NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.trekmania.net/the_fleet/utopia/fleet/defiant04.jpg

Captain Jack Arnold gripped his seat arms as the vessel shuddered slightly, his knuckles whitening under the strain of his grip. Looking across the Bridge at the Chief Engineer, Jack titled his head slightly, a mental signal to Lieutenant Commander Mohammed Al Hara to check his console, accessing the necessary information to discover the cause of the shudders. Presently, he looked up at the Captain, smiling. “Nothing to worry about, sir,” he said. “A slight failure in the inertial dampeners, but I’ve compensated for the problem.”

Jack nodded, feeling slightly better but still uneasy. The USS Lance Armstrong was the first vessel of the United States government to leave the Churchill system in nearly twenty years. A long period of isolation had been broken by the new Liberal government coming to power, which promised to continue the short-lived exploration and expansion policies that two decades ago had been cut short by internal strife. Now however, the colonies were united and the eyes of the US Government had once more turned to the stars.

“Approaching system LV-1220, Captain,” Ensign David Cromwell, Chief Helmsmen, reported.

Captain Arnold looked up at the monitor as stars flicked past in either direction as the Defiant Class Escort cut through space at four times the speed of light. “Very well,” he said, clearing his throat. “Slow to Warp One and begin scans of the system once we’re in range.”

“Aye sir,” the Ensign responded. With one hand, Cromwell reduced the power transfer to the Warp Engines with fingertip-touch, reducing the slider to the speed of light. “Estimated time of arrival is now fifteen minutes.”

Jack nodded. “XO, Senior Officer’s briefing in five minutes.” Commander Harry Redwall nodded where he stood by the Engineering console as Arnold rose from his chair and walked across to the Briefing Room. After five minutes, the rest of the Senior Staff arrived, taking their seats around the large conference table. Captain Arnold waited for them all to settle before pushing a button on the panel in front of his seat. A holographic image appeared from the centre of the table, showing a planet.

“This, ladies and gentlemen,” Jack began. “Is the fourth planet in the LV-1220. Initial long-range scans have given the indication that the planet is Class M; suitable for human habitation. However, we have also picked up communication transmissions and possible Starship exhaust emissions, although we do not know much about their scale or technological advancement.” He turned to the Commander. “Harry.”

Redwall looked around the table. “What we do know is that twenty years ago, the Miranda Class USS Hawkeye was sent to investigate these signs of intelligent life during our last exploration period. The Hawkeye reported entering orbit of the planet, and then subsequently disappeared from the radar.”

“Why didn’t the Space Force send a recovery team?” Lieutenant Commander Bella Wakefield, Chief Tactical Officer, asked. Arnold nodded slightly; the tolerance of Captains varied regarding spontaneous questions, but Jack found it good to have an open forum in order to provide all the information needed.

Redwall shrugged. “There were plans, but shortly after we lost the Hawkeye, our problems on Churchill IV began, and all exploration outside of the system was cancelled.”

Arnold continued. “Our mission is to pick up on where the Hawkeye left off, investigating these signs of life and discovering the fate of the Hawkeye.”

“Captain,” Wakefield volunteered, “I would suggest staying out of orbit of the planet until we can ascertain whether it was safe to move closer.”

Arnold nodded. “Agreed, Lieutenant Commander.” He pushed another button, showing a display of the Lance Armstrong nearby the planet and a smaller craft moving between the two bodies. “Our plan is to hold position at maximum sensor range and send a shuttlecraft to the surface in order to ascertain the situation on the planet. After that, we can call the Lance Armstrong in if it turns out to be safe.”

A sound chimed in the room, followed by Ensign Cromwell’s voice. “Captain, we’re three minutes from the LV-1220 system.”

Arnold looked around the room. “Okay people, let’s get to it.” With that, the rest of the Senior Staff stood and filed out of the room as the Lance Armstrong prepared to drop out of warp at the edge of the system.

the Imperial New Kirisuban ship 'Hokkaido' cruised gracefully as was expected off a Kagemon class vessel into system LV1220 on its continued voyage of exploration.

Captain Mariko Akechi relaxed in her command chair as they continued their warp one cruise before slowing to full impulse.

"Tactical, whats out there" she asked.

"one contact ahead, heading 265 mark 3. a starship"

"yellow alert" she orders "get us closer and hail them"

Standard friendship greetings are sent in kirisuban, English and machine code and Mariko waits in anticipation of a reply.

ooc: the Hokkaido looks similar to a 23rd century romulan bird of prey but its more heavilly armed with twin plasma weapons and four plasma torpedo tubes fore and aft. the ship is a plain gunmetal colour and the legend 'NX-05 INKS Hokkaido' can be seen in large black writing on the front of the saucer section

scans will show a crew of 60. all human

the I.N.S. Loki sat in orbit around the planet.

"Sir, we have an unidentified ship comming into the system. less then 200 meters long"

"keep the Cloak active, scan for possible weapons. i don't think it will be a threat but better safe then sorry."

OOC: sorta a crappy post but oh well, also the Loki is an O'Neil class warship from Stargate. its about 2 kilometers long. its cloak is not like a star trek cloak but rather the ship is invisable to sensors, but you can see it with your eyes

"Captain sama" Fujiko Muira, the first officer and science officer reports "i've scanned the system. planet 4 seems habitable. the rest of the system is just rocks and a gas giant.

"change course to planet 4, half impulse" Mariko orders "and when you get there scan the planet and assume a standard orbit, 20,000 feet.

I'll be in the ready room. Fujiko san you have the conn"

Mariko was in her late twenties and still could turn heads with her grey blue eyes, dark hair and classic asian good looks. She was as sharp as a katana although and many a person had underestimated this small woman in the past.

Apart their eye colour you would havre thought that Fujiko and Mariko were sisters. The XO of the Hokkaido was more cautious but just as able in a fire fight.

Both women knew they could count on their all female bridge crew not to panic or do something rash.

"Helm, set course for the 4th planet but let me get a look at the gas giant first" Fujiko says.

the ship gracefully follows a curving course so the science officer can take her readings.

The APFS Transitory was a unique ship, the fact that she was the first joint ship produced by the AEN and PSN forces in over fifty years was proof enough, but the fact that she was the first ship sent out to continue the stellar mapping project was of major importance.
Onboard it was usual opperations, watch the fold space for temporal anomalies, make sure to keep all plasma turret's at the ready (after all when a 3km warship suddenly appears in a blinding flash someone will probably shoot), and other boring things.
Most of these "annoyances" were on Commander Maxwell's mind as she poured over data reports. However when the AI took over the bridge speakers (cutting off the classical music that had been making the work easier) these annoyances would have to wait.
"Ma'am, we are within one minute to our destination. However we have been picking up faint communications and energy emissions at the other end of the fold. It is suspected that their are ships or at least echoes from a stop in system."
"Finally some action," she thought. "Alert Captain Sanders, he'll want to take command if there are ships," she called out.

In the system, if one looked close enough, they could see space distorting slightly as it shunted all occupants within a 3km "bubble" to the side and repelled anything trying to enter it. Within two minutes the "bubble" began to become distorted, during the time gamma radiation levels could be noted rising by the second until a sickly green flash occurred within the space. As it subsided and emerald green outline of the Transitory could be seen, until it to slowly began to fade away revealing the warship's gunmetal grey body.
She didn't cloak or send out a message, she simply sat their looking dead in the water. It wasn't until ten seconds later that her external lights came online and a barrage of scans could be detected.

OCC: The Transitory resembles the Tokugawa (http://www.steelfalcon.com/TIW/Images/tokugawa.gif) from the Robotech/Macross serries (with the exception of her being longer). Also if you were to scan for life forms you'd only read about 1500 (unless you were within 20km) due to the jamming systems and ECMS.

(OOC: Hey Human Space Colonies. Nice start. I've an idea here which will give you a mystery to solve regarding the Hawkeye and other stuff revolving around this planet, which'll hopefully be of some fun for you. But if you have a specific direction you want this to go in, and my stuff doesn't fit in with it very well, just say so and I'll retcon it :) BTW, I'm a Trek-based nation too!)

IC:
The inhabitants on the fourth planet of the LV-1220 system were simple people. Villagers, they were, only having slowly shifted from a hunter/gatherer society to an agricultural one in the past millenia or so. Certainly not ones that would seem like they had the remotest possibility of sending communications signals or leaving warp trails in space. No, they were just farmers for the most part, and peaceful ones at that. War was virtually unknown to these people, as there were plenty of resources to go around, and no hostile aliens were ever able to take advantage of this world on account of the towers.

Several towers were situated in various places throughout the planet. Not very many, but enough. The inhabitants did not know who built them, nor even how to get inside them. The towers had always simply been there, as far back as their most primitive ancestors could remember. There was a story about a time, long ago, when the towers awoke with thunder and lightning. This was followed by fire raining from the skies. But that was many, many generations ago. All that was left of those events were the tales passed down from one storyteller to another...

...until twenty years ago. There was a village located in a fertile vale not too far from one of these towers. To the villagers, the air went from quiet and peaceful to the loud thrumming of a locust plague in the matter of seconds. No one understood what was going on, and many of the people ran to their homes in hopes that it would offer them protection against what was to come. Those who remained outside saw that, in the distance, the tower began to glow brighter, and a bright flash of light shot up into the heavens with a thunderous crack. In the moments that followed, a bright star fell from the sky.

And now, it was about to happen again. Those who were alive the last time this happened remembered the sound. Some ran for their homes again, while many others stayed outside to watch. After several seconds of the humming, a beam of light shot up just like the last time. Several of the villagers dropped to their knees and buried their hands and faces into the dirt in front of them, shielding themselves from what appeared to be the awe and might of gods.

In space, the lance of energy shot straight toward the shuttle launched from the Lance Armstrong, which had reached orbit around the planet. A single shot was enough to send the Hawkeye careening into the planet twenty years ago. Who knows what it would do to a shuttlecraft.

The tower in action (http://people.ucsc.edu/~mattko/tower1.jpg)

The sleek Defiant class escort dropped out of Warp at the edge of the system, the light from LV-1220’s sun glinting in several places on the ablative armour of the sleek but deadly vessel. Immediately, her impulse engines flared, lighting the darkness with a glow of massive rockets as her sublight drive pushed her in-system, her sensors probing the darkness for more detailed analysis. As the Starship reached maximum sensor range for the fourth planet of the system, a small shuttlecraft launched from her rear ‘bays, turning gracefully in space and powering towards the planet at full power.

Onboard the bridge of the Lance Armstrong, Commander Harry Redwall occupied the centre chair, the Captain having assumed his own prerogative on leading the away team to the surface. Redwall had protested, citing Space Force regulations regarding Starship Commanders entering unknown situations, but Arnold had waved his hand in annoying dismissal, as if swatting half-heartedly at an irritating fly. So the Captain had selected a team consisting mainly of Junior Officers in the case that the Lance Armstrong ran into trouble, and had set off for the surface. Redwall watched the disappearing craft on the forward viewer with a mixture of unease and jealousy; once he had his own Command, Harry looked forward to annoying his own XO with regards to Away missions.

Almost immediately as the craft receded to near-invisibility, Redwall’s thoughts were interrupted by an audible bleeping on the console of the tactical station. Lieutenant Commander Wakefield pushed several keys on her panel before looking up. “Commander, we have sensor contacts on an incoming Starship, bearing 085 mark minus 3.”

Redwall looked over at her. “Yellow Alert,” he ordered. A single alarm rang across the Bridge as the side lighting turned yellow. Redwall turned back to the viewer. “Put her onscreen and initiate scans.”

The screen changed as the exterior cameras rotated and focused on the incoming vessel, a sleek Starship that resembled a graceful bird in many ways. Bella took several moments before looking back at her Commander. “Sir, her identification beacon registers her as the INKS Hokkaido. I’m also reading twin plasma turrets and eight plasma torpedo tubes, not currently armed.” Wakefield’s console bleeped once more. “We are being hailed,” she announced. “Standard friendship messages, it appears.”

Redwall nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Open a channel and reply.” He waited for Wakefield’s nod, and then took a breath. “This is Commander Harry Redwall in temporary command of the United States Starship Lance Armstrong, representing the United States of Human Space Colonies. Our mission is one of investigation and exploration, and we would be happy to initiate contact with you.”

<><><>

OOC: Okay, this next bit is on the shuttle, so people near the planet can probably pick this up occurring.

IC: The shuttle cut though space gracefully as it approached the planet. Captain Jack Arnold slowed the craft as it approached an orbital altitude, and turned to the Operations Officer, Lieutenant Gregory Maxwell. “Greg, scan for any traces of the Hawkeye in orbit of the planet.”

Greg nodded, manipulating the sensors. After a moment he shook his head and leant back. “No good sir, there’s nothing in orbit to suggest the presence of the Hawkeye, although I am picking up residual traces of radiation from possible spacecraft. However, that could be from other-” he was cut short as the console bleeped alarmingly, and Maxwell watched it for a second in horror. “Captain, we have incoming fire from the surface!”

