NationStates Jolt Archive

Somewhere in deep space..

A very large cargo ship, the sort designed to carry whole cities worth of construction materials from planets to planets, drifted in the silent, dark vastness of space. The ship was slowly drifting 'forward' and to one side, its manuvering engines not firing, the main engines unlit.

On the nose, tail and several points across the supermassive ship, tiny red disress lights flickered on and off. A FTL distress call was being broadcast every ten minutes, the FTL transmission carrying it faster than light in an old technology where energy skips forward lightyears, broadcasts and continues onwards, forming a spider-web like pattern in three dimensions assured to bring help soon ... hopefully.

The transmission gave coordinates. And maybe.. just maybe help would be on its way.

Skgorrian Picket #41, Deep Space

"Transmission detected!" yelled the comms officer from the crew pit. Instantly Captain Petersen spun away from his watching of the classic movie "Suffer Ye Not The Bolshevik" on his vidscreen and hurried over.
"Details man," demanded the Captain as he tugged at his jacket to straighten it and hide the creases. The comms officer closed his eyes, as if straining.
"The signal's faint sir...translator reports that it is giving co-ordinates and requesting help. The signal then repeats."
"It could be a trap sir," ventured the First Officer as he strode over to the Captain, his hobnailed jackboots making a satisfactory series of *clacks* on the deck.
"It could well be," sighed the Captain, "but I'm not willing to take that chance. Alert the picket, we'll hyper to that location immediately. How long will it take, Navigation?"
"Roughly twenty minutes," saluted the Nav Officer. "The rest of the picket is locked in."
"Then engage," ordered Petersen as the stars elongated and the picket launched into hyperspace, numbering one Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, two Nebulon B-2 class frigates and eight Corellian gunships.
More than enough to fight off any pirates
"Signal the callers, tell them we are on our way."

Attention unidentified vessel, Skgorrian Picket #41 is en route to give assistance. We will arrive in roughly twenty-five minutes.

The huge ship continued to just drift along, not responding to the long-range transmission. When the patrol fleet arrived, they would find the ship still there. It gave off faint, emergency power signatures. Large solar panels on the sides of the ship would keep the basic systems fed, but without primary engines many of the major things like weapons simply would not work.

Once the Skgorrian ships arrived, a limited, scratchy short-range communications would query their ships, sending a message in text, "Greetings Skgorrian Picket #41, our ship is crippled. We require immediate evacuation."

bump to see if anyone else wants in on this

The R.C.S Mira Mesa (Peter the Great class battleship) heard the distress call and the Captain Jack Arnold called on the radio "Is anyone there, we are coming to help you, can anyone answer us and tell us what's going on?" The radio man ran up to Jack and said "We've got co-ordinates sir, May I tell the wheel-man to steer for it?" Jack rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and said "It may be a trap, but if it's a real emergancy, I am not willing to let people die for it, so if it's a trap, we are ready for what ever happens, tell him to steer for those co-ordinates" The radio man nodded and ran off to tell the man steering the ship. Finally the Calizorinstan Navy would see action at last.

OOC: Is this the reincarnation of the player called Blub who stood up to Hataria? And w00t for a bump actually working!

IC:

The picket slammed back into realspace, and unfortunately for some of the crew in one of the mess decks onboard the ISD Totenkopf, the compensators were not fully calibrated. Many found themselves slammed into the far wall, covered in both their comrades and various foodstuffs.

On the bridge of the Totenkopf, it was a different case altogether. Everyone was alert and ready for anything.
"Sensor report," demanded Petersen, strolling forwards to take a better look out of the bridge's windows. He could see the massive craft already, it must be HUGE he considered.
"Only one craft in system so far," came the report, "ship appears to be running on minimal power, no propulsion or anything."
"Weapons?" inquired the First Officer.
"If there are any, they aren't powered up," stated the Sensor Officer, "or at least of a recognisable type."
"Captain," counselled the First Officer, "we must be careful. That things is far too big for us too handle by ourselves if it proves to be hostile. I recommend calling in reinforcements."
"It seems we will have to anyway," remarked Petersen as he read a transcript handed to him by a crewman. "These people want evacuation. Now before you start, I know we can't fit that many people on these ships, and yes they could indeed be hostile. First Officer, get Admiral Doenitz on the line and explain to him our situation and that we will him posted."
Smartly saluting, the First Officer left to compose his message.
"Now," began Petersen, "I want all of our ships to have their shields up but no power to the weapons. Cautious, but not hostile. Hail the vessel and ask if we can send a shuttle over to meet with the commanders. In the meantime, have 3 assualt shuttles ready full with medics and emergency supplies. Storm-Colonel Drayson!" Petersen's shout caught the attention of the napping Kriegsmarine commander who bolted out of his chair and saluted.
"YES SIR?" bellowed the large man.
Wincing, Petersen nursed his ear. Why did the man have to be so damn loud?
"Make sure that those shuttles have Kriegsmarine ready to go. No Ubersoldats. See to it personally"
"AS ORDERED!" and with that the large Storm-Colonel marched off the bridge.
"Glad I got rid of him," muttered the Captain, prompting a nervous chuckle from those of the crew who were close enough to hear him.

The following message was sent to the large vessel.
Understood, what are the numbers required for evacuation? Do you need immediate first aid? We request permission to send some of our officers over to meet with you.

OOC: Are your guys refering to me if so then..

IC:
Jack listen to the reply on the radio on the bridge of the R.C.S Mira Mesa and replied "No we don't need any first aid at all, we are just attempting to help the vessel in need, and your officers can come and meet with us, we have turned on the floodlights. We are the big battleship you see, we haven't turned our weapons on, but if pirates appear, well you get to watch the fireworks if so.. He sat back in his chair and waited with bated breath for the inevitable reply.

OOC: Yes. The same Blub. My old account disappeared somehow. >.> Anyhow, yeah.. I stood up to Hataria. And was winning until he decided to ignore the combat thread.

IC:

For the R.C.S Mira Mesa, there would be only silence. They would of course probably detect the communications between the broken down colony ship and the Skgorrians. Seemed the big ship was limited to very short range communications transmissions. Under twenty thousand kilometers.

Meanwhile for the Skgorrians, there was silence from the ship for several minutes. Then, a light-based communicator flickered on. It began to beam a live-action shot to the bridge of the lead Skgorrian ship. On their viewing panels, a scene would open up showing the bridge of a colony ship lit by emergency, low-power lights.

The only visable thing in the scene is a droid. A protocol droid. It was sitting at the communications system, typing on a keyboard. Once the signals were linked, it ceased typing and the voice transmitter kicked on, "Hello. I am Model Two. I speak for my hosts, as they do not know your language, and .. are most unsuited for diplomatic interaction."

The droid paused, then went on, "We need evacuation for approximately two million small-sized creatures. My hosts are 'The Blubs'. The crew of this starship abandoned it, we were caught in a solar flare which radiated an EMP wave and knocked out most of the ship's systems. This was approximately a month ago. Several of the Blubs fixed my own systems, and now I serve them. We require evacuation or a tow."

OOC: My own first venture into FT, shout if I do something stupid.

Meanwhile, other less friendly beings had also detected the distress call, they could surely capitalise on the state of this crippled and unescorted vessel.

Bridge of the Malice, Deep Space

The wide room remained almost completely dark, save for the faint glow of computer terminals where several non-uniformed officers quietly observed the stricken ship ahead of them.

"Hyperspace signature detected, cloaking frequencies disrupted."

A female voice chimed from the ship's speakers, jolting the peaceful room to attention. Frantic fingers raced at keyboards for a moment before the ripples from the Skgorrian picket fleet's entry subsided and they were able to re-cloak. Hopefully the distortion from their own entry would have blinded the Skgorrians to their presence, if not then a quick and undignified retreat was going to have to be the order of the day.

The large 'Black Cloak' class frigate continued to watch the scene unfolding before them, unseen and unheard but now must definately outgunned.

Jack Arnold ordered 5 of his best maritime officers, trained from the "Falcon" program, to go over to the Skgorrian picket fleet, and locate the flagship, and discuss with them what was happening, so they got into 2 Advorisusa light boats (about 50 footers) and speed towards the Skgorrian picket fleet, announcing their intentions on the onboard radio's on the 50 ft boats, and the sped into mystrery for all they knew....

"Another message sir," reported the Comms officer.
"Later," waved Petersen as he fixed his eyes upon the droid on the viewscreen. Adopting a formal posture, Petersen extended his right arm in the traditional salute and spoke the formal greeting of Skgorria.
"Sieg Heil Skgorria! We greet you!" he cried, before slouching again and rubbing his shoulder. "Damn, that hurts. Anyway as you have probably worked out, our ships are FAR too small to evacuate you. We will of course render any medical or technical assistance that we can until help arrives. My superior is right now being informed," Petersen stated confidently. "Excuse me," he stated to the droid and turned to the comms officer. "Quickly man."
"These people claim to be 'the big battleship'. Orders?"
"Instruct them not to come any closer, we have the situation under control."

R.C.S Mira Mesa, the situation is under control by the Skgorrian Air Force. Do not approach the Blub vessel. We will welcome you and your troops onboard the Totenkopf. Following the docking beacon

The men on the boats replied "Understood, call upon us if you need any assistance, we will go back to the Battleship and wait there until help is needed. We aren't going to approach the Blub vessel, thank you for your co-operation with us over." The 2 boats sped back to the R.C.S Mira Mesa, and the men boarded the battleship awaiting the newest devolpments in this strange situation.

R.C.S Mira Mesa, due to a confusion of orders the message was not passed on correctly. We invite for you to send up to 30 men to the Totenkopf, the big white ship. Follow the docking lights.

OOC: Blub man, you fecking rocked. I even had a cool propaganda poster made for the war, but it was over before I could post it...

Cap.Jack Arnold assembled 29 men besides himself, all of whom were trained not only in the Falcon program, but in diplomatic, and maritme strategic matters. He and the 29 men set off in the one Andvoruis class boat and followed the white lights to the Totenkopf, and they awaited what adventure lay ahead of them.....

Onboard the Skgorrian ship, when Petersen turned away, the droid looked around the dim bridge he sat in. He 'spoke' again, "Thank you very much sir. We will meet your men at the main dock of our ship." The droid stood clumsily and wobbled out the door.

