NationStates Jolt Archive

The Sun Blessed the Horizon of Hokkaira Primes Moon, This Moon had Housed 200 Ships for over a Century, These vessels had once been the guardians of the Star Empire, and they still were, albeit un-needed, But now, situations dictated action, Fleet Kanshisha was active once more.

The first few ships crept slowly out of the hollow inside of the Moon, cheers erupted from the dock workers and maintenance personnel, they had worked diligently to overhaul these outdated ships, and had brought them firmly into the 53rd Century of the Star Empire, The Mandrake, The Kagunya, The Isamashii, Great names of old graced the space of the galaxy once more.

Admiral Takushi Yokomatsu, The Admiral had been relatively unknown, forced to co-ordinate policing efforts from Police frigates scattered over the Star Empire, His Young Face wore the rigours of nothing but boredom, His eyes, hazel to most, burnt with the Desire to lead the fleet to whatever peril faced the Star Empire, as his Great Grandfather had done in ages past. He was now co-ordinating nothing-less than the complete Fleet Kanshisha, Free from the hot and crowded world of Tokohara, To lead space-craft through space, this was what he was born to do. And he would do it from the Bridge of the SEV Isamashii.

The Shogun had chosen him personally, he was a free thinker, not bound to the old tactics of the Senior officers, nor ingrained with the complete policing policies of the new generation, he was just right, as to be expected, The Shogun was older than the Star Empire itself, infinitely wise, and had seen many Admirals come and go.

In the Hollow of the moon, in shipyards around the Empire, people found new work, constructing the new line of vessels that would safeguard the Star Empire, Yes, this was not a mobilization of Offence, or war, but of defence, Police Frigates do not stop Invasion fleets.

The Star Empire, crowding all but a few systems, Hardly a target of prime opportunity? Maybe, vast resource extraction and manufacturing centres till graced what the Star Empire controlled, Huge Shipyards, Long Dormant, and Vast Worlds covered in nothing but Farms, all of this would appeal to a Empire of Vast Scale, and it was only a small time until this Gem of the backwaters was discovered. And the Star Empire already knew of an Empire so Vast, Its own ships would soon find this place, but the question at hand was, Would the Star Empires Ships burn above their former worlds, or would the invaders crash and burn in a foreign place?

Admiral Yokomatsu graced the bridge with his presence, the sun touched the Reinforced Houseki Class Hull of the fleets Battleships, 200 Ships hovered in space.

Yokomatsu stepped over to the communications station, his face barely hid his excitement of the fleet’s presence around him, let alone him being on one of those ships.

"All Ships Combat Formation, Lets test thrusters and sub light drives" His voice said, it appeared crisp and clear to every vessel in the fleet, Communications were optimal.

The Fleet bustled with activity, ships manoeuvred and evaded, settling into intricate pre-set positions.

"Any Trouble?" The Admiral Questioned his First Officer, Juyani Hikata, She was even more bemused at being here, but she was a capable officer, and had also been hand picked by the Shogun himself for this vessel.

"2 Carriers report their old pre-Vintaka Thrusters were un-responsive at times, but the issue has been corrected, The Mandrake suffered a leak from its sub light engines due to a loose port, but that’s also been corrected" She replied, in perfect flow.

"Good, First Hurdle Passed, Amongst others, at least these Captains can follow orders, All Ships, Prepare for FTL Test, Destination, Co-ordinates 945,43,231, The Gestani Asteroid Field, In the Cantakka System" The Admiral was in his element.

If sound could travel in space, A slow but gradually climbing hum would be heard, before finally the FTL drives reached their peak, and enveloped their respective craft in translocating energy.

And they re-appeared, Just a few clicks away from the Gestani Asteroid Field, A inactive field, Mined out long ago, home to nothing but a few scattered pirate bases.

"Report, Hikata?" Yokomatsu Questioned.

"Coming in now sir.. Sir, The Cruiser SEV Hiun is reporting Power plant Failure, Sir, her engines have failed, she’s drifting, The SEV Fujo is using energy streams to steady her, Dispatching a request for a repair craft" She Responded, Brilliant to the last, Yokomatsu thought.