Jack’s head snapped back to his own console, manipulating the controls with vigour. The shuttle keeled hard to starboard, diving violently in a bid to avoid the beam. However, this was too little avail, as the beam struck the craft before the shuttle was halfway through the manoeuvre, fortunately managing to avoid the main destructive power that had crippled an entire Miranda class Starship twenty years before. The shuttle rocked with explosions and began to fall stern-over-aft towards the planet.

Jack pulled himself from the floor and back into his own chair. “Is everyone alright?” he called, asking Maxwell and the four other crew in the rear of the vessel. Quick confirmations from all brought Arnold to the next point. “Damage report,” he ordered calmly.

Maxwell looked down at his console once more. “Sir, we are going down; Impulse Drive is shot to hell, and thrusters are down to half power. Our comms relay is also out, and we’re leaking deuterium from the Impulse Drive tanks.”

Jack looked up at the planet as it came ever closer, spinning out of sight and then reappearing as the shuttle stumbled. Keying the console, he switched the craft from computer navigation to manual control. A control stick deployed from underneath the console, and the Captain gripped it tightly, pulling back and applying extra power to stabilise the shuttle as it hit the atmosphere and began to dive like a flaming comet. Presently, Jack levelled the craft and shut down the engines, flaring the rocketing shuttle as it whistled through the air of the planet. “Hold on!” he called as the craft neared the ground.

The shuttle fortunately hit within a fertile grass plain, skipped twice and then dug its nose into the ground as its velocity slowed, pushing a massive scar though the grass and soil as it skidded another five hundred metres before coming to a stop in a cloud of exhaust and airborne dirt.

"Commander, the ship has launched what seems to be a shuttle. i am also picking up two more ships in system."

"ignore the other ships unless they find us. keep watching the shuttle however." answered Commander Astar

"Sir the shuttle has entered the planets atmostphere, wait some kind of weapon seems to be firing at it...the shuttle has crashed on the planet."

"no doubt the people on the ship do not know what has happened, now may be the time to show ourselfs, move to within 50 kilometers of the ship then deactivate the cloak."

"yes sir."

The sun was high in the sky when several of the natives reached the green field. The humanoids wore simple garments, all of an earthy tone, and their skins were tanned. A couple of them had small, cloth bags hung around their shoulders. What the five of them saw was the ground turned up for a long distance and a strange creature at the end. It had what looked like a hard shell all around it, like some kind of beetle, but much larger and in a very different color. More importantly, they noticed that people were coming out of the giant beetle.

The five natives continued to approach the shuttle and its passengers. While still some distance away, the one in the lead shouted out, "Vintor ehlyr havva moru." He held his arms out with his palms up, as if he were carrying a load of logs or something of the sort. "Eri moru imter pon takra traiv."

They stopped a few meters away, looking as if they were expecting some kind of answer.

Commander Redwall was waiting for the reply to the Hokkaido to reply to their hails, when the console for the tactical station began bleeping once more. Bella took one moment to glance at her console, then looked up in alarm. “Commander, unidentified vessel just appeared on sensors to our rear starboard quarter, must have been cloaked in some may.”

Harry turned around sharply. “On screen,” he ordered. The viewer changed once again to focus on the new craft as it approached the vessel. Redwall sighed. “Sensors please, Lieutenant Commander.”

Wakefield manipulated her console once more. “Sir, she’s 2 kilometres long, unknown weapons systems but appears heavily armed.”

Harry looked back to the screen and thought for a moment. “Maintain Yellow Alert,” he said finally. “Let’s not over-react yet. Bella, open a channel.”

He waited for her acknowledgement, and then cleared his throat. “This is Commander Harry Redwall of the United States Starship Lance Armstrong, please identify yourselves.”

<><><>

The shuttle crew began to recover slowly after the crash. Jack looked around the other crew, asking each in turn if they were okay after the crash. Each nodded their confirmation. Jack then turned to Maxwell. “Can we get any sort of scan for outside?”

Maxwell attempted to scan the exterior, and sighed in frustration. “Sorry sir,” he said, turning to his CO. “Everything’s completely dead.”

Arnold sighed, thinking for a moment. “Alright everyone,” he announced, pulling himself from his seat and walking across to the armoury. “Everyone take hand phasers, but keep them holstered for now.”

The crew equipped themselves and followed the Captain out of the hatch. Immediately, they were greeted by natives that were walking towards them. Arnold held up his hand, prompting the crew to maintain their calm.

One of the natives stepped forward, speaking in an unintelligible language. Jack blinked. “Maxwell?” he asked.

Greg took a device out of his pocket and began adjusting the controls. “The Universal Translator took a hit in the crash, so it will take a second to work.”

Jack sighed, turning back to the natives. “I am Captain Jack Arnold of the United States Ship Lance Armstrong, we come in peace and exploration.”

"commander, we've got a reply" the comm officer says.

"on screen" Fujiko orders and says in reply "Greetings Commander Redwall, I am Commander Fujiko Muira from the New Kirisuban ship 'Hokkaido'.

We are on a mission of exploration as well and would also like to intiate contact. Would we be permitted to send over a shuttlecraft so we can talk face to face?"

ooc: The Kirisuban uniforms are red wrap over jackets and black trousers. Fujiko wears a knee length skirt and tall boots instead of the trousers although. She's in her late twenties and quite good looking with her long black hair.

her jacket has a silver badge made up off two crossed katanas, and 3 rank pips above the badge.

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the USS West Virginia. It's continuing mission: to explore new worlds for colonization, to seek out new opportunities for Allanean business investors, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Aboard the USS West Virginia

“Captain McCoy, we have foreign vessels ahead at bearing 56-33-40, approaching fast.”

“Mighty fine, Ensign, as enny fool kin plainly see. Kin yo' helter-skelter an ID on thet vessel?”

The ensign's fingers tapped with agility at the keyboard, then his face lit up with unholy joy. “It does not belong to any previously known civilisation, SIR!”

Now, the Captain of the USS Western Virginia was equally happy – after all, Allanean crews were richly rewarded, if their ship contacted any new civilisation the Allaneans were not previously aware of.

“Excellent! Fry mah hide! Hail them! Tell them we is th' Allaneans an' thet we're hankerin' no harm t'them, an' thet in fack we even be hankerin' peace an' trade!”

“Aye-aye, SIR!” - the young ensign tapped away at his keyboard again.

The red, glinting hull of the USS West Virginia turned in space and began approaching Lance Armstrong.


It looked like the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v42/allanea/westvirgin.jpg)

the grand super star destroyer the doombringer jumped out of trans warp
Captain ace sephrrioth said raise sheilds energize weapons

"Tactical, whats out there" he asked.

"one contact ahead, heading 265 mark 3. a starship"

fire a shot across thier bows with the disruptors "

Standard declerations of war are sent in high sephrion , English and machine code and ace waits in anticipation of a reply.

ooc: the doombringer is one of the most advanced vessels in the sephrion fleet scans will show a crew of over 1000 . all sephrion

Event log of the Alteran Starship Motabilum. On a routine voyage of exploration, the ship detected six alien signatures at the edge of our long-range sensors. A three hour hyperspace journey has revealed the nature of these signatures: what appears to be a large first contact gathering. We have been authorised by Vis Uban to make contact.

Commander Gaius stepped up to the communications console, preparing a message.

"Attention alien vessels: this is the Alteran expeditionary vessel Motabilum, here to make contact with whoever we can. Please respond. We are friendly, but we have our shields activated as a precaution."

A nervous young Alteran, a newly promoted bridge officer, stepped up tot he commander.

"Sir, one of the contacts just fired a shot."

"Check the databases for ID."

"It's... Oh, damnit. Sephrion. Warmongers."

"Okay. Fire at few drones at them. Damned fantasists. Also, send a message telling them to cease hostility."

Seven drones sped towards the bridge of the Sephrion ship.

Sephrion craft. This is the Alteran ship Motabilum. You will cease all hostilities. This area has been classed as under development by the Alteran High Council, and as such is protected by my ship. Destruction of my ship will result in a state of war existing between our people.

The nervous officer spoke again.

"Sir.. We've determined that one of the contacts we detected was Asgard."

"Those guys are still around? We'll have to talk about ressurecting the alliance."

Cloaked Asgard vessel. Why are you here?


[Alteran sensors beat Asgard cloak...]

ace said launch 12 the dx 79 hell dart drone fighters and place them in a defencive formation betwieen us and them
sir said the tatical officer in comming coms
coms to This is the Alteran ship Motabilum this is the sephrion flaggship the doombringer we are here to conquer fire on us again and the full sephrion fleet will be deployed.

Outer Boundaries, Space System LV-1220

With a flash of light that would have blinded anyone unwise enough to watch without somekind of shielding at hand, the section of space distorted and stretched for an infinitesimal fraction of a second, before returning to its state of normality. Filling the space, however, was more than the usual micro-comets and cosmic dust that seemed to be present in every section of space to be scanned. Now present was the RSS Wellington, flagship ( http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9429776&postcount=11) of the Republican Space Force and current holder of the experimental Faster Than Light drive the Sovereign States government had somehow acquired.

As space returned to normal, the Wellington moved at full thruster power, the large vessel moving slowly through the void. As it was on a peaceful mission and not in a state of combat, the guidance lights arrayed along the hull of the battleship were fully powered, casting pinpricks of light across the entire hull of the vessel. Onboard the bridge of the Wellington, the senior crewmembers manned their stations, scanning the space around the vessel. In the middle of the small space that served as the command centre for the entire vessel sat Captain Harry Lomax, commander of the vessel. He squirmed, trying to sit comfortably in the central elevated chair that he was alloted, but quickly gave up and sighed. No matter how many missions the Wellington was sent on, he could never get truly comfortable. But he'd still try, even if he had to take the damn chair apart into its component parts and rebuild it from scratch.

Even as he comtemplated this oddly satisfying thought, the sirens positoned throughout the vessel began blaring, a long honking noise. Lomax sat up, thoughts of irritable chairs lost from his mind. Turning sharply in the chair, he looked over to his Chief Tactical Odfficer, Yeanda Carlaise. Carlaise, a thin and tall brunette, faced him, face scowling. "Captain, we've entered section 1220 as ordered, but we're not alone. The LADAR system is picking up several unknown vessels in the immediate vicinity of the main planet, several of which seem to exceed one thousand metres in length."

Lomax frowned. Contact with non-Terran species was limited to the Chronosians and a few other Havenite spacefaring powers. This could be an opportunity to contact new species, new allies. But then again, he mused, if it turned into another Chronosian incident, he could end up with nothing but an icy cold and airless grave. All these thoughts passed through his mind in a few seconds, and then were banished as he began barking orders. "Helm, bring us about to course Zero One Four Mark Eight, accelerate to battle speed. Tactical, I want more information on those vessels immediately - sooner than that if possible."

The crew moved like a well-oiled machine, memories of the Chronisian Incident still fresh in many of their minds. The ship sped up, deck vibrating under Lomaz's feet as the fusion reactors gave the engines extra power, and the viewscreen changed from the RSF logo to a picture of the space in front of the Wellington, relayed by dozens of digital cameras. The small globe that was the planet in LV-1220 sat in the middle of the screen, and arrayed around it were the other vessels in the sector. Lomax stared at them; several of them were huge, looming over the tiny Republican vessel and obviously well-armed.

A shout from Carlaise caught his attention. "Captain, there are seven vessels in the immediate area, all but one unknown." She looked up at Lomax. "One of them appears to be Allanean in design, but the rest are still unknown." Lomax frowned and swore silently. God only knew what the Allaneans were doing out here; trying to rob one of the vessels quite probably. He was about to give another order when Carlaise shouted again, voice hoarse. "Captain, fighters launched and at least one laser-based weapon fired."

Lomax moved out of the chair to his officers side. "The Allanean vessel?" "No sir, the larger of the unknowns. More than a dozen smaller vessels deployed, and shots fired at the vessel in orbit around the planet." Lomax swore, this time out loud. This situation didn't exactly look healthy, but he couldn't go anywhere yet; the FTL drive took some time to recharge to jump back to Terran space. He decided on two actions to take. "Tactical, go to Status Red; deploy missile cells and warm the MACs up. Comm, send a priority signal back to RSF command, detailing our situation. Then, send out the following message:

This is the Republican Space Force Battleship Wellington. We come in peace, but request that the unknown vessel currently firing its weapons and deploying fighters desist from its actions.

ace said launch 12 the dx 79 hell dart drone fighters and place them in a defencive formation betwieen us and them
sir said the tatical officer in comming coms
coms to This is the Alteran ship Motabilum this is the sephrion flaggship the doombringer we are here to conquer fire on us again and the full sephrion fleet will be deployed.

The captain read the message and laughed grimly.

"Tactical analysis?"

"One on one, we can take them. If they bring the fleet in, we can get out. I say we should blast the fantasists."

"You know what, officer?"

"What?"

