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.
(NO LONGER NEEDED, SEE EDIT FOR OP)
(DS RP)
Alexander leaves the meeting behind Ryat. Whether or not the others decide to chase after the Advent, he was fairly sure his sights were set on the Vasari and little more. That aside, he had a great deal of work to do if he were to accomplish even that much. His shuttle lands aboard the David, where upon opening the doors an ensign runs to him, "Sir, you'll want to come see this."
Alexander bolts out from the shuttle, racing behind the ensign as he carves a path through the crewmen and wreckage to the other end of the hangar bay. Alexander reaches sight of an escape pod being emptied, where an officer from the Jericho sights the Admiral and calls, "Sir, this way."
Alexander arrives at his side to find the men unloading the unconscious body of Captain Levin. "How is he?"
"He's stable, sir. Concussion and minor lacerations. We're not sure, but one of our guys thinks he has a broken rib," the officer replies.
"Was he the last one off?"
The officer shakes his head, "The captain couldn't keep tradition. During the fight a beam knocked him out and we had to carry him to the pod. I have no idea how many got off. Once the barrage began, our whole ship was paralyzed, no two sections could get a hold of each other."
Alexander backs away from the men aiming to move Levin onto a gurney. They hoist his body up and head away to make room for the continuing stream of men pouring from the pod. Alexander watches Levin depart for a moment before he turns to lend a hand to a soldier struggling to get to his feet. The man thanks him as he gains his footing and releases Alexander's hand. The Admiral wipes his brow, noticing a warm feeling stick to his forehead. He looks to his hand and finds a smear of blood on. Looking back at the soldier, who is now walking away, he spots blood on the back of his sleeve, soaked from elbow to wrist. Two medics run to his aid and he extends his arm, allowing them clear access to the wound.
Alexander steadily makes his way across the bay to the communication station, where he punches in a series of numbers and waits. "Commander Frishman here," it answers.
"Lieutenant Commander, prioritize logistic construction planetside. Skeleton crews can take care of fleet repairs."
"Sir, what about the orbital defenses?"
"Cancel them. We need our men on the ground. When cities are rebuilt, then we'll worry about the rest. In the meantime, call up our forces on the Vasari front. We'll have an easier time providing emergency relief with an Akkan available."
"Sir, are you sure we should call them from that front?"
A momentary and weak smile glances across his face, "I think they'll see more use here."
Before Frishman can reply, Alexander disconnects the call. When he turns around, a crewman runs to him, looking at his forehead with wide eyes. When the crewman attempts to call over a medic, Alexander calms him down, clarifying the cause for his apparent wound. From there, Alexander continues towards the medical section.
(No longer necessary view edit for original post)
(Personal / DS)
Finley System map can be found here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/Stant123/RFTFinleySystem.jpg
The Mary Read enters the Finley system and immediately begins to scan. Previous intel plots jump points to the first and fourth celestial bodies. Their target is a Terran class planet that sits closest to the star. The attack group marshals behind the Mary Read, forming at the jump point waiting for all of the pilots of the dummy ships to turn on the remote piloting systems and head off to their designated control frigates. Once the shuffle is complete, the Mary Read and her support group jump to Finley 1. The Mary Read arrives first and immediately gets the attention of the local defenses, a ragtag group of 24 frigates. They form a blockade line between her and the planet and begin to call her over the radio. "This is Captain Rollin. Identify yourselves and state the nature of your business." Casey ignores the call and orders her ship to be moved closer to the planet. "I repeat... This is Captain Rollin, identify yourselves and state the nature of your business here. If you refuse to answer, we will defend ourselves." Again Casey ignores the radio. "On my mark, raise the shields and charge all weapons systems." Her crew acknowledges her commands and prepares for battle. "This is Captain Rollin, we will open fire if you do not leave our system immediately. This is your last warning." One of the frigates advances and fires a shot across the bow of the Mary Read. Casey begins to grin, "Target that frigate. Charge weapons... Stand by to raise the shields and fire all forward batteries at it... A little closer... A little more... NOW!" The Mary Read has a blueish bubble appear around it that immediately fades to clear. At almost the same time, the bow guns lock onto the lead frigate and unload everything they've got on it. Suffering severe damage, the ship fires it's bow thrusters and turns away from the attack. The other frigates begin to advance on the Mary Read as the emergency call goes out to the ships on patrol in the system. Todd orders his ships to all hold position until the patrol arrives. In a voice only transmission, Casey calls out to Captain Rollin. "Now, now, captain, that wasn't a very welcoming reception... What if we had radio problems and couldn't respond?" "You obviously can respond since you are doing so now. Leave... Now!" the captain replies. "No. I don't think so. We need things you have, and since you so kindly invited us over for lunch, we'll be staying." "And you'll be sorry!" The captain barks over the radio. "All ships, weapons free, target that capital ship and turn it into writing in the history books!" The planet's defense ships all leap toward the Mary Read and open fire. She sits there just absorbing the damage while Casey laughs over the radio at all of the taunts being screamed at her. Todd calls in over a secure channel for an update. "How's it goin', Case?" "They're doing a good job of dropping my shield power. It seems that their offensive capability is more then what we were expecting. That patrol better get here soon, it's tough holding back." "I know what you mean. How do you think I feel? You at least get to be in the thick of things while I have to watch." Todd states. "I thought you dreamed about watching me get some action..." Casey replies in a sultry voice. "Yeah. With another girl... Not seven or eight hundered other guys." Todd replies while fighting off some laughter. "Maybe more, you jealous? I'm reading jump signatures." "Don't tease me..." "I'm not... Check your scanners." Todd looks at his scope... "FINALLY! I get to join in... Follow me everybody. Keep the drones in back so that our friends have clean shots when they jump in. Comms, send Tim the join us signal on a secure frequency." The patrol ships materialize at the edge of the well opposite Todd. His battle group drives hard to meet up with the Mary Read before the patrol can reach them. Having had to wait longer then expected, the Mary Read begins to lose her shields and take physical damage. Todd and his ships join the fray, reducing the amount of damage the Mary Read is taking until the patrol ships join in also. After taking a few strong blasts, Todd starts to agree with Casey that they're severely outgunned even though they still barely outnumber the system's fleet. Tim's battle group finally arrives, ID's themselves as having heard the emergency call, and hurries into battle. They officially announce their entry by targeting the drones from behind and unleashing everything they can into them. One by one, as expected, when the hulls reach critical, the explosives are detonated and in bright flashes of searing white hot light, they disintegrate into nothing more then metal particles. Some of Todd's ships, with a little help from the Mary Read's aft cannons, turn and do the same to the remaining drones in Tim's fleet. Eventually, most of Todd's ships are nearing critical and are ordered to retreat. Tim's group persues leaving the Mary Read behind to fend for herself. Todd radio's over to Casey before he jumps, "Don't stay out playing too late, or you won't get dessert after dinner." Casey radio's back, "I'm actually going to be right behind you, we're not going to have to play with the shields like we were planning. Most of the emitters have been damaged and the system is overheated." Todd and his group jump to the star Finley, followed immediately by Tim and his group. Once on the other side, they immediately turn for home and prepare for the next two long jumps. Right after they jump from the system, the Mary Read jumps to the star Finley and three beat up Sovas and a Marza suddenly appear. Still displaying their TEC markings and transmitting their TEC signals, Captain Rollin requests that they go to the first planet and speak to it's govenor while he chases down the pirates. They comply while Rollin's fleet continues to pound away on the Mary Read. Her position and heading are noted and charted so that they can follow her direction once she jumps from the system. Careful readings on her jump drive charge are measured so they can figure out how far she jumps as well. The Mary Read stalls at the edge of the gravity well, her aft takes a brutal display of force before she leaps away. Captain Rollin asks his sensor officer, "Did you get the readings?" The sensor officer replies, "Yes sir. They're headed to an uncharted star system. We can take her heading and charge and extrapolate an end point, but who knows what we'll find when we get there." "Order the fleet to jump. I want those pirates to learn a harsh lesson." "Aye sir, sending the data to the fleet." They take up position at the edge of the well and jump into the unknown.
