NationStates Jolt Archive

A pitch black Ur-Quan Dreadnought floated in space, sending incoherent transmissions all over the place. It just was there, as if it was dead in space. No star systems were close by, nor did many trade routes go through there. Some small, colorful objects flew around it, apparently doing nothing.

Had something happened to the ship, or was it there intentionally?

The captain of the ship called his crew for a red alert emergency. Apparently there was a problem, a big problem. The main Fusesolage was leaking and that was there only way home.

The transmissions only intensified, and the weird colored objects started spraying something that looked like fire. Plasma, perhaps? Whatever it was, it caused momentary "burning" even in the empty space. The Dreadnought itself still only floated there, dead in space. The transmissions were the only things that came from it, but they were incomprehensible.

After all their fuel was gone, the crew lost hope. The only living things that where near, were the wierd objects, wich caused more bad than good.

((OOC: Umm, Sparten, what the hell are you doing? Just tell me, what are you trying to do?))

((OOC: Ah what the hell. Hello Sensori :) ))

The green and silvered form of the necron star-ship Eternal Vigilance slid through the empty darkness of interstellar space like an inert rock, it’s long dead crew, dormant in their sarcophagi, stored until they would be needed, the ship itself was in control. At the fringe of its sensor range, it noticed something artificial. It altered course to intercept, curiosity triggered in it, the irony of the ship being more emotional than its crew was lost, because there was no one there to observe it.

((OOC: Umm, Sparten, what the hell are you doing? Just tell me, what are you trying to do?))

im RPing whatya doing?

Receiving transmission.

The Opath, a 100m long explorer- class ship, had barely noticed them.

Encryption in process... Encryption failed. Repating process...

The crew, five men and five women, were not too worried. Such things happened all the time...

Still...

This sector is practically dead. I suppose we should jump home.
Nah, this looks interesting. Lets see where thisstuff originates from.
Meh. I wanna see Emily.
Who`s the pilot, you or me?

Slowly, she ship accelerated, the stars seemed to move...

ETA four hours.
Damn. To short for a jump?
It would be a waste of energy.

Accelerating, she ship moved forward, with ever- increasing velocity, the stars loosing their fixed positions.

Four hours.

Back on board the Dreadnoght, the crew restlessly wait for any sign of help. But after 5 days on board, the crew, fear for the worst.

Back on board the Dreadnoght, the crew restlessly wait for any sign of help. But after 5 days on board, the crew, fear for the worst.

OOC: I've got a whiskey tango foxtrot. Over.

Back on board the Dreadnoght, the crew restlessly wait for any sign of help. But after 5 days on board, the crew, fear for the worst.

((OOC: ... Back on the Dreadnought, you wouldn't know what's really happening there. This is NOT a salvage/rescue operation, and never will be. And everything you've said here have been ignored. There. Now, screw off before I actually start feeling aggravated.))

IC: The Dreadnought still was there, as it had been for quite some time, sending transmissions. It stood still, in the darkness of space, and it was surrounded by the now quickly moving colored, lighted objects. The ship itself did not reflect any light, almost as if it absorbed it all. It did not move. Surely it must have already detected the alien ships closing in on it, if it was fully functional.

Four hours later

The Opath arrived, slowly decelerating, the stars going into fixed positions again.

Arrived at target area. Scanning for unusual signs... Ship detected. Waiting for results... Lenght 240m, unknown class.
Mhm... now species, eh?
Shut up while i scan the area... Full stop at 300000km range from unknown vessel... Scanning for active systems and life signs... Processing... No signs detected. The object seems to be dead.
Whats the things around it?

The weird colors around the Dreadnought suddenly take formation and close in on the Ruetian ship, but they suddenly stop when they are about half way to their target. They transmit something incoherent to the Dreadnought, and it transmits something back. This is almost constant for half a minute or so. Then it suddenly stops. They turn back, only to start doing what they did before once again. It is almost the objects "lost interest" on this newcomer. The Dreadnought is still as dead as it was before, if you do not count the fact that its transmissions have become increasingly frequent all this time.

Strange...
That it is. I will scan this... 'colours'.

