Its us again! Here to bring you yet another exciting community topic!!!!
This topic is dedicated to any stories, lore, epic poems, novels, Role Playing...anything your heart desires to share!!!
We are always up for a good read and are excited to see what you all create from DS.
We will be featuring hopefully some neat post in this orginal post every so often. Maybe be something we liked or we though it need attention! So, aim your Ogrov at that writers block and get your fingers typing!
There aren't any rules, but we do have some guidelines to follow so that we all can participate and enjoy ourselves.-There is really no limit on what you post just as long as it is Distant Stars related.-Most members are participating in a single large story with the occasional side story or two. While this thread is certainly not limited to just that story, for the benefit of all readers and participants, please begin your post with how we're supposed to handle it. (Personal Story) (DS RP) (Trader Space) Examples of this can be found all throughout the thread or by looking at this post. https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/21/#2596003 This will help us all out by letting us know if you're trying to set yourself up to join the main lore, if you plan on just telling your own story, or if you're just writing lullabies for children to sing before they go to bed.-While we don't expect you to 'Play the game' in your stories, we do ask that you keep any liberties that you take be grounded within the game. For example: Talking about your space marines invading another ship is not something the game covers, so feel free to be inventive on how it would happen. However, carrying point singularity rifles that open up little black holes is beyond the scope of the game and will not be allowed. Soldiers with phasic armor that prevents them from being wounded let alone even being hit, while being relevant to the technology in the game would also not be allowed. The point is to be fair to the other people. We encourage you to ask yourselves, would this work in the game, and how would I feel if someone used this on me? If You feel strongly that it would work and you'd be okay with it being used against you, then by all means, use it. Fantasy posting, dream sequences, and April Fool's postings are of course, immune from this guideline.-We highly encourage you to message other members for help or advice. There is a TeamSpeak channel that is frequently used by the regulars to talk issues out or just shoot the breeze behind the scenes. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these resources. Also, 'regulars' may send you messages with suggestions, concerns, or advice. It's nothing personal, so please do not be offended, they're just trying to help keep the lore consistent within these guidelines. If there's any doubt at all about anything, just message one of the people who you see posting a lot. If they don't know, they'll pass your message along to someone who does or tell you who you need to talk to.-It is also highly recommended that you message other RPers before posting anything involving their stuff. If you don't, you're likely going to find all of DS rising up against you.-In an effort to reduce clutter, we're asking that Out Of Character (OOC) commenting be either sent to the individual for whom it is intended by using the private message feature, or take it to another thread. https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/366762 is a thread frequented by many of the lore writers and random comment posting about anything under the sun is highly encouraged there as well in an attempt to get the thread locked. Enjoy.
Here are other stories found within the topic:
-Reply # 103 Coloniel3 has started a interesting story. We look forward to more from him/her soon! JUMP TO STORY
-Reply # 107 Cadalancea has shared some great stories from his/her own writtings!! Again we look forward to more from him/her!! JUMP TO STORY
Some resources that we have spent hours, days, and weeks working on that will help out all participants in this thread. We ask that you look through these to help you better understand the region.-About Distant Stars- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/11/#2532381This post will give you a lot of basic information on what the region of space is like, how to get there, and who is there waiting for you.-Distant Stars Maps- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/23/#2604760This post provides you with a quick look at the region and provides you with a download link where you can get yourself a copy of the posted maps in their unreduced forms. They're very helpful when trying to figure out where to go and who you're likely going to run into when you get there. Maps of individual systems are posted throughout the thread. They're generally posted by the first person to explore the system. If you don't know if a system has been explored or not or want to see a map of a system that has been explored, ask around via PM or TeamSpeak. Someone will point you to the place.-Character Biographies- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/11/#2532380This post is a general collection of the main RP characters whom you will likely have contact with. We ask that all people posting in the main lore post their main character(s) bio as soon as possible so that the rest of us have a little background on who your character is, how they like to fight, where do they come from, and why they're there. Read the existing bios for examples on what we're looking for.
-Player made TEC Fleet Ranking Structure- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/17/#2581279
-UE Fleet Rankings- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/18/#2582667
-David's Lions Fleet Rankings- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/18/#2581491
-Advent Social Structure/Rankings- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/18/#2581615
-Potential Gas Giant Colony Designs- https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372058/page/30/#2617791
ITS SUGGESTED YOU READ ALL THE LORE POST, IF YOU WISH TO JOIN US. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO UNDERSTAND AND CATCH UP ON ALL THE CURRENT HAPPENINGS.
(Personal Story/Planet Galan, Advent Colony) Part Thirteen of Teir - -Teal ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CFM4ev-g8 Teir- The Beginnings of the War – - Out of the Deep – Shadows moving in the dark, solidify into darker ships against the star fall of light, sliding into the edge of the system in a group of black hulled aggregates slipping silently across the radiation barrier of the outer solar corona into system. Twin asteroids spun in nearby orbit of a small orphaned moon that had no planet parent, devoid of atmosphere or life, cold, dark face turned toward the outer stars, inner face dim in the weak light of the far distant sun. And it turned not at all. Something slipped away from one of the ships and fell away, toward one of the asteroids. Cold death. Cold death this far out. Lights blinked up suddenly from one of the missile cruisers, it veered for a moment, then pulled back into formation and continued on. Whatever had fallen away still fell, a sliver of light bright, then dark as it passed from light into the dark of the shadow of the small orphan moon. And fell. The ships moved on. Moving slowly against the background of black, against the mists rising from vents in each of the ships, toward the inner planet, only one, a single jewel suspended against the velvet of deep and open space. Engines dull and red pushed them deeper and closer. “Se ‘fal nacht t’ik te sul!” came the alien voice from one of the larger ships, well back in the group, surrounded by smaller black shapes with sharp edges, though the words were unknown, its intent was clear. She could feel them. “Are you all right?” She looked out the small window of the infirmary, at the wet grass and the 21 coffins lined above 21 graves at the edge of the trees. She wanted to cry. Her hands shook, fluttering like frightened birds at her waist and she clasped them and held them to still her panic. The wave of grief rose and she tipped her head back and wanted to cry! But then it began to slowly recede. In slow waves falling back, foam churned against the sand, but pulling back out into the deeper and calmer deep of the larger ocean. She turned and looked at the Administrator, it was the first time she had seen a man in the Convent. She tried to smile, but it failed her. She tried to speak, to say something, but her voice cracked and only a hoarse sound escaped her thin pressed lips. He nodded, his hands behind his back. He turned his face away from the tears that fell down her cheeks, as if suddenly finding something interesting along the blank white wall of the room, perhaps patterns. She turned back to the window and watched as hundreds of the Convent Sisters and Acolytes and Novices and Even “Unseen” stood at the gravesides with their heads bowed as the coffins were lowered into the black ground. She had lost almost everything she loved. Her Father, … she bowed her head and began to sob, tears still streaming from her face, and Sere… she hadn’t known the woman beyond meeting one of the “Unseen” but she had saved her Mother. And Gelle! She wanted to lay down and die! She bent with the pain of the memory of her lost friend. Tears streaming down her face she turned quickly back, ashamed and embarrassed to be crying in front of the Administrator, but the man was gone and the door to the room closed. She turned back to the window and cried out, letting the pain of it come out of her as she bent and held onto the sill of the window and wanted to die. The room trembled for a moment. It scared her and she straightened quickly and stood stiff, brushing at her eyes to wipe the tears away. She needed to be very careful. She stared through the thick glass of the window out at the hundreds in black with bowed heads as the coffins were lowered into the graves. “I’m … sorry…” she whispered… “I’m sorry...” She raised her head and stared out at the sky, the thick heavy blue lost in blackened overcast clouds and she could feel them, the dark ships still out in the deep. They were coming.
(Personal Story/Planet Galan, Advent Colony)
Part Thirteen of Teir -
-Teal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CFM4ev-g8
Teir-
The Beginnings of the War –
- Out of the Deep –
Shadows moving in the dark, solidify into darker ships against the star fall of light, sliding into the edge of the system in a group of black hulled aggregates slipping silently across the radiation barrier of the outer solar corona into system.
Twin asteroids spun in nearby orbit of a small orphaned moon that had no planet parent, devoid of atmosphere or life, cold, dark face turned toward the outer stars, inner face dim in the weak light of the far distant sun.
And it turned not at all.
Something slipped away from one of the ships and fell away, toward one of the asteroids.
Cold death.
Cold death this far out.
Lights blinked up suddenly from one of the missile cruisers, it veered for a moment, then pulled back into formation and continued on.
