NationStates Jolt Archive

With the customary blue flash, yet a slightly distorted ripple, the New Dawn 03 Colony Fleet flashed out of the mysterious Nexus Flight at the rim of the Epsilon Pegasi system.

"Okay, lieutenant, plot a course for the Jump-Node. It's about damn time we get to use something besides that blasted Nexus Flight. No matter how much we use it, or how far we go, that stuff still gives me the heebies. Glad we're back to the good old stuff."

"Course plotted, sir."

"Good. Now, make contact with Klonor. Tell them.......... tell them the New Dawn has Risen!"

The pride can't be kept out of his voice, and when he finishes a cheer erupts from around the bridge and throughout the ship. The New Dawn 03, third ship of the Nexus class, was the first Klonor ship to breach the boundry of the known universe. They had traveled to the mysterious regions beyond the Jump-Node network, reaching the uncharted system of SR-2091 in a mere 30 minutes, a journey that would take 3 years at the usual speed of Sub-Space travel. 30 minutes to arrive in system, decades to found and build an independent colony. Finally, their task was done. SR-2091, now no longer merely a number on a star chart, was home to a self-sufficient colony of several million people. The New Dawn 03, its mission a success, was finally able to return home. Its crew, gone for decades, was finally able to soar among the stars of the home systems once again.

"Sir? We're not getting a response. The Beam Channels are clear and Pulse Radio is silent. In fact, there are barely even any MS signatures in the entire system. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know. Forget the Jump-Node, plot a course in system. Put us into an orbit over the ERC, maybe we can get in contact with one of the Magistrates."

"Yes, sir. Intra-system jump in 3........2.........1........Jumping........."

Again, the customary flash of blue, this time with the normal rippling effect, and the New Dawn 03 disappears into Sub-Space on a brief semi-second hop into a planetary orbit.

"Still no contact, sir. At all. No ship transponders. No civilian channels. Not even the Sub-Space Harbinger Connection."

"What the ***** is going on here? Scan the planet, has it been attacked?"

"No, sir. I'm reading damage to ships in the area, but the planet sems generally unharmed and the ships in good enough condition to still function. But they're all just dead in space."

"Scan the entire system. Tap into the Perimeter sensors if you have to, but find somebody!"

"Yes, sir."

The scans progress, yet bring back some very unexpected results

"Sir, the system is dead."

"WHAT?"

"Let me re-phrase. The space is dead. No ship traffic. It looks like everybody is stuck on the planets. No Klonor signals in the entire place."

"Dear God......... what happened?"

"Unknown, sir. We're expanding the search, trying to find anyone out there. Maybe there's a non-K ship that can tell us what's going on."

"Very well. Increase sensetivity 300%, if there's so much as a bio probe out there I want it found."

"Yes, si......... I have something! It's not Klonor, but it's definitely a ship. It's moving on an intercept course, and hailing."

"Well, hail it back! Open a freaking channel. Now, damnit!"

"Channel open, sir."

"Attention unidentified vessel, this is the GDNG New Dawn 03. Please identify yourself and state your purpose for being in a Klonor system."

He leans back, not quite sure if he wants to get a response.

OOC: Can I join?

The Federated Stellar Republics of Wormia
Chancellor George Thomas IV
View Wormian Starships Here (www.angelfire.com/stars5/karasitha/wships.html)
"Nations have only interests, no friends."

Had to fix my post :lol:

Definite TAG

OOC: You'd actually need to speak to Vernii or Taka abut that, ever since the Klonor government collapsed they're the ones in charge of the Epsilon Pegasi system.

"Unidentified ship" the Takian commander says, the Squallem's reptilian eyes locked into the view screen.

"you have tresspassed into Takian territory, stand all your weapons and shielding down and prepare to be boarded. . . your ship is now property of the Takian Empire, stand down, members of the former Klonorian Empire, your vessel, like all the other property of the now fallen empire, is under our control till we can find a time and place to redistrubite it, and reuinite you with whatever remaninders of your family may have survived."

"Contact! Vessel of Klonor design just came out of subspace." The tactical officer rattled off its coordinates, and a new light code appeared on the bridge holoplot of the Turbulent II class destroyer Lancer, with a designated range of two million kilometers. "Transponder reads as the colony ship New Dawn 03."

"Challenge them."

Audio-Visual Transmission
From: Lieutenant Commander Oles, VNS Lancer
~New Dawn 03, you are trespassing in Coalition space. You are ordered to shut down your engines and stand by to be boarded.

tag for post tomorrow

"Taka? What the hell are they doing in Epsilon Pegasi? What do they mean 'former Klonorian Empire?' Is the channel still open?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Recommence broadcast."

"Attention Takian vessel, we do not recognise your authority in Klonor Space. Power down your weapons and leave the system at once, or we shall be forced to contact the Sector Fleet to escort you out. You will stick to designated ES space lanes until you have left the system, and you will receive authorization from Deneb before re-entering the system. Klonor does not take kindly to aliens giving orders to its ships. End transmission."

"Channel closed, sir."

"Good. Send a query to Gamma Draconis, alert the Fleet that Takian ships are within Epsilon Pegasi borders. Maybe they can force them out."

"Yes, sir. Wait....... we're getting another hail. From a Vernii ship this time..........."

"Oh, shit. This day has gone straight down the toilet. Put the message over the speakers."

"Yes, sir."

New Dawn 03, you are trespassing in Coalition space. You are ordered to shut down your engines and stand by to be boarded.

"Coalition space? Trespassing? What the heck do they know that we don't? Send them the same message we sent the Takians. Then charge the Beam and Green Cannons. Whatever the hell's going on here, we sure as hell aren't going to die in our own backyard after surviving the Frontier."

"Sorry to break this to you fella, but your old government collapsed a few months ago, we stepped in and claimed this system to keep it from obliterating itself. I've got the logs from your own ships, should you like them, simply link up with any of the surviving Klonorian ships in the area. As for your fleet, it has scattered to the winds, and been divided amoung the bastard step children that your empire's death spawned."

"Sir, weapons powerup detected"

The squallem turned back to the viewscreen, visible fire in his eyes.

"If you do not stand down, this will be seen as an act of piracy, and you, along with all of your men, will be executed as pirates. Do I make myself clear?"