"Ah.. Teething problems, to be expected, Now for the Fun Part, Eh? All Vessels, Power all Available Weaponry, All Carriers or Vessels holding Bomber and Fighter Craft, time to test all your hangar and launch systems, Lets get the flyboys back out there, Were here to conduct a good old weapons test, Pick your asteroids, and luckily, we might take out a pirate or two." Yokomatsu said, this was the Isamashii's chance to Shine, after all, she was the most heavily armed Battleship in the fleet.

For the next few moments, the darkness of space this far from Cantakka's sun was lit up by the constant fire and pounding of weaponry, bombs detonating, and Asteroids shattering from their inescapable demise.

"Rep.." Yokomatsu was cut short by the sound of a cannon firing and the shuddering of the Isamashii

"Before you say anything, Admiral, The Kagunya apologises for its Misfire, but they say at least we know our shields are operational, Shields at 99.5%, No Hull Damage sir." Hikata Said, before the Admiral managed to even begin to swear.

"Ill have that mans head if he isn’t careful, Captain Ishiga needs to learn how to control his weapons systems!" Yokomatsu said, in a small fit of anger.

"Should I inform him of that, sir?" Hikata asked, a chuckle escaping from her mouth.

"Very Funny, Commander, Lets head back to Hokkaira, Proper shield tests are required, And, I’m sure the Shogun would of arrived and will need to meet me as soon as possible, Relay that to all ships." Yokomatsu replied, a smile now crept back onto his face.

Again, The ships were enveloped in energy, Only the Hiun remained, but now a small tug latched itself onto her, and they too were gone.

A Few Hours Later

"Shogun! Everything went perfectly, a few teething problems, all over-come.. I assure you" Yokomatsu said, excitement was finally getting the better of him.

"I Am Glad of it, Takushi, The Threat to our Nation may come sooner, it may come later, And you will need to have every man and woman of the fleet ready for who-ever or whatever enters our territory, You will be the first line of defence, and your brothers and sisters of the Imperial Army Second, And even the people themselves the third, We must always be ready, Your Fleet is to be stationed at Yamato Base, and i want full updates every 6 Hours, on the dot" The Shogun said, His voice was calm, and full of the wisdom it always carried.

"Yes Shogun, Of course, i will see to it now" Yokomatsu responded, His excitement fading slightly at the realisation of the true reason he was in charge of this fleet, to protect, not to to explore or wage war.

"Takushi, You Have our Hopes, and Fears" The Shogun said.

"Yes My Shogun.." Yokomatsu responded, before he turned out of the Marble room, concealed in the bowels of the Moon, and he made his way back to his ship.

To Protect The Jewels of the Star Empire, Whenever, and wherever the threat came.

The smooth hum of the Hyperspace engines gently rocked the ship. Passing through the artificial vortex the sleek, smooth Imperial Star Destroyer was on a simple patrol mission. Passing through the Corellia run towards the badlands the commanding officer Captain Sayer had simple orders to keep the passage open at all costs. With rising tensions in the outer colonies, and the whisper of an unknown threat, the Empire was now on high alert.

The vast dockyards at Sluis'Van and Corellia were now as secure as the Imperial Palace, with patrols stepped up, and ship construction accelerated, recent tensions within the Empire itself would be forced into submission regardless of popular opinion.

As Captain Sayer gazed from the windows, a small commotion could be heard in the background.

Beeeeeep Beeeeeeep Beeeeeep Beeeeeeep

Turning Sayer was slightly confused. "Report." He demanded with an authoritative tone.

"Captain, we are detecting a slight fluctuation in the Hyperdrive. It appears the Tertiary injector is losing sustainability."

Sayer raised an eyebrow, the lines in his forehead growing as the seconds passed. "The cause of the problem?"

"Unknown captain. I recommend that we drop out of hyperspace until we can readjust the powerflow." The nameless ensign looked up waiting for his orders.

"Very well, shut down the core and take us to...." A vast shudder suddenly rocked the Star Destroyer. The gentle hum that formally sounded through the ship now transformed into a large Screech. As the bridge crew flew from their stations Captain Fayer smashed against the view ports landing in a crumpled heap. As alarms and claxons sounded, the former peaceful and gentle slipstream of star lines collapsed into trillions of blinking stars. Spinning through space the Star Destroyers Hyperdrive core suddenly and inexplicably shut down, leaving the vessel in darkness for several seconds.

