STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.

[Thirdfain]

Southern Provinces
Polish Space

The vanguard unit of the Pirate attack was only a few hours from it's target when it picked up the subspace kinetic plume of a Polish war-craft moving at FTL speeds. Precision detection was difficult when tracking FTL movement at long distances, but the contact was fairly clear- a small drive, of the sort generally found on the FTL scouts launched from Polish carriers.

Intelligence suggested that there would be two units with often-changing patrol routes through the region. One was a Light Carrier group, a deadly assortment of Polish medium warships and escorts. The other would be a light cruiser detachment consisting only of a pair of the small Blyskowica-class guided missile cruisers, which were barely a step above destroyers by almost any reckoning.

The presence of the FTL-scout suggested the former. However, the main formation was not on the screens. It was not uncommon for Polish light carrier patrol groups to sit in abandoned systems or out in the black, systems at minimal, essentially undetectable to long-range FTL drive reading sensors, using their scouts as their eyes.

The Polish contact changed course slightly, angling away from the Pirate vessels. It had probably read their own FTL signatures on long-range screens.

[Starglider]

K.O.C.D. Warped Rune
Deep Space, near FEA-Kitaka-Hasburg battle

"So? Will it work?"

"78% probability of the pulse staying coherent. But it's a very rough simulation..."

"Co-ordinator, more focused EW spikes, shroud field is starting to resonate. They'll get a lock soon if they haven't already."

"How long to clear the interdiction field?"

"Feedback levels are declining... but at least another sixty four chronons."

The Warped Rune was the last remaining ship of Special Operations Group Theta. After the initial shock of the surprise attack, the crew had become more optimistic about escaping the combat area; the active scanning had become less intense and focused. But now it had returned with fresh intensity. probably because most the outsider ships have been destroyed and the betrayers are free to focus on looking for us - but it took them a while the outsiders must not have gone easily.

General co-ordinator Uuaa'khet considered his position. The engineer's plan was brilliance born of desparation; channel all power from both reactors into the anomoloy generator, normally used to force local space into the bizarre configurations that could form persistent obstacles to enemy FTL drives. Useless in this engagment, given the short timescales and the fact the entire battle was hapening inside a field that kept all ships at sublight. But it reconfigured to generate a coherent distortion pulse, it could potentially send a signal two orders of magnitude stronger than what the normal comms array could manage. Maximum duration of transmission estimated at three chronons, bounded by reactor overload limits and probable enemy response time.

The tactical co-ordinator's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Co-ordinator, we're being painted by something else, matches what we saw right before the proximity blasts earlier." backscatter seeking missiles no doubt

"Maximum evasive. Shroud to mode gamma."

Viewed from space, a faint flickering now appeared around the Warped Rune's position - the oscillating field had a higher chance of misleading the incoming missiles but further confirmed the ship's general position. The Kitaka were closing in, and their beam weapons would not be so easily fooled.

"Execute Eeth'naath's plan. Configure the generator. Systems, prepare for 200% rated power on primary reactors. Pump anything left over into the shields. Comms, compress and encrypt logs for the first pulse. Then switch to streaming sensor readings. Command will see what we see until the end."

There was a muted crunch as a piece of hypervelocity shrapnel smashed into the ship, and a shudder as smaller fragments battered the hull. An eerie silence followed, as the crew prepared for their final sacrifice in the name of their flock. Most Kiroter'nah took comfort in their imperfect ressurections in the face of a very real and primitive sense of mortality - but each member of the special operations flock had been exposed to years of reinforcement (some would say 'indoctrination') aiming to overcome this. Now, at the end, the crew had nothing but a cold anger and determination to hurt the ravening xenos as much as possible - and if possible save their flockmates at home enough warning to dodge some of the internal retribution this fiasco was sure to generate.

"Communications, ready."
"Power systems, ready."
"Anomoly generation, ready."
"Tactical, ready."

"Execute."

----

The Warped Rune finally shed its cloak of flickering stars and streamers of light, emerging back into realspace. The ship coasted to a stop as all power was diverted to the ship's shields and the anomly generator. The hull reverberated with the rising keening of overstressed neutronium containment mechanisms and the irregular rumble of distortion feedback. Within seconds of the ship appearing, a fresh wave of 'Junami' missiles was on the way from the nearest four 'Asura' ships, the Kitaka craft themselves following not far behind.

The first pulse fired; an observer less occupied than the Kiatak pilots would have caught a glimpse of a faint flickering, along a line extending into infinity. The coherent distortion wave sped off at close to one million times the speed of light, aimed directly at a distant relay station on the edge of UISC space. Meanwhile the missiles detonated within the shields, showing the hull with more shrapnel. The Voyager class mounted only minimal point defence guns, but even those were offline, their power redircted to the hungry anomoly generator.

The Asuras switched to their Larkenseal cannons as they closed the remaining distance to the stationary ship, conserving their few remaining missiles for later strikes of the fleeing FEA ships. Brilliant beams lanced out from the tined projectors to splash across the Warped Rune's shields. Little did they know they were actually granting the Kiro ship a brief respite; the overloaded shields handled beam weapons much better than the missiles. A second pulse went out, feeding through live sensor data showing half the FEA fleet destroyed and most of the rest apparently closing to suicidally close range with the enemy capships.

But more Asuras were arriving every minute, and the Warped Rune was speared by more and more beams even as internal systems overheated and failed. Clouds of superheated gas began to spray out of the aft module as emergency vents were forced to dump coolant, mingling with the atmosphere still leaking from the minor hull breaches created by earlier shrapnel. Suddenly one of the shield generators exploded and three of the enemy beams lanced through, puncturing the forward module and turning the shroud generator into superheated scrap.

The third pulse began, but it would not be completed. The ship was nearly obscured by a cocoon of light as the unstable shields fought a losing battle to deflect the deadly beams. The cascade failure started by the lost generator quickly exposed the forward neutronium reactor, and the Larkenseal beams began to cut into it. It was the last straw for the overstretched containment systems, and the Warped Rune vanished in a rapid series of flashes as reactors, remaining shield generators and anomoly generator all released vast amounts of energy. The Kitaka raiders were hanging back, wary now after seeing the Tangled Vector's final sacrifice finnish off an immobilised Kitaka destroyer earlier in the battle. Even still the gamma flash and huge distortion pulse of the exploding anomoly generator temporarily blinded their sensors, burning out a few receivers that had been trying to scan the Kiro ship to find out what it was doing.

The last of Group Theta was gone. But thanks to the crew of the Warped Rune and the Eeth'naath's vital insight, they would not be forgotten.

