STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.

[Thirdfain]

Chorus of Heroes
Deep Space

Three contacts were homing in, burning hard on powerful FTL drives. The Chorus reacted accordingly. A destroyer, her engines had a significantly smaller mass to push. Designed for speed, she was faster and more maneuverable at FTL and STL speeds than the more bulky cruisers. However, there were three of the hunters, and they had spent the last hour maneuvering to cut off the mercenary starship.

A monsterous kinetic plume lit up the sensors of the persuing vessels as the Chorus changed direction hard, forcing the enemy to make another costly course correction.

On board, every crew member was tense, knowing the threat the incoming warships represented. There was no way the Chorus could hope to defeat one large cruiser in a one-on-one fight, much less three.

"How far till we can securely transmit to Rai?" The Polish intelligence analyst was practically sweating holes in his shipsuit.

"Another hour, at the least." The captain's face was as relaxed as a patchwork of scars and augmetics could be. "We'll make it. Probably."

The Pole shook his head. "Probably isn't good enough. This information is vital in every way. What are our other options?"

"There is a relay station at Parikh we could hit now..."

"How secure would our communications be?"

"Our codes are very good."

"How secure?"

"I can't promise anything. Who knows who would be listening in?"

The pole nodded. "This is too important. Transmit now, everything we've seen or heard. Financial has excellent cyphers, it may not be broken or even noticed."

Even as the Chorus frantically evaded pursuit, the message leapt out at faster-than-light speeds. At Parikh, it was picked up by the huge comm relay antennae and sped along it's way to Rai. There, in a server the size of a skyscraper, the communication was relayed to the Warsaw-New York Financial Organization offices. However, a copy was also relayed, quietly, to a front business back on Earth, boosted by the massive main 'Net transmitters which Rai had paid so much for. In a few hours, Earth would know.

[consequences]

Pursuing Forces
Deep Space

Transmission detected from target. Exact nature unknown, but probability of covert nature of operations being compromised approaches unity, especially coupled with omnidirectional transmission by unspuppressed Food Source elements. Shift operations to Deniability Plan One, accelerate manufacture of corroborating evidence.

For another forty-five minutes, the cruisers pursued as if nothing had been detected, until they made a slightly closer approach than had previously been achieved. Active sensors peaked in strength as the pursued vessel once again broke away, followed by an uncoded, if directional transmission in accented Drakolian:

"It has come to our attention that you are in all likelihood not, as we previously believed, members of the former Drakolian military apparatus. Identify yourselves and your purpose in breaching their territory."

[Thirdfain]

"Maintain radio silence. They could be trying to pinpoint our location by making us transmit tightbeam at them."

[consequences]

"We repeat, identify yourselves. If you fail to do so, we will have no choice but to regard you and whatever nation sent you as party to the Drakolian actions that forced us to intervene."

The message was rebroadcast from all three ships, making it fairly clear that they had at least a fairly general idea of the vicinity the Chorus of Heroes occupied. Also, given the way that they'd been able to maintain contact, that whatever else these cruisers were, and whoever they represented, their sensors were significantly better than would normally be expected from hulls of that size.

[Noble Ire]

Interstellar Space
Terran Colonial Disk
Just North of System C-0821

Princep Ghenai watched with satisfaction as twenty-six starships appeared on her tactical displays, arrayed in a nebulous shell around her own. They had emerged from Void Space in almost perfect unison with her command ship, the Ossea-class carrier Causeway, an impressive if not unexpected feat considering the considerable length of the task force’s last supra-dimensional transition. Longer “immersions” in the Void, especially in unfamiliar territory, often resulted and botched reentries, some of them catastrophically so, but the Princep had been ordered to move her force from the edge of FEA-claimed territory to the designated staging area as quickly and as covertly as possible. A few legs of the passage over CSS space had brought them dangerously close to detection, and an escorting corvette had nearly emerged inside of an uncharted asteroid, but they were in position at last, intact and undiscovered.

Finally, after a decade of drills, exercises, and simulations, combat was upon the 2nd Fleet Core, her proud part of the First Expansionary Armada. Although she was too practiced to let it show on her own face, Ghenai could see the anticipation welling up within her command crew. She briefly felt a pang of sympathy for the elements of the 2nd Core that had been held back for this operation, her fellow Princep Admera especially, but there was little time to dwell on those light-years away.

“Has contact been made with all unit Cotes?”

“All vessels are reporting full readiness, Elevated.”

“Begin scanning pattern One. It is possible that we are the first to arrive, but I want to be sure that contact is established with all mission elements as soon as possible. If we need to abort, I’d rather not be the last to hear about it.”

As the Sensory and Communications coordinators set about enacting her directive, the Princep turned to the Causeway’s own Cote, who had entered the operation center just before their emergence.

“I assume that all of our identifying markings have been obscured or erased?”

“I inspected the last of the external visual sweeps myself a few moments ago, Elevated. There is nothing beyond the basic geometry of the hull that could give us away. I can only trust that the other ship’s crews have been as efficient this one’s.”

“You know them as well as I do, Cote. They are prepared.”

The Princep ran a finger down her dark cheek. “If we acquit ourselves well today, as I know we will, the need for secrecy may not last long past this campaign. The Preeminence is a part of this galaxy now, and soon no one will be able to deny that.”

[Thirdfain]

"We repeat, identify yourselves. If you fail to do so, we will have no choice but to regard you and whatever nation sent you as party to the Drakolian actions that forced us to intervene."

No response was heard. The Chorus continued it's frantic escape attempt- and it was gaining ground.

[consequences]

"We repeat, identify yourselves. If you fail to do so, we will have no choice but to regard you and whatever nation sent you as party to the Drakolian actions that forced us to intervene."

