NationStates Jolt Archive

On the edge of the Cyranus system, the Battlestar Columbia patroled silently watching the shipping lanes to the outer edges of explored space, on a route commonly used by merchants and some pirates toward other explored systems outside of colonial government control. The crew of the Columbia consisted of recruits fresh out of the naval war college on Caprica and were on their first tours of duty. In command of the Columbia was Commander Lewis Holden, a veteran of the Cylon War like the ot her twelve Battlestar Commanders, Holden was considered next in line for overall command of the fleet behind Admiral Nagana.

However Holden wasnt happy. He dreaded what he viewed as a babysitting assignment over a bunch of children who had never even seen a Cylon. Holden felt the yahrens catching up with him and even though Colonials were long lived, their life spans stretching past now 140 yahren and even though he was only sixty yahrens old he was no longer considered of acceptable age to be a fighter pilot. Commanding a vessel of war was much more tedious than that of a Viper pilot and Holden disdained at such a job. He stayed on though because all he knew was a military life.

Holden's dislike for this command though had led to a lax in the training of the officers and so common mistakes which were fixed and corrected easily on other Battlestars went unnoticed on the Columbia. Such is how the story of the Columbia's faulty jump to light speed nearly cost the crew their lives but in the end lead to a discovery which would forever change the mindset on the colonies.

"Captain on the bridge.." A young Ensign called out as Holden was called up from his quarters. The ship had gone to condition one, and was ready for combat after a distress call had been recieved from a transport the Avalia Queen.

"Give me a situation report," Holden called out as he stood at the center of the bridge infront of the mapping table where the officer on duty charted out the supposed position of the Availa Queen. The XO, Commander Paulus moved beside of Holden and handed him a copy of the distress signal.

"Captain, we recieved this transmission from the Availa Queen, she's located on the far end of the Harrigan transport corridor and is currently a full day away at maximum speed. Sir?" Holden had a distant look about him and didnt seem to be paying any real attention to the Commander standing next to him. It wasnt what Holden had expected to be doing with his life, chasing down Pirates and jumping from one area to another. Eventually it took a slight nudge from Paulus before Holden finally snapped back into reality.

"Right well launch the alert ready Vipers. " A look of slight annoyance came over Holden as he didnt want to be called for this. He was about to be further annoyed as Commander Paulus relayed even more disheartening news. "Captain, the launch bays are currently offline, the deck chiefs wanted to teach the cadets the basics of launch bay repair and upkeep...they wont be back online for another two hours.."

Holden raised his right hand up and rubbed his temples, "Fine..plot a light speed course...we'll handle the Pirates by bringing the entire Battlestar to them." The commander raised the bridge phone and flicked it to shipwide PA setting and called out, "All hands this is the bridge,set preperations for a jump to light speed. Repeat, set preperations for a jump to light speed." No one the ship knew that earlier in the Cylon war this transport lane saw extensive fighting with weapons which altered space not in the visable spectrum, but enough so that jumps to light speed were deemed hazardous by merchants and regularly ships took the day and a half trip on regular sublight engines.

Other factors would take into the unexpected events which were about to unfold. As the bridge officers plotted the jump to light speed corners were cut here and there. Calculations were trimmed and nav points were gotten through bad math. It had all the factors of a ship making a FTL jump into the middle of a star. Commander Paulus moved over toward the two helm officers and looked down at the status screen before looking back toward Captain Holden, "The ship is ready for a faster than light jump Captain." Holden nodded and soon the ship was stretching and the jump was made.

This is where all the bad math, cut corners, and unseen circumstances take effect. The ship didnt keep on course, which would have sent her right into the Avalia Queen and killed hundreds. When the Battlestar finally reverted to real space computers had trouble calculating their position in space in relation to other marks in the Cyranus system, or any nearby navigational beacons. While they did pick up beacons they were of alien origin. The system itself was of alien origin and this of course had sent Holden through the roof.

