NationStates Jolt Archive

A single ship, the Starrider (http://www.kidsastronomy.com/images/future-space-craft.jpg), exits hyperspace near a world. This world is dead, it's civilization long forgotten by the galaxy, ruins and artifacts and bodies buried by dirt and time. The ship is the size of a large Cruiser, and about as well armed. It is an excavation ship, designed, built, and sent for uncovering ancient civilizations. The Xiscapian Captain stood on the bridge as the ship went into orbit around the planet. "Send down the teams and equipment at the earliest avaliable oppertunity." he said. "Yes sir." said the XO, sending orders thoughout the ship. "The others should be here soon." mused the Captain as he stared down at the blue-green world hungerly.

OCC: Could an observer arrive.

OOC: Can I join in this?

OOC: Can I join in this?
OOC you are G1 member are you not?

An observer jumped out of hyperspace and took orbit over the planet, probe fighters hoarded out of the docks.

OOC: Yes, OPEN TO ALL G1 MEMBERS

The observer EINSTEIN, immediatly began transporting GOU's onto the planet, scientes would have to wait till the land was secure, PRobe fighters sweeped the area, while 5 Post walkers were deployed.

One of the Alversians new Battlecruisers APS Freedom Forest burst out of hyper-space and headed for the planet. It had numerous Scientists onboard in order to conduct research for the Alversian People's Republic.

Several cargo shuttles and troop transports were sent down, they landed among some ruined stone buildings being strangled by jungle. Troops rushed out to secure the area, 10 LAMs stood a permiter guard.

meeting the Xscipians were GOU troops, they stopped and almost frowned at the Xscipians. Scientests were now being beamed down.

The Grunt soldiers and LAM stopped upon meeting the GOU troopers. One of the LAMs approached and set down a small silver object in between the two races, it sprang to life, creating a shimmering blue force-field between the two sides. They turned and walked away.
OOC: What does GOU stand for?

The Alversian Scientists were led by Dr. Eric Handsen, a revered historian and specialist on Ancient Civilisationm. He had jumped at the chance to work on a project like this.

He was beaming down with a detatchment of Marines, led by a tall and burly Lieutenant known simply as 'Steele'. His two dozen Marines were to provide protection for the ten Scientists and Historians who had volunteered for this mission.

Upon beaming down, Steele's men fanned out in order to secure the local area. Instead they found groups of Xiscapians and Calaverans also here in the same point. Coincidence?

Dr. Handsen smiled and walked between the Marines "My name is Dr. Handsen and I am delighted we shall be working togather on this site. it may hold many marvellous secrets do you not agree?"

(Galactic Observation Units) there the soldiers

The troopers enterd the building, accompined by scientest's. Walkers layed eyes on the area and assesed the situation.

ORBIT

the einstein hailed the Xscipian vessel

" This is Nara Camerian, captain of the GOA EINSTEIN, what is your purpose here?"

The soldiers were somewhat put off by the man's attutude, but then a archelolgist came out to greet him. "Yes, it does, already I can see the civilization as it once was."

Orbit...
GOA EINSTEIN, this is the Xiscapian excavation vessal Starrider. We are here on a peaceful dig to discover possible secrets as to our orgins, as well as the fate of a warrior who's ashs were found here by another nation.

Dr. Handsen nodded enthusiastically "Oh, I know! This must have been quite a planet at some point" he said looking around. The Marines seemed a bit non-plussed as to what the men were talking about and so began to wander off the secure the area.
Dr. Handsen looked like a child in a sweetstore, "I'm afraid I'm not sure where to start" he said laughing, adjusting his glasses "It all seems to be equally inportant"

Meanwhile, in space the Freedom Forest moved towards the Xiscapian and Calaversan ships. They still remembered the bad blood.

hailing message to starrider

" You may procceed"

Dr. White was on the surface(dr is also a scientist in NC terms), he walked up and greeted Handsen: Hello, im Dr.White, what have you leared of this planet?

A vessel warped in. It had a strange shape, and was not the usual crystal ship of the Void. It was organic, made of flesh. A SPOT (Space-Planet Orbital Transport) flew out and headed towards the planet, carrying a number of Inquisitors.

The man was joined by three other scinetists and historians. "I'm Ginta, and these are my other researchers, Dr. Hope, Mr. Jinkins, and Ms. Inill. We, along with about a dozen more, will be excavating and examining artifacts and so on." Ginta looked around. "I think we should begin with a primary ground sweep first, so we don't step on any artifacts or bones on the surface."

Dr. Handsen was delighted that so many of his kind could be assembled in one place. And over such an exciting find. He indicated to a man and a woman behind him
"Dr. Alice Loman, Head of Ancient History at Illesia University and Professor Timothy McNiece, expert in Ancient Building techniques" he looked around and smiled "My protectors seem to have tired of the history talk, what do you say we start immediately?" he was talking to Dr. White at the same time "May I ask where your specialist area lies? Mine is in Ancient Warfare and weaponry. I'm hoping to find some interesting artifacts to take back to the Illesian Institute of Ancient History"

"Well," said Ginta, "I specialize in ancient Culture and Weaponry. Dr. Hope is an expert in the field of Food, Mr. Jinkins has a degree in ancient Art and Technology, and Ms. Inill specializes in Military, Rulers, Birth and Death rituals."

The SPOT landed, and a number of Inquisitors stepped out. They headed towards a group of stone buildings.

Upon arrival, they looked at the other scientists.
"I see others are interested in the artifacts of this planet." The lead bowed. "Mo'hassan, at your service."

Dr.White: My feild in biology, and autopsys.

The scientist grimiced at the word "autopsys", and several of the soldiers bared their teeth. They rememberd...

Dr. Handsen looked coldly at Dr. White for the first time before instantly brightening up "I reckomend we start by the big ruin over there" he indicated to a peak of rubble in the distance "It seems to have been quite important no?" he began to walk towards two of chatting Marines and spoke to them in a curt manner
"My things shall need to be lifted over to that ruin there, be gentle and DON'T DROP THEM!" he walked off
"uh...yes...sir?" the Marines looked at each other for a moment before one nodded and,sighing, they shouldered their weapons and struggled to lift the black kitboxes he had brought with him.

Dr. White raised an eyebrow at the faces. two GOU immediatly ran to his side.

Dr.white followed: perhaps the last leader of this place is in here.

Two LAM and two Grunts stepped behind the North Calaverans. Ginta spoke calmly. "Now now, let's keep this peaceful and friendly." They walked off towards the ruined tower of rubble. "Looks like some sort of Ziggerat."

ooc sorry it took so long just caught your post

ic A Schwullunde Research probe, Similer to the Hunter/seekers flies over the xiscapian science team. spotting them the probe sends back the info to basecamp. not to long after it receaves new commands. zooming down toward the team it slows and hovers just before the team. Suddenly a static filled voice streams from the probes head. Uhh hello, umm sorry for the delay we ain't exactily used to visitors here. umm who are you??

Dr. Handsen moved his hand as a signal to the two marines who had begun to unholster their weapons. He walked quickly at the front of the group as if he couldn't wait until he was at the ruins "Yes indeed! Let's see what we have here"

OOC: what HAVE we here?

dr hensons team spots a small group of schwullunde researchers taking samples of the local flora in the region of a small hillock

Ginta spoke to the probe. "We are uncovering arcelogical artifacts from these ruins. Who or what are you?"
OOC: A Xiscapian warrior's ashs were found on this planet, they hold magical properties, being that it will warn it's owner whenever said person is in danger. Now this has captured our intrest and we're going to look. On the surface it will seem like swords and ancient tech, but underground FT will begin to appear...

Dr.White entered the ziggurat, it was dark, a team of 5 soldiers accompyed him, they pulled out flashlights and scaned.

The rest of the scintific team entered, followed by two Grunts. They used hand-held scanners to look around. "We go that way." said Ginta, pointing to a door at the left of the room.

the voice says, ahhh hmmm well we have no problem with your looking around if you have a handheld scanner i will transmit the coordinates to our basecamp to you. we have discovered several interesting artifacts which i am sure you might find of interest.

Inside the ziggerat is a small chamber, on the far wall there is writing unlike any known language

Dr. Handsen decided not to follow the Calaverans inside the ruins but instead began to sweep the ground with what looked like an old camera mounted on a tripod. It was spinning quickly in a circle and beeping wildly from time to time. Dr. Handsen moved cautiously towards it and plugged a screen into the tripod. An image of what was under the ground appearred
"My God" he said excitedly, "I've never seen so many artifacts in one area! Isn't it magnificant?" the two Marines he was addressing were leaning up against a tree stump laughing and chatting. Handsen shook his head and tutted before returning to his screen.

Sgt. Kev was with White, he looked on the wall and saw the writing.

"hey doc, what does this mean?"

White " no idea"

they went deeper.

walking deeper into the ziggerat is another slightly larger room with no other doors. in the center of the room is a large stone slab with grooves down the sides leading to small holes drilled through the slab. the grooves are coated in blackish stains

The team met a dead end, there was a wall in front of him with markings.

Dr. White got close to read them, but between the text a light appeared and ran accross the team, as if scanning them.

Sgt.Kev radioed the other teams : I think we found something.

The coordinates of the base camp now being set up were sent to the Schwullunde.

Ruins...
Ginta went off in a different direction. He and the others walked about a quarter of a mile, then they reached a door. He studied it, muttering to himself. There was a key hole, but no key. Ginta transmitted to the rest of the diggers. "We've found a locked door, search for a key."

Dr.White and Sgt.Kev and there team descended onto the Xscipian position.

The team heard the NC team. "Have you guys found anything?" called Ginta.

Dr.White: Some letters that lit up, i think we were scanned.

Ginta frowned. "Scanned? How many letters?"

Dr.White: Not sure, looked like ten.

Ginta paled. "Was there an eye in the middle? Iris glowed red?"

Sgt. Kev: Ya there was.

Ginta moaned in terror and the other Xiscapians looked shocked. "Get out, RUN!" he cried, and they made haste for the exit. Just then there was a massive explosion and rocks fell, trapping them. One of the scientists was killed, brained by a rock. Several rocks hit the Grunts, but they were protected by their helmets. Ginta was thrown to the floor. Once the dust had settled he tried his comm. "Ginta to Base, Ginta to Base, do you copy?" All he got was static. "Damn. Comms are down."

