The Orion Sector (IC/FT-Nation/Open)

by **Tagali Federation** » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:05 am

The Orion Sector
OOC

Rules

1: Don't be an ass
2: No metagaming or godmodding
3: OP and CO-OP's rule is law
4: No ancient of precursor species. Follow the Power Scale and Technology Tiers
5: Ship sizes no larger than 10 Kilometers
6:No Human nations (OP exempt), Hiveminds and Synthetic Nations will be heavily scrutinized and limited

Further rules and exemptions may be made to adapt to the Rp.

Ever since life had become advanced enough to explore the milky way, the Orion Arm of the Galaxy has been seen as a backwater of little to no importance. At best, it was the frontier of the galaxies largest empires, many of whom's ruins still dot various locations across the arm. At worst, the Orion Arm was dominated by petty local powers with little influence outside of their corner of the sector, much less the Galaxy. In the 38th Million year of the galactic standard Calendar (2025), This was the status quo in Orion Arm until an outside force forced the petty races of the sector to band together.

In that year, The Tagali Empire, the de jure Power of the Eastern Sectors of the Galaxy, Finally turned its gaze to the Orion Arm, seeing only upstarts and primitives. At first, the denizens of the Orion Arm, paid little attention to the Invaders as they conquered worlds on the periphery, making their local base of operations a small unknown planet called Earth. By the time they began to take notice, hordes of ships wielding technology previously unseen in the region manned by the conscripted masses of unknown species enslaved to the Tagali. Eventually, the powers of Orion came to conclusion that none of them stood any chance by themselves and banded together to defend their home. Forming this coalition, they were able to hold back the Tagali for decades, eventually even pushing back the Tagali bit by bit.

For a time, the Orion Arm was united by a native power, the first of its kind. Ambitious talk of liberating the vassal races of the Tagali and creating a Galactic Empire of their own began to spread. Unfortunately, the fortunes of the Orion races turned on them as the Tagali strengthened their hold, drawing the war to a stalemate. Eventually, the leaders of the Tagali Empire lost interest and those placed in charge of their conquests began to go native in a sense, the lack of a common threat quickly began to unravel the alliance and the local powers began to return to their squabbling ways.

500 years have past and little has changed as the races of the Orion Arm rival eachother for dominance of the Sector, paying little attention to the happenings of the Greater Galaxy....

by **Turmenista** » Sun Aug 18, 2019 7:13 pm

Chapter 1 - "Operation Cabal"

Angel 76 Waystation

Kawanahi | Half Moon Space

__________________________________

Andios clasped his hands together ominously as he looked over a holographic map of the Menagerie system, which was little more than glorified hunting grounds for the Orion Sector's elites who wished to hunt only the most dangerous game on dangerous planets. Unlike six hours before checking it, it didn't have a wrecked ship flaming on the surface of one of the beautiful world's icy moons—correction—one of his ships.

His operations had been ambushed for quite some time by a mixture of Tagali-supported privateers, pirates, and general alien warbands of the Orion Diaspora, a fringe community of various species that had either fought their way out of the Tagali Sphere of Influence like the Sobani, or simply just remained too insignificant of a threat for the larger galactic empire to handle. Shrouded by the shadows of his end of the meeting room, the enigmatic corporate man raised his head, an intimidating red light illuminating half of his face and much of the electronic cigarette smoke in the already dark room. His underlings occupied every available seat on the long table, his eyes penetrating deep into their souls.

"These... Tagali dogs, they've.." His voice, smooth as silk and eloquent in dictation, strayed away for a moment. "They've caused this company quite some trouble for quite some time now. Simply put... they are a cancer that we must cut off from our body, else it will spread. Does that make sense?"

"That would mean fighting the cancer at its source," one of Andios's closest advisers piqued up. "The Tagali are funding these privateers, yes, but a full-fledged assault on the Tagali Empire would be detrimental to the policy of detente we've been pursuing for quite some time now... Not to mention, do you know how expensive it would be to mount a full military operation against the Tagali? Our security forces are meant for dealing with pirates and small-scale threats, and dealing with them quietly.. not a massive empire that's encompassed the whole galaxy."

"Are you doubting the capability of this corporation?" Andios retorted, his voice raising just high enough to cause the rest of his advisers to quiet down. "If we are capable of pulling off multiple small missions all at once and dealing with threats so quietly, I believe we are capable of launching a full military opposition against the Tagali. It may not come today, or tomorrow, or even the next year...but it can and will come when I see it right. I see no reason why we must gather like this and bicker just for me to simply say "if they want aggression, we shall obey." At this point, I'm better off giving the authority to declare war to our security forces.

"To use a human term, I'll have you know those Pinkertonesque evil mercs you call security forces are responsible for a number of war crimes!" Another corporate supervisor hollered. "Massacring innocent natives, raiding "pirates" however they please, the list of heinous actions goes on and on."

"And?" Andios took a puff from his cigarette, shrugging his shoulders as he retorted in a snarky tone. "I do not care of the moral repercussions of men who work for the Almighty Credit. If they can complete their missions with such a high success rate, then of course I shall use them to their fullest potential."

He gave a sigh as he looked over the enigmatic corporate oligarchs of the Half Moon, taking another long, drawn out puff from his e-cigarette. "Tomorrow, we'll officially commence the formalities in dealing with these Tagali privateer and pirate scum. I can't bear to go around in circles with you fools for any longer, else I'll get more angry than I am right now. For now..you all are dismissed."

The Sobani corporate bureaucrats and oligarchs suddenly dematerialized into hazy, red holographic pixels, leaving only one man physically left in the room: a Sobani in dark fatigues. Andios looked up at the man with deep, dark eyes. "Of course, there remains only one...irksome issue, that faces us in terms of establishing a proper foothold against the Tagali privateers and those blue-skinned fiends...that issue being, of course, the pirate problem."

As if on cue, the reinforced shutters over the windows that looked out into space automatically closed, bathing the already dark room in what could only be described as "advanced darkness." The meeting table suddenly lit up as a blue grid-like surface, projecting a full-color image of a system identified as "Redwall, which zoomed in on a planet designated "Redwall III."

"I need you and your men to deal with this for me," Andios clasped his hands together as he addressed the Half Moon merc. "They're operating out of a space station built into an asteroid known as Garmonbozia Station. These pirates practically own this system, preying on cargo vessels throughout the system like it's bloody open season, then they sell their wares back to the Tagali and other buyers. These are the pricks I want blown up into a million pieces, and post haste. You and your mercenaries may be able to help me with this one."

The mercenary commander placed a cybernetic hand on his chin, then grunted. "Alright. If I take out their C4ISR, and their lead, all in one go, I want double. Hope ya know that."

"That's the spirit, Dengar.." Andios grinned slyly, bringing up a holographic menu to his side and tapping a few buttons on it, before dismissing the screen. "I've deposited the first half of the credits into your system. Now... you know what to do in order to get the rest."

by **Tagali Federation** » Sun Aug 18, 2019 7:59 pm

Fringes of Tagali Space
Hoduk System, third planet of Isham
Region formerly known as the province of Atawa

Up until a week ago, Isham was just another obscure world in the Orion Sector. It's apex species, the Guroma, were a relatively young race of Humanoid creatures. Only 12,000 years ago, the majority of their species abandoned their migratory grazer lifestyle after their discovery of agriculture. Since then, they're civilization was a cycle of major empires rising and falling, fighting among eachother for vast stretches of farmland and resource deposits. This continued they finally managed to create a global trade network, leading to 200 years of relative peace. This golden age led to a massive boom in technological advancement, leading the planet to undergo an industrial revolution and the discovery of flight. Within 50 years, a global space initiative was undertaken to explore the stars. The Guroma launched a series of expeditions to their moon of Actula, until one discovered a beacon, revealing to the Guroma the existence of intelligent life in the galaxy. They were ecstatic, who knew what other wonders the stars would reveal? Unfortunately, for all intents and purposes, this is where Guroma history ends.

Unknown to the Guroma, that beacon belonged to the Tagali. Just one apart of a vast array set up in the systems home to primitive species not only in Orion, but the Perseus and Scutum-Centaurus Arms and the edges of the Galactic Core itself. Placed over 300 years ago waiting for the Guroma to make it to a point where they would be numerous and intelligent enough to be Akadur or "harvested" in the Tagali tongue. Within two months of the Guroma's discovery of the beacon, a group of Tagali vessels entered the system, ignoring the welcomes of the young and naive Guroma. The invaders descended on the planet, wiping out any outposts on their moon and bringing down anything the Guroma had in orbit back down onto their cities. Before long, the Tagali and numerous members of other conquered species quickly overran the planet to commit Tuvukah or "thirds". A third of the remaining population would be abducted and scattered throughout the Empire to be used as slaves. Another third would be hunted down like animals and slaughtered not just to traumatize the remaining survivors, but to further satisfy the bloodlust of the Tagali. Once the Tagali have finished their bloody conquest of Isham, only a billion Guroma will remain on the planet.

On the ground, a lone one-armed Tagali warrior made his way through the ruins. His armor was rather anachronistic for a space faring race. His black colored power armor was draped in the fur of the massive Okadu, a large wooly creature from the arctic plains of his homeworld. His helmet sported a depiction of the kraken-like Shaki, with the three lens making up the eyes of the creature. It also had a large mane of hair, paying homage to the ancestral warrior masks of the Tagali's collective past. Eventually, the Lone Warrior continued on until he found the site he was looking for, the ruins of a Guroma shelter where many tried, and failed, to survive the Tagali onslaught. From inside, he could hear the sound of a Tagali pack rummaging through the ruins for anything valuable, be it food or loot.

The Warrior stepped through the door way of the shelter to find a scene of the typical polyamorous Tagali pack. Three sat in a corner, huddled together sleeping despite the sounds of chaos around them. Another one crouched by the fire, eating the meat of either a local animal, or one of the many victims of the Tagali invasion. The final two looked out of a large hole in the wall as a column of human and Tagali soldiers marched through the street. As they noticed the newcomer, they all bowed towards the Elder Warrior. all except one, who walked over and wrapped his tail around the warrior's as was the typical Tagali greeting.

"Uncle Teshvu, what are you doing here?" The younger leader of the pack questioned. Teshvu, the older warrior, removed his helmet, his right eye fused shut by a scar. "Ay, Nephew Huga. I could ask you the same thing. Your parent pack was worried about you. You haven't messaged them in weeks." Huga, the young pack leader, turned back and looked out to the ruined streets. "I came out here with my pack for some final hunts before Sahavi here has her first litter. We were just going to see the regular hunting sites, Earth, Fazahar, Keros. But what else do I find here? I find enemies of growing strength on our doorstep. Our own people here having grown too accustomed to the ways of the aliens, Hatani! And the worst of it, they have even allowed some areas to fall out of control of the Empire!"

Teshvu looked around. "So, what is all this then? You're angry at the state of affairs so you go on a rampage and begin reaping various planets?" Huga shook his head. "Not at all, there is reason behind my madness." Huga pulled out a miniature holo-projector and began displaying the planet with a large Tagali rune glassed into the crust of the world. "The haven't been simple harvesting of lesser beings. These have been offerings to Jaka!" Huga began flipping through multiple worlds with similar glyphs forever burnt onto them.

"Once we have finished here. We will mark this world as the final sacrifice to Jaka to gain his blessing. Then, I am going go to Earth, kill the entire pack of this backwater's governor, and turn this place into a productive and worthy sector of the Empire!" Teshvu shifted on his feet, preparing to ask a question he already knew the answer to. "And what are your plans then? I assume not to increase crop and resource yields." Huga scoffed. "No, I have bigger plans. For too long, the races of Orion have existed as a defiant embarrassment to the Tagali Empire.It is time they finally bowed to the Kelraaza's chosen!"

Teshvu was concerned for the fate of his nephew. "Huga, I envy your youthful vigor, but fully conquering the Orion is a fool's errand. Many have tried before you," Teshvu searched for the right words. "And I fear many more will try after you." Huga scoffed once again. "Please Uncle, spare me the warning. Would Empress Gasha have conquered the Reef if she listened to her advisors, telling her that the Reef was an unassailable fortress? Would Emperor Zanza have slain the last of the Old Oppressors if he listened to his warlords telling him that chasing them into the Core region was suicide?" Huga paused for a second. "Would the Great Sunda free our people if he listened to his packs elders to not enter the Kelraaza leviathan?"

Now, it was Teshvu's turn to scoff. "Foolish boy. If you will not heed my warning, then I will at least join you to make sure you learn your lesson when this blows up in your face." Huga simply laughed the notion of failure off. "Uncle, have faith. Besides, I will remember this when I'm at the end of my conquest." Teshva side glanced his nephew, knowing that Huga was right about that.

by **Shadowwell** » Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:59 pm

Weseh Conclave
Elder Vartash
Primarch's Legacy

It had been many years since the Weseh first took to the Stars, longer even than the Weseh Conclave had begun to take form. Over that time they had encountered many races and nations, hostile and friendly. Some such as the Tagali or the Confederacy of Wahl were on less than cordial terms with the Conclave. Others such as the Xarahk Concordate, the Federation of Cerria, and the Thaelic Union State had close diplomatic ties forged through war and friendship.

Each of those nations had sent Envoy’s to the Conclave in the past, few had been to the Homeworld of Valdmar, but all had been on the Primarch’s Legacy. The Legacy served as the off world Seat of the Conclave Council and was used in diplomatic relations with other races. It was kilometers in length with a dark dull colored hull getting progressively smaller as one went towards the bow of the Legacy.

The Primarch’s Legacy was currently in a neutral system which had been used for previous meetings. This day marked one of the largest summits the Weseh Conclave had been involved in for centuries. The Quatarian Geniocracy, the Federation of Cerria, the Xarahk Concordance, and the Thaelic Union State, were among those who were sending envoys to the Primarch’s Legacy. The Conclave had formed ties with many nations over the years from the times of the Tagali conflict and afterwards.

The Highest ranking member of the Conclave Council on board the Primarch’s Legacy at this moment was Elder Vartash. He lout out a sound that was between a grunt and a sigh as he looked out over the Legacy and the other ships close by within the system. When he spoke his voice deep, slow, and gravelly, but was surprisingly smooth as well.
“Though I can recall the last time a summit of this magnitude occurred, back during the Tagali Conflict, this is the first I will have experienced myself. I hope that this turns out well, the Orion Arm has never been the most peaceful of places, but I fear things may become more chaotic soon. What do you think?”

As his words echoed about the space the ‘windows’ he had been looking through flickered out of existence revealing they had not been windows at all. They were specialized view screens; the room the Elder occupied was one of the most well protected within the Legacy. As the room illuminated the person Elder Vartash was speaking to became apparent.

A few feet behind the Elder stood an Ihbb, the Ihbb was an advisor to the Council and stood at only 5 feet in height. Elder Vartash towered over the smaller alien, while the Ihbb had rough skin and a shell the Elder was very different. Had Vartash been standing fully erect he would have been close to 9 feet tall even hunched he was over 7 feet in height. The Ihbb spoke in a tone many would consider cold, but also wizened, that was just how the Ihbb were as a people.

“I think you are not wrong young Elder. According to what we have learned from our buoys and scouts Pirate and Raiders have become more active as of late. This does not bode well for the coming days, let us hope the Tagali or other old enemies do not return to our arm of the galaxy.”

by **The Empire of Tau** » Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:47 pm

Somewhere in New Cardel…

Within a small gray room, a man wearing a blue denim jumpsuit, the one you would find on a blue-collar worker, sits at a simple wooden table. He is eating a bowl of oat-meal with molasses. A glass of milk rests beside the bowl. A lamp in the corner provides light to the room, which sits next to his single-bed. No other pieces of furniture is present. His species or identity unimportant.

A knock on the door is heard. “Come in,” the man says before he drinks his milk. Another man, dressing more akin to a military general, takes off his cap and walks in, with a yellow folder in his right hand. He lays down the yellow folder on the table. “Those are the details on the current plans for the coming war with the Union State. This will be your copy to keep.” The denim-man nods. “Thank you. I’ll take a look at the papers soon. I’ll report back to you in the meeting in a few hours. Blessings be with you, good friend.” The military-man nods, placing back his cap on his head, heading out of the room.