"I want a status report, and I want a status report NOW!" Holden looked up toward the ships sensors which themselves were still scanning the new system and registering thousands of contacts nearby. The ship had reverted from FTL near the planet of Jupiter, had they gone farther they would have slammed into the gas giant, and many on the bridge were thanking the Lords of Kobol that such an event did not occur. Holden was in an alien system, far beyond the redline of explored space and unsure of just how to plot his way home. All he could manage to say was a small mumble whispered out of earshot of the rest of the crew. "Frack."

bump

The crew of Vinegaroon begins to wonder if the borderline excitement will ever cease. "Another spike, ma'am. This one's got... well... something big coming out of it. Definite jump signature."

M'sha growls softly and nods. "A busy day for the Jupiter Theatre Task Force. What is coming out?"

"Analyzing, ma'am," replies one technician as another immediately toggles a sensor readout showing what Vinegaroon and her technicians were piecing together on the fly. "Contact is approximately one-point-four klicks long. Definitely a ship... warship, probably... gravimetrics suggesting heavy armor. Probably equivalent to a Titan-class heavy carrier, but we need more information."

The kzinret nods, leaning slightly on the arm of her console. "Of course. Comm, open a channel, open radio and microwave. Save video feed for if we get any in return."

"Acting, ma'am." A click, audible over even the bustle of the command room.

M'sha looks up at the camera mounted in the front of the room out of habit. "Unidentified vessel, this is Sky Marshal M'sha aboard the Triumvirate of Yut WarShip Vinegaroon, flag of the Second Triumvirate Expeditonary Force. We are defensively patrolling Triumvirate interests in this area. Please identify yourselves and your intentions. Reply on this frequency."

"We'll re-enter real-space in 5 .... 4 .... 3 ... 2 .... 1." A slight feeling of vertigo, and the bulk transport Burdock returns from sub-space outside the Sol system. The Burdock is the lead ship in the merchant transport detail, following 1 km behind it are 2 additional bulk transports and seven medium freighters from the Merchant navy.

"Sir, we've got confirmation. ALl ships accounted for, and preparing to run the trade route to Titan." The sensors officer turns in his chair and gives the captain of the Burdock the thumbs-up signal.

The captain seems to decompress with relief. "Hrrrrr....after we drop of our loads, we better see about getting this crate upgraded. We're the oldest ships in the Merchant fleets; we damn well better do something about that before we have an 'accident'." He stands from his gel-cush chair, and walks towards the bridge doors. "Give me a heads up when we get close to Titan."

"Um, Sir? Maybe you better not leave the bridge." The sensor officer focuses one yellowed eye on the display before him. The captain walks over, muttering under his breath, and looks over the display as well. "What in the Pits is that thing?"

"Unknown, Sir. Doesn't match any configurations in our database."

"Yeah, and our database is half a century old, so THAT'S no surprise. Pipe open a line. Audio only. We don't know who they are, and we don't want them to know who we are. yet."

"Line open, Sir. But it seems the Scolopendrans have already arrived on the scene."

"Well, pipe open a line to them to let them know we're about. No sense some MilRook getting trigger-happy on us."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good cycle, Scolopendran vessel,

This is Captain Shauu of the Burdock transmitting IdentSig. Just a heads up so we don't get mistaken for non-friendlies. Mind if we look over your shoulders from a discreet distance? We're a Merchant Fleet Convoy fresh out of Sslaa, and we spotted this vessel probably shortly after you did.

"Captain, incoming transmission! It's in colonial standard!" The shocked ensign replayed the message which came in just moments earlier. Commander Paulus appeared just as shocked as the rest of the bridge crew. Meanwhile Captain Holden was unsure of how to respond. Paulus coming slowly to his senses finally spoke up. A full thirty seconds had passed before anything was said, "Captain Holden, we should respond to this M'sha person..." Holden nodded his head slightly and the officer of the watch looked over toward the direction of the Captain pressing several buttons on a nearby panel which controlled communications. "Alright Captain, we're reading to send on the same channel."

