STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Fortress of Infinity's End

The gathering of the elite of the elite of Straltoc society sat in thought, planning out the logistics of gathering their forces while waiting for the reply from the claimant patriarch of the UISC. As they sat in congress, something strange began to happen. Flickering eddies of swirling light began to appear.

There was barely time to comment when a brilliant flash of light filled the entire fortress.

For a moment, there was silence. Across the planet the sudden loss of centralized coordination was immediately felt as secondaries cut in. Within seconds questions started flying. What had happened?

And then there was a physic scream that was heard across the entirety of the Federation almost instantly. In a few hours perhaps the more sensitive races would pick up the cry and wonder what had happened.

In the transport to the Palace of Transcendence, the holographic avatar projectors simply ceased working, dropping to the ground with a dull thud. Once the transport reached the palace, a worried looking Lisbizif aid rolled up to the ambassadors and said, "We apologize but would you please accompany me to your assigned chambers? We fear it may no longer be safe for you here."

Across the planet and the Federation fear and confusion spread at the speed of gossip, a substance already faster than light under normal circumstances and made even faster by cybernetics and FTL comms. Some rumours said that the entire executive branch had been wiped out. Others said that there had been a surprise attack on Crulmathi by treacherous guests.

As the panic grew, some sought to ride the agitation to their own benefit, to turn the confusion and potential tragedy into political gain. Calls went out for vengeance and war. Upon who, no one was quite certain, just that it was necessary.

Within two hours the Federation had come to a practical standstill.

[rhoenix]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Fortress of Infinity's End
Straltoc Space

Once the transport reached the palace, a worried looking Lisbizif aid rolled up to the ambassadors and said, "We apologize but would you please accompany me to your assigned chambers? We fear it may no longer be safe for you here."

Archon Brea shook her head, looking concerned, and her head held high. Her voice also had a small, but distinct reverse-echo. "I request instead that I and my aides be of as much use to you as we possibly can. We came here to ally and befriend your people in all regards, and we would be remiss if we simply hid away while the people we came to befriend experienced a calamity."

[Academia Nut]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence


Shaking ruefully, the amorphous entity says, "It is that we do not know what is going on. There may have been an attempt upon the lives of our leadership. We do not know. We would be poor hosts if we did not offer you protection. Moreso, we do not exactly know who is in charge right now, so there is literally nothing that can be done until we can figure out what exactly is happening. We beg of you patience while we work out what has happened."

[rhoenix]

Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Straltoc Space

Shaking ruefully, the amorphous entity says, "It is that we do not know what is going on. There may have been an attempt upon the lives of our leadership. We do not know. We would be poor hosts if we did not offer you protection. Moreso, we do not exactly know who is in charge right now, so there is literally nothing that can be done until we can figure out what exactly is happening. We beg of you patience while we work out what has happened."

Taking a deep breath, the Archon nodded. The typical reverse-echo was now notable only by it's absence. "You're right, of course - I apologize for my outburst. We will accept your offer of protection. However, please know that I speak for my people when I say we offer our aid in any way needed, without asking or expecting anything in return. Please pass that along to whomever is in charge at the moment, with my gratitude."

[Thirdfain]

CVF-6 ORP Lech Wałęsa
Second Ring Asteroid Field
Nowa Masovie
Polish Republic

Salwomir Gorzynski had spent the last five hours in the cramped space of the torpedo bomber's EW/ECM command chair. The Fleet had been on alert for what felt like years. At first, the three crewmembers had chatted over the staticy intercom, passing the time with conversation. Then, as the reports had begun filtering down as to the nearness of action, the talk had attenuated, with Salva dropping out some minutes before Luke and Aleks too stopped their banter.

Slava was incomfortably aware of a growing damp spot in the back of his skinsuit. Even in the air-conditioned cabin, he was getting the sweats.

When the FTL alarms went off, it was almost a relief.

The Fleet was moving.

"Luke, what's going on up there?"

"We've got word from Command. The enemy is closing with the colony at Ruda Slaska. We're moving to hit them while they are tied down dealing with the system defenses."

"How long's the jump?"

"About an hour and a half to Slaska- the enemy are only a half-hour out of system."

"... poor buggers."

[White Haven]

League of Thought vessel From The Ashes

A wordless alarm lashes through the twenty-five members of the psyker-grouping, emitted by a thin-faced redheaded woman. Explanation follows quickly, in the form of a half-real image of nearby space that overlays the cabin, then leaps out to envelop the flotilla. A rash of ugly red spears from the glowing dot of the original target, Nowa Masovie, headed straight for the new target, Ruda Slaska. The force itself is nearly on top of the latter system, only roughly four minutes from its hyper limit.

"That seals it, we've been betrayed. No other way they could have a force that size in place." The focus's words trigger a palpable swell of anger across the fleet, several of the ships trailing superluminal smoke and embers, "Signal the Bootswellington force, direct abort to Requiem, and offer them haven there if they choose to take it. They've certainly seen how heavily outgunned we are, I expect they'll take it." Even as the signal spears across space to the other component of the assault fleet, the League forces swing around sharply, slowing somewhat to allow the corsairs to overhaul. A series of more powerful messages lance out, informing the League of what's happened, of the presumed betrayal, of the ambush, and of the incoming ships

[Starglider]

K.O.S.C. Foreboding
Kiroter'nah 'Requiem'-class Shroud Cruiser
Polish Border Regions (Galactic North)

"And... mark. Drop shroud. Full passive scan."

Deep in space, light years from even the uninhabited systems that filled the border regions, a shimmering distortion appeared and quickly disgorged the latticework form of a Kiroter'nah vessel.

"No contacts. No signals. Nothing but empty space, co-ordinator."

"Hold position. Keep scanning."

----

CIC of the Admiral Ainsley,
Flagship, Bootswellington Strike Fleet
Near Ruda Slaska, West-Central Polish Space

"Message from the Deep Eye sir, she's got contacts. Coming through on telemetry... now."

Vice Admiral Thuule's eyes swung back from Lieutenant Cotton to the main tactical display. A mass of red lines had burst into being between the icons indicating Nowa Masovie and Ruda Slaska, approximately one quarter of the way from the former to the later.

"Picking up about fourty ships sir, various sizes."

Thuule cracked his hands. "You were right Captain, switching targets has forced the Polish to reveal their hand. Now, we proceed to the third..." The Duke of Wiesbaden's voice trailed off as his noticed more contacts appearing on the plot. Additional groups kept appearing until a splintered mass of lines appeared to be stretching out towards their fleet's positon.

