NationStates Jolt Archive

A tranquil scene, of a docile blue planet orbiting its bright star calmly, was interrupted by a stray energy bolt. For one only had to turn one's head slight to see that this scene was anything but tranquil or docile.

Hundreds of ships, thousands of fighters, battled each other above the world. Closer inspection showed huge craters and blazing fires on the planet's previously exotic landmasses.

Massive warships exchanged fire over a vast distance -- missiles, beam weapons, pulse weapons, it was all being thrown in to the mix. Between the colossal brutes, tiny, elegant fighters weaved their way through the littered battlefield, fighting each other and trying to destroy squadrons of enemy bombers before they could deploy their payloads on their fleets.

One side appeared to be defending the planet from a punishing assault. Their ships clung as close to the planet as possible, almost as though they were trying to absorb the enemy's fire rather than allow it to hit the surface. The attackers vastly outnumbered the defenders, and their dark black-and-red ships pushed forwards slowly but surely.

Another battlecruiser erupted in a bright flash of light, spraying its debris around like shrapnel. The battle did not go well for the defenders, whose ships were less harsh, brighter tones of blue-and-beige. Several carriers had been hanging back, launching a continuous stream of fighters and bombers into the fray, but they couldn't keep far enough away from the slaughter without crashing into the planet, and they too came under fire.

Several of the largest attacking ships broke off from the battle and slowly began to push their way around the planet.



"Come on, we only have to hold them off for a few more minutes..." Admiral Ornalo grumbled. His bridge was a wreck. Corpses lay everywhere, computer stations were trashed, sparks flew and harmless gases vented in to try and stop the ever-growing fires. The vessel vibrated continuously -- it didn't have much longer to live.

"Enemy warships advancing into the fourth quarter," an officer called. "Lines in that section are crumbling sir; they are going to break through!"

The Admiral braced himself as the ship violently rattled, and stepped forwards to look at a computer screen. Green and red dots littered the image, and the planet's curve was just visible at the edge. The starboard end of their lines was indeed suffering heavy losses. He glanced around the map, looking for reinforcements.

"There!" he said, pointing at a cluster of greens. "Half of those destroyers can be re-deployed to the forth quarter. Make sure that they do, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant nodded. An alarm went off, yet another in a flurry of blaring klaxons and bleeps. "Sir! Five enemy battlecruisers have broken off. They are moving around Hiigara, heading for Tanis!"

"Damn," the Admiral slammed his hand on a metal bulkhead angrily. "Are any of our lines strong enough to spare any more ships?"

"Sir, we aren't going to have any ships left at all in a few minutes time," the Lieutenant told him. "It doesn't matter which spares ships. The second quarter still has a single carrier dedicating bombers -- we could pull some of those away."

"Get on it!"



Five squads of bombers on a strafing run suddenly veered off their course after firing only a single salvo of missiles. They arced through the battlefield, dodging weapons fire and debris, and broke off from the main battle. They chased the five enemy battlecruisers determinedly.

As they approached, the massive turrets of the warships slowly turned and fired red pulses. Most of the bombers managed to dodge, but several unlucky ones didn't. They exploded, knocking several others off-course violently. Still, the remaining ships pressed on. They were within range, and let rip with their missiles.

The puny bombers were no match for five battlecruisers. Maybe if there were more squads, but not five. But their evasive manoeuvres did force the battlecruisers to temporarily cease their progress as they turned to deal with the pests.



"It's working sir," the Lieutenant said. "The battlecruisers have stopped to deal with the bombers."

"Right!" the Admiral cheered. Perhaps he was mad? His fleet was exploding around him, his homeworld was about to be eradicated by a terrible enemy, and he was cheering over such a tiny victory? "Relay a message to Tanis through whatever communication satellites still remain -- tell the lazy fools it is either now or never."

"Yes sir."

***

The Vaygr flagship was as dark on the inside as it was on the outside. Its massive bulk made it a big target, but also a durable target. They had sustained small damage to the outer-hull.

The commander of the invasion fleet was a mysterious figure, completely obscured with black robes. He sat in a throne-like command chair, watching over the battle quietly. He had only one target in mind, and it had not yet presented itself. He left the generals to the petty parts of the slaughter.

"My lord, the enemy fleet is in ruins," a uniformed man said nervously. "Our ships are mopping the remnants up now."

"Excellent," the figure said. "And our target?"

"It has still not shown itself," the man said. "I did send battlecruisers as you asked, but they were intercepted by bombers... wait, I have something. It's out -- there!"

He pointed out of the window. The robed figure casually raised his covered head and looked out into space, at the debris-filled expanse. There she was. Just emerging from behind the large planet, a ship that dwarfed all the others by far. Even the Vaygr flagship seemed small in comparison. It was not so much 'long' as it was 'tall'. It looked somewhat like an angel fish that had been squashed lengthways. It was flat along the back 'spine', which was also were the massive engines were, and the front was curved like a blade, with various sensor and communications pylons jutting out. It was enormous. And it could not be allowed to escape.

"Order all ships to destroy that 'thing'," the figure said. "All other objectives are irrelevant."



The last of the Hiigaran capital ships erupted in a flash of light, leaving nothing but a few baseless fighters and bombers. They fought bravely, however futile the situation was.

But the Vaygr ships ignored them. Firing a concentrated burst of fire right through the fighters, they simply turned and pushed away. Every ship headed straight for the behemoth. But it was too far away for them to reach in time.



"If that vessel enters hyperspace, I will destroy you," the figure warned the officer. "We cannot track them in hyperspace -- they will be lost to us."

"They are too far and heading away quickly... I do not think we can reach weapons range in time!" the officer gulped. He couldn't see his master's eyes, but he could feel the glare he just received.

"Prey that we do..."



The behemoth answered their question. A hyperspace gateway opened up and swallowed the tall ship, and closed up soon after. It was gone.

As though angry that their plaything had been taken away from them, the Vaygr ships turned and began firing at the planet. Every last weapon was fired, and the surface of the world was completely destroyed -- billions of people died in a matter of minutes. By the time they stopped firing, the entire landmass was ablaze, and the atmosphere slowly started to darken as it was filled with dust and smoke.

From the largest of the Vaygr ships, a body fell from an airlock, floating away to join the masses of debris. All that was left of the Hiigaran Defence Fleet. The ships seemed to simply 'stop', as though sulking. They had failed to completely exterminate the Hiigaran people. Their master would be executing a few people over the next few hours.

OCC: -low whistle- Wow as soon as I spot a opening I have to join in this one. Very good intro-post

((OC- Tagness, and a hearty welcome to NS Forums for yet another FT user. =^^=

..just post where the large ship ends up, and it'll come across a Gaian Exploration Fleet.

..might be suprised by the 'kushan' elements in it, since we use such vessels heavily in our Republic Fleets.

..and your introl sounds a lot like my old Planets I intro whee my own super vessels were racing to escape the very destruction of their original home dimension. Nice to have another rper in our midst. =^^= ))

ooc: VERY NICE! (Best.Game.Ever. lol Bought it a while ago, still playing it night and day)

I'd like to try to get in at a decent point (assuming you recognize Post-Yuzhaan Vong Starwars tech)

OOC:
Tag

Perhaps if they had devoted the resources to additional battlecruisers and frigates, Hiigara mightn't have been lost. Perhaps if they had simply agreed to the terms their enemy had initially suggested, Hiigara would simply be an imperial colony rather than a smashed dust ball. Perhaps if the three million souls now in hibernation has been devoted to the fleet, they would have turned the tide of war.

