NationStates Jolt Archive

Nanakaland Proudly Presents
The Dramatic Conclusion of
A Scream In Space
Part III - A Greater Threat

Introduction
In A Scream in Space (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121721) and A Dark Alliance (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=126904): As a superweapon was secretly being constructed by Nanakan and SAVXian forces, a mysterious ship approached the space station. In that space station, over the moon, that weapon was being built. A Nanakan destroyer, the NSS Gallant intercepted that mystery ship and warned it to stop. Of course, the ship continued and the Gallant had no choice but to send a boarding crew. Little did they know, an alien race known as the Stalkers were on board. Until recently, no one had seen the Stalkers and survived.

The Stalkers were intelligent, but they didn't let it show. After all, the Stalkers looked more out of the movie Alien than they looked humanoid. The Stalkers jumped from ship to ship, feeding on their prey - basically the ship's crew and passengers - they got their name by the way they stalked their prey before attacking. The Stalkers would take in all technology they found and add it into their mothership to make it better and they stole fighter ships to use for the mothership's defense.

Most of the boarding teams died on board the mystery ship Interpid, but some Techon and Nanakan survivors did make it off. SAVXian drones then destroyed the Stalker infested ship and the Stalkers were known.

To crush this new threat, Nanakan, Techon, and SAVXian forces went to the Crab Nebula where they executed their carefully planned assault on the Stalker Mothership. Survivors from the Intrepid Incident and some others boarded the mothership and destroyed the shield generator. However, before the superweapon, named the United Grand Celestial Glory, could destroy the mothership, a dark alliance was revealed.

The Holy Celestial Empire of the Great [Star] System had chosen to team up with the Stalkers mainly due to a misunderstanding with Nanakaland. The Great System had set up a bomb on the superweapon and attempted to destroy the Nanakan/Techon/SAVXian forces before the mothership could be destroyed. They almost succeeded, but lost in battle and the bomb was disabled.

The fleets then returned to the moon with news that all Stalker infested ships had been grouping for an invasion. The forces fought again. The NSS Celestia crashed in this fight, but the survivors managed to destroy the Stalker pods that were landing on the moon. The United Grand Celestial Glory destroyed the Stalker fleet and all was good, except one thing....

The Moon
The one Stalker pod that escaped floated freely through space. It escaped the gravitational pull of the moon without being spotted. However, although the Stalker on board wanted to break off into deeper space, the earth's gravitational pull was pulling the pod down. The pod descended into the atmosphere, burning up, although the pod had a heat shield and so was not destroyed.

The pod crashed down, looking like a meteorite falling in the night. It landed in the Nanakan Highlands, in Nanakaland. The Stalker in the pod died on impact. The Stalker race was destroyed completely but the threat was not over....

TAG

The Nanakan Highlands
He couldn't believe his luck. Professor Gerald Adams had just stumbled upon what he thought would have been a meteor that crashed into the Nanakan Highlands. However, as he went closer to it, he realized that it was some sort of alien craft. Prof. Adams opened the vessel and saw a dead alien. It was big, strong, and smart. Adams dragged the dead alien back to his labs for further studies. That was a mistake....

Somewhere in the SAVX wasteland...

"Hey, check this out. Looks like a meteorite hit somewhere in Nanakaland."

"Ok...what's your point?"

"I dunno. We haven't seen anything interesting happen in years, so I figured..."

The other man shrugged and went back to reading his magazine.

Near the Moon
The fleets were victorious. Everyone was celebrating. The damaged Celesita was being towed off of the moon's surface by several dozen frigates. Ships were patrolling the area, making sure it was safe. Onboard the United Grand Celestial Glory (United Glory), everyone was happy.


"We did it!" an excited officer exclaimed. "The Stalkers are gone for good!"

"Congradulations, Admiral," another officer said, patting Clark on the back.

"Yes," replied Admiral Clark. "We can finally take a well deserved break. Let's hold a party in the ship's ballroom."

"Ballroom?" asked a lieutenant. "They really did put a lot of extra things in this ship!"

"What did you expect in a superweapon?" asked the admiral.


A suspicious frigate hyperspaced nearby. It looked Nanakan and the hyperspace signature could be traced to the crab nebula. It seemed like a straggler from the other space battle - the one with the Stalker mothership and the Great System's fleet - had finally arrived. The frigate headed to the superweapon United Glory.

"You are approaching a command vessel," said a voice over an audio com-link. "Please identify yourself and state your purpose for visiting the ship." There was a pause.

"This is Assault Frigate #461 attached to the vessel Celestia," said someone from the frigate. "We are carrying ... valuable cargo onboard that the admiral may want to see." There was a short pause.

"Very well," security replied. "Please give the access code and I'll open the docking bay." There was a longer pause.

"Alpha - 4 - Gama - 7 - Delta - 5 - 47523 - Beta," said another person onboard the frigate. There was silence as the access code was confirmed. The door of a docking bay opened and the frigate flew in....

Docking Bay D-4, United Grand Celestial Glory
The frigate landed and the docking bay's doors closed. A platform lowered from the frigate and a dozen men stepped off. Ten men were surrounding a single prisoner while one man lead the convoy. The prisoner was chained and all of the other men carried weapons.

The group continued across the gigantic docking bay to a door that lead to the hall. There was a booth by that door. "Checkpoint," the guard said. "Please leave your weapons here." He pointed to a basket by the booth's window.

"Listen," said the group's leader. "This prisoner we're escorting is no ordinary prisioner. He betrayed a Nanakan and Techon infiltration crew while onboard the Stalker mothership, resulting in the loss of life of several good soldiers. He fleed and was later captured by us. This man, Roberto Cruz, is very dangerous, even with his hands bound. We need our weapons for defense."

"This is a command ship and superweapon, not a prison ship," the guard replied.

"We need to have him interrigated by the admiral and some of the survivors from that team he betrayed," replied the leader. "It is urgent."

"Fine," said the guard. "However, you'll have to be escorted with a security team from this ship just to be safe." He called someone on the intercom. "They'll be waiting in the hall. Don't leave without them."

Sergeant Willis pressed the recieve button on the inercom lazily, and activated his Combat Armor MkIII's mini-intercom system right afterwards. After recieving the orders, he turned off both and resorted to the auto-tranmission, shared by the other users in his squad of SAVX Elite Shock Troopers.

"Right, we've got escort duty, men. Pick up your guns and let's go."

All of the soldiers stood up, some stretching, and picked up their resprective weapons. Most had intimidating miniguns and autocannons, completing their massive appearance thanks to the armor. The squad clanked out of the room and Willis led them to where they were needed.

Secret Laboratory, Nanakan Highlands
The scientist dragged the lifeless Stalker body to his laboratory. After some difficulty, he managed to get it in. The Stalker was sealed in a white, padded room just in case it was still alive. Adams prepared his equipment to study the alien specimin. He was a scientist who majored in biology and specialized in cloning. Adams just thought of the money he could make if he made an army of Stalker clones....

[OOC: You just know something is going to go wrong....]

The Hall, United Grand Celestial Glory
Roberto grinned. It was easy - almost too easy. The group waited around for a minute until the SAVXian guards met up with the group. Roberto was puzzled for a moment. SAVXian guards? he thought. Oh. This is a Nanakan and SAVXian ship. I wish I wasn't so absent minded. This could ruin my plan... Roberto fingered his power-knife. He had almost silently sawed his way out of the metal that binded him....

The Bridge, Command Sector, United Grand Celestial Glory
Admiral Clark had finally settled down into his chair while a lieutenant stared at the radar screen, replaying the same clip over again for several minutes. Finally, the lieutenant went to Clark. "Sir," he said. "I think we have a problem."

"What is it?" the admiral asked.

"I don't know," the lieutenant replied. "There was a meteorite that was reported to have crashed into the earth - the Nanakan Highlands to be spicific."

"Your point?"

"I know," explained the officer. "It seems very strange for us to bring this up. However, this tiny blip of the radar was recorded from our radar screen. If you view the clip in reverse, you can see the tiny object - no larger than an escape pod - and it can be traced back to the moon."

"Ah."

"To compare it to our radar during the battle, we see the source of the tiny pod. Apparanty, one Stalker pod escaped from the fighting and crashed into earth."

"Jeus!" exclaimed Clark. "One Stalker has landed in Nanakaland!"

"Don't worry," replied the lieutenant. "We checked for life signs. This Stalker died before it had the chance to leave the pod."

"We still have to retreive the body before some civilian stumbles upon it."

"Presicely," the lieutenant said. "Get all major officers and the survivors of the infiltration team. We have a new mission. Don't worry. It'll be very easy."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/battlecruiser19.gif
The United Grand Celestial Glory

Willis' squad arrived at the designated location. Their footsteps were surprisingly quiet, given the mass of the armor. They were barely noticed until they turned the nearby corner. Willis saluted the guards and glanced down at the captive. "Stupid miscreant," he thought. Two of the Shock Troopers went over to the captive to relieve the captives of him. They easily held their large assault rifles aimed towards the man's head while one grabbed his bound arms with his massive armored hand. He thought he heard a small snap come from a bone (OOC: If you want to play along, don't worry, something insignificant like a finger will do), but it was hard to be sure, so he ignored it. The powered armor made the weight feel like nothing. Once that was done, Willis looked back at the guard.

"Where to?"

"The bridge," replied the guard. "There is a prisioner that needs direct questioning." The guard grinned. "If convicted, this man could be sentenced to death - a rare sentence in Nanakaland."

Meanwhile, Roberto tried to snap off his chains that binded him. It would have been easier if his left wrist hadn't been broken. Soon enough, however, Roberto freed his hands - although, he would have to play along until he got to the bridge....

Willis nodded, turned, and led his squad back down through the maze of halls. The Shock Trooper holding Roberto dragged him along the ground, not caring enough about the criminal to let him up. After seemingly nearly a half hour of walking, they arrived in the bridge. The Trooper threw the captive onto the ground just in front of two other Troopers, who were holding shatter-guns* to the captive's head.

*OOC: Used primarily on ships in order to avoid damage to systems and the hull. It fires a capsule of small bits of sharpened glass that explodes upon exiting the barrel, sending the fragments everywhere at high velocity to cut through unarmored or lightly armored personnel.

"Greetings," said the main prision guard in the escort. "I need this man, Roberto, to be questioned. Do you know where the admiral or anyone else from the Intrepid Incident is?"

"You just missed them," replied the ship's captain. "They all left to investigate something. Try the meeting room."

"Thank you very -" the main guard started to say before he was shot in the back by another. There was a short firefight. At least one traitor guard was killed, due to the SAVXians. Unfortunatly, Roberto had pulled a flash grenade, temporarilly blinding all those who didn't close their eyes (the non-traitors).

By the time sight was recovered, Roberto and the two traitors with him had been long gone and the alarm had been activated. SAVXian and Nanakan soldiers swarmed the area looking for them....

[OOC: They won't be found, yet. This adds a little interactive plot to the RP (the one with the Stalkers is still developing). Feel free to search, although he probably won't be found until the Stalker plot is developed enough for people to join.]

The Trooper didn't react quickly enough. He saw the pistol rise, but was only able to get off a shot after the other guard was already hit. The traitor's chest and right arm were ripped to shreds, giving the man a quick but painful and messy death. Another traitor was hit in the leg, leaving him crippled on the ground.

Then the grenade went off. The Shock Troopers braced for an explosion, but didn't block their helmets' eyepieces fast enough. Extensive physical training had made them able to recover quickly from the flash, but in the precious couple seconds that it took, Roberto and his cronies had already left.

Willis turned to his men, glancing at the bloody mess on the ground first, forcing a small smirk to form on his face. Traitors to the Führer and his allies were always ensured the worst deaths, but this was good enough. He barked out orders to his men.

"Split up into four teams of two. Load up on shatter-guns and infrasonic grenades. If you can, bring them back alive. If not, have fun. Move out!"

The squad replied with a chorus of "Yes, sir!" and ran off to the nearest ammo room to stock up on necessary weapons.

Willis watched them run off, then turned to the others.

"Get this piece of shit fixed up and interrogate him." He pointed at the crippled traitor, who was trying to crall away. Willis walked over and stepped on his left hand, the sheer weight and force liquifying it.

He unholstered his personal weapons; a shatter-pistol and a diamond-edged sword. In conditions like these, such weapons would work just fine. He dashed off in pursuit of his prey.

Ventilation Ducts, United Grand Celestial Glory
Roberto grinned. It didn't matter if the other traitors were left behind. All that mattered was that he had escaped with his life and was on his way to assassinate Admiral Clark. Those two traitors with him were just there for backup - if he needed any.


Roberto reflected. It had been an easy plan. Roberto had hyperspaced to the Great System in the only GS frigate that escaped. He had then got a ship with a holographic emitter. Once the ship had hyperspaced into the crab nebula, they posed as a prison ship and tricked a few Nanakan officers, who were on escape pods, into joining the group.

Roberto had posed as a prisoner, but the new officers reinforced the chains. Thankfully Roberto had a power-knife. Roberto had said the access codes to get the frigate in the United Glory and had gotten in easilly enough. The real officers were executed by the traitors when they were no longer needed (in the bridge), but the SAVXian soldiers were an unplanned variable....