A minute later, little green tentacles appeared in the camera's view. Then.. a Blub came into view. A little green alien, looking like a blob with tentacles, eyestalks and a mouth. It blinked curiously, peering into the camera's lense with its eyestalks. Another Blub joined in, and the two inspected the camera. A third climbed onto the keyboard, the keys clacking. The message "fhes[[[]]fdf" transmitted to the Skgorrians, which was just gibberish as the Blub cackled softly, slapping the keyboard with tentacles to make music with the key-clacks.

The two Blubs on the console were having a tug-of-war with the camera, and it jerked back and forth. They lost their grips, and the camera fell onto its side. Viewing the scene sideways, the bridge crew of the Skgorrian warship could see the two fat little Blubs wrestling harmlessly on the console.

Meanwhile, the ship's biggest dock slowly opened up, waiting for the Skgorrians to come and help.

OOC so the tanks i've given you help

The bridge crew were at first shocked at the sight of the Blubs.
"What...is that?" gawped Petersen, his mouth open.
"One of the Blubs perhaps," ventured the First Officer. "By the way, the Admiral is clearing you to tug the vessel to Skgorria Prime. You'll just need to get a slave circuit set up."
"Right, okay," replied the Captain, captivated by the Blubs. "Ingenious creatures, just look at them."
"Yes sir," replied the First Officer dutifully, looking at the viewscreen. Most of the bridgecrew were ignoring their duties and looking at the Blubs. Some of them were even waving, trying to prompt a response.

An assault transport landed in the main hangar, disgorging 30 Kriegsmarine* carrying technical and first aid equipment. They looked around for someone to greet them...

Meanwhile, when the boat arrived in the hangar of the Totenkopf it would be greeted by an honour guard of Kriegsmarine several hundred strong and an officer in the black uniform of the Skgorrian Air Force.

Cap. Jack Arnold stepped off the boat, with his 29 men, and saluted the officer in black, and said "How are you sir? We are ready to discuss matters with you about this "little incident" you're having, maybe once we are more inside your vessel here, you could tell us what you know about the vessel in distress?"

The Bridge

When the Skgorrian crew waved, one of the Blubs peered at the display screen, on which the Skgorrian bridge was visable. The Blub blinked several times, then squeaked. In the sideways view of the overturned camera, the Skgorrians could see the trio gathered around the flatpanel display, watching them. At one of the waving crew, the Blubs looked at each other and chittered softly. Then one wriggled a tentacle, mimicing the gesture. None were looking at the camera now, rather looking at the computer screen as if it were a window.

Another Blub tapped on the computer screen, wondering how the Skgorrians got trapped in there.

The Hangar
When the ship arrived, it had to pass through a series of airlocks and then land. The Skgorrian Marines upon exiting would find the protocol droid there, Model Two. It bowed formally to the soldiers. With the Skgorrian battle gear's enhanced visual equipment, they could likely see shy Blubs throughout the bay hiding behind crates, eyestalks craning around corners to watch the soldiers curiously.

M2 bowed again, "Greetings, soldiers. I am Model Two. I temporarily represent the Blubs and speak for them on matters of diplomacy. May we get you something to drink?" M2 had been instructed to offer. Offering a drink to guests was a cultural politeness for the Blubs. "As you can see, we are rather unarmed and at the moment, at your mercy."

The only visable piece of military equipment in the hangar was an old FTL recon/interceptor, probably a hundred years out of date. It tilted to one side on flat landing gear, an empty rocket pod slung under one wing.

Bay 1, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Lieutenant Yuklig," the officer introduced himself with a sharp salute. "Welcome to the Totenkopf, one of the best ships in the fleet," he grinned, motioning for the party to follow him as he began walking.
"As we understand it, the ship in question is currently damaged and needs either repairs or evacuation. We're going to try and repair it, but quite frankly our resources are limited. We're a picket patrol for Battlegroup Firestorm, not a mobile shipyard," the Lieutenant stated with a mixture of sarcasm and jolity. "There are some of our men over there right now, and the rest of the picket is right now assuming a defensive formation. What are your suggestions?"

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

The Skgorrian continued to amuse themselves by watching the Blubs.
"Their technological sophistication cannot be that high if they think it's a window" remarked the First Officer arrogantly. "They're little better than savages."
"First Officer!" rebuked Petersen, "enough of that! Six demerits, and place yourself on report."
"Aye sir," whimpered the First Officer.
"Better," stated Petersen. "How is the tranlation program coming?"
"Badly," sighed the sweating Comms Officer. "I have no bloody idea what I am doing." He thumped his console a couple of times before burying his head in his arms and whimpering softly.
"There, there" Petersen comforted the crying officer with a pat on the shoulder. Looks like it is time to lead from the front he thought, stepping to the middle of the deck so that the Blubs would have a clear view of him.
"Petersen," he said loudly, pointing at himself.

The Hangar, Blub Vessel

The lead soldier stepped forward and quickly saluted.
"Storm-Corporal Heydrich reporting, no thanks in regards to the drinks, my orders are to remain suited until return to my ship in case of contamination. My apologies, I do not mean to offend," he stuck out a gloved hand in offer of a handshake to the droid. Heydrich could hear radio chatter from his squad
I got one...two contacts at 3 o' clock
Any weapons?
Negative
What are these things?
Looks like that ship hasn't gone anywhere in a while...
Stay alert, keep weapons holstered but be ready

"Model Two", Heydrich continued, "what do you need of us? We have food, first aid and some mechanical equipment." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating behind him where the rest of his platoon was unloading supplies.

The Bridge

The trio looked at the tiny man in the window curiously. They then looked at each other, and then back to him. One of the Blubs fancied himself a thinker of sorts, and chittered to his comrades, explaining (Making up on the spot) how humans often take tiny forms to get into small spaces and make repairs. The Blub squeaked, pointing out that M2 is meeting with more humans now. These tiny people in the window were probably an advance team.

The other two Blubs looked at him with respect and nodded along to the explanation. All three looked down at Petersen's image on the screen again. One of them waved again, mimicing the gestures with a tentacle.

The Hangar

M2 took the Marine's hand and shook it, "Thank you very much Storm Corporal. Currently food resources are still in abundance. The Blubs are small, and don't eat much. The solar panels collect enough energy to use the water and oxygen scrubs, so there's enough water and as well. These creatures can go without air for extended periods of time, so don't worry even if the air scrubs break down. All of the humans, the crew of this ship abandoned it sixty days ago when we took the solar flare hit."

He pointed across the bay towards a row of ejection pods, most of which had red lights instead of green, showing that they were empty. "These creatures were recently discovered in the Prexus Nebula by the Comstar Explorer Corp. The Explorer Corp befriended them, the Blubs let them use their homeworld as a staging ground for exploration. However, their homeworld's sun is on the verge of turning into a white giant. The sun is dying. In another five hundred years, their planet would be uninhabitable. So, Explorer Corp arranged to have them transported to another planet. Hence.. why they're here now. The planet Explorer Corp picked is about six lightyears from here."

In the backround, the Blubs were cautiously emerging.. very slowly approaching the Marines, who to the Blubs.. were giants. Some very tiny/young Blubs squeaked softly, examining the boots of the Marines.

"Right now, we are most in need of a tow. The engines tore themselves to pieces when the solar flare shut down the cooling systems. There is moderate damage to several decks near the rear of the ship. One of the escape pods malfunctioned, and it crashed into the main FTL comm array."

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"What do you reckon they're trying to say?" whispered Petersen.
"I have no idea!" moaned the Comms Officer. "Everyone we've come across so far has spoken a derivative of an Earth language, so translation. This...this" he gestured desparingly, "is something else altogether. I give up." Leaving the distraught man, Petersen did something no Captain had ever done in a First Contact situation: he started to tap-dance. The hobnails of his boots made a fantastic *clack* noise on the deck, and the rest of the crew sat there stunned.

Hangar, Blub Vessel

"No problems," Heydrich stated as he shook the robot's hand. "We can fix you up for a tow, and we'll seal any areas exposed to vacuum. Might as well keep this bucket of bolts together eh? Show me where the techs are needed and we can get started." He then turned around and saw something he thought he would never see: battle-hardened Skgorrian Kriegsmarine had broken open the food rations and were attempting to entice the Blubs forward by putting it in their open gloves and holding it out.
"It's a peace offering Storm-Corporal," one of the soldiers remarked, not looking up from the small Blub who was near his feet. "Be careful Storm-Corporal, you won't want to step on one of the young 'uns."

The Bridge
The trio on the bridge continued chittering at each other until.. clackity clackity clack! Their eyestalks turned towards the screen, to watch the human begin dancing. Instantly, all three were entranced by the clicking and clacking and movements.

Tentacles swayed to the rythem. Maybe dancing is an intraspecies commonality? Within moments, all three were also shuffling and moving about, clapping tentacles together and producing a suprisingly harmonious humming sound. They were singing. The tiny human in the window was dancing, and so were they.

One of them snatched up a stick microphone with a telescoping handle, and extended it to its full length of about two feet. The Blub then proceeded to dance about with his comrades on the console, thrusting the microphone in the air like a spear. The Blubs seemed very tribal, their claps occuring at the same time, hooting and humming.

The Hangar
The tiny Blubs peeked into the hands of the marines shyly, then seemed to sniff at the food. They looked up at the soldiers, then carefully took the morsels. One of the littlest Blubs clutched a cracker in its tentacles, gnawing on the edge like a saw through a wooden plank. Tiny cracker crumbs drifted to the floor.

It seemed a general signal for the Blubs to approach closer, inspecting the Skgorrian ship. Several cautiously crept up the boarding ramp, peering inside with their natural curiousity before swinging down again to the deck, congragating under the ship in the shadow cast by it.

M2 turned, wobbling towards one of the stairwells. The turbolifts were down because of the power. "Follow me, Storm Corporal." Guiding the Marine up the stairs, followed by a gaggle of adoring Blubs. The smallest one still clutched his cracker, hurrying along to keep up.

They would soon arrive on an upper deck near the rear of the ship. Silvery squares were attached to the walls in several places, wielded there by the crew in an attempt to patch up before abandoning the ship.