As the Hiigaran Mothership materialised in an abandoned star system near the edge of the galaxy, these were the only thoughts on Karan S'jet's mind. How they could have prevented the destruction of their home. But such thoughts were hopeless. Even if she could travel back in time to implement some hindsight-based ideas, Hiigara would be lost anyway. The Vaygr had an entire empire of resources at their disposal, and thus a fleet many multitudes larger than their own. They would have kept coming, over and over, with more zeal after each defeat, however many times it took. And she had heard what they did to their 'colonies'... no, construction of the Mothership was the only option for the survival of their race. And it was not safe yet.

This system was nothing of interest. It was a simple, dying star with a couple of rocky planets orbiting it loosely, a dense asteroid belt at the edge and a few pockets of nebulae dotted around in-between. The Mothership proceeded at low thrust towards one of the planets, hoping to extract some resources from it. They had not had time to stock up before leaving, and for a Mothership to be effective it needed various metals and chemicals.

"Ma'am," an officer said, stepping up behind her. She was startled, and turned around to look away from the window. Huge sensor pylons could be seen just above the window, jutting out for what seemed like miles. Compared to the rest of the ship they were quite small.

"You made me jump," S'jet said, shaking her head. "What is the matter, Commander?"

"My apologies, ma'am," the Commander said, nodding his head respectfully. "But I thought you would like to know that we expended the remains of our emergency fuel by opening that hyperspace gateway. We did not have time to fuel our power systems fully before leaving, you see ma'am, and that jump was quite a long..."

"I know, Commander," she nodded slowly, smiling. He turned around once more, looking at the beautiful area of space which was presented to them. She pointed at a distant rock, which wasn’t much larger than the stars from this distance. "We are moving towards that planet to harvest basic resources for our voyage. Scans indicate you should be able to extract the necessary fuel materials from there."

"Very good, ma'am," the Commander nodded. That seemed to satisfy him for now. "When will mining begin?"

"In an hour or so, as soon as we reach the planet," she said, not turning away from the window again. "We have only a few dozen worker-bees at our disposal presently, so it may take some time before we are fully-stocked."

"Understood, ma'am," he nodded.

Silence befell the room, except for the powerful throbbing of the ship's power systems. An awkward silence, one might say. S'jet simply gazed out into space, absorbing the scene presented to her by the window, and the Commander stood back, unsure of what to do.

"Are you thinking of home, ma'am?" he asked finally.

"It comes to my mind, now and then," she sighed. "I keep trying not to, but it keeps coming back."

"I doubt anyone will ever get over it fully," the Commander shook his head. "Those Vagyr are vicious barbarians. How could they kill so many billions of innocent people at once like that?"

"That is a question we may never know the answer to," S'jet said, turning around and patting him on the shoulder reassuringly. "But so long as this ship survives, let us hope somebody will always be working on finding out what that answer could be. I will need your help to ensure that happens, Commander."

"I will serve loyally, as always, ma'am," the Commander snapped to attention.

"Prepare the primary hangar bays for mining operations immediately, Commander," she said, smiling. "I will be alright."

"Very well, ma'am," the Commander nodded. He bowed his head slightly and left the observation room. S'jet turned back to look out into the stars once more. A single, ominous thought came to her mind...

***

...were the Vaygr going to give up without fully achieving their objectives? Not if the Overlord had his way they weren't. Such was not the way of the Vaygr. The ships still remained by Hiigara, its flaming surface still consuming the atmosphere like a glowing cancer. The massive debris field the ships now resided in had dissipated greatly, spreading out all around the world.

The Vaygr Overlord stormed into the Command Centre of his flagship, shoving people violently out of the way as he went with surprising displays of physical strength. He lifted one of his robed arms and pointed at one of the officers near the front of the room, who backed up nervously and hoped he was pointing at someone else.

"You!" the Overlord bellowed, grabbing him by the neck and violently slamming him to the floor. "I ORDERED you to find out where the Hiigaran scum went. Yet I am told you still do not know. WHY?!"

"Hyperspace gates... are not... ugh... traceable, my Lord..." the officer gurgled. He desperately wanted to struggle in his master's grasp, but knew such an act would result in instant death. His hands simply hovered above his crushed neck helplessly.

"The galaxy is a very, very large place," the Overlord growled. "You will find them, or you will find yourself floating in space as your predecessor now does. Do you comprehend my words?"

The officer nodded meekly in his master's grasp. His face was a worrying shade of red. Fortunately the Overlord roughly released his hand from the officer's neck, and he desperately began to drag air into his lungs and rubbed his sore neck.

"You!" the Overlord pointed at someone else, whom was apparently operating a communications console. He wore a tiny headset, and operated various devices such as frequency analysers and the like. "Order this fleet to divide into pre-arranged units. They are to look for the Hiigarans in a standard search pattern, and they will find them even if they have to tear the fabric of the universe apart in the process!"

"At once my Lord," the officer nodded, and immediately stopped what he was doing and carried out his orders.



The fleet finally started to show signs of life. Pairs of super capital ships with various escorts entered formations in several separate groups, and went their separate ways. They disappeared into hyperspace, and started to search for the remains of their enemy.

The AEN Phantom Blade had just escaped from yet another PSN ambush. Her 7km long hull was scared from bow to aft, port to stern by plasma strikes and other weapons that the PSN had at their disposal.
She drifted around the star in the system looking for a solar flare to gather the needed plasma to keep functioning the best she could, yet it was pointless.
Only a scant 100,000km away form the sun the PSN Demon Bane defolded in a briliant flash of sickly green light that slowly disapated form her hull like a aurora. Though even before she could aim her plasma turrets aFallen Angel cannon obliterated the Demon Bane, gutting it from bow to aft like it had just been impaled.
The PSN never realy thought to much of the AEN's stealth cruissers, hell they didn't even know they existed, but the fact that this massive 9km long monster shimmered into existance from the blank background of the void.

<AEN SC Phantom Knight> Blade this is Knight. We thought you could use a hand after we recived reports of the ambush.
<AEN SD Phantom Blade> Blade here. Thanks for the save. We have level eight damages and level six crew losses.
<AEN SC Phantom Knight> Coppy that hang on we'll have a support ship here in a matter of...wait we got company. We will continue this later. Hang back and let us handel this.
<AEN SD Phantom Blade> Copy that. Good luck.

The Phantom Knight began to come about moving towards the massive ship. As it passed through the still cooling wreakage her fighters launched and began to search through the feild for any useful weapons or other items.

A small yet simple message came off the com system towards the ship,
This is the AEN Phantom Knight. State your nature and purpose in this system.

.....another of the continuously infinite Gaian exploration missions, ones that only upped in tempo ever since the Deatharon War ended. It was simply more and more paramount to the Gaians to learn at a ravenous pace. That pace was sending ever larger and more expansive exploration fleets to cataloge everything they came across.

More and more new nations were being discorvered, and the Gaians took it upon themselves more and more to be the helping hand these nation looked for.. or at least, tried to be in the overall picture. Many could call it meddeling, and yes, that's true.

..but then everything anyone does is the same in the end. The difference is the intent of the meddeling.

