NationStates Jolt Archive

Three stormtroopers flew against the far wall as Julian blasted into the fray, the blue of his lightsaber making arcs in the air as he swung madly at the invaders. The main hall of the Temple had been breached, and hundreds of troopers had begun pilling in. It was all the overwelmed defenders could do to slash their way through the hordes to try and protect their home. The Temple was falling apart, the AT-ATs blasting away at the stone building, it's walls crumbling and falling down the steep cliff to the river below. Julian swung his blade as he made his way for the stairs, deflecting a blast sending it back from where it came.

"We cannot hold the temple any longer, we must depart!" he yelled to Brutus, who after slicing through a trooper managed a nod. "We must regroup at the docking bay, I believe there is a transport there that can carry the survivors out." Another nod came from Brutus.

They dove from the second floor back down into a group of attackers, their blades flying violently and gracefully as they cleaved a path through to the far corridor to make their escape. Seeing them leave, the thirty other Jedi defending the main hall also cut their way through to the exit with haste, attempting to get clear, knowing the battle was already over.

The transport excellerated, preparing to make its jump to hyperspace. The blockading fleet of star destroyers, thirty in all, sat menacingly, attempting to cut off their escape, two of them moving in to intercept.

'Ready to make the jump in three, two, one..."

The vessel jumped, right between the two incoming star destroyers, narowly escaping the fray, but not without damage, heavy damage. Emerging in an unknown sector, the Jedi quickly discovered their navigations had been disabled, and they had made a blind jump, thankfully surviving the trip. Only problem was, where were they?

Bump?

In the basic system, a rather large moon was in the process of orbiting another of almost equal size. The odd thing about this was that neither was orbiting the local star and there seemed to be a vast amount of traffic between the two spatial bodies.

In addition to the spatial anomaly, a fleet was seemingly guarding both moons. As the newly arrived ship appeared, thirteen ships pealed off of the fleet and bore down upon the new arrival.

Please state your buisness.

ooc: Would it possible to be a Sith Lord, following your character, trying to hunt him down? If so, I could bring in one of my old characters from another RP that I have been dieing to use:p

(OOC: Sure, actually having a guy chasing me would be cool.)

IC:

Julain listened to the rather blunt message, and turned to his friend. "Well," he said in a tired voice, "Perhaps we won't have time to repair the engines." Brutus smiled. "Could you open a channel for me, Brutus?"

"This is Jedi Master Julian, of the vessel Faith. We are the last survivors of our crumbling order, as our humble temple has just recently been destroyed by our enemies. Unfortunatly, as we made our escape, our navigations were disabled, and we arrived here unintentionally."

The message was recieved, and a message was sent from the largest of the 'greeting' fleet to the larger of the two moons. Upon reciet of the return message, the vessel replied.

We can offer you two, well actually three, options. The first is you leave immediately, the second is you remain in this system until permission is given for you to leave, or third, we destroy you. We regret the necessity of this but you have entered a highly restricted system.

The Survellance Ship silently monitored and scanned the new arrival.

"Sir, another ship just arrived. It appears heavily damaged. Locals moving to intercept it."

"Do we have a confirmation on ship type?"

"No, sir. Completley new to the database. Sensors indicate few weapons. All we have is the name Faith painted across the hull."

"Continue monitoring the situation."

"Yes sir."

"We are deeply sorry for this event, however it was unavoidable. If you could please grant us time to repair our navigation systems, we could be on our way." Julian turned, "I sense something Brutus. You don't think it's possible that the Sith could track us through a blind jump do you?"

Brutus shrugged, "It's quite possible. But for now, we have bigger issues. I'll go help out with the repairs, I'm sure you can handle things here. Call if you need anything."

Should you wish to remain, even for a short time, you shall be commiting yourself to remaining until we release you. Otherwise you may fall back on one of the two other options. Again we regret the necessity of this but we must insist.

The thirteen vessels moved to enclose the Faith, in preparation against the possible necessity of enforcing one of the options.

Julian sighed, clearly there was no argueing with these people. "Very well, we shall depart. However, you must understand that without our navigations, we cannot make a jump into hyperspace, so we shall be forced to leave on thrusters alone. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

He took his lightsaber from his belt and began twirling it around in the air with the force, seemingly trying to take up some of his thoughts with the simple trick while he began moving the ship away from the two moons.

"Sir. the locals are moving in twords the Faith. New ship is departing. Locals following. This could be the distraction we need. Should we deploy?"

The commander thought. "Do it."

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

3 small, black ovals exited the cargo hatch of the ship and floated off twords their targets.

One floated near the planet and deployed into a Satellite Array, stealthed, of course

One shot off towords one of the moons.

And one moved to within a meter of the Faith's hull, virtually undetectable.

That is not an option. You may choose to wait, as our guests which would incidentally mean your ship would get the repairs it needs, leave immediately, or be destroyed. Again as we have said, we regret the necessity but it is just that, necessary. Also, any further obstructionism shall be counted as a request for destruction.

The ships continued to follow the Faith, not letting them out of the encirclement.