A GOU had been smashed by a boulder, Sgt. Kev had been cut, and Dr.White had been pelleted by stones, but otherwise, was fine. Sgt.Kev couldnt use his com either.

Base...
The entire Ziggerat crumbled, rocks falling and breaking. Immediatly Xiscapian LAM flew over, cutting though the rocks with their energy swords and blasting it away with their cannons.
Ruins...
"They'll cut us out." said Ginta. "Obviously, these ruins are booby-trapped. We must be more careful. That symbol was the symbol of Death in Xiscapian culture and ancient writings. And death did come." he said grimily, looking at the dead scientist and the GOU.

Sgt.Kev grabbed the dead soldier: Well, theres dinner:he said and he put the man over his shoulder.

Ginta was horrified. "You eat your dead?"

Sgt. Kev looked at the man not suprised: yes?

OOC: Where is this planet, exactly? In the Xiscapian Solar System?

Resting deep within the vacuum of space, a simplistic probe drifted at the outer fringes of the nearest heliosphere;* a spherical device sporting many long, delicate, proboscises lit a variety of soft colors. Though utilizing relatively crude technology, it was still a sensitive instrument, and monitored the region diligently.

With the recent and abrupt trafficking of ships - in especial, the hyperspace jump - around the small, nameless, desert-world, the arguably primitive installment wasn't unawares of the new arrivals. This being said, the position of cruisers was quickly relayed to the nearest T.A.F information control center.

Shortly thereafter, a single troop-carrier pulled away from its designated patrol, separating from a wing of others some ways away. Rendezvousing at a fresh acceleration gate, (for it was known that throughout Avalas, teleportation and hyperspace travel were fickle and unrefined technologies) the mighty vessel was hurled towards the disturbance.

Ginta just shook his head and listened to the sounds of the LAM diging though the rock to them.

Orbit...
The Starrider's sensors blared as the troop carrier entered the system.
The following message was sent to the ship:
Unknown ship, what is your orgin, destination, cargo, and purpose for being here?
OOC@Avalas: No, this is at the rim on Unknown space, near the Xiscapian system, but not actually inside it.

OOC mark it on the map

Shouts and calls came as the Marines sprinted into the ruins and began to heavy rocks away with their bare hands. Blasting the rubble might injure those inside and so this would have to be done the old fashioned way
"What happened?" Steele called from his post
"Mine perhaps?" a Marine answered before recieving a cuff around the ear from Dr. Handsen
"Mines didn't exist in those days!" he said harshly and watched the Marines dig "Hurry up!"

Mo'hassan said something into his sleeve, then a set of large gloves appeared. He put them on, then lifted one of the larger rocks up and put it carefully aside.
"Magna-clamps." He said simply.

The LAM, closer to the trapped people, used their hands instead of swords and cannons. They lifted huge boulders and dug until they reached the party. They lifted them to safety one by one, out of their would-be tomb.

The Troop-Carrier was operating on minimal power, what scant charge it produced being dedicated towards sliding naturally into an erratic orbit. With the vast majority of its systems offline, it appeared almost as if it were a piece of rubble - perhaps a stray asteroid flung from a nearby star. That being said, whether it had even received the message or not was unknown as the derelict continued to drift nearer to the surface.

"Sir, we've got something on the scopes drifting towards the planet. Looks likea junked spacecraft, or even an astroid." "I see. Target it. If it gets too close to the suface and we recieve no communication, blow it out of the sky." "Yes sir."
The Starrider's 2 MAC guns, 2 Heavy Guns, and 4 Light Guns swiviled to target the thing.

Bridge, APS Freedom Forest

"Continue to track that 'asteroid' into descent" the Captain ordered to a nearby Ensign "and alert the ground troops that there may be something interesting heading their way"
The Ensign nodded and quickly went about his duties

Ruins...
The last of the scientists and soldiers were lifted out by the LAM and set on the ground, the dead scientist was taken away to be cremated, his ashs would be sent to his family. "I want a full scan done on all ruins and land in the area, and I want it now!" shouted the overseeing Xiscapian Officer. The scientists were confined to the base until full scans could to done to detect any more traps.

A flurry of pods erupted from the sides of the vessel, speeding down towards the planet with an expected trajectory arranged to place them at the ruin's perimeter, a goodly aways away from any present activity.

Each the size of a van, roughly twenty of these vehicles - robust tungsten blasphemes against physical law - could be counted as they propelled themselves towards the largely uncharted planet. Once this payload was released, its mother vessel went entirely dormant, drifting in a relatively stable orbit around the planet. No further signatures were released from within.

"Sir, unidentified craft is launching some kind of drop-pods or capsules." "How many?" "About 20 sir." "Send 10 LAM (http://www.geocities.jp/gatekeeper000072/warmachine4.jpg) (about 9 feet tall) and 10 HAM (http://uk.games-workshop.com/tau/battlesuit-configurations/images/tau-battlesuit.jpg) (about the size of a tank) over there to "greet" them when they arrive. Strict orders are to fire only if fired upon." "Yes sir."
10 LAM dispatched from the base and 10 HAM flew from the Starrider to the EPD(Estimated Point of Destination).

Avalas never was one for 'subtle.' The bestial devices screamed loudly through the haze of the atmosphere, smoldering and popping with the heat of re-entry. A dazzling display punctuated by an explosive impact with the ground that kicked great plumes of dust and soot into the air around them. They had been arranged in a geometrically perfected circle around the archaeological site (though at enough distance to avoid any accidental damages), though nothing emerged from them as of yet.

The LAMs(Light Assualt Mechs) and HAM(Heavy Assualt Mechs) were about 4 miles from the site when the pods hit. They increased power on their thrusters and hovered over the pods, ready for whatever might come out.

From each of the individual pods, a number of arrays unsheathed themselves from the protective layers of armor on their exterior. Most namely amongst these were what appeared to be scaled-up versions of the traditional radio-dish, a device that quickly began to bombard the surrounding area with the appropriate waves - cycling through the various frequencies for a slightly similar effect as would be achieved via echolocation. Unfortunately for those nearby, however, it proved detrimental to any attempt at classic communication, as all local receptors were swamped with foreign signals.

The Calaverian team went back to camp to have lunch.

The Alversian Marines creeped up to the nearest dish, a covering team nervously keeping watch. They waited anxiously as the marines drew closer.

The LAMs and HAMs set down. The lead HAM deployed a speaker from it's left shoulder, which blared in Basic. "Please step out of your craft and indicate peaceful intentions. You have two minutes to respond."

For lack of any true audio, the projected radio quickly took on the appropriate frequencies to formulate a message. Sadly, there seemed to be something of a language barrier - as the speech; though obviously masculine and of articulate nature, was of High Gothic, the official tongue of Avalas.

"They seem to be attempting communication, but it just sounds like giberish." "Nothing we've heard of before?" "No sir." "Hold positions. If so much as a water gun comes out of that I want it melted into a pile of slag."

The message seems to be repeated a multitude of times, in several dialects of the same language, until a brief overtone of argument is heard, and an extremely clumsy, heavily accented, and broken attempt at Trade is made. What can be made out is as follows - " Arm and four sis...Not disturbance of is made menial task officio...Naming of, thousay trew."

The sounds of some manner of mild argument can be heard once the message was repeated twice more, assuming once more the haughty, fluid, tones of Gothic, in its most pompous and official form.

"Sounds like an argument in there. Something about "armed forces?"" "Hold steady. When they want to show themselves, they will. Start running scans to see if you can detect any and all weapons and technology and how many biologicals there are in there."

OOC: What, exactly, do the scans consider to be 'weaponry?' Seeing as Avalas uses slightly unorthodox solutions.

OOC: Any kind of gun, bomb, biological creature, lasers, ect. If you walk out with a pistol in a holster, they won't shoot you. If you walk out with an assualt rifle fully primed and pointing in any other direction than the sky or ground, you'll be dead pretty fast.

Beginning with the transports furthest from the assault vehicles, small squadrons of five to six soldiers - draped in the traditional whirring, hissing, mass of plates that were the Tintibulus Exosuits - began to disembark onto the dry grass nearby. Bearing the fantastic, if unwieldy, accelerator rifles (or, perhaps more appropriately, cannon) of their trademark, they appeared perfectly readied while turning to face the Xiscapian vehicles in the (arguable) distance.

The most immediate pods, however, remained closed to the presented armaments.

(To be technical, each squadron is led by a single Cleric, who bears ridiculously heavy armor, and an expansive munitions, supplement, and equipment cache.)

30 GOU began running towards the pods. 2 squadrons of probe fighters began to head in the direction.

GOU(Galactic Observation Units(AKA soldiers)

The mech circle tightened. "Who are you?" shouted the loudspeaker.

"Watch that thing!" Steele shouted to the halfdozen Marines in a half-circle around the pod, some of the Marines dropped to one knee in order to take better aim "If they so much as sneeze out of place, I want them dropped!" The Marines waited for a moment "Sir!" they shouted in confirmation

A heavily modified Dominion freighter (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/freighter.jpg) came out transwarp near the planet and assumed a stationary orbit. It was flanked by two Strike Cruisers (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/StrikeCruiser.jpg) which took up defensive posture.
The freighter dropped shields and beamed down 25 Dominion Defense Troops and a team of ten scientists, led by Professor Arthur Johnston.
They made for the Xiscapian perimeter.

"Dominion vessals entering system. They're beaming." "Good. Warn them of our situation."
The following message was sent from the Starrider to the Dominion ground team:
Greetings, glad to see you made it here. A ship, looks more like a burned-out hunk destined for the scrap yard, can be seen in orbit at coordinates 8944370. It let loose some 20 drop pods, which landed near our perimiter. We don't yet know whether these are friendly or hostile, so take caution.Ruins...
Two fighters and a patrol ship lifted off from the base and flew to the drop site.

There's a very brief commotion near the lesser-flanked deployments as a single Cleric worked to assemble a standard bearing the national flag of Avalas. Staked into the ground in such a fashion as to be visible at a moderate distance, it was dotted with numerals that seemed to denote the company's rank-and-file;
though it didn't mean much at this point, even if it had been legible. Resembling a ring of porcelain hands and legs, a wreath was formed against a solid red field, the companies awaited response before moving from the proximity of their entrenchment.