Finishing his meal, the denim-man reaches over to the folder and opens it. The papers within the folder details major aspects of the following war-plan against the Union State. First, two starfleets, the 4th and 8th, will be leading the main spearhead into the Union State’s outer-rims. A supporting element of insurgency-fleets will be attached to the 4th and 8th. The 3rd Sector-Front, an 80 million strong army, will be following the 4th and 8th - assisting in taking and holding various planets. The Confederation of Wahl will be aiding in the form of harassment and disrupting cargo-shipping lances, among other things. Any more info on the Wahl’s plans for the war has yet to be given to Faithful High-Command.

In the event of any other state entering into the war, aiding the Union State, any and all operational-offensives that are not in progress will stop. Fleets and armies will be given a line of defense. Any past-gains will be consolidated and fortified. The Confederation of Wahl has been given info on this back-up plan and the overall-war-plan. The rest of the papers are various info on logistical plans and other operational-details.

The denim-man closes the folder, laying it down on the table. He stares at the wall for a few minutes, taking in the gravity of the coming-war. He takes a deep breath. “Right,” he says. A loud-echo outside of the room is heard. It must be the masses crowding at the cathedrals. The priests were likely giving speeches on the coming-war, boosting morale and calling to arms. Or, it could be millions of workers laboring away in the vast-factory-complexes, producing war goods. It could also be the hordes of brainwashed soldiers rallying and training. Or pirates and smugglers docking their ships, bringing in illegal goods to sell. The possibilities are endless.

The denim-man drowns out the echoing sounds, focusing on the wall still. After ten minutes, he stands up, picking up the folder. He goes to his lamp, turning it off. Walking to his door, the denim-man exits, locking the door afterwards. The meeting that the man had was not important. What is important is the order given by Faithful High-Command after the meeting.

“Blessings to you all. You know your purpose. All fleets go now.” The comms cut.

New Cardel
Faithful High-Command

The command is sent out. The same military-man that went into the denim-man’s room is managing the assault. The military-man is standing within a command center, filled with display screens and bureaucrats busy at work. In front of the military-man is a metal desk. On the metal desk is an open folder, which holds intelligence documents on the 4th & 8th Fleet and their targets.

The Eyne'Falyse Sept is the name of the sector that the 4th and 8th Fleet and 3rd Sector-Front will siege. The Eyne'Falyse Sept composes of 7 settled systems and 18 unsettled ones. Low population, barely more than a couple hundreds of millions, more than half of whom lives on two planets. The Eyne'Falyse Sept is the frontier of Union State space, their outer-rim. The outer colonies in the Eyne'Falyse Sept are frequently made dangerous by the constant raids and attacks from Wahl-pirates raiders and Path-insurgency fleets, but the presence of multiple worlds, both rich in resources and xeno-archaeological sites, continues to draw the interest of the Celestials for colonizing and investment.

The military-man turns over a paper to the security and threat assessment of the Eyne'Falyse Sept.

An entire Union State patrol fleet stations themselves in the region, with a large detachment of alien "private security organizations" (mercenary groups) as well as freelancers, operate in the area. Despite the relatively sizable military presence they do not have enough ships to adequately police the area and watch over the border. In many instances, Path-insurgency fleets and Wahl-pirate raiders are able to quickly ransack a small-colony-town or disrupt trading routes and then run away from patrol fleets.

The military-man then flips over a few more documents before arriving on the main planet’s section of the Eyne'Falyse Sept. He reads.

Amon'Shys is the prime sept world with hundred-or-so million inhabitants, a lush garden world known for its heavy plant and fungal life creating spectacular jungle zones over much of its eight continents. Despite persistent problems with rot and rust, Amon'Shys attracts investors and corporations from all throughout the Union to the volatile region as some of its native lifeforms have chemical compounds that can be used in producing various medicines, making pharmaceuticals among it's main industries. Other than that, farming and shipping are significant industries. It is the headquarters of the local Sept command center for the Armed Forces and is the only planet in the sept to have an orbital defense station. It is closest to the inner edge of the Sept, so most shipping passes through the planet, whether it is out into the region or back toward the core septs. A couple of tens-of millions inhabitants live on a number of colonies in the Amon'Shys's solar system, mostly in asteroid colonies in the system's belt or colonies orbiting the system's gas giant, Corailin.

The military-man looks at the next planet, Carnlaiqua.

Carnlaiqua is within a system almost in the center of the sept and has a population of around hundred-million. When under the control of a powerful warlord affiliated with the Confederation of Wahl, the planet was colonized around the slightly habitable poles and a massive, if primitive terraforming project was undertaken by dumping masses of cyanobacteria into the boiling seas followed by the introduction of invasive Union State plant species. The mineral wealth of the planet was mined by millions of slaves and later after the coming of the Union State, by Casteless workers on a 25-year labor contract in exchange for Castening and the planet went through an economic boom thanks to readily available metals close to the surface waiting to be extracted.

The military-man then lastly reads the last significant planet of interest.

Harathrad is a largely agricultural world with two major continents covered in grasslands and forests, lush fields and rolling hills, and a thousand lakes swarming with fish. Harathrad orchards are filled with luscious crops. At night, bat-like creatures fill the skies. A very small unit of hundreds of thousands inhabitants live in small colonial settlements spread across the fertile valleys and it's only major city named Pe'Leith'Iel is made up largely of large arcology spires interconnected with walkways and a rapid tramway system. The largely Thuvoran mercenary group Apex Security has a headquarters on the planet, doing much business with small settlements in the outback as the planet is frequently targeted by raids, being very close to the border.

The Union State Campaign
Operation Light Green

The war on the Union State starts now. The 4th and 8th Fleet FTL-jump to their targets with the 3rd Sector-Front staying back until the coast was clear. Path-insurgency fleets, their numbers unknown, but sizable, would join the fun as soon the two main fleets compete their objectives. The 4th Fleet travels to the Makhai system, needing to silence the military orbital station. The 8th Fleet will travel to Harathrad.

The 4th Fleet materializes into real-space as they reach their destination. The Makhai military orbital station’s sensors easily detecting the masses of the 4th Fleet’s ships, more than 50 ships in the system. The Makhai station manages to analyze some of the outward appearance of the invading fleet. The 4th Fleet consisted of the following main three-ship from the smallest to largest. A small-ship with a arrow-head structure, then a bulky-and-heavy combat ship, and lastly is a single massive-upscaled-version of the previously mentioned combat ship. Within mere moments of arriving onto the scene, the 4th Fleet reorganizes itself. Boardships of massive ships were pointed at the Makhai station at considerable-range. A barrage of solid metal rods were shot at the Makhai station. Every minute or so, a barrage would go off. It was a display of fireworks as the 4th Fleet relentlessly pounded the station without care. The fire stopped once it was deemed reasonable enough that the station was no longer operational. Althrought the true nature of the station and its status would come in soon as the ships start to scan and try to figure how if the station is still operational or not, but soon, the 4th Fleet would find out. The silencing of the Makhai station has the assumed effect stopping the Union State of gauging the exact number and composition of Path Fleets as Makhai station was the only military-grade sensor array that could use its info-tech to measure the Path Fleet’s strengths.

As the Path’s warships scanned the wrecked station, the Path forces quickly found that it’s reactor had been shut down to prevent a critical meltdown, most systems had gone completely dark and likely only a few dozen survivors out of the 350-man complement yet lived. The Path commanders ordered a boarding party to investigate and eliminate potential survivors while trying to capture some for interrogation. The Steel Caste were a classic warrior caste for a caste-based system, trained from birth and subjected to significant indoctrination, but given enough time, the Path’s Inquisitors would break them too. Indeed, a few scattered groups of survivors remained and the boarding party had to clear them out in vicious close quarter fighting, however, they managed it and the station was then fully secured and destroyed with a few well-placed demolition-charges.

Once info reached out to the 8th Fleet that the Makhai station was kept under check, Harathrad was set-upon by the 8th Fleet. No resistance was met at first, but that would likely change fast. While a patrol fleet will likely arrive on scene to figure out what was happening, the 8th Fleet was in no real threat. The 8th Fleet quickly scans the system, finding nothing of threat or interest besides the planet of Harathrad. The 8th Fleet sends out its findings back to Faithful High-Command, which then orders the 5th Planetary Army from the 3rd Sector-Front to go to Harathrad.

Commander Nightwind was under no illusion that his force consisting of barely five Myriads supported by a few approximately Banner-sized mercenary units could do much against the overwhelming tide of Path land troops that would soon be upon them. The enemy had arrived swiftly, there had been no time for a proper evacuation of either civilians or troops, so there was no running. But they were warriors of the Steel Caste, they fought like water flowed, only the planetary capital and most important colonies and infrastructural hubs would have permanent troop stationings there. The rest of his Cadres would disperse into Harathrad’s wild hinterlands, it would be their duty to harass the enemy and gather intelligence which would be used when a retaliatory strike force commences a counterattack later. With control of the planet’s orbit lost, this would also make most of his forces much less vulnerable to orbital strikes.

A fleet of transports belonging to the 3rd Sector-Front, 5th Planetary Army, arrives onto the Harathrad system. The 8th Fleet now orbits around Harathrad, securing orbital dominance. The transports then start to unload atmospheric-fighters onto Harathrad to scout out a landing zone. Before long, two-landing zones are found, both flat grasslands on the two continent of Harathrad. Reported Intelligence beforehand told of no real threat that could combat the landing army. Let’s hope that is the case as atmospheric-fighters patrol the skies and transports start to enter the atmosphere.

Largely bypassing the airspace of the planetary capital, the invading land forces were largely unmolested by the anti-air laser batteries protecting the city. The armies of the Path would be able to land free of being engaged by local forces, however Taelic Cadre Commanders would be sending Pathfinder scout units forward who would in turn be using their drones to record and report on hostile troop movements so the dispersed Cadres could organize ambushes and fast harassing strikes by mobile battlesuit-teams as the enemy moved in on major settlements and infrastructural hubs.

Planetside, Harathrad
Forty-Eight Standard Solar Hours After Planetfall

The logistical task of moving the 5th Planetary Army, consisting of eight million soldiers, was no easy doing. Cargo-freights, mainly carrying supply, numbering in the hundreds had to make planetfall. Not only that, the troopers also had to make to Harathrad. Large transport-ships and cargo-freights would constantly back and forth, unloading millions of tons of supply and equipment. The process of moving these support-and-supply asserts would take a day or two of very intense traffic before large-scale operations can take place.

In the meantime, Thaelic Pathfinder squads prowled the wilderness, harassing Path force-recon patrols with sniper-fire before retreating, letting the enemy know they were out there or simply using recon drones to gather data on the composition of the enemy force. At times, the Path troops were quick enough to retaliate or call in air-support to blast the Pathfinders out of their hiding spots. However, these preliminary skirmishes did not cause many casualties on either side, both forces were still probing each-other and planning before any significant clashes were to occur.

The 5th Planetary Army was split apart by two separate continents, Continent-1 and Continent-2, into two theaters. The 5th PA, 1st ‘C’ Theater, and the 2nd ‘B’ Theater. In that manner, there were two landing zones, LZ-C and LZ-B. The 5th Planetary Army’s goal was to secure the planet and take key-strategic positions. Intelligence reports collected beforehand months ago by local collaborating Path cells on Harathrad allowed Faithful High-Command to extensively plan and generally know where key-population centers and military infrastructure were at. Local intelligence gatherings then filled in the more finer details of bigger-picture.

Once the whole of the 5th Planetary Army was on Harathrad, the 1st ‘C’ Theater and 2nd ‘B’ Theater started to move out en-masse, hundreds of divisions scouring Harathrad. The 5th PA, 1st ‘C’ Theater, 2nd ‘Apples’ Army Group on Continent-1, six-hundred thousand soldiers, is given instructions by command to directly head to the Harathrad’s planetary capital. The Path’s atmospheric-air-force on Harathrad, organized into their own formations but under the command of the Army, were selectively bombing targeted Union State military installments, conducting close-air-support, or dispersing open-Union State troop formations. A message was sent to the Harathrad’s capital, “Surrender in four hours or we’ll assault the city.”

The defenders of Harathrad’s capital, about two Myriads of the Line, with a few Banner-sized alien mercenary units alongside them numbered barely more than 40 000, but they had the advantage of prepared positions in an urban environment and some anti-air support from the city AA-Laser turrets. The land forces were not in the position they wished to be, the local citizenry had not been evacuated as the Path’s attack came like lightning from a clear blue sky. Long columns of refugees trailed along the main highway out in the opposite direction from the Path’s approach, forming a vast morass of moving bodies and vehicles. Now, much of the exodus had subsided after Commander Nightwind and the Planetary Governor, his radiance Celestial Rolim Elmarys declared martial law.

The enemy’s road toward the city had been disrupted by ambushes and lightning strikes, but the overwhelming numbers allowed the Path to guard it’s main columns and the dispersed Cadres could only hope to harass the outer flanks with battle-suit teams and mechanized infantry supported by grav-tanks before having to disperse once more or be targeted by enemy airstrikes or by precision orbital strikes bringing heavy ordnance down on the Thaelic forces. Governor Elmarys and Commander Nightwind were hoping that if nothing else, they could hold the enemy and cause them casualties by forcing them into urban combat. They would not last until a retaliation force manages to arrive, in the night, the Celestial spoke to the frightened citizens, his words culminating in a rousing call to action empowered by the powerful, pisonically enhanced charisma of the Union’s ruling caste, rallying the people to help prepare defensive ditches and to collapse buildings to funnel the enemy into prepared positions.

On the final day of the ultimatum, the response was a single word broadcast on wideband. “No.”

Wahl Raiding Operations

Much of the Sept had been so recently alerted to the sudden invasion from the Ohelder State that things were still quite in disarray, or so the pirates believed. The Path already provided the muscle and heavy lifting for the engagements but the Wahl had already knew how the Union State fought.

For decades, the two skirmishes were more of a giant cat-and-mouse game where neither side could ever stop each other. Raids had various success as they hit hard and fast, which was good for greenhorn captains who had never fought a military before. With the Path on their side they were able to flood out into the sector to do large-scale raiding to make sure that they can retake the region.

The pirates sent their 2nd Bruiser, 7th Skipmaster, and 3rd Scrapper fleets to start hitting around certain areas. Like all Wahl ships, they were smaller than their religious allies and were built for speed above all else. Energy poured around them in sleek, modern designs that were unlike any pirates in the Orion.

Now the pirates had sent out the three fleets to three different targets. The name of the game was search-and-destroy with no rewards for capturing targets except the planets in the sector. One of them the Ohelder were already on, Harathrad, which was a planet that was the sector’s main breadbasket. There was already a large presence and the Path already surprise-attacked the planet.

The second was Carnlaiqua, which was a mining world and a former rich prospecting world for the Wahl pirates. The former Human warlord Ian “Red Eye” once paid some allegiance to the Confederation but nothing too important. When the Thaelics came to take the sector, he fought them as hard as he could but he died in a bombing-run in his palace on this very same planet.

Now some of his men of the 2nd Bruiser fleet had a bone to pick with the forces on that planet. They also know better than to fight them in a ground fight so the best was to contain them on their planet. Led by the flagship of the former warlord, the Star Splitter, had wanted to send a message to the mining castes who took their planet.

That they’re coming home.

The local Thaelic commander, Dawnblade, adhered to what was only sensible when panicked transmissions from civilian ships in the system came to Carnlaiqua. He, like Nightwind gave the order for those forces who could to disperse into the wilds, taking what equipment and supplies they could. It seems that he couldn’t have given the order sooner as pillars of murderous light struck from the heavens, crippling much of the Union’s aviation capabilities. Fighters were hard to operate from hills and overgrown forests after all.

