NationStates Jolt Archive

The Ark
Outside Home Space

The Ark.

Vast in size and volume, it held the last best hope for their survival. They had escaped the destuction of their home planet. It was a place ravaged by violent nuclear wars and the killing song of radiation. After the Great War various governments tried despretly to repair the damage, but it had been done. It was time to leave the home planet.

The Ark.

The Ark was built of several large rings that were attached to a single large structure that housed the power plants and engine drives. It was home to 5 million people. 5 million who had been through hell.

The Ark

The crew had been told of an M class planet that was about 5 light years of their home planet. As the warp engines came online for the first time the millions onboard braced themselves.

-WARNING- -WARNING- -WARNING-

"What's happening?!, demanded Captain Agrippa.

"SIR! The Warp Drive is malfunctioning! We're losing power! reported his enginneering.

SHUT IT DOWN!

The Ark's engines shuddered as the crew executed an emergency shutdown.

STATUS REPORT! demanded the capatin.

A small holographic man appeared on Agrippa's command deck.

"The Warp Drive's calibration is off. The original design of these engines wern't designed to move a ship this big sir. We should be back on course in a few hours."

Agrippa put his hand to his forehead in such a way that was common after he heard bad news.

Ok, maintain auxillary power and keep us breathing. I want the gaurdsmen to scan the skys for anything. We are a bit close to an astroid feild.

A ship was detected, it had breached the Sebecean Boarder, and would be challenged. This was another of many incursions, which the Sebecean Fleet was used to dealing with, perhaps this time something interesting. In hope of battle a Sebecean Command BattleCarrier or 50,000 souls was dispatched to meet this trespasser.

It was not long before the Command BattleCarrier, SIS Interra came out of subspace with a few support ships. She targeted the ship and opened all weapons ports to show Sebecean strength. The standard hail was being sent as the Interra fire three megabolt shots over the trespasser's bow.

This is the Sebecean Imperial Warship Interra, you have breached Sebecean Imperial Space. State your course and nationality or we will be forced to open fire.

Agippa was not pleased. Not pleased at all.

Commo: Open a channel.

Sebecean Imperial Warship Interra, this is the Ark Class Colony Ship Star One. We being fairly new at this fleeing from our homeworld thing, we were unaware this was your turf. So if you would kindly point us in the direction of the nearest planet that's not claimed by ships that fire thier weapons at strangers, we would be much abliged.

Agrippa couldn't help but notice a tad bit difference in size. The colony ship was much larger then the command cruiser. Granted, the crusier was better armed, but it stroked Agrippa's curiosity.

The USTS Trekys is a massive ship. She's the pride and joy of the entire UST Space Fleet. She is a Trekys Class Super Battleship, only a handfull exist in the UST Space Fleet. She, her crew and her escorts, are on a routine exploration mission. Ever since Trekys moved her entire populous to a new Galaxy, she's been sending out hundreds of her ships to scour the galaxies and area's outside of the Matrix Galaxy. She has more advanced sensors then the two Utopia Class Cruisers ordered to protect her, so she was the first Trekys ship to pick it up.

"Sir, we have unknown contacts on the edge of our sensor range." said Ensign Mildway

"What can you tell me about them son?" asked Commodore Jason Koch, Captian of the USTS Trekys, and Commodore to Space Fleet Theta.

"Not much sir, only that both ships are massive and the bigger of the two has around 5 million or so souls on board." said the Ensign

"Thats it?" asked the Commodore, "I thought this ship has new sensors!"

"She does sir, only they ARE on the edge of our sensor range, if we were to get closer, I could tell you more." said the Ensign

"Very well, Lieutenant I want you to launch a Comm Bouy, have it send a message to Trekys Space Command tellign them what we've found and that we are going to proceed in, towards the ships." said the Commodore

"Aye sir, programming Bouy." said Lieutenant Amanda Gnash, "Bouy programmed and away sir."

"Good, Ensign, take us towards the two contacts." said the Commodore

"Aye sir, bearing 1 point 3 mark 2." said Ensign John Christo at helm.

--After 10 minutes had passed, the three ships were within hailing range--
"Lieutenant hail both ships." said the Commodore

"Aye sir, Comm channel opened." said the Lieutenant

This is Commodore Jason Koch of the United States of Trekys Ship, the Trekys. I wish to know who you two are, and if either of you require any assitance from myself. If you do, the USTS Trekys and her escorts, the USTS Galaxy and the USTS Johnson, will be glad to help.

