NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is an off shoot of the Shadow Dancing Thread, which is part of the wider Second Shivan War, so please this is for me and Balrogga, if we need any assistance we will ask for it.

The Shadow Dancing Thread is here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=388478&page=3&pp=15

Tags and small comments welcome.

IC:

The sheer black ships of the Shadows and the silvery ships of the Balroggians disappeared in a blinding flash of light, the instruments and senses of the Balroggians and Shadows went into overload knocking the entirety of the crews of the Balroggian vessels and altered humanoid centralised processors of the Shadows, as well as the Shadow who had been observing the battle from within one of the Battlecrabs.

If their sensors had been working they would have realised the interaction and struggle between of the two highly advanced Jump Point/Entry Point Inhibitors had caused a rip in the space-time continuum, due to the massive energies involved, this had created a temporary rift into which the ships had been dragged unwillingly.

The white flash of light, which signalled the opening of the rift on the other side of the rip dissipated leaving tens of Black and silver fighters floating seemingly dead in space. Not to mention the four huge spidery creatures, which seemed strangely peaceful to the universe as well as the Balroggian Destroyer, which floated dead in space beside the spidery Battlecrabs?

Had any being happened upon this scene, they would have been amazed at the propensity of seeing soldiers of the Darkness and soldiers of the Light so close together apparently at peace.

That wasn’t all that was changing, the singular Shadows body within the gloomy darkness of the Battlecrabs carrying area was beginning an extraordinary change the body had begun to become translucent, as if it was dissolving… what would happen was not known of course, but the Shadow was going back to how his race would have looked at the time, a pure energy being of infinite darkness.

All across the ships, the crews and processor began to groggily become aware that they were in fact alive and began to see the universe again slightly hazily.

OOC: I will leave you to describe where they are, since you have more idea of it than me. :)

Aboard The Mourning Star, the crew lay unconscious where they fell. The ship was dead in the water.

A consciousness stirred.

“Uuugh, what happened?”

Ka’Aal tried to move but his body was not reacting. After doing a hurried examination the consciousness discovered the voluntary nervous systems of the body had been scrambled somehow and nothing but time would allow them to “reset” themselves. They then reached out to see if any of the others had awakened. He could feel Da’Rreen, Sal’Vei, and Gal’Kok stirring in other parts of the ship.

“Da’Rreen, what happened?”

“I think the two JPIs interacted. We had power sucked out of the ship through the emitters faster than we could compensate. I got a glimpse of the sensors before everything went black. It showed a dimensional rupture forming but there was no time to do anything about it.”

“Sal’Vei, how are the crew?”

“They seem to fare the event seemingly OK except for their voluntary systems. It seems the body couldn’t take the stress and “crashed” In a few hours they should recover.”

“Gal’Kok, what is going on out there?”

“I can’t feel anyone but us. I can’t establish a Lifelink. There is no other Ta’Nar within range. The other ships feel dead. There is no active consciousness within any of them. Our fighters are drifting as well as theirs. The large ships are… Wait, I can feel a consciousness over there. It is a Class A mind like ours, an energy lifeform. There is only one of them although it seems there is a link of some sort between the rest of them.”

“Thanks, I’ll try to contact them.”

Ka’Aal formed a segment of his mind while shutting off the rest behind a Mindsheild. He then reached out to touch the consciousness of the other.

“Hello, I am Ka’Aal. Whom am I speaking to?”

Dur'real flicked what would normally have been her eyes, she had one hell of a headache that was for sure, when she found out what had happened she would certainly have to order her Battlecrab detachment to finish off that damned ship, damn those shields without them the Balroggians would have been cut to ribbons.

She raised her head to check whether she was intact and suddenly realised with absolute horror, she didn't have a body as she had know it anymore. Her long thin body had turned to sheet black energy, she put her energised hand into where her navel would have normally been and her hand went right through. She hardly felt a thing other than a slight tingling in her body and hand.

She of course didn't know it but her body had reverted to the form of her kind millenia ago, she also could not have known that it was one of the best kept secrets of the Shadows that everyone of their race could do this, it would have been revealed in time... but it did account for why they were so hard to kill with mundane weapons.

She was scared and amazed at the same, she had evolved unexpectantly... or so she thought...

Just then her mind was touched by another mind close by, a strong mind but she felt it was like her own... above normal matter.