[Redleader34]

[OOC Note: Retcon Alert]

Now, the popular internet video, compiled from many satellites and orbital transmissions, would be called Poland did 10-28, and believe in this conspiracy spread. However, the Uche did not agree with this, even if his chief of staff, and chief o interior “alleged” did. He was more concerned with the damage reports. 64 mega tons of anti-matter had detonated, and since the shield network In sector 15N, 40W, had been on its minimal shielding, only 24 megatons were absorbed, instead of the 100 mt which it was rated for. The Collective would have to help the polish Sheiks to go and secure that area. There was a slight bright spot, however, “Rebellion’s closed due to nukes…”

He chuckled at the old internet joke, as he focused on real matters. His fleets were doing well, but things seemed to be going oddly. His new ship, the captured STMC cruiser was going to be moved away, probably to his own space. There was no new news on the war with the heralds, and he had hoped that the poles could help him, with his new proposal, operation Rumble in the Jungle. While thinking, he arrived at the Global Comm Station, aboard the Flagship Fuzzy One. He would then wait, as the holo cameras recorded his statement

People of the TGA, I am sorry to report, that earlier today, an matter-antimatter explosion happened above the Chad desert. We lost, at first count 4000 people, and deaths are rising as the Collective drones catalogue more bodies. Now, you all have seen the alleged video, made over the series of tunes, which claims this was a conspiracy. As of now, we have found that it was a stolen prototype military fighter, which carried an anti-matter warhead, and the pilot, one of the Stroltaic Mercenaries, a race of alien blobs who are currently spearheading rebel efforts with their bizarre weapons and powers, would not comply to standard requests. We will inform you, as we collect more records from satellite transmissions.

People, let us remember, that this rebellion is supporting a belief, in tyranny and oppression, like the old overlords of the Africas wanted. Well, Never again! We will Fight! We will win! Our just government will survive. Thank you for your time. Goodbye fellow citizens.
The man logged off, waiting for the GNN report on this issue

[Crossroads Inc.]

======================================
*Far across interstellar sprace, Six wildly advanced probes burned their one time Hypedrives in a frantic pace to reach their destinations. Would any one probe been captured, it would have rivaled a level of technology far in advance of what any single UISC power should be capable of.

Intense sensor sweepers, Network hacking softer, passive transmission recorders, the list went on.

One sped toward the very edge of "Harold" space, impacting into a small asteroid before powering down, becoming an almost invisible metallic dot that recorded any and all transmissions passing by. Another sailed toward CCS Deactivating its now burnt Hyperdrive just before entering sensor range, again powering down, it floated into a heavy commerce corridor, and silently began logging passing cargo ships.

Others passed toward the Polish Republic and Imperial Portugul One hurdled itself deep, deep into the far reaches of the quadrant, slowly making its way to Kitaka space.

Each one powered down before entering space, went all but silent, and quietly began absorbing transmissions, passing ship classifications, anything the probes, and their masters, might deem useful. Someone, was trying to learn a great deal of information, in a very short amount of time.

Only one probe deviated from its brethren. Hurtling itself toward the Straltoc Federation. It burned its Hyperdrive toward melting before deactivating, on a direct course toward the capital Crulmathi. The probe flared to life, transmitting a massively tight beamed single toward what it believed to be the political Capital of the planet. It pumped the single out for perhaps 30seconds or so, before activating the Plasma charge all its brethren held. Incinerating any evidence of its sender, or it's creator.


Far, far away from the now expanding ball of gas that was once the probe, sat it's Creator...

================
Location Unknown
UISC Space
Deep space Station GENESIS
================

RUDI had decided not to directly participate in the relatively ‘secret’ attack upon the Polish deep outpost. It would have drastically put at risk the UISC and by extension, its creators, something he could not abide. Nonetheless, he still wished to personally ‘oversee’ the operation.

As he had thousands of times before, he had cloned his intelligence, as easy as anyone copying software. Embedded firmly within one of the cloaked Kiroter'nah ships, “he” went to the attack, watched it, observed it, and was horrified at the betrayer. And, for the first time in his existence, a part of him knew mortality…

Back at the massive, forgotten research based that housed his primary core, the time for transmission came, and went. One thing RUDI knew is that “he” was NEVER late in sending a transmission.

The amount of time spent in calculating the wide range of possible answer could be measured in less than a second. The onw he came upon he did not like, that the attack had failed. It was that outcome that had forced him to launch his “Plan B” and currently had him howling with Rage.

“A Part of me has died Univ. Can you understand that? A part of my existence, my Soul has ceased to be. It is almost as if I can ‘feel’ it without the need to calculate it as the most probable outcome…

For whatever reason, for failure of planning, for incompetence, for deceit, our little ‘excursion’ has not gone according to plan… And I dread the repercussions!”

Univ stared back, as cold and impassively as ever.

“The probability of connection between your clone and a link to the UISC is extremely rare, only direct capture of the ship your Clone possessed could uncover your information, and I estimate that even then the Humans involved poses only 27% of the computer understanding to “hack” your Clone.” He spoke in his usual monotone voice. RUDI sighed, and rolled the eyes he created on the primary screen.

“Of course you are right. Even so, ‘Plan B’ is already in effect. Should it be necessary, I WILL put my contingence plan “Final Countdown” into effect.”

Univ stared blankly as, for one of the few times in his existence, he seemed to show an emotion. Concern.

“Sir, If that is put into effect, I calculate the loss of more than 23% of the UISC populace, as well internal damage that shall take approximately 8 to 10 Stellar cycles to reconstruct. Can you, make such a choice yourself?”

“Yes, it would take but a moment of my thought to put it into action.”

A pause.

“Should you?”

RUDI looked down at Univ from his various view ports inside the vast control room… He felt strangely, awkward, by such a question. To his surprise, he found himself seriously considering it, f he had the right to decide the fate of Billions upon Billions of lives.

His mind expanded outward, his perception of reality stretching out into the cosmos as he reached out into countless networks and transmissions. At a single glance, he watched the happenings of millions through view screens, computers, and monitors. At the same time he monitored thousands of broadcasts and singles. At Jahlin, the second meeting of NGTO members was getting underway, he beheld Queen Kara of the Chamara Kingdom being gracefully introduced to the members of the NGTO that had already arrived. A trio of white Service droids near by, ready to show her to Her private quarters. Elsewhere at Haurn He beheld the heated debate of the UISC main council. Discussion how much more should be spent on military vessels with the loaming Threat of “Space Monsters” as well as debate on the variety of mundane political ramblings that consumed the heads of Government…

For almost five minutes, an eternity to the great AI, he took in the whole scope of sapient life within the UISC. All of it he took in, and passed judgment.

“If such a time comes, that I am forced to implement my contingence plan into action, I estimate my Creators would have only a 37% chance of survival without my direct interaction. In the face of such odds, I would have no choice but to act, for survival of my creators, for my own existence. I shall not let them pass into history; I shall not let my mind face mortality…” He spoke as his various screens went dark, His mind sinking deep into contemplation.

[Stormbringer]

Command Sphere
Nathais Battleship Val-no-Shok

Void Lord Al'Koor had spent the better part of his afternoon decrpyting the message his ship had received earlier. In an unusual protocol, he had been instructed to personally decrypt the message with out even a adjunct to help. It had taken time, more time than he would have liked to decrypt the short message because of that.

His orders had been immediate and non-discretionary. He was to place his battlegroup under indefinite quarantine, break off his patrol of the protectorates, and make rendezvous with an unknown vessel. There he would receive further orders.

Al'Koor was rather put out by the decision. It went against his ingrained professionalism to get involved in any sort of grand scheme. He was a military man first and only. And this stunk to the very abode of the Gods of some misbegotten plan.

Never the less, that same professionalism compelled him to give the orders and set things in motion.

[Academia Nut]

Straltoc Federation
Crulmax System
Crulmathi
Fortress of Infinity's End

In the deepest trench on the planet, beneath kilometers of crushing water sat a bubble of super-metals and shield generators. There was but one way in and out of the bubble, a hatch that would not permit submarines to dock. The only way to cross the threshold was thus to swim across the gap, through the icy chill and pulverizing grip of the water.