2’nd Bruiser opened a salvo on the military infrastructure on Carnlaiqua. They wanted to clean up the majority of forces located within military installments there and send in any of their troops to start playing the Thaelic game of seeing who can outmaneuver who. Laser pillars from war ships ascend down on the planet with pirate strike bombers start doing first wave bombing runs on Union State military asserts. The planet will light up with explosions of varying degrees and make sure they have most of the key-military-centers razed before they drop in the troops. Industrial and population centers were left alone. Assisting in the take-over of Carnlaiqua was a Ohelder Theater detachment, 71th Theater, consisting of four million troops.

Dawnblade himself did not live to lead his Myriads as he was killed in a strike on the planet’s main Command Center before they could evacuate. Instead, it would be up to his 2IC - Commander Surestrike to lead the Myriads with a degraded command and control network, it would seem like the Cadre Commanders would have to use much of their own intuition.

Before the main army properly landed on Carnlaiqua, the 14th Orbital Shock Troop Army Group, made planetfall around industrial and population centers. Whether or not there was anti-orbital-guns around these industrial and population centers, hundreds of assault-dropships quickly descended from orbit and onto the ground. From the drop-doors of these assault-dropships, multiple fireteams poured out. Other assault-dropships carried heavy equipment like tanks, armored fighting vehicles, limited supply, and other needs for brutal combat.

As Carnlaiqua had a significant population, it had a more significant defense than the outer Sept worlds. Nearly 1 250 000 troops were stationed on the planet and most of the major population centers and strategic infrastructural centers had anti-air defenses either in the form of AA-Laser batteries, SAM-sites or land-based versions of ship-mounted CIWS-guns. The relatively reckless drop made by the Confederate-Path forces was contested by anti-air defenses and the Cadres of more aggressive Thaelic commanders as Commander Surestrike tried to re-establish contact with the planet’s dispersing units from his impromptu command center. Attempting to move with some cover from mobile AA-platforms to ward off some of the enemy airpower, some commanders tried attacking targets of opportunity with long range fire guided by forward Pathfinder teams and their scout-drones.

7th Skipmaster and 3rd Scrapper had more dangerous but important missions in order to keep the Thaelics busy, when the Path occupy the planets and fight the main battles. They had to go into the system of the prime Sept world, Amon'Shys. They were given express orders to not engage the planet itself for it would be too much to try and take without the Ohelder to support them. Their targets were the trade lanes and the colonies around the gas giant, Corailin. Corailin would be considered a place to help be a staging point for both sides to try and take the inner system which housed the sector capital. Not to mention that Union ships used Corailin for refueling their ships, both private and military.

3rd Scrapper would descend upon the colonies and fueling stations as trading ships and fuel tankers disengaged their docking-clamps and attempted panicked emergency FTL-jumps out of the system and toward the Union’s inner-rim Septs. Some succeeded but others were still there as the pirates circled around the gas giant and proceed to descend upon them as light salvos hit specific large colonies, more to cause panic then actual real damage, as pirates descended on them as pirates went after the fueling stations with EWAR suites hit the fueling stations to allow them to be captured. The Scrappers had to work fast as they did believe that the Union’s own fleet would be coming in soon.

That’s where 7th Skipmaster came in, running ahead of the Scrapper Fleet into the Inner Solar System and started to target the system trade lanes en masse, anything that they could aim their guns at they will. The disruption alone should choke the sector of the necessary supplies till the insurgents get here. Unlike the last two fleets, 7th Skipmaster had the warship only focus, not needing boarding crews and focused on naval pirate tactics and speed to take down the trade lanes that went from the Sept Prime World.

The 37 ships from the UAFN’s 1’st Colonial Patrol Fleet tried as they might to keep the main space-lanes safe from interdiction, it was no use trying to retake the Outer-System with such meager forces and Fleetmaster Baletide was quite aware, what he could do was to try and keep some of the convoys safe by deploying Foehammer Cruisers with the civilian ships while Warsword Frigates and Watchman Corvettes formed an outer picket line, warding the enemy raider off with long-range missile salvos as Wahl plasma projectiles came in return. The ships in the outer system were at the pirates’ mercy, but some of the convoys from the planet itself managed to leave with light casualties. There was not much else that could be done, not now, not when the Patrol Fleet was scattered across the Sept. Staying on the orbital defense station that served as his command center, the Fleetmaster held his three Battlecruisers and two Cruisers in a defensive formation around the station, supported by it’s own and planetside-launched starfighters and bombers.

Orders were dispatched to the patrol commanders through the station’s point-to-point QEC-system, they were to assist the evacuation of the outer Sept systems and escort the convoys back into the D’Yan’Vahr Sept, where Grand Commander Silvertide was probably already preparing to launch a decisive counter-strike. For that, Silvertide would need reliable intelligence on the composition and positioning of enemy forces, to that end, the 3 Shade-class Stealth Frigates of the 1’st Colonial would stay in the embattled Eyne’Falyse Sept to gather intelligence and avoid destruction or capture as long as possible. With luck, the resources, populations and garrisons of the outer worlds along with 48 warships would manage to get back to the Inner Septs.

Fifty-Four Standard Solar Hours After the Invasion into the Eyne'Falyse Sept

The 4th Fleet, having destroyed the Makhai station, were quickly relocated to the Amon'Shys system. Jumping close to the planet of Amon'Shys and its orbital defense station, the 4th Fleet threateningly stands off with the Amon'Shys defense station. In the background, Wahl pirate raiders were actively chasing down various cargo-convoys with both pirates and Union State fleets jumping in and out of hyper-space constantly. One-sided battles in favor of the Wahl pirates left many dead ships in the system. Sensors could easily detect the many derelict ship hulls throughout the Amon'Shys System, either be it a few Wahl raiders or dozens of Union civilian ships and a number of military Union vessels.

The 4th Fleet sent a simple message via basic telecommunication comms to the Amon'Shys military station, “Give your arms and you’ll be spared. If not then you’ll face the wrath of our guns.” The Amon'Shys station, given its sensors, could pick up the masses of about one hundred twenty-seven ships. Upon further data-analysis, out of the one hundred twenty-seven ships, one hundred twenty were some form of small vessels, likely support-vessels, with only eight capital-grade ships, and one heavier capital-grade ship. The patience of the 4th Fleet is not going to last long.

To the Emyaar way of war, sacrificing lives for land was a foreign concept, sacrificing lives for time or important strategic locations in order to force the enemy to commit more time and resources that he would otherwise need, was sometimes a tragic necessity. After all, time is the only resource that can never be recovered. The orbital station, while stationary was a formidable obstacle, heavily armored, well-shielded and with a mass accelerator the length of a Thaelic Battleship. The Thaelic guns and missiles locked their targets, the stations’ and the battlecruisers’ mass-accelerators loading flechette-rounds to target the enemy escort groups with “shotgun-blasts” of small, superheated flechettes as the missile-volleys were launched and the deflectors were set to full-forward.

“Hhm, not surprised. All ships enage.”

by **Charmera** » Fri Aug 23, 2019 1:15 pm

Marun - Inside the Lavatory of the Hall of Democracy

Yeska Missik had just evacuated her bowels after a particularly tense debate on the Congress floor. It may have even come to blows, likely with Yeska herself in the fray. It was rare for things to get violent on the honored floors of Congress, but it had happened before. Blood had been spilled on the marble tiles of that room, even despite the fact it was the closest thing the Mairen had to a temple. Faux Holiness meant very little compared to the honor of some Mairen, and many were willing to protect that honor with plasma-blades. A little while ago, if the speaker had nor called a recess the entire chamber might have been bathed in blood once more.

I might have been among them too. Yeska thought darkly as she washed her white-furred paws. She looked at herself in the holo-reflector, seeing her large ears and her glowing cybernetic eyes. She walked out of the toilet. "That bastard Kisik goes too far."

"I'd like to think I go just far enough." Spoke a voice from behind her. She turned around in the hallway to see the grey-furred Kisik Hasuk. He was slightly taller than Yeska, but wirier and much more gaunt, with a longer and more pronounced snout. He had a notable scar that raked across his left eye, and he also had a small stump where the end of his tail once was. Like all other legislators, he wore a grey coat not dissimilar from an officers uniform.

"Have you been following me, Legislator Hasuk?"

Hasuk kept his wry grin at the accusation. "Is it not common practice to keep tabs on other prominent members of Congress? It is certainly not illegal to do so."

Yeska laughed a bitter and harsh chuckle, then turned away. "I don't need to watch my enemies to know what they plan Kisik. You made your plans quite clear today."

"We need not be enemies Yeska. What I do is for-"

Yeska spun around and interrupted the man. "For what? Do you sell our honor for our own good? You would have us slaves to them like those furless humans? For what indeed!"

Hasuk's smile turned to a frown. Perhaps he thought he could convince Yeska outside of the Congress. "Diplomatic contact is not slavery. The war was 500 years ago and we need to move on."

"Have you forgotten so soon that no peace was signed. No accord made. They are still imperialist, expansionist dogs!"

"And the Coalition was not!? The Chyss, The Concordance, The Ohelder Path. We fought a war against the Chyss for Kysks sake! We need to keep ourselves open to the possibility that these forces may become a greater threat."

"I welcome any who do! Many have tried and their bodies have been left in the dust of a hundred worlds."

"Ah! But despite your patriotism, you would have us cling to the long-dead coalition!" Hasuk replied, holding up a finger. "Where is your proud isolationism when it comes to them?"

"We signed agreements and made oaths with them. We fought alongside them. Our forces and theirs did not die so we could sell them out to the Tagali!"

"And where is this respect you claim exists? How many of these coalition allies have sought to strengthen bonds with us? No, we have had border skirmishes and legitimized piracy from them. They have no respect for us. We must forge our own respect!"

"You will gain none of it from the Tagali. They will humor us and then turn us all to slaves when is convenient. You fool yourself into thinking you can trust them."

"I do not! I believe we need to keep our options open and use any diplomatic avenue possible. If they see the benefit of peace-"

"Then you fool yourself into thinking you can control them!"

Hasuk sighed and put his palm to his faced, his tail, previously snapping behind him in annoyance, now calmed. He shrugged.

"I knew you would not see reason. I had hoped you might have some shred of pragmatism, but you are still the same rock you were when you started, as stubborn as a kysking mountain." He turned to leave. "You will soon learn the folly of your actions."

With that, Hasuk walked away, leaving Yeska to stew in rage.

"Definitely too far..." She muttered. "Kysking bastard."

by **The National Dominion of Hungary** » Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:04 pm

Tashn'Var'Ishghan - Planet of Thaelin - Kenuyais System.

The Kenuyais trinary star-system was in a constant state of traffic. It's three suns had once played an immense part in one of the most powerful and widespread faiths in Emyaar history, a faith that was almost dead and buried today, along with those attachments to the past, to it's sickened, selfish and ruthless ways that led to the Red Century. Thousands of commercial vessels ranging from passenger ships whisking people to and fro between the local system colonies and the Septs beyond. To the massive bulk haulers the size of Battlecruisers hauling billions of tons of goods. Then there was the silent, threatening, well-armed warships of the UAFN conducting their ceaseless vigilance among the worlds of the Emyaar home system. The city of Tashn'Var'Ishghan was the heart of the heart, a massive conurbation spanning a vast swathe of land and boasting, among many other things, four space-elevators. Making it beyond these nexuses of traffic one would see the mighty boulevards, thoroughfares, and expressways of the capital world's capital city. Billions coming and going about their daily business. Air cars in controlled lanes. Ground cars humming along roadways. Endless pedestrian traffic. After all, it was only to be expected of a planet that was home to 35 billion.

Beyond the bustle of the city, overlooking the waters of Lake Enedlond was another complex, one of calm serenity that was hard to find in the city if one left it's Temples of Harmony. Surrounded by walls was the vast Glimmerhall Palace that served as the residence of the Grand Celestial Supreme, head of the Council of Harmonious Wisdom and head of the Thaelic Union State, highest on the social ladder of this caste-based, oligarchic pisocracy. Grand Celestial Supreme Nahamshiral Miranorin's plans had been upended, he had to remain in the capital as war consumed the frontiers of the Enyn'Falyse Sept, the attack had been quick and very vigorous indeed, possibly thanks to Wahl infiltrators they had managed to avoid the pickets and patrols of local naval units and strike directly at three colonies, all within three days, to the tune of tens of thousands of Thaelic deaths most of whom were civilians who had been lost to the Wahl pirates in the voids around Amon'Shys.

Nahamshiral Miranorin walked through the wide, expansive palace grounds of Glimmerhall slowly, with purpose. The gardens were resplendent, it was ancient time-tested tradition for rulers and the powerful in Emyaar society to cultivate great colorful gardens as a sign of wealth and prestige on the arid home planet of their species. Indeed, Thaelin was dry and hot with most of it's hydrosphere locked up in great river-systems that carved fertile green belts through a landscape of dry, red canyons, mesas and low mountain ranges with most of the hydrosphere locked up in it's small seas which suffered greatly from pollution and only really began recovering about a century ago after long and costly environmental restoration projects. The first among the Celestials walked up to a small, luxuriant manor which was only one among many. Over the centuries all Celestial Houses added their own little expansion to the vast complex, new gardens, new manors, new palatial wings, new temples and new meditation chambers. The small manor he was on his way to was called the Saecan Cottage, built by Grand Celestial Supreme Tanyl Yllamenor of the Whispered Wisdom two centuries ago as a place where his famously debauched son Braern could meet his mistresses and lovers without shaming the whole Caste.

Three Honor Guards stood guard by the entrance in gleaming, bone-white armor. Only the finest, strongest and most devoted specimens of the Steel Caste ever had the honor for serving in the Grand Celestial Supreme's bodyguard Cadres. The Steel Caste warriors parted before him and he entered the lavish manor. In it's great parlor, banners of the Union stood tall against the windows, his ornate hoverthrone was awaiting, as was his family, they stood there among the attendants and staff hurrying to and fro, Water Caste reporters from every media outlet worth mentioning, the all stood as one and bowed to the Grand Celestial, the captain there to guide the ship of Thaelic civilization and the Great Society, he walked forward and sat down upon his throne as his family joined, sitting on opulent seats arranged around him, banners aloft behind them. Cam-drones adjusted their lenses, picking up crisp images of the Grand Celestial House but focusing especially on the man in the middle, the man on the hoverthrone, the old Emyaar was reaching nearly 220 years of age, something unhead of barely a century ago. He was thin, and the voluminous, luxuriant robes that clothed him made him look even smaller. But there was a fire in his eyes, a passion undimmed by the passage of time, his voice was firm and strong, yet wise and calming, soothing even and made even more so as the Celestial channeled his psionic force into it.

"Five roh'taa ago, I came to you with a solemn statement, that our border had been breached by invaders, that one of our Septs was burning, that our people, some of our very bravest were dying in a part of the galaxy that they had come to in order to bring the light of civilization, of the Great Society. It is of the highest moral value and not only moral value, but also practical value that this conflict be brought to a swift, decisive victory for our Union and it's peoples. Our nation, bloodied in two wars, one quickly succeeding the other, surely deserves a time of peace and tranquility, alas, the strings of fate have seen fit to test us once again. The wholehearted concurrence of scores of billions of men and women, of our Great Society whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of it's winds, but in our own hearts this day there is peace and tranquility.

We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the severity of the ordeal which may last longer than we expect, but we shall not be found unequal to the task. We must be ready for many disappointments and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which the stars have thrust upon us is not beyond the ability and the strength of the Thaelic Union State. I am feeling of full gratitude that in this time of trials for our nation there is a generation of Steel Caste Warriors here and ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and ready to be counted among the greatest heroes by future generations.

This is not a question of fighting for Eyne'Falyse or fighting for Amon'Shys, where the Steel Caste is already standing up to those who would bring the whole sector to barbarity, slavery and to extinguish all enlightenment in favor of backward religious dogma. In this attack, the raiders of the Wahl and the fanatics of the Path have come to meet us, they have come out of their pits and holes to let us know where they are and our valiant Steel Caste will chase them back into whatever pits they crawled out of. We are fighting to make the whole of Orion safer, to make it's peoples no longer have to fear these agents of terror spawned from the pestilence of greed or religious delusion. We stand in defense of all that is truly most sacred to sentience. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish on impregnable rocks a bastion of civilized society, of the Great Society where there was formerly nothing but suffering. There is no worthier cause, and to reach this goal, all of us need to contribute, our public and private lives will, perhaps for months, be different. Each and every one of us is in their own way a Soldier of the Union, and we must all share a thought together, to struggle and fight through the dark until victory has been achieved."