"Did you have to call it that Captain?" Admiral Tara Varnor spat back, just before her Fleet Fold Jumped, her comment aimed at the 'meddeling' quip just mentioned literally on whims outside of this post.

..or inside.. anyone need a score sheet here? =oO=??

"I only call it as I see it." The Captain quipped back. This all just before the 336th/F Exploration Fleet was about to Jump from a Nebulaous Planetoid Field System. The seventeen vessels, six JumpShip, the rest WarShip and High-Mobile vessels, with a entire polethera of vessel types of all sizes/weights with the centerpiece a Battlecruiser and a Kushan-Droid Mothership. They all had just finished finalizing checks when Comm-Tech reports up.. "All vessels now ready, at your command Admiral."

Admiral Varnor nods and orders.. "Next coordinate set, begin Fold Jump..."

The blandly stated order, mainly from experience of hundreds of Fold Jumps, begins an amazing process of orchestrated organization amid the Fleet. in succession, every vessel charges their Fold Drive, then internetworks the fields into a larger field bubble, one made to stabilize the Fold at the same time for every vessel. When the bubble forms, the gravitron effect begins to nail in place the Fleet, as a stable gravity eddy then makes for the mass Jump less harsh on waveform effects of the same type.

Essentially, no sheer effect from that much energy beind Folded at the same time. It's nothing new to the Gaians, and in anycase, the theory becomes practical application as the Fold Bubble reaches cresendo. At that, the final command lock is removed, and bingo time occurs.

The Fleet turns into a mass series of star bright, flat horizontal bars that collapse into a single point. Fold Space is achieved...

...and seconds later, the opposite effect occurs as the Fleet arrives in a dead Star System. 'This System was nothing of interest. It was a simple, dying star with a couple of rocky planets orbiting it loosely, a dense asteroid belt at the edge and a few pockets of nebulae dotted around in-between.'

..except for the Gaians, who, as soon as sensors catch up with the lag time of Fold travel, a few microseconds, discover.. "SIR! Contact at Mark 314.54 by 289.11! It's a large contact sir!"

Varnor blinks.. "Any indications of intent?" ...as she looks over her holo readouts being fed to her."

"Still checking sir." Sensors reports back.

Varnor however acts. "Weapons cold and shields to basic levels. LEt's not startle whoever this is."

"Too late for that I bet." The Captain quips back again. Varnor though isn't as kind. "Then for your sake, let's hope it's a peaceful situation. I'm not prepared for a battle right now."

The Captain nods. "Nor I."

--

The Gaian Exploration Fleet begins by actually backing off by another 500,000 kilometers, rather than approach. Their sensors worked just as well from that range.

ooc:
Can't go wrong with HW, TAG.

The ISF ESD squadron jumped into the system.

All six ESDs immedeatly spotted the massive ship without a pause.

"That's a big ship"
"I'll say. How big?"

"Larger than the Devastator, that's for sure."

"Never ythought i'd see the day. You opening a channel?"

"Not yet. Registering a few other various drives in-system."

"Right."

"Got them. A couple are Gian ships. And one is an AEN ship. There's also something else... most likely a rock."

"alright. anything threatening?"

"Nope. No need for Second Fleet. ="

"Good. Openig a channel now."

Attenion all ships. This is ISF Exploration Fleet 9. We do not intend harm. Please state your intentions

The small, black cylinder erupted into normal space, having shadowed the Gaian Ascendency fleet. The armored cylinder unfolded, the fusion reactor sending spikes of energy into the communications and computer systems.

"Hello, I am Scanning Recon Unit 1156 JNY. I am a representative of the Concordiat, and I am broadcasting this message in the clear:
The Concordiat hereby begins diplomatic negotiations with these nations present, all unknowns are to be considered hostile. Please respond."

OCC: ISF not that you would know but the AEN ships are some of the most classified ships in all of Phalanix's long history. They keep all information on them hidden from any nation that they contact and since the AEN have had no contact it's doubtful you might be able to identify it as AEN.

Blink

Thats all that would prove a Tsurani ship had been in the area, a single blink on the scanners, before the thing jumped away. Their was a pause, right before a Rift opened, allowing a Seer Mk XII Style Craft come through. These where the newest Craft, based off the small Seers, they had been adapted to support the cold Blodded Tsurani, as well as updated. Now they had computers, and their average tempreture was a nice warm Thirty Seven Degrees at all times. Usually, a blink Drone was all that would be used to find something out about a system, however, simply put, a ship the size of the Hiigaran craft was something to send a true ship for. In an instant, a message was sent through, it was a deep hissing sound, like a annaconda or Constricta was talking.

To Those that Have the craft that Is the size of the Dimond.

We are Citizens of the EverKingdom, a powerful empire that has been changing rapidly for the last Twenty Years. We have gone from Anti Computers to using them, we now have a number of AI's in our nation, and we have changed our race to reptilian type blood. Now, you are to be our newest change. We would like to extend our hand in friendship, we would like to help you....[i] What ever was said next was cut off, for an Elven ship came in using the same rift.

[i]Damn Searpents, you know your forbidden from handling first contact! Go back before you scare them away. Came the Mellow roar.

Silence Warm Blooded, we are handling it quite fine, we must be accepted, how can they begin to when we are forbidden from speaking to them? Came the hissing reply.

Just go you damn Searpents, we are trained to handle this....

And we do it naturally! The Searpent Interupted. And We where here first, so silence! And let us continue.

Now, people make mistakes, but the worst thing to do is let that shouting match be yelled across the most commonly used frequencies.

While the Gaians were still suprised by the situation, a vessel nonetheless that equated to their own SSDs, they couldn't abide by the bickering occring over open comms.

Admiral Varnor opened a channel and barked. ":: WILL you all settle yourselves? Can you not all tell the tale of scars of battle upon the hull of this vessel? The situation requires a bit more decorum, and less ego, if you all 'would' please. ::"

...and at that the huffy Admiral ordered her comm-techs. "If that vessel requests aid, send a message that 'all' vessels here will stand down and assist. I sense a humanitarian event occuring anyway and will act accordingly."

"Aye sir." The Comm-Tech commander responded back, and Gaian fequencies remained open therefortth, squelching down any more petty nonesense.

The Hissing came long and hard, right before a message came from the searpents.

Humain? We are not human! We do not have to follow the rules of you foolish warm blooded!

Shut up you Damn Searpents, this is not your feild! We are here to help these people, not live like you, they are not emotionless!

Just leave it to US!

No, we will die before we leave this to you.

Then do so!

Then the form of the ships missiles launching from the ship moved and hit the elven ship. The sheilds took the blow fairly well, and the screams came back.

Your saw it! They attacked us! Please take the bloody things out, then we can continue this normally!

The lance of red fire moved and crippled the Seer ship, leaving it there.

We are sorry for that, but our friends are not particalry polite. We will just continue as if it didn't happen shall we?

the ship entered normal space with a sudden lurch.
two jumps from Homeworld, and it seemed their luck had turned. the trip had begun smoothly enough, the drive had been functioning well above expectations, the first star system had been completely wrong, so they had moved on. then this, well,in theory, anything was possible, but to dump a hypercore midjump, that would take something,well, huge, Scans indicated several ships in the area, and, what had to be one of the most overengineered skyscrapers in existence.
"anything to report?"
"we are detecting what could be Gaian hyperdrive activity, but nothing that would explain our unscheduled stop"
"engine room?"
"sir, the drive is still there, I'll be able to tell you more once we have a chance to run some tests."
"try and open a channel, if it is the Gaians, we should say hello."
"use the old contact frequency?"
"for starters, then try the obvious ones, chances are, someone is listening."
Greetings, this is Gelfland vessel "celestial hamster."
we mean no direspect, we are seeking what has long been lost.
It was a silly name, but it was what the crew had decided upon while they were preparing to depart.

