NationStates Jolt Archive

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=()= Her Majesty's Naval Ship Gallant (CVGA-610), Northern Reaches Command =()=

January, 3429: Three Years After the Tau-21 "Incident"

Father Time had passed and gone on his way, leaving Her Majesty's Commonwealth Government of Bautizar a little bit older, and maybe a little bit wiser. Back in the colonies things were much as they had always been, save for the change of government to a new administration. The latest round of "smart" Artificial Intelligence systems had debuted in the annual Homeworld Tech Show, leading to the usual round of hasty orders by major businesses and government departments. Education and economic standards were rising on all of the planets, save of course for the eternally-pious of Gorjen IV.

Even the military had seen some changes, although none of them were truly considered "earth shaking." There were more automated combat and reconnaissance drones and cruiser/carriers in service now. The White Paper of 3424, emphasizing a leaner and more capable fighting force, had led to the establishment of a new command structure, with zones of focus designated to specific military units. With less battlecruisers in service and more capable third- and fourth-rates in the lines of battle, an observer could have said that prospects were looking bright.

But at the moment, the future of the Commonwealth was a secondhand priority to the men and women aboard the good ship Gallant.

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It was a similar assessment that was shared by their comrades aboard the Ranger, a ship of the same class that was at the moment traveling in formation with them. It was rare within the sector commands to see ships linking up on patrols: the vast majority of captains were encouraged to split up in order to cover more territory. It was a task helped by the drones' automated capabilities and A.I. systems, which enabled them to operate independent of the vessel for days at a time. The proliferation of technology had been encouraged and incorporated into every ship in service, so there was no need for them to merge vessels.

Unless there was something of interest to both vessels. As was the case in this situation.

"Definitely Kraeton sir," the ship's science officer informed the man standing near her. She tapped on the screen again, the organic display still in place and twirling as it showed off its unique DNA pattern. "This is almost an exact match to the results that were brought back by Force H three years ago. Although it was quite a distance away from here." She added the last as if it was an afterthought, however true it was. There was quite a distance between the Tau systems and the Northern Reaches.

Commander Anton Hawke, son of the late vice admiral that had commanded Her Majesty's Forces in the Tau-21 incident, could emulate his fathers' periods of silence very well. His eyes conveyed how alert he was, as they again sized up the reconnaissance pictures that had been taken by drones over the infested planet of Sarannia. They were a vicious race of parasites and other assorted critters, he'd long since concluded. Almost every captain in service had been briefed on what little was known regarding the alien race, whose only encounter to date with the Commonwealth had been in Tau-21.

And now they're here, on our northern border he again reaffirmed to himself, looking back at the DNA figure. "Westerby, what's our current location?"

The A.I. system, formerly an intelligence model aboard the refitted command vessel Pinnacle of Valor, was very much at home in his newfangled role as primary ship's A.I. unit. It was his job to oversee and direct the multitude of other computers like him aboard the ship, to liase with them, and to keep the command crew apprised of any new developments. Now he flicked into life atop the pedestal mounted at the rear of the bridge. "Outskirts of the SNR-21 system sir. Should I send drones into the system?"

"Go ahead," the commander directed, glancing at the system map. It had only been charted six years ago, and that was just a cursory look by a class-14 reconnaissance probe. There was very little information known to the Commonwealth about these remote and far-flung areas of the Northern Reaches. "Send two squadrons of reconnaissance drones into the system, and order the Ranger to shake out two squadrons of fighters. Keep 'em close for now, until we see what's farther in here."

Much of the galaxy was littered with these Kraeton spores, each ready to land on a planet and take over. The spores were intelligent enough to search for M-Class planets but not too much more could be said about them. The spore was drifting towards a small Earth-like planet, unaware of it being watched.

The spore entered the atmosphere as special vacuoles and pores stabalized the fall of the spore so as not to damage the Larvaetons inside. From the night sky the bal of fire hit into the woods of the planets. Stimulated by the heat of the arrival, the spore began to imbed itself into the forest soil, its roots entrenching into the ground. These roots were hollow, allowing the Larvaetons to slide out and make their home in the ground where they would begin to grow and consume for their hive.

