NationStates Jolt Archive

KMC Hammurabi
High Orbit, Moria
Koprulu System


By God, Moria looked beautiful today. The copper-colored world was dotted by blue mineral fields, which glinted in the light of Koprulu's sun. General Mah Sakai looked out with pride on his world. He then gave the order to fire.

Energy built up on the prow of the battlecruiser Hammurabi, flagship of the Kel-Morian Combine. A massive burst, resulting from a comfined nuclear explosion forced into a focused beam, shot from the warship and impacted the Morian soil below. The other ships of the fleet followed suit, as Wraith fighters and Valkyrie bombers descended upon the surface. The fighters cloaked, strafing the enemy with their 8mm burst lasers while avoiding detection. This cleared the way for the Valkyries, who blazed in like a company of angels, and decimated anything that survived with their H.A.L.O. missile packs.

The stink of burning flesh permeated the air as the cleanup crews were dispatched. Pvt. Wallace A. Mendoza had to close his visor, and even then the stench seemed to saturate him. He swept his C-17 Impaler Gauss Rifle over the wreckage of the Zerg hive, but all he saw was the living purple goo that seemed to drip from everything that still had some sort of form. Nearby, the 107th "Hellburners" mechanized infantry swept through the last hive on Moria, searching for survivors. Even a single Zerg drone or Larvae could reconstruct this base from scratch, they knew.

But nothing moved. The only sound was the deafening roar of the overhead fighters and the constant hiss of the arm-mounted plasma-based flamethrowers the private's Firebat companions used to further the destruction of the hive's ruins.

His comm system crackled as he opened a channel to his Command Center.
"Y'all can send in th' big boys now. Ain't nothin' movin' ou' here but us." He lifted his visor, scowled at the stink, lit a cigarette, and waited for the armor to move in and clear the zone for mining again. He just wanted to get some leave time, and hoped the miners wouldn't revolt again.

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawMessage Intercept:

"Y'all can send in th' big boys now. Ain't nothin' movin' ou' here but us.”Real-Time Translation:

“The large(?) offspring will be sent on a small sailing ship. We alone are being carried by ants(?)”Swift Runner cursed the inability of the real-time translator to handle the bizarre idiomatic speech of the meat-beings. It suspected that the message was a call for the barbarians to send colony ships of some kind – “The large(?) offspring will be sent on a small sailing ship” – probably a small forerunner vessel filled predominantly with adolescents and prepubescent children, since these would adapt to the new environment faster, consume fewer supplies, and arrive at breeding age sooner. Whatever the case, this was an opportunity to capture some of them for further study. The Vah found meat-beings perplexing, grotesque, and frightening all at once; more study was very definitely indicated.

Not only that, but capturing meat-beings of breeding age might allow some study of their full life-cycle. Up until now, those who had been taken prisoner had never been successfully bred in captivity; this made it hard to evaluate the bizarre and controversial theory that the meat-beings had two sexes, only one of which bore young. Swift Runner wrinkled its eyebrows and waved its pedipalps in puzzlement and disgust. What good was it to have two sexes when only one could bear young? The inefficiency of the arrangement defied the laws of evolution.

“Make for the source of the transmission at one-quarter speed,” Swift Runner ordered.

The small furry Ylii – a Beta – at the helm complied without a word, and then – the course properly laid in – asked the Watch Officer if it should summon the Captain.

“No,” replied Swift Runner tersely. “This is not yet a crisis situation.”

It then settled back into the command chair.

“Alert me when we arrive in the system or spot one of the meat-beings’ vessels, whichever happens first,” the Vah ordered.
OOC: Of course – as usual – the Vah have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. Once they realize that they have encountered a battle fleet and that the battle fleet just eradicated an enemy on the surface, they’ll want to know something about that enemy. The meat-being … er, human … warfleet will be too powerful for a single battlecruiser to take on, but another enemy – especially one that might present a real challenge – would be a welcome thing to discover.

The real trick is going to be getting down to the surface without being seen. A lander insertion is indicated, but how to get around the patrols? This scenario will certain tax the cunning of the Vah crew to its limits...

In case you’re wondering, the Vah are a species from Frank Chadwick’s RPG, 2300 A.D.. I’ve always thought they’d make a great addition to the StarCraft universe, so here’s to giving it a try.

... Command ship Lac'tar...
"Sir there is weapons fire in grid sector C-7." the Admiral paced the bridge watching the crew before he spoke.
"order this fleet to set course for that sector, send a message to headquarters saying to found a new race, and bring the fleet to defcon 2."
"Aye sir." the ensign he spoke to wasn't part of the main race, she was part of the aquatic species that once inhabited waterhelper prime the destroyed homeworld of both races that inhabited the bridge. The admiral was mammalian and rugged. he has seen many battles. however about 1/2 of the crew was also androids that greatly helped in battle with their impartial judgement.
The 33 ships of the 1st explorer flotilla sped to the unknown system ready for [almost] anything.

Mah Sakai sat in his quarters aboard the Hammurabi, sipping tea when the latest reports came in. A command center had been relocated to the Theta Hive site, and dropships were ferrying in miners and SCV suits to harves the rich underground mineral veins. Life on Moria was returning to normal.

Three years ago, around the time of the United Earth Dominion's conquering of the Terran Dominion, Moria had been invaded by the Zerg Swarm. They'd been after Moria's rich deposits of minerals and Vespene, but had ended up infesting or destroying over half of the Combine's standing military.

But that was all over. The last hive had been burned. No more mutated humans walked Moria's soil. Hell, if the Dominion stayed gone, perhaps the Kel-Morian Combine could be the mightiest power in the sector.