While all available scanners work to find out what the hell is going on, the Opath closes in, slowly coming near.

It`s dangerous. If they suddenly move, they could ram us.
What are you suggesting?
A transporter.
Risking one life to save nine others?
It´s better than risking all ten.
Ok, then. You`re doing it?
Yes.

She had already changed her direction while she connected with the pilot. At this point, she had already reached the small bay where the ships internal vessels were stored.

I think it´s better when I`m not armed.
Sure. Go ahead. We`re an exploration vessel, it`s not like we actually can defend ourselves.

She smiles, emerging through the bioorganic, nonetheless metallic- looking hull of the shuttle into the shuttle itself. Then she connects, feeling the sensation of the shuttle becoming an extension of her body, her soul.

I`m ready.
Good luck.

It´s the entire crew wishing her good luck. All of them are scientists, and all of them are quite interested in this phenomenon.

The launch bay opens by the hull retracting itself.

Slowly, her shuttle starts, still guided by the Opath, or rather, the pilot... well, in the end, both are the same being.

Quickly, she finds herself in open space.

All ok there?
Yeah, sure. The scanners found out anything?
We`re still processing the data... will send you results as soon as possible. We`re now 100000km from this dead ship...

She accelerates, quickly gaining velocity... 90000km... 80000km... 70000km...

And i thought this trip would bore the hell out of me.

As the Ruetian ship closed in on the Dreadnought, the ship targetted it, unseen, undetected. Not with a weapon, though, but with a tractor beam. It was one of the enhancements done on the ships after the Doctrinal War. No one would interfere here. No one. Suddenly, several transmissions were sent to completely new directions, but it was easy to detect them. Incoherent as the earlier ones they were. Something ominous was about to happen.

As the ship closed in, it was easier to see what the colorful objects actually were. Small ships, fighters, with glowing parts under them. They were unmanned. The ships themselves were as black as the Dreadnought itself, but the blue and red lights beneath them were quite bright. They still flew around the Dreadnought, as if nothing was closing in on them.

What the...
Something happening?
A distortion... wait, i need to correct my cour... oh, thats it.
Huh?
Graviton beam. Shall i let them proceed?
Depends. Any signs of more dangerous weapons?
No... not any i can see.
Wait a second, i have something incoming...

While the transporter (Not exactly a small one, 40m in diameter, spherical) was slowly forced to whereever this... thing wanted her, the data was analysed.

Several new transmissions. I don´t like this. If they were friendly, they would inform us. At least, they would inform us that they don´t want us here.
So... interfering?
Yes.

She alters the song of her transporter, the way it`s neurons are firing, the way it thinks... Slowly, it begins to produce and emit particles... they react with the gravitons forcing the ship away from it`s old course... new, unimportant, irrelevant particles are created...

That should do the trick. Btw, i have now a clear view of this 'lights'. They`re actually small ships.
Huh? Why didn´t the gravsensors detect them?
No idea. Probably some sort of antigravity. Wonder what they are doing here. Doesn´t seem to be a war.
You`re now 10000km from that ship. i would suggest slowing down.
Yeah.

She decelerates her transporter, watching the little ships around the big one.

Fascinating. Somewhat cute.

She`s still far away, not nearly near enough to do a telepathic scan. But it shouldn´t take long until she can.

A massive outburst of transmissions came and suddenly it all ended. Nothing. Like a scream that had ended just as suddenly as it had started. The objects now identified as fighters took a formation around the intrusive craft.

For a while, everything was silent, until a voice only message was sent from the Dreadnought to the transport as it came alive. The voice was cold and unemotional, but it spoke in an understandable language. "You are interfering with our trials. Begone, or die." The tractor beam was released, but the fighters stayed near to the Ruetian ship.

If the alien even attempts to scan the insides of the ship telepathically, it shall pay the price for its arrogance. They shall not know any Ur-Quan secrets. No one will. The Ur-Quan had made sure of this.

[[Is this an clsed RP or is onarr welcome to send a vessel to investigate as well?]]

[[Is this an clsed RP or is onarr welcome to send a vessel to investigate as well?]]

((OOC: Well, yeah, they are "welcome" to send a vessel as well.))