Putting on a headset Captain Holden took in a deep breath and closed his eyes before beginning his response, "This is the Colonial Battlestar Columbia, to Triumvirate vessel Vinegaroon, we're correcting a navigational mistake, and we'll be underway shortly,over." Captain Holden signalled the officer of the watch to cut the broadcast on their end but not to close the channel itself. "I want a report on their vessel immediately and any other surprise contacts..then I want you to tell the Deck Chiefs we need our launch bays operational within the next centuron.."

"Yes sir." The officer of the watch Lieutenant Ivo went about his buisness as the sensors officer attempted to discern just how many contacts they were dealing with and trying to get a detailed read on each one. Meanwhile the ships guns remained at the standby for the possiblity that this was likely to turn into a more hostile situation. On the bridge Commander Paulus and Captain Holden were discussing the current situation in quiet whispers. "Captain, we should turn the ship around and head the opposite direction..this planet is obviously protected."

Holden shook his head and waved a hand, "I'm not exposing our aft to an unknown enemy. We're going to stay right here face to face with however these aliens are. XO I feel today is one of those days I should have stayed in bed..." The XO nodded his head and responded, "I'm sure every member of the crew is having second thoughts on joining the Fleet right now. Captain...what are we going to do if they're hostile?"

"Lords of Kobol help us then..we dont know where we are, and we dont know who is hostile or not...for all we know we could be deep in Cylon space..." ,this was overhead as Captain Holden began to lose his cool and buckle under the pressure. Commander Paulus put a hand on Holden's shoulder and shook him slightly. "Sir you need to remain calm..." The bridge fell silent now as they awaited the next move to occur.

The Ledan defence fleet hadn't seen any action in decades. When an unidentified ship appeared within a few lightseconds, they were slow to respond. But respond they did.
The ship, not being within Ledan territory was out of weapons range, but a pair of DSA 2s were sent to investigate, while a HCBG was assembled in case back-up was needed should the ship be hostile...

One of the ships transmitted a message;
"Unidentified vessel this is Captain J. Francks of the Ineffable High Guard vessel Humour Deficiency. Identify yourself and your purpose within Jovian space."

The ships were aware of the nearby Triumvirate vessels, but took little notice. There were always Triumvirate vessels in this volume, and there were always Ineffable ships too.

Normally the probability of two accidents during FTL jumps that bring both ships within hailing distance of each other is low, especially when adding in the odds of three other nationalities being present. However, the probability of this happening greatly increased when one of the two ships having an FTL accident happens to be a ship produced by the CGC.

As everyone who has met CGC representatives knows, the Combined Goblin Collective lacks the necessary sanity and attention span required for such activities, and normally does not bother to properly inspect or test engines prior to their first use.

So it was that the CGCS-BR Shiny Rok ended up tumbling into the same area of space, much to the surprise of its captain, Jirt Thumpin. The Cunnin'un Goblin stared out of his viewing port while his "Leftynants" were rummaging through the various maps aboard rock.

The Shiny Rok itself was one of the ships called "Big Roks" by the CGC, which goes to say that Goblin engineers had taken a large asteroid, hollowed it out, stuck in a large number of tech bits, a lot of really big guns and a few huge engines, then hoped for the best. The result was a rock bristling with weapons, a few massive engines on the back, and all the maneuverability of a brick attatached to a piano that is dropped out of an upper story window.

He shrugged philosophically - Goblins were good at Fatalism (if it happens, it happens), they had to be.

He sighed, scratched his long nose and twirled the Big Blue Dial, hit the Big Blue Button and spoke on the ship's long-range communication net.

"Roight. Erm. Dis is da CGC Shyp Shiny Rok oot a Goblin City. Were is weez? O, yez, we ain't 'ere ta foight, az yez'll see boi da way we ain't shootin'."