"Emergency Power online Captain." But no reply came. Unbuckling the restraining clips the ensign, a Steven Halerson quickly moved to assist his commander. Checking for a pulse, a strong and vigorous heart beat could be found, lucky for the ship, and for the captain himself. Throughout the internal intercom medical teams were called to the command deck while a distress call was made back to Corellia.

As the Star Charts were pulled up it was quickly determined that the crew were not in a mapped system, in fact an Imperial reconnaissance team had never been here. Reactivating the sensor globes the crew would discover that they were in fact stranded in an undiscovered space faring civilisation.

The Sweet Crystal Blue Sun of the Honshu System cast its clear light onto the hull of the Imperial Star Destroyer. The Star Destroyer had nothing to fear, for the moment, Honshu was but a agricultural system, Whilst most of the systems 120 Million Population found a home on the Third Planet, which controlled all processing of shipments, it was hardly well defended, it was in the heart of the Star Empire.

But, A Imperial Star Destroyer hardly goes un-noticed.

The Patrol Frigate SEV Katana drifted through the idle tradelane, shipments weren't due to start for a few hours yet, And pirates rarely came this deep into the isolated Star Empire. What a surprise its Commander had when the Star Destroyer appeared on the Long range sensors.

"Report! There shouldnt be any ships this large or of that configuration here, Fleet Kanshisha is at Yamato!" The Commander shouted, his voice almost peaking scream levels. He was even more surprised his voice could even get that High, His hair was graying and his blue eyes had lost their fire many years ago, Such is the fate of the over-50's.

"Commander, The Power Readings are off the scale, were not equipped with the same sensors the Capital ships of the fleet boast, We could attempt getting closer." His First Officer Replied, in albeit a lower tone of voice.

"Raise Shields, Just Incase, Helm Station, Full Power to Sublight drives, perform a small hop into Trans-space, bring us out at full speed over that ship, Comms Station, dispatch a priority communique to Yamato, Once we are over the vessel, run the standard communication messages, they'll probably need it for their translator" The Commander said, Regaining his composure.

"Yes Sir" The Stations replied in Unison.

The Small Policing Frigate's engines came back to life, it propelled forward in space, and promptly disappeared.

Before re-appearing over the Star Destroyer, which, of course, dwarfed the Police frigate rather immensely.

At Yamato, Admiral Yokomatsu awoke with a start, the periodic bleep emanating from his personal console did not cease, he finally gathered the energy to get up and seat himself at the desk, his messy half undone uniform nothing to be proud of.

"Urgent Message, Urgent Message, Admiral Yokomatsu, Battlestation Yamato, Priority 1."

Takushi merely stared at the screen, he didnt have a good feeling.

He finally summoned the courage to open the message, scanning its contents.

Alien Vessel, Huge, Immense power readings.

He nearly fell off of the sleek crystalline chair he was seated in. His brain set in, and within a few moments, he was cleaned up, and ready to go. The Lift could hardly go fast enough to get to the Trans-pad.

But Soon, in time, he was finally back on the bridge of the Isamashii.

"Sir, You cant pull the fleet out of the final testing stages, Only Us and 3 Other Ships are Ready, A Carrier, and 2 Destroyers. Hikata said, the sound of irritance at her Admiral and Commanding Officer's impatience evident.

"Fine! Fine! Inform all ships that are available to form around us, Charge FTL, And Set Course for the Honshu System" Yokomatsu Responded, The Impatience wasnt fading.

As The Ship began to fade in its jump, the Admiral remembered the Shoguns words.

"The Threat to our Nation may come sooner"

"Maybe it has" Takushi whispered to himself.

Lights fluctuated around the bridge casting shadows over deadly obstacles. As Ensign Halerson stumbled over wreckage and fallen power lines he came to the primary command console. Vessel schematics were laid out in full, with large areas of red indicating damaged decks. Unfortunately for Ensign Halerson all of the command staff on the bridge were either dead or lying heavily injured in the now overcrowded medical bay, and even more unlucky for him, the remaining staff now saw this young, recently enrolled ensign as their leader. Wiping away a few dabs of sweat from his brow Halerson could only wish for ten more years of training. Confident that the repair crews were working proficiently without guidance he still could not shake the feeling that there was a problem.