Who am I? How dare you ask a Shadow that question! You shall pay for your insolence, child.

She sent back.

Fril tell your Brother and Sisters to attack that damnable person, in whatever ship they are in, where ever they are.

There was no response not even the hollow voice of the humanoid captured within the Shadow vessel as it's central processor.

Fril? Anyone?

The mind link was dead, she could feel them barely... it was as if they were coming out of hybernation.

Dur'real sighed heavily, the one named Ka'Aal enquired again, she simply showed him the mind of Shadow... the screams, the horrors they had inflicted, the thousands of dead worlds and their cataclysmic wars all in the name of Evolution.

Ka’Aal flinched from the unexpected rush of horrors and destructive images. He kept a steady hand on his link and allowed the flow of images to be filtered by his Mindsheild. He categorized them and reorganized them into a history of Dur’real and her kind.

There were similarities to his own race but there were differences. In a calm voice Ka’Aal tried to speak to her again.

“Who are you and why do you attack us”

The images continued, beginning to cycle through again. Ka’Aal began to think this was an attempt to scare them away. Projecting fearful images is a basic instinct among the Ta’Nar who hasn’t been trained. The best way to stop it is to stun the mind. Make them hesitate to allow them time to think. “Actions smothers intelligent thought” was one of the maxims they taught at the Imperial University to show the students forethought is more desirable than quick actions.

Gathering his own barrage of images, Ka’Aal carefully arranged them to produce the effect he most desired. Using the connection he established, he sent them.

“STOP!”

The images of suns being eaten by singularities, planets being devoured from within until they collapsed, and fleets being collapsed into nothingness immediately followed by lesser images gradually tapering into nothingness. As soon as he felt some sort of response he began again.

“I am Ka’Aal, Who are you and why did you attack us. We could both go on like this for hours but we don’t have the time. Both our fleets are offline and we are both easy prey to anything else that comes along.”

Dur'Real reeled as the feedback hit her mind, she collapsed and soon the image stream weakened and trailed off.

She steadied herself mentally and prepared to talk with this annoying creature.

That question I cannot answer for it is the question asked by the Vorlons, our sworn enemies, the Lords of Order. But we are the Shadows, Lords of Chaos, I am but one of them named Dur'Real. We attack you as part of the Greater pact the Shivan have made with us, they are a vengeful race they have asked us to facilitate your complete destruction in return for certain concessions on their part.

What do you want?


The Conversation carried on for sometime with questions and answers being bantered back and forth, slowly a whole image was occuring the Shadows had come from another dimension via an ancient gate at the behest of the Shivan were going to attack Balroggian Territory til the extinction of the Balroggians occured in return for a load of concession.

For their part, the Ta'Nar relayed information about what they were and their Governmental systems to the Shadow in return for her continued co-operation.

It was agreed that they would both have to work together in order to get out of this mess, since either of them didn't know where they were or what had just happened.

Thus a temporary cease-fire existed between the Shadows and Balroggians, but still the conversation continued with Dur'Real questioning the Ta'Nar about their views on the universe.

“The Universe? It is a singular place with multiple levels of existence we can play in. There is hyperspace, subspace, space plus, space minus, and the space-time continuum for example. It is all there for us to play in. It is our playground. There are certain rules that must be followed and there are ones to be ignored. There are also ones to bend to our liking. The races that inhabit the universe are the toys and tools we have to accomplish our goals. Our actions are the greatest tools we have to stay them to do our bidding. Willing participation is preferred but unwilling is also fun.”

“There are more ways to accomplish your goals than blatant destruction. Possession of foreign leaders is the easiest. Manipulation of the fates of their loved ones is a way that has been used in the past. All are the tools of the trade. All are to achieve your goals.”

“With the shedding of our physical bodies we have decided to enjoy our existence.”

“What do we do now that we have decided to call a truce? “

“I propose we throw our nations to the back. We should come up with a name to signify our cooperation. After thinking about your role among your kind and our roles we are both overlords of those we keep. I propose we call ourselves Overlords while our alliance exists. What do you think of this idea?”

“The First thing we should do is get our ships repaired and operational. We cannot do that until our crews waken. I have sent commands through our AI to observe the Cease Fire. I don’t want any groggy crew to endanger our little understanding…”

Dur'Real smiled not that anyone could see her in the gloom of the cavenous like interior of the Battlecrab.