Moments later, the speech was broadcast all across the Union.

Nearing the Primarch's Legacy.

Reality folded and twisted upon itself as a sleek, silvery yacht transitioned back into realspace. It was a small vessel, small indeed, barely above 25 meters. The luxuriant sloop was carrying the crest of the Thaelic Union as it moved toward the impressively size starship that was the Primarch's Legacy, a place where Emyaar envoys had already been. After the Union unknowingly stumbled into the outer-rim of the vast Tagali Empire and had half a Sept razed in retaliation, the Weseh established peaceful contact with the Union, offering humanitarian aid to the warswept wasteland that Tagali left in the wake of their advance. Now they were here again as the Weseh had called them and many more to attend a diplomatic summit as it would seem the whole sectors was steadily destabilizing and indeed it was, a fleet of pirates, raiders and Path troops had only recently invaded the Union's frontier Sept of Eyne'Falyse, once conquered from the human warlord Ian "Red-Eye". As the Sept burned many light-years behind the yacht, Aywin Miranorin, up and coming Celestial and one of the Grand Celestial Supreme's children brought up a holoscan of the vast vessel before the small sloop. Father had trusted her with the task of representing the Union in this summit and she had to admit to her nervousness, having spent much of her time on the trip in deep meditation to still her nerves and prepare for the important task ahead.

Initially her father was supposed to come to the Legacy but now, the business of war had to be attended once again and Aywin had instead boarded the ship bound for the legacy a mere hours after the Grand Celestial had finished his speech. As they neared the ship the pilot hailed the Legacy "This is the interstellar sloop Sparrow, registration number GT166-723-9021-TU requesting docking permission at the Primarch's Legacy. We are carrying her Luminance the Lady Celestial Aywin Miranorin here to attend the Orion Summit of the Weseh Conclave as a representative of the Thaelic Union State, we await your response."

by **Destriustan** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:46 pm

Nove, Capital of the Novan Imperial Federation
Autarch Opiter IX looked down upon the Cryellex envoy, who prattled on about "eternal friendship," and "undying loyalty," while leading in several known revolutionaries from Rodion. "And let it be known that through arresting and sending you these filthy rebels, that the Cryellex will forever be a gracious servant of you and Nove, blessed be His name." After his speech, the envoy looked up at Opiter IX, like a dog about to be given a treat. Opiter IX scowled at the envoy with disgust, and said, "You claim to be a loyal servant to me and Nove, blessed be His name, but you have failed to meet your agricultural and mineral quotas set by your generous and honorable Planetarium Praefectus Aulus, who is also my esteemed blood-kin. Your unwillingness to work when you have been given so much is disappointing. I'm afraid I'll have to make an example of you." The envoy, now on his knees and begging to be spared, was restrained by two Custodes Imperatoria, the most elite of the Imperial Military, and Opiter IX said, "Bring out the Canesang!" When he said this, a Novan in full powered armor came out, restraining the dog-like creature with a Shock Pike, and pushed it into a small arena in the throne room floor. "No, please! In the name of Nove the Almighty, let your most humble servant live!" The Autarch simply smirked and watched as the envoy was torn to pieces by the Canesang. He then turned to his Primum Magistri. "Now, what was this about some xeno summit?" His Primum Magistri did a quick bow and said, "Yes, your Imperial Majesty. The summit at Primarch's Legacy is hosted by the Weseh Conclave, and your predecessors, may the rest in Nove's Embrace, made a habit of at least listening to the proceedings. I strongly advise you to be present at the summit, for the sake of the Federation." Opiter IX frowned and said, "And what have those xenos ever done for us? We fought side by side with them against the Tagali, yet are we praised by them? No, and now the Federation is weaker because of it! I will not attend some summit hosted by xenos!" He then stormed off, yelling for someone to clean up the envoy's remains.

by **Gudmund** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:41 pm

Shadowwell wrote:Weseh Conclave
Elder Vartash
Primarch's Legacy

It had been many years since the Weseh first took to the Stars, longer even than the Weseh Conclave had begun to take form. Over that time they had encountered many races and nations, hostile and friendly. Some such as the Tagali or the Confederacy of Wahl were on less than cordial terms with the Conclave. Others such as the Xarahk Concordate, the Federation of Cerria, and the Thaelic Union State had close diplomatic ties forged through war and friendship.

Each of those nations had sent Envoy’s to the Conclave in the past, few had been to the Homeworld of Valdmar, but all had been on the Primarch’s Legacy. The Legacy served as the off world Seat of the Conclave Council and was used in diplomatic relations with other races. It was kilometers in length with a dark dull colored hull getting progressively smaller as one went towards the bow of the Legacy.

The Primarch’s Legacy was currently in a neutral system which had been used for previous meetings. This day marked one of the largest summits the Weseh Conclave had been involved in for centuries. The Quatarian Geniocracy, the Federation of Cerria, the Xarahk Concordance, and the Thaelic Union State, were among those who were sending envoys to the Primarch’s Legacy. The Conclave had formed ties with many nations over the years from the times of the Tagali conflict and afterwards.

The Highest ranking member of the Conclave Council on board the Primarch’s Legacy at this moment was Elder Vartash. He lout out a sound that was between a grunt and a sigh as he looked out over the Legacy and the other ships close by within the system. When he spoke his voice deep, slow, and gravelly, but was surprisingly smooth as well.
“Though I can recall the last time a summit of this magnitude occurred, back during the Tagali Conflict, this is the first I will have experienced myself. I hope that this turns out well, the Orion Arm has never been the most peaceful of places, but I fear things may become more chaotic soon. What do you think?”

As his words echoed about the space the ‘windows’ he had been looking through flickered out of existence revealing they had not been windows at all. They were specialized view screens; the room the Elder occupied was one of the most well protected within the Legacy. As the room illuminated the person Elder Vartash was speaking to became apparent.

A few feet behind the Elder stood an Ihbb, the Ihbb was an advisor to the Council and stood at only 5 feet in height. Elder Vartash towered over the smaller alien, while the Ihbb had rough skin and a shell the Elder was very different. Had Vartash been standing fully erect he would have been close to 9 feet tall even hunched he was over 7 feet in height. The Ihbb spoke in a tone many would consider cold, but also wizened, that was just how the Ihbb were as a people.

“I think you are not wrong young Elder. According to what we have learned from our buoys and scouts Pirate and Raiders have become more active as of late. This does not bode well for the coming days, let us hope the Tagali or other old enemies do not return to our arm of the galaxy.”

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:Nearing the Primarch's Legacy.

Reality folded and twisted upon itself as a sleek, silvery yacht transitioned back into realspace. It was a small vessel, small indeed, barely above 25 meters. The luxuriant sloop was carrying the crest of the Thaelic Union as it moved toward the impressively size starship that was the Primarch's Legacy, a place where Emyaar envoys had already been. After the Union unknowingly stumbled into the outer-rim of the vast Tagali Empire and had half a Sept razed in retaliation, the Weseh established peaceful contact with the Union, offering humanitarian aid to the warswept wasteland that Tagali left in the wake of their advance. Now they were here again as the Weseh had called them and many more to attend a diplomatic summit as it would seem the whole sectors was steadily destabilizing and indeed it was, a fleet of pirates, raiders and Path troops had only recently invaded the Union's frontier Sept of Eyne'Falyse, once conquered from the human warlord Ian "Red-Eye". As the Sept burned many light-years behind the yacht, Aywin Miranorin, up and coming Celestial and one of the Grand Celestial Supreme's children brought up a holoscan of the vast vessel before the small sloop. Father had trusted her with the task of representing the Union in this summit and she had to admit to her nervousness, having spent much of her time on the trip in deep meditation to still her nerves and prepare for the important task ahead.

Initially her father was supposed to come to the Legacy but now, the business of war had to be attended once again and Aywin had instead boarded the ship bound for the legacy a mere hours after the Grand Celestial had finished his speech. As they neared the ship the pilot hailed the Legacy "This is the interstellar sloop Sparrow, registration number GT166-723-9021-TU requesting docking permission at the Primarch's Legacy. We are carrying her Luminance the Lady Celestial Aywin Miranorin here to attend the Orion Summit of the Weseh Conclave as a representative of the Thaelic Union State, we await your response."

The Quatarian Geniocracy
Orion Summit, Neutral System

With the silent crackle of lightning, an empty section of space suddenly contorted, a few beams of light slinging into the system to reveal four 500m long MKIII Quatarian ships. Hundreds of drones then sprung from the ships sides, setting up a literal wall of metal around them. This collection of spacecraft were some of the Quatarian Geniocracy's best drone-ships. Boasting absurdly thick armour, shields, decent point defence, and a hundred drones each. Despite appearing so heavily armed, the Quatarian's had little choice in what they would bring, considering very few of their civilian spacecraft were even capable of FTL travel. They had yet to develop an FTL drive for anything smaller, so these ships would have to suffice.

The meek people of the Geniocracy were very grateful for the summit invitation, knowing that they are likely the least powerful among them. This would be the first time the Quatarians had truly interacted with the rest of the Orion Sector. Their relatively young nation had yet to participate in any local politics for some time. In fact, they had never encountered the Tagali, nor took part in the war 500 years ago, due to being located deep within the inner parts of the Orion sector. Nevertheless, word of the menace had managed to eventually reach them, the tales gruesome and worrying, such a threat far too powerful for to handle. It was for this reason alone that the Quatarian Geniocracy decided to appear in this summit, hoping to forge an alliance with other like-minded nations should the Tagali return. That, and to avoid all-out war with the other summit members.

The elders of the Geniocracy, watching with rapt attention as they entered the system, were surprised more than anything of the sight ahead. The Primarch's Legacy of the Weseh Conclave was the largest ship they'd ever seen, more than three times the size of their own capital-class ships guarding the Quatarian homeworld; a rather frightening yet reassuring sight to behold. All but one had remained seated, a relaxed Quatarian sprawled out in the commander's seat, analysing the craft before him. His neural-interface scanned the craft, but failed to identify a majority of the tech being used. Crumpling his brow in annoyance, he steered the fleet closer with the aide of his device, their sensors picking up a much smaller vessel in the system. A sleek, silver a bit larger than a single drone.

"It appears that we're not the first to arrive," he mentioned to the others, who nodded their heads in return, "establish communications with the Primarch's Legacy, announce our arrival and permission to board." He ordered, glancing at the badge on his chest proudly displaying his name: Trilax Hoves, Great-Elder of the Quatarian Geniocracy. Were they to be accepted, a smaller shuttle would detach from the MKIII droneship to deliver himself, and several other elders, to the Weseh Conclave's diplomatic ship. Hopefully they didn't have to wait too long for the others.

by **Ithalian Empire** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 9:22 pm

The Primarchs Legacy
Republican Naval Vessel Indomitable Will

The Indomitable Will hung in the blankness of space. A warship of the Antivarian Republic Class, large and imposing. A mighty symbol of both Antivarian military might and technological prowess. A fitting ship to arrive at the Primarch's Legacy. It had come as a large surprise when the Weash Conclave had asked for a representative from the Republic, neither nation had regular diplomatic dealing save for staring each other down after the Conclave-Republic War some centuries ago. But send some one the Senate had agreed would be a prudent thing to do. And that was how Senator Ishen Vor'kal found himself staring at the massive ship the Conclave used for such occasions.

"Senator Vor'kal, we will remain in this position for the remainder of the summit. The Conclave wishes to send a shuttle for you and the rest of the diplomatic team." the speaker was the captain of the Indomitable Will, an Antivarian officer in every sense of the word, he had served since the Intgar Crises twenty years ago and had cut his teeth on frigates and cruisers for most of his career.

"Inform the Conclave that will not be necessary, I will use one of our own shuttle craft."

"Very well." The captain placed his fist over his heart in the standard Antivarian salute.

The Senatorial Chamber
Antis

Consul Ertenda looked out from his raised dais that stood in the center of the large circular room tha was the Senatorial Chamber. Upon three sides where the rows ad rows of seats occupied by the Republic political elite. The session had already begun, and it already appeared that it would be the same drivel that it always was. Budgeting debates, who's pet project will get what allocation of money and manpower, and what of the citizens of Kandar, or of another one of the many worlds in the Republic. But this was the way the Republic had worked for centuries, the only time things moved quickly was when there was a crises. And crisis was what Ertenda hoped to avoid.

"Thirty more dead Antivarian soldiers. Fellow Senators, when will this madness in the south end? It is clear that the Intgrama will not be made to be a part of our Republic. It will be best if you cut them lose and return to the pre-war boundaries." Senator Mertqan Nor'kan was a young and passionate man, and, oddly, against the further expansion of the Republic. His speech produced many boos and jeers form the more zealous Senators. The room was silenced when the Consul stood.

"Senator Nor'kan, I value your dedication to peace. Admire it even. But do you think that Intgra will forget that we have occupied there worlds for twenty years?You where but a child when the crisis in the south started, but let me remind you why we invaded. The Intgrama where raiding our frontier, taking our citizens as slaves and burning our cities. Such flagrant hostility was meet with swift and necessarily brutal retribution. Intgra will not be independent as long as its people are so willing to commit such atrocity upon our people. I shall use of Consular powers to stay the occupation of Intgra and its worlds for the remainder of the term." The Consul sat amongst the cheers of many of the Senators present. The rest of the session went on without him having to speak again.

by **Tayner** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:44 pm

President Rex Belaroux
Federation of Cerria, Evoxia
Stardate 5118.1

President Rex had been sworn into office two weeks prior, the crowning achievement of his party. A more conservative candidate, he was favored by many of the Core Worlds and the majority of the 'Old Kingdom', or the Kingdom of Evoxia. Once a nobleman, he shed his titles and lands to be eligible for the Federation's elections. Winning in a narrow vote, he took the presidency and promised a return to interstellar importance and prosperity.

It had been no secret that he was from the Old Kingdom, and his election showed their ideal's return to prominence. Within the first week much of the cabinet and appointees were replaced with many other politicians sympathetic to The Kingdom and their ideals. In order to gain support of many influential members of government and industry, a formal ball was arranged. And when the Federarion was invited to a Summit held by the Weseh Conclave, he jumped on the opportunity of sending his Vice President, and friend to attend and secure better diplomatic ties with the galactic community.

Everything was going so well in the Capital. It was shaping up to be a good day.

Sub-Commander Alaro Clementoux
FSNV Severed Light
Stardate 5118.1

The night watch was just ending, and Alaro was due to be relieved soon. The captain was asleep and the First Officer was on shore leave. Everything was quiet until they received a transmission from Evoxia Air Control, a ship, the MSV Gobin deviated from it's flight plan for no apparent reason, and without warning. While it seemed like nothing major, they refused to answer hails and was on a heading towards the Capital. "Very well. Notify the Home Fleet and move to intercept. Hail them." Alaro said.

"Channel open." His communications officer reported.

"This is Sub-Commamder Alaro Clementoux of the FSNV Severed Light, state the reason for your deviation of course Gobin." Alaro ordered. He received no answer, and repeated himself. "Failure to respond and comply will lead to the impoundment of your vessel." With no reply he ended the transmission.

"Wake the Shipmaster. See if we can lock on with a tractor beam." He ordered. After holding the offending ship still for a minute, the tractor beam was disrupted, jolting the whole Severed Light in the process.

"Report!" The Shipmaster ordered as he entered the bridge.

"The MSV Gobin has deviated from their course, entering the no-fly-zone over the capital without authorization. They're refusing to answer hails and have just disrupted our tractor beam with a feedback loop." Alaro reported.

"Very well." Shipmaster LeForge spoke. "How far out is support?"

"Ten minutes. At this trajectory we have at most two until the Gobin makes landfall." An officer reported.

"Alaro, take the helm. Move us in close and give the foward batteries a clean shot to their engines. Hopefully we can knock them out and drag them back." He said.