"Emissions just spiked sir, looks like they went to battle stations."

"Very well, load missile tubes and power up our energy mounts. Bring shields and point defence systems online."

The Lancer's power output rose dramatically as it brought all it's combat systems online.

The Captain leans forward, putting his head in his hand. He did not survive 20 years in the Frontier to come back to this

"Re-open the Takian channel. I don't know what this guy is riding on, but we sure as hell are going to take his buzz out from under him."

"Open, sir."

"Listen to me you little ****. This is Klonor territory. I am on a Klonor vessel. You have no authority, or even a right, to give orders within this system. Now, you will stand down or your actions will be seen as an act of piracy, and your crew shall be taken into custody and dealt with. Do I make myself clear? Because if I don't, I have several large objects on my hull that could do it for me."

"what did he call me?!" the squallem bellowed, looking at his coms officer in disbelife.

"I think he called you. . . ."

"Shut up! All hand prepare for enemy contacts, boarding parties, prepare for boarding actions. . . . listen you arrogant sack of avian phlem, I'm going to enjoy personaly aquanting you to the Arbiter of this system. . . assuming of course that I do'nt simply rip your innerds out and strangle you with them."

"Sir, slicers charged and prepared for volley, all weapons online and marines are beginging to report in, we are currently at 80% combat readiness, 100% in mark one minute and counting."

"Prepare all weapons systems, lock onto that ship, and reduce it to slag, all shields on full? Bring the system harbinger cannon online and lock on. . . Captain of former empire vessel, this is your last chance to stand down. . . if you do not comply, then may whatever god you hold dear have mercy upon you, for we will not."

"Oy, what an idiot. Lieutenant, threat asessment?"

"What threat asessment? There isn't even a threat there to asess."

"Pretty much what I thought. That's what you always get with these big talkers, so much hot air you could raise the Titanic. What's our status?"

"The ship is combat ready, the BFGreen and Beam Cannons are charged, the Laser Turrets are readied, the Missile Towers are loaded, and the Flak Guns are prepped. The rest of the Fleet is standing by, they can be here in 5 minutes if need be."

"Excellent news. But keep the Fleet away for now, they've been through enough (it's not easy to transport and guard over 1 million people for several decades). Open a Sub-Space Node towards Gamma Draconis, contact the Space Corps and have them get their asses over here. Tell them we have a few pests that need swatting."

"Yes, sir. Node open, transmission sent."

"Good, now give me an open channel to those two ships."

"Open, sir."

"Attention vessels, this is your final warning. We have contacted the Klonor Space Corps and the 2'nd Fleet should be arriving momentarily. Leave Klonor territory at once. End transmission."

"That's it. Link us up with one of the system FTL coms, priority Alpha. Target transmission to Formidable. Begin transmission: Renegade Klonor vessel has violated Coalition space, assumed hostile posture, engagement probable. End transmission. Download a copy of our sensor scans to attach to the transmission and send it."

"Klonor vessel, this is your last warning. Shut down engines and weapons systems and prepare to be boarded. There is no such thing as Klonor space anymore, your government no longer exists."
**
"What's this?" Admiral McKinley, commanding officer of the Verniian Epsilon Pegasi Occupation Fleet, asked as the message was handed to him.

"The Lancer and a Takan cruiser have encountered a rogue Klonor ship that has intruded into the system." his aide replied. McKinley read it, then crumpled it up. "Tell them reinforcements are on the way."

Above the fifth world of Epsilon Pegasi, three Triumphant A battleships and their attendant escorts broke orbit, moving slowly onto a new course and ponderously accelerating toward the far away standoff.

"No such thing as Klonor anymore? What, was there another revolution? I swear, there's like a new government every other week (Of course it usually does go back to the Duke). Are the ships still out there?"

"Yes, sir."

"Didn't I just tell them to buzz off? Nevermind, re-open the channel."

"Open, sir."

"Unless I'm mistaken, it was you who just received a final warning. Unless you have something new to add, besides just saying 'your government no longer exists' over and over again, I'd suggest you vacate the vicinty. Now"

"Since it appears you refuse to listen to logic, then it appears I will have to use a language you primatives understand. . ." The captain said, closing the coms channel.

"Captain, a bit of advice, we haven't seen this type of ship before, it could be matched to our capabilities, or possibly excede them. . ."

"possible, but unlikely, signal the Vernii ship, and call in any other peacekeepers in the area. . . let's finish this quickly and as painlessly as possible. . . for our side anyways. All hands, prepare for contact, open fire on my mark, standard initial volley. . . three, two, one. . . mark!"

The ship shuddered as the nova cannon belches forth its destructive charge, the ship gunning sublights and firing a volley of torpedeos before swinging slowly in space, moving to present it's broadside. 11 slicer cannons mounted across the bottom move to target, matched above by row upon row of plasma lances, essentialy smaller version of the nova cannon, minus the takatanium charge. Each fires, sending a stream of destruction 30 feet wide from the slicers, and smaller traces of red plasma fire from the lances. . . a river of light against the inky darkness.

((OOC:

Initial volley

1 nova cannon
11 slicer cannons
50 plasma lances
100 takatanium torpedeos
105 fusion torpedeos

))

"Always with the violence. Honestly, what a sad day we live in when military ships attack a colony vessel for no reason. Shots status?"

"Impact in 3 minutes, sir."

"All hands, get to impact stations. Net braces at full elasticity. Prepare for energy and physical attack. Captain out."

Turning back to the sensor station he traces the lines, analysing the incoming weaponry

"Okay, I'd say the biggest threats would be the Fusion torpedoes. No heat resistance on these ships. Honestly, who would have thought we'd need it in space? Transfer all shield energy to the projected impact zones."

"All the shields? Sir, is that wise?"

"Just do it. The armor can handle the rest of this junk."

"Yes, sir. Transferring energy."

The Fusion Torpedoes slam into the reinforced shields, flame bursting out and rolling over the hull (Well, it's not actually flame since we're in space). The outer break-away armor begins to boil, melting and sliding apart. Fortunately, the break-away armor can do just what its name describes, detaching from the hull and drifting away.

Since me and Taka have been talking about this for a couple hours on AIM (and because it's very late here) I'm just going to list the rest of the damage.