"I think you might be right. Besides, bringing the fleet in takes time, and they have no idea where the main body of the Alteran territories lie, so what have we got to lose? Have the hyperdrive ready to go at a moment's notice, give it a jolt with the ZPM if necessary."

"Aye sir. Engine room has been informed. Drone bays are hot. Just give the order, and there'll be two hundred drones with a warm gooey explosive centre on their way."

"Fire. Ready the beam weapons, and fire them when ready."

"Aye sir."

A stream of glowing, squid-like missiles wheeled and darted towards the bridge of the Sephrion ship, whilst powerful beam weapons smashed into the shields protecting it. 24 drones broke off, and went for the fighters, two drones per fighter.

The nervous officer spoke again.

"Sir.. We've determined that one of the contacts we detected was Asgard."

"Those guys are still around? We'll have to talk about ressurecting the alliance."




[Alteran sensors beat Asgard cloak...]

"Sir we are getting a message."

"put it through."

Cloaked Asgard vessel. Why are you here?

the Commander sighed as he though 'just because this ship is Asgard they assume it is under the control of the Asgard. some people need to learn that sometimes many different races form there own united governments. such as it is with us...'

"who are the people sending the message?"

"they are in a ship of Alteran disign."

"i guess its safe to assume that sense they assumed we are Asgard they must be Alteran, ignore them for now. i find no need to fight them."

"Sir we are reciving a message from the smaller ship."

This is Commander Harry Redwall of the United States Starship Lance Armstrong, please identify yourselves.

the Commander hit the com "This is Commander Astar of the Nebarri Empire Commanding officer of the I.N.S. Thor."

OOC: though your people would not know it the rank Commander in my navy is like the rank of High Admiral. Astar is also only 26 years old in upearance

also sorry for any bad spelling

Onboard the Wellington

Lomax grimaced as he stared at the viewscreen. The cameras had zoomed in and focused on the two vessels that were engaging each other. The hostile vessel had deployed what appeared to be small fighters, similar in design to the Republican Rorke's-Drift Class fighters, but more heavily armed. In response, the vessel that had been fired upon now unleashed a barage of energy weapon fire on the attacking vessel and deployed yet more fighters, the two swarms moving towards each other.

Thumping the side of the chair and biting his lip at the sudden pain, Lomax turned to the Helm. "Bring us to within two hundred kilcks of those two vessels, and let's see if we can't get them to stop firing. Comm, send the following message to all vessels in the area, concentrating on those two in particular."

This is Captain Lomax of the Wellington. Though a neutral in this dispute, we view violence as often being unneccessary. If you will stand down your weapons, representatives from both factions are welcome to board the Wellington and settle the dispute.

The agressive officer who had first reccomended violence once again relayed information to Gaius.

"We've recieved a message from contact 7."

"Display."

This is Captain Lomax of the Wellington. Though a neutral in this dispute, we view violence as often being unneccessary. If you will stand down your weapons, representatives from both factions are welcome to board the Wellington and settle the dispute.

Gaius smiled.

"Send a response."

captain Lomax: it is in your interest to move back slightly from the combat zone, as once the drones pierce the enemy shields, the debris field will be quite large. We do not want anyone else to be hurt in the defence of this system. We appreciate your attempts at fostering pece, but the Sephrion empire is too much of a threat to these people to be allowed to enter the system without expecting a mauling.

"Captain, message being transmitted from the unknown contact - the vessel that was fired on. Piping it through now sir."

Captain Lomax: it is in your interest to move back slightly from the combat zone, as once the drones pierce the enemy shields, the debris field will be quite large. We do not want anyone else to be hurt in the defence of this system. We appreciate your attempts at fostering pece, but the Sephrion empire is too much of a threat to these people to be allowed to enter the system without expecting a mauling.

The message came through, played out audibly by a mechanical female voice from the translating subsystem in the Comm system. Lomax frowned. It sounded like a threat, but he didn't want the Wellington damaged by weapons fire. He turned to the Helm Officer. "Helm, thrusters to emergency full, bring us about one hundred and eighty degrees, pull us back two more klicks."

"Contact 7 pulling back."

"Good, good. We don't need potential peacemakers getting blown up by accident. We've got enoguh problems with SeaQuest and the Orii."

The five natives looked at each other as if they were uncertain of what in the world Jack was saying. Then the one in the lead pointed at the small cut on Maxwell's head from the crash, the blood of which had already dried. "Treynav nav moru tu." He looked over at another of the natives and said, "Vak nee morunt kavash."

The one spoken to walked up to the lieutenant and pointed to his head again, "Treynav nav." He opened his cloth bag and pulled out what some purplish-green leaves, then stood there, looking like he was waiting for Gregory's permission for him to do something.

As this happened, the leader turned to another person in his party. The other native pulled out something wrapped in some rough cloth, which the leader opened up and presented to Arnold. "Tan na vintor pran ginnovan." The object appeared to be some kind of flat bread.

Meanwhile, none of the crew's technology seemed to worked; not even the undamaged ones. It was as if there was some kind of dampening field in the area or something.

“What the hell?” Bella exclaimed as she watched her tactical sensors. “Sir, I’m getting multiple contacts everywhere, loads of them.” She glanced across at her Communications Console and grimaced. “We’re getting several hails and one declaration of war so far.”

Redwall turned to her with a look of alarm. “Wait, declaration of war?”

Bella nodded, and was about to speak when her panel shrilled loudly. The Lance Armstrong shuddered as disrupter fire narrowly missed the Starship. Redwall gripped his chair and swore. “Red Alert!” he yelled. The bridge lights turned a red hue and the alarms sounding. Redwall turned to Wakefield. “Lieutenant Commander, charge weapons and target the vessel that fired on us, and get them on the horn.”

Wakefield nodded, and then went about opening the channel. Redwall looked back to the monitor in front of him. “This is Commander Harry Redwall of the United States Ship Lance Armstrong, explain your reasons for firing on us and cease immediately.”

At the same time, a message was sent via subspace to United States Space Force Command back on Lincoln, the Capital Planet of the Human Space Colonies, informing them of the situation.

OOC: Okay, this is starting to get away from me now… :S

OOC: HSC, have you noticed me hailing the Lance Armstrong?

OOC: HSC, have you noticed me hailing the Lance Armstrong?

OOC: Sorry, I didn't mean to miss it, but I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with everything. It's my first RP, and..well, yeah. :S

IC: Although the main Communications Frequencies were currently open to the unknown attackers upon the Lance Armstrong, one of the secondary subspace channels was utilised in replying to the Allanean USS West Virginia, sending standard greetings and requesting assistance in the case of conflict.

Onboard the Wellington

With the Wellington safely out of range of the skirmish being fought between the two larger alien vessels, Lomax sighed in relief; if one of those drones had detonated, the Wellington would have suffered from the shockwave, not to mention the fragmentation. As the ships thrusters burnt white-hot, moving the battleship further away, Lomax noticed the smaller vessel that had been originally fired upon by the aggressive ship.

"Tactical, LADAR scan of the unknown orbiting the planet, if you please"

"Heavy armour sir, hard to get the LADAR through anything other than the outer plating itself. Sophisticated weapins, plasma or laser based. Far outside our current technology sir."

Lomax pondered the situation for a moment. They didn't know the vessel, but it had been fired upon - and an ally would be more than useful in the current situation. He turned to the Tactical station. "Tactical, arm Missile Cells One, Three and Five with Frag Missiles and target the vessel that first started all this, but don't fire yet.

Helm, bring us about, flank speed and bring us on a parallel course with the unknown vessel. Comm, open a link with that vessel and transmit the following...'

Unknown smaller vessel. This is Captain Lomax, commanding the RSS Wellington. Our technology isn't as superior as yours, but i'm offering to help you engage the enemy vessel currently engaging you. I can't stand the bullying type.


OOC: HSC, thats you and Sephrioth to be exact. Don't worry about things running away, they always do with these type of space RPs. Just don't get stressed, take as long as you need. If this is an arranged RP then you can say so, we'll all clear out hopefully.

Aboard the USS West Virginia

“Commander! They have restponded to our hail signal, and are hailing back, Sir! They are requesting help!”

The ship engineer blinked in surprise at the Ensign. “Listen... I understand you like watching old sci-fi shows.. .that's why you changed your name to Crusher, after all... but you don't seriously expect us to give them help?”

“Why not?” - growled the weapons officer at the young Ferengi Engineer. “Do you think, perchance, that our weapons are so feeble we can't scratch the enemy hide no more? What is wrong with you, Qreek?!”

Qreek gulped as he looked back at the tall, muscular Khristian man, his torso modified with four additional metal hands and tatooed with the symbols of his religion. The Priest of the Holy Firearm (ship chaplain and weapons officer) looked sternly at the far smaller Engineer. “Umm, you see, Kern...”

“Shut, all of ya!” - screamed Captain McCoy, as he turned on a transmitter.

“USS Lance Armstrong, this is USS West Virginia.. We unnerstan' thet yo' requess us fo' he'p. We'd like t'notify yo' thet yer ship, a Defiant-class vessel, is 170 meters in len'th, while ours is 30 meters in len'th, which is less then whut yer ship has in draf'. We'd thus like t'info'm yo' of ours admittedly mo'e-then-good 'nuff weapons capacity, an''d like t'find out how we kin he'p yo' eff'n at all, ah reckon. This hyar will aller us t'coredinate our effo't aginst our common inemy. “

The five natives looked at each other as if they were uncertain of what in the world Jack was saying. Then the one in the lead pointed at the small cut on Maxwell's head from the crash, the blood of which had already dried. "Treynav nav moru tu." He looked over at another of the natives and said, "Vak nee morunt kavash."

The one spoken to walked up to the lieutenant and pointed to his head again, "Treynav nav." He opened his cloth bag and pulled out what some purplish-green leaves, then stood there, looking like he was waiting for Gregory's permission for him to do something.

As this happened, the leader turned to another person in his party. The other native pulled out something wrapped in some rough cloth, which the leader opened up and presented to Arnold. "Tan na vintor pran ginnovan." The object appeared to be some kind of flat bread.

Meanwhile, none of the crew's technology seemed to worked; not even the undamaged ones. It was as if there was some kind of dampening field in the area or something.

Maxwell looked momentarily confused, and looked across at his CO. Jack considered there position for a moment; the Translator was not working, and likely neither were there phasers. However, they needed to keep the natives on their side in order to discover the fate of the Hawkeye. He nodded to Maxwell, and Greg submitted to the native and his actions.

Jack then turned once again as he was offered the food, and hesitated momentarily before smiling and taking the gift. He gingerly placed it to his lips and bit into it slightly, chewing carefully in case of a possible toxicant inside. There was nothing poisonous he could taste, just simply bread, fresh and still slightly warm so obviously only recently baked. He nodded in thanks to the leader of the group and smiled. “Thank you,” he said, accentuating his words.

The rest of the crew looked at him for further orders. Jack glanced around them and smiled. “Play nice people, they don’t seem to be a threat right now.”

<><><>

Onboard the Lance Armstrong, Redwall was still waiting for a response from the unknown attacker, or the West Virginia. He leant back in the Command Chair, contemplating his possible options. He was a veteran of combat during the US Colonial Civil War, but that had been against largely obsolete craft that had defected from the Space Force at the time. This unknown attacker, and several other of the vessels currently in the solar system, were much stronger and more technologically advanced than the Defiant Class Starship. Redwall prayed that this would turn out peacefully.

“Sir,” Wakefield announced. “Two incoming messages, one from Space Force Command and one from an unknown vessel. Shall I play them?”

Redwall nodded. The first message appeared on the screen and showed Fleet Admiral Peter Jackson sitting behind his desk in the Space Force Command Headquarters. He nodded curtly. “Commander, we are aware of your situation and have informed the Commander-in-Chief. President Pierce has authorised all United States military forces to step up to Defence Condition 4. You are ordered to seek a peaceful solution if possible, but to return any further fire that is directed towards you.”

The message disappeared, and Redwall took a moment to let the information sink in. Then he nodded for the next message to be played. It was merely an audio message;

“Unknown smaller vessel. This is Captain Lomax, commanding the RSS Wellington. Our technology isn't as superior as yours, but i'm offering to help you engage the enemy vessel currently engaging you. I can't stand the bullying type.”

This was quickly followed by a reply message from the West Virginia. Redwall pursed his lips. “Open a channel to both vessels.”

Wakefield nodded. “Channel open.”

Redwall turned back to the screen. “This is the Lance Armstrong, we thank you for your offers of assistance and would like to employ your efforts should we come under fire again. However, we will first try to negotiate a peaceful settlement to this unprovoked opening of possible hostilities on a United States vessel.”

"Understood Lance Armstrong."

Lomax turned to Tactical, once again. "Continue a target lock on that vessel and bring additional power to the MAC generators. I want an instantaneous reaction if the shit hits the fans."