Now, Roberto crawled through the ducts, looking for the meating room. He had gone through all of this effort for a reason - he was to get revenge by killing the admiral and the survivors from the infiltration team. Destroying the ship would also be a priority of his....

OCC: Any way I could get involved? Sorry that I sort of went AWOL on the first one, but server access was bad, and the RP just got too far ahead of me.

[OOC: That's okay. Just pretend that your survivors have just drifted in an escape pod the whole series until just being discovered.]

"All of the lower and middle levels are clear, sir! Just the upper levels left to check."

"Alright. Two groups go. I want the other two to meet me in the HQ room."

Willis waited for the four Troopers to get there. When they did, he had numerous schematics laid out.

"Alright, so the lower and middle levels of the ship...all these floors...they're clear of any obvious signs. Now, if such a group got as far into the ship as they did without being discovered, that tells me that they're probably experts. So, they're probably not going to be in any obvious locations. That leaves the waste storage areas...here, here, and here...the ventilation ducts...and the restricted maintenance passages. This is a problem, though. It would take literally days to search all of this, and I'm sure we don't have that sort of time. We need to figure out just what the hell these men want, or guess at it damn well. We'll need to get all of the officers together..." He trailed off in thought.

"Sir, my guess would be that their goal is sabotage. Who knows what else; spying, stealing, assassination...how can we protect against something like that?"

"Well, I'll get the top officers and analysts together. Maybe we can piece something together. You four secure...this room right there. We'll hold the meeting there. When the other four complete their task, I'll try to get some bomb-drones to see if we can find anything."

"What about the nanomites? Couldn't they be programmed to hunt down anybody that doesn't have the DNA in the ship's database?"

"No...too dangerous and time-consuming for a time like this. There could be plenty of friendlies who aren't registered onboard, and I don't want to be assigned with that risk. Now you four, get going. I'll contact the officers and tell them to head your way. I'll also get the other two squads mobilized to help in the search and to help you out."

"Affirmative."

[OOC: That's okay. Just pretend that your survivors have just drifted in an escape pod the whole series until just being discovered.]

OCC: Ok. The William Lloyd Garrison lives!

IC:

The small frigate LRRSV William Lloyd Garrison drifts through space near the moon. The celebrations had been somewhat dampened because of the loss of most of the boarding team, including their captain. Little did they know, the boarding team was in an escape pod circling the moon.

Captain Starkey, the captain of the LRRSV William Lloyd Garrison, sits in one of the seats in the orange escape pod. The battle had been devestating to the others, but being robots certainly helped the LRR boarders. The team had all survived, but the escape pod had shot away into space, with too much going on to be picked up by the Garrison's somewhat embarrassing sensors. A memorial service was being held for them in Anchorage as they sit in the pod.

"Ship ahoy!"

Starkey looks out a viewport to see a massive ship.

"Too bad the radio's broken."

In the back of the pod, several sparks leap out of the communications room, and the engineers let out a cheer.

"It works!"
"EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!"
"WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

The boarding crew erupts in cheers, and spirits are broken out.

"All ships, this is escape pod D-4 from an unknown vessel. Requesting pickup, over."

Proffessor Gerald Adam's Science Journal, Day I
I have stumbled upon the find of the century. During my nightly walk in the Nanakan Highlands, I discovered what I first thought was a meteorite. Upon closer examination, I concured that it was an alien craft of some sort. In the object, I found an alien creature that looked strong and vicious. However, I don't think that it has high intelligence. It was deceased, so I dragged it back to the laboratory for more tests.

The tests have proved to be astonishing. This creature is big and looks like it is out of the movie Alien. It has three lungs for stamina, and its muscles are large. This creature was a hunder, a predator - perhaps even a stalker. I must proceed with caution if I am to successfully clone this species and manipulate them to military needs.

Ventilation Ducts, United Grand Celestial Glory
The three traitors continued to crawl down the vents. The United Glory was huge. It took a long time for three people to infiltrate via the ventilation ducts, especially when the ducts weren't designed for people to crawl in them. It was getting increasingly difficult for all three of them to be in there without making a sound, which would give them away and spell instant doom.

Eventually, they reached a crossroad in the ducts. Roberto went right, one of the other traiters went forward and the third person went left after handing Roberto a gun. The team was now separated and they could be anywhere. Finding them would be finding a needle in a haystack....

[OOC: SAVX, your men can stumble upon one of the two extras, as long as Roberto remains uncaught for the moment.]

Roberto had an arsenal of grenades with him at all time. He had the standard explosive grenades, the flash grenades, the paralysis grenades and, of course, one freeze grenade. The standard explosive grenades killed via - as the name suggests - an explosion, the flash grenades cause temporary blindness, the paralysis grenades cause temporary paralysis, and the freeze grenade - the most powerful of them all - could freeze a whole room for a whole day. Roberto kept his grip on the freeze grenade. From the ventilation ducts, it could be a useful weapon.

Meanwhile, one of the other traitors was advancing through the ducts in the opposite direction. Unfortunately for him, he was crawling right over a SAVXian patrol. A nervous traitor crawling through ventilation ducts, that weren't designed for people in the first place, could lead to some noisy trouble....

The LRR boarding team in the escape pod get increasingly worried as they go seemingly unnoticed, and with food running low.

*clang*

They froze. It came from the vent overhead. One of the Troopers pulled two infrasonic pulse grenades from his grenade pack and set them to half-power. He set the charges and the grenades made a high-pitched wine. The other Trooper ripped the grating off the vent hole, crushing it in the process, and the other chucked the grenades in opposite directions. There was a muffled "Shit" and the sound of scrambling just before there were two, near-simontaneous dull whumps. Next was a scream, then the sound of vomiting. The infrasonic pulses had jarred the victim's internal organs tremendously, but not to a deadly extent, causing extreme pain and enough internal damage to immobilize the victim and weaken his muscles, notable those controlling his bowels. Soon the smell of vomit, feces, and urine floated down, and the Troopers knew they had him.

They also knew that they didn't have time to extract him nicely, so they gripped the tube and pulled it downward, ripping the attachments from the ceiling. Once it was tilted enough, the traitor tumbled out, along with his various excrements. They lifted him up and dragged him to an infirmary to get fixed up so he could be properly interrogated.

"Group three to Willis. One subject has been apprehended."

"Good work. Now find the other two."

Several patrolling Nanakan Space Shuttles spotted a mysterious vessel. They were about to shoot at it, thinking it was a Stalker pod, but then they realized it was of LRR make.

"LRR vessel," the squadron leader said over a transmission, "Proceed to the Celestia command ship."

[OOC: Notice that it is the Celestia, the command ship of the First Nanakaland Fleet, not the Empyreal (Admiral Fleet) or the United Grand Celestial Glory (all fleets).]

Government Castle, Nanakapolis
President Michael J. Smith sat down at his desk, put up his feet, and relaxed. It was then that he recieved the phone call. The President looked at the red phone. It couldn't be good. Only two people other than himself knew the number of that phone - High Admiral Nelson B. Clark and High General Flint. Something must have gone wrong in space. Michael hesitated to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" asked the President.

"This is Clark."

"I know. What is it?"

"What is what?"

"The reason you called."

"Oh. We won the battle and destroyed the Stalkers."

"I know that. I was told a while ago."

"But there's some bad news."

"What is it, Nelson?"

"A Stalker pod crashed into earth - the Nanakan Highlands to be exact. The Stalker is dead, but we must recover the body."

"Rodger that."

"I would send men, but we're orbiting the moon. Also, there was recently an incident and the United Glory is under a Code Orange Lockdown."

"Okay," replied Michael. "I'll send some Special Forces teams over to the Nanakan Highlands ASAP. Wire me the coordinates."

"Yessir."

"Bye." He hung up.

Several patrolling Nanakan Space Shuttles spotted a mysterious vessel. They were about to shoot at it, thinking it was a Stalker pod, but then they realized it was of LRR make.

"LRR vessel," the squadron leader said over a transmission, "Proceed to the Celestia command ship."

[OOC: Notice that it is the Celestia, the command ship of the First Nanakaland Fleet, not the Empyreal (Admiral Fleet) or the United Grand Celestial Glory (all fleets).]

OCC: The pod doesn't have any thruster power left, FYI.

[OOC: The squadron leaders don't know.]

[OOC: The squadron leaders don't know.]

They watch out the viewports at the Nankan fighters.

"We don't have any thruster power, if we did we wouldn't be here."

"Understood. Do you need the help of some towing frigates?"

"Understood. Do you need the help of some towing frigates?"

"Yes, that would be of great help. Do you know of an LRR frigate, the William Lloyd Garrison?"

"Yes. They were here during the Intrepid Incident. They might still be around, but one can't tell with so many ships here. Would you want to be towed to that ship?"

"Yes. They were here during the Intrepid Incident. They might still be around, but one can't tell with so many ships here. Would you want to be towed to that ship?"

"Yes, that would be excellent! It should not be too hard to find, as its the only LRR ship, to our knowledge, here. But we've been in this pod for several months so we might be a little out of touch."

"Yes. They were here during the Intrepid Incident. They might still be around, but one can't tell with so many ships here. Would you want to be towed to that ship?"

"Yes, that would be excellent! It should not be too hard to find, as its the only LRR ship, to our knowledge, here. But we've been in this pod for several months so we might be a little out of touch."

"Rodger that. The only LRR ship our sensors are picking up is nearby. Should we tow you there?"

"Rodger that. The only LRR ship our sensors are picking up is nearby. Should we tow you there?"

"Yes, that would be most kind."

The sensors on the Garrison pick up the activity, and the ship heads towards the area.

*clang*

The grating fell to the floor, and the traitorous guard jumped down. He snuck along the hall's walls, intent to find a way off the ship. First, though, he had to get his bearings...a very difficult task on something so massive. As he turned a corner, he walked right in front of two Shock Troopers. He instinctively raised his gun and fired. The bullets merely ricocheted off the armor, just scratching some paint. The Troopers both brought their shatter-guns to bear and fired into the traitor, turning his head and upper chest into piles of mush. The body fell to the floor, spilling tissue and blood everywhere.

"Clean up on aisle three. We bagged another, sir."

"Good work. Just one more to go."

"Affirmative."

Ventilation Ducts, United Grand Celestial Glory
Roberto was getting desperate. After hours of wandering, he still could find anything. It was then that he heard the voices. Admiral Clark was there alright. So was Commander Lee and Lieutenant Watson. It was a room full of high priority targets in a meeting! Roberto couldn't believe his luck.

He raised his gun, ready to fire. He then realized that if he used his gun, only one would have died - alerting the others. Roberto fingered an explosive grenade. He pulled the pin and threw it down there, watching the room be destroyed before his eyes!

...

Roberto looked down as the dust cleared. Everyone was intact. "What the f***!?" he said to himself, astonished. He threw another grenade down. Still, the people were alive. It was then that a gun was pressed against his back. It was Commander Lee.

"I hope you like our projectors," Lee said. "You're under arrest for High Treason and attempted assassination of key officials."

OOC: Ah. Nice.

Proffessor Gerald Adam's Science Journal, Day 2
This alien creature is simply amazing. As of now, I can only imagine what an army of these could do, but soon dreams could become reality. I have taken a DNA sample and have stored it. I have sent a sample of that DNA to a separate laboratory to ensure that it survives in the event of an accident.

The DNA of this creature is shocking. This alien species also has some amazing physical traits. I have discovered that this species is probably able to withstand extreme enviroments - space, underwater, and the surface of stars to name a few - which would make this a great warrior.

I will attempt to clone this species soon, but I know no animal that has a similar genetic make-up. I would have to use unconventional methods to clone this - and even then, there is no garuntee that this will work.

The Nanakan Highlands
Helicopters searched the area. Squads of soldiers patroled, looking for that Stalker pod. After hours of hard work, the search was unsuccessful. The night was already over - it was well into the next day. The forces had to pull out soon. It was then that the empty pod was discovered. A soldier summoned High General Flint.

"Look!" he said. Flint was looking.

"That's the pod?" Flint replied. "I'm really missing out on a lot. That High Admiral gets to do all of the fun stuff!"

"The pod is empty," the soldier explained. "The body was removed by someone other than us."

"Or that Stalker is alive, roaming freely throughout our country," the general cut in. "Clark's big failure is right before our eyes."

"You're jealous of him."

"Not for long..."

Sol System
The massive fleets had hyperspaced into the Sol System. Apparantly, this "Solar System" had no clear ruler. Especially on their most habitale planet - known to those of the Great System as Sol III - the Sol System was a patchwork of loose nations, many of them larger in population than the Great System. Now, the fleets of the Great System had come to go to Sol III and Luna (Sol III's moon) to face the "Nanakans" at their own turf. Rumor had it that Sol III was the birthplace of human civilization and it was full of hundreds - if not thousands - of nations, so the Great System couldn't use planetary destroying devices in their war against Nanakaland.

The fleets passed Pluto at high speed. They then passed Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn. They stopped at Jupiter. That massive planet was almost large enough to be its own star. Several good ships were lost there by the gravitational pull. The fleets had to take a detour. However, the asteroid belt wasn't kind to the fleet, either.

