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[crazyabe]

Sort of, they gained access to Several unprotected Computers and the networks they were on to a lesser extent, but nothing important nor relevant.

[NJW2000]

Sort of, they gained access to Several unprotected Computers and the networks they were on to a lesser extent, but nothing important nor relevant.

+1

They accomplished little, and their activities were discovered.

[Blood_Librarian]

Post: 027: Holy War

“Dear Humanity... We regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth. And we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!”
Avery Johnson - Halo 2


The programming was interesting. The firewall which protected the system was horrifically hard to crack, especially since it was his first contact with it, but he already knew how it worked. It changed, cycling with different “bases” every couple of minutes, fast enough to make a difference but slow enough not to make a burden on the system. It was smart, it reacted to gentle probings with a mallet and harsh jabs by flowing around it like water, and striking at his workstation, and he already had to switch out computational matrix’s twice after they had started smoking. It was no matter, He started from their communication systems, just as he ha since the beginning of his Aether Warfare.

He slammed right when it began its cycle, in the half-second when it was vulnerable. Sliding Basilisk Information probes through the immeasurable wall, and sliding the digital equivalent of a trapdoor right into the hole he had made before his digital manipulators were crushed by the Firewall slamming into place, but his job was done, and he waited. And waited. By the time the first ambassadorial groups had finished their preparations, he received the data he had wanted, and he had sabotaged what he needed to.


“Captain!”

“What is it?”

“The Ship Frame has just reported  Digital warfare being initiated by the contacts!”

“Stars be damned, try and counter it and if needed cut it off, they are likely too stupid to realize what they are doing.”

“I would have to shut the FTL communication systems if it comes to that, sir…”

“Understood, you have my approval, Communications, work with  the Counter-Measures team and send a message to Highcom.”

“Working on it, the Communications array appears to be the target of the hack but every system appears to be breached.”


The Data that was sent back was almost nothing, tactically. Sensor reports. Reactor Readings. Inane fiction on supposed “Navigators” using their damned minds to pilot the ship. It was all useless to him until the last packet of data had arrived. It contained two things that were of vital, extreme importance of the Unitarian Empire as a whole.

They found the enemy.

First, it contained a report, referring to an entity called a Ship-Frame.  It was a Malign Intelligence, made through synthetic means. That blasphemy against the Empress by itself would’ve called for a Suppression and if needed an Elimination war, but it also contained a single picture and the protocols to make it into reality. The Picture was of two Yaerians, one a dull blue, the other a bright cyan, both working in the guts of a maintenance panel or another. It was inspirational propaganda and they did not care for that. The entities, doubtless they were the species they were meeting was none other than the predestined enemy of the Empress.

Their massive, black eyes. Thin, excessively tall posture and a horrific uncanny “flat” faces, framed by two tentacle-like appendages which were so similar to the four Apha-Glees that a Guardian had were simply unnerving.  This species was almost word-for-word described by the Empress herself as the demons of ancient. The suppressors who would be the downfall of the Unitarian Empire. The decrees and standing conventions of any species who had matched the descriptions, even the damned paintings of ancient would require immediate, and swift action. They must be captured, then the information they hide of who they are must be revealed.

He sent the images and the report to the highest authority with an emergency tag, to the Fleet Lord.

Six of the Empress’s finest marines. Three Guardians, two Brigs, and a single Irrega’Gald sat in the airlock. Ever since they heard of the terrible, terrible news that these were the fated Suppressors, they knew that there was no mercy to be given. No pity, no gifts of peace. It was doubtless that the monsters who had brought the Empress to a deathly sleep was here to destroy us all. There vanguard would not return home, for they shall be laid to rest with him, his squad the six squadrons behind him. He checked his rifle one last time. The GyroJet rifle was prepared, it’s massive shells ready to decimate the Empress’s enemies, loaded in a convenient thirty round clip. The Magnetic accelerator zapped and cackled with electricity it loaded a round into the chamber and the gun made a low whine. It was ready, and so was he. With him in the airlock was his five squadmates, and a single “diplomat”. A Guardian, regal and tall, with fair purple skin, he heard rumors that she bore some of the blood of the Empress herself, and religiously followed her whims. She wished to give them a single chance to surrender, however unlikely it was. The airlock unsealed, and opened. All the marines rushed in through the breach, sweeping the area, noting all ten security staff, each with their strange guns, and three “civilians”.

Unarmed, but still dangerous due to their nature.

He and his five brothers and sisters made way for the Diplomat to enter the room. The Guardian walked, her flowing robes giving the impression that she glided across the floor and conveniently hid the pistol holstered under the clothing in the human equivalent of the armpit. Those rare few gifted with the blood of the Empress must be protected at all costs, he insisted. The thirteen aliens who held a congress in the room looked surprised judging from some of them holding their hands on their weapons. He was inwardly relieved, that they were not foolish enough to shoot the Empresses finest without doubt in their hearts.

The Guardian in the flowing robes spoke.

They listened, speaking in their alien language.

Her demands were repeated in there hauntingly similar language, and again they affirmed their choice.

The Guardian in the flowing robes walked quietly to the airlock, and back into their ship.

Just as she cleared the way, he fired his GyroJet. It slammed into one of the Demons on the right, and the remaining fuel in the cannister-like bullet exploded upon impact, shredding the damned into pieces.

His squad fired their weapons together, and each had picked out targets, the bolts slamming into each of them like a freight train and ending with a bang just like his own weapon.

An alarm began to sound, as one of the brugs charged at the sealed door, charging through it and collapsing the Hydraulic system that sealed the airlock utterly and entirely, allowing free access for the marines.

When the Stardew vast had been boarded by the nigh immortal boarders, the bridge was immediately sealed. The bridge was one of the first places to be attacked, before the quarantine shudders had even fully rolled down, they had literally run through the main airlock that separated the bridge and the rest of the ship, and the captain was the first to fall, a bolt slammed into his arm, blowing the limb off and flinging him at a wall, where a first-aid kit had broken his fall and his lower spine. They mercilessly shot or engaged in absolutely brutal CQC with the members of the bridge, in every case the Yaerians didn’t even have a chance to use their side-arms before they were put down like animals. When every single one of the original occupants of the Bridge had fallen, the enemies left a single one of their men to keep the bridge safe and left.

The Captain, in his brief state of consciousness, had managed to open the first aid kit, and planted  a frothy liquid onto his stump and his side, bit back a scream as the bio-sealant leached into his wounds and the synthetically engineered organisms swam through his wound and sealed it, before giving up the fight against the black and falling unconscious.


(2 hours, 22 minutes and 36 seconds later)

He was just a damned MAINTENANCE personnel! A lowly classed Maintenance personnel, he didn't even ASK for this job! Now here he was, in a stars-damned locker pissing himself while hidin--

Oh. Oh shit. Shit fuck stars-damned I'm dead-!!

The Personnel locker was very promptly and violently opened. A Guardian, in metallic steel gray plate armor, very promptly opened it. In one hand was a pistol, odd and distinctly ballistic in appearance, and the other the door from the locker that was literally ripped off from its hinges.

The Maintenance Personal screamed and threw a balled fist at the Guardian, landing straight between its eyes, and with a sharp crack, the Yaerians fist had three shattered bones, the visor slightly bending.

