NationStates Jolt Archive

The Glittering Baroque style Hull, or maybe more aptly, hulk, of the super-transport careened through space, another tear had materialised, all the same, it had been locked down, gaurded, and thoroughly cleansed by the Ecclesiarchy's prayers, But it would be different.

The Transport continued its course, guided by the Omnissiah in all its glory, towards the tear between universes, similar transports revealed themselves, heading for the same portal of opportunity, a place where new homes could be found, new lives forged. The Navy's own detachments moved alongside, the ships grew closer, their astropaths finishing last calculations, knowing that they would need to forge the best connection they could to the emporer, for he may not exist in this new universe.

They all entered the morass of the tears immense energy, hulls straining, the stress of a spacial tear is nothing to be trifled with.

And then they were gone. The Tear collapsed almost instantly, in the chaos, the fleet was seperated, half had appeared in one part of the galaxy, and the rest somewhere else.

In each location, The communications officers were dismayed, they could not establish a comm-link to where they had come from, but the astropaths were still guided by the emporers divine light, masked by several layers of alternate realities, but it was there. But they would not enter the warp, yet, for there were pressing concerns.

And for now, our story concentrates on the Involiable Retribution and her group, dumped into space and left to fend for themselves.

Admiral Haskes found himself on the bridge, One of the few younger admirals, (Only 32) and still youthfull(as much as an over 30 can be), with scars well hidden, but none the less in control of a scattering of warships, 24 Imperial Guard Regiments and 500 Million Imperial Citizens, and located in a barren part of space hardly capable of supporting a few grox, let alone the huge amount of people he now needed to find a home for, and re-establish communications to the home he knew so well.

The fleet slowly formed together, and at sublight speeds, began to push towards the nearest habitable planet, it could support them, if they could get there.

-=A.N.S.S. Broadsword, On patrol in the Imperial Core

...there was something out there.

The sensor officer blinked - the long range sensors just be out of whack. An energy fluctuation of super-nova strength just appeared in one of the near star systems. He continued to study the screen, and soon even more was showing up - no, those were definitely vessels. Something just popped out of some heck of an FTL trip.

"Captain? We've got something."

The captain strode over to the screen and grimaced. "Notify the Core Fleet. I don't like the look of this."

The Trip would probably take weeks, he was told, warp would be safe, he was told. So he let what he had been told influence him, the vessels readied for their trip into the empyrean, and then neccessary charging and rites and rituals were undertaken.

The surveyor-fields as such, sensors, you could call them, didnt bother to scan much further than the system they were destined to call home, for now, this was a new eye of terror for them, and keeping the local area scanned was sufficient enough.

Hours passed, then the ships entered the vast empyrean of warp.

A few hours he was told, then he would see the system they were destined to own. The planet they would settle for the divine emporer.

Carenthia Epthidion.

Home.

-=Scout Cutter I-325

The captain bit his lip. He was quite nervous; he hated this stupid procedure - whenever something weird happens, send the scouts. If they die, THEN start throwing in the big stuff. He had especially begun to hate it when he had been demoted to the scouts. He kept running over the scans - and of course, it was a whole unknown fleet lurking out there. So if they went nasty there was, of course, no chance of survival. He began transmitting a message as he neared the world this fleet was gathering around - all channels, all languages, as was part of the stupid procedure:

"Foreign vessels: we come in peace. We will take any offensive action on your part as an act of war against the sovereign Imperial Corporate Nautocracy of Arizona Nova. We only wish to open up diplomatic channels between our two nations for the time being. Please, power down any of your weapons. Non-compliance with our wishes will be remembered in future engagements."

Turning off the comm link, he sighed, and hoped he hadn't left anyone out of the will.

Taggle!

A Lunar Class Vessel, by no means any less baroque and ancient, was the first to receive the messages, transmitted in many wierd and wonderful forms. At least one was intelligible to the servitors and Captain Ramanas himself. After forwarding the message and detailing the reply he would send, his ship continued its orbit.

From: Lunar Class Vessel Furious Vanguard, Orbiting Carenthia Epthidion Prime
To: Unknown Sender
"Please do not attempt to come any closer to this system, The Emporer will deal you justice should you attempt to break the imperial might amassed here, we may be trapped in a strange new universe, but your heretical lies of peace and friendship are ones we do not trust. You will not break our resolve, if you so wish peace, leave us in it"

The captain of the vessel blanched. "Greeeaaat." He immediately radioed the Core Fleet:

"Core Fleet, this is the scout - I'm forwarding their message to you and getting out of here; I'm don't feel like getting baked today."

He jerked the ship back around and immediately left the system.

-=A.N.S.S. Anikar the Great

Admiral Naronya pondered the situation - this morning, everything was fine, but now a bunch of hostile and perhaps insane neighbors had decided to move in next door. Not a nice situation. So now, the Core Defense Fleet was mobilizing - moving to the outer rim of the Imperial Core. Nobody knew what the next move of this people might be; but they sure wouldn't catch the navy sleeping.