No response was heard. The Chorus continued it's frantic escape attempt- and it was gaining ground.

The pursuit continued, now in silence.


Meanwhile, a series of innocuous messages from legitimate and semi-legitimate business concerns flitted back and forth from system to system, much like any other day. Unlike any other day, those concerns and their contacts were now passively watching for a specific ship, or the loose-lipped talk that would inevitably follow said ship in spacer bars wherever it ended up.

[Redleader34]

TGA NEWS ALERT

Breaking News Now, Live on TGA-1

An unknown ship has been sighted above the Earth, and it appears to be an STMC ship... " The Grey wolf would start to shudder, as Farhana, the Drone reporter stared to look at him oddly. "Oh god why did that old animated show become rea"

TGA-1 would show what appeared to be an STMC ship, being dragged into the Earth's high orbit. As the Mothership was revealed, a cry of relief went through the anchors.

"Sorry for that outburst, and now we go live to Al Chinachu, our Military Consultant from Earth." "Thanks Rick," The human started "And this STMC, or "Space Monster" was captured, and is being moored to the New Mombasa Heights station for analysis, and research. We will see if we could possibly salvage any useful drive technology, or access into what appearers to be their code, or their mind structure.

The Fact that these beings even exist is a wonder for our scientists, who jokingly proposed the Collation build a giant "Gun Buster" tactical platform to fight the menace off. On serious matters, this specimen will be investigated with great care. We estimate that to defeat these beings, the entire resources of a sector could be used t wipe them put, with miminal losses. They would be disruptive to any of the small worlds around Known Space, according to best tactical knowledge.

The man nodded, as he said "Back to you, Rick"

The Report went on, saying things such as

AFRICAN STOCK MARKET SHUT DOWN DUE TO WAR

NUCLEAR WEAPONS ALL ACCOUNTED FOR: GOVERNMENT REPORT

NEW HABITABLE PLANET FOUND, IN TGA SPACE

and

LIVE ACTION REMAKE OF OLD "GUNBUSTER" MOVIE HITS NO 1 AT BOX OFFICE: EXPERTS SAY STMC INVASION IRONIC PUBLICITY

[consequences]

B'Rell Concordance
Far Galactic South

The B'Rell Concordance was a four system polity, far beyond the edge of the current dramatic flux in events. While not really noticeable on the grand stage of powers being played out in the vicinity of Earth, they were nearly as large as anything that had yet chosen to make contact on the far fringes. They were important now for two reasons, one, their long-time tradition of spacefaring, and two, their records, which while fragmentary, extended well into the region of times that had been nearly completely lost to the common pool of knowledge. Even to their attentive ears, though, the events around distant Earth were barely more than rumor and fuel for gossip. To play the ancient pre-space game of 'seven degrees of separation', they were at least twelve degrees out, and that only by routes that no-one had yet thought to connect.

The day began like any other, lasting exactly as long as it took for the embedded worm and virus files to spring into action on their predetermined activation time in the Central Space Navigation Center. For minutes, stretched endlessly in the electronic ether, limited AIs, Semi-Autonomous Knowbots, Sysadmins, and Core-Spawned Sprites fought against the relentlessly multiplying deluge of attacking programs. Finally the decision was reached to perform a complete purge and reload from backup storage.

The total system shutdown and cutoff from the outside left the viruses literally nowhere to run, as the programmers meticulously eradicated any trace of the attackers, identifying and sealing the back door that had allowed access as they went, and dispatching the authorities to deal with the hackers shown to be responsible. That done, a diagnostic was performed on the backup site and hardline, which revealed no faults. A rapid dump and reboot initiated, bringing the system back to full working order a bare fifteen minutes after the attack began. It was a testament to the system's redundancy that normal operations had continued with the backup centers shouldering the full load, with no one at the base user level even realising that anything had gone awry.

Of course, a type of tap that the diagnostics didn't know to look for couldn't be detected, resulting in the innocuous, fully documented container van, completely packed with computer hardware, rapidly being filled to capacity with the B'Rell's navigation data and system files in excruciating detail. The container van made its scheduled appointment at the space port, departing within the hour, as its carrying vessel boosted out of system. The data contained within was already being meticulously gone over. Particular care and attention was being paid to a metaphorical 'Here Be Dragons' warning, conveniently at the far edge of the informational sphere.

[Thirdfain]

Coalition of Nations Temporary HQ
Warsaw, Vistula Megalopolis
Poland
Earth
Sol System

Anton Wiśniowiecki, President of the Polish Republic and Chairman of the Miezymorze Federation, stepped up to the podium in the small, rather cramped temporary meeting-place of the Coalition of Nations. The flags and sigils of over a dozen nations hung around the room, resplendent in comparison to the varied ambassadors and representitives who filled the room. Most had been called suddenly for the emergency meeting, and some were more than a little ticked at having been roused at that ungodly hour- though the Herald diplomacy-drone did not seem to particularly care.

"Gentlebeings, I apologize for this inconvenience, especially after yesterday's dramatic events. However, I have come suddenly into possession of information of vital importance, information with drastic consequences. Earlier today, representitives of the Warsaw-New York Financial Combine passed into the hands of Polish Intelligence documents and recordings from a recent corporate scouting mission in the Southern Reaches. Similar documents were, we have heard, handed over to our American counterparts. Over the last few weeks, a substantial region of space eight comm-hours from Earth on the Datanet went blank. This segment centered on the territory controlled by the Rim polity known as the Drakol Imperium. Such a sudden and unexplained loss of communications is literally unprecedented. The cause for this failure has become clear."

On the screen behind him, an image sprung into being. Drakol, viewed from the nightside over it's most heavily populated regions. The South Coast glowed with the lights of expanding cities, and the glint of orbiting habitats could be clearly seen.

