance of Thrashian representative was rather grand and imperial like, all about formalities. Jackson was smiling with pleasure of sorts, as it made him feel a bit more confident in his ability to extend the greetings of the Fenavria Republic. While he wasn’t too good with informal conversations, he was excellent at formal ones as well it was a bit easier to address someone formally, plus he had been hardwired for that type of conversation. Slowly he made his way forward, but as he did so the sergeant that was right next to him also motioned forward, however, staying two or three steps behind the synth. As as sign of respect and to let him do all of the talking and diplomatic engagements.

Jackson’s AI unit was anthropomorphic canine in appearance, like that of the sergeant and of several other troopers. Thick steel grey fur covered most of his body and around most of his muzzle, ice blue robotic eyes moved back and forth, examining the soldiers that escorted the Baroness as well as the Baroness herself. The soldier’s armor was interesting that it was a full body suite, the soldiers were covered head to toe in body armor and a black glove suit. It seemed similar to that of the commando and paladin black glove suits, but at the same time it could be completely different in composition.

The two Fenvarians stopped a few meters from the Baroness and stood there for a few moments before they both bowed respectfully, it was a short and sweet bow mostly done out of respect. After bowing, Jackson was the first one to speak. “Greetings Baroness Diana Quincy of the Empire of Thrashia. I am Jackson, the station’s AI unit.” Jackson turned to his side and lifted his hand, gesturing to the sergeant next to him. “This is Sergeant Baldwin, of the 165th Trooper regiment.”

“Pleasure to meet you m’lady.” replied Baldwin in a respectful tone as he lowered his head slightly.

“You probably have a great deal of questions, and so do I....but please let us walk and talk...I feel like the Home Guard commander would also like to speak to you.”

[Thrashia]

OOC Note: Joint post.

Grenze Station

The AI then stepped to the side and gestured for the Baroness to follow him, he allowed the Baroness to bring along two of her escort party as a sign of trust and cooperation. In return he would only bring the sergeant and one other trooper, just to make things fair and not like they were planning something. Once that was all sorted the two then walked from their landing pad to the large hangar entrance that sat on the to the other side of the hangar. As they walked the two would pass by several different freighters, all of them from different companies or corporations, there was also some civilian transports there was as well, off loading tourists or new colonists. There would also be what appeared to be a few fighters and other atmospheric and void based small craft, a few shuttles with Home Guard and Army insignia. Their pilots walked around still in their flight suits, a few of them laughing, playing cards and other games, socializing, and finally a few of them talking to family members on what appeared to be holographic screens. As before, there was a few Home Guard patrols walking around, making sure everything is in order and occasionally searching civilian ships for any contraband. Their armor was the same color as the troopers but their uniforms like that of the AI, deep navy blue tabard/cloak, with jet black BDU’s. They also wore what appeared to be black patrol caps with a navy blue stitching on the brim of the hat.

The people coming off the transports where a mix of young and old, men and women, and four different races that called the Republic. From the fenvarians and evandari, the canines and felines of the republic, they were dressed what seemed to be strangely, all of them wore what appeared to be a mix of cloaks and tabards, each one of them had different crest on it, or was colored different from some of the others. The cloaks looked quite heavy and warm, however they didn't restrict the movement of the wearer. Under that was what appeared to be some regular clothing, however it looked quite formal. For some of the fenvarians and evandarians they had what appeared to be scabbards and pistol holsters attached to their hips, indicating that they were armed.

As for the few Dracoians, they wore what appeared to be heavy snow gear, some of them even wore heat regulation suits and clothing just to help offset their cold blood. As for humans, they their clothing was also a bit heavier, however not as heavy as the dracoians but something you would see if you visited a place like Russia.