As the orb neared within half a light-second of the two moons, multiple forms of energy fire, from both the fleet, and the slightly larger of the moons arced out. The combined firepower was sufficiant to devestate a small fleet much less a tiny probe.

the black oval slowly attatched itself to the hull of the Faith.

and even more slowly, began to melt its way through, sealing its own passage so as not to let and oxygen out. Once in, it dropped to the floor, and its true size became apparent.

It lay against the hull, lying on the floor, no bigger then a watch batterey.

"Then, I guess you leave us with only one true choice. We shall follow your instructions, and will gladly accept any help you can provide."

A clank was heard not far from where Brutus was walking. He looked around, and quietly listened, reaching out with the force to determine what cause the sound. Most likely it would be just something someone dropped, but his senses told him differently. He drew the hilt of his blade from his sash, and hit the button. The green hue of his sword leaving a reflection on the white walls. He continued on his way, wary of anything that could come out at him, and then he came across it, a hole cut through the hull, and resealed, and an odd orb sitting in the middle of the corridor, seeming to transform...

That is good. Would you prefere to be travel yourself or be towed? Also, welcome and we hope you find your stay enjoyable.

The lead vessel again sent a message to the larger of the two moons, thought this time it was a positive one.

"We still have our thrusters, and I can navigate with those. I think we shall be fine until we reach...wherever it is you're taking us."

Aboard the massive Super Star Destroyer, The Ravager, The Sith Lord, Count Alexander Delos (http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/Blastit52/countdooku.jpg) (Think younger Count Dooku), also known as Darth Pernicious, slammed his fist on the control panel, cursing loudly. "They've escaped, commander..." he growled, as an Imperial Officer stood behind him, a nervous expression on his face.

"Sir...we couldn't help it...they were jedi...many of them. We did, however, happen to take out a good many of them," replied the Commander.

Delos turned back, facing the officer with a fake smile. "Of course, commander. Some of these jedi died, no doubt...yet, I believe my orders were to eradicate all of them. Orders that...as it seems...were not completed!" he shouted.

"Sir...one of the last surviving pods jumped to hyperspace," squeeked the Officer.

"Where to?"

"We were tracking them, but it seems they have taken a blind jump...They have gone to a distant area. We cannont pinpoint their location, however, we know the area where they have escaped..."

Delos sat down in his chair, lost in thought. This could be an ambush...but it would be too risky for the jedi. Too many losses... He looked sternly at the officer.

"Commander, ready to fleet for hyperspace, Set course for their location. Keep several Star Destroyers on guard, continuing their search for anymore Jedi..."

"Sir, yes sir!" replied the Officer, ordering crew members to prepare the jump.

Delos smiled as he looked thoughtfully out the window, to the beyond that was space. I am coming for you, jedi... he thought wickedly as they entered hyperspace.

Then please follow us.

The ships rotated upon thier axis and set out, thought the ones that had been in front of the Faith waited and followed behind them.

The thirteen ships were leading the vessel to the larger of the moon.

ooc: Oh, and North Mack, the planet is a earth-type planet, but otherwise nothing is on it.

The Faith followed their escorts.

(OOC: What more can I really say until we land and get out of the ship?)

A slit opened up in the side of the larger moon. A tractor beam picked up and guided the Faith into the bay, whilst it's escorts peeled off.

Inside the rather large hanger, there was a massive amount of action going on of people working on ships, loading vessels and doing all sorts of work. The Faith was guided to a open spot, where an 'honour' guard was lined up to await the inhabitants of the ship. As it was being landed, the door sealed shut.

The Ravager, along with 25 other star destroyers came out of hyperspace, seemingly, in the middle of no where.

Count Delos stood from his chair and walked around the room, looking through the windows as he slowly walked. "Commander-"

"My lord, I am sorry. We tracked them as best we could-" started the officer.

Delos silenced him with a casual wave of the hand. "Don't fret, commander. Send out the probes. See what we can find. Do NOT engage anything or anyone without me knowing."

"Yes, my lord," bowed the commander as he sent the orders through to the engineers.

Delos walked out of the bridge, down into his detention area. He smiled as he observed several men in separate prison cells. This prison ward was made especially for this occasion. Unique technology adorned the ceiling, preventing any force to penetrate through the forcefield that kept the jedi entrapped in their own cells. "Greetings, Jedi. I am-"

"Count Delos. What you have done was a terrible act! You must end this now! Stop this senseless war and join the light-" began one of the imprisoned Jedi.

"I do intend to end this war, Jedi. By exterminating every jedi, I will end it. And the end is very close. But you see, some of your friends escaped me..."

"Master Julian and Brutus!"whispered a youngling in another cell, before a nearby jedi shushed him.

Delos smiled warmly, yet somewhat sinisterly. "Many thanks child. But might anyone know where they may be running to?"

The room was quiet. "Oh well...luckily I can scan the suspected area with the force...they won't be able to hide for long. It's been a pleasure jedi. It reminds me of my childhood...Naive to trust the jedi teachings of doing nothing, while the galaxy crumbles before us..."