"Okay people gather round, we need to begin primary operations immediately. First on the list is the clearing of the engineering decks and we will work our way from there." As Halerson pointed to two points on the holographic display the reassuring hum of the Hypermater core began to reassert itself. "Gentleman, it appears we have primary power back online. To your stations, I want detailed reports on damage throughout the entire vessel. Status of the weapons and shield systems as well as a comprehensive listing of all crewmen injuries and those still operational, as well as full damage report, and I needed it yesterday." Moving towards the lift Halerson looked back. "If I'm needed I'll be in the medical bay."

As the lift slowed and the doors opened alarms suddenly sounded throughout the bridge. Turning abruptly Halerson sighed. "What is the problem now?"

"Sir, we have an unknown vessel three kilometres from the bow, its directly in front of us." The crewmen pointed outside the window. There blinking in the void a sat small smooth vessel. Grand sails extended from the superstructure, while cannons jutted from the side.

"Raise the deflector screen and sound the tactical alert. And someone get me the status of the captain." Slower than standard the tactical alert was sounded. Unsure of what to do the Ensign could only maintain a silent vigil.

"Uh Sir, Our scans are inconclusive, all i do know is that they are not responding, and from the energy readings, it appears they may be hostile" The First Officer Informed His commander, The Police Frigate hung still in space, watching, waiting.

"This is it, It looks damaged enough to probably be a easy target, though, were likely to be blown out of the darkness of space, Before the Admiral arrives with reinforcements" The Commander said, half to himself and half to everyone.

"Course of Action, Sir?" The First Officer Replied, out of habit.

"Well, Charge Weapons, Battle Ready, if they do decide to throw their crap this way, we have to be ready for it" The Commander responded. The Craft still hung silent in space, ad its beauty did not betray its new found deadliness, Behind them, The Isamashii Finally Materialised, Early.

The Majestic vessel began to slide forward in space, No Longer was the Police Frigate dwarfed by one ship, but by two, then three, then four, then five ships. The Imperial Star Destroyer found itself Surrounded by the Great Isamashii herself, 2 Destroyers, and a Carrier.

Yokomatsu stared out of the viewport, his eyes were wide, taking in all depths of the very situation he was in. But, History would remember, His actions dictated everything that followed, Maybe he saw red, or wanted to prove himself. The only person who knows is he, Although one day, he may redeem himself.

"Sir, The Vessel is damaged, unknown cause for now, It could potentially leave rather soon, once its repairs are complete, and once its gone, they will know we are here." Hikata Informed, never would you often be found asking her, but her telling you before you even forumlated the question.

"Charge all batteries, Isamashii to Fleet, Prepare to fire on Unknown Vessel, Perform in depth scans and transmit back to Yamato, And lets hope this ship doesnt get out of here alive." Yokomatsu Said, and that was the moment everything began.

Hitaka Paused.. This had taken her by surprise, Takushi was really prepared to do this.

"Uh, Yes sir.." Had Hitaka really stumbled? No.. Yokomatsu dismissed it, He stared at the ship, As the Isamashii charged her weapons.

And Finally, The Beautiful ships released their fury on the Wounded Star Destroyer.

Halerson still had no idea what to do. For four minutes now that winged devil had been staring at him, watching his ship and his crews every move. Still nothing from them, how odd." Helerson thought. "Look at their ship, a completely new and unknown design, could this race be a threat to the Empire or just another race to be conquered? Have we found a new ally or a new enemy? Regardless of what I think, I must remain strong for the crew. One sign of weakness and their morale and training will fracture and decintagrate.

"Still no change in the alien ship?"

"Not a flinch commander. Either they're watching us for study, or they have friends coming to join the party....

Running his sweaty palm through his hair Halerson maintained his uncompromising integrity. "Get the captain and injured to the shuttles, if we are attacked have them launch and have them make for Hyperspace. I will not risk everyone dying on board this ship."

As the wounded were taken to the shuttles and fighters, the bridge remained an area of intense concentration. Scans were now completed of the small frigate revealing that alone it was no threat, as by Imperial classification it fell into the region of gunboat, however their technology was a mystery and only vague assumptions were being made as to what those sails were for. As the minutes wore on the bridge crews confidence grew.

"Any change?"

"Yes commander, We are monitoring an energy increase in their main reactor, they have also redirected power to several systems that could constitute as weapons, but we are unfamiliar with their technology."

"recommendation?"