"That might leave debris to hit the city, I recommend we use a modulating frequency through our tractor beam, they won't be able to identify the proper feedback to disrupt it." Alaro interjected.

"Negative, there's not enough time. Any substantial debris will burn up in atmosphere anyways." LeForge said.

"But I can-"

'No! CIC, I need an immediate firing solution, and send it directly to the forward batteries. Fire all lasers at your earliest convenience." He ordered.

"Twenty seconds until we're ready." Was the reply.

"By that time we'll be low enough for serious debris to damage the capital."

"Noted. Debris would be better than an entire ship." The Shipmaster spoke.

"Shot out!" The forward batteries replied. The red laser lanced through the sky, striking the ship as it descended rapidly. Their shields took the brunt of the blow, and a follow up shot was ordered.

However, the shields of the rouge ship dropped just before the second blast, and the laser tore through the old armor plaiting and many bulkheads before entering the engine room of the vessel. The coolant tanks were damaged and the reactor shielding was too, and the ship began to break apart as it fell.

"Lock on with tractor beams, grab as much as we can!" LeForge ordered.

But it was in vain, as the parts of the hull of the damaged ship sheared off under the forces of the tractor beam and gravity. The reactors exploded above the capital, exposing it to radiation, while debris peppered the city. "My god." One of the bridge crew remarked. The crew of the Severed Light watched quietly from behind the shields of their ship as millions of people were condemned to death or worse.

Vice President Serin Tridane
Primearch's Legacy
Stardate 5117.5

Serin had been accompanied by a small carrier fleet to the summit. Over a dozen ships, half of them equipped with stealth systems, in a tight formation would join the Legacy. While it was a small show of Evoxian force, the ships looked like garbage scows compared to other ships that had arrived. However, they could throw heavy punches when they were needed, hopefully they wouldn't be needed here.

It had been a long time since the Federation had direct diplomatic interaction with the Conclave outside of normal channels, and Serin was happy to be at the forefront of it all.

by **Anowa** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:51 am

Aelid Fleetmaster Furran Ventir
Xin Queen X'shan
Goru Ambassador Gaten tan Derindet sur Ulwei
Telefid Ambassador Maker of Dreams
On Board the OSA Flagship Monument to War Everlasting, Voidspace
_{En Route to [REDACTED]}
_{Epoch 4, Cycle 522, Quarter 2, Rotation 18}

Almost 500 years since proof of warwaging life was discovered outside the Orion Systems. 500 years of war with themselves and 500 years of waiting. And only now did the parliament decide that they should reveal themselves to the outer worlds. Representatives from the remaining 4 powers in the Orion arm had collected on the flagship Monument to War Everlasting, for such a period of discovery and vitality.

The large ship was nearly brick shaped, the sole feature that caused it to avoid such a fate was it's photoreactive paneling, thermal masking and lensing arrays, giving it a notably oblong shape, flat, solid and reflective hexagons taking up it's shape giving it a unique appearance, were it not for the fact that every ship above frigate class had these panels. As of current, there were tracts of space open for the docking and release of fighters, shuttles, cruisers, and such. But at a moments notice these tracts could be sealed shut, trapping the heat inside to avoid radiating it, and reflecting any light around the craft. It was the peak of stealth technology in the OSA, it's creation and utilisation finalized almost 400 years ago after the millenia the Aelid's spent studying singularities.

It's main armament, it had an array oif armaments, from it's mainline tachyon lance, to smaller plasma lances and plasma torpedo launchers, all hidden beneath the reactive paneling, ready to slip into location when needed. Telefid engineering into mass drivers and energy research culminating in a multitude of weapons designs and variants used from the massive flagships all the way to the humble Shock Infantry's sidearm.

The two Battlecruisers, eight destroyers, fifteen frigates and over 800 fighters, and shuttles currently docked and anchored to the flagship was an upscaled design of the carrier doctrine the Goru brought to the table almost 500 years prior, and was implemented in the smaller, less prestigious carrier and supercarrier classes the OSA used.

The Xin were not one to shy away from building despite their seemingly simple and notably organic nature. Their engineering prowess and eye for structural design meant that every ship a Xin engineer had a hand in had an ungodly strong superstructure and frame. During the Forian war, there were numerous occasions where ships crash landed on planets only to restart their engines days later and take off, where Forian ships doing similar would be rendered down into scrap and molten metal. Xin engineers could build things and improve designs where nearly no one else could.

And as the Xin queen looked around the hangar where activity was bustling, she had a sense of pride in knowing that those that had reincarnated into her had helped to forge a collection of treaties and deals culminating in such a diverse crew on such an advanced piece of equipment. Granted, most telefids found themselves far and a away from combat or naval service, their biologies simply not being geared towards that type of life. But the remaining three races of the OSA had melded in perhaps the perfect of ways. A multitude of species helping each other with tasks, maintanence, and as the Xin queen heard laughter from the corner, morale.

It reminded her very much of her home, and in the coming days, she hoped to see similarities in their new found galactic brethren.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The bridge was another story. While still a collection of races, all were seemingly single minded and on track of their task sans their Aelid officer. The mother was barking orders seemingly at random, from her position at the center of the bridge, receiving a curt reply in incredibly short order. To her right sat a pedestal, a glowing half orb resting atop it, and on top of that, the holographic form of a Xin drone. Itself seemingly blankly staring into space.

The holographic being spoke in the chittering voice Xin were known for, "We will be approaching our destination soon."

The officer spoke in an authoritative tone, flanging and bassy like all Aelid voices were, "Comms, we're going quiet, send departure transmission and lock communications to receive only. Navigation, be ready to drop from faster than light on G'Yer's mark." the holograph shifted from the pedestal to a small lens next to the navigator's station, "Weapons, send orders to gunnery positions to hold fire. Have power ready to route at a moment notice. Core, send it down the line to ensure they have that power, have the reactors running at max if need be but do not overload the system. Electronic Warfare, get us as discreet as you can. G'Yar, send those commands to the bridge crews of the docked vessels. And drop from faster than light when we're ready."

"Yes, Fleetmaster." within 4 minutes, the massive ship suddenly dropped out of void space. Any sensors in system wouldn't pick up more than a slight spike in radiation near the upper clouds of a gas giant, signs of an object being present would only be scantly visible in very select locations, gaps along the light panels around the docking sections of the ship, IR, UV, or really any band of electromagnetic radiation up to FM and AM radio would simply bend around the ship and continue on it's way. While heat ceased radiating and any outgoing signs of light also vanished. What ever litle trace was left of the ship could very easily be passed off as phenomenon caused by the gas giant they were not orbiting.

And as of now, the craft simply observed, and watched as ships entered the system, closing in on a similarly sized behemoth.

by **Shadowwell** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:11 pm

Weseh Conclave
Primarch's Legacy
Elder Vartash

Conclave Operators sent each of the approaching ships a message once they began to close in.

“Envoy vessels you are clear for docking. Be aware we will provide fighter escorts once your vessels begin your docking approach.”

Following the operators words small strike craft broke off from the Legacy to escort the vessels of the envoys which had arrived so far. Once their vessels docked with the Primarch’s Legacy fully they would be met with Conclave personnel who were to escort them to a chamber where they would wait a short while as the others arrived.

Ithalian Empire wrote:-snip-

When the Indomitable Will appeared there was no small amount of attention given to the Antivarian vessel. Though an invite had been sent to the Republic of Antis the Antivarians had not attended any since the Tagali Conflict ended and the Conclave and the Republic went to war decades afterwards. Although that conflict was relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, at the time the wounds from the Tagali conflict were fresh. The actions of the Republic had seemed like Warmongering and brought up the darker sentiments felt during the conflicts against the Chyss Dominion and the Draug’n.

Even now the Antivarians provoked memories of dark times long since passed in the Weseh. Though many on the bridge of the Legacy were Weseh, not all were for occasions such as this. Most of the Weseh members fought against their ancestral memories. Mensir, Ihbb, and Chyss crewmembers stood at the ready to intervene if needed, they were not however as Elder Vartash spoke pulling them all from their memory trances.

Most of Warmaker and Deathwalker stock were heavily trained to keep the past and present separate. Vartash controlled himself with an ease even Ancient Weseh would be envious of. The Elders words were not loud, but they were impactful and resonated within them all.

“Control yourselves. We are not young whelps struggling to understand our past and present, you should act like it. Just as we are who we are, they are who they are. Refusing to understand that and adapt would make us no better than the fanatics of the Ohelder Path.”

There was a brief silence as the Elder’s words sunk in. The Weseh were a deeply religious people it was true, but they were also an understanding people. To be compared to religious fanatics was a shameful thing indeed. The Elder continued as many of the Weseh averted their eyes in shame and contemplation.

“There are many paths to the same destination, they sought the power to defend themselves in expansion just as we ponder on the mysteries of the universe and forge ties with our brethren amongst the stars.”

It was but moments afterwards that the Antivarian ship replied to the message sent by an Operator during the Elders scolding of those who were affected by the Antivarians arrival. At the Will’s response Elder Vartash himself gave the approaching shuttle a message.

“This is Elder Vartash of the Weseh Conclave. The Conclave welcomes you to this Summit Senator.”

Soon after the Elders message ended he left the Bridge and began to make preparations to receive the various envoys. In addition some changes were made to the typical guard schedules, less disciplined Weseh were taken off duty near the Diplomatic suites. In addition more non-Weseh were placed around the Council Chambers where the Diplomats would be escorted as they arrived after the preparations were complete.

The room itself was all but prepared for the visiting Envoys, but certain things needed to be finalized just before out of necessity. The food and drink of the various nations had to be moved into the room last and their associated placards with warnings and the like. If envoys from other nations arrived delicacies from their regions would be brought out.

The Council Chambers was a massive room, but small where the scale of the ship was concerned. The Diplomatic stage where the Councils seats were for formal meetings was below where the Envoys would be for this summit. The layer the Envoys would be escorted to looked over the diplomatic stage via a clear region in the middle of the floor. The region was composed of, something akin to transparent aluminum or invisible iron. It was nearly invisible to the naked eye to borrow a human phrase and was undetectable to certain types of energy.

Currently only a few rows of seating in the Diplomatic Stage were set up, but the room itself was customizable to some degree. It was originally part of a mobile space station used by the Conclave early on during their conflict with the Chyss Dominion. During the conflict with the Tagali centuries earlier the station was damaged beyond repair but the Stage was refurbished and fitted into the Legacy.

Elder Vartash was awaiting the diplomats just outside the shipside entrance to the hangars. The Antivarians arrival had distracted the Conclave and its personnel so much they did not notice a brief spike in radiation elsewhere in the system as an unseen and unexpected visitor lurked near a gas giant.

by **Destriustan** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 1:33 pm

IFS Will of the Autarch, En Route to Primarch's Legacy
"Princeps Valerian, I still do not believe we should attend this summit. The Federation is perfectly capable of defending our interests." The holographic figure of the Autarch took up most of the Princeps' apartment on the IFS Will of the Autarch, and to most would be intimidating, but Valerian just chuckled. "Father, as your heir it is good for me to attend political gatherings such as this summit so that I can be prepared to rule our great Federation. And besides, if the Tagali ever renew their efforts against the Orion Arm, it would be prudent to have allies." The Autarch's hologram scowled and said, "Fine, but be cautious. Those xenos are not like you and me. They scheme, and lie, and threaten to get their way." The hologram then dissipated, and Valerian sighed. He was tired of his father's constant rants about how the "xenos will destroy us," and was about to get some rest when he received a call from Nauclerus Sellic, the paranoid Nauclerus of the carrier Blade of Nove. "Princeps, we have detected a spike of radiation near a gas giant. We should investigate immediately to ensure it is not a xeno trick!" Valerian scowled and said, "Nauclerus, this is neutral ground and we are here to represent the Federation. I will not have us look like paranoid madmen who jump at shadows! Ignore it and continue to stay in formation with the two battleships and my flagship." Sellic scowled, and raised his voice. "But your Highess, your other escorts have all reported a spike in radiation at the same time! This cannot be some simple malfunction! I demand that you let us send a squadron of fighters out to investigate!" It was the Princeps turn to raise his voice, and his face contorted into one of disdain. "Nauclerus Sellic, you are under my command! I have ordered you to ignore it and you will do so, or by Nove's holy name I will have you thrown into the Canesang pits!" Sellic scowled once more and ended communications.

Deck of the IFS Will of the Autarch
Imperator Naevius sat in the captain's seat, and ordered communications to be established between the Primarch's Legacy and the Will of the Autarch. Once they were established he said, "This is Imperator Naevius of the IFS Will of the Autarch, requesting permission to send Princeps Valerian aboard to represent the Novan Imperial Federation at the summit." Once he got permission to send Princeps Valerian aboard, a small shuttle took off from the Autarch and docked on the Primarch's Legacy with the Princeps and four Praetorians.

by **Ralnis** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:16 pm

Deleted on grounds I'm a fucking idiot who can't do anything right.

by **Skarten** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 4:20 pm

"Arrival At Primarch's Legacy"
Neutral System #C479
"The Zaryat"

Darkness. The Cold vacuum of Space continued in its eternal existence. At that moment, however, something happened. Coming from distances uncoverable within regular speed arrived three ships. A large cruiser, it's color that of cold steel, followed by two smaller vessels. Their objective now remained closer than ever. They would continue, under speeds lower than light. According to the calculations of their computers, they would be arriving within but a few minutes. The ship in question was not of war, but of travel, it's hull filled with opulent decorations. It was known to its crew and passengers only as The Zaryat. In the bridge of this ship was a tall being, his clothing ensuring he would stand out amongst the operators of the vessel. He was Tagarthes Saranos, Productor-Lord Of Luhizoi System. He had been sent to this location to take part in the Conclave's Summit as the envoy of the Xarakh Concordance. In the eyes of Tagarthes, this was an opportunity.

Since the end of the Tagali wars, the nations that once composed the coalition began to drift apart, no longer motivated to work together against a mightier foe. This was no exception to the Xarakh and their leaders. Of course, they would still gladly take the commerce agreements and political support, but it would be a lie to say that the Concordance was friends with all of those they fought besides five centuries ago. But to simply act hostile to other powers would not benefit them. And so he would go, and make sure that, no matter was the result of that summit, it would benefit his people. It was, after all, not a coincidence that he was chosen as the representative of the Xarakh in this particular instance. One of Tagarthes Saranos's specialties was to play men against each other, skill that many times allowed him to manipulate the results of talks for the benefit of him and the Concordance.

Since they had entered the system, many things were within the sight of the Zaryat. Or, at the very least, under the range of the ship's cameras. One of them, which jumped at the eyes of those who were in the cruiser was the presence of large, kilometers wide ships. Now mind you, ships that spanned kilometers were no novelty for the Concordance, both civilians and the military having their fair share of similarly sized ships. However, the most popular doctrine, the one that was shared by a great part of those in command of the military sector of the Xarakh was that the construction of many overtly large vessels were but a waste of resources. Better it was, in the eyes of the Xarakh, to build several more ships of sufficient size as to attain more firepower with higher mobility and smaller target sizes.

Personally, for Tagarthes, using this sort of ship for a meeting was nothing short of superfluous. Yes, of course, it was at it's very core a propaganda move, an attempt to show to the other nations that their ships were mighty. Yet in his vision, to do so was only showing of the innate weakness of the nation. After all, if they were truly powerful, what need was there to prove it through using needlessly large warships that could be better spent somewhere else? You wouldn't use a tank to give out car tickets, so why use a battleship to go to a peace time summit? The Zaryat was no dwarf, but it did not make part of the Zhir-Takar, being a privately-built and privately-owned vessel owned by himself that he used to travel around his domain and other systems of the Concordance.