"This is Drakol Prime, capital of the Imperium, as of three months ago. Population, eight billion. Drakol's industry is one of the major regional exporters of semi-modern manufactured goods. Her navy was one of the strongest in the region, with a history of local success, particularly in the Drakol-Parikh Incident five years ago, in which it succeeded in forcing a favorable peace despite Parikh's larger size and greater economic clout. A healthy, wealthy, civilized world by all accounted with extensive trade contacts with Rai and Earth."

The image changed. The same planet, to be sure- but it's face was marred and burned, vast swaths turned to seas of fire or blacked out by rolling power shortages. The world seemed half-dead, wartorn by the terrible powers of modern orbital weapons.

"These surveillance recordings show that the cause of the unexpected recent 'Net collapse in the greater Drakol sphere. Dozens of warships of completely unknown configurations were detected in the region, including battleship-sized contacts. The speed, silence, and effectiveness of the conquest of Drakol was such that the entire Drakolian fleet was silenced to the degree that no word escaped, and that no notice was taken by Earth for an entire month. Judging from the extent of the bombardment, we believe that at least a billion men and women have died on Drakol already, at the very least. Considering the relatively impressive military might of the Drakol state, their opponents must have fielded a large and capable military force, one comparable to any mobilized by the states of the Central Sphere.

It is my firm belief that this attack was launched by an outside polity, a yet-uncontacted force that was both aggressive and violent. The Drakol Imperium, by all acocunts, was engaged in no expansion, military or otherwise, and was a highly responsible and economically useful force in the region. It's sudden disappearance may very well herald a general invasion of the Southern Rim. Considering the appearance of the Worldeater menace just yesterday, I have asked the Sejm to authorize the immediate crash-deployment of a Polish fleet task-force to the independent port of Rai to prepare for exploratory military action against the aggressors. It is becoming increasingly clear that order is breaking down in Known Space, and that we are all threatened. I place before the Coalition a humble request to mobilize a multinational force of initially limited scope to defend the vital transit and trade node of Rai and to face this new threat immediately. The 1st Light Carrier Division and the 9th Cruiser Division are already en route as I speak.

We are all threatened, friends! All nations of the Civilized Sphere, regardless of allegiance of political background, are threatened! I ask the esteemed representitive of the Trans-Genetic Alliance to bring my message before the North Galactic Treaty Organization- against this threat, we must put aside our petty differences. An entire world has been murdered in a fashion not seen in decades. We must NOT allow this precedent to be set.

I formally place this resolution before the Coalition for ratification. Thank you all, and godspeed."

Forces Deployed (En Route)

----1st Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer

----9th Cruiser Division
2 Blyskawica- class Light Cruisers
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates

Total Points:
Cruisers: 73
Escorts: 11

Total: 84

[Cincinnatus]

Coalition of Nations Temporary HQ

After conferring with his government, with all the lag time of FTL communications that that entailed, Envoy Zegular Kesreg took the podium.

"The news brought to us by President Anton Wiśniowiecki is quite dire. Not only does this encroachment by this unknown power put all of us here today from the Galactic South at risk, but it threatens to disturb the stability and thus trade of the entirety of Known Space! King Mistem "Hammer Blessed" Enshallogem will not allow either of those events to occur. Therefore, the Isdenestilom Space Force is preparing the First and Second Fleets to join the Polish lead task-force. I urge the rest of you assembled here today to do likewise."

Force Deployed

First Fleet
2 Koganusan-class Dreadnoughts
4 Abalerith-class Battleships
5 Kadolmorul-class Cruisers

Second Fleet
2 Koganusan-class Dreadnoughts
4 Abalerith-class Battleships
5 Kadolmorul-class Cruisers

Total Points: 620

[Adrian Laguna]

Gubernatorial Palace
First Landing City
Wysoka
Roman System

"Well, de la Vega. It seems you have made contact with civilization at last. What are you planning to do next?"

The man smiles, but the priest doesn't bother to hide a look of disgust.

"Is my nonchalance about this whole affair an indicator of this being the first time my people meet a civilization other than their own? The reign of my liege Felipe II covers many different nations. Our enemies the Moors have their own civilization, a few fortified systems from which privateers like the one I just destroyed stage attacks on helpless merchants. Finally there are our friends and allies, the Kitaka.

But that is just who we know personally, our merchants often travel far, and merchants from other places come to our ports. We have heard of newcomers settling to the West of us, of sentient birds somewhere above us. Most interestingly, we have heard of a system that is like a fortress where each bastion has its cannon aiming at every other bastion as much as they aim at potential enemies beyond. The key world in this system must be incredibly old, they call it "Ground".

Surely you have heard of some or all of what I mention. So please, we may not have gone to great lengths to explore far from our worlds, but we are not ignorant."

[Note: Planar directions in my little corner of space are perpendicular to the galactic disk. By the time people noticed this, nobody could bother to fix it. "Up" is toward Earth, "down" away, "West" toward FEA, "East" toward the Kitaka.]

[Thirdfain]

"A fortress... You can only mean Earth, my good man. Terra. A world of fortresses indeed- there are a dozen nations on Earth, each with it's own far-flung colonies and concerns. The capital of our great Republic is on Earth. Though your characterization is not completely correct, de la Vega. Increasingly, the nations of Earth have found common ground. The recent foundation of the Coalition of Nations has ended the constant in-fighting. In a way, the guns of Earth have ensured peace- the Pax Solar. So long as everyone is a minute away from destruction, only co-operation seems viable. Meanwhile, Earth is without a doubt the economic hub of the Sphere. Through Poland, it's vast markets can become open before you."

"Tell me, by the way- to which Pope do you make your allegiance?"