We are not as blatent most of the time, however we needed time to practice and move our weapons into place, this war served our purpose in that regard.

I agree, we must put our agendas to the side for the time being until we can decipher where we are and get our respective ships in working order again.

The name of our alliance is acceptable for we are both Overlords in kind. We will sooth our ships into understanding that you are for the moment not a target, they will always obey us for we are their masters and they our servants.

We will speak again once, the creatures we command begin to awaken.

With that Dur'Real broke off contact and began instead to try and awaken the minds of the Battlecrabs... it would be a long process with much failure and error.

This has been an Ineffable Tag, sponsored by Ineffable Friendly Muffin Corporation (http://s6.invisionfree.com/International_Mall/index.php?showtopic=1731)

OOC:

I noticed my Search option is not showing any new posts. It hasn't added the new threads I have started/joined for the past few days.

Please excuse me if I miss a posting because of this.

Ka’Aal sent a carefully concealed message to the other three Ta’Nar.

“We need to establish a gestalt immediately.”

Within seconds he could feel the minds of the others joining his. They each formed a mental shield around the group making it a very secure and private meeting.

“I just spoke with this Dur’Real. It seems she is from a race that only respects strength. I want us to exude that quality at every moment of each hour we are acting together. She is also an energy being with at least some telepathic skills. I want us to wear active Mindshields with a virtual decoy in place. After speaking with her we have determined each other are too badly damaged to continue this fight. Both crews are unconscious. The ships are shut completely down. We are both defenseless. This is just another situation to overcome for us but since they thrive off their strength, this moment of weakness makes them feel extremely vulnerable. I have offered a cooperative effort between out two forces and suggested a name I knew she would accept. “Overlords” is a name that signifies Strength. She agreed to have her vessels stand down.”

Ka’Aal “turned” to Sal’Vei.

"Sal’Vei, how is the reawakening going? We need to get our crew operational ASAP.”

“They will not awaken without their own bodies repairing themselves.”

“Damn! I also want you to take a look at Dur’Real’s ships. She made them sound as if they were biologicals. If that is true carefully scan them and figure out what they are. Start with a fighter or one of the big ships if they are busy or distracted. I will give you access to the findings at Hershel we retrieved from B.C. once we get our hosts back.”

Ka’Aal “turned” to Da’Rreen.

“Da’Rreen, I want the ship back online ASAP. If they get their ships going first then we are sitting ducks. Get the Sensors operational first. We need to see what is around us. The Drive and weapons next. Use all of the Repairbots until the crew awakens.”

“The AI is fully functional. The systems should be functional as soon as we can restore power. The JPI Emitter took the brunt of the surge. They would be the heaviest damaged. I will get right on the repairs.”

Ka’Aal “turned” to Gal’Kok.

“Keep tight reins on the AI. We don’t want anything happening to it. Filter all data going into it and monitor it for anything out of the ordinary. Also, keep an eye on the Neurolink feeds. I don’t want anything slipping in those either. Put the tightest cap you have on them. Try to analyze the other ships to see how they function together. I suspect the link is machine based but since Dur’Real is telepathic, it might be Psi based too.”

“I’ll try to buy us as much time as possible. Remember to keep your true thoughts Shielded and let her read your virtual mind instead. Keep mundane thoughts playing across it so nobody can tell they are reading a facade."

Each member dropped the Gestalt and went about their tasks. Ka’Aal attempted to contact Dur’Real.

“Dur’Real, it is logical that we should coordinate our repairs so we don’t waste time fixing the same systems. We should instead concentrate upon separate systems like Sensors or Communications. What do you think?”

OOC: Been a bit busy this weekend. Will reply tomorrow...

OOC:

I know the feeling.

I work two shifts on Firdays and one shift on Saturday.

My weekends are basicly shot. That is why I really don't post much on Fridays or Saturdays.

I'll look forward to your reply.

nah

Dur'Real sat almost meditating the dark purple gloom of her ship, she could feel the contact of her charges. Their minds were dark, and fixated on a single goal; spreading death, destruction and chaos throughout the known Galaxy. She could feel the unescapable chill in their minds, that one only feels when one is in true contact with something truely evil, although she did not regard it as so. They were creations of the Light, only the misguided saw them as evil.