The officer nodded and bent down to her console, deftly manipulating controls to ready the ship for the possible combat to come. As she did this, Lomax ordered the Wellington to one-third thruster power and to remain with a klick of the HSC vessel. Orders finished for the moment, he sat thinking. If the enemy vessel did continue to attack the HSC vessel, it would mean cooperating with the Allanean vessel against the larger attacker. As far as he knew, it would be the first time in the nations history that they had even come close to cooperating with the Allaneans, even if this time it was grudgingly. He sighed; they would have to cross that bridge when the time came - and hopefully it would be a while if the attacker actually saw sense and ceased fire.

The native next to Maxwell broke the leaves and a gooey, purple substance began oozing out of the veins. He rubbed the ends of the broken veins against Maxwell's cut, the abrasion causing the wound to reopen and tingle annoyingly, but no new blood flowed out. "Ai iby ai," the native said to Maxwell. Sensing the latter's confusion, he pointed to the lieutenant's head, then the hands, and made a motion that seemed to indicate something like "no touching." "Ai iby ai," he repeated.

After Captain Arnold took a bite from the bread, the leader pointed in the direction that he and the others came from. "Ehlyr traiv." He gestured for Arnold and his crew to follow him.

The native next to Maxwell broke the leaves and a gooey, purple substance began oozing out of the veins. He rubbed the ends of the broken veins against Maxwell's cut, the abrasion causing the wound to reopen and tingle annoyingly, but no new blood flowed out. "Ai iby ai," the native said to Maxwell. Sensing the latter's confusion, he pointed to the lieutenant's head, then the hands, and made a motion that seemed to indicate something like "no touching." "Ai iby ai," he repeated.

After Captain Arnold took a bite from the bread, the leader pointed in the direction that he and the others came from. "Ehlyr traiv." He gestured for Arnold and his crew to follow him.

Arnold watched as the natives gestured for them to follow. Being the CO, he set the example by stepping forward first, and presently the entire group was soon following him as the Space Force personnel kept pace with the natives, who seemed relaxed and undeterred by the fact that a group of strangers had dropped out of the sky with no warning whatsoever.

“Captain,” Ensign Warren Taylor, Junior Science Officer, whispered to Arnold as they walked. “What is that?”

Arnold looked around at where the Ensign pointed as they walked. A large, grey tower, like some sort of neo-medieval design of building, stood quietly and starkly against the natural landscape of the grassy plains. Jack frowned, and turned to Maxwell. “Greg, what d’you reckon?”

Maxwell turned to look in the correct direction. “I don’t know, sir,” he said finally. “It doesn’t look like it’s native to this planet, not with their level of technology.” He nodded to the natives as they spoke. “Perhaps it has something to do with our instruments not working.”

Arnold sighed. “Or maybe what shot us down,” he muttered as they followed the natives along. “Well,” he said as they crested a hill. “Maybe we’ll find out something when we get to our destination…”

The declaration of war and the firing wasn't unnoticed by the Kirisuban comms officer either.

"Captain we've got trouble" she says.

"get us out of their range of fire" Mariko orders "behind them if possible and go to red alert"

the Hokkaido swings round at full impulse ducking and weaving with its shields raised and weapons on standby ending up behind the attacking ship ready to join in the attack if needed.

The countryside had gentle, rolling hills. Lush, tall grasses swayed in the light breeze, causing waves of grass to ripple throughout the hills. A few trees dotted the fields, their leaves rustling lightly. In the far distance, the tower stood silent, vigilant, near the base of a mountain range.

Through the various crests and troughs of the hills, the group could begin to see the tops of a nearby village not far away. Within minutes, they had reached the outskirts. The buildings were simple and crude; single-story huts made from straws. Their roofs were conical, with a hole at the top to allow smoke to escape through. Various domesticated animals roamed the wide, dirt paths inbetween each hut, while many of the villagers watched the newcomers with curiosity. A large gathering area stood at the center of the group of huts, with a variety of foodstuffs laid out and a large pile of wood situated near a pit.

The leader of the group said something to several of the people, who went scattering in different directions. He then led the crew into the largest of the huts, though it was still not very big, which was close to the middle of the village. Pulling aside a cloth that served as the door of the threshold, he gestured for the newcomers to follow him in as he disappeared into the hut.

The inside of the hut was not exactly fancy, but quite utilitarian. Dried meat hung from hooks in the small, wooden beams supporting the ceiling. Along the edges were piles of hay, covered with large sheets of rough cloth, presumably serving as beds. A small firepit sat just off center from the middle of the room, where the hole in the ceiling was. But perhaps the most interesting thing in that hut was a United States of Human Space Colonies uniform hanging on display on one of the walls. It was old, tattered, and covered in two decade's worth of dirt, but it was still obvious what it was.

"Kalli val la," said the leader, looking at Arnold.

(in reply to the hail from the Lance Armstrong) the Commander hit the com "This is Commander Astar of the Nebarri Empire Commanding officer of the I.N.S. Loki."

OOC: though your people would not know it the rank Commander in my navy is like the rank of High Admiral. Astar is also only 26 years old in upearance

also sorry for any bad spelling

OOC: though i would just quote my unansered post :p

then as weapons fire was aimed at the little ship Astar made his choise. issuing orders to the command crew. "raise shields, power weapons, target the attacking ship with all pulse cannons and prepare to fire. also get me the closest battle group you can in here. it could get ugly fast..."

"Captain, the Asgard have joined the battle."

"This should get interesting quickly. Launch jumpers. Have them harass the drone fighters."

"Aye sir."

OOC: though i would just quote my unansered post :p

then as weapons fire was aimed at the little ship Astar made his choise. issuing orders to the command crew. "raise shields, power weapons, target the attacking ship with all pulse cannons and prepare to fire. also get me the closest battle group you can in here. it could get ugly fast..."

"This is Commander Redwall of the USS Lance Armstrong, we offer you greetings and request help in the case of armed conflict."

incomming coms sir said the young coms officer attienion uss lance arm strong this is the sephrion grand super star destroyer the doombringer.
i the captain ace sephrioth come as a emersery of the empire i would advise you allies to back off. for the fleet has been called 1000 super star destroyers are inbound eta 12 hours. end coms order the drones to fire up on the armstrongs engines and shields
*encodeed coms from high comand*
doombringer the fleet is on way e.t.a 12 terran hours comns end
ace grined the entire fleet en route jeez the council of genrells must want them conqured he said to the taitical oficer

Onboard the Wellington

The viewscreen flickered for a second as the cameras and systems attempted to compensate for the glare of the laser fire that struck the Lance Armstrong from the enemy vessel. Lomax scowled as the streaks of laser lit up the smaller vessels shields, and then ordered the viewscreen to change views. Instantly it changed, flickering from the Lance Armstrong to the enemy vessel - Septhriothan, if the communications that had been translated were correct.

Lomax gripped the edge of his seat, then leaned forward slightly. "Helm, bring us about, mark seven five eight, and give me full thruster power." The Helm Officer nodded once and manipulated controls on her panel. The deck began to vibrate even more, the thrumming of the engines melding into a single extremely low-pitched noise. With the Wellington moving towards the Septhriothan vessel, Lomax then moved to the Tactical display. "Tac, target Missile Cells One, Three and Six onto the enemy vessels shield generators and fire, a full salvo from each please." He then sat back and watched the viewscreen intently.

The instant Lomax gave the order, three of the twelve Missile Cells that the Wellington had raised silently from their niches within the hull of the vessel. Raising up on silent mechanics, the long and blocky Cells rose up as one, each loaded with Thirty Fragmentation Missiles. They slowly moved as the Tactical Officer fed them with the targeting data for the enemy vessels; then, when the data was finished, the front of each Cell slid quickly down to reveal the stubby warheads of the missiles. Then, they fired, each cell firing in rapid succession after the other, missiles leaping out of their launchers with a small puff of crystalised oxygen behind them. Ninety of the small but deadly missiles streaked towards the Septhriothan vessel, followed by a short message from Lomax:

Septhriothan Vessel. Disengage immediately and cease firing your weapons. This is your last warning.

coms to hostile zero two disengage and prepaire to be boarded

dammage report four of the 60 shield geratores disabled
launch 20 '' troop transports

"These Sephrion people are none too bright. Big on frontal attacks, low on tactical ability. Yet still they profess to be geniuses at naval combat... Use the beams to transport the enemy antimatter warheads into the sun."

"Aye sir."

As the Sephrion fighters launched, each one was passed over by a beam. This beam transported the missiles carried by the fighters into the nearest sun.

"Launch two hundred more drones, pick off the enemy fighters."

More squid-like high-yield weapons flew around, attempting to smash into the enemy fighters, ten drones for every fighter in the sky.

[1,000 SSD's? ROFL XD I have to say, it's kind of funny you saying your national stereotype is naval genius when your major tactic so far has been 'flood the system with ships!'.]

The Lance Armstrong shuddered as the laser fire impacted on the side of the vessel. The Defiant class Starship veered violently on her keel as Redwall gripped his chair as the bridge crew staggered. “Damage report!” he yelled.

Lieutenant Commander Mohammed accessed his engineering console and grimaced. “Shields down to 78 percent of strength, minor buckling in the rear port quarter of the hull armour.”

“Sir, the Wellington and the Motabilum are engaging the Septhriothan Vessel.” Wakefield reported as she looked down at her sensors.

Redwall snorted, sitting back up in his seat. This was the last straw; they had been fired upon by a vessel for no provocation, and that was unacceptable. “Ensign, bring us about to bear on the drones,” he said. “Miss Wakefield, send a message to Space Force Command and inform them we have been fired upon and are engaging. Then,” he added as he strapped himself into the Command chair. “Would you be so kind as to fire phasers at those drones, prime a spread of Quantum torpedoes and send them in the Doombringer's direction?”

Bella grinned. “Yes, sir.”

The Lance Armstrong yawed to starboard, her pulse phaser cannons and phaser array lancing out at the drones attacking them. From the front of the Starship, a spread of three diamond blue Quantum Torpedoes ripped forth from the tubes and shot through space towards the Doombringer.

<><><>

Captain Arnold looked in amazement at the tattered uniform on the wall. Wakefield stepped up next to him, muttering in a low voice. “Sir, look at the rank insignia.”

Arnold looked, and caught his breath. The uniform contained the rank insignia of Captain, meaning it belonged to Peter Taylor, the Commander of the Hawkeye at the time. Arnold looked across at Maxwell. “It seems something happened here,” he muttered.

Greg nodded. “Trouble is, we can’t ask them without knowing their language,” he replied.

"Like hell we'll be boarded!

The thought flashed through Lomax's mind in an instant. The arrogance of the damned Sephriothans - firing on a neutral vessel and then demanding that his vessel surrender. Well, he'd never been one to back down from a fight once it was started, and he wasn't about to change his mind now. He moved to the Tactical display and concentrated on the LADAR display for a moment. He nodded thoughtfully. The Lance Armstrong had also opened fire on the Septhriothan vessel, as had the other unknown vessel to its starboard.

"Ms Carlaise, target the Septhriothan vessel and warm up the MAC generators. Fire them when ready - target the shield generators we knocked out with that last missile salvo. Then reload the Missile Cells and prepare a second volley."

Carlaise nodded and began inputting the neccessary data. Lomax had only taken a few steps towards the Helm when she turned around and faced him. "Sir, multiple contacts emerging from the Septhrioth vessel. I'm reading ten - no, twelve smaller contacts heading towards our position!"

Lomax turned to the main screen. "Put them on the main viewer, ten times magnification, immediately." The screen blinked to the port camera array, displaying the Septhrioth vessel looming in the background, and a gaggle of small objects moving away from it and towards the Wellington at high speeds. The cameras zoomed in; the image pixelated for a second, then refocused. The objects were larger than fighters, much larger. They could be only one thing after the Septhrioth commanders arrogant warning.

Lomax hit the command panel on his chair and opened up a ship-wide communication. "Attention all personnel, this is the Captain. We have multiple troopships heading towards the Wellington's position. Prepare to be boarded. Marines to your stations, all non-essential crewmembers to arm themselves."

He shut the communication panel off and turned to the Tactical display again. "Retarget the Missile Cells to those troopships; one Cell per vessel immediately. Full spread of fragmentation missiles." He turned to the Helmsman, gripped the back of the mans chair. "Full thruster power emergency pattern Epsilon Delta- take us away from those ships now!"

As one, the crew turned and carried out their orders. The Marine complement moved from their quarters on the second deck to the armoury where Sergeants stood and handed each of the Marines an M-8 rifle and magazines as they passed. As they moved past and took their weapons, they were formed up into squads and moved into defensive positions around the airlocks and strategic hull positions, crouching behind upturned tables and other equipment. Heavy Weapon teams shouldering M-60 machineguns and Spas-12 shotguns moved into position behind the main squads, slamming the machineguns into slots drilled into the deck and readying them. Finally more ammunition was passed around as emergency bulkheads began slamming down, sealing off the vital areas of the vessel.