M2 pointed down the corridor, "This is as safe as we can get. Six doors past this one, there is no pressure and the area is still heavily contaminated by the ship's ruptured fuel cells. I urge caution, Storm Corporal. The Blubs would not want to see any of your men hurt trying to repair a lost cause."

ooc: Consider this a tag. Oh, and Blub, great to see you back man.

OOC: Thanks, NE. =) Figured I'd start over rather than trying to recover my old account.

Bridge of the Malice

The still-cloaked frigate angled slightly and allowed itself to drift, engines at minimal power, toward the Skgorrian picket fleet. The large capital-class vessel looked fit to plunder but the warships warranted more concern.

The Coms Officer tapped quickly at his station, relaying the position of the crippled ship and the new arrivals.

To: Outer Claw Fleets
Malice reports large capital class vessel sighted, crippled but occupied. No weapons detected but power signature is minimal. Unidentified scouting fleet in vicinity, appears to be in contact with vessel, appears lawful. One destroyer and two frigates minimum.

Request assistance. Recommend hyperspace to outside of sensors range and stand-by for short jump. Terms of the prize are standard and non-negotiable.

Bay 1:
Cap.Arnold said "My main suggestion would be maybe to call out into space, and see if anyone has a ship with the tools needed to repair it, if not I think we will have to try and repair it ourselves. This is a nice ship, could you give us a little tour?" He inquired smiling at the officer.

<pokes Skgorria>

<Pokes everyone else, there must be some more pirates out there!>

OOC: Sorry guys, been moving back into uni. All set to go now!

The Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Keep dancing Captain!" urged the First Officer, "they seem to respond to your display."
Petersen grunted in reply, focusing on his dancing. It had been years since the Academy's production of Space Jazz and he was a little rusty, but he kept on going. As the Captain kept dancing, the First Officer attempted to decipher a method of communication.
"There must be a way," he mused aloud.
"Perhaps we should ask the Kriegsmarine on the Blub vessel," offered the Communications Officer. "I would hate to break up this evening's performance," he added with a grin. The Communication Officer was advidly recording the Blubs not only for purposes of working out a method of communication with them, but also so he could show it at the Annual Interstellar Anthropology Conference on Skgorria Prime. Who knows, I might make a bundle off this...
The strain was clearly taking a toll on Petersen, as his face was turning red and sweat was appearing on his forehead.
"Of all the things we'd need in a first contact situation," he grumbled, "I'd never imagine we would need a dance troupe."
Hesitantly, one of the crewmen stood up from the pit and walked up to the walkway.
"Allow me sir, I know a few moves" he offered. Petersen nodded, mainly because he was too short on breath to reply. The crewman broke into a fast-paced Barynya, a dance taking from ancient Russia. At the Captain's encouragement, the crew started clapping and shouting "Hey!" They were so busy in the dance routine that a sensor monitor failed to see that his instruments registered a strange hyperspace anomaly...

Bay 1, 'ISD Totenkopf'

The Lieutenant frowned. "I'm not sure calling out into space for aid is such a good idea, there are several sizeable pirate groups in the area and we wouldn't want to attract their attention. I have word that we are trying to affect repairs, so perhaps you could send some people over to help that. For the time being the best we can do is form a perimeter and await the arrival of our reinforcements from Battlegroup Firestorm." At the mention of the Battlegroup, the Skgorrian officer smiled. "One of the biggest and most powerful battlegroups in the whole of the Skgorrian Air Force, and possibly in the quadrant." He then took a more apologetic tone,
"I am sorry Captain, but as we know very little about you and your people, I cannot authorise a tour. If you wish to leave your escort in the hands of these kind people," he waved his hand around at the white-armoured Kriegsmarine, "then I might be able to take you to the bridge to meet with the Captain. What say you?"

Corridor, Blub Vessel

The Storm-Corporal stepped forward and examined the seal.
"It seems stable," he offered, "but I'd want to reinforce this." He turned to one of his seemingly identical counterparts, as the uniforms bore no rank insignia or anything else. "Get our engineers on this door, I want it tough enough to hold a turbolaser. Understood?"
"Sir!" saluted the soldier, unslinging his bag and withdrawing a welding tool. He began to apply it to one of the patches, heating them up and ensuring that the seal remained tight. Two other soldiers joined him in the task.

Satisfied that the area was being secured, the Storm-Corporal turned to M2. "I need two things. Firstly, I need to know about everything those fuel cells, for example if hit by any form of munition will they explode? And secondly, I need you or someone else to teach me or one of my men a method of talking to the Blubs directly. We may not have time to rely on your interpretation if anything goes wrong."

OOC: ^.^

The Bridge

One of the Blubs was swinging from a console by its tentacles, wriggling/dancing. The other two turned to watch the screen as the new tiny person began to dance. This was exciting! When the human crew began to clap, so did the Blubs. See, now this is fun!

Corridor

M2 turned to gently shoo the crowd of Blubs back as sparks began to fly from the marines working. The Blubs retreated with a communal 'ooo'. M2 looked to the Storm Corporal, "Certainly, Corporal. I believe Explorer Corps shipped a crate of translation devices along with us in case I broke down. If you'll follow me." Leaving the other marines to their work, the droid lead the Skgorrian back down to the cargo bay. It chittered something to the mob of Blubs there, and thousands of eyestalks turned towards them.

M2 pointed at stacks of crates lined up against one wall, then chittered and squeaked. The Blubs.. like a green wave fell upon the crates. Within a moment, lids were being pulled off to expose supplies of food, medical equipment, condensed fuel batteries to power generators and crates with just about everything else imaginable in them. One crate was filled most of the way with what looked like gems. Each one finely crafted by the Blubs on their home planet, and brought along as sort of the colony's treasure. There were others of course.

Soon enough, the proper box was opened. Inside were two dozen very high-end laptop type computers, a couple giant spools of laser-optic cable, a case of walkie-talkies with various channel settings, and a plastic box with fifteen translators. They looked like walkie-talkies themselves, but with ports to plug in computers and program them. These translators were already set for the Blubs of course.

That tiny little Blub, still carrying half a cracker dragged one of the translators over to the Storm Corporal's feet, unable to lift it. The Blub squeaked, fiddling with buttons on the device ineffectively. M2 looked down, "There's one. How many do you need, Storm Corporal? My internal memory tells me there are two more cases of them somewhere, fourty five total."

"Also, the fuel cells are a battery type. They will not rupture unless they get punctured somehow. From the damage to the rear of the ship, the fuel cells explosion is not severe, but does spill toxic fumes and acids. The main damage came from the coolant system overheating."

The Bridge

As the bridge crew continued their show, the sensor monitor finally caught sight of the flashing light on his console. The equipment had caught a transmission, nothing out of the ordinary but something worth checking anyway. Immediatley he began running a trace on the signal, plotting its origin.
Lets see...nothing from the Totenkopf or the frigates he puzzled, ruling out the Skgorrian vessels. How about either one of our friends? No, the Blub vessel is too low on power for such a high-strength transmission, and the triangulation isn't right for that other vessel...SHIT! Coming to the sudden realisation, he turned around and yelled at the Captain.
"SIR!" he called, trying to cut through the laughter and noise. "Unidentified transmission located, possible hostile contact!"
"Battle stations! General Quarters!" Petersen called, springing into action. The crew snapped back into duty. "Turn that viewscreen off, and someone notify the away team!" He added, and the view of the Blubs winked out. Section Chiefs then called out when their Sections were ready.
"Shields raised!"
"Damage control ready on all decks!"
"Fighters prepped for launch!"
"Weapons armed!"

The Totenkopf was now ready for battle, and the accompanying frigates and gunboats began to ready themselves.

Bay 1, 'ISD Totenkopf'

"Well, piss" growled the Lieutenant as the sirens wailed. "Stay in the bay, you'll be perfectly safe!" With that, he ran off leaving Captain Arnold and his men under guard by the Kriegsmarine.

Corridor

As the Storm-Corporal picked up one of the translators, his helmet radio beeped.
"Go ahead," he sighed.
"Storm-Corporal, enemy vessels may be in the area. Secure the Blubs and prepare to defend against boarders. Over and out." a worried voice crackled.
"Understood," the soldier confirmed as he signed off and switched to his suit-to-suit frequency.
"Listen up, possible enemy presence in the area. We need this area secured and prepare to repel boarders. Grab any translators you can as well. Acknowledge by squad."
"Alpha confirms"
"Beta confirms"
"Gamma confirms"
Throughout the Blub vessel, the Kriegsmarine were dropping their supply crates and arming their weapons. Heydrich held up the translator and tried talking.
"Blub, can you understand me?"

Cap Arnold groaned at the siren and said "What, is another bloody pirate attack again, ah well no use complaining men. Sit tight, and this will all pass over us, I shouldn't wonder if we are lucky." With that he and his men waited, while being guarded, for this weird happening to stop.

Der Bridge

The tiny people in the window turned off the lights! The trio paused, looking at the suddenly dark screen.. then quietly coo'd and chittered at each other, not wanting to wake up their tiny friends. It must be bedtime.

Bay

A half second after the marine finished speaking, the translator chattered out something in Blubbish. Many nearby turned to look at him, and then inched closer. He obviously had their attention. Another Blub, a darker green than the others (Which the marines would eventually means older) scooched forward, squeaking. The translator spoke up in English when the Blub finished, "Greetings warrior. We can understand you now, perfectly."

Bridge of the Malice

"Any response yet?"

"No sir, give it time sir, I'm sure there are more outlaw vessels in the area than just us though, we're in deep space."

The same female voice that had calmly announced the Skgorrian's arrival now echoed through the room's speakers again.

Priority alert. Power increase detected on contact D-1.

The watch officer strode to the sensors bay, quickly taking stock of the new readings. "The destroyer has raised it's shields to full power, weapons systems are probably prepped too, can't tell while we're cloaked though."

Captain Henggarson swore loudly. "Blast it, we're detected, or else they picked up on the transmission. Ready the fighters for launch, all hands to battle stations!"

The Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"So you're saying that you picked up an unidentifiable transmission?" Petersen was giving the sensor monitor a grilling, wanting to be sure that he hadn't ordered all of his picket to battle stations for nothing. To convince his captain, the sensor monitor showed Petersen his readings.
"See here sir," the man waved at his screen, tracing a line across a series of seemingly unintelligible numbers and bar graphs. "That's a transmission, no doubt about it. Now I ran the numbers and did the scans, that did not come from any of our vessels or those of our recent accquaintances. This means..."
"...there's another vessel out there," moaned Petersen. "Brilliant, well the only thing we can do is hold tight and hope they show themselves." He turned to his Starfighter Co-ordinator. "Deploy our complement of Defenders and Assualt gunboats, but keep the Frigates' fighters in reserve."

From the hangars of the Totenkopf 36 TIE Defenders and 36 Assault Gunboats boiled out into space and began circling like angry bees, looking for prey.

Bay

"Fantastic!" the relief was evident in Heydrich's voice. "Now, we have word that there might be hostile forces around. I need you to get all of your people into secure locations, ones that can be sealed in the event of a decompression. My men will be here to fight if needed, so you can count on us." He tried to inject a sense of optimism into voice, but Heydrich knew the situation was bad. His troops would be defending a crippled ship that was already structuraly damaged against an enemy that could come from any angle.

Cap.Arnold said "I'll get my men into secure locations, that can be sealed. We are armed with spare E-11 carbines, we can help in defense if needed. Do you have any extra stormtrooper armor we can don?" He asked the Lt., and waited for a response, for he needed to be in armor, even if they weren't engaging anyone, for he knew a rogue shot might come their way, and if they didn't have armor well...

OOC: Calizorinstan, can you make your strength and position clear? I stand no chance against Skgorria but I might take a sneak attack at your guys if I get the chance.

OOC: I am on a Skiggorian ship, basicly my ship returned back to it's space port, my men on the Tenkepof number 30 all armed with E-11s, so basicly your only chance is to attack th Skiggorian's. We are in their bay number 1 on the Tenkepof.

Bay, ISD 'Totenkopf'

The Air Force Lieutenant looked at Captain Arnold in a puzzled manner.
"Stormtrooper? E-111? What are you on about...oh!" He saw that the newcomers had similar weapons to those of the Kriegsmarine and made the connection.
"No spare armour I'm afraid," he grimaced, "but I can take you to a more secure location. Hurry now!" He set off on a brisk jog, jostling past crewmen as he came to a saferoom.
"We use these in case of decompression, so we should be safe here," the Officer grinned as he sealed the door when the last of Captain Arnold's men had passed. The room had a few bunks and a comm panel, but was otherwise spartan.

Bridge, Atopian Space Vessel Terrible Wrath, Flagship of Flank Group Alpha:

"Captain, it appears that there's a Skgorrian vessel in trouble. Reports suggest that combat has been initiated."
"Pirates?"
"Almost certainly, Captain."
"Excellent. After five months of drawing blank on an anti-piracy sweep, we can finally nail some. Relay orders to the group. We go in fast and hard, vac the hostile vessels and arrest the survivors. Inform the Skgorrians."
"Sir, TacInt says that the victims are Blubs."
"Ah! Our ancient allies! Gunnery command - target all vessels that are not Blub or Skgorrian, fire when ready."
"Very well, sir. We shall shift:jump in five, on your mark, sir."
"Very good Number One. On my mark... Mark!"

Space, one light-second above the Skgorrian vessel:

The blackness of space rippled, shimmering silver and gold as the vessels of the Flank Group powered out of shift:space. Travelling at .4 C, they bore down on the engaged vessels. The Executor-class Terrible Wrath was surrounded by five Star Destroyers, and the whole was supported by an Interdictor - which was already jamming all FTL capablities for a distance of ten light-seconds - and its two Victory-class escorts, who lagged behind.

Targeting software lit up the enemy vessels, surrounding the friendly ships of the Blub and the Skgorrians in a nimbus of green light.

Across the vessels of the Flank Group, huge weapons systems blazed. Turbolasers, ion cannons, heavy turbolasers, superheavy masers and particle cannons flickered across the gulf of space. At a range of under one light second, they were hard put to miss, particularly with surprise on their side. As the six vessels closed, they launched shoals of fighters and bombers; and deep within their hangar bays their marines began to board assault boats...

And with a small pop, and a collective whimper of "huh?", the cloaked and very much alone pirate frigate, which hadn't actually revealed itself or powered it's weapons yet, exploded into a jillion pieces.

Bridge, Terrible Wrath:

"Sensors report one enemy vessel ... annihilated. Should we search for survivors?"
"Yes. Sweep the wreckage, salvage anything larger than a micron across, and bring me the survivors if there are any."
"Aye aye sir."

No survivors. A medical inquest will report that 99% of the crew died as a result of being wtfpwned and that the remaining 1%, being sensors crew, died of shock at being discovered and eliminated in a single post.

Bridge, Terrible Wrath:

"Reports from salvage drones indicate no survivors, although it appears that a small percentage of the crew were killed by exposure to vacuum rather than weapons fire, sir."
"Excellent. Sweep the system, analyse the wreckage, and engage any other vessels that aren't friendly."
"Aye, sir."

The Bay

At orders of the Skgorrian marine, the Blubs scattered in amazingly short time. In under thirty seconds, the bay was empty but for the marines and M2, who looked at the soldiers, "They are very proficient at scurrying, I have found. Perhaps one of the reasons they've managed to survive this long."

There were of course, thousands of Blubs looking out the proper windows when the ship out in space went.. BOOM. And a collective "oooooo" arose from the Blubs.

The Bay

A cheer erupted from the Skgorrian Kriegsmarine.
"Another kill for the boys in blue!" Heydrich grinned, clapping M2 on the shoulder. "You don't have to worry, the Skgorrian Air Force is always on...wait," he stopped and took a closer look. "Aww frag, its the Atopians!"
"Son of a Jew!" one of the Kriegsmarine swore, "they always steal our fun."
"Storm-Private, recant that remark instantly!" Heydrich fumed. The soldier lowered his voice and spoke in a solemn tone.
"I am sorry to our fraternal allies that I stained them with the insult of being part Zionist, and I shall work off this stain with toil and loyalty."
"Better," spoke Heydrich, satisfied that honour was satisfied. "Now, let's get on with making this ship more suited to towing." The 30 soldiers wandered over and picked up their welding equipment, asking various Blubs if they would kindly come out of their hiding places please and show them where needed fixing.

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Oh for Pete's sake!" swore Petersen. "Give me the Atopians now!" Waiting until a panicing communications officer held out a commlink, Petersen snatched it and yelled.
"YOU COULD TRY CALLING AHEAD!!"

The Bay

M2 still wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but nodded curteously to the soldier. In the backround when the marines began to gather their equipment, Blubs would scurry to help out. Pairs and trios gathered to help lift particularly heavy pieces of equipment, and soon with suprising efficiency and order, Blubs were packing gear through halls to the damaged areas, showing the marines.

Each soldier had a mob of Blubs following them curiously.

Bridge, ASV Terrible Wrath:

"How pleasant to see you, Captain Petersen. As you can see, I am a rear Vice-Admiral, so a little more courtesy would be preferable next time. We did, in fact, call ahead. I had my comms tight-beam you with details of our actions. I can only assume that your communications staff were being lax, and failed to pass it on to you in time. Good day, Petersen. You can finish up here."

With that, the Flank Group slide:jumped back into shift:space, leaving a minute ripple on the face of reality...

<bump>

Cap.Arnold and his men, set to lying down in their bunks, and to pass the time in the chamber, they played card games, and also Cap.Arnold happened to possess in his suitcase he had brought, a game of Monopoly, and thus they played and kept boredom away. But he had 2 men guard the doors armed, incase any enemies made their way onboard the ship.

OOC: Doesn't look like anybody is responding to my call for backup. I'll just have some of my own pirate forces arrive. I'm afraid I don't have technical specs on any of the ships at present since I'm rather new to this, I'm basing my tech mostly off Homeworld 2 and Star Wars.

System outskirts

Space distorted briefly as the first of the vessels arrived, a brief ripple in the fabric of space fanned out from its location, barely dissipating before the arrival of a second craft. All Black Feather fleets had to make do with phased hyperspace jumps like these, the rather unrefined hyperspace technology they possessed left an 'entry ripple' that made it rather dangerous for more than one ship to arrive at a time.

The hastily assembled coalition of pirate spacecraft included a 'Space Raven' Class Destroyer plundered from the remnants of the Imperial Naashan Fleet, as well as half a dozen frigates. These included two 'Defender' Class Frigates armed with flack and laser emplacements for taking down missiles and strike craft, three 'Beholder' Class Frigates, which used powerful focused ion cannons to punch holes in other frigates and capital ships and a 'Taxi' Class Frigate, a miniature escort carrier.

The deployment took close to a minute to complete, which was why they had been forced to enter the system so far away from the target ship. They now engaged conventional drives and began to bear down on the prize, the Blub's enormous cargo ship.

The Bay

The Kriegsmarine continued their work, slowly fixing up the bay and other areas to make it airtight. They also continued to liberally distribute the rations, after all what else were rations for if not eating? The Kriegsmarine were sure not hungry.

Heydrich turned to the Blub who had adressed him earlier.
"We have records of a Blub nation back on Earth, are you desecended from them?"

OOC: My attempt to find out whether your two nations are linked

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Well, I'm glad they're gone," sighed Petersen. "Bloody Atopians are nothing but trouble," he growled, flexing his wrist where his ceremonial sword usually was. He'd not put it on this morning because the sword knot needed cleaning.
"Sir!" It was the sensor monitor again. "Long range scans indicate a large group of vessels has entered the fringe of the system. Unknown on the IFF, heading towards us."
"It never just rains does it?" Sighed Petersen. "Very well, do not stand down from Battle Stations. Bring the picket around and ask if our friends would like to join our screen."

Saferoom, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Captain Arnold," the Air Force Lieutenant grinned, "you've got a chance for some action. We have unknowns coming in towards us, probably hostile. Fancy getting back to your ship and joining our line?"

Space

The Totenkopf and the two frigates began to angle themselves to form a line between the Blub vessel and the newcomers...