With the Coming and passing of the only Aliens so far known of, The Admiral had no concerns. The transports were slowly, but surely beginning to make planetfall, this planet would have to do.

It reminded him of a little world near Menazoid he had seen in one of the many of the imperiums wars. Another world scourged by the fleet from afar.

The Admiral was brought back to reality by the gruff voice of the ships commissar, Myultke was by no means harsh, but he wasnt soft either, he wore the scars of battle, ground and naval alike, aged 52 and showing it with the lines of age, but he obviously had some news.

"The Planet in question appears to be satisfactory, and the turn around of a potential conflict is assuring, but the morale could suffer if were stuck here on this backworld planet without any contact with home, what is your plan, i am intrigued, admiral" He said.

"My plan.. i do not know, we must convene as soon as possible, Get me some civic representation, bring yourself along with some Imperial Gaurd Officers, and some Adeptus Ministorium and some of the Mechanicus to come along, we have matters to discuss. I think you will agree" The Admiral Replied, Thinking on his feet.

"Very well" The Commissar nodded and turnt around, he was no errand boy, but situation demanded.

The Admiral looked onto the planet as its skies became crowded with the bustling transport fleet.

So many people, so much hope.

Signalling the fleet to go into powerdown to conserve energy untill some semblance of the colony was established, he sat back, and gazed into one of its clear blue oceans.

The Servitors and lumbering machines of the Adeptus Mechanicus would do their work, it could take weeks, months, maybe years. But sooner or later, the Colony would be able to support those who were left here.

Either that, or they would all die.

-=A.N.S.S. Anikar the Great

The Core Fleet remained on the rim of the Core, maintaining its silent vigil there. Admiral Naronya was on the bridge yet, and continuing to receive messages from other commanders and even civilians worried about the situation. Yet, one of the military people gave a bit of insight which Naronya had not even thought of before - what if these new people had arrived using temporal technology? They may even be Indra Prime or something; one of those chronomancer nations which pops out of existence one day and reappears somewhere else the next. While Admiral Naronya knew that the notion of these being the Indrans was preposterous, it still was possiblity that this was a group of rogue chronomancers.

Soon, the Anikar, twelve kilometers of armor plating and PPC batteries, broke away from the main fleet and into the now occupied star system. They would learn now for sure just what these peoples were.

The alarms went into unison with the shouts of men as they scrambled to re-energize the ancient and vast plasma reactors, to bring the ship back to life.

Across the now dormant fleet, the same actions took place, One vessel, The only Tyrant Class Battlecruiser Present, had decided to remain in near-optimal energy levels, And whilst its companions desperately tried to power up, The Optera Novaris found itself the only ship able to react, and it slowly crawled towards the point of space that the ship had materialised in.

Haskes glanced out of the viewing port of the Involiable Retribution as the Optera Novaris slid past, It communicated its intent to the Admiral, And Haskes nodded curtly to a communications servitor, who gave the captain of the ship carte blanche to act.

And so, Flag-Captain Tyghann ordered his vessel to power up its weapons, he would take no chances, If these heretical aliens would not turn back, his plasma batteries would speak for him.

He made a single movement with his hand, and at the command, the ships void shields hummed into life, now they were ready, walking over to the communications servitor and its slightly more human tech priest, he began to formulate what he would transmit.

And so, another message of fanaticism reached across the void.

"Heretical Alien! Turn Back! You are not welcome to this new world of the Imperium, the Emperor's divine might will strike you from the heavens, Turn back now, or my weapons will speak for me! However, if you have something useful to say, say it now, It will permit your existance a while longer."

Admiral Naronya received the strange message, now more worried than ever. This appeared to be a group that was, at the least, a bunch of fanatics, and at worst, fanatics armed with temporal technology. He began to compose a couple messages, the first going back to the fleet, the other to the strange fanatics:

"@CDF Command
Encrypt: Beta

Ready the rest of the CDF and get them out here. I don't think this will end well. Admiral Naronya out."

"@All-points short-range broadcast

Attention foreign vessels: stand down. While you are not violating Imperial sovereignty, we are concerned about the nature of the technology you are using. Any attack upon our vessel will be considered an act of war against our nation."

Meanwhile the shielding systems came to life on the Hyperion - its many protective layers forming around the hull of the ship.

"That is not useful information"

The Flag-Captain ordered the communique relayed back to the Admirals vessel, one of the many ships still attempting to power up.

Tyghann broadcast one last thing.

"Let it be known, heretical alien mutants, That you were given the chance by Flag-Captain Tyghall to leave The Imperium's newly claimed territory, and you did not, If it comes to it, the Navy and the Imperial Gaurd will scourge every world you own."

He nodded at the tactical servitors, In the battlecruisers huge gun decks, massive plasma barrages readied themselves.

He nodded once more, the ship jerked forward to ramming speed, and unleashed a furious hell of plasma at the enemy vessel.