"Sir, they've, uh..." "What is it?" "Well, they've put up some kind of flag over the spot. Like they're claming territory." "Hmm...odd. No one's used that for hundreds of years." The Commander was at a loss of how to deal with this. "Fall back in an orderly fashion. I'll get out of my mech and deal with this, man-to-man."
The mechs activated their thrusters and moved back several yards, though still wary of the intruders. The fighters and partol ship hovered directly over the pods, the patrols turret pointed dowwards, implying an unspoken threat. The Commander got out of his HAM, leaving his Co-pilot to handle the mech. He strode forward and waited at the perimiter of the pods.
OOC: You know what my people look like, correct?

OOC: Hahaha, yes. By the way, how's the atmosphere here?

Noticing the moderate withdrawal, one of the nearest Clerics began moving forward to meet the makeshift emissary; dwarfing the latter by a healthy measure.

OOC: Atmosphere's normal, a little thin, but easily breathable
IC: The Commander, a blue-haired man named Junt, bowed to the Cleric. "Greetings."

Received and understood, rerouting ground teams. Freighter 857-1 out.

The archaeologists walked toward the command center accompanied by ten soldiers as the rest of the DDF troops (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/DarkTroopers.bmp) moved toward the pods. Interspersing with the rest of the perimeter, they checked their pulse rifles, keeping them at the ready, but not leveled on the newcomers.

More soldiers, scientists, and vehicles were landed. A Command center was constructed, with tent-like structures called "scoops" made of light green plastic and easily portable. There was now 50 soldiers deployed, 25 LAM, 25 HAM, 10 Combat Speeders, 10 Cargo Speeders, 20 Speeder Bikes, and 50 Land Speeders. Air support consisted of 10 fighters and 3 patrol craft. There was currently 25 scientists, biologists, arceologists, ecologists, and assistants in the camp. A ADS (Area Denial System) was set up, with 10 autoturrets, laser alarms, and force-fields. The Xiscapians were serious about taking and holding the area.

A slow, masculine, voice was hissed out through the perfectly airtight, untelling, helmet of the exosuit. Though its inflection was thick in the Trade tongue, it was, for the most part, understandable.

"Ziscapien, unexpected is your - " The sentence is interrupted by a 'popping' noise' " - party. Come we on poor terms?"

Meanwhile, alarmed by the still-increasing traffic surrounding the hundred-man deployment, the 3rd Division of the Tintibulus Armed Forces arranged for the shuttling of two more troop carriers, escorted by a wing of some fifteen fighters. Both of these classes had been refitted for a more civilian duty, though the latter still maintained much of its armament. Most importantly, the two Carriers had been stocked to the brim with provisions, construction materials, munitions, and other various miscellany; including light vehicles of various utilities. The Kestrels, though to a far lesser degree, also held similar cargo - at the expense of replacing their deadly flechette rockets with more conventional bombs.

These reinforcements were powered-down in a similar fashion as their precursor, and affixed themselves into orbit as inconspicuously as was possible, while still remaining in loose geosync.

OOC: For the purpose of spicing things up a bit, would the Observatorum have detected anything unusual on this planet? In terms of signature radius, and the like.

OOC: Aside from the sudden influx of ships and people coming and going, almost nothing. A slight unexplained jump in background radiation and power signitures, but only for a few seconds and nothing more.
IC: Junt shook his head. "No, your arrival was merely sudden, and, shall we say, unexpected. Give us a little warning next time. We though we were under attack." He signaled back and most of the forces peeled off, heading back to base or to perimiter duties. His HAM and two LAM stayed bhind though. "So what brings the people of Avalas to this remote world?"

the schwullunde science team slowly gathers up several interesting articles that they have discovered and make their way toward the Xiscapian base camp. at the head of the group is a archiologist named Dr Max Sven. behind him are several of his students that he has brought along as a field exercise. each of them is carrying several reather interesting artifacts. the last student is manhandling a older maglev carrier burdened down with several of the heavier articles.

ooc sorry about the privious post here. crossed threads. i moved the earlier post to the correct location

"Hmmm" Steele looked around at his rather baffled troops. One of them asked

"What? They claiming this moon? I ain't travelling across the galaxy just for it to be claimed by some prats"
"No" his mate replied "You came because you thought there would be beaches and a calm blue ocean. Like Assinta"
"Belt up! At least I didn't come to get away from my mother-in-law!" the Marine taunted back and giving his mate a slap on the helmet with his glove

Steele stepped forward "I am Lieutenant Steele and I am in command of the Alversian detatchment of this expedition" he saluted "It is an honor to meet you"

The weighty metallic head of the makeshift 'diplomat' swiveled to face the newcomer, where it continued to stare for some time; until a response was finally forthcoming. "My Lord."

"Well, why are you here, Cleric?" asked the Commander, arching his eyebrows, a human motion he had picked up from being around the Alversians.

"The new-happened disruptions, true, you have seen? Come us for knowing of them."

The Commander shook his head. "What disruptions do you speak of? We came here to see what we could find out about a gift given to the Emperor which was found on this planet. Apparently, it warns the owner when he or she is in danger." he snorted. "Personally, I think it's all a waste of time. We'll probably never find anything note-worthy here."

A few moments pass as the man attempts to digest this, before replying in the broken fashion that seemed commonplace in Trade. "Witnessed not as you arrived? There was a number. First was that which was nearly unseen. Irradiation, true. Second was a release of energy greatly, punctuating scarce a vessel's arrival."

"Indeed? Where did this energy signiture originate?"

"Surrounded of an arrived vessel."

The Enstein began charging weopons, and deployed its fighter compliment, 10 squadrons began flying in cirlces over the pods.

OOC: What does the Einstein look like?

Steele stepped forward "Is there any chance that the signals are coming from one of our ships? There is a lot of traffic in this part of the planet"

The pauldrons of the machine 'shrugged' very slightly. "How is it you could traverse for energies of many grand to appear?"

The DDF forces linked back up with Professor Johnston at the command center. Allowing his team to set up a small basecamp of their own, Johnston went inside. He walked up to who looked like one of the Xiscapian scientists.

"Greetings friend, I am Prfessor Arthur Johnston of the Dominion Science Ministry. We have been made aware of your find and were granted approval to dispatch a vessel to the dig. If I may ask, could I get a few details on the index artifact and what preliminary reports have discovered?"

"Yes, of course." said Ginta. "I am the chief scientist on this dig and we have discovered some intresting artifacts. Firstly," he said, leading the Professor to a nearby plastic tents. "We have found a weapons catche in a nearby building. It's ancient type, swords, crossbows, daggers, and such other weapons." Some brown colored weapons were lying on a table, tagged and protected by status field. "Next, we have some pottery and, intrestingly enough, glass. Our scans indicate that it was made in a nearby desert, most likely with molten lava made from superheated metals. The pottery is mere shards, mostly clay, with nothing to indicate lifestyle or culture. Unfortunatly, this is all we have discovered as of yet. We have had to stop because of a recent accident which killed a GOU trooper and one of our scientists. We have yet to find out how or why this occured, as we were somewhat sidetracked by the arrival of the Avalas troops."

Dr Sven walks slowly into the basecamp. looking around for someone he bumps into a xiscapian archiologist. umm who can i show these interesting artifacts to, they are sadly only early iron age artifacts, though we do have a reather nice ceramonial suit of armor he says as he indicates the maglev.

"Hmm...yes. Unfontunatly, we have yet to discover any bones or bone shards. There simply dosen't seem to be any of them. However, this is a fine specimen, an excellent addition. Humanoid, maybe human."
OOC: No bodies will ever be discovered. I'm saving it for later...

"Most interesting indeed. Would the nature of the accident suggest deliberate booby traps? Perhaps a ceiling rigged to cave in on intruders? The fact that there is glass as well as the crossbow suggests a civilization that was quite advanced for its time. In old Earth history the crossbow was Medieval, with widescale glass production not occurring until the following Renaissance. This being the case, I would assume war was indeed one of their chief industries and would not rule out traps as the cause of the accident. I'll inform my team to be cautious around the dig site."

Some of the soldiers nearby who overheard shifted a little uneasily. Their armor would render them almost impervious to blunt force trauma, but no one liked the idea of being buried alive for any amount of time.

Ginta nodded. "We've considered that, and the answer is most definitly yes. Just before entering the room via a seperate door the North Calaveran team reported a wall of text which glowed green briefly, followed by an eye. Studies of this eye suggest that it is a crude carving of the Xiscapian symbol of death: Death's eye, with an hourglass beside it, indicating that time is running out. Indeed, the ceiling fell in, hinting at an elaborate system, perhaps even an entire complex, of traps. The only entrance we could find to the lower levels of the ziggarat was blocked off when the trap was triggered, so we don't know what was being protected. We'll have some LAMs dig all the boulders and whatnot out so we may continue downward. Scans of this and other buidlings, however, show nothing to indicate any tech anywhere near ours."

"With your permission," Johnston said tearing his gaze from the artifacts, "Aboard our ship we do have some experimental equipment that may be able to penetrate into the now inaccessable rooms. If nothing else, it may give a good preliminary look into what's inside-and alert us of possible traps."
With a laugh, he added, "Unless of course, the traps can detect focused photons as well."

OOC: Are the Avalas troops still effectively surrounded?

Sgt. Kev aproached the xscipian chief scientist.: Sir, im going to have to ask you to back away for a bit, weve called in an airstrike.

At this point, the estimated time for the new deployment's geosynchronization was a rough three hours.

OOC@Avalas: Yes, they are. NC's, a few of mine, Alversia's, and Ruthless Slaughters.
IC: Ginta nodded to Johnston. "That would be fine." Then a North Calaveran in battle-armor came up to him. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to back away for a bit, we've called in an airstrike." "WHAT?" screamed Ginta. "On what? This is valuable digging space! If you call in an airstrike, you might damage or destroy precious specimens! What are you shooting at?!"

Sgt.Kev: The collapsed part, we can blow it away, with a good chance of not hurting evidence.

Dr Sven is a little worried about the amount of armed men within the basecamp. looking around he quickly walks over to Ginta and asks if there is a problem.

Johnston nodded and spoke into a communicator. In a brief flash of light, multiple scanning instruments mounted on tripods beamed inot the midst of the Dominion excavation team. They quickly hurried near the entrance and set the equipment up, careful not to get close enough so as to be in danger when or if the airstrike hit.

"Sergeant," Johnston said turning, "The strike is unnecessary. Our scanners should be able to penetrate it without the risk of damage."