Delos began to walk to his private chambers, so he could meditate and begin scanning for Brutus and Julian's force signature.

As he walked, he thought of his plans for the jedi. The older one's will most likely be killed soon, unless they have an unusually powerful connection with the force. So far, Delos detected none.

The younglings, however, will become his own personal assassins. Powerful in the force, and even deadlier when combined with the lightsaber, he will have them sweep the galaxy to kill any who oppose him.

The doors of the craft opened, and down the ramp walked Julian and Brutus, wearing identicle white robes and brown cloaks, with three other jedi dressed likewise walking behind them. They stopped at the bottom of the ramp, and looked around curiously to take in the aspects of the area while waiting for the greeting party to come forward.

Of the fourty-five person welcoming commitee, a young man with vivid green hair, stepped forward and asked, "Welcome to Theao, and might I ask who you happen to be and why you happen to be here?"

All of the jedi looked forward at the man, and Julian looked behind him, getting a silent consent to speak for them all. "I am Jedi Master Julian. My associate here is Master Brutus, and the three jedi knights are Torek, Domitian and Harmi. We have about thirty more of us on the ship. Our temple was attacked by sith forces, and we were forced to flee. Unfortunatly, they disabled our navigations systems before we could jump, and we arrived here."

"Do you have any luggage, or just the proverbial shirts on your back?" The man asked, "Also I have to ask that you relinquish any weaponry you might have on you. And lastly, my name is Jason and I'll be your guide."

"Only the clothes on our back, the ship, and our food supplies. And, if it's all the same to you, may we leave our lightsabers on our ship instead?"

"We will have our technicians working on your ship, and we would prefere there be no unnecessary risk of injury. I can guarantee your weaponry won't come to harm." Jason replied

Julian nodded, "Very well." He took his blade and handed it to Jason. "I am very grateful that you will help us fix our ship. We really must get moving to our secondary temple, and link up with our other brothers who have managed to escape the assault."

"That might take a while, but if you give the location we could send word that you are safe." He replied as he passed the saber to another of the greeters, who went and collected the sabers of the other four.

"Now if you come this way." He said as he led them to an odd bullet shaped contraption which had a door open, "After you." Jason commented, gesturing for them to get in.

the orb waited dormant until the jedi had exited the ship.

Then it began to digest the floor. After it had eaten about a quarters worth or metal, the nanos inside it began their programmed routines. The orb began to grow and shift, until it was about the size of a silver dollar, and looked vaugly like a spider.

It got up, and began to wander the corridors, mapping them out, and always heading closer to the bridge.

Julian gave a shake of his head, "I am sorry but we must keep the location of our temple hidden for now. We already sent a transmission earlier in any case."


Varit walked absentmindedly through the corridors of the ship, slowly making his way to the bridge where he would wait until Julian and Brutus returned. He still couldn't believe it. The Sith had destroyed their stronghold, their home. Everything the young padawan had known was there, including his late master. But such thoughts could create a path to the darkside, so he quickly dismissed them. A puzzled expression then formed on his face as he saw the small object moving along the floor, no bigger than a coin, heading towards the bridge just as he was. He quickly recovered from his surprise and began following the device closely, curiously trying to decipher what it was, a droid of the locals no doubt, here to check on the damage done so they can repair it.

"As you wish." He commented as they entered the vehicle. Had the two jedi looked out of the window, they'd noticed they were travelling at an exceptional speed, but with absolutely no sense of motion.

A probe droid had been traveling for more than an hour, nothing but space showing up.

Thirty minutes later, it came upon two small moons. Definately a start...

**********************************************************

Delos sat crosslegged in his sparsely decorated bed chambers.

His bed was quite exquisite, but other than that, he had very little in his room. A dresser with several baubles and strange artifacts on the flat surface. A mirror sat, overlooking the dresser. Next to the dresser stood Delos' armor stand, currently holding his favored black armor, specially made.

His armor was quite smooth, allowing for quick, efficient menuevers that lightsaber combat taxed most armor on, yet it was strong enough to block a blaster bolt or two. Behind the armor was his cape, black with a red DP in it.

Next to the armor was a small weapons stand, holding various saber hilts of different sizes and shapes.

That made up the entirety of Delos' room. Except for Delos himself, who was scanning the nearby area for any signs of the jedi...

He felt a slight tug of the force, pulling him towards a direction that was strong in the force...

Suddenly, the door slid open with a hiss, the Imperial Commander stepping through. "My lord, one of our probes have discovered several moon sized structures nearby. Shall we proceed to follow it?"

"Yes. I believe that would bring us closer to the escaped jedi..." he said sternly, not breaking his position, nor even opening his eyes.

As the second probe approached, it happened to be met by a patrol which promptly dealt to it the same fate that had happened to the probe that had attempted to close in on the two moons.

The orb, well, spider now, detected the presence behind it. It quickly computed what to do, based on its detection, and the fact that it hadn't been destroyed yet. It decided its best course of action was too continue its journey. It finally reached the bridge. It climbed onto the nearest computer terminal and began to try to interface with the system, masquerading as a Damage Assesment Program.