She could feel her mental energy flowing through their minds, she suddenly felt a tingle and relaxed... their mind circuits had been re-triggered and they would be truely awake in three hours from their dark slumber. She had already laced part of their minds with a little resonance of her own indicating they were not to fire on the Balroggians unless told to do so by her or in self defense.

For some minutes, which seemed like a dark reflective eternity she sat there wondering about where she was and what might be achieved here.

Ka'Nal's voiced ripped through her delicate thoughts like a knife through silk... however she replied without obvious annoyance;

My charges will awake in approximately three hours, they will repair themselves, they have no need of engineers or such crude support systems. Yes, you've probably realised by now our ships are literally alive. They serve us in the greater interests of Chaos.

When my ships awake they will help repair any exterior damage as is nessacary on your ships.


She waited for a reponse...

“That would be most helpful. We had received some minor hull damage it appears when the “event” occurred. We have hull full integrity so there is not worry about it now. We are busy getting systems online so we can figure out where we are.”

Ka’Aal received a message from Sal’Vei.

“Captain, my theory about why the humans collapsed seems to be accurate. The Event stunned their Peripheral Nervous System. To be exact, their Somatic system was stunned. Their Autonomic systems are functioning correctly. It should pass soon and in about an hour the first ones will start to wake up.”

“Good, that means their crew will be waking soon too if they use human or similar stock. See if you can do anything to help them recover after they awaken so we can get them crewed ASAP.”

“That I will do.”

Da’Rreen contacted Ka’Aal.

“Ka’Aal, we should have power back to full in a couple minutes. The Drive should be online after it goes through its diagnostic cycles. I could override it but seeing as we don’t know how they could have been affected by the Event, I feel it would be better to wait the additional ten minutes. We should have Sensors the moment power is restored.”

“You are a credit to the Ta’Nar. When power goes online, hold back on some of the systems. We don’t want them to know we are at full power. Keep our power levels slightly below the Shadows. Let’s keep them guessing what we are capable of.”

“I will do just that, Ka’Aal.”

Ka’Aal spoke to Dur’Real.

“We are attempting to use our automatics to repair the systems but we would need to wait until our crew is functional in order to complete repairs. Our sensors are still offline and we cannot see anything farther than 1000 meters. Are yours operational and if so, what do you detect? Neither one of us wants to be taken by surprise.”

Gal’Kok sent a message to Ka’Aal.

“The AI is fully functional and checks out completely. There are no contaminants in her systems. The Neurolinks are also cleared. Full security protocols have been established. We need to get closer to scan one of the alien ships. The reason for this is because a normal scan will be detected but if the ship is real close then we would have to use the scanners to pinpoint the ships location for safety’s sake. We could slip in some deeper scans by “accident”. Sal’Vei should have access to the sensors in order to direct them. He is the expert on lifeforms.”

“I agree. We will have them assist with the Emitter repair after we get other systems online. Excellent suggestion.”



Several thousand kilometers away, an immense object changes its course…

Dur'Real heard the voice of Ka'Aal in her head... it was quite soothing for a creature such as her...

She replied with that same tone, much less harsh than she had used before...

Our ships will not be ready to use their sensors for sometime... they are only beginning to awake now. They maybe able to use their weapons in a limited manner now, but I fear their sensors will take another half an hour at least to regain any kind of functionality...

The event appears to have completed knocked their brains out of sync with the ships systems, thus it will take them time to re-ajust the connection to the optimal tolerance again.

Should anything attack, I suggust we work together so that we can stop whatever it or they is/are.

Dur'Real went back to her meditive state... focusing on getting her charges back up in order to deal with this situation as soon as possible...

“It is the same way over here with the Human stock. Their Voluntary Nervous Systems are out of synch and it will take time for them to readjust. We are operating the ship through direct interactions with our computer and several repairbots.”

“I agree with your proposal. Until we get all our ships operational again we will need to act as one. Our sensors will be operational soon but the weapons system will be offline.”

Da’Rreen contacted Ka’Aal.

“The Drives are operational and we have power. Sensors will come online in a few seconds. Weapons are offline. If we needed to we could pilot some of the Proteus by remote.”

“Dur’Real just told me she has limited weapons but her sensors are at least 30 minutes away. Get on those sensors and tell me what we have.”

