Ræyn-System
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EMERGENCY//FLASH TRANSMISSION
CC 7.88.5.XV
HALT ALL OTHER TRAFFIC//CLIMACTERIC IMPERATIVE
TO ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL
Galactic Threat Condition Is Now SHATTERED GOLD. Hostiles Confirmed In Høne-System. Kortara Has Fallen. Loss Of Ascendant Council Is Confirmed
Do Not Attempt Høne Approach. Extensive Corruption Confirmed As Of Cycle 5-9-4. Unknown Conditions In Other Occupied Systems
For Personnel In Occupied Systems, SILENT BLADES Is Now In Effect
All Personnel In Unoccupied Systems Are To Begin Preparations For ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE
Further Instructions To Follow On CC 5.63.1.VB If Possible
In The Absence Of Further Instruction, ISOLATED SORROW is approved
May The Allspirit Preserve Us
Aada Sverpæis sighed deeply, reading over the message one more time to make sure that she had read it correctly. No matter how many times she had done so, each word felt like a new dagger to the soul. The message had arrived only an hour or so ago, but based on the time-stamp, it had been transmitted from the capital two days ago. The initial reaction from the local government had been one of confusion, as they struggled to confirm the veracity of the message, while they simultaneously struggled to keep the peace amongst panicking military officials.
After a number of failed attempts to reach any of the Inner Systems, the Ræyn-System government had decided to declare a state of emergency, and go ahead with the ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE; a coded term that directed military personnel to begin evacuating all populated planets and flee Kortiran space. Ræyn was the furthest inhabited system from the Grand Republic’s capital, with a population of only a few million, but the evacuation was complicated by the fact that there were few ships in-system capable of deep space travel.
Aada’s ship, the Duorein Vælty, was a Dæyn-Class Colony Ship, one of two such vessels that had arrived in the system two years ago in preparation for a mission to a nearby uninhabited system. At this point, they were supposed to have been nearly ready for departure; instead, they had been directed to begin evacuation efforts of the system’s capital, Vydøt Keile.
Suddenly, there was a hand on her should, and a soothing voice, “Aada, stop torturing yourself. Nothing to be done now.”
Aada looked over her shoulder, relaxing slightly at the sight of her first mate and longtime best friend, Taava Leitir. He was smiling down at her, but Aada could tell that it was a forced one. There was an interminable amount of stress behind his visage, the same stress that was now weighing on everyone’s mind, including Aada’s. Nonetheless, Taava was doing his best to sound comforting, and it was something she appreciated.
“I know, you’re right,” Aada clenched her right hand and the hologram disappeared, “I just can’t stop hoping that this is all a dream, that I’ll wake up any moment and get on with life as it was”
Taava nodded solemnly, “I doubt there’s a person aboard this ship or in this system who isn’t wishing the exact same thing”
“And what of the people in Høne? Or on Kortara? How many might be dead…..”
At this, Taava came around and stood in front of Aada, squatting down so that he was eye-level with her, “Listen to me. If they are dead, then our survival becomes all the more important. The people in this system may be the last remnants of Kortiran civilization. And if that is the case, then for there to ever be a chance to avenge our fallen comrades, we must survive. We must become avatars of vengeance.”
It wasn’t what Aada wanted to hear, but it was the truth. “Yes, of course. You’re right again,” she took a deep breath and composed herself, “Alright…..well, then let’s get to work.”
A quick tap on the holographic controls summoned up an enormous map of solar system, which Aada spun her chair around to face, “What’s the status of the evacuation operation? How far along are we?”
Taava swiped on the controls, and a series of colored dots sprung up across the system map, “Things are progressing, but slowly. The communication blackout has made it….difficult to ascertain specific details, but the occasional flash coms from our transport shuttles have given us a general idea.”