Karen S'jet was shaken from her musings as she saw a flash of light in the distance. Alarms sounded throughout the colossus a few moments afterwards. She turned and left the observation room, and took a hyperlift to the bridge.

"Captain Soban, what is going on?" she asked immediately as she stepped out of the large elevator capsule and onto the simply massive command centre. Given how much this ship could do, and on what scale it could do it, it seemed rather appropriate that the command centre was equally massive, spread across three tiers and with more computer stations than one could shake a floppy disk at. Most of the computers seemed to be operated by some form of non-intrusive neural interface, which made things a little faster than simple typing.

"Multiple ships have appeared in various places across the solar system," Soban said. A holographic map of the solar system, with various numbers and lines all over it, appeared as he activated the tactical map with his neural interface. Several blobs were highlighted with flashing icons, and their banana-like vessel was slap-bang in the middle.

"Vaygr ships?" S'jet asked. "We need fuel before we can jump -- we can't fight off an armada at the moment."

"They are not Vaygr ships ma'am," Soban shook his head. "Nor are they Bentusi, Turanic or any of the other races we have on our database. They are from various unknown races. Some of them seem to use similar technology to our own, though."

"I thought you said this system was 'empty', Captain," S'jet scowled.

"It was, ma'am," Soban shrugged. "I guess this part of the galaxy is busier than any other in the universe."

"How far did we jump, exactly?" S'jet asked, squinting at the Captain.

"Unknown," Soban shook his head. "I assume 2,500 lightyears, the maximum capability of our hyperspace gate, ma'am. If our beliefs regarding Vaygr technology are accurate it will take them months to find us this far away."

"Well, we need to defend ourselves against whoever these ships are," S'jet said. "How many bomber and interceptor squadrons do we have on board?"

"Erm... two bomber squadrons, five interceptor squadrons," Soban said. "Not enough to mount an offensive. We do have a half-finished destroyer in our cap-ship bay, but that won't do any good and we can't finish it without mining first."

"Well, OK then," S'jet nodded. "Launch what we have. Charge the ion cannon turrets, and ready the..."

"Hold there please, ma'am," Soban said, touching the interface on his temple. "We are receiving transmissions, various frequencies I didn't think anybody used."

S'jet took an interface and placed it against the side of her head, and listened to the various messages that came through. Some of them seemed to be between some of the ships, others directed at them. She also noticed some sensors from various ships probing them repeatedly.

"I will send out a general message to all of them," S'jet said, looking up at Soban. "I don't know where so many ships came from at once. In the meantime, get someone to scan them. They've scanned us, it seems only fair that we do the same."

He nodded. As he walked away, she thought out a message.

"Unkown ships, I am Karen S'jet of the Hiigaran Mothership, carrying the last of the Hiigaran civilisation. We come in peace, seeking only to acquire resources from the planets in this system and then move on. We would appreciate it if you treated us in peace as we intend to do with yourselves."

Captain Daniels of the MC40 pickett ship Runner was a bit out of sorts. He'd pissed off someone in high command, and was now on exploration duty, something more dreary than anything else... even garbage men got the occasional valuable object. All he got was system after empty system.

"First mate, come get me when we jump into the next system. I'll be once again trying to raise command and get a probe doing this instead of us."

"Yes sir."

As the captain left the bridge, one of the sensors officers began to franticly move controls and flip switches. "Officer on deck! I've found something!"

"Yes James?" the first mate asked as she walked over, "What is it?"

"Ship just tore past here, mothership class! Going faster than anything I've ever seen! Come here, I'll replay the recording."

"There hasn't been a mothership detected this far out of the old Progenitor space since the Bantusi," Adrea commented as the officer pulled up the recording, "Are you sure you're correct?" Her skepticism was obliterated when the recording played. The first mate walked to the intercomm in a state of shock, and pressed her finger to the all access button. "Captain Daniels to the bridge please!"

The ship came out of hyper, turned, and immediatly hyperjumped along the same vector as the unknown ship.
_________________________________________________________

The Runner was easily noticed as it pulled into the deserted star system. The MC40 class was made for light combat and patrols, not stealth.

Captain Daniels thought for a second, seeing the ranks of ships that had gathered to greet the unknown craft. Looks like some sort of picknic. Hey... that is the mothership?!?! She's huge!

"Tac Officer! How far to the mothership class vessel?"

"Sensors estimate about fifteen light minutes." called the Tactical Officer, deftly controling the ship's HUDs.

"Comm officer! Get me an open frequency that isn't already being used by this squabbling mass, and open up an all-access hail! Try to send it on a tightbeam transmission to that massive ship."

"Done. Begin transmitting in 3...2...1...GO!"

Greetings unknown mothership class vessel. This is Captain Kurt Daniels of the No Endorse M-C-fourty class Pickett and Exploration ship Runner.

What news from old Bantusi and Progenitor space do you have? We haven't heard of a mothership class vessel of your speed, or any vessel for that matter, to come out of that area of space for a long while.

No Endorse would be more than happy to open up diplomatic relations with your nation, and we would be happy to aid you if repairs are needed to your hull. If you'd like, we can send a small diplomatic detatchment via shuttle to your ship, or you can send one to ours.

ooc: I forget about how big the different Hiigaran ships are... anyway here's my ship:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8502838&postcount=19

Note that the ground vehicles have been replaced with more provisions, and the starfighters are 6 X-wings and 6 Y-wings. There are only 150 passengers, the berths for the other 500 have been converted to repair supply bays.

Unit 1156 JNY mused to himself. Many communications filckered back and forth, but none were directed to him.

I have not recieved any response to my initial communications package, yet several ships are on my sensors, and there are furious bursts of communications between them. My sensors also have picked up what looks like a weapons discharge.
These communications channels are not Concordiat frequencies.
I must interpret them as potentially hostile.
I require more data about the current military situation.

JNY's SWIFT communications antenna rotated, turning back towards Concordiat space. A massive pulse of energy was accompanied by a respoding pulse, 1.4 nanoseconds later, by a Concordiat beacon. News spread throughout the computers, their Artificial Sentience units recording the data.

JNY watched as the space near its position rippeled, and a Class IV Battlegroup appeared in normal space. The Concordiat presence was not to be ignored!

"I have come, Unit 1156 JNY. It was smart of you to come. My weaponry is powering up. However, I require more data. Send me everything!" As I speak to JNY through the QDC link, I must assume the ships around me are unfriendly to the Concordiat. I am bringing up my ancilliary reactors and weapons systems...Done. That took a phenomenally lengthly 1.2 seconds. My computer circuitry is slowly degrading. I shall obtain maitenence as soon as I return to the Factory. For now, though, my sluggish reaction circuits will suffice against these Organics.

"Hiigaran Mothership, this is the ISF Exploration Squadron 9. WE offer assistance. What materials do you need?"