"Confirm the number of ships?" There was a brief moment of silence, many of the bridge crew seemingly transfixed by this reversal of fortune. "Confirm the number of incomings damnit!" Thuule shouted.

Lieutenant Swann had been running her own analysis of the data, and responded before Cotton could relay anything further from the Deep Eye. "Impossible to be sure... at this range... sir... from the energy readings... anything from similar to twice the tonnage of us and the League ships together."

Captain Robertson spoke up. "Even if we beat them, we're deep in enemy space. Reinforcements must be on the way and their patrols are still out there. It's just a matter of time." The grizzled captain seemed to take some bizarre satisfaction at this grim turn of events.

"Sir, we have to transfer all personnel to the Blackblades and scatter. The cloaked ships stand a good chance of making it out. We can't save the rest of the fleet."

Fear and rage were struggling for supremacy in Thuule's mind, as he considered the possible outcomes, none of which offered much hope of survival. His knuckles went white as he gripped the edge of the main tactical console. Why couldn't that idiot see? If the Poles won today without even losing a ship, Blackmast would be finnished, the laughing stock of the galaxy, soon to be hunted down and destroyed at the Polski's leisure. No, Thuule was determined not to be remembered as neither a fool, a coward nor a traitor. The Polish must pay in blood for their victory. Savagely he forced back the anger; when he spoke again it was with grim determination.

"Copy to the League ships. We will make our stand here. There are ten million civillians in that system, and we will ensure the enemy has to sacrifice every one of them to destroy us. Reefs and Looters will scatter immediately. They can do us no good in the fleet battle. Lampreys will sieze all civilian shipping and also scatter. The more
Polish dogs they draw off chasing them the better."

"Lieutenant Swann, vector fleet elements as follows; first group will proceed directly to the asteroid colonies..."

Lieutenant Cotton suddenly interrupted.

"Sir..."

"What now?" Thuule snapped.

"Communique from the Leauge Fleet. Our messages crossed in transit. They are turning about and heading back to League space. They say they will not enter the target system, but they are prepared to slow enough for us to join them, should we wish to."

"Damn them!" There was a thud as Thuule slammed his fist down on the tactical console. "And the bats?"

Cotton's voice was timid. "Nothing yet sir, but it hasn't been long enough..."

Thuule wasn't listening. His eyes were wild. "Robertson, you were right, we should never have believed any of those xenos. This whole operation was nothing more than a conspiracy against me and..."

"Sir. Sir! VICE ADMIRAL THUULE!" Captain Robertson's shouts shocked the bridge into silence again. The two men glared at each other for an instant.

"You will act to preserve the Kingdom's ships and the lives of your men, Sir, or I will relieve you of command."

"You have no authority..." Thuule began to retort, but he was stopped cold by the sight of two marines behind Robertson raising their pulse rifles. In his ranting he had failed to notice the squad of marines moving from their usual posts by the hatches to positions covering the central command area.

"I see." Thuule's face was blank, unreadable. If he was furiously planning his revenge against Robertson, he did not show it.

Robertson prompted him, conscious of the critical seconds ticking away. "We cannot run for Blackmast. The Polskis will snap at our heels all the way and we cannot give away its location."

Thuule jerked his head around, breaking eye contact. "Swann, have all ships in the main group and Deep Eye vector to rendeavous with the League. Redline the engines. Any ship that loses FTL will be left behind. Cotton, signal the League that we will follow their... 'suggestion'. Then signal Deep Eye's escort. They are to execute operation plan Bitter Spring." He turned to glare at Robertson again, expecting some objection to this, but he was greated only with a hostile stare.

"You heard the Vice Admiral, snap to it. Engines to 110%. Damage control teams stand by."

-----

The sensor ship Deep Eye swung away from the edge of the Ruda Slaska system, jumping back into FTL, while her four former escorts accelerated ahead towards the inner system, their shapes blurring out as their cloaking devices engaged. Not far behind the main Bootswellington fleet tore through space, straining reach the League fleet. Within ten minutes the trajectories merged and the combined force began its desperate attempt to reach the Polish border.

-----

Meanwhile, on the K.O.S.C. Foreboding:

"They've diverted to Ruda Slaska? Perhaps they'll stand a chance then, if the Kitaka compromised the whole operation... The most probable outcomes are still extremely unfavourable. nothing we can do to change that now

"Copy the Kingdom transmission to control. Then tight beam to Ruda Slaska, forward the statement we received. Relay orders to the Euthaniser and the Premonition, they are to abort to League space and to continue to send intelligence as tactical prudence permits." If the strike fleets detect an overwhelming defence force, they may choose the chance of escape over making their deaths as costly to the enemy as possible.

"Also, tight-beam that to positions along the direct vector from Ruda Slaska to the League homeworld and the Kingdom rendeavous point. As many as you can in five chronons." though using their slow form of star speech they may all be dead by the time our whisper gets there

The command space was silent as the signals went out. The crew's elation at destroying the three human tracking stations without a hitch had long since worn off.

"Completed, co-ordinator."

"Re-engage shroud. Follow escape course gamma-3, get us to the Bootswellington linkup point." and hope that earth saying about shooting the messenger is not intended to be taken literally

[rhoenix]

The buzz of activity within Golden Sky space had increased sharply over the past week. On Jotunheim in particular, the number of applicants from all corners of Combine space had increased amazingly since their Deepening. Though at least half were rejected for entry, the sheer number amazed even the normally stoic military application department.

The mighty blade-like Crissaegrim-class Conflagration was going through final checks for departure. It was not alone - two imposing Mjolnir-class dreadnaughts, the Sunfist and the Bloodmoon, were joined by the Starcrash, the Sawtooth, and the Tiamat, all Ragnarok-class battleships, and four Shamshir-class heavy scoutships. They were joined by ten currently empty Hel-class troop transports going through maintenance cycles. Twenty ships in all were going through final procedures.

Templar Prasad studied them with a cool gaze as she received her orders. She gave the communication to all of her senior officers aboard each of the ships assembled at once. "We hold here for now. Use this time to finish any other upgrades or preventative maintenance that needs to take place."

The crew, all Jotun as she was, nodded as one in reply. No words were necessary.

"Soon," she thought to herself. "Soon we shall see if we are needed. And if we are, then we will be ready, with our eyes and hearts steady."