The Interra reacted as it heard another vessal, a smaller one. It sent a violent hail towards the bouy, the focused signal was almost strong enough to overwhelm the bouy's sensors.

HAIL TO TREKYS
This is the Sebecean Imperial Warship Interra, to the ship claiming to be the USTS Trekys. You are a warship who has breached Sebecean Space. Being a warship, you are ordered to remove yourself from this space or we will decimate your ship.

A squadron of Valkyrie Light Assault Corvettes, was launched, and they speed towards the Trekys at an amazing speed [fastest class in our fleet]. They approached firing range, and held their position waiting for orders from the Command BattleCarrier.

Meanwhile, the Interra received the message from the colony ship. Sebeceans would not murder five million defenseless people without a good cause. So they would help them, and the Interra dispatched one of her 3 Portships to aid the Colonyship.

COM TO ARK CLASS COLONY SHIP STAR ONE
We have selected a planet within our boarders for you to colonize if you wish. It is a rich world, that was to be a future population center, but seeing that we have many more, we will gladly give it to you. If you accept you will be an independant protectorate: You can hold your own military, You will be under the protection of the Sebecean Democratic Imperium, You will have a seat in the Sebecean Coalitionist Congress, You can initiate in your own foreign policy, You may initiate in our trading net, and when you are strong enough you can be a great ally of the Sebecean Democratic Imperium.

If you accept, this Portship will beable to create a subspace bubble around your ship and lead it to that planet. If you want we can also supply you with equipment and technology. Please comm back with your response, or if you wish an audiance with a Coalition [Civil Gov] and Imperial[Military] Represenative

OOC: so, your preventing my comm bouy from sending a message right?
IC:

The Commodore sat in his chair, he did not blink, nor did he breath when the reply came. He was caught off guard by this outburst, but he would dare not show it.

"Hrmm..." said the Commodore

"Sir, shall we withdraw?" asked Ensign Christo

"No, withdrawing would show weakness... we are NOT a weak people, we had no idea that this was claimed space, so we will tell them the truth." said the Commodore, "Besides, are they really willing to start a war?"

"Sir, their ships are staying at maximum firing range." said Ensign Mildway

"Bring weapons online, tell the Captians of the USTS Galaxy and Johnson to do that same. Also, tell all hanger bay's to be on full alert, I want to be able to scramble fighters just in case." said the Commodore, "Also, tell the Captians NOT to open fire first, I will not be the cause of a war, we are here because we detected a vessel that..."

"Sir, the bigger ship is a Colony Ship, there are 5 Million or more souls on board. From what I gather, something happened with their FTL drives." said Ensign Mildway

"Ah! Good, open up channels with both ships then." said the Commodore

This is Commodore Koch agian, we have just found out that the larger ship's FTL drives are out, We wish to extend a helping hand in the name of Friendship. To the Interra, we wish to not start a fight, we are both here for the same purpose, are we not? Perhaps, we could all become friends. These sectors are new to us, Trekys has just completed a mass exodus from our old star system, to a new Galaxy, and we are just now beginning to explore the are's closest to it. I apologize, that we entered your space, but its been done and we wish to aid the other ship, the colony ship, in anyway possible.

"Try to hail Trekys Space Command Lieutenant, I want to make sure they recieved our first transmission from the Bouy" said the Commodore

"Aye sir, attempting to hail Trekys Space Command in the Matrix Galaxy." said Lieutenant Amanda Gnash

The USS John F Kennedy and, 2 mars class light cruisers slowly floated in to the void of space there engines humming rather slightly, the bridges of the ships were rather busy with personnel and work, officers rushed around the bridge of the John F Kennedy, the con officer looked at his console rising a brow as he sat back on his leather chair it beeped a bit he put his hand over it and taped a button.

He stated “we are detecting some activity a few light years ahead sir, it seems our old ally is in a some what confrontation with another nation, we also have an unknown ship in the area..”

The commander sighed and looked over to the helms officer gripping his large leather like chair, he ordered “set a course tell the cruisers to fallow us, Computer yellow alert!”


With in seconds a large black hole enveloped the ship with huge gravimetric forces another one opened up in the middle of the action the cruisers and the carriers rushed out with there might prevalent .