The slicers slice off 10 meter thick strips of the break-away armor yet are stopped by the energy absorbtion armor, the Takatanium Torpedoes (mainly ineffective since things are EMP shielded even now) brittle up the break-away armor which then detaches from the ship, and the Lances impact the break-away armor (which blocks them, since that what they're designed to do).

"That's it? They spend all that time blustering, and that's all they do? Jesus Christ, how the hell have they survived so far? Weapons, what's the status?"

"We have 3 laser Turrets and 6 Flak Guns off-line sir, I'd say it was the Fusion Torpedoes."

"No matter. Target the Beams."

"Targeted, sir."

"Blow it to hell."

"Yes, sir."

OOC:

Weaponry fired:

2 BFGreen Beam Cannons :twisted:
5 Heavy Beam Cannons
45 Laser Turrets

Well, since we allready kind of sent a probe there, any chance we could pop in for a little RP?

"Well, that settles it. Open fire."

The destroyer snapped around to present it's broadside and fired off a salvo of seven missiles. They coasted onward, and the destroyer rolled to present it's other broadside. Another seven missiles were launched, and together the fourteen activated their impeller drives and hurtled toward the colony ship. The ship's single broadside mounted 90cm laser activated, concentrating its energy upon a single point on the enemy ship's shields.

"Reload next salvo with fusion warheads."

OOC: The missiles are the type I've mentioned to you before Klonor, bomb -pumped lasers with an attack range of 20,000 kilometers. Dargonese, when did you put a probe into the system, and what's your government's position on the Coalition occupation?

The hospital carrier LRRSV Graham Nash watches as the battle unfolds from a safe distance, flanked by a pair of battlecruisers and their destroyer "minions." Various freighters also

"Quite a potential for destruction here."
"Yeah."
"Wanna do something?"
"I don't know. If they really start killing eachother we will intervene."
"I think they're all overreacting."
"Attention all ships, you are endangering an LRRSF civil engineering mission on Epsilion Pegasi, which the Takans and Valinor already know about but you Klonorians don't. Also, why don't you all please stop shooting and talk things over before somebody gets killed!"

"Predictable" the Squallem said, watching the archs of energy come towards them.

"sheilds?"

"Up and ready sir, all hands braced and firecrews ready. . . impact in three, two, one. . . "

************************************************************

The heavy beam cannons struck first, followed closly by the BFGreen cannons, the shield generators onboard vaporising by the massive influx of energy. The shields flared, kept up only by the constant stream of energy being conducted through them, the one design feature allowing the old absorbtion shields to avoid being scrapped. The laser turrets struck next, following the shields around, forming a ball of energy around the ship's massive hull. Flickers of light hailed the death of the shield, and as energy slowly leached into space, the undamaged hull of the ship was once more made visable.

Broadsides were presented, and as weapons engeneers struggled keep the guns running, firecrews battled inferno blazes in the shield rooms, despratly fighting against plasma furnaces, as the shield generators overloaded far too much, far too fast. Even as temprature begins to rise noticibly in the weapons rooms, crews work desprately to lock and fire, sending an initial volley ripping through space as a wave, followed by intersparced shots, creating an ever flowing cascade of fire, targeting the enemy ship's flack guns first, while slicers and lances targeted the larger weaponry, the torps converging on the pock marked sections of hulling, seeking to widen the wounds inflicted in the first volley.

(( volley consists of
2280 high powered lasers
760 railguns
760 plasma cannons
110 fusion torps
11 slicer cannons
50 plasma lances,

what happened to my nova cannon round that I fired right off the bat?

))

OOC: I think Dargonese means the probe he sent to Regulus during the DRA's invasion

This post (which I started writing before Taka posted the post above this one) only deals with Vernii and his latest post, not Taka's post above this one.

Oh, yeah. I also didn't post damage to the Taka's Nova Cannon which I'll do now.

The Nova impacts the unshielded hull (do the idiot captain transfering all the shields to cover a small area) with the customary anti-matter explosion. The break-away armor, designed to defend against smallish physical objects, is blasted to pieces and the energy absorbtion armor, designed to handle energy in small doses (such as individual lasers), is overloaded and stops working. The collapsed-core molybdenum sheathing beneath the two outer layers is shredded and the hull breached, a rather large hole appearing on the side of the ship. Fortunately, due the almost common use of Harbinger Warheads, Klonor ship hulls are designed to withstand such large scale explosions. The way its designed funnels the explosion into a rather small area, intensifying the explosion yet preventing ship-wide devestation. Figure several hundreds dead and 10-12 Laser Turrets off-line.

IC:

"What, more missiles? Do these guys have a death wish or something? Once the Fleet arrives they'll be sliced to pieces faster than self slicing bread. What is the Fleets ETA?"

"Standard response time from GD....... I'd put their arrival at 37 minutes."

"Okay. What's the status on the missiles?"

"Impact in appro........ wait a sec. We're reading massive explosions..... now an energy build-up........... oh ****."

"Lemme guess, they didn't just blow up very far away?"

"No, sir. It looks like the explosions were the energy charge, I'm reading 14 massive energy incoming enery shots."

"Location? For the love of God tell me it isn't where the Fuison Torpedoes impacted"

"It isn't, sir. It looks like they're make contact with the strips from the Slicers."

"Okay, then. No problems here (gotta love that energy absorbtion armor). I want you to re-target the energy destination, send it to the shields instead of the weapons. That should handle these things quite nicely."

"Yes, sir."

The nuclear explosion charged lasers slam into the hull, essentially defeating themselves. Easily penetrating the originally weak shields, they slam into the energy absorbtion armor. The absorbed energy is then funneled back into the shields, which weakens the shots still coming in (since even the EA armor has a limit). With the completion of the attack, the New Dawn is practically unharmed (3 Absorbtion Panels have been taken off-line, but that's pretty darn little damage for such an attack)

"Okay, now let's deal with these people. What our fighter stock?"

"Pretty small. We left the majority back at the Colony."

"What's left?"

"A few Perseus Interceptor's, some Hercules Mk 2 Heavy Assault Fighter's, a pair of Myrmidon Space Superiority Fighter, and a wing of Ursa Heavy Assault Bombers."