Thenos Garr strode into the meditation chamber of the High Psintegrat, admiral of the first Advent fleet to reach Distant Stars. As he approached the curved, stylish silver chair, the only furniture in the dark room, on which the High Psintegrat sat, he fell to one knee. Sensing his presence, the elderly woman opened her eyes.
“I have come, as requested, my Lady,” said Thenos. Opening a conversation with spoken words was a sign of respect, one often forgotten by most Advent.
“You have great psychic talent,” the High Psintegrat began. Where was this leading? A promotion perhaps? With these thoughts filling his mind, Thenos didn’t notice that these words had been spoken.
Thank you, my Lady,
“No!” the Psintegrat said sharply, “you will speak with your mouth, not your mind. This conversation is not intended for the rest of the Unity.”
“My apolo-”
“As I said, your powers are great, which is not natural for a male. However, they are dangerous. Is it true that you mentally took control of your crew in your latest battle?”
“Yes, but I had their permission.”
“Nevertheless, you used their lives as tools for your own ends.”
“But the fleet would’ve been lost! We didn’t expect the pirates to have capital ships!”
“Silence!” ordered the High Psintegrat,” “I have listened to your excuses long enough. You have forced my hand. I am going to disconnect you from the Unity.”
==========================================================================
If I've misunderstood the way the Unity works at all in these stories, please tell me. Thanks.
And I know its's a bit short, but there's more on the way.
(All going on in Advent's territory in Distant Stars. AKA It doesn't tie into the current stories unless it's wanted )
It was a meditation chamber. Thought came neither in nor out of it. As he departed Kyrene, a prisoner onboard his own ship, Thenos thought through the events that had lead to him being cast from the Unity. If thought neither entered no exited the chamber, then the High Psintegrat’s reason for him to speak normally was invalid. So she must have had different reasons for wishing him to not use his psychic abilities. Fear, perhaps? Thenos smiled at this thought as he leaned back against the wall of his cell.
He glanced towards the guard, standing on the other side of the shield that kept Thenos from the outside world. Thenos stretched out with his mind, trying to find an entry point into the man’s mind, but to no avail. The guard, being a soldier, was trained to keep his mind closed to all except to his comrades and superiors when on duty. There was no route back to the Unity through this mind. A thought occurred to Thenos. Even a basic psychic, such as this soldier, could close their mind to others. The High Psintegrat only used a meditation chamber to save her the effort of closing her mind herself. So the meditation chamber hadn’t been there to stop others poking at her mind. Realisation dawned. The meditation chamber had been for him, to stop him calling for help, to stop the Unity seeing what the true motives of the High Psintegrat were. Thenos was convinced that it was fear that caused the High Psintegrat to act as she did. If she had been convinced that he had to be removed for a valid reason, she would have done the act in the open. The Psintegrat must have thought he was a rival for her position.
Thenos focused once more on the present, happy with his theory on the High Psintegrat’s reasoning. The guard was a non-starter. He would have to wait until someone more open minded passed by. That would be the path back to the Unity. There was a slight bump as the ship ended its phase jump. Thenos thought about trying to extend his mind, to reach further into the ship to find an open mind, but decided against it. He was too tired. When he entered the minds of his entire crew in the battle with the pirates, he had been well rested, and had the strength of the Unity behind him. But now, now that the pain from the connections being torn from his mind had faded, all Thenos felt was fatigue, and a sense of loss, of loneliness.
Hearing a soft exclamation, Thenos glanced back at the guard. The man was sweating, with a look of great concentration on his face. Thenos stood and walked to the shield of the cell. The man gave a cry of pain and fell to his knees, shaking violently. After a while, the guard stopped shaking.
“Is something wrong?” Thenos asked. A stupid question, but there wasn’t much else to say.
“They’ve gone!” the guard exclaimed, looking up at Thenos, panic in his eyes, “I tried to stop them, but someone closed my mind to the others!”
“Closed your mind to the others?” asked Thenos. Thenos started to check the guard’s mind again. He was making no sense. His mind would have answers. Keep him speaking, so he won’t notice.
“I can’t hear their voices anymore!” The soldier's mind was a mess. A writhing ball of panic and fear, but most importantly, it was isolated.
“You can’t feel the Unity any more…”
( DS Main topic )
Xenon watched the group file out of his room. Rage was flowing though him as the comment of Alexander stayed in his mind. He moved to hit a small button on his desk.
" Bridge, go ahead Paragon"
" Get Sanders, his crew, and the device back aboard the Osiris, now" Xenon said as he closed the comm to the bridge of his ship. Damn that man for acting like i dont watch out for my men. And Damn him for not trusting the Visari. Xenon had his doubts in the begging, but Ryat had helped him over it. Xenon was only close to one person, and that was Carbon, but if there was a second place it would probably be Lord Ryat. They had worked a lot together in previous year and had become one of the few Xenon could trust. He just needed to calm down. He would let J'rah take the device with him so his men could look it over. Xenon hadnt even noticed the addition of the nano-tech, something J'rah had picked out at hi first glance over the specs.
" Bridge to Xenon"
" Go head bridge" Xenon said as he moved to his closet.
" Carbon just jumped into system, seems he brought friends too"
Xenon stoped what he was doing, " Friends? Who are we talking about?" Xenon asked out loud
" Looks to be Mecury and Titanium. I thought they where at the front sir"
"They where... , where is the Ammut fleet?" Xenon asked still standing where he was
" A few jumps away though they just got a distress signal from a Finely system, saying they might go investigate"
" How far away is that?" Xenon asked trying to look for a star chart
" Six jumps till they reach the Eras system sir"
" And where is the line at now?" Xenon asked as he finially found the chart he was looking for
" Its moving back and forth, about eight jumps from here sir"
" Well its about to head our way, tell them to hurry up if they are going to look into things over there" Xenon said as moved back toward his closet
"yes sir, And Sanders is on his way we have a suttle moving to pick him up now"
" Good tell him to give me his report when he gets aboard" Xenon said removing his trench coat
" yes sir, Bridge out"
Xenon continued to remove his jacket and his gloves, finishing with his boots. He moved to a side closet, one he rarely used and usually kept locked up. He used a small key that he had around his neck to open it slowly, carfully as to not desturb the items inside.
He sat in his quarters, waiting for Carbon to come see him. It was time to act...
Alexander sits near Levin's bed, leaning back in the folding chair provided for him. The equipment Levin's connected to beeps and hums as it watches over his situation. His midsection, left arm, and head are wrapped up. An ensign comes into the room, "Sir, Xenon has sent a shuttle to take the White Impulse. Should we give them clearance to land?"
Alexander nods, "Sure, let them get that thing out of here."
"Yes, sir. We've also detected a large number of TEC vessels arriving in-system."
"Well, unless the others are scrambling about, we'll assume they're friendlies. Take care of planet recovery for the time being. By the way, how are the Centauri doing?"
The ensign takes a deep breath, "The irrecoverable ships have all been disposed of and crews reassigned. Most of them are working planetside and their ships are almost ready for flight. Battle capacity is still hit and miss."
Alexander chews the inside of his cheek for a moment while slouched forward in the chair. "Alright, tell them to keep up the good work and have Lieutenant Commander Frishman give me a report on all Lions. I don't care where they are, I want every last one located."
"Yes, sir," the ensign replies before heading out.
“I can help you,” Thenos said.
“What?” the guard replied.
“I said, I can help you,” Thenos began, mind already thinking of a plan, a way of solving his problems, “but you have to let me out of my cell first.”
“But I was told-”
Thenos shrugged. “Or you could just stand out there on your own. Your choice.” On your own. That was the key phrase. That definitely struck a nerve, considering the guard’s new problem.