A message was sent generally “ this is the USS John F Kennedy we are here to prevent an attack on our ally, p[lease state the current situation”


(http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/27006380/
(http://www.deviantart.com/view/27428012/ )

A tear in space opens up and a fleet of warships flys through.

"Attention all vessals, this is Admiral Anarcho of the Steel Legion. We have come in peace with hopes of resupplying at the nearest planet. Anyone who can help us please respond."

Lord Yellowstone a aging man commander of the Imperial Navy sits on the Bridge of his command ship the DPS-Red Rabbit.

"M'lord there is a ship that has 5 million people on board that is being attacked by a Setian-Sebeceans' war fleet."

"Send a signal to the fleet set a corse for the Setian-Sebeceans systim."

"Ay Sir."

The Dweladelfian Battle fleet speed off to the Setian-Sebeceans syatim to aid the helpless Colony ship.

Blank space. Pristine and empty. Then a flash, and the defiling sensor roar of far overcharged side-jumper drives reverberated about local space.

A pair of Aardvark cruisers screamed into Sebecean space, marked in two different banners. Hyperspace energy flowed off of them, betraying the true nature of the speed they had been traveling. Slingshoting around Hyperspace, they had reached velocities unheard of. Both had been forced into realspace by sheer mechanical failure. No drive ever constructed in No Endorse was designed to travel to a fraction of the hyper-depth they had hit.

The two cruisers were battered, parts tearing off in the deceleration. As soon as possible, the lead one rolled far to starboard, firing its main beam-cannons brutally at its enemy's unprotected flanks. The sheer firepower of this small vessel was amazing even in its damaged state. While no match for a craft on the scale of the Interra, it was more than capable of turning vessels twice its size into nothing.

Its quarry, however, had already dispatched several loads of torpedos backed up by its own beam batteries. The weapons exploded against the enemy hull, venting compartments. Reactor mass flooded the void, a sensor flare that would be visable lightyears away. As the sensor glare cleared, there was nothing left of the first cruiser but a gutted hulk with a cloud of debris, both human and machine.

Finally, the second cruiser noted its location and the nearby units, coming to a standstill relative to them. "This is the NES Diver hailing all nearby units, where are we? We've got your transponders aight... cept the big one there."

"Um... sir, multiple contacts have just entered the system... our sensors are havign a hard time diferentiating between ships sir." said Ensign Mildway

"Hahaha..." laughed the Commodore, "Looks like we've got ourselves a party. Keep trying to hail Trekys Space Command Amanda an..."

"SIR! A few of the ships have been indentified as beloning to The Fedral Union..." said Ensign Mildway

"Sir, a transmission is being brodcasted by multiple ships, shall I play them?" asked Lieutenant Amanda

"Yes Amamda, play them all..." said the Commodore

This is the USS John F Kennedy we are here to prevent an attack on our ally, please state the current situation

"Play the next one Amanda, if you please." said Koch

Attention all vessals, this is Admiral Anarcho of the Steel Legion. We have come in peace with hopes of resupplying at the nearest planet. Anyone who can help us please respond.

"Next one Amanda..." ordered the Commodore

This is the NES Diver hailing all nearby units, where are we? We've got your transponders aight... cept the big one there.

"Hrmm... is that it Amanda?" asked the Commodore

"Yes sir, those are all the transmissions thus far." said Lieutenant Amanda

"Okay, open up a channel with the John F Kennedy." said the Commodore

"Yes sir... Channel Opened." said Lieutenant Amanda

USS John F Kennedy, it is good to see familiar faces. I am Commodore Koch of the USTS Trekys. Me and my escorts were exploring this region of space, when we detected the Colony ship and this other vessel, when we arrived we were... thretened, even though we came with peaceful intentions. I await your response.

"Okay, Lieutenant please open up a channel to the rest of the newcomers." said Commodore Koch

"Aye sir, channels opened." said Lieutenant Amanda Gnash

This is Commodore Koch to all unidentified vessels. I am Commodore Koch of the United States of Trekys. I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you, as I am also rather 'new' to this party. It woudl seem that something as happened to the Colony Ship, and the battlecruiser there began threatening me and my cruiser's when i arrived. I hope, however, that this is peaceful and that no unnesscary fighting occurs.