The Guardian dropped the locker door and reared up his fist. The Yaerian struggled, but he was held in place by a strong and incredibly firm fist holding a pistol. The fist that had reared up arced down almost so fast that to the naked eye it was simply a blur, and over fifty pounds of steel and finely tuned muscle colliding at an ungodly speed collided with flesh. The Semi-powered armor of the Empresses Boarding Force is nothing to be scoffed at. Unlike  their grounded and invasion divisions, the Boarding marines are a specialist forces, taken after  the ideals and traditions of the En-Sen-Pair Ship Mistresses, these forces were nearly unstoppable in close quarters combat with fragmentation GyroJet weapons, incredible strength and speed through their specialized and custom-built hard suits and their hellishly trained soldiers. Bone shards and bits of meat covered the entire arm of the Guardian's fist, the blue ichor splattered him almost entirely. He moved on, methodically clearing out the rest of the engineering sector and making sure that the reactor core would be safely ejected. The only power this vessel would be receiving was from it’s takers, not it’s own.


The Captain woke. Everything was on fire, it was an unbearable, unforgiving pain. He looked to his side, noticing the open medical kit he had left open, he picked up one needle after another, slamming them into his arm and carefully dropping the spent needle so as to be utterly silent until the kit was empty. He looked around the Yaerian equivalent of Adrenaline spiked through his body and he entered into a trance-like state.

Most Yaerians have a modified Fight-Flight reaction due to the light genetic augmentations they receive at birth. A side effect of the various enhancements to the mind and body they had received over the years has resulted in an another state of mind that a Yaerian involuntarily enters to when they are in grave danger.

Their mind goes into overdrive, the mental equivalent of fireworks firing through their head as they think at over three to four times their normal speed, while their body is frozen like a deer in the headlights. This state lasts around thirty seconds, where many Yaerians claim that this state of mind is where the ideas or thoughts that save their lives or grant them the ideas for inventions. In this particular “trance” the Captain only thought of one problem. His personal console was just a meter and a half away, and all he need to do was climb a chair and contact High command that war was coming.

He knew that judging from the static, numb feeling he felt from his legs that he could not move them. He knew that he would have to crawl for a full meter and a half, dragging himself across the bloodied floors without being noticed by the single stars-damned Slaughter Demon of a Soldier and then successfully input the communication protocols and the message itself without getting killed by said marine.

Stars above, if High Command does not get notice of this, they could potentially destroy everything before they were stopped.

He snapped out of the trance-like state and immediately moved to action. The… Drone? Person? No Sentient would be so utterly murderous then a BattleFrame, this is what that is. He crawled as carefully as possible not to move the broken bones in his ribs while holding back a scream as he climbed over a corpse, and to the chair, silently screaming as he barely made a clank each time he moved, but to his surprise, he never heard it. The pain reached a whole new level when he was fully seated, he could feel the bones in his spine moving and thanked the stars that he injected himself with all the medication from that medical kit. He typed the final commands in, and a simple holograph prompt opened up, and he spoke.

Naera Nahtilius did not tremble as he spoke. As he spoke he thought of home, what he left behind, a mother without a husband and a clutch to be taken care of only by one. He did not stutter, he spoke plainly and with a steel determination of a Yaerian with nothing left to lose and everything to save.

“ Engage the Summer Set Protocol, the Enemy is at the gates, Engage the Summer Set Protocol.”

He fell over limp on the console, a gaping hole in the back of his chest from a Gyrojet round.

Did the Message make it to High Command?

Spoiler: QM's note (click to show/hide)

yey 103 posts~

[crazyabe]

Sort of, it came through a little... Garbled to say the least.

[Puppyguard]

The authenticity of the message could not be denied by the gunshot at the end.

[NJW2000]

The authenticity of the message could not be denied by the gunshot at the end.

+1

[Blood_Librarian]

Post 028: Demons in the Ring

We are the chosen ones
We sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor

We are the hallowed ones
Our armor stained with blood
We kill the dragon

In glory we return
Our destination set
We slay the dragon

No more living in fear
It's time to raise our king
We made it happen
We're the chosen ones!
The Chosen Ones - Dream Evil

Star 177-G,  Yaerian Outer colony Space
Uriegal Tu’Siegh
October 11th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.
Uriegal Tu’Siegh was a beautiful, well-developed planet. Its name roughly translates to “Uriegal’s Bargain”, after the captain of the expedition which surveyed it lost a bet in a gambling game he was fond of, approximately 538 BS. It lays on the very border of “empty” space, and it’s vast plains and moderately sized oceans were perfect for the Yaerian Physiology. Its atmosphere was so close to the yaerian standard that with minor Terraformation and atmospheric cleansing, a Yaerian needed no genetic treatment or augment to live on its surface.It was immediately classified as a class five planet upon its founding, and in the three hundred years of development, it became one of the few outer colonies that could be declared a “core world” of the Yaerian  Republic. In the defense against the Gravemind, it’s population was like every other, hit by the harassment fleets that plagued the entire republic, but as a whole was isolated from the war, and had a lower-than-average orbital, and planetary war preparations.

It was also notable for its vast and legendary build-up of orbital infrastructure which orbited around its equator that had formed over its operating time. Developed by Private industry Magnates and Private interests due to a nearby asteroid field which held vast mineral riches and three separate gas giants in the system that held perfect conditions for the extraction of Fusibles and Hydrogen. As time went by, the orbital processing plants slowly became areas of great cultural value and changed from industrial outpost to orbital acropolis that held hundred of thousands of people among the stars. Several redesigns and structural overhauls had resulted in an almost strange “edge” architecture which shows a Strata of the various historical methods of construction that the Yaerian Republic had used over its six centuries of use, ultimately culminating in an orbital ring around Tu’Siegh, with three massive “nodes” in equal circumference around the ring, which hold the most amount of citizens of the entire ring. The outermost layer of the ring is a bright, sparkling white color, unlike the ships of the Yaerian Navy. No, it glistens and shows with perfection, the plates perfectly molded to fit with another in a pattern that creates strength, even if it is twice as labor intensive than the Yaerian Standard Plate. The Ring has spires lifting off from its almost hill-ish surface, along with sensor booms and dockyards sprouting out from the surface, in a semi-random almost generated manner. The Ring is widely regarded as one of the many super engineering projects of the Yaerian republic and has been nominated several times as one of the legendary constructions of the century, but never actually received the award due to fierce competition.

The Planet itself is devoid of any massive mountains, and it holds little in deserts and forests. Instead, it has massive plane-like oceans, 84% of the planet is covered in Ocean. The surface of the ocean is flat and very stable, almost perfect for the construction of the Yaerians most preferred habitat: the Underwater Dome. Sprawling over the seabeds is a megacity onto itself, they hold almost as much people as the Orbital Acropolis’s. During the later stages of the Gravemind war, the entire city was supplied with specialized devices which would completely hide its presence from orbital scans, which are still present to this day, as one of the many “last hope” projects that had been built as the horrific war of attrition against the Gravemind dragged on.