“Fine,” the guard said, then tried to assert some authority, picking up the rifle he had dropped when he was separated from the Unity, “but I am allowed to use lethal force if you try anything.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Thenos said, as the shield to the cell flickered, then faded. He stepped out, the guard’s gun tracking him. Ignoring this, Thenos stretched out a tendril of thought to the guard.
“You feel that?” Thenos asked. The guard nodded, unable to speak and use his mental abilities at the same time. Not the most skilled psychic, but he would have to do.
“Find the route that I’ve made. Strengthen it at your end.” Thenos felt the psychic input from the guard, and locked on to it. A sudden sensation of belonging told Thenos that the link had been successful.
“Well done,” Thenos congratulated the guard, “it’s not quite the Unity yet, but it’s a start.”
“Thank you, sir,” The guard replied. The guard had called him sir, a title showing respect, and an acknowledgment of superiority. A good start, considering that they had been speaking for less than ten minutes. And now, Thenos sent the memories of the events in the meditation chamber, then his theory on the High Psintegrat’s motives, just to secure the guard's loyalty. Finally, he sent an expansion on the theory.
And I’m now pretty sure that it would’ve been her who stripped you of your connection to the Unity.
“What makes you think that?” the guard replied, speaking. Evidently he found that easier than telepathy.
So that I can’t reconnect to the Unity. And if that’s the case, it will be the entire crew. Now, Thenos asked, can you show me to the barracks?
It didn’t take much persuasion to get the troops in the barracks to bond with him. Not only was he their captain until the incident with the High Psintegrat, they also believed his theory on how they’d lost their place in the Unity. They had no better explanation, and it did make sense. Disconnect your opponent from the Unity, send them somewhere out of the way, then disconnect their crew as well. That way, there was no way that they could reconnect to the Unity. Unless they no longer needed the Unity. Thenos had found his own solution: His own Unity. He had promised the soldiers vengeance for trespasses against them, a theme already engraved deeply into the Advent psyche. And now that he had the entire compliment of the ship’s marines, he was effectively in charge of the ship. As he and a small compliment of marines stood in the elevator to the bridge, he sent a message along the psychic pathways linking him to them.
Alright, try not to shoot anybody, but cover me. Don’t expect violence.
The lift let out a cheery little ping as it reached the bridge. The doors opened, and the soldiers charged in, taking up positions on the other side of the doorway. Thenos strode out onto the bridge. It was gleaming white, just as he had left it. He looked around, taking in the stunned looks of the bridge crew. His response was a simple one.
“Don’t all cheer at once.”
(DS Lore)
"That Xenon character is interesting" Usyma said looking out the window of Lord Ryat's office while he went through the reports from Duke Edmenton. "His hatred towards the Advent is almost..." she paused as she looked for the right word, "Psychotic." "From what I understand," Lord Ryat said without looking up from the reports, "his injuries are due to the Advent." Usyma turned to look at him. "How so?" she asked. Ryat looked up at her. "Well," he began, "that's mostly conjecutre. As you know I always keep files on ones I feel are important. Xenon is one of them. Oddly enough though I could find very little on him. But he was in charge of an expedition force for the -Ue_ about the time the Advent attacked. Then suddenly a massive black hole appears in his files for quite some time. No reports of any kind. Then suddenly he appears, again for the -Ue_ only now he is in Intel and he apperently has changes done to his physical form, aka his metal body that he keeps hidden behind his uniforms, of sorts." "He couldn't have had all those files blacked out could he?" Usyma asked. Ryat shrugged. "Possible, being head on Intel in a rather large company of the TEC gives him a lot of power," he said, "I barely got the info about where he was at before the black out period. I had to do some serious digging. Anyways, that info that I did gather plus his animosity towards the Advent made me assume that the injuries sustained had to be from the Advent. but like I said, thats just conjecture." The office comm beeped. "Go ahead," Lord Ryat said activating the comm. "My Lord, Carbon has just arrived," the person on the comm reported. "About time," Ryat said, "Invite him over to Phoenix as soon as possible please." "Yes my lord," the person said. "Now with his reinforcements and mine. we can move ahead as planned," Lord Ryat said, "After, of course, the good Duke finishes of the Ario System."
Duke Edmenton watched the tactical holoprojection of Ario I. Ario I was a dwarf sized urbanized planet that the Advent had gained control of. It was also the main planet for the Advent in this smallish system of four gravwells. So the fleet that he engaged was small. They had a starbase that fell quickly to his elite bombers and the fleet of two Radiances and 3 Haylcons with a small escort force of Illuminatiors and Disciples fell quickly to the force that he brought. Lord Ryat had commanded him to leave half of the force he brought at the Eras Star and had him build four starbases at the star. Lord Ryat wanted his back secure. The crushing and conqueroring of this system was Lord Ryat's way of handling lose ends. Plus, much of the fleet that Edmenton had was inexperienced. Hence he left the experienced force at Eras Star and took this group for a training session of witch hunting. Edmenton smiled thinly as the last of the command posts on the planet was destroyed. The last broadcast tower disintegrated under the pounding of the bombers adding its dead carcass to the ever expanding debris field. "Send a message to Heiro to send down their commando teams and take over the planet," Edmenton ordered. "Then prepare the fleet to jump to Ario II." Ario II was a desert planet that according to his intel had a series of tradeports there. The last two gravwells were asteroid belts that would soon be taken over by any Protevs that would soon be wandering this system. Then they would join up with Lord Ryat and see what he wanted to do.
(Personal / DS) Much to the surprise of Captain Rollin, they end up at another star, almost right behind the Mary Read. They begin to open fire again as she powers up to full throttle trying to get away. Still without shields, her flank takes direct hit after direct hit causing her main engines to fail. "Report!" Casey yells. "Engines down, Ma'am, but we have enough momentum to make it to the jump point." one of the damage control officers yells back. Casey gets on the radio, "Todd, main engines are offline, we're making the jump hot, we got followed." Hearing no reply, she repeats her message. "Damn it! Did we lose communications too?" "We're taking too much damage Ma'am." One of the damage control officers reports. "We're losing control of our systems, and we've got hull breaches all over the back half of the Mary Read." "Do we still have maneuvering and jump capability?" "Yes Ma'am, but I don't know for how long. We've abandoned working on the shields, the main engines, hull repairs, and even life support in order to maintain those systems so we can make the next jump." "Very well, let's hope we make it." Captain Rollin see's that she's venting atmosphere and he gloats to his crew, "You see, not even pirates can stand up to our might! Send them a message that they will never defeat us! Fire with everything you've got! She's running, and if she makes the next jump, we'll finish her there!" His crew cheers in support as they continue the chase. The Mary Read drifts to the edge of the well, turns into position, and takes several shots broadside while her jump drive charges. She soon vanishes and her persuers, having gained lots of ground still being under power of their own engines, line up in position and make the jump as well. On the other side, the crew of the Mary Read is treated to the sight of Roesh's capital ships. Realizing Casey's vessel is severely damaged, many of the frigates begin to head her way to lend assistance. Before anyone can react, Captain Rollin's fleet appears almost right on top of the Mary Read. Some of the frigates exit the jump and crash right into the back of her and explode, thrusting her ahead as if she had just regained her engines. The massive jolts shake the entire ship, knocking everyone to the floor and shattering her backside. As the crew gets back to their feet, Casey demands a status report again. The damage control officer reports, "We've lost everything, navigation, propulsion, steering, weapons, shields, main engines, main power, back up power, communications, life support, large sections of our hull... Everything... The Mary Read is lost." Casey yells over the intercom, "Find the nearest escape pod and abandon ship! A few more shots like the last few and everything left on board is debris..." Rollin's scanner officer delivers the report, "Sir! She's lost all power and is starting to break up. There's also several TEC capital ships at the edge of the well advancing on the asteroid." Rollin then radio's Roesh, "TEC ships... We're in pursuit of pirates, please assist us." Todd orders his battle group to defend the Mary Read and Tim does the same. Roesh orders his capital ships to engage the intruders and mark the positions of the escape pods as soon as they start