NationStates Jolt Archive

The Icarus coasted through Real Space. The crew was just finishing investigating the stellar incubator of the local nebula. The crew was trying to determine if the Neutron stars nearby were having a gravitational effect upon the type of stars generated by the nebula. Captain Fontalach was glad to being going home, he missed his family and wanted to see them soon. The ship was too far out to use his newly obtained psionic skills.

The ships crew consisted of: Captain Fontalach; Gitchner the pilot; Anderson the navigator; and a complement of about 10 scientists and their assistants. They were specialists in stellar construction and formation. They jumped at the chance to not only fund an expedition to the Orion Nebula, but to also participate in the actual study of the star forming regions in the Horsehead area. It cost the research committee several thousand Galactic Credits but they were able to find and lease the science vessel The Icarus.

The old ship had crew quarters, but the Childer did not really need them. The psionic entities had not required the available crew space; instead they inhabited the research equipment itself, manipulating the machines as if they were alive. Their telekinetic talents allowed them to manipulate the buttons as if they possessed fingers while merging their minds with the machine allowed them to experience the results of the scanners.

Unfortunately, the time they leased the ship was to expire very soon. They only had three weeks to do the required research. Tomorrow they had to have their equipment off the ship. They were disappointed and wanted to stay out longer but contracts were contracts. The Icarus was scheduled to return that day.

“This is Captain Fontalach of The Icarus. We are returning to Earth and would like to request Wormhole Transportation.”

“Request granted. One will form at your coordinates shortly.”

“Thank you, Fontalach out.”

He opened a communication with Gitchner.

“So, how long do you think it will take them to open one up for us this time?

“I think it will be an hour. We are not very high on the list and any military vessel will push us lower on the list.”

“I think it might be about half an-“

Suddenly Anderson interrupted the two.

“Captain, I am detecting a wormhole opening to our port side.”

“Damn, that was fast. It must be our lucky day. Gitchner, take us in.”

The Icarus entered the opening and disappeared through the Tunnel. Moments later a wormhole formed almost on top of the Tunnel causing it to collapse.

“Where the hell are we?”

The Icarus sat in a region of deep shadow. The running lights barely illuminated the area around it, leaving shadows fading into nothingness. It was as if they were in a nebula of shadow.

“I haven’t a clue! The astrogation computer cannot get a fix through that nebula. It completely surrounds us, cutting off all our bearings.”

One of the scientists interrupted the conversation between the Captain and Anderson.

“Captain, that isn’t a nebula out there.”

“What do you mean?”

“We tried to scan the nebula and there is no matter out there. It is something else.”

“What???”

“We initiated a full scan of the immediate area around the ship. The furthest we could detect was a few hundred meters. Something is blocking our scanners. We managed to focus them on a bit of the nebula and we received bizarre data. That dust and gas you think is neither, it is a new form of matter that isn’t mater. It is very difficult to describe.”

Gitcher interrupted them.

“Sir, I am picking up something you will want to see.”

The realm had been violated, infected, and defiled by something foreign, by something unknown. The expanded compression wave from the collapsed Subspacial tunnel rippled throughout the black expanse. The vibrations traveling continually, slowing, dissipating until, eventually they ceased to exist.

The defilement had been detected, the ripple had struck.

UNKNOWN ENTITY ENTRY - FLUID MATRIX FIVE FIVE EIGHT - GRID TEN - FRIGATE DISPATCHED

The data packet slowly filtered upon the Admirals desk, the red screen flickering active after some considerable time of inactivity. Aken Bosch was now intrigued. "Hmmmmm" The slow voice croaked. "Interesting." The analysis results of the compression wave quickly appeared on the monitor, the red data gently striding into the spacious dark. "What have we here....." Bosch gently mused. "The energy spike is definitely big enough, but it can't possibly be Terran in origin.... I wonder....." Switching over the data feed to external cameras of the dispatched Cain, Bosch eagerly anticipated the sight.

There was nothing at first, just darkness, the defining trait of the destroyers realm, but slowly the clouds were pushed back, revealing a dim light in the distance.

SQUADRON LAUNCHED

The overmind graciously translated their actions for the ageing Admiral, the crew of the Iceni had yet to grasp even the basics of how the destroyers conversed.

Relaxing gently into his chair, Bosch slowly watched the growing shape of the alien craft......

*****

The fighter squadron cut its way through the expanse, the fluidic substance trailing in their wake. Aferburners at full, and weapons lowered to minimal the advance party quickly banked left under one of the pylons. Firing aft thrusters at full the spiked crafts turned on the X axis throwing their cargo towards the alien hull.....