Whatever had fallen away still fell, a sliver of light bright, then dark as it passed from light into the dark of the shadow of the small orphan moon.
And fell.
The ships moved on.
Moving slowly against the background of black, against the mists rising from vents in each of the ships, toward the inner planet, only one, a single jewel suspended against the velvet of deep and open space. Engines dull and red pushed them deeper and closer.
“Se ‘fal nacht t’ik te sul!” came the alien voice from one of the larger ships, well back in the group, surrounded by smaller black shapes with sharp edges, though the words were unknown, its intent was clear.
She could feel them.
“Are you all right?”
She looked out the small window of the infirmary, at the wet grass and the 21 coffins lined above 21 graves at the edge of the trees. She wanted to cry. Her hands shook, fluttering like frightened birds at her waist and she clasped them and held them to still her panic. The wave of grief rose and she tipped her head back and wanted to cry!
But then it began to slowly recede.
In slow waves falling back, foam churned against the sand, but pulling back out into the deeper and calmer deep of the larger ocean.
She turned and looked at the Administrator, it was the first time she had seen a man in the Convent.
She tried to smile, but it failed her.
She tried to speak, to say something, but her voice cracked and only a hoarse sound escaped her thin pressed lips.
He nodded, his hands behind his back. He turned his face away from the tears that fell down her cheeks, as if suddenly finding something interesting along the blank white wall of the room, perhaps patterns.
She turned back to the window and watched as hundreds of the Convent Sisters and Acolytes and Novices and Even “Unseen” stood at the gravesides with their heads bowed as the coffins were lowered into the black ground.
She had lost almost everything she loved. Her Father, … she bowed her head and began to sob, tears still streaming from her face, and Sere… she hadn’t known the woman beyond meeting one of the “Unseen” but she had saved her Mother.
And Gelle!
She wanted to lay down and die!
She bent with the pain of the memory of her lost friend.
Tears streaming down her face she turned quickly back, ashamed and embarrassed to be crying in front of the Administrator, but the man was gone and the door to the room closed.
She turned back to the window and cried out, letting the pain of it come out of her as she bent and held onto the sill of the window and wanted to die.
The room trembled for a moment.
It scared her and she straightened quickly and stood stiff, brushing at her eyes to wipe the tears away. She needed to be very careful.
She stared through the thick glass of the window out at the hundreds in black with bowed heads as the coffins were lowered into the graves.
“I’m … sorry…” she whispered…
“I’m sorry...”
She raised her head and stared out at the sky, the thick heavy blue lost in blackened overcast clouds and she could feel them, the dark ships still out in the deep.
They were coming.
***
Part Fourteen of Teir -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2r2rUHc7Q
- Alone
She walked alone.
In the corridors,
In the halls,
In the garden,
Out beyond the wall among the close tall elms and pines, standing silent and unmoving, against the side of the small hill that led over its edge, to the city beyond.
She stood among the trees as unmoving as they and watched the graves beyond. All those people she had loved. Good people. And she wanted to cry.
She stood among the trees and trembled as she remembered:
Gelle, her heart caught for a moment and she felt a sob catch in her throat, she bent her head and squeezed her eyes shut pressing her lips tight and tried to remember, remember the joy…
Of Gelle standing beside her table and smiling, her eyes bright and her dark hair falling back against her ears, falling to her waist, her hand catching in front of her lips as she had giggled and told Teir how much she reminded her of her older sister that had worn braids and tickled her when she least expected it.
Of her smiling face and easy laugh when she walked her mother in the garden.
And taking her mother trays of food and taking care of her when Teir was working.
Of her hand on her shoulder, warm and easy as she told her she supported her. And she had whispered her name to Teir. “ I am Gelle.”
Teir choked and bent and cried and tears spilled down her face and she trembled, remembering.
Lightening fell out of a clear sky.
Then faded.
Teir forced herself to hold it in.
To not let it out.
She wanted to scream.
She bowed her head slowly,
And that had been the problem.
She had wanted to scream … and she had let it out.
And now she walked alone.
The Novices avoided her. The Acolytes, The Sisters. They were all afraid of her.
She turned and faced the hill above the grove of trees, above the stones that marked the graves of all those that she had taken before their time… tears streamed down her face.
And the ground trembled under her feet.
She stared at the hill and slowly raised her arms.
Tears falling down her face, her eyes red and crying, and felt the pain pull in her chest like a vise closing slowly down.
Raised her arms and slowly turned her hand, tipping her fingers at the ends.
The ground trembled and shook and then split.
A fissure opened, then wider,
As a tree rose up out of the ground.
She raised her fingers and it rose,
Higher.
Until it stood a hundred spans above the ground.
And then she spread her hands and branches sprouted out.
One on each side.
And lengthened.
Until she closed her fingers and let her hands drop to her sides.
The ground still shook,
But slowly the trembling ebbed.
Until it stilled.
And the tree stood on the hillside above the grove of trees.
Above the stones of the graves of her friends, and those she didn’t know, but had still taken when she hadn’t been able to help it.
When she couldn’t help it.
“God help me… I’m sorry…” She whispered into the still and chill air, her breath steamed, and she looked at the tree, in the shape of a cross standing on the hill now, overlooking the graves.
“Forgive me…” she whispered to those gone.
But there were none to answer her.
Only her own pain, that pulled inside her.
Pulling.
She turned away from the hill then and saw frightened faces at the windows of the Convent windows.
She lowered her head, so they wouldn’t have to see her eyes.
She was crying.
Tears still falling down her cheeks, reddening the skin underneath, stinging her eyes in thin streams that fell down the front of her gray blouse.
She walked alone now.
Wherever she walked.
And no one came up to her.
No one spoke a word.
When they saw her accidentally, they turned away, or entered a door as quickly as they could, turning their faces away, their eyes away.
They were afraid of her.
And so she walked alone.
Down the empty halls and corridors of the Convent, in the garden where the pond stirred slowly and the great tree stood silent and huge and waiting.
Waiting.
And G’lina.
Teir tried to smile remembering the face of the good woman, her easy laugh and her shaking the spoon of hers in her kitchens and her kindnesses and her sweet eyes, smiling and laughing. She felt the choke catch in her chest and held it.
Trying to stare out at the clear sky beyond the trees, the setting sun and wisp clouds stretched thin across the pale blue.
She had been a good woman, a friend.
She turned away from the tree then and went back inside the Convent, down the long deserted hallway.
She looked up suddenly surprised when the Elder Sister approached, though her eyes were wide, she tried to smile and she reached out and even touched Teir’s arm.
“Child…” she started, but her voice caught and she stopped, but gave a half small smile again and tried again, “Teir… you should ‘Cross’, God help us all, you should, more than any of us. Forgive me for being afraid, but I cannot help it,” her voice caught again and she stopped. But struggled and reached out and took Teir’s hands in hers, though her eyes were squeezed shut and her lips trembled.
“Come.” She said, and turned slowly, as if afraid she would run. And she went down the hall, the bright hall with sunlight falling in through the windows in shafts of golden light, motes of dust stirring in the breeze of air like golden lights glittering in the light itself.
Down the hallway, where another Sister stepped out from a door with her face stiff, hands clasped tightly in front of her, staring straight ahead, though she walked beside Tier.
And they passed another door, and another Sister joined them.
And other doors.
And past the ramp where the gallery of the railed smooth walk showed clusters of Acolytes and Novices standing with wide eyes. Some of them cried and tears fell down their cheeks.
Like Teir cried.
And tears fell down her cheeks.
And she pressed her eyes closed for a moment, wanting to hug them, to cry out “Please….please…please forgive me, please forgive me, please… please…”
The Elder Sister led her down the long hallway to a ramp that went lower. Down, into a hollow that wound into an open grove, enclosed within the walls of the Convent. A garden, unseen, a small arch beyond the pond, a small tree growing beside it.
The arch had a silver door, though it was easy enough to simply walk completely around it.
The door had a lock and the Elder Sister slipped a silver key from out of her robe and stood there, then turned to Teir and tried to smile, half smiled. It was getting easier, and she pressed her hand against Teir’s arm squeezed gently.
“All of us go through this door eventually, whether we are afraid, or unafraid. Whether we believe or disbelieve. We bring all that we are here, and pass through and return changed. I went through this door a hundred years ago. So did our dear Mother-“ her voice caught at remembering the Mother, they had been close friends, as close as real sisters.
"Now it is your turn.
More than any of us.
It is your turn.
Most of us cannot even move a tiny twig in our hands when we cross. But you-“ her voice caught again for a moment, then continued, “… but you. You more than any of us need to go, to learn your way and come back to us.” The Elder Sister smiled and smoothed her hand along Teir’s cheek, felt the stain of wet tears against her hand and wanted to cry. She leaned down slowly and kissed Teir’s cheek.