getting readings that they're launching. Rollin radio's again, "TEC ships! Help us destroy these pirates!" Not getting an answer, he looks out the window in disgust. "Men, we're going to have to do this the hard way." He gets on the comm again, "Let inertia and gravity do it's work, nudge the broken pirate ship on course to hit the asteroid and let's get the hell out of here!" Several of his fleet maneuver up alongside the Mary Read and aim her at Roesh's base. Several more ships get destroyed trying this, and many more of the battered and beaten battle groups that Todd and Tim are in charge of get destroyed taking fire while leaving a defensive posture in an attempt to prevent the intruders from destroying the Mary Read. Roesh has his crew analyze the attack. At first they believed they were trying to move into position to take over the Mary Read, or at least use her as a shield, but soon they realize what Rollin is really up to. Being too far away to get in the way, he radio's out to all in the well to evacuate, knowing fully well that the main hanger is filled to the top with explosives and will severely damage anyone nearby when it goes. Shuttle craft stream out of the asteroid and get to the edge of the gravity well as fast as they can. Rollin remarks, "These TEC are in league with the pirates... We need to return home now!" He radio's his fleet again, "Push the broken ship and return home immediately!" A couple of frigates get in behind the Mary Read using her as a shield and give their engines full throttle after making contact with her hull. In seconds, the ships break off and head for the exit. More frigates on both sides fall and explode in the chaos of all out war. Roesh watches in horror at the sight of the Mary Read making contact with the superstructure on the asteroid and exploding. The jolt and blast knock the asteroid out of it's orbit for mere seconds before the main hanger detonates. In a blast that can only be described as witnessing the birth of a new star, the asteroid's structures are all turned to dust, and wiping out everything and everyone nearby. The scanners on all of the ships in the well report the loss of gravity immediately following the explosion. All the fighting stops, giving Rollin all the time he needs to slip away. Roesh get's on his radio, "Todd, I'm leaving the Pioneer (Akkan) and the Abettor (Dunov) here. Take command and coordinate the rescue operations. Make finding Casey a priority. I'm taking the Advocate (Dunov), Assailant, Contender, and the Foe Hammer (Kols) with me to chase them down before they have a chance to alert the colony. that we attacked them." "Yeah boss, we'll transfer everyone over and meet up with you later..." The 4 capital ships jump to the star just in time to see Rollin halfway to the jump point. Roesh orders his strike craft to launch and pick off as many as they can while they race to catch up. A handful of bombers and fighters launch and speed over to the running frigates. The fighters target engines and comm arrays slowing the frigates down and removing their ability to communicate, while the bombers pick apart the tattered ships, bringing them to a halt or outright destroying them. Before Roesh can catch up, 5 of the frigates manage to make the jump. The strike craft are recalled and the Kols finish off the frigates that are left without main engine power as they approach the jump point. In a flash, Roesh lines up and jumps, having undamaged ships, he clears the long jump seconds faster then Rollin, gaining lots of ground on him. The strike craft are launched again as the ships open up with everything they've got, first destroying Rollin's frigate, then taking out the remaining. They then set course to jump to Finley 1.
The Ammut Fleet had just reached Finley 1. There was no sign of the defesive force that had sent out the destress becon that the Fleet had responed to. the Fleet compised of two Marza, 3 Kol, 2 Dunvo, 2 Akkan, and a single Sova. They had with them 150 heavy crusers, 50 repair frigets, 100 long range missle frigets, and 20 light carriers. As they approched the planet they sent a message asking where the milita had gone.
" Last we heard they went to chase down the pirates" was the response the fleet recieved.
They decied to wait for a bit hopeing that the force would return.
"Sir we got incoming ships, unknown origin, coming from the star, please advise" a young looking officer reported to the captian of the flag ship of the fleet, the Atum, a Kol.
The Captian of the Atum spoke out, " Have them idetify themselves once they get in the gravwell, if we dont know them then they dont go near this planet, we may be at war with our fellow explorers, but we still need to protect our people and the planets they live on"
" Yes sir we will await thier response" the officer said back
" Very good, lets hope this doesnt turn out ugly" The Captian said to his crew
Alexander still sits near Levin when an ensign again walks into the room, "Sir, Paragon Carbon has just arrived. He is scheduled to meet with Lord Arnoldt."
Alexander looks over, "Alright, send him my greetings, but inform him that I am in dispose of. How are we coming on the Lions?"
"Blue Fleet is stationed at the Asimov station, where we left them. Red Fleet is near the other end of the Vasari front and Green is in service at Ganymede Station."
Alexander nods, "Have them arrive as soon as they can break away. I'll be needing them here."
"Sir, that will leave our two systems dependent on all other TEC forces."
"I know, but it's well within Trader space. They should be okay for the moment."
"Yes, sir," the ensign replies before leaving. A short time passes before Levin opens his eyes and looks over.
Alexander rises from his chair, "How are you doing?"
"I feel like someone stuffed me in a cramped ship, rattled it around with a thousand missiles and ejected me out of the plasma vents."
Alexander cracks a grin, "Two out of three ain't bad."
"How's the Jericho?"
The grin disappears, "She went down. Death toll is still being tallied."
Levin turns his head away, closing his eyes as a heavy sigh travels through his nostrils. "God."
"I know. It's a lot to take in right now."
Levin turns back, shaking his head, "It's not that. We're not fighting Vasari. We're not even fighting Advent. What the hell are we doing fighting our own, Alex?"
Alexander can't help but give his teeth a slight grind at the thought, "I don't know, but we won't be part of it long. One way or another. For now just get some rest. Paragons Xenon and Carbon have arrived. They should give us some breathing space for a bit. You worked with them, right?"
Levin shakes his head, "Not Xenon."
"Alright. Get better and I'll see you soon."
Levin nods and closes his eyes while Alexander throws on his dress coat and heads out of the room and towards his quarters. He imagines that even a half hour of sleep will do him better than none at this point. The rest could wait at least that long.
Thenos now leaned back in the captain’s chair. It was similar to the High Psintegrat’s one in her meditation chamber. Curved, flowing, in such a way that it seemed to be in motion. It was also shaped to give maximum comfort to those who sat in it, which Thenos considered to be the most important aspect of a chair.
“Thank you for keeping my seat warm for me,” Thenos said.
“Sorry sir…” Daala, the second in command, said apologetically.
“It is no matter,” Thenos said, putting everyone at ease, “I see that we pulled off an emergency stop.”
“Yes,” Daala explained, “I believe that someone in the engine department remained integrated for long enough after…” She gestured vaguely with one hand.
“After the High Psintegrat cut you off from the Unity,” Thenos finished for her. There were cries of outrage, murmurs of disbelief from the bridge crew. Thenos knew that he would be sick of the story by the time he in full control of the ship again, but began his tale of the High Psintegrat from the beginning anyway.
It took a little more persuasion than with the marines for the bridge crew to join him, but after bonding with the first few believers, Thenos simply let those present be persuaded by their comrades. As the crew began to reintegrate themselves into the ships systems, Thenos stretched his mind through theirs, into the ships psychic pathways, down to the weapon batteries, the reactor, the engines. He knew that the bridge crew were now doing the job of telling others about the events that lead to this new state of affairs. Thenos could feel his new web of minds growing, as this new Unity spread throughout the ship. Leaving the psychic circuitry of the ship, Thenos turned to Daala.
So, he asked, where are we?
A deep space sector in neutral territory, Daala told him, bringing up a holographic map from one of the chair arms, we were meant to drop you off on this planet here.
Any phase lanes out of here? Thenos inquired.
No known ones, bar the one we got here by and the one the High Psintegrat wanted us to take, but I’ll get the astropaths to scan for additional nearby celestial bodies.
As Daala strode over to the navigation helm, Thenos wondered what he would do next. If this was neutral space, there should be some planets that would join him. Zooming out on the chair’s map, Thenos peered at the entire territory of Distant Stars. He was, from the Advent’s point of view, off to the right of the war area, moving out into the unknown. He was still parallel to the front lines though, so it would just take a long journey back the way he came to attack either the TEC or the High Psintegrat. That was a key part of his plan. Remove the High Psintegrat. Get the revenge that he’d promised the crew. A telepathic message interrupted his thoughts.