It was yet another frustration that Aada had been dealing with; ever since the message from the capital had arrived, the ranking military officer in the system, Fleet Commander Ilyua of the Ræyn Patrol Fleet, had instituted a system-wide communication blackout. The general idea behind this was to avoid giving the unknown enemy any hints of where the system was, and to maximize the time the evacuees had before things went south. Aada understood why FC Ilyua had given the order, but that didn’t mean it was any less frustrating.
Even more annoying was the fact that, technically speaking, Aada and Ilyua had the same rank. She was Fleet Commander of the 5th Colonial Expeditionary Fleet, but as such wasn’t actually a military officer. The twelve Colonial Fleets were under the purview not of the military, but of the Ministry For Colonial Affairs And National Expansion. But it had always been a gentleman’s agreement that ranks from the CANE would be honored by the military. Now though, there was no CANE. The central government was gone. In that vacuum, FC Ilyua had essentially seized control of the entire 5th CEF under the pretense of ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE. This despite Aada’s early protests that he had no authority to seize her fleet out from under it.
Nonetheless, things were as they were, and Aada was dealing with it. She refocused her attention on Taava, who had now brought up a number of ship counters, “The latest report from our transports indicate that ever SR capable civilian ship has been filled. They’ve been designated Emergency Fleets one through five. The rest of the colonial fleet is at around ninety-percent capacity.”
Aada nodded along, mulling over the information, then reached out and tapped in a command on the console. The hologram shifted to display an image of the Duorein Vælty’s sister ship, “And what about the Odeihū Peide?”
It took Taava a few moments to pull up the data, “I don’t have a specific number. But given that they’re in orbit around Vydøt Keile, I would guess that they’re quite a bit ahead of us. A transport from the surface to the Odeihū Peide would only take around two-minutes travel time. To get to us, it’s about ten minutes travel time. So we’re at a pretty big disadvantage in terms of loading people quickly”
Yet another one of Ilyua’s plans. He had decided that the colony ships should be divided up and sent two different places to maximize survivability; Aada’s vessel was parked in the outer cloud of the gas giant Mæ Eikēmilyiensī, while the other colony vessel was directly in orbit around the system capital. In the event the system was attack from either within or within, it would give one ship or the other time to escape.
A good plan, in theory. But to Aada it reeked up cowardice. A Dæyn-Class Colony Ship could carry around 5,000 if the cargo bays were utilized, and around five times that number in T-Pods. Even without any solid numbers, Aada was almost certain that the other colony ship was likely nearing full. As for her own ship….
“Taava, what’s our status?” She looked towards her second commander, who bit his lip before resigning to the fact that he would actually have to answer that question.
“We’ve loaded around two thousand people so far. I’ve been directing the reception crew to put all evacuees into T-Pods as soon as possible. No sense in letting frightened people mill about and start spreading rumors or whatnot”
It was easy to see that Taava was trying to direct Aada’s attention away from the pitifully small number of evacuees they had taken on. But it didn’t work, and Aada swore loudly, “Two thousand. That’s nothing. We have room for so many more. We’d have three times that number already if that idiot Ilyua had let us park in orbit”
As Aada seethed, Taava could only nod and try and settle things, “I know it’s frustrating, but we cannot be too careful. If the enemy were to strike, and we had all of our ships in one location……that would be it. Potential extinction. Better that several thousand survive than none at all”
Taava was infuriating in his logic, but once again Aada knew he was right. And as much as Ilyua’s plan was rubbing her the wrong way, Aada knew he was likely just doing the best he could. The rapid destruction of the entire nation at the hands of an unknown enemy was hardly something covered in basic training. Everyone was stressed, everyone afraid. The entire Kortiran civilization was staring into the abyss, and the threat of total annihilation was staring back at them.
“How long is this going to take anyways? It’s been two hours. How many have been evacuated?” Aada didn’t want to argue the ethics of Ilyua’s plans with Taava, so she bit her tongue and moved the conversation along. Taava seemingly took note, and then frowned, “I’m not sure……”
“Based on my S-Coms with other vessel Avatars, a total of three-hundred and fifty thousand people have been evacuated so far. Assuming the evacuation continues at this rate, the entire system’s population will be evacuated within a day and a half.”