The kzinti Sky Marshal sighs softly. "Yes, a very busy day. Comm, acknowledge receipt of the Sakkrans' message. Also, prepare for a reply to Columbia as well as to the other fleets in the area. FleetCom, stand by to detach the squadron on escort duty if the need arises."

Officers and technicians snap to their duties, which at the moment are increasing the fleet's combat readiness and keeping everyone everywhere informed.

To Sakkran merchant vessel Burdock

Good cycle, Captain Shauu; Vinegaroon receives and acknowledges your request. Corvettes on the Jupiter-Saturn Corridor will be arriving as scheduled to escort you; we are currently coordinating with the 3TSSF for temporary escort duties if need be. Please stand by for further updates.

To Battlestar Columbia

Acknowledged navigational error, Columbia. We can establish a corridor to somewhere slightly less crowded if you want it. Things aren't usually this busy, but it happens sometimes. Channel remains open for response.

To IHGV Humour Deficiency

Ledan vessel, this is Sky Marshal M'sha of the Triumvirate Jupiter Theatre Task Force. We currently have this situation under control and request maintenance of nonthreatening standoff distance. The unknown contact identifies itself as Columbia and claims navigation error.

Delegation is the key to airpower, so M'sha delegates the Sakkrans and the newest arrivals 'down' to Sky Marshal Kutusov in charge of the Second Space Superiority Fleet.

To CGC Shyp Shiny Rok

Shiny Rok, Sky Marshal Higd Scipa Héafod of SCV Brekyirihunuade, representing the Triumvirate of Yut. We are not here to fight either. You have arrived in the vicinity of Jupiter, fifth planet orbiting Sol. What is your situation, and do you require aid?

"Guud ta meet yez, Ski-Marshall Hyafurd. Oi iz Captain Jirt Thumpin. We iz glad dat you'z not ear ta foight - Oi'm still wurking out huw dis fing works. Shiny Rok izza new design. Jupi'er? Roight...Sol..."

The Goblins disconnects for a second as he and his lieutennants search their maps.

"Roight. Situashun? We iz pretty guud, dun reely need azzitance, unless ye 'az got a replasemunt fer moi uzeless navigatur. But if'n yez wantz, ye can come aboard Rok an ave a luuk rownd."

Jirt left the receiver on so that he could hear any replies from the other ship, and set about working out trajectories and the like to get his ship back home to the Goblin Lands.

OOC: Sorry about that...I thought I had C&Ped a new post but it was a different one..reminder to self, never post while tired.

IC:

Captain Holden was tired, this situation was getting out of hand and now, they had another ship asking their intentions. It wasnt bad enough that they had severly miscalculated the jump but now they were confronted with having to decide the lesser of two evils. Suffice to say a ship named Humour Deficiency wasnt exactly likely to come from a friendly bunch. Of course when the Vineagroon answered for the Columbia it appeared as if there may have been some tensions beneath the surface between the two groups. Fifteen minutes had passed as Holden and Paulus talked over the situation. Within that time frame, the navigation table was covered with data and various reports trying to exact their position in the universe. Suffice to say things werent exactly going well.

Of course Holden wasnt about to leave the Sky Marshal waiting, they seemed pleasent enough even offering to escort them to somewhere less crowded. And anything less crowded at the moment would be good. Down in the Viper Bay the deck chiefs had their crews working on overtime to get the fighter launch tubes back in working order. So far only two launch tubes were operational on the port side and three on the starboard. Enough to get a flight out, but it would be sometime before they could get a defensive squadron out into space.

Rumor spread like wildfire amongst the crew as folks not on the bridge had little idea what exactly was going on. Holden had little time on his side and sooner or later he'd have to address concerns amongst the some 2,000 members of the ships crew lest he have a general uprising to deal with. However as time ticked by and Holden regained his senses of command he decided to take the Sky Marshal up on the offer and soon the communication channel was used once more.

"This is Captain Holden, commander of the Battlestar Columbia, Sky Marshal we accept your offer and maybe you can answer a few questions while we are at it. But all things in time Sky Marshal." Holden covered the talkin part of the headset and looked over toward the direction of Commander Paulus, "Lets just hope Vinegaroon doesnt mean humour deficiency in an alien language..."