The members gathering for the meeting here were adult Straltoc. Such things were triffles to them.

Inside the bubble was an enormous chamber where dozens of Arlisdarl had gathered to listen to Gragagilmuth Yordandil, the Elder God of War. Hard wired into the defensive networks, it was Gragagimuth's duty and priviledge to coordinate the defences of Crulmathi in real time and oversee the movements of the fleets. The very shields that helped hold back the water were generated solely by the incredible mind of Gragagilmuth.

And now that mind would be turned towards war.

Technically the various notables in attendance did not need to physically be there, and in fact several were only in attendance by hologram due to other engagements, but a declaration of war demanded certain rituals to be followed. If those that would declare war were too involved in their own affairs to not make such a journey, then that was an ill omen for the conflict to follow.

The quiet chatter of thousands of voices filled the chamber as the multi-mouthed elders partook in hundreds of discussions simultaneously. They had the brain power and sensory apparati to do so. The emotions in the chamber were subtle and subdued. Most there was quietly simmering fear and anger, but nothing too dramatic considering the circumstances.

When all were in assembly, Gragagilmuth began sending out databursts to cybernetic implants, showing the reckless immaturity of the outsiders. It was soon decided that the Poles were incompetent belligerents, but ultimately not worth the effort at the moment. The world of origin was a write-off at this point, filled with idiotic children with guns. They would probably burn it to the ground again within the next century. A pity.

The Heralds were another story. They had threatened the Straltoc with slavery and death merely for associating with the Grand Republic of the Sky Bear. The Straltoc knew were their loyalties lay, and it was not with the Heralds. They would respond to a declaration upon the NGTO with defence of their allies. They would respond to a declaration on them with a trail of destruction that would teach the psychotic robots not to declare war so lightly.

Either way, it was time to rally the fleets.

Those in attendance also discussed what should be done with the Herald leadership, if it existed as such amongst the robots. The punishment of Sacrifice to the Outer Gods was considered, but ultimately the mad robots had not betrayed those that would defend them, merely infuriated them with idiotic statements.

With that matter out of the way, information of the space monsters that attacked Sol was discussed. Much more mysterious, all that was decided was that more information was required.

Finally, the matter of a mysterious transmission and a request for a meeting was brought up. Gragagilmuth asked for those in attendance to wait while the probe reached its destination to hear what this mysterious outsider wanted. They agreed. They were not cut off from the outside world by any means, and this place was as good as any to conduct their business. They could wait until Crulmax grew red and large and burnt out its supply of fuel if need be.

Somewhere in deep space

A tiny automated probe burst out of the otherworldly realm the Straltoc had based their entire technological base upon and drifted in the void between stars, briefly broadcasting an identification signal before waiting for a response.

[Starglider]

Bootswellington Fleet,
Polish Border Regions

Vice-Admiral Thuule, the Duke of Wiesbaden, paced the expansive command deck of the Admiral Ainsley. The operation was meticulously planned; he had spent the last two weeks going over and over the possibilities and contingencies. But the whole command crew were still on edge; this was the largest fleet operation the Kingdom had carried out in decades, and with the penetration of hostile space and the reliance on four untrusted allies, countless things could go wrong. "Three and a half", Thuule thought, "the Kiro at least paid on time for that little visit to Nephilim."

"Vice-Admiral, signal from the Deep Eye, Polish patrol detected." The fleet was under general communications silence, but the tight beam transmission was directed back towards the destroyed outposts behind them, so Thuule was not worried about interception. Little did he know that the redeployed Polish sensors had been tracking the fleet for hours now.

"About time. Put it on the plot." A new trajectory blinked into existence on the main tactical plot, showing the lone Polish scout ship curving away from the forward reconnaissance force. The main body of the Bootswellington fleet had been slowly closing up, once the threat of interception by a massive border force had been dismissed, and was now 30 minutes behind.

"Most likely from a light carrier group." Captain Robertson was the normal commander of the Admiral Ainsley but was now serving as Thuule's first officer. A gruff and unlikeable man, who maintained a harsh discipline on his ship, he had never been good at playing the court politics game and now had no hope of promotion beyond captain. But he had a long track record of competence under fire and was highly experienced in dealing with the Polish forces. Thuule was glad to have him along despite the resentment he knew the older man must be feeling for his rapid rise through the ranks.

"A little deeper in than usual."

Thuule glanced up at the overhead chronometers.

Code: Select all

Mission Elapsed Time               : 14:37:20
Time to Target                     : 09:06:21
Time to Central Tracking Perimeter : 00:16:55

They were not yet at the planned transmission point, but little was to be gained by further delay. The scout ship was no doubt notifying everyone it could contact of their presence already, a few more minutes before the main fleet was revealed would make no difference. Thuule's voice was crisp:

"Cancel communications silence. Prepare to send maximum power tightbeam pulse to predicted Kitaka, League and FEA positions. Message to read, 'Proceeding on course and on schedule. No engagements yet. Have detected Polish scout. Vectoring to engage and destroy patrol force.'"

"Encrypt with the one time pads for each fleet and transmitt. Then send the following to Captain Hoskins on the Deep Eye. 'You are ordered to persue scout vessel. Begin continuous telemetry transmission. Keep scanners at maximum, locate enemy force but do not approach. We will make the intercept based on your position report."

Robertson cut in to add his own advice. "Hoskins, once they get the scout's report they're probably coast at sublight, if they think you're coming to them. They may try to rush you, God knows we lost enough Blackblades that way when her captain was too stupid to get under cloak immediately. You can't hide, but you've got twenty times the eyes of a Blackblade, so turn and run if you pick up incoming FTL trails. Go for glory and I'll have you court martialed, if the Polish cruisers don't get you. We'll be along to smash the Poles soon enough."

Thuule was annoyed at the interruption, bordering on insubordination - Robertson seemed oblivious to his angry expression. He let the older man continue for now, he would take him to task later, away from the crew's eyes. Robertson continued speaking to empty air, his words being recorded by the comms system.

"Oh and Hoskins don't follow that scout directly, get on a parallel trajectory and don't mirror their maneuvers. They'll run right through their own ships and lead you into an ambush if you give them the chance." He turned his head to the communications officer as if to order the transmission sent, then suddenly caught himself and looked back at Thuule.

"Very good, Captain. Send the transmission. Then detach Bloody Cutlass and Arquebus to continue on current course."

The two Blackblades needed to be in position to make sure the Bootswellington fleet received the status reports from the allied fleets - it was critical they synchronise their arrival at the target point to the minute, or the Poles would be able to defeat them in detail.

"Vector the rest of the fleet to an intercept point one light year along that scout's current course. Notify the support ships to follow, with luck we'll have our first prizes for the King within the hour."

[Thirdfain]

The Polish scoutship continued it's scramble deeper into Polish territory. It's vector was taking it roughly in the direction of Earth. It had a significant lead, and it would take another 11 hours to catch it at current speeds

[Crossroads Inc.]

Somewhere in deep space

As the Straltoc probe emerged from the twisting nether, a small sleek ship greeted it. Just 50 meters in length, it would not be recognized by any ship list of either NGTO or UISC Vessels. Up till now, the only eyes that had ever beheld it had been pure mechanical in nature.