The new voice boomed out from speakers on the bridge; a slightly digital voice, but a good enough replication to be convincing as an actual person. Aada looked up towards the ceiling, and ever so slightly annoyed, quipped, “Yitsūn, how nice of you to join. I was beginning to think that my ship was an empty husk”
Taava was more courteous, “Well, that’s not too bad then. A day and a half is much quicker than I assumed!”
In typical fashion, Yitsūn simply ignored both Aada and Taava, and kept talking, “Unfortunately, that fact is irrelevant. There are not enough vessels to evacuate the entire population. Even with every vessel present packed to one-hundred and twenty percent capacity, approximately fifty-eight percent of the system’s population would be left behind.”
There was a stunned silence around the bridge, as even the rest of the bridge crew heard the news. Aada simply stared at the floor, while Taava bit his lip and leaned against the wall.
“I….. Yitsūn, are you sure? I mean…..that would leave…..” Aada started to stutter, interrupted as Yitsūn finished the thought, “It would mean that approximately one-point-six million would be left behind.”
“Damn it….DAMN IT” Aada didn’t realize she was shouting, but Taava put an arm around her and held her while she fought back tears. She shook the arm off and stood, ready to scream again. But the utter silence on the bridge made her open her eyes.
Everyone was staring.
At her.
Aada took a deep breath, “I apologize for my outburst. Please return to your duties, everyone”
There were some looks among the bridge crew, but for the most part everyone went back to focusing on their stations. Aada held her composure until they had done so, then collapsed into the chair, “This is too much. How are we supposed to go on with so few….”
Unsolicited, Yitsūn cut in, “I have been optimizing our systems to enable a quicker departure. Our SR Drive protocols have been adjusted to allow for a one-point-two seconds decrease in charge time, and I have modified our AP collection protocols to prioritize high-energy clusters.”
“Shut it Yitsūn. We aren’t going anywhere until we’re full. I’m not leaving anyone behind” Aada snapped up at the ceiling, “Besides, there’s been no signs that the enemy knows we’re here. It’s been two days, and nothing. They might not even know this system exists”
To nobody’s surprise, Yitsūn retorted, “That is highly unlikely. Assuming that the enemy has captured Kortara, they most likely have access to all of our digital records and data. It would be a very simple matter to discover the location of all our systems. Given the speed at which the rest of the nation was conquered, there is a very high probability that this system will come under enemy attack within days, perhaps even hours”
Once again, Aada knew that Yitsūn was right. It made perfect sense, but of course it did; Yitsūn was, in every way, far more intelligent and far more connected than any organic being ever could be. When he gave an assessment, no matter how dire or catastrophic it was, it was the truth.
“So then, how long do we have? I mean, we haven’t heard from anyone outside this system in at least a day.” Taava questioned, and Yitsūn was silent for a moment or two before replying, “Unclear. Prior system subjugation seemed to take only hours. That there has been a multi-day delay is uncharacteristic of the enemy. I can only hypothesize that they are currently in the process of conquering a different system, and that is why they have not yet appeared here”
Taava bit his lip, thinking over the information, “Well, then we can only hope that our forces in any other surviving systems can hold the line. They might be all that is standing between us and total destruction”
It was all too much for Aada to process, and she abruptly stood, rubbing her temples, “That’s enough. Yitsūn, go back to doing….whatever it was that you were doing. Taava, you have the deck. I need…..I need to lie down”
It was clear that Taava wanted to say something, but he merely nodded. Aada stood and made her way to a door at the back of the bridge. It opened to reveal a small cabin, sparsely furnished save for a bed against the left well, a ledge in the wall with a copy of the Kan Dīmen resting in it, and a small shrine to the deity Vitanen. Aada kneeled before the shrine, silently whispering a prayer for Vitanen, begging him to protect the Kortiran people. At prayer’s end, Aada stood up and walked over to the bed, laying down gently and closing her eyes. The darkness enveloped her, and her thoughts began to drift.