"And now... we wait..." said the Commodore

"Cap'n, we're getting an all-accesser from some of those funky IFF transponders over there."

"Throw it over audio, if that still works on this ship."

This is Commodore Koch to all unidentified vessels. I am Commodore Koch of the United States of Trekys. I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you, as I am also rather 'new' to this party. It woudl seem that something as happened to the Colony Ship, and the battlecruiser there began threatening me and my cruiser's when i arrived. I hope, however, that this is peaceful and that no unnesscary fighting occurs.

"NAV! Do you have a fix on our position, we may have landed in enemy territory."

"Negative. No idea where the f-IMEAN where in blazes we are."

"Keep plowing. In the mean time, someone get that side-jumper back online and get some shields up."

The captain jabbed a button on the console and a shaky hologram of an AI appeared. "Tell engineering that we need to kick in the emergency reactor to help our current one recharge shields and the like. Vent all coolant and replace with fresh where possible. Where we've been blown open, seal it off and work around as best you can. We need to get out of here as fast as we can."

"Gotcha sir."

HAIL TO ALL SHIPS
You, with the exception of the colony ship, are military vessels who have breached Sebecean space. You are ordered to leave at once, failure to comply will result in your destruction.

A few seconds after the transmittion a fleet of destroyers came out of subspace and broke into groups of three which surrounded the ships that had just arrived. Their weapons ports opened and they showed their teeth.

OOC: Since we are isolationist it is common practice to threaten when a warship enters our space.

As the Setian-Sebeceans ships closed in on the Treky and other ally ships, the Red Rabbit decloaked behind the Setian-Sebeceans distroyers and released a hail of quatrum torpedos.

Message to Setian-Sebeceans Battle fleet

This is Lord Yellowstone of the Dweladelfian Imperial Navy. If you do not withdraw your attack we will be forced to distroy you. If you do withdraw we will escort the colony ship out of your systim. You have 1 hour to respond.

As the messgae was sent a entire Dweladelfian fleet decloaked behind the Red Rabbit.

Dweladelfian Fleet:

5 VENGEANCE Advanced Star Destroyer
25 Impireal Class Star Destroyer MK 3
75 Interdictor Class Cruiser
100 Strike Class Cruiser

"Nuther incoming Cap'n!"

"Audio. Then get me a damage report!"

You, with the exception of the colony ship, are military vessels who have breached Sebecean space. You are ordered to leave at once, failure to comply will result in your destruction.

"Ah, so we're somewhere called Sebecean? NAV! Got that on the charts?"

"Negative."

"Comm, send this message..."

Sebecean? Where is that? Nav's not showing it on our charts. Can you point us in the right direction to get to Sol? We can get home from there.

No need to get touchy with your boats and all, we've already gotten what we came for. We may send a ship later to collect those gutted ship remains, but for now, we just want to get outa here. Too many psychos with quantum torpedos for our liking.

As this message was sent, the ship began to limp a little farther away, keeping an eye on those torpedos for any course deviations.

COMM TO SHIP OF NO ENDORSE
You are in the territory of the Sebecean Democratic Imperium. We control many systems, and we are sending a zone of our space with this message. We can provide a Portship to jump your vessal to Sol if you wish.

SUBSPACE-COMM TO IMPERIAL FLEET HQ
Hostile Incursion, request full Battle Contingent.

COMM TO HOSTILE FLEET
You have entered the space of the Sebecean Democratic Imperium with a battle fleet. This is seen as an act of invasion by the Imperial Dynasty and by the Coalitionist Congress. You are asked to remove your fleet at once.

As the final comm was sent a Command Carrier Entourage [7 ComCarriers + support ships and escort destroyers] and a Dreadnought Warband [10 Dreadnoughts + support and escorts] exited subspace around the enemy fleet. The sheer size and power of the ships would certianly cause fear in any who looked, for the smaller of the capitol class ships there, (ComCars & DNoughts) the Command Carriers, were several times larger than the enemy star destroyers and the Dreadnoughts were even larger. If they dared to fight, they would be slaughtered.

You are in the territory of the Sebecean Democratic Imperium. We control many systems, and we are sending a zone of our space with this message. We can provide a Portship to jump your vessal to Sol if you wish.

"Nav! You got a fix on us yet?"