But as the six personnel walked through the crowd several of the colonists turned their gaze to the newcomers and looked at them with curiosity, a few whispers could be heard from the crowd, some of them wondering who they where. As the six approached the hangar doors, the sergeant lifted up his wrist and said something into it, then lowered his wrist. It wasn't long before the six approached the doors and bypassed parts of the security process, as they were on official business. After that the six walked down the large and wide hallway that was on the other side of the door, here cargo trams ran back and forth, collecting cargo that was dropped off and then dropping it off at the nearby storehouse or what storehouse that the company owned. Jackson looked back at the Baroness and frowned a bit, he was unsure if she was impressed or unimpressed by what she was seeing, however, she probably has seen something like this before. Which made sense, if she seemed a bit unimpressed but still it was nice to see that there was some sort of other life out there....albeit....human life.

The architecture of the station, gave off a sort of militaristic society, intersections of hallways had some Home Guard squads there alongside them was several what appeared to be ‘dogs’ or well what looked like dogs. Also at the intersections there was some roof mounted autocannons, at the end of each hallway was a very thick blast door with another thick blast door in the middle of the hallway just for extra security and just in case that either side of the middle blast door was compromised. As they got closer to the commander’s office and the command center there was more and more security, most of it more frequent. However it wasn’t long before they made it passed all of the security and into the command center, after a few directions the group would arrive at the commander’s office. Jackson knocked on the door and it soon slid open, Adalric, the commander of the Home Guard, stood there smiling.

“Welcome, I am Commander Adalric of the Grenze Home Guard. You must be Baroness Quincy, it is good to meet you, take a seat.” he replied, gesturing for them to come in.

Baroness Quincy nodded in greetings and made a small curtsy.

“A pleasure, Commander Adalric,” Diana said with a smooth, lilting voice. She sat in a chair opposite of where the Grenze Home Guard commander’s chair was. Diana thought of all she’d seen while walking to the commander’s office. She was curious as to the politics and society of these people, their surroundings seemingly quite austere. Not to mention she was a bit surprised that there were no more formal place settings or chambers for them to begin speaking.

“Are you able to speak in trust on behalf of your people, Commander Adalric?” asked Diana.

Adalric shifted in his seat as he looked at the Baroness. “For the most part, I am the commanding officer for the Home Guard, the police and national guard forces on the planet.”

Diana raised an eyebrow.

“‘On the planet’,” she quoted him. “Are you meaning to say that your people are currently bound to a single planet within this single planetary system? I do not mean any offence, I merely wish to understand the scale.”

“No.” replied the Home Guard Commander as he sat back and relaxed a bit. He then brought up a picture of the Republic flag, a hawk of some sort with lighting in one hand talon and arrows in the other. It’s wings where wide and open. As for the background it was a mix of navy blue, red, and gold. “This planet, station and everyone on the planet is apart of the Fenvaria Republic, a mutli-system military republic or stratocracy if you want to label it like that. As for size and scale, the Fenvaria Republic is 27 systems in total. As for this system, this is just a simple mining system.” he said chuckling, he then pulled up a picture of what appeared to be a white, blue green ball in space. Yellow lights littered it’s surface however, there was more lights in what appeared to be fjords and mountainous areas.

“Arcadia is the capital system, and the ancestral home of the fenavria and evandari.” he then placed a hand on his chest “I am a fenvarian, the anthro canines of the Republic.” he then brought up what appeared to be four different races, all of them 1/15th of their actual size. “If you saw as you where walking in the Republic is made up of four races...I won't go over them too much.”

“The Home Guard is what you would call a national guard, however, it is also a police force. Meaning that they enforce the law of the Fenvaria Republic by doing the police work, police raids, arrests, and so on. However, when it comes to national disasters and invasions they are then pulled to help the Army garrison defend the planet. As I mentioned before and as you saw, the Republic is highly martial....we take security quite seriously.” he then paused and leaned forward a bit, folding his hands together as he rested on his arms. “Do you have questions, I am here to help you understand the Republic a bit more. We are terribly sorry, but we were not expecting new alien contact....so we don't have any formal diplomatic personnel on planet.”

Diana nodded as the commander spoke.

“I see, yes. No, no further questions about the Republic at this time. If you happen to have a library or data net that we might have access to, I’m sure some of the xenographers that are in our delegation will be thrilled to go through it. In return I can provide you and your government with further details about the Empire of Thrashia,” she said, at length.