After some reasonable struggle, the fleets moved past Mars. It was amazing the amount of colonization the Earthlings did there. The fleets stopped to look, but was forced to leave when another fleet noticed the hostile presence and attempted to fight. The Great System's fleets then went to Luna, where some Nanakan and SAVXian forces interceped....

[OOC: From the perspective of a civilization that had never lived in the solar system for centuries - if ever.]

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
The Nanakaland Lunar Guard had caught the Great System's fleets before they reached within range of the United Glory. Some unconventional warfare was needed to take out a fleet twice the size before the Great System reached the main fleets.

The forces at the Lunar Guard Outpost W-42 mainly consisted of Nanakan Space Shuttles. The outpost launched as many fighters as possible. Soon, there were hundreds of fighters swarming around the area. One of the three enemy fleets was forced to retreat toward the asteroid belt. However, the others were standing ground and puting up a fight. Help was needed. That was until a message was sent out by the enemy command ship....

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/scout01.gif
Nanakan Space Shuttles

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/tanis12.gif
Lunar Guard Outpost W-42

"Identify yourself," a guard at the lunar outpost said.

"The Great System's Foruth, First and Third fleet - although the fourth fleet is fleeing," the Great System's admiral said. "You already destroyed the second fleet in a previous battle."

"What do you want?"

"We wish to communicate with your admiral."

"Lies! You came in here with hostilities."

"That is because we know something you don't."

"Like what?"

"Our Oracle - who has power to break temporal fields that bond us to our time - has discovered something that needs to be dealt with."

"Get to your point."

"There will be a trading convoy that will travel passed Sol III in several days. However, the Stalkers will return, destroy the convoy, and use it to take over the system."

"Lies! We destroyed the Stalkers and every last trace of them!"

"What about that one pod that escaped?"

"That is being taken care of. Besides, the Stalker was dead on impact."

"Have you ever heard of cloning?"

"Go back to your own system now."

"Fine. Don't say you weren't warned..." The Great System's fleets hyperspaced away after a few minutes.

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
"Hah," the commander said. "All knowing Oracle? Yeah right. The Stalkers are dead. They're just trying to scare us."

"I know, but it just seems too..."

"Shut up, lieutenant. They're lying and I can tell it."

In fact there was an 'Oracle' in the Great System - that was really a deamon and gave some true predictions (that were always negative), but that was a different story, more of a myth. When we look back in foresight, we normally just say it was a coincidence. The only thing that is certain is that the Nanakan forces had a warning from the Great System and they ignored it. For all we know, and probably more likely, the Great System was plotting something to go wrong....

OCC: Hooray for HW2!

IC:

On the LRR earth orbit shipyards, the smallest LRR facility called a shipyard, only able to build destroyers and not many at that, the sensors arrays pick up the fleet inbound to the moon.

Klaxons sound as Super Acolyte crews rush to their fighters and Spruce Head crews rush to their gunships. Keith Moon class torpedo frigates are quickly out of their berths, and bound for the moon. They should arrive within four hours.

"So...traitor...we have much to discuss, no?"

He said nothing, glaring at the man. His shirt was stained with vomit, his pants with feces and urine.

"Ahem, right. Well, allow me to introduce myself...Inquisitor Hallash. Specially trained by my superiors to extract information from those such as yourself."

As he spoke, he began to fill a needle with "truth serum."

"Well, let's get this underway, shall we?"

He jabbed the needle into the traitorous guard's arm and pushed the plunger. The man grunted, grimacing.

"So, let's begin with...your name. Just remember, the faster you tell me this information, the more pleasant this little bout with Hell will be."

The man said nothing, as the serum was still taking time to take effect.

"Nothing, eh? Right, then. We'll begin with something simple."

The chair to which the man was strapped leaned backward until the he was staring up at a pointed device. Hallash pressed a button on a nearby panel and water began to drip from the tube onto the traitor's forehead.

"I have as long as it takes. I'd rather that you don't waste my time."

[OOC: So now it's the interrigation. ICly, a day has passed since the beginning of this thread, right?]

OOC: Yeah.

Government Castle, Nanakapolis
The President was still sitting at his desk. This time, however, he was waiting for a call from High General Flint. The search had taken long enough. They either found the Stalker or didn't. Michael couldn't imagine what could possibly be going on that delayed the call so much. Finally, the phone rang - the red phone. It was either the admiral or the general. Either way, he'd finally be updated on news.

"Hello?" President Smith said as he picked up the phone.

"Hello," replied a voice. "It's Flint."

"Any updates?"

"Yeah. That Stalker pod has been found."

"Good. Did you terminate the Stalker body?"

"That's the problem. The actual Stalker is nowhere to be found!"

"Do you think it was an empty pod from the beginning? Admiral Clark never mentioned any life signs."

"There's only two possibilities," the High General explained. "Either there was a living Stalker and Clark had false sensors - which would mean that an alien predator is lurking in our coutry - or someone else got to the Stalker body first."

"I think it is the latter," the President replied. "The sensors on the United Glory are pretty good. Chances are, a civilian got hold of it. Are the Nanakan Highlands where many people try to clone without the government's permission?"

"Yeah. The Nanakan Highlands are where terrorists are hiding in our frikin' nation."

"You must find the Stalker body."

"Rodger that."

"Goodbye." The President hung up. Apparently, they were in a bigger mess than previously thought.

The LRR fleet watches the un-ID'd fleet hyperspace away.

On the LRRSV Moliva, the Camden class destroyer at the lead of the flotilla, the senors operators note the hyperspacing-away of the un-ID'd fleet.

"Hmm. Well, that was good. No trouble there."
"Want us to turn back?"
"Nah. They're due for a visit over there. The Spruce Heads can go home, the Acolytes (all model IVs because the IIX has dismal atmospheric capability) can come."
"Ok. Nankan lunar outposts, this is the LRRSV Moliva and some of the LRR EDF. Mind if we pay you a visit?"

"Sure. Why?"

DOUBLE PST

TRIPLE PSOST

"Sure. Why?"

"We're kind of bored around the base. A good social occasion. We've got some turkey."

Meanwhile, on earth, at geological monitoring station, one of the robot crewmembers looks through the seismographic records. He comes across a telltale meteorite impact.

"Looks like a small object re-entry crash here."
"Where does that look like?"
"Nanakland, mountains it looks like."
"Hemm. Be sure to call the Nanakland science office."

The Inquisitor pulled on some latex gloves.

"Alexi, eh? Well, that's a start. So, tell me Alexi, just what do you and your friends think you were doing?"

He picked up a scalpel from a small tray filled with other instruments.

"Alexi, do you have any idea of the sort of pain I'm about to put you through if you don't tell me?"

The traitor remained silent, breathing hard. Hallash sighed.

"So stubborn..."

He laid the blade just below Alexi's solarplexus, then dug in. He cut a line down the man's stomach. The man began to scream.

"I need you to tell me, Alexi. What were you and your friends up to? And all your stories had better match, or you'll be in far deeper trouble than you could possibly imagine."

Hallash cut lateral lines across the top and bottom of the major incision, then slowly peeled the skin back. He made sure to avoid cutting any major blood vessels. Alexi continued screaming at the pain. Hallash began to probe around.

"Tell me..."

OOC: Nan, I want you to RP the traitors in the interrogations.

"I ... I am here to assassinate your military leaders," the traitor said. "I have... I ... I ..." The traitor was snapping. He had a small chip in his neck that gave pain if he told secrets to the enemy, but if he didn't he'd be tortured. The only way for him to tell something was if the chip was found....

"What's holding you back, Alexi? Eh?"

He found one of the man's kidneys and began to poke it.

"I can tell we're getting very close...just tell me and it'll all be over...assuming you tell the truth."

(OOC: Tag)

"I ... I ... can't!" the traitor shouted. "I just can't! It's not my fault! I can't tell you anything! Ahhh!" He screamed in pain by just telling that much. "I ... I ... I ... neck." He collapsed in pain.

"What the hell is he jabbering about?" thought Hallash. He grabbed a portable x-ray scanner and took a look around Alexi's neck. "What could this be?" He carefully cut into the man's neck and probed around until he found the small device. He picked up a pair of tweezers and removed the device. He put it off to the side for later examination, then gave Alexi a shot of adrenaline and highly-oxygenated blood to reawaken him.

"Now that we've solved that small matter, tell me just what you and your friends were up to."

[OOC: I'm still restoring my computer from a Windows "reinstall" that wiped out almost everything. I might not be able to RP today.]

OOC: Alright. Good luck.

OCC: Bump for safety.

Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Baphethe iqwasha, baphethe ibazooka
Bathi "Sangena savuma thina,
Lapha abazange bengena abazali bethu
Nabadala, bayasikhalela thina ngoba asina voti."

(A cookie to anyone who can tell me what this is from.)

OCC: Bump for safety.

Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Baphethe iqwasha, baphethe ibazooka
Bathi "Sangena savuma thina,
Lapha abazange bengena abazali bethu
Nabadala, bayasikhalela thina ngoba asina voti."

(A cookie to anyone who can tell me what this is from.)

(OOC: Johnny Clegg - Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World)

DEUXIEME POST

OCC: Bump for safety.

Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Bayeza abafana bancane wema
Baphethe iqwasha, baphethe ibazooka
Bathi "Sangena savuma thina,
Lapha abazange bengena abazali bethu
Nabadala, bayasikhalela thina ngoba asina voti."

(A cookie to anyone who can tell me what this is from.)

(OOC: Johnny Clegg - Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World)

OHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHOT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, its from One Man, One Vote. Right person, wrong song.

[OOC: LRR, edit your double post. Everyone, pay close attention to this thread. A twist in the plot will come soon...]

"What the hell is he jabbering about?" thought Hallash. He grabbed a portable x-ray scanner and took a look around Alexi's neck. "What could this be?" He carefully cut into the man's neck and probed around until he found the small device. He picked up a pair of tweezers and removed the device. He put it off to the side for later examination, then gave Alexi a shot of adrenaline and highly-oxygenated blood to reawaken him.

"Now that we've solved that small matter, tell me just what you and your friends were up to."

"I ... I'm of the Great System," Alexi explained. "I ..." He braced for sharp pain. It didn't come. The device the Great System had scanned the neuro patterns. If the brain was accessing certain memories from a certain time ago (the briefing) that were not neccissary or was thinking too hard than needed in the mission, a sharp pain would come in the neck. It was an ingeneous plan, but the flaw was that if the device was removed, the captured person would then be able to tell all. "I... was sent on a special infiltration mission. You destroyed our allies, the Stalkers!" The traitor paused. "Although the Stalkers aren't very good allies." Alexi paused again. "You destroyed a fleet of the Great System's. We swore revenge. We... we... we sent an assassination and sabatauge team. You weren't supposed to catch us!"

Near the Moon
The fleet hyperspaced in. It was a massive fleet, manned by millions of people - millions of pirates. This fleet rarely wandered past Deep Space. It was strange, then, that this fleet would go all this way. The power of the fleet was amazing and it had high technology - stolen from other civilizations.

"So this is where Commander Johnson fled," the Pirate Chief said to himself. "However, this time, he won't escape. He's pushed his luck." Swarms of fighters launched from the pirates' capital ships. There were hundreds of fighters and frigates - with advanced technology, too. They advanced on the Nanakan and SAVXian fleets.

"Reactivating cloaking devices," one officer said to the Pirate Chief. Soon, all capital ships and some frigates vanished into space. The cameras on all sides of those cloaked ships took video images from one side of the ship and projected it on the other side. It also had a sensors jammer. Therefore, normal sensors and fighters wouldn't see a thing. However, the United Glory had more than average sensors. It would be a big battle....

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
The crew on the bridge of LGOW-42 were surprised when they noted the hyperspace signature of another fleet. Everyone was in battle stations and a beakon alerting the United Glory of approaching enemies was released. "Sir," one of the officers said. "There's a fleet advancing."

"Is it of the Great System?" the commander asked.

"No," the officer replied. "I think it's pirates."

"Stop them now!" shouted the commander. "Prepare to distroy them."

"There's a slight problem, sir."

"What is it?"

"The fleet just seemed to have vanished."

"Cloaking devices..." the commander muttered. "Ready the advanced sensors to see what it invisible and launch the fighters to destroy what is visible."

"Rodger that."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/tanis12.gif
Lunar Guard Outpost W-42

Near the Moon
The pirate fighters swarmed the area. Aiming at LGOW-42's sensor array, they attempted to keep the fleet cloaked. Aiming at the Nanakan fighters in the area, they attempted to overcome their enemy's forces. Advancing toward the enemies' fleets, they attempted to destroy the Celestia and the rest of their enemies. There were simply too many pirate fighters. They were all over the place....

The Nanakan fighters were overwhelmed by the pirates. There were simply too many of them. The Nanakan forces suffered heavy losses. Only one option was left. Even though it was cowardly, the fighters retreated. Hopefully, they could lure the enemy fleet to a trap.

DOUBLE POST

OCC: Are you using the Turanic raiders as your model, DSP?

IC:

The LRRSF EDF forces quickly and easily detect the pirates' approach, and subsequent attack.