"Confirmed, they sent us what we need... how in blazes did we get all the way over here? Ah well, nevermind. We have enough fuel to get home if we jump strait."

"Send them a confirmation message."

Thanks, we know where we are now. We'll be jumping out unless we can talk with the colony ship some.

As this message was sent, the warfleets emerged. The vessel sped towards the colony ship, taking up a defensive position.

The captain slouched against a railing. 48 hours strait of combat status. What a day... I need something alcoholic... very alcoholic.

COMM TO SHIP OF NO ENDORSE
Do not worry. They Colony ship will not be fired upon. We are mearly trying to remove a hostile encursion fleet from our space.

OCC: Sorry about the wait
IC:

There was a reason that Agrippa had not responded. It was simple really.
Agrippa had blown a fuse.

WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY TELL ME SPACE WAS SO GOD DAMN CROWDED! WHY THE HELL DID NOBODY BOTHER TO INFORM ME THAT THEY GAVE US A PLANET RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMBODY ELSE'S GRAND EMPIRE. AND WHY? WHY DID THEY NOT GIVE ME A BIG FRIGGIN GUN TO PROTECT MY SHIP!?

A young lady, the executive officer to be exact, spoke up, "Are you quite done sir?"

Agrippa hanged his head, "Yes. I'm done....Ok, becoming part of somebody's empire is a no-no. Open a channel."

"This is Star Zero, we kindly thank you for your hospitality, but if we wanted to be part of somebody's empire, we wouldn't have left. Now space is pretty big, and I think we'll be able to find a place of our own -away from your precious empire- Now if you'll kindly excuse me, I have a home to find."

Agrippa turned to the holo. "HAVE YOU FIXED THE FIGGING WARP DRIVE YET?

The blue holo blinked and responded, "Yes sir, I think we'll be ok for a few lightyears. It's just a really big ship to put through hyperspace.

Agrippa nodded, "You best be ready to take off at a moments notice, because I smell trouble here.

The john F Kennedy , ;launched its fighters, omega thunder bolts, and puffin fighters as well as anti capital ship FB-1B fighter bombers streamed out forming up in a defensive posture, the mars class light cruisers targeted there hard beams, gamma ray burst cannons and Zero mass reaction cannons at the enemy fleet.

Message from the JFK:

The united states has gotten sick of your hostile, imperialist and anti USFU ally policy, we will not back down unless you leave our allies and acquaintances alone.

(ooc : FB1 B’s are pretty good against capital ships, they carry tactical weapons)

"This is Star Zero, we kindly thank you for your hospitality, but if we wanted to be part of somebody's empire, we wouldn't have left. Now space is pretty big, and I think we'll be able to find a place of our own -away from your precious empire- Now if you'll kindly excuse me, I have a home to find." [/B]

In a few short seconds, the cruiser had processed the incoming messages and shot back two replies.

We'll watch you so long as we can. We took some damage, and it'd be best for us to lock it down anyways before we go jumpin into the deep.

You might want to head out of the Milky Way if possible, and at least the Orion Arm, too many competing interests here.

Will you whining Sallys cut it out? I highly doubt that ANYTHING that we've seen has been suficient to entail military action. You're in Soverign Sebecean Space, whoever the hell they are. Act like it.

All across the battered cruiser, damage control crews locked down everything they could. Weapons crews manned all of the still usable stations, slightly uneasy about this much action all around. Several deflecter screens activated around the ship, a patchwork of protection, but better than nothing.

"Thanks No Endorse we just might do that.

The Ark Class Colony Ship began to turn. The ship was indeed massive. It's center was a box shape that contained the fusion drives nessasary to power the huge ship. The box also contained the interal dampeners, hangar, countermeasures, and numerous computer systems. The ship moved by 12 massive engines located in the rear of the craft and 2 large engines near the front that helped manuver the craft. The center of this box shape held the warp drives which were now recalibrated and ready for the jump into hyperspace. The box shape was surrounded by five massive rings that held all the nessasary functions to keep the occupants alive.

The nav officer gave out possible locations to jump to. Agrippa choose the farthest out and gave the order to prepare the ship for the jump.

OCC: Sebecean, do you intend to give chase or anything? That goes for anyone for that matter.

The Diver detected massive energy buildups within the ship, and assumed that it was a jump drive. The Captain thought quick and fired off a signal to the ship, hoping to catch it before it jumped.