As he looked at one of the many screens in the bridge, an operator informed him that The Conclave was informed of their arrival and that they were to reach the ship soon. With this information, the Productor Lord at last rose from his seat, now ready to prepare himself for the docking. Walking towards the docking zone, the noble was soon joined by assistants, diplomats and his squadron of bodyguards. Accompanying them would be one Luhizian Protector-Grade Mechanoid, a large robotic soldier used in situations such as these. They waited for a few minutes as the Zaryat began the docking procedure alongside the Primarch's Legacy. As the passages finished their pressurization, the door was opened to the Xarakh envoys, who began to cross towards the Conclave's vessel. Ahead of the group would go the Communicator, an assistant of Tagarther's following, tasked to announce the arrival of the lord. Wearing his emerald-colored uniform, he would march ahead. "All ye, hear! Here arrives the Envoy of the Concordance, Suzerain of the Luhizoi System, Productor-Lord Tagarthes Saranos!"

by **Charmera** » Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:15 pm

Summit at Primarch's Legacy
MRS Hand of LIberation
The Hand of LIberation blockade runner had arrived to the summit later than they had intended, but still early enough that they had received the authorization from Primarch's Legacy to begin docking procedures. The ship was a smaller one, intended for exceedingly high speed, high agility maneuvers. It was uncharacteristically extravagant for a Mairen warship, though it looked relatively plain compared to most of the warships brought to the summit. it had a few tricks up its sleeve should things get hairy.

A shuttle was prepared and sent to the Primarch's Legacy. Onboard were not one, but two Mairen Diplomats.

The first was the great and large Porosk Dursk. One of the few Mairen to grow to the height of a human, and also one who grew almost as wide as one. His features would be most comparable to an earth hamster, though with a long tail and a wide grin. The gregarious and likable Porosk has had a legendary tour of service in the diplomatic core, his likable manner and surprisingly shrewd brain has ensured a considerable position of fame. It would be more than likely that some at the summit might know Porosk by reputation or personally, given that he likely handled relationships between Marun and their nation.

Toros Resk was considerably more typical in size for a Mairen, though not necessarily in mind. The young grey striped furred diplomat was a quiet man on a world of loud individuals. The bespectacled youth, however, had a meteoric rise due to his keen intelligence and political mind. Often a diplomatic analyst, this would be Tysis' first mission where he would be taking a role beyond his desk. Though many did not know him, he was a master of knowing about other people, most often other cultures and their politics.

Porosk and Resk were both officially here as a diplomatic team, with Porosk being the familiar and friendly face and Resk here to support him with information. However, Porosk and Resk both had unofficial motives for coming to the summit. There was an altogether more concerning reason why Porosk was not attending the summit on his own.

"We should have come in the Knife's Edge supported by escort vessels." Muttered Resk.

Porosk chuckled. "It's not like Admiral Kosk is doing anything important." Porosk joked. "That is not how we do things."

"The others certainly don't shy away from displays of power. The Weseh have a flagship, the Quatarians have a small fleet and we have a glorified transport." Resk replied, his voice a soft patter as if he were reluctant to do anything more than whisper.

"The Hand is a fine ship-"

"It's not a ship, it's a statement. Their's says 'step on us and we'll atomize you.' Our's says 'step on us and we'll turn tail and run.'"

Porosk sighs, gesticulating to make his point. "A fleet for a diplomatic errand is the move to instill fear. 'Such is the act of a tyrant,' as the great Tessar spoke." Porosk leaned forward a little, his face becoming more serious. "Do you wish us to be tyrants?"

"I wish us to be more than a joke Dursk."

The shuttle ride proceeded in awkward silence until they reached the airlock. Porosk nodded to his bodyguard, four cybernetically enhanced Mairen of Shadow Core, to follow him. Shadow Core had a fearsome reputation for flesh rejection and fearsome combat even among Mairen infantry. The uneducated might mistake their diminutive size for weakness, but each shrouded and masked bodyguard was a highly accurate killing machine. Each of their glowing blue eyes exceedingly effective at searching for and pinpointing targets.

Besides the six were a scant few others, one or two aides and a communications and translation drone which followed Porosk. The Mairen retinue, it was said, could be easily spotted as the one with the fewest people.

The Mairen delegation managed to arrive just in time to hear the proclamation of the Xarakh Concordance. The Mairen didn't particularly have any reason to dislike the Xarakh, and the common bonds of an age-old alliance left most Mairen with an at least lukewarm feeling towards them. Though concerns were abound among the government about Xarakh reverse engineering Tagali tech and their seizure of land had caused concerns about the Xarakh one day deciding to try and do what the Tagali could not.

"Well, seems we may be able to do some networking before the summit proper begins. Don't you think so Toros."

"Please do not call me-" Resk was about to protest before Porosk sped ahead, surprisingly fast for someone of his age and weight. Resk's eyes widened as he and the bodyguard picked up their pace.

----

The Xarakh delegation might notice a diminutive furry figure moving at a brisk pace towards them, before slowing down halfway as he moved towards them in order to not alert the security Mechanoid, trailing behind him several other small figures. Always a stickler for protocol, Porosk moved towards the head of the group and bowed respectfully, though he was careful not to show anything that could be construed as abasement, merely diplomatic politeness.

"Honoured Delegation of Xarakh, led by Productor-Lord Tagarthes, it is very good to see you among us this summit." Spoke the Mairen. "We seem to have at least a little time before the talks begin. It would be good to speak together with a little in the meantime." He was careful not to address the lord directly at the moment, as some nations took offense to such informality in the beginnings of talks.

by **Destriustan** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:09 pm

The youngest of Princeps Valerian's Praetorians almost gasped when he saw the Primarch's Legacy, but managed to cover it up with a cough. Valerian allowed himself a moment of awe and then turned when he heard the announcement of the Concordance delegation. Cursing himself for not brining a Herald to announce his presence, the Princeps said to his Praetorians, "Come on. I'd like to talk to this fellow noble. He may even let slip some secrets, but I doubt someone with a title like "Productor-Lord" would." He then started walking at a brisk pace towards the Productor-Lord's group. Before they reached him, however, a group of xenos reached him, and a tall one, who introduced himself as Porosk Dursk, and Valerian stopped to look at his Praetorians, who all wore looks of great disgust, so he barked, "Activate your visors!" Their visors would make their faces featureless, and once they had done so Valerian walked towards the xeno diplomats. Once he reached them, he waited for Porosk Dursk to finish his introduction, and following the teachings of his Paedagogus, cleared his throat and after giving the Productor-Lord a small bow, said, "Honored diplomats, I am Princeps Marcellus Valerian, Magnam Epifcopum of Chimade IV, son of Autarch Opiter IX, and heir to Nove. I wish to express my joy at seeing a member of the Concordance, and such a prestigious one at that. We Novans have been away from galactic politics for quite a while, so I would be delighted if we could spend a short amount of time before the summit conversing." He finished talking and did another short bow, hoping he had not broken any diplomatic procedures or insulted either party.

by **Turmenista** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:56 pm

Chapter 2 - "Operation Cabal"

Garmonbozia Station

Orbit of Redwall III, Redwall | Half Moon Space

__________________________________

In an instant, the stealth light man of war appeared in normal space after exiting warp at an arbitrarily high velocity, slowly coming to a halt in the middle of an isolated spot in deep space, a glint of light visible not too far off in the distance. In informal terms, they had essentially "cheated" their way in undetected, as opposed to just "flying in really fast" like with a FTL jump, as it risked detection and tended to be more noisy. While warp drives were slower to cool down, they offered ships the ability to slip in by entering a dimension of space practically undetectable in normal terms. The system the stealth craft had entered was dominated by a large green gas giant that gave the system a sickly vomit-green glow, the target station just barely visible within the gas giant's massive asteroid belt.

The stealth craft was small, about 250 meters long, but boasted an impressive arsenal of hidden weaponry under its sleek hull, namely some large point defense cannons, plasma launchers, guided plasma ordinance launchers, and various other hardpoints, including a few nuclear-armed space mines and missiles. Though, this paled in comparison to larger man-of-wars that were both literally larger (and thus could hold more), and also more oriented towards direct action and ship-to-ship combat. This kind of stealth ship was shielded, but more oriented towards observation, reconnaissance, and other special taskings that didn't require direct action...such as today's mission.

The stealth ship wasn't here to start a fight, though. It was carrying a small, elite squadron of Half Moon mercs onboard, their strike craft all attached to the stealthy craft like limpets. The strike craft launch bay doors beneath the craft began to sheath away, the hangar shielding activating as well, as the stealth ship activated its camouflage module, effectively blending in with the background as it cut off its low emission engines. It then began drifting towards a sizable planetoid in view of the target station in question: Garmonbozia Station, an amalgamated mess partially built into another planetoid in the asteroid belt.

After a moment, the four strike craft suddenly launched from the mother ship and activated their own stealth modules, blending into the background as their low-emission engines cut on. They steered themselves away from the stealth craft, small space debris and icy particles of space harmlessly bouncing off their hulls as they approached the station.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Stay in formation. Keep it slow and easy."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "Copy."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "Copy."

\\\ [REED] \\\ - "Copy."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Shouldn't be long until we get a good angle. It's good their guns aren't tracking us—that means they haven't spotted us."

The formation continued their flight in silence, circling the station and assessing it of its defenses. The place itself was nothing special—it was little more than a collection of hollowed-out asteroids held together by tubes, with a few distant asteroids kept in place by presumably some artificial gravity generators, functioning as detection buoys and stationary defense emplacements. Dengar saw that a few enemy strike craft were flying about at random, presumably functioning as patrols or spotters for the more powerful but slower defense guns. Anything larger than a strike craft would have to tread carefully here, given the guns were mass accelerator cannons situated atop turrets that could effectively snipe ships from afar, dealing massive damage to especially larger ships.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Alright, we've got some ruffians about 20 klicks out. Nothing too bad.."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "These controls fucking suck—why would they add something that lets you freely aim your shots even if you aren't flying in the same direction you wanna shoot? What is this, a gunship?"

\\\ [REED] \\\ - "Don't want it? Toggle switch is behind the trigger, Angel."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - [pause] "[click] Thank you. Now I can actually aim at these fuckers."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "[chuckle]."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Alright... counting.. eight? Shouldn't be that bad. Arrowhead formation."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "Roger."

\\\ [REED] \\\ - "Copy that."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "Ready to kill some pirate scum. I hear they're paying big time for this one."

The formation was simple: an arrowhead formation that would screen the enemy fighters. The point defense systems of Garmonbozia Station weren't anything to worry about given the speed and size of the Half Moon mercenary squadron and their strike craft, but they also remembered they had to deal with them too. Luckily, that's why they had the stealth ship...

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "Mission is a go, ladies and gentlemen. Leave it to us to jam the enemy comms and work on EW for you. Just worry about the fighters and defenses for now, we'll handle the station."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "Rules of engagement?"

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Weapons free, hon, weapons free..."

In an instant, the fighters deactivated their stealth modes to fire and began doing exactly that, a small screen of plasma bolts flying from the strike craft and pounding against the station shields, a few other bolts breaking off towards the enemy fighters. The corporate fighters' counterparts all scrambled to regroup as a few tanked some bolts with their shields—others weren't so lucky once they were locked on and eliminated by some guided missiles. The station defenses began firing as soon as the fighters appeared, streaks of orange tracers flying past them as they tried to lock onto the fighters, ultimately failing. Most of their guidance systems were being jammed by the stealth ship, forcing them to rely upon random calculations of whatever they could find and shoot at, friendly or otherwise.

Dengar looked to his left and saw one of the guns was wide open, using the maneuvering thrusters on his craft to suddenly brake and execute a sharp loop backwards, thereby staving off one of the fighters currenly locking on to him. As he approached the gun as it fired towards either a friendly or foe, he noted how the shields briefly became visible and sheathed away to allow the turret to fire. With the right timing, the explosion could get inside of the shields, undoubtedly allowing a stray missile or torpedo to instantly destroy it.

He waited for the shields to shields to drop before firing two plasma bolts, pulling away from the asteroid as the strike fighter behind him continued trailing him.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "How we doing? I got one."

\\\ [REED] \\\ - "Scratched two."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "Fucking epic. Got one myself."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Working on this one behind me..."

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "Four enemy strike craft remain, as well as one gun. We're still snooping around, working on jamming their comms so they can't call for backup. The shields might make this difficult."

An awful, nasty idea formed in Dengar's head as he increased his thrust, heading straight towards one of the guns that was slowly turning up towards him. A quick evasive maneuver took him to the side, dodging a shot from the automated gun that instantly destroyed the strike fighter trailing him...and as it moved to reload, it practically ignored the incoming bolts of plasma he had dropped, dropping its shields to fire. A glowing blue beam from the magnetically-charged sabot shot past Dengar's canopy, followed by a bright flash reported behind him—the plasma bolts had found their target.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Got him. Finally..."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "He's down."

\\\ [REED] \\\ - "...Haha! FUCK YOU! Got this one."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "Times one hostile down."

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "That just leaves us with the station."

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "We boarding it?"

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Not right now. Hit those shields with everything you've got."

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "An ion cannon shot ought to disable those shields. Give us a moment."

While the strike craft continued hitting the shields, forming holes in the energy shield before dropping it, the Shadow suddenly appeared, four black objects breaking off from the larger ship and accelerating towards Garmonbozia Station at alarming speeds with bright blue lights emanating from presumably exhaust ports: guided torpedoes. They split up, each individually targeting different sections of the station before spiraling towards their targets, hitting them all at different times. The comms array was severed first, reduced to a smoldering wreck of trillions of pieces of debris that scattered out silently into space, whereas other sections of the station like hangars and life support were targeted, and later destroyed, their contents all forcefully flushed out into the vacuum as the torpedoes split wide open holes in the station.

Dengar and his squadron were about to get in on all this when they suddenly stopped, a spinal weapon appearing forth from a sealed compartment in the Shadow's sleek hull. The weapon's twin barrels glowed blue for a moment before a magnetically-charged projectile sliced through the station, evidently hitting something vital as each of the lights cut out, one by one.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "And I—OOP."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Did you just...?"

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "Exit the AO. I think we just hit the reactor."

The interior of the station was on fire and a wreck, sections of the station and the rock boiling and crackling like burning pieces of paper as the four craft and their mothership sped far away from the station. Debris and fire spewed outwards as the station suddenly burst into a light show of white, red, and orange, briefly producing a new star in the system before dissipating.

Dengar's starfighter led the formation through the debris for a moment, leaving behind a visible trail of light in its wake from the engine exhaust, before coming to a hover over what used to be the life support module. Sobani pirate bodies had spilled out into space, motionless and frozen forever in their last moments before the vacuum of space took them over. Glaring at its remains, he reoriented his craft back to the mothership, sighing.

HALF MOON INTERSTELLAR CORPORATION
COMMLINK v.1.3α
1ST SQUADRON - OPERATION CABAL

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "And that's Garmonbozia Station..done and dealt with. What's next?"

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "I believe command is having us go deeper into space."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "How deep?"

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "Muraza deep, right into the edge of Tagali space. We've got a few more stops at some Half Moon frontier stations before we enter frontier space..maybe we can use that time to rest and relax, buy a few upgrades."

\\\ [SNAKE] \\\ - "And where's my fuckin' reward?"

\\\ [CMD/SHADOW] \\\ - "Relax. 10,000 credits have been transferred to each of your accounts. We've got something bigger planned for this mission to Sol, but we ain't got much details on it..

\\\ [ANGEL] \\\ - "Guess I could always use the money to buy some upgrades to the ship, maybe a new swimming suit."

\\\ [REED] \\\ - [chuckle] "You and your swimming suits..."

\\\ [LEAD/DENGAR] \\\ - "Not gonna lie, she does look nice in 'em."

The four craft sharply turned away from the wreck that was once the pirate station, joining in formation with their mothership. They left without a trace, a blue veil of light surrounding their ship if only for the briefest moment as they entered warp, a flash of white light signalling their exit as they disappeared from space.

