NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is a closed Roleplay, all the leading roles have been cast, all the stage crew spots are filled in, no ifs, ands, or buts, if we feel we need more, we call you, not the other way around. Sit back, grab a coke and enjoy the show. The above doesn't apply to ESUS Alliance Members, as this IS about us after all.


IC:
IPSA (Indra Prime Spacial Area) Territories – USS Selnir

There were over 57,283,199 other things Captain Traeya Ether wanted to be doing than sitting at her console, waiting for her shift to finish and her first officer to relieve her. The ship’s combat intelligence units were busy amusing themselves, trying to hack into each other or simply just devote their considerable intellects to other pursuits entirely, Z00198, the point defense intelligence unit was busy writing a memoir, a sequel to his previous which held the current record on the Interlink for longest time on the best-seller list, almost thirty nine seconds, an eternity for the millions of Sentient Intelligence Units who peruse the constantly updated system at light-speeds. The only one who was actually working was the Sensor Unit, who was busy working in conjunction with her biological counterpart to make sense of whatever the massive, expensive sensor systems onboard these Dagger Class Patrol boats decided to tell them. Traeya shook her silvery-blonde hair from its tie and leaned back into her chair, the Burmecian officer wondered for the tenth time, for the hundredth, why the hell she and almost a hundred other small patrol cruisers had to patrol the same stretch of space on the edge of the old Indran territory. Securing Artifacts and keeping the space undisturbed was one thing, but having this many ships out here was a waste of good military funds better put to other projects, heck, at this point she would have gladly taken a grade reduction just to be stationed on the STAV Aurora, the flagship of the TA Naval Division, or the STAS Reis Wind, the massive array meant to detect threats to the Space-time continuum.

Without warning the bridge color scheme changed, the Ship Status lights went to an Amber yellow color, and a klaxon sounded, then, almost as quickly, the colors drifted to purple, the crew, while previously relaxed, sprang to attention like a bunch of first semester cadet fresh out of basic training. The combat AIs quickly cut connections to each other, firewalls went up, weapon systems charged and shields activated. All across the Border fleet, other ships were doing the same, reports headed for the Reis Array crowded the Networks.

“Report.” Traeya commanded, much more professional then before.

“Sensors are picking up anomalies deep inside the IPSA, their readings are off the scale, I’m showing everything, temporal fissures, dimensional drift, radiation levels, subspace tears, gravimetric forces, it’s like certain parts of space ceased to be while other parts simple came into existence on top of preexisting space, sensors can’t make heads or tails of it…”

“Sorry Captain, but, in so many words that’s my assessment too.” The little holographic representation of the Sensor unit said, “I’ve got a set of coordinates to send to Command to see if they can triangulate the position of the anomalies, with all the interference out there we can’t even see what kind of anomalies we have to deal with…”

“Sounds like STITCHES is going to have a field day tonight…” The captain said.





Siesatian Temporal Authority Headquarters – Gaia System

Surrounded by the austere wood paneled walls and ceilings, flanked by shelves stocked with everything from awards and pictures, to actual books and even a few authentic Indran artifacts… Supreme Admiral Ulayla Syphera clicked her claw on the table in annoyance, she was busy drafting what might have been her thousandth resignation letter, after over a thousand years of sitting behind the same desk, signing the same form, and keeping track of the same fleet assignments, day after day, she felt it was high time for a change, the Union could just find another grizzled old veteran to take her place.

“Admiral…” Came the chime of the intercom, just as she signed her name.

“Enter.” She said; her doors slid open and her secretary, a Burmecian ex-Dragon Knight, entered the room with a handful of data pads.

“Admiral, there’s been an incident, our patrols of the IPSA have revealed some very strange anomalies, the sensors on the ships aren’t powerful enough to pinpoint the location or cause.” He said. Ulayla straightened up, stowing the pad she had been working on in a drawer with all the rest… If one were to look carefully, you could see, under the small pile of data pads, data chips, printer readouts and handwritten letters, all of them contained the phrase, “I hereby resign”. She read the information carefully, making notes on a second pad, she quickly drafted an authorization notice, dispatching the 1st and 2nd Temporal Incursion Fleets, she handed the pad over to her aide, “Who’s going to be leading a joint fleet?” He asked, peering down at the orders.