[Thirdfain]

CVF-7 ORP Justyna Marcinkiewicz
Deep Space
Polish Southern Reaches

There were over two hundred vessels in the combined fleet- Everything from American fleet carriers down to the tiny Polish Zbik escort frigates.Like some horrible flower, the formations unfurled at speeds which made light look sluggish. The carriers, each one with it's rosette of escorts, took up position behind the bristling guns of the fleet crusiers and battleships. In each matte-black hull, thousands of men and women worked feverishly, with the strange quiet common of a modern, largely wetwate-operated ship of war. Hundreds of strike-craft, fueled and armed, sat in their launch tubes, crews cramped and waiting for the unbeleivable racket and obscene accellerations of a combat launch. Damage control teams, hardsuits sealed, waited to face the horrors of combat- depressurized compartments, spreading fires, and the unimaginable fury of nuclear explosions.

Deep within the armored hulls of the largest warships, command teams examined the constantly updated data sent by the perimiter pickets and the powerful Early Warning network, a constant fatline stream from the two nearest relays and the main station back on Masovie.

The enemy was fleeing- but it would not be rapidly enough.

Magdelena Sosz, recently promoted Marshal of the Fleet and commanding officer of the Second and Third Corps of the Gwiazdna Flota RP gingerly removed the uplink from the base of her skull.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the element of surprise, thanks to the impetuous nature of our Kitaka friends. However, I do not believe we have lost the opportunity to bring the enemy decisively to heel. Lieutenant, third frame on the main table, please? Thank you."

The trajectories of the fleeing enemy force sprang into being.

"The enemy is fleeing at best speed. However, since this force held position until they were close to Ruda Slaska, we are in an excellent position to intercept. Their current trajectory will allow our main force- the Logosians, Americans, and our own Polish forces- to intercept them within this region."

She indicated a spot roughly two hours out from Ruda Slaska.

"Optimally, we can expect to engage them for a full hour before the greater speed of the Pirate capital ships allow them to pull out of distance of our own wall of battle- the League vessels move at an unknown speed, but are believed to outpace a fleet carrier of the Jan III Sobieski-class by some 5%. This is an uncertain number however- they may have no chance whatsover. It should be noted that the enemy have shown excellent co-ordination in main fleet movements on a strategic scale, and I believe that we will be incapable of making an optimum interception- engagement time could be as low as twenty minutes."

"Yes, General Stanislawski?"
The commanding officer of the 3rd Fleet Corps lowered her hand.

"My own force consists entirely of fast cruisers, Madam Marshal. I believe there's not a ship in the Corps which couldn't run down a pirate Battleship."

Magdalena nodded.
"Should the enemy break and run, and lose fleet cohesion, we can dispatch cruiser forces to round them up and take them out in detail- which brings me to my final point." She indicated a third object on the plotting map. "The Portuguese expeditionary force, already in place to cut off their retreat. In co-ordination with the EW Network, they'll make sure than the enemy can't go far. Essentially, the flies have hit the paper, ladies and gentlemen." She reached for the tactical implant, preparing to jack back in to the command net. "Let's make sure they die there."

[Beowulf]

OOC Note: Adrian helped with this. Ire, you have your answer now, eh?

GS Kusari
CIC

The dim emergency lighing sprang to life. "Status Report!" ordered Marshal Harlaown.

"Shock took alot of equipment offline. Integrity monitors report that the enemy battlecruiser plowed through most of our flank, but we've no idea where they are now. Core appears to be intact. Minor damage to the bow armor."

"They're probably dead. If that hit took out our shields, it must have taken out theirs."

Normal lighting came on. "Furnace 1 coming online, Ma'am. Internal cameras are up. What the hell is that?"

"Maybe they aren't dead then. I think that's them."

A dull boom was heard echoing through the ship. Simultaneously, the light went out for a second, before the emergency lighting came back on.

"Integrity monitors show we've just lost everything forward of frame 132. Furnace 1 is gone, Ma'am."

"We're still here. That must have been their last gasp. Marines, prepare to board the enemy ship. We're going to need prisoners for information."

Around the Apostasy

Squads of power armored figures waited by armored hatches inside the Kitakan flagship. The sections they were in were sealed tight against vacuum, and depressurized. When the go signal came, they flooded out of the core, and surrounded the enemy battlecruiser as best they could. Some went out into hard space, while others remained inside Kusari. Outside, they encountered squads of Spanish Naval Infantry descending on the hull, and began to coordinate the assault with them. They cut holes into the hull of Apostasy , and began looking through the ship for survivors, or items that might be of interest.

---

First division's targets destroyed, they focused on the last enemy battlecruiser and the ships of the Habsburg First and Second Squadrons joined in the barrage. Even though it was rapidly getting away, the sheer volume of fire ensured constant hits on the target. The combined withering assault soon broke down its shields. Massive gouges appeared in the armor, until finally, it could take no more. A series of explosions shook the vessel one last time before it finally burst in a flash of light. First Squadron's pursuit had been entirely unnecessary, hardly a waste due to lack of better targets, but still unnecessary.

Further away, the fast movers of the Fourth Division caught up with the runners and destroyed most of them. Two corvette captains actually managed to get away with some maneuvers that showed either supernatural luck or nothing short of genius. However, the sheer number of ships chasing them made evasion impossible. They ran straight into Second Fast Flotilla, one panicked and was destroyed, the other kept its nerves and dammed near got away before elements of the Fourth Division caught up with it.

With fleet combat complete, interdiction and jamming stopped. The Kitaka and Habsburg support fleets dropped into realspace. Marine boarding transports vectored in on Kusari, while oilers, repair, and munition ships visited other vessels.

[Nephtys]

Deep in a far off sector of space...
STMC Central

Some damaged and others slowed, many of the wounded 'Space Monsters' fell back into n-space, returning from their battle with the lilliputian apes and their allies, defending a pristine yellow sun that was preparing to be seeded. Of course, the first pod had descended into the star's core, growing there even now.

Emerging from the great Mass Extractor structures covering some of the orbiting bodies, smaller creatures reached out to repair and assess the data brought back by the remaining warships. It was a mass of information that would take time to process. One 'battleship' type creature particularly limped in, it's maw smashed open by ramming through an enemy ship. In it remained a broken chunk of the human spacecraft, and something else too. A chunk torn right out of an enemy light cruiser, with wreckage, bodies and data to be processed. And with them all came genetic material of these puny apes that had resisted the harvesting of their orbitting stellar bodies...