“You said that the Republic is highly militarized? Why might that be?” She arched an inquisitive eyebrow and smiled pleasantly.

“Yes, I can give you access to the Republic National Historical Records, as well as any public library that you wish to visit.” replied the commander as he turned off the holographic models and then started to type on his keyboard. The soft pat of his fingers across the keyboard as he typed. “I am sure that our xenologist and foriegn relations department will be happy to learn about the Empire.”

“As for the militarism of the Republic....” he took his hands off the keyboard and folded them once more. “The Republic....has a warrior culture... as well as a clan culture. Each clan has its own militia that guards it’s territory, so it just builds from there. Not to mention that the FR has been involved in a great deal of wars, from the splitting of the Northern Empire in the 18th Age, to the Unification Wars of the 19th Age, to the numerous conflicts of the 21st and 22nd Ages. Finally, there was..the 40 Year War in the late 25th and early 26th Age.....a three way war between two human nations and the Republic.” he paused a bit and a sour tone rolled over his face as he looked at Diana.

“A forty year long total war that saw the obliteration of hundreds of planets and billions of lives. So from all of this conflict, we are so used to having a militarized society. It runs in our blood, to join the Home Guard or to join the Republic Armed Forces after we are done our two years of military academy. That or you some sort of public office.”

He chuckled a bit. “Some might call us eager for war, but we know that there is a time for diplomacy and a time for war....” he sat there silently for a few moments as he thought to himself. “In short....we believe that...this galaxy is a harsh and for lack of a better term ‘fucked up’ place where it is better to be careful then dead.”

Diana allowed a laugh. “I couldn’t agree more, Commander.” She turned to her small handbag and took out a small disc shaped object. She pressed a button and then laid it on the desk. A hologram sprung up from the disc and showed a condensed view of the Beta Quadrant.

“This is a gift from the Empire to you. I believe, on an initial assessment, that the two of our peoples will get along well. Here is an astrogation map of the quadrant in general. The end location point indicated near the center there is our primary trade hub. Just about every single foreign government that operates either trade or diplomatic ties with the Empire is located there. I extend a formal invitation to your Republic, for the establishment of a consulate. Further negotiations may take place at a later date.”

Diana stood. “Now I find myself feeling quite famished. Any chance you’ve got a cafe or drinks laying around here?”

“The Republic is humbled by your gift.” replied the Commander Adalric, he gave a slight bow of his head in respect. When she commented about food, he gave a hearty smile and looked at her. “Yes, we do.” he then looked at his watch and then started to stand up, pushing his chair back. A bushy tail appeared from behind him. “It is about lunch time, I’ll take you to the Grand Hall, it is basically a cafe area or a large dinning hall that everyone eats at. Hope you are in the mood for meats, cheeses, bread, fruits, and an ungodly amount of alcohol. Cause that is what is more or less popular throughout the Republic...as well, the FR did come from a rather cold planet.”

He then walked to the edge of his desk, extending his hand “Shall we?”

[Fenvaria Republic]

OOC: Joint Post

Grenze Station

The sliding door opened up and the two Home Guardsmen standing out the outside of the door snapped to attention, bringing the heels of their boots together with a click, placing the butt of their rifles on the ground, taking their free hand, balling it up into a fist and crossing their chest. Their armored gloves striking against their armor plates, with a loud and commanding thud. Alerting some of the other guardsmen that the Commander was heading out of his office, some of them stopped and saluted as well as they waited for the commander to leave his office. The Guardsmen then said nothing as Commander Adalric and the Baroness walked by, they kept their eyes locked forward, remaining like statues as the two passed by. Commander Adalric then turned around and returned the salute, he would say something in what appeared to be an alien language, the two Guardsmen then returned to their rest positions. Once the two Guardsmen were back at their original positions, Commander Adalric turned back to the Baroness and walked with her to the Great Hall.