“Myself of course, make sure the Aurora is listed along with the rest of the fleets, we launch in 1 hour.” She said, turning to the shelf to look over the assembled artifacts as the aide left the room.





Siesatian Temporal Authority Fleet – Trianguluum Galaxy

The smooth form of the Aurora emerged folding through space and time to rest approximately three light-years from the special anomalies… Scans were inconclusive, the ruptures were so vast, so deep, that even the powerful sensor suite onboard the STAV Aurora was unable to see through it. The rest of the small fleet emerged soon after the Aurora sent its report, powerful STA Vessels, ranging in class and function, from the STA Raven, the powerful battle cruiser with its TRANCE Cannons and vast array of weapons, to the STA Camelot, the premier science vessel in the fleet, to the elongated SDF Davenport the TA had borrowed from the Siesatian Defense Force, with its incredible Forward Offensive Ramping Temporal Reactive Energy Shield System, it could project a massive shield over the entire fleet or even a small planet if the need arose.

“Admiral… Sensors are picking up mass in the singularity field.”

“Mass? There’s no mass left in this sector, when the Indrans tesserected themselves everything was taken with them…” Syphera said, grabbing her digital pad, to look over the sensor data herself.

“Gravimetric spectrometers confirm it, gravitational force from a small, previously uncharted solar system 1.2 Light-years from our present coordinates.” The sensor officer said, “Admiral, that solar system was not there during our last sweeps over a week ago…”

“Bring us into the system, careful not to hit anything on the way in, and for Reis sake, stitch up some of those rifts before the area gets saturated with the radiation.” She ordered.

Within moments of completing a second space fold, the fleet came into orbit around the sun, quickly gathering its bearings, the sensor officers on each ship was surprised to announce they were not the first ones to arrive in the system. On the view screen, a massive yellow planetary body was shown, in the foreground, a fleet of vessels of every shape and size floated in orbit, conducting refueling and repair operations.

“Who are they and what are they doing in Trianguluum?” Syphera asked,

“Computers are working on it Admiral, but that’s not all that’s odd, this entire system looks as though a TRANCE reactor went critical… The planetary body the unknown fleet is in orbit over is literally, half gas giant, half rocky planetoid, the rock itself looks like swiss cheese… and its in an extremely odd orbital path around the sun, it resembles more of a captured comet than a planet…” She said,

“Central Databanks are telling us with a 97% probability, that the fleet we’re seeing over the planetoid is of Blademasterian origin, we can’t pinpoint the exact classes, but the style, hull composition, and weapons arrayed are consistent with pre-collapse Blademaster technology.

“Admiral!” The sensor officer exclaimed, “Mam, temporal fissure opening, more mass is being dropped into the system! This is incredible Mam; it’s like its simply falling out of time…” The crew watched as more debris fell into their multiverse, rock, comets, even a small orange planet… They were mesmerized for a while… until more fissures began to open.

“Get the STITCHES going now! FORTRESS Shield up!” Syphera sprang to life, at 26 feet long this was no small feat, the old Raptor barked orders left and right as the ships began to seal the rifts forming in the area, it was nearly ten hectic minutes before a semblance of calm returned to the crews…. “Send a message to the Blademasterian fleet, informing them of our presence, Official ESUS Transmission frequencies, they’ll remember those in the least.” She said as the rifts came under control. “Then, send a report to High Command, and forward copies to the Flaming Souls Naval Headquarters, the Balroggan fleet HQ, and file a report, reactivating the Blademasterian file on the ESUS network, at the very least, this will give the administrators over there something to chew on.” She said, signing off on the reports before they were quickly whisked off into the datanet.