Tyghann knew his weapons would probably take longer to recharge, even as las-turret's began to unleash their shots against the enemy. That is why he had ramming speed.

If it came to it, his armoured prow would catch and slice open part of this heretical vessel, and then, his marines could board.

Admiral Naronya's eyes became saucers as he watched the hostile battleship open fire, then move to attack speed - directly at the Hyperion. The ship shuddered slightly as the first plasma barrage hit the vessel, taking out a layer of shielding, and immediately Naronya yelled,

"Activate tractor beams! Try and deflect them off course and prepare to be boarded! Return fire!"

The many tractor dishes onboard the Hyperion immediately activated and focused all to the last ounce of their strength into trying to deflect the enemy vessels, while the hundreds of PPC batteries up and down the Hyperion began to open fire on the enemy.

-=A.N.S.S. Gurthang, Secondary CDF Command Ship

Upon receiving the hail from the Anikar, the Gurthang immediately prepared the rest of the Core Defense Fleet and alerted Second Fleet of the situation. The CDF, which had been waiting on the far rim of the Imperial Core, immediately jumped into hyperspace to come to the assistance of the badly outnumbered Anikar.

Even as the super-alloy of the prow began to buckle, even as the void shields absorbed impact, even as the engines strained against the tractor beams, even as every gun they could fired, even as every repair team readied itself.

Even as every boarding crew armed.

Even as the ship began to get critically close.

And even as the ship braced for impact.

Tyghann knew the emporer was with him.

Volley after volley hit his ship, and volley after volley was returned. He was confident his ship would slice straight into the enemy, then a brutal boarding action, guns and melee all in the corridors of space vessels. He relished the thought, although he could not leave the bridge.

Slowly, but surely, the rest of the fleet hummed back to life, they hung back, letting this duel continue.

Haskes was ready, should any other intruders come.

Admiral Naronya was becoming more desperate. The tractor beams would not be enough to stop the enemy vessel.

"Impact hazard warnings for all decks on the port side!"

As the vessel drew closer to range, the MAC batteries began opening up as well in punishing salvos - they would pay dearly for so maiming the command ship of the High Admiral!

Cursing, as yet another shield layer gave out, Admiral Naronya gave one more order:

"Armageddon Beta!"

Every weapon aboard the vessel paused for a moment, and then every offensive weapon on board - the ion cannons, the smaller missile tubes, and even the tractor beams - focused themselves on the enemy ship and fired. The weapons blisters lining the massive hull of the ship glowed intensely for a moment, then a literal wall of weapons fire was discharged at the enemy ship as it closed the final run toward the Anikar.

Meanwhile, the rest of the CDF dropped out of Hyperspace at the edge of the system and began to race at full speed towards the imperiled ship.

The ship shuddered as the Prow took one of the most harshest beatings it ever would take, parts of it had finally buckled, leaving gaps in the superstructure, vulnerable points, but it did not matter now.

Nor did the dead matter, they would be grieved later.

The fleet, meanwhile, slowly crept into defensive formation, they could be outnumbered, and would possibly need to negotiate, Haskes could taste the disgust of doing such a thing, but if they proved useful, he was within his powers to negotiate, unless, as the Commissar mentioned, they could be wiped out.

Back in the furious cold of space, the huge hulk of Tyghanns ship finally smashed into the enemy, boarding crews were crushed and mauled, as the superstructure caved in at its vulnerable points, but when the blood and dust cleared, hundreds of marines would pour into the enemy vessel, the 2 ships shields forming small air filled sections is space, where it was required to jump, but in other places, the ships had merged, and bloody combat would be fought.

The Mission - Get to the bridge, disable the ship, capture the Captain of the vessel and other senior authority figures, and capture anyone who chooses to not resist.

Simple Enough, Thought Petty Officer Nyaev.

Little did he know. But he would be glad of the scars in years to come.

There was a tremendous groan, then the bridge heaved and lights flickered as the enemy vessel dug into the Anikar. Probably half a dozen klaxons and sirens were going off by this point, as the main lights and the emergency lighting system went on and off at random. The bridge was in chaos, until Admiral Naronya pulled himself up. He looked around the bridge grimly, taking in the scene of chaos. Then he spoke, over the cacaphony of desperation and confusion.

"Take her back around - back to the fleet."

"Sir, our navigational and control systems are crippled - we're sitting ducks."

The admiral sat down and cradled his forehead.

"Sir... they're still digging into us."

The Admiral sat for a bit, thinking, when suddenly he realized...

"We are being boarded! All Marines, prepare for boarding!" He started punching in a keypad and overrode the sirens that were currently going and left only one - the boarding alert.

As the enemy boarders began to pour in, desperately the marines began setting up barricades and closing blast doors to stall their advance. Firefights soon erupted as the enemy came crashing on their ranks. At the moment, only a few marines were ready, but since the Admiral sounded the alert, the rest of them - legions more - began to get ready. The A.N.S.S. Anikar would not fall without a fight.