She turned then and slipped the silver key into the lock of the door and the door halves fell back in a slow arc showing only light.
A blinding light.
The others turned away shielding their eyes.
Teir turned and looked at them, there were over a hundred people standing behind her here. They were afraid, but still they had walked beside her. They were afraid, but still they had come.
She smiled.
“I love you, all of you…” she said and stepped into the light.
It swallowed her and she was gone.
Alone.
Alone in the light.
She felt the smooth ground underneath her and she walked forward.
Into the light.
(personal / DS) Roesh sits at a comm terminal in the military research station reviewing Todd's progress with his other projects when he receives a call from starbase Dubovka. "Go ahead, Dubovka." he says. "Sorry for the interruption sir, but the Sun Tzu has returned and is making preparations to dock with us as we speak." the comms officer states. "Great. Have Henry and Tim been informed?" Roesh asks. "Yes sir. Henry is on his way and Tim regrets that he cannot make it this time." the comm's officer replies. "Okay, thank you. I'm on my way as well." Roesh states. Roesh walks by the lab that Todd and Batson are working at peeking in to see them discussing loudly about who's electronic component design is more efficient and better prepared for the rigors of space travel. Shaking his head he continues on to the hanger bay and hops on a transport that plans on passing through the star's gravity well. A few minutes later, he's boarding the starbase and being greeted by an attendant. "Welcome back sir, Mr. Stolvey is already in the conference room with Commander Oranos." the attendant says. "Great." Roesh says as he rushes down the hall. Upon reaching the door, he knocks and opens it up to see that nobody is really paying much attention to him since the conversation is centered more around the Red Dragon Army's and Gardenia Alliance Military's recent trials. He walks in and takes a seat before he's finally recognized as being present, prompting the others to take their seats as well. "We just discussing their troubles with the indigenous forces and the political positions those people were in." Henry notes. "Right... It's tough, I wish we could have done something for them, but we just didn't have the military or political force behind us to make anything realistic happen." Roesh comments. "So I hear." Oranos states. "Henry was going over your methods of governing your system briefly before you walked in." "Yeah, we're running it similar to how things are run in the Yitobav system. You've been there before, so you kind of know how it was like." Roesh says. "Not really. I was there briefly and I had a tight time schedule to maintain so I didn't have time to really poke around aside from looking for what I needed to find and get back home." Oranos says. "Well Yitobav is a monarchy government. They've managed to stay in charge because of they way they do things. They remain open to political change and new ideas, with the exception of removing the monarchy itself. However, the people love the monarchy because even though they're in the power seat, the children never have any authority over anyone else, and they don't give any privileges to the adults in the royal families until they've completed their rituals which include living with the commoners, eating, working, sleeping along side of them... They say it really helps to add perspective to their rule since the younger generations are essentially living normal lives as everyone else does, and only get their authority and elevated status and special treatment after the elders of the royal family feel they've earned it. So it works." Roesh explains. "Interesting. The Alliance of Gardenia is run a little more democratically then that. We have councils formed for every city, and higher ranking councils for each planet, Should there be more then one system involved, there'd be a system council, but since there isn't we jump straight to the high council that ties everything together. All these council members are elected every year by the people so they have to stay on the population's good side or else there out... How did you manage to gain control of everything in their system's orbits if you're not the ruling party?" Oranos asks. "Well, we actually went to them since we had a bunch of contracts for then and other systems around them and proposed the offer that since commerce is our thing, they could outsource that aspect to us and sit back and tax us on our overall revenues generated in their system. It just worked out better for everyone since we never really wanted control of a populace anyway." Henry comments. "But you're in control of one now. How's that working out for you?" Oranos asks. "We're treating it in a similar manner to the monarchy on Yitobav, however, instead of a monarchy, we're running it as a corporation would. I'd rather just assign someone to be the planet's governor and the system governor since I'm giving those positions board member status in my company, but one of the conditions of our taking over was that we had to let them elect their governor and so far, I don't personally like who they elected because she's too opinionated and stubborn, but I don't have much of a say in it. I agreed to it so I just deal with it." Roesh says. "Well, we are new to the system, but we are offering entrance into our alliance. We could always take the political aspect of your system off your hands for you. In a sense, it would be like Yitobav, only you're outsourcing the government to us, rather then the government outsourcing the commerce to you." Oranos says. "Hah. Nice, I figured this conversation was being steered in that direction. However at this time, we're going to have to decline since even though we're new to it, we're learning as we go and it's just good to have some experience in it." Roesh says with a bit of laughter in his voice. "Very well, I just figured I'd offer you guys the same deal we offered to Antynene." Oranos states. "Speaking of deals, you owe us for a second day of fees. Once you send it over to us, we'll release your ships. "Yeah, about that... It seems that even though we had all of the intel we needed to prepare for the battle some issues have presented themselves." Oranos laments. "Like what?" Henry asks. "Well, the expenses incurred during our travels here were quite expensive, but something we had planned for. The expenses we had no idea we were going to be spending was just how much it was going to take to not only retrofit the existing infrastructure of this new system, but how much of it we'd have to build from scratch." Oranos says. "Yeah, when we got here, there was only one medium sized town in the system and we've slowly been building it up." Henry states. "Hmmm. Plus there's also the fact that we took more damage then I was expecting and now we're going to be in need of spending some funds on repairs, so I don't believe we'll be able to make a full payment." Oranos says. "So what? We keep your ships and pawn them off?" Roesh asks jokingly. Oranos laughs before answering. "No, actually, the ships themselves are somewhat critical to our rebuilding, they'll be providing much of the raw materials we'll be using to create the infrastructure our people will be using. I was wondering if we could treat this as a loan." "Well, that depends. You're new hear and we don't really know you all that well, when would we be expecting our payments?" Henry asks. "Honestly, I don't have an answer for that. No one has had a chance to sit down and crunch numbers on any of that stuff and you're holding all of our accountants." Oranos states with a bit of a laugh at the end causing Roesh to grin. "Yeah, I admire the problem you're having." Roesh jokes. "Well, that's the only thing I can think of, do you have a better idea?" Oranos asks. Henry sits up a bit before fielding an answer. "Well, we're not exactly advertising this, but we have recently taken an interest in trading for technology. There's been a but of an unspoken arms race out here and sadly we're pretty far behind." "Great." Oranos says. "The RDA has several advanced technologies that may be of interest to you." "Well, not exactly." Roesh interrupts. "You see, we had every bit of TEC technology before we moved here. The arms race Henry mentioned is technology above and beyond what we had, and honestly, we've done enough research out here already that we have surpassed anything you could offer us." "For the TEC." Oranos states. "Right." Henry answers. "What about Vasari technology?" Vallin asks. "I was wondering if you were ever going to speak up." Oranos jokes. "Yeah well, the conversation finally tuned to something I actually know a lot about." Vallin answers. Roesh chuckles, "Well, we've recently acquired a piece of Vasari tech and we're testing it's feasibility on integration into our everyday activities." "We could always use some more, and I have a few ideas of things I've heard about that I think may work out well for us." Henry adds. "Before we get into that, we should probably break for a few and stretch our legs." Roesh comments as he stands up and head's for the door. "Something I should know about?" Henry asks. "No, I just want to find out what Tim's up to so I know why he couldn't make this meeting. It's bugging me for some reason." Roesh says. "Okay, I guess we take a break." Henry says as everyone stands up. Roesh head's over to a comm panel and get's a hold of Tim. "What's up buddy? We're having a blast here." Tim laughs. "Sounds like it. I just figured it wasn't critical for me to be there so I decided to catch up with Robert Powley about any new information he's dug up on the UE." "Okay then. As long as it's nothing important." Roesh says. "Nope. Nothing important. You should get back to your meeting." Tim says as he cut's the comm link. Roesh walks back to the meeting room. "Hey Commander Oranos, how'd you like to go on a little trip real quick and visit your ships." "I would like to do that very much actually." he answers. "Yeah, I'm actually surprised that you agreed to let us hang onto them without any military escorts." Roesh says. "Well, from what little bit about you I've managed to find out, I didn't think it would be a problem." Oranos states with a grin. "Oh yeah? Why's that?" Roesh asks. "Because to me you seem more like a person who would screw me over to my face just so you can watch it as it happens." Oranos answers with an even wider grin on his face. Roesh laughs, "Oh, you know so little, but you know so much... Anyway, the hanger is this way." Roesh leads Oranos and his security entourage to the hanger to a small transport shuttle. Oranos looks at it's small size before commenting. "That doesn't look like it's big enough to hold both our security details." Roesh looks back as he walks up to it. "Why would I need a security detail? We're in my system." "Okay, but it still looks too small for even my detail." Oranos says. "Well, pick a few and leave the rest." Roesh says as he enters the craft and takes a seat in the pilot's chair. Oranos turns and picks four members from his detail and dismisses the rest who seem almost happy to be excused. They then board the ship and take their seats. Once the ship is cleared, Roesh takes off and pilots the ship to Finley 3 where the colony ships are hidden in the shadow of the Gas Giant effectively making them invisible. The ship slows at it does a fly through of the