Former Home System of the Telrosian Dominion, homeworld Taersis

The Taersis system, the former core system of the Telrosian Dominion, former ally and member of the Extra-Solar Union of Systems, which had vanished centuries ago shortly after reporting success with their phase drives. It was their first step into the world of dimensional technology and, due to their massive disappearance, apparently their last. All signs of their existence were wiped out, as search parties scoured their space after detecting a massive surge of energy, only to find...nothing. They found depressed ground and holes for their piping where their cities used to be, disturbed dirt and air from where their factories, farms and everything that made up their civilization was. It was as if their entire society had been here one moment, and gone the next.

In a way, it had been.

But now, after all those long years away, key events and circumstances had brought them back. They were very reluctant to come back, especially with their new way of existing after vanishing to their new dimension. However, they had brought plenty of technological advancement and strong defenders to ensure their safety. As they gazed down at the Xel'athi dreadnoughts caught in their gravity beams, they moved through phase space before a mental chime was heard, announcing they had arrived. With a shimmering entrance into reality, the 500 ship strong fleet entered the system. 300 Ascendant ships, and the remaining 200 were Xel'athi Carrier Dreadnoughts total; this was the expeditionary force sent to establish a series of strongholds, five in all, as part of their plan for the reluctant return. Orders were already in affect, and the ships, after taking several minutes to rest and recharge, then split up to begin their separate rebuilding projects in the five systems.

"Ts'kar?" The ascended being stirred from his contemplations and answered the call of his brethren.

"Yes?

"We appear to be receiving data from our former allies, the Extra-Solar Union of Systems." Ts'kar's memory flashed back to the days when they were the Dominion, eager to learn and still focused on the material things in this dimension.

"Very good. Have you copied everything into our archives?"


"Yes. However, there is something that we found that needs to be brought your attention, since you are in command here." An image fo the message flashed into his mind and the Ascendant preternatural calm flickered as surprise, a rare emotion, raced through him.

"The Indrans are back, as well as the Blademasterians?"

"Apparently so. What's your will on this matter?" His mind withdrew from the link as he considered the options carefully, consulting with several strategists back home.

"Send a force there, small mind you, we want to keep our presence quiet. Don't bother trying to hide from the Siesatians and any others that are there; their technology still outstrips our own. Oh and bring a single Dreadnaught, just in case."

"It will be done."

Shortly after, a task force of a Ascendant Battleship (http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/27/7/89/s27789_pc_110.jpg), a Carrier (http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/27/7/89/s27789_pc_111.jpg), and two Ascendant Cruisers (http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/27/7/89/s27789_pc_118.jpg) were sent along with the Xel'athi Dreadnaught (http://pc.gamezone.com/gamesell/screens/s27789_0.htm). A message was sent, detailing their request for admittance into Indran territory and offers of assistance; most strange was the fact the message appeared with the tag of the Telrosian Dominion......

Several days earlier:

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Jump!”

The order rang out across the fleet-wide communications system, and moments later the entire fleet flashed out of existence in the asteroid belt. Moments later, light-years away, the BNCS Arbitrator was the first to emerge, her massive bulk giving the appearance of a true capital warship, despite the massive battle damage scarring her length. The rest of the fleet emerged seconds later, ships of all description flashing back into existence as they powered down their jump drives and began to vent the excess heat. Everything from massive supertankers to civilian yachts to military carriers was now populating the space around the Arbitrator, and all of them had their fair share of damage. Most of the ships were still recognizable as spaceships, but a few looked like somewhat airtight junkyards with engines cruising through space.

“Sensors, are all ships accounted for?”

“Just a moment sir, we’re double checking now.” Some ships were in such horrible states of disrepair that it was fairly regular for a vessel to engage its jump drive, and not come out on the other side, and without the proper tools to repair the jump drives, the situation was only getting worse. Several weeks ago, one of the converted super freighters had made a jump, and come out on the other end just in time for its fusion reactor to go critical, blowing the ship into pieces, and killing close to a million civilians, plus the ship’s entire crew. “Admiral, it looks like everyone made it this time.”

“Very good, are there any planets in this system that fit our needs?”