[Noble Ire]

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

At first, all that the Kitaka and Spanish boarders found were shattered fragments of machinery and pulverized bodies drifting in vacuum. Their primary points of entry, just behind the Apostasy’s ruined forward section, opened onto the decks and corridors that had been hit the hardest by the battle; most of the safeguards there were inoperable by the time of the collision, and the few that functioned had been insufficient to protect the crew from the twin specters of concussion and atmospheric breach. The soldiers moved deeper in and further aft, impeded only by the occasional emergency bulkhead.

By the ship’s midpoint, they began to encounter resistance. Here and there, isolated chambers had retained their atmosphere and surviving crewers had managed to don the atmospheric suits positioned across the ship. Some were caught off-guard when the armed marines stormed into their tiny islands of life, and were taken alive to waiting transports, struggling fiercely against their captors, or too injured to do anything but bleed. Most seized fallen debris or maintenance equipment, anything that could be used as a weapon, and were killed swiftly, gunned down by the organized fire teams. A handful managed to recover sidearms from emergency caches and dead marines, but they were scattered and few, unable to hold back the methodical tide.

When the advanced teams entered areas of the ship that were still widely pressurized and happened across the reinforced command center, now wrecked and deserted, opposition stiffened. Bulkheads sealed before, and sometimes onto, teams of the boarders. Hastily-prepared field explosives detonated, sealing off corridors with debris. Outer compartments decompressed suddenly and explosively, sending whole units hurtling into deep space. One unfortunate group of Kitaka infantry happened across a functional anti-personnel grid, which proceeded to shred several of them with a flurry of particle beam pulses before its emitters were destroyed.

Finally, as the main group of boarders made it to the aft portion of the Apostasy, the remainder of the crew showed themselves. Many were enclosed in the same basic atmospheric suits that the intruders had observed before, but others wore the armored raiment of the Preeminence Armada Vanguard. Encased in slight, flexible armored suits as black as Brimafel eyes, they fell upon the Kitaka and Spanish soldiers with the fervor of those who have come to accept their own imminent destruction. Bursting from hidden access conduits and blasting through sealed hatches, they lobbed radiation bombs and EMP grenades at their foes, and then set into them with magnetic projectile weapons and particle rifles, ignoring the return fire than glanced off and gouged their armor. In the main drive control room, a single vanguard soldier slew half a dozen enemies by detonating an exposed rack of reactive fuel cells after her weapons had all but run dry.

The defenders fought fiercely, as they had been trained to do all of their lives, but too few had survived the impact, and the boarders would not yield. At last, they took the aft section of the ship and began to sweep into the upper starboard weapons control section, where the last of the crew had decided to make their stand. The Preeminence officers ignored all offers of surrender, and at last the Kitaka and Spanish commanders chose to end their resistance in a final push. Casualties were heavy, but the boarders advanced swiftly and inexorably, and finally penetrated the last occupied compartment.

The first two soldiers in were felled by well-placed fire, but the last defenders, a half dozen vanguards and a few atmosphere-suited officers, had little cover in the long chamber of empty missile racks and jammed firing tubes. The firefight was short, and only one Preeminence officer survived, her weapon hand shattered by a Spanish gun. Under orders to take as many prisoners as possible, a pair of marines hoisted her up and made for the hatch, but a third halted to stare at what she had fallen upon. Though small, the pair of metallic, tubular objects was instantly recognizable. On the blood-stained deck, where it had fallen from the last Brimafel’s hand, the only light on a small pad blinked off.

Brilliant light spread from the Apostasy’s starboard side, and then moved in an instant up and down its hull, sweeping each deck and fragment of hull plating into nothingness. A sparest fraction of a second later, light and superheated debris washed over the Kusari and the waiting marine transports. When the luminous cascade subsided, only the charred, fragmented hulk of the Kitaka flagship and a bare handful of returning boarding craft on the fringe of the blast remained. The rest had vanished into the night.

[Starglider]

Ruda Slaska, Polish Space

The four cloaked Bootswellington ships sped rapidly through the outer system, splitting into pairs as they approached the inner system. Two ships headed for the third planet, which had lent its name to the whole system. It was a wind-swept toxic hell; humans could brave the surface with breathing masks for short periods, but the heat, gravity and constant lightning storms made it a remarkably unpleasant place to live. Most of the population was concentrated into a series O'neill colonies in high orbit, providing workers for the extensive orbital manufacturing and refining complexes. The other pair of pirate cruisers curved towards the Bieszczady asteroid belt, aiming for the space colonies that served as the home base for the system's asteroid mining and fuel scoop ships.

The Wandering Doubloon and the Wolf's Howl dropped out of FTL and cloak simultaneously, high above Ruda Slaska. The two ships immediately lit up their targetting scanners, confirming the location of the primary installations and defences. In return they were painted by the outdated tracking systems on two of the largest complexes and the Polish naval depot.

Code: Select all

Broadcast Transmission, Radio and Hyperwave
From: Bootswellington Task Force
To  : All Polish Forces

ALL DEFENCE OUTPOSTS WILL SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR BE DESTROYED. CIVILIAN STATIONS WILL NOT BE HARMED IF THEY DO NOT RESIST. CIVILIAN VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO LEAVE THE AREA.

The Bootswellington captains had no illusions about the Polish actually heeding this warning; no doubt they would want to buy more time for their main fleets to arrive. The Blackblades came in with shields up and weapons hot, and moments after the first salvo of missiles lanced out from the Polish docks their main guns were firing, blasting the defensive emplacements into scrap. The Kingdom ships quickly set about the task of knocking out the meagre defences, the sparse Polish railgun fire splashing against their shields while the ships extensive secondary batteries easily blasted the scattering of incoming missiles out of the sky.

Meanwhile in the Bieszczady belt the Cruel Trident and the Dreaming Doom were meeting opposition of a different nature. Five old Polish patrol craft streaked towards the cruisers, desperately jinking to avoid the fire of the heavy guns while trying to bring their own railguns to bear. They quickly expended their missile payload, closing to a dangerously close range before releasing in the hope of getting through the Bootswellington point-defence fire. Some missiles did indeed make it, smashing into the Pirate's shielding and causing localised shield failures as the generators overloaded and had to be taken offline. But in doing so the patrol ships exposed themselves to deadly fire from the light guns; the two cruisers set up a lethal crossfire and reduced them to five clouds of expanding vapour.

"Damage report?"

"Took railgun rounds to the starboard side sir. Two light guns out. Main aft-starboard shield generator is down, auxiluary is holding."

"And the Trident?"

"No internal damage but they lost some sensors to nuke flash. Got a hell of a scorch mark on their hull too."

Captain Messervy smiled grimly. "Any more enemy ships?"