Meanwhile, the main section of the CDF drew closer to the crippled Anikar. They grouped around the wounded ship in a defensive stance, the huge Schicksalschiffs forming the core of the fleet now. Soon, the Vanguard class cruisers equipped with Nova Phoenix missiles began to dislodge and fire them. They were devastating weapons - missiles with a one-shot FTL on them. The first punishing barrage slammed into the enemy fleet as the CDF sat aways. Meanwhile the fighters began to scramble out of the carriers - huge squadrons of them, led by the newer and powerful Valkyrie V-Wings. The Valkyries, also armed with two Nova Phoenixes, began their attack by emptying their complement at the enemy capitals. The battle was joined; and now it was no holds barred.

The Defensive formation of the fleet doubtlessly saved much damage from occuring, needless to say, the missiles that sped so fast caused their worth, many ships were left without one grand turret working, certain systems disabled, but they would fight on, albeit damaged, even crippled.

The Larger ships unleashed their trump card, huge 500m long heavily armoured torpedoes, escorted by a huge fighter contingent that seemed to pour out from the 2 carriers, kept safe behind the Involiable Retribution, Bombers came too, and they had their own presents for the enemy, the battle in space would rage for a while yet.

Meanwhile, The fighting got bloody, Of course, The Arizonan ship wasnt necessarily small, but in such a environment, a hostile one, it became cramped, Masses of Imperium Marines resorted to the best method available, huge guns to rip apart entrenched enemies, and huge power swords and chain swords to rip through the enemy in close quarters combat.

No-one cared for the Legions of marines that had been reported coming over the vox, they only had to get to the bridge, and then the mission would be complete, they wouldnt endanger their admiral.

Another heap of bodies, Petty Officer Nyaev took note that both of the senior officers had just taken mortal wounds, he raised his gun and gave them the emporers mercy, now, as one of the last few officers left, he rallied the men, and pushed for the quickest route available to the bridge, as best the sensors could give them.

And at the junction they had just ripped apart, in a severe cost of many men, a small package, and it slowly ticked away, they would need to find a way to the bridge soon, or when the package exploded, they'd go with the whole section of the ship.

As the crippled ship gave out loud groans, accented with the screeching of raw, twisted metal scratching similar surfaces, Admiral Naronya sat on the bridge, watching the battle continue to unfold. Seeing the Nova Phoenixes light up the far off enemy fleet let him know that the gauntlet was off now. He hoped that no atrocities would be committed - it wouldn't be worth this ship, or certainly his life, to do such a thing. He at least had the assurance that the enemy probably wasn't using temporal tech... but what a price to pay, with another war conceivably on the way. An officer rushed up next to him, and said slightly out of breath:

"Sir! The boarders are headed toward the bridge! Shall we lock it down?"

Both sat a few moments as the Admiral pondered his next move.

"No..." he said. "Leave the doors open. But get the crew out of here, and evacuate the rest of the crewmen to a safe part of the ship and bolt it down - and if they want to leave using the escape pods, don't bar them from doing so."

"Yes sir!" said the officer. "Everyone, evacuate the bridge!" He announced, and immediately the officers and crewmen on deck began to stream towards the exit, leaving Admiral Naronya alone on the bridge, awaiting his fate.

Meanwhile, the fighter squadrons were streaking with a vengeance toward the enemy fleet, lead by a squadron of the new Valkyrie wings. Their sensors soon detected the monstrous enemy torpedoes closing fast. Information was relayed back to the CDF, and the wing moved to engage them, opening up with their H-PPCs and the heavy chaingun on the monsters. Meanwhile the rest of the CDF was made aware of the torpedoes and acquired them and began firing at them with the longer ranged weapons.

Torpedoes armour melted, finally giving up and buckling, torpedoes unleashing their destructive fury into space, but with luck, the sheer amount would mean that enough got through to damage the enemy fleet.

Fighters ripped into the enemy, whilst bombers unleashed their weapons into the fray, and as soon as they were close enough to the enemy fleet, their missiles would add their bit to the torpedo volley.

Meanwhile, Nyaev finally stepped over the smouldering mound of bodies, friend and foe alike, the bridge was straight ahead.

And eerily enough, the door opened straight away.

Nyaev found himself alone, as he heard some of the enemies marines that had come this way clash with his remaining comrades.

And so, he had a mission to do. And he had his weapon armed and ready, he noted the solitary figure, and approached it. blasting consoles as he went, hoping to cause some kind of interference.

He motioned at the figure, highly decorated with the rank insignias he had.

Nyaev was ready for a fight, but, hoping for the best, he spoke.

"The Admiral of this Fleet, and The Captain of my vessel has deemed it necessary for your capture, where is the rest of the bridge crew? Oh, and disable this ship, immeadiately, before our explosives cause a energy 'cascade', i beleive its called." Nyaev said, sneering slightly.