Life in the dome is very romanticized in Yaerian culture, almost akin to a life harkening back to their ancient ancestors who lived exclusively in the oceans, before they were pushed by goliaths and predators to the surface, and to start the path of the ascension among the stars. On the Yaerians homeworld, these cities are most prevalent and hold almost as much people as they do on the surface of the planet. Those who live away from the sun and starlight have almost triple the lifespan as a surface dweller, with the equivalent of five centuries of life under the sun of Humanity to be the maximum one would expect those who dwell in the dome could live.

They were the closest world to where the Stardew Vast had met the Unitarian First Explorator Fleet.

This world was the third victory of the Unitarian Empire.


Yaerian Home system
Yaerian Homeworld
October 11th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.
It was one of the FTL Communications buoys, designed to furnish the massive and daunting infrastructure project known as Expanse, designed to connect every inner world colonies electronic infrastructure together for tactical and economic reasons, that had first received the Distress call. Not very many ships outputted a distress call these days, and even fewer ships had the equipment to send a message through the warp, and the Stardew Vast was one of those few vessels.  Tagged with one of the highest and severe comm tags, it was routed directly to the Central Military agency of the entire Yaerian Republic: The Militarum. A massive tactical station with hundreds of shield emplacements, Hanger Bays and mounted weaponry, it was built during the Gravemind war and was overhauled every decade on the dot without fail. It was the center of a vast and daunting web of orbital facilities that drove the entire Yaerian Republic's military edge. Automated factories, digital labs which contained hundreds upon hundreds of independent processing computers, and bio-augmentation zero gravity facilities. The great think tanks and the hammers of industry clattered within view of the Militarum.

A meeting was called, where the highest figures in the Yaerian Republic's military forces came adjourned together in just thirty minutes. Anyone who was off facility was connected through a high-security encrypted audio connection, despite the security risks Text would not cut it, the voice of the President must be heard in these types of meetings.

Six figures were in person the other four were present with a holographic screen simplifying stating the name of the official and the words “Input audio only.” The final figure around the round table was also a screen, displaying two letters in bold, large text. “AC”.

There was a very long, and very winded debate about naming what could be classified as the first “WarFrame”. Generally, a “Frame” was classified after it’s purpose. A farming intelligence is an AgriFrame, an Industrial machine is a  WorkFrame. A frame which fights a battle is called a BattleFrame. The WarFrame named “AC” was not a BattleFrame. Its brain was magnitudes of order more powerful, and was perhaps an engineering marvel of the entire Yaerian republic, as it is no small feet to stabilize a Positronic brain of its size.  At the height of the celebration and the decision process for naming, it was agreed upon that a simple name, that one of the attending junior personnel had come up of would be chosen, “Allied Computer”.


The second who sat was not onboard the Militarum and was the most important person in the room, the director of the Yaerian Republic, Quin-Quil Xit’Soogil

The third, fourth and fifth were the senior admirals/ Generals of the Fleet, planetary defense, and assault forces. The assault forces board member was represented by a screen.

The sixth was the head of the Intelligence Agency, he was represented by a screen.

The seventh member of the table was a thin Yaerian, the one who officially held control over the entirety of the Yaerians Navies Technological secrets.

The eighth and final member who was actually present at the meeting was short, and rather unassuming Yaerian who supposedly led the Ethics Division of the Yaerian Republic, or it could be a body double.

The ninth member of those who sat around the table was the Director of Industrial allocation, his will could grind the Governmental fabrication services to a halt.

The final member of the table was a Yaerian who was in charge of the entire augmenting process of the Yaerian Republic, whether it was for military, civilian, organic or synthetic in nature.

The Eleven members of the table sat quietly, each of them a representative of a core part of the Yaerian military as they listened to the broadcast which had been received just thirty minutes before for clarities sake.

“--et Protocol, the--Late-- Protocol, *BANG*”

There was a moment of quiet as everyone digested the broadcast once more, and six spoke first.

“Whose stars brightened idea was it to have the SummerSet Protocol and the Star-set Protocol be so similar?”

“That doesn't matter, the Summerset Protocol would devastate our entire economy if it was a false alarm.” replied Ten.

“So would losing a colony because we were unprepared.” Eleven thought.

“What do you think we should do? If we do not respond to the threat that just may be worth of a SummerSet- Protocol and leave our hands tied, there is a very real chance that our hands would be tied.” said the Director.

And the meeting's discussions began in earnest.

Impossible. Impossible is what the architects thought, as they wept.

As their monumental creations of glass and marble was crushed, and then burned.

As their children marched to their own graves.

As their machinations of creation were subverted for a purpose they had feared would be needed.

As their creations fought a murderous foe.

As their machines chanted and cheered for the death of an enemy they never wanted to fight.


Star 177-G,  Yaerian Outer colony Space
Uriegal Tu’Siegh
October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.

Forty-eight ships had warped on the outer border of the system that held Uriegal Tu’Siegh.  They held no response to any attempts of communication. The combined ship tonnage of the fleet outweighed the military fleet stationed there, which was just four ships, the equivalent of three frigates and a single cruiser. Without orbital emplacements, If it was Yaerian ships fighting against Yaerian ships, the defenders of Uriegal Tu’Siegh would’ve been outmatched, if barely. In the center of the fleet stood four, rather large warships. These ships would be perhaps recklessly large if it were a Yaerian built a ship, but just under average for a Unitarian Dreadnaught. Sixty-seven minutes after it’s arrival, the ships moved, burning straight towards Tu’Siegh, and the frigates and cruisers were ejected from their dockyard state and moved to a defensive position around the planetary ring. A Planetary martial state had been declared, and a Warp Beacon was activated, signaling for help that would come too late.

The forces had stopped at a range too far for even the best of missiles to be used, and for a couple moments, both fleets watched each other. Sensor technicians reading off reports and avidly reporting on the enemies sensor profiles and captains wondering who would make the first move.

One drone, fired from the cruiser's hangar bays drifted towards the unknown fleet, it was broadcasting a request for the unknowns purpose.

At first, there was no response, but the alien ships began spreading out, particularly away from the Dreadnaught vessels, and their energy signatures began spiking heavily as if it was charging an energy weapon.

The Dreadnoughts shields turned off and Horrific EM fields were blasting off the dreadnaughts and it was obvious to any Unitarian Admiral that their siege cannons were going to fire, and the ships that had left its side had moved away to avoid catastrophic systems failure due to the carefully formed Electromagnetic storm forming around the ships.

The Yaerian ships began evasive maneuvers, but the Dreadnaughts have turned away from them and towards the planet. Firing all at once, each Dreadnaught outputted the dreaded Meteor round. Realizing too late, the Yaerian ships could only watch as wrecking balls of metal and engines flew faster and faster towards the ring.

Impossible, impossible is what they thought as the first volley slammed into the Ring.

It was a testament to Yaerian engineering when the rings shield emplacements withstood the first and second blow. The Third bolt had only cracked and smoldered the hull of the Ring, as a  thousand lives were extinguished from the thermal and kinetic energy that had collided with the Ring.

The Yaerian fleet disappeared, and in a split second, was on top of the Unitarian war fleet. Such was the way of the Hyperwarp, unphased by the dangers of gravity wells, a Yaerian ship was free in the stars as the ancient ships of oceans.