CLUNK.....CLUNK.......CLUNK...... The five legs of each of the wandering attackers re-sounded on the exterior of the ship. The black exoskeleton merging into the lightless background. The first were few, but slowly and increasingly more landed onto the hull, gently swarming over the exterior, probing, searching, until eventually a weak-spot was discovered.

Plasma Cannons charged......

Plasma Cannons Discharged.......

The weakspot was a window, a sliver of transparent material, now exposed to the destroyers.

“Sir, long range scans have picked up a large ship emerging from the cloud of the matter out there. It is large and it seems to be headed straight toward us, I cannot get anything clear on the type of ship or the race. It does not match anything in our register.”

“Shit, shit, shit! This is not a military ship, this is a science vessel. All we do is take out elderly professors and their hotshot students to study some emission nebula or nova. We are not equipped to fight anything other than boredom.”

“Captain, I am getting indications of launches from the unknown. They are homing in on us.”

“Begin purging the navigational computers. If they capture this ship, they can trace us back home.”

“Yes sir, commencing purge.”

One of the scientists came forward, projecting his illusionary image which was habit by the Childer.

“What the hell is going on? We should have been back at Earth already. Why are you erasing the navigational computer? If you do that we will never find our way back home.”

The captain turned towards the professor.

“Look here Doctor, we are about to be attacked by an unknown species and if they manage to leave enough of the ship intact they might be able to trace us back to Earth using those same Nav computers you are protesting us erasing.”

The doctor stepped back, stunned by the reply he was not used to getting from another person. He stammered in reply.

“B-b-but how do you know they are aggressive.?”

Gitcher interrupted the stuttering doctor.

“The fighters are closing. They will be here within 30 seconds. They are already within firing range but it appears they are getting in close.”

“They are going to board us. Get all nonessential personal under cover and get those computers fragged. We can’t get anywhere and they are coming in hot. I hope you practiced your Psionics, because they are the only thing that might save our asses.”

Thirty seconds later there were ominous sounds coming through the hull as multiple contacts were made.

CLUNK...CLUNK...CLUNK. The ships made contact and locked upon the hull of The Icarus. After a few seconds, the view ports shattered and the atmosphere equalized with whatever was on the other side. The crew was carefully hid in different parts of the ship, making sure their images were disengaged.

The captain was inside a pannel, thinking to himself.

"If the ship is found to be abandoned, there might be a way out later…"

The five limbed organisms slowly pierced the hull of the Icarus from every direction. Viewports cracked, metal sheets surrendered, and the high powered claws of the Shivans tore at their enemy. Crashing through into the outer corridors, the Icarus was now invaded by the destroyers. Relentless, unforgiving, traversing corridor after corridor, the compound eyes absorbed all, from paint colour to language markers the Shivan overmind was slowly growing more aware.....

The vessel at first glance appeared to be vacant, but that is all it was... an appearance, a facade. Residual heating was still detectable from engine systems and sensory equipment. What seemed to be a highly advanced projection system was still emanating dwindling radiation, and the computer core was definitely active.

Bosch carefully watched everything with his iron glare, the vessel was apparently empty, there was nobody on board, but then..... who purged the database? The red text flickered on his monitor as a Shivan drone continued the download.

Not everything was as it seemed...... something was definitely wrong. Cracking his aged fingers the lone terran quickly proposed his speculations to the overmind.

They were ignored.... Until something was retrieved from the database, something that had a familiar tang of history.... The Knossos Nebula.... The link to Capella had been re-established, stabilised, reformed by something unknown. This was unacceptable, the Shivans were now forced to act, but not of their own will, in regards to vessels from third space, they had acquired an expert.....

Aken Bosch quickly pulled up the stellar maps for the Knossos nebula. Transferring the data from his own vessel the NTF Iceni in conjunction with the newly captured information from the alien wreck, Bosch began to consider suitable courses of action. There is one possible solution, Bosch aired to no one in particular. I believe it's time for a trap.... The old mans memories instantly flashed back to the glorious revelations in Deneb; where a GTVA squadron had happened upon his most prominent outpost, they were most certainly surprised when beam cannons erupted from a supposed mining installation. A wry chuckle whispered from the memory. When the Asteroid crumbled apart revealing his flagship. Perhaps it was time for a repeat performance......?

Flicking through his own personal library Aken decided upon a suitable piece for the moment, Brahms Requiem, such a noble composition.... Quickly communicating the provisions of his whims, the human Admiral watched as the wreck was slowly towed back towards the nebula. The music rose in volume and the tempo quickened, such a magnificent piece. Captivated and spell bound Bosch was pulled into the music, now unawares of the alien crafts plunge into subspace, unaware of the unfolding trap, unaware of his return to the Galaxy. As the choral reached its highest note, the admiral screen flickered red, something large was making its way to Knossos..... something very large.....