[Tanasinn]

Having consulted the central government on Nalthar and confirmed the response he knew he would receive, High Diplomat Chul, for his part, looked as composed as usual, though perhaps it would be hard to read such an alien creature's thoughts and attitudes.


Speaking in clipped, grave tones, the Khurl diplomat clearly took this situation seriously, "The Glorious Khurlassian Republic condemns all unprovoked military action. Clearly, the Drakol Imperium has become the unwilling host to criminally violent forces whose expertise at operating unnoticed is apparent. The Republic will deploy the First Subfleet, First and Second Mobile Unit, and elements of the Second Fleet immediately to Rai to join the Poles and the forces of any other nation who will not stand for criminal military aggressiveness," the High Diplomat scanned the room gravely with his many eyes; the forces he had just committed were a far cry from a mere pittance, "the Glorious Republic that it is my duty to represent here will send a perfectly clear message to whatever forces dare treat sentient lives as mere numbers and worlds as prizes to be won, not only for the people of the Drakol Imperium, but for all sentient beings who do not wish to live under the spectre of invasion."


Forces Deployed
First Subfleet: Shadow Subfleet
1 Spectre-class (Battleship; 32 pt.)
1 Blade-class (Battlecruiser; 21 pt.)
4 Inquisitor-class (Cruisers; 56 pt.)
3 Bellicose-class (Cruisers; 42 pt.)
4 Reliance-class (Destroyers; 20 pt.)
171 point force

Ironhull/Second Fleet Elements
1 Nova-class (Battleship; 32 pt.)
2 Dalmor-class (Battlecruisers; 40 pt.)
6 Invincible-class (Cruisers; 84 pt.)
2 Inquisitor-class (Cruisers; 28 pt.)
5 Reliance-class (Destroyers; 25 pt.)
209 point force

First Mobile Unit: Defender Mobile Unit
5 Bellicose-class (Cruisers; 70 pt.)
3 Wraith-class (Lt. Cruiser; 30 pt.)
2 Reliance-class (Destroyers; 10 pt.)
110 point force

Second Mobile Unit: Watchman Mobile Unit
5 Bellicose-class (Cruisers; 70 pt.)
3 Wraith-class (Lt. Cruiser; 30 pt.)
2 Reliance-class (Destroyers; 10 pt.)
110 point force


Ships
Battleships: 2
Battlecruisers: 3
Cruisers: 25
Light Cruisers: 6
Destroyers: 13
Total Points: 600

[Adrian Laguna]

"Meanwhile, Earth is without a doubt the economic hub of the Sphere. Through Poland, it's vast markets can become open before you."

"Tell me, by the way- to which Pope do you make your allegiance?"

"From our end, we have recently acquired vast holdings with yet untapped natural resources. I'm sure our entrance into wider markets can only mean benefit for all involved. In particular it would give the backward natives in the New Worlds the chance to grow into the standards of advanced civilization."

Mother Ruiz spoke next, her eyes and voice filled with pride, "We make our allegiance to the one and only Pope recognized by the Roman-Catholic Church of Our Lord, Pontifex Maximus Adriana VI."

[Starglider]

K.O.S.C. Euthaniser
Border of Polish Space (Galactic South)

The ship had been running under cloak for megachronons now, making its way cautiously through the human's outer detection perimeter, first under warp and now creeping in on gravitic drives for the final approach to the target. The crew were the elite of the Kiroter'nah special operations starflock, but they had been drilling even more incessantly than usual on this voyage to prepare for this unprecedented operation. Haneera betrayed no sign of emotion to her crew, but inwardly she felt the familiar maddening tension and undercurrent of fear that the first phase of these cloaked operations always produced.

there could be an entire fleet of humaan ships following us right now without us knowing laughing at our attempts to hide Requiem-class shroud generator performance is believed to be superior to nearly all xeno designs. those pirate spies seemed thorough but they may still have missed something critical or been fed false information

Haneera's organic form blinked and shook her head, hidden inside her shell. Such thoughts were a lapse of mental discipline. She returned to mentally reviewing contingency plans for the ~65536 different things that could go wrong with the upcoming operation. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the navigation officer.

"Co-ordinator, inertial guidance puts at optimum range for SSP launch, based on the last partial-decloak starfix."

"Stop engines. Reactors full power, all tactical systems to maximum readiness, set Special Strike Platform launch to automatic and lock in pattern echo on particle-laser targetting".

The central holodisplay, berefet of external sensor data for a tactical plot, was showing a comprehensive ship status display. The indicators changed as power left the engines and flowed into the tactical systems - the shroud generator was still drawing almost the entire output of the aft reactor, making it impossible to energise both at once.

"On my mark, disengage shroud and fire at will. Execute!"

---

The Polish tracking station was built onto and partially inside a tiny interstellar body, one of the countless trillions of asteroids thrown out of its original star system in the chaos of planetary formation or some later extrasolar event. The main station was no more than a cluser of habitation and equipment modules emplaced on the surface, with a few hangars for supply craft and an oversized reactor buried near the centre of the 5km rock. Most of the asteroid's surface was covered in the delicate metalic webs and meshes of the huge antennae arrays needed to track incoming craft at interstellar distances.

For the past twenty minutes the station had been tracking an intermittent anomoly. At first the duty officer considered it most likely a sensor glitch, but it had shown a clear incoming trajectory. The League telepaths were not known to possess cloaking ships, but the Polish navy was well used to cloaked attacks by the Bootswellington pirates, so the station went to combat alert. A bubble shield went up over the habitation modules, the handful of point defence weapons were brought to instant readiness and a message was sent out on hypercomm reporting a possible inbound contact. Unfortunately for the station's crew, it would take at least 8 hours for this message to reach the main colony worlds and military bases.