Bridge of the Opal, 'Space Raven' Class Destroyer

Keeping the damned fleet in formation was hard enough, Captain Makumbe mused to himself as he paced the lengthy bridge of the Opal. He peered at the sensors readout again and cursed, striding over to the Communications Officer.

"Tell Captain Henson that if he doesn't get his blasted Defenders back into line immediately then we're going to blow them up. We don't need this!"

"Aye sir!" The nervous officer relayed the message as the Captain glared over his shoulder. The response was almost instant. "Acknowledged, Captain, for now."

Makumbe kicked the front of the terminal in frustration. The laws of piracy said that he had every right to destroy his would-be rival's ships for that hint of insubordination, but they needed the Defender's anti-fighter weaponry.

"All hands! Battle stations! Stand-by to board!"

The small armada continued on toward the Skgorrian line, the increased proximity to the enemy at last forcing some cohesion into the formation. The two Defender Frigates held station slightly ahead and on either side of the Opal while the other frigates kept line abreast of her.

Skgorrian Intelligence might be able to identify the Opal and the two Defender Class Frigates as formerly being a part of the Imperial Naashan Fleet, little of which now remains.

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

The bridge was frantic with activity and reports.
"What the hell are they?" Petersen demanded, staring intently at the oncoming vessels.
"They might be Naashanites," ventured a crewman.
"It does not matter who they are, we shall crush them where they stand!" Trumpeted the First Officer.
"Indeed," remarked Petersen with an upraised eyebrow. "First Officer, where are our gunboats?"
"Behind us, above and below the Blub vessel to intercept any boarding vessels. Though sir, I'm not sure if it is enough," the Starfighter Co-ordinator sounded worried.
"Steady now, there's time until they get into range. Are they coming at us straight?" Petersen queried.
"Affirmative, straight on!" reported the sensor monitor, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Let's try a little diplomacy shall we?" Suggest Petersen. "Broadcast the following in the clear, 'Attention Naashanite vessels, halt immediately in the name of the Skgorrian Air Force. We demand to know your intentions."

Bridge of the Opal

The large comms screen lit up with the message from the Skgorrians, which was then replayed by the bridge speakers.

Attention Naashanite vessels, halt immediately in the name of the Skgorrian Air Force. We demand to know your intentions.

There was a general murmuring between the crew before a cocky petty officer yelled back at the screen. "I'm Surdunni you Skgorrian bastards!"

Even Makumbe chuckled slightly at the jest, his own dark skin betrayed his Surdunni roots although the desert nation had merged with Naasha way back in 2006.

A second message played through the bridge speakers, this time in the unmistakable arrogant voice of Captain Henson.

Care to answer them, Captain? I wouldn't wish to overstep my authority...

A round of jeering boo's and cat-calls followed the transmission as the Opal's crew shared their Captain's dislike for the man. This time they were cut short though, by an icy glare from Makumbe.

"Relay the following message."

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

Attention, Skgorrian vessels. Under the authority of the Black Feather Federation Charter we hereby lay claim to the ship in your protection. To contest our prize is to perish.

The unmistakeable image of a grinning skull and crossbones is transmitted along with the message, a sign of deadly intent.

The ship

The Blub speaking with the Storm-Corporal chattered away, "Oh my yes. We trace our roots back to Earth. Our race was created during the 1950s in a laboratory. Luckily, our ancestors escaped and founded their own nation." The old Blub smiled up at the soldier.

Right about then, the ship's hull rang with what sounded like rain, as small pieces of the first pirate ship that got blown apart finally reached the massive colony ship, clanking harmlessly against its thin armor.

In the backround, Blubs were happily eating the food provided. All of the marines had baby Blubs climbing on them to drape necklaces of very shiney, black gems around the necks of the marine's armored suits. The Skgorrians were now under 'Blub protection', which held a particular significance to the race.

Cap.Arnold saluted the Lt. and said "Yes sir, we shall get back to our ship, and see some action!" He and his 30 men hopped back in thier ship, and flew off to their battlecrusier the R.C.S Mira Mesa. Once there they prepared to engage the pirates and Cap.Arnold called to the Skirggorians and said "We are engaging the enemy now, we are pleased to fight alongside you." With that he put down the comlink, and turned his ship to engage the enemy...

Bridge of the Opal

"Reverse engines! Stop the blasted fleet a moment!" Captain Mukambe was forced to bellow to make himself heard over the din of panic; the R.C.S Mira Mesa hadn't shown up on the sensors at all! It was there now, sure enough, hung a little way away from the Skgorrian ships and silhoutted against the stars.

The fleet now changed it's course slightly, angling toward the Mira Mesa, hoping to draw it away from the Skgorrian line and engage it seperately.

Cap.Arnold noticed another fleet of pirates showing up on the radar and called up on the comlink to the captain of the Tenkepof "I see another fleet headed towards me, I can only guess they wish to disengage me from helping you so they could pound me into the dirt. Could you spare some ships to help us? We are keeping an eye on them while headed in your direction" He put down the comlink and roared to the crew "Full speed, put on the turbos, We will attempt to outrun them to the Skiggoran fleet, and maybe they'll find more then they bargained for there. But, fire some warning shots behind us, and send out our ARC-185 Starfighters, and the B-Wings and attack them before they get to us, oh and launch our defense missles." He sat down, hoping that the Skiggorians could spare ships and help them, otherwise, well... He didn't think about that, for he wanted to be confident. But he was worried he admitted, but he would have to sit back and watch how it went.

Bridge of the Opal

The fleeing R.C.S. Mira Mesa could not hope to outrun the smaller pirate vessels on conventional drives but then, it didn't have as much distance to cover.

"She's making a run for it!"

"Strike craft launch detected!"

"Target is taking defensive action."

Striding to the Comms station, Captain Makumbe snatched up a transmitter. "Launch all assault craft, engage those enemy fighters! Lance and Plasma Bombers form up around the fleet, do not engage yet."

A rag-tag collection of ships were being launched, primarily from the Opal and Pidgeon, the escort frigate. A total of ten squadrons of seven fighter type craft were deployed, it is clear from the variety and ill discipline of these squadrons that they have seen a very long period of service with the pirates. Squadrons from different ships raced toward the Calinzorinstani fighters and bombers, competing to be the first to engage.

A second wave of slightly larger craft were forming up in a slightly more disciplined manner around the fleet, these were the anti-capital ship arm of the strike craft. These were equipped with plasma cannons, literally firing globules of scorching plasma to overload shields and melt hull or 'lances', heavy lasers which were designed for precise subsystem attack.

Cap.Arnold heard his ship's and the pirate's ships engaging outside, and he saw the Skigorran fleet and got on the comlink and yelled over the loud sirens, and plasma firing to the Skirggorian commander of the fleet "We need all the ships you can spare, a pirate fleet is chasing us, we are almost near your fleet, we need all the help we can, we're taking hits right and left here, and we've seen all the action we want alone, we need more time!" He suited up in his clone trooper outfit, and DC-15 blaster to prepare incase the pirates attempted a storming of the ship, he knew he might die, but he remembered "I've called up the R.C.S Decanso, and Miramar and they should be here any minute! Wait I see them!" He called on the radio and told the incoming battleships to flank the pirate fleet from the side and engage them, and send all their fighters to assist the Mira Mesa's fighters. He would later be honored as a hero in Calizorinstan, whenether he lived or died.

OOC: Ideally I want to hijack the Mira Mesa and escape, which can then lead on to a completely seperate piece of roleplay as you hunt for your lost ship. What do you think?

Ignoring the incoming reinforcements that the Calizorinstanis had brought in for now, the pirate fleet focused totally on the R.C.S. Mira Mesa, what a prize she would be!

While the assault craft held the enemy fighters at bay, the rest of the fleet closed rapidly. Swarms of Lance Bombers flew in close, strafing hangars and other accessible areas of the ship, clearing the way, although oddly enough they did not seem to be targeting the ship's shields or other criticial systems.

Relying on the sheer numbers of ships now buzzing around the vessel's fighters and anti-strike craft installations to draw their fire, larger corvettes began to speed toward the Mira Mesa. These bulky craft contained the pirate marine boarding parties. Most headed for the obvious section of the battleship to land in, the hangar. Other corvettes moved directly above parts of the hull, attempting to cut through and deploy their strike teams directly into the bridge, engine room and life support systems area.

OOC:Great Idea, would you mind letting my captain and his 30 armed men escape onto one of the re-enforcements?And the Skirgorians can help me in my hunt!

Cap.Arnold thought "If we are going to be hijacked by more men then we have, I think we should get in our escape pods and run to the R.C.S Descanso!" Cap.Arnold ordered his men and he to get in their escape pods and head towards the R.C.S Descanso, and off they sped in their pods...

By some miracle the pods managed to escape the whirling dogfight that still continued outside the ship. Inside however, things were going quite smoothly.

Sergeant Saunders counted his men into the airlock that now rested directly above the R.C.S. Mira Mesa's bridge. In a moment the cutting would be complete and they would be disgorged right into the nerve centre of the vessel.

"Ready men? Hit the security personnel first remember, and try to capture the officers, there must be one hell of a ransom waiting in there!"

With a final clank the cutting was complete and they heard a small section of ceiling swing inwards, it would have depressurized the ship but for the tightly fitted boarding pod now resting above it. The lights in the pod flashed once, the signal to stand-by, and then with a hiss, the doors swung open and they raced into the bridge.

Lt.Barnes who had been charged with 20 men to stay, and fight to the last, knew he would lose, but he also knew he and his 20 "Knights of Calizorinstan"would be long remembered as heroes, and he decided to face his death bravely, he whipped out his E-11 blaster, as did the other 20, and when the pirates charged through the door, Lt.Barnes and his 20 officers fired their blasters in a last act of defiance before they were killed, one of them even managed to drop a grenade near the controls, and there was boom noise, as more pirates came in, then 7 left were still fighting for their lives.

The boarders dropped like flies under the concentrated fire from the Calizorinstani men, they might well have been pinned down and eliminated completely if not for the timely arrival of a second boarding party from another set of doors, they had clearly fought their way up here.

They managed to establish a crossfire, hopefully pinning the enemy officers down behind their consoles.

"Surrender yourselves, we are in control of your vessel now!"