When the Golbin ship appeared, one of the DSAs swivelled and loaded all missile tubes. When their transmission was translated a couple of milliseconds after recieval, and it was understood that they weren't hostile, the look on the ship's avatar's face could only be described as "disappointed".
The two ships AIs briefly discussed the situation, and their captains, entirely unaware of this, did likewise.
"How likely is this?"
"What?"
"Nothing happens for a few decades, except uneventful escort duties to The Seven Systems and back, and now this; Two unidentified vessels appearing right next to our territory, and a Triumvirate ship poiking it's nose in!"
"And?"
"We're warships. WARships. There hasn't been a bloody war like...at all! I want to shoot something dammit!"
"I know what you mean...Well, though we know the big one's not looking for a fight, the smaller one might be."
"Want to make it?"
"Excuse me?"
"We could shoot it. Tell our captains we'd detected weapons powering or something."
"What about the Triumvirate vessel?"
"Well, we could shoot that too!"
"Start a war?"
"It'd be fun!"
"You do realise we would die? Even if we killed this one, we wouldn't survive an entire war."
"Meh, I suppose you're right. What are the captains talking about?"
"Why do you ask? Firstly, you have exactly the same resources I do and secondly this discussion has lasted barely a second of their time."
"Good point..."

"So Captain, what do you think?"
"I think we should avoid a confrontation. While the first ship poses no real threat, and the second would even be fun, it is likely should we open fire the Triumvirate vessel would do likeiwise, and we don't want to be responsible for starting a war with them."
"Agreed. I believe our best course of action is to remain civil to them, and since they seem to be intent upon helping the others, we should sit here and prevent any incursions into our territory. I also suggest getting an LRS or a HCBG here, detailed scans of the unidentified vessels may prove useful if we encounter them in the future."
"Good idea. I'll signal for them, while you talk to our guests."

Transmission to the Triumvirate Juipter Theatre Taskforce
Sky Marshall M'sha, message recieved and understood, remaining within our borders.

Transmission to CGC Ship Shiny Rok
Greetings. This is Captain J. Francks of the Ineffable High Guard Vessel Humour Deficiency As the Sky Marshal said, you are in orbit around Jupiter in Sol. If you need assistance just let us know.

OOC: Twelve Colonies...you already posted that...

OOC: Fixed post, sorry.

Captain Shauu receives the message from the Sky Marshal, and sends back an acknowledgment.

--------------------------------
Confirmed. Will await escort, since breaking formation among unknowns would be ill-advised. We'll be off when the escort arrives. We can comm the I.S.N.O.D.S. in Titan orbit if you feel some back-up may be called for. Shauu, out.
--------------------------------

The comm officer sends the message, and turns in her chair towards the captain. "Sir, we're going to really have to update our nav charts. I thought this was a low traffic area?"

"We all did. Just goes to show that we don't have to go out of our way to find trouble; it's always dogging our heels."

M'sha smiled slightly to herself--making progress, no matter how slight, is good. Nodding to her communications officer and then waiting for the audible click of the transmit switch, she finishes her part of the conversation with Columbia. "Well met, Captain. My communications officer will coordinate with yours for escort movement and formation protocol. M'sha out."

Leaning back, she looks first at her communications officer as he continues transmitting codes and keeping contact open, then at her fleet command officer. "FleetCom, detach elements of the second squadron to escort Columbia to edge of theatre. Two destroyers and a frigate should be sufficient."

Under direction from the battleship Vinegaroon, the point-defense frigate Lightstorm and destroyers Aeropedellus and Calopteryx break formation with the Second Expeditionary Force, moving into extended escort formation around Columbia. Their turrets are turned wide, outwards towards potential threats instead of in towards Columbia; just another way to avoid seeming threatening or hostile as they escort her to a relatively excluded portion of Jovian space a few million kilometers out from the giant planet.