"That should do. Get the Ursa's into the void, fully loaded. Have them blow it back to Sol."

"They aren't even listening."

The bridge crew aboard the Nash ponders what to do. The battlecruisers release their destroyers, being too much work. The escort vessels hyperspace away to a nearby port to get some repairs and drop off cargo.

"Attention Klonor ships, please stop firing. Your battle with the Takans is impeding an LRRSF humanitarian mission!"

"Attention LRR vessel, you have no right to be in the Epsilon Pegasi system. A humanitarian mission is not required (they assume so since they haven't been informed of one). Vacate this system at once, or we shall be forced to force you."

...

"Besides, they attacked us."

The Lancer fired off another volley of fourteen missiles, this time each carrying a twenty megaton warhead.

The destroyer's eight point defence lasers engaged the incoming fighters, and counter-missiles began racing out to meet them suicidally.

"They are engaging the Ursa's, sir. Probability for survival until z-point is .05%. They're not going to make it to the ship."

"No matter. Transmit Signal S, then initiate RG Maneuvers."

"Yes, sir."

The Ursa's, to busy dashing this way and that to make and progress towards the ship, activate their Intra-System Sub-Space Drives and launch into the mysterious n-dimensional space towards the edge of the system. The New Dawn, rotating in space to present its topside to the Vernii ship, targets its Rail Gun weaponry (unused up to this point)

"Swiss cheese 'em."

The numerous Rail Guans all rotate and fire, speeding many metallic items along the wings of Death.

"The idiots!"
"Please, you have not been informed of the situation! You have no idea of the special circumstances in play here! You obviously are not aware of the fact that your government died and the Klonor empire is no more! Now stop firing and let us explain!"

The small division grows exceedingly agitated at the combat. The battlecruisers shepard the hospital vessels, transports, and more lightly armed battlefreighters between their two armored bulks.

OOC: I think Dargonese means the probe he sent to Regulus during the DRA's invasion
"

Thats the one.

Tag, not for participating, but because my internal news agencies are following the story. (Also, the government is a little worried about military activity so close to Mindsettian space, especially since the dismantlement of the majority of our space fleet in favour of planet-to-planet wormhole technology.)

"And you are obviously unaware of the ludicrousness of your statement. To even think that the goverment has fallen is stupidity. The Duchy has stood for centuries, the Duke has even been killed before! Now, unless you can provide proof for your reasons for being here, leave at once or we shall be forced to throw you out!"

"And you are obviously unaware of the ludicrousness of your statement. To even think that the goverment has fallen is stupidity. The Duchy has stood for centuries, the Duke has even been killed before! Now, unless you can provide proof for your reasons for being here, leave at once or we shall be forced to throw you out!"

"F*CK YOU! F*CK YOU ALL!!!!!!"

A lieutenant walks up to the captain.

"Sir, mabye you should take this."

The lieutenant hands him a glass of his favorite grapefruit juice.

"Thankyou. Anyway, yeah its true! Now stop and let us explain before more people die!"

"What, are you high or something? They're attacking us! They are the ones doing the killing! Talk to them if you want this to stop, because they're the ones who can end it (referring to not ending it by blowing everything up)."

"What, are you high or something? They're attacking us! They are the ones doing the killing! Talk to them if you want this to stop, because they're the ones who can end it (referring to not ending it by blowing everything up)."

"Ok, ok. EVERYONE, stop shooting so we can explain the situation! Or we will blow up the sun!!!!!"
"That's a shallow threat if I ever heard one."
"And you're all welcome to come over to the Nash to talk things over."

"Bloody hell!" the Takian commander bellowed, his scaled face being pushed nearly nose to lense as he glares at the Klonorian. "You threatened to fire first, without waiting for an explaination, we offered you a chance to tap into the databanks to see for yourself what happened, but rather than take a diplomatic approach, you charged weapons! Was I supposed to let you threaten my crew and my ship in the hopes you neanderthals would listen to logic? Garhsk Nalluk trssst. . ." he hisses "you humans are all alike, arrogant, short lived, weaklings. You started this mess, and now you wish to place the blame for your death in the hands of other? Accept what you've started, pink fleshed one, or I shall be forced to releace the Berzerkers."

"We started this? Are you insane? Perhaps you'd like to listen to your first transmission to this ship."


"You have tresspassed into Takian territory, stand all your weapons and shielding down and prepare to be boarded. . . your ship is now property of the Takian Empire, stand down, members of the former Klonorian Empire, your vessel, like all the other property of the now fallen empire, is under our control till we can find a time and place to redistrubite it, and reuinite you with whatever remaninders of your family may have survived."

"Unless I'm mistaken, you claimed our ship as your own and stated a will to capture this vessel. How is that our fault?"

"standard opperating procedure is to assure your ship is not a threat in our territory, you of all people should have been well aware that making an unschedualed jump into a forgine territory would have cost you some time, though you should note, we specificly said we would not hurt you, and would assure you were reunited with your family and loved ones. Now stand down your weapons, I will not ask again. . ."

"Sir, the fleet from Gamma Draconis is long overdue. We haven't even received a signal from the base. Maybe there's some truth to what these people are saying."

"It doesn't matter. Signal the Colony Combat Fleet, have them jump in. Let's end this thing. Now!"

"Yes, sir."

A Sub-Space transmission is sent out to the Combat Fleet hovering just outside the system, commanding the task force to immediete action.

Mere seconds later the space around the New Dawn ripples and flares, dozens of ships launching out of Sub-Space and taking up position around the New Dawn.

"Re-open the channel to the other ships."

"Open, sir."

"As I said, we will not bow to your orders. You see now the First Colony Combat Fleet, a fleet of sufficient power to end this fight in mere seconds. Now, you will power down your weapons at once and cease all hostile actions. If you like negotiations may be held afterwards, but not until your ships cease all hostile actions. Or do I give the order to my fleet?"

(OOC: Got permission from Vernii to join in)

Captain Allison Trenton listened to her Chief Engineer with unbreakable calmness, that calm was merely an outer layer however, in the inside, Captain Senior Grade Trenton was worried.

"So thats the situation Captain. We have absolutely no choice but to drop out of hyper in the next three hours. Otherwise, we are going to lose alpha-node Baker-Three." Chief Engineer Harold Tschu explained.