On the outside of the Wellington, the three Missile Cells lowered for a few seconds to be reloaded, then all twelve rose up as one single machine and positioned themselves. They angled themselves upwards slightly to compensate for the manouvers the Helmsman was using, and then slid their panels down. With another hiss three hundred and sixty fragmentation and high explosive missiles streaked from their chambers and headed towards their targets. They moved silently towards the slower troopships, initially in a large cloud, but soon seperating into smaller groups as they approached the Septhrioth targets, advanced computer systems homing in on them.

Finally, the Helmsman bought the Wellington about for the few seconds needed for the two massive MAC cannons to fire their rounds towards the main Septhrioth vessel, before moving the ship back into an evaisive pattern once again.

OOc: Seph, you can't just edit your post to change troopships to 'Stealth fighters' or somesuch. I'm keeping this post as it took bloody ages to write - so change your post back to boarding vessels please.

"This is Commander Redwall of the USS Lance Armstrong, we offer you greetings and request help in the case of armed conflict."

"acceptable for the moment."

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

the Loki opened fire on the doombringer with all its Pulse cannons...

"Sir, we have a small fleet comming in total number of ships includes, one Hiveship loaded with three Cruisers and hundreds of Death Gliders, we also have two Beliskner class ships and six Al'Kesh."

"good, we may need the extra firepower."

Just then, another native entered the hut. He looked to be in his thirties, if he were human, and stood a little over five feet. His eyes went from one crew member to another, taking it all in, almost as if in disbelief.

"Tokwonei moru ava tenje," the leader said to the man who just arrived.

"Ai granash," the man answered back. Then, looking at the shuttle crew, he began to speak in a stuttering, thickly-accented voice, "You...from..." He paused, searching for the right word. But unable to find it, he pointed up to the sky in order to represent what he wanted to say.

Just then, another native entered the hut. He looked to be in his thirties, if he were human, and stood a little over five feet. His eyes went from one crew member to another, taking it all in, almost as if in disbelief.

"Tokwonei moru ava tenje," the leader said to the man who just arrived.

"Ai granash," the man answered back. Then, looking at the shuttle crew, he began to speak in a stuttering, thickly-accented voice, "You...from..." He paused, searching for the right word. But unable to find it, he pointed up to the sky in order to represent what he wanted to say.

The group was startled to find someone who seemed to recognise English. Captain Arnold quickly composed himself, listening carefully to the man's thick accent. When the man pointed upward, Arnold nodded. "Yes, we come from another world," he said. "Do you know about these people?" he pointed to the tattered uniform.

The group was startled to find someone who seemed to recognise English. Captain Arnold quickly composed himself, listening carefully to the man's thick accent. When the man pointed upward, Arnold nodded. "Yes, we come from another world," he said. "Do you know about these people?" he pointed to the tattered uniform.

"P...Peter," the man said, looking at where Arnold was pointing to. "Peter...shirt. Live in..." He made a face, then drew in the dirt ground two points and a slightly curved line intersecting them. He gestured at everyone here and pointed at the first dot, then gestured at the tattered uniform while saying the captain's name and pointed to the second dot. "Moru...you...same like Peter?" He looked at the Arnold's own uniform.

having managed to stay out off the fight so far Mariko order the Hokkaido to the planet so they can get a surface scan.

"Captain sama" her science officer tells her "i'm picking up a humanoid civilsation, low tech except for those towers"

she punches the image up on the viewer. the castle looked period but they didn't fit.

"i'm reading a recent energy discharge from this one. theres no way those people couldn have contructed a beam weapon like that. Someone left that there as a plantary defence weapon"

Keeping their distance the kirisuban listens to the various comm signals thats being picked up and knows she needs to defend these people from the 'doombringer'.

"science station,get me as much information as you can. Comms, append the science officers report to the log of the comm traffic and send it home.

We're going in once the message is sent"

"P...Peter," the man said, looking at where Arnold was pointing to. "Peter...shirt. Live in..." He made a face, then drew in the dirt ground two points and a slightly curved line intersecting them. He gestured at everyone here and pointed at the first dot, then gestured at the tattered uniform while saying the captain's name and pointed to the second dot. "Moru...you...same like Peter?" He looked at the Arnold's own uniform.

Arnold watched the man drawing in the ground, not completely understanding what he was trying to do. When Jack looked up as the man spoke, he nodded as the man asked him. "Yes, we are the same as Peter," he acknowledged. With one hand he pointed to his service branch insigina. "Space Force," he emphasised. "Peter travelled here, but dissapeared." He looked at the man expectantly.

ooc my bad my cuz usiun my account coms fleet leave
sir were takin dammage damn what weapons off line shhields just enough power for one warp jump

a 1000 transwarp condits open and 1000 sephrio super star destroyers exit trans warp and concentrate thier qauntium torpedoes on the lance armstrong this is the war fleet of sephrioth all non hsc vessels will desist firing up on the doombringer . or be destroyed

OOC: Woah, woah - little bit over the top there for one Defiant Class starship, isn't it? I'm in the middle of an RP with the planet here, I'd appreciate not having the crap blown out me by what I believe I have seen called 'number-wanking'. Why would you send 1,000 ships to take out one vessel, and how would you mobilise that size a fleet that quickly? If you don't mind, I'd appreciate you not bringing them in.

OOC: Woah, woah - little bit over the top there for one Defiant Class starship, isn't it? I'm in the middle of an RP with the planet here, I'd appreciate not having the crap blown out me by what I believe I have seen called 'number-wanking'. Why would you send 1,000 ships to take out one vessel, and how would you mobilise that size a fleet that quickly? If you don't mind, I'd appreciate you not bringing them in.

Seconded. Seph, this is not an invasion RP, nor is it a great battle of somekind. This is a peaceful RP with perhaps a small battle between a couple of random RPers. One SSD is more than enough to battle with in this RP - and since it is HSCs RP, it would be best for you to take those 1000 vessels and remain with just the one.

Thirded!

ooc my bad my cuz usiun my accountic coms fleet leave
sir were takin dammage damn what weapons off line shhields just enough power for one warp jump
ooc2 understod igg post

"Initiate FTLi. Track that ship!"

"Yes sir! It won't leave the system."

The Alteran ship initiated its FTLi systems, intending to snare the Sephrion ship, and bring it down.

"All drones to bear. Fire 50%, and inform Vis Uban we'll need to re-arm post haste!"

"Errr... Aye, commander."

First 100, then another hundred, then another and another, until 2500 drones flew towards the Sephrion ship, a lethal stream of guided missiles intending to cripple the Sephrion ship and prepare it for boarding.

ooc erm i cloaked the ship is runiining in stealth mode when my ships are heavily damaged they go in to stealth mode and head fore base
ic enemy weapons deeploy counter messures

"Sir, we've lost the Sephriothan vessel," Wakefield reported, looking at her sensor console and wiping the sweat from her brow.

Redwall inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; the SSD was a massive ship, and a deadly adversary. However, it seemed that working with the other vessels in the area had helped in defeating the offensive move by the Doombringer. Outwardly, he remanied composed and took his seat once more. "Very good people, let's get back to work. Miss Wakefield, send our thanks and compliments to our allies in this battle."

Wakefield nodded. Redwall looked across at the planet in the viewer. "Any response from the ground?"

Wakefield shook her head. "Negative sir, we can't pick them up."

Redwall nodded. "Helm, move us closer to the planetary orbit and maintain alert status in case of anything unusual happening."

The Lance Armstrong engaged her Impulse Drives, moving slowly towards the orbit of LV-1220-4.

"Peter...traveled...here," the native repeated, pointing to the ground. "Peter traveled next...traiv. Live by..." He raised a hand to indicate something high, "Ta...tower... Next traiv from here. I...show you?"

Onboard the Wellington

"Sir - we've lost contact with the Doombringer and the transports. They must have cloaked after the missile barrage and the other vessels weapons fire."

Carlaise turned around as she spoke to Lomax, sweat beading her brow; the Bridge always got overheated when the MAC Cannons fired, an eccentricity Lomax had never yet been able to figure out a solution to. He gazed briefly at the viewscreen before grunting. "Very well, stand down to Code Amber. Lower the Missile Cells, recall the Marines."

Carlaise turned away to give the appropriate orders. Lomax sat back, relieved secretly. The enemy vessel had been driven away - for now, at least. Hopefully it wouldn't be back, but he wouldn't let his guard down. "Helm, move us into orbit around the Planet, avoiding the Lance Armstrong."

ooc erm i cloaked the ship is runiining in stealth mode when my ships are heavily damaged they go in to stealth mode and head fore base
ic enemy weapons deeploy counter messures

[A crippled ship would be venting all sorts of goodness... Not hard to track. Countermeasures are no use agaist drones,w hich are controlled by the mind of the weapons operator. As long as they have a good idea of the target location, they can hit.]

"Countermeasures!"

"Keep tracking the vented gases and debris!"

"Aye sir, target reacquired."

incomming coms sir said the young coms officer attienion uss lance arm strong this is the sephrion grand super star destroyer the doombringer.
i the captain ace sephrioth come as a emersery of the empire i would advise you allies to back off. for the fleet has been called 1000 super star destroyers are inbound eta 12 hours. end coms order the drones to fire up on the armstrongs engines and shields
*encodeed coms from high comand*
doombringer the fleet is on way e.t.a 12 terran hours comns end
ace grined the entire fleet en route jeez the council of genrells must want them conqured he said to the taitical oficer

OOC: Sorry to interrupt, everyone.
@Sephrioth: I highly doubt you have a fleet of 1,000 Super Star Destoryers. That would cost many times your entire national budget. I would suggest that you please correct that number. (Leaving it as is would be number-wanking).

OOC: Sorry to interrupt, everyone.
@Sephrioth: I highly doubt you have a fleet of 1,000 Super Star Destoryers. That would cost many times your entire national budget. I would suggest that you please correct that number. (Leaving it as is would be number-wanking).

He's actually posted that they're all gone, were never here. Someone else used his account.

He's actually posted that they're all gone, were never here. Someone else used his account.

[Someone who spells and roleplays just like him...]

OOC: Just an F.Y.I., but in my last RP with Seph, he claimed to have a fleet of (forgot the exact number, but it was in the 4-digits) of Scimitar class super dreadnaughts.

IC: Altera - Section 7 Building - Strategic Operations Room

"Sir, we have recieved reports of Sephrioth warmongering attempts again."

"Won't those buggers learn to stop. We defeated them before, and we'll damn do the same again. What's the closest ship to the area in question?"

"The I.S.S. Atlantis, sir."

"Ahh, the flagship. How far away is she?"

"The Atlantis is at most an hour away from the combat zone if she heads their at top speed, sir."

"Good. Relay new orders to her informing her to get there as fast as she can and let her captain know that he has the nuclear option."

"Aye, sir."

OOC: Another F.Y.I., I have three things named Atlantis, my capital city ship, the cruiser I'm sending, and a privately owned ship currently being used in another RP.

OOC: Just an F.Y.I., but in my last RP with Seph, he claimed to have a fleet of (forgot the exact number, but it was in the 4-digits) of Scimitar class super dreadnaughts.

[He's just great, isn't he?]

"Peter...traveled...here," the native repeated, pointing to the ground. "Peter traveled next...traiv. Live by..." He raised a hand to indicate something high, "Ta...tower... Next traiv from here. I...show you?"

Arnold nodded. "Yes, show us, please." He turned to Maxwell and the rest of the staff. "Okay, suit up and lets roll, people," he ordered.

OOC: Okay, gonna be away over the weekend seeing my Girlfriend, so I won't be able to post until Monday.

Arnold nodded. "Yes, show us, please." He turned to Maxwell and the rest of the staff. "Okay, suit up and lets roll, people," he ordered.

OOC: Okay, gonna be away over the weekend seeing my Girlfriend, so I won't be able to post until Monday.


Ahhh, well, have a good time. We'll still be here when you're back.

damn transwarp drive hit
the comanner swore just alittle farther to aura

seeing the 'doom bringer' vanish Mariko thinks 'that ships got a cloaking device'.

"tactical, stay on yellow alert" she orders "Comms, get me the USS Lance Armstrong again and tell them about those beam weapons that don't seem to fit. Add into the message that we offer our assistance in solving this mystery"

"Fire all beam arrays, full power. Smash that crippled ship."

"All beam arrays targetting the end of the debris and gas trail of the Sephrion ship. Firing."

More beams lanced toward the blasted Sephrion vessel, intended as a death blow.

The I.S.S. Atlantis Phased back to Real Space outside the sphere of battle. Her hull gleaming with the reflection of weapon's fire.

Main Bridge

"Captain, we have arrived."

"Ship status?"

"Condition Yellow throught the ship, all weapons are primed and ready, defenses are on-line, and Phase Cloak is at the ready."

"Broadcast the message we came up with on our way here."

"Aye, sir."

Messages

Broadcast to all ships in area:

This is the I.S.S. Atlantis. We recieved reports of an old 'friend' of ours up to their old tricks in the area. All ships will stand down and be identified as friend or foe.