Sir! It was Daala. Thenos walked to the navigation helm. He looked at the large hologram. There were now two additional phase lanes marked. Thenos looked at them.
That one, deduced Thenos, is probably a wormhole, and I’m willing to bet that the other is a small planet. Set a course to the planet. Meanwhile, I’m going to get changed. This prisoner’s garb no longer seems appropriate.
Thenos checked how he looked in the mirror on the wall of his cabin. His captain’s uniform combined aesthetics with functionality. The material was comfortable, but sturdy, all in a deep navy blue. The built in alloy breastplate was almost unnoticeable, its dark grey colour blending in with the rest of the uniform. It would allow him to survive a small arms shot to the chest. He then checked that the piece of material hanging around his neck was correctly adjusted, pulling it up so that it covered his neck, mouth and nose. He let it fall again. He didn’t need it right now. Finally, Thenos made sure that the cape was within reach. He would attach it later, as he had more pressing matters to attend to now. He sat at his desk, and called up a complex, full colour hologram of the ship. The blue and white colour scheme meant that it would match the rest of the High Psintegrat’s fleet. Thenos had different plans. He began his changes, until his new design was complete. The blue of the ship was now replaced with red, a deliberate contrast to the High Psintegrat’s design. And now, before he submitted these requests for when they docked, he changed the words that told all that the ship’s name was Enduring Freedom, to Revenge.
"So the reports were true..." Braken looked out over the grav well from the bridge windows. Even though clean up efforts have been in full swing the grav well looked like a junkyard.
The com tech spoke up, "Sir, Carbon is need with Lord Ryat...Admiral Alexander is reqesting a meeting also."
"Seems everyone missed us." Braken said mockly. "Relay the request to the High Paragon. Alrighty lets go see what we can do to help, move the Division to Alpha point. Lets our friends know we brought supplies also. Lets have Titanium stationed around the phase gate. Mercury I want watching out back...Have him saction patrols. Idoine is in charge of planet operations. Lets go people!"
Several "Yes sir." responded as tech and officers went about delegating task. The different Division started to break and scatter thoughout the grav well. Assisting who and what they could.
Carbon stood on the flight deck. Watching the shuttle crew go over last second checks. A tech came running up to him, "Sir..." handed him a holopad, then took off. Carbon studied the news. With a frown on his face. The hum of the shuttles engines charging up, brought him back from his thoughts. Walking up the ramp into the shuttle, "Were going to Lord Ryat first." he said over the noise to the pilot. The pilot nodded. Carbon headed back to compartements behind the cargo bay. The engine noise disappeared as the ramp sealed shut. Taking a seat he couldnt help but think how close they all were to losing it all.
There was a knock on the cabin door. Thenos reached out with his thoughts.
Yes? He inquired. Telepathy meant that there was never any need to invade another’s privacy.
It’s Daala, sir, came the reply, I’ve just been informed that there’s a situation in the medbay. You’re needed right away.
On the way to the medbay, Daala relayed the situation.
She was working on the reactor core when the psychic attack came. Looks like she fell a long way, but she hasn’t suffered any major physical injury.
So what’s the problem?
She’s in a coma, but the medic says that there’s no physical reason for her to be. He said that he would need a strong psychic to check her mind, so-
So you got me? I appreciate that.
Thenos and Daala entered the medbay. A medic stood to attention and reported.
She’s on life support sir. I can’t access her mind, and there seems to be no physical-
I know, interrupted Thenos, can you fetch me a chair? And Daala?
Yes?
I need you on the bridge. Get the ship ready for when we exit phase space.
Daala hurried away, as the medic guided a psycho-sensitive hovering chair to Thenos. Thenos sat, closed his eyes, and searched for the patient’s mind. He wasn’t surprised that the medic couldn’t find it. It was barely recognisable as a human mind. It was like comparing a house to a bombed out ruin. However, Thenos was able to locate a tiny spark of consciousness. And with it, he found the problem. Keeping his mental probe stable, he reported to the medic.
“Her mind’s a wreck,” he spoke, unwilling to disrupt the fragile link between him and the stricken crewmember, “but she’s alive. She’s focusing all her mental energy on something. Wait…”
Thenos probed at the small orb of thought.
“She’s still connected to the Unity!” he exclaimed, “but barely. And it’s slowly taking up her energy, killing her. I bet that when she fell, she was knocked unconscious. The High Psintegrat lost the psychic connection to her, so the link to the Unity was only damaged. But her mind…”
“Can you help her?” asked the medic.
“I think so,” Thenos replied. Now he had a plan. A plan that would earn him a small fleet, “and I think that she can help us too.”
(Personal / DS) Upon arrival to Finley 1, over a secure channel, Roesh calls Henry on the Firebrand (Marza), who immediately responds and appears on screen. "Any communications come in through here just prior to our arrival?" Henry replies, "Not a one, and there's no indication the colony got any encoded messages either. I've been talking with the govenor this whole time trying to work out a deal." "What have we got so far?" "Nothing really. They don't even want to share the system." "That's too bad, because of their overzealous captain of the guard, we are now down lots of personnel, ships, supplies, and one home." "How is that possible?" Henry asks. Roesh sighs, "It seems that in the rush to colonize the stars out here, a silent arms race has occured and everyone has better stuff then us. They used the Mary Read as a big bullet and smashed her into the asteroid... I'm going to have to get in touch with some people that I've heard about out here and sink some serious money and supplies into retrofitting... Which means that mearly operating out of this system is no longer good enough. We need to control it and set up operations like what we had in The Hub." "I'd have to agree, but how do we do that without inciting a revolt planetside?" "Who cares abut a revolt. At this point, as long as it's not against us, it only helps. Patch me through to the govenor." The screen splits in half and the govenor of Finley 1 appears and Henry makes the introduction. "Govenor Kieran, this is Roesh, Roesh, Govenor Kieran of Finley 1." Kieran nods, "A pleasure, your friend here was trying to negotiate a trade bargain in exchange for use of other planets in our system. A generous deal, in fact, but we have to decline. I don't want our peaceful system to become the center of a new empire or anything like that." Roesh replies, "Well, that's really not on the table any more." "Oh? Why is that?" Kieran asks. Roesh continues, "The problem with that deal is that it assumed we'd still have a home. Your captain... He got a little excited at the prospect of having us assist him in taking out the pirates and got a little careless." "What do you mean! Where is Rollin?" the govenor demands. Roesh takes a second to reflect on the past hour of events. "The pirates entered our system, after seeing all of my ships here answering your distress call, probably correctly assuming we didn't leave much behind. Long story short, we were handling the frigates and he insisted that his fleet destroy the battleship. All was well and good until it headed for our asteroid where we were preparing to start up massive mining operations in the nearby sectors, destroyed its manuevering and crashed it right into our home. The blast took out everything close to it. Our ships, our supplies, your fleet, my fleet, your people, my people..." Roesh transmits a closeup video of the Mary Read crashing and the ensuing explosions. Henry steps back in shock, "HOLY SHI.... We've seen our fair share of battle, but I've never in all of my years seen anything like that before." Govenor Kieran lowers his head in sorrow. "I'm terribly, terribly sorry for your loss. Please, if there are any survivors seeking refuge, bring them here immediately. I simply will not allow anyone to be turned away after seeing the devestation that we are partly responsible for. Don't bother with the outlying planets and moons. Bring them here." "As you wish, govenor. I'll leave the Fulcrum, Crux, Affliction (Sovas), Assailant, and Foe Hammer here for your protection while the rest head back with me to gather up the survivors." Roesh cuts off communications and his Dunov, the Marza Henry is on, and the remaining Kol, head back to their former home. Upon arrival Todd informs Roesh that Casey was hurt, but is ok and onboard the Pioneer. Salvage of everything they can was well underway, and the frigates that could no longer be used were parked in the middle of the former grav well and shut down. As time passes, everything is picked through and the debris scatters