[[Cheers]]
-=Conversation between the Observation Vessel "Vitae" to Mercury. approxomately 1minute between comments to allow for long range=-
"This is Obves Vitae to Mercury, come in"
"Mercury receiving. Transmitting confirmation codes, please do the same"
"Transmitted. We have confirmed your identity. Ready to report"
"This is Mercury. You are confirmed. This is Colonel Dayris. Report."
"Colonel, we have detected an immobile vessel, size equivilent to a Primary Capital ship. There appear to be light circing the vessel. There is also a nothervessel nearby on which life forms can easily be detected. Both vessels are within the same close area. Wait...[pause] the smaler ship appears to have attempted to make contact. We request a nearby ship is sent to examine."
"Confirmed. The Tertiary Capital Ship "Prometheus" is en route via Warp space. The Prometheus is carrying a full complement of light vessels."
-=Transmission ends=-

*A short distance (well, for space), approxomately 40,000 kilometres away from the two other ships, so that all three form a triangle, the Prometheus appears. It is noticeably smaller than the Dreadnought but appears quite heavily armed. It does not move towards either vessel but rather sents deeply-encoded transmissions back to the "Vitae"*

Seems they realised their Graviton beam is useless.
Yes...
Wait a second, transmission. "You are interfering with our trials. Begone, or die."

For a moment, there was silence.

What do you think of it?
To be honest... no idea. But judging by their aggressive tone, The vessel is somewhat stronger than ours...
Still, it`s interesting. We need to learn more.
With our ship? Her tone is somewhat ironic.
We will transmit data to our mothership. I don´t like their arrogance, but i don`t want to loose you, either.
Ok.

"This is shuttle #3 of the Opath. We`re sorry, it looked like there was some kind of problem. We will retreat. Although... is there a possibility to arrange a meeting when your trials are over? We never heard of your people and... well, are interested."

She alters her ships directions, and accelerates, this time heading away from the fighters and the larger ship.

Very impolite, they are.
Indeed. Although she can´t see the pilot, she is pretty sure he smiles.

The answer was plain and simple: No. The Ruetians did not know that they had stumbled upon an Ur-Quan research vessel. Actually, they had stumbled right in the center of a larger group of the sort. This really was not the time and/or place for them to ask questions. After the ship had started to leave, transmissions were sent once again, the fighters returned to the fighter bays, and the Dreadnought started moving. The transmission were quite a lot less frequent now than they had been.

Times had changed, although the Ruetians were considered as a security risk, they were allowed to leave alive. Their ship was deemed as not hostile, and rather weak as well. It was not a real threat. But after this, if anyone would dare to come too close, their presence would not be tolerated.

The Eternal Vigilance matched velocity with the Ur-Quan craft, using passive sensors only, it kept the other ship one percent into its sensor sphere. It was an interesting vessel, and it seemed to have an appropriate attitude toward interlopers. The Eternal Vigilance decided that contact was ill-advised, and went about learning what it could quietly.

There were many Ur-Quan ships in the vicinity of the research vessels. One of them came through a blood red jump point quite close to the Ruetian ship, to the Opath itself. The ship hailed it, and sent a voice message. This time the voice was just powerful and strong: "We are the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah. I intercepted the message you sent to the Dreadnought. You apparently wish to speak with us. So, speak." The Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah are not great diplomats, but it does not matter to them.

--

The Ur-Quan research vessel stopped. Suddenly, many other, at least ten other similar ships could be seen. Half were Dreadnoughts, half Marauders, all black as space itself. Although the risk of being seen is now even higher than before, because the concentration of ships is larger, it is also easier for them to defend themselves against possible attackers.

The necron ship observed the new arrivals, and noted their activivites, unendingly patient, it would wait for years if need be.

The Ur-Quan were aware of the annoying (Ctanese) follower, but would not do anything to it, at least yet. It was far enough. As long as it stays that way, they will let it be. It is not like it could follow them when they leave, as the HyperSpace they use seems to be unknown in this universe. There are no interdictors, no sensors there. It is basically empty, if you do not count the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah themselves.