A mere 300 kilometres from the Polish tracking station space twisted and shimmered as the Euthaniser dropped out of shroud. The Kiroter'nah ship's eggs-and-latticework form had an unusual addition; a thick disc-shaped structure strapped to the forward tactical module and obscuring nearly the entire front profile of the ship. Within fractions of a second the ship's sensors had confirmed the rough location of the target and rockets began to streak out of the 'Special Strike Platform'. The module was a quick, cheap and simple improvisation originally created for a possible strike on Nephilim listening stations, but had been shelved after that mission had been reassigned to a group of Bootswellington ships. Now it had found a new use.

The flurry of unguided nuclear tipped high-acceleration rockets spread out as they approached the outpost, and a mere three seconds after launch the trailing projectiles began to initiate. The warheads had relatively low yields, but the extra-thick cladding generated unusually large plasma fireballs that played merry hell with the Polish station's sensor picture. It was at this point that the Euthaniser's particle/lasers emitters began to fire, lashing out through ports in the SSP module and striking the station's shields.

The overtaxed Polish point defences began to fire back frantically at the incoming rocket swarm, with spectacular results; the 'salvage fused' warheads detonated instantly when hit by point defence fire. The station's elaborate ECM gear was useless against the unguided rockets. Chain reactions from warhead fratricide began to occur as the salvo closed the final distance to the asteroid, obscuring the target in a mass of close-ranged fusion explosions and wrecking the delicate sensors and comms gear spread out across the surface. Only a handful of warheads made it through to initiate right over the outpost's shield, but combined with the particle/laser fire this was enough to overwhelm the relatively low-powered generators.

For the Polish officers the end came quickly; they had a brief experience of flashing, searing lights, pounding shockwaves and intense heat, like a thunderstorm in hell. Then the habitation modules exploded, their hulls savaged and atmospheres superheated by the incoming fire. The humans did not even get a chance to consider surrender, not that the Kiroter'nah commander would have accepted it in any case. The K.O.S.C. Euthaniser slowly closed the distance to the wrecked outpost, continuing to pour fire into every structure that was not yet melted into unrecognisability. Within minutes all that was left was a freshly cratered rock, covered in still-glowing scars and surrounded by rapidly dispersing debris. Its work done, the Kiroter'nah ship turned and sped away into space, blurring back into invisibility as the shroud was re-engaged. Two-thirds of the SSP rockets remained and there was a strict timetable to meet.

---

Tracking Station Relay 13-B
Border of Polish Space (Above the Galactic Disc)

Tracking Station Relay 13-B recieved the warning half an hour before the attack arrived. When the alien strike-ship arrived, 13-B had already recalibrated it's systems for the sort of high-intensity scanning which was necessary to properly track a cloaked vessel. A tightbeam message had summoned the nearest patrol group, but it was a race against time- the crew of 13-B could only wait in sweaty anticipation for the incoming blip which would mean that death had arrived.

The K.O.S.C Apprehension was on its third and final attack run; after two strikes without a hitch, the command crew had become overconfident in their ability to wipe out the Polish stations. The Bootswellington intelligence had proven accurate in one respect; the defences were only enough to stop pirate raiders and frigates, they could not stand against a cruiser. The ship did not stop to make a sensor sweep before the strike, instead proceeding straight to the target to minimise the chances of reinforcements arriving in time to save it. Unfortunately for the Kiroter'nah on board, their pirate-sourced intelligence was deficient in one critical respect; it did not cover the Polish 2nd Raiding Squadron's revised patrol route. By the time the outpost's tracking array confirmed the incoming cloaked vessel, the primary elements of the 2nd Raiding Squadron were only five minutes out. The Requiem-class shrouded cruiser, unaware that it had been spotted by the long-range array, would be in optimum launch position in three.

The Apprehension dropped shroud and launched rockets as usual, flinging its remaining stocks of nuclear-tipped projectiles at the tracking station. But even as they left the tubes, alarms were going off in the command space. Powerful targetting emissions were being received from a source quite distinct from the station - and the ships own active sensors instantly confirmed the group of enemy ships, closing fast. The Apprehension's commander immediately canceled the attack run and brought the ship about, redirecting power from the weapons to the engines. The rockets began impacting against the many fragile sensors and weak defensive screens of 13-B simultaneously with the first incoming shells shooting past the Apprehension. Three Polish escorts and a light cruiser had jumped ahead of the more unweildy heavy cruisers of the squadron, intent on saving the early warning post.

Eighteen rounds, high-velocity railgun shells carrying guided warheads, closed distance with the Kiro vessel, which was desperately attempting to reengage its shroud while plotting an evasive course away from the incoming enemies. No power was left for the point defence guns and shields were functioning at navigation levels only. Without these defences to stop them the Polish shells slammed into the side of the ship, smashing gaping holes in the habitation module, shattering sections of the structural framework and ripping two point defence turrets entirely off the ship. Plasma immediately began to boil out of rents in the forward reactor module and the ship's main tactical module. A full quarter of the crew became casaulties in this first salvo, while half of the ship's weapon systems were instantly out of commision.

The only thing that saved the ship was the sensor chaos caused by the rain of fusion explosions over the nearby outpost, which the Apprehension's desperate maneuvers had almost managed to place between itself and the incoming ships. Many of the shells went wide, and the Polish crews hesitated in launching their missiles for long enough for the Apprehension to get under shroud. The ship vanished into a mass of fading visual distortions. Meanwhile the bruised but alive crew on the wrecked tracking station cheered and thanked assorted deities for the timely arrival of 2nd Raiders.

Unfortunately for the Kiroter'nah, their achievement could merely prolong the inevitable, as their ship was leaking fuel and atmosphere and the damaged engines were running rough, generating interference that the enemy EW destroyers were sure to zero in on. They could not see the enemy through the shroud field, but every few minutes the damaged hull rang with the impact of hypervelocity shrapnel from a nearby proximity burst. The engineering crew grimly rechecked that the reactor containment safties were disabled before returning to desperate attempts to contain the hull breaches and squeeze more speed out of the tortured engines.