Send us your destination coordinates and we'll escourt you a decent ways out of this mess. We know where we are now, so we can make it home from whenever so long as we know where we left and where we're going.

A cruiser like this won't be worth much, but every ouce counts, eh? We have instructions from Haven FleetCom to cover you. If you don't want us, we'll head home.

Agrippa thought about it for a second.

Commo: Transmit the coordinates, let the Driver know we'd be happy for the company and that thier captain is invited over for a drink when we get there.

A simple transmission would be beamed to the ship of the wandering civilization. It is from a Xeno picket ship, the Leyete Gulf

"To Contact 09045. We have been monitoring the situation, and invite your travel to coordinates XXX by XXXXXX. This is a neutral system where the XSS1 facility is located. It is under our protection. The XSS1 does not have the facilities to support your massive population, but the planet it orbits does. You are granted leave to establish a temporary colony there until you find somewhere appropriate for your own growth. If you accept or require repairs or a tow, please respond on this channel." - Captain Marthe of the Leyete Gulf

OOC: Yes I will give chase, but in a special way.

A cloaked ship, hidden from even Sebecean scanners neared the colony ship. It was the SIS Ghen,a Phalanx class Advanced Modular Assualt Frigate. It slowly attached a small device to the hull of the the colony ship and back away from any jump field, and waited.

Meanwhile the large Command Carriers and Dreadnoughts launched fighters and put them in holding patterns. More smaller ships came out jump adding to the Sebecean force. One of the ships was and odd design and began emitting a jamming signal to hush any calls for help from the enemies. A few of the ships acting hostile were targeted and many viruses were sent to infect the ships' computers.

ALL WAVEBAND COMM
Leave now, you are not welcome in our space. We do not care who you are, we will butcher your fleets, solders, and people the same if you decide to fight with us.

OOC: All Sebecean ships can make subspace jump within seconds in Sebecean space due to mapping reasons and gates.

Agrippa smirked at that last transmission, "People not to freindly around these parts I take it.

Agrippa gave a nod to his pilot, "Let's ride. All hands prepare for jump!

The Ark-Class ship lept into hyperspace, not ever hearing the invitation for safe harbor. Also unknown to the crew, was the small device that would transmit it's every move to the Setian-Sebeceans.

Stars became lines, lines became blurs, and the properites of time and space where intertwined as Star Zero continued it's voyage.

Aboard the destroyer Leyte Gulf, the communications and sensor technicians exchanged some looks. One young ensign looked to her captain, "M'am. The energy pulse generated by the contact's warp had an anomaly in it that wasn't detected when they first arrived. Scanning now..."

After a moment, "No m'am. No debris detected in the area, whatever it was it hitched a ride."

Captain Marthe leaned against the padded railing overlooking the CIC arena. "Alert the networks to be on the lookout for a stray. Also, resume picket scanning and signal me if things change."

Agrippa sat down in his command chair once they were away.

Agrippa was a tall, unshaven, unsavory character who was the veteran of many a hard scrape. How he became captain of the Star Zero was a source of debate and contaversy, but the bridge crew trusted none other.

There was Lucence Cutter, the calm cool collected and long legged executive officer. The engineering section was led by a Dr. Cross who had designed and built the massive ship. Agrippa and Cross got into many arguments over the various...hangups..the ship had. In the weapons section was Draco Firegaurd. Granted, the ship didn't have much in weapondry, but that's what Draco was for. Draco was sharp, but with a infamously foul temper.

Then of course, was Sir Loyd George Tallyhound the 31st. He was the head of the civilain 'government' and he got on Agrippa's nerves. Tallyhound might be in charge of the Colony, but this was still Agrippa's ship. This was the source of some conflict as the actions nessasary to get through the wild west of space often conflicted with Tallyhounds need for everlasting saftey at all cost. Such a 'conflict' was to occur...now.

AGRIPPA! AGRIIIIIIIPA!

The effemanatte sound of the Tallyhound could be heard before his short self entered the bridge.

"What the bloody blue blazes is going on here! Why did you refuse Setian-Sebeceans's offer before consulting me? I'm the politician you know! This matter HAS to be dealt with DIPLOMATICLY! "

Agrippa turned in place to stare at the short man.