"sir, it seems that building is in fact a vessel, "
"Frith and Inle!! if that thing is jump capable..."
"That would explain our presense here."
"the power needed for a feild of that magnitude..."
"yes, sir, from their message it seems they are here to refuel."
"any word from the others?"
"no sir, but I am detecting something approaching on hyperwave."
"range?"
"you know only a poet could answer that, but it should pop out over there, by that little one that sorta looks like a trash can."
"keep me posted"
"Sir, it appears a few of the ships are involved in a disagreement, we are registering weapons fire"
"anything else?"
"hard to say, we never thought we would have to process this many signals at once, but pattern analasys suggests a very high probability that this group of vessels is Gaian."
"very well, for now, try and establish position near the Gaian fleet, and keep monitoring."

The Elven Speakers came through softly.

Sorry, we shall help you, once you have stocked up, you may come to our own system to help. Please excuse our display of open fire, civil disagreements.

The captain turned, peering at the hologram in consternation. His guest laughed in surprise, yet no mirth was there in his expression.

'So, the exiles once again have been exiled. However this time their enemy may not be so forgiving... Monitor what communications we can, decrypt them, and send me the results.'

'Mylar sensors have been tripped. BIG fluctuations in the upper half of the Hiigaran vessel. Quantum variation OVER 5.0 - Bloody hells... That's a Progenitor style Quantum Flux. The same energy pattern...!'

'Farjump drive.' Breathed the Avatar, staring out at the Hiigaran vessel with a new type of fascination.

'What about Vaygr forces? Any sign of them?' Urged the captain.

'Not for several thousand lightyears.'

'Hmm. Load a few Seraph class probes with the Hiigaran vessel's energy flux characteristics, and when the ships here move out, seed this system with Planar mines. It might slow down the Vaygr when they finally decide to jump in system. Gods, their flagship alone could build an invasion fleet if they consumed the planetoids in the sector...'

'Agreed. Tell Nomad Moon to leave the cloak field and assign it to picket patrol. Broadcast IFF codes on all frequencies.'