In plain view of the two moons, a wormhole formed, creating a crackling mass of energy. Through it, three colonies and a fleet of eighteen hundred ships came through. Obvious hull damage could be seen on all three colonies, seeing as how they were nearly three times the size of a Super Star Destroyer. The other ships, however, measured no larger than thirteen hundred meters long, most of which were just very long guns.

Explosions rippled between them as smaller dots raced each other. These small dots were mobile suits, but that's not all there was. Organic life forms flew through them, spitting corrosive liquids that exploded on contact with any surface. The smaller life forms just slammed into the sides of capital ships, exploding in a mass of carapace and acid.

And behind all this followed one of the most massive Zerg Broods ever unleashed upon man.

Thousands upon thousands of mutalisks, scourges, devourers, and guardians poured forth from the larger symbiotes, blasting at the nearest enemy possible.

__________________________________________________

Aboard Colony-1, Governor-General Diego Ruiz sat in the lead chair within the colony's main control room.

"Critical hull damage confirmed on all three colonies!"

"Extensive infestation within Colony-3! They report that Overlords are dropping Zerglings, Hydralisks, and Ultralisks!"

"Lead flagship Gardula has been annihalated! Multiple Scourge impacts within the combat fleet!"

"Sir! Infantry defenses on Colony-2 also confirm landing operations!"

"Send out a call for help!" The Governor-General was turning many different shades of red. "We need to inform any locals that are within this space that there is a Zerg Brood within the area!"

Within seconds, a wide-band transmission is sent through the void of space.

Attention! Any sentient forces within the area! This is Colony-1 on the 18th Colony Fleet! We are currently under assault by the Zerg Ragnarok Brood! Their numbers mass in the near millions, and our forces are not nearly sufficient enough to hold them off! Please send assistance!

The inbound colony ships had stepped into the space between a rock and a hard place, whilst the zerg were asking to be bent over the proverbial desk.

A message was sent out to the distressed colonies ships,
You have wandered into restricted space and as such those that survive shall be taken into custody and held until such time as deemed appropriate.
and the signal happened to be chased by tens of thousands of missiles, laser beams, plasma bolts, and grav-cannon rounds. While the vessels weren't specifically targeted, the simply laws of statistics and the distance assured that they'd be included in the on-rushing volley.

A return message was sent back in the form of Diego's voice.

What the hell are you doing?! This isn't even our fault and you're just firing into us indifferently?! We have nearly two million civilians within these colonies!

"Tell all ships to veer off and evade! Move straight towards the twin moons for protection! If they target even one of our ships directly, blast them into oblivion!"

Orders were transmitted, and were executed. However, many ships were destroyed in the process, protecting the colonies from some of the fire.

All three colonies were hit, causing even more extensive damage to the colonies, but still they plowed through the onslaught. Their hull-mounted mega particle cannons and missile turrets continued to blast at the Zerg.

The Zerg were thrown into a frenzy as their numbers were being dwindled. The blood floating through space wasn't helping, either. They continued to charge forth, not caring what happened to them. Some even rushed past their initial target, just to tear apart the new foe that had challenged them.

Fault is on those who enter restricted space, not those who set the restricted space. You have two million civilians, we have close to three billion that your actions have threatened.

The message was sent as many more volleys of space renting weaponry were launched and while neither the colony nor the war ships were specifically targetted, if they got betweent the guns and thier target they weren't spared.

ooc: ooo Zerg...this could get very interesting...

Delos had finished his meditation several minutes before the message was patched through.

"Zerg? Strange..." Delos said curiosly. Earning the trust of these people could greatly aid my campain against the jedi... Patch me in, commander...


Greetings, Colony-1, we of the Empire have listened to your call. We will provide assistance immediately. We request coordinates of some sort.

Delos awaited the reply.

Oh, bull shit! How are we supposed to know this is restricted space when we don't even have you listed on our star charts?!

The majority of the main battle ships had managed to move out of the cylindrical area where the twin moons and their fleet were firing upon, as well as Colony-1 and -2. However, Colony-3 began having trouble as the main bulk of the brood fell upon them, engulfing the colony.

"Sir! Colony-3 is reporting that their main reactor is failing! It's going to blow!"

All forces, regardless of who you are! Brace for impact!

As the transmission ended, small explosions could be seen within the bulk of the Ragnarok Brood as the colony took extensive damage. Soon after, all twenty thermo-nuclear super generators that powered Colony-3 erupted, consuming the brood in its fiery mass and sending out a massive shockwave in every direction, rocking the entire Colony Fleet, continuing on towards the twin moons, and would be visible to any force within three-days travel of the sector.

The lack of charting on your part is not our resposibility.

The colony's detonation and subsequent shockwave were registered, examined and dismissed as being a non-threat.

Meanwhile with the majority of semi-'friendlies' out of the way, the intensity of fire increased by an order of magnitudes.