There was however something special about this spore. Most of the time the spore can only carry Larvaetons due to space issues. However, as a large opening on the side of the spore opened, a humanoid Kraeton stepped out.

This was a Caedes.

=()= Her Majesty's Naval Ship Gallant, Outskirts of the SNR-21 System =()=

"- trail ends on the edge of the system," Westerby reported to the captain, his voice piping out of the pedestal despite a spinning representation of the system. The view had been 'liberated' from the class-14 probe's data in the computer system, but at the time it was taken this had been a far different system.

Sometime in the last six years a nebula of sorts had blown in, probably carried out of the Northern Reaches on the stellar currents. The effect that it'd had was to conceal and blanket the seven planets in this system, two of them class-M while the rest were a variety of gas giants and airless rocks, and the sizeable asteroid field that was supposed to be on the far side of the sun from the ship's current location.

Drone activities were being hampered by the nebula, with a variety of bits of dust and a fine, sand-like powder serving to cut sensor efficiency by almost 70%. Shields and weapons were unaffected, though, but at least one drone had nearly plowed into the seventh planet, which looked like the proverbial bowling ball that had been used for target practice. More drones had been shaken out from the cruiser/carriers after that incident, with two squadrons now out in front and making sure that their heading didn't take the third-rates into dangerous territory. Several squadrons of fighters were also occasionally visible through the mask of red-colored dust, riding shotgun on the Ranger and Gallant while they cautiously and very slowly made their way into the system.

"Send in a third squadron of drones, and commence a planet-by-planet sweep for the buggers. Communications, how are we looking on long range?" the commander inquired, raising his voice and looking over at the station. The frown and shake of the head he received was news enough, causing a momentary setback before he recovered and spoke up again. "All right. Packet down a contact report and send it off, destination Aberdeen Station in the homeworld system."

A minute later, as the commander had gone back to eyeing the spinning display of planets in the system, doors opened on a secondary hangar forward of the bridge. An unmanned drone blasted forth, angling itself for the homeworld system before vanishing in a brilliant flash of jump energy. In the meantime, the commander was consulting with his science officer. "Any chance of capturing this thing alive?"

She looked at him as if he'd just proposed marriage to her with no warning. "Sir, this is a Kraeton. The Commonwealth deemed them a level-1 tactical threat after what happened on Sarannia. We have literally no idea how to capture one of these safely, let alone without taking massive casualties."

"Very well," Anton conceded, mind picking up on a new piece that was bugging him. "But why here? Of all the places to set up a colony, they picked a location near the Commonwealth fifth line of defense. Surely there had to be a hundred better spots to set up shop."

"Invasion point?" the executive officer suggested, joining them at the table. Her headset clicked aloud as she reviewed some piece of data, the visor that wrapped around her eyes flashing with light before going dark. The piece withdrew as she continued to speak. "We don't know very much about them, but they got a first-rate display of our abilities in Tau-21 three years ago ..... Oh, and report just came in negative on the seventh planet sir. Drone squadrons are moving on the others now to look for any signs of the Kraetons, but it's going to take some time. Hours, possibly a day or two. We still have to find some of these planets. Rather like stumbling around in a fogbank."

Mere Hours After Impact

The Gestation Sac was already being bred rapidly as other Larvaetons went underground in search of nutrients to eat to metamorphosize. The Caedes had brought with him a fresh brood of Shrykas to began imbedding themselves into like creatures and laying their eggs. Staring upon the mass of undulatiing flesh, veins, and sinew, she spoke to herself.

"The sac will be completed shortly," she stared up at the night sky, brightening up as the sun came over. "This planet...it has no sentient lifeforms nor defenses. We should be able to scour the planet of all basic flora and fauna, helping us spearhead the system."

A psychic whisper drifted through her head. A being, massive beyond comprehension, was talking to her without words. Merely instinctial thoughts and images.