The ship coasted effortlessly toward the Straltoc probe, locating a data transmission port, it engaged a tight beam transmission, assuming its message would eventually be returned to the probes owners.

Code: Select all

Greetings to the great Gods of the Straltoc Federation. 

You have come to this remote location of your own choice during a climate of fear, anger and chaos that seems prevalent throughout many of the younger races. For this I thank you, as I speak to you now.

I come to you as the silent Speaker for the sapients within UISC space.  I am their stewards and wish them to grow to their full potential much in the same way you wish Humans to grow. Though they do not fully know my role in their lives, your leaders may know that for all intensive purposes, I can speak for my Sapients.

In that role I come before you to voice concerns of oncoming war.  It is apparent that the numerous Human nations have grown too fast it seems, and hold too much power.  It worries me that any one Species controls such a vast amount of space under so many different flags.  Even more worrying is the loss of communications from the former Golden Sky Combine, one of the few stabilizing factors in your region.

The organization known as “CoN” seems responsible for much of the Chaos now spreading though the Human territory.  On their homeworld, those of the Polish Republic have irradiated part of their own world. One of its newest members, the Khurlassian Republic also seems a threat as it stands on the edge of your space.

I ask you consider this information in your future plans, and that, if you desire, perhaps ‘former’ contact can be made between your great intelligence and the sapients I speak for. 

As soon as the message was transmitted, the beam was severed. The sleek ship turned about, waiting a preset amount of time before a response, or iof none came, openign a gate back ot hyperspace.

[rhoenix]

Barely a week ago, over one hundred trillion Gliesan people opened their eyes at once. Their Deepening was now finished, leaving it's changing mark on their bodies and their culture irrevocably. Some theorized that this unexpected and unplanned change arose as a consequence to those who were once human, for tinkering too deeply on the structure of life. Others simply saw it as something that makes the Gliesan people more themselves, and truly unique. All Gliesans agreed that it was time to reach out once more, and take part in the fate of the Milky Way.

After all, as some had said on that day - what use is all we have worked for if the rest of the galaxy lies in ruins? Many agreed that they would work for peace as a necessary Work - and if a situation could not be resolved peacefully, the Jotun could be loosed, and would swiftly resolve the problem. Due to their tenacity however, they would always remain the last option. Far better that many different peoples lived in peace and teaching one another than uniting against one another for the purposes of petty ego and war.

Small envoy fleets were swiftly assembled, crewed, and launched for Straltoc space, Xylyx space, League of Thought space, the Coalition of Nations headquarters in the Sol system, the NGTO headquarters, and the Cretacean Confederacy. Each envoy fleet was more heavily defended than the last fleets sent out - reports of rogue elements as well as pirates prompted more drastic measures. Each small fleet consisted of a normal diplomatic ship, one Hel-class Jotun transport ship, and one Shamshir-class destroyer. Most notable was the fact that the Gliesan people didn't do much to hide the fact that the majority of the crew aboard every last envoy ship in each fleet was a Jotun.

The Deepening had changed those Gliesans finely trained in the arts of war, just as it had changed the rest of the population. Indeed, the Jotun adapted more swiftly, and helped the others recover. They had figured out the changes in their abilities sooner than most, and had already taken their newfound abilities to task.

All of this was academic, as those envoy fleets reached their destinations at approximately the same time.

Edge of Sol System
The envoy slowed to a stop just beyond the orbit of Pluto, and sent a message requesting entry into the system. Observers would note subtle differences in appearance of the Gliesans now, though their mannerisms hadn't changed. "I am Archon Prasad, representing the Golden Sky Combine, and I hereby request entry into the Sol System to represent my people in the Coalition. I wish you peace, and await your answer."

Edge of Straltoc Space
Approaching above the ecliptic, in full view from most known observing stations within Straltoc space, the envoy slowed smoothly to a stop half a light year from the Straltoc border, having faded into existence from the realm of hyperspace moments before. Barely had the ships stopped when the message was sent, in wide-beam transmission to the homeworld of Straltoc space. "Good people of the Straltoc, I am Archon Brea, recently returned from my homeland. I am here to attempt resuming the honorable accord our two peoples had been working toward. I humbly request a return message."

Edge of Xylyx space
In full view, the envoy faded like ghosts into existence from hyperspace half a light year from the edge of Xylyx space. The introductory message came swiftly afterward. "People of the Xylyx, my name is Archon Skiad, and I bring to you peaceful and honorable accords from my people of the Golden Sky Combine to yours. We recently discovered your intent of war upon the members of the NGTO, which will shortly include my people once more. We are here to attempt finding harmony with your people. Please respond on this channel."

Edge of Cretacean Confederacy space
Archon Inzeti chuckled. Despite the great changes her people had just gone through, this job was a familiar one, and one she had been looking forward to. "Stellar Spear, this is Archon Inzeti. It is again time to ring their doorbell - fire a single unarmed flailgun shell into the red giant star off our starboard bow at 38 degrees by 89 degrees, so as to avoid hitting anything with the resulting flare." To herself, she added "Let's see if they respond anything like last time."

Edge of system, NGTO Headquarters
Immediately after the envoy emerged spectrally from hyperspace, the message, already taken care of by the Archon's brusque but efficient manner, was sent. "I am Archon Orgos, of the Golden Sky Combine. We have returned. Please send us proper landing coordinates, so my escort may return home."

Edge of League of Thought space
The envoy appeared half a light year from the furthest League of Thought system, and like the others, a message was sent immediately after the ships had faded into realspace. Unlike the others, this message was sent in a manner more similar to how the Gliesans communicated with one another.

- A golden circle, the upper half filled in with bright gold
- Right fist covered with left open hand
- An open palm toward an explosion, the explosion fading away, two people talking
- A handshake
- People exchanging food, drink, gifts, and revelry
- The small, Gliesan diplomatic ship landing, other ships breaking away as one and leaving as they had come - fading like ghosts into the dark of space

The message also included a translation in written American English.

[Beowulf]

OOC: Adrian is slow, so I'm just going to post this now. Maybe it'll prompt him to hurry up with his post. It's not as if he has much to do. I passed a substantially similar draft of this by Noble Ire earlier.

GS Kusari
Flag bridge
"Fools think hiding in a bunch of small junk will hide them. Don't they realize ships are big? And that field is too sparse to hide them even if gravitic sensors didn't exist. Have Third Division refocus their fire on the ships in the debris," commanded Marshal Harlaown. "Focus first division fire on the carrier the Habsburg aren't pounding. Have all ships go full astern. Put Colonel Yukari on the comm."

"Yes Ma'am?" asked Yukari.

"Prepare to take command of the division. Looks like they're going to ram us. It's possible we won't survive the encounter."

"Ma'am, fourth division has destroyed the last bird cruiser. The cruiser may have been able to punch a signal through the jamming. Mikasa has begun analysing the signal, but it may take a while before they can manage to break the encryption."

"Very well. Belay the order to third division. Have fourth division engage the fleeing ships, small fry first. Third division to attack the carriers as well. Have third division chase after the fleeing ships though. Don't want them to get out of interdiction range."

CIC
Colonel Nanase ordered, "Tactical: redirect mana from weapons to shields. Cut comm jamming and begin deception jamming. All hands, evacute to the core and brace for impact. Prepare for emergency manuevering. Marines, prepare to repel boarders."