And there truly was no other choice. If the Sorcerer lost one of its alpha nodes while in hyper, its warsawski sail would fail and the gravitic currents would rip the ship apart. So the only option would be to drop out of hyper, shut down the wedge and either repair the alpha-node on the spot or request repair assistance from home. Either way it would take time and they would certainly miss their rendzervous with Task Fleet 1.1 in the Orion Sector because of this.

It was still difficult for Trenton to understand this issue. The Righteous Fury-class Fleet Carrier Sorcerer was a brand new ship, a mere four weeks old. Alpha-nodes were supposed to be capable of holding out for twelve to sixteen months before requiring even an overhaul, the Sorcerers had began screwing up in three weeks.

There was however an explanation to this, Trenton mused. The Clairmont Space Navy was in such a rapid phase of naval buildup that ships were being produced faster than they could be crewed. Final inspections werent allways too well executed and acceptance trials needed to be accelerated, no-one simply had noticed the flawed Alpha-node that Sorcerer had received.

And now it was hitting back at the ships crew, and in the most dangerous place of all.

"All right, we will drop out of hyper and then see what we can do. Sarah, what would be a good spot for us to drop out of hyper for a while?." Trenton asked the astrogator.

"The best and pretty much the only place would be the Epsilon Pegasi system. We are close to it, and navigationally it is the easiest place to drop out to and continue on and request assistance from Fleet Central if need be." The woman answered.

"Epsilon Pegasi it is then." The Captain answered and her command staff leaved the briefing room for their tasks.

=============================================

2 Hours 11 Minutes later

In the void of space, three vessels popped to existance, dropping "down" from the realm of Hyperspace to Normal-Space, right on the edge of the Epsilon Pegasi system. The warsawski sails, circular disks of gravitic energy, crackled blue lightning as they bled off energy channeled into them from the transit back to normal-space.

The massive Righteous Fury-class Fleet Carrier stood in the middle of the tree ship formation, with a Warlord-class Battlecruiser on her port and starboard sides. The three ships did not move, they simply held their position in silence.

"all hands, prepare for combat jump, hail the remaining fleet. . . Emperor. . . why do they always insist on winning? How long till the rest of the fleet can arive?"

"ETA in three hours. . . suggestions?"

"Stall, open coms link."

"Open sir, we are transmiting."

The captain stepped towards projector, fire blazing in his eyes.

"I see you've brough friends. . . and I will not throw the life of my crew away in vain, if you are willing to talk, then I, for one, and likely Vernii and LRR will be willing to come to a negotiations table to settle this once and for all, as well as to work out reparations for your attacks against us. We invite you and your officers aboard our ship, or are willing to take a contengent to your ship, though we recomend using a neautral vessel in system"

"Our vessel has sustained minor damage (stress the minor) and will be docking with the Ganybede MD for the forseeable future. Thus, it will be unable of further hostile actions. It then stands to reason that it will be the most obvious choice for a meeting place, due to its inability to defend itself (since my side then wont try to do anything to whatever diplomats you send)."

He pauses for a second, the continues

"And unless I am mistaken, we should be demanding reparations from you. You attacked us, not the reverse."

"You tresspassed in Coalition territory, you did not comply with our requests to assure you safe transit, and you beligerntly attacked a Takian ship with intent to kill, the final is a capital offence in Takian law, and as the nation you fight for has been toppled, you are little more than pirates in the eyes of international law. We will sort this out, but do note, I will not leave untill you have recieved just punishment under law."

He walked to his bunk, leaving the bridge in full view of the coms, before heading to the docking bay, combat fatigues on under dress armor. He strapped his katana to his side and strode out, being met by a pair of Imperial Guard, also Squallem.

"gentlemen, is my shuttle ready?"

They nodded in reply,

"then load our special cargo under the floor boards. . . if things turn ugly I want a contingency plan."

They nodded solemly as he headed to the large shuttle, a trio of tubes, a single window on each radiating blue light as the occupants went through level one and two defrost.

They were wheeled in and stowed in the second level, extra armor assuring protection to VIPs, it would now provide protection should they some how escape containment.

One of the sensor nets deployed in the system by the Verniian fleet caught the hyper transit of the Clairmont warships. A few hours later the signals were received by the fleet's flagship.

"Sir, outer sensors have detected another hyper footprint."
"Well of course there are, Lieutenant! There's an entire Klonorian fleet out there."
"Err..Sir, these aren't Klonorian. They just got IDed as units of the Clairmont Space Navy."
"What the hell is the CSN doing here?! Bah, just find out what they are here for."

[code:1:aacaa8e560]Transmission Origin: VNS Formidable
Units of the Clairmont Space Navy, you have strayed into Coalition territory. Please state your intentions immediately.[/code:1:aacaa8e560]


[code:1:aacaa8e560]Tranmission Origin: VNS Formidable
To: New Dawn 03
Rear Admiral Deville will come aboard to discuss the situation.[/code:1:aacaa8e560]

Over the planet, a single ship broke orbit. A sleek Imperious class battlecruiser, the VNS Charlemagne. It brought it's acceleration up to a leisurely 360 Gs toward the New Dawn.

[code:1:8a2a939e7e]Transmission Origin: GDN New Dawn 03
To: VNS Formidable
We eagerly await the Rear Admiral's arrival. Please land in docking bay 2 (see attached map) along the forward sections.[/code:1:8a2a939e7e]

A rather large Sub-Space node appears in space, (relatively) close to the New Dawn. Out shoots the Vulcan, a Ganymede class Mobile Dock assigned to the New Dawn 03 colony fleet. The massive structure move through space, nearing the New Dawn and docking along the inside. Slowly, the massive framework along the sides unfolds and begins to work on the damaged hull, repairing the minor damage received in the fight.

The Takian shuttle gracefully lifts inside the hanger, doors closeing as airshields kick into life aroudn the oeping hanger doors. It flys out and towards the New Dawn, diplomat becons clearly marking it as it traced through aethral darkness to the waiting repair station.

"Captain, we've got a request for our intentions from a Vernii vessel."
The comms officer reported as she read the message from her screen.