"Yes. This will add on to the Hive that Niiat has taken from us*. Once we build up the strength, this galaxy will fall under into the jaws of the devourer."

The sac finished pulsating and broke from its embryonic covering, revealing the Kraeton Gestation Sac. It was the size of a bus with a little bit of the chitinous armour grown on it. Its tentacles writhed in the air, sensing movements and scents as well as readying to protect itself. However, the Sac was basically an "infant", unable to move nor defend itself directly. This didn't stop it from creating the Kraetons though...

Inside the sac, the first of many Kraetons were being spawned.

=()= Her Majesty's Naval Ship Gallant, Outskirts of the SNR-21 System =()=

It was quiet on the bridge, the change of shift having occurred some time before. Gone was the urgent activity that had taken place in previous hours, the stalking pace that had led to raised tensions thoughout the ship. Occasionally a squad of marines tramped through a compartment, weapons out as the reflective facemasks of their self-sealing helmets caught an occasional twinkle of light at the right angle. Down in the vehicle bays, a group of soldiers and sailors had gathered to play a game of craps in front of one of the light reconnaissance vehicles.

Outside the viewports on the command deck, the occasional aft end of the Ranger could be seen as it led the squadron deeper into the system. The seventh planet had been left far behind as the two cruiser/carriers swept onwards into SNR-21, still safely flanked by their escorting bevy of fighters. Ahead of them, though they could not be seen, there were other drones swarming the system in vast spread-out lines, A.I. systems talking to each other as they tried to find the other planets here. One and two had been located in the preceding hours, and both declared clear. The ship's executive officer was nearly ready to call it quits and inform the captain that the Kraeton spore had probably moved on.

Nineteen hours and counting since they lost the trail. It was more than annoying: it was aggravating. And right now all the Gallant's executive officer could do was sit in the vacant junior command chair, alternating between playing Westerby in scrabble and receiving the countless reports that were an acknowledged fact of her position.

OOC Sorry for the long delay. Was busy with alot of stuff and I still am busy with a couple of things.

IC

24 Hours after impact

The first of many Kraetons emerged from the Gestation Sac, that too already begining to evolve into a Gestation Magen. Structures stared growing rapidly to begin assimilation of the planet. The Asesinos flocked in their murders, led by a single Sicari.

Around the crash site, there appeared what seemed to be proto-humanoid lifeforms. These hunter-gatherers had been watching from afar for some time now and had worked up the courage to approach the sac. They neared the Kraeton HQ slowly, grabbing cover amongst the trees. The sac was unprotected for now, so they closed in on the pulsating mound of flesh and veins. They didn't hear the tig snapping above them. Nor did they hear the soft footprints in the trees above them. Nor did they hear the quiet movement of twelve tendrils nearing their fragile bodies. Not until it was too late.

The Sicarl struck, impaling its diamond-hard claws on its tendrils into the skulls of some of the humanoids. The others screamed with terror as they ran away, abandoning their fallen brothers. The Sicari kept pace with them, lashing out its tentacles at them and picking each one off until there was only one left. The remaining human drew his spear and prepared to throw it. The Sicari just snapped its lash tendril and snapped the stick in half. The human was cornered, scared and shaking as the tendrils reared up and plunged into his body, tearing him apart. Blood and flesh scattered across the forest as the Asesinos and Sicari gathered around, feeding off of the endtrails of their new prey.

It was a matter of time...

=()= Aberdeen Border Station, Homeworld System =()=

The automated drone from the task force snapped back to subspace with a flash of white light, programming dictating that its retreival beacon should go to active status and begin transmitting its authentication codes. But the same programming limited its higher functions, otherwise it would have begun to sniff around at its surroundings.

Ships were scattered throughout the surrounding space, a variety of freighters, escape pods, shuttles, yachts, fighters, and even a couple of Marathon class light cruisers in closer to the station. There was damage to some of them, others simply untouched and slowly rolling in place. Clouds of debris spun gently through the area from where collisions had taken place. Navigational running lights flashed, winking in place from the otherwise-deserted hulls that shone with lights and other sources of power. Weapon turrets were pointed aimlessly, automated systems tracking and waiting for responses to queries.