Outside, the squadrons of Pleiades, Freelancers, and Valkyries duked it out with the enemy fighter and bomber squadrons - zipping in and along superstructures, engaged in a deadly dance in the void. Of all the fighter squadrons the Valkyries had the highest kill to loss ratio, for the moment - thanks in part to the heavy chaingun and the dependable Buster anti-fighter missiles. Meanwhile the Vanguards continued to pound at the enemy capitals with Nova Phoenixes - if someone was watching from afar, one might think both fleets were but sitting and doing nothing, but only because of the immense speed of the Nova Phoenix missiles - once they had cleared the missile rack under light speed, their FTL booster kicked in and less than a split second later, it had smashed itself into the enemy ship.

-=Bridge of the Anikar

Admiral Naronya flinched as the strange figure blasted away at consoles as he approached, but relaxed after realizing they weren't aimed at him. He stood resolutely, grim-faced and hearted, fully expecting these moments to be the last of his life. In the back of his mind, scenes of his home, family, life played before him, but even now he could not let himself be distracted. After hearing out the words of this marauder, he said,

"I relieved the rest of the bridge crew," replied Naronya. "I wasn't about to let any more innocent men die defending me. It's a quality somewhere in between 'mercy' and 'responsibility;' qualities I sometimes wonder if anyone else in this universe possesses."

Sighing, he continued: "So, after opening fire on my ship, smashing your own into it, and boarding it, you planted a bomb on it too? Other than being despicable, it's overkill - our engines and our navigation went out after you smashed into us. I'll 'disable' the ship, but to do that I have to call for its crew to abandon ship. That is, if you'll allow me." He stared right into the eyes of the invader, awaiting his response.

The continuing long range fire and hurling of projectiles could remind one of the ancient battles of the seas, but this was far more vicious. Finally, into the treacherous dogfight they came. The lumbering shapes of the Gunboats, they had taken their time, engine power traded for more fighter shredding weaponry.

This would be deadly. They began to manouver through into the swarm of fighters, and opened fire, And almost simulatenously, the bomers unleashed their missiles, and suddenly unloaded of their slowing burden, they whipped back and rejoined the fray.

Meanwhile,

"The Emperor has mercy.. and i had to give mercy to many a comrade today, wounded mortally but not quite dead, it was the way it had to be, Quickly, evacuate your crew.. And you speak to me like I am some All Important Admiral or Governer, i am but a Officer, doing what he has been told, Once you have done what you need to do, a Assault boat will burn into the bridge, and take us both from this doomed vessel." Nyaev Said.

He was intrigued, maybe these people wernt so different, or bad..

Admiral Naronya moved to his chair again, and took up the comm.

"Now hear this, now hear this," he announced into it. "I am ordering all crewmen and marine reserves aboard the A.N.S.S. Anikar to immediately abandon ship. This is an order - the ship is unstable and we have confirmation of the presence of a bomb on board the vessel. Once again, all personell are ordered to immediately abandon ship. Drop what you're doing and get off. That is all."

Admiral Naronya sighed again. "So I am also to be denied the honor of going down with my ship? So be it. I suppose you shall try to ransom me as well. Do what you must - but know I am dead with my ship as is."

Across the vessel, thunderstruck marines and crewmen began making for the escape pods and lifeboats, though the marines were making for the transports kept in the cargo bays in the inner holds of the Hyperion. They abandoned their barricades and retrated before the onslaught of the enemy troops, and soon all over the ship smaller escape pods, lifeboats, and all manner of transport craft jettisoned from the ship or escaped out of the cargo bays.

Adjutant Admiral Miles watched from the bridge of the Gurthang as the pods from the Hyperion coreship came flying out. His face paled as he realized: the Anikar was lost, and likely enough, perhaps even the High Admiral. He went to his command chair and made an announcement to the fleet:

"This is Adjutant Admiral Miles of the Gurthang. The Anikar is lost - there is confirmed sighting of escape pods fleeing up and down the length of the ship, and no communications have come from the High Admiral for a while now. By protocol, I am to take command of this fleet. Begin moving away from the Anikar immediately. As well, sensor readings show enemy gunships incoming; Hughie battlegroups, move to engage."

As the incoming missiles worked havoc among the capital ships, dooming many from the outset, in response the massive Hughie squadrons of the CDF began running into the melee, their gattling PPC batteries armed and ready. Lightly armored, and of average armament, the Hughies nonetheless had screaming speed, maneuverability, and numbers on their side. Their towers began spewing thousands of "rounds" of near solid plasma at the enemy craft.

The first few gunships were caught completely by surprise, exploding in furious plasmatic death, along with a few fighter companions. In retort, Bombers embarked on suicidal but vital missions, firing their small but powerful anti-ship weapon slung underneath them, the trump card never normally used.

That wasnt the only thing, The Involiable Retribution began to power forward, locking huge batteries onto the swarms of plasma throwing craft, and unleashing her fury, she was coming closer for a purely strategic reason, though, they would need to get the Assault boat back onboard, quickly.