[consequences]

A Few Brief Vignettes

Drakol Five

The landing zone had been chosen for the best balance of defensibility and convenience to the areas that would need to be supplied that could be achieved. Even so, there had been a half-dozen attacks made upon it already, mostly of a probing nature.

Without warning, an air lorry passing at the closest distance normally permissible turned towards the site, boosted its acceleration to maximum, and mere seconds later, while still being challenged, vanished in a massive thermonuclear fireball. Taking advantage of the brief disruption to defensive systems, 27 air cars at various locations started spitting out unguided projectiles. Through trial and error, the resistance had determined that crude launching systems utilising compressed air didn't register as a threat. Likewise, with sufficient inert shielding to dampen their inherent radioactivity, nuclear warheads could be brought into attack range, without the power signature that would give away a more advanced explosive mechanism.

Even with the brief disruption caused to the hardened defense systems, the interception rate was more than ninety percent. This led to additional problems, as the warheads had been specifically engineered to create a nuclear 'fizzle' if prematurely destroyed, which was still an event in the single digit kilotons. More than half of the intercepted projectiles performed as designed, resulting in further EMP and interference.

Despite the best efforts of point defense, and the fratricide caused by the chosen projectile design, 11 of the unguided projectiles made it through. The first six brought down the defensive shields. The seventh cracked open the lander that had just touched down moments before. It was impossible to say which of the remaining four projectiles overcame the protective measures around the load of munitions, and a moot point regardless, as the massive fireball swept outwards, engulfing the smaller blasts in its wake.

An enormous pillar of flame reached into the sky, channeled by carefully positioned shield generators, placed in the expectation of just this sort of catastrophic occurrence. As a result, the civilian death toll from the attack was only in the hundreds of thousands.

Expand quarantine perimiter around critical sites fifty percent, Commit reserve assets to double defensive strength as well. Accelerate propaganda efforts to demonize futile efforts of resistance, document everything for support of Deniability Plan One, and funnel maximum effective relief efforts to further that goal as well.

__________________________________________________________
Deep Space

The transport was yanked out of hyperspace abruptly, surrounded by a motley assortment of small escorts. Their rush towards it paused for only the briefest of moments as they stopped to have a laugh at their prey's pleas for mercy.

"Please, we are only refugees, we have nothing of value. Some kind of giant space monsters destroyed our world, we are all that is left, all that made it out. For the gods' sakes, we're just women and children, we don't have anything"

Cursory scans confirmed the poor wretches statements. This, of course, only meant that the pirates took extra care not to damage their prize. If all that was of value was the hull and the bodies on board, there was no point in losing any percentage.

Confirmed, 78% of pirates really are that gullible. Continue operations to gain further tracking and infiltration

___________________________________________________________

Tr'nal'an,
Land of the New Prophet

"And so you see, my sons, by channeling Arnan's holy flame through our cleansing tools, we drive out the demons that would otherwise fester within us. Spread the joyous word, and remember, be fruitful and multiply, for Arnan's love should not be denied to any, even those who do not yet exist, and it is within our power to bring new life into the world for him to love. "

Basic hygiene was, as always, the biggest trial to get instituted in a culturally acceptable format without simply moving in and taking over. Now, with that overcome, this world might be influenced to amount to something within the next few decades, with the 'crashed merchant vessel' to allay the suspicions of any who thought it to be developing too quickly.


_____________________________________________________________________

Uninhabited system
Far Galactic South

First, several transports arrived, and started scouting for likely hideaways, as if working for a Smuggler Lord, looking for a convenient location for a base. Second, a half dozen warships quietly coasted in, and began going over everything with a fine-toothed comb. Finally, large freighters began moving in, dropping off prebuilt station modules and supplies in the sensor dead zone created by the thoroughly improbable tidelocked Gas Giants. Later, a scientific survey team arrived to analyse how that previously thought impossible occurrence could have come about, while the slow construction of the future fleet base continued around them.

______________________________________________________________________
Their Space

Normally, existence on one of Their worlds would be termed hellish by any species possessed of free will, making it an infinitessimal mercy that self-awareness was essentially eradicated within the first year of being fully assimilated. All was devoted to the maximum benefit and expansion of the whole. In addition to massed cloning banks, devoted to finding the most efficient possible genetic combinations in bulk, any child-bearing entity could expect to spend its maximum healthy fertile period constantly in a state of prengancy, or its species equivalent, due to Their fundamental 'waste-not, want-not' policy. The only exceptions that existed were for those whose specific utilities would be impossible to fully achieve in such a state, and those who proved to be of no particular use to the whole. Those found themselves rendered down for parts, with a sample kept on file, just in case some utility might be achieved from them further down the line.

Now, while the essential policy in no way changed, the aspects calculated to be viewed as undesirable by sophonts still possessed of free will were being concealed, while an extensive history of a free market economy continued to be manufactured from whole cloth.

__________________________________________________________________
Drakol Space
Holding Cell

"We'd like to help you, we really would, but as far as we can tell, you and the ship you came in on are just coming around to see what went wrong with your Drakolian front-men. Now we've got no interest in making life difficult for four poor brave schmucks that got hung out to dry, so if you'll let us know of some planet we can drop you off at with our message to your superiors, maybe we can get some kind of dialogue going before someone gets killed out here, if you really are telling the truth."

There was an expected protocol to prisoner interrogations, and apparently these people had never heard of it. From allowing them all contact before questioning, to failing to take advantage of the loopiness caused by the medication administered before fixing the joint damage inflicted by their captors grav field, whoever these people were, they certainly didn't appear to be the best and brightest of the intelligence field. This would be the subject of much joking amongst the former captives a few days later upon their release.