The Unitarian Exploration fleet was unprepared for this unexpected shift in the decisions of war, and for a split second, the Unitarian Fleet was in chaos. In the first thirty seconds of war, the Yaerian ships had finished shedding off the maelstrom of energy that was the power of Faster Than Light Travel and had obtained target locks on their chosen enemies.

The Unitarian Fleet had recovered from the abrupt change of hostile positions and had begun moving their ships into a position to fire.

Bolts of plasma slammed into one of the Dreadnaughts, their magnetic fields dispersing the plasmatic energies over their entire hull, desecrating sensors and delicate electronics with the energies equivalent to a sun's heat.

Laser cannons churned as their liquid focuses solidified just long enough for energy to course through them and a bright red bolt of light screamed out and with the space-equivalent accuracy of a shotgun, slammed into a frigate, burning and melting its metal hull

The Ring’s shield emitters that were in the afflicted area still functioned and had cycled through half the malevolent energies that it had been shunted to its batteries and harmlessly dispersed it into the void.

Inert ballistics-- Kinetic rounds accelerated by Chemical accelerants and sometimes Electromagnets slammed into the shields of the Yaerian defense force and was easily turned away. Had they been more primitive, Inert ballistics would have been extremely effective,  but only the high-explosive missiles and ballistics could ever hope to break a good, well built Yaerian Shield in a reasonable manner.

The Cruiser turned towards the damaged Unitarian Dreadnaught and its spinal weapon fired. A massive blast of particulate energy slammed into its magnetic field and the carefully aimed shot bored a hole through the front of the ship and through the barrel of the ships Siege Cannon.

The amount of fire being poured into the interlopers had caused one of the frigate's shields to break, and it’s comparatively weak Armor had begun to pit and scar. Two frigates of the enemy were rendered inert, and as the Cruiser began to fire it’s second bolt towards another Dreadnaught, a Meteor round, albeit in lower power, slammed into the Cruiser.

The ship was practically atomized and its debris was scattered in an instant, one would be hard-pressed to found it existed from the pieces.

Both frigates had their shields downed, and one was nearing seventy percent integrity.

All they could’ve done was done, with one Dreadnaught rendered inoperable for its purpose and another slightly damaged.

For just thirty minutes, the fleet just stood in its place. They were ruthlessly shutting between each other, obviously to recover their wounds, and to collect the debris.

The wrecks of the fallen frigates were pulled in tow, as the fleet made way to Uriegal Tu’Siegh.

The Ships stopped in the outermost reaches of the Orbit of the Uriegal, and the two dreadnaughts fired their siege cannons, again, and again.

No matter how well built the Ring was, for all it’s unnaturally strong superstructure, the Gravitic system that held it into place, the massive shield generators and their batteries, it fell apart. Shaken to pieces as it was hit with the astronomical equivalent of a sledgehammer over and over, and the ring shattered. The Acropolises were still whole, however, but any life they held was long gone, the kinetic and thermal shock mulching any inhabitants who did not evacuate in time.

After the ring had been broken, the fleet moved closer, and the second to last line of defense activated.

The tactical equivalent of landmines activated, as dormant fire bases roared to life with bolts of plasmatic energy and missiles to any unwary trespasser. Six frigates were destroyed by these landmines, and the entire fleet was worn down by these weapons of war.

The Dreadnaughts did not fire their weapons down at the surface, and instead used their immense engine power and a monofilament tow cable to bring down the Acropolis to the surface.

Six pieces of the broken Ring were crashed to the surface.

The fleet left the ravaged and tortured surface of the Uriegal Tu’Siegh behind, as it jetted towards the outer system boundaries and left the system through the Warp.

The entire incident had been coined as the “Burning of Tu’Siegh”, where it was recorded by several public and governmental satellites connected to a Hyperwave Transmitter was not destroyed by the shrapnel resulting from the destruction of the Ring.

Despite attempts to censor the information, the recordings of the entire encounter have been exposed to the majority of the Yaerian Republic's citizens.


When will the next attack occur?

Was SummerSet Protocol called in before, or after the burning of Tu'Siegh?

Spoiler: QM’s Note (click to show/hide)

Woo, 2898 words! The most words of any single one chapter so far, that's nuts, huh? I’ll be honest. I’m actually liking how nice long shiny chapters are, it might become a staple. Now to be honest, I wanted to ask a couple things, first off was the usual "tell me where the grammar is wrong" spiel and all that, and the second was if everyone is enjoying this, and perhaps anything they would see more of, Whether it is more Space battles, "hand-to-hand" combat, Intrigue or other such, I'll try to compromise for it.

Editted for grammar correction of post & a second go around by Grammarly.

[NJW2000]

The next attack will occur in one Yaerian sleep-cycle, or similar day equivalent.

The SummerSet Protocol was called in before the burning of Tu'Siegh.

I'm really enjoying this so far, and like the balance of hand-to-hand and space battles. I think throwing in sections of mainly intrigue here and there is also good.

Spoiler: proofreading (click to show/hide)

speal

Spiel.

lost a bet in a gambling game was fond of

Should this be, "he was fond of"?

It laid

"It lay", in this context.

it’s

Small point, but "its", no apostrophe. There is only an apostrophe in "its" when you are shortening "it is". It's a stupid language, but it helps me to think of it as similar to "his".

one of the most legendary constructions of the time

This is splitting hairs, but generally something doesn't get more or less "legendary", but simply is or isn't legendary. Things can be more "impressive", "iconic", "awe-inspiring", and "famous" than other things, for example. I'm not sure why this applies in those cases but not to "legendary".

coined the “Burning of Tu’Siegh” had been recorded by

Needs a comma after "Tu'Siegh", because it's not part of the main clause.

utterly massive amount of orbital infrastructure

" There is something inelegant here, but I'm having trouble identifying it. I'm not sure about "amounts" being both vast and massive, or having "amounts" of orbital infrastructure.


That said, this is pretty great writing, and the wide vocabulary makes it a fun read. Maybe consider having slightly shorter sentences from time to time, for variation.

[Blood_Librarian]

Post 029: Old Protocols

No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.
—Jacob Bronowski
Yaerian Homeworld, Yaerian Space.
Governmental FTL Broadcast Frequency ALPHA
October 10th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.

Attention. Attention all citizens.

A state of emergency has been declared and the Summerset Protocol has been enacted. Martial law has been declared and all civil authorities are expected to follow the required procedures as dictated in the Emergency Hostile Incursion guidelines. Hostile alien life of the sentient non-gravemind variety has been confirmed, and the Yaerian republic has been formally reformed to the Consolidated Yaerian Republic for diplomatic and domestic policy until the end of the crisis.

Attention. Attention all citizens...
Yaerian Public Domain Broadcast.

Three generations ago, we fought a war. An unceasing, unrelenting enemy with warriors that killed without remorse, and starships that would cleanse conquered worlds. We burned the blight of the Gravemind away, we fought for our very survival and won the award of life, of every single citizen that takes a breath in the Yaerian Republic, Be they from the stars above, the deep void below, or their feet firmly planted on the ground, and everything in between. Once we held our ground and burned the blight of destruction away, we held peace. A peace unparalleled since any before it. There was no internal strife, No strikes against our fellow Yaerian for we knew there was in fact, hostile life lurking in the void. We prepared for an eventuality that we feared would happen, and rightly so. We are on the eve of another war. Another war precipitated by them.