The hundreds of thousands of Zerg who had not been destroyed by the massive explosion charged forth, but to their own demise as the many lasers, missiles, and other miscellaneous weapons pierced through their ranks, killing them faster than they could advance. The cerebrate in charge of them soon realized that he had met his match, but had also provided a new source of growth for the entire neo-hive. Before its last sentient thoughts were erased from the face of the galaxy, it transmitted its last thoughts, before it was torn assunder, leaving only the left-over carcasses of massive creatures within the space.

___________________________________________

On-board Colony-1, there was a cry of joy as the Ragnarok brood was erradicated, but even so, their losses had to be accounted for, and an alliance had to be formed.

"Zerg space forces have been eliminated, Governor-General."

"What about the left-over Zerg forces that managed to settle Colony-2?"

"They report that they are having difficulty controlling the infestation, but it seems to be contained to the living interior."

"Good. Open a transmission to our hosts. Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement."

A transmission was soon sent forth to the twin moons.

This is Governor-General Diego Ruiz of the Copen Galactic Republic, 18th Colony Fleet. We thank you for the assistance you provided, although it was rather...deplorable...

We apologize for bringing the Zerg Ragnarok Brood, but it was unavoidable.

There was a short pause as Diego received additional information.

And it may be too late to fix what's been done...

One of our Newtypes reported sensing a message being sent through the void to an unknown location. He says that it seems to have been a transmission to the Neo-Hive within our own galaxy. They could be here within weeks...maybe even days...

Although we'd like to assist in any way possible, we would like to request help in repairing Colony-1 and, as soon as the infestation is removed, Colony-2, as well as our fleet.

ooc: ooo Zerg...this could get very interesting...

Delos had finished his meditation several minutes before the message was patched through.

"Zerg? Strange..." Delos said curiosly. Earning the trust of these people could greatly aid my campain against the jedi... Patch me in, commander...




Delos awaited the reply.

Although the tranmission had been received, it had taken awhile for the Copen to respond, and this was their answer.

To those of the Empire, we know all about you, and we refrain from taking assistance from such cruel, demented people such as yourself.

And don't think to track this transmission. Its on a wideband frequency that couldn't even give you a general location of where we are located.

The actions may have been deplorable, but the concern for our people outweights that for others. Whilst the threat is markable, it is not an overt threat. As to repairs, that would be problematic due to the lack of shipyards of a capital class.

In addition we would require you remain here until either our work is complete or we give leave to depart. We can host the civilian portions of your population to safeguard them.

Meanwhile a message was sent from the larger of the moons, the active one, out to call back the wandering fleets.

Thank you. Any support, even the smallest amount, would be appreciated. In the meantime, we're going to focus on sanitizing Colony-2.

And now it was time to work.

_________________________________________________

Across the universe, on the galactic rim of the Copen Galaxy, the Overmind of the Zerg there awoke from its deep meditation after receiving its fallen child's message.

A new ground for which to hunt. This shall be most intriguing.

The Overmind, metaphorically, rose up, calling out to all Zerg Broods in the Copen Galaxy. Its was time for their Great Journey across the void...

We are sending vessels to pick up your civilians

Four large vessels split off and headed toward the colony vessel that was transmitting the message.

Once they'd neared, they launched drop-ships to facilitate the transfer.

((OOC: I'm goin' after this post.))

The main hangars were opened to reveal very large ship docks capable of facilitating some of the largest ships throughout the known universe.

This is the main control tower. We're ready to receive your transports. And if you have the supplies necessary for repair, we request that they be transfered on your next run, please. We'll do the repairs ourselves.

Unfortunately we do not know what parts and materials you might need to repair your vessels.

The total civilian population could, should they all be willing to cram into combat cramped military points, transfere in a three trips thought it was more likely for it to take six as few people would cram to that level.

the small spider gained access to the system in the confusion of the Zerg attacks. It began checking through the databanks, looking for that one piece of information which would make its mission a complete and total success.

If found that information.


And then it detonated itself and fried the jedi ship's systems to hell and gone.

Delos remained calm as he listened to the message.

I'm sorry you feel such to us. We are not what you think. Those times are behind us and we are attempting to reestablish our dignity. Would you reconsider your attitude for us? We have supplies and engineers that could aide you, as well as weapons that could kill any of these 'zerg' that are still around.

Our ships use basic titanium mixed with a lunar metal. We have the latter of the two, but not enough to make the necessary repairs.

In the meantime, another transmission was sent back to the Sith Lord.

As far as we're concerned, you use something that's called the 'Dark Side of the Force.' Quite frankly, that sounded evil enough for us not to trust you.

I apologize, but you're not getting coordinates out of us. Good day.

And the transmission cut.

________________________________________________

Millions upon billions of lightyears away, the menace of the Copen Galaxy, the Neo-Zerg, had amassed a fleet four times as large as the first Zerg Hive Fleet that had made its entrance into the Koprulu sector of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Overmind looked over its children, proud to be the mother of such creations. It had even managed to take control of an Insectoid relative of theirs', known only as Aliens, by coming across one of the Queens that had been on a fringe world.