"Put it on my screen Lieutenant."
Stanton looked at the message on her armrest data-screen and pondered the situation. She had hoped that they could be in an out before they would be noticed, it would have been the easiest way to solve her problem. But she never had held any serious hope for that scenario.

"Record message back to the Formidable Lieutenant."

[code:1:7510ab67de]
From: HMS Sorcerer, Captain Hannah Stanton
To: VNS Formidable

We apologize for our trespassing but our ship is riding on red with an alpha node and we cant proceed back to hyper before we fix it enough to make it to dock. [/code:1:7510ab67de]

"Sir, new ship signatures detected!"

"Well, duh. We did just bring in the Combat Fleet"

"No, sir. Other ship signatures detected."

"Oh. Class and loyalty?"

"Unknow, sir. They're not in our databanks (I don't think we've interacted before this, but I might be wrong. I have a very bad memory) and their sizes don't match any known vessels. Orders?"

"Open a hailing channel, I want to know who the hell these guys are. This day has had to many surprises already."

OOC: Hey, Klonor here. Well, at least Klonor's owner. I'm going to be using this nation to post in this thread from now on, since I'm going to start RP'ing with SR-2091 as a nation and the New Dawn 03 is an SR-2091 ship.

It was just her luck. She had hoped to drop out of hyper for a brief moment to get the alpha node working again and then get back out before being noticed. Ofcourse what she had hoped had absolutely no effect on what would really happen. The reconnaissance drones and gravitic sensors had indicated that there were ships from three different nationalities here, and in quite large numbers.

It hadnt been more than ten minutes before they were allready challenged by the VNS Formidable. Stanton had told them about their engineering problems and hopefully, that was settled with that, but now they were once again called upon, this time it was a Klonor Colony Fleet vessel, how wonderfull.

Captain Stanton let out an inner sigh and spoke her business.

::::::Klonor vessel, we are a Clairmont Space Navy Fleet Carrier and our escorts. Our appereance to this system is merely because of an engineering problem which forced us to drop out of hyper until repairs could be executed.::::::

She finished and glanced at the holographic tactical plot. The three large green diamonds representing the Fleet Carrier and the two Battlecruisers were now surrounded by four formations of six smaller icons of Strike Fighters.

Stanton hoped that the deployment of those fighters wouldnt act as a provocation towards anyone present in this little play.

So! any chance of Dargonese poking there heads in? or you got enough heads for this rp?

OOC: Dargonese, I'm fine with it. As long as nobody else has any problems you're in

IC:

"An engineering problem? Just as they happen to pass by EP at the same time those two jacasses start shooting? I don't think so. This reeks of a trap. Keep the Fleet ready, I want to be prepared for anything...... Oh, and find out why the hell Gamma Draconis hasn't responded."

[code:1:daf5b09545]Attention Clairmont Space Navy Fleet Carrier and escorts, you have leave to repair in the Epsilon Pegasi system, but you must vacate as soon as repairs are completed. Failure to do so shall result in a military response. Do you understand?[/code:1:daf5b09545]

Stanton read the message from her screen and gringed. It appeared that they wanted her and her ships gone from here as soon as possible. Well Stanton would be happy to oblige, she was needed in Orion Sector and the longer she stayed here the longer Rear Admiral Theisman would have to wait for his Strike Fighters.

"Captain, i have the survey from the node." Chief Engineer Killian told her from behind her seat.

She turned to face the man and saw the edge of uneasiness on that face, and she asked.
"How bad is it?"

The engineer swallowed and took another look at the datapad he held.
"Bad ma'am. It could be worse, the node can still be fixed to the state that we can make a short hop in hyper, but we need a repair ship in here. We simply dont have the spares and equipment to do this extensive repairs outside the hull."

Stanton did the math. They needed a repair ship, the nearest one was back at Sol and it would take atleast a day for that one to get here, and then atleast another day and a half to do the repairs. And that didnt account for the fact that she would need to dispatch one of her Battlecruisers to deliver the message to Sol. She turned to the comms officer.

"Tell the Spearhead that she is to vacate immidietly and return to Sol and request a repair ship here."

The comms officer obliged and it didnt take longer than five minutes for one of the Battlecruisers to jump back to hyper and head to Sol. Stanton knew that Captain Oliviera was uneasy in leaving the Sorcerer here with only a single Battlecruiser as escort but there was no choice, for small-craft like Strike Fighters and Pinnaces werent hyper capable, and the grav pulse transmitter that was FTL, was only effective inside a solar system or at (relatively) short ranges.

Stanton hoped that this wouldnt turn into an incident. Obviously there had been a fight in here just as she dropped in, and both sides must be pretty suspicious towards her. At this time the Protectorate really couldnt afford any incidents like a military skirmish. Oh, she knew she could hurt anyone who decided to attack her. Afterall, she had one hundred and fifty strike fighters at her disposal and FRAM's and Graser packs available for all of them, and she had a single Warlord-class Battlecruiser, altough in the end Murphy's Law as well as sheer numbers would propably screw her up.

She ditched those thoughts, she really didnt want a fight, but as she had noticed in the past three days, the universe didnt work like she allways hoped.

Direct Beam Transmission: Gamma Draconis Military Consortium
Transmission Origin: Grand Duke's Colony Vessel New Dawn 03

Attention Supreme General Yunger Keane, what the hell are you doing? There is an extremely hostile military presence in the Epsilon Pegasi system, and you do nothing. We have so far encountered two independent hostiles, as well as a third nation claiming neutrality. They are making extraoirdinary claims and demands, and have already undertaken an attack upon this vessel. We demand your response. Now.

We request the use of the 4'th Battle Fleet, as well as the Colossus if it can be spared. The RvB Marines are also required, as the forces seem to be rather entrenched in the system. We must not allow these aliens to continue to maintain control of the most important system in the Klonor Empire. New Dawn out.

Direct Beam Transmission: Grand Duke's Colony Vessel New Dawn 03
Transmission Origin: Gamma Draconis Military Consortium

Uh, are you completely braindead? Do have no idea what the hell is going on? Listen very closely: The Duke is dead! He's been dead for weeks. The Klonor Empire has collapsed. Deneb has been conquered, and Epsilon Pegasi is pretty damn close. Didn't you know any of this?