Meanwhile, where the captives couldn't see, the system was in full swing being rebuilt, a massive hive of activity radiating carelessly into the night. Further out, more ships began quietly moving into nearby uninhabited systems.
_____________________________________________________________________

Earth
A perfectly above-board restaraunt

"So, there is a certain individual who represents a concern for our business venture. We would appreciate it if this individual could be shown the full measure of our concerns. But not however, that they are specifically our concerns, even if it doesn't really matter who else knows that someone disagreed with their business practices. We will of course, compensate you thoroughly for your discretion in this matter"

With that, and leaving a written note with the appropriate double-talk detailing the specific recipient of this attention, as well as the accounts to be drawn upon, the non-descript man left the restaurant. A thoroughly paranoid agency specifically tailing him, or the contract agent he met with, would note the specific deviations to the human norm, and with difficulty, be able to trace them to the differences caused by a few hundred years of divergence on Drakol Five. Likewise, a sufficiently paranoid individual tracking the money would eventually trace the tenuous chain linking the accounts specified to corporate interests held by Drakol through dummy corporations.

[Imperial Overlord]

Somewhere in deep space South-West-Up of the Straltoc Borders

A sensor officer looked up at his senior. "Still nothing sir. The only thing in this system is junk. Pirates may have been here, but they aren't here any more."

"Alright," said Captain Steiner. "Inform our Straltoc allies that we seem to have been on a wild goose chase. Well, that's pirate hunting for you. A lot of looking and a few brief flurries of action. Spin up the FTL drive and prepare to go home.


The Logos Centrality
Sol
Mars
Labyrinth Noctus
Spires of Jet and Gold

"We detected an anomoly at the very spot the space monsters arrived in just before their arrival. I do not think this is a coincidence." Jerrak Sunn's voice was ice cold and steel hard.

There rest of the darkened room did not stir. "I agree with our senior's assessment," said one robed woman. "There has been no sign of any such creature anywhere near our holdings and they suddenly appear around Sol? After crossing so many light years?"

"It is agreed," said a third. "We must investigate. All available data on these creatures and how to manipulate them must be gathered from the outer regions of known space. We must also address the dangers these creatures represent to the rest of our holdings. Sol is well defended, by ourselves and others, but our out system colonies are where the majority of our population dwells and they have no such protection."

"Agreed," said Sunn. "Fleet resources must be relocated. Homefleet and the defences at Mars and the Belt should be adequate. The Fourth fleet should be dispatched and the rest of our defences reordered. There are other dangers we should consider as well. NGTO seems intent on aggression and I suspect other nations may be involved in exacerbating Africa's problems, Poland being one of them. Vigilance is called for.

"I agree," said the First Councilor. "It will be done. Until our enemy in unveiled, we will remain on guard."

[InnocentBystander]

Sol
Outskirts

Battered from its recent fight just hours ago, the Portuguese Reserve Fleet prepared to return to its normal duties around the central worlds. The Imperial Fleet, the core of Portugal's naval might, had arrived shortly after the Worldeaters fled the Sol system, and were quietly conducting operations several lightyears away from Sol. Sol Fleet, meanwhile, was overseeing salvage operations near Mercury and making repairs in Earth Orbit. Sol Fleet had lost several ships and a handful were in dock undergoing repairs.

Scientists from all over the Sector were marvelling at remains of the alien fleet, many of their lifeless husks now adrift. A fair number were more or less in one peace, killed by torrents of point defense fire. And all over the sector the question was - What are these creatures, and where did they come from? Labs across Portuguese space, and indeed the whole sector, were hard at work trying to answer these questions.

Earth - Poland
Warsaw, Vistula Megalopolis - Coalition of Nations Temporary HQ

It seems that with each passing day the galaxy falls further and further into chaos and barbarism. The purpose of this Coalition is to further peace and prosperity within the sphere; if we are to maintain peace and prosperity in these times than we must ensure the survival of those nations which fit the model of a civilized state. For the good of the sphere we cannot stand idle and watch as nations like the Drakol Imperium are wiped out by barbaric warlords seeking to loot and pillage. Portugal will show its commitment to interstellar peace and all civilized nations by sending ships.


Forces:
Cruiser Group - 77 pts
3x 'Espada Afiada' CC
4x 'Maria' DD
8x 'Dourado Levantou-Se' FF

Patrol Group - 20 pts
1x 'Tuledo' CC
10x 'Faxia' FF

Total: 97pts (55cc, 42esc)

[Agent Fisher]

ROA Fleet HQ
New California

Supreme Commander Petraeus looked down at the map table. "Have the 1st and 4th CVBGs move to Rally point Bravo3. When the signal comes they are to jump into the target zone and support the friendly forces. And be sure to have our support tenders nearby. Especially one of our troop transports, marine boarding ready."

"Yes sir." One of the aides said as he typed a message and another one moved the two icons indicating those fleets to their destination.

Forces

CVBG 1

2 'George Washington' Fleet Carriers (100 points)
4 'Jones' Battleships (60 points)
7 'Ticon' Cruisers (70 points)
40 'Fletcher' Destroyers (80 points)

CVBG 1

2 'George Washington' Fleet Carriers (100 points)
4 'Jones' Battleships (60 points)
7 'Ticon' Cruisers (70 points)
40 'Fletcher' Destroyers (80 points)

Total :620 points

[Redleader34]

There was a quick response to the Hegemony, from the TGA which went as follows

From: the Co-Operative Trans Genetic Alliance
To:Hegemony of Heavens
RE: Alien
We apoligise for our lateness in responding. We had to deal with some minor diplomatic elements, and the issues have been resolved. On the Issue of the
Alien, we were just mounting external Faster Than Light Drives on the creature. We will be moving it, to the Zi system, to study for research. Might I suggest the Collation make some sort of STMC task force to combine our research efforts?