The ZMI navigation buoy sat at the edge of the huge Jovian gravity well. As the unregistered carrier Identifying itself as the "Battlestar Columbia" and the goblin vessel appeared a dozen golf ball sized semi passive recon drones issued from what looked like just another emergency supplies unit on the bulky little buoys hull and began a slow unpowered decaying orbit that would take them past the vessels of interest and would end in there re-entry and destruction in the skies of Jupiter.

Deep within the Buoy the nano mechanical memory state (really nothing more than a glorified miniaturised Babbage engine) interacted with the energy state processor for a moment before a data packet was flagged and transmitted to the ZMI real time earth data sphere.


[OOC Tagged, I like this]

Communication to the vessel Humour Deficiency.

"Roite. Nice ta meet yeh. Oi'z Captin Jirt Thumpin ov da Combined Goblin Collective Nayvey. Az ye wantz, Oi'll let ye know if'n we'z need 'elp."

The Goblin paused a moment, as if trying to remember something, then it clicked back into his brain.

"If'n ye wantz, Cap'n, yez can come aboard da Rok fer crizps anna drink if ye'z got da toime."

He looked back at the list of things stuck to his console, which specifically mentioned being hospitable to other races that they encounter, and mentally ticked that off the list.

The big yellow Gas Giant. Hard to miss, apparently.

Lucius, core of the Sleeping Pleasures, yawned briefly, watching the local meetup while working a little on his great theory of space, time, and probability, according to which an event became the more likely the more unlikely it was.

He wasn't all that interested in the new arrivals, but then, he was all so slightly envious of Suicidental Attractions and its trip to the City of Kaireigh floating a bit further out, en route to Jupiter. For him, all of this was rather boring. He did, after all, have nothing to do, and since he had actually received his fix, he didn't even have to care about a possible breakdown within the next few months.

Yet, he was seemingly amused by the initial Goblin transmission he had received, and after a brief check with Themisto Central Command (Yes, yes, do whatever you want and LET US SLEEP!), decided to move a little closer, to watch. Oh, and to mutter darkly about the Ledans. But that was what he usually did, anyway. As if they own the fucking planet.

He wasn't yet sure what to do, though. On one hand, he was interested, on the other hand, he was tired. Eventually, he decided to end the problem the simple way, the injection hurting a little, but the warmth flooding the biological parts of his body most definitely increasing his overall alertness, at the price of his next myeloma surgery coming in three, rather than six months, but hey. It was the price he had to pay.

Better.

ooc: Glorified tag, really.

"Helm, keep us in formation with the escorting Triumveraite vessels. Keep whatever fighters we have on alert status, and damnit someone give me answers as to where we are." Holden slammed his fist onto the plotting table and of course no one had any answers for him. It had been a tense thirty minutes since from when they slammed into the unknown system till they found themselves awash in activity. The turning of the turrets outside by the ToY ships did not go unnoticed and as Paulus was about to suggest a launching of an escort flight, he was soon turned down by Holden.

As the lines of communications were watched the communications officer discard the message from the Goblin vessel as unintelligable and thus regulated to something which could wait. As long as everything remained tense but shot free the crew of the Columbia would be focused on a single task, re-establishing contact with Colonial Fleet Headquarters on Picon, or even the Admiral Nagala's flagship, Atlantia.

Technicians in the ships astronavigational labs monitored through use of telescopes surrounding space, scanning for any ships which might be "hidden" from normal sensors. They had however seen the green,blue and white planet known as Earth, but neither they nor anyone else in the crew realized the signifficance of the discovery. As the Columbia began its slow lumbering turn one thing was for certain, it definately couldnt turn on a dime, but as it began to pick up speed to keep in formation with the escorts the ships other abilities began to slowly become apparent. The ship was equipped with a variety of weapons, from missile tubes, and heavy particle weapons, to numerous rail gun banks along the length of the heavily armed and armored carrier.