formation further illustrating how dark it actually is on the back side of the planet and how close someone would have to actually get to see them parked there. Feeling confident that he made the right choice, Oranos asks to return to the meeting. Roesh fires up the engines after he clears the formation and heads back to starbase Dubovka as fast as the ship will take them. Once they land and depart the craft in the hanger, Oranos's full security detail rejoins him and walks the two back to the meeting room. Walking in they see Henry and Vallin have continued without them. "So here's what we've come up with that we both are fairly happy with." Vallin says pointing to the two main monitors. "On this one are the Vasari techs I'm willing to give up. Henry was kind enough to only request civil technologies they they could adapt to their every day operations. All basic low level stuff, and since we actually end up overpaying for our stay according to Henry's numbers, he offered some stuff in return to make up the difference." Roesh and Oranos step up to the monitors and read the lists uttering them out to themselves. "So we're giving up Trauma Nanomedicine, Gravity Tolerance, Phasic Transmissions, Valuable Goods, Priceless Goods, Optimized Construction, and Improved Salvaging... What exactly is this other stuff?" Oranos asks. Henry answers, "The first item is a new strike craft variant we were introduced to when we first arrived to this region. Quite a nifty little thing that has seen some battle experience on our own ships and appear to be a wonderful addition to the fleet. It's an Electronic Warfare Bomber. It essentially jams the electronics of an opposing ship making them a less effective combatant. Next is a list of projected technologies we've deduced from examining the recorded data we've taken during conflicts, and what little bit of info we've managed to siphon off of other factions out here as we bass by their ships and through their systems. It gives our guys a direction to go in, so it'll do the same for yours. Also I'm sure you recognize the name up there... He's fairly helpful when you have a need to buy advanced equipment, and lastly possible future concessions should a trade agreement be made once you've had a chance to settle in." "That gives me an idea. So does the view we had from behind the gas giant. You both will have to come to our system so we can discuss things in front of the high council since I don't have the authority to do what I'm thinking, but I think I can make a persuasive argument." Oranos says. "And these ideas would be?" Vallin asks. "I'd rather not say until I've had a chance to talk it over with the other council members first, but I think I can make it happen." Oranos replies. "Well, the only problem I see with that is one of us must stay behind and run our operations here." Henry says pointing between himself and Roesh. "Oh... Well, as long as someone who has the authority to accept any deals or arrangements that we can make comes along, then I guess really all I need is that person." Oranos says. "That'd be either of us, so I guess I'll go." Roesh states. "So are these trades acceptable to you Commander Oranos?" Henry asks. "I trust Vallin made a decent choices, like he eluded to before, technology is his area of expertise. So if he's happy with it, then it's acceptable with me." Oranos says looking at Vallin, who in turn nods yes a few times. "Great, sign these papers then and it'll be official. We'll have a couple of the strike craft transferred into your ship's hanger before you leave and your colony ships should be on their way out whenever you call them and tell them to return to the star." Henry says. Oranos leans over the papers and sees that they're written copies of everything that was on the screens he was looking at with similar explanations that he was given and the values Henry gave each item. "Hmmm. Never done it this way before." "I just like to keep records that can't be toyed with by someone breaking into our computer systems." Henry states. "It's just good business to keep multiple records in different forms so that there's always at least one copy to recover your information from no matter what happens." "Smart planning." Valin says as he watches Oranos sign his name. After that they all exit the conference room and head back to the hanger bay. Oranos and his people head down the docking concourse and board the Sun Tzu and oversee the transfer of technology from their data banks to the Starbase and back. Roesh watches as some pilots from the Sun Tzu enter the hanger and jump into a couple of EWS bombers that he picked out and fly them out the door and to their ship. Henry hops a transport back to Finley 1 and Roesh calls up one of his own colony ships to come and pick him up at the starbase. As it arrives the start of a steady stream of Alliance ships begin to jump into the star's gravity well and then proceed to it's opposite edge and jump to their new home. Roesh boards his colony ship and holds position near the starbase to wait for the last Alliance ship to arrive. The Sun Tzu jumps away with the first group to prepare for his people's arrival.****************About an hour later**************** Roesh jumps to Antynene with the last group of colony ships. Passing by several dozen Alliance ships he makes his way from the star to a Desert planet being called Safehold, to an asteroid belt, and then to a Terran planet called Rune where his next meeting is going to take place. He waits in orbit near the Sun Tzu until a shuttle arrives to take him down to the planet. Once there he's met by Oranos and the high council members. "This is the High Council." Oranos says before introducing each one of them. "This is Kalder, head of the Gardenia Alliance Military. This is the High Consel from this planet, Jelopel. This is Consel Cathlin from the Urban moon in this system. This is High Consel Varlen from the Desert planet you saw when you entered the system proper. Finally, this is Carl, the High Consel from the Industrial planet... High council, this is Roesh of the Free Traders." Greetings and handshakes were exchanged before the group was taken to the actual location of where the next meeting was to take place. Once there they all took up seats around the table. "So Mr. Roesh you came alone?" Cathlin asks. "Yeah, everyone is busy so only two of my board would be able to make it. Myself and my chief of operations... Of course the problem with that is one of us has to stay behind to run the company. That's usually the reason why I hold meetings at my system. That way we both can attend." Roesh answers. "Roesh... That's an interesting name." Carl comments. "That's the name I was given and I didn't have a choice." Roesh says with clear disappointment in his voice causing a bit of muffled laughs from the high council. "They're not laughing at you." Oranos clarifies while turning his head to look at Jelopel, causing a bit more laughter. "Right... So you were saying in my system that you had a few idea you needed to run by these fine folks before you pitched them to me?" Roesh asks. "Yes, the first thing is Henry said part of our deal was that we'd be given future trade concessions." Oranos says. "Right, one of us builds trade ports here and we service the routes and give you a percentage. Similar to how we ran things in Yitobav." Roesh clarifies. The council members talk quietly among themselves for a few seconds before Varlen speaks up. "As lucrative of an offer you'd probably make us, we were thinking of going a different route. Since we're just joining the Alliance of Gardenia and you seem to know your way around these systems and the major players, and more importantly, how to get things that you need, we were more hoping you'd be more open to forming a formal alliance." Oranos continues, "Granted, you turned down becoming a member nation, however, that doesn't mean we can't still work together on surviving out here." "A formal alliance huh? And all of the bells and whistles that come along with it." Roesh says more to himself. "Take some time to think about it if you'd like." Jelopel says. "We're going to be celebrating our new independence for a few days." "Oh, no worries, I don't need to take the time. We could all use a few more friends out here." Roesh says. "So you'll form an alliance with the... Alliance?" Cathlin asks. "Yeah, sure. Why not." Roesh replies. The council is all smiles as they talk amongst themselves once again until Kalder speaks up. "I've been advisssed about the compensssatory trade you made, most of which was Vasssari technology. The allianccce wishes to offer you a nano tech pact sssince you ssseemed to be quite interesssted in the technology." "Sure. In exchange for what?" Roesh asks. "I haven't decccided yet. Possibly nothing." Kalder states. "That's a very generous offer." Roesh says causing Kalder to smile as only a Vasari can. "We can also teach you how to integrate it into your society as we have." Oranos adds. "So the other idea you had in my system?" Roesh asks. "Oh yes. We've become fond of having a back door out of the systems we're in. We're used to being chased." Oranos admits. "Clearly" Roesh says. "That being said, we're building a phase gate in the system here, and I was curious if you'd allow us to build one in your system." Oranos asks. "Aren't those gates all connected or something?" Roesh asks knowing fully well the answer to the question. "Yes, but they can be disconnected and given specific codes so they only work with a paired up gate." Oranos answers. "We'll see. I'll have to find an appropriate spot for it." Roesh says. "That being said, since you are the traders out here and have agreed to be our ally and we're used to being chased, I was wondering if you could help us out with another issue." Oranos asks. "Shoot." Roesh says. "Well, since we're not exactly wanting ourselves to be located so easily, would you mind handling the trade traffic that we generate?" Oranos asks. "Okay, I guess. Explain please." Roesh demands. "Basically, if we make a trade agreement with someone, they go to your system and receive a code that would be generated at random by us and sent to you for that ship, then you'd send them here with the code so we don't destroy them. Anyone who shows up without a code... Well, they get... Destroyed. You'll be compensated for the work, of course." Oranos explains. "Alright, I guess, if that's how you want to do it.." Roesh says. "Well, I don't have anything more to discuss... Anyone else?" Oranos asks and recives nothing but head shakes no. "Okay, if everyone will follow me to the training center, Kalder and I have arranged for a demonstration of our fighting techniques that we intend on showing the public. You're all getting a sneak peak of course." The group follows Oranos down the street to the make shift training facility set up for this demo. They take their seats along the wall as a group of trainees and instructors come out and begin to demonstrate their fighting styles. Much to the surprise of everyone except Oranos and Kalder, the performers display near super human agility and movement during their exercise. Much to Kalder's enjoyment, the spectators flood him and Oranos with questions at the conclusion. After all the question have been asked and answered, Oranos walks with Roesh back to the shuttle that takes him back up to his colony ship. Once on board, the ship reverses the route it took to get there and heads back home to Finley.