The YEV Stardew Vast has been destroyed, all hands presumed lost. Before it was lost, it spoke of alien ships. Warships, many and varied. We judge by the descriptions given by the brave crew that there are at least five separate ship-construction doctrines, or even perhaps different minded species who had built these ships of war. We know not how the Stardew Vast was lost, but only that they let out a distress signal that mandates this broadcast.

We are enacting the SummerSet Protocol. The most immediate change will not be the demand for more soldiers, or weapons, or even ships. To all internal and foreign diplomatic affairs, the Yaerian Republic will hold a name change effective immediately to the term “Consolidated Yaerian Republic”. All effective regime and leadership changes are effectively frozen indefinitely. The Yaerian Republic is now in a state of Emergency, all citizens are required to be in standing readiness in case of hostile incursions. As more information becomes available, it will be relayed.
Definition of Summerset Protocol Policy:
In the event of a hostile life with the lethality rated of an extinction level threat, the Summerset Protocol was written up preemptively. In order for the protocol to be enacted, the Director and the majority of the military council must approve of the enactment. The Protocol immediately drafts all industrial sectors, suspends all economic hubs and freezes all unnecessary governmental functions, while simultaneously removing all “caps” from military spending, industrial allocation and navy ship limits. Military leaders will be given the emergency powers to override the orders of civilian governing entities and all citizens are obliged to assist in the war effort. In addition,  the specifics of the protocol would be immediately wiped from all low-security data banks in order to prevent the acquisition of information by the enemy (except for certain Hard-wired banks in specialized areas available for citizen preview.)

False enaction the Summerset Protocol requires that those directly responsible will be punished with the immediate imprisonment or execution, along with dismissal from public offices of the Director and all personnel deemed part of the conspiracy.
For a more in-depth description of the Summerset Protocol, please click [REDACTED]
Yaerian Homeworld Orbit
Millitarium
October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.

Director of the Consolidated Yaerian Republic, Quin-Quil Xit’Soogil sat in his office. It was a simple office, holding an actual wooden desk with a fully installed holographic suite. The rest of the office was a modest affair, a picture here, a plaque denominating some event there. It was a tasteful affair.

Sitting across from him was perhaps one powerful board members of the entire directorate, or at least, a representation of him. It was bad business to keep the Board members together, especially after the Burning of Tu’Siegh.

The figure, the representation very promptly slid a paper file out of his digital lab coat and slid it across the desk and into the holo suite, which promptly displays the various files, pictures, and texts that it held as the digital equivalent of a file transfer occurred. It held the sum of all knowledge the Director needed to know about the project, one of many that had slid across his desk since the enacting of the SummerSet protocol and especially after yesterday. One of the first “projects” he had approved off was to simply check if there were any damn survivors in Uriegal Tu’Siegh.

By the stars above, he still had a relay of the satellite feeds on one of his screens. He was tempted to shut it off, but he knew it would be pointless.

The Director began quietly scanning through the information, while the eleventh board member quietly sat, waiting for the Directors expected reaction.

“You're asking for both cloning tanks and children.”
“Yes. both have equal chances of accepting the program while Children would be able to be put on the field faster while acting as control groups for the implants so the second generation would be put into effect faster.”

“Auh... Stars… You truly are a monster, aren't you?”

“We are toeing the edge of the void here. Ground troops may not actually be needed if they keep this style of attack going. This is a stop gap inc--

“Save me the speech about the monster factory, I will sign it.”

“Good.”

“On one condition. You promise me you will take from either those who will be lost to society or those left behind. The Clone tanks I am completely fine with, have a billion of them if you want.”

“Slums and Orphanages.”

“Yes, get out.”

The Hologram frowned slightly, and then faded. The Director sighed and began warbling a light and almost wilted song while he began typing another mandate for the industrial yards.

“In the Void… By our Void… See all there is in the void….

And know where the stars in the soul are.”

On October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS, Mankind had set creation for the second colonial habitat to be sent to the colony. ((Did we ever name it? I know we named the colonial ship Theia, but I want to make sure. My notes are sparse, sadly.))

Yurgil System
October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS

The Fifth Victory of the Unitarian Empire was a victory only in the textbooks of the Unitarian empire.

It was held in a simple, almost quiet system. A military outpost of the Yaerian Empire, it was a rallying point for one of the many Patrol fleets that the Yaerian Consolidated Republic had, and would have gotten more populous as more ships were lifted from the Mothball yards. The Yaerians call the dirtball of a planet below Yurgil. It held a rust-colored pigment and a semi-thin atmosphere, had the Yaerians been present a hundred thousand years before, they would’ve witnessed water on the planet,  but ice is only present at its caps now. It held a single moon, notable only for its latent deposits of heavy metals on the surface due to its horrifically rampant volcanism, and a rather large military logistics depot.

What was actually notable about this military depot was that it was hosting a full Yaerian Patrol fleet.  A single Fighter Carrier, a Dreadnaught, three battle cruisers and a myriad mix of corvettes, assault frigates, and support vessels. All in told, Fifty-one Vessels were held in the logistical arms of the outpost. When the Summerset protocol was enacted, they originally numbered at just twenty, but due to the proximity of the Burning of Tu’siegh, the numbers were bolstered by the reserves that had arrived just eight hours before, and was due for a shipment by the mothball yards of even more ships in the coming days. The Carrier was an ancient model still in production, while the Dreadnaught was a standardized and slightly modular design that had been maintained since the Gravemind War, with several severe recalls that have resulted in a completely different ship than when it left the ship berths for the first time. The lower ships are relatively standard for Yaerian doctrine with the exception of a single Battlecruiser which had a spinal mount which contained a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon along the entire length of the vessel.

Forty-four vessels had appeared on the edge of the system, with the exact sensor profile and fleet composition of the fleet that had burned Tu’Siegh. Within seconds, battle stations were called for and the fleet in and around the logistics outpost had begun to muster.

Fifteen seconds after arrival, all three Dreadnaughts began to emit a massive electromagnetic field, their guns charging. Thirty seconds later, they fired. The fast picket ships of the Yaerian fleet had entered into the warp, leaving the heavier ships behind in their footsteps.
All three bolts of metal had made their mark. The carrier vessel’s shields glowed brightly for a couple seconds, and the ship was ripped apart, it’s engines immediately going dark and the vessel became a hulk of twisted metal and leaking atmosphere. The second bolt had barely hit, the Meteor rounds had steered into the shields of the lonesome Dreadnaught, and the shields had safely disengaged when it’s batteries was filled. The Battleship, which held a Magnetic accelerator cannon was hit with but a glancing blow. It shields fell, and the aft section ripped to shreds. The vessel became dark, unmoving in the void.

The entirety of the fleet defending Yurgil had ejected themselves from the outpost now and was charging their Hyperdrives. Intent on in-system jumps. Unitarian Jump-Drives were not advanced enough for in-system jumps, and normally such moves were considered suicide in the realms of a gravity well. As navigators cleared the fog and led every single ship that had entered into the realms of Hyperwarp, the Unitarian advantage was lost as forty-eight vessels appeared behind the Unitarian fleet.