"Commander, I advise that we attack first, take them out and then leave. We can come back later, but right now our responsibility is to this ship."

"Agreed." Halerson nodded. Lifting his small communicator he pressed a code giving him access to the ships tactical command. "Destroy them....."

From Star Destroyers titanic guns, turbo laser bolts spewed forth, its raw energy impacting upon the enemy vessel with overwhelming power and fury. As green flashes illuminated the glimmering white hull, Halerson prayed that he and his crew would survive.

As the battle went well, great flashes of splendour glimmered around the Star Destroyer. Titans came forth from the rifts, angered by the arrogance of the Empire, unleashing their own judgement they began to take apart the Star Destroyer piece by piece. The bridge tower was the first to lose its fight, being hewn from its support, atmosphere and life rushed in to the vacuum of space. As hull breeches opened over the ship, transports launched from the docking bay in a final bid for survival. As they sped away from the battle, they were illuminated by the Grand explosion of the Empires ship of the line.

The Hulk of the now battered star destroyer proved an effective shield as anti-fighter batteries opened up, mostly impacting on the fractured Hull of a once great warship, Regretably, Those Shuttles and fighters had escaped.

Takushi sighed, it had happened, He had lost one ship, A Police Frigate, but his ships had taken down this monstrosity, regardless, it was a mission complete.

"Dispatch a Mission report, Set course for Yamato, Notify all outer bases to keep an eye out, If they come back looking for salvage, or in force, i want to know." He said, As if nothing had ever happened

Hikata looked at him in dismay, but nonetheless carried out her orders, The Ships flared with energy, and were gone, only 2 lifeless hulks remained. Were these the first of many? no-one knew. Another flare of energy.

A Repair tug, manouvering, it latched onto the remains of the police frigate, and then it too was gone, The remains of the star destroyer, a hefty prize to many of the empires opponents, was scanned, and abandoned.

This was to be the beginning of the graveyard.

Two Weeks Later, Imperial Palace

As Captain Sayer stood up for his judgement a refined silence dominated the room. It had been two weeks since the incident, and the loss of twenty thousand men and woman, and the Empire was looking for someone to blame. As Admiral Malin stood, he prepared to give judgement. "I will pass my judgement without remorse or regret. The main evidence standing against you Captain Sayer is that you are responsible for the deaths of over twenty thousand men and women therefore, this enquiry finds you guilty of negligence and treason to the state. You will be taken below and executed immediately for your crimes. This enquiry is now closed."As the hammer hit the bench Sayer began smoothing his uniform, as a Strom trooper placed a hand on his shoulder the captain saluted the board and left the room with traditional dignity and composure.

As the doors closed, the inquiry board now had a new matter to attend to, what of this alien species? They had destroyed an Imperial Star Destroyer, something which the Empire held dear and as such retribution was demanded, but the challenge was, how much retribution?

The Empire was reaching a crossroad's in politics and the General staff were unwilling to commit to a major campaign if civil unrest was near, however, the fact remained that these aliens had to be investigated.

Heading the Inquiry Admiral Malin was the first to speak out. "We all know of the current political climate, and we cannot let it cloud our judgement. We must send in a strike force to at least determine the strength of this nation, if not, it could pose a greater threat to the Empire than the rebellion."
From the left of the table Admiral Velak spoke out with a muffled laugh. "As you and I both know the rebellion is dead Admiral, they are no longer a threat but the possibility of civil war is. The current climate of the military dictatorship cannot continue much longer, we only have so much time before the planets go into open defiance. Yes as I said the rebellion is dead, but the possibility of it rekindling is very much alive".

"Regardless." Malin lingered on the word. "The fact remains that this race poses an unknown threat and therefore must be dealt with. I will be ordering with or without the consent of this board the Palpatine taskforce into the battlezone, to scan for survivors and determine the strategic threat that this new race poses. If any of you disagree, I suggest you talk to grand Admiral Thrawn, he will support me."

"So who will be leading this taskforce Admiral, we can hardly the safety of an entire fleet in the hands of a novice."

"No we cannot. That is why we I shall take command of the fleet myself. If there is nothing more gentleman, I must be leaving, I have an appointment with senator Verat."