Lord J'rah stepped out of the shuttle doors and was immediately assaulted. Visually. The effect was not unknown. When the Vasari began enslaving humans certain ones produced an aura that was only seen in the infrared spectrum, usually such ones were leaders of sorts like Lord Ryat and -Ue_Carbon. Further experimintation revealed that these humans had higher rates of certain brain waves that affected the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. When the Advent came into conflict this phenomenon became more apparent especially with the more powerful Advent and slave collars were developed that neutralized the effect to a large degree. But Lord J'rah, as many other Vasari, had only dealings with Advent who were either hurt, unconscious, or with slave collars in place. To be in an environment where there were many healthy operating Advent was an epic visual assault. One of Lord J'rah's aides nearly stumbled as he followed Lord J'rah out. "Close your hunting eyes," Lord J'rah ordered quickly. The Vasari hunting eyes allow them to see in the infrared spectrum and closing the filtering membrane helped deal with any high concentrations of infrared. The scene immediately calmed down and J'rah was able to see around him. Thenos was standing at the bottom of the shuttle ramp with an honor guard waiting with a concerned look on his face. "Is everything okay Lord J'rah?" he asked as Lord J'rah resumed his walk down the ramp. J'rah explained quickly what had happened. "Interesting," Thenos commented, "wonder why we have never been able to detect that with our infrared sensors?" "Sometimes I find that what Nature provides you is better than anything you can build," Lord J'rah said. Thenos pondered this for a moment. "Makes sense," he replied, "Shall we proceed?" Lord J'rah acknowledged and Thenos lead him and his entourage on a brief tour of the ship. They then entered Thenos's office. "Please have a seat," invited Thenos. Lord J'rah and his aides looked at the chairs before Thenos's desk, then promptly moved them out of their way and squated down on their double knees. Thenos looked at J'rah then down at his legs. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that your physiology would cause an issue with something as simple as a chair," Thenos said in an apologetic tone. "It is nothing, don't worry," replied J'rah, "we are used to it." J'rah felt a soft pressure upon his mind. He relaxed himself, knowing that is was a way in which Thenos could understand him. Lord Ryat had explained some of the things that the Advent did in communicating and had helped him develop some tricks to stop an Advent from attempting to take him over. It couldn't stop a concentrated effort, but it would be enough to hold one off in time for his aides to stop the Advent. After a moment the pressure stopped and Thenos leaned back in his chair satisfied. "So, what brings you to us?" Thenos asked "usually you guys are shoot first, take slaves and forget questions." J'rah let out a short bark. "Sadly still true of many of my people," he said, "but I feel that our situation requires a change in our old methods." Thenos gave him a questioning look. "Well to begin with our people once ruled over a powerful empire," Lord J'rah began, "from what I was told, we wanted for nothing and had all we desired. We conquered all before us and where matched by no one. Then one day things began to happen. What, no one knows. Eventually some of us realized that we needed to start running, and for millenniums our people ran, often stopping to raid small civiliations for material and such. The TEC was our first real opposition. I was a mere captain of a capital ship, though I was in a high ranking clan. I witnessed first hand the fight that humans had in them and their ability to adapt to what was going on. It got me thinking. What if there were more empires like ours but with different abilities, what if we all could be combined into a unified force. Then maybe the Vasari could stop running and face whatever is trying to destroy us. As I climbed through the ranks I slowly garnered allies that thought as I did. My first contact with a human was Lord Ryat. He had smashed my fleet but had left my vessel unharmed, just out of the way due to that infernal Ion Bolt of theirs." Thenos chuckled a bit at that comment. "Anyways, he contacts me and by this time I had a grasp of human speech. That began our alliance and as I gained control of my clan I increase my alliance with Lord Ryat and my ability to speak your language." "Which you have a very fine grasp of, I might add," Thenos said. "Thank you," Lord J'rah said, "Now through Lord Ryat I have been able to form many alliances with many in the TEC, but have been unable to form any with the Advent. Until now I hope." Thenos regarded Lord J'rah carefully, using his abilities to search for any untruth. There was none. Just an earnest desire to do what this alien said. "Okay sounds reasonable," he said, "But two things. First, I want to be cautious about this, don't want to jump into this and get backstabbed you understand." "Logically," said Lord J'rah. "Second, I'm a bit of a pariah, so I can't be of much help in getting you more Advent allies, though I see where you are coming from," Thenos said. Lord J'rah had pulled out a small computer and had entered something. After studying it he faced Thenos again. "Well, I'm sorry to here of your outcast status," Lord J'rah said putting the computer away, "but we could still be of much help to one another. For example I have noticed that both your people and my people have much invested in beam weapon technology, something the TEC has little of. Maybe something down the road we can work on together. Currently, we can set up something along the lines of trade. Much of your PsiTech toys entertain us much and there is a high demand for them. Something that can help your economy. We would be willing to trade in credits and materials for such products." "For toys?" asked Thenos, a little taken back, "as in children's toys?" "Yes," Lord J'rah said, "I believe Lord Ryat put it best by saying one person's trash is another person's treasure." Thenos laugh out loud at this comment. "I believe this Lord Ryat has indeed put it best," he replied, "I would like to meet him someday. Can you arrange this?" "I will see what I can do," Lord J'rah said, "Currently though Lord Ryat is a bit averse to Advent, something to do with his past, I'm not fully clear on all the details." "Yes, sadly my people have done much to deserve such anger," Thenos said, "but who knows, maybe I can win him over in the future." Lord J'rah gave a shrug, the first human gesture that Thenos had seen. "Maybe," was his only reply. "Well this has been a most enjoyable meeting," Thenos said as he stood up, "The trade offer sounds good, I'm sure my aides and yours can work out all the details but I think this will help us both." "As do I," Lord J'rah said and extended his hand out to Thenos. Thenos paused again at the human gesture but quickly shook the offered hand.
To call Helvad a big woman was like calling a gas giant a big planet. Standing at a commanding heigth of 8 feet tall and 250 lbs of mostly muscle, the only thing fat on her were a massive pair of breasts, she towered over all in the room aside from her husband. A product of the huge ice world of Norfjord were the inhabitants came in two types tall or short, she also had the long blond hair and ice blue eyes. Wearing an old armoured TEC spacesuit with a massive battleaxe strapped to her back completed the barbaric Viking look. "Alright, we all here now?" she asked looking around the room. The room was big with many tables and chairs scattered about. Many if not all of the chairs were filled with ruffians of all types. Ching Shih sat at the edge with her feet up on the table and leaned back in her seat. "Think so Helvad," she said loudly to be heard over the ruckess in the room. Helvad nodded, then reached for her battleaxe, brought it around and smacked the flat side on to the table in front of her. The table broke under the force but Helvad got everyones attention. "Glad to see ya all here," she said, her voice pitched to carry out through the room. "With the amount of credits being thrown out for this job of course we'd come runin' " said one. "You do realize that with that amount of credits means the job is going to be nasty one," replied another. "Well if your balls are too small to handle it then you can leave," shot back the first. The other replied by extending his middle finger. "Yeah that's about how long it is," Ching added into the mix. The man turned to her. "Didn't hear you complain about it last night," he shot back. Rather than reveal the untruth about it Ching merely replied, "What can I say," she said, "didn't want you turning me in for fucking a little boy." The room erupted with laughter though the target of the insult got out of his chair angrily. Helvad's battleaxes thumped down hard again onto the broken table getting everyones attention back on her. "Children, Children," she chided, "let's stop the playing around and focus more on the adult issues at hand." The room quieted down and Helvad activated a wall projection screen behind her. "This is our target, Kyrene VI," she said, "its a moon sized military planet so there will be some issues when attacking it, mainly the targeting network that the planet has. Fortunately due to its size this will be minimal. Of course we have to go through the Kyrene Star which has four Advent starbases first." Groans ran through the room. Helvad thumped her battleaxe again. "Hey, I know what I'm doing!" Helvad shouted, "Now listen up you skallywags!" The room quieted once more. "Now how many here have those Vulkaros a certain someone likes to sell?" she asked. A good portion raised their hands. "And I'm sure ya all have the anti-building torpedoes?" she asked. All those that raised their hands nodded. "Good," she said, "How many here have Jolly Roger Battleships?" A sizeable portion raised their hands including Ching who just recently purchased one. "Excellent," Helvad replied, "With Overcharged Ions Blasters I'm sure." More heads nodded. "Now, here is what we are going to do when we get the signal to attack," Helvad said and began to explain her attack plans.