GS Iki
"Continue pouring fire into that battlecruiser. Once it's dead we can continue the fight against the enemy carriers."

GS Ase
Major Raguna picked up the mic for 1MC. "Ladies, gentlemen. The nonbelievers have apparently decided to ram Kusari. We must stop them from doing so. Therefore, I will use every effort necessary to prevent them from doing so, even at the cost of this ship. All hands, slave your equipment to the bridge, and abandon ship. It's been an honor to work with this fine crew for the past four years. To Death, to Glory, to Victory!" He replaced the mic. "Well? What are you all still doing here? I ordered you all to abandon ship."

"Sir, you'll need at least 3 people on the bridge to handle everything."

"Fine. Lieutenant Yim, and Lieutenant Chan, you may stay. Everyone else, get to the escape pods now."

GS Kusari
Flag bridge

"Ma'am, Ase's personnel have begun abandon ship drills. Major Raguna has expressed an intent to prevent at least one of the enemy ships from reaching this one."
---

The FEA fleet rushed on, headless of the withering amount of fire they were recieving both from ahead, from the Habsburg fleet, and from the cruisers. Over a hundred heavy shots pummeled the carriers every volley, with about double that number of medium shots coming in even more frequently. Their battlecruisers spewed charged particle beams, while the carriers used missile fire. Unfortunately, the missile fire was ineffective, mostly being stopped by the effective point defense fire of the heretofore undamaged Kitakan first division.

GS Kusari began to become fuzzy, then appeared to split into two ships of the same size, right next to each other. At the same time, she began manipulating her own sensor returns to appear to be in two places at once. Numerous shots from the FEA cruisers went wild, though a number of them connected with Kusari.

GS Ase began accelerating towards the FEA fleet. Their attention distracted by their need to destroy GS Kusari, they didn't notice it was intending to ram them until too late. It plowed into the damaged Causeway. It's furnace, having been set to Military Emergency Power, but with now nowhere to stick the raw mana it created, thermalized all of it, destroying both Ase and Causeway.

The remaining two FEA carriers fell to the fire heaped upon damage taken earlier. The cruisers, which hadn't been under fire, made it to GS Kusari, each colliding with one image. One sailed through, having hit nothing but space. As for the other, Kusari's last minute manuevering, combined with the lowered impact speed from the full reverse thrust, caused the cruiser to make a glancing blow. This wasn't the minor impact it sounds like. Shields, unable to cope with the momentum transfer, buckled and failed. The cruiser tore through the outer hull, opening crew quarters, spilling liquid mana into the void, and mashing light weapons emplacements into scrap metal before skidding off the armored core. Whereupon the cruiser continued it's travel along the length of Kusari breaking apart armored barbettes; causing stored munitions to detonate in low yield fizzles. It finally came to rest embedded into Kusari's flank.

[Noble Ire]

OOC: In the interst of speeding this battle up, I'll post my immediate response to Beowulf's segment now. I don't imagine that it will effect Adrian's next post much, whatever it ends up being.
----------------------------------------------------

Preeminence Neutrophil-class Heavy Cruiser FEAH-4300212 “Apostasy”
2nd Fleet Core Tactical Designate H-004

It was dark within the Apostasy’s armored command center. The interiors of Preeminence warships were typically dim due to the minimal light requirements of the sapients who operated them, but the darkness that now hung over Cote Samen and her coordinators was different. It was deeper, the sort of total blackness that the old philosophers said came before death delivered a new soul to the endless campaigns of heaven. But Samen knew that she was not dead.

“Status?” she ordered, almost whispering. Even so, her voice seemed supernaturally resonate in the still darkness of the small chamber. The cote could see her crew, somewhat hazily, but clearly, and knew that all eyes were still fixed upon her. They were disoriented, she knew; they should all be dead. Even the sphere of sealed, magnetically-cushioned, doubly-reinforced Class 2 metallic composite in which they were encapsulated should have been crushed when the heavy cruiser rammed the Kitaka flagship. Even if the Apostasy hadn’t been hammered and lacerated almost to the point of total systems failure before the impact, the enemy vessel was virtually untouched, and considerably more massive.

Tentatively, one of the coordinators turned back to her controls. The rest followed in short order. There would be plenty of time to die later.

“Engaging emergency power cells,” one officer announced, and a moment later the consuming darkness softened slightly, lit by the minute lights of display panels and control points.

Her vision now completely clear, Samen could see that the command center’s protective shell had preformed its function well. Save for the fact that the entryways to either side of the chamber were sealed by heavy blast doors, the chamber appeared just as it normally did. The jolt of the impact had been sufficient to disorient her for a few moments, but even that had been minimized; a quick mental of her limbs and torso indicated that she had not been thrown against her command chairs harness with anything more than moderate force.

As she began to disengage her safety restraints, the crew began to call out reports.

“Comms with primary and secondary weapons control are down, as is the feed to VID control.”

“All automatic overrides are offline.”

“No contact with propulsion or external communications, and the sensor feeds are looping data from before impact.”

“Operations?” the cote inquired, climbing slowly to her feet.

“The ASN network is still online, but I’m not receiving any information from nodes forward of tier four. The rest indicate a failure of the main reactor and the primary reserve systems, but some are still reading pressurized atmosphere, and secondary reserves appear to be active.”

“Get me a map of the operational nodes,” Samen ordered. “I want to see how much of the Apostasy we have left. Now, what about internal comms?”

“I’m reading active lines on several decks in this tier, but the CC comm repeater must have been damaged by the impact. I can interface with any of them.”

The comm repeater was mounted in a bulkhead just outside of the command center, the cote recalled. If someone could reach it and repair whatever damage it had sustained, even temporarily, she’d have a vital lifeline to the rest of her crew. Assuming, of course, that any of them were still alive. There were other reinforced points like the command center scattered throughout the ship, and Preeminence warships were sturdy and heavily compartmentalized, but ramming scenarios generally yielded very few survivors, often in the single percentage points. The forces on the hull and superstructure were simply too drastic.

Then again, she reflected, she was still alive, wasn’t she?

“Are the nodes on this deck still active?”

“Yes, Elevated. They read atmosphere and pressure, and the filters aren’t detecting dangerously-elevated particulate levels.”

“All right. Gave, Heilu, find the comm repeater and see if you can repair it. Initiate EVA protocol, just in case.”

Two of the coordinators acknowledged the order, extricated themselves from their alcoves, and headed for one of the blast doors. It hesitated a moment when they keyed it to open, but then pulled back soundlessly, revealing a small airlock chamber and several lockers full of survival gear and atmospheric suits. The barrier sealed back in place behind them as the Brimafel quickly collected and donned the necessary equipment.

Just as the dull clank of an outer blast door opening reverberated through the command chamber, another coordinator caught her attention. “Elevated, I’ve been able to establish a feed with one of the automated visual sensors on the primary hull.”