As the two walked they passed by more and more security, some of it more heavily armed than others, Adalric was not kidding when he was expressing that the Republic was militarized. They would pass by more mobile AI units, some of them in engineering clothing, Home Guard armor and clothing, or even civilian clothing. When they passed by one of the checkpoints the Baroness would see in the background one of the Guardsmen strip down their rifle in quite the quick motion, removing the magazine which seemed to have conventional rounds in it. As he stripped the rifle down more it seemed that they where using what appeared to be rail assisted rifles. The Guardsman then inspected the rifle, cleaning the bits that needed to be cleaned and then reassembled the rifle in the same fast motion.

Once they cleared the checkpoint Adalric looked back at the Baroness “Your soldiers....what are they called? What do the wear? And finally, what weapons do they used, are they ballistic or energy based? Also do you mind telling me more about the Empire?”

Diana raised an eyebrow at the Commanders questions.

“Should I expect an invasion shortly after answering, Commander Adalric?” she said, arching an eyebrow and giving a small smile to show she was joking. She didn’t believe his species was capable of blushing, but there might be a chance of some sign of embarrassment.

“We use a number of varied soldiers. The ones accompanying me are clonetroopers. The Thrashian Empire developed cloning techniques par excellence many years ago. They’re enhanced to the apex of the human species’ capabilities without non-biological enhancements. Perhaps not as durable or strong as the post-human warriors known as Astartes, but good enough for the Empire’ purposes.

“They wear, well, armor. I couldn’t begin to tell you what type it is, only that it works. As for weapons: we use blaster rifles and other forms of laser weaponry predominantly. I learned how to shoot a laser pistol when I was a young girl. My father insisted.”

Commander Aldaric smiled and chuckled at her little jab towards him about the possibility of an invasion. Dismissively he shook his head, “No Baroness, the Republic as a whole is not looking to invade the Empire.” he sighed and frowned a bit. “We are still recovering from a long and brutal war that happened around one hundred and eighty eight years ago. A three way war that brought all three nations to their knees.” with another pause he looked back at the baroness, giving a little smile as he placed a hand on his holster. His movements were relaxed and friendly, a simple resting position.

“Clones? Heh, I never thought I would see a nation that uses them for their military.....” he nodded and turned his gaze away from her. “The Republic really does not use clones, however we do use a bit of robotics.” he then jerked his head towards the two Guardsmen that were standing by the barricade that they had just walked by, between the two there sat an organic wolf like beast and a mechanical one. Also one of the officers was a bit different, their eyes glowed and so did the interior of their ears.

“Jackson, the AI that you met at the docks. He was one of those droids we use, we call them AAIs, Artificial Administrative Intelligence units. The military ones are called AMI units, Artificial Military Intelligence units. These two types of AI are just a small fraction of the AI that the republic has developed, however one thing remains the same, they are modeled off of bipedal organics like you and me.”

Diana nodded at all the right places, looking over everything.

“We’ve developed AI assistants for the Imperial Navy, but I’m unaware of any further development. As a civilian you’ll understand that I don’t have much knowledge of things martial.”

When they reached the Great Hall and the food awaiting them Diana was sure to compliment the proffered feast.

“Of course” replied Aldaric as he nodded. The two then rounded the corner and headed down a rather grand hallway. With high ceilings and bright lighting, banners of the Republic flag flowed from the pillars that rose to the ceiling. Home guardsmen patrolled up and down the hallway. However they were a bit different, they still where in full body armor, but they lacked the masks or the full helmets that the previous Guardsmen had been wearing. Instead, they went for a beret or a patrol cap.

Down that hallway the two came to a bulkhead, thick and heavy grey metal doors slowly opened as they approached. The doors were considerably quieter than one was to believe. The two then passed through, however, as they did Aldaric had a sort of smile on his face. He then chuckled and spoke, “Ah welcome to the Grand Hall.” he then waved his hand a bit showing off the room.