"You want the short answer? I don't make freinds with people whose first words are BANG BANG. Besides, if we saw that many warships with itchy trigger fingers in the first 5 minuets of us arriving, imagine how much longer it take for our ship to be blasted to bits."

"BLASTED TO BITS! OH MY GOODNESS! You! You! I DEMAND YOUR RESIGNATION! You'll put us all in danger! "

Agrippa stepped toe to toe with the blabbering Talleyhound, "It's your colony, but this is my ship. I'll get you to a safe harbor. Don't you worry your lordship......."

Tallyhound huffed and left the bridge.

The Ghen burst into subspace a while after the colony ship had left. She exited soon after, and was in the exact place where the Star Zero was seconds before the Ghen's jump. There was no way they could hide...

OCC: Are you still cloaked? Slipping in and out of subspace would seem to take up too much power for you to stay cloaked, but I just thought I'd ask.

OOC: The ship can enter and exit jumps cloaked, and it does take alot of energy. But this is one of my most advanced ships, however since the average subspace jump is quicker than hyperspace, my frigate jumped to a place you passed and is sitting decloaked.

CAAAPTAAAIN!, exclaimed a man running a sensor. "WARSHIP TO OUR SIX!

Agrippa glanced at his screen. Damn! We've been followed. Evasive Manuvers! PILOT: Reverse Direction

The whole bridge took a double-take. For a vessel as large as Star Zero the sheer mass of it gave the craft a significant amount of velocity. On a craft large enough to hold 5 million people it was quite significant. A manuver like the captain was proposing (demanding) was rather risky. Particularly if it meant going towards the warship.

Agrippa was not taking no for an answer, YOU HEARD ME! PILOT REVERSE DIRECTION NOW!!

The Star Zero shuddered as it's main engines cooled down and it's manuvering thrusters spun the ship like a top. The sheer velocity of exiting hyperspace meant that the ship was still moving foward very quickly. As the Star Zero finished it's turn, the main engines fired full throttle.

On board, the occupants held on to whatever they could get thier hands on. The interial dampers were working on overdrive to diminish the effect such a manuver it had on the crew, but for a ship that was large enough to produce it's own small gravitational pull, the spin was rough.

The Star Zero was now nose to nose with it's persuer. Even though the warship was indeed formidible, the colony ship still dwarfed it in size.

The executive officer looked at the captain, then looked at the screen.

"Captain, you do realize that our present course is a collision course with that warship correct?", asked Cutter.

"Why yes Miss Cutter, We are ramming the ship. This bird may not have a talons, but she's still got one hell of a beak!

Cutter responded,"Just checking. SHEILDS: FULL FRONTAL, DIVERT AUXILLARY POWER TO THE SHEILDS AND ENGINES

At this point the computer's auto-safe feature began to warn the crew.

Warning! Collision! Please alter course within 6 seconds to avoid collision.

Agrippa shouted out, ALL HANDS BRACE FOR IMPACT

Agrippa thought about it for a second.

Commo: Transmit the coordinates, let the Driver know we'd be happy for the company and that thier captain is invited over for a drink when we get there.

The Diver followed along at a sane distance, monitering its own hyperdrive functionality. It was almost embarrasing. The mainstay cruiser of the Inferno fleet being outpaced in FTL by a colony ship?!? But they did what they could, keeping everything reasonably within the green.

However, when they came out, they were completly unprepared for what they met. They were near a strange looking ship, and the colony ship bearing down on them both.

The captain barely had time to scream "Blow all emergency thrusters!" With a groan, the cruiser jolted to the side, skipping past the larger ship's deflector screens.

"What in hell was that? STATUS REPORT!"

"We just skipped on their screens, thankfully. Main emergency thrusters used up sir, refilling from reserves. Explosive fuel canisters used up, we'll need to return to a base to get those replaced. Shields greenlining about fifty and main reactor green-yellow at fourty five and rising. Coolant at eighty."

"Any damage?"

"Nothing besides what we've already had. Our sensors on that side got a little fried, we'll need to overhaul them soon, but their preformance is still within acceptable limits considering our current state."

"How are our colony friends doing?"

"Six seconds until collision."

"What a bloody day... I sure hope their armor and shields hold."