Things were going well. Until the news of an alien vessel on the system's periphery came in.

At the Periphery of the Koprulu SystemThe stutterwarp-powered probe flew inward, following a course beginning well above the ecliptic and imitating that which one might expect of a scout ship surveying the system. If the meat-beings saw it, they would probably move in its direction to investigate. This was fine from the perspective of the captain of the Iron Claw; he had doglegged around to approach the system from a different angle and a position directly on the ecliptic, where the normal debris circling a typical star would reduce its likelihood of being detected. The battlecruiser also approached at a relatively low speed, employing only its passive sensor arrays and operating under a minimum energy regimen; every joule of energy its onboard systems generated had to be dumped into space sooner or later as heat, and so the less energy the vessel employed, the less of a heat signature it would have.

Both landers and two fighters were maintained at high readiness, and an insertion team had been picked and was being briefed and conditioned for planetside operations, right down to being kept in a gravity field that matched the one they would work in on the target planet, in sealed chambers whose atmosphere matched the world's pressure and opacity perfect; lighting conditions in this isolation area were also set to match those they would experience at their destination. Spectrographs of the target world's atmosphere were studied and breathing gear was selected; lasers were tuned and ammunition reprimed for optimal performance under the environmental conditions they would experience once they had landed.

Now all Iron Claw had to do was get close enough to land its soldiers and try to take prisoners.OOC: Any chance that one or two Zerg survivors might be lurking at the fringes of the system? ;)

OOC-You know the Zerg. Tenacious little buggers. One or two burrowed larvae, and of course gobs of Creep.

<post forthcoming>

a 12 star destroyer battle pattrol droped out off transwarp

A single Chronosian vessel tore free of the confines of the Immaterium, lurching into the fabric of the material universe. It was a relatively small vessel, a Strike Cruiser. This one had been modified for recon and exploration, while still retaining all the nessecary facilities to transport both Guardsmen and a small Marine contingent.

The Imperium constantly sought out new races across the twisting tapestry of Space, intent on mapping out and encountering all those who would be brothers or foes to deified Mankind, and the ultimate glory of Chaos.

Slowly proceeding, the Chronosians waited.

No need to rush into things blindly. Sensor arrays initialised, blessed and sanctified by Techpriests, the Machine spirits pleased and working to their fullest. Slowly, they began to advance, taking in the data that permeated the area.

We are the Chronosian Imperium.

(fluid time)
The fleet arrived in the system where there was already what appeared to be two different races. The Lac'tar opened a channel to the planet.
To: unknown race on planet III of the system P14374
from: Explorer fleet 1
Body: This is the first waterhelper explorer flotilla. We would like to request diplomatic relations with your. We shall await your answer.

The battlecruiser Kaplan approached the tiny probe. Fearing it was a Zerg trap, she deployed her fighter squadrons and openend fire on the probe with her giant laser batteries.

Meanwhile, a fighter patrol diverted its course and beelined towards the Chronosian vessel. There was something about an unidentified alien vessel appearing out of nowhere while the fleet was on high alert that uneased the pilots of the 27th Squadron. An automated transmission was beamed to the strike cruiser from the closest relay station.

Unidentified vessel, you will power down your engines and announce your intentions. Failure to do so will result in penalties. This is an automated message courtesy of the Kel-Morian Combine.

As if a strange probe and an unidentified alien weren't enough, yet another presence had be detected. At least this one had the common decency to transmit their name and intentions before barging into Combine space.

Mah Sakai was wary of them, however. During the days of the Guild Wars, the Confeds had used this tactic to keep the Combine off guard in the invasion of Moria.

...bridge of the Lac'tar...
"ensign?" said the admiral
"yes admiral?"
"order the fleet to power down all weapons but keep the shields up incase they are hostile." The thirty three ships of the fleet powered down their offencive weapons. The Lac'tar also slowly moved forward towards the planet leaving the rest of the fleet on the outskirts.

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawIron Claw's captain, Longeye, observed the destruction of the probe with a mixture of both annoyance and delight. The probe had been draped with all kinds of extra telemetry, and extraneous equipment such as one of two of the inflatable shelters used by the ship's crew in the construction of temporary base camps had been attached as well for the sake of appearances. After all, the Vah wanted the probe to look bigger than it was, to be able to pass for a small scout ship. Evidently it had worked, for the meat-beings had charged it as soon as they saw it and, in spite of its feeble but apparently convincing evasive maneuvers, blown in out of the sky.

Longeye had hoped to gather more data from the probe than it actually got, but what was collected was well worth the cost; a meat-being warship and several fighters on an attack run. These meat-beings were apparently far more aggressive than most, a worthy foe; and their weapons wer far more dangerous than those usually possessed by their kind. The captains pedipalps almost quivered with excitement.

But the capabilities of these meat-being fighters were shocking: they had some kind of powerful jamming technology that rendered them virtually invisible to all but the best detection systems. We will have to be very careful, Longeye considered, if we want to make it down to the surface of that planet.

Before it could draw up further plans, however, two more squadrons of alien warships and a third unaffiliated vessel suddenly arrived in system. All three just seemed to pop into existence out of nowhere, leaving a terrible roiling in the fabric of space-time behind them to herald their arrival. Was this the so-called “hyperspace” drive some explorers had spoken of? One incoming squadron broadcast a transmission that still defied translation - something about helping those who were drowning(?) – while the other aliens remained stonily silent. Could this be the prelude to a battle?

Longeye certainly hoped so.