As the eldritch and sensor baffling energies of the Hyperwarp sloughed off the ships of the Yaerian Consolidated Republic, the Unitarian warships desperately fired maneuvering thrusters.

As back mounted point defense weaponry barely kept up with the horrific fires of Yaerian missiles, the Unitarian republic was turning their gargantuan ships of the Line.

As fast picket ships sliced through the navy line with blistering bolts of plasmatic energies, cutting through the Unitarian Empires comparatively weak shields and burning their hull.

The Yaerians had scored six kills, four frigates, two Cruisers equivalents. The Unitarian fleet was halfway orientated towards the Yaerians, turned just enough for the vast reserves of missile weapons to be used against those they designated demons. Sensor blips numbered in the hundreds appeared on the Yaerian forces, and evasive maneuvers were made. The Unitarians would not give an inch, and the Yaerians would cut deep into the ranks for it. A single Dreadnaught had not turned around to face the enemy, and its Meteor gun had finished charging and fired its bolt towards the outpost. The outpost, with the shield systems that would be the envy of any Unitarian fleet master, had the durability to hold even after the meteor rounds entire kinetic energy had been transferred, and the bolt of metal had been rendered from an almost solid-liquid directly to a plasma, and forcefully pushed away from the outpost as a gaseous plasma. Malevolent energies of ShieldWarp had begun wafting around the outpost as it was safely ejected from the elephantine batteries. The shields had twenty percent capacity left, and would not survive another blow.

The Unitarian vessels were horrifically effective in taking blows for the three Dreadnaughts. They would sacrifice themselves to take a plasma caster bolt or lose their shields for a stray missile. The two other dreadnaughts who had held their weapons of mass destruction held no longer, as their targets had been set and acquired. A battle Cruiser and a particularly large Frigate’s shields held for a single second, the manifest energies of the sheer kinetic power taking only but a second to fully down the shield, before impacting the hull unheaded. The resulting plasmatic vapor had blinded the sensors of Yaerian Ships, who were unaware that the monstrous vessels could hit ships so close to them, and the Unitarian fleet took the advantage. Both fleets were rendered down to thirty vessels on each side. One of the Dreadnaughts, the one pointing at the Outpost had been hit by a particularly brutal set of plasma bolts, and the shields were downed as the hull was scorched almost all the way down to the crew decks. Its gun was still charging, albeit with strange and perhaps deadly fluctuations in the containment fields.

Boarding pods were authorized, and several frigates and two cruisers were slammed with four ton clusters of metal and marine that ripped through the shield with ablative layers of glass-like metal, and they had begun to drill through the hull and secure their place in the plate metal of a yaerian Starcraft, this had little effect on the battle, at least for now.

It became a slug match, Yaerian ships dodging or absorbing hits that would destroy Unitarian escort vessels while Unitarian ships taking ungodly amounts of fire that scorched hulls but did little else except external damage for a short time. Unitarian Dreadnaughts slammed their meteor rounds like the thumb of god, and destroyed five vessels, before one Dreadnaught, the one that had been scorched by a suicide run earlier had simply stopped working, some integral part failing under the burdens of war.

Two Yaerian Frigates stopped functioning, and after a daring move by a Frigate wing commander, one Unitarian Dreadnaught was disabled.

There was twelve Unitarian Ships, one Dreadnaughts with a working Meteor cannon and a single Battlecruiser that held the Unitarian flag, in the end. They collected their duties, the boarding pods that they had sent out and some prize debris, and moved to the intact outpost.

Did they send boarding parties into the Outpost?

Spoiler: GM's note (click to show/hide)

 2500 words! I'm getting good at writing long chapters and terrible at keeping to a schedule.  Two hours, seventeen minutes, six days is what it takes for me to write this, but I got a couple excuses for my sloth. I had a horrific occupation related project that had to be finished or else(tm) and sometimes life simply takes precedent. However, it is all taken care of and for the next couple of weeks, I should be free before any type of life change happens. as always, I appreciate if anyone reports any errors they catch, any mentions

[NJW2000]

Yes.

[Blood_Librarian]

Post 030: Cutting the Teeth
"So it begins."
―Ulfric Stormcloak, The Elder Scrolls V: thereSkyrim

October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.
Yurgil Orbit, Yaerian Military Logistics Outpost.

In one of the several arms of the outpost, held a ship unlike any who had docked with the outpost before.

It was an alien ship. A ship filled with men and woman under a different banner than the warriors of the outpost.

The doors wouldn’t open for them, for they were sealed and bolted shut while the defenders had cut their stakes and prepared for warfare between starship and starbase.

Air was siphoned out, while Yaerians donned void suits. The few psionics present in the Yaerian Ranks were absolutely glowing with the potentialities their given power. Some had metal spikes floating around them, heedless of the gravitic system present, among others of different potential. Battle Frames were taken out of storage harnesses and energy flowed through their circuits as they turned themselves on.

The Breacher hard suits were donned as Brug warlords equipped themselves for the hardships and trials to come. Among the ranks of the Heavy breacher squads was the simple auxiliaries and mainstays of the Unitarian Empire. Those who were not dedicated enough to receive the gifts and training of the Empress.

Two Engineers, En-SenPairs worked there tools on the station's bulkhead door, their plasma torches cutting through the dense metal plates. A Brug Warlord and four Guardians were behind the Engineers, ready to breach the docking arm and set up the beachhead for the rest of the ship.

Far, far away an AI wondered what life would be alike among peers.


It took them thirty-seven minutes to create a breach in the airlock, just small enough for the Brug Warlord, an unstoppable organic train of muscle and finely tuned rage to slam through the door without stopping. Not even stopping for the two Yaerians who hid under a waist-high steel barricade, there legs crushed under the plate of steel and their plate armor crushed by its massive bulk.

The hallway was lengthy, with segmented and tactically placed barricades every five meters, designed to retract into the floor when their purpose became malevolent to the defenders.

Sadly, the pneumatic motors were put through far too much power and snapped as the barricade fell flat from the Brug’s mighty charge.

As the Warlord charged, he had reached halfway to the second barricade before a Battle Frame had lunged at his side, its metal maw breaching its hard suit and cracking the pauldron. The Brug was forced to change his course, slamming the machine into the wall.

The Brug was distracted, and  he did not notice the second Atlas Battle Frame lunge at the back of his neck while firing it’s “snub-nose” Phazon gun, the magnetically contained pin-head sized bolt of plasma borrowing into the plate armor of alien steel and promptly destabilizing and heating said pleat up to the point of cracking from thermal shock.

The Brug began to retaliate by moving his massive short barreled bolt gun into a position to end the attacker but a second and third bolt had pierced his side, heating up his flesh and causing heavy burns. The Yaerian Marines, who by this point had only four seconds between the Brugs sudden appearance had finally steeled themselves and let their training took over and had begun to take cover and move into a position to hit the Brug without destroying the Atlas Battle Frame.