All is complete, my children. Now, we go forth to assimilate this new prey.

The Overmind concentrated, taking its mind off of all other things, sending the entire Hive Fleet into a frenzy. Soon, it had managed to rip a hole in the fabric of space, allowing the Hive to spill forth into it like water to a drain.

After the first load of civilians were taken to a vacent bay that happened to be on the opposite side of the large moon in relation to the smaller moon. As they were unloaded and left to mill, the ships were loaded with a limited number of titanium bars and sent back to pick up more civilians.

the survellance ship received the message from the spider.

"Sir, it is confirmed."
"Call in the fleet."

The survellance ship sent a single transmission. Although it gave away its position, it only mattered for a few seconds before the Fleet shifted in. All 6000 ships.

They immediatly began to move twords the planets.

The appearence of a rather large fleet was met with a message, Should you fail to leave, immediately, then you shall be destroyed. as the most powerful weaponry was charged. Guns that could tear apart a planet in short order began tracking the larger vessels but if the newly arrived fleet could survive the first volley they wouldn't be happy with the state of things.

ooc: For curiosity what was confirmed?
Also are you targetting one of the planets or my moons?

Another one of the Imperial probes had followed the path of the first, staying far out of reach from the fleet and the lasers of the moons and was observing the fleet, sending the live feed straight to Delos' ship.

"Sir, shall we do anything?" asked the commander nervously.

"Not yet, Commander, not yet," Delos replied, watching the video with great interest, his fingers steepled.

With cat like reflexes I grabed the invader by the throat. "Tell me the Truth!" I demanded. But the truth couldn't be told and he knew it. Yet I Repeated my request and continued to tighen my grip.

As the last breath left the soul of the invader, I realized the wrong I had done.
Fear griped my body as a cold sweat dripped from my forehead. I need to flee, run away, forget that this has happened.

Life has changed for me now. Seeking the truth is my goal.

Remember, do you know who's watching you?

As the fleet moved towords the moons, the Commodore sent a message.

This is Commodore Jackson of the North Mack Imperial Fleet.

We mean you no harm. We have recently been attacked by a new, dangerous space-faring species. The species itself is a hive mind, following the orders of a single, massive being. We have compiled sensory data from thousands of computers, most of which the owners never even knew the importance of the data they carried.

Anyway, we beleive that this area will be the next to be attacked. Since the enemy uses Wormholes to traverse space, it is imperitive we capture this wormhole so we can trace it back to their homeworld.

We ask for your assistance in capturing the wormhole and defeating these dangerous creatures.

((Sorry I haven't been able to post as of recent. I got hit by a car on Friday and I was in the hospital until today.

I'm fine, though. Only a couple bruises and a streak of road rash. I'll post tomorrow.))

Your presence here is a threat. As to your problem, we do not care. Should they bother us, we shall destroy them. Should you wish to follow the wormhole back to it's origins, you can do it alone as we do not have any interest in xenocide regardless of whether the race is interested in xenociding us. Also any further forward momentum shall be met by extreme force.

ooc: Alright, hope you feel better.

the commodore sent another message

I dont think you quite realize how important this is. I said we do not mean you any harm. However, that doesnt mean we wont harm you if you interfere.

And we don't think you realize how much we don't care about your petty problems and wishes. You have intruded on our privacy and that is something that will not be tolerated. We do not care what the threat you believe this hivemind represents.

To punctuate the message a PSP cannon was fired 'across the bow' of the largest ship.

Commodore Jackson sighed as a weapon was fired at his ships.

"Well, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but our orders are explicit. Helm! Call Battlestations! I want sheilds full bow. Tell the fleet to take out those heavy cannons!"

The fleet suddenly became a lot harder to see as the solid black sheilds came up. Though they appeared black, sophisticated computer prorgams modified the view from each ships bridge so that vision was not obstructed.

All of the 6000 ships in the Fleet fired at the heavy cannons, as upwards of 10000 fighters came screaming out of the carriers to engage the moons.

"I want as little damage done as possible. We may have to use the system defences ourselves in a short amount of time."

The captain on watch groaned. Of all the shifts for this to happen, it had to be his. He straightened in the chair of the worldship's bridge and gave the orders.

An massive shield, or rather, thousands of smaller multiply overlapping shields sprug into being as the point defences activated. Only a massive saturation of missiles or fighters would stand a chance against the worldship which had been masquerading as a large scale moon base.

ooc: What heavy cannons(do you mean the PSP cannon)?

ooc: yeah. whatever ones were that 'Guns that could tear apart a planet in short order'.

IC: The Ships prepared for a massive incoming, and began concentrating all their fire on the first PSP. Though the appearance of sheilds had surprised them, It could be overcome.

The fighters closed in and began to saturate the sheilds with fire.

As the fighters entered the light-second mark from the worldship, they were met by millions of rounds, ballistic and laser, reached out to show the new fleet the inefficiancy of fighters.