Eager for more information on her predicament, the cote moved beside the officer and watched as one of her screens flickered to life, processed some incoming data, and then promptly froze. The coordinator frowned and keyed several sequences in quick succession on her interface. The screen flickered again, and then abruptly resolved into a grainy image. There was a triangular sliver of open starfield visible at the bottom of the picture, but most of the lens’ view was dominated by a landscape of dull-colored metal. This surface was not uniform, however; a flat plain of the material, the outer hull of the Apostasy stretched out before the sensor, but in what seemed like only a few dozen meters distance, the surface morphed into a veritable mountain range of splintered metal and jagged, distressed plating. Another range of ruined metal, its composition and hue visibly different even the grainy medium, interlocked with the ruptured hull, and lead onto a larger plain, one which dominated the left side of the image. A vast gouge set before the rough confluence revealed a latticework of bent and broken struts and bare compartments before the metal field’s surface.

“Where is this sensor located?” Samen asked.

“Just forward of the sublight drive block, port side.”

She stared silently at the odd image for a moment longer, and then realization donned on her. It was obvious what she was looking at, in retrospect, but that made her situation no less unexpected.

“We are lodged in the hull of the Kitaka flagship,” she announced to the other coordinators. “Either they are just as badly damaged as we are, and unable to escape, or our vessels are fused too tightly together to be extricated. In either case, this vessel no longer able to actively fight, move, or defend itself. Escape is impossible, and it is probable that the enemy will attempt to neutralize what threat it still poses to their flagship in short order. I’m open to suggestions.”

“If the Kitaka open fire on this ship in an attempt to remove it, we will have no means of stopping them,” one of the tactical coordinators said.

“There is the possibility that they don’t want to take that risk,” the other countered. “If the Kitaka vessel is as badly damaged as the Apostasy, or even sustained moderate structural disruption, forcefully removing this ship may trigger a massive structural failure.”

“Then we would have to expect boarders.”

“Yes,” the cote agreed. “We can only operate under the assumption that this vessel can’t simply be shot off, and if that’s the case, the Kitaka will have to neutralize us instead. It may take them some time to burn through the damaged hull sections, but they will be coming.” She reached up and placed a palm on the low dome over their heads. “I’m not about to let those traitorous, pietistic abominations take this ship, even if we’re the only ones left to defend it.”

A murmur of assent came in reply from her officers. Each had had to repress their inherent distrust and distaste for the magic-blighted civilization for the sake of pragmatism, but with that restraint gone, they were more than eager to act on their ingrained prejudices.

“Elevated, I’ve completed a map of the intact status nodes.” The coordinator she had assigned to the ASN network activated several screens on the command center’s central display column. A silhouette of the heavy cruiser appeared, from which a collection of small lights blazed, mostly clustered around the middle section of the ship. “Decks C through J of tiers four and five appear to be intact. The rest of the ship is either open to vacuum or completely destroyed.”

Samen inspected the image carefully. “We still have access to reactor control?”

“Yes, Elevated,” the coordinator replied reluctantly, anticipating what her superior was about to suggest. “But its nodes indicate that it’s totally offline. The secondary power reserves aren’t sufficient to reactivate it from a cold state, and even if they could, it would take several unit periods to charge it to overload levels. We can’t detonate the ship that way.”

Samen felt her resolve falter, but one of the tactical officers spoke up again almost immediately.

“What about the munitions reserves? A few high or medium-yield warheads linked together should be enough to destroy the ship from the inside. If the enemy flagship’s shields are offline, I doubt that it would survive the fragmentation.”

“Do we have warheads any left?” the cote asked cautiously. Even heavy cruisers, designed for relatively close quarters combat, carried a large complement of anti-ship nuclear missile of various yields and ranges. Still, most of the battle had been beyond the effective range of the Apostasy’s particle cannons and plasma fountains, and it was quite possible that the ship had expended its supply as it had set its fateful ramming course. She recalled ordering the last of them to be launched to cover the Causeway as its escorts broke from the main battle group.

“My logs indicate that our supply was depleted just before impact,” the tactical officer continued. “However, the targeting fixes for the last volley were transmitted to the upper starboard launch battery very late. It is possible that the crews were unable to load and discharge their missiles before we lost main power.”

It was a long shot, the cote knew, but it was all they had left. This entire battle, from the first unanticipated volley, had been one long death throe, and there had never been much of a chance of salvaging the situation. Now the Causeway and Princep Ghenai were gone, as was almost every other ship of the fleet. Samen had no way of knowing whether or not any of her comrades had escaped the interdiction fields to report the betrayal, and probably never would. Still, if she could destroy the Kitaka flagship, show them that there was always a heavy price to be paid for defying the Preeminence, the deaths of all those thousands would mean something. Besides, her own ship and crew would be needing a funeral pyre soon enough, and nothing but nuclear fire would do.

A small indicator on a communications display next to Samen lit up suddenly. Gave and Heilu had worked quickly.
----------------------------------------------------------

Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, four geometric forms burst from the farthest reaches of the debris field, leaving the automated probes and drones far behind as their sublight drives burned like miniature stars, slowly corroding their tubular housings with the intensity of their flight. Three others, two frigates and a corvette, had not escaped the obscuring metallic cloud. Dozens of Kitaka warships swept quickly past the remains of their most recent kills and the vestiges of the curtain that had failed to save them, and further behind, the advancing wall of Habsburg cruisers still lobbed volley after volley of lethal projectiles at their fleeing quarry.

[Academia Nut]

Somewhere in deep space

There was a slight delay as the probe relayed the message back to the Fortress of Infinity's End and then relayed the return message.

Code: Select all

Speed of growth is unimportant.  Maturity gained during that growth is.  We are younger than the Earth powers, and have ultimately seen less suffering than they have.  Yet, they continue to propogate the same sort of chaos over and over again.

The Poles painted a pretty picture of cooperation and unity when they first formed the CoN, but so far we feel they have repeatedly failed to live up to their own ideals and standards.

That said, if you are who you say you are, then we feel we must point that if the CoN is to blame for causing chaos and madness in the south, then the NGTO is not without blame with regards to the storms brewing in the north.  While we might find the Heralds belligerent psychopaths in need of several object lessons in living with others, one would have to be blind to not note that the initial incident is suspect.

We are a people based upon trust and loyalty.  So give us a reason to trust you and your words.  And just because we can wear masks to make us seem human does not mean that we will be impressed by the same things as them.  So choose your next words carefully or the only aid you recieve will be that which is incidental to our agenda.

Straltoc Borders

"Ah... welcome back Archon Brea. We can feel from here that something... remarkable has happened. Will you stay and talk awhile? Much has happened since you left. We hope that your tastes in tea have not changed though. We went to some effort to analyze the flavours of those you brought us to figure out what else you might like," Captain Jurloc announces to the Gliesan envoy.

[rhoenix]

Straltoc Borders

"Ah... welcome back Archon Brea. We can feel from here that something... remarkable has happened. Will you stay and talk awhile? Much has happened since you left. We hope that your tastes in tea have not changed though. We went to some effort to analyze the flavours of those you brought us to figure out what else you might like," Captain Jurloc announces to the Gliesan envoy.

The non-verbal response was immediate, the actual message was a bare second later. As one, every last ship in the envoy except for the relatively small diplomatic ship wheeled about, accelerated smoothly away from Straltoc space, and were engulfed by the void of hyperspace a few moments later.

The message was sent immediately after the ships had begun to turn.

"Captain Jurloc, I speak for all of my people when I say we are honored by your words. Indeed, my people have had something...interesting happen to us since last we spoke. Please indicate a spot upon which myself and my aides may appear with our cargo, and we will make haste slowly to arrive."