Even if you can follow, if not too well, what is happening in TrueSpace while there by making very small holes between the two dimensions for short periods of time, no one here should not know what to look at when something is in HyperSpace, possibly even looking at them. This is a major advantage for the Ur-Quan indeed. They have kept it all a secret, as they keep all other aspects of their technology as well. Only the look of their ships is known to some nations, but that does not matter.

Three light-minutes away, several stars seemed to just... disapear; obscured behind three hundred and fifty meters of ebon-hulled ship which simply had not been there a moment befor.

The KHGV Spear of Bitter Mercy was a Kanuckistani Dark Valor-class frigate; the newest member of her class, she was a top-of-the-line war-bread wraith that'd put many dreadnaughts to shame, dew in no small part to the very reason their class numbered only thirty two; her armour.

DarkForge Battleplate was the pinicle of Kanuckistani armour and materials technology; built upon the back of NES and later SAPL, it was constructed from the subatomic up in a process that took years. And no other ship, not even the nation's massive Superfortresses and Battleplates, not even the Emberwind herself, mounted as much of it as those tiny frigates; so finly crafted and in such quantities as to have taken nearly a century to produce, each hull a single, unified web of unparalelled nuclear force and fundimental particles when complete.

And it was this unmarked hull that kissed the night of space as she slunk quietly into the system, chance alone the reason why she aproached the Ur-Quan research vessels on pre-jump inertia; closing at a slugish twelve hundred kilometers per hour on a course that would pass within several hundred kilometers of them, dark as space, not even the faintest glimer of a power or life signiture escaping a hull that was as an impenitrible wall to any attampt to scan beyond it's surface.


OOC: Just passing through on her final solo shake-down cruise

They saw it and ignored it, as they had ignored the ship that lingers in far, close to the edge of their sensor range. The research would be concluded, no matter what. This project is important for the new doctrine. The implementation of alien technology, alien ships, to the Ur-Quan military. It had already started. They now wanted to see whether these other ships, untested ones, would be of any use for the Hierarchy. That is the point of this endeavor, and no one will ever know it.

1

The signal was sent as a single point of electromagnetic emission, directed like a laser, extending from visual light to radio, the signal lanced out at the speed of light toward the lead Ur Quan ship, although it would take a long time to arrive, the remmnants of the necron ship was nothing if not patient.

The KHGV Spear of Bitter Mercy continues silently through the void.

"We are the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah. I intercepted the message you sent to the Dreadnought. You apparently wish to speak with us. So, speak."

Wow. They tend to change their opinion rather quickly, don`t they?
Yes. So?
Well, answering would be a good idea, don`t you think so?
Yes.
How utterly humourless.

The Opath slowed down, the stars became again fixed points in space, and the pilot answered, while the ship moved on with less than 3km/s.

Not excatly nice, they are... well, we will have to live with it.

"Well... WE never met your people before, and we`re quite interested in some basic data... to prevent missundertsandings in the possible future. Things like the territory you claim." He hesitates, pondering possible reactions of this rather... mean sounding people. "Of course, we`re always interested in learning. That is, we would like to have closer contacts with your people, to be able to learn from each other. We never met your people before, and this looks like an interesting opportunity..."

He stops, and waits.

Meanwhile, the sensors on the ships work, collecting tons upon tons of data... anything they can get.

Well... WE never met your people before, and we`re quite interested in some basic data... to prevent missundertsandings in the possible future. Things like the territory you claim."

"The constellation of Horologii/Horologium is claimed by us, and by some others."

"Of course, we`re always interested in learning. That is, we would like to have closer contacts with your people, to be able to learn from each other. We never met your people before, and this looks like an interesting opportunity..."

"We are self sufficient. We do not want a 'closer contact' with you. Nor with anyone. We are not allied, and we are not bound by any treaties. Do not fear, though. We are not like we used to be." The pilot stopped for a while, and then continued: "We have more than enough data about YOUR species, human. We 'know' you already. This is not a 'first contact' for us, as it seems to be for you."

There was nothing to be "gotten". The ship was shielded by its armor, and only its look could be detected. The ship is a Marauder (http://sensori.soldats.net/kuvia/kohrah/KohrAh2.jpg), black, with several red dots on it. It has some ancient text on its surface, just like the Dreadnought did.