As the NM fleet and the worldship(and it's attendent fleet) traded fire, with the Theao vessels holding back somewhat as they seemed to have some good work intended just not to be done here, the generators that were responsible for the proper shields began powering up.

ooc: Then those are the PSP cannons(even thought I have more destructive in arsenal, they aren't guns).
Just for the record, the worldship is over 5300km in diameter

OoC: I know the worldship is big. you said it was hiding as a moon.

IC: The fighters dodged with the speed of the most experienced pilots in the entire Empire. Even with the skills of veterans, droves were still lost as the dodged one laser, to run into a hail of bullets. of the 10,000 fighters to engage the sheilds, over half were lost in the first minute.

"Sir, the fighters are taking heavy losses. They're not causing enough damage."

"Bring the Shift Frigates and KE Launchers into range."

400 ships moved closer to the worldship. 42 Shift Frigates, and the rest Kinetic Energy Launch platforms.

The Shift Frigates began launching the most expensive missiles ever constructed by North Mack. Each missile carried a Shift Drive, the same type that the ships used to travel across interstellar distances.

5,000 missiles launched in the first wave, bypassing the sheilds completley to detonate their Nuclear Charges against the worldships surface. (hull?)

The barage exaused half the supply, but hopefully, it would be enough damage to turn the battle to the Empires favor

The missiles smashed into, and gouged out large sections of already age battered stone. The PSP cannons were exceptionally heavily armoured as they were expensive and problematic to repair, but the concentrated bombardment was sufficiant to render it off-line.

Attack had prompted a much harsher response as the heavier cannons, beams and the start of missiles were sent out to teach the pests a lesson. The shields had reached activiation level of charge and the massively powerful shields flickered in.

Why don't you go back to whatever mission you were attempting when you intruded on us and save your ships?

ooc: What you call shift missiles, I call either hyper or jump(depending on type/specifications). And surface, similar in composition to the moon(at least for a bit of distance)

Why don't you go back to whatever mission you were attempting when you intruded on us and save your ships?

The commodore smiled.

"How many ships have we lost so far?"

"263 Ships and 6,724 Fighters... 25... 27... 30..."

"Fine. Call back the fighters. Continue the KE bombardment and launch 2000 more SM's."

2000 more Shift Missiles slammed into the surface of the worldship, again dealing nuclear death.

"Damnit. We'll never get through that heavy sheild at this rate. what to do... what to do... well, for starters, begin attempting to crack their network. I want standard backlash procedure in place before we begin."

"Firewalls up. Begining cracking."

"Good. Scan for any point in the sheild weaker then the rest."

"Scan commencing."

"Hmmmm, Someone's picking at my systems. Can't have that. They should know you don't try and get into a girl's system without permission."One of the primary AS commented as she saw the attempted, and completely unauthorised, accessing. In the digitial domain, the AS appeared in front of the attempted hacker and asked, "Do you mind?"

Meanwhile the missiles had finally gouged a hole in the rock based outer hull only to come into contact with the actually hull, an armoured carapace that put the outer hull to shame.

I ask you again, why don't you give up and keep your crew alive. All you're doing is spending lives like water for next to no effect?

The AI of the dominant Dreadnaught was startled as a figure appeared before it. Do you mind?

The AI quickly fashioned itself Body Armor out of a Firewall, and a Minigun out of System Deconstruction Code.

"If you do not move out of the way, I will be forced to move you myself."

out of the corner of its virtual eye, it spotted something floating past at incredible speeds. It reached out and grabbed this object, but opened its guard as it did so.

==============================================

The missiles stopped dead when they reached the worldships main hull. The combined weaponry of the Fleet might destroy the hull, but they couldn't penetrate the sheilds.

"Sir, the hacking program Sent us basic schematics, but we lost contact with it right after. I'd assume thats all we'll ever get from it."

"Do the schematics show placements of sheilds generators?"

"um... just a few sir, maybe enough to open a hole."

"Calculate their locations and send Shift Missiles into them. All we need is a small hole."


=================================

another hundred shift missiles fired, hopefully directly into the housing for 50 of the worldships sheilds. Whether there would be a big enough hole remained to be seen.

"Do you really think that you're able to brace me successfully, in my own system no less?" She asked incredously of the AI. The opening of the guard was useful, but completely unnecessary as it booted the intruder out of the system, and left it with a tech version of a mega-migrain.

=================================

The missiles again crashed into the stone sections of the hull, as the the local around the PSP cannon did not have generators nearby. The same composition of alloy that prevent teleportation from occuring, anywhere onto or off of a Theao vessel, also served to stymie the missiles's ability to circumvent the shields.

ooc: The Main shield generator is located deep inside the worldship proper, the smaller overlapping shields are generated on the hull.
Also technically ships can fly through the large one, just not fast(Very slowly)

"Missile strike failed sir. Some kind of anti-shift field."

"Damnit. Any other ideas?"

"Sir, scans indicate that we might be able to move through the sheilds if---"

"What? Then why haven't we been doint that!?"

"Sir, if you'll let me finish, we might be able to move through the outer sheilds if we do it at an extremely slow rate. Thats why none of our weapons are getting through. They're going too fast."