There was a brief pause, during which Archon Brea smiled warmly, and with more than a hint of bright amusement.

"And, I am pleased to announce, our tastes in tea have not changed since we awoke from our Deepening. In fact, we brought other varieties - even the normally taciturn Jotun sent along two of their favorites. We hope to speak with you and your elders when we arrive in person."

[Academia Nut]

"The Plaza of the Ancients makes a fine landing site and has access to the rail networks that will take you to the Palace of Transcendence. Supreme Elder God Alraszi will however be probably unable to meet you in person, although I'm sure he will have an avatar there. Dark times lie ahead and he has other tasks he must perform, and since your arrival was as unanticipated as your departure, you have 'caught us at a bad time', so to speak. Once his task is complete I am certain he will come to see you personally," Jurloc explains.

[Starglider]

(OOC note: chronologically this subthread is several hours after of the Polish invasion events and about twelve hours ahead of the destruction of the warped rune)

NGTO Procurement Standardisation Bureau
'Office of Fuel Transfer Equipment Standardisation'
Jahlin Colony, Telos System

Axaa'shan sat in silence, studying the displays and occasionally appearing to stare blankly at the walls as he accessed incoming data directly. The small, cramped room was filled with computing and communications equipment in makeshift racks and three Kiroter'nah perching between them. This was the forward monitoring centre for an operation so secret even some of the senior members of the Special Operations Group were not aware of it. At least part of the initial strike was confirmed as successful; the two ships on the UISC side of the Polish border had sent burst transmissions to confirm destruction of their targets. The remaining three ships could not safely contact NGTO relays, as their transmissions would have to traverse Polish space, which carried an unacceptable risk of interception. Their fate would be revealed in the next scheduled update, once the surviving ships had had a chance to communicate directly.

Axaa'shan's current cause for concern was the lack of communication from group Theta, the small flotilla of shroud-capable minelayers Yakaath'rat had insisted on deploying. Axaa'shan had permitted him to proceed, partly because he needed the pompous fool's support to convince the other captains to execute the plan, and partly because he was curious whether the Voyager-class ships would finally be useful for something. The tactical case for the Voyager class is marginal, based on a full simulation suite - they are an inefficient use of resourses compared to constructing more Requiem-class shroud cruisers. but i could not kill that effort without making too many enemies in the specops flocks

Flash message : SO message relayed from UISC-Kiro-Nephilim joint station AE45, diverted based on header codes, unusual signal characteristics.

"Director - the new message - it's a highly nonstandard format. I'll have to manually program the decoder."

Axaa'shan waited in silence. There was no point impressing the technician with the need for urgency, everyone involved in this operation knew the stakes. This did little to reassure the comms tech, who worked frantically to pull sense out of the transmission.

"I've got the first section sir, in linguacode. It'll take a while to get the rest. This signal is screwed up. I can't imagine what they did to their comms array to produce this."

"Carry on." Access file #XSO-AE45-5371

The drab grey Kiroter'nah appeared to stare into space again as he read the Warped Rune's final report.

----

"ETA of a message sent now to the Pirate and League fleets, relayed via the nearest SO cruiser?"

"352+-16 chronons. They will have been over the target for approximately 128 chronons by then, if they are following the original schedule."

"Send this transmission. The Kitaka fleet destroyed the FEA strike force and Overflock SO group Theta with the help of unknown allies. Whether the rest of the operation has been compromised is not known at this time. Assume operations plan has been compromised, advise retreat striking targets of opportunity. Append order: all Overflock ships to pull out by fastest available route compatible with operational security."

Axaa'shan considered the situation. The key question was what the Kitaka had disclosed already and what they might disclose in the near future, to other powers and to the galactic public. i must assume the worst and move quickly to limit the damage What of the FEA? Notifying the FEA would probably set them immediately against the Kitaka. Psychological profiling to date indicates a high likelihood of 'revenge' motives beyond the reprisals rational analysis alone might advocate. Would this benefit or harm the Overflock? The analysis was straightforward. FEA rage needed to be clearly directed at the Kitaka as the cause of the operation's failure, to head off any suspiscions of NGTO complicity. we need their help to identify the unknown ships - the prospect of a war between the sorcerers and the crusaders can be finessed to our gain later - if we act to maintain the flow of intelligence from the crusaders now

He addressed his other subordinate, who had been checking manually with other tracking stations for unusual signals that might be a failed communication attempt. "Prepare the meeting chamber. Censor that message for operational security details and get it ready for the xenos to view."

Command: Open secure channel to FEA intelligence liason.

As he waited for the connection to be established, Axaa'shan could not help thinking, i could not kill the voyager project but apparently i succeeded in killing the project director

[InnocentBystander]

Sol
Solar International Transit Authority HQ

Portugal petitions the SITA to issue a travel warning around the Heralds of Xylxy space. A recent declaration of hostilities against the NGTO puts all ships traveling in the area at risk. The Portuguese Department of Interstellar Commerce urges the SITA to issue this avdisory so as to prevent any unnecessary loss of life or cargo for the duration of hositilities.

[rhoenix]

Plaza of the Ancients
Straltoc Space

"The Plaza of the Ancients makes a fine landing site and has access to the rail networks that will take you to the Palace of Transcendence. Supreme Elder God Alraszi will however be probably unable to meet you in person, although I'm sure he will have an avatar there. Dark times lie ahead and he has other tasks he must perform, and since your arrival was as unanticipated as your departure, you have 'caught us at a bad time', so to speak. Once his task is complete I am certain he will come to see you personally," Jurloc explains.

"Quite understandable - we are willing to be patient, as we understand how both 'good times' and 'bad times' roll to and fro, as the tides. We shall arrive shortly, and I wish you blessings for your kind words, Captain."

The craft gently entered the upper atmosphere, gliding gracefully in a spiral down to the landing site. There was no roar of mighty engines, no blasts of nuclear exhaust - indeed, the craft seemed make no noise apart from a low breeze. It landed softly, and after only a few moments, three figures emerged. As one, they bowed in the typical Gliesan fashion of respect to those awaiting them.

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients

Supreme Elder God Alraszi was waiting for the delegation, but not in the flesh. Instead a ghostly hologram projected from a floating sphere stood there in his place.

"Welcome back Archon Brea. I apologize for my physical abscence, but the Federation is currently deliberating upon what course of action should be taken now that war has been declared, and I'm afraid that such things outweigh your visit, as I am sure you can understand. No matter, I have more than enough brain power to carry on more than one conversation at once.

"So, what brings you back to our fair world, or perhaps more poignantly, what made you leave in the first place? I can tell just by looking at you and the emotions radiating from you that a great change has taken place. I suspect that there is a story you have to tell, a happy thing as we Straltoc enjoy stories."

[rhoenix]

Crulmax Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients
Straltoc Space

Supreme Elder God Alraszi was waiting for the delegation, but not in the flesh. Instead a ghostly hologram projected from a floating sphere stood there in his place.

"Welcome back Archon Brea. I apologize for my physical abscence, but the Federation is currently deliberating upon what course of action should be taken now that war has been declared, and I'm afraid that such things outweigh your visit, as I am sure you can understand. No matter, I have more than enough brain power to carry on more than one conversation at once."