Supplies were prepared for the journey, wrapped in a rough cloth designed for each person to sling over one shoulder. It was fairly light-weight, consisting of a day's worth of water and food. A beast of burden came along, carrying several sacks drapped over its back and dangling down at its sides. For trade with others, the man, whose name was Tokwonei, explained.

The tower was still far in the distance, and would take them the rest of the day to reach it, if not more - especially since their guide appeared to be in rush to get there. As they went along at a leisurely pace, across pathless fields whose grasses went up the shoulders of the crew members, they began to learn that Peter and others dressed like him appeared many cycles ago. The people from the Hawkeye acted very strange at first, much like Captain Arnold and his crew were now, and were always trying to get back up into the heavens. In time, Tokwonei was among the few who began learning the language of the strangers, although they did not progress very far since it made more sense for Peter and the others to learn the native language, especially once they stopped trying to return to the heavens.

But before Tokwonei could say much more, a bright beam of light shot up from the distant tower and into the sky. The guide stopped immediately and stared at it, jaw hanging loose. It was far enough away, however, that the sound of the tower firing off the beam did not even reach the group.

The Hokkaido had crept too near and lingered too long. The fast, precise beam shot through the void of space to the Kirisuban ship, its great strength capable of punching through the Kagemon-class vessel's shields and hull and straight out the other side as if nothing was there, and its targetting maneuverability made it extremely difficult to dodge.

Such was the cost of coming too close to this ancient planet.

ooc i went in to trans warp im tring to lure you away
ic damn evasiive agion beta 3

Onboard the Wellington

On the viewscreen the cameras watched the last few missiles detonate harmlessly in space, their targets lost. A dozen small starts blossomed for a moment, before turning in on themselves and disappearing. Lomax turned away from the viewscree and grunted, scratching his chin. He looked at the Tactical Officer. "MS Carlaise, any targets left? Can the LADAR array detect the Doombringer?"

Carlaise tapped away at her panel for a moment before turning back. "No sir, the vessel is gone, as are the transports. I cannot locate them."

Lomax grunted again and sat back in his chair, trying to relax. The Sephriothan vessel was gone, at least for the moment, with its tail between its legs; there was nothing to do but ensure the Lance Armstrong's missiopn went according to their plan. Whatever that was. With the Wellington already in orbit around the planet, Lomax gave the order to stand down and go to Amber Alert. A moment later the Comms Panel chirped; Lomax turned to find a new unknown vessel on the viewscreen and a message being displayed on it by the Comms Officer.

This is the I.S.S. Atlantis. We recieved reports of an old 'friend' of ours up to their old tricks in the area. All ships will stand down and be identified as friend or foe.

ISS Atlantis, this is the RSS Wellington of the Grand Monarchy of Skinny87. We are here on a peaceful mission to protect the vessel in orbit around the planetoid you will see on your sensors. We mean no harm; the enemy vessel has seemingly fled the area for the moment.

the doombringer docked in aura whilst estental repairs were made adermairl tarix hobled to the irrukus centere for medi treat mennt
2 dayas latter
the chamber of generells sir i need permision to reentrer enemey space with a small armada
the doom bringer and 12 ssds granted

the armadrda was being readied

Despite the Hokkaido's hull plating being magnetised the beam shot straight through her saucer section. Alarms and klaxons go off all over the ship as the helm officer struggles to fly the ship to safety and the ship retreats to a distance of 10 light years.

"Damage report" Mariko orders and she's told "emergency bulk heads are holding but all 5 decks were punctured. Engineering says its a mess".

"what about casualties?" she asks.

"Crew quarters were hit. Theres no information yet from sickbay".

"XO, you have the bridge" she orders "I'm off to inspect the damage for myself".

She heads into the turbo lift and checks the damage for herself.

13 ship exit trans warp the doom bringer and her rentinue had returned cenncoded coms stay in stealth mode do not engage until i give the order oredered the adermril

OOC:
1.) I highly doubt you are able to mobilize that many SSDs that fast, let alone repair the first ship to any major degree.
2.) Twelve Star Destroyers (not Super Star Destroyers) would be more believable and feasable.
3.) An SSD is supposed to lead a fleet of SDs, not a fleet of SSDs.
4.) A fleet of SSDs is considered over-kill in this situation.
5.) I'll have to assume these are no stronger than regular Star Destroyers as you seem to only have SSD's in your navy.
6.) The Alantis class is designed as a Star Destroyer killer.

IC: Main Bridge

"Captain, a ship identifing herself as the R.S.S. Wellington as responded as friendly."

"Add them to the friend-or-foe identification system."

"Aye, sir."

"Sir! Multiple contacts just dropped to sublight and a planet-based energy weapon has apparently damaged one of the ships that hasn't replied to our hail yet."

"Status of damaged ship."

"The beam punched a hull straight through her. The ship apparently was able to maintain orbit and has left the area, sir."

"And the incoming fleet?"

"Checking....Star Destroyers, sir."

"Hail them and send a response to the Wellington."

"Aye, sir."

Messages

Transmitted to the R.S.S. Wellington:

Acknowledged, Wellington. We have added you to the friends list in our weapon system's friend-or-foe identification system. This will allow our computer to know to divert our torpedoes around you and cause our beam weapons to cut if your ship gets in their arc. Understood?

Broadcast to the incoming fleet:

Attention, incoming fleet. You will stand down and leave the area. You will be allowed to leave a small ship containing representatives if you wish. Any attempt to attack will be met with your destruction. We have no qualms with you, so I suggest you take the suggestion under consideration.

fires were raging in the affected compartments on all 5 decks of the ship.

Given the choice of the fire continuing to burn and spread and decompressing those sections to stop the fire she chooses the latter.

the engineering crew eventually finds 4 charred and partially cremated bodies and these are removed to the morgue for identification.

Mariko contacts her XO giving orders to remain away from the planet as the repairs continue and she heads to the sickbay where a lot of minor wounds are being treated.

She feels a certain responsibility to the 4 young women who lost their lives but vows to get to the bottom of the mystery..

Commander Fujiko Akechi, the XO of the Hokkaido send a reply to the Seaquestian vessel as follows while an engineering crew works on the bridge.

Seaquestian Vessel. We mean you no harm and are known for our neutrality. however if the incoming or other ships fire on us we will respond in self defence.

You may want to be concerned about the beam weapon that hit us. It seems to lock onto any approaching ship regardless of origin.

she closes the channel down and waits for a reply while the repair crew finish up their work on the bridge.

Messages

In response to the Kirisubo message:

Acknowledged. We will keep our distance from the planet unless the incoming fleet prooves hostile and our maneuvors during the battle force us near the planet.

Also, let us know if you require any assistance. Our shuttles will be standing by.

The fourth planet of the LV-1220 system, a lush world full of resources. So seemingly primitive, yet so utterly deadly. As the Kirisuban vessel limped away from the planet, the array of ancient towers were already tracking the RSS Wellington, which was inserting itself into orbit around said planet.

Within seconds, another of the towers on the planet had charged up and released another shot up into space without any warning to the trespassers there. The azure blue of the beam cut through the atmosphere toward the ship in orbit, capable of slicing through the shield and hull of the Wellington just as easily as it did to the Hokkaido, its targetting system swiftly tracing out the path of the Republican Space Force's vessel.

***

Tokwonei finally recovered his senses after the light from the beam of the distant tower faded away. Turning to Captain Arnold, he pointed to the tower and said, "That happen...when Peter first here. Lightning from gods."

Commander Akechi replies to the Seaquestrians.

"Thank you for your offer of assistance but everything is under control. who are those hostile ships and what are their intentions?"

Onboard the Wellington

The pure blue beam of light shot through the atmosphere of the planet, burning away elements before entering the dark void of space. Continuing on its path, the beam struck the Wellington just aft of the engine room. The beam cut through the hardened ceramics and titanium that the hull comprised of as if they were paper-thin materials, burning through one and then the other hull and off into space again. Perhaps fortunately, the beam missed any vital machinery and merely vapourised the hull plating and the deck it touched, leaving a perfectly spherical hole in both sides of the ship.

The reaction to the attack was instantaneous. As the beam sliced through the hull and interior of the Wellington, sirens signalling a decompression and Red Alert began blaring and the heavy titanium bulkheads that were built into every compartment of the ship slammed down into place, preventing the rest of the vessel from decompressing. The oxygen stored in the compartment quickly evacuated through the hull, and the equipment not securely bolted down was sucked through the openings into space, floating slowly into the void.

On the bridge, Captain Lomax was thrown from his seat as the beam hit, followed by several other officers and one of the Marines on futy. With a skill that belied his experience the Helmsman quickly fired the ships thrusters and pulled the vessel out of orbit and out of the path of the beam itself. Within a few seconds the ship was clear, but the damage had been done. Pulling himself up off of the floor, elbow aching, Lomax shouted at Carlaise. "Tactical - report! What the hell just hit us?"

Standing unsteadily over the console, Carlaise scanned her screen. "A beam of unknown type was fired from the surface, Captain. Damage reports flooding in; minor damage to Section 31, no casualties. Breaches have been sealed off and emergency crews moving to repair the damage." With that, she staggered back and fell to the floor, unconcious. At her side in a second, Lomax knelt and tried to find a pulse; there was one, but it was faint and irregular. He turned to the Marines on duty. "Get me a medic here, quickly!"

One of the men saluted and skidded out of the bridge; within a minute the man was back, combat medic trailing behind him. As the man knelt down and ordered the Marine to take Carlaise to the sickbay, Lomax turned to Carlaise's junior. "LaBelle, target the source of that goddamn beam and fire a Cell of Missiles as it; I want that damn thing gone a second ago!" LaBelle turned to obey, but both were stopped as the Comms Officer called to Lomax. Sir, LADAR is picking up multiple contacts!"

Ordering LaBelle to cease firing for the moment, Lomax moved to the Comms station. Looking over the Comm Officers shoulder, manners forgotten, he studied the LADAR readout. Two sets of contacts, one faint and the other loud and clear. The first was unknown - possibly just a fluctuation. The second, however, was far more pleasing to Lomax. "Viewscreen on, starboard array." He ordered, slowly calming down. The viewscreen flicked from a view of the planet, moving further away, to the second set of contacts. Pixellating then refocusing, the picture now displayed four new vessels entering the system. Republican vessels; the Waterloo, another Wellington-Class vessel, and three smaller, more squat shapes, Centurion-Class vessels, the forerunners of the Wellington.

Lomax was relieved at the reinforcements, yet slightly confused. Before he could move to hail the new vessels, the Comm Station lit up. Impatiently signalling the Comms Officer, Lomax turned to the viewscreen as it changed once again, this time from the approaching vessels to a bridge similar to that of the Wellington. An officer wearing the uniform of a Commander grinned easily at Lomax, then stood up and walked nearer the camera focusing on him. "Captain Lomax, Commander DeRouge of the Waterloo. RSF Command thought you might need a bit of help. Have you been attacked?"

Lomax nodded at DeRouge. "We were hit by a beam weapon of somekind from the planets surface. Do not pull into orbit at any point - rally around the Wellington, we have a greater problem. Several unknown contacts have entered the system from the other edge. They may just be sensor echoes, but I am ordering you to Red Alert and to deploy in a diamond pattern ahead of us." DeRouge nodded on the screen, then waved his hand. The viewscreen blinked again, replaced by a view of the Republican fleet as the vessels swung around the Wellington and took up position, the smaller Centurions moving ahead of the other two vessels.

Commander Akechi replies to the Seaquestrians.

"Thank you for your offer of assistance but everything is under control. who are those hostile ships and what are their intentions?"

"Unkown at this point in time. Though, scans of debris from the recent battle fought here indicate they were left behind when that ship, which is now in the lead of the incoming fleet according to our scans, left. Why they would send such a damaged ship so soon back into battle is not a logical choice, or a wise one for that matter. The second set of ships, however, are emitting signals that have confirmed they are of the same origin as the R.S.S. Wellington. From what we can tell from the readings we are getting from our WHSKRS, the larger group of ships is most likely hostile."

"We'll be ready to fight if we need to. our damage wasn't too bad" Commander Akechi replies back on the comms channel.

"we'll be with you shortly"

she closes the comm channel and orders "set course for the Seaquestrian ship at best impulse speed and avoid orbiting the planet.

Tactical, yellow alert. maginitise the hull plating and have the shields and weapons on standby. Arm the security people and have them watch our docking ports. I want a team by the transporter rooms in case they are needed."

The Hokkaido gracefully moves in the direction of the other ship and readies itself to fight.

OOC: Okay, I'm back - will do a post tommorow.

drop cloak power down weapons this is the sephrion task force gamma we meen no harm to sea quest we are here to assist with those towers

The Lance Armstrong remained close to the orbit of the planet, not daring to venture too close in fear of the laser system that seemed to protect the planet. From his vigil, Redwall had witnessed several of the other vessels in the system attacked or narrowly missed in attempting to achieve orbit of the planet.

“Report,” he said irritably, his weariness getting the better of him now after the events of the day.