The elegant cruise liner exited slip space with all the panache it's reputation boasted of. The gleaming pink and cream color scheme were the trademark colors of the Princess Cruise line. Deep scarlet hearts dappled the cruisers flowing lines, highlighting the primary entry port, the trademark crystal dome of the StarLite Ballroom and random stateroom portals. The liner was immense, and carried it's wealthy passengers with every comfort and luxury imaginable.

Mrs. Simpson looked up from her holomag as the stewardesses' pleasantly professional voice came over their staterooms intercom.

*The Stellar Princess has returned to normal space. The first seating of Dinner will commence in one hour. The Heavenly Lounge is open and the StarLite Ballroom will host a fully formal dance as we cruise into port. *

"Homer dear, where are we?"

"If this is Tuesday, it must be Sol system" Homer chuckled. He'd been waiting to use that line. He was so debonair!

"Oh!" Margie squeeled with delight. " I want that cute little photographer, Miss. Evans, to take our picture in front of Jupiter. Annie will just die with envy!"

The bridge of the Stellar Princess

Captain Stubing turned to his executive officer. "Mr. Maxwell, please send a communication to Tams-Witmark. This is the second time this cruise that we have entered normal space and not had our contracted fanfare sound. I wan..."

His voice was drowned out as the bridge speakers blared forth...*It's all exciteing and new, come aboard...*

The tall, silver haired captain, dapper in his perfectly tailored cream and pink ships formals, cringed slightly and clapped hands over his ears. ( as did every one else on the bridge ) untill the overture had faded away.

"And late is worse than never! See too it! I have to go play footsie with Mrs. Rathbottom at the Captain's Table."

His voice and expression were sour for a second but were swiftly replaced by a warm, yet empty, professional smile.

"And contact the port and let them know we are on schedule."

The four thousand honeymooners aboard the fabled Love Boat were just thrilled to be a part of the Princess Cruise lines newest, and largest flagship's inaugural sailing.

The three ships designated as Columbia's escort maintain a triangle around her, forming a plane always kept perpendicular to the surprisingly active center of the Jovian Theatre. Additionally, the massive fusion drives in their aft hulls are off, but they continue to turn and move with quiet grace, the destroyers keeping their fores pointing towards Jupiter (and therefore going backwards) simply because their forward arcs are the best armed. Lightstorm, the larger frigate, doesn't appear to have all the large turrets that the destroyers have but certainly gives Columbia's point-defense network a run for its money, almost being a pincushion of smaller anti-fighter and anti-missile weapons. All three ships are much smaller than the Battlestar, averaging about a third her length and beam.

Captain Henderson aboard Lightstorm reads the displays around the holographic strategic indicator board, telescopes bringing up images of the multiple railgun turrets and ordinance tubes on the Battlestar's hull while the sensors staff analyze the results, sending the raw data back to fleet command aboard Vinegaroon via encoded tightbeam. "So, what are we thinking?"

"Hm?" His executive officer looks up from his console momentarily. "Oh. Well, preliminary status suggests combat efficiency somewhere around an earlier-model Titan-class heavy carrier, which is pretty impressive. It's probably actually a bit better because it's optimized to be a fighter carrier rather than carry around combined-arms divisions as well. Weapons aren't too advanced, but there's a lot of them, and it's a brick, sir."

Of course, in this navy, being a brick can be a compliment. The captain nods, steepling his fingers. "Comm, simply send them a courtesy message saying that we're here for as long as they need us to be and they can feel free to reply on frequency if they want to ask any questions or whatever."

"Acting, sir," the communications officer replies immediately.

"Mr. Maxwell, I have recieved numerous requests from our patrons to be photographed in fron of Jupitors famous red spot. It would accomodate them beautifull if we could take the ship closer to Jupiter." The perky Cruise Director Julie McCoy smiled widely as she entered the bridge.