In the meantime, though, it was of the utmost importance to remain unseen. Longeye was fairly certain that Iron Claw had not been detected; the meat-beings hadn't come after it in the same way they molested the probe. Wanting to keep things that way for now, Longeye ordered Iron Claw to come spiraling into the inner system by remaining within the penumbra of a small, dessicated planet somewhat further out from the system's primary. The planet had a small asteroidal moon; waiting until that moon was on the planet's farside, it order Iron Claw to set down and power off as many systems as possible. Small, nearly invisible observation satellites were then placed in orbit around the world, and listening posts established on the moon's opposite side, so that the meat-beings' planet and its fleet could be watched unseen for quite some time.

And with that, the Vah hunkered down to wait ... and to watch.OOC: Gosh, wouldn't it be interesting if this moonlet harbored a small nest of Zergs... ;)

((was that for me... whats with the ... drowning?))
...on a carbon class explorer...
"Captain there is movement around a planet in the system. Sensors show that is is not of the planets and of a different design."
"They may be their friends however just to be on the safe side order the fleet to activate sensor jammers and active camouflage."
"Aye sir" the captain thought of an idea.
"Order the metal storm point defence cannons to load up with nanobot projectiles and fire it at that planet when we do a touch and go on it."
...space...
The ships blincked out of existence except one appeared on the planet with the artificial probes. It then spat out approximately a billion projectiles that became a fine dust that covered the planet. Each of the dust grains consisted of 5 nanobots, and each had a task. (propulsion, sensors, communications, photovoltaic power, and backup) Each one provided a basic image and when compiled produced a clear picture. The ship went back into formation disappearing as soon as it emerged from hyperspace. Meanwhile the command ship approached the planet.
((in case you are wondering these ships are some of my largest at 0.6 km but their sensors take up most of the space))

Alerts went off across the planet as the nano dust settled into the atmosphere. In the eyes of the Morians, this looked so very similar to the way the Zerg would "seed" a planet before an infestation. Marine corps. were put on alert and deployed, and those already deployed were told to go full containment for possible NBC warfare. Around the cities, missile defenses came online, scanning intently for any non-Terran vessel that came into their range.

"General!" shouted a marine guard as he burst into Mah Sakai's personal quarters. The General, a short balding man with too much of a spare tire around his midsection, was watching as the alien vessel appeared to seed his planet. "We must get you to safety! The Hammurabi's captain has just ordered the squadron into combat!"

"NO!" shouted the general at the marine, who was easily twice the general's height in his power armor. "I must see this for myself. Tell the captain to do what he must, but I stay here." He'd suffered the Confederacy, the Dominion, the Directorate, and the Zerg. He would not stand by as yet another foreign power made a claim to that which was his.

The Wraith and Valkyrie squadrons in orbit were joined by those launching from the ground as their battlecruiser motherships began beelining towards the Waterhelper command ship. No more warnings would be given. The ten mighty warships, each over a kilometer in length, shunted power to their forward Yamato cannons and prepared to fire.


Corobis Mining Facility, Natural Satellite C:1

Unaware of the battle that raged further within the system, life went on as usual at the Corobis Station. A relatively small mining outpost, they'd been fortunate enough to get assigned their own Command Center in order to keep up the highly mobile operations needed on this god-forsaken worldlet.

Bulky and unwieldy, the T-260 Space Construction Vehicles (SCVs for short) hovered along the surface of the asteroid-moon at high speeds, homining in on mineral and gas deposits.

"'ey Earl! I gots somethin' over 'ere!"
"Whut izzit, Joe Bob? Mo' min'rals?"
"I dunno what the hell tha' thing is."
"...well what th' 'ell is it?"
"I dunno! What the hell is tha' thing?"

The conversation between the two civilian pilots continued this way as they skirted the edge of the crater...which just happened to house the Vah vessel.

((OOC: erm... Longeye ordered Iron Claw to come spiraling into the inner system by remaining within the penumbra of a small, dessicated planet somewhat further out from the system's primary. The planet had a small asteroidal moon; waiting until that moon was on the planet's farside," not your colony I'm not in the habit of harming relations in first contacts

On the Moonlet's SurfaceGr*ch'k led its detail up the sides of the crater where Iron Claw had set down. Perimeter duty was boring – especially on an airless moon where there was no chance of running into anything interesting – but at least the inherent danger of any surface movement in a vacuum (and especially in low gravity) kept the chok'aav from lapsing into utter mindlessness. It continually used its shgah'ur to rap on the backs of the hardsuits its soldiers were wearing, hoping to startle them into alertness, although it feared it was only enjoying limited success.

“Stay sharp, you stupid gnakshik!!” it snarled. The insult – just about the worst one Vah could hurl at another – drew angry retorts and growls from the detail. Gr*ch'k didn't mind; let them get mad. If they got angry, they'd be less likely to make a mistake as they picked their way across the rocky surface of the lonely satellite that Longeye had chosen for Iron Claw's hiding place.

Finally, its charges cleared the crater lip and turned to follow the rim. Gr*ch'k stopped an instant to survey the scene, trying to gauge the hollow's circumference. A quick calculation told him that it didn't have quite enough sensor spikes to cover the distance properly; it'd have to call back for more.

It was then, as it surveyed the landscape, that the chok'aav saw the two Terran SCV's.

Its soldiers had advanced into a low spot next to a large outcropping of rock; they couldn't see the alien beings, but neither could the aliens see them. But Gr*ch'k could see the interlopers – and it was sure that they could see it as well, if only they looked in its direction. That, however, was not the worst thing.