Wakefield checked her sensors before replying. “Sir, we have still no contact with the Captain or his team on the surface, and I would not advise moving into orbit at this time due to the turrets firing at us. The Doombringer appears to have called in support and is actively avoiding conflict at this time, and we still have several contacts within the system that may or may not turn hostile.”

Redwall nodded. “Maintain Yellow Alert and keep trying to reach the Captain,” he replied. Looking down at the planet in the viewer, Redwall sighed. “What is going on down there?”

<><><>

The Captain and the Ops Officer looked in awe as the turret fired upwards into orbit several times. As the native man explained how it had attacked the Hawkeye, the team dispersed and began to examine the tower from a closer proximity. Arnold walked over to where Maxwell was currently crouching by the tower, checking its composition. “Report,” he said quietly.

Maxwell sighed. “Well, I do not have much information due to our scanners not working,” he explained. “However, I can surmise that this is not native technology, and is definitely artificial in design.” He pointed to the base of the tower. “It also appears to be made of an unusual metal that I have not seen before.”

Arnold nodded, turning back to the native. “Do you have any idea how these towers got here?” he asked.

drop cloak power down weapons this is the sephrion task force gamma we meen no harm to sea quest we are here to assist with those towers

Main Bridge

"Hmph, still want a battle do they. Well, if they pick it with us or the planet's defense system, they are still in trouble."

"Agreed, Captain."

"Sir, the Kirisubo ship is moving into formation with us."

"Understood. And the Wellington?"

"Checking...she took a massive hit from the planetary defense."

"Keep our distance, Helm. Don't get any closer to the planet than just outside Lunar orbit."

"Aye, Captain."

Messages

Transmitted to the R.S.S. Wellington:

Wellington, this is the Atlantis. We noticed that you have been hit by the planetary defenses. Do you require any assitance?

Transmitted to the Kirisubo ship:

Understood. We will keep our WHSKRS and WHSPRS our of your approach path.

Broadcast to the Sephrioth fleet:

First you attack a ship here in an unprovoked attack, then you run away with heavy damage. Now you want to go up against a planetary defense system that could totally destroy what is left of your ship? That is either the bravest plan I have heard, or the stupidest.

The Hokkaido gracefully comes alongside of the Seaquestian ship and comes to a full stop.

ooc: the Kagemon class vessels are very similar in size and shape to a 23rd century romulan warbird only theres no big bird painted on them.

the hull is a gun metal colour and most of the weapons are in the front of the ship. they have 4 rear plasma torpedo launchers and four torpedo launchers and two very strong plasma beam weapons forward.

In the hours that it took the group to reach the base of the tower, the sky had started growing deeper in color as the day began to draw to a close, and long shadows stretched out over the hills. Fires from a nearby village, probably no more than a couple of kilometers away, began dotting a small patch of the darkening landscape in the adjacent valley.

The tower was fairly massive (http://people.ucsc.edu/~mattko/tower3.jpg), and had an almost snowflake-like structure (http://people.ucsc.edu/~mattko/tower2.JPG) when seen from above. The surfaces of the structure were smooth, giving no hint of any entrance leading into the tower. In one of the open passages leading up to the exterior of the central tower, however, were various items strewn on the ground. One was a coil of wire, half a foot long and two inches in diameter. It was partially crushed and flatten, and a long time of negligence left it rusty. What looked like a cylindrical stone was nearby, as long as the coil of wire and about an inch in diameter. Various pieces of wood lay shattered everywhere, rotting and deteriorating back into the earth.

"Towers...always here," Tokwonei said to Arnold. "Temple...of gods."

Captain Arnold looked up at the structure as the team dispersed around it, examining the structure from each perspective. He himself stepped forward hesitatingly, reaching out and touching the smooth structure gently, cold to the touch and as slick as marble. He frowned, licking his lips.

"Okay," he said, turning to the team. "If we are going to get out of here, we need to be able to deactivate some of these towers so as to allow the Lance Armstrong to enter orbit. However, we need to find the power source first."

The team nodded and began to disperse. Jack turned back to the native man. "Tell me about your Gods," he asked.

coms fleet con want it destroyoing

"Gods give rain," Tokwonei pointed up, "make...food grow. Give light...sun...moon."

Before he could say more, an immense roar echoed through the hills from the direction of the mountains.

The native guide looked in the direction of the sound, eyes wide in horror. His breathing grew rapid, his chest heaving in and out noticeably. "G...guardian...tower guardian!" he forced out. "Must go! Now! It will...kill!" He turned and ran as fast as he could to the nearby village, whose night fires were burning some two or three kilometers away in the opposite direction from the mountains.

Another massive roar went through the plains, this time a bit closer to the tower and the crew of the crashed shuttle.

Jack watched the man running, feeling considerably alarmed at the noise of the 'guardian' getting closer. Maxwell stood next to the Captain and took a breath. "Must be pretty bad if he's that scared," the Ops Officer said understatedly.

Arnold nodded. The roar of the 'Guardian' got closer once more, and some of the Junior Officers were starting to look uneasy, although they stood their ground as was their training. Captain Arnold looked around them all. "Maxwell," he said. "Take command of the group and head back to the village."

Maxwell blinked. "Captain, I..."

"Don't argue, Greg!" Jack snapped, as the roar got closer. "I'm going to stay here and see what this is about, and I'll meet you back at the village soon. Now move!"

Maxwell hesitated a moment longer, before turning and taking the group back down the slope into the dusk towards the village fires. Jack himself turned and ran up one of the passages towards the central tower, taking cover behind the central tower and glancing around the side of the structure to observe the 'Guardian' as it came ever closer...

ok send 3 drop pods to te planet loaded with the shadow legoin marines
order fthe fleet comaneder aslo fire 40 decooy pods in to orbit

The Wellington floated through space, thrusters firing gently to correct its course. Thousands of metres away on every side were positioned the other vessels of the small Republican fleet, but the Wellington was still the centre of attention. Her hull was scorched and blackened where the laser had punched through the concrete and titanium and breached it; several tiny figures in space suits moved slowly across the damaged areas, carrying tools and titanium plates to repair the holes and ensure the vessel would not be further damaged. The LADAR arrays of the fleet picked up the dropships even as they left the protection of their motherships and began their rapid descent to the surface, being tracked every second of the way.

Lieutenant Paul Gregson, Engineering Officer Second Class, was placing one of the titanium plates across the last damaged section of the starboard hull when his suits internal comms system crackled. He stopped for a moment, listening intently to the static-filled message, then nodded to turn the microphone off inside his helmet. He placed a heavy boot down on the plate to temporarily secure it in place, then turned his head upwards. He turned just in time to see the dropships go past, engines burning brightly in the endless void.
He watched dispassionately as they moved past silently towards the atmosphere of the planet, watched the first few begin to glow a distant red and orange as the atmopshere began to resist their entry. Then he turned away and grabbed a shielded oxycetane torch from his belt and thumbed the recessed switch. A bright blue flame jumped from the end of the torch; satisfied that it was working, Gregson bent down and applied the flame to the plating. In a few moments he had welded one corner of the plate to the damaged hull, and he shifted to begin securing the rest of the plate. All across the vessel other Engineers finished their duties and ensured that the Wellington would be ready for action if anything else occured.

The nearby village was arranged fairly similar to the one the crew was at earlier in the day, with generally the same layout. The inhabitants wore the same style of clothes and had the same types of alien features. The villagers appeared a bit alarmed when Tokwonei and the other four came running in.

Tokwonei was completely out of breath and promptly collapsed to the ground upon reaching the village. Several people went to help him, propping him up and bringing water to him. Others stood around to watch, mostly staring at the humans. They pointed at the uniforms the four wore and chattered amongst themselves in their native tongue.

Shortly, what looked like an elder of the village approached the gathering. He looked over Tokwonei and noticed that the other man was not in any shape to hold a conversation just yet, so he went over to the crew members and said something to them in his language, which the humans were not able to understand.

***

It was completely night time when Captain Arnold caught the first sign of the creature other than the occassional roaring. At first it seemed like just an illusion of the eye, something fading in and out in the fields. But after this happened a few times, and whatever it was seemed to come nearer to the tower, it became evident that this was the thing causing all the ruckus.

For most of the time, nothing could be seen nor heard from the creature; not even the shifting of the tall grasses from which it stalked through. But then, every once in a while, the edges of the creature would shimmer, giving the general shape (http://people.ucsc.edu/~mattko/guardian1.JPG) of itself as illuminated by the moon's rays, and it was big. Over two meters, at least, with broad shoulders and upward-pointing spikes all along the arms and head. That was all that could be made of the translucent shape in the dark of night. Whenever it would shimmer into existence, the grass underneathe would be trampled and a low growling seemed to continuously emit forth from the creature.

It certainly seemed like something the human would not want to take on, especially alone and unarmed.

Suddenly, a humming noise emanated from the tower, growing in both volume and pitch. Arnold could feel the air literally vibrating as the metallic surface of the tower began to glow a dim blue. The thick bands of coloration in the tower's material began shifting slowly, moving around as if alive. After two seconds of this, all became silent. Then the three trapezoidal (http://people.ucsc.edu/~mattko/tower4.JPG) structures lining the top of the tower each began to shoot a blue beam into the night sky, much smaller than the main beam, but also at a much quicker rate.

If Arnold were still paying attention to the creature rather than the light show, he would notice the creature howl and disappear.

***

The planetary arrays watched the approach of the incoming pods from the Sethrioth fleet. As the forty-three drop pods entered into range, each were targetted. There were not enough towers on that side of the planet for each of the drop pods to be locked on, to have them all shot down at the same time by the main tower weapons, but the creators of the towers were prepared for such eventualities. At the top of the hexagonal central tower were three structures that attached to the side of the walls and rose above the emitter itself. Each of these three were capable of firing a similar beam as the main weapon, but with diminished power in return for higher firing rate. Yet, considering how the main weapon could slive through capital ships like a hot knife through butter, even these lower-power beams were enough to bypass shields and vaporize the hull of shuttles and dropships upon contact.

A dozen of the towers powered up, and three small beams from each of these tower lanced out toward thirty-six of the incoming pods. After a half-second blast, the last seven drop pods were targetted and shot at.

(OOC: Seph, I'll leave it up to you how many of them make it to the surface. However, survival rate would be low. Most, if not all, of the pods would be destroyed. Maybe one of the pods with marines could make it through unscathed, but note that halfway through your descent, you'll lose power to all systems.)

fourty two out of 43 three pods were destroyed the remaining pod was hesavily dammaged
marine commander shadow legoin fall in the were in the atmophere
allright lads we jup now activate jet packs the dooors opened and 20 shadow legoin marine flew out

Just as all the systems on the drop pods failed to operate after passing through a certain layer of the atmosphere, so did the jet packs. No technology was working at all.

(OOC: Yeah...the whole "you'll lose power to all systems" applies to "all systems"...)

ic
damn guy paracuites the packs failed the checked thier old style weapons chainswords and other things
ooc luck my guys ahave traduitional paracutes

The tribe elder spoke to Maxwell in his native language, one Maxwell was of course unable to understand. He looked across at the native whom could speak English uneasily, seeing that he was in no condition to talk after his marathon run back to safety from the mysterious Tower Guardian. Assuming that the man was asking him what had happened, he cleared his throat and tried to think of some way to explain. "Guardian," he said clearly, emphasising the word. He then pointed back towards the tower, before making claw-like shapes with his hands and stomping around on the spot for a moment. One of the Junior Officers began to snigger under their breath, but an evil look from the Ops Officer stifled that immediately.

"Sir, look!" Ensign Davidson, the Junior Tactical Officer, pointed at the night sky. Maxwell looked upwards and frowned in puzzlement.

<><><>

Captain Arnold was meanwhile stumbling back down the slope in the dark, using the fires of the village as a reference and treading as quietly as possible so as to avoid this Guardian, whom had mysteriously vanished. Jack was still supremely puzzled over this whole situation, but hypotheses were beginning to form in his head, albeit still with little basis in actual hard facts.

A bright explosion caused him to look upwards suddenly, just in time to see a cloud of debris falling to the surface, and one large streaking object burning through the atmosphere. Jack felt a pang of fear - had Redwall moved the ship too close? He quickened his pace and continued towards the village.

<><><>

Onboard the Lance Armstrong, Harry watched the drop pods destroyed in the atmosphere with a quiet mix of concern and slight pleasure, particularly after the conduct of the Sephrothian's so far. He turned to the Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Jordan Farrell, with exasperated expectance. "Anything yet?"

Farrell sighed. "I'm sorry sir, but we just cannot penetrate the atmosphere with our senses," he explaned. "It's almost as if there is some sort of dampening field down there we cannot get through."

Redwall sighed, thinking for a moment. "Okay," he said eventually. "We need to start making preparations for possible future moves." He turned to Wakefield. "Tactical, get a team of armed personnel and have them suit up and standby in one of the shuttles."