Bump for Balrogga [EDIT MADE]

Aboard the captured science vessel, the crew hid themselves. The Childer carefully closed their minds and sealed them, just like their Ta’Nar benefactors had taught them almost a century earlier. They had taught the newly evolved Childer how to close their minds, biological healing, telepathic skills, Telekinetics, and a few other abilities needed to impersonate an embodied person.

The captain carefully tried to passively listen to the chatter going on through the cabin but when he lowered his blocks enough to let in some of their thoughts, he was almost overcome by a multitude of voices all babbling incohesively. There were thousands of voices at the very least. His mind quickly snapped shut tight before the sheer volume would leave him stunned.

After a few seconds he stepped out of the hiding place he has chosen to get a better view of the invaders. The strange creatures seemed to possess 5 limbs in total. It was difficult to tell which its hands were and where its feet were.

He “watched” the strange beings walk through the cabin, the features of the creature were painted with the energies of their kinetic motion. Their arms were also encased in some sort of bio-plasmic nodes, the contained energies giving off a bright but distinctive glow.

Subspace received a faint glimmer of light as the Rakshsa class warship quickly formed the pale blue portal. The distortions gently radiated throughout the realm until they slowly ebbed away into nothing.

Watching as ever from his cabin Aken Bosch mused over the events; what was this ship? Where and who was it from? When was it from? And were they looking for him? The questions buzzed throughout the Admirals mind, his grey aged face trying to make sense of this seemingly random situation. The overmind however was responding without such tact; the Shivans as always were responding in the only way they knew how, open confrontation.

As the Rakshasa pushed its way from the lowest dimensional level she towed behind her the small science vessel the Icarus. Beyond lay a location that would bring back grand, yet hard memories to Bosch.

"The Knossos nebula." He said with tainted heart. "A place that can only bring one thing; death." His mind flickered back the daunting conflict between himself and the GTVA. Both sides had been fighting for months, the conflict seemingly endless with the Vasudans and Terran alliance no further to securing their goals. Until of course the discovery of the Knossos portal. The great gate built by the ancients was quickly restored by the GTVA, Bosch allowing them to use their limited resource on his project. Quickly and surely he had captured the gate from the GTVA; pushed through into the nebula; encountering perhaps the most daunting sight in his life.... A vast fleet of Sathanas Juggernauts, the number extending into the hundreds, each one circling the Iceni like a pack of wolves......... This time history was repeating itself, soon a new race would encounter the destroyers, soon a new race would be hunted by the pack.

Left flightless and immobile the Rakshasa pulled away back into the murk of the nebula. The great electrical storms impacting without mercy onto the ships already crippled systems. Apart from one... from the core a distress signal flowed, passing through dimensions and time, pleading for assistance.

The Smothered Dreams drifted lazily through Space Plus. The cargo ship was in route from Aldera VII to Bendalah IV with a load of spare parts destined for the robotics industry that would be opening up the colony world. Making easier for the colonists to tame their new world, the robots made out of the parts in the holds would be much welcomed, hopefully with many credits.

On the control deck there were two Childer on duty. One was relaxing while interfacing with his archives of old 21st century music while the other was piloting the aged hauler. Suddenly the navigator perked up and shut down the music program.

“Bob, I am picking up a distress signal. It is real weak but it is coming from somewhere ahead.”

His boredom temporary chased away, bob looked over at his companion.

“Are you kidding? There is nothing but nebula out there. Scanners show it being clear.”

“They also showed it was clear when you smashed into the docking station last Tuesday. We need to get that thing checked up. We can’t keep operating upon short range scanners and the seat of your pants.”

“Don’t be a smart ass. Let me see the message.”

“Can’t, it is an automated distress signal, not a message.”

“That means there might be some salvage to be gotten. Make the required requests for assistance and change course for the source of the signal. If there are survivors, we get to be heroes, if there isn’t we get to be rich.”

“Course changed; we will be there in about an hour.”

“Hopefully we get there with enough time to look around for something useful. Perhaps they might have some scanner upgrades for you…”

A Mara fighter skimmed through the reaches of the Nebula, her drive systems igniting small pockets of Hydorgen as she passed through the vast expanse. Her Hull, a perfect vision of black and red merged visually with the cloud, its composition providing the perfect mask for the perfect sensors.

Coming upon the wreck of the Icarus the lone wolf ignited its afterburners and plunged further into the void. Guests were arriving.

Subspace

Gravitational fluctuations rippled through the cloud, the infinite expanse of null matter vibrating timelessly. On board the Iceni Aken Bosch watched the readouts as warships prepared to depart the black.