"Yes, call it off. We can easily get the rubble cleared without unnessiccary use of force." Ginta turned to Sven. "The troops are here for three reasons: Firstly, they have equipment and expertise to deal with any more traps. Secondly, tensions were a bit high here a few minutes ago, and military force may have been needed. Thirdly, we may need protection from pirate or raider attack."

Johnston added, "Indeed. My government has two Strike Cruisers in orbit as escort for just that reason. Five of our digs have been attacked in the past two weeks. The fleet managed to apprehend the pirates, but many of our most respected archaeologists were injured during the raids and our vessels damaged or stolen. An unfortunate but necessary precaution I'm afraid."

Sg.Kev: Done, the airstrike is canceled.

The Cleric speaking with the Xiscapian Mech-Pilot seemed relatively unphased by the hostile proximity. After all, they numbered a rough two hundred, and were well-equipped to take out the heavily armored opposition. Perhaps it was for this reason that he proved so confident. "Local here, it is claimed how?"

"Claimed how?" Steele asked coldly, at the same time pressing a button on his belt. At this point, the APS Freedom Forest could hear everyword he said "Apart from being the last to arrive here, you cannot claim a planet that is effectively already Xiscapia's"

Aboard the Freedom Forest, it's compliment of 800 Marines were preapred in case the situation propelled out of control.

The Commander looked at Steele. "Easy, Commander. Don't jump the gun." He turned back to the Cleric. "We have landed on it first, therefore, it is ours. We have claimed it as an independent research site for excavation purposes. Specifically, our friends the Schwullunde's have found a very intresting artifact on this planet, and we intend to find out more. Now I ask you again: Why are you here? Were you planning to colonize this planet?"

"Had I said it not? Disruptions of magnitude varied."

The situation seemed to be tense, Sgt.Kev, orderd the deployment of 2 companys and 3 Post's. The Einstein began beaming them down at once.

The Commander nodded. "Alright. For the time being, what are you going to do here?"

Sgt.Kev walked up to the Xscipian cammander. " I dont like the looks of these guys."

"We observant of these art-ee-facts. With you."

The Commander glanced at Kev. "Calm down, they're not as bad as they look." He turns to the Cleric. "Alright then. Establish a base camp realitivly near the others and we'll get started."

The DDF troops stood down, maintaining a loose perimeter with most going back to their basecamp. The scanners were penetrating the debris slowly, creating a three dimensional map of the room's interior on a holoprojector hooked up to the scanner.

Steele pointed a finger in each direction. As he did so, an Alversian Marine took up positions on patrol to his left and right.
Dr Handsen had left the tension of the situation and returned to his scanner. It scanned the area just below the ground he smiled and clicked his fingers
"Look at this!"

A nearby Marine strolled over lazily and peered into the scope revealling a black cirlce just below the surface. Dr Handsen looked at him
"What do you think it is?"
The Marine shrugged "A Wheel?"
"A WHAT? Good God Man! This must be thousands of years old!"
"An Ancient wheel then" the Marine suggested before he was given a clip around the ear and moved on

Ginta looked in intrest over Handsen's shoulder, his shoulder-length green hair swaying gently. "A wheel indicates a relativly advanced society. They would at least have used it as a cart of sorts."

Base...
The last of the LAM and HAM returned to base and took up perimiter around the camp.

The three orbiting troop carriers quickly dive towards the excavation site, making their typical, violent, landing just out of sight from the ruins themselves. Swarms of lightly armored engineers scurried from within, and began erecting a large, fortified, base capable of accommodating the odd three-hundred men and their equipment.

The setup adhered to traditional placement, in that heavy sandbags were tossed upon one another to form temporary walls while the scaffolding was set for sturdier reinforcements designed to support every manner of heavy weaponry.

Ginta looked in intrest over Handsen's shoulder, his shoulder-length green hair swaying gently. "A wheel indicates a relativly advanced society. They would at least have used it as a cart of sorts."

Base...
The last of the LAM and HAM returned to base and took up perimiter around the camp.

Handsen nodded "I agree, there must be some sort of advanced civilisation down there, yet all we have found suggests that this is an average society of the era" He looked at it again "I would like to excavate that part of the site to see what that is with my own eyes"

Ginta nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, we were already planning to ourselves."

"Fantastic! As it is only a few feet below the surface I would advise against machinary of any kind. This thign could be highly fragile. I suggest working by hand " he said looking around happily for a spade.

Ginta nodded. "Indeed. It will be easy to dig though and extract any artifacts." He picked up a large shovel and got to work.

With a smile, Johnston grabbed a pick and his set of brushes, "Surely we wouldn't be left out!"

His team immediately chose a spot twenty feet from where the Alversians and Xiscapians were digging and set up their own site. As they dug, various pieces of pottery were being unearthed as well as old coins, which were put into washbins of chemicals for cleaning and restoration. Even a mint date would provide troves of knowledge about who these people were and how they lived. There was great excitement as one of the university students discovered a sword, its blade badly corroded yet still intact for the most part.

Things slowed down after the initial rush as it became apparent that they had dug down into what had once been a house. Immediately the dig resumed with tiny picks, shovels, and brushes. Every step was taken with deliberate care.

The Cavalerians didnt care about what they found, as long as it wasnt weoponary. They decided it would be better to make a colony of the planet, civilians were being beamed down along with some engineers to make a small town.

The Marines got to work digging and shifting the access soil away from the dig site. They, unlike the Scientists, moaned and complained about the tough manual labour. Thirty more Marines had been beemed down to help witht he excavations, bringing the total to 54 Alversian Marines and 12 Scientists.

The Xiscapian Commander of the Operation, a young women named Skyler, strode up to the North Calaveran in cnarge on-planet. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked coldly, waving her hands at the assembling civilians milling around and the engineers building houses. "Do you have a permit from us authorizing colonization? I think not! I'm going to have to ask all non-military or scientist personnal to leave at once."

Ruins...
The Xiscapian digging team, aided by the Alversians, broke though into the room beyond the crumbled rock. Ginta dropped down, his natural see-in-the-dark eyesight forgoing the need for a glowlight. "It seems that the chambers continue downwards. Oh, and here's our wheel." He knelt down next to the rotted wooden wheel. "Intresting..." he muttered, running his hands over the splintery surface.

"What is it!" Handsen called down through the hole

"A wheel?" one of the Marines behind him asked helpfully, his comrade sniggering away. They continued until one recieved a clump of mud clean in the head, knocking him back. His mate watched, surprised as Handsen picked up another clump

"Thank you for your contribution" he turned back to the hole "well?"

"It's that wheel we saw on the scanners!" called Ginta from below. "Come have a look! Once we get this up we can keep going down."
OOC: Check TGs and Story Write

OOC: Read and responded. On both SW and NS

Handsen began to lift himself down before wincing and pointing to the two nearby Marines, one of which was still lifting pieces of mud from his helmet.

They grabbed him under each armpit and lowered him through the hole. Both were grunting and sweating with the effort of lifting the aged Scientist down the gap. One turned and said to his Mate

"I was told this would be a holiday"
"Me too" his mate replied as Handsen slipped from their grip and fell the last few feet
"Sorry Doc!"
"Just wait 'til I get back up there!" he grumbled as the two Marines moved a distance away to guard the hole

"Fascinating" Handsen said looking at the wheel through torchlight "Absolutely fascinating! This must be one of the most advanced civilisations of it's era!"

"Indeed! We've found nothing to indicate any war-like traits, but I suspect that any civilization must have some weapons and guards." He glaced around, then spotted something shining faintly in the corner, about the size of a fork. "Hmm, I wonder how that escaped detection?" He went over and picked it up. "A...power crystal?" Ginta looked up though the hole to the Xiscapian Grunts. "Throw me down that portable scanner!" The phone sized object fell though a second later. Ginta grabbed it and turned it on. "It'll take a few moments for the data to come though." he told Handsen.

Handsen could not take his eyes of the crystal
"by...by all means. Take your time!" he was staring at it in wonder "How did it get down here?" he asked, almost to himself.

OOC: TG, and you realize your sig is way to long? Good poem though.
IC: The scanner beeped. Ginta read the data, his orange eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. "It appears...that the crystal is one thousand years old. And still working, I might add. I would say, due to it's size, that it once powered a relativly small thing, such as a light. But these crystals...are the same we use! They've only found to be naturally occuring on our moon! It's impossible..."

OOC: It touches the heart so I won't cut it down. That would be an injustice

IC:
Handsen shook his head "I'm afraid this crystal has blown our knowledge of that period apart. Do you know when your people discovered Space travel? That may answer a few questions"

In truth this was rapidly becoming the find of the century. Handsen could see himself being given a title for this.

"Space travel..." Ginta shook his head. "About 1,000 years ago, give or take a few hundred."

"so...how did...how did this...get here?" Handsen could barely contain his excitment "How could it possibly have gotten here?" he bent over slightly to get a closer look at the crystal "It must be thousands of years old"

"I have no idea. The crystals need a very specific situation in order to grow, making it highly unlikely that this planet can grow them, and impossible to artificially make. That leaves only one option..." Ginta turned a haunted face towards Handsen. "Xiscapians have been here before."

"How is that possible?" Handsen frowned "You had no way of getting here surely? Is it possible you interacted with a more advanced species before your time?"

"I doubt it. We're a very old race. I think...one of our early travelers must have come here. Our first manned spacecraft had only enough room for one or two. But in those early days we had no hyperdrives, nor anyway to travel beyond our own solar system! It's impossible that any of my kind were here, yet this crystal proves it." Ginta looked around. "We need to keep going. Maybe the answers to this mystery are down there." He said, pointing down the gentley sloping ramp leading down into blackness.

Handsen nodded "Marine!" he shouted out through the hole

"Yes, Sir?" came the reply
"We are exploring further into the system. Keep an eye out for us!"
"aye, Sir!"
"Shall we go?" Handsen asked his counterpart politey

"Wait." He called up. "Two Grunts, down here, on the double!" Two Grunt troopers dropped down to flank the scientists. "Just in case." said Ginta. They moved downward.

The Dominion Colonel in charge of the DDF's planetside sent two soldiers over. Large scanners were attached to their rifles. They were accompanied by two of the archaeologists under Johnston, who was too busy supervising his own site to see what the Xiscapians and Alversians discovered.
His only orders to his subordinates were, "Accompany them, keep me posted."