Well... really, not exactly friendly.
Wonder how he knows we`re human.
We are human?
Descended.
True.
Anyway, lets jump home.
Is this worth further investigation?
Yes. I`m sure the council will send a few others after them. Maybe they don`t want to talk to us, but we can always force them to talk...

The conversation between the six ended, and an answer was sent to the Ur-Quan ship.

Well... in this case, there isn`t any use in discussing this any further, is there? I`m sure we will... both be satisfied with what we know so far.

Without waiting for an actual answer, the jump engines begun their work, and slowly, a temporary wormhole formed about 3000km from the Opath it´s gravitic energy slowly accelwerating the slow- going Opath.

As the Ruetian ship, Opath, went away, the Marauder jumped back into HyperSpace, never to be seen again. Where did it go shall remain a secret. The research ships had almost finished whatever they had been doing, and soon they would leave the area. No other than the Kanuckistani and the Ctani ships were detected anymore, and they did not seem hostile. They were ignored, as they had been for quite some time already.

More lights could be seen as the ships were now quite close to each other. There were several dozen other lighted objects there now. What the others were doing was harder to see, as they apparently only sent transmissions and did nothing else.

The lights started disappearing. Soon none of them were to be seen anymore. The larger ships were preparing to do something, which was quite evident. They were preparing to leave this area of space, as their research had been concluded already. It was not like they would stay here for that long, especially with the crowds that had come here.

For some reason, the ships seemed vulnerable at this point. There were not too many Ur-Quan ships to be seen in the area, only a dozen or so of them were there. With the fighters out of the picture, surely they could be destroyed or boarded by some malevolent party.

Some of the ships had already jumped into HyperSpace, as their work there was done. Soon would the rest do the same. They would then return to Ur-Quan territory.

The IPS Vigilant, less than 4 parsecs away from the Kohr-Ah vessel, remained in surveillance mode and fully cloaked. Captain Nemariti watched the observation sensor ports with utter fascination. How can so many ships be here for no apparent reason?

"Lt. Oberlin, have you gotten your sensor readings yet?"

"Sir, we can tell you what the crew had for lunch, if they have anything remotely like lunch."

"Lieutenant, next time just stick with conventional answers. A Yes sir would suffice. Do we have a threat from what was going on over there?"

"Sir, we cannot quite identify what exactly was happening, but from initial scans..."

"Yes or no Lieutenant."

"Sir, I'm not quite sure. These readings are all over the map."

"Well, analyze them and get me a report in two hours."

"Sir yes sir."

Lieutentant Freeman, a new recruit from command was sitting at the tactical console. He called over to the captain:

"Captian, it appears that the ships are beginning to leave."

Nemarti looked perturbed for a few seconds and said, "Damn. Track their ships. I want to follow them close enough to look up their tail pipe. Purge the engines and the cloak now. if you need to. I don't know how long we'll be following them and I don't want to give us away. Communications Officer, prepare a message to the Texas. Let them know our status and that we may want full carrier support. Transmit it via hyperrelay."

"Sir,yessir."

A ship jumped out of HyperSpace, facing the cloaked ship. The Ur-Quan had had such technology for millennia, and they had been feeding false data to the ship intentionally. Even if they do not use cloaking devices, it does not mean that they would not have them, in fact, cloaking is against Ur-Quan battle doctrine. They knew that the ship was there, even if they did not know who owned it or what it looks like. It, a Marauder, scanned the intruding ship with high power scanners, so that they would know very well that they were scanned. Soon, the ship turned and went for the group of Ur-Quan ships.

Most of the research vessels had jumped into HyperSpace by now, and only a couple of them were left. It would not take other than a few minutes now until the whole group has disappeared.

On board the Vigilant, Captian Nemariti was speaking quitely to his Intelligence Officer.

"Are you certain it was us they detected?"

"Quite certian, Sir. It was as if the claok wasn't even there."

"Did they scan us and only us? Did they scan the Da Vinci?

"No sir, there scans at all present in her direction. She remains unknown to that race."