The Stellar Princess's executive officer looked inquiringly at his sensor officer. John Dobbs, the senior sensor officer, looked over his board with an air of unnoticed over confidence that well hiding a rageing anger. "All clear Mr. Maxwell" 'and you don't just give into the directors requests like a puppy' he snarled mentally. 'You make them sweat a bit, owe you one.' He just 'knew' that the scores from his last evaluation had kept him from getting the Executive Officer's position. A position that long years with the company had earned him. Hrrmph, and I'm still stuck here, trying to make sense of these new fangled sensors. Half the time the damn cyber won't tell you if its lag images, sensor echos, or a real ship. Just leaves you guessing. The lanes are well marked and it's Tuesday, so every one should know we're here'

The Executive Officer and the Cruise Director never noticed anything amiss with Mr. Dobbs as they finished their discussion about the requested diversion to swing closer to Jupiter.

"Julie, we should be in perfect position for photographs shortly. We're here to keep them happy."

"Thank you Mr. Maxwell. I'll inform our happy honeymooners"

The Stellar Princess was a large cruiseliner, with every amenity known to keep her guests happy. This mean she was also an unabashed energy hog. Her maximum normal space cruising speed was but twenty five percent of light and she was designed to turn her fifteen hundred meter length carefully. It was totally unacceptable to inconvience the guests.

She wallowed like a whale and was far less maneuverable

It had been sometime since the Columbia had moved off with the Triumverate vessels to a safer location away from the main action. The Viper Bays were back online and Mk VI Vipers had kept a protective CAP around the lumbering warship which sat in the shadow of the large and foreign gas giant. Not many questions were asked about the solar system they were in and frankly not many cared. With stores aboard ship capable of lasting another six years the Columbia wasnt in a particular rush. Holden would gove over the daily reports and still no news on how the Columbia had gotten there. It was as if one moment they were going to light speed and the next..they ended up somewhere else.

With time though they found the mistakes, they found the miscalculations and as everything was redone and triple done by hand the X-factor of what sent them so far out was still out of reach. They'd never find it where they were at because they were in the wind as it where. However events back in the home systems unfolded much more clearer. The Columbia for all intents and purposes was lost. After a month search for her with every possible warship spared for the search everything was placed on halt and switched over to recovery. Back home questions were asked on how an entire Battlestar disappeared but few questions were really given. President Adar would undoubtly face this issue in the coming elections. He already seemed soft when it came to military issues. The loss of an entire Battlestar and her crew may have just shot his political career into the sun.

At the Naval Fleet Headquarters at Picon, sensor readings from probes indicated the missing x-factor. However it was catalogued as an uncertain probability. No one knew if the Columbia had jumped in the storm of unseen space and caused it to go off into a sun, or if some other calamity fell before the ship. All the Colonial Military knew was that this was a golden chance to unseat Adar. The coming elections were to be held within the next several months and one of the cadidates was an ex-colonial warrior. An Admiral no less and while not a popular one amongst the rank and file, still a better alternative to the current administration. Thus secrets were kept, the military tried only half heartedly to find their comrades knowing they would pick up the case after the elections whether or not Adar won or lost.

On the edge where the Columbia disappeared the Battlestar Rycon patrolled following up on a rumor that a local pirate group may actually have sensor information which would lead them to the Columbia. So far though, when the Colonials needed an ace, they found themselves with nothing but threes.

Meanwhile, the Jupiter Theatre Task Force has somewhat more to be concerned with than a single lost ship. A cruiser component from the Second Expeditionary stays around to help with maintaining combat air patrol and keeping Columbia aware of the situation, but otherwise the TF goes about its usual duties, patrolling Jupiter.

Sky Marshal M'sha offers an open invitation to Vinegaroon, and occasionally the CO of the heavy cruiser Boxelder calls to make sure everything is nominal and ask the usual questions: who are you, where are you from, it's perfectly fine if you can't say, we understand... but otherwise, the TYCS assets in the area do their best not to press too hard. Trust has to be built over time, sometimes, and so offering assistance while staying mostly out of the way is probably the best course they can take.