'Understood.'

~~~

The Nomad Moon - a warfrigate with a mine launching array and PD Systems travelled towards the event horizon of the claoking field, to any who were actually watching the frigate would suddenly appear on passive sensors, broadcasting 'friendly' status. If pressed, the Moon would tell them they were launching Decoy probes for above mentioned plan, and if they so required, would provide details. They would not reveal the presence of the whopping great big Beta Class Dreadnaught - only String sensors and Mylar sensory systems were known to detect the tiny gravitic discrepencies exuded by the huge patrol vessel. To other sensors it'd look like small pockets of nebula gas. The Hiigaran vessel - If it has the advanced sensors array - and happens to sweep the area, will definitely see it.

OOC: TaG



Hiigaran System, outer edge

Shortly before the final blows of the battle were dealt,and the flight of the Mothership, a small slipstream hole opened and disgorged a few frigate-sized ships that looked like nothing more than a bulbous engine house attached to a long metal outcropping with a series of small metal loops attached to the underside. The entrance undoubtably went unoticed considering the electromagnetic storm of battle. A second short jump brought them within visual range shortly before the Mothership jumped into it's own slipstream gate. Vast amounts of data was deciphered, encrypted, and relayed to a discreet Traileric base somewhere on the far side of the Galactic Core. Technology beyond either the Vaygr or the Hiigarans allowed the small vessels to estimate the jump point of the Mothership within only a .3% margin of error. Shortly after the resulting data was recieved, the Traileric vessels (now easily detectable by the Vaygr, now that the battle was over and the guns silenced) began deep-penitration scans of the large dark cruisers. The Frigates engaged some sort of drive that would register as impossible and zipped closer for better inspection.

The Gaian Fleet was busy cataloging all the present fleets and vessels, when the message from the Hiigaran behemoth came in. Comm immediately patched the message to overcomm.

~ :: Unknown ships, I am Karen S'jet of the Hiigaran Mothership, carrying the last of the Hiigaran civilization. We come in peace, seeking only to acquire resources from the planets in this system and then move on. We would appreciate it if you treated us in peace as we intend to do with yourselves. :: ~

When the other various offers of help came from other vessels, it became clear that the Exploration Fleet had found a major oppritunity for yet another diplomatic first contact, one with a benefit both sides could use, the Hiigarans far more than the Gaians of course.

Admiral Varnor considered for a moment. The Milky Way Galaxy was getting a touch crowded, but some Systems were still colonizable. But is sounded like the Hiigarans needed serious protection as well. It would be better then if they could feel safe, while they rebuilt.

"We could let them colonize one of 'our' Systems..." ...the Admiral thought loudly. The Captain looked over.. "I presume we'd be having to get permission from the Holy Council for that."

Varnor replies back.. "They let the Woodians make colonies on our worlds, heck, we have nothing if land to give for such things."

Varnor then leaned back and considered the pros and cons, and then finally decided the humanitarian approach was needed. "Open comm to the Hiigaran vessel."

--

~ :: This is the 366th Gaian Exploration Fleet, representative of the Gaian Ascendancy, though not in official name. However we acknowledge that your situation is dire enough to require proper assistance of the unorthadox kind.

We cannot speak for the other races present, but we 'can' offer the following, per case if agreed to by our Council leaders. If it would be proper, with no strings attached, and if your jump drive is capable of traversing the 30,000 light year distance from here, that there are several Gaian Core Systems that can allow you to find a place to recover properly, as well as have the protection of our expansive fleets. Our hospitality, as well as open arms policies are based on a trust, and had anticipated events such as these.

However if your vessel cannot complete this journey easily, then there are a limited number of nearby Systems we have explored, while not ideal, can support your immediate needs. The problem is defense, from whcih by signs of of the combat damage on your magnificent vessel, means that defense is a high priority.

But before any of this commences, a first contact meeting should be conducted, while message of this event is sent to our Core Republic Worlds, to better understand each other, and establish trust, while a negotiated agreement is conducted, to allow the best way to assist your souls in this situation.

We cannot offer a perfect solution, but at present, one of a better array of choices than one you are currently enduring. The end result is the ability to return your people to self-suficency, whence better able to defend yourselves, as well as give the needed time to expand your people. As such, if agrred, our resources would be at your disposal, of which we have a polethera to offer, alongside any of the other present civilizations that wish to offer the same.

Therefore, we offer by your choice, a place to meet, as best that represents a neutral and comfortable ground for your people.

Regards,

Admiral Varnor
366th Gaian Exploration Fleet :: ~

After this, several signals were sent to other fleets in the area, that the Gaians considered the area a Humanitatian Zone, for purposes of assisting the Hiigarans fully.

The Gaian Fleet was busy cataloging all the present fleets and vessels, when the message from the Hiigaran behemoth came in. Comm immediately patched the message to overcomm.



When the other various offers of help came from other vessels, it became clear that the Exploration Fleet had found a major oppritunity for yet another diplomatic first contact, one with a benefit both sides could use, the Hiigarans far more than the Gaians of course.

Admiral Varnor considered for a moment. The Milky Way Galaxy was getting a touch crowded, but some Systems were still colonizable. But is sounded like the Hiigarans needed serious protection as well. It would be better then if they could feel safe, while they rebuilt.

"We could let them colonize one of 'our' Systems..." ...the Admiral thought loudly. The Captain looked over.. "I presume we'd be having to get permission from the Holy Council for that."

Varnor replies back.. "They let the Woodians make colonies on our worlds, heck, we have nothing if land to give for such things."

Varnor then leaned back and considered the pros and cons, and then finally decided the humanitarian approach was needed. "Open comm to the Hiigaran vessel."

--



After this, several signals were sent to other fleets in the area, that the Gaians considered the area a Humanitatian Zone, for purposes of assisting the Hiigarans fully.

The Concordiat was interested in this "alliance" prosepect. War was a pastime for the Concordiat now, but this idea of more than one-on-one was interesting...

"Cap'n Daniels! We're getting a transmission from an unknown craft. Transponder reading says "Gaian Ascendancy." They are calling for this area to be a humanitarian location, and for a stand down of all weaponry too I think. The unknown ship hasn't yet responded to our tightbeam. Request permission for an all-access repeat?"

"Denied." sighed the captain, leaning back in his seat, "We'll give them some time. Sensors Officer! What do you have for me James?"

"There is quite a bit of quantum disturbance in the area, much more than the ambience should create. I don't think it's the other fleets, since it's emminating from the mothership. Sir... I think we have a farjumper. She's not Bentusi though, their harborship and design layout is different. Not a Progenitor ship either, though the core is."

"A farjumper? Communications! Call Sanctuary! Get a diplomatic ship here yesterday, and make sure it can defend itself in case those other fleets get trigger-happy."

"Aye sir." called the Comm Officer. "An Imperator II star destroyer is inbound. ETA three hours and twenty five minutes."

"Helm! Bring us within three light minutes of the unknown craft. Communications! Broadcast a message to the unknown ship and these 'Gaian Ascendancy' people. Tell them where we are moving, and that a star destroyer is inbound for diplomatic and support purposes. Maybe we can coordinate with both of them in this situation. And send out an all-access transmission requesting that the area in a three light minute radius around the unknown ship be a no-entry zone unless the unknown ship requests."

After chewing on his lip for a few seconds, the captain turned back to the communications area and called out again. "One more thing! Ask the Gaians who this ship belongs to, we came a little late for introductions I guess."

The No-Endorse vessel query communicae, was returned with the following..

~ :: As far as we can tell, it's the last survivors of the Hiigaran civilization. (Might impressive one for a vessel 'this' sizable.) We currently await to see if they require assistance. You are welcome to help, so in as long as the Hiigaran's safety is assured.

Regards,

Admiral Varnor
366th Exploration Fleet :: ~

"Incoming transmission! Can't tell if it's tightbeam or not, doesn't matter, it gets here allright."

"Play it over the bridge sound system."

~ :: As far as we can tell, it's the last survivors of the Hiigaran civilization. (Might impressive one for a vessel 'this' sizable.) We currently await to see if they require assistance. You are welcome to help, so in as long as the Hiigaran's safety is assured.

Regards,

Admiral Varnor
366th Exploration Fleet :: ~

"Hmm..." Mused Captain Daniels, rubbing his chin. "Since the ships present in a first-contact situation are considered representatives of No Endorse, let's play this diplomatic and careful. Dispatch this transmission."

=Are you sure this is a Hiigaran vessel? They haven't been farjump capable since Sajuuk's Wrath was destroyed by the Bentusi... unless they have rediscovered the second core. We knew that the Hiigarans had retaken Hiigara, but not that they had a Progenitor core.

Their safety is assured as far as we are able in this light escourt ship. Soon an Imperator two star destroyer will hyper in. It will carry a diplomatic detatchment and a full military complement. Once again, as far as we are capable, we will protect this ship, unless they turn out hostile to our nation. Hopefully both of our sides can learn much from this meeting.

May Sanctuary protect you,
Captain Kurt Daniels=

Yet another transmission back to the No-Endorse vessels.

~ :: We do not sense hyostile intent, and we have no reason to believe they would decieve us. Concentrate matters for non-military support, until informed by some means otherwise.