The group of four trailed after the teams in the tunnel. The soldiers led the way, their night vision and scanners probing for anything amiss.

"Attention Xiscapians, I'm picking up a small distortion at ankle level up ahead. Most likely a trip wire. Be careful!" one of the soldiers yelled as he stopped the Dominion team.

Meanwhile, construction of the Avalas fortifications were proceeding swimmingly. Large cranes were being wheeled out onto the ground, and massive drills were positioned hastily nearby. Prospecting stakes lined the entire area, and monitors were being erected at seemingly random intervals over the distant site.

The soldiers, too, had begun equipping themselves with slightly more effective solutions to their planetary environs; such as the airtight, durable, but relatively portable Light Exosuit and gas-operated carbines. It was a small detachment of just-so equipped men that began to maneuver towards the ruins themselves, led by a Kevan Durnsk, a notable Clergy adept in the art of Field-Command. Riding in flat-bottomed and effectively frictionless truckers, they made relatively good time to their destination.

The Dominion Colonel in charge of the DDF's planetside sent two soldiers over. Large scanners were attached to their rifles. They were accompanied by two of the archaeologists under Johnston, who was too busy supervising his own site to see what the Xiscapians and Alversians discovered.
His only orders to his subordinates were, "Accompany them, keep me posted."

The group of four trailed after the teams in the tunnel. The soldiers led the way, their night vision and scanners probing for anything amiss.

"Attention Xiscapians, I'm picking up a small distortion at ankle level up ahead. Most likely a trip wire. Be careful!" one of the soldiers yelled as he stopped the Dominion team.

A Grunt walked forward. "Wha-Arrggh!" He broke a thin line extending from both sides of the room, two wooden spears came out of the floor. The first missed but the second pierced the kitsune's leg. He collapsed onto the floor, red blood spilling across the stone. The other Grunt moved back, keeping the scientists behind him. "We need a med team, now!" he shouted into his helmet comm. No more than 15 seconds later three medics appeared. They put painkiller on the kitsune's leg, bandeged it up, and carried him out. A fresh soldier was sent down with a scanner. Now they walked slowly, the soldier carefully scanning the darkness ahead.

Meanwhile, construction of the Avalas fortifications were proceeding swimmingly. Large cranes were being wheeled out onto the ground, and massive drills were positioned hastily nearby. Prospecting stakes lined the entire area, and monitors were being erected at seemingly random intervals over the distant site.

The soldiers, too, had begun equipping themselves with slightly more effective solutions to their planetary environs; such as the airtight, durable, but relatively portable Light Exosuit and gas-operated carbines. It was a small detachment of just-so equipped men that began to maneuver towards the ruins themselves, led by a Kevan Durnsk, a notable Clergy adept in the art of Field-Command. Riding in flat-bottomed and effectively frictionless truckers, they made relatively good time to their destination.

"OI!!" Steele walked up to fortification building area "You are breaching intergalactic law by building those here! You must get permission from Xiscapia or we level the whole lot!"

"OI!!" Steele walked up to fortification building area "You are breaching intergalactic law by building those here! You must get permission from Xiscapia or we level the whole lot!"
A Xiscapian officer took Steele aside. "Actually, sir, they have permission. It's the North Calaverans who are trying to colonize illegally."

"They have PERMISSION to build a fort here!?!" Steele's face lit up in wonder "Then why don't we all do it? Section off the surface and built nice little city states?"

OOC: Are they approaching Kevan or the fort itself?

"They have PERMISSION to build a fort here!?!" Steele's face lit up in wonder "Then why don't we all do it? Section off the surface and built nice little city states?"
"They have permission to build suitable defenses. If they find a fort suitable, so be it. If we wanted to, we could kick everyone off this planet by force, so no worries, eh? At any rate, it's only tempeorary, just for the duration of the dig, which may last quite a long time. If they wanted to, any of the nations here at the moment could apply to create a colony of this planet. It just wouldn't happen until the dig is over."
OOC: Everyone's looking for you in the discovery thread.

"Have you considered" Steele whispered in the Xiscapian's ear "That they might turn those defences on us? I wouldn't like to take on an entire fort and I doubt our combined troops could storm one"
OOC: Posted in it. Some action at last!

"This has been considered." said the Officer stiffly. (ooc: which ear are you wispearing in? Not that it matters.) "They would not try and turn against us, not the combined forces of us, you, the Dominion, the NC, and the Schwullunde against them. Secondy, it would be easy to destory them, if it did come to that. This isn't the Korr War. We have...other ways of taking a fort than storming it with troops."
OOC: Yeah

While Kevan and his men disembark from their vehicles, small-scale and prospective mining operations begin within and surrounding the desolate fortress-in-the-making. Here, the large drills begin to probe and sample the earth in a large ring around them.

OOC hey Xiscapia, all you have to do is send a request for assistance to the Schwullunde Fleet Command. i beleave that the 2nd and 3rd fleets are currently not up to anything and could use some action. he he. this time i will defenately bring in the drones. maybe use a bit more of my tech then in my last battle. Also i do beleave some of my troops may get to be used this time:p

OOC: No thanks, things are under control. Besides, I'm sure what forces we have here can take pretty much anything that the galaxy throws at us.

OOC: How's the mining around here?

ooc ahh well. i'm here if you need me lol

OOC: It's alright, positivly barren by Xiscapian or Avalas stadards (we both come from mineral-rich systems).

Over the next few days, heavy machinery and construction materials are traded for vast amounts of fertilizer and seed at the fortress. Meanwhile, Kevan Durnsk and his men descend into the ruins; quickly following after the archaeologists.

OOC: Presumably, they meet?

The NC enginerrs had now made a small town with 10 building and a hotel, with a small landing pad for ships. the building include.

2 trading posts
1 saloon
2 hotels
1 barracks
1 general store
2 watch towers with twin 60 caliber machinguns on top
1 town hall

An Xiscapian Officer strode into the North Calaveran "town." She looked around, hands on her hips. She was tall, with green hair and pale skin. Her name was Dui and she was a crack shot with a blaster pistol. She looked like an ancient gunfighter swaggering into town. "Who's in charge here?" she called out to the town in general.

Ruins...
The Xiscapian team, followed by the Alversian and Dominion teams, heard footsteps behind them. "Who goes there?" asked the newly replaced Xiscapian Grunt.

The Xiscapians had set up perimiter defenses now. Force fields, drones, sentrys, autoturrets, 4 watch towers with repeating blaster cannons on top, a gate on the south and west sides. A fence had been erected, which was protected by light shields. A platform ran around the inside perimiter of the camp, with patrolling guards on top. Four fighters and a patrol ship hovered over the camp, which was now home to 25 scientists, 10 techs, and 50 troops. 25 LAM, 25 HAM, 10 Combat Speeders, 10 Cargo Speeders, 20 Speeder Bikes, and 50 Land Speeders were the vehicles at the base. Air support consisted of 4 troop ships, 15 fighters, and 3 patrol ships. With defenses down, techs and scientists, escorted by troops, spread out among the ruins. A few stayed behind to study the artifacts already brought back. Roughly half of the scientists and techs there were student biologists, arceologists, ecologists and assistants from the Academy of the Rose. They were excited to be involved to be in something so big, even if the troops there didn't share the excitment. Most of military's the men and women there were bored and a little irritated at having to babysit scientists and techs. Still, the planet was pleasent and peaceful, the duties easy and fast, and there was far worse things for a trooper or pilot to be doing.

Colonl Richard strolled out of the bar: I am.

Following the initial landing, the Alversian unit had increased to over 500 people including 350 military personnel. The Alversian units erected a shanty and temporary town which included bars, shops, leisure facilities and even a school/university. The majority of the Scientists were Students on transfer and placement years. They were involved in scanning the ruins as well and recording the various artifacts.

The Soldiers were, by and large, bored out of their wits. However, apart from minor patrols or police duty, it was an easy duty and so they found they had a lot of spare time. In fact, the Alversians, with the co-operation of the Xiscapians, cleared an area of ground and set up a small football pitch. They even played a league with the books open to anybody who knew the rules and could get a team togather. It seemed the perfect posting.

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

Dr. Handsen peered into the dark in wonder as he surveyed the sides of the tunnel.

Colonl Richard strolled out of the bar: I am.
Dui glanced at him. "I'm the Xiscapian Officer in charge of this whole operation. I need verification for all your non-military personnal on their reason for being here. See, if one is a scientist, that's fine. Or a cook. But if your people are here just for a vacation, we can't allow that. As you saw from the explosion, this is not a safe place. We're not signiling you out, we've already gotten verification from the Alversians and the Avalans. Nothing big, just a little routine check."

Football Field...
Carth went out for a pass, he caught the ball easily. "Run!" shouted his team, and he turned just in time to be viciously sacked by an Alversian player.

the colonle became more serious " This area is secured by NC units, we are not on vacation, consider this a colony.

"Do you have the appropriate papers for everyone? I'd like to see them."

Steele was on patrol amongst the Alversian sector when he noticed the Calaverans in conversation with a Xiscapian Officer. Good thing too. They were getting far too comfortable for their own good. But it wasn't his problem. He was off duty and on his way to the pitch. He was quite the Footballer and he heard there was a good Xiscapian team wiping the floor with everybody. 'We'd see about that' he said to himself.

Pitch
The Alversian Lieutenant acting as referee looked at his borrowed stopwatch and blew the whistle.

"TIME'S UP! Final Score is 5-2 to Rio Casa Graduates! Well done Xiscapians!" a cheer from the crowd "And commiserations to Ion Cannon Crew C all the way down from the Freedom Forest! Let's give them a big hand!"

There was a cheer as the Alversian Cannon Crew trudged off the pitch, waving and applauding the crowd. The Lieutenant walked up to Carth, nudged him on the shoulder and nodded

"Lieutenant Steele was a professional footballer on Alversia back in the day. I bet you 50 Sedars that he'll wipe the floor with you"

He then announced to the crowd
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I give to you...the Rio Casa Graduates!"
A cheer, mostly from the Xiscapian section of the crowd
"And the challengers! I gave to you...Steele's Savages!"
A massive roar went up from the Alversian crowd as Steele and ten other Alversians jogged onto the pitch, each striped of his combat jacket and wearing a white vest with a large 'S' written on the front

"Both teams to the centre circle please!" the Lieutenant requested

"Lord." Kevan nodded to the most well-dressed Archaeologist, and moved up alongside him - men in tow. "What have you found, here?"