"Very well, put all power to shields. as soon as we're through their sheilds, revert power back to weapons and begin pounding away at the inner ones."

"Yes sir."

"Hopefully, we wont lose too many ships... Otherwise I wont be admiral much longer..."

"They're charging our shields."
"Seems that way, they'll be spending a long time being pounded by both the Point and regular weapons."
"Yep, sucks to be them."

Please cease and desist this suicidally based attack, unless you have a wish to die, if so we will provide you with it.

As the ships advanced, they were taken under additional fire by the vast number of point defence guns, once they'd passed the maximum range barrier for the PDs.

ooc: You've given me a very evil idea, for future reference

"Heavy incoming!! Heavy point defence. We're taking as much as three times the normal fire!"

"How many ships lost already?"

"Over 500 more sir. We're down to 3700 ships."

"Damnit. Continue pushing through. Can we push any more power into sheilds?"

"Um... we can diver power from all non-essential sources... taht would give us another 13%"

"Do it."

You've lost over a third of your force, yet you persist in attacking. With your self-proclaimed mission of protecting the universe against a swarm species you're being rather hypocritical attacking a nation that is only wishes to protect it's own territory.

As the ships advanced, they began running into the problem of being targetable in the flanks as the guns along the hull were no longer limited to the bow as a viable target.

"Sir! The sheilds are soaking up massive damage from the flanks as well. We're at 56% and dropping."

"can you change missile programming from here?"

"Um... yes sir, why?"

"Change the missiles to accelerate as fast as possible in the shield, then back up to full speed once out of the field."

"On it sir."

"Also, begin using maximum Electronic Warfare. Try to flood their sensors."

"Yes sir."

At what amounted to less than point-blank, any form of sensor slamming was next to useless. Trying to attack them with physical weapons would be far and away more efficiant than trying to fry them with counter-measures.

"They seem to have a deathwish."
"Ay, that they do, well I guess we'll have to oblige them."

As the massed fire continued to pour into the suicidally attacking force, there was a flickering as the second and third fleets arrived and after a scant few seconds began pouring fire into the side of the fleet that was attacking thier home.

"ENEMY SHIPS ON OUR FLANKS!!"

"What!?"

"TAKING MASSIVE FIRE!! SHEILDS AT 13%!"

"Continue pushing through! We're almost there. Once through, we will be able to bring our full force to bear."

"Yes sir... I only hope we will have some force left..."

"Have to give them props for determination, but they lose big points for suicidalness."
"Yep, let's give them a final warning then see what they're like as slag."

If you cease desist and return to wherever you came from we'll let you go alive, otherwise...

"Sir. 1000 new ships have arrived."

"Excelent. whats our strength now?"

"Um... 3312 ships. also, we are being told that if we turn back they will let us live."

"Nonsense. I have never retreated from a battle before, and I will not ---"

The Commodores statement was cut short as his ship decintigrated under heavy fire.

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

"Kaptain Brian. I have some good news, and some bad news."

"whats the good news? The damn moon thing exploded?"

"Um... no. the good news is you are now Commodore Brian."

"Ok. whats the baad news?"

"You are now commodore brian."

"Oh right. the whole last commodore dying thing. Um... how long until we are through these damn sheilds?"

"Another 10 seconds."

"Excelent. prepare to launch all armamnt in 11 seconds."

"Yes sir."

As the vessels were passing through the shields the two fleets turned thier fire upon the newly arrived vessels. The third fleet which was already within the primary shield continued to add it's fire to the worldship's already horrific bombardment.

Meanwhile the grade of missiles were picked up, the warheads increasing in destructive potential as it became appearent that the attackers were on a 'die or die' charge.

"3... 2... 1... We're through. Fire increacing from all sides. Reinforcments report engagment."

"Fire all weapons at this point indicated on my screen."

"Yes sir."

All 1832 ships withing the sheild launched all weapons carried at the single point that had been indicated by the commodore. The point had been previously hit by the shift missiles, and had been worn down to the worldships outer hull.

meanwhile, the reinforcments, who were not restrained by the sheilds, unleashed all the firepower they had against the two fleets.

The combined mass fire slammed into an alloy that was exponentially tougher than the stone that had made up the outer hull and but still managed to carve what would appear to be a substantial crater. It was substantial, but only when not pared against the thickness of the armour.

Meanwhile the fire from the first fleet and world ship continued to pour out in seemingly unending, and unendable waves.


Meanwhile the battle between the newly arrived re-inforcements and the second and third battle fleets was continuing as the two fleets opened full fire upon the hapless invaders. The incoming fire was met by the shields, battle screens and point defences of the two fleets, but the weaponry still managed to waste four of the class six ships and one of the class fours.

"Sir, we're not doint enough damage. We need more ships."

The new Commodore sighed.

"Very well. Order the retreat. We will return with a Fist or more."

"Yes sir."

The Ships dissapeared one by one as they shifted out of the system back to their docks.

As the ships departed they recieved a broadband message.
Thank you and please do not come again.