Lord Ryat was in his office on board Phoenix when Carbon and Xenon came in. They sat in the chairs in front of Ryat's desk. "We are ready," Lord Ryat said simply. "Bout damn time," Xenon grumbled. "So what's the plan?" Carbon asked simply. Ryat handed out copies of his plan to both Carbon and Xenon. They looked them over carefully. "So a pirate attack on Kyrene VI which should pull a strong force away from our targets and when that force goes through Kyrene I, we fire off the White Impulse Kostura Cannon and hopefully catch that fleet in the blast wave," Carbon summarized "Nice." "Yeah, the contact on Kyrene I has your datafeed ready at anytime," replied Xenon. "Good," Ryat said, "Then after the WIKC fires we will jump our fleets into Kyrene I and head towards our targets. Carbon you take Kyrene IV and get that artifact. Xenon and I will attack Kyrene III, I wll take out the fleet there and Xenon and his men will board the labs there, stealing any info they have on that artifact then blowing them sky high. Afterwards we will rendezvous at Kyrene IV were Lord J'rah's Marauder, which will follow you Carbon will spin up its phase lane inducer and give us an escape route out of there." "Alrighty," Carbon said, "Let's get going."
(DS RP)
Lieutenant Sokolow walks down the tight corridor with a datapad in hand and proceeds to a door labeled with Draakjacht's name and rank. She presses on a panel next to the door, causing an electronic beeping to be sounded within the room. Alexander lifts his face from the pillow beneath, his eyes slow to peel apart. The sound alerts again, this time causing him to sit up in his bed, making a weak effort to push the blanket from him. The sound alerts again, Alexander rising from his bed and proceeding to a closet nearby where he takes a pair of pants from a thin hanger and slips the legs on, one at a time until everything is in it's proper place. The sound alerts again, as a hand stamps on a panel causing the door to open, Alexander's dull form hanging listlessly on the entrance and causing Sokolow some surprise.
"What is it?" Alexander asks with a rough voice.
"Sir, we have a complete survey of the planet," she replies.
Alexander nods and motions for her to enter his room. As she does, he activates the lights, momentarily flinching at the brightness while heading towards a small fridge in the corner.
Sokolow stands in the middle of the room and reports, "The planet is completely overgrown with dense vegetation, which will make facility construction amazingly slow. Another problem is that, although we have secured the targeting array and devastated Vasari military installations, there are signs of small groups hiding in the dense forests."
Alexander removes a small bottle of milk from the fridge, lifting it to his lips and taking a small sip before wincing. Distaste crosses his mouth as he furrows his brow at the bottle. He nods as he begins to pour the fluid down a nearby sink, "We'll just have to deal with the planet's environment. As for the Vasari, have the marines do what they can and just make sure we watch our perimeters carefully."
"Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
He reaches towards a cabinet and pulls a can of evaporated milk, moaning at the thought of using it before popping the top off of it. "Sure, have the two scouts approach Utand, one for each star. Tell them to give me as much as they can, but to get out at the first sign of trouble. Where's our construction projects?"
Sokolow takes a moment to scroll through the datapad's contents before answering, "The starbase is constructed, but still undergoing upgrades. Meanwhile, we have the trade port and construction facilities complete."
"Good," Alexander replies as he pours the can's contents into a glass and places it under the sink's faucet. "Have the Isaac raised. I want that ship in working order again. Have we heard from the envoy in Finley?"
"Yes, sir. The project is underway and accommodations have been made for our new situation," she says.
Alexander swirls the liquid in the cup and promptly downs the drink. With a much clearer voice he says, "Good. I'll be on the bridge a little later. Dismissed."
Sokolow nods before leaving his room.
----
If someone has a thought concerning Utand's make-up, let me know.
(No longer necessary view edit for original post)
(NO LONGER NEEDED, SEE EDIT FOR OP)
Xenon stepped off of the shuttle. He had just arrived back on the Osiris after meeting with Lord Ryat. Seems the attack on Kyrene was finially going to start.
Xenon moved thought the ship heading for the bridge. As he entered the first mate approached him.
"Sir, a few messages for you while you where away. Seems Iron is on the move, Mercury has said he would keep us informed and wishes us luck. Gold reports loss of two more planets. Though operations to re-take them are underway. Iodine says the operation to take the wormhole is still in the planning, though she has been able to get informants inside the defense network that surrounds it. She is waiting for further orders. Titanium is on stand by, but reports battle ready."
" And what of Zinc and Tungsten?" Xenon asked the man
" No word yet since they have publicly announced that they where going to stay with Carbon. Early reports suggest this is what has prompted Iron to move. Though we also have movement from Platinum and Lithium, if they keep their current heading they will be moving to Zinc's last know position. Iron's heading is unknown at this time, best guess would be moving with the Board."
Xenon sat a moment, thinking on all the new information, "Let Carbon know the latest news, and until he gets around to telling people what to do, have Titanium on ready to cover Zinc."
"Yes sir, messages will be sent right away" the man replied
"Have all ships ready for battle also, we are moving on Kyrene. Make sure all Comabt Crews are preped and ready to move. We are taking the research station, downloading its contents, then blowing it. Detailed reports will be given later to the Alkalines. Also have the fleet ready to give support to landing craft."
"Yes sir, anything else?" The man asked as he pecked on a datapad.
"That is all Halogen" Xenon said as he brought up a HUD that displayed his fleet.
The ship came alive with activity as things where being prepared for the attack. Marines checked over their gear. The Exo-suits where checked then double checked to make sure they would not malfunction during combat.
Xenon walked into his quarters, setting down a small stack of files on his desk. He then moved to the large windows, looking out at the ships that surrounded the Osiris. Soon many of these ships would sacrifice themselves for the safety trillions of people. People that would never know of what happened. They would live out their lives, not having to worry if death was going to come to them. They could live happy, because of the few ships that where here, standing against an enemy that could cause you to go mad, make you turn on your friends and family. An enemy that not only killed you in body, but also in mind. The way they manipulated people was sick and repulsive, and they had to be stopped. Xenon was determined to kill of the Advent, to stop them from destroying any more minds. He had to stop them from destroying the humanity.