Ruins...
Ginta glanced at the Alversians. "We'll discuss it later." he said to the Avalan. "We need to keep moving. I'll explain back at camp."

Field...
The two teams lined up. Carth looked at the Lieutenant, grinning. "You're on." he walked out onto the pitch to join with his team. The two teams stood around the circle. Surprisingly, the Captain was a female, a strong Xiscapian with red hair, rust-red ears and tail, and orange eyes named Sam. While light and small, she was very fast, used as a reciever. Behind her stood the rest of the team, all bulky and male and very confident. Confident to the point of being cocky. Sam stared at the Alversian Captain, letting her good looks go a long way. She artched an eyebrow and licked her lips slowly. This would be fun. Her tail whipped and swished in excietment.

OOC: I get the feeling we're waiting for something or someone?

IC:
The underground team stayed alert. After seeing what happened to the Xiscapian soldier they were on edge. The soldiers refused to relinquish the lead, thoroughly scanning the tunnel every twenty feet before letting the archaeologists inspect anything.

Colonle " I dont need to show you anything." he turned and began walking back to the bar.

FIELD

Sgt.Kev and 20 GOU troopers arrived at the field. They noticed the to factions lining up for a game of football. Sgt.Kev hollerd " Let us get a piece!"

OOC: We're all waiting for me to uncover my startaling discovery underground.
IC: The scientists and soldiers walked catiously down the hallway. There was a fork, but the right passage was sealed with rocks. Ginta walked straight into the left-hand passage. They emerged in a huge room, well lite by glowing crystals. There was thousands of them, on the floor, in the ceiling, on the walls, everywhere. The room was dominated by a huge crystal, the size of a building. It glowed with all the light of a sun, yet didn't hurt the eyes, emmiting a pleasant glow. Carved into the side was about six paragraphs on an unknown text. Ginta ran up to it, and began to read:

Beware, those who enter here
For upon you smiles Death's dark leer
Inside this crystal, buried deep
A mighty warrior has eternal sleep
He was a hero, this is true
But a curse is here, waiting to deal it's due
The Hero fought and sang and swayed and did not fear
But this rock is a testament to his final tears
A great moon fell from the sky
And so many people died
Death poured out, destroying and killing
All those near it died unwilling
Soldiers swarmed over the land
Towards these who call themselves the Dan
There was a battle,
The Xiscapians were slaughtered like cattle
Great beams of light
Broke up the fight
Sent our proud race running
But we used Cunning
We crept onto their moon that night
It was not bright
We killed them all
And retook our world, this habitable ball
We used and studied their moon
And formed our own so soon
Now we reach out among the stars
There seems to be nothing to hold us back, no bars
But the curse remains with us, holding us down
We are human-bound
So we fix and evolve
Sprouting tails and fur on this world that revolves
We travel though space, away from this home
Underneth a starry dome
But the curse still resides about this place
And shall you stay here longer, your fears will have a base

There was silence for several seconds as Ginta finished reading. "Dan?" he asked quietly. Suddenly the walls shook and crystals shattered. Corpses poured from nowhere. They wore armor and carried blaster rifles, baring an ancient crest that any Alversian would know. These were the Alversians long time enemies. And they were back with a vengence.
OOC2: Yeah, this post is rather strange, but go with it. Alversia knows what I'm talking about.

Colonle " I dont need to show you anything." he turned and began walking back to the bar.

FIELD

Sgt.Kev and 20 GOU troopers arrived at the field. They noticed the to factions lining up for a game of football. Sgt.Kev hollerd " Let us get a piece!"
Dui grabbed his shoulder. "We own this planet. You will show me those papers or be ejected. Forcebly."

Pitch
Sam noticed the GOU lining up. "Whadda ya say?" she asked, smiling. "A three-way football game. That would be intresting. Of course, we'd have to have a third endzone."

The colonle stoped walking when he felt the hand " Get ur hand off of me Xscpian"

FIELD

Sgt Kev " Whatever you want Xscipian, i dont know how three endzones will work.

OCC: i will be back in a bit.
FIELD

Sgt. Kev laughed at the Alversian team "fine with me"


The Colonle smiled as 2 GOU troopers raised there weopons at the Xscipian " give me a minutes to think about it"

"Listen, we can do this the easy way or the hard way: Easy way, you cooperate. Hard way, I knock you out and get the next person in line, and I'll see those papers, even if I have to Stun everyone here and steal them."

Pitch
"I have no idea. You could play the Alversians, and the winner plays us? We're undefeated."

Ruins
Handsen stared at the armour is disbelief "It can't be!" he said desperatly looking around for another explaination "This just isn't possible!" He continued to stare at the weapons and shook his head "No way!" He began to look around fearfully then at Ginta "Wh...what do you think?"

Pitch

"Right!" the Lieutenant blew his whistle "The Calaverans will leave the pitch now! You're welcome to play, though. Pick a name and your best team then wait until I call you on. You'll be next after this match anyway"

He turned to the two teams lined up
"Rio Casa Graduates! Steele's Savages! I will toss a coin and who ever wins gets first play! What do you call!"

Steele gave a sly grin to Sam "Do you want to call tails?" he teased, the crowd sucked their breath in mock anticipation while the Lieutenant raised his eyebrows.

Calaveran Camp
Two Alversian Marines on patrol noticed a Xiscapian Officer in a rather irritated conversation with a Calaveran officer. Bored and needing something interesting to keep them awake until they could get to the football field they walked up to Dui and saluted
"Do you need assistance ma'am?" he asked politely

The two DDF troops pushed the scientists behind them.
"Everyone down! Open fire!"

The soldiers fired, their pulse rifles sending dozens of rounds of energy downrange.

"This is Talon two to Talon six. Come in six! Six? Base, do you read? Crap! Comm's dead! We're too far down! Everyone, back up the tunnel, we'll cover you!"

Up at the camp, the comm frequency became awash with static for several seconds before going silent and the FoF tags flashed green and red: they were firing.

Blaring alarms sounded from the Dominion camp as the remaining twenty three soldiers rushed toward the tunnel, weapons charged and ready.

Ruins
Handsen stared at the armour is disbelief "It can't be!" he said desperatly looking around for another explaination "This just isn't possible!" He continued to stare at the weapons and shook his head "No way!" He began to look around fearfully then at Ginta "Wh...what do you think?"

Pitch

"Right!" the Lieutenant blew his whistle "The Calaverans will leave the pitch now! You're welcome to play, though. Pick a name and your best team then wait until I call you on. You'll be next after this match anyway"

He turned to the two teams lined up
"Rio Casa Graduates! Steele's Savages! I will toss a coin and who ever wins gets first play! What do you call!"

Steele gave a sly grin to Sam "Do you want to call tails?" he teased, the crowd sucked their breath in mock anticipation while the Lieutenant raised his eyebrows.

Calaveran Camp
Two Alversian Marines on patrol noticed a Xiscapian Officer in a rather irritated conversation with a Calaveran officer. Bored and needing something interesting to keep them awake until they could get to the football field they walked up to Dui and saluted
"Do you need assistance ma'am?" he asked politely
Ruins...
"I...it's impossible! But I thing we'd better haul tail!" The zombie-soldiers sloutched forward, bringing their weapons up to target the party. Three were struck down by the DDF fire, but they got back up and kept coming, missing arms or heads, with holes blown in them. "Try and shoot to incapitate!" shouted one of the Xiscapian troopers as they, the Alversian Marines, and the DDF troopers pushed the scientists behind them and opened fire. "Lay down suppressive fire!" shouted the Officer. There was one Officer, 4 Grunts, and a sniper in the tunnel. The sniper followed the scientists, getting downrange so as to be able to fire his sniper rifle.
Pitch...
Sam grinned coyly. "You think you're funny, don't you? I call tails." she said as the coin was flipped into the air.
NC Town...
Dui glanced from the GOU to the Marines, then to the Officer. "I don't think so. Everything's under control here."

NC town

The colonle turned around " it wouldnt matter if you wanted papers or not, i dont have them."

FIELD

The Calaverans lined the sidelines and Sgt.Kev enterd the middle of the field.

"I call heads"

"Then I'm afraid I will have to ask all non-military personnal to temporarily leave until we can get this sorted out."

The colonle laughed " You cant be serious, we have just finished this place, its one of the last places a Calaveran can live, we are still in need of finding a new homeworld."

"I am sorry for your plight, but the fact remains that I need papers. You have 48 Standerd Hours to procure papers or we'll evict this whole town. Good day." Dui turned and began to walk away.

The colonle nodded and 3 GOU troopers grabbed the Xscipian.

Dui was knocked to the ground. "Let me go!" she said. Dui looked around her help, but the Marines had left and her pistol had just been confiscated by one of the troopers. "What are you doing!?!"

"Roger that!" The two soldiers focused their fire on the legs, trying to immobilze as many as possible.

The remaining 23 soldiers pressed down the tunnel, barely allowing the scientists past as they poured into the tunnel. Reaching the cavern, they6 fanned out into a loose firing line.

"Alright boys, bring the rain!"

Their rifles opened up in unison, bathing the cavern in glaring blue light as energy rounds ripped into the zombies' advance.

"Remember men, not one step backward!"

------------------------------------
Two of the archaeologists at the dig saw what was going on and grabbed large hammers, running over to help.

"What's going on here? Sanders to the Captain, please send down a security team."

"Affirmative, over."

In a flash of light, two Dominion naval officers appeared and pulled their pistols on the Marines.

"I wouldn't advise that course of action. You will release the Xiscapian now."

The zombies fell, legs and arms blasted off so they would only struggle helplessly on the ground. The Xiscapian fire team stood their ground, blasting away. So far no zombies had made it within 10 feet on them. A Grunt threw a grenade which blasted apart 3 zombies in a spray of gore. The zombies now fired their blaster, the bullets shattering rock and deflecting off armor. "Their using projectiles! Stand your ground!" shouted the Officer. Xiscapian armor and shields rendered projectile weapons nearly useless.

NC Town...
Dui bite down on the hand of one of the GOU holding her, drawing blood.