"Launch all fighter, frigate, and destroyer wings in orbit!"
"All craft, head for nankan space on the moon!"

Soon, a swarm of around 300 Super Acolyte IVs, accompanied by a group of Camden class destroyers and Keith Moon class torpedo frigates speeds towards the moon. The force already on its way quickens its pace.

Aboard the LRRSV Moliva, the weapons begin tracking pirate craft. The destroyer concentrates fire on a group of pirate frigates.

The crew goes about their tasks with minimal input from the captain. Being robots, they could do that kind of thing. Captain Humason hangs onto the railing in front of his console as the destroyer banks and dives.

"Torpedos away!"
"I have a lock on ion cannon turret C!"
"Engage, C!"

The destroyer dives towards the section of pirate frigates, flanked by a wing of Super Acolyte IV gunships and Keith Moon frigates.

The destroyer empties its torpedo bays into the pirate frigates, and proceeds to shoot at them with plasma and ion cannons. The Keith Moon frigates, after firing their torpedos, use their reduced mass to manouver wildly, shooting flak into pirate fighter clusters.

[OOC: Of course. What other Homeworld pirates are there?]

By this time, LRR and Nanakan forces had gathered to intercept. However, only a few of the actual ships in the fleet were visable. Stray shots occasionally revealed a pirate ship or two and the uncloaked ships were taking losses. However, the majority of the fleet still remained cloaked. More fighters were being launched to make up for the lost ones. The Deep Space Pirates were flooding the battle place with hundreds of them. They also dropped drones that simply shot at enemy ships. Deep Space Pirates had the numbers and the tech, but their enemies had the firepower and defense.

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
"We're losing systems!" an officer shouted over the ship's alarm. "Advanced sensors down! Normal sensors down! Shields at 23% and dropping! Hyperspace drives down! Armor at 73% and ... holding. Life support at 43% and ..." Everyone was nervous. If life support was dropping, there'd only be five minutes top before they'd all be dead. The officer paused. "Life support at 43% and rising." They took a sigh of relief. The officer stopped shouting. "Weapons down. Engines down. We're crippled here."

"How far away are we from friendlies?" the commander asked.

"Not far away," a lieutenant replied.

"Are our communications up?" asked the commander.

"Yeah," replied another officer.

"Then send an SOS. Our ship can't hold much longer."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/tanis12.gif
Lunar Guard Outpost W-42

Near the Moon
"Ahh," the Pirate Chief said. "So the Nanakan Lunar Guard ship is crippled."

"Or near it, Master," a hooded figure said.

"Good," the chief replied. "Make sure it is boarded."

"Yes, Master," the hodded man said.

"Steal a Nanakan fighter from the Lunar Guard while they are blinded," the Pirate Chief explained. "Then you know what to do...."

[OOC: Of course. What other Homeworld pirates are there?]


If you're sure.....

:twisted:

Can you say Super Acolyte?

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FEAR THE WRATH OF THE BENTUSI!!!!!!!!!

Ahem.

IC:

The LRR fleet takes light casualties from the Pirate vessels, but deals out much more damage. The LRR destroyers and frigates tear through uncloaked pirate frigates, and bother large capital ships.

The S. Acolyte IV gunships take a heavy toll on the pirate fighters.

"The Nankan outpost is hailing us, they say they need help."
"Bring us around to the outpost!"

The Moliva makes a turn and heads towards the Nankan outpost. The destroyer pulls up close to the docking bay, and a corvette heads towards the station's interior.

Hallash made sure every word was recorded for later use. "It's so easy when their pain threshold is low," he thought. He called in two guards who dragged the man into another room to be patched back together in preparation for the trial and, eventually, execution that awaited him. Soon, the other traitor was brought in and strapped down.

"Welcome to my office. I am Inquisitor Hallash, and I will be introducing you to a living Hell if you don't cooperate. What is your name?"

OOC: This is Roberto, Nan.

Three patrol squads in the region detected the pirates as they first arrived. The automatic tally systems designated any conflict to be unwise due to numbers, so the squads retreated while calling on reinforcements from other sectors. Soon the drone numbers piled up, but by this time the enemies' cloaking systems had switched on.

[code:1:dc63fe7489]
initiate.scan(radiation) = spectrum.all;

#SCANNING...
spectrum.visible = scan(!confirm);

#SCANNING...
spectrum.ultra = scan(!confirm);

#SCANNING...
spectrum.infra = scan(confirm);
target.identify = hostile;

transmission.open(HQ46D);
transmission.send = "Hostile targets identified. Engage?"
[/code:1:dc63fe7489]

Hallash made sure every word was recorded for later use. "It's so easy when their pain threshold is low," he thought. He called in two guards who dragged the man into another room to be patched back together in preparation for the trial and, eventually, execution that awaited him. Soon, the other traitor was brought in and strapped down.

"Welcome to my office. I am Inquisitor Hallash, and I will be introducing you to a living Hell if you don't cooperate. What is your name?"

OOC: This is Roberto, Nan.

"You're not getting anything from me," Roberto said. "I will live and die for the Holy Celestial Empire of the Great System!" Roberto was obviously in a more advanced state of brainwashing. "You will never get away with betraying the Holy Celestial Emperor. I will get my revenge!"

Hallash smirked. "This one will be fun."

"Foolish thing. Well, if that's the way you want to do it, then we shall."

The Inquisitor initiated the water-drop torture and went straight to cutting open Roberto. He picked up a container from a nearby shelf. Inside was a mouse, which Hallash picked up and dropped into Roberto's now-open abdomen. While the mouse scurried around frightened as it was, Hallash prodded at the man's organs for a good three hours. All the while, the water continued to drip.

"Don't worry...creature. The fun has yet to really begin."

Near the Moon
The hooded figure launched a special fighter - the one fighter in the pirate arsenal that was able to be cloaked. He piloted the fighter to the crippled Nanakan Lunar Guard Outpost. The fighter than secretly docked as a Nanakan fighter was docking. The hooded figure climbed out and the cloaked fighter's copilot piloted the fighter back to the pirates' command ship.

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
The guards stationed at the docking bay noticed the hooded figure. They raised their weapons and were about to shoot at him. However, the hooded figure raised his gun and shot all of the guards down before he was shot. "Sharpshooter," one of the injured guards said to himself. The cloaked figure stole a Nanakaland Space Shuttle and left the outpost, heading to the United Glory.

The stolen fighter advanced past all defenses. After all, it looked Nanakan. It went straight to the United Grand Celestial Glory, where it docked in Docking Bay F2. The hooded man climbed out of the fighter and walked right past a dozing guard to the hallway. He then looked down at his wrist. There was a small watch-like object around it. He messed with its settings. The dark cloak around him distorted and then vanished. He was now only visable at a different wavelength than human eyes could see.

The pirate infiltrator made it past many defenses in the United Glory. However, he soon reached a place where there was motion sensors. Even though the infiltrator was invisible to human eyes, motion sensors and modified video cameras could still detect him. He had to move quickly. The hooded man raised his gun and shot out all of the motion detectors. He then ran as far as he could....

The LRR corvette approaches the docking bay on the Lunar Guard Outpost. The naval infantrymen, engineers, and the captain of the Moliva look out of the viewports to see the killed Nankan guards. The corvette motors over to the docking area, and the ramp lowers. The 8 naval infantrymen, 11 engineers, and the captain jump out. They check on the guards, and find that none of them were living.

The crew runs up to the airlock to the station's interior. One of the naval Infantrymen pounds on the door with the end of his plasma rifle.

Proffesor Gerald Adam's Science Journal, Day 3
I am making progress with the cloning. Alien hatchlings have been formed. It is amazing. These aliens mature at a rate faster than any intelligent creature known to man. I do not know their name, so I will come up with a scientific name, Venator Magnus, for the species. Other than this, there is not much to note today, but hopefully, there will be pleanty of information tomorrow.

Proffesor Gerald Adam's Science Journal, Day 3
I am making progress with the cloning. Alien hatchlings have been formed. It is amazing. These aliens mature at a rate faster than any intelligent creature known to man. I do not know their name, so I will come up with a scientific name, Venator Magnus, for the species. Other than this, there is not much to note today, but hopefully, there will be pleanty of information tomorrow.

OCC: Could the LRRBI make a raid on Proffesor Adams?

[OOC: He's not discovered yet. First, the Stalkers need to get out of control....]

The LRR corvette approaches the docking bay on the Lunar Guard Outpost. The naval infantrymen, engineers, and the captain of the Moliva look out of the viewports to see the killed Nankan guards. The corvette motors over to the docking area, and the ramp lowers. The 8 naval infantrymen, 11 engineers, and the captain jump out. They check on the guards, and find that none of them were living.

The crew runs up to the airlock to the station's interior. One of the naval Infantrymen pounds on the door with the end of his plasma rifle.

OCC: Ahem.

The LRR corvette approaches the docking bay on the Lunar Guard Outpost. The naval infantrymen, engineers, and the captain of the Moliva look out of the viewports to see the killed Nankan guards. The corvette motors over to the docking area, and the ramp lowers. The 8 naval infantrymen, 11 engineers, and the captain jump out. They check on the guards, and find that none of them were living.

The crew runs up to the airlock to the station's interior. One of the naval Infantrymen pounds on the door with the end of his plasma rifle.

"Don't worry," the commander explained. "The alarm auto-locked this door. Let me just punch some buttons and open it. It will only take a second." Five minutes later, the door opened.

The LRR corvette approaches the docking bay on the Lunar Guard Outpost. The naval infantrymen, engineers, and the captain of the Moliva look out of the viewports to see the killed Nankan guards. The corvette motors over to the docking area, and the ramp lowers. The 8 naval infantrymen, 11 engineers, and the captain jump out. They check on the guards, and find that none of them were living.

The crew runs up to the airlock to the station's interior. One of the naval Infantrymen pounds on the door with the end of his plasma rifle.

"Don't worry," the commander explained. "The alarm auto-locked this door. Let me just punch some buttons and open it. It will only take a second." Five minutes later, the door opened.

Captain Solly Forten is the first into the ship.

"There's dead gaurds out there! It looks like there's been a theft! Alert your ships right away!"
"We're also here to help you fix up your station."

"Rodger that," the commander said. "Sending out an alert."

"I'm sorry sir," replied a lieutenant. "That smart theif must have disabled our communications array. We can't communicate to anything further than five yards away."

"Okay then," said the commander. "I guess all we can do is repair - and repair quick - before the thief gets too far."

Somewhere in the United Grand Celestial Glory
The invisible infiltrator walked past people to get to the bridge. He looked around the area. He had a chance to kill Commander Johnson, but something else stopped him. The infiltrator overheard part of the conversation.

"So the Stalker pod crashed in the Nanakan Highlands," High Admiral Clark explained. "We've managed to find the pod, but the actual Stalker has not been found."

"If these Stalkers aren't caught, then they could cause doom to all of mankind," said Commander Lee.

"Okay," Commander Johnson said. "So the fate of the world as we know it is in our hands?"

"Not just the world," Clark replied. "The earth, the moon, Mars - even the entire solar system could fall to the Stalkers if they multiply at the rate we suspect. We have to stop them soon."

"And if any other ships are passing through the solar system?" asked Johnson.

"Then the ships would be infested and their system would be wiped out, too," replied Lee.

"And traders from Deep Space will be passing by later this week," added the admiral.

D*mn! thought the infiltrator. If these "Stalkers" manage to take over those traders, then the Deep Space Pirates could no longer be able to loot ships without a chance of us falling, too. I have to stop the Stalkers. I will go to the Nanakan Highlands. The invisible infiltrator dashed out of the room, setting off dozens of motion sensors. He dashed in the stolen Nanakan fighter and left the docking bay. He then piloted the ship to the Nanakan Highlands. The infiltrator was going to do some searching of his own....

Near Earth
A lone Nanakaland Space Shuttle flew by. The infiltrator piloted his stolen ship down to the Nanakan Highlands. He pulled out a special sensor and detected Stalkers in a nearby lab. He moved swiftly and secretly. He set up bombs all over the lab to destroy it. However, all but one bomb was a dud! The one bomb revealed his presence. The infiltrator was forced to flee back to his fighter.

The explosion revealed the presense of the lab to the Nanakaland authorities. A Nanakan, LLR, and SAVXian joint raid was planned....

Over the Nankan highlands, an LRR dropship flies in at low level. It carries a company of 50 Naval Infantrymen from the LRR EDF.

"This is Herring Alpha calling control, we are approaching the LZ."

"Rodger that," said General Flint at control. "Sending Nanakan troops to meet you. The laboratory is surrounded. No one is going in or out unless they're our troops. Now we just await SAVXian death squads before the assault."

[OOC: By the time we break in the labs, the Stalkers will have gotten out of control. They'll be all over the place.]

"Rodger that," said General Flint at control. "Sending Nanakan troops to meet you. The laboratory is surrounded. No one is going in or out unless they're our troops. Now we just await SAVXian death squads before the assault."

[OOC: By the time we break in the labs, the Stalkers will have gotten out of control. They'll be all over the place.]

"Roger that, control. We are landing."