OOC: Getting kinda wierd RP'ing with myself. Aren't there other people involved here?

IC:

The comm officer just sat there for a bit, his mouth hanging open.

"Sir? I think the GD comm officer has gone insane. He's babbling the same story that these guys have been spewing."

"Oh hell. We'll straighten this out later. First lets deal with these assholes, then we'll move on to Gamma Draconis."

((OOC: I'm here, waiting for you to accept my shuttle onto your ship))

OOC: :oops: Whoops, sorry :oops:

IC:

The docking bay doors open.

"Come aboard!"

Rear Admiral Deville stared out the pinnace's port viewport as it came in on it's final manuevers for docking to the New Dawn.

"New Dawn, this is pinnace Charlemagne One requesting permission to dock."

OOC: Clairmont, are you going to respond to that last TG I sent you?

"CharlemagneOne, this is New Dawn docking control. You have permission to dock."

The (other) docking bay doors begin to slide open, revealing the massive maw of the docking bays.

The Takian shuttle cruises in gracefully, landing without incident. In the armored bay below, the berzerkers finish phase one of thaw, and stop, phase two on standbye, prepared for any sign of trechery. The Squallem and an honorguard of his fellows step out, crystal swords hanging at thier sides, curved in the form of traditional kris blades.

"I would hope that your Admiral is more open minded this time"

the captain said to the greeting party, following them into the belly of the ship.

"I would had to have such a simple matter blow any further out of preportion than that arrogant ass has already done."

"Looks like a clairmont carrier group."
"Why are they here?"
"I don't know....wait....looks like repairs to their hyperspace system."
"Clairmont vessel....er.....vessels, do you require maintainance assistance?"

LRR ships, designed to go out on long cruises, are their own repair ships.

One of the Robert Plant carriers/freighters with the group actually was a repair ship, the giant gripper arms on the sides of the ship designed to manipulate frigates.

"Arrogant ass? Unless I'm mistaken its impolite to make ridiculous and baseless accusations on board another persons ship. Jackass."

The New Dawn's Captain walks forward, extending his hand in an attempt at courtesy.

"If you will follow me, we shall meet the Vernii delegation and can begin to sort this out."

Off to the side: "Watch those soldiers, if they get hostile have the MBC's slice them to pieces."

The pinnace docked, and Deville and four bodyguards stepped out of the airlock. Deville pulled his cap off and tucked it underneath his arm, and stood there waiting for a guide.

The Captain and entourage enter the docking bay, walking up the the Vernii captain.

"Greetings, sir. Welcome aboard the New Dawn 03. I would like to introduce the distinguished representative from Taka. If you would both follow me."

Deville nods in acknowledgement. "Very well, lead the way Captain."

OOC: Just in case it comes up later, each of the bodyguards wears a light bulletproof vest and is equipped with a heavy pulser in a side holster. Deville is also armed, but with a light pulser, also in a holster.

The Captain leads the way to the center of the "City", passing by numerous civilians who eye the aliens quite fiercely.

"You'll have to forgive them, they don't take kindly to being pointlessly attacked"

Reaching the heart of the colony portion of the vessel the men enter what passes for City Hall, the building dedicated to the running of the Colonials and making sure that they don't screw up the ship.

"Now, who would like to tell me just what the hell is going on?

"Well, for starters, it's obvious your ship is out of date with current events. The Klonor Empire's central government has disintegrated. Systems reverted to local government control. The elven world of this system launched an attack on the human world, and the two became embroiled in a civil war. My nation, the Star Empire of Valinon, and the Imperial Principality of Taka stepped in to occupy the system, to protect it from itself. Naturally, when your ship shows up and begins demanding our withdrawl from the system, it was treated as a potential hostile."

"Right, and you got a ride here from old Sint Klauss on his magical donkey (FYI: Sint Klauss is the original name for Santa Claus, our common pronunciation is a distortion of the original). Do you actually expect me to believe this?"

He steps forward

"The Duchy has stood for generations and bested the best this Galaxy had to offer. Do you expect me to accept that it has died in a matter of decades?"

"Not decades Captain, all in one instant. According to NavInt, Harbringer warheads on many Klonorian ships detonated, destroying or badly damaging them. The Duke is dead along with most of his government from what we can tell. When we took over Epsilon Pegasi, NavInt teams scrutinized the system's communication logs. They noticed the instant loss of contact with many officials all at once."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiight, and we're supposed to just take your word for this? hell, for all I know you could be in the middle of a war with Klonor right now. Unless you have some proof of this, I suggest you start telling me something believable."

"Well, I have no proof on my person right now, but I'm sure a data exchange could be arranged."

"The same data exchange we offered you when you first entered the system and refused to power down your weapons. Had you not jumped into a system that just days before was in the middle of a pitched battle between the elves and the humans, then we would not have been as on edge, however, your arrogance and your refusal to acknoledge that your empire is not invulnerable. . . but, like all humans *he spits the word as if it were derogatory*. . . you don't even consider the possibility that your precious nation could ever be wrong."

"Well, let's look at Klonor history. We've kicked the crap out of everybody we've ever faced, and have never even once been defeated. Not even when Dozle was coming after us, and unless I'm mistaken he trashed the two of you pretty good (This guy's been gone for so long that's still "fresh news" to him)."

He stops for a second, trying a new line of discussion

"So, you claim that the Klonor Empire has fallen. That the Duke is dead and that everything he ran is gone. What about the rest of the Empire? You have yet to mention Regulus, or Deneb, or Tau Ceti, or even Ross128 (he avoids mentioning Gamma Drconis since they seem to be saying the same thing as these people). What are they up to? I'm sure they're not just sitting quietly. Either bring us some proof of what you say (he'd be willing to allow you to go back to your ships for video projectors or whatever) or put us in contact with somebody who doesn't already have a death mark on their head (Attacking a Klonor ships has the added bonus of having a contract of 500,000 florens being instantly put on your head. Unfortunately, this was a function of the Klonor government)

"Well, the Regulus Autocracy was recently absorbed by the DRA, which is a military alliance between Gamma Dracanis and Ross 128. I'm not sure as to the status of Deneb currently, but I think Lil Miss annexed it. I will return to Charlemagne for the fleet's sensor records of this system."