"Nothing in-system sir. Just fleeing civillian traffic. But there's a massive FTL trace imbound..."

"Enough. Break out the fusion charges. Best speed to the nearest colony. Keep the weapons hot and shoot anything that gets close, I wouldn't be surprised if they try ramming us with shuttles and cargo haulers."

The two ships split apart, their engines carrying them to the first two Polish stations within minutes. The lower cargo doors opened as the Blackblades began a close pass of the 20-kilometre-long spinning cyliners that formed the bulk of the Polish colonies. A trio of ominous objects were disgorged, tumbling across the hundred metres or so to the station's steel hull and then striking and sticking fast as the magnetic couplers engaged. Within the stations, only a few people hard the distant clang over the alarms and shouts filling the air. The two Pirate ships quickly moved on to their next target, while meanwhile their cousins in orbit of Ruda Slaska were placing similar devices on the orbital facilities there.

Code: Select all

Broadcast Transmission, Radio and Hyperwave
From: Bootswellington Task Force
To  : All Polish Forces

ILLEGAL POLISH ACTIONS IN SIEZING SHIPS OF THE KINGDOM SAILING UNDER FLAG OF TRUCE AND IMPRISONING INNOCENT KINGDOM CITIZENS WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL HAVE FORCED THE KINDGOM OF BOOTSWELLINGTON TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTION.

HIGH-YIELD FUSION CHARGES HAVE BEEN EMPLACED ON THE HULLS OF EIGHT HABITATS IN THE BIESZCZADY BELT AND ON VARIOUS STATIONS IN ORBIT AROUND RUDA SLASKA. THESE DEVICES WILL INITIATE IF THE SIGNAL FROM THE NEARBY KINGDOM CRUISERS IS DISRUPTED OR IF ANY ATTEMPT IS MADE TO TAMPER WITH THEM.

I DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL BOOTSWELLINGTON SHIPS AND PERSONNEL BEING ILLEGALLY HELD BY THE POLISH GOVERNMENT, FOLLOWED BY THE ESCORT OF MY SHIPS SAFELY FROM POLISH SPACE. IF THESE DEMANDS ARE NOT MET I WILL BE FORCED TO DESTROY ONE STATION PER HOUR UNTIL THE POLISH GOVERNMENT SEES REASON. IF ANY OF OUR SHIPS ARE FIRED UPON, WE WILL INITIATE ALL THE DEVICES AND KILL THE SIX MILLION SOULS ON THE STATIONS WE HAVE MINED. YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO RESPOND IF YOU WISH TO RENOUNCE YOUR ILLEGAL ACTIONS AND SAVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PEOPLE.

VICE ADMIRAL THUULE, DUKE OF WIESBADEN

The four ships continued to transmitt the ultimatum in tight beams to earth, the incoming fleet, and in the direction of assorted nearby powers.

[A-Wing_Slash]

Executive Aircar
Svalbard
Grand Republic of the Sky Bear

Yogi was a troubled bear. As Speaker for the Sky Bear he was the de facto ruler of the Grand Republic, yet recent events seemed to have rendered him all but impotent. It had been two weeks since his Foreign Minister had abruptly resigned, and the ensuing scandal had nearly brought his administration to its knees. The religious nutcases in the opposition were ripping their fur out over the Foreign Ministers supposed corruption and alleged affair, and by delaying the nomination of any replacement in the Council of Clans, the opposition had halted nearly all of the Grand Republic’s interstellar diplomatic initiatives.

Yogi barred his teeth at the very thought of the very thought of his opposition. I know you’ve got to pay lip service to the Sky Bear, he thought, but how stupid do you have to be to actually believe every fucking last line of the Book of Bear? And now those same idiots control over a third of the Council, almost as many votes as he did. The entire galaxy is about to break into open warfare, thought Yogi, and those furless runts are worried about a minister “hibernating” for a while with an aide? His chauffer cut off his rant.

“We’re at the park, your eminence.” The Speaker straightened his jacket, and without a word in response opened the air-cat door to the central park of the Grand Republic’s capital. A smile learned through decades in politics appeared on his furry face, and flanked by a group of security guards he began to wave to the gathering crowd, going over his upcoming speech in his head.



Hundreds of meters above the Speaker, a solitary bear stood in the window of someone else’s hotel room. Through his scope he could see the heretic himself, greeting his pathetic supporters, without the faintest idea of what was about to happen. The bear shifted his focus to the Speaker’s paltry guard contingent, confirming what he had been told. Only six guards in close proximity to the heretic; the rest of his hapless protectors remained in their air cars, monitoring sensors. Though the room he stood in was otherwise empty, the solitary bear was not alone. By the grace of our God, though the solitary bear as he lined up the sights of his rifle on his target, knowing that in the other buildings lining the park a dozen true believers were doing likewise, we are bears.
He pulled the trigger.

[rhoenix]

Templar Prasad was gazing out the window into the space surrounding the factory-moon Valhalla, watching the ordered fury of activity taking place.

Abruptly, a message broke her out of her reverie. "Templar, the Exite colony known as Gabilan would speak with you."

At this, she smiled, as she activated her communication node for full communication. "Hello, Gabilan. I do hope you are well."

"We are functioning...well. We, the colony of Gabilan was elected to speak for the other Exite colonies. We wish to revise our previous policy of non-inclusion."

This mildly surprised the Templar, which she displayed by raising an eyebrow. "I see. May I ask why you've decided to change, and why you contacted me first, instead of the Council?"

The answer was charmingly non-chalant. "We decided to speak with you first because your grandfather was the one who caused peace to occur between your people and ours. We wish to revise our strategy of intervention because we wish to take part with you with interfering in galactic politics and events."

Nodding with a smile, she replied after a moment's thought. "I shall sponsor your change to the Council then, though as you know you'll have to bring the motion to them."

"We understand, and awaited your answer before we did so. Our people and yours had misunderstandings at the beginning of our sentience, but your behavior since has proven that we are in the right place, at the right time. We would ally with you in all things."

This brought a wider smile to her face. The Exites, though a part of the Golden Sky Combine, kept very much to themselves following the... "incident" that occurred when they had gained sentience, and the Exites had never quite trusted the biological Gliesans since. This, apparently, was changing. "I agree, and I feel honored that you came to me first. I shall speak with you soon."

"Indeed. Farewell."

Exites were comprised of hundreds of trillions of nanoscopic robots that collectively are considered to be an intelligence. Each "colony" was considered to be an individual, with rights and privileges equal to a biological Gliesan. They ordinarily kept very much to themselves. The one who called, Gabilan, was one of the first adopters of a faux-Gliesan form, resembling more than superficially a biological Gliesan. This practice had picked up in recent years, but she had no prior idea that the above call was why.