The dropship sets down on the small patch of flat land in the highlands. 40 Naval Infantrymen run out, followed by a pair of Ultra Wiesels (futuretech versions of Wiesels) armed with plasma cannons and ATGM launchers, in case the lab has to be taken out with extreme predjudice, a heavily armed LSWV truck, and an M-113Z, the futuretech version of the M113. However, the version was not built to be an APC, that role was being taken over by the CV-94. Instead, it was equipped with two seperate TOW launchers, plenty of detection equipment, and other things generally bad for tanks and bunkers, etc.

The infantrymen take positions in rocky and well-camoflauged areas, given extra protection by their thermal signature-reducing uniforms. The vehicles take up position in more accessable areas, the LSWV and M-113 camping out in the foliage around the LZ, which overlooks the lab. The first thing the crew does is get a laser target designator pointed at the lab. The Wiesels, smaller and thus able to manouver deeper into cover, find more favorable positions. They cover the area with their medium plasma cannons and light ATGMs.

Commander George Leuyages watches the lab from under a bush, through the maginfying scope of his plasma rifle.

"Ok, we've got this place pretty well covered. We move in when the Nanaks get here."

OOC: Dammit, sorry guys. Whenever I try to post, the server goes to hell.


"Men, today you have an undertaking of vast importance. There exists, due to the genius or, perhaps, utter idiocy of a rogue Nanakan scientist, the greatest threat that our nations, and perhaps even the human species, have ever known. Stalker aliens...clones, anyway. Just as deadly, but potentially more so than the original. You're going to go in there, with Nanakan and LRR soldiers, and you're going to clean house. Before the night is over, the entire place will be a smoldering ruin; am I clear on that?"

"Affirmative, sir!"

"Good. We are deploying Squads Scorch, Dragon, and Omega. I'm sure you all know each other well enough by now. Demon Squad will be on reserve should anything go awry. However, we're all confident that you will do the job. You will have Firestorm* and Hotspot* support. Remember; leave nothing standing."

"Scorched earth!"

"Excellent. Prepare for battle. The transports are at landing pad three. Be there in ten minutes. Move out."

Within twenty minutes, the eighty obliterator-class soldiers were well on their way, with a multitude of heavy weapons ready to pulverize their foes. The Firestorm Howitzers had already left and met up with Nanakan forces to wait until their commander, the commander of the SAVX forces deployed for this mission, arrived with the Death Squads. Hotspot Strykers were in orbit, ready to launch and lend their support as soon as it was needed. The time of reckoning was at hand.

*OOC: Firestorm Howitzers and Hotspot Strykers use a multitude of incindiary weaponry, most notably napalm B (5000 F) and thermite (5400 F). Keep an eye out for these being called in, 'cause you'll want your soldiers out of the way.

The Nanakan forces arrived in hovertransports*. High General Flit rode a hovertransport in the far back of the advancing group. Flint waited at a distance at the Temporary Control Center** while the other troops advanced. Nine units of 16 Elite Special Forces each moved to meet with the LRR and SAVXian troops. The group split up.

Three units met up with LRR troops, three met up with SAVXian troops and three units went to the roof to break into the lab. Everyone was in position. It was then that they got the signal. The troops were to bust into the lab....

*Hovertransports are basically a future tech, hovering version of Nanakan Transport Vehicles (NTVs) with more speed and armor.

**Moved into the area while waiting for SAVXian troops, it is a giant, transportable building where officers can monitor the laboratory and order the troops while remaining safe.

25 Naval Infantryen accompany the Nanakland and SAVXian troops, while the rest stand by in case anything goes wrong.

The naval infantrymen prepare to break into the lab.....

"CLEAR!!!!!!!!!!"

The troops dive under cover before a shaped charge goes off, blowing a huge hole in the top of the lab. The Naval Infantrymen throw fragmentation grenades into the hole, and then, along with the rest of the raiders, proceed to jump into the lab.....

Dragon entered the building while Scorch and Omega waited outside to intercept anything that might try to escape. The Firestorms had moved into position a few miles away, ready to begin lobbing shells of flaming death. Sergeant Gallis lead his squad, flamer ready to torch the first thing that moved. They took one of the hallways that the other raiders hadn't gone down.

The Elite Special Forces Units 1-3 were on the roof. The other units were with the other raiders. However, the troops on the roof soon jumped down because they noticed something. "Lieutenant Robertson," a soldier called, pointing at the wall. "What do you think that is?"

"No other teams have been here," the lieutenant commented. He bent down to where the hole was. "Looks like someone tried to blow the whole labs, but only ended up exploding a small area. That's probably what alerted us to this lab in the first place."

"Are you saying that -"

"We're not alone."

From his location looking out at the enemy forces, the infiltrator saw everything. First LRR forces arrived, then came the SAVXian forces, then came the Nanakan forces. He saw the assault on the lab. However, the infiltrator didn't want to be left out on the action. He pressed buttons on his "watch" and this time, instead of turning invisible, his cloak changed and looked just like a Nanakan Elite Special Forces uniform.

The infiltrator walked up to the group staring at the exploded hole in the wall. "Excuse me, sir, but aren't we supposed to attack the laboratory?" he asked. No one would know that he wansn't a solider....

Elite Special Forces Unit 4
One unit got separated from the others during the search. "This lab looks like something's been here," commented the unit's lieutenant.

"Stalkers," one of the soldiers said. "Space marines have delt with these guys before."

"No," the lieutenant replied. "The Stalkers have been wiped out completely in a battle above the moon."

"Can't you put two and two together?" said the soldier. "One lone Stalker pod escapes from the battle. The Stalker is known to be dead, however. Later, the Stalker pod is discovered - empty. Now, we're sent to an 'abandoned' laboratory this dark night and we see things that are probably made by the Stalkers."

"Your point?"

"My point is that the Stalkers were cloned! They're back - and most likely more powerful than ever!" After the officer shouted that, a noise was heard from the lab's vents.

"Shhh!" one of the soldiers said and then came the screams....

"What was that?"

The squad froze.

"Not sure. Keep going."

Dragon continued down the stairs. At the bottom, the exit led into darkness.

"Too dark...everyone turn your night-vision on to half-power. Jarrod, fire into there."

"Aye-aye."

As he replied, he squirted a jet of bright red flames into the darkness. The area was lit up, and all around them were the broken, twisted remains of a laboratory...and off to the side, movement.

"Shit, what was that?"

DOUBLE POST

The LRR naval infantrymen keep close together. Being robots, they had an advantage over the icky gooey stalkers in resistance to blades. They walk down into one of the cloning rooms.

The lieutenant in charge calls on his radio;

"Hey, uh, you want us to blow this place up or what?"
"Where's the Nanak unit 4?"
"I dunno."
"Those guys better not have got lost."

Suddenly, a stalker drops onto the human corporal at the rear of the group.

"AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"F***********CCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The other naval infantrymen react quickly, shooting the stalker with their plasma rifles and then beating the corpse thoroughly. The corporal is badly injured.

"Get him out! Get him out!"

A pair of infantrymen hoist the injured corporal on a fold-out stretcher, and carry him outside. Just as they get through the hole in the roof, they see a shape disappear into the bushes.

"All forces, this is NI 6th platoon. We have a possible escaped stalker, repeat, possible escaped stalker."

The garbled response from the armored contingent comes back several seconds later.

"Roger that, we are on the lookout!"

The naval infantrymen on foot crowd around the vehicles, which move out into the open. The TOW operators in the Wiesels and M113X use their IR scanners to search for stalkers, but having little experience with them, get scared at whatever thermal signature they come across. Only when a binoculars-equipped infantrymen confirms that it is just a deer does the TOW gunner take his finger off the missile release.

Back in the lab, the NI troopers find the SAVXian troops.

"Oi! You guys seen anything......"
"JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!"

One of the robot troopers sights something big, ugly, and gooey nearby.

Meanwhile, outside the laboratory, Special Forces Units 1-3 were trying to find a way in. Eventually, they climbed in a shattered window frame and walked down a dark hall. They took a left and opened a door to the remains of a padded white cell. The soldiers were staring right into a Stalker! Lieutenant Robertson pointed his flashlight at it. "Relax," the lieutenant said. "This one is dead - probably the one stolen from the crashed pod."

"Yes," one of the soldiers replied, "but the next one we see may be alive."

"That's why we're to proceed with caution," explained Robertson. He turned to see one of the soldiers wandering away. "Stop!" However, it was too late. That soldier had already left the rest of the group. "Does anyone know who that was?"

"No," everyone replied.

"That's odd," commented the lieutenant. In fact, the soldier that wandered away was really the disguised pirate infiltrator....

[OOC: Please edit your double post.]

The United Grand Celestial Glory
High Admiral Nelson B. Clark was sitting in his chair on the bridge. He was staring out into space. Suddenly, a messenger arrrived. "What is it?" the admiral said.

"The teams have entered the laboratory," the messenger explained.

"What teams?" asked Clark. "What laboratory?"

"Didn't General Flint tell you, sir?" asked the messenger.

"Oh," commented Nelson. "So it was Flint's opperation. He'd never tell anything. He's still jealous that I got in charge of the space fleets. Flint's trying to backstab his way to the top. He doesn't want me to know because then I might send another team and he wouldn't get the glory."

"But it's an international opperation," replied the messenger.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he'd start a little 'accident' to make it his operation only," the admiral said. "I'm getting old, he's in his thirties. He'll probably be after me next."

"Then how do we stop him?"

"Get Brian McKlan," ordered Clark. "He's a veteran from World War V. I wouldn't be surprised if his 'retirement' from High General was Flint's fault."

"Yessir," the messenger said. And with that the messenger left the bridge.

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/battlecruiser19.gif
The United Grand Celestial Glory

The Laboratory
Lieutenant Robertson and the others continued down the hall, guns raised. It was then that they heard a scream. "Shh!" he said. He then looked at the others in the group. Robertson pointed at a sergant and said, "You, go take Unit 2 to investigate the source of the scream." The lieutenant then pointed at the other sergant and said, "You, go take Unit 3 and warn the others. I think there's Stalkers in this lab."

"Yessir," they both said. They followed their orders. So Elite Special Forces Unit 1, all sixteen of them, stood in the hall, waiting....

On the hills overlooking the lab, one of the TOW gunners spots something.

"STALKER!!!!!"

They look out to see a rustling in the bushes, moving ever closer. Both the TOW operators loose a missile towards the stalker, and the MGs on the Wiesels and LWSV, as well as the infantry plasma rifles open up at the stalker.

Elite Special Forces Unit 1
Lieutenant Robertson heard the firing of guns and the screams of Stalkers and said to his team, "Take defensive positions! The Stalkers have come!" Before long, the Stalkers had reached Unit 1. The sounds of firing guns and screams grew louder as the action grew. There were too many Stalkers and they seemed stronger than before.

After a few minutes of skirmish, Robertson ordered a retreat. Three people in his team had already died and the Stalkers only took one loss. "Their skin seems to have been geneticly engineered," one soldier commented. "Our bullets can barely pierce it."

"Switch firepower on your weapons to lazer bolts," replied the lieutenant. "Set the lazers on kill." Even with lazers, the Stalkers took minor losses. Their skin seemed to absorb the lazers with minimum damage. The team retreated through the hall, taking turns to fire at the persuing aliens. Eventually, they met up again with five people from Unit 2.

"What happened to the sergent and the others?" asked a soldier to the survivors.

"We found the source of the scream," replied one of the people from Unit 2. "It was Unit 4. They were all dead. It was a trap. Stalkers killed all except us." The survivors from Units 1 and 2 continued up the hall, where they managed to - while taking a turn into another room - lose the Stalkers who were pursuing them, or so they thought....

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
The commander approached the LRR captain. "How long will it take for the systems to be fully online?" he asked. "I don't think that the pirates will wait - they could attack at any time."

"Speaking of attack," one Nanakan lieutenant said, "you may want to take a look at this." He pointed to a screen at his station, which was playing something from the security camera footage.

On screen, it showed several Nanakan fighters docking. However, there was a distortion of space near the fighters. Then, a hooded man literally climbed out of thin air. He climbed down a distortion of air in the fighter bay. It was as if he was climbing out of an invisible fighter!

The distortion then left the fighter bay and the guards raised their weapons to shoot at the intruder. The intruder shot down the guards first, though, and stole a fighter. The stolen fighter was piloted out of the docking bay.

"That is footage of what happened earlier today," the lieutenant explained. "I've traced the route of the stolen fighter to the United Glory and then to earth. Someone is with the soldiers attacking the Stalker laboratory."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/tanis12.gif
Lunar Guard Outpost W-42

Port Nanaka, Nanakaland
Meanwhile, twelve soldiers arrived in Port Nanaka. They had a special mission on hand - they were to find Brian McKlan. After hours of search, they finally found a beutiful white shorefront home. The soldiers walked up the beach to the glass sliding door and knocked. A dog barked and a woman answered the door. "Is Brian McKlan here?" the soldiers asked.

"No," replied the woman. "I'm Emily McKlan, his wife. Brian McKlan is at work."

"Where has he been working since his retirement from the Nanakaland military?" asked a soldier. The reply would be shocking....