Soundtrack

Chapter 2.5 - "Rest Stop"

Ruby Frontier Station

Half Moon-owned Deep Space

__________________________________

It was often said that traversing the Frontier of Half Moon space—or any segment of deep space, for that matter—was like climbing a massive mountain. Stations like the Ruby Frontier Station could be considered more of a luxury hotel or a fancy country club on some well-off colony than a bare-bones outpost in the middle of nowhere—that was just how the Half Moon was, and how they operated. Most of these stations were owned by private individuals connected in some way to the Half Moon, be it wealthy bureaucrats, privateers, or even wealthier executives of subsidiary companies. Frontier stations like these were operated on by a private budget then, meaning private guards and defenses came in...as well as cheap ways to pay for basic things, like tolls for refueling, refitting, and rearming corporate or mercenary vessels that came in. Essentially, a Frontier station's main goal was to serve as a rest stop and refueling station for all ships within the area, and a staging point for proper expansion and colonization operations by the Half Moon.

Obviously, the station here was more of a rest and relaxation spot than just a rest station, at least, for Half Moon operated freighters, privateers, and whomever else was all the way out here. It was also the place where Dengar, Angel, Snake, Reed, and the other crew of the Shadow were stationed, at least, until their new tasking came in. They'd been enjoying themselves for quite sometime now, just idling around the station and relaxing as they waited for Dengar and the command crew of the Shadow to come back with anything else. Given Corporate's enigmatic nature, it would likely be a few days until they came back with anything useful.

As part of some "day/night cycle," the interior of the station automatically dimmed its artificial sun lamps, changing its digital sky environment to a nighttime setting to match the 24 hour day/night cycle of most habitable planets. Officially, there was no enforced curfew on the station for its guests so long as they agreed to not be loud or distracting for those still sleeping—if not, then the guards would be more than happy to escort you off the premises. Rather than go to sleep, Angel had instead took it upon herself to take a visit to Ruby Station's expansive pool deck which, luckily for her, was completely vacant at this time, giving her some well-needed privacy that one would expect from swimming completely alone in an otherwise vacant pool she had to herself for the rest of the day, also eliminating the awkward scenario of some unsuspecting person suddenly walking in on her in an "embarassing" position.

Angel allowed herself to sink to the bottom of the large pool, her feet eventually touching the practically invisible glass floor as she swam towards the edge and back. Aside from doing an actual EVA walk outside the station or being jettisoned into space, this was the closest that one could get to the actual experience of floating freely in space without dying, at least, aboard this station. Upon one's request, the floor and the sides of the pool could go completely transparent, essentially allowing the occupant(s) inside to have a surreal experience akin to floating around in space, similar to how she was doing right now.

The silence was eerily calming—Angel felt as if she could honestly stay all night down under here, but she personally preferred actually sleeping over having a guard rudely come pluck her out of the water in the morning. Not to mention she still needed to come up to breathe, but for the moment, this silence and serenity was easing. The feeling of nothingness from just floating around under here was relaxing—something someone simply couldn't achieve above ground.

After what seemed like an hour to her, Angel sprung off the floor of the pool and swam to the end where she had entered from, coming up from the water quite surprised to see a pair of boots waiting for her at the end with a towel. She reluctantly took the towel and glared up at the Sobani in question: Dengar, her superior, his tail swaying behind him. "I'm not distracting or disturbing anyone, am I?" Angel tilted her head and asked sarcastically, resting her chin on her hand as she propped her elbow against the pool's end.

"I take it you didn't find a liking to your new swimsuit," Dengar shrugged, gesturing to the apparel in question that Angel had laid on a poolside chair moments before she entered. "Enjoying the view? I'm sure as hell enjoying mine."

Angel paused, unsurprised. "What is it?"

Dengar folded his arms. "Figured I'd go to everyone individually and give them the briefing on what's going on. In case you didn't hear, tomorrow, we're leaving for Tagali space. Muraza, to be exact. I'll forward the details to the computer in your quarters.. They're sayin' the reward for this one is a payment directly to our account, free maintenance for 10 galactic cycles, et cetera. I won't waste your time anymore...unless..you want me to."

Initially coiling back at his rather seductive remark, she smiled as she understood what he was getting at. "I mean.. I don't mind, boss.."

SECURE COMM LOG
To: DENGAR et al.
Fwd: DENGAR'S CREW
BY OPENING THIS YOU AGREE TO ALL TERMS AS DESCRIBED IN CONTRACT; YOU AGREE TO ALL TERMS OF THE MISSION WHICH YOU MAY START AT ANY TIME. BRING FRIENDS.

The Tagali have been a bit of a thorn in my side for quite some time, I think we both know why. Much of the Orion Sector is busy with some high profile summit regarding them right now. I myself am already there. I think this would be a suitable time to being the next phase of your employment not against simple privateers and pirates, but against the Tagali themselves. They're already bloated enough managing this ass end of the galaxy—you should be able to get in and out quick without causing any major issues.

Your next tasking is taking you to the Muraza system on Tagali fringe space, well in their frontier. This'll be another simple hit-and-run mission, but something much larger is at stake here: I want you to destroy a Tagali battlecruiser that's currently in dock in Muraza. It's a big ship—man 'o war tonnage—that means a big target, that means it'll be guarded, but it's nothing you can't handle given what you just did with Garmonbozia Station. Details of the ship's location, where it's docked, and the security presence will be forwarded to you. I would suggest taking your strike craft, the Shadow, and hiring some unmarked Man of Wars with you in case you come across anything bigger than the battlecruiser. Don't be afraid to fall back on this one—I intend to send a message to the Tagali. Some pre-requisites for the mission include scrambling your IFF to match some pirates..it'll take more off our back if they start shooting our pirates.

Start this at anytime, again, but the earlier you do so, the better. I don't want to have to deal with the repercussions of this later on down the end, so I prefer doing this early. The company can't really afford to bail you out on this if you're caught, given the political nature...but, if you manage to complete your mission, a lot more than just 10,000 credits are going to be transferred to your accounts.

I've sent some funds to you as a gift for today's mission—use that to pay for additional upgrades to your ships and the Shadow. Remember, the full portion and all the other benefits are awaiting you once you complete this job.
- ANDIOS.

by **The National Dominion of Hungary** » Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:01 am

The Primarch's Legacy.

The vastness of the Weseh ship sure made an impression, as did the vast battleship, apparently carrying the Xarakh representative. The Union and the Xarakh had minimal diplomatic contact, but maybe with this summit would be a possibility to change that. In Aywin's mind, sending a titan of war to a diplomatic summit somewhat missed the point. The yacht that brought her here was small, elegant and remarkably fast. A fitting ship for an envoy, showing grace, elegance and sophistication, something the Great Society prided itself on and they were not here to make some vain show of force, they had the Steel Caste for that and this was a task for those who ruled, a task for someone with the authority to speak in the name of the Great Society, this was work for a Celestial and not a Steel Warrior. But this was not a task any Celestial had undertaken before her, the Emyaar and their Union were relative newcomers on the galactic stage.

Indeed, some of the attending states and species had vastly greater amounts of experience in how to handle this dangerous, volatile part of the galaxy than the Union. Some were old allies once united in a conflict against the Tagali far larger than what the Emyaar had found themselves in four decades ago when they blundered into the borderlands of an interstellar hyperpower whose size and scale they couldn't have imagined. As the Thaelic ship approached the hangar that flight-control had routed them too, Aywin left her quarters and took a short, brisk walk up to the cockpit, the pilots bowed deeply, but she was not interested in their sign of deference, she was much more interested in the vast ship that materialized in the void before her. The Weseh titan was larger than anything ever built by Emyaar hands, a testament to the power of Weseh civilization, yet it was luckily a power they wielded with great wisdom, luckily for the Arm.

As the Thaelic yacht came to a halt, docking-clamps locking the ship in place as the Weseh extended the docking-port, locking it to the yachts airlock with a hydraulic hiss the young Celestial assembled her retinue, including her aide, a young Celestial woman working her way up the first tiers of her Caste, serving her elders and learning from their wisdom before being deemed worthy of any leadership. Then there was the guard detail composed of men from the Celestial Honor Guard, three of whom got ready to disembark with their charge. As the hydraulics hissed and the pressurized doors of the yacht slid open as the Thaelic representative and her retinue stepped out of their vessel and into the great interiors of the Primarch's Legacy.

As a Weseh welcoming committee greeted them and led them through the vessel, they soon came upon a clutch of aliens huddled in conversations. Those finely clad figures could be none other than the representatives of the other star nations that had come to attend them Weseh summit. It was only proper to greet them before they were led into the hall where the summit was to be held. "From a nation at war, I bring you greetings of peace, honored representatives." Aywin said as she slowly rose from her bow and straightened out in a calm, dignified posture with a polite expression on her face. "Let us all hope that with our efforts here, like-minded nations can strive for stability in a sector so often wrack with conflict, I know that is what the Union and all it's peoples would be exalted to see."

by **Anowa** » Wed Aug 28, 2019 5:40 pm

Aelid Fleetmaster Furran Ventir
Xin Queen X'shan
Goru Ambassador Gaten tan Derindet sur Ulwei
Telefid Ambassador Maker of Dreams
On Board the OSA Flagship Monument to War Everlasting, Voidspace
_{En Route to [REDACTED]}
_{Epoch 4, Cycle 522, Quarter 2, Rotation 18}

On the bridge, from the comms station a Goru spoke up, "Shipmaster, it's been some time since the last ship arrived. Almost 5 minutes."

The Aelid officer was still for a moment, staring into the displays arrayed around her. "You have the first contact package ready?"

The comms officer nodded, "Yes Shipmaster, it's been ready."

The ship's commander gave her species equivalent of a slight grin, "Very well. G'Yer, bring us in."

Less than ten thousand kilometers away from the Primarch's Legacy, what appeared to be a star suddenly slighted itself into existence. The gravitational waves suddenly and terrifyingly spreading out from such an object was enough to send hazard alarms across every ship within 3 AU. But upon closer revelation, the item itself wasn't another star, but rather a black pit with a fractal pattern of deep red appearing to those ahead of it, with a blue outline to those 'behind it', with gravitational lensing mixing it into purple in some areas.

And just as suddenly it appeared, it vanished, leaving seemingly nothing in it's wake. Then an instant after it vanished, the absolute behemoth of a shined and silvered ship of bizarre shape, with an even more bizarre plating choice seemed to just fade into existence, a previously unnoticed lensing effect fading with it. Followed by a wide band message sent to every receiver within range:

A collection of images, mathematical equations with dots and dashes in place of numbers and letters, anatomical charts of species, with voices speaking a single word several times with the images.

A large, naked creature, sinewy, powerful, colorful. An image of one forging some kind of device from red hot metal. Another either fighting a predator, or playing with a pet a number of times it's size. Finally, a picture of nearly three dozen in what looks to be a group photo, lush jungle framing the image, with the unmistakable image of a black-hole in the background, similar to where a planet's sun or moon would be in the sky. "Aelid" said a voice, three times for each image, a species that tested the astronomical odds.

Then, a seemingly aquatic lifeform, languid, slender, squishy. First, appearing to be floating near a teacher's instructional board. Then in some form of workshop, standing over blurred diagrams of some form of machination. An image of a small city emerged in fluid, a vast array of these creature swimming about their day as a city in motion framed in a single instant in time. "Telefid", came a voice as before, a species of craftsmen and intellect.

Next was a generic humanoid, ghost like, inviting, clad in fur and metal. First a vast landscape of distant purple sands, dotted with white tents and curved, dome shaped metal buildings. Then of another image, this time of one kneeling in front of a colossal beast, a few of it's fellows in a similar array around it, though instead of snow, it appeared to be sand and rock. Finally, standing on a snow drift one leading with many trailing it, all carrying large packs and armed. All the figures in these images seemed to be wearing some form of environment suit fashioned to be suitable for their prospective environment. "Goru" said the voice, an apparent species of nomads and hunters.

Finally, a series of images of what looked to be insects, black, foreboding, alien, sharp. An image of a massive eight limbed beast standing among many smaller, 6 limbed forms, wearing what appeared to be vestments of some kind with parts of it's carapace dyed ornately. Then, an image of the same type of large beast, an ethereal purple glow wreathing both it, and a collection of levitating crates being loaded onto a vehicle of some kind. Lastly, an image of a dozen smaller 6 limbed forms standing on top of a mountain, looking down at an absolutely ash and smoke choked landscape, volcanoes notably erupting, while tall spires rose above the clouds with beacons atop. "Xin", said the voice, a collective of endurance and faith.

Then, instead of specific species, it shifted to show all of them in a variety of scenes. Tending to one another in a war-torn city block. Trading among each other with goods and currency in a bazaar. Enjoying time in what appeared to be the analogue of a pub or lounge. Finishing with an image of what looked like a form of council chamber, members of each species having a place, each looking at the camera, a flag visible dead center of the image. This time, instead of a species, the voice spoke multiple words, "Orion, Systems, Alliance."

The Weseh ships would receive an additional message. An image of a multitude of wrecks, floating through vacuum with debris scattered all about. The ships could easily be recognized as nigh ancient Weseh and Tagali designs. Next was a series of images, more like stills from a video, of the previously mentioned races, equipped like soldiers exploring the wrecked hulk of one of the ships. Until finally coming upon a corpse of a Weseh crewmember. The next image, was an incredible panorama, hundreds, if not thousands of silver, frosted cylinders arranged in a metal bay of some kind, each accompanied by an armed guard. Then came a voice, it was not like before, synthetic and robotic, but organic, and very heavily accented, speaking in the lingua franca of the Weseh state, "Weseh peoples, we wish to return your honored dead."

by **Europa Undivided** » Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:42 pm

The League

Volkos

Five hundred years have passed ever since the Tagali first set foot on the Orion Arm, their depredations gouging deep into native territories like a bear clawing into a bee colony, their attacks depopulating worlds left and right and leaving entire nations razed to the ground, their culture destroyed and their peoples culled like livestock, the rest enslaved. Thus, many fell to the Tagali, their blood spilled and crying out for vengeance against their vicious oppressors. Billions would die as the enemy swept across the Arm, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

In response, the disparate local powers of the Orion Arm banded together into an adhoc coalition, their differences and ancient wars set aside like rubbish in the face of their people being slaughtered, enslaved, and culled to the point of total destruction as nations. Amongst these were the Volkoi-Teresoni League, its twin peoples united in their effort to drive the invaders back into the caves from whence they came. The machine warriors of the League marched into battle, their great warfleets crossing the great void to meet their enemy.

There was disaster, then victory, then disaster. No war is perfect for any one side, and the same could be said for this one. In the vicious battles of the war against the Tagali, the League lost not hundreds, but thousands of ships, and millions of its soldiers lay dead in a thousand battlefields, their souls forever claimed by the Goddess of Death. The League even lost the capital of Volkos to the Tagali, and three and a quarter billion Volkoi and seventy million Teresoni died all in all in the war.

This war still haunted the memory of the people, their ancestors telling them of the destruction of their best fleets in the face of the enemy advance. It was only by the unity of a hundred nations did the enemy turn tail and flee, but even now, peace has not come.

This was quite evident, this lack of peace. Pirates roamed the fringes of League space, forcing its forces to be scattered thin in an effort to protect the shipping on which their economy depended so much. And now, they have now found the greatest haven of pirates on their borders, and intended to crush it with ten battlegroups. This they did so quickly.

Just as the last remnants of the pirate haven came crashing down to the world it orbited, another fleet would leave Volkos. A delegation, as the rumours said, to the summit to discuss the threat of the Tagali, which loomed like a sword over their heads for so long.

Time to kill some of them, then.

by **The Empire of Tau** » Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:10 pm

Muraza System
Somewhere in the System...
Operation Cabal

From the depths of the void, a small detachment of three Ohelder standard-capital ships materializes into real-space. Anything that would normally identify a ship’s origins was removed, insignias, symbols, transponders, anything. It was only the silhouette of the Ohelder standard-capital-ships that anyone could actually tell that it was from said fanatical religious state. Funny enough, it was not hard to identify a Ohelder ship. Afterall, these ships were flying cathedrals with ship-grade weapons. Such aesthetic designs are very hard to hide from today’s visual sensors.

On the topic of Ohelder ships, a standard-capital ship is what it says on the label, a main-line standard-capital ship that measures exactly 1.6km. For those who fought with or against the Ohelder would know that Ohelder ships are very brutally simple in design and technology. There is nothing cutting edge tech in Ohelder ships, in this case, a standard-capital ship. The most advanced weaponry on a Ohelder standard-capital ship is an upscaled version of a laser-gun that you would find on a soldier, but made big enough to to rip apart other nation capital ship’s shield and armor. The same applies to everything else on the craft.