She looked thoughtfully out the window again. She also wondered idly if the Exites would request to join the Golden Sky military.

[Crossroads Inc.]

========================
SGN Broadcast
This, is SGN, Sector Galactic News.
Bringing the News of The Sector to the Galaxy
And news of the Galaxy to The Sector
========================
"…finally tonight a wrap up of the Cycles news. Several previously ‘dormant’ nations have resurfaced after a long silence. Amongst them the Stellar Dominion as well as peoples of the Golden Sky Combine

Tomorrow we will go in-depth to interview a representative at the NGTO Facilities to ask how his peoples have changed in their long absence.

Lastly a coalition of large Corporations from across the NGTO member worlds, have gathered to begin construction on an ambitious new Tradeship designed to spread cultural understanding of NGTO races as well as foster new Space based Industries and business.

This is Fred Fortress signing off.”

==================
GALACTICUS, UISC SPACE
==================
High up in one of the many towers dotting the Planetoid, the Quartly Military report of ships was in session. For years the meeting had been somewhat of a formality as the powerful Homefleets of the UISC had by and large, stayed put. Now, for the first time since the 3rd Generation warships had been built, they had been deployed. What had originally been only Five seats at the table, was now Seven.. And as the fleets where split and redeployed, more chairs would be sure to come for those reporting on Fleet positions.

For now, seven sat in the room, each accompanied by a Trathalan Translator. The Fleet Captain of the Telos system rubbed his eyes weary as he finished.


"So we have the final list of Deployed Fleets finished, yes?"
"Aye Sir, Here is how things stand for now"

Code: Select all

[b]UISC Worlds[b] 
----------------- 
 4 x BB 40 combat 'Edselon' 
 5 x BC 20 combat 'Tuckra' 
22 x CA 10 combat 'Winebego' 
72 x DD 5  combat 'Durendal' 

[b]Telos System (NGTO Conference Site)[/b] 
----------------------------------- 
4  x CA  10 combat 'Winebego' 
14 x DD  5  combat 'Durendal' 

[b]Nephilim/Herald Border [/b]
---------------------- 
1  x BB  40  combat 'Edselon' 
6  x BC  20  combat 'Tuckra' 
16 x CA  10  combat 'Winebego' 
28 x DD  5   combat 'Durendal' 

The Fleet Captain nodded before putting the offical stamp on the file.
"Well, At least we shouldn't have to be changing the list anytime soon" he sighed as he began to stand up... A knock at the door caught thier attention.

"You would excuse me good sirs, but I have something that might change it..."

[Thirdfain]

CVF-7 ORP Justyna Marcinkiewicz
Deep Space
Polish Southern Reaches

"Yes, sir. I understand completely the Government's stance. Absolutely, sir."

Marshal Sosz hung up the FTL-comm handset, eyes narrowing. General Stanislawski's shoulders slumped at the sight of the commander's features.

"In a situation such as this, there is no choice in the matter. The government's policy is very firm. Open a line to the Response Division, lieutenant.
A formation of fast cruisers was already peeling off from the main strike force, making best speed for the Ruda Slaska system, now almost to the rear of the advancing Polish fleet. A light carrier division and two groups of light cruisers had formed up and lit off their jumpdrives, kinetic plumes crossing and intersecting in the impossibility of hyperspace like spider's webs.

"Line is green, Madam Marshal."

Magdalena Sosz's mouth worked for a second, swallowing, before she spoke.

"Soldiers and Spacers of the Polish Republic. The task before you is a simple one- before you lie the enemy. They are murderers. They are bandits. They are criminals in every sense of the word. Such barbarians all think alike. They love to hold a gun to an innocent's head, make demands, and then blame others when they pull the trigger, blood still dripping from their hands. We have all seen this- in the streets of Budapest, wherever the Orthodoxy walks in our cities and towns. We Poles know the wages of negotiation with terrorists. It is your duty, as soldiers of this great Republic and sons and daughters of Polish soil, to save as many lives as possible. In hunting down and destroying these vessels, you will save lives- for every pirate killed or brought to kneel before justice, a hundred, a million more lives will be saved- worlds will go unpillaged, ships will reach port safely, and the stain of barbarism will be wiped from the visage of Known Space. Your duty is clear.

Good hunting, and God bless."

Sosz sat down in her command-chair heavily, eyes closing for a moment, brow knitted.

"Six million." She shook her head for a second, and then straightened. On the tactical display, she could see the shrinking numbers. In twenty minutes, they would be upon the fleeing enemy main force.

"Tactical, bring the fleet to action stations. Let's make sure those six million lives aren't spent in vain."

A lieutenant looked up from his console. "Madam Marshal, should I signal this "Duke of Wiesbaden" with your response?"

"No. He'll know our answer when the guns begin to sound. I hope he feels the weight of his actions in whatever time he has left for this world."

[Imperial Overlord]

Polish Space, Interdicting the Bootswellington and League of Thought Fleets

Space shimmered and distorted as ships returned from real space. Energy spikes would register on any sensors pointed in their direction as ship after ship crossed over from the Void Beyond. The ships ranged in size from the massive Black Arks to the sleek and lethal Talon class destroyers. More ships kept appearing until the entire strength of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Centrality fleets was present, along with the Hunter squadrons.

Space bent and distorted under the influence of interdiction generators and electronic warfare emissions. The ships were assembled in cone formations, the light vessels forming the base and the Black Arks, Cataphracts, and Huntresses forming the core. The Hunter Squadrons slid out of guard the rear flanks of the formation.

The bridge of the Black Ark Isengard was oddly quiet. Cyberlinks handled much of the communication and data flow as the professionals of the Logos Centrality's fleet went to work. "They appear to be ahead of us," said Fleet Admiral Hayden.

"Something got fucked up," Flag Captain Elizabeth Carrington dryly. "That never happens with covert engagements involving multiple fleets."

"Quite," said

"Sir," said a com tech, "incoming transmission. From the pirates at Radu Slaska."

ILLEGAL POLISH ACTIONS IN SIEZING SHIPS OF THE KINGDOM SAILING UNDER FLAG OF TRUCE AND IMPRISONING INNOCENT KINGDOM CITIZENS WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL HAVE FORCED THE KINDGOM OF BOOTSWELLINGTON TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTION.