..what 'would' concern us is the authors of the blast marks over that vessel. Whomever they were to cause this event, would be of more concern than the Hiigarans.

Admiral Varnor
366th Exploration Fleet :: ~

This particular system was nothing of interest. It was a simple, dying star with a couple of rocky planets orbiting it loosely, a dense asteroid belt at the edge and a few pockets of nebulae dotted around in-between.

Until the Vaygr arrived in a flurry of hyperspace gateways. They were met almost immediately by a volley of ion cannon fire, which took out one of their low-level frigates in a bright flash a few seconds later. The six heavily armed Vaygr battlecruisers absorbed the weapons fire with ease, however, and returned fire with their own weapons. Lance cannons burst out red beams of energy, smashing into their enemy, easily piercing the low-powered shielding and digging deeply into the metal skin beneath. The hull was ripped to shreds and the shields failed -- just in time for a barrage of torpedoes to slam into it, blasting huge chunks out of its very soul.

After a blinding explosion, all was quiet once again. The guns fell silent.



"Just a pirate warcruiser, sir," an officer snorted, looking over at his captain. "We lost a frigate though."

"The scum paid with their lives, so all is well," the captain shrugged. "Any sign of the Hiigaran pests?"

"Negative, this system is dead, sir," the officer shrugged. "As empty as my stomach, in fact..."



The battlecruisers disappeared into hyperspace once again almost as soon as they had arrived, resuming their hunt. One party of many more. Several flagships waited, waited for the signal to move out the moment their enemy was found.



***



The Hiigaran Mothership had continued on its slow sublight course towards the nearest planet, despite being surrounded by foreign ships as though it were made from solid gold. Tiny sparks flew from the hull as workerbees made whatever cosmetic repairs they could without access to new resources.

~ :: This is the 366th Gaian Exploration Fleet, representative of the Gaian Ascendancy, though not in official name. However we acknowledge that your situation is dire enough to require proper assistance of the unorthadox kind.

We cannot speak for the other races present, but we 'can' offer the following, per case if agreed to by our Council leaders. If it would be proper, with no strings attached, and if your jump drive is capable of traversing the 30,000 light year distance from here, that there are several Gaian Core Systems that can allow you to find a place to recover properly, as well as have the protection of our expansive fleets. Our hospitality, as well as open arms policies are based on a trust, and had anticipated events such as these.

However if your vessel cannot complete this journey easily, then there are a limited number of nearby Systems we have explored, while not ideal, can support your immediate needs. The problem is defense, from whcih by signs of of the combat damage on your magnificent vessel, means that defense is a high priority.

But before any of this commences, a first contact meeting should be conducted, while message of this event is sent to our Core Republic Worlds, to better understand each other, and establish trust, while a negotiated agreement is conducted, to allow the best way to assist your souls in this situation.

We cannot offer a perfect solution, but at present, one of a better array of choices than one you are currently enduring. The end result is the ability to return your people to self-suficency, whence better able to defend yourselves, as well as give the needed time to expand your people. As such, if agrred, our resources would be at your disposal, of which we have a polethera to offer, alongside any of the other present civilizations that wish to offer the same.

Therefore, we offer by your choice, a place to meet, as best that represents a neutral and comfortable ground for your people.

Regards,

Admiral Varnor
366th Gaian Exploration Fleet :: ~

Curious, S'jet thought as she mulled over the message that had just been implanted into her brain via the implant. We could be genocidal maniacs sent on a quest of galactic domination for all these people know, a vanguard of an invasion fleet, and yet they offer us space within their own territory? Very nice of them, I don’t know how I could ever be so trusting though…

"We've got ships all over the damn place; cloaked ships, big ships, small ships, ugly ships, pretty ships, boring ships, ex... what's the matter, ma'am?" Soban blurted as he walked over.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "One of the worryingly large number of ships gathering outside have offered us a planet to settle on, in their territory."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to use military authority to override such a thought if you were considering it, ma'am," Soban shook his head sternly. "We need to keep moving around. I don't care if we find the most enormous stronghold in the universe; we can't stay in any one place for long at the moment."

"I know, I know, I wasn't going to do so," she shook her head. "I'm hardly going to lead our entire civilisation into the territory of a people we have never even heard of before today. I may not have been to the Academy but I am not stupid you know."

"Of course not, ma'am, and agreed," Soban nodded. "We have vague reports from a few friendly independent merchant outposts back in the home territories that the Vaygr have left Hiigara, and are actively searching for us. They haven't even come remotely close yet, from what I gather, but it does mean that we cannot stay here for long. Rumours suggest they have devoted more than one flagship to our demise now."

"How much time do you think we have?"

"A few days, a week at most, is all I'd be comfortable with," Soban said. "They wouldn't necessarily get here in that time, but even at our reduced power levels you wouldn't exactly need to get close to this ship to pick it up on long-range sensors."

"Very well," she nodded. "The workerbees have seven days, then. If we construct additional workerbees with some of the materials they bring up in the meantime, we may be able to get at least enough material to sustain us for a few weeks."

"I will alert the relevant people," Soban said, turning to walk away. "If they launch and begin collection operations now, we should have a little more time."

S'jet, in the meantime, had to figure out how best to respond to various transmissions aimed at them.



To Admiral Varnor of the 'Gaian Ascendancy',

Greetings, and thank you for a most generous offer. However, for various tactical and practical reasons I must respectfully decline, however I very much appreciate the gesture. We run from a rather... persistent enemy, and it would be safer for both our peoples if we kept moving through unclaimed space for the time being. Battle should be avoided, and the only way of avoiding further bloodshed is to keep moving. Fortunately we have just the vehicle to do so efficiently, when we have refuelled it at least.

However, a meeting would be acceptable if that is what you so desire. Please suggest to me how you would wish to conduct such an event and I will make it so. The generosity of your people will not be forgotten.

Karen S'jet



To Captain Kurt Daniels of the No Endorse Exploration Ship 'Runner',

What news do we have? I am not sure that I know you, but you seem to know of our origins. News is not good. Hiigara stood as the last bastion against the Vaygr, but it stands no more. They have consumed 'everything' with death and destruction, and only a few independent outposts currently survive in the area -- though whether that is because the Vaygr know nothing of them yet, or simply do not care, is still unknown. Maybe this is why you have heard little from the region in so long?

Anyway, we would be more than happy to engage in diplomatic meetings, though our time here will be limited. Already some people from a place called 'Gaian Ascendancy' have expressed a similar desire, though whether they will still want to proceed after we declined their very generous offer remains to be seen. If they do, given our time constraints, would a joint event suffice?

And thank you for the offer, but our damage is mostly cosmetic and should be simple to repair. Only a handful of Vaygr bombers managed to get through our lines and engage the Mothership before we left the area. Our brave fighter squadrons dealt with them and remained behind to ensure they were too distracted to even try and guess our heading. Our current concerns reside around resources; however the planet our ship is approaching should suffice for our needs.

Thank you for your generosity,

Karan S'jet



While the last message was processed and transmitted, a couple of dozen unarmed craft departed from the massive hangar on the side of the vessel. Each one towed a huge storage container behind it, some with special containment systems specifically for certain types of material. The small craft looked odd with their enormous trailers, but they moved off with no apparent difficulties. They zipped ahead of the lumbering Mothership and sped off towards the planet, with a squad of fighters alongside them.


OOC: If I've missed anyone, sorry, just shout at me... just that there quite a few replies since I last looked o_0, thanks!

OOC: TaG



Hiigaran System, outer edge

Shortly before the final blows of the battle were dealt,and the flight of the Mothership, a small slipstream hole opened and disgorged a few frigate-sized ships that looked like nothing more than a bulbous engine house attached to a long metal outcropping with a series of small metal loops attached to the underside. The entrance undoubtably went unoticed considering the electromagnetic storm of battle. A second short jump brought them within visual range shortly before the Mothership jumped into it's own slipstream gate. Vast amounts of data was deciphered, encrypted, and relayed to a discreet Traileric base somewhere on the far side of the Galactic Core. Technology beyond either the Vaygr or the Hiigarans allowed the small vessels to estimate the jump point of the Mothership within only a .3% margin of error. Shortly after the resulting data was recieved, the Traileric vessels (now easily detectable by the Vaygr, now that the battle was over and the guns silenced) began deep-penitration scans of the large dark cruisers. The Frigates engaged some sort of drive that would register as impossible and zipped closer for better inspection.

OOC: Don't forget muh!

Trailers: 'Thorn in the side of the Vaygr since July '04!'

~ :: Originally Posted by Hiigaran Mothership
To Admiral Varnor of the 'Gaian Ascendancy',

Greetings, and thank you for a most generous offer. However, for various tactical and practical reasons I must respectfully decline, however I very much appreciate the gesture. We run from a rather... persistent enemy, and it would be safer for both our peoples if we kept moving through unclaimed space for the time being. Battle should be avoided, and the only way of avoiding further bloodshed is to keep moving. Fortunately we have just the vehicle to do so efficiently, when we have refuelled it at least.