On the bridge of the Anikar, The assault boat blew its way in, Nyaev motioned to Naronya.

"If you would be kind enough to board the ship, please, Mr ... Im sorry, I didnt get your name." Nyaev said.

As the fighting about the gunships thickened, the Hughies began taking more serious losses - while they could dish out, they couldn't stand too much abuse. Drawing back, they soon came into formation and began concentrating the fire from their towers onto the bombers and the larger craft.

On the Anikar, most of the crew had evacuated by this point. The Marines had gotten on board the large transports usually used for planetfall and escaped as well. Aside from the echoing of the klaxons, for the first time in decades, the halls of the vessel were silent and bereft of human life.

Admiral Naronya, standing at his chair, spoke to the officer: "Alex Naronya. My name is Alex Naronya." While he was still speaking, he inidiscretely put a chip into a nearby slot - loading the ships resident digital sentient onto it - and just as quickly pocketed it, all the while maintaining steady eye contact with his captor.

As quick as they could, the numerous fighters, bombers, and gunships began to slink back, behind the huge hulking form of the Involiable Retribution, Such an ancient warship, such a behemoth, so powerful, so intimidating.

She turned her huge weapons batteries towards the enemy fleet, and the torpedoes flew out from her, at this close a range, fighter escort wouldnt really make much of a difference, the rest of the fleet continued to pound against the enemy, desperately repairing battle damage, firing, repairing, firing. And so it continued.

"Im Fyden Nyaev, Now, please, board this ship, I have no quarrel with you, and despite my orders, I still would not leave you here, quickly, please, We must not delay, I will make sure the Admiral knows your a very compliant man, and the Emperor may have mercy on your soul." Nyaev Said.

-=A.N.S.S. Gurthang

"Sir! Incoming torpedoes!"

Admiral Miles immediately replied, "Get our point defense on them immediately, and divert the Hughie gunships to see if we can pick a couple off!"

A group of the Hughies immediately broke formation and began desperately opening fire on the enormous torpedoes.

-=Bridge of the Anikar

Admiral Naronya, assured now that his duty had been fulfilled to the utmost, followed his captor into the strange ship. As he stepped on, he gave one last look at the bridge of his ship, and quietly bid it farewell.

Taking predictable losses, what was left of the torpedoes sped towards their targets.

Nyaev looked at the man as the doors to the assault boat closed, and it sped towards the hulking form of the Involiable Retribution.

Nyeav spoke, "Well, Admiral Naronya, please, I may just be a.. "grunt" as its put, but please, tell me more of your people, many aliens we encounter, and although you do not appear it, are normally exterminated immeaditly, So this is a new experience, and i'd like to know as much as I can."

The torpedoes, almost as large as the ships forming the outer ring of the Arizonan defenses, impacted against them, usually instantly destroying whatever they struck and crippling whatever was about them.

"Begin charging the main U-PPC," ordered Admiral Miles. "We will give these maniacs something to chew on."

Immediately the main cannons on the two Schicksalschiff coreships began to build up a plasma charge, a building red glow appearing in the huge prongs mounted underside.

-=Enemy Assault Boat

Admiral Naronya regarded the man suspiciously. It was strange to him - a few minutes ago, when he walked on the bridge, he'd been swaggering and bathing seemingly in the glow of his, or at least his peoples', victory, and now he was curiously asking about... "his" people, Admiral Naronya's people. It was doubly strange because he had never thought of the Arizonans as a group set apart in that fashion. He considered his words carefully, then began:

"First, and most important of all, I would say that we don't regard other creatures with sentience as being 'aliens.' There may be different races, different species, even, but we believe in the 'brotherhood' of all sentient life." He grimaced a bit, and continued, "Unfortuneatly, not many nations we have encountered hold stock with such lofty ideals. They hold onto their own ideals of 'genetic' superiority and boast of the greatness of their species, which is really just old hatred given a newer, shinier package. Other than that, theres not much to tell. We fear temporal technology, which is the only reason I even brought the ship out here in the first place. You only need to look as far as Terra to see what the rest of our culture is like."

The Involiable Retribution noticed the energy build up, and placing herself plainly in their field of view, unleashed a volley onto one of the charging weapons, vainly trying to stop the enemy from destroying any of its comrade's.

Nyaev nodded. And began to speak once more.

"Interesting, now, dont misunderstand me, i merely follow orders and take what the great emporer bestows upon me, If its his will to destroy others, who am i, a mere man, to challenge his divine will? Of course, if the Emporer truely knew the scope of the universe, as it seems, we might of made friends, allies, but now it is too late, our course is ultimately mapped out, and this is one part of the road upon it, we might change, we might not.. Please, continue."

The volley rocked the bridge on the Gurthang.

"Damage report!" he yelled.

"Shields at 25% sir! I don't think we could take another volley like that!"