Two Days Later. SSD Palpatine

*Imperial March Booms*

As the shuttle docked with in the grand Hanger bay of the super star destroyer Admiral Malin descended the lowered ramp. Behind him followed a man cloaked and hooded with guile. A body guard or perhaps the Admirals master? As captain Helit moved to salute, a pair of red eyes glared up from the darkened hood. "Welcome Admiral, to the Palpatine. The task force is ready to go into Hyperspace, we wait on your order."

Responding with a salute Malin proceed towards the hyperlift at the end of the hanger bay. "Excellent work captain. Have the fleet move to the designated cordinates immediately, I will be in the bridge after I have consulted with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

As Malin and Thrawn consulted each other on the fate of the Empire, the Imperial taskforce slid into Hyperspace.

Sensor Station Igaru, In The Farcast Territories, 4 Lightyears from Inhabited Systems

"Well, Rather you than me going there, Its so crowd.." The Ensign's conversation was rudely interrupted, The Sensor Station, normally resigned to silence, began to screech and wail, as The Klaxons emitted their sounds and the computers hummed to report their findings.

"Huge Energy Mass, Incoming Into Co-ordinates 21,345,6, Possible Signatures Match.. Unknown Vessels Detected Dropping to realspace, Damn, Transmit everything we have to Yamato!" The Sensor Station sent one burst of Communication into the Home Territories.

It Probably had no chance what-so-ever, The Uknown Fleet had dropped a few friends nearby, Probably an effect of this Sectors Anomalies.

Battlestation Yamato, Home Territories

The same sort of scene repeated Itself onboard the Yamato, Klaxons blared out their warning sound, But The Yamato had the Fleet, and it was there, reinforced, in all its splendour.

SEV Isamashii, Fleet Kanshisha

Takushi Paced the Bridge, it had not been long ago he had killed people he knew nothing about, now their ships had come to this Sector, Already, Messages zipped across the Star Empire, Warning Civilians, Preparing Soldiers, Fortifying defenses.

Takushi Said Nothing, He Nodded at Hikata, And One By One, Ships were emblazened in energy, disappearing to their fate.

The Imperial fleet burst out of Hyperspace into the system now designated P34X. The command ship surrounded by the glistening swarm of Star Destroyers and fighters slowly ploughed into enemy territory. On the bridge of the Palpatine Admiral Malin paced cautiously in anticipation of the system scan being completed.

"Admiral, we have the results. The fleet has detected large amounts of what appears to be civilian traffic, along with two Habitable worlds, and the destroyed wreckage of the Medelion, sadly we have found no life signs amongst the debris."

Clenching his fists in anger Malin moved towards the bridge windows. His face contorted and twisted with rage was plunged into shadow as the Imperial Star Destroyer "Swift Justice" passed between him and the systems sun.

"I want the fleet taken into orbit of the nearest world, we will show these "Aliens" the price of their actions. Take the fleet to combat alert."

Fleet Kanshisha was well aware of this now rather sizeable force roaming through.. Well, A Farming System Only 2 Hops away from the Capital System, Yet Takushi did not order his fleet into confrontation, The Shogun had over-ruled him, In Orbit over Honshu Primus, The Processing planet of this system, a Small Station orbited, geo-synchroniously, for that is the way it had to be, According to law.

Onboard, there Was no-one, For an AI ran its Vigil here, It was a placid and old AI, but it had developed its personality to acceptable paramaters, although it did want to be relocated from this processing station to somewhere more.. exotic.

How wrong it had been, and how surprised it was to find a Message from the Shogun, To Her? Well, she had read it, and her sensors confirmed it, she almost shut down in a human imitation of shock and the ensuing faint, but did not, that would not be logical, she redirected all of her shipments, alerted the System governer, for that had not been done yet, And Promptly used her Communication system for something worthwhile.

"This is Hauyi Station AI Broadcasting to Unknown Vessels, Hauyi Station is holding Geo-Synchronius Orbit over Honshu Primus's Fourth Continent, Abraiji, the Third Planet in this System, This System Provides 1/20th of All Empire Food Production, Half Of this systems output is Produced and All Produce from our Sister Planet, Honshu Secundus is Processed here on Primus, The Shogun is Unable to Meet you, and has tasked me with Communication, Welcome to the Star Empire, How May I Help?"

She Broadcasted, For that was what she was told to do.

Her Personality Kicked in fully, She would need it to ... "Converse"..