The worst thing was that they could see Iron Claw. In fact, if those arm-like mechanical limbs were any indication of the way they were facing, not only could they see the Vah battlecruiser, but indeed they were looking right at it.

Swearing profusely, Gr*ch'k bounded forward in the long loping strides that soldiers were trained to employ in low gravity, raising its shgah'ur to thrash its charges into fighting shape.((OOC: erm... Longeye ordered Iron Claw to come spiraling into the inner system by remaining within the penumbra of a small, dessicated planet somewhat further out from the system's primary. The planet had a small asteroidal moon; waiting until that moon was on the planet's farside," not your colony I'm not in the habit of harming relations in first contactsOOC: It's OK - I read his outpost as being located right on the very moon I chose as my hiding place (talk about bad luck!). My only hope is that I can trash the SCV's before they can send the alarm. Of course, the meat-beings ... er, Terrans ... will come looking for them when they're overdue, but maybe I can find their base before then.

This much I'm sure of: in a fight between four marines (or the equivalent of marines, and in a moment they'll be stimmed marines) and two SCV's, the outcome is not in doubt; the only question is how quickly the two SCV's will go away. ;)((was that for me... whats with the ... drowning?))Oh, that ... remember how bad my “universal translators” are at deciphering human speech?

“Waterhelper”? I'm sure that the translator would butcher that into some kind of lifeguard. LOL. :D

OOC - Wait...I'm confused. Did you seed Moria with nanobots or the planet that Kafers' moon is currently orbiting?

Either way, the Combine would see it as a hostile act. Their mining bases are on just about every hunk of rock in the system. The KMC is an alliance between two mining guilds.

((The moon... I cant think of a post but if I recall there is a ship heading to your planet in a attempt at diplomatic relations))

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“Captain,” said the dimunutive Beta, “I'm picking up unusual energy readings from the planet itself.”

“Explain,” commanded Longeye.

“The planet appears to be emitting extremely low levels of hard radiation,” the Ylii proclaimed.

“Any danger to us?” asked the Captain.

“No,” replied the small, furry creature. “It would be wise to limit operations outside the ship, though.”

Turning to the Communications Officer, the Vah commander ordered: “Tell Gr*ch'k to hurry it up and not stay out there too long.” But the Beta wasn't done; as soon as the Captain had finished speaking, the Ylii spoke again.

“That's not all,” she said. “The energy output isn't steady – it's modulated with a frequency in the nanosecond range. Moreover,” the Beta continued, “The amplitude of these modulated pulses is in phase across the satellite's entire surface.”

Longeye leaned closer, now fully attentive, “Are you telling me that there's just one emission pattern for the entire moon?”

“Yes, and the amplitude levels are discrete,” the furry creature said. “There are ...” she checked her instruments to verify her findings, “... Sixteen distinct and clearly defined modulation levels, more or less comprising a harmonic sequence.”

“Recall Gr*ch'k's detail and prepare for immediate departure!” it barked. “We're sitting on top of a massive transmitter!”At the Crater's EdgeJust as Gr*ch'k reached its troops, the call came in over its comm link: “Perimeter patrol, return to ship immediately! We are leaving this moon!”

Gr*chk didn't hesitate; it waded in among his charges and had at them with its shgah'ur. “Get back to the ship! Now!!!” it barked. Stunned into attentiveness, the soldiers paused for a moment, shaking off their feeble-mindedness, and then responded by hustling back towards the battlecruiser.

As they hurried back down to the waiting vessel, the chok'aav looked back at the two utility vehicles perched at the rim of the crater. The Captain must have seen them at the same time as Gr*ch'k, and decided to depart before the meat-beings could respond in force.

Too bad, thought Gr*ch'k. A little combat would have been a nice departure from the boredom of their long patrol. It regarded the two Terran SCV's.

They probably have no idea how lucky they are, it thought.OOC: I'm not having much luck here. It's looks like another RP where I end up walking away empty-handed. :(

((you know you could do it the old fashoned way... deplomacy then a request of the race's anatomy))
The nanobots latched onto the leaving ship entering it though exaust ducts and other openings. and it also followed the two scouts into the airlock efectivly giving it access to the ship
((it has collective intelligence to its actualyly smart and its really good at hacking things... like ships also I'm waiting for the responce to my approaching ship))

OOC- SCVs aren't much of a challenge. To one man, they might be, but a bit of teamwork and you can take one down, and capture the human pilot.

Post will come tonight. I have work >_<

In the Airlock of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawGr*ch'k and its detail clambered into the airlock; but before it and its comrades could hit the button to close the doors and vent in air, Jrrrkch’ah, one of the ships’ engineers, called over the comm link to wait.

“You’ll have to go through full decontamination,” it said sympathetically. “This planet is covered with some kind of radioactive dust. Can’t have it getting aboard ship.”

Gr*ch’k nodded and motioned its charges to rest on the benches along the airlock wall. Quarantine, it thought, that’s all I need.

But procedures were procedures, it reflected, as the airlock doors closed and the jets of superheated liquid erupted from the walls. As a chok'aav it knew better than to protest. This was how you stayed alive long enough to become a chok’aav, after all…On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“There are still anomalous radiation readings from outside the ship,” proclaimed the Beta. “They are no longer in phase with those emanating from the moon, but they are uniform across the outside of our hull.”

!!!’rr*chk! thought Longeye. It had a suspicion as to where the signals were coming from and why. It looked at the system display.