The pirate fleet hung motionless at the main star of the Black 5 system. Consisting of twelve Jolly Roger battleships, ten pirate Dunovs, thirteen captured pirate Halycons, and fifteen pirate Vulkoras and about two hundred Corsairs, hundred and fifty Reapers, hundred and thirty Cutthroats, and fifty Pillagers. Helvad sat in her captain seat as the night wound down. This pirate fleet had done well in its simulations considering that pirates rarely work together. But with her experience as a former TEC officer and Ching's, who was her second in command, ability to bully the others into doing what needs to be done this fleet learned to cooperate. At least in simulations anyway. A comm beep interuppted her thoughts. "Ma'am," her comm officer said quietly, "a message for you." "What's it say," she asked. "Says, Go," he replied, "Nothing else." Helvad smiled wolfishly. Empyrail Templar Parkerspur sat in her meditation chamber on board the Trancendent Starbase Citadel the command starbase in the Kyrene Star Gravwell. The other three huddled in close support as all four starbases guarded the entrance to the Kyrene system. Parkerspur was enjoying the silence when it was broken by the wailing of an alert. Give me a report she said mentally at her second in command. Pirates, Templar came the report small group about 50 ships. I'm on my way up Parkerspur said fire off a Disorientor but use conventional weapons to take them out. Yes Templar! Parkerspur stood up and reached for her robe to clothe her naked body. She exited the chamber and walked slowly the command station. Pirates are not unusual and this was a typical attack so there were no worries, but she preferred to make sure of things. As she stepped onto the floor of the command station another report came through. Templar another group of pirates, 50 ships as well. Has the first group been disoriented? Yes Fire off the second Disorientor weapon when they come into range. Conventional weapons only. The starbases continued firing at the first group and quickly disoriented the second group. The weapons fire split between the two groups. A third group of pirates, again about 50 ships, appeared almost on top of the starbases. Fire off the Disorientor weapon! Parkerspur said fire conventional weapons at them as well. Templar our Disorientor weapons are down for recharge. Hopefully this is the last of them Parkerspur said. As if to answer defiantely a four group of 50 pirate ships appeared. Dammit cursed Parkerspur what the Shivo is going on?! Ready the meteors! The fourth group came into range and the meteors rained down on all the pirates ships. Several blew up and the starbases split their fire between the four groups. Then the rest of Helvad's fleet entered in well with in range of of the starbases. The twelve Jolly Roger Battleships fired off their Overcharged Ion Blasters three per starbase then followed up with gauss cannon shots. The pirate Dunovs fired of their gauss shotguns and EMP shots. The shields surrounding the starbases dropped to almost nothing and with their systems being overloaded the starbases could no longer fire back. The pirate Vulkoras began firing off their torpedoes which tore through the starbases as they were typical of all Advent vessels in which their main strength was shields, remove those and they were weak. One starbase disappeared in a brilliant flash that temporarily blinded everyone. Two of the three others slowly began to lose their position and smashed into each other. The final one, Citadel, recovered in time to fire off a blast of meteors but it did not have a disorientor weapon and quickly fell to the firepower of all those ships. "All bases are destroyed ma'am," a crew member reported to Helvad, "minimal casualties." "Excellent," she replied, "reform the fleet and proceed towards the target planet." "Yes ma'am," the crew member answered. The pirate fleet formed up at the edge of the gravwell and jumped into Kyrene I. There the Advent had a mid-sized fleet of three Radiance battleships, four Halycons, and two Motherships with about a hundred support vessels. Also a Starbase near the planet with several hangars and beam pods nearby. The pirate fleet charged into the defending force. One Jolly Roger battleship went down under a barrage of fire from Advent bombers and a Dunov was shattered by three hits from the Radiances and their blasts of cleansing brilliance. Mines that were nearby began homing in on the pirates and the pirate reapers began spitting firing at them, removing most. Some mines still made it through and a Vulkoras and several Corsairs were reduced to space debris. But the rest of the pirates ships slammed into the fleet and shattered it. All three of the Radiances were quickly neutralized by Ion Blasts. Advent Bombers were quickly brought down by pirate fighters and soon the rest of the Advent fleet collapsed under the brutal attack by the pirates. Helvad turned her fleet towards the remaining defenses and the planet. "Begin bombardment of the planet," she ordered. And while the main fleet engaged the starbase and defenses the Pillagers slingshot around the planet to engage the areas that had no defenses. They began to bombard the planet and billions of Advent died in the holocaust. And it was felt through out the whole Unity.
The battle of Kyrene has began
No longer necessary, see edits for OP.
(Personal Story/Te’ Eth ‘Es , Advent Home World)
Part Fifteen of Teir -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B7sH5QLyXY
- Te’ Eth ‘Es –
The Light screamed!!!
And Teir fell to her knees, the deep and aching pain of it washing over her. The Light wavered, threatening to fall into blackness.
She knelt, hands pressed to her knees, head bowed and saw through herself. She did not feel herself.
She was insubstantial.
A leaf pressed at the edge of a Great storm threatening to render each and every part of itself. To pass into oblivion and darkness and emptiness forever.
She felt as if a stirring breeze, the smallest of the small, were to pass over her, she would be gone,
down; in emptiness and nothingness, without even a memory to remain.
She knelt and felt the aching hurt for a thousand years.
It did not pass quickly.
But slowly,
Lingering in her, even after it stopped.
She rose, and stumbled on. Her weak footsteps pushing along the stone surface of the tunnel, that led out onto sand. The All Encompassing Light giving way to the overhead dimness of a dying star above a dying world.
She fell to the sand and could not move.
For long hours she simply knelt as the dim light burned her hands, her face. Blistered her lips and dried her skin to thin parchment peels of reddened flakes.
Her eyes threatened to never see again.
At dusk she shakily stumbled to her feet and moved on. Out into the deeper sand, blind, moving simply by the feel of breeze against her face, groping with her hands outstretched to guide her. Across the plain of sand, over rising sweeps of it, over small and then large hills of it, as the night fell down and the cold of chill air pressed against her aching skin.
At the top of a rise, after walking for hours, she stopped.
There was a sound here,
Something…
Barely a sound at all.
She turned to the east then, or what she assumed to be east, as it was to her left and toward the sound. The almost sound that ‘ting-ed’ inside the small space of her inner ear. Down the falling slope of the dune face to another plain, and a ruined city beyond that she could not see.
She walked until her feet felt as if they were wood, feelingless things at the end of her legs that simply moved forward, step rising, moving forward, falling down, step rising, moving forward, falling down.
Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again...
Until her legs gave out underneath her and she fell, face forward into the sand and lay there, exhausted, trying to pull air in through her mouth half pressed into the sand.
Lay there and shivered in the cold.
As the night pressed down further,
And the small winks of stars through a blackened ruined sky peered through those dark wisps that she could not see.
Blind.
The ‘ting’ became a smaller ‘tinging’ in the smallest part of her mind, down somewhere below even the sound of her own heart beat to barely feel, to barely hear, to barely be aware of…
She slept, not with any easing of mind, but as if blankness, unconsciousness that fell on her as quickly as a headsman’s axe.
When she stirred, the day was brown washed with haze. A light and darkness that swam in unknown patterns in front of her, she followed the tinging, which came in time to pinging.
Even and slow.
Dropping.
Dropping down.
Dripping down.
A sound of water dripping in a broken cistern from a shattered fountain well.
A handful lay in the bottom of the broken clay. She smoothed her hand over it and into it and brought droplets to her burnt and cracked lips.
“Aaaaahhhhhh!!” She cried at the pain, but slowly scooped another, sucking the cool liquid slowly as she winced at the pain of it. A footstep fell.
She turned, but only broken shells of half buildings lay close. Fifty spans from where she sat, half bent over the broken fountain wall.
She moved her hands underneath her and tremblingly stood, her feet now half wooden planks and her legs half wooden slates joined to her body. She turned slowly as not to fall and crossed the sand that eased itself into stone, white underneath into the cluster of one storied broken and crumbling buildings.
Was this a village then?
But as she came closer she saw the stone pavement of the road beneath her branched, in first one direction and then another and another and another. Leading out into deeper spaces and other clusters of white broken buildings, taller buildings of crumbling domes and half broken spires reaching skyward toward the blackened ruined sky above, still roiling in the burnt dimness of that barely glimpsed sun.
She followed the road, deeper, her legs moving mechanically, rise and fall, rise and fall, rise and fall… Until she came upon a building half smashed and turned to dust with white columns, some fallen and crushed, some standing with no support of brace or wall or rooftop alone, out from the others to a set of stairs that rose it seemed to heaven.
White marbled stairs ascending.
She raised her foot,
The wooden foot that still felt half of nothing and mounted the first stair.
She counted.
Counting names of those she had lost.
Those she had taken, when she hadn’t meant to.
But still had taken.
It was her penance.
It was her duty to them, to remember them. Always, always, always.
Gelle,
And Sere,
The five guards whose names she did not know.
G’Lina,
The twelve Novices that had been with her in the dining room when the roof above had collapsed in above them,
And Mother Superior.
But the stairs still rose, and she still took each one of them,
Counting her Father, A’brim,
And J’aim,
Silas, Tick, Eleridge Colson and Mallan Ferris, Old Sam and Old man Greever’s, and all of the farmers from home that she could remember, and then her cousins and her Aunts that had stayed behind, saying they were too old of course to run anywhere and if it was time, well then the Good Lord had his reasons and that was that.
She counted until she ran out of names, but the stairs still rose, but she stopped and lay down against the cool stone and rested.
Her throat was dry and she wished for a cup of water, but the fountain was too far below to consider going back, so she simply waited until some small measure of strength welled up, then she stood and rose the steps again.
The dim daylight fell, in angled rays through the blackened sky, beams of weak light shifting like bonfire lights on a festival night in spring.