The Brug had slammed his bolt gun into the maw of the machine and fired, the round ‘s kinetic energy punted the Frame off his shoulder and onto the floor, and the Brug slammed his plated foot down on the head of the machine, crushing it utterly. The Two Guardians followed the rearguards example, moving forward and firing high-explosive rounds down the hallway and deafening and in some cases blinding anyone who did not wear a helmet in the entire dock area.

The Atlas Frames were not very affected by this, they pushed their wards to the ground and returned fire now that lanes were free.

Atlas Mechs are perhaps one of the most common BattleFrames used in both boarding and ship keeping operations. Their Prehensile and dexterous hands often allow them to maintain themselves, use a wide variety of weapons with only minimal modification due to their light construction (Weighing almost as much as a Yaerian and at 5’4 exactly.) make perfect warriors in close quarters combat due to their incredible speed and their surprisingly powerful Positronic Brain.  They Covered in small overlapping plates that give it a scaled look, its back is covered in white “feathers”, that unfurl as the machine’s internal systems heat up in combat situations, glowing a dull red. The Scales are black, and white, giving it a sterile and minimalist look, just like most Yaerian designs. Most variants are equipped with a simple “snub-nosed” Phazon pistol, designed to be wieldy and useful in any combat situation. The “tail” of the BattleFrame is often equipped with a retractable blade on the end, designed to pierce space suits and cut through tungsten/Titanium-reinforced bone, and it’s head only contains its main sensor systems and the “maw” of incredibly sharp titanium alloy teeth. Other variants include the equivalent of tasers in the tail and a flamethrower in the mouth but are rare due to the prohibitive cost and strain on it’s Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) and the addition of explosive fuel tanks.

As one Guardian fell, his visor bellowing out smoke, another marine came in, carrying a personal shield made of thick metal and a tiny Bolt gun.

The Brug turned to the enemy and was promptly put down by an accurately placed Phazon Bolt and slumped over. One of the guardians used his corpse as cover.

One of the Yaerians finally came together and pulled out a grenade, activated it and threw it far and fast.

Emergency shields were manually activated by a Battle Frame before a wave of uncontrolled heated gas that was almost plasma scorched the entire area briefly, and then being sucked out into the void through the various vents that had been opened hours before.

When the shields ethereal and bluish glow ended, every occupant that was caught in the blast radius was dead. All three Guardians was scorched black and the Brug Warlord was rendered unrecognizable, the two fallen frames was turned into nothing more than burnt metal and melted circuitry.

The hallway was empty, quiet as the void for a couple seconds until four more Guardians moved in.

That docking hallway claimed no less than thirty-three Unitarian lives before the ship ejected, and used assault pods to breach into the outpost,  the ensuing battle had taken far longer than the Unitarian fleet had expected, as the resistance in the outpost had taken a monumental three hours worth of combat before the Unitarians gave up. Counter boarding operations, high explosive landmines and more had turned the outpost from an easy intel mission into a bloodbath, while the delays had resulted in plenty of time for the Aether-Warfare teams to break into the outpost's defenses and reap the data from its banks, they had extracted nothing of much value due to the stalwart defenses by the various Yaerian resources aboard the outpost.

Unitarian Dogma states that hacking is to be used on any available means to gain the advantage for the intelligence and strategic level.  Most primitive races do not have the computing power nor the finesse to fight back against the type of civilization that specializes in incorporating alien hardware into its own.

The Yaerian Republic had several factors that prevented the dreaded Aetherial warfare teams from touching any high-priority systems, but mainly due to the fact that some Yaerians have been augmented to a degree that the term Cyborg would apply in human terms and monstrosity in Unitarian terms. One augment in particular is required by all navigators and highly specialized computer technicians: the Jack. A data port installed onto the Yaerian upper spine along with a small Man-Machine Interface in the entire Yaerians Brain that allows the augmented individual to see and understand the digital realm with foremost clarity. Simple thoughts become actions, and some even develop a sixth sense; a sense in the digital world.

The Unitarian teams simply could not compete with the Yaerians in anything remotely resembling digital Warfare.

When Reinforcements had arrived, they only found debris of the outpost. They had bombed it completely and utterly while destroying any escape pods and debris bigger than a car with a thorough and complete sweep of the area. Ground-based sensor stations and several orbital satellites had recorded the last stand of the outpost in Yurgil Orbit.


A peak of the future is coming.

Would you like to witness the Uploaded, or the Arcs, or the CloneState?

Only one can be spoiled, for now.

Spoiler: QM's Note (click to show/hide)

Getting a little deprived on quotes, not gonna lie. if anyone wants any quotes to contribute to the little book I have, don't be afraid to PM me it, and I'll even mention your name (with permission of course) if you supplied it. If you have any questions about what something specifically is or a description of a person place or thing or maybe even a concept don't be afraid to ask, and I will always appreciate any corrections on any writing errors.

[NJW2000]

The Arcs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The few psionics present in the Yaerian Ranks were absolutely glowing with the potentialities their given power.

Didn't quite understand what this meant. I got the main point, but the words, "with the potentialities their given power" lost a bit of the meaning.

[Blood_Librarian]

The Arcs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The few psionics present in the Yaerian Ranks were absolutely glowing with the potentialities their given power.

Didn't quite understand what this meant. I got the main point, but the words, "with the potentialities their given power" lost a bit of the meaning.

Ah, apologies about not clarifying,  essentially the individuals latent power is practically at its fullest.  Their "well" from which they draw there power is full, and their raw potential in terms of psionic ability is ready to be realized in its fullest,  whether it is to perforate some poor fool with charged metal needles or bolts of fire, they are ready.

[Blood_Librarian]

Post 031: The Present of the Future.

"I sit in my cubicle, here on the motherworld. When I die, they will put my body in a box, and dispose of it in the cold ground. And in all the million ages to come, I will never breathe, or laugh, or twitch again. So won't you run and play with me here among the teeming mass of humanity? The universe has spared us this moment."
-Anonymous, Alpha Centauri

October 12th, 2128 AD, 25 GS.
Yurgil Orbit, Consolidated Yaerian Warship “Quorr’Zim”

“Captain, Titan three is charging.”

“Understood, begin evasive maneuvers, Navigation.”

“Sir, judging from Hyperspace sensors they have fired.”

“Estimated course?”

“Us, sir.”

“May the stars guide us.”

…

 A Unitarian Meteor round speeding at a lower than average speed for the class of such weapons merely grazed the side of the ship, it's shielded collapsing after only a second, the automated systems preventing the batteries from detonating. The hull crumpled, and the kinetic force of the blow loosened several critical reactor taps and the emergency vent activated, the power of a star escaping into the void from the war engine. Several crew decks were breached and the ship was rendered battle disabled.

…

The bridge, although relatively unharmed from the battle, had a loosened gravitic compensator, and did not fully prevent the vast majority of the command staff to either jar for their heads slamming into their delicate holographic-glass consoles with the speed of a car crash, or to be flung into the walls.  Of all the bridge staff aboard the ship, Only the Gunnery Major and an Ensign survived.



Three hours later, A technician, spattered in blue blood, and damaged with shrapnel, was arms deep into a magnetic coil, in an EVA rated space suit. Heavy machinery belonging in a fusion reactor required only the caress of the void, as air would only be detrimental to the function of a fusion generator.