Nearly all of the A.I. systems in the vicinity were as close to panic as was possible for automated constructs, having bore witness to a disaster of the largest magnitude they had ever seen. A snap assessment would have concluded that something terrible had happened here, an event that threatened the very core of Bautizan society and the homeworld itself.

But the drone was an ignorant and dumb device, simplistic in nature, and so it waited for retrieval and did not question what it saw.

=()= Her Majesty's Naval Ship Gallant, SNR-21 system =()=

"Got it," the officer whispered at the screen, leaning over the technician. The system was flashing at them with a pronounced indicator light, the sensor A.I. construct looking on and watching the display with a trace of pride on her face. "Hell of a bastard to find, eh?"

The enlisted man gave a nod of agreement. "Aye sir. But we found it. Definite ion trail heading for the surface, looks like its aged significantly. Computer says it's a 90% match to Kraeton ions."

Commander Hawke was summonsed and appeared promptly, having been resting just off the bridge in his ready room while the hunt continued for the last planet. Right now, all he had to do was look at the screen to know the answer he'd been waiting for a long time to hear. At which point he turned to the marine commander present on the bridge, a colonel according to his rank pips. The veteran soldier was wearing his full combat gear, armor and sidearm included.

"Colonel, I want you to send a squad down for a quick recon. Have them determine the status of the Kraeton settlement. It's going to take us some time to penetrate the atmosphere of the planet with sensors, and I don't want to send in drones. Not just yet."

It took a few minutes, but finally three dropships dropped from the underbelly hangar of the Gallant, engines lighting up briefly as they accelerated towards the nearby planet. Both the squadron flagship and the Ranger were slowing to hold positions, drone squadrons out and sweeping through nearby space as the ones on the far side of the system began to return. Signals flashed out to all sides, electronic antennas commanding and demanding the very finest in performance as the dropships dwindled towards the planetary atmosphere.

36 Hours After Impact.

Asphyxiation Spires began piercing the atmosphere as the first hours of the Devouring were begining. They began stripping the atmsphere and replacing it with the toxic mist filled with poisons and Kraetozoa. Around the plains, Asesinos led by Sicari were ravaging the countryside, spreading Larvaetons around the area and hunting down the native fauna of the world as Volucari choked the skies, hunting across the land. The Cacuscudo Magen had finished and had become deeply rooted into the ground, syphoning nutrients from the soil and nearby plantlife. Around the Magen the flora were decaying as their very lifeforce was being stolen from them.

Erupting from the Magen's Spawning Vacoules came two new species of Kraeton. The first was the massive Ballista, a tank-sized turtle-like creature with two massive bio-energy cannons on its carapace. The ground shook beneath its feet as small herds of them moved around the Magen, providing a sort of defense against vehicles and aircraft alike.

The second species were already out, the sounds of thunder from their stampede filling the air. These were the Falxifers, raptor-like bipedal monstrosities, streamlined and fast hunting in murders of other Falxifers. They were faster and smarter than the Asesinos, having large scythe-like claws on their forearms to shear through the flesh and bones of their enemies. They traveled through the dying forest, picking off bigger animals and protohumans as well as striking fear into the native sentients.

The Kraetons were spreading across the country like a cancer, with other Cacuscudo Gestation Sacs forming in different parts of the land. Unbeknownst to any stranger of the Kraeton was the real danger of the mass production of the organic demons...as lightyears away a large broodfleet sensed the growing psychic beacon forming on the planet...

OOC: This is interesting... can't wait for the part were I help Baut blow these monsters to bits... :p

OOC: This is interesting... can't wait for the part were I help Baut blow these monsters to bits... :p

OOC: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Kraeton

Some (incomplete) background information on the race, including units and buildings. Although as of now, The LOFW don't really know too much about these guys.

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