“There,” it said. “Take us to that gas giant. Take us into the atmosphere of that gas giant.” Then, in case there was any doubt, it added: “And don’t bother hiding; take us there at maximum speed.”((you know you could do it the old fashoned way... deplomacy then a request of the race's anatomy))Act like a meat-being?!? You're kidding, right?The nanobots latched onto the leaving ship entering it though exaust ducts and other openings...Why would a sealed environment (it's a vacuum out there, right?) have any openings through which air could escape - or microorganisms find their way in?... also I'm waiting for the responce to my approaching ship))You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?!? Cuz', like, if yer talkin' to me... ;)

Even if our “universal” translators could figure out your idiom, you've probably already guessed that we're not big on conversation...

OOC- SCVs aren't much of a challenge. To one man, they might be, but a bit of teamwork and you can take one down, and capture the human pilot.OOC: I'm a major Starcraft fan, so I know all about SCV's. I've often wondered if I could design a mod to introduce Kafers into the game. I do know that Vah soldiers are much like Terran Marines, except they effectively “stim” without damage once in battle (there is a short delay for this effect - call it “adrenaline” - to kick in, during which time Kafers mill about stupidly, but after that...). Instead of Firebats they'd probably have “shotgun”-armed marines (it's actually something like a bazooka that fires flechette cannisters), and their fire against flyers would be less effective than Terran ground fire (they use rifle grenades quite extensively, which won't work on flyers; but they do have the ability to research U-238 slugs, just like you). I'd have to create some kind of APC for overrun attacks (this would likely replace the Goliath, and have light (laser beam) AAA and SAM capabilities, and the Siege Tank would be replaced with a SP MRL (ouch!), but basically their fighting power would be quite similar to that of the Terran faction. Yeah, and we have snipers with lasers and nukes, too. Not invisible psychic dudes, mind you (in fact, no cloaking at all, but great EM sensors); yet there are other places where we make up for that...

Bridge of the KMC Dragoon

Commodore Perry looked over the reports coming in. The C1 colony had been seeded in what was looking more and more like radioactive dust, and communications with the Corobis facility had been lost. The alien vessels were making a fast burn towards Moria, and the twenty-third Valkyrie squadron had just reported a disturbance in one of the local gas giants.

The steel-gray interior of the Dragoon's bridge seemed to reflect his mood. They'd just destroyed the last Zerg hive, and now this?

He planned to yamato the hell out of these guys who ruined his day.

OOC: no its the ships carrying the diplomats to The Kel Morian Combine and you need a airlock for the people I don't care what race you are you cant have a race that is invulnerable to a vacuum. There is also the exhaust systems which is harder but still a effective way to get it.

OOC: ... you need a airlock for the people I don't care what race you are you cant have a race that is invulnerable to a vacuum.OOC: Did you overlook this?“You’ll have to go through full decontamination,” it said sympathetically. “This planet is covered with some kind of radioactive dust. Can’t have it getting aboard ship.”So: No, I'm not invulnerable to vacuum (you recall me mentioning hardsuits?),


Yes, I have an airlock, and...


In putting the surface detail through a full decontamination procedure before letting them into the Iron Claw proper... There is also the exhaust systems which is harder but still a effective way to get it.What kind of ships would I have if you could get inside them using the exhaust system?!?!? How would I ever be able to land on an alien world, with all the co-commitant risks of bio-contamination?

Well-designed ships are sealed environments. My battlecruisers are well-designed ships.

So now - getting back to the airlock - I hope you're not going to claim that your little nano-monsters are invulnerable to decontamination...

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“Preparing to enter the gas giant's atmosphere,” declared the Helm officer. “Shall we raise shields?”

“No,” said Longeye. “Let the heat build up on the surface of the hull until it gets to within a few hundred degrees of tolerance.”

“That will produce a great deal of buffeting,” offered the chok'aav.

“All the better,” smiled the Vah Captain. “Proceed,” it ordered, and then flipped open the intercom. “Attention all hands,” it said. “Prepare for turbulence.”From High Above the Gas GiantThe meteor streaked down through the vast yellow-brown atmosphere, glowing brighter and brighter as it plunged ever closer to the endless sea of clouds. Then, suddenly, it flashed bright orange and – a moment later – went out.On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawThe shuddering, bone-jarring ride down toward the icy cloud-tops had given everyone on the Iron Claw a delicious thrill; but all good things must come to an end, that this was no different.

“Approaching critical temperature,” proclaimed the Helm Officer, not without more than a trace of disappointment.

“Engage shields,” ordered the Captain.

The entire ship lurched as the shields cut in, a final, fleeting moment of enjoyment before all the fun had passed. Outside, the shields produced a shock wave that caused the bubble of frictional heat surrounding the craft to grow appreciably hotter and then explode outward in a parabola of brilliant, fiery light. A moment later, the air was slipping smoothly around the vessel as it plummeted down through layer after layer of clouds.

“Take us to equilibrium depth,” ordered Longeye, shifting in its command chair, “And then power down the engines.”

Outside, Iron Claw continued its descent into the Stygian blackness.