Admiral Kelt cursed, then said, "So they don't like our U-PPC then? Perhaps they'd like some anti-matter torpedoes instead? Ready the tubes! If they fire on us again, fire off those anti-matter torpedoes, and release the U-PPC charge! Turn on the conversion shields!"

"Aye sir!"

_________________________________________________________________

Admiral Naronya nodded, and continued: "Your Emperor sounds like he considers himself God? That is an odd way to think - for me at least. Anithraldur has always gone to great lengths to stress he is not God. He has always ruled thus. Hes a sort of... populist Emperor, you might say."

"Emporer Be Damned" Was the only thing the captain on the outermost Destroyer managed to utter before his void shields collapsed and his ship was reduced to a wreck, all over the fleet, the enemies renewed assault wreaked its damage, but then it was as before, and battle was rejoined.

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

"He is our Salvation, Our guidance, our everything, if that is not God, then what is? Things are different, we see that, Maybe the Admiral see's you have purpose, Maybe we will not draw swords again." Nyaev said

-=A.N.S.S. Gurthang

"Sir, the U-PPC is fully charged and ready to fire!"

"Target their largest vessel, and fire."

The great prongs slung underside the Schicksalschiffs glowed brilliantly, fully charged.

"Shell firing mode," noted the Admiral.

The great ship rumbled as it gave forth the last bit of power to capture the enormous plasma charge in a shell, and with that, it fired. The plasma bolts streaked toward the largest enemy ship, leaving a glowing red trail in the void.

The Involiable Retribution shook and shuddered, layers of shields buckling, sparks from consoles, groans from bulkheads, but the moment passed, some decompressed decks, but she would hold, her huge guns turned, and returned fire.

Slowly, but surely the Assault Boat neared its safe hangar deck, docking, the assault boat came to a slow stop, and dropped onto the deck. Nyaev Motioned to the foreign Admiral, and Began the trek to the bridge.

Some time later, as it is with large vessels, they arrived on the Baroque Style, Gothic like bridge of the ship, Admiral Haskes Turned, And Smiled, although whether he meant it or not, no-one knew.

He motioned, and Nyaev moved away, back to his normal duties, no doubt, Haskes did a grandeous hand gesture and escorted the Foreign admiral into his private room, where a shattered pot, obviously knocked by a blast, was being cleared up by a Servitor.

Haskes sat, and motioned for the other Admiral to do so, Then He spoke.

"I Trust my men did not hurt you, or damage you in anyway, I know Nyeav, i doubt he would do, probably asked you some questions, So this wont be too different, Please, Tell Me Everything you wish to, If you dont co-operate.."

The Room shook, and a few sparks sprayed from the ceiling.

"Well, we have methods, Please, have a drink, Just Amasec, the sort of drinks the guards have, but i'd rather keep the special stuff, which i doubt i'll get more of for a while, safe, you know what i mean? .. Please, Do tell."

Admiral Naronya leaned back, and clasped his hands together, looking over these strange foreigners. Such odd architecture went into these ships as well, he also observed. It was certainly like nothing he had seen much before.

"What I am supposed to tell?" replied Naronya. "I don't really wish to say much of anything - I would rather be with my fleet, and most specifically, my ship, but that has been denied me. You're the interrogator - ask your questions. I shall answer."

"Please, its open to you, just answer as you see fit.." Haskes said, impatience bubbling below the surface as another hit rocked the ship.

"As I... see fit? Ok then... odd way to do an interrogation," commented the Admiral. "Better than the traditional way though. I guess I'll recount our history then."

He paused to gather his thoughts for a moment.

"Well, Arizonan Common Era begins the year of the Unification. Arizona Nova had, about a decade before that, won the Slaver War. For years after that it was 'corporate chaos' as the corporations, government, and other groups fought for control of the technology of the slavers. Inevitably, though, the planet unified under one banner, and one leader - Anithraldur. Ever since he has led us. A long time for one man to reign, perhaps, but he is fair; a sort of progressive emperor if you will."

He paused again, pursing his lip as he continued to think.

"We haven't done too much in our history, though this is changing. We're expanding our empire and influence to new systems, peacefully if we can, guilefully if not, and using force as a last resort. We fought an incursion of Shivans many years ago at the Battle of Groombridge, and there was also the Lessir Tsurani war, which was long and bloody."

"Most interesting... Now, lets get to the point, we are here, and we cant go home, we are willing to release you if your fleet scampers back home, and allows us to continue making our new home here, we did not make this choice, but we must take it, I will release you, with any communication data you require, but first, you must use this terminal, it is ready to transmit, to order your fleet to back down. Refusal will only make you a prisoner aboard a ship which will smash aside your oposition, and if its the last thing we can do, we will rain death upon your homeworld, even if its with a damaged frigate, the last remnants of our existence here, we will do it.

Its a simple choice."

Haskes Smiled, and reclined in the chair.