HIGH-YIELD FUSION CHARGES HAVE BEEN EMPLACED ON THE HULLS OF EIGHT HABITATS IN THE BIESZCZADY BELT AND ON VARIOUS STATIONS IN ORBIT AROUND RUDA SLASKA. THESE DEVICES WILL INITIATE IF THE SIGNAL FROM THE NEARBY KINGDOM CRUISERS IS DISRUPTED OR IF ANY ATTEMPT IS MADE TO TAMPER WITH THEM.

I DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL BOOTSWELLINGTON SHIPS AND PERSONNEL BEING ILLEGALLY HELD BY THE POLISH GOVERNMENT, FOLLOWED BY THE ESCORT OF MY SHIPS SAFELY FROM POLISH SPACE. IF THESE DEMANDS ARE NOT MET I WILL BE FORCED TO DESTROY ONE STATION PER HOUR UNTIL THE POLISH GOVERNMENT SEES REASON. IF ANY OF OUR SHIPS ARE FIRED UPON, WE WILL INITIATE ALL THE DEVICES AND KILL THE SIX MILLION SOULS ON THE STATIONS WE HAVE MINED. YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO RESPOND IF YOU WISH TO RENOUNCE YOUR ILLEGAL ACTIONS AND SAVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PEOPLE.

VICE ADMIRAL THUULE, DUKE OF WIESBADEN

"Typical of the pirate scum," said Hayden. "Well, we aren't the only ones they have to escape. Full pursuit. Let's see if there is anything left for us."

[Agent Fisher]

CIC
ROAS Hornet
ROA Task Force with the Polish Fleet

"Mother of God. Those spineless bastards." Muttered Admiral Chad 'Taz' Long. The admiral looked up from the EAM he had been handed and yelled to his comm officer. "Contact the Mercy. Have them break from the support fleet and make for best speed to Ruda Slaska." He called out. The Mercy was his support fleet's hospital ship. It would help with recovery of any survivors and to help recover the dead. Long handed the EAM to the captain of the Hornet. "Those pirate bastards." Long repeated once again.

The Captain read the datapad. He looked up to the Admiral. "This can't be real." He said. Six million innocents, all about to be gone. "Even pirates have morals, don't they?"

The Admiral shrugged, reaching up to pull down a microphone. He turned to his Comm officer again. "Give me fleet wide." There was a tone sounded through the speakers.

"This is Admiral Long. This fleet has just received word that the Polish colony of Ruda Slaska has been attacked by Pirates. They have placed bombs on multiple colonies. They have made demands of our Polish allies. If those demands are not met, then six million innocents will die. As is also the policy of this nation, Poland does not negotiate with terrorists." He paused. "America and Poland have long been friends. We will continue the tradition of standing with our allies. Our hospital ship, the Mercy, will be heading to Ruda Slaska to save those she can. Our job is to kill those we can. The order of the day is death. Any pirate vessel is to be destroyed, any ships surrending are to be left alone, after their weapons and engines are destroyed."

Admiral Long looked around the CIC, every face towards him. "Do your jobs. Turst the person next to you. Lets get in the fight." Long released the button on the mike, hanging it up. He turned to his CAG, who was also running the groups from the other carriers. "CAG, pass the word onto your fighter jocks. No shooting escape pods. We can space the scum later." Long said coldly, turning back to the table with the computer generated map.

[A-Wing_Slash]

Central Park
Svalbard
Grand Republic of the Sky Bear

Yogi dropped to all fours as he heard the laser rifles open fire. The Speaker saw his guards dropping dead, burning holes in there bodies. An instant later, larger weapons atomized the three aircars that had comprised his motorcade. The shooting stopped as suddenly as it had started. It dawned on Yogi that he had not been hit, and he looked around in confusion.

“Stop cowering on the ground and die with dignity, heretic,” commanded a familiar voice. Yogi was speechless as he saw the commander of his security detail, a massive bear named Erof, drawing his sidearm as he stepped towards the Speaker. In the background, a group of bears were threatening the small crowd with heavy laser guns. Erof threw his pistol away and ripped off his jacket, now standing within spitting distance of Yogi. “Little though you deserve it, I am letting you put an honorable end to your dishonorable life. Stand and fight.”

Yogi slowly rose on his hind legs, eyes locked with his would be assassin. He roughly threw off his ceremonial jacket, and though fear was coursing through his veins he summed up every last bit of courage in him.
“I’ll see you in hell, traitor!” spat Yogi, and with his claws and teeth at the ready, he charged.

The fight did not last long.

[InnocentBystander]

Polish Space
CC-46 NIP Count of Boulogne – Bridge

“Lieutenant, I wan t all ships in our group to report their jump status. We need to ready to move with the fleet at a moment’s notice.” The bridge of the Count of Boulogne was abuzz with activity. She was the command ship for Cruiser Group Center, and her ships were responsible for reporting the enemy and their position while the fleet lied in wait.
Half a minute passed before the chief comms officer replied, “All ships report ready for jump on Fleet Command’s orders.” The Commodore didn’t quite have time to nod,” Orders from the command ship, sir, we are moving to interdict the enemy in 15 seconds.
“Helm, jump on Fleet’s mark. Weapons master, load all tubes and arm all guns. Shields officer, full power to our defectors; sound full alert.” The Portuguese fleet jumped to FTL just as the Count’s shields powered up.

The Portuguese fleet had been strategically positioned to interdict any attempt at escaping by the hostile fleet. Charging toward the enemy at best possible speed, they were easily detectable. The hostile fleet would have time to decide if they wanted to drop to sub light on their own, or be wrenched into realspace by the interdictors of the Imperial Fleet. Generally speaking, it is preferable to drop down to sub light speeds manually; when being interdicted ships tend to ‘fall’ into realspace unevenly; formations will be broken up, sensors will be out of alignment and orientation to the enemy may not be ideal. Either way it hardly mattered, the Portuguese fleet slowed to sub light and engaged its FTL interdiction from beyond weapons range. The Portuguese fleet was oriented to maintain distance, it would take some time for the Polish, American and Logosian fleets to arrive and until that time the Portuguese were outnumbered.

[A-Wing_Slash]

Great Hall of the Clans
Svalbard
Grand Republic of the Sky Bear

“How many times do I have to tell you all,” roared Delegate Kanosak to the members of the Council of the Clans, “That I have no idea who killed the Speaker?” Kanosak had assumed leadership of the late Speaker’s slim majority, but had so far been unable to quiet the raucous Council that had assembled upon news of the Speaker’s assassination. The problem was made more severe by the fact that Kanosak could not open the election for a successor. Rules dictated that the leader of the opposition be present before such a process could begin, and Delegate Arcturus, leader of the fundamentalist faction, was nowhere to be seen. Arcturus is probably the only Delegate not in attendance, though Kanosak wryly as he looked out on the shouting and commotion in the packed Council hall.