((OOC: they are machines you jut cant kill them off through decontamination. and besides they are two possible examples. they can be inhales and act like a virus and you would never know since it would be dormant. they are smart machines and no ship can be fully isolated. Also if they entered into a body you would need very powerful scanners to find something no larger then a virus and is made of carbon which is present in all being unless you are silicon based.

now for exhaust systems:
normally not all your thrusters are on if you have maneuvering thrusters (and you should have it just in case a starbase or something doesn't have tractor beams) I can go through the system and emerge from the fuel tank, which you should also have even if it is antimater you still need matter, and into the ship. If you have a ion drive system you still need to get rid of the plasma. there fore the need to have a exhaust system. but then this method may also be impossible if the engine is still active

nanobot technology:
my nanobot technology works by utilizing a photovoltaic field meaning that as long as there is the tiniest amount of light it would still work it also has a back up system that allows it to "steal" electrons and keeping itself active

decontamination:
unless you have a different decon process nanobots wouldn't be affected since the three steps are removal of clothing, washing, and reclothing. The nanobots can wait out the second step. Unfortunately nanobots are smart, and tiny. And since your decon room walls are made of metal most likely I can use them to make more nanobots or allow the nanobots to bury themseves. You would need a speciallized decon system which most people dont have since i am the only person that uses nanotechnology to this extent))

OOC: Waterhelper, I think that perhaps you should pay a little more attention to the guy who’s going to roast you with his Yamato guns than a single battlecruiser that’s trying to lose the fleas you’ve sprinkled on his pelt. Right now you seem to think me the greater game, which I find quite curious...

That said, I suggest that you reconsider the way in which you’re playing the nanoprobes; they have to have some weakness somewhere, or people are going to begin ignoring them.

Starting, of course, with me…

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“0.89 … 0.91 … 0.93 … 0.94 … 0.95 …. 0.96 …” intoned the Beta, calling off the density readings from the gas giant’s pea-soup atmosphere as the Vah warship slowly sank into its depths. “Mark: 0.97815 metric tones per cubic meter. Equilibrium depth has been achieved.”

Outside, the pressures exerted by thousands of kilometers of atmosphere above and the chill of darkness below the icy world’s cloud-tops conspired to bring the cumulative density of the slop surrounding the ship to slightly less than that of water. And since Iron Claw was designed to float…

It did.

It nosed its way through the slushy, wet, semi-liquid mixture of not-quite gasses that passed for an atmosphere at this level. Thousands of kilometers above anything that could even remotely be considered “ground” and an equal distance below the lower edges of what could charitably be termed “space”, the 47,000 ton warship improbably floated, space vessel transformed into submarine.

“Power down and drift for a while,” ordered Longeye. “Maintain enough thruster capacity for stationkeeping.” After a moment, it added: “And have the duty crew start getting some rest. We may be here a while.”In the Airlock of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“Hey, what’s taking so long?” snarled Gr*ch’k. Decontamination should have been finished quite a while ago, and yet it was still sitting here in the airlock, watching the automatic scrubbers run through one procedure after another.

“Do you gnakshik! know what you’re doing?” the chok’aav bellowed.

“Shut up, Gr*ch’k!” Jrrrkch’ah snapped back. “This is a lot more difficult than you can imagine…”

“Well, if you knew how to do your job…” responded Gr*ch’k angrily.

Surprisingly, Jrrrkch’ah didn’t rise to the bait; it hissed for a moment, and then continued in a low voice: “Gr*ch’k, switch to Channel 18 and scramble.”

The chok’aav’s blood ran cold. It was totally aware now, like it had never been before in its life.

Switching channels, Gr*ch’k demanded: “Straight up: what’s happening here?”

Jrrrkch’ah chose its words carefully. “The radioactive dust that you picked up on the surface isn’t getting blasted loose like we’d expect. We’re trying everything, but we aren’t even certain that we can get it off…”

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawLongeye was experiencing !!vu'krrch*ah.

It was never comfortable with this state, this solitary awareness; but the eerie feeling was one that Vah often felt during times of military service. Indeed, guard duty required it; still, that made it no less strange. As the other members of Iron Claw's crew slipped into the near-instinctive behavior that was so much a part of Vah life, Longeye remained alert. Before long, it was the sole intelligent being on the bridge, save for the Beta sitting at the sensor station - what a meat-being might call the ship's guard dog.

But Longeye did not lapse into sluggishness. It was still energized by the nature of the problem that it faced, a problem that had not gone away in spite of its best efforts.

When Iron Claw had hastily lifted off that airless moonlet it had employed as an observation point further in-system, its Captain had believed that the satellite itself was some kind of giant X-ray transmitter – or that such a transmitter was buried beneath its surface. But the fact that the signals kept coming from outside the battlecruiser's hull meant that somehow the ship had been dusted with something that had the ability to emanate modulated radiation – and was continuing to do so in spite of the vessels' evasive action.

Dipping down into the atmosphere of the gas giant that now sheltered them, Longeye had hoped that the heat and buffeting of high-speed entry would have burnt, blasted, and shaken the dust – or whatever it was – off the ship's hull. No such luck: while diminished, the signals were still present. At least it's being blocked by the atmosphere, the Captain considered. While energetic, X-rays could never penetrate thousands of kilometers of slush, sleet, and clouds.

Unfortunately, the battlecruiser would eventually have to leave the protective shroud of the gas giant now sheltering them, and when that happened, whomever had scattered them across the ship's hull would be able to track it.

All the way home.

Longeye knew that – when push came to shove – if the signals couldn't be stopped, then the ship could never return to Vah space. They would die out here; hopefully, it would be a good death – but the Captain wasn't ready to die just yet, all the same.

It had a pretty good idea what it was up against, of course. While the Vah had never gone in for nanotechnology, it had been theorized that such machines could be built. Miniature artificial viruses, it mused, and programmable ones at that.

This last fact would be both their strength and their weakness. Each machine would be minute, just a few microns in size; it could only have so much processing power. If these things had intelligence it would be distributed throughout the mass of them. Thus, the fewer their numbers, the stupider the collective would get.