Ruins
The Marines began to fire down the tunnel witht the grenade launchers attached to their rifles. "Don't do that!" Handsen cried as he ran "These walls could collpase at any moment!" The Marines nodded dumbly and continued to fire into the tunnel with standard rounds "We shoot to kill them in life we shoot to kill them in death!" one shouted as he fired

Pitch
"Excuse me" The Referee stated looking at Kevin "I told you to vacate the field. Pick a team and a name and wait for your turn!"

Steele turned and looked at his fourteen men lining up and grinned "This match is ours" he said loud enough for Sam to hear

OOC: Alversian Football is just Rugby Union BTW, in case you were confused

Calaveran Camp
"Hey!" a dozen Alversian Marines on they way back to the tents for a rest after patrol came running up and began to take cover behind various items. A few lay prone on the ground
"Release the Officer immediately!" the Marine in charge shouted "You have five seconds before we open fire!"

The guards quickly tried to drag the officer away.

FIELD

Kevin looked at the refferee " Kevin's killers" his team gatherd at the sideline.

The two naval officers leveled their pistols on the heads of two of the GOU.

"Release her, you have two seconds to comply or we fire."

------------------------------------------------
In the ruins, the undead assault began to falter.

"Alright, we'll cover the rear. Everyone begin to fall back up the tunnel!"

The DDF troops formed a defensive posture around the door and the other soldiers, keeping up their fire rate though the power cores on their rifles were draining fast...

"PREPARE TO FIRE!" The Alversian Officer shouted to the Marines scattered around the area. The sound of a dozen bolts clicking into place could be heard "This is your SECOND warning!" The Officer shouted "One more and we will open fire!"

Field

"Right then!" The coin was tossed "Steele's Savages win the toss! Would you like to kick or be kicked to?"

Steele gave a mischievious smile to Sam "I'd like the 'Champs' to kick off please"

"Right then" the Lieutenant blew his whistle, the teams began to fan out to their positions and he handed the ball to Sam

"Make it count" he said as he blew for the kick-off, the crowd cheering and chanting wildly.

Ruins
The Alversians took it in turns with the Dominion troops in covering each others retreat. The Marines would stop and fire for a few minutes while the Dominion troops scuttled back and then they would do the same. The result was a slow withdrawal up the tunnel but still being able to pour a constant fire into the undead ranks. The rounds were bouncing off the Marine's armour as they withdrew.

Kevan screams out from behind his visor - "Everyone! Get to the side, move, move, move!" Motioning violently forward, the Avalan troops in the ruins push the others aside, brandishing their softly thrumming bayonets as they charged the undead; realizing the futility of projectile weaponry, and wholly confident of their armament. Reciting native scripture in nearly perfect time, the soldiers tried their damnedest to seem nonplussed as the corpses were brutally hacked into pieces and held at bay.

OOC: How many are there?

"What the-"
"Hey watch it!"
"Can't you see we're shooting here?"
"Troops keep to the left, let 'em through!"

The DDF troops moved to one side as the Avalans pushed through, cutting up the undead.

"Not how I woulda done it, but hey, if it works. Team, cover the rear and let's get everyone else out of here!"

They quickly started ushering everyone else back out toward the entrance. Close combat was enough of a nightmare without unnecessary personnel crowding the tunnel.

"Hey-"
"-what the-?"
"-mind where you're pushing that thing!"
The Alversian formation broke down as the Avalan troops charged through to use their bayonets. The Sergeant shrugged
"Guess you guys aren't big on the whole co-operation thing? Anyways..."
He looked back up the tunnel
"...I don't know about you but I want to see daylight again. And fast. Let's go" The Alversian Marines began to creep back up the tunnel towards the entrance.

"PREPARE TO FIRE!" The Alversian Officer shouted to the Marines scattered around the area. The sound of a dozen bolts clicking into place could be heard "This is your SECOND warning!" The Officer shouted "One more and we will open fire!"

Field

"Right then!" The coin was tossed "Steele's Savages win the toss! Would you like to kick or be kicked to?"

Steele gave a mischievious smile to Sam "I'd like the 'Champs' to kick off please"

"Right then" the Lieutenant blew his whistle, the teams began to fan out to their positions and he handed the ball to Sam

"Make it count" he said as he blew for the kick-off, the crowd cheering and chanting wildly.

Ruins
The Alversians took it in turns with the Dominion troops in covering each others retreat. The Marines would stop and fire for a few minutes while the Dominion troops scuttled back and then they would do the same. The result was a slow withdrawal up the tunnel but still being able to pour a constant fire into the undead ranks. The rounds were bouncing off the Marine's armour as they withdrew.
OOC: But damn you people post fast. :p OOC@Avalas: There's roughly 500 of them, but, considering the room size, you'll only fight about 30 or so at a time.
Pitch
Sam grinned. "You only think you'll win. Prepare to be beaten." She ran forward and gave the ball a mighty kick, sending it down the field to the opposite 10 yard line. The whole team ran forward on the kick, racing down the field to sack whichever Alversian catched the ball.
Ruins
Seeing as everyone else was using melee weapons, the Xiscapian drew their swords and began slashing though the zombies. With the help of the Avalan, Alversian and Dominion troops, the whole room was cleared. There was a lull, but more still came. "Fall back!" shouted the Officer, and the Xiscapians headed back up the tunnel. A HAT(Heavy Weapons Trooper) was rigging up explosives the make the tunnel crumble and trap the zombies until a method of getting rid of them could be devised. "Everyone out now!" yelled a Grunt. "Explosives set for demo in 60 seconds!"
Further up the tunnel...
Ginta and the few other scientists ran, followed by a escort of 2 Xiscapin Grunts. "They...must...blow the...tunnel...for now." gasped Ginta. "We'll figure...everything...out...later."
NC Town
Unlike the Alversians and Dominion troops, the Xiscapians were harsh and unrelenting. A LAM landed behind the GOU backing up. The pilot picked up the nearest trooper and threw him though a wall. When the others saw what had happened, the mech grabbed the Colonle and set his energy sword to the Calaverans neck. Four other mechs landed close to surrond Dui and the remaining troopers. A speaker deployed once again. "Release the Officer or we will kill you Clonle and destroy all North Calaveran military personnal on this planet. If you refuse it will be considered an act of war in violation of the GDA Treaty, and we will give no quarter."

"Call off the explosives! You'll start breaking things, and lock us out! We're fine!"

Kevan and his team seem perfectly capable of taking the creatures on in single-combat, with roughly equal numbers to any given front. While perhaps more time-consuming than an immediate detonation, fingers couldn't do a whole lot against tungsten plating.

"It's your lives then!" called the demo specalist after deactivating the charges. He gathered the explosives and hurried up the tunnel to join his team. All the Xiscapians were outside of the ruins by this point. The zombies unleashed more hails of bullets upon the Avalan team, hoping to puncture the armor and eat the flesh inside. More zombies dropped from the ceiling and came up from behind. If bullets didn't do the trick, then they'd smother them.

The Dominion archaeologists finally made it out of the tunnel. They were inh hysterics, running toward the camp,
"Zom- zombies! Troops holding- Situation desperate!"

Johnston marched up to the archaeologist in the lead and smacked him firmly across the face.

"Dammit man, snap out of it! You're a scientist, not a babbling buffoon! I'm sure the soldiers can handle whatever is in the tunnel. Besides, we have our own situation out here," he gestured towards the standoff withthe Xiscapian officer and GOU troops.
-----------------------------------
"Calvarian, you are grossly outnumbered, are in violation of the Joint Defense Alliance Treaty, and are holding an ally hostage. If you refuse to release her by the authority of the Dominion Central Government a state of war will exist between our two nations."

In orbit, the two Strike Cruisers postioned themselves to face the Calvarian ships, their shields were raised and weapons were charged. Motes of light appeared along the hulls as plasma condensed at the tips of the plasma cannons.
-------------------------------------
Once noncombat personnel were secured, the DDF soldiers were now able to engage the threat with no collateral damage.

"Men, fix bayonets!"

Switches were flipped at the tip of each pulse rifle and blades of energy extended from underneath the barrels. In rigid formation, they advanced, clubbing the undead with their rifles and stabbing them repeatedly. They aimed for the head, attempting to sever the spine and disrupt all motor function.

Ruins
"Fall back! FALL BACK!!" The Alversians began to withdraw up the tunnel, every so often stopping and firing at the advancing hordes. Further down the tunnel, the sounds of gunfire could still be heard through the darkness

Handsen shook his head "It's not possible" he moaned over and over again

Alversian Camp
All over the Alversian camp, there were signs of something looming. Almost every tent and pole had the same poster on it. A grey bison head within a white square. The Marine's children were all wearing identical Silver kits and jabbering excitedly about some 'big match'. None of the Marines went unaffected, not even Steele, who during the rubdy match, seemed distracted and deep in thought

NC Camp
The Alversian Marines broke cover and began to approach the GOU troops, advancing at a slow walking pace
"Release the Officer! This is your THIRD and FINAL warning! You have five seconds to comply before we open fire!"

Pitch
"TRY GRADUATES!!" The Lieutenant cried as one of the Xiscapians was lifted from the floor and brought back to their half of the field by his cheering teammates. The crowd were chanting one of two things
Either
"Sa-va-ages! Sa-va-ages! Sa-va-ages!" from the Alversians or
"Grad-u-ates! Grad-u-ates! Grad-u-ates!!" from the Xiscapians

Whoever the crowd were cheering for, there was no denying the score
it was 7-3 to the Graduates.

The trooper let go of the Xscipian, and ran to aid the one that had been thrown.

the colonle became calm " We dont have any papers"

"Brothers! Watch the above!" The thickly accented shout was directed towards the welcome relief. "Two are yet down! Take Care!" Stepping over the writhing body of a comrade, Kevan continues to fluidly combat the tide.

The two officers holstered their sidearms.
"Jennings to the Captain, situation resolved. If you don't mind sir, we'll stay planetside. It seems that all of our soldiers are preoccupied with something in the tunnel."

---------------------------
One of the soldiers fell to the ground as a zombie landed on him from above. It pounded at him but his shield still held, barely. All of a sudden it crumpled in a heap, a trench knife imbedded in its skull. The soldier pulled himself up and continued the fight. The tunnel was thick with the fallen corpses of the enemy, the stench of the bodies unnoticed through the DDF's helmets. Many of them bore now badly scrathced and dented armor and were beginning to fatigue.
In almost ancient Roman fashion, a style of fighting learned up until now only as a hobby, the soldiers formed ranks, with the front line doing most of the fighting and the secondary occasionally firing to thin the enemy's ranks. The front and secondary would then rotate back into the reserve lines behind them to conserve the energy of the troops.