Lt.Barnes replied "We have not yet begun to fight! We will be darned if we surrender, if we lose so be it. If we win, well to bad for you. We will fight on, you shall never see our faces! Men fight on!" They picked up their guns and fired again, and 5 other men that had survived the boarding of the pirates joined them and picked up the dead's weapons and joined in the fray firing, and in the bowels of the ship, one man cut the engine cables and suddenly the ship stopped.

"You WILL die!" Saunders assured the man. The firefight raged on, but the reinforcements for the vessels crew were finite wheras the pirates could count on more bloodthirsty soldiers continuing to join the fight until it was won. Still, the officers on the bridge weren't making things easy and three more pirates went down as they tried and failed to get into cover.

Down in the engine room another strike team had failed to prevent the engines being cut, but they now raced to secure the area, it seemed unlikely that the Calizorinstanis would seriously damage their own ship but it was better not to give them the chance.

The Opal edged as close in as she could to the R.C.S. Mira Mesa, rather than take the risk of using the ship's hyperspace or other FTL drive without practice and study they were planning to 'wake jump' her with them, the idea being that the disruption created in space by the large mass of ships hyperspacing would pull other ships in close proximity along with them.

The fighters and corvettes now streaked for cover, whether that be in the hangars of the pirate fleet or the R.C.S. Mira Mesa, a wake jump might be good for pulling capital ships around but any fighter caught in those kind of forces would most likely be crushed in seconds.

Lt.Barnes roared "I may die, but you will suffer first!" He directed his men to continue firing, and one lobbed a grenade in the way of the pirate force's. Meanwhile, one crewmember manged to cut the computer, and control cables, and thus the R.C.S Mira Mesa became a bit unstable, and it was filled with chaos, with 7 more surviving Calizorinstani's joining in the fight in the bridge, and the Calizorinstani's were fighting like mad dog's to the death in the bridge.

<bump>

Cap.Arnold and his 30 men managed to escape to the awaiting R.C.S Descanso, and from there recuperated, and Cap.Arnold listened to the fight on the bridge muttering "These are true heroes, they have carried out my command to the last, and I know they won't surrender, for I know Lt.Barnes won't. They are truly the Knights of Calizorinstan, every last one of them"

They were sustaining heavy losses now, and it was acceptable but not desirable. Fumbling at his belt for a smoke grenade, Sergeant Saunders tossed it right into the midst of the enemy forces. The canister began to spew smoke, obscuring both sides vision for a while and allowing the attackers to get more men through the doors to the bridge and into cover, closer to Barne's troops.

Coughing a little in the white and billowing smoke, Saunders rallied his men for another strike. "They want to be heroes lads! We all know that the best heroes die where they stand in battle, let's not deny them that honour!"

Maintaining a suppressing fire, the pirates flanked the beleagured Calizorinstani officers and crew, hoping to catch them in a final and deadly crossfire.

Lt.Barnes knew why the pirates were attempting to outflank them, and his troops moved in an attempt to outflank them, although it might be useless, but they were fighting on until the end, he decided. Suddenly 6-10 surviving amred Calizorinstani guards ran up from the cargo hold, (where they had been hiding) and threw grenades in amdist the pirates, and then they opened a deadly barrage of fire on the pirates, knowing they might die, but they would be heroes, they fought on;

The new arrival of the guards completely threw the pirate's attack, as they were caught out in the open and many were slaughtered. Blood of both Calizorinstani and Black Feather Pirate was running over the floor in gallons by now. Fighting hard, the pirates were nearly forced to withdraw from the bridge altogether by the firepower of the outnumbered but stupidly heroic foe. But they dug in and hung on, reinforcements were arriving from all over the ship now, where less numerous and arguably smarter Calizorinstani forces had been overcome and either captured or killed.

A voice crackled over Saunder's radio, even as bolter blasts screeched over his head. "Sergeant! We need to go, now! What's taking so long?"

He snatched up the commset, ducking behind a bulkhead to protect himself. "The idiots are holding the bridge, the rest of the ship is pretty much secure sir!"

"We're going to jump out of here in one minute you got that? If you guys are coming with us then you need to disable their engines and whatever FTL drive they have aboard so that we can pull you with us without interference."

"The hardware is disabled sir! They might have something still running though, we can't get to their terminals."

"Blast the damn things! Put the bridge out of action, we can salvage later."

"Aye sir!"

Snatching another grenade from his belt, Saunders threw it at a largely intact bank of consoles across the room.

"Hit their terminals men, and prepare for hyperspace!"

OOC: Sorry for teh delays

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

Petersen was astounded at the reply.
"The impudent bastards!" He fumed, "we'll give them the what for. What is their current position?"
"They seem to be aiming for that other ship, the Mira Mesa. It looks like they have launched a boarding action," came the report from the crew pit.
"Have they taken any offensive action towards the Blub vessel?"
"Neagative sir."
"Well that's just as well. Order the gunboats to hold position and protect the Blub vessel. I want the Totenkopf and our frigates to concentrate all their firepower on the largest enemy vessel," Petersen ordered.
"But sir," protested the First Officer, "these other people have done nothing to deserve our support."
"On the contrary First Officer," rebuked Petersen sharply, "they came here under our protection and we shall do everything we can to help them. Besides," he smirked, "we can't let some damn rabble get the best of us. All guns, open fire!"

With that, the full firepower of the Totenkopf and her two frigates poured out onto the Space Raven-class vessel. Blaster turrets, turbolasers, heavy turbolasers, ion cannons and proton torpedos streamed across space to slam into the other vessel's shields. They would pay for ignoring the Skgorrian vessels...

Bay, Blub Vessel

"Fascinating stuff," grinned Heydrich. "We have some fascinating files of your race on our database, I really must dig them out for you..." he stopped his speech when he heard the debris impact on the hull. "What the bloody hell?" He radioed his command vessel:
Heydrich to TOTENKOPF, come in
TOTENKOPF to Heydrich, be advised we are engaging pirate vessels who have the intent to seize the Blub vessel. Prepare to repel boards. Over and out
"Oh, you swine," he cursed to the air. "Mr Blub, or Mrs, or even Miss for that matter. I'm afraid we're at full alert again because some inconsiderate has decided to attempt to seize your vessel. My people are currently engaging them as we speak, but we need to prepare to rebel boarders. Do you have any weapons for your people?"
Many of the other soldiers were fingering their medallions happily, pleased that they had been able to do something apart from shoot and kill.

OOC: Not a worry.

The Bay
The elder Blub squinted thoughtfully for a moment, one tentacle rubbing his 'chin'. "Boarders, you say? I suppose we should prepare to defend ourselves then." His eyestalks turned towards a nearby Blub, and he'd squeak out a command, "Master Bloop, please get the Self-Defense Force ready. Take personal command." The Blub nodded respectfully, and reached under his 'robes' to pull out a small lightsabre.

Bloop looked around, then squeaked loudly, "All non-combatants get to the center decks of the ship!" Blubs which had been hiding in crates or clustered around Skgorrian Marines started to flood out of the bay into corridors. Left behind were perhaps fifty Blubs, which made their way over to some locked, reinforced type boxes and opened them up. Inside were rows of what seemed like harpoon guns. These were passed out to the warriors. The guns were loaded with tubular, pointed ammunition that clearly had shaped, explosive tips on them.

Master Bloop gestured, "First squad, stay here and protect the bay. Second squad, you are under the command of the Storm-Corporal." The Blubs chirped as one, "Yes sir!" and with a clatter of weaponry, came to attention.

The little Blub Jedi turned to the Skgorrian commander and smiled respectfully, "Sir, we are ready."

OOC: I am going to narrowly escape, taking the Mira Mesa with me as agreed by Calizorinstan and I last night. It's up to you whether you want to assist him in the hunt for his missing vessel I guess.

Bridge of the Opal

The ship rocked as a torpedo detonated against the shields, which were at least holding for now. Mukambe staggered to his feet and bellowed at his commanders over the commlink.

"Captain Henson, now that your Defenders actually have a job to do, would you see to it!? Stop the blasted torpedoes! Beholder Frigates, return focused fire on the star destroyer. Pidgeon get out of their damned firing line, you'll be ripped to shreds! Prepare for hyperspace under fire!"

The Skgorrian energy weapons were clearly overloading the Opal's shields, although the Defender Frigates were finally serving their purpose by intercepting the torpedoes and any other standard projectile weapons thrown at the fleet. The three Beholder Class Frigates returned fire with their ion cannons, but they didn't have enough time to really get going before they had to be powered down in preparation to make the getaway jump.

The Bay

Heydrich was very impressed by the speed at which the Blubs had prepared themselves for battle.
"Thankyou Master Bloop," Heydrich adressed the Blub with a bow, guessing that the title was one given out of respect, and thus respect was due.
"Now, it would make sense for the enemy to land in this bay as this seems the easiest way in. Thus we shall deploy Alpha and Beta squad here, along with one of the Blub squads. Gamma squad will fall back to the middle decks along with the Blub Second Squad to protect the Blub civillians in case they board through another route," he said. Sensing that he needed to say something inspiring, Heydrich searched within himself for some words...
"Now Blubs, I know that there are precious few of us Skgorrians here, but I promise you this: not a Blub innocent shall be harmed whilst a Skgorrian draws breath. Now, to arms!"
The Skgorrians shared a few salutes and handshakes before going about their duties. They knew there was a chance they might not see each other again, but they weren't going to worry about that now. Alpha and Beta began moving containers to serve as barricades whilst Gamma moved to the interior to set up a final line of defence.

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

"Their shields are falling!" grinned Petersen, "what about those enemy vessels?" He jabbed an accusatory finger at the pirate frigates, moving in for attack. Explosions began to rock the mighty Star Destroyer.
"Under concentrated fire from at least five of the frigates!" snapped the sensor monitor. "Shields are holding, but the enemy ion cannon attacks are driving our shields down slowly. They seem to be moving for a hyperspace jump."
"Then we shall concentrate our fire as well," ordered the Captain. "Order the starboard frigate and all of our starboard batteries to fire on a single frigate, and order the port frigate and our port batteries to begin bombardment of another frigates. Assign a wing of starfighters to each attack, that should make them think twice." He sat back, allowing himself the momentary pleasure of watching the deadliest light show this space of the galaxy had ever seen.