When the yeet had been brought in, and the shill still needed shearing, the n’hel stabled and fed their hay and spring was on the eve, with cool drinks and pies and cakes on aproned tables and all the farmers from across the way in their finest linen.
Good women with bonnets and bright smiles, blue lace ribbons tied in their hair, or around their collars to show that they were married.
Men in their overcoats, brushed wool or heavy tack, with sewn buttons buttoned up nice and proper with a leather cord about their collars, and tied in two knots for the married men.
Heavy beards and combed mustaches. Hair pulled back and brushed or braided. And some, like Old J’aimilk sporting hoops of ear rings in his ears, with a twinkling eye for the single ladies, and all the old ladies giggled behind their hands, for Old J’aimilk was as old as the hills. And the young ones turned away blushing and half angry that he would smile with broken teeth at ‘them’.
But he was a good dancer, none finer in the far hills, and he was always proper no matter the lady young or old, and he told good jokes about wrestling yeet in the olden days, and riding bare back on n’hel before they were even tamed.
And old war stories with the old men, like himself, or grand tall tales that couldn’t have been real to the young men, though he often smiled and said you never could tell what could and couldn’t be, with a twinkle in his eye that had even serious A’brim, Teir’s father, saying he couldn’t discount completely.
She rose and went on until she could no longer walk, and then sat on the stairs as the dim sunlight failed, coming down in weaker strains until there were no more strains to fall. And she lay down on the steps, as wide as she was tall, marble stone pressed against her back and closed her eyes.
Sleep came easier this time, and she rested, and near to what she thought was morning, she rose and in the half light, started up the stairs again.
She raised a foot, slid it forward... placed it down onto the marble step, leaned her body forward and felt the muscles pulling, shifted her weight bringing the other foot up, sliding it forward... placed it down onto the next marble step, breathed, pulling hot air into her lungs, leaned her upper body forward, slightly bent and felt the muscles pulling, stretching, aching, shifted her weight forward, pushed with her lower foot, heel rising slowly up and then on toes and then lifting away from the step below to raise to the next step... the next step... the next...
She raised a foot, slid it forward... placed it down onto the marble step, leaned her body forward and felt the muscles pulling, shifted her weight bringing the other foot up, sliding it forward... placed it down onto the next marble step, breathed, pulling hot air into her lungs, leaned her upper body forward, slightly bent and felt the muscles pulling, stretching, aching, shifted her weight forward, pushed with her lower foot, heel rising slowly up and then on toes and then lifting away from the step below to raise to the next step... the next step... the next... step. She raised her foot... sliding it forward...
For hours.
Until she could no longer move.
Until she collapsed onto the marble steps and sat, her gray robe swirling in the sand swept wind around her.
She lay back on the marble stone, feeling the warmth of it through her robe, raised her arm and lay it over her face, hiding her eyes. She breathed shallowly, one breath, a beat, two beats, another breath, a beat, a beat, a third... closed her eyes and fell asleep on the stone, exhausted. Her muscles aching, her ribs throbbing with each breath.
She slept until nightfall, when the cold of the air wakened her. Then she tried to stand, slowly, her legs were like stones that were moved by someone else, by something else other than her will, her thought, her desire to step from one step to the next.
She rose, swaying in the wind, for a moment threatened to fall back down the steep incline to her death. She tried to catch herself, but again, it was as if it were someone else's body, someone else's muscles she was trying to move. She steadied and went on then, up the steps, peering into the dark at the rising stairs that kept ascending, out of her sight, moving slower than she had, slower even than when she had last rested. Slower and slower.
Would she ever finish?
Would she ever reach the top, if there was a top. Was there a top?
Would she walk until she was an old woman, bent and huddled in on herself, gray weathered and worn robe still flapping in the wind until her flesh was as thin as parchment paper and her eyes as wizened and as old as the stones around her?
Would she die on these steps, rising?
For what?
Why?
Because the sound still came to her...
in the back of her mind,
deep down,
like the pulse of her own heart,
soft and barely there at all,
but still there,
tinging,
tinging.
She went on until nightfall again, then rested on the stairs as she had twice before. Laid down and slept and her mind was blank with no dreams at all. The tiredness had wrung it out of her. She slept, and in the early light, before the dim sun through the black sky rose, she climbed to her feet and started up the stairs yet again.
Until in the middle of the third day she came to the top, and stood there, on the edge. Staring at sand and broken columns, and turned slowly and regarded the drop to the ground, which lay as if looking at twigs and ants in the garden behind the Convent, though nothing moved on the ground here at all, except the shifting sand and the breeze.
Ahead through sand drifts and broken columns lay an alcove, a wide arch of white marble half glimpsed, half buried and she moved toward it.
Working her way through the winding maze created by the fallen columns, through them and around them toward the deeper room that lay beyond.
*
Holy cow a lot has happened. Can someone do me a favor and drop me a PM with a summary or bullet points on what happened? I'm catching up on everyone posts bit by bit but would like a overall idea on whats going on (especially this war at Kyrene). I'm working on my next post and will be up no later than Wed/Thur. I'll have to make some changes to keep up to date with whats going on but perhaps I'll toss a wrench into some plans...hmmmm....perhaps...yes..hmmm...
<.< >.>
Yes, it certainly seems that the pace has picked up quite a bit. I will have to move on ahead my plans in my story and add an additional portion involving Kyrene. Wont say just yet what its going to be but I will say that Setsuna will change.
Sure Teal, Once I have a good amount written up I will send over a copy to you.
(Personal Story/Galan Star System, Midpoint of System)
Part Sixteen of Teir -
- Out of the Black –
Black ships move out of the black…
A larger ship shimmers for a moment, a soft haze of broken fractured light spreading out over the smaller ships, winking, winking,
Blinking.
The size of the fleet suddenly doubling.
They move on.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Moving in the dark, coming closer.
Closer.
To the single planet circling a single sun, shimmering in the black depths of cold, cold space.
A light forward of the larger ship, glows dull red as it recharges.
Moving.
(Saaren Star System, Trader Space, en route to Galan System) -
“Lieutenant Cuellen?”
The half young man turned regarding his sargent with a small smile, “Aye?”
“W’ ve a wee bit ‘o a pr’blem ser.”
“An’?” the half young man asked, glancing about the sturdy bridge, lights winking in half dim light, the officers quiet, but no doubt all ears perked.
“’Er fuel, ser… weel… ah… weel, we kin go on ‘er not go on. ‘Tis this ‘er that. ‘er fuel cells ‘aven’t recovered an’ de woon’t be chargin’ en’uff fer us ta consider one ‘er da oother.”
“An’ dis fleet of Vaa Sari? Doo we k’no ‘ow large der fleet ‘tis?”
“Uncoonfirmed num’bers ser, battalion size ’tis wh’a we figger, as the Lizards ‘er wont ta doo.”
The half young man half smiled and turned to his chair, pushing a finger down on the communicator.
“Ship an’ crew… we ‘ave a choice upon us den. We go on, ‘er not as da case is. ‘Er fuel is wantin’ an’ its stay ‘er teern away back. Iffen any w’ish to teern, den say yer piece na’.”
The comm was silent.
After several long moments, the half young man turned to the sargent.
“Weel, I din’t half think I’d be blessed twice ‘in me life with da Lord’s good blessin’ upon me. ‘Tis a fine mornin’ ta see those flames fer Heaven’s sake, din ya think sarg’nt? With a Battalion, i doon think we'd be a considerin' a return home anyway. All's the pity, but we kin make it a fine one fer the folks aback home.”
The older sargent smiled and nodded.
“Aye, I t’ook a blessin’ as a chil’ meself, an’ ‘ave n’er looked back. Was a good an’ fine life we’ve had ‘til na, an’ I don think I cood ‘ave wanted a better.”
The half young lieutenant looked around the cabin of the bridge into the eyes of his crew.
Mayfair nodded.
And Muelson.
And Elizabeth Ann, her fingers hovering over the keys of her navigation panel, all of 19 and young, nodded.
The half young lieutenant turned away then slow.
T’was more the pity, to be dying so young, and half the crew was as old.
He looked again at the comm, but it remained silent.
Then he nodded to the girl,
And she pressed the keys,
Pressed the switch forward, and the ship nudged up, pushing the ship forward out to the edge of the stars well.
“T’wo systems a ‘hind us den.” The half young lieutenant said, “Prepare fer jump! Elizabeth, lass, yer fine co-oordinates den if ya please.”
The engines died.
Faded.
As she fed the co-ordinates into the panel and keyed the jump sequence.
Spirals of light shimmered at the nose of the “Calaban” Colonyship, then showers, then black and open space as it jumped away.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