Nebula

In the Nebula itself, a lone Lilith frigate patrolled the area, her fighter escort busy deploying beacons. Accelerating to flank speed, the ship circled around the newcomer; the overmind cautious; yet eagre.

Pulling around to the small flank of the smothered dreams, the Liliths powerful forward weapons charged, the small flare of energy resembling a spark of lightning. Something which this nebula did not lack.

Tailing her, but keeping a generous distance, the Frigate allowed the Smothered Dreams to close on the Icarus.......

The Smothered Dreams slowly closed in on The Icarus. The automated signal was leading them on like a bloodhound following the scent of a fleeing prey. Thom was carefully following the beacon coordinates because the ship still did not show on their sensors.

“Dammit Thom, I told you those sensors needed replaced.”

“Lay off it Bob or you will find yourself missing all those antique recordings…”

“I get the point. Watch the starboard. There is an asteroid drifting towards our course. Don’t want to loose any atmosphere.”

“Like it would matter, we don’t need to breathe anymore.”

“If you take out one of the cargo holds, we loose profits. The air rushing out will take part of the cargo with it.”

“You have a good point. Adjust our speed so it passes in front of us. Better keep an eye on that marble.”

The Smothered Dreams slowed and let the asteroid drift by before resuming speed. Shortly they could see the research vessel silhouetted against the nebula’s brilliant colors.

“See if you can get them on the horn.”

“OK”

After making the connections using his Telekinesis and his CyberPsi, he sent a message to The Icarus.

This is the freighter, The Smothered Dreams. We have picked up your automated distress signal. Please respond if you are able. I repeat, this is The Smothered Dreams responding to your Emergency Beacon. Please respond if you are able.

There was no reply.

“Well, it sounds like this is a scavenge job.”

“You haven’t given them a chance to respond yet.”

“Fine, instruct the computer to repeat the message with a sixty second delay between them.”

“OK, set it.”

“Get us in closer, let’s see what we have.”

The Emerald glow of the KK Drive kicked in and The Smothered Dreams was pulled forward by the singularity at the bow. The Drive Field diverted many of the particles that would have collided with the ship; the singularity devoured any that got too close.

This is the freighter, The Smothered Dreams. We have picked up your automated distress signal. Please respond if you are able. I repeat, this is The Smothered Dreams responding to your Emergency Beacon. Please respond if you are able.



Minutes later:


“Well, it looks like we have an Archimedes Class Science vessel. I wonder what they are doing way the hell out here.”

“Who cares, if there isn’t anyone on board, and then you will get those sensors you have been pissing about for the past few hours.”

“That is a big ‘if’ there. Even one crewmember left on board would invalidate your salvage claim. Perhaps they will let you tear apart their ship out of the goodness of their hearts for rescuing them.”

“Lay off it and don’t be such an ass. And that's our salvage claim because you stand to gain as much as I do if that ship is unoccupied. I am just the more realistic of us two.”

As a response Bob triggered the message to play again.

This is the freighter, The Smothered Dreams. We have picked up your automated distress signal. Please respond if you are able. I repeat, this is The Smothered Dreams responding to your Emergency Beacon. Please respond if you are able.

“Damn it, the long range sensors are still offline. Short range is barely able to pick up the energy silhouette from the ship. We need to get closer for me to be able to scan them.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“Shut up Thom”

Thom just chuckled as he brought the freighter in closer. The bulky vessel slowly approached the darkened and scarred science vessel. There were a couple running lights feebly blinking as if they were not sure if they were supposed to be working or dead like the rest of the ship. There were several gaping holes where the view ports used to be and electrical burns ran the ship from bow to stern.

“Damn! That bird sure looks like it went through hell and back. I doubt anyone stuck around and left the windows open for some fresh air. It has to be deserted.”

“Smart-ass.”

This is the freighter, The Smothered Dreams. We have picked up your automated distress signal. Please respond if you are able. I repeat, this is The Smothered Dreams responding to your Emergency Beacon. Please respond if you are able.

“Any reply from the message yet?”

“Nope.”

“Nothing to do but to go on over. Set the computer to document everything just in case we have to prove salvage rights.”

“Computer set. Disengaging drives. Holding position 50 meters off its port. Auto Pilot enabled and instructed to hold position.”

“I guess that is about all we can do. Let’s head over.”

“OK, but leave the message looping so we can say we tried to get hold of them.”

This is the freighter, The Smothered Dreams. We have picked up your automated distress signal. Please respond if you are able. I repeat, this is The Smothered Dreams responding to your Emergency Beacon. Please respond if you are able.


Moments later Thom and Bob slipped through the hull of The Smothered Dreams and floated across the emptiness between the two ships. Neither had their images projecting, instead concentrating on their movements.