He hadn't even thought of the fate of the Mira Mesa...

Space

The Skgorrian tactic was simple: to concentrate their fire to knock out two enemy vessels. The single closest enemy frigate to the Totenkopf's port and starboard side would come under crippling bombardment. This attack would also be joined by 36 TIE Defenders and 36 Assault gunboats, splitting evenly into two groups of 18 fighters and 18 bombers that would launch long-range missiles. They would not close with the enemy, their commanders could see that the pirates were trying to run.

OOC: Sure, I shall assist him in the hunt. I just want to bloody your forces a litte, that's all :p

The Bay

Using two fork lifts, a team of Blubs began moving very big pallets of armor plating intended to replace parts of the ship's hull if damaged, into convient places to serve as shielding in the event of boarding. A screw fell from the cieling, clanking harmlessly off one Skgorrian's helmet. When he looked up, he saw two Blub warriors loosening an air vent. Once it swung open, they climbed inside. Their eyestalks were visable a moment later, peering down through, pointing their projector guns this way and that, and chittering back and forth as they discussed firing angles.

Each Blub wore a sort of backpack now, into which were placed spare shots for their projector guns. They were in effect, much like a spear gun, except the projectiles were self-propelled, with shaped explosive tips. Designed to work in both space and atmosphere, it was a primitive.. but very dangerous device.

The fork lifts were parked side by side to form an additional barrier, and the fuel cells taken out to prevent an explosion. An electrical engine won't explode if shot up, but a fuel cell might.

Center of the ship
The center of the colony ship had a massive chamber, which reached up through seven decks. It was sort of a ball room, meeting room and each deck had a railed balcony from which occupants could look down onto the six-acre sized floor area.

Probably once the most beautiful area of the ancient ship, it had long ago been allowed to collect dust and run down. Now, stretching across the balconies were lines of laundry and banners. The communal laundry area, this was where the Blub civilians had been herded. There were a -lot- of Blubs here. Chittering quietly to each other while the Skgorrian marines and Blub warriors patrolled the area, securing doors and hatches and generally, being alert.

OOC: And bloody you shall...

Bridge of the Opal

The respite in the Skgorrian bombardment upon the ship was what they had been hoping for, the shields couldn't have taken much more. The silence was eerie after the rain of fire that had fallen upon them only moments ago.

"All ships prepare for hyperspace. Pidgeon you are drifting, return to formation."

Makumbe looked up at the viewscreen where the Pidgeon, the fat escort frigate had wandered carelessly in front of the fleet. Then he looked past her, and up at the new onslaught from the Skgorrians, headed right their way.

"Pidgeon, raise your shields, brace for impact!"

A new voice sounded across the commlink, Lieutenant Dregan, Henson's man and currently commanding the second Defender Frigate.

"Scale here, preparing to engage incoming fighters and missiles."

The rest of the captains, Makumbe included could only watch in horror and disbelief as the Defender pulled away from the formation and toward the floundering Pidgeon, launching anti-torpedo missiles at the oncoming avalanche of enemy fire.

The countermeasures did nothing, of course, simply merging with the tide of Skgorrian armaments bearing down on their position and disappearing ineffectually.

They struck the Pidgeon first, the ship reeling briefly before being engulfed in a massive fireball that lit up the viewscreens spectacularly. The remainder of the attack rained down on the Scale, overwhelming her shields in seconds and rending a severe breach in her hull toward the aft section.

"This is Scale, we've taken an aft section hit, engines are out and hyperspace capability is nil. Atmosphere is contained in the bridge and crew quarters only. We've lost control."

The frigate hung in space at an odd angle crippled and certainly unable to go anywhere, Captain Makumbe made the only decision he could.

"All ships initiate hyperspace jump on my destination coordinates. Mira Mesa stand by for wake-pull, you are in for a bumpy ride."

The Bay

As the Skgorrians observed the Blubs' preparation, they also conducted their own. Forming a series of seperate barricades, 2 E-web repeating blasters were set up. These weapons had an extremely high firing rate and would cut swathes through any attackers. Heydrich also opened a box marked "RATIONS", searching for something to eat but instead found some concussion grenades.
"Bloody supply room officers," he groaned, and the man next to him chuckled.
"Wouldn't go far eating those, eh Storm-Corporal?" The soldier ventured.
"No, I suppose not," Heydrich sighed, taking out the grenades and throwing them to his soldiers, a perfectly safe thing to do as the grenades were still inactive.

Center of the Ship

Gamma Squad realised that it was impossible to cover all entry points to the large area, so they split up into pairs and tried to cover as much space as possible, giving a thumbs up or a kind word or two to any Blub who looked nervous.

Bridge, ISD' Totenkopf'

A massive cheer went up on the bridge as the frigate died its firey death.
"One frigate destroyed, another crippled Captain!" The sensor monitor reported with a grin. "Shields are holding."
"Keep firing!" demanded Petersen, "concentrate all of our fire now on the nearest ship to the Totenkopf, we've got to get them before they flee! Ignore the crippled one, we shall deal with it soon enough. Pull all our fighters back, no need for them now."

Space

The fire pattern of the Skgorrian picket changed, all of it switching to the enemy vessel that had the misfortune to be nearest to the Totenkopf. The fighters and bombers pulled away from their attack runs urgently, they had no desire to be the last killed as the engagement seemed to be drawing to a close.

Bridge of the Glaring Eye, Beholder Class Frigate

Even as the Skgorrian attack continued, a counter was displaying the remaining seconds until hyperspace was initiated, most of the activity on the bridge had come to a halt as the red digits slowly made their way down past twenty.

The next closest frigate to the Skgorrians was the Glaring Eye, a Beholder Class. Her crew were preoccupied with cooling the enormous ion cannon arrays before entering hyperspace, believing themselves to be safe next to the bulk of the Opal. They barely had time to notice the rain of turbolaser blasts that burst through their shields and struck the hull in several places, throwing the ship out of correct alignment. They certainly didn't have time to disengage the emergency hyperspace module, which was running from the ship's AI mainframe and set to jump first and ask for damage reports later.

Space

The result was, to put it mildly, spectacular. The Glaring Eye seemed to blur slightly as it's hyperspace drive engaged, faltered and finally shut off at well before the required speed for hyperspace. The frigate seemed to hang for what seemed like an eternity before literally bursting apart at the seams, torn asunder by the myriad forces acting upon its hull.

The rest of the fleet was fortunately already clear of the bizzare casualty, the remaining ships succesfully fleeing into hyperspace. The Opal was the last to go, plucking the helpless R.C.S. Mira Mesa into hyperspace with her as she went.

Bay

The colony ship rattled somewhat as bits and pieces of the Pidgeon bounced harmlessly against the hull. In the bay, the Blubs looked around. Master Bloop was near the Storm Corporal, looking suprisingly calm. "We may be small, but we will fight fiercely to protect our own, Storm Corporal."

Indeed, the warriors seemed ready to tear into any pirate foolish enough to board the ship carrying their people. As fate would have it.. the pirates were beginning to warp away right about then.

Bridge, ASV Inevitable Victory:

"Petersen, ah, yes, Pact of Iron Space Command have commended him for a medal. Where did you say his Totenkopf was?"
"Here, sir," indicated the officer, "fighting off some pirates to save some Blubs."
"Excellent work. Helm - prepare for FTL transit. Comms - inform Petersen we're coming, and relay our shift:jump co-ordinates to the Fleet."
"Aye aye sir!"

Space, 20,000km below the Totenkopf:

A ripple, a flash, and the Ultra class vessel Inevitable Victory was there, travelling at .2 C with its escorts. The ten Imperial class Star Destroyers, five World Devastator super-factory ships, two Interdictor Star Destroyers, two Executor class Super Star Destroyers and four Victory class Star Destroyers kept station around the 270km Inevitable Victory.

"Sir," cried the sensor officer aboard the primary bridge of the Inevitable Victory, "we have weapons discharges!"
"Comms," said the Admiral, "get me Petersen."
"Aye sir. Patched in sir."
"Petersen? This is Admiral Lentzen. I've a medal for you - and some reinforcements. Do you need us?"

Lt.Barnes had and his 4 guards had managed to fight their way to the 2 remaining Calizorinstani Starfighters, and teh 4 managed to get into the two, and flew off catchting the pirate defense off guard, speed towards the R.C.S Descanso, for he had known to hold on much longer was stupid. He called Cap. Arnold, and said "We couldn't hold on much longer, and besides I am not a coward, I just knew when to fly, but before I left the ship, I ordered the remaining men to sabotage all they could before being killed and thus, making the Mira Mesa a bloody prize."

Bridge, ISD 'Totenkopf'

The crew were startled by the arrival of the Atopians, especially Petersen.
"Bloody hell! Why don't they just make up their mind to stay or go," he grumbled.
"I have an Admiral Lentzen on the line for you sir," reported the Communications Officer politely.
"Oh fine, patch it through." Petersen saw the Admiral appear on the screen and deliver his message. Drawing himself up to attention, Petersen saluted and then reported.
"Admiral Lentzen, this is Captain Petersen. We've just driven off a sizeable pirate flotilla and inflicted three casualties on the enemy. Two destroyed, one disabled but the pirates captured a vessel belonging to a recent accquiantance of ours. I request permission to send Dark Troopers to board the enemy vessel, that you use your vessels to tow the Blub vessel to their destination and that Picket #41 be allowed to hunt down the rest of these scum," Petersen requested before stopping. "Sir, did you say a medal?"
"What of the R.C.S Descanso?" Asked the First Officer.
"Message them and tell them we'll render whatever assistance we can, but that our first priority is the Blub vessel as they are very vulnerable."

Message to RCS Descanso

We fully regret your losses that have transpired, and are willing and ready to assist you in locating your vessel once the Blubs are safe.

Bay, Blub Vessel

Heydrich wondered what on earth all debris was that had been hitting the Blub vessel, silently hoping it wasn't the Totenkopf. He then recieved a flash-text:
ENEMY DISENGAGED AFTER TAKING HEAVY LOSSES, NO FRIENDLY LOSSES. STAND BY FOR MORE ORDERS
"Good news everyone!" He called out over the radio and the bay, "Our space forces have driven the pirates off after destroying some of their ships. I'm just waiting for orders." He turned to Master Bloop and spoke, "Well Master Bloop, it seems that today our courage and resolve will not be tested. Your troops can come down from the ceiling now," he pointed up and a few of the Skgorrians chuckled, some with genuine humour but mostly with the relief that they would not be staring death in the eye today.