But there were other weaknesses: such microscopic engines would not be able to move very quickly, nor would they be able to move in any of the traditional ways that larger things could move. Riding air currents, carriage by hosts, hitchhiking on (or in) flying droplets of liquid – these were how viruses “moved”. In addition, there would probably be some kind of piezoelectric impeller to provide a limited capacity for powered flight. Yet this would probably not be powerful enough to operate in more than a mild breeze or current.

Then there was the question of how all these tiny machines could collaborate as a single entity. The only possible answer was through electromagnetic waves. Yet generating and receiving such signals was problematic for such minuscule devices: it was an immutable law of physics that no transmitter or reciever could handle signals of a wavelength greater than twice the length of its antenna. If the entire machine was an antenna of sorts – likely, the Vah Captain mused – it would still be limited to emissions in the micrometer, nanometer, and picometer ranges; that fact, of course, explained its constant release of hard radiation. Such radiation required a great deal of energy to generate, relative to its transmission strength; it also had limited penetration through solid objects or dense liquids.

Thus, mused Longeye, two things were needed to attack this enemy: strong, dense air or fluid currents and lots of electromagnetic interference. These things would force the collective to spend a disproportionate percentage of its internal bandwidth - and energy - just staying together.

“Are there any large atmospheric storms near us?” it asked the Beta.

The furry servitor cocked its head, studied its instruments, and answered succintly: “Yes. There is one a few meridians north of us, about 30,000 kilometers away.”

“A big one?” asked Longeye with a wolfish smile.

“Very large, compared to most,” replied the diminutive alien.

“Take us close to it,” ordered the Captain.

Bridge of the KMC Dragoon

The massive ball of fire on the surface of the gas giant hadn't gone unnoticed by the Dragoon's sensors. The Behemoth-class battlecruiser had set a new course away from the squadron to investigate.

Commodore Perry leaned over the shoulder of the sensor tech to view the raw data coming in from the unnamed gas giant further in the system. Something had hit the atmosphere, and hard, before activating some sort of energy shield.

"Helm, take us in," announced the Commodore to mild shock. The ship's armor, while made of the thickest Neo-Steel alloy, would suffer immensely with the torrential winds and dust storms within the gas giant.

"...sir?"

"Did I stutter, ensign?" asked the Commodore flatly.

"Aye, sir. I mean, no, sir. Helm aye, course laid in."

And so the crescent head of the Dragoon entered the outer atmosphere of the gas giant, homing in on the Iron Claw's last known position.

Across the Surface of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw's HullThe Vah had no knowledge of hyperspace drives; they used stutterwarp, a way of exceeding light-speed without leaving normal space. This mean that their starships had to be capable of dealing with constant ablation due to contact with interstellar dust grains at superluminal speeds. Most of this was done through the use of electromagnetic force shields, but exceptional resistance to particle impact was also a requirement for spaceflight under these conditions. In the case of the Vah battlecruiser, an exceptionally strong boron-carbon composite did the job, leaving the hull impervious to the furious bombardment it was getting from the various exotic ices whose crystals were being whipped about on the massive storm's nearly supersonic winds.

Under these conditions, this bombardment now posed the greatest threat to the nanomachines clinging desperately to the warship's hull. Because even the most carefuly crafted surface is still irregular at the molecular level, the minuscule devices tried to take advantage of every nook and cranny they could find to hang on. But this meant that movement across the surface of the hull was out of the question; attempts to penetrate the ship would be limited to those few machines that just happened to be in the right place; in this effort, they would be entirely on their own.

Worse, the density of the atmosphere at this level was such that the nanomachines' electromagnetic transmission range was limited to just a few meters. Communication among all nodes within the collective therefore required relays, cutting deeply into available internal bandwidth. This would have been bad enough if the constant lightning discharges and excessive atmospheric ionization, combined with the fact that the storm itself was functioning more or less like a vast magnetohydrodynamic turbine, hurling out tremendous interference above and beyond that created by all of the other environmental factors. The net effect of all of this was that the collective found itself facing massive packet loss. It was all that the swarm of nanomachines could do just to stay in touch with one another.OOC: I'll adjust this as needed in response to Waterhelper's comments, but I think there do have to be some difficulties visited upon the swarm of little beggars at some point along the line.

In the Airlock of the Batllecruiser Iron Claw“How much more air have you got?” Jrrrkch’ah asked.

Gr*ch’k glanced at the lights around the edge of its visor. “About fifteen minutes.”

“That's good,” replied the technician. “Here I was, thinking you were out.”

“Very funny, k!rr'ch*” snarled the chok'aav. “I hope you've got something more than smart remarks for me.”

“Not really,” admitted Jrrrkch'ah. “So, on that note, how would you like to die?”On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron ClawLongeye closed its eyes momentarily, taking a sip from the bulb of fermented Rr*kkh! nectar it held in its hand. Things were going well, for the most part: the ship was slowly circumnavigating the great storm in counterclockwise fashion, nose to the wind so as to maximize the relative velocity of the cyclone's fierce gusts to its hull. It would take hours of this to weaken the nanomachines to the point where Longeye's next maneuver could be attempted; the Captain wondered if it should get some sleep in an effort to ward off overstimulation. It had, in fact, just about decided to call for a sedative when the Beta at the instrument station sang out.

“Large energy source detected entering the atmosphere at a range of 35,000 km,” she chirped. “Infrared signature suggests a fusion powered vessel with raised shields.”

Longeye clicked softly in resignation. “Sound General Quarters.”