It was certainly impressive, fine flooring covered the room, while it was metal it gave off the impression of stone. A four grand fireplaces could be seen, one for each side of the room. Large Fenvaria banners were draped from the walls, with smaller clan banners also draped right next to them. In each corner of the room there was a bar, which was packed. Long wooden tables and benches lined the walls, with hundreds of people sitting at them. The room was certainly loud as people talked, yelled and interacted with one another. Everyone seemed to be eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves.

“Follow me, we will find a spot.” replied Aldaric with a smile as he then started to walk further into the room. The two would then find a spot at a openish table, people where still there but they had a bit more room.

Well it’s certainly more egalitarian arrangements than one is used to, mused Diana. But when on Coruscant, do as the Coruscanti do -- as they say.

Diana made small talk, nothing of consequence, while eating. She enjoyed the meal for what it was worth though it was certainly not as sumptuous as an aristocrat of her station was used to dining on. Even on this extended mission with the Pursuit was unable to put a dent in the large amount of delicacies she had had shipped on board.

Food was brought to them on a platter, and there was certainly a lot of food per platter. Breads, meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, and other subgroups of food were laid out in front of them. Alongside the food, two large steins of beer were given to them. One for the baroness and one for Aldaric.

The food looked delicious and mouth watering. The pieces of bread where large, they were warm to the touch. Steam from the loaves, filling the air with a sort of fresh bread smell. The steaks gave off an appetizing aroma as well, as they had been freshly seasoned and cooked. When bit into the steak was juicy and over flowed with flavor.

As the two ate, the commander looked at her and smiled. “Is this what you were expecting from a nation like the Republic?” he then paused and thought for a moment. “What drew you to the system?”

Diana swallowed a bit of steak and followed it with a little wine.

“I usually go in with an open mind and no expectations,” Diana said, smiling. She cut a few more slivers of steak off. “As for what drew us? I assume it was your star nation’s exhaust signals. The detectable detritus of any advanced star nation.”

“I see.” commented Aldaric, shaking his head and chuckling. He then continued to eat his food, for a few moments, saying nothing. Letting the energy of the room take over for a moment. He then turned to the Baroness. “Where do you come from? In the Empire.”

“I am from one of the aristocratic families from the planet of Corulag in our old galaxy. Our Empire was fairly large, but due to my family’s abilities and assets I was able to climb a bit higher than usual. That isn’t to say that we’re all a bunch of nepotists -- far from it -- but having a famous father and a rich mother can always help one’s prospects,” replied Diana at length.

“What of you, Commander? How did you rise to your lofty rank?”

“Mm, I was born in the system....right on Grenze” replied the commander as he took a swig of his beer and then placed it down, putting another fork of food in his mouth. He chewed his food and swallowed. “Mum and Dad where both reservists, mum was an engineer for the mining operations in our town. Dad was a Home Guard officer as well, the local sergeant.” he paused “However, when the Republic needed more material to rearm, modernize, and upgrade the military; Grenze was asked to provide more. Alot of people got upset” the placed down his fork and knife. Taking off his glove and gauntlet, where he then rolled up his sleeve to show off the arm length burn marks and lack of fur. “One day as I was visiting my mum, sabetours hit the mine. A fenvarium fuel bomb, blew the place sky high. Killed my mom, I was in the ICU for three weeks as they repaired my arm. I was 15 at the time, from that point I gunned towards the Home Guard.” he rolled down his sleeve, placed back on his glove and gauntlet.

“When I graduated I enlisted in the Home Guard, and threw myself head first into it, training to be the best and fight like the best. After my basic and training, I was assigned to the counter terrorism unit.” he chuckled “Fens dont take kindly to terrorists, I was attached to a FFS unit that was on the planet and tasked with hunting down, gathering intel and elimination of terrorists.” with another pause he smiled wider “Got really good at it....eventually found the guy that bombed the mine in my hometown, sent it up to my LT, got the green light and put a 11mm round through the guy’s skull. After that it was just the slow and boring grind up the ranks, with some fun encounters here and there. But in the end. What I wanted to do as a Home Guard officer was....protect the planet, protect the republic, and....protect my family. A sense of duty....and I feel grounded here.”

He chuckled and they quietly chatted and finished their meal.