“Yes Sir, I will run them through the AI. You can access them to see what we have around us.”

Ka’Aal accessed the AI and entered the part running the simulation based off the newly arrived data from the Sensors. He could see the immediate area forming around him gradually extending outwards at a steady rate. Ka’Aal knew the sensors were faster than that but the AI had the parameters of complete inspection of immediate surrounding taking priority. There was a planet nearby, it’s details attached to it with a small display. The white dwarf star lay far off in the distance, shining coldly. There were several debris clouds drifting through space. Examining the info tag on the planet he discovered it was not only uninhabitable but it also was ravaged. Its surface was scarred by some past force. Ka’Aal looked outwards to see what else was within range. There were several other planets within this system of which one was on this side of its sun. It had seventeen moons orbiting in erratic patterns. One of the small moons flashed a warning. He examined the warning and the data showed the moon was leaving the orbit headed in their direction. It was approximately 15 Kilometers in size and it would be here within half an hour.

“Dur’Real, we have trouble.”

Ka’Aal relayed the information to Dur’Real showing her what he had seen within the AI.

*bump*

“Dur’Real? Can you hear me?”

Ka’Aal contacted Da’Rreen.

“Dur’Real is not responding. Get the weapons online ASAP. Activate the drives and move us between Dur’Real and the object. Raise shields to max. She is the only one with weapons right now and we are the only ones with any protection. We need to provide her cover so she has a chance to use her weapons upon that thing if it proves to be hostile.”

“Yes, I agree. I will move the ship. The Shields will hold out adequately but it seems I am having trouble with the Space Minus Tap. There isn’t any power available from it. This means we will only be able to use conventional and beam weapons. We cannot generate a singularity weapon with our current power levels. We only have our Grav Torpedoes. I will try to discover why we cannot use the Space Minus Tap.”

“Good, let me know as soon as possible.”

Near the planet, the object aligned itself with the strange five ships and increased it’s speed. Soon it will be time to eat again.

Dur'Real's head broke free from an obvious layer of thought she had been performing.

She had been trying to lend her conciousness to Fril in order to ler Fril repair herself faster by giving her another mind with which to control the mass of cells that were growing, reforming and solidifying.

When her mind had interfaced with Fril, she has gained a new understanding of the creatures actual condition... her senses worked but only to a limited range... her body was frail but her shields could be raised to a point.

Fril's laser beam sometimes called the 'Death Ray' by non-Shadows was functioning at about 65% of it's usual power and all other weapons were out of action.

She heard Ka'Aal in her mind and concentrated to send a reply, despite the residual headache:

I am here, I interfaced with my ship to quicken the repair process.

What do you want?

Ka’Aal responded with a carefully controlled reply. He was not worried, yet.

“We have our engines and shielding operational. I have moved the Morning Star to shield your ships in case the alien object proves to be hostile. Our weapons are not functional yet but we are working on it. You can fire from under cover of our shields. Together we can take care of this thing if it provides to be a threat.”


Farther out system, the creature closed in upon its prey. The only thoughts going through it’s awareness was hunger and the nearness of something that might taste good.

OOC:

The Merchant Guilds has unfortunately had to pull out of the RP. I have decided to continue it solo. I am going to return their ships to the future so they are not trapped.



IC:

The Mourning Star moved between the object and the four disabled craft. Her shields were operating at maximum, hoping to hold back whatever attacks the object attempts. Hoping Dur’Real could get her weapons online in time to destroy the alien hostile.

Suddenly space warped around the combatants. Waves of distortion spread out from the ships causing reality to warp.

“Captain, we are reading a massive temporal surge. The readings match those caused by a Time Quake. Shields are holding.”

“What’s the condition of Dur’Real’s ships.”

“The sensors cannot get a lock on them. Visual sensors report they are fading from view. The Time Quake is taking them somewhere else.”

“How about the object?”

“It appears to be stunned. When the first distortion wave hit it, the object stopped. It hasn’t moved since. The AI thinks Dur’Real’s ships were returned to their own time when they disappeared.”

“Keep an eye on the Object. Move us away from the Time Quake. There isn’t anything holding us here and without weapons, we cannot hope to fight. Uplift the Mourning Star. Take us deep into T-Space so we can make repairs and awaken the crew.”


OOC:

The Thread will continue here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9022766#post9022766)