He muttered to himself all sorts of curses, the reactor was essentially non-functional because of one simple part, a mechanical part that would decide the flow of reactant into the system, it was jarred out of place and permanently opened, and had flash welded to a separate, but similar piece of metal due to the extreme heat the part endured. It was an oversight, but he simply did not have enough time to put in a spare part because the Acting Captain of the vessel relayed at just how much of an emergency this was, and how the reactor needed to be turned on immediately, so he did a jury-rig fix.

He got a fusion cutter, cut the errant piece of metal, and filled the melted side of the part with a plasteel-like substance that hardened very shortly. He used a drone with a precision laser to cut the piece flat and then installed the bulky metal piece. He opened his  Overlay hud on his spacesuit and began diagnostics on the part, opening and closing it with subtle gestures and other types of motions. It was a little longer, but he adjusted the program that guided the system to the proper and expected accuracy of the component.

Finally finished with the machine, he packed up his tools and replaced the panel, and took a short EVA walk back into the ship.


The Ensign and the Gunnery Major was the only two officers technically qualified for bridge work left. The Gunnery Major was manning the main weapon terminal while the Ensign had his hands on the Chief Engineers desk, while an actually qualified engineer sat by his side.

The Engineer spoke, chidingly towards the Gunnery Major, “I don’t get why the hell we have to take a pot shot at them, we’re all gonna die anyways.”

The Major replied, with a quiet and wilting voice, “We either shoot them and die or get shot pretending to be dead, look what they are doing at the outpost.” His lung had been pierced by a shard of metal the size of a pin, and although he had been advised to rest after being treated, he followed the call of duty. The Ensign sighed. The Engineer tapped on the holographic interface, bringing up a picture onto the main screen.

It was a picture of the Outpost, with an Enemy Titan vessel in close proximity while assault craft had docked with it.

“Do you really think we’re gonna even damage them? We could wait until the Navig--”

“The Navigator isn’t waking up! No one wakes up from getting their entire lower body crushed by a two-ton stars-damned box!”

Exasperated the Engineer yelled,“Damn it, I’m not gonna die to a suicide run!”

Just as the Ensign was about to say something, a shrill beep and one of the EVA technicians reported that the Reactor was ready to fire up.

“Yeah, yeah, Everythings good to go, one of the parts was jarred loose and it’s fixed now.

The transmission cut. The Engineer and the Major glared daggers at each other. The Ensign died a little inside, and the Major began typing into his console.

The Major stared for a couple seconds, and spoke: “What are you doing?”

The answer to his question came clear in the form of a prompt on the Majors screen, and a shrill alarm echoing throughout the entire ship.

“Attention, Attention, Priority Ship announcement inbound.”

The Major stood silent for a moment, waiting for the announcement to finish. He tapped the microphone twice.

“This is it. Our reactor has been fixed. Right now we have two choices, both of them are grim.  I am uploading a Program to the Central Computer’s suit Image download. I want everyone to run it, and answer the question it gives, and then I will decide upon further actions. Major Qurr’Keris out.”

A pungent silence reigned for another moment, before the Engineer asked a question, “What was the question?”

He simply replied, “Check the Suit image.”

The Ensign and the Engineer quietly pulled up the program from the Image data frame and looked it over.

“Should we sacrifice our ship, ourselves and attempt to destroy a Titan Vessel?”

“The results are coming in now, look.”

On the main screen showed a list of every single remaining crew member. The vast majority of them had a green light next to their name.

Not five minutes later, the entire board was filled with green, speckled in with a couple red blaring Xs.

“It’s settled then, we go into the bring.”

The Engineer, understandably miffed about the situation, looked over the ensign as he typed over the commands to online the Reactor. When he was no longer needed, he left muttering as he went.

The Major carefully piloted the gun to point towards the closest Titan, farthest away from the station and fired the main gun. And fired it again, again and again until the barrels heatsinks kicked in and the gun could fire no more. Empty consoles began reporting missile tracks and incoming fire as no one could respond to them. The shield buffered against it all, and another three round burst slammed into the titan, it’s shields were downed and only one of the rounds were intercepted. The Titan was cracked and crippled.  The Rail-Cruiser the Yaerians inhabited was shaking heavily, the Medical Monitor computer reporting each death with a small, shrill beep. The Rail Gun had fired two rounds, but the third never reached the critical charge to leave the barrel.

The Fusion reactor had exploded, as the entire fuel reserves had been shunted into the reaction zone and in an instant, the ship was shredded apart. The Major did not even have a chance to feel regret for falsifying the results.

The Unitarian Dreadnaught “Shining Knight” was damaged beyond repair and was put to the shipbreaker yards after recovery.


[DATA PACKET RECIEVED]

[POSTICULATING…]

[DECRYPTED]

PLAY Y/N?

Y.


[DATE STAMP CORRUPTED]
Human Scout Ship “Enterprise”
Transcript of first contact and captains Addendum

It started quietly. The JumpDrive had a small malfunction and we were forced to stay in the system for two days before, as engineers had to partially disassemble the ship to finish the repairs. Our ship was unable to move when the Blip was first recorded.

Lieutenant James Smith: Captain, I have a sensor reading, a Large Electromagnetic blip on the outer system edge, near gas giant delta.

Captain Genda Mirun: Send the recording, and describe it to me in your words.

Smith: Sir… It’s a ship, a massive one.

Mirun: Explain it to me.

Smith: The… It was huge,  I think a moon covered it, sir. I didn’t get an exact reading but it was on par with a city on Earth, sir.

Mirun: I see, carry on then.

[muffled button pushing]

Mirun, to the entire ship: Attention, all crew on deck, Code blue is in effect, please await further information.

Mirun, to Chief Engineer: How long until we can get moving?

LCDR Elizabeth Tannerfield: The sublight engines can get us moving in two hours, but the Jump-Drive is a No-go, Captain.

The events leading up to the ship being able to move was within the standards and expected guidelines of the Interstellar Navy. we approached the supposed blip point as fast as we could, it took us two days to reach the gas giant. We were about to begin maneuvers to head to the approximate location in orbit, when… they came.



“Holy hell that thing is huge!”

The tiny scout ship, only 305 meters in length was absolutely tiny in comparison to the vessel before it. Its engines had to push at their maximum, the fusion nozzle pushed past its safety limits to dodge the vessels bulk. They barely cut the line, almost being clipped by the vessel when the Enterprise had gotten into the view of the other three monolithic ships present.

They were… old. Obviously so. Parts of the ships was cold and dead to the scanners while others were absolutely radiant with the nuclear energies of a star. They were covered in makeshift plate welds and one ship had been utterly warped with scorch marks not born of natural causes.

They were eleven kilometers long. four kilometers wide, and three kilometers in height; they were long and spindly looking.  The architecture of the vessel was predominantly made with white plates, marked with makeshift patch jobs and sections twisted and broken out of shape and color. The damaged Arc held a scorched gunmetal gray sheen, instead of a featureless and molded white with black marks.

A comm request had been sent to the Enterprise.

It was sent in English.


Did the Yaerians focus on creating automated battle platforms, or augmenting their Psionics?

[Blood_Librarian]

The... The dreaded TRIPLE POST... Yeah...