Elite Special Forces Unit 3
The sixteen soldiers looked for the others. However, they ran into Stalkers. Running, ten of them managed to escape to the outside. There were Stalkers outside hiding in bushes and trees. "Be careful," the sergant said. The silent hiss of the Stalkers hiding could be heard over the wind. The group eyed a group of LRR gunners that were firing at a Stalker.

Eventually, the group managed to take a detour around the Stalkers and went to the Temporary Control Center. They knocked on the door. Eventually it was opened up. "Flint, we've got to pull out of the area and bomb it," the sergant said.

"Why?" High General Flint replied. "We're winning. A few losses won't matter."

"You're crazy," said one of the Elite Special Forces soldiers.

"No," the general replied. "If all goes according to plan, I'll be a hero. Who cares if the others die?"

Elite Special Forces Units 1 & 2
The two units walked down a hallway of a giant room. There were pipes all over the place and it looked like some kind of factory. However, instead of products coming out of the machines, baby Stalkers were being produced! "Shh!" said the lieutenant. He turned to his soldiers and told them, "Don't kill them yet. We don't want to alert adult Stalkers."

"What the **** is this?" asked a soldier.

"A cloning facility," the lieutenant replied. The group followed the path of the machines into another room. In that room, there was a window to a 'nursery,' in which the Stalkers were raised.

"They're growing at an astronomical rate," commented another soldier after looking at the nursery for several minutes.

"I know," Lieutenant Robertson said. "They've been genitically engineered - and mass produced."

"So someone was turning an alien race into super soldiers?" someone asked.

"Someone who obviously faild," replied Robertson. "The Stalkers are back, uncontrolled by any human - and stronger than ever before!"

In the shadows behind Lieutenant Robertson, the infiltrator secretly followed. However, the infiltrator had a different mission on his agenda. The giant cloning room also amazed him, but he was here to do something else - the infiltrator set up explosives on key parts on the machine. As soon as he had the chance, the whole facility would go up in smoke.

Nevertheless, a variable not planned had entered the picture. As he was rigging explosives throughout the laboratory, Stalkers secretly entered the fighter he had stolen. The Stalkers accidently launched the fighter (without the infiltrator in it) and it was sent on autopilot to the moon. It was allowed into the Deep Space Pirate's main capital ship....

OOC: GOD DAMN FUCKING SERVER! GAH!
Now that that rant's over...can someone give me a quick rundown of all that's happened since my last post? I don't have the patience right now (what with the server and current RL events) to look through it all and absorb it.

[OOC: Not much has happened actually. Since your last post, some LRR troops meet up with your troops (and Nanakan troops are with both sides). The Stalkers have been noticed. The Deep Space Pirate infiltrator has entered the lab. Nanakan High Admiral Clark and Nanakan High General Flint are at it again, but this time, Clark decides to send out men to get the former High General (Brian McKlan).

Some of the Nanakaland team splits up and LRR forces outside are firing on Stalkers. Lieutenant Robertson of Nanakaland's team finds out that the Stalkers have been genetically engineered to be stronger, meets up with another Nanakan unit, and retreats to the cloning rooms.

Nanakaland Lunar Guard Outpost W-42 is being repaired by LRR forces and they start finding out about the pirate infiltrator. Some soldiers are tracking down Brian McKlan in Port Nanaka and Nanakaland Elite Special Forces Unit 3 finds out the craziness of General Flint.

The Nanakan forces learn more about the cloning of the Stalkers and the pirate infiltrator sets up explosives. Some Stalkers steal the stolen Nanakan shuttle and enter a cloaked pirate capital ship. That's all.]

OOC: Ok, thanks. I'll get an add-on later tonight.

"What was that?"

"Doesn't matter. Torch it."

One of the Dragons hefted his flamer and pressed the trigger, dousing the area where they had seen the movement in raging flames. There was screeching and scrambling, as though something was writhing in the flames. Another Dragon fired a few turns of his autocannon into the mess, shutting up the noise.

"Why are we here again, Sarge?"

"Got me. Torch this hellhole, then let's start heading out. Find the others in the building and get them out. We'll have Demon smash the place."

"Yes, sir."

The Dragons with flamers moved slowly about, torching the large room. It no longer mattered that the lights were out; the bright flames from their beloved weapons lit up the room better than any flourescent overheads could have. As they moved towards the end of the room, three Stalkers lunged out. One was instantly doused in napalm, writhing in agony. The other two pounced forward and landed on one of the Dragons. Despite his massive powered Combat Armor, he was knocked back by the even bigger aliens. They began to tear at the armor, ripping bits off and getting towards the chewy center of the soldier with surprising speed.

One of the Dragons behind them whipped out a Gauss Pistol and blew a large chunk of one of the Stalker's heads off, the momentum of the small round knocking the rest of the body back. Two others rushed foward with swords alight with burning oil, jumping at the Stalker to push it off their comrade. They sliced away, leaving burning residue wherever they left wounds. A lucky hit from the Stalker punched through one of the Dragon's arm-joints, ripping his elbow to shreds. Years of pain-neutralizing training helped immensely with the soldier's reaction, but his arm was rendered useless for the time being. The other Dragon managed to get a stab right into one of the Stalker's eyes. He shoved in hard to skewer the brain, burning much of the Stalker's head in the process. It thrashed violenty in its death twitches, then fell to the ground. The Dragon who had first been attacked was helped off the ground. His chest plate was virtually destroyed, with only a small layer of protective Kevlar underneath. The Stalker had torn through much of the power system, damaging the overall mechanism. He was aided out of the room by two others.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Gallis prepared an inferno mine. He set the timer for five minutes. The mine had enough explosive power to easily destroy the room, but the added incindiary chemicals would make sure to finish the job.

"Let's get out of here. On the double, move!"

The Dragons rushed up the stairs to find the other soldiers and warn them of the impending bombardment.

The LRR naval infantrymen inside the lab place explosives pretty much everywhere, and leave the lab at a fast pace. They then call for the Nankan troops on their radios.

"Hey, you want us to blow this place?"

"We need to do a full evacuation of the area first," Lieutenant Robertson replied over his radio. "Just give my team a few minutes. I think we've stumbled upon something very interesting..."

"Sir," said one soldier to the lieutenant. "We've found explosives all over the place."

"Did you rig it up already?" the lieutenant asked the LRR forces angrilly.

"Lieutenant," the soldier continued. "These explosives are from a different civilization entirely."

"Then what -" The lieutenant didn't finish. There was a series of loud explosions. The infiltrator had set up the explosives. The lieutenant sent a message out to the LRR forces.

"There's been ... explosion in ...... fire everywhere ... must evacuate now..." Then there was static.

Lunar Guard Outpost W-42
"Commander," said someone in the bridge. "Communications are back online. We're detecting an SOS."

"An SOS?" asked the commander. "Who could possibly be sending an SOS?"

"You won't believe this," the ensign continued. "The SOS is coming from the pirate ships. They've uncloaked."

"It could be a trap," the commander replied. "Don't send help."

"If it was a trap," asked the ensign, "then why would we be detecting alien lifeforms onboard their ships?"

"Stalkers," the commander muttered to himself. "They're back."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/tanis12.gif
Lunar Guard Outpost W-42

"We need to do a full evacuation of the area first," Lieutenant Robertson replied over his radio. "Just give my team a few minutes. I think we've stumbled upon something very interesting..."

"Sir," said one soldier to the lieutenant. "We've found explosives all over the place."

"Did you rig it up already?" the lieutenant asked the LRR forces angrilly.

"Lieutenant," the soldier continued. "These explosives are from a different civilization entirely."

"Then what -" The lieutenant didn't finish. There was a series of loud explosions. The infiltrator had set up the explosives. The lieutenant sent a message out to the LRR forces.

"There's been ... explosion in ...... fire everywhere ... must evacuate now..." Then there was static.

"I told you not to blow it yet!"
"It wasn't us!"
"Do you think it was the stalkers?"
"Couldn't be! They've got brains like peas."
"Let's open up some more holes for the Nanaks!"

A pair of naval infantrymen cart over a plasma torch, and start cutting holes in the lab's roof. Smoke billows out of the cuttings.

Meanwhile, the LRRSF contingent in the battle surrounds the uncloaked pirate ships. Heavy tugs move towards the pirate vessels, under the watchful eye of LRRSF frigates, gunships, destroyers, and a few light cruisers.

"Pirate vessels, we come with aid. Any attempts to seize the tugs, and you will be fired upon. Please move your wounded to your docking areas to facilitate speedy transfer to the LRRSV David Byrne, the nearest hospital ship."

The Cloning Chambers
The laboratory was starting to colapse. The other teams were lucky. They were closer to exits. However, Units 1 and 2 were in the heart of the laboratory in the cloning chambers. Lieutenant Robertson in the panic, dropped the one radio the team had left, thus issolating them. Parts of the lab were starting to fall apart. The team was waiting for LRR teams to break through the roof.

The Naval Infantrymen with the plasma torch arrive over the cloning chambers. Through the smoke, a jet of plasma can be seen coming through the roof and moving in a circle. A section of roof falls inward, and the plasma torch is walked (it has spindly legs) to the next cutting area.

[OOC: I hope that this explains my absence:

#NationStates_General at Esper.net (IRC)
<Nanakaland> Back on the 17th, I wrote:
<Nanakaland> [21:10] <Nanakaland> Something came up. I can't be on IRC right now. Goodbye.
<Nanakaland> I then mysteriously disappeared from NationStates from then till now
<Nanakaland> so that needs an explaination.
<Gehenna> 17th of what?
<Nanakaland> April.
<Nanakaland> What happened is I had to leave home immediately.
<Nanakaland> That's as simple as it gets.
<Gehenna> Oh
<Nanakaland> I wasn't let back in.

<Gehenna> I don't know what to say. I'm kinda stunned.
<Nanakaland> I'm now ... elsewhere.

<Gehenna> As long as you are alright
<Nanakaland> That's why my IP is different and I wasn't on NationStates for a while.
<Nanakaland> It's a long story.

<Gehenna> That's understandable given your reason
<Nanakaland> Too long and detailed for me to tell people over the internet.
<Gehenna> We don't need the details, just as long as you are alright
<Nanakaland> I'm fine.
<Gehenna> Good
* Gehenna hugs
<Gehenna> And it's nice to have you back

NOTE: Yes. I was on #NationStates_General. I'm one of those rare RPer-Generalite hybrids.]

OCC: Ok, so want to start back up?

[OOC: Tomorrow. I'm a bit busy now.]

The Cloning Chambers
"Everyone else is evacuated," General Flint told Robertson over a radio. "Get the h*ll out of there!"

"Yessir," Robertson replied. Meanwhile, there

"There's something over there," one of the soldiers commented, pointing towards a shadowy figure by the exit of the cloning chambers.

"Stop that man!" Lieutenant Robertson ordered. Almost instantly, several soldiers set their weapons to Tranquilizer and chased after him. After a few moments, the infiltrator was shot to the ground. Then, the Nanakaland soldiers escaped through the roof, taking the pirate infiltrator with them for interrigation. A soldier commented on his way out of the place, "I think this'll be the end of them Stalkers."

TRIPLE POST

TRIPLE POST

The LRR naval infantry troopers usher everyone else towards the safety of the group of armored vehicles before setting off the explosives they had planted. Quite as scene. From over the hills, a pair of LRRAF Jaguars (futuretech variants) screams in at low level. They drop napalm and fuel-air explosives on the lab.

:shock: [OOC: Please edit tripple post.]

Solar System Guard Outpost W-13, Near Pluto
The commander sat in his chair lazilly. Nothing ever happened when stationed in a Solar System Guard Outpost. It was a six month job where all you did was make sure that no threat to Nanakaland or the earth went by. The job was the most boring job because no threat ever did pass by. All that happened is that the outpost just sat there in space, letting ships pass by. The commander's duty at this outpost was almost done and he couldn't wait to go back home.

He watched on the radar as a trade caravan passed the outpost and asked an ensign, "Where's their projected destination?"

"Earth, sir," the ensign replied. "Probably trading foreign goods with humans, sir." The commander yawned and picked up a magazine to read.

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/chimera01.gif
Solar System Guard Outpost W-13

The United Grand Celestial Glory Comand Sector
"Sir, we're just receiving news from Nanakaland," a lieutenant said to Clark. "The Stalker-infested laboratory has been destroyed. However, the person who owned the laboratory, Gerald Adams, must have escaped before we even entered the lab. There's now a warrant out on him."

"Does that mean we're finally through with the Stalkers?" asked the admiral.

"Unfortunately, no," replied the lieutenant. "We've also just received news from LRR vessels that the pirate fleets are now mysteriously infested with Stalkers. They're seemingly invincible; troops are having a hard time fighting them. We have to help the pirates."

"Help our enemies? Are you crazy?" Clark said angrilly.

"No," the lieutenant replied. "If we don't stop the Stalkers on the pirate vessels, we could lose our fleets, too."

"Very well," the admiral said reluctantly. "Send some squads of space marines to help. Notify SAVXian troops, too."

http://well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/hw2/battlecruiser19.gif
The United Grand Celestial Glory

The 45th Galactic Shadow platoon was in the vicinity and was preparing to go in a short time. They recieved their briefing just before they finished their preparations.