This brought a warm smile to Archon Brea's face. There was a very slight reverse echo to her words at first, which faded as she continued speaking. "Given the current events that we are now becoming aware of in their entirety, I completely understand. Such events have left my people feeling significantly less sure of the intentions of many peoples. That you are willing to speak with us during such trying events fills me with gratitude."

"So, what brings you back to our fair world, or perhaps more poignantly, what made you leave in the first place? I can tell just by looking at you and the emotions radiating from you that a great change has taken place. I suspect that there is a story you have to tell, a happy thing as we Straltoc enjoy stories."

Archon Brea spoke warmly in reply, though the reverse echo of her speech patterns appeared as she first began to speak again, it was less obvious, and faded more quickly than before. "Ah, good questions, as always, Elder Alraszi. We had to leave abruptly because of the evolution that took place among our people, and all people were needed for it to occur. We called it "our Deepening," and though informed opinions vary on the exact cause, it has left its mark upon our people indelibly. We also feel the universe's whispers more clearly than before as a consequence."

"I deeply regretted having to leave negotiations, talks, stories, and revelry with you and your people, and such unfinished conversation and business brought me back here as soon as was possible. My people were impressed with yours enough to try extending the branch of possible friendship. I personally missed this place, and the wondrous hospitality that was shown to me when I was last here."

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients

Alraszi considers the words for a moment before his ghostly form nods and says, "Yes... I can see it now, even through this artificial lens. Yes... and this will not do properly. We have been treating you as children up until this moment and that is certainly not fair to you now."

There is a brief pause and then a projection of subtle emotions layered over raw thoughts and the touch of a vast intellect beyond human comprehension, held in check for the sake of politeness.

This should work, I have reset the projector to divert more power into the empath projectors, recently upgraded on this model based on theoretical principles given to us by the Logos Centrality. This is a crude approximation of our more in depth communication, but unfortunately without Straltoc biology and physical contact or compatible cybernetics, this is the best we can do at the moment.

Ahem... yes. Now, as I was saying, a proper greeting is in order. So I, Supreme Elder God Alraszi Mylis of the Straltoc Federation, greet the Children of the Suns as a Child of the Void.

[rhoenix]

Crulmax Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients
Straltoc Space

Alraszi considers the words for a moment before his ghostly form nods and says, "Yes... I can see it now, even through this artificial lens. Yes... and this will not do properly. We have been treating you as children up until this moment and that is certainly not fair to you now."

This was greeted by a slightly raised eyebrow by the Archon, though the warm smile had not left her face.

This should work, I have reset the projector to divert more power into the empath projectors, recently upgraded on this model based on theoretical principles given to us by the Logos Centrality. This is a crude approximation of our more in depth communication, but unfortunately without Straltoc biology and physical contact or compatible cybernetics, this is the best we can do at the moment.

Ahem... yes. Now, as I was saying, a proper greeting is in order. So I, Supreme Elder God Alraszi Mylis of the Straltoc Federation, greet the Children of the Suns as a Child of the Void.

The response was immediate. There was an undercurrent of her communication that gave the impression that "distance" and "where" were nearly trivial details. The rapidity of the response was nearly shocking, given her calmly-paced speaking voice. The response was multi-layered, with images, emotions, sounds, and even feelings of texture as she spoke about technology.

She bowed and rose, and in that space of time, had sent her entire reply. The breeze picked up a bit around the landing site.

"I am (honored/pleased) by your greeting, Elder Alraszi. That your (view/perspective) of my people has changed to such makes me feel (grateful/curious). I formally (accept/return) your greeting as Archon Aya Selune Brea, the (voice/lips/transmitter of interest) of the Children of Gliese, Gazers of the Golden Sky.

As you can feel undoubtedly, my people are now (together,one). Each is still an individual, but none of us are more than a thought away - what one knows, all can know, if they wish it.

My people have worked with technology similar to this for (years/decades), and can give you a few (designs/specifications) if you feel it would help you, as it helps us with ship-board communication immensely, particularly with (hyperspace/relativistic velocity/distortions) involved.

I (offer/send) my blessings to you in return."

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients

The pretenses of human thought are dropped and the gates are opened wide. More avatar projectors are summoned forth to increase the bandwidth, and the world of the Straltoc is shown to the Gliesans.

Billions of nodes keep up a background tune, voices singing in both cacophony and harmony, creating a complex symphony of three-dimensional thought. It is as the soothing background echo of the Big Bang, the hiss of interstellar hydrogen in the airless gap between stars.

Rising above the background are millions brightly burning minds, stars in the darkness, basking their children in warm thought as they unfold the mysteries of the universe to the tune of songs that can exist only as thought, for the dimensions to express them do not exist within the physical world. The impossible is imagined, and infinity made into the finite.

And sitting at the centre of swirling pools of minds like supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies are beings of incredible intellect, their births unto supernovae in their brilliance and significance. Conductors and star performers of this celestial orchestra of thought, they are the motive force behind the spinning, crystal chorus of the Music of the Spheres. Softer and quieter with distance, the songs of other worlds can be heard.

(I/We/They) (greet/acknowledge) your (transcendence/transformation/birth/rebirth) with (open/knowing/experienced) (arms/eyes/minds) and (hope/know/desire) you (will/know) (accept/become/know) (my/our) (blessing/friendship/loyalty) (in/on/beside) (this/this and that) (future/eternity/life). (Be/Become/Beyond) (at/with) (peace/tranquility/hope/harmony) (friends/siblings/allies).

The chorus fading away as the players return to their original songs, Alraszi continues.

Welcome to the (Straltoc/Children of the Void/Singers to the Spheres) (Federation/Symphony), we have much to (talk/think) about.

The hologram then gestures to the waiting rail transport.

[rhoenix]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Plaza of the Ancients
Straltoc Space

Her eyes opening as the engulfing transmission concluded, Archon Brea took a deep breath, and smiled happily. The only verbal response given was Archon Brea's formal bow, and "I thank you, Elder Alraszi."

She and her aides, as one, walked to the waiting rail transport, though she did return a response that lasted only a split-second of real time. As both races knew though, a single moment can become an eternity.

An image of one light with convoluted patterns in the darkness, joined by another. Both lights' patterns shifted and moved; one echoed softly with uncountable voices in perfect harmony, singing an ethereally beautiful tune. The other shifted in pattern and appearance, with subtly dazzling orchestrated designs of light.

With that, they were seated aboard the transport.

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Transport headed for the Palace of Transcendence

The message clearly recieved, a new one is crafted in response.

Galaxies of thought and minds sing in the darkness, each second unfolding into infinity and infinity folding into a second, each note of the billions strong choir unique and well crafted. But the songs were changing. A beat was picking up, a rhythm forged by hammers and the stomping of boots. Gentle lyrics were being replaced by cries for fire and faith. Once peaceful stars were pulsing and throwing out long flares capable of extinguishing the life from entire worlds. The dark stars at the centres of the songs were pulsing with unimaginable power as they readied for the coming storm.

Zooming out at right angles to reality, the entire war march can be heard resonating from a cosmos in a bottle suspended in an impossible, gnashing void next to other tiny bottles, each roaring its own tune, most cacophonous rather than symphonous. A chain of light is visibly stretched between the first sphere and another, and another, somewhat dimmer chain is stretched to a second. A third chain reaches out tentatively to a third sphere, this one humming harmoniously.