Luckly for the small crew of the Ghen, her pilot was a symbiant, a human implanted into a vessel. As soon as the pilot saw the hulk coming towards the ships, she fired hard reverse, throwing the ship back. It would buy them time, as she maneuvered away from the colony ship. It was a close call, for both crews, because a destroyed Ghen would call for a battlefleet to attack, board, and exicute even person on board the colony ship.

The Ghen's mission was to follow and report on the colony ship, but know after a second's miss, the ROE had changed. Once free of the lumbering giant's path, she warmed her subspace drive, ready for a jump in a second's time.

She targeted the colony ship and began firing at vital points that had been determined during her time in our space. Thrusters, engines, and power relays were the first targets. The frigate was small, but was designed to hold off a medium sized fleet for awhile. She fired a few missiles, and detached the Arc Cannons from the hull of the ship. The cannons began orbiting the frigate, and pure energy surged from the hull to the cannons, charging them as they fire what looked like lightning [more powerful]. The crew of the colony ship would pay for their attempt.

Note: The Ghen's class of ship was unlike normal Sebecean design, and would take an actual Sebecean to say that the ship was of Sebecean origin. An

all at once

- Draco was at the controls of the cannons. They were small, originally designed to blast any lumbering astroid or wreckage that got in it's path. Draco began targeting the missiles as it homed in on Star Zero. Dozens of laser cannons cut across the stars as it shot the missiles before it could cause too much damage.

- Cutter was furious, SHEILDS FULL RANGE! DIVERT ALL AUXILLARY POWER TO SHEILDS!

- Agrippa was furious, but for different reasons. He really didn't like being followed. He left, like he was supposed to, but NOOOOOO. Can't just leave well enough alone can we?

ENGINEERING: PREPARE TO JUMP AS SOON AS YOU CAN! PILOT: BRING US AROUND FOR ANOTHER RUN. NAV: GET US ANOTHER SET OF COORDINATES ASAP!

Across the massive vessels the sheilds sparked and crackeled from the punishment. They were holding for the moment as Cross had designed the vessel with many redundant systems.

In the heat of missiles flying towards the colony ship, the Ghen cloaked. She moved around the ship, and located her objective... If only they had the time to do it...

CAPTAIN, ENEMY VESSEL HAS VANISHED

Agrippa's eyes focused on the now seemingly empty space, No, they're still here. ENGINE ROOM: Are we ready for jump?"

Negative, we still need about a minute or two to recalibrate

Agrippa winced then looked ahead at a nearby gas gaint.

PILOT: Take us into that Gas Gaint!

The man running the sensors griped a little, It'll screw up our sensors sir! We'll be flying blind

THAT'S THE IDEA! shouted Agrippa as the pilot entered the gas gaint's atmosphere. If they couldn't see the baddies, then why should the baddies get to see them?

It wasn't gentle. The gas gaints winds and electrical charges played havoc with the ships senors and punished the shields. Visibility was next to nothing and the sensors wern't reading anything at all. The ship rocked as it's mass battered against the winds.

PILOT: AS SOON AS ENGINEERING GIVES YOU A GREEN LIGHT, YOU JUMP US OUTTA HERE

The colony ship was moving. The frigate hit its engine wash, and lost shields for a second, but the pilot moved her back into place. They matched speeds, until and energy spike in the frigate occured, and she was gone. She had jumped away, but the temporary energy-gravity zone from the subspace jump was sure to cause damage to the colony ship's engines.

The Star Zero had always had problems with the warp drives. It simply was too big of a mass to place into hyperspace for a constant period of time. The engineers onboard had completed calibrations shortly before the Ghen had charged it's jump engines. The result of the enemy vessel jumping so close to Star Zero was it off-set the calibrations of the Star Zero signigicantly. The colony ship thought it was headed one direction and ended in another place entirly...

[To be continued...]

(OCC: If anyone else wants to interact with Star Zero, do so now. If nobody else posts here, then I'll go ahead and end the thread with the colonazation of the (unclaimed) planet. My next thread will be a bit more interesting)

OOC: TG me with the url... I'll still be chasing [the device is still there].

The Diver continued near the colony ship, striking down every missile it could.

It pulled in tight, sending over a tightbeam.

We're going to try to ride your wake when you jump out. Pump a lot of energy in and we'll be pulled nearby.

ooc: TG me too

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10243617#post10243617

OCC: I'm actaully making a little pit stop to get info and repairs. Check with Xeno before placing a warship there.