"Men, we've got an excellent mission lined up for us. I'm sure you're all familiar with the pirates that recently tried to attack our forces. Well, we're going to 'help' them with a Stalker infestation that they've aquired. This is your mission; board any and all pirate ships that you find. Eliminating the Stalkers is your primary objective. Your second objective is to eliminate or apprehend the crew--we don't really care which--and capture their technology. Fly the ships back to our controlled areas for aquisition. However, should your default secondary objective prove unecessarily costly..."

There were a few snorts, grunts, and muttered laughs from the soldiers.

"...then it is your task to destroy the ship and everything aboard. Completely. Understand?"

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir!"

"Good. Make us proud."

http://www.angelfire.com/ns2/toxicvalley/images/spaceshadows.PNG
-Galactic Shadows in action

The United Grand Celestial Glory Sick Bay
Admiral Clark entered the room. "So," he said to a man who was at the door to greet him, "Dr. Reynolds, any updates on this infiltrator?"

"He's still out cold," the doctor replied. "However I found out a lot about this guy."

"Like what?" the High Admiral asked.

"Like his vision," explained Reynolds. "It's higher than 20/10 - it's even higher than 20/1 - and is off the charts. This guy obviously had some expensive surgery. He also has this." Reynolds showed a watch-like object to the admiral. "It makes him invisible or changes his appearance. Truely amazing - and deadly. We don't know how many other guys like this are running around...."

"More guys like this infiltrator running around!?" exclaimed Clark. "That'd spell instant doom to all of us."

"I know," replied Dr. Reynolds. "That's why we need to find a way to spot infiltrators. Don't ask me, though - I'm only a doctor."

High Admiral Clark activated the intercom and said, "Put the United Glory on red alert. I think we have a problem."

It was then that three men entered the room and said, "Sir, we're returning from our mission. We have located the ex-High General."

"Where is he?" asked Clark.

"He's in the bridge right now, sir," one of the men replied. "He has been working as a SWAT team commander since he 'retired.'"

"Take me to the bridge immediately, then," the High Admiral said.

Waiting for LRR, SAVXian, and/or Techon...

"Impact in ten seconds."

The Galactic Shadows made sure they were completely strapped in and braced themselves. They felt the Crash Pod accelerate, then suddenly decelerate when it hit the first Stalker target. The hardened exit port was designed to ram through most hulls in order to allow for quick passage. The Shadows waited while the ship compensated for the momentum and slowed them down.

"Go!"

The unstrapped themselves and picked up their guns, quickly exiting through the landing hatch. The squad consisted of eight Shadows, with six AC-102 carbines, one HG-21 autocannon, and an HG-32 plasma rifle.

The short passage they were in was dark. There was evidence of a struggle, with debris strewn around, a light hanging by a thread, and a bloody, torn corpse thrown into the mix.

"Looks like the Stalkers already got this baby. No wonder it was so easy to find."

"Yeah...well, we need to find something to take back with us. Advance carefully, Davis and Guhr, cover the rear. Let's go."

The boarding frigate launched from the United Glory. The frigate progressed toward the pirate fleet. It was all too familiar to Lieutenant Watson who just weeks ago had first stumbled upon the Stalker infested Intrepid. So much had changed since then.

Watson wasn't the real hero of the whole thing, either. Sergent Erickson who helped greatly in the Intrepid Incident and gave his life destroying the Stalker mothership was the true hero. High Admiral Clark, Commander Johnson, and Commander Lee played a major role in the defeat of the Stalkers, too. Lieutenant Watson was just a lowly lieutenant in his own eyes.

There was a familiar call on the intercom and a countdown to dock. It was too much like that night when he was called by the patrolship Gallant to investigate a mystery ship. That was before even the United Glory was built - the ship that played a major role in all that happened since. Watson remembered when his team left a boarding frigate into the mystery ship. His team was the first to encounter the Stalkers and live. It seemed so long ago. So much had happened since then.

The team boarded the pirate vessel into the dark halls. It had the scent of a Stalker infestation. It had a feeling to the ship, an eerie feeling, that only those who have seen the Stalkers before would have even detected. Watson was ready. He listened carefully, they all listened carefully. In the perfect silence they could hear something, something that was crawling in the vents.

The Nanakan infiltration team knew what to do. Some raised their weapons at the noise, ready to fire, as others looked around, alert, looking for an ambush. There came an explosion of shooting so instantly. It broke the silence like a stone thrown on water. Stalker bodies rained down. There were two of them.

"That was easy," commented Commander Lee, "almost too easy. I thought you said that these Stalkers had stronger skin, but-" The commander couldn't finish his sentence. The two Stalkers sprang up and tore apart many marines. Commander Lee, Lieutenant Watson, and the other survivors attempted to return to the frigate. However, the frigate ejected. The cowardly pilot fled before the Stalkers could enter the ship.

"I think we'll have to find another way out," commented Watson. The group fled from the Stalkers and went down another hall. They paused and went into a room. One of the marines hastilly locked it. The infiltration team was completely silent for a moment as they heard the Stalkers pass. Once the threat was over, the commander broke the silence.

"What ship are we in?" asked Lee.

"I'm almost certain we're in the flagship of the pirate fleet," replied Watson. "That explains its size, armaments, and the major resistance the pirates are giving to the Stalkers."

"That means we can find the bridge and capture the pirate leader," Lee said.

"If he's not already dead," commented another marine. It was then that the marines heard a noise. They rose their weapons expecting to see a Stalker. Instead, they saw a human. One marine pointed his gun at the man and said, "Who are you?"

"Relax," the man said. "Don't you reconize me? I'm Commander Johnson of the NSS Celestia, here to do some unfinished buisiness." It made sense. Before the Intrepid Incident, before even rumors of the construction of the United Glory started, Commander Johnson had been in command of the First Nanakaland Fleet. He had investigated the Steel Butterfly Civil War and was involved for a while. He had also had a run-in with the Deep Space Pirates in which he almost lost his life. This was months ago. Naturally, Johnson wanted to do just what he said and finish unfinished buisiness - as in finish off the pirate chief.

"I'm glad you've joined," said Watson. "These Stalkers are killing men faster than you can blink." Commander Lee was in the corner with his radio, calling for support.


Several minutes later, there was a banging at the door. The soldiers raised their weapons, expecting a Stalker. However, they soon heard a voice saying, "Open up," and so they opened the door. It was a pirate soldier. The door was locked behind him with two marines standing by the exit of the room.

"So who are you?" Watson asked the man.

"I should ask the same to you," the man replied. "However, I'll tell you. I'm a soldier of the Deep Space Pirates. The 'Stalkers,' as you call them, have overrun our barricades on the C and D wings. This room isn't safe. All that's left is the A and B wings - the bridge and officers' quarters being in the A wing and the main docking bay, among other things, being in the B wing."

Commander Johnson raised a knife to the pirate's throat and said, "Well take us to the A wing, then."


The group went to the A wing with relatively no problems. They ran into one wounded Stalker, but were able to kill it. The group of marines walked up to a place where there was overturned chairs, tables, and desks. Dozens of pirates with weapons out were looking in the one direction anyone could go by. Thankfully, the Stalkers weren't attacking at the time they arrived.

The marines were allowed to pass after their guide did some talking. The problem was that their guide never returned to the group of marines to continue leading them. Commander Johnson commented, "That's one problem about using force to get a guide."

As the marines turned around to look back at the barricade, a pack of Stalkers started assaulting. The pirates were falling and small weapons weren't making a single difference. Of course, the Stalkers were chased off again when one Stalker was killed by a plasma cannon.

"I don't know how much longer they can hold that barricade," Watson said. "I think we should hurry up and go to the bridge."


"So this is the group the Nanakans sent to help fight off the Stalkers?" asked the Deep Space Pirate Chief as he pointed at the twelve survivors that were in front of him in the dark bridge. "Very generous." There was a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "There's even three officers here. I'm sure they'll be doing grunt work."

"Reinforcements are on the way," Commander Lee replied.

"If they make it before the ship falls," the chief said. There was a pause and then the chief pointed at Johnson and said, "Hey! I know you! You're the one that ripped me off and took some of my technology."

"If I recall correctly," Commander Johnson commented, "you tried to kill me first."

"Enough!" exclaimed the pirate chief. He turned to some of his guards and said, "Kill them. All of them. And put the ship on self destruct. Take me to my private shuttle. I have to rescue the infiltrator and then I'll be off back to Deep Space. Authorize an evacuation." With that, the pirate chief left and the guards raised their weapons, ready to kill....

[OOC: These Stalkers are stronger than before. The only way known to kill them so far is by using really powerful weapons like explosives, plasma cannons, etc. or to kill a wounded one (wounded by a powerful weapon or force).]

The guards advanced on the marines. The Nanakan troops attempted to raise their weapons, but there was some magnetic force that drew all weapons to the ground except the gaurds'. It seemed like all was over, until Commander Lee had an idea. The unsuspecting guards continued to progress forward.

"Alert. Self Destruct System Activated. Self destructing in one hour," said a computerized voice over the intercom. Time was running out. Time they didn't have.

As the guards raised their weapons to exterminate the Nanakan marines, Lee did a sidekick and knocked the weapons out of the pirates' hands. Lee then took out his dagger and - it fell to the floor with a click. There was a magnetic field on the floor. It was time for Plan B.

Lee picked up the weapons of the guards (that weren't attracted to the floor magnet) and used it to kill them. He then went to a control pannel and disabled the magnetic field. The commander said to the Nanakan marines, "Hurry up. Don't just stand there." All of the marines were in awe.

"Alert. Self destructing in fourty-five minutes," the computerized voice said. Too much time was being wasted fighting off the guards and disabling the magnetic field. "Let's get the h*ll out of here!" exclaimed one marine. Everyone got their weapons off the now non-magnetized floor, left the deserted bridge, and proceeded down the hall. The once-busy A wing of the ship was now even busier with people crowding to get to escape pods. Time was definately running out....

[OOC: I hope those two posts speed up the plot.]

The LRRSF EDF fleet evacuates pirate vessels that do surrender before destroying them and the stalkers inside. Many of the smaller ships are cleared in this fashion, and pirates are held aboard specially converted freighters.

The large ships, however, need a bit of convincing.

Aboard a pair of armored transports, big dropships with reasonably good weapons and heavy armor, 400 LRR marines, non-robots wearing power armor, and their light mechs prepare to board the pirate mothership. A swarm of frigates and destroyers picks off pirate turrets as the transports near the ship.

"Three...two...one...contact!"

The transport shudders as it impacts the hull of the pirate vessel. The plasma cutter operators at the front of the pod begin work on the large dent that the transport put in the pirate ship's hull. After what seems like hours, they are through. The 400 marines, some inside small quadrupedic mecha designed for boarding operations, advance down the hallways, passing pirate crewmen back to the transports as they are come across.

The marines blast many stalkers caught unawares in the ship's corridors as they head for the bridge.

Meanwhile, the twelve Nanakan marines were heading away from the bridge trying to find their way to the docking bay. There were also huge crowds of pirate forces attempting to evacutate the Stalker-infested ships, though. After struggling through several large groups, the twelve infiltrators managed to see some clear hall ahead.

Sprinting, the marines managed to reach the entrance to B Wing. Commander Lee said, "We're on track. We just have to go to the docking bay and steal a frigate to get out of here." It was then that they saw the Stalkers. The massive crowds behind them were being attacked!

"Hurry up!" ordered Commander Johnson. "We have to leave before we're spotted." The marines dashed into the docking bay looked for a stolen frigate.

"Alert. Self destructing in thirty minutes," the computerized voice warned. Crowds burst through the doors, trying to get a ship to escape. Packs of Stalkers jumped down from vents, pouncing on screaming pirates. Terrified Nanakan marines looked around the docking bay. One of them noticed the pirate chief's private shuttle preparing to take off and pointed.

Commander Johnson acted very quickly. He ran over to the shuttle with his gun raised. The other Nanakan infiltrators just watched as Johnson climbed into the shuttle. The shuttle hovered high up to the ceiling of the docking bay and flew through a tunnel near the roof leading to a second docking bay. Johnson was out of sight....

The pirate chief heard something and turned around. There was a clanging of metal. Before he could blink, the bodyguard next to him fell down, dead. Glacing out the window, he saw several dead guards on the floors of the tunnel. He then looked up and saw Commander Johnson with a gun.

"Johnson," the chief said, "good old friend."

"Friend?" asked the commander. "You'd have killed me if I hadn't used a holographic projector."

"I remember that," the pirate leader replied. Quickly, he pulled out his gun and shot at Johnson.

"Have you not learned a single lesson?" Commander Johnson asked, unharmed. "I'd never approach you directly." The 3D image of Johnson disappeared and a gun was pressed on the pirate chief's back. The commander then said to the pirate chief, "This time, there won't be a next time."

The Deep Space Pirate Chief acted quickly. He raised his right arm and hit Johnson with his elbow. He then took the commander's gun. Though Johnson had acted quicky, too. As soon as the pirate chief took his gun, the commander had kicked the gun out of the pirate's hand and knocked him to the ground. They exchanged punches for a while.