Admiral Naronya pursed his lip. Even though now that his homeland and this nation were at a state of war, the whole central reason behind the initial search of this system - Temporal technology - was gone now. This was not a budding temporal state, just desperate, if aggressive, refugees. He stiffened his lip and leaned forward.

"If I call back the fleet... if I order them to retreat," he said, "Will you sign a peace treaty? If you do not, I will not order the fleet back."

.:ooc:. My apologies for the lateness of the reply - I was never notified of your last post. Blasted Jolt.

Haskes stood, and sipped his drink. He smiled.

"Never before has the Imperium signed a peace treaty, the end of a war is normally signified by the mountains of dead, destroyed worlds, ruined lives. But times change.. Very well, you will get your treaty."

He turned back to the terminal he had signified earlier.

"You need only to speak into it, for Im assured you do not know our language, regardless of your translators which undoubtedly are translating what im saying right now, I will order my fleet to stand down now."

He turned round and pushed a button on his desk.

"All ships, stand down, keep shields operational and at full power, if the enemy vessels do not cease fire within 2 minutes, you have orders to engage once more."

Haskes turned back to the foreigner.

"Your.. Call?"

Naronya looked into the eyes of the enemy admiral, trying to probe their depths for something - an absolute certainty that he would not be betrayed? It was useless, however. Standing down, like he was, should be trust enough in any case. He went over to the terminal.

-=A.N.S.S. Gurthang

The ship shuddered under the never-ceasing blows of the enemy vessels as the fleet battled on. Battleships and cruisers were smashed under volleys and returned their own as ships burst into flame. Suddenly, however, the guns on the enemy ships stopped.

"Sir! We're getting a signal from the enemy fleet!" yelled a comm officer.

"Patch it through," said Admiral Kelt grimly.

"Third Fleet, this is Admiral Naronya." Gasps of surprise resonated through the bridge. "I have been captured by enemy forces, and as you now observe they have stopped firing upon you. In return for a cease-fire by our fleet, they have agreed to sign a peace-treaty - thus, Third Fleet, you are being ordered to stand down, but do put full power to your defensive systems."

Admiral Kelt sat in silence a few moments.

"Orders, sir?" queried a nervous officer.

"Cease-fire, all power to the shields."

"Aye sir!"

Within moments, comm officers had patched the order through the fleet, and the guns stopped.

-=One Month Later - The High Halls, Arizona Prime

Two delegations, one of Arizona Nova, the other of New Proxima, met beneath the lofty, soaring space of the High Halls to discuss a peace treaty. New Proxima had sent Admiral Haskes as the leader of the New Proximans, and High Admiral Ultan was sent by the Arizonans for the proceedings. Speeches were read and formalities observed, and the situation finally ground down to the meat of it all - the wrangling over the conditions of the treaty. An Arizonan diplomat strode over to the New Proximan side of the table and handed them a piece of paper, on which the terms of the treaty had been wrote.


The New Proxima/Arizona Prime Peace Treaty

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another Agree to this Treaty.

ARTICLE 1:

The Sovereign State of Arizona Nova (hereafter referred to as 'TICNAN') hereby agrees to accept the existence of a sovereign state on the world of New Proxima (the state of New Proxima will hereafter be referred to as NP).
-ARTICLE 1.1: All Arizonan forces will immediately withdraw from NP space.
-ARTICLE 1.2: NP forces agree not to infringe on TICNAN territorial rights. This includes not claiming planets or systems that are under Arizonan protection (i.e. Nominor, Free Worlds Commune territories, etc.).

ARTICLE 2:

To help foster relations between TICNAN and NP, an unarmed embassy and trading station is to be set in orbit over NP.



The Arizonan delegation waited in silence as the New Proximans deliberated over the treaty.

.:ooc:.* (http://anikari.zioncreation.com/disclaimer.htm)

Admiral Haskes scanned the treaty, handing it to an Adept, Who read it, and nodded. Haskes took the piece of paper back, and slowly but surely, signed the agreement.

He glanced towards Ultan as he handed the agreement to the awaiting Arizonan, There was nothing to negotiate on, parsay, and this treaty needed to pass through for building to continue.

Haskes watched as the agreement was handed back, and awaited the hopefully happy response from the treaty being signed - and as the de facto head of the government, the treaty was as good as ratified on his end.

High Admiral Ultan chafed within the ceremonial uniform. Granted, it wasn't that much more comfortable than any other uniform, but it wasn't just the clothes that made him uncomfortable. He found the whole blasted situation annoying - he hated playing the diplomat. He was a High Admiral - he controlled ships and fleets, not stuffed-shirt envoys and the subtleties of law. Luckily, from where he was, it looked like the fellows on the other side of the table were not long for this either, as with little deliberation or ceremony the leader among them just scratched his signature on and shoved the sheet back over. Ultan was all too happy to oblige the same courtesy, and put his signature to the treaty as well, though for a fleeting instant he wondered whether they should have asked for more. Bah, best to get it over with. So there it was - another freshly minted, legally binding treaty. Now what?

The End?

Smashing.