further and further away until there's almost no trace of anything there anymore. Henry takes it upon himself to program the now derilict ship's computers with a message to memorialize the fallen and a copy of the video. When there's nothing left, Roesh, and his fleet head for Finley 1. When they arrive, the injured are transferred planetside. Roesh has the Fulcrum, Crux, Assailant, and Foe Hammer sweep the system and patrol it's borders. The others maintain a high orbit over Finley 1 and a meeting is called aboard the Advocate. Roesh, Todd, Henry, Tim and the six remaining ship captains, Stephany Gura, Julie Stormer, Jake Nishi, Tyra McCurtain, Ismael Taylor, and Gabriella Hubiak meet in a cramped meeting room, while the other four captains, Josh Ellis, Robert Powley, Marcos Steinbock, and Marty Luhrs, are brought up on video. Albeit small, the lighting is much better in here then in the one on their former asteroid, and better accomodations are provided by the Advocate's crew. Henry starts the meeting off. "So... I guess things didn't go as you had planned?" Todd looks down at the blank papers in front of him remaining silent. He picks up a pencil and starts making random patterns on the paper to distract his mind. Roesh speaks up, "This isn't the first time we've taken losses. At the beginning of the war we were losing like this every day it seemed... But no. Things did not go as planned. I take the blame, I took longer then I should have. Todd, I appreciate you waiting an extra day. Had you gone as planned, things may have ended up much worse." Todd interrupts, "If I had waited another hour, just one more damned hour, you would have been here and everything would have been fine." Henry pats him on the back, "It's not your fault son, we took too long to get here." Todd stands up and mutters as he leaves, "I should have waited...." The table grows silent again until Henry speaks up, "When Casey is better, maybe we can have her talk to him." Roesh smirks, "He'll be fine, he's probably more disappointed in himself thinking that it's his first time in charge of any operation and he blew it." Everyone at the table chuckles a bit before Roesh continues, "There'll be plenty of more times that will happen." The group at the table chuckles again knowing fully well, it happens to even the best planners and tacticians. Henry speaks up again, "So what do we do now?" "My old friend, we do what we did back in Trader Space. We're going to ignore the govenor's decision to not colonize and build up this system. Not that I was going to agree with that choice in the first place, but now any possible deal like that is now gone. We are going to take possesion of this system as we decided weeks ago. If he wants to stay govenor, he'll get on board, if not, we play the whole video of his late Captain Rollin ordering his ships to push the Mary Read into our base and wiping our home out. Captains don't act without orders, so who do you think the blame is going to fall on? I know it's blackmail, but we really don't have much of a choice now. I want the Pioneer to start up right away. Start with a moon around Finley 4 and follow the jumps back. Keep things low key, no deep space transmissions until we've figured out if Kieran is a problem or not." Captain Powley speaks up, "We could always have Casey mess with his head and not worry about it at all." The four captain's video feeds all blur and halt while thier ships jump to the next grav well. Roesh continues when their connections reestablish themselves, "I'd rather not start making exceptions to the rule about her being paid to not use them. If I start to allow it, even on a case by case basis, the temptation to always use her like that will always be there. Who's to say she doesn't just do it on her own and mess with us all... Her using them to communicate with other Advent is a must if we want to do business with them since they almost always refuse to use any other method, but that isn't something we can control. Her using them for us, on us... We can control that. I really don't want to mess up something that's working out well for everyone." Henry interrupts, "Agreed, besides, this is something that can be handled without it. Not to exclude her in any way, but since she's out of action for at least a couple days recovering, we can take over without her." Captain Stormer qustions, "You really think we can take over in a couple days?" Roesh replies, "They have a small settlement on this planet, we're taking everything else, taking over in a couple of days isn't exactly out of the realm of possibilities. The population planetside really doesn't have to be an issue, they can live out their lives as they wish down there and we handle everything up here. More then likely, they'll want to get involved when they feel like their lives aren't as good as it could be and they'll come here. In a generation or two, we'll just be in charge of everything simply by attrition when the old guard retires and the younger generation takes over. None of us will be here to see it, but who cares... Isolationism is never a good idea. You screw the younger generations out of their futures. Let's just remind them of that." Henry speaks up again. "I love options. So we have isolationism screwing them over, we have us just outright taking over, we have blackmail giving us control, and we have our usual trade dealings. As chief of operations I say we just take over everything outside of this planet, go down there and ask the govenor for support, if he refuses, blackmail him into supporting us with our video, and work the populous into joining us with the promise of a brighter future for us all since we're not cut from the same TEC cloth that made them decide they needed to come out here in the first place. Let them know we're just like them, and with their help, we'll make this a place that we feel the TEC should have been." Roesh nods, "I agree my friend, I agree. I don't know why I'm asking, but what the hell... We have a quorum present, let's take a vote. Following Henry's plan of action, Henry and I say aye. Admiral Hodgkins?" "Aye." "Captain Ellis?" "Aye." "Captain Powley?" "Aye." "Captain Steinbock?" "Aye." "Captain Luhrs?" "Nay." "Captain Stormer?" "Aye." "Captain Taylor?" "Nay." "Captain McCurtain?" "Nay." "Captain Gura?" "Aye." "Captain Nishi?" "Nay." "Captain Hubiak?" "Aye." "Nine Aye's, four Nay's, looks like we got two thirds in favor. We were going to do this anyway, just in case anyone was wondering." Roesh remarks, causing everyone to chuckle again. "But at least it's nice to know that I have the support of most everyone here. Meeting adjourned, let's get to work. Tim, go get Todd, Henry and I are headed planetside to check on Casey, meet us there and we'll go talk to this Govenor Kieran after that."
Can you hear me? Thenos was back in his patient’s mind. He felt a response. Not in words, as the crewmember’s mind was too weak for that. Just a general acknowledgement, like a psychic nod. Do you want me to help you? questioned Thenos, just in case. The question was met with another positive reaction. There’s something I need you to do first. Can you find this man through the Unity? Thenos sent the image of a middle aged man, who he knew was the commander of a small patrol group. After a short while, he received another psychic nod. Is he close? Thenos knew he was running out of time. The patient’s psychic reservoir was running out. I need you to send a cry for help to him. Thenos ordered, and felt a significant portion of the woman’s remaining energy drain away, proof that the message had been sent. And now I can help you. Thenos informed the patient. He struck deep into her mind, finding her connection to the Unity. He had spent some of his time in his cell earlier figuring out how to perform this act, and he used this method to cut the woman’s weak link to the Unity. Instead of the pain that he and the rest of the crew had felt when this had been done to them, there was instead a feeling of relief. A relaxation of the patient’s mind. Thenos withdrew back to his own mind, and opened his eyes. “Well done sir!” the medic congratulated him, “She’s showing normal brain activity now.” Thenos gave a sigh of relief. He wasn’t able to relax for long though. Sir! came Daana’s urgent message, we’re coming out of phase space imminently! Thenos stood, informed the medic that he’d be back later, and headed off, back to the bridge.
Can you hear me? Thenos was back in his patient’s mind. He felt a response. Not in words, as the crewmember’s mind was too weak for that. Just a general acknowledgement, like a psychic nod.
Do you want me to help you? questioned Thenos, just in case. The question was met with another positive reaction.
There’s something I need you to do first. Can you find this man through the Unity? Thenos sent the image of a middle aged man, who he knew was the commander of a small patrol group. After a short while, he received another psychic nod.
Is he close? Thenos knew he was running out of time. The patient’s psychic reservoir was running out.
I need you to send a cry for help to him. Thenos ordered, and felt a significant portion of the woman’s remaining energy drain away, proof that the message had been sent.