"Alert. Self destructing in twenty minutes," said a computerized voice. Valuable time was being wasted fighting....

The eleven Nanakan infiltrators were sick of waiting. There was only twenty minutes left before the whole ship blew up and they still couldn't find an empty frigate. Eventually, they just broke into a frigate and threw out its crew. It was then that Commander Lee asked the obvious question, "Does anyone here know how to fly a pirate frigate?" There was silence for a moment.

"It couldn't be that hard," replied Lieutenant Watson. "Don't they steal technology? It should be like a mix of different civilizations' frigate technologies."

"Does anyone here know how to fly any kind of frigate?" Lee asked. There was more silence. The commander sighed and asked, "Does anyone here know how to fly?"

"I do, sir," replied a marine.

"Can you learn to fly this?" asked Watson.

"Are there any instruction manuals?" the marine said. Watson and Lee looked franticly around the frigate looking for a manual. After a minute, Lee handed a datadisk to the marine.

"Read," Lee ordered. "We don't have much time."

"Alert. Self destructing in fifteen minutes, the computerized voice warned as if to verify what the commander said.


Meanwhile, the private shuttle had left the tunnel and was in another docking bay. The pilot of the shuttle was about to fly it through the docking bay's forcefield and into space and the fight between Johnson and the pirate chief was still going on. There was a slight bump as the shuttle crossed the forcefield and both the Deep Space Pirate Chief and Commander Johnson were knocked off their feet.

The pirate chief reached for the gun Johnson had dropped earlier. The commander also grabbed for the weapon. It was then that Johnson heard a voice over a transmission saying to the pilot, "Attention pirate vessel. You are approaching dangerously close to the United Grand Celestial Glory. Leave your current course and surrender to the LRR ships in the area or be destroyed for attempting to enter the command ship."

DOUBLE POST

The LRRSF marines reach the bridge, the 400 heavily armed and armored troops crowding the corridors.

Captain Jones bursts through the bridge doors, along with a squad of marines. He walks over to Commander Johnson and the Pirate Chief. He and the squad quickly move to break up the fight.

"Come on, come on, there's no time for this!"

The marines split into two groups. One group heads straight for the docking bay.

The marines burst through the doors, led by light boarding mecha. They devestate the stalkers with their extreme firepower, barely fitting through the corridors.

Meanwhile, one of the transports pulls up to the docking bay. A long, airtight seal attaches itself to the nearest airlock.

The crew chief, a robot named Harris Van Halen, floats into the bay. He calls over to the pirates.

"This way! Come this way! We have transport!"

The marine commander, a big robot who formerly worked in the construction industry, gives the crew cheif a thumbs up of agknowledgement and works towards the transport, some stalkers now turning towards the clot of marines.

[OOC: The fight is in a private shuttle that has now left the ship, not in the bridge. Other than that, your post is good. Oh yeah. Edit your double post.]

The eleven Nanakan infiltrators were sick of waiting. There was only twenty minutes left before the whole ship blew up and they still couldn't find an empty frigate. Eventually, they just broke into a frigate and threw out its crew. It was then that Commander Lee asked the obvious question, "Does anyone here know how to fly a pirate frigate?" There was silence for a moment.

"It couldn't be that hard," replied Lieutenant Watson. "Don't they steal technology? It should be like a mix of different civilizations' frigate technologies."

"Does anyone here know how to fly any kind of frigate?" Lee asked. There was more silence. The commander sighed and asked, "Does anyone here know how to fly?"

"I do, sir," replied a marine.

"Can you learn to fly this?" asked Watson.

"Are there any instruction manuals?" the marine said. Watson and Lee looked franticly around the frigate looking for a manual. After a minute, Lee handed a datadisk to the marine.

"Read," Lee ordered. "We don't have much time."

"Alert. Self destructing in fifteen minutes, the computerized voice warned as if to verify what the commander said.


Meanwhile, the private shuttle had left the tunnel and was in another docking bay. The pilot of the shuttle was about to fly it through the docking bay's forcefield and into space and the fight between Johnson and the pirate chief was still going on. There was a slight bump as the shuttle crossed the forcefield and both the Deep Space Pirate Chief and Commander Johnson were knocked off their feet.

The pirate chief reached for the gun Johnson had dropped earlier. The commander also grabbed for the weapon. It was then that Johnson heard a voice over a transmission saying to the pilot, "Attention pirate vessel. You are approaching dangerously close to the United Grand Celestial Glory. Leave your current course and surrender to the LRR ships in the area or be destroyed for attempting to enter the command ship."

The transports fill up with pirates, and then pull away from the docking bay with nearly the entire pirate crew. The transports then head to a freighter converted into a pirate "colony" (very comfortable, just no way to make nuciances of themselves) and drop off the crew.

Aboard the pirate command ship, the marines hold off the stalkers very effectively, the gooey aliens having little to deal with a wall of plasma shot. However, time runs out quickly. At the ten minute mark, the marines start looking more than a bit apprehensive.

Then, as if on que, a Keith Moon class torpedo frigate, labeled LRRSV Quadrophenia 77 pulls into the docking bay.

A voice comes over their radios.

"Climb on!"

The 400 marines watch as a set of long cables extends from the left hull of the frigate, apparently part of a new add-on kit that can be welded to the hull.

The marines float out to the frigate and grab onto the cables. The Quadrophenia 77 then pulls away, headed towards a Robert Plant class carrier, outfitted to be a freighter.

A Hammer class corvette from the LRRSV Pure and Easy, one of the 10 EDF light cruisers, motors out towards the small pirate shuttle, carrying a squad of marines (10 troops), about half of its carrying capacity.

It keeps its twin light plasma cannons trained on the shuttle, wary of any surprises, as it attaches to the shuttle's hull. The marines climb out of the corvette and drift over to the shuttle's airlock.

Commander Monsta Truck, a robot from the 2nd battlefleet originally, bangs on the airlock door with the end of his plasma rifle.

The Stolen Frigate
"Are you done yet?" asked Commander Lee impatiently.

"Alert. Self destructing in ten minutes," the computerized voice said.

"Just give me a minute to read through this," the marine replied.

"We only have ten minutes to clear the area," explained Lee. "Most of the ship has already evacuated except for a few pirates - who are on their way out, I might add - and some LRR forces. There's some SAVXian troops on a few neighboring ships, but this ship is almost deserted now - except for the Stalkers, that is. Time is running out."

"Talking won't speed up my reading," said the marine who continued to read the manual. "I'm about half way through. I'll be done in five minutes without interruptions."

"Fine," Lee said. "Five minutes'll be enough if we rush."

OCC: Do you mind if I go after Gerald Adams?

IC:

Outside a small-town restaurant at the foot of the Nankan mountains, a regular-looking sedan carrying five men who looked like they were from the mountains stops in the parking lot.

The five men step out of the car, and then look around. Down the street, a trio of AMV futuretech variants armed with MPSWs make their way slowly down the road, led by an Ultra Eagle command car. The big AMVs each carry 15 troops inside.

Nankan police seal off the other possible escape routes for Mr. Adams while the LRRBI agents move in.

The back doors of the AMVs open, and a total of 45 troops climb out, and spread out along the column of vehicles.

The 5 LRRBI agents enter the restaurant, and spot Gerald Adams at a corner table, not too far from the back door.

The leader takes out his badge as the other four draw their Vz-61 SMGs and run towards professor Adams.

[OOC: I don't mind. There are a few parts of the plot that needs to advance before the surprise grand finale on another planet.]

The Private Shuttle
Commander Johnson managed to grab the gun before the Deep Space Pirate Chief. He raised the gun and was going to shoot his foe when the pirate vanished into thin air. He must have some personal cloaking device, thought Johnson. He could be anywhere by now. The commander looked around the room, looking for any trace of an invisible man.

The shuttle was about the size of a small frigate, not like a fighter. It could probably fit over a dozen people and had several rooms and an escape pod. Naturally, the leader of the Deep Space Pirates, like any other leader, would have wanted star accomidations. The pilot of the shuttle didn't even know that a fight was going on.

Johnson suddenly got a big cut on his arm. Someone was attacking him with an invisible knife! Fleeing, the commander looked for any way to escape from the shuttle. It was a trap going to the shuttle and he fell for it. However, the pirates had made a valuable error. The commander left to the engineering room....

"This might be worth taking."

"Looks pretty heavy."

"So? Nothing else on this ship looks particularly interesting. Take some nice pictures in case something goes wrong and we'll just keep the ship under our control for now until it can be taken."

"Alright. What about them?"

The Shadow motioned at the dead Stalkers, Pirates, and occasional Shadows.

"Eject the scum. We'll have a Las-Frigate incinerate them. Organize and identify the bodies of our bretheren. We'll make sure to hold a proper ceremony for them."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and get me Nirvez."

The Shadow ran off while the sergeant looked around. He stomped his foot onto a Pirate's head, crushing the skull and spewing mush in a short radius. A Shadow with a medium-range communicator walked over after another moment.

"Sir?"

"Contact the other squads. Tell them to remove friendly bodies and blow the ships. Also alert Command that we've aquired a ship with possible presents. We'll need it secured and taken care of soon...so that we can head back and get some celebratory drinks."

"Hehe. Of course, sir."

Within minutes, the Crash Pods on the other Pirate ships pulled off, with all Shadows, dead or alive, removed. Once at a safe distance, the explosive charges on each craft were detonated, turning the metallic forms into hot spheres of fire and slag.

The Stolen Frigate
The marine slammed the manual down to the floor and said, "This manual is too d*mn complex. I'll just have to figure out how to fly it as I go along."

"Are you sure you should?" asked Lieutenant Watson.

"What's the only alternative?" replied the frustrated marine.

"Alert. Self destructing in five minutes," the computerized voice warned, as if responding to the marine's question. It was clear. There was only one way out and it was through this frigate.

"Go ahead," Commander Lee said reluctantly. The marines went to the control pannel and started pressing buttons. A missile zipped across the hanger and into the wall.

"Whoops," commented the marine. "Wrong button." After a few experiments, the frigate managed to lift up off the ground. It flew through the hanger - if you could call it flying. The frigate went all over the place, hitting into walls, ships, and beams. The marine occasionally burst in saying, "They shouldn't have put that there," or "Who designed this thing?" Commander Lee sighed. Perhaps they wouldn't leave the pirate ship via the frigate....

Commander Truck continues pounding on the shuttle door.

"We might have to cut through. Bring up the cutters."

[OOC: I'll try to post again later today. However, you should get your troops away from the pirate mothership, which will self destruct in 5 minutes.]

[OOC: I'll try to post again later today. However, you should get your troops away from the pirate mothership, which will self destruct in 5 minutes.]

[OOC: Waiting for evacuation of pirate mothership before next RP post of mine... Big boom in five minutes RP time...]

The United Grand Celestial Glory
"Sir," an officer reported to Clark as he entered the bridge, "we're evacuating the pirate mothership. Apparantly they've set it on self destruct to get rid of the Stalkers."

"Good," replied the High Admiral.

"There's bad news though," said the officer. "Traders from outside of this solar system have been sighted. They're heading in this direction. I fear that the Stalkers could take over those unarmed ships."

The marines quickly move away from the self-destructing mothership. The fleet is soon clear of the area.

The Private Shuttle
Commander Johnson managed to find the escape pod. He got in it not a second too soon. As soon as the pod was launched, the pirate chief entered the engineering room. Looking around, he found that the escape pod had been launched. Thomas Johnson had escaped and outsmarted the pirates. However, the pirates prepared to rescue their infiltrator - something that could spark another incident....

The Stolen Frigate
"Alert. Self destructing in one minute," warned the computerized voice to the contents of the almost deserted pirate flagship. A few unfortunate pirates and hundreds of Stalkers were left onboard. The Nanakan marines were almost out of the ship. The stolen frigate dashed past empty ships in the docking bay. "Alert. Self destructing in thirty seconds."

The frigate left the docking bay and was clearing the area. "Alert. Self destructing in twenty seconds." The frigate was still dangerously close to the frigate. "Alert. Self destruct in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5..." The stolen frigate accellerated. "4... 3... 2... 1..." There was a big explosion. The force of the explosion damaged some nearby ships and knocked out the frigate's power. The Nanakan marines were stranded in space....

[OOC: Alright guys wassup, whats happening in this thread here?]

[Basic Summary: One Stalker pod survived the destruction. The dead Stalker was cloned and genetically modifided. The Stalkers escape the rogue scientist's lab (after a fight with Nanakan/LRR/SAVXian forces that broke into the lab). They take over a pirate ship and spread. Nanakan/LRR/SAVXian forces "help" the pirates fight the Stalkers. The pirate flagship is overwhelmed by Nanakan and Stalker forces (on separate fronts) and self destructs. That's all that happened - that plus many subplots. This RP is very lengthy for such a simple plot (the plot thickens very soon, perfect time for you to join).]

"Should we help?" Sage asked from his seat in the pilots chair.
"I did my part, I got revenge," Jack said.
"I didn't," Sage replied. then on the communicater. "Nanakaland, what do you want me to do?"