Bella nodded, sending the message via her console. Redwall then turned to Mohammed. "Engineer, I want you to bring the Auxiliary Power Batteries to standby and be prepared to shunt extra power where I order it."

Mohammed nodded. "Aye sir."

The Commander then turned to Cromwell. "Navigation, can you bring us to maximum weapons range without coming into orbital range of those turrets?"

Cromwell checked his sensors. "Sorry sir, but we'd have to move into orbit in order to fire," he explained. "However, if we used a random course between bursts of weapon usage, we may be able to avoid the beams themselves."

Redwall sighed, disliking the 'may' in that sentence. "Very well, plot such a course for future use," he ordered.

As Cromwell turned to the console, Redwall looked at Bella. "Miss Wakefield," he said, walking across the bridge. "When the Doombringer sent those pods into orbit, we got to see the entire array on the planet firing. Now, from the sensor logs, could you approximate the locations of the towers with a reasonable accuracy for a weapon's strike?"

Bella thought for a moment. "I believe it is possible sir," she nodded. "However, I would recommend multiple burst firing at each location within a small radius to ensure destruction."

Redwall nodded. "Do it," he ordered. He then returned to his chair, sitting for a moment in thought before opening a communication channel to all decks with the controls on the Command Chair's arm. "This is Commander Redwall speaking," he said clearly. "It has been several hours since we have been unable to contact the Captain. Whilst we remain hopeful, we must prepare for the worst."

He paused. The whole bridge crew was watching him. Redwall continued. "In accordance with my authority as acting Commanding Officer of the United State's Starship Lance Armstrong, I am hereby invoking General Order 2 of the Space Force Articles; When individuals or groups are deemed to threaten the wellbeing of United States civilians or personnel, any measure of force may be used to secure their safety as deemed neccesary by the Commanding Officer of the involved vessel or base." Redwall looked around once more. "In accordance with this General Order, in three hours we will move into orbit and, avoiding the defence system with random movements-" Redwall left out the 'maybe' in that sentence "-destroy this turret grid with sustained fire from Phasers and Torpedoes, whereupon we will send forces to the surface to recover our personnel."

Redwall paused a moment. The silence was deafening. "You are a good crew," he said clearly. "And you have, in countless endeavours, shown yourselves to be capable way above and beyond the call of duty. I know you will perform to your best in these coming times, and this will give us the strength to get through. Redwall out."

the 20 remaining marine looked conceren as the glided to the nearby vilage 20 foot above te village the ditche thier shoots and crashed in to the grond making 20 small craters bieng a bit bruised they drew thier chain swords and thier old fashoined rifles
occ in othe words m 16s

The village elder watched Maxwell carefully, following the human's every movement as he tried to explain the guardian. The elder looked like he understood, and said something else, which again the humans could not understand.

Then the fireworks started, and most of the villagers scrambled back into their huts. Some people took the elder and quickly guided him indoors.

Tokwonei had revived enough by now to be able to stand up and approach the four crew members. His breathing was still a little labored, but he seemed like he would recover just fine given enough time. "Lightning...from...gods," he said, his heavy breathing making his already thickly accented words even more difficult to understand. "Must...hide..." he pointed to the huts. He then started, jerking back as he saw something that could be the "Tower Guardian" coming toward them from the direction of the tower. It was difficult to make out the moving creature in the darkness and distance, but after a while, it became evident that it was Captain Arnold that was making his way to the village, and not the guardian. "He...live!" exclaimed Tokwonei.

When Arnold reached the village, Tokwonei asked, "Guardian...no...attack?"

(OOC: Seph, not sure if you're talking about the village that Arnold and the others are at, or some other village. Also...your troops carry rocket packs, and parachutes, and chain swords (what are those, btw?), and M16's, and (I assume) a more high-tech rifle, and any number of other things that a marine would need when sent on a mission? That's a heckuva lot of heavy equipment...)

ooc chain sword s as in wh40k swords same village they are wh40k space marine created from genne seeds.
also wearing strenth enchancing power armour
ic troop leader smith said the native are esayily spooked

I.S.S. Atlantis - Main Bridge

"Got to say it."

"Then say it."

"We told them so."

*Snickers from around the Bridge*

"Yes, we did warn them it was a suicide mission trying to attack those towers."

"And, of course, they didn't listen."

"Enough of that. How are we doing at breaking through that dampening field on the surface with our sensors?"

"Not very good, sir. Got random life-signs readings, but they fade in and out. Its almost as if the field is adapting to everything we try, which could mean a controlling intelligence."

"Find out."

"Aye, sir."

the marine said status we are the only squad that survive sir
form up

When Arnold reached the village, Tokwonei asked, "Guardian...no...attack?"


Jack took a moment to regain his breath, and waved away concerned glances from the rest of the landing party. After a moment, he shook his head to Tokwonei. "The Guardian did not attack, no. He dissapeared when the towers began shooting."

Turning to Maxwell, Captain Arnold glanced at the streaking debris that was still falling from the sky. "Maxwell," he said. "It seems that the towers struck something."

Greg nodded, thinking the same as his CO. "It's doubtful sir," he said reassuringly. "There's not enough debris."

Arnold nodded, thinking for a moment. "Well," he said. "Then it must be something else." Turning to Tokwonei, he gestured at the sky. "Is there any way we can contact our ship?" he asked. "Your...Gods do not let our equipment work here."

Tokwonei looked at Arnold in a confused manner, not quite understanding what the captain was saying. "You...want...what?"

The villagers slowly began to come out of their huts again, most of whom were looking up into the sky as what appeared to be fire rained down in the distance. The elder approached the group again, this time speaking to Tokwonei.

They conversed briefly before Tokwonei turned to the crew members and said, "He...know...your shirt. Like Peter shirt. Peter and others...go to tower...days before. Try...find...Chris. No seen...since. He think...guardian...attack Chris and Peter and others."

Christopher would, if Arnold remembered, be the first name of the chief engineer of the Hawkeye at the time of its disappearance in this system.

(OOC: Hey Seph, the M16's will work. What kind of motors do you use for the chainswords? Diesel? Gasoline? Electric? Mini-ZPM? etc. As for power armor, well, the idea behind them is that they provide the wearer with increased strength and all that good stuff by using some form of power (electrical or otherwise), like how a car helps a person go faster and a lift helps a person carry very heavy objects. So, like all other systems, your power armors won't work, ie no enhanced strength. If anything, your marines won't even be able to lift their fingers due to the weight of the armor itself.)

ooc deisel and mini zpm
ic urgh the phaser rifles woont work damn said the comanner thier must be a tech jamming field

They conversed briefly before Tokwonei turned to the crew members and said, "He...know...your shirt. Like Peter shirt. Peter and others...go to tower...days before. Try...find...Chris. No seen...since. He think...guardian...attack Chris and Peter and others."

Christopher would, if Arnold remembered, be the first name of the chief engineer of the Hawkeye at the time of its disappearance in this system.


Captain Arnold considered his position for a moment; this was certainly a lead that they needed to follow up. His rising frustration at the native's lack of understanding regarding needing to contact his ship was momentarily displaced as Jack came to a decision. Turning to Maxwell, he spoke in a low voice. "Greg, take a few men knowledgable regarding technology and see about trying to tap our power sources into whatever that Tower is using, as it seems to be immune to the dampening field down here."

Greg nodded, choosing a few people. Jack nodded to the rest of the group, indicating that they were with him. Turning back to Tokwonei, he licked his lips. "Where is this Guardian? We need to try and find more about our people who came here."

"Where...guardian?" Tokwonei tried to follow Arnold. He turned and spoke to the elder again before saying, "Hear...roar...there." He pointed in the direction of the tower. "Guardian...no come...here."

Past the tower was a stretch of hills and a few valleys before the main range of mountains began.

(OOC: How many diesel and how many ZPM?)

ooc each suit posseses 10 mini zpms and 2 small deaisel tanks for the chain swords so do the maths
ic the sqaud lay in ambush a little way from the village

ooc each suit posseses 10 mini zpms and 2 small deaisel tanks for the chain swords so do the maths

(OOC: Ok, the chainswords work, but your armor is unpowered. So you'll still have the problem of not being able to move around in that heavy armor - unless they're all Clark Kent or something...)

ooc the rpms power the armour
ic hmm said trooper galix im tired of waiting lets just storm the village he moand peace the commander said thier will be time enough to furfill your blood lus

[Seems to me that Seph is making this up as you suggest stuff.]

Arnold looked towards the distant mountain range. It made sense; a beast that large would naturally take shelter in the mountain ranges of the planet to avoid potential attacks by villagers. He nodded to himself. "Okay," he said, looking at his half of the 6-person away team. "Let's get to it."

Turning to Tokwonei, he tried to put this as easily understandable as possible. "We need guide to find Guardian," the Captain said as exactly as possible with each word. "Must find Chris and others."

ic the toops looked through the scopes of thier rifle
hmm at least 30 or more huts
ooc the rifle have scopes for recon

Tokwonei carefully watched Arnold as he spoke. He then exchanged a few words with the elder before turning back to the captain. "No one...want go there. Much...dangerous. No go...past tower."

Someone from the crowd of natives surrounding the new arrivals spoke up, saying something in his native language as he took a few steps forward.

"He food hunter...he want help hunt guardian," Tokwonei said.

The other native said something else to the interpreter and ran off toward a hut with several others following him.

"He say you need hunter...tool," said Tokwonei. "Tower guardian much dangerous."

The native returned with a few others in tow. The others handed some bows, quivers, and knives to Tokwonei and the remaining crew members. The weapons were crude, being made out of sharpened stones rather than metal. But then they were made by a primitive people for hunting game, and not for war. Meanwhile, the native who volunteered to go seemed to be having a disagreement with the elder.

"He...no want us...go past tower," Tokwonei explained of the elder. About the volunteer, "He...friend...to Peter. He want find Peter."

Finally, the elder appeared to give up and went back to his hut. The hunter turned to the crew and pointed between his eyes. "Konanae," he introduced himself.

Tokwonei then said to Arnold, "I...help too."

OOC: Sorry for absence, will post later today.

ooc retag
ic they waited

Tokwonei carefully watched Arnold as he spoke. He then exchanged a few words with the elder before turning back to the captain. "No one...want go there. Much...dangerous. No go...past tower."

Someone from the crowd of natives surrounding the new arrivals spoke up, saying something in his native language as he took a few steps forward.

"He food hunter...he want help hunt guardian," Tokwonei said.

The other native said something else to the interpreter and ran off toward a hut with several others following him.

"He say you need hunter...tool," said Tokwonei. "Tower guardian much dangerous."

The native returned with a few others in tow. The others handed some bows, quivers, and knives to Tokwonei and the remaining crew members. The weapons were crude, being made out of sharpened stones rather than metal. But then they were made by a primitive people for hunting game, and not for war. Meanwhile, the native who volunteered to go seemed to be having a disagreement with the elder.

"He...no want us...go past tower," Tokwonei explained of the elder. About the volunteer, "He...friend...to Peter. He want find Peter."

Finally, the elder appeared to give up and went back to his hut. The hunter turned to the crew and pointed between his eyes. "Konanae," he introduced himself.

Tokwonei then said to Arnold, "I...help too."

The Captain nodded, hitching the knife he had been given to his belt-line. "Okay," he said, looking from his crew to Tokwonei and Konanae. "Let's get going."

The entire group turned and began to leave the village; Captain Arnold with three crewmen, Tokwokei and Konanae leaving in one group, and Maxwell and the other three crewmembers leaving in their own group. Each held a sense of uneasiness as they headed for their different destinations, unknowing what dangers were ahead of them at that time.

It had been a long day for the crew of the shuttle, having had little rest since crashing, and it was about to be a lot longer. As Arnold's group and the two natives reached the tower again, Konanae went out in search of signs that could indicate the guardian's paths. The rays of the moon were beaming down, giving ample lighting to the late night search.

Then Konanae spoke up, saying something to Tokwonei as he looked down at the tall grasses in front of him. There was a swath of grasses bent beneath the massive weight of the creature, appearing in separate patches a dozen or so meters apart, as if the guardian did not traverse the distance inbetween those patches.

The native hunter followed these patches, which were sometimes difficult to make out in the rolling hills of tall grasses. As time passed and the group came ever closer to the range of mountains, the hills became steeper, bigger. It went from gentle and grassy to being increasingly unlevel and forested, and the tracks of the guardian went from bent grasses to the more visible footprints in the soft ground. But by now, the leaves and branches of the trees blocked out a good portion of the moonlight from the forst floor, and Konanae had to stoop down to his knees to feel the ground with his hands.

Dawn was approaching when the group crested a massive hill. Looking up toward the mountain range, they could see very small fires flickering part way up the side of the mountains. Looking down into the valley below, they could see a clearing on the other side with the opening of a cave mouth.

Konanae pointed to the cave mouth and said something.

"Guardian...maybe...live there," Tokwonei translated.

OOC: Sorry for the absence - bogged down with University work at the moment, so not likely to get a post in until I'm free on Monday.

Bump