And now I can help you. Thenos informed the patient. He struck deep into her mind, finding her connection to the Unity. He had spent some of his time in his cell earlier figuring out how to perform this act, and he used this method to cut the woman’s weak link to the Unity. Instead of the pain that he and the rest of the crew had felt when this had been done to them, there was instead a feeling of relief. A relaxation of the patient’s mind. Thenos withdrew back to his own mind, and opened his eyes.
“Well done sir!” the medic congratulated him, “She’s showing normal brain activity now.”
Thenos gave a sigh of relief. He wasn’t able to relax for long though.
Sir! came Daana’s urgent message, we’re coming out of phase space imminently!
Thenos stood, informed the medic that he’d be back later, and headed off, back to the bridge.
This, Thenos commented, complicates things slightly.
The ship, now known to the crew as Revenge, even though the refit hadn’t been carried out yet, was overlooking a desert planet. There was no sign of civilisation down there.
Daala nodded, but once we find a way to colonise it, it will make an ideal base of operations. There is an abundance of resource asteroids on the far side.
Yes, but we still need a Missionary vessel or a Progenitor if we’re going to take the planet. I had been expecting at least a militia base, or another neutral colony that we could take over. Oh well. We’ll just have to hope that my friend still has a colony frigate under his command. He should have it with him. After all, if he follows protocols, he’ll arrive ready to extract us from the gravity well, and a Missionary would be ideal for that.
On that note, sir, how do you plan to take these ships?
Well, now that you ask, I might as well give a quick briefing, Thenos addressed the crew, we will fire no weapons. We will only need to use the engines for manoeuvring if necessary.
The head astropath, with a look of confusion, asked, then how do we expect to recruit them to our cause?
We will tell them the truth, said Thenos, and then ask them if they want to leave the Unity, and join us.
And if they won’t? questioned another crew member.
Then we simply have to cripple the Missionary vessel, and let the others go. But their commander is an old friend of mine, who doesn’t get on too well with his superiors either. He should be open to persuasion.
The High Psintegrat sat in her meditation chamber aboard the Rapture, first of its class and flagship of the Advent fleet in Distant Stars. The meditation chamber let thought neither in nor out. For most. Wield enough psychic power, encompass the chamber with your telepathic might, and it became an amplifier. And then, it still let nothing in. From here, the High Psintegrat could see, with perfect clarity, everything that the Unity saw, without anyone realising. From here, she could even read the minds of her superiors back in the old sector, her psychic identity being masked by the meditation chamber. The old sector. That was how everyone she knew in Distant Stars saw it. This was a place for fresh starts, for new powers to rise. The High Psintegrat smiled, then did another of her periodic checks on the deep space sector where she had stranded Thenos. Was it paranoia that drove her to do this? Perhaps, but she couldn’t risk Thenos being rescued. He would return, and he would show no remorse in killing her, burning her armada, destroying all of her progress, and allowing the TEC to take over. She shivered, imagining how big a disaster that would be.
The High Psintegrat snapped out of this train of thought as she sensed a small patrol of ships entering the deep space sector. She tallied up the ship. Six disciples, four Aeria Drone Hosts and a sole Missionary. Roughly 2350 people. Almost as many minds as the crew of Thenos’ Radiance Battleship. Surrounding and attacking so many minds had been fairly easy. She had managed it without killing anyone as well. She was proud of that. She wanted to keep the moral high ground for when Thenos started destroying Advent ships. If necessary, she could eliminate this patrol. But for now, curiosity stayed the High Psintegrat’s hand, as the patrol had changed course, and had moved to the edge of the sector. They jumped along an uncharted phase lane, and emerged into the gravity well of a desert planet. A wave of anger washed over the High Psintegrat as, through the eyes of one of the captains, she saw Thenos’ ship, fully functional. This confused the High Psintegrat slightly. How could Thenos and his crew maintain coordinated control of the ship without the Unity? They couldn’t have reconnected to it. She felt a disturbance in the mind of the patrol’s commander. She focused on it. Thenos had communicated with him.
Hello, Ryan, Thenos greeted. Evidently he knew the man.
Thenos? came the reply, I thought you were excommunicated for crimes against the Unity!
Me and my crew, yes. But have a look at this and see who you think is committing crimes.
Information poured into the head of the patrol commander, memories that the High Psintegrat knew. They started in the very meditation chamber that she was seated in now. She panicked. Thenos was going to recruit these people! Acquire ships, colonies! And then there were the memories. She couldn’t let them spread through the Unity. She entered the minds of the entire patrol, poured her thoughts down the delicate psychic circuitry of the ships, and unleashed a wave of mental energy. She would kill the crew, destroy the ships. Then she would blame the deed on Thenos. She kept up the assault, until, suddenly, the link was lost. She searched the area, but couldn’t find the patrol through the Unity. Then she realised what had happened. She had given Thenos an excuse to cut the patrol from the Unity, copying her technique. She had given him a colony ship, and the start of a fleet. She had played right into his hands. She unleashed the psychic energy that she had built up into the chamber, venting her anger where no-one would notice. Finally, she stood, and headed for the bridge.
Contrary to the High Psintegrat’s beliefs, Thenos hadn’t planned on a move of this magnitude. He, on the spur of the moment, without assistance, had cut 2350 bonds to the Unity, and was facing the consequences. He shifted forwards in his chair, in an attempt to stand.
Sir! Are you alright? came a concerned question from a crewmember, but Thenos didn’t have the energy to respond.
Get a medic! Daala ordered, catching Thenos as he collapsed out of the chair. He looked out of the frontal window of the bridge, vision fading. He smiled, knowing that he had just saved over 2000 lives, and lost consciousness.
============================================================
Sorry if my posts have been a bit over frequent, but I've been ill for the last few days, so I've had loads of spare time.
no longer needed
Carbon entered the office of Ryat as he sat at his desk looking out towards the window. Ryat turned his attention to Carbon as he entered and sat in one of the chairs, the chair creaking under the weight of his suit. "About time you showed up," Ryat said with a smile, "you missed all the fun." "Yeah, Xenon told me all about it," Carbon said. Ryat got up and went to a ship cabinet. "Would you like something to drink?" Ryat asked. "Sure," Carbon said. Ryat got out two glasses and poured out the amber fluid. "Anyways Xenon was kinda disappointed that only Iron charged after him" he continued. "He was hoping for about half the fleet." "The effect was almost the same," Ryat said as he closed the cabinet and sat down. "If Iron was still there, he would have been able to rally the troops when the mercenaries I paid for came in. They don't have nearly as powerful ships as we do and so their effect was more of one of suprise. If Iron was there he would have stiffened them up and may have won the battle. It was that close." Carbon took a drink. "Butterscotch?" he asked. "What can I say," Ryat said shrugging and taking a drink himself. "I love the taste." "So what now?" Carbon asked, changing the subject. "Well, we begin by first, cleaning up Ario," Ryat said, "I got my best man on that, so no worries. Then fortify our position in the Eras Star. Afterwards we get the Phase Gate fixed, go through there and secure the Kostura Cannon for the next stage." "I brought some reinforcements," Carbon said, "In case you hadn't noticed." "Oh I noticed," Ryat said, "They are hard to miss. With my reinforcements we have 126 capital ships currently plus 6000 cruisers and frigates" "Wow," Carbon said, "didn't think it would be that much." "I'm going to split off a chunk of mine to help secure the Eras and Ario Stars," Ryat said, "Don't want the Advent to come knocking on our front door while we try to slip through the back." "Speaking of which," Carbon said, "how is that going. I mean about getting the Phase Gate to work." "Well, Lord J'rath has his best people working on it but it will be a while," Ryat explained, "He also has the White Impulse now and is looking it over." Carbon paused with his drink almost to his lips. He then carefully put it down on the desk. "The Vasari have the White Impulse?" he said quietly and coldly, "Why the fuck was I not told about this." "Easy, Easy," Ryat said trying to calm Carbon down, "Xenon authorized the whole thing. We are considering the implications of what it could do being tied into the Kostura Cannon." Carbon calmed down a little. "Well, I hope Xenon took the right security precautions," he grumbled, "though I don't think we need Vasari techs getting their hands or claws or what every they call them on that thing." "Well its already got Vasari tech in it," Ryat said. Carbon looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I let Xenon tell you about that one." "Okay, well whatever," Carbon huffed, "What about Admiral Draakjacht." "He's going to be helping us with the Vasari as soon as he gets some reinforcments himself," Ryat said, "As for the Advent, he said he would pass unless there is a good reason for doing so." "Did you give him the data we have on it?" Carbon asked, "I know Xenon gaveme the conclusions about it. That thing is nasty." "Yeah, but he has been busy so I don't think he has had time to read it," Ryat said. "Well I'm going over there next," Carbon said, "Maybe I can talk sense into him." "I figure we got enough to do the job, so we can leave him to secure the Vasari system while we hit the Advent and steal their weapon," Ryat said. "Still, we might need some back up," Carbon said. "Well I guess I had better head over there. Thanks for the drink and info." The two shook hands and Carbon left the office.