Anyhow, the Half-Moon conglomerate of mega-corps has sent out a request to the Ohelder state. The Half-Moons needed a small detachment of ships, not a battleship, but something more tame as to not bring too much attention to itself. Afterall, there were pirates roaming about, although the Ohelder state has no bad relationships with pirates. Quite the contrary, the Ohelder Path actively works with pirates, namely the Wahl Pirates, but that’s a whole other can of worms.

The Half-Moon, in their request details, said that the Muraza System had a Tagali battlecruiser. This instantly grabbed the attention of Faithful High-Command. It has been ages since the Ohelder state had fought against a Tagali warship. Many questions were asked, did the Tagali make new ships? Did the Tagali change their tactics since the last war? Did the Tagali change their color scheme? Very important questions.

Once the Ohelder ship detachment, let’s call them the 1st Detachment, entered into the Muraza System, a checklist of items needed to be done. First, what the hell is in the system. Second, what the hell are those things in the system. Third, if its a fleet then what the hell is that fleet. Fourth, if not a fleet then keep trying to find a fleet because there is likely a fleet, and the list goes on...Knowing is half the battle.

The Half-Moon fleet of unknown designation had to be contacted. Afterall, this is a joint-mission. Electronic communications like basic telecommunications can be used, but that’s not secure. Heck, the Half-Moon fleet was not even detected yet, but would change very soon.

Quick note, Ohelder ships don’t use electronics. ECM warfare is useless against a Ohelder ship because Ohelder ships don’t use computers or the likes. Instead, a Ohelder ship uses psi-gifted-people in psi-machines to crunch numbers. Given that you have your own psi-peeps then you can conduct psi-warfare on Ohelder ship systems. If that means any sense to you.

Once and if the Half-Moon fleet in question is detected then normal Ohelder contact procedures are in order. This would normally come in the form of VERY LOUD NOISES. The local psionic navigator would be in charge of such communications, literally projecting his voice into the various hallways and cavities of the ship, yelling message like “HEY, THIS IS THE OHELDER. WE EXIST.” Annoying, yes, but the Half-Moons would have gotten used to it by this time as both powers do trade heavily with each other.

On the topic of trading, the Half-Moon-Ohelder relationship is shaky, but a profitable one. Domestic goods, especially the luxurious kind, is in high demand within the religious state. The planned economy of the Ohelder Path, under the management of the Bureau of Commerce and Economic Development (BC-ED), has no room for petty things like consumer-services or goods. All focus is instead placed on the development of heavy industry and the defense sector. Any left-over scraps, if there was any, in resource allocation planning would then be given to the improvement of the consumer-market.

The Wahl pirates, through their constant raids on various nations, has always been a good provider of alien products and goods. A Lynn mutant could fetch a good deal with Ohelder merchants or bureaucrats, and in the end, the mutant had itself some ship-hulls, heavy armaments, heavy machinery, or likewise with the overabundance of weapons or heavy industrial products in Ohelder warehouses. Sadly, the Wahl pirates could not satisfy the growing demand of the Ohelder people’s wants.

The mass-deficit in consumer products has caused its fair share of issues in the past - stuff that the Mystery of Truth would like to keep in the past. People tend to get very irritated when your stove is not going to be replaced until the next bloody five-centuries. Not wanting to have another outbreak of discontent, the BC-ED arranged certain deals with the Half-Moon mega-corporation conglomerate.

The Ohelder state agreed to trade ship-hulls, ship-weaponry, heavy industrial products, hand-held & heavy armaments, metals, etc, in exchange for the Half-Moon mega-corporations trading domestic and luxury goods to the Ohelder state. Satisfaction granted on both sides for the most part. This trade-agreement has been going on for years now, with heavy traffic going in and out between the borders of the Ohelder and Half-Moon.

Yet, the Ohelder religious tendencies involving other states using heretical technology has caused friction between the Ohelder and Half-Moon. On occasion, a priest would call for war against the Half-Moons, or a Path-Insurgency fleets would raid Half-Moon trade routes, or worse. Thankful, the Inquisition of the Ohelder Faith has been very successful in silencing dissidence that threaten the commercial interests of both powers. Technically, under the law of the holy book of the Ohelder, the trade with Half-Moon is illegal and heretical. Of course, this did not stop the BC-ED from signing trade-treaties with the Half-Moon for aforementioned reasons.

by **Gudmund** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:47 am

Shadowwell wrote:Weseh Conclave
Primarch's Legacy
Elder Vartash

Conclave Operators sent each of the approaching ships a message once they began to close in.

“Envoy vessels you are clear for docking. Be aware we will provide fighter escorts once your vessels begin your docking approach.”

Following the operators words small strike craft broke off from the Legacy to escort the vessels of the envoys which had arrived so far. Once their vessels docked with the Primarch’s Legacy fully they would be met with Conclave personnel who were to escort them to a chamber where they would wait a short while as the others arrived.

Soon after the Elders message ended he left the Bridge and began to make preparations to receive the various envoys. In addition some changes were made to the typical guard schedules, less disciplined Weseh were taken off duty near the Diplomatic suites. In addition more non-Weseh were placed around the Council Chambers where the Diplomats would be escorted as they arrived after the preparations were complete.

The room itself was all but prepared for the visiting Envoys, but certain things needed to be finalized just before out of necessity. The food and drink of the various nations had to be moved into the room last and their associated placards with warnings and the like. If envoys from other nations arrived delicacies from their regions would be brought out.

The Council Chambers was a massive room, but small where the scale of the ship was concerned. The Diplomatic stage where the Councils seats were for formal meetings was below where the Envoys would be for this summit. The layer the Envoys would be escorted to looked over the diplomatic stage via a clear region in the middle of the floor. The region was composed of, something akin to transparent aluminum or invisible iron. It was nearly invisible to the naked eye to borrow a human phrase and was undetectable to certain types of energy.

Currently only a few rows of seating in the Diplomatic Stage were set up, but the room itself was customizable to some degree. It was originally part of a mobile space station used by the Conclave early on during their conflict with the Chyss Dominion. During the conflict with the Tagali centuries earlier the station was damaged beyond repair but the Stage was refurbished and fitted into the Legacy.

Elder Vartash was awaiting the diplomats just outside the shipside entrance to the hangars. The Antivarians arrival had distracted the Conclave and its personnel so much they did not notice a brief spike in radiation elsewhere in the system as an unseen and unexpected visitor lurked near a gas giant.

The National Dominion of Hungary wrote:The Primarch's Legacy.

The vastness of the Weseh ship sure made an impression, as did the vast battleship, apparently carrying the Xarakh representative. The Union and the Xarakh had minimal diplomatic contact, but maybe with this summit would be a possibility to change that. In Aywin's mind, sending a titan of war to a diplomatic summit somewhat missed the point. The yacht that brought her here was small, elegant and remarkably fast. A fitting ship for an envoy, showing grace, elegance and sophistication, something the Great Society prided itself on and they were not here to make some vain show of force, they had the Steel Caste for that and this was a task for those who ruled, a task for someone with the authority to speak in the name of the Great Society, this was work for a Celestial and not a Steel Warrior. But this was not a task any Celestial had undertaken before her, the Emyaar and their Union were relative newcomers on the galactic stage.

Indeed, some of the attending states and species had vastly greater amounts of experience in how to handle this dangerous, volatile part of the galaxy than the Union. Some were old allies once united in a conflict against the Tagali far larger than what the Emyaar had found themselves in four decades ago when they blundered into the borderlands of an interstellar hyperpower whose size and scale they couldn't have imagined. As the Thaelic ship approached the hangar that flight-control had routed them too, Aywin left her quarters and took a short, brisk walk up to the cockpit, the pilots bowed deeply, but she was not interested in their sign of deference, she was much more interested in the vast ship that materialized in the void before her. The Weseh titan was larger than anything ever built by Emyaar hands, a testament to the power of Weseh civilization, yet it was luckily a power they wielded with great wisdom, luckily for the Arm.

As the Thaelic yacht came to a halt, docking-clamps locking the ship in place as the Weseh extended the docking-port, locking it to the yachts airlock with a hydraulic hiss the young Celestial assembled her retinue, including her aide, a young Celestial woman working her way up the first tiers of her Caste, serving her elders and learning from their wisdom before being deemed worthy of any leadership. Then there was the guard detail composed of men from the Celestial Honor Guard, three of whom got ready to disembark with their charge. As the hydraulics hissed and the pressurized doors of the yacht slid open as the Thaelic representative and her retinue stepped out of their vessel and into the great interiors of the Primarch's Legacy.

As a Weseh welcoming committee greeted them and led them through the vessel, they soon came upon a clutch of aliens huddled in conversations. Those finely clad figures could be none other than the representatives of the other star nations that had come to attend them Weseh summit. It was only proper to greet them before they were led into the hall where the summit was to be held. "From a nation at war, I bring you greetings of peace, honored representatives." Aywin said as she slowly rose from her bow and straightened out in a calm, dignified posture with a polite expression on her face. "Let us all hope that with our efforts here, like-minded nations can strive for stability in a sector so often wrack with conflict, I know that is what the Union and all it's peoples would be exalted to see."

Anowa wrote:
(Image)
Aelid Fleetmaster Furran Ventir
Xin Queen X'shan
Goru Ambassador Gaten tan Derindet sur Ulwei
Telefid Ambassador Maker of Dreams
On Board the OSA Flagship Monument to War Everlasting, Voidspace
_{En Route to [REDACTED]}
_{Epoch 4, Cycle 522, Quarter 2, Rotation 18}

Less than ten thousand kilometers away from the Primarch's Legacy, what appeared to be a star suddenly slighted itself into existence. The gravitational waves suddenly and terrifyingly spreading out from such an object was enough to send hazard alarms across every ship within 3 AU. But upon closer revelation, the item itself wasn't another star, but rather a black pit with a fractal pattern of deep red appearing to those ahead of it, with a blue outline to those 'behind it', with gravitational lensing mixing it into purple in some areas.

And just as suddenly it appeared, it vanished, leaving seemingly nothing in it's wake. Then an instant after it vanished, the absolute behemoth of a shined and silvered ship of bizarre shape, with an even more bizarre plating choice seemed to just fade into existence, a previously unnoticed lensing effect fading with it. Followed by a wide band message sent to every receiver within range:

A collection of images, mathematical equations with dots and dashes in place of numbers and letters, anatomical charts of species, with voices speaking a single word several times with the images.

A large, naked creature, sinewy, powerful, colorful. An image of one forging some kind of device from red hot metal. Another either fighting a predator, or playing with a pet a number of times it's size. Finally, a picture of nearly three dozen in what looks to be a group photo, lush jungle framing the image, with the unmistakable image of a black-hole in the background, similar to where a planet's sun or moon would be in the sky. "Aelid" said a voice, three times for each image, a species that tested the astronomical odds.

Then, a seemingly aquatic lifeform, languid, slender, squishy. First, appearing to be floating near a teacher's instructional board. Then in some form of workshop, standing over blurred diagrams of some form of machination. An image of a small city emerged in fluid, a vast array of these creature swimming about their day as a city in motion framed in a single instant in time. "Telefid", came a voice as before, a species of craftsmen and intellect.

Next was a generic humanoid, ghost like, inviting, clad in fur and metal. First a vast landscape of distant purple sands, dotted with white tents and curved, dome shaped metal buildings. Then of another image, this time of one kneeling in front of a colossal beast, a few of it's fellows in a similar array around it, though instead of snow, it appeared to be sand and rock. Finally, standing on a snow drift one leading with many trailing it, all carrying large packs and armed. All the figures in these images seemed to be wearing some form of environment suit fashioned to be suitable for their prospective environment. "Goru" said the voice, an apparent species of nomads and hunters.

Finally, a series of images of what looked to be insects, black, foreboding, alien, sharp. An image of a massive eight limbed beast standing among many smaller, 6 limbed forms, wearing what appeared to be vestments of some kind with parts of it's carapace dyed ornately. Then, an image of the same type of large beast, an ethereal purple glow wreathing both it, and a collection of levitating crates being loaded onto a vehicle of some kind. Lastly, an image of a dozen smaller 6 limbed forms standing on top of a mountain, looking down at an absolutely ash and smoke choked landscape, volcanoes notably erupting, while tall spires rose above the clouds with beacons atop. "Xin", said the voice, a collective of endurance and faith.

Then, instead of specific species, it shifted to show all of them in a variety of scenes. Tending to one another in a war-torn city block. Trading among each other with goods and currency in a bazaar. Enjoying time in what appeared to be the analogue of a pub or lounge. Finishing with an image of what looked like a form of council chamber, members of each species having a place, each looking at the camera, a flag visible dead center of the image. This time, instead of a species, the voice spoke multiple words, "Orion, Systems, Alliance."

The Quatarian Geniocracy
Orion Summit, Neutral System

With their ship successfully docked to the Primarch's Legacy, the Quatarian envoys departed the vessel. Great-Elder Trilax Hoves, and several aiding elders, were escorted by four elite guardsmen. Equipped with an exosuit and the standard Quatarian weapon the majority of their infantry used - a staff-shaped object that essentially combined a taser, blade, bo staff, and a modular rifle into a single all purpose device. A Quatarian's small build and agility were perfectly suited for such a thing, even if it had only been tested against pirates and beasts.

Meeting up with Conclave personnel, the Quatarian group left their ship to be escorted, shortly arriving in a chamber where the other diplomats were being gathered. On the way Trilax spotted a diverse assortment of different races, noting that only a few of them had pervaded his research. Trilax chuckled at the sight of the Mairen, a furry bipedal creature with beady little eyes, standing at a height considered short even to his own standards. Admittedly, he knew his kind were dwarfed by most of the other species present, and yet it was strangely humbling, knowing that the Mairen were even more technologically advanced than his people. Hopefully his neural device would be able to translate for him, as learning a dozen new languages for a single event was unthinkable regardless of how clever one might be; not to mention the languages his biology simply couldn't replicate.

With a sigh Trilax decided he should introduce himself, a sharp pain suddenly assaulting his mind as his neural device picked up a sudden burst of transmissions. He winced in pain, his aides and guards reacting as well; a neural device could never kill someone, but should they be overloaded with enough data a migraine would follow. With a thought his device deactivated, turning to the others he asked for answers, receiving one a moment later from his awaiting fleet outside who were assessing the data. A strange silvery craft of unknown origin supposedly sent the transmission, calling themselves the Orion Systems Alliance, while announcing the names of a few member species prior. Breathing out in relief, Trilax came to the conclusion that they were mostly friendly, speaking with his aides over the matter.

by **Relikai** » Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:34 am

The Jurosis Star Federation
The Summit at the Primarch's Legacy

Star Captain Kurian, Star Captain Neraxix, Star Captain Virgilous
Jurosis Diplomatic Corp

It's not like they needed to be armed for a summit - The hosts would have taken care of that. Their ship parked itself a distance away from the Primarch's Legacy, the consular vessel going about its own business, sending transmissions to the nearest Jurosian beacon several light years away, including texts of translations for deciphering and linguistic examination.

A Keninox, clawed feet padding the floor as it led the way followed by a Madan towering over it, and a Zyximar, glowing eyes contrasting against the bronzed skin inquisitively looking around as they were escorted by their hosts. Fleet Command has heard of this event from trade pioneers, and while the Star Fleet's area of influence was far away, there seemed to be no harm in knowing the other races in this galaxy.

"Interesting place, this ship is I feel." The Keninox nodded, its taloned hand folded behind its back, the Madan simply seeming bored as they continued towards their podium.

"This is a place of foreign make, foreign infrastructure. It is something to be of great learning." The Bronzed creature noted, pointed ears flitting with the changes in sound as they entered the main chamber, heading towards their place.

"Members of the Summit, the Jurosis Star Federation takes it's place."

The Orion Sector (IC/FT-Nation/Open)

The Orion Sector (IC/FT-Nation/Open)

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