The massive doors at the end of the hall swung open, and much of the noise subsided as delegates turned to observe the lone bear that entered. As he walked down the hall, a low gasp went up, and the delegates parted to let the newcomer through. Only when the bear neared the front of the hall did Kanosak recognize him as the commander of the late Speaker’s bodyguard, and realize that he was carrying something in his paws. It couldn’t be… thought Kanosak as he looked closer. He too gasped in shock.

Erof, formerly commander of Speaker Yogi’s bodyguard, scaled the platform at the front of the hall, and gently placed the severed head of the late speaker upon a table. Turning to the hall, he addressed the Council.

“Yogi was not fit to hold the mandate of heaven. I pray that this body may select a bear who is.” He had spoken in a low tone, yet for once the chamber had gone silent, and every delegate heard his declaration. Delegate Kanosak broke the silence first.

“Here’s your assassin! Guards! Arrest that bear!”

“I think not, good sir,” boomed another voice from the entrance to the hall. The Council guards had yet to move. “That bear has carried out the will of the Sky Bear; he should be celebrated!” Into the hall strode Delegate Arcturus, leader of the religious faction, and the council parted again for him as he retraced the bodyguard’s path to the front.

“For too long has this chamber been controlled by someone who had forgotten the fundamental truth behind our existence. By the grace of our God, my friends, we are bears! We are the very instruments of the Great Bear in the Sky himself!” Arcturus had reached front of the hall, and paused to mount the platform.

“The Sky Bear placed warring tribes upon this rock, so that we bears could grow strong through conflict. The Sky Bear sent down philosophers and scientists, so that we bears could discover the mysteries of creation. And the Sky Bear gave us leaders, so that by uniting the clans we could realize our full potential as one, indivisible nation.

“Yet the late Speaker,” continued Arcturus to his rapt audience, motioning towards Yogi’s head, “forgot the greatest lesson we have been taught by the Sky Bear, that in all things we must uphold the honor of our creator. This body has oft heard me rail against the late Speaker’s attempts to sign treaties in the Sky Bear’s holy name with as many lesser races as he could, and you know where I stand. Yet even as these agreements were made, the late Speaker shied away from fulfilling our obligations under them. When our allies were attacked, rather than mobilize the entire fleet our navy sent only a token squadron to stand against the blasphemous machines. My fellow bears, we have entered into covenants in the name of the very God Bear himself; should we not go to the very gates of hell to uphold his honor?

“Now is the time, my friends. The Great Bear in the Sky, blessed be his name, has been preparing us from the dawn of our existence for this moment. The galaxy is about to tear itself apart around us. Our allies have aligned themselves with us, and for that they will be richly rewarded come Judgment Day. Will we stand with them? Do we have the courage to do all that is asked of us as bears?”

The Council, long silent as they listened to Arcturus speak, exploded with noise as shouts, cheers, arguments and heated discussions broke out amongst its bears. Above the din, a lone voice belted out the ancient war chant of the bear tribes.

By the grace of our God, we are bears! All glory to the Sky Bear!

The chant began again, now joined by other voices. By the fourth chant, three quarters of the delegates were shouting out the words at the top of their lungs.

By the grace of our God, we are bears! All glory to the Sky Bear!

Even as he felt the hall reverberate with the sound of so many voices chanting in unison, Arcturus smiled to himself. The Council would now do anything he said.

[Beowulf]

Deep Space
Middle of nowhere

A message buoy floated serenely in space. It intercepted a signal, decrypted it, authenticated it, and parsed the instructions inside. It then used it's remaining reserves of mana to vaporise itself, leaving no trace of its existence except a small flash of light, and a drifting cloud made up of silicon, carbon, aluminum and a number of trace elements.

[A-Wing_Slash]

Speaker’s Offices
Svalbard
Grand Republic of the Sky Bear

Arcturus was just sitting down in his predecessor’s office when the call came in. The newly-elected speaker thought it strange to be using the office of a bear he had just had murdered, but this was not the time to deliberate on that. Tomorrow he would have the Speaker’s Office redecorated, but right now there was work to be done. Arcturus pressed a button and his new Foreign, War, and Finance Ministers appeared on a large screen.

“Good to see you two. I know you just got to your ministries, but we have a lot of work to do. Oksana, we need to send out new ambassadors to our allies tonight, and we have to formulate a clear message…”

High Orbit above Svalbard
Grand Republic of the Sky Bear

Amid the bustle of civilian traffic around Svalbard, a trio of diplomatic couriers launched from a government space dock, and began to maneuver towards the system’s hyper limit. Within minutes, each vessel was joined by a pair of escorts, and there speed increased. Soon enough the ships reached the edge of the system and jumped off towards distant planets.

Half a sky away, four massive battleships of the Republican Navy cut engines and docked at a long, spinal starbase. A swarm of tugs and small craft buzzed around the ships, bringing fuels and supplies, and most importantly ammunition, to the stationary warships. Soon streams of ferries were shuttling sailors down to the planet below. The Admiralty was giving them a quick shore leave, for this might be the last opportunity for some time for the battle squadron to sit in port. The bears were preparing themselves for war.

[rhoenix]

Returning to her sleeping chamber, Templar Prasad was exhausted. Removing her clothes, and tossing them into the recycler, she felt herself lift into the zero-gravity area that was her sleeping space. She closed her eyes, reflecting on the rapid developments that had taken place.

The Exites had indeed requested to join the military, and to be treated equally. This was agreed upon, and the first Exites were beginning to show up in naval crews, and more interestingly, in Jotun training. Though the Exites did not have the abilities the biological Gliesans did, they did not need powered armor to be highly effective.

Amazingly, they had solved all the growing pains the Jotun were having with naval travel with a new class of ship, one that was being prototyped, and within a few hours, test-flown as well. Preliminary work showed the small craft to be impressive, indeed.

She, as the overall commander of the forming fleet, would call the mighty ship Conflagration her flagship. She had been a Jotun long enough to know that the arts of war should not be used in all circumstances. She had paid avid attention to the events within the suddenly-small galaxy, and sincerely hoped for a peaceful solution - she put her faith in the Archons, and in her uncle in particular to help forge peace. However, if peace was not possible, then she would be ready for everything and anything.