*About 30 minutes later*

Deville's pinnace returns, he steps down from it carrying a briefcase. After returning to the conference chamber, he opens it up and brings out a holo-projector. He presses the play button, and it begins with showing the translation of the Verniian fleet from hyper and the initial contact with the elven navy. He presses a fast forward button, skimming through the fleet's transit insystem, and then resumes at the arrivals of the Takan, LRR, and Valinor fleets. The recording continues to the surrender of the garrison fleets, then shuts off.

"Well?"

The Captain just stands there, staring at the projector without moving. Finally, he speaks.

"What......... the............ fuck? They surrender to watch a Star Trek marathon? What the hell is up with that?"

"Indeed. Apparently the fleet's personnel were not up to most naval standards. Of course, if they wanted to surrender over something that trivial, we were happy to accept."

"I mean, seriously, Star Trek? Why the hell would they want to watch Star Trek? There was a Star Wars marathon on at the exact same time, and they watch Star Trek? Jesus Christ, how the hell did they ever get accepted into the Academy?"

"It's your nations navy, you tell me. Perhaps standards slackened after your departure? It's my personal guess that the Klonor Space Corps became convinced of it's own immense superiority, to the point where it actually let people like that become officers, just because it was still convinced that every other navy was inferior."

"There is no way in hell that the standards could ever sink that low. The Duke would rather condemn ever Klonor citizen to an eternity of hellfire than alloow that to happen. Wait one second......................................................what Star Trek marathon as it?"

"I have no idea. Can we get back to the more important issues at hand? Such as the death of your entire government and thousands of people?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, we should probably talk about that."

He reviews the video again, taking in the vast information

"Okay..........so...........Klonor's dead. That really sucks. What now?"

"Now, you and your ships are to turn themselves over to Coalition control, so you may be redistributed to where your skills are most nessisary."

The squallem said, waisting no time.

"all of your personal possesions you may keep, but any good to be brought back for the good of the now defunct Klonorian state, will be used to repair damages on our ships, and yours as well before they may be either scrapped or put into patrol routs around the system we've moved to police."

"Now, you and your ships are to turn themselves over to Coalition control, so you may be redistributed to where your skills are most nessisary."

The squallem said, waisting no time.

"all of your personal possesions you may keep, but any good to be brought back for the good of the now defunct Klonorian state, will be used to repair damages on our ships, and yours as well before they may be either scrapped or put into patrol routs around the system we've moved to police."

"Now, you and your ships are to turn themselves over to Coalition control, so you may be redistributed to where your skills are most nessisary."

The squallem said, waisting no time.

"all of your personal possesions you may keep, but any good to be brought back for the good of the now defunct Klonorian state, will be used to repair damages on our ships, and yours as well before they may be either scrapped or put into patrol routs around the system we've moved to police."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, and just what have you been smoking?And where can I get some What possible reason could you have for us to do that?"

"Simple, The fact that you don't have backup coming, while our nations do, now, about that unconditional surrender and the turning over of your ships, Jackass. . . "

"So, you're telling me you are, for absolutely no reason, declaring a war upon the planet of SR-2091? That you are, pointlessly, risking the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, both Klonorian and Takan? That you are, essentially, being a warmongering dipshit? Well, you, sir, are not welcome aboard my ship."

He reaches to the side, flicking a small switch and activating the Phase Gate built into the floor. All three men find themselves instantly transported (well, not instantly, but the time difference is so small that they don't even notice it) to the docking bay in which the Takan shuttle is docked.

"I thank you for your visit, now get the hell off my ship."

Turning to the Vernii ambassador he attempts a more reasonable conversation.

"Shall we continue this discussion?"

Deville is momentarily startled by the rapid phase shift. "Hm? Oh, well, uh. As I see it, your options would be to surrender and turn over your ships to our control, and then your crews could leave the system if they wish, or take part in the rebuilding of the system. You could also return to whence you came. The third option would be to simply leave the system now, and try and piece together some other remnant of your empire. Can we return to the conference chamber now? I imagine my guards are getting rather paranoid."

Double post

"Sure, but we should take the stairs this time. We activate the Phase Gate and we'll all end up back in the conference room (referring to himself, Vernii, and the Taka people)"

He leads the way (again), speaking as they go

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me we can either surrender our ships to you, or get the hell out of the system. Am I on the ball?"

"Well, not quite that harsh, but thats the two main options. Now, if you do surrender, your crews will remain free, and you would all be free to leave the system if you wish. You could also stay and help rebuild the system."

"Sorry, but no. We'd rather work to preserve what's left of Klonor than to help you subjugate its people. But perhaps we could work out some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement? There is much uninhabited space available, perhaps we could work out a joint ownership of the system?"

"I'm afraid a joint rule would be impossible. Even if it was, I don't have the authority to authorize that. It would be up to the Cabinet, and ultimately the President's decision, even if the Cabinet thought it was a good idea, which I'm sure it wouldn't. Also, theres the Star Empire of Valinon and Imperial Principality of Taka to consider, as they both have a stake in the system."

"Very well. Then I bid you ado. I must return to the Colony to see what we can salvage from the Klonor way of life. May we meet again under better circumstances. This Phase Gate will take you back to your shuttle."

He walks to the side, activating one of the thousands of gates strewn throughout the ship.

"I believe you will find everything in order on the other side. Farewell."

OOC: Bump because I want to see what happens! Are we going to have another nice fight?

OCC: Pardon my tardiness.

IC:

With the fighting over, the LRRSF contingent begins to ship resources and emergency food supplies planetside.

The eight cruisers park themselves in orbit along with the hospital ship and freighters, which are, if not exactly good, combat-capable ships nontheless.

One of the Savuka class freighters descends into the atmosphere, headed towards the nearest spaceport.

"Attention, <insert city name here> spaceport control, this is the LRRSV Solly Letwaba, requesting landing clearance, over."

"Farewell Captain." Deville and his bodyguards return to the pinnace. A few minutes later, it activates it's reaction drives and moves out of the hangar bay. A few kilometers out it brings up it's impeller drive and returns to the Charlemagne.

OOC: What planet LRR? There's the elven one and the human one and then theres the uninhabited planet between them. My garrison fleet is scattered among the three.

The human one.

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