It was not to last.
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Some Time Later
The dream was terrifying. Aada’s hometown, her homeworld, they were burning. Millions of people cried out for help, only to be silenced by a sweeping firestorm. Men and women and children; they all burned to death, their last breath dedicated to cursing those who had failed them.
Cursing Aada.
“ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!”
The sudden screeching of a klaxon and the voice of Yitsūn broke Aada out of her nightmares. She had no idea how long she had been out, but it didn’t matter. She bolted upright, right at the same time as Taava burst in through the door, “Get out here. Something’s happened.” Before she could ask what was going on, Taava was back out on the bridge.
Aada leapt out of the bed, half-sprinting out the door to the bridge. Everyone was in a panic, and the central display was showing a map of the solar system; but a large white orb had engulfed most of the center.
“What the hell is that? What’s going on?” Aada sat in her chair, quickly scanning her eyes across the data feeds coming in on the command console. Yitsūn piped up, “Approximately sixty seconds ago, my sensors picked up a massive increase in gravitons just outside of Vydøt Keile’s orbit. This was followed by a three-hundred percent spike in sterile neutrino scattering and graviscalar concentrations”
As Yitsūn spoke, the central display put the data into images. Aada looked it over; the emissions were similar to the ones give off by SR Drives, but much more energetic, and definitely more dangerous. But the bad news wasn’t over, as Yitsūn continued, “Fifteen seconds ago, my scanners registered a massive outburst of æther particles from the following coordinates,” The coordinates appeared, and Aada’s heart dropped. Taava stammered, “But that’s…..”
“These coordinates match the last location of the Odeihū Peide.” Yitsūn said out loud what neither Aada nor Taava had wanted to, “The æther particle outburst matches recorded patterns of AP Reactor meltdowns. The only two vessels in the area that could produce an outburst of this size are the Odeihū Peide or FC Ilyua’s flagship, the Kæysø Yis Eduorein. I have been unable to establish a com-link with either vessel.”
Both Aada and Taava were silent for a time. They looked to each other; both of them knew what was happening, but neither of them wanted to say it. Finally, Aada broke the silence, “Yitsūn……is this…..are they…..” She stammered, and Yitsūn confirmed it, “Yes. I believe the enemy has found us. I would recommend leaving the system immediately.”
It was the right call, but Aada was frozen. Whether it had been Ilyua’s ship, or the other colony ship, the enemy was here. And they had destroyed one or the other or, more likely, both. It was the end of times, and Aada was watching it all happen right before her eyes.
“Aada? We need to go. Give the order, please. We have to go” Taava begged, and Aada could only nod. That was good enough for Yitsūn, who began getting things done, “All crew, this is a Category Five alert. Lock down individual stations and proceed to your assigned T-Pods immediately. Full system lockdown will begin in five minutes. SR Drive will activate immediately afterwards.”
Taava gently shook Aada, who shook her head, “Yes, I know. Let’s go.” With Aada, standing the pair made their way to the T-Pod bay, where hundreds of people were scrambling to get to their pods. Aada was halfway into hers when she stopped, “Yitsūn, as soon as all the pods are locked down, send a general S-Com explaining that we’re leaving. Then get us out of here. I don’t care where; just get us as far away as you possible can”
“Of course. I will wake you when we have arrived in a suitable location”
And with that reassurance from Yitsūn, Aada stepped into her T-Pod. The door slide down and hissed closed as it pressurized, and soon the sleep cycle began. Aada closed her eyes, felt the gas flow into her lungs, and just like that, she was out.
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OOC: The concept is fairly simple. Your ship detects the gravity waves/anomaly, and go to investigate. From there, we'll see how things play out. Please TG me before posting. I'm looking for one person to participate, at least at first