The Bay

The Blubs cheered. Master Bloop put his lightsabre away into his robes and looked up at the Storm Corporal, "Thank you sir. If it wasn't for the intervention of Skgorria we surely would have been in trouble." Meanwhile, a nearby ground-level vent rattled, then popped open. Out came the four Blubs that had been waiting in the air ducts.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Blub warriors arrived with the Skgorrian marines from the center of the ship.

Lofting their weapons into the air, the Blubs cheered again, and began to dance. Forming two big rings around the Skgorrians, each ring moved in a seperate direction, one clockwise, one counter. Thrusting their projector guns into the air rythemicly while clapping, they'd produce a suprisingly melodious humming sound.

Message to ISD Tetenkopf:

Thank you, we have just gotten Lt.Barnes (now a Col. for his actions) and the 4 survivors of the boarding of the Mira Mesa on board the ship, they escaped via the last two surviving ships, and he has told his account, which I think will amaze you. We thank you for your offfer of assistance, and we have accepted it.

Bay, Blub Vessel

Heydrich grinned, the gesture invisible beneath his full-face helmet.
"Nonsense Master Bloop, I am sure that your forces would've made a good account of themselves. If anything, I must apologise for our Air Force for stealing all your glory." He then caught sight of the troops returning from the core of the ship.
"Gamma, report" he demanded. A trooper halted and sketched a casual salute.
"Nothing sir, nothing happened. We simply followed these Blubs to the centre and prepared to defend. Then we got your message," the trooper sounded incredibly relieved. "Storm-Corporal, if we'd had to defend that area..."
Heydrich waved for the trooper to be silent,
"Quiet Storm-Lance Corporal, no need for that now," rebuked Heydrich. "You would have done your duty, as would we. The day is won, now forget it and let's celebrate. We've had little enough reason to celebrate for a while."
"Aye Storm-Corporal!" The soldier from Gamma Squad saluted and returned to his squad who had joined the rest of the platoon in admiring the Blub celebrations.
Nice to be the good guys once Heydrich thought, before starting a victory celebration of his own. Taking a deep breath, he began to chant. Soon all of the Skgorrians were chanting,
"Blood! Death! Blood! Death!"

Message to RCS Descanso

Understood. Please stand by as we are waiting for further orders

The Bay

Soon Blubs were arriving on the scene. Once again free to roam the ship, many had immedietly dashed to the bay to see the Skgorrians again. Now with the various levels of the bay ringed by celebrating Blubs, the party was really getting going.

From the precious stores of food and drink, the colony's greatest cook and his su-chefs were unloading equipment. Wheeling a barrel-shaped device (Like a barrel laying on its side) to the center of the bay, they opened the top half, and lit a small fire within. Turning a nozzel, the gas came on.. and whump! Flames! Setting up the giant BBQ, they began unpacking food.

Huge kegs were wheeled out, and tapped to fill mugs with fizzy purple liquid. The Blubs passed out mugs to everyone, including the Skgorrians. The drinks, taste much like grape soda. Other kegs were being tapped for orange, cherry and rasberry. Milk was passed out to younger Blubs.

In the center of the bay, the warriors were still dancing, thrusting weaponry into the air every third clap of their tentacles and giving off a warrior-like hoot! A very old Blub, a very dark green came through the crowd. Producing a box made of rosewood, he opened it up to reveal canisters filled with red, black and yellow war paint. Dipping a tentacle into each color, he approached the warriors, and proceeded to give each one a yellow/red/black stripe across their cheek.

The elderly Blub approached the Skgorrians, squeaking in a rusty voice, "Warriors.. please." Requesting them to lean down so that he can reach their helmets.

Message to ISD Tentekopf


Understood, awaiting further orders from you.


Meanwhile on the bridge of the R.C.S Descanso......
"Don't be ashamed of yourselves for running to us, for we knew it would be folly for you to hold out much longer, did you give the pirates at least some casualties?" Cap.Arnold asked Col.Barnes and his 4 men, Col.Barnes replied
"Well, we gave them heavy casualties so much so, we nearly wiped out the first boarding force, then nearly got the second, and did some damage to the third. We still have our E-11s and pistols with us, out of ammo. I will want new armor, since mine is damaged enough, that I need a new one. And they never saw my face, so they can't ID me." Cap.Arnold thought a moment and said "If they have never seen your face, that's good, for they won't know where you are exactly then I am thinking, you still used the Phase I armor, but I will give you the Phase III armor, in the Clone Commander varient. Good work, you are the clone commander on this ship now, we have 350 armed clones in this ship, and 200-300 more in the other ships. You are the bravest man I have ever met, good job. Even if you weren't able to hold the ship, you and your fellow, and the now fallen *here he wept* men, gave them serious casualties, and something to think about.

Bridge, ASV Inevitable Victory:

"Yes, Vice-Admiral Petersen, I did. I'm sending a shuttle over with Admiral Frank on board, she will give you your medal. Permission to pursue the raiders is granted, we are dispatching a squadron of our latest marque of fighters to assist you. Do try not to break them."

Launch Bay 2394A/F3:

"Admiral, you have the package?"
"Yes, Commander. Don't worry about me."
"No Ma'am. Good hunting, Ma'am."
"Aye Commander. You too."

With that, the shuttle and its 12 escorts began to move, silently, out of the bay and towards the Totenkopf. At the same time, the tractor beams of the Inevitable Victory lanced towards the Blub vessel, drawing it into the cavernous Main Forward Hangar bay...

Freeport, Deep Space

The arrival of the pirate fleet amongst the inhabited asteroids that made up Freeport would usually have received scant attention, the Black Feather used the unscrupulous traders and repair facilities of the spaceport often enough, but for the scarred hulls of several of the ships and of course, the prize they now brought with them.

The R.C.S. Mira Mesa had to be brought amongst the asteroids under tow, eventually being left adjacent to one of the smaller rocks without an artificial atmosphere. It was from here that they would inspect the vessel and try to repair her, for she was a fine catch and in Captain Mukambe's eyes at least, worth the loss of the frigates.

While the Captains conferenced aboard the Opal the rest of the crews got to head 'ashore' to the largest asteroid in the chain, complete with its own artificial atmosphere and well known for its 'entertainments'. A few marines were retained to scour the holds of the Mira Mesa to ensure that no Calizorinstani crewmen remained in hiding aboard the ship.

At the same time, the tractor beams of the Inevitable Victory lanced towards the Blub vessel, drawing it into the cavernous Main Forward Hangar bay...

OOC: It's up to Blub to decide on this one but if you read his initial description then you will see that his is a pretty enormous ship already...

OOC: Just how big is this ship? The Blub colony ship is like 4 kilometers long.

OOC: Just how big is this ship? The Blub colony ship is like 4 kilometers long.

OOC: 270km from stem to stern. :D

EDIT: Also about 50-70km from keel to the top of the Bridge, not counting sensor arrays. 100km wide at the widest point.

OOC: ... >.> Well, if it has a bay that big.. then by all means.

IC:

The Blub ship was swallowed up of course. Perhaps these newcomers would take them to the planet which had been picked for them. On the starcharts, it was known as the Solaris system, the new Blub homeworld deemed to be the 4th planet from the sun, a warm, green world uninhabited by 'intelligent' life.

Main Hangar Bay Floor:

"Ah, Blubs," began Rear Admiral Lekulanzi, "so nice to see you. This man here," he said, indicating a pale youth whose uniform was slightly too large for him, "is our chief navigator. If you could show him exactly where you want to go, we'll be there in a jiffy. Oh, and while you're here, we'll repair your ship, too. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

When the Atopianans arrived in the colony ship's bay, they would find the party still in progress. Delicious smells rose up from the BBQ, and drinks on tap.

Master Bloop approached the newcomers, extending a small CD upwards. "Here, sirs. Technically, this isn't our ship. It belongs to.. well, some company that agreed to transport us here. They abandoned it when it became disabled."

<bump>

OOC: And because I'm getting impatient.

With the information on the CD, it was discovered that the colony ship had infact been taking the Blubs to the Solaris system. Soon enough, the super-massive ship warped.. taking the Blub colony ship with it.

The coordinates placed them deep within the Solaris system, 'above' the orbit of the 4th planet from the star. Looking out, they could see a white, green and blue planet down below. Scans showed many lifeforms, but no signs of civilization.

Appearently the crew of the colony ship had planned to just dump the Blubs on this new world and let them be. They'd been paid for transport, not for any other services anyway.

Freeport, Deep Space

The outlying spaceport was, as usual, bustling with all kinds of gossip and exchanges of information were common, although usually at a price. Mukambe had been pleased to learn that a pair of Black Feather frigates were operating out of the port at present, they could be commandeered and added to his force when they returned. Thankfully, there were no larger ships in the area, he didn't want command of the fleet whisked away from him after his hard work.

Repair work had begun immediately on both the R.C.S. Mira Mesa and the Opal, the latter of which required some restoration to the hull armour where Skgorrian weapons had pierced the shields.

The Mira Mesa lay dormant at her berth, swarmed by both repair craft on the outside and shipwrights on the inside. She was running on emergency power currently, in order to protect her exposed systems from further damage during the repair work.

Bump for Calizorinstan and Skgorria's attention.

OOC: Sorry, I was gone all day yesterday, and didn't get back until 11:30 pm!

IC:

Message to ISD Tetenkopf
From:R.C.S Decanso and Norton
We request your help in helping us find our hijacked R.C.S Mira Mesa, if you're done with the Blub's that is. We're ready when you are.

OOC: Runs headfirst at the thread, bumping it.

OOC: Bump, can I just keep this ship? :p

OOC: Nah, I am going after you! :D

IC:The R.C.S Decanso, Norton and Warsaw left to follow the trail of the R.C.S Mira Mesa, the three ships had total 400 armed soldiers to take back the Mira Mesa, and 100 fighters to attack the defenses. They sped off into hyperspace to follow the Mira Mesa.....