However, a meeting would be acceptable if that is what you so desire. Please suggest to me how you would wish to conduct such an event and I will make it so. The generosity of your people will not be forgotten.

Karen S'jet :: ~

"Can't blame them. I'd be suspicious too." ..the wise cracking Captain commented. Admiral Varnor almost whalloped the bone head 'up' the head for that.

Instead however, the Admiral saw that with the Hiigaran activities, and correctly presumed that they would try to get themselves out of their own mess, that Varnor asked Comm to send the following back.

The Captain after it was sent, commented.. "What are we, knights of ol yore or something?"

Varnor replies back strikingly. "Yes."

--

~ :: We will respect this, but our offer still stands. Know that we harbor 'no' intent on subverting your vessel, enslave or any other nonsense upon your people.

As proof, you may send a number of representatives to our Fleet Flag Vessel, to simply talk and get to know each other, in the time you have. Whatmore, we 'are' prepared upon request, to defend your vessel, as if your souls were born of our own worlds. While this sounds impetuous of us, know that we have tried very hard to be a generous and magnanamous race, in no small part to our own upbrining as a civilization.

We can have as few as three Fleet Groups Folded in to help defend your ship, and up to as many as ten, where each has over 2,000 vessels of all weights, though most are Kushan-Droid operated, but enough manned vessels will be a part. This can be done at any location you Fold to, and on top of this, will help escort you to a free System to attain proper resource amounts to meet your needs.

All this for the price of simple friendly knowledge.

We await your next message.

Admiral Varnor
366th Gaian Exploration Fleet :: ~

To Captain Kurt Daniels of the No Endorse Exploration Ship 'Runner',

What news do we have? I am not sure that I know you, but you seem to know of our origins. News is not good. Hiigara stood as the last bastion against the Vaygr, but it stands no more. They have consumed 'everything' with death and destruction, and only a few independent outposts currently survive in the area -- though whether that is because the Vaygr know nothing of them yet, or simply do not care, is still unknown. Maybe this is why you have heard little from the region in so long?

Anyway, we would be more than happy to engage in diplomatic meetings, though our time here will be limited. Already some people from a place called 'Gaian Ascendancy' have expressed a similar desire, though whether they will still want to proceed after we declined their very generous offer remains to be seen. If they do, given our time constraints, would a joint event suffice?

And thank you for the offer, but our damage is mostly cosmetic and should be simple to repair. Only a handful of Vaygr bombers managed to get through our lines and engage the Mothership before we left the area. Our brave fighter squadrons dealt with them and remained behind to ensure they were too distracted to even try and guess our heading. Our current concerns reside around resources; however the planet our ship is approaching should suffice for our needs.

Thank you for your generosity,

Karan S'jet

"Transmission incoming captain! Amazing communications match, they got our freq better than most of our pickett ships can!"

Kurt read the message, thought for a moment, and then read it again. "Do we have any information on the Vaygr? I've never heard of that race before."

First mate Andrea was the first to answer, havin served on a deep space communications, information, and spy vessel before this assignment. "That's because they're not a race, not in the literal sense anyway. They are a congalmorate of planets in the outer rim area. Many of their beings live their whole lives out on ships in space, never knowing planetside. As such, they have no concept of 'home,' and are perfectly happy anywhere in the universe. Highly nomadic, they strip entire systems for resources. We had a few engagements with them a while back, nothing that any of us have the security clearance to know about, I was just unlucky enough to have my ship attacked by those nasty buggers. Ancient ships, mostly held together by gum, but can bring a lor of power to bear. I know a lot less about these 'Hiigarans.' Are they in any way related to the Kushan (ooc:sp?) Exiles?"

"I think they are the Exiles," mused the captain, jotting a note down, "they have a farjumper onboard that craft. Prepare to send this reply."


We know of you. Once we had an observer in the Galactic Council... only an observer though. She or he was detailed to stay neutral and inconspicuous. We heard all about Sajuuk's Wrath, and the Bantusi victory. Also, we learned about the Tiiadan victory and your exile. We left the council shortly thereafter, for fear of the Tiiadan coming for us. They had no knowledge of us for quite a while we believe, at least until there were a few arguments over some trading lanes... The Bantusi were our major contact in that area for a long time, but they have mostly dissapeared it seems. We are happy that you were able to reclaim your homeworld... if only for a short time.

Anywho, currently a hyperspace capable capital ship is incoming, and will arrive within the next day. It is carrying a military complement and a diplomatic envoy. We would like to engage in diplomatic relations. We are also prepared to attempt to buy you time to escape if these 'Vaygr' try to enter this system. We have had dealings with them before according to my First Mate, and they're not exactly polite dinner guests. From what you've said, they're more organized than usual. Who is their new leader? And how did he manage to organise such a group?

As for the relations, a joint event is more than fine! According to the databanks, we've not met the Gaians before, and we'd like to open relations with them too.

Yes we may seem incredibly quick to offer safety to a group we hardly know. The thing is, we've not seen a non-Vaygr or Tiiadan (sp?) craft come out of that space in a long time, and definatly not a farjumper.

"Now what captain?"

"Now we wait Andrea. We see if they want to open communications or want to be left alone. They're probably pretty confused right now, having multiple fleets around them all of a sudden, made up of peoples who they don't know. Now... tell me everything you know about the Kushan. We'll need all the info we can get."

ooc: I really hope I got all that Vaygr info correct... I haven't read the history/backstory stuff in so long. Please tell me errors so I can correct.

BTW: already said, but excellent intro RP! (better than I can do lol)

|"sir, our drive checks out, we should have jump capability in ten minutes,"
"very well, figure out were we are, and make the calculations."
"yes sir."
suddenly a thought occoured to the captain. "with all these ships about, you think anyone may know of the Citadel?"
"unknown, but we estimate the 'Hiigaran' drive to be in the Q-2 range.
Gaian drives seem to use a completely different principal of operation, but are estimated to be the equivilant of a Q-3 device.
as for the unknowns, well, your guess is as good as mine."
well, prepare a message anyways:
we are seeking the truth of our origins, any knowledge you would be wiling to share regarding Trinary star systems either possesing, or that once posessed planets inhabitable by carbon-based life, would be of help in our search

The Gaians were busy with watching out for the Hiigarans, when a message packet suddenly stabs in on all frequencies. The suprise they feel is swiftly..

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=8906769#post8906769

..replaced by hollow shock. They suddenly feel lost as a result.

The Captain, suddenly isn't wisecracking anymore when he asked the Admiral. "What.......... do we do now?"

Admiral Varnor has to sit in his command seat, to keep from tripping over on something from the sheer shock of it all. After a long run of silence, he says. "We...

....we do our jobs. We're still Gaians, and we gave our word to help here. We.. ..we can't just leave. Inform all commands and stations to keep at their jobs.

Keep busy, and... and try not to dwell on it for now. We still have ourselves to hold onto for the moment."

The Captain nods, and then makes commands to that effect.

'Speedy little machines, aren't they...?' Noted the captain. The Workerbees had quickly deployed about the giant Mothership.

'I have found something interesting.' Noted the AI. 'Nebula just outside the dust veil. The Vaygr dispatched a small force there once before in an attempt to mine it. The task force was never seen again, and a strong gravimetric disruption wave has shut down the entire sector to hyperspacial drives and any quantum wavefront generation.' The AI paused, regarded the information flow, and then continued. 'Needless to say, the Vaygr can't jump their ships in, and something keeps destroying the standing hypergates.'

'Either refuge or danger. What do you think...?'

'With the assembled forces here, and the Hiigaran workers, there is a 60/40 chance they could survive. And the resources present would more than make up for the dangers.' Reasoned the Avatar.

'Perhaps we should consult this... Sjet persona.'

'I would advise caution, from what I can percieve, this Sjet woman has had some vast alterations - Biotech mostly - She's effectively running the entire fleet of Hiigaran ships. A vast amount of technology, experience and intelligence. Almost a Goddess within her own right.'

'Much like yourself, Djehuty.'

'She wishes for her people to survive, no matter what the cost. That makes her much more dangerous than I could ever possibly be.'

The Moon sent off a burst transmission, tightbeam, to the monolithic exile craft.
This is the Nomad Moon to Hiigaran mothership. Due to slight lack of resources in this area, and your Farjump capability, we thought you should look at this Nebula...

OOC: You know the one...

OOC: Are you using homeworld tech?

OOC:
tag :p


IC:

The Orion's Arm made its way swiftly through hyperspace, its mission from Laskon still the same, explore the outer spaceways and learn more of the people that lived there.

Right now, they were investigating a large disturbance near a small, bluish planet that they had passed by swiftly once before, when it came out of hyperspace, even the Captain could not contain his horror.

The planet had been completely demolished, burnt to a crisp, space debris littered the area around it, and Captain Lance Corsair cursed loudly.

"Look for any survivors among the debris, this was a massacre..."

As the ship moved through the debris to look for survivors, the captain noticed a plasma trail leading away from the battle scene.

"We'll be following that next..."

OOC:
Orion's Arm:
http://www.orionsarm.com/ships/warship.jpg

ooc: bump. has this thread died?