"Command thought that our cloaking technology had become archaic; apparently they were correct. With that new cloak that is on the Da Vinci We could park right next to their homeworld and they wouldn't know we were there."

"Sir, The Gravimetric Cloaking Device is the newest thing to come out of the Temporal Research Institute in the past 10 years. Its been the most secret project that they've been working since the construction of the new reactor first went active. It utilizes our unique grasp on temporal technology to send it slightly out of phase with the rest of the universe and to completly make it invisible to any form of sensoral technology, be it tech based or organic based. Even telepaths cannot detect its location. All they feel is a bad feeling or such. When its out of phase with the rest of the universe it can theoretically park itself in the core of a star and not recieve any radiation that would damage its ship or its crew."

"Really? Granted you know more about what is coming out of that research Institute than I do because of your clearance, but what you do not know is that the Da Vinci is a small battleship that is armed to the teeth. Space Command did not want any information leaking out as to the design of their brandnew battle cruiser, so not to alert any potential hostiles.
Anyway, now that we're both brought up to speed, send the Da Vinci After that research ship and that armada. I want to know waht they are up to."

The rest of the fleet jumped into HyperSpace, which is quite different from the ones used by other species. It is an alternate dimension, a different reality, which the Ur-Quan know how to enter. Which all the spacefaring species in their own dimension/reality know how to enter. Apparently they are the only ones who use this particular alternate dimension here. They enter it by ripping holes between RealSpace and HyperSpace. Those holes are blood red, as they show the redness of HyperSpace. It is a chaotic place, a place you would not want to enter without being properly equipped. Only the Ur-Quan hold the key to that place, here, in this reality. Only they know the secrets they hold.

On board the Indra Prime Defense Ship Da Vinci things were not going as expected with the trailing of the Kohr-Ah Ships.

Lieutentant Freeman looked at the readings on his holographic display and called the captain over to his station.

"Sir. We are tracking the Kohr-Ah ships up to a single point in space/time and at that point we lose them."

"Is it some kind of interference?"

"No sir. I've run diagnostics twice now and all systems check out. They are simply gone. There is however a risidual energy trace, we are trying to identify but it had unusual properties."

"How so?"

"The energy dissipates rather quickly, but the information we have gathered says that there is a phase modulation in the Electromagnetic field of 0.3442. We are still trying to analyze it."

"Very Well. Analyze it and send the report to my quarters. Ensign Hartman, stand down from recon ops and return to stationkeeping with the Vigilent."

"Aye, sir."

On board the Indra Prime Defense Ship Da Vinci things were not going as expected with the trailing of the Kohr-Ah Ships.

Lieutentant Freeman looked at the readings on his holographic display and called the captain over to his station.

"Sir. We are tracking the Kohr-Ah ships up to a single point in space/time and at that point we lose them."

"Is it some kind of interference?"

"No sir. I've run diagnostics twice now and all systems check out. They are simply gone. There is however a risidual energy trace, we are trying to identify but it had unusual properties."

"How so?"

"The energy dissipates rather quickly, but the information we have gathered says that there is a phase modulation in the Electromagnetic field of 0.3442. We are still trying to analyze it."

"Very Well. Analyze it and send the report to my quarters. Ensign Hartman, stand down from recon ops and return to stationkeeping with the Vigilant."

"Aye, sir."

On board the Indra Prime Defense Ship Da Vinci things were not going as expected with the trailing of the Kohr-Ah Ships.

Lieutentant Freeman looked at the readings on his holographic display and called the captain over to his station.

"Sir. We are tracking the Kohr-Ah ships up to a single point in space/time and at that point we lose them."

"Is it some kind of interference?"

"No sir. I've run diagnostics twice now and all systems check out. They are simply gone. There is however a risidual energy trace, we are trying to identify but it had unusual properties."

"How so?"

"The energy dissipates rather quickly, but the information we have gathered says that there is a phase modulation in the Electromagnetic field of 0.3442. We are still trying to analyze it."

"Very Well. Analyze it and send the report to my quarters. Ensign Hartman, stand down from recon ops and return to stationkeeping with the Vigilant."

"Aye, sir."