"Remember boys, watch the ceiling, these bastards can climb apparently! To the front, if you are even showing minor signs of fatigue, rotate back and allow another to take your place. Spread the fun!"

To emphasize the CO's advice, two zombies dropped down into the tertiary line and were quickly cut down by repeated bayonet jabs and pulse rounds to the head.

The trooper let go of the Xscipian, and ran to aid the one that had been thrown.

the colonle became calm " We dont have any papers"

Dui turned, sneering at the Colonle. "This is for your dishonorable behavior!" she kneed him in the crotch, then punched him in the face, throwing him to the ground. She looked firecly at the remaining trooper. "Get me his second-in-command." she snarled. The LAM parted so as to let the last trooper though, but still stood at the ready in a circle around Dui and the fallen Clonle. "I'll get to the bottom of this if it kills me." Dui spat.
And so everyone learned not to mess with an angry Xiscapian female.

Not showing any signs of the intimidation they felt toward the Xiscapian officer, the two Dominion naval officers walked toward the camp.

"You think all their females are that badass?"

"Dunno, and I wouldn't want to piss one off and find out."

They approached Johnston, who was busy in the lab tent studying artifacts. Two archaeologists who appeared to be in shock were seated in chairs off to the side with blankets and warm drinks.

"Professor, status report."

"Those two were in the tunnel when they were assailed by what they call zombies. Personally I think it's the shock getting to them but our soldiers as well others from the other nations have been in quite a fierce firefight down there for some time now. Whatever it is, it's diverted all of them from the camp and I'm glad you two are here. Now, I mean no disrespect, but please get out. We're about to scan some of these artifacts as well as crystal samples obtained prior to the enemy's appearance and I don't need any nonessential personnel interfering."

Slightly bewildered, the two walked out and posted guard outside the tent.

"Protect the Civilians! Protect the Civilians!" The Alversian Sergeant cried as several Zombies climbed over the heads of the Dominion troops and landed near to the various scientists. Most were instantly cut down by rapid laser fire. The Sergeant ran to the Dominion Officer and called "We need to get out of here! Seel them in!"
Cries were sounded behind the line and so the Alversian Sergeant spun to see his own Marines locked in a desperate hand to hand action with several Zombies. Snarling, he pulled his own weapon out and charged back to help his men.

NC Camp
The dozen Alversian troops approached Dui and saluted "Will you require any further assistance ma'am?"

The colonle was on all fours and had a bloody mouth, The other trooper helped him up. By now the second in cammand had walked out of the barracks, pissed as hell. Major Sgt. Rux Luger GOU trooper, he had on all his combat gear, thinking there was a fight. He saw the female and the captain on the ground " What the fuck do you think your doing!"

Dui rounded on the Sgt. Major. "I came into this town to ask for papers for all non-military personnal. He refused to show me them, and said he had none anyway. I told him he had 48 hours to procure them, or we would evict this town. Some of his troops grabbed me. Fortunatly the Dominion, Alversians, and my own troops came to stop them. I was released, and attacked your Colonle to punish him for his dishonorable behavior. I apologize." She bowed.

Tunnel
"Understood. Company, center peel! Keep the civilians behind us and the tangos in front!"

Immediately the DDF's laid down withering fire on the advancing undead, stabbing at any ufortunate enough to survive the barrage. They slowly, uniformly, advanced in a block up the tunnel toward the entrance, now and then glancing up to ensure no more zombies got the bright idea of climbing the walls. Any that did were promptly impaled on their way down.

Camp
"Aw crap, here we go again," one of the officers looked toward the Calaverian camp and saw yet another soldier, this one dressed to kill, literally.

"Hold up there Leutenant, we won't jump in unless it gets bad. Besides, we've got 2x optics on these, remember? No need to get too close. A blaster bolt does as much damage from range as point blank."

All the same, their hands crept uneasily to their holsters. From their experience, the polite apology would most likely incense the Calaverian.

The second in cammand stared at the colonle on the ground, he raised his assault rifle and shot him through the head, he took the colonle beret off and put it on assuming control " Im in charge now, i will get you those papers" The other GOU grabbed the colonle and took the body away.

Dui jerked slightly at the gunshot. She knew of the North Calaverans reputation for indifferent cruelty, but this was new. It was rumored that they eat their own dead...She grew sick just thinking about it. But she forced her face to remain impassive as the former GOU Colonle was dragged away with a bullet in his brain.

"Dear God...Did he just...?"

"Yeah. Yeah he did."

"What kind of a military structure actually permits that?"

"An effective one I guess. At any rate, it sure does thin out the incompetent. Even so I sincerely hope that method of promotion never enters the DDF. We'd be out of a job pretty darn quick," he finished with a grim chuckle.

They relaxed, seeing that the situation was resolved, albeit violently.

Ruins
As the last of the necrotic creatures appear to be dispatched, a few of the head leaders rally to Kevan in order to assess their losses. Fortunately, for a bayonet charge, they appeared relatively light. Considering the frail body of the average Xiscapian, and the durability of rotted flesh, four critical injuries and one likely loss wasn't too bad, it was decided.

The wounded - largely sufferers of lucky projectiles to the minute chinks in the plates - were tended to by the Clergy; and filled to the brim with saline solutions, plasmas, and skin-grafts where necessary. (The latter being drawn from a 'package' within the Cleric's pack.

Base

Machines had been working diligently over the last few hours to create eight circular rings in the dirt, each filled with furrows. Where necessary, trees were cleared and burnt, their ashes scattered into the ground where seed and chemicals were actively being planted.

The new colonle Rux Luger walked out of the barracks with some papers, he had 6 GOU with him " Mam, these are papers, they were never signed, do you want me to sign these?"

Ruins
As the last of the necrotic creatures appear to be dispatched, a few of the head leaders rally to Kevan in order to assess their losses. Fortunately, for a bayonet charge, they appeared relatively light. Considering the frail body of the average Xiscapian, and the durability of rotted flesh, four critical injuries and one likely loss wasn't too bad, it was decided.

The wounded - largely sufferers of lucky projectiles to the minute chinks in the plates - were tended to by the Clergy; and filled to the brim with saline solutions, plasmas, and skin-grafts where necessary. (The latter being drawn from a 'package' within the Cleric's pack.

Base

Machines had been working diligently over the last few hours to create eight circular rings in the dirt, each filled with furrows. Where necessary, trees were cleared and burnt, their ashes scattered into the ground where seed and chemicals were actively being planted.
OOC: They were human zombies.
IC: Dui nodded at the newly promoted Colonle. "Please do. And see that he gets appropriate medical attention." She nodded towards the GOU who had been thrown though a wall. The LAM took off back to their posts.

OOC: My bad. Oh well.

Colonle Rux sat down at his desk in the barracks, signing the pages. It was boring but important if this colonly were to stay.

NC colonly Barracks

GOU troopers were marching in formation, and jogging, doing daily exercises, some were in the virtual reality room.

Dui waited patiently outside the barricks, watching the GOU drill. How strange to think that there is only perhaps 40,000 of them left in the galaxy, with a military like that. she thought.

Colonle Rux exited the Barracks, he personaly walked up to the Xscipian and saluted " Papers Mam."

Rux smiled " Oh i can get some of the boys together" he whistled and gathered 16 men. "Get some gear on guys, were playing the Xscipians."

"Thank you Colonle." Dui said, taking the papers and bowing. "Good Luck with your new promotion." She began to stride off before casting a sly glance back. "Your men wouldn't still be intrested in a football game, would they?"

"Great." Dui contacted base. "Get the Graduates out here." She closed contact. "We'll use the old field."
OOC: We'll have to start later, I need to go.

Having made it back out the tunnel, albeit many of them now with badly scratched and dented armor, the DDF forces were in a state of stand down. A few of them were around the football field.

"Hmmm, not exactly our national sport, but I think we could pull a team together. What do you guys say? Get Fireteam Echo of the paintball team out here?"

There were various cheers and nods of assent. However, the Major came in, breaking it up,

"No can do ladies, we've got patrol and security work to do, not to mention we've still got prefabs to set up."

"Awww c'mon Sir. We'll do their work in exchange for watching the game. Where's your sense of fun?"

"I cut it out of me, chewed it up, and stuffed it in a jar. Now let's get moving, you can play later."

Grudgingly, the troops fell out and went about their assigned tasks.

The Calaverians went onto the field.

The Xiscapians lined up. A Ref came onto the field. "Alright, I want a nice, clean game. Coin toss, winner picks kick. Alright? Good. You call it in the air." he nodded to the Calaveran Captain. Sam stood opposite, dressed in a Rio Casa U shirt and underwear-like briefs. "Ready to lose?"

The captain was Colonle Rux when the coin was flipped " Tails..".

Rux smiled at Sam " We will kick" his team got in formation.

The coin hit the ground, rolling. It stopped by Sam's foot. "Tails." The Ref spoke. "Do you want to kick or recieve?"
OOC: Last post for tonight, sorry, I thought I'd be on longer.

The Alversian crowd was gearing up for the match between the Calaverans and Xiscapians when a small man ran into the middle of the crowd and shouted
"IT'S STARTING!!"
Immediately, the crowd began to run back towards their own prefabs as though in a mad dash to get to something exciting. Even the Alversians on patrol abandoned their posts, trusting the Xiscapians to hold the fort until they could return. The event of the year was occuring and they weren't going to miss it.

OCC: Xscipias always gone when we need him.

OOC: Tell me about it :rolleyes:

OCC: Xscipias always gone when we need him.
OOC: You called?
IC: The teams lined up, crowds of North Calaverans, Alversians, and Xiscapians stood on the sidelines. Oppertunist soldiers sold food and drink and a betting pool had been opened up. A Xiscapian came up to the pool. "5 Credits says Rio wins." He dropped the money into a bucket.

The Calaverians, being known as Rux's Roughnecks, lined up to kickoff the ball.

OCC: AAAAAAA!!!!!!! Xscipia i posted and you left right after " breaks stuff"

One of the Dominion archaeologists said, "Put me in for five on the Roughnecks."

OOC: Geez, sorry, I had Youth.
IC: The Xiscapians got on the other side of the field in preperation for the kick.