((OOC: oh but they do have a weakness being so small they are very unresistant to EMP with a destroyed: survived ratio of 5:1 because it will take 5 nanobots to create a sphere around one. Communications is provided via subspace with the radiation as a byproduct. However being so small the small ice particles would crush it.
Also I have tactical warp drives on my ships))
IC:
...bridge of temporary command ship...
"Sir two ships have entered the gas giant. The planet's storms are blocking the subspace communications as the radiation cannot enter subspace and still travel the distance to the ship. The effect is the same as comm jamming."
"Take she ship in and Activate aerogel covering." The light blue aerogel covering covered the ship to a depth of two feet. This was sufficent enough to stop a bullet. Three light blue ships went into the gas giant at warp to not be seen and dropped out of it right after they entered it.
...communications between nanobots...
95% of external nanobots destroyed.
30% of internal nanobots destroyed. (decon still killed the ones caught in the shower)
Processing capasity reduced
current objective: replicate to bring neural net back to 100% efficency.
The surviving nanobots began to eat at the walls of the ship creating new nanobots. Soon they would be numerous enough to attept a hack of the ships computer network.

On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“What are the modulated radiation levels outside the hull?” barked the Vah commander.

“They've almost dropped to zero,” replied the Beta. “But radiation levels are building in the airlock.”

“We'll have to blow it, then,” Longeye observed. The Captain then turned to its Tactical Officer. “I wonder,” it mused, “If the meat-beings are experienced at fighting under these conditions.”

“There's no way of knowing,” it replied. “What tactic were you thinking of using?”

“A popup attack with a fast breakaway to follow,” the Captain replied. “Prepare two standard missiles with decoys; charge all laser batteries.”

It then turned to the Helm Officer. “On my mark, take us down 1,000 kilometers at a 45º angle - fast,” Longeye commanded. To Tactical it then said, “Engage shields at the bottom of the dive, except around the airlock. Inform the decontamination crew,” it the told the Beta, “To prepare for explosive decompression on my signal.”

Longeye then leaned back in its chair, drew in a deep breath, and snapped: “Mark!”In the Airlock of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“It would appear,” said Jrrrkch'ah softly, “That the Captain has made your choice for you.”

Gr*ch’k thought fast. “How would you know if we're clean?”

“What?” replied the engineer. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Just tell me,” the chok'aav insisted.

“By the radiation levels on the outside of your hardsuits,” Jrrrkch'ah said.

“O.K.,” Gr*ch'k said, “Here's what I have in mind...”

Most of the nanobots were now gone but several thousand remained replicating. however they had no senscience left and are only replicating to recreate it.
...ships in planet...
the ships detected the two missiles approaching and raised their triple redundant regenerative shielding. They then fired all point defence metal storm cannons creating a blanket of millions of titanium bullets.

OOC: I said “prepare”. I didn't say “launch”. And I didn't say who I was targetting, either. ;)

If you go back over the thread, you'll see that I armed missiles when Kel Morian's Dragoon dropped into the atmosphere after me. Since you “warped” in (I'll assume that for you, “warp” means “hyperjump”), I probably won't detect your three ships until I've already committed to my power dive. And even then, I might not see them until I “surface”.

That said, thanks for tipping me off w/re to the nature of your anti-missile defences. I'm glad that they'll be completely incapable of dealing with my missiles when your turn comes around. :D

Deep in the Gas Giant's AtmosphereIron Claw roared down deeper and deeper into the gas giant's roiling atmosphere, fast approaching the murky transition zone in which gas gives way to liquid. Outside, the pressure rose, increasing the vessel's buoyancy still further; yet its thrust continued to drive it downward in spite of this.

Meanwhile, the thickening atmosphere made the Vah warship harder and harder to detect, until it soon became a fleeting, nearly invisible presence rocketing across the face of the huge planet far beneath the roiling clouds.

Then Iron Claw reached the bottom of its dive, at which point things began to happen rather quickly.

When the warship's shields cut in, they caught several tons of atmospheric gases close against its hull. Then Iron Claw began to climb, tilting upward towards space at an ever increasing angle. The buoyancy that had been building up as the ship plowed deep beneath the clouds now drove it upward, compensating for the added weight – and then some.On the Bridge of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“Any sign of that alien vessel?” asked the Vah Captain.

“No,” replied the ship's Tactical Officer.

“Keep looking; fire both missiles and discharge a full laser barrage at the alien ship as soon as you've got a lock,” ordered Longeye. Hit and run, it thought. Then turn around and strike again – but only if it looks like we've managed to cripple our prey.In the Airlock of the Battlecruiser Iron Claw“Are you ready, Gr*ch’k?” asked Jrrrkch'ah.

The cho'kaav looked around at the other members of its detail. Each of its three charges signaled their acknowledgment.

“Yes,” it said.

“Alright,” replied the engineer, looking at the display. “About fifteen seconds...”OOC: Remember, it's the single meat-being warship we're targeting, not the trio of Waterhelper warships. Not that we're shy about attacking the latter, of course – we just don't know of their presence yet.

OOC: who said it was my only one I also have several other more "advanced" systems. Also how does a missiles going at a significant precentage of the speed of light not be affected by metal objects in its direct path that tact like relitivistic kill vehicles to the missile. It should blow up. well enough of that.

The three ship decended into the planet further warming up its weapons as there was bound to be a confontation soon.

OOC: who said it was my only one I also have several other more "advanced" systems. Also how does a missiles going at a significant precentage of the speed of light not be affected by metal objects in its direct path that tact like relitivistic kill vehicles to the missile. It should blow up. well enough of that.OOC: Patience, my sweet. You'll see...

No response in two weeks means this thread is dead.