Thenos awoke in the medbay. He opened his eyes, attracting the attention of the medic.
“I know you said you’d be back,” the medic joked, “but I didn’t expect you to arrive like this.”
Thenos smiled, You can use telepathy, you know.
Sorry sir. I figured that with the amount of psychic energy you used earlier, it would be best to leave your mind alone.
It’s okay, said Thenos. He sat up, noticing the other man in the room.
Hey Ryan, he said, how are you?
I’m fine, came the response, and so is the rest of the patrol. You did a good job. You think it was the High Psintegrat?
What?
Sorry, forgot to fill you in. We’ve all bonded into your new Unity, so we all know what the High Psintegrat did. It makes sense that she’d attack my patrol. Now I wouldn’t put it past here to kill people just to leave you isolated.
Your entire patrol’s joined? I appreciate the support.
Yeah, we sort of owed you one for saving our lives, and there wasn’t much else we could do. Anyway, I’d get up to the bridge if I were you. Daala’s been running the show while you were gone, but she says she needs you up there before we plan our next move.
Thenos went to the bridge. Ryan had headed back to his Disciple to wait for orders. As he stepped through the elevator doors, he received several greetings from the bridge crew.
You okay? Daala asked, as Thenos headed for the captain’s chair at the rear of the bridge.
Yeah, I’m fine. I just used up a lot of energy, that’s all.
You were straight out the moment you saved the patrol. How did you even stretch your mind that far without help?
Thenos shrugged, So what have I missed?
Daala sent him the information. The Missionary vessel had set up a colony planetside. There were two construction drones setting up extractors on the nearby asteroids.
Right, Thenos told Daala, get one of the drones to reassign its tasks and build a frigate factory.
Daala started relaying this information to the drone anima, as Thenos sent a message to Ryan, while transmitting map data to him from the arm of his chair.
Ryan, I want you to split your patrol in half. Take one half with you to the nearby star via the phase lane marked beta. Contact me once you’re there. Send the other half of your patrol along the phase lane marked gamma. Tell them to explore, but retreat if they encounter significant hostile resistance.
Ryan confirmed the orders. Thenos watched as one of the Disciples flew past the bridge. He then turned his thoughts to the future, contacting the captain of the Missionary.
Do you have any blueprints for our vessels? he asked.
Negative, sir. We didn’t expect to be setting up a colony.
So he could only build Disciples, Aeria Drone Hosts, and Missionaries, by copying the designs of the patrol. He would need to find someone sympathetic to his plight, who also had access to Advent tech. That would come later, once Ryan arrived at the star. A new thought occurred to him.
Daala?
Yes sir?
Once the frigate factory is built, get its drones to perform the refit I requested for the ship. We should have time while the patrol looks around.
Yes sir. I’ll see to it immediately.
Thenos leaned back. There were some issues that needed addressing, but all in all, his group of outcasts was having a good start.
(These few posts are in red, because it hadn't shown up in black or white for a while. I fixed the problem, so later posts are normal)
Oops, multiple post. Sorry guys.
Xenon was moving though his ship. He had recived the messege form Carbon about meeting with the other captians first, and he didnt have a problem with waiting. He had decied to leave his room, he didnt like the thing that was waiting for him in his closet, but he knew before long he would be forced to use it. He went to the armory, which he had decied to upgrade from the average Sova. Xenon's men where not the best pilots, and they didnt have the best ships, what they did have was a lot of training in ship board combat. His armory showed this training, haveing many diffrent kinds of guns, from your average rifle, to large mounted guns, detonation charges, and even exo-suites. Xenon went about looking at the men looking over the weapons, checking and rechecking. Xenon liked walking among the men, though they didnt respond to him being there. Most knew if they did Xenon would just tell them to hurry up and get bck to work. An officer came up to Xenon, holding a holovid.
" Sir the Ammut fleet is still heading this way, they decied not to stop." The officer said to Xenon as he walked with him
" Good once they get here we will need to report to Lord Ryat and see where we need to fit into this thing." Xenon said the the man, " Make sure that our men here are ready, and make sure that they all have the phi-helments on, dont need a single Advent taking all of them down at once."
" Yes sir, the men are ready for the fight. They have been iching to shoot somthing" The man said with a laugh
" Well im sure they will be plenty to shoot once we move to take the facility. Do we have any reports on the Advent terrorist? Im sure they will be tryingto prevent us with our task." Xenon told the mans standing there
" Well they seem to be quite lately, no threats, no activity. They've just disapeared" The officer said to the Paragon
" My point exactly, they are planing somthing, and we need to know what. Double our search effort, we need to find out what they plan on doing, any leads on that leader we where tracking?" Xenon asked the man as they left the armory
" No sir, seems to lead to Lord Ryat's sector then just fell off the grid "
" Well lets try and find him, do we know its a him?" Xenon asked the man as they entered the bridge
" Not sure sir, we just knew that this was where the kill order came from on our executives " The man said as the two stoped in the bridge
" ok well lets try to find him, ... her, ... IT " Xenon told the man as he started his rounds of looking over the men in the bridge
Ah. The sweet smell of victory...
General Veers thought has he strode past numerous officers celebrating. The battle had been hard fought, and the seige had been worse, but now, after almost 2 months of isolation, General Veers had smashed the Advent forces at Agamemnon.
The invasion fleet though... how did they get in? And how did they take out my Argonev without firing a shot! That damned explosion took out more than half my fleet! Thank the TEC no capital ships were lost...
A Leiutenant showed up suddenly in front of the General, prompting him to halt before he ran into her.
"Yes Leiutenant?"
She saluted crisply and said "Sir. The Captains would like your presence on the bridge."
"Very well" Veers replied, and he watched the officer stride off before heading to the bridge.
This was a hard battle. Such a shame that so many of my captains died, and only a few survived this battle. My former Captains, may they rest in peace forever, were great losses...
--------
On the Bridge
"Sir. We have recieved new intelligence about the enemy fleet. They originated here," he said, motioning to the planet known as Urmal V, "and seem to have taken quite a beating during the engagement here."
"Thank you for this intelligence Captain Kellan. We should strike now sir," Captain Eralo told the assorted Captains, "while they still lick their wounds. We must strike quickly and decisively, to put salt in their scars and teach those bastards a lesson!"
"Patience Captain Eralo. We will strike when we have finished rebuilding," replied Captain Loarn turning her attention to Eralo, "we are still too weak."
"No. We finished rebuilding and retraining 2 standard days ago! We are ready Loarn!"
"Eralo. Only your part of the fleet is completed. Not the fleet in general."
"I can take them on myself!"
"Captain. No you will not. We will wait, and we will rebuild, then we will send those leeches back to wherever they came from."
"Very well General."
"Then this confrence is over."
-------------
Sorry I have been out for such a long time. I'll try to post more now.
My ships.
Bastion- Kilm
Astorka-Orthop
Virtuous-Eralo
Fermin-Kellan
Marzas
Destructor-Cryptor
Cronus-Loarn
Sovas-
Rega-Mala
Ukio-Wilson
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