Meanwhile, The Mothership had just finished its inital repairs, and it was ready. The Ship, and the alien ship, retrofitted with controls and human-capible living spaces both took off, the alien craft heading towards the Zi system, at the border of TGA and empty space.

[Academia Nut]

Somewhere in deep space South-West-Up of the Straltoc Borders

Admiral Aquirz growled with frustration. Their intel had been good, and their sensors were picking up mulitple contacts, although all of them were more or less dead.

"Signal our reserve forces to jump in now, and thank the Logos Centrality group for their assistance," Aquirz orders his communications officer before delving into the sensor logs using his uplink.

He didn't like it. Someone was in this system at one point, the floating hulks were testament to that fact, but no one was here now. There was at least one light cruiser sized hulk, and even if hulled the resources inherent in something of that size meant that the original owners or the victors would want to haul it away for salvage.

Aquirz thought he smelled a trap, but since his orders had been to secure the system, he wasn't going to let a chance to seize it without firing a shot slip away.

"Begin moving us in closer. Retain the high orbit though, I do not want us to be suckered into giving up the high ground. Keep shields and weapons hot with positive locks on anything big enough to potentially hurt us, while sensors keep an eye on the planet and deep space, especially from the direction of that damned pulsar. When we are in position, begin launching marine shuttles towards any hulk big enough to be worth salvaging and/or hold enemy combatants lying in wait. When we have secured orbit and only then, if there are any installations on the surface we will begin securing them," Aquirz orders, and his crew begin to perform the myriad of tasks required to carry them out.

Looking at the hulks through the multi-band view of the sensor, Aquirz frowns and wonders what secrets they hold.

---

The shuttle LZF-47 docked with the largest hulk sufficiently intact to potentially hold an atmosphere, a heavy destroyer sized craft drifting a slowly decaying elliptical orbit. In another five years it would slam into the planet below with all the fury of an extinction level asteroid, but for now it was safe.

When the airlock cycled, a blast of stale, cold air met the marines. They were kitted out for close quarters heavy assault and had a high percentage of Lisbizif. Their sensors indicated that the air was a bit thin and carried some heavy metal toxins consistent with high energy weapons discharges striking interior walls. There had been a fight here sometime in the past.

The marines moved out into the darkness, their suit sensors or ability to form eyes that could see in different spectrums allowing them to navigate on passive detection alone, no need for lamps to give away their position unless they really needed them.

They were to sweep the entire ship, but their primary objectives were the bridge, engineering, and weapons control.

Sol
Orbit above Earth

The past several days aboard the Ariklu had been tense, what with space monsters and members of the Straltoc Federation, admittedly mercenaries, stirring up trouble for the TGA. Thus when a contact appeared out of Africa flying towards them and screaming for asylum, they were noticeably surprised and concerned.

"Configuration?"

"Unknown... looks like some of the stuff the TGA military uses though."

"Crap. Can anyone contact the ambassador?"

"He turned off his uplink for courtesy purposes when he went to help interrogate the prisoners."

"Fuck. Alright, prepare to offer temporary asylum to whatever whacko is there, if only to get him out of an unknown military craft. I do not want more shooting in Earth orbit than we've already had lately. Once we have him aboard and safely in the brig, give the TGA their ship back, and if this is one of those fucking mercs trying to get out of justice, kick him out a fucking airlock."

"Yes sir."

[Thirdfain]

Low Orbit
Africa
Earth

The Polish heavy cruiser Wielkopolskie painted the small TGA shuttle with a targetting lidar from it's position giving support to the Polish forces in West Africa.

-::Small craft, you are ordered to cut engines immediately or we will disable you. Repeat, cut engines immediately. All local vessels, that craft is wanted by the TGA authorities and is within TGA air/orbit space as per the 2430 Convention.::-

[Academia Nut]

Sol
Earth Orbit

"Oh for fucks sake... open a communication channel with the craft."

Code: Select all

Unknown craft, we request that you comply with the Poles as you are still within territory lawfully under their protection.  You will not be able to leave said territory without being destroyed, and we have no reason to protect you yet.  Either give us a damned good reason why we should risk an international incident and destruction or do as they say

A few seconds later the sensors officer reports, "Sir, unknown craft has cut engines... and is now in a terminal dive towards Niamey."

"Incoming communication tight beam communication from the craft sir."

Code: Select all

only surrender to you, die otherwise, diedieidieidiedie

experimental space superiority fighter, stealth capable

have 2kg of antimatter

"Sir, he was pretty low when he cut engines. If he's not bluffing there will be damage to the city if he loses containment now."

"Fuck! Open a channel to the Poles, now."

A second later the captain says to the defensive forces, "This is the captain of the Straltoc Federation ship Ariklu. Suspect is clearly insane and claims to have 2kg of antimatter on board. Seems willing to surrender to us. Request permission to allow him to surrender from us so we can get him away from whatever he has aboard that ship. Will turn over immediately afterwards."

Then as an aside, he says to the communications officer, "Get the TGA on the line now. I want to know if he's bluffing or not."

[Thirdfain]

The small fighter was no more than a few thousand miles away when the Wielkopolskie fired a dozen rounds from her port dual-purpose guns- the rounds arrived on-target in well under a second. The shells were EMP models with independently targetted warheads. Four missed and one malfunctioned, but the remaining shots erupted into expanding spheres of electrical hell. The EMP wash hit the fighter, frying it's electrical systems almost instantly.

If it did in fact have antimatter on board, it would soon cease to exist rather spectacularly as the containment died.