The fleet’s fusion-powered ships, including the Arbitrator had been running dangerously low on hydrogen in their fuel bunkers, and while every system had an adequate supply of hydrogen in the star, specialized ships were needed to extract the fuel from them, specialized ships the fleet did not have, so the only option was to find a suitable hydrogen gas giant from which to extract the fuel, and even that would be a high-risk endeavor. The other ships relied on an antiquated, but still highly efficient nuclear fission power source, which needed considerably less refueling, and the fuel was not excessively difficult to locate. There had been a lot of talk in the fleet about converting the rest of the ships to fission reactors, but it had been deemed infeasible, especially for the larger, more power-hungry ships.

“Sir, you’re not going to believe this, sensors are indicating a planetoid that seems to almost perfectly fit the bill. Initial scans indicate a primarily hydrogen atmosphere.”

“Very good, let the fleet know, helm, give us a shortest-time intercept to the planet, and relay it to the fleet.”

Hours later, the smaller ships were landed on the planet’s surface, tech crews crawling over their surface, repairing anything they could. The larger and more heavily damaged ships were sitting in orbit, the fusion-powered ships almost skimming the atmosphere, scooping all of the hydrogen they could into the fuel bunkers. The ships had been retrofitted with hydrogen scoops several years ago when the last of the collector ships had broken up coming out of a jump into an asteroid.

Aboard the Arbitrator, the tension was almost palpable, with all eyes focused on the massive warship’s two helmsmen, their eyes focused intently on their consoles as they skimmed the atmosphere of the rocky world dubbed KLT-5Hc, attempting to get fuel into the massive ship’s stores without pulling the ship apart in the upper edges of the planetoid’s atmosphere.

“Sir, this is going to take a lot longer than we initially expected, probably another eight shifts or so to completely fuel up.”

“Understood, we need to get all the fuel we can, it could be months before we find another fuel source we can get at this easily.”

The situation was much the same among the rest of the fusion-powered vessels in the fleet. They were ducking in and out of the fringes of the planetoid’s atmosphere, scooping fuel before pulling back out to asses any additional damage they may have incurred.

On the surface, the atmospheric-capable vessels were being repaired at a fairly steady pace, the techs taking the time to fix everything they could, before the fleet lifted off again. The techs had gotten used to fixing the same spot repairs that had completed last time, every time the ships put down somewhere, or even as they cruised along through space, and it wasn’t common for certain areas of ships to be almost completely constructed out of the repair materials, rather than actual hull composites.

In the thirty-fourth hour of refueling operations, nearly all of the ships were refueled, except the Arbitrator, and other large ships such as the BCV Sigil. The pilots had gotten fairly good at keeping the ships right where they needed to be, and the operation was proceeding ahead of schedule. The Sigil was one of the fleet’s massive converted super freighters, carrying a little over one million people; she was one of the fleet’s most highly populated ships, and also one of the ships in the best condition. She had been fresh off the line when the fleet departed, not even done with her initial space trials. Fortunately the vessel proved to perform above and beyond expectations, and she had the best safety record of any ship in the fleet.

“Sir, sensors are picking up some sort of weird anomaly about .3 light-years off the port bow… and another about .1 to the aft, more are appearing!”

“We’d better get the admiral up here, order all ships to cease refueling operations immediately, get the grounded ships on standby!”

“Aye sir.”

Minutes later, Admiral Dhaar’as sprinted into the command center, snapped a quick salute to the bridge crew, and entered the holotank.

“Commander, report.”

“Well sir, as you can see, we’re detecting numerous anomalies across our sensor grid, we have no information on them in our logs, and we’ve crosschecked with every ship in the fleet that has operational sensors, they’re definitely there. I took the liberty of ordering the fleet to standby and terminating refueling operations.”

“Very good commander, sensors, anything to add to that?”

“Uhh, sir, this seems to be some sort of temporal anomaly, estimate it will swallow the entire fleet in about three minutes, several of the ships have already entered it.”

“Order all ships to prepare the jump drives, get us the hell out of here!”

“It’s too late sir, the Arbitrator is tr-“

The scene on the screens suddenly flickered, and a good portion of the fleet and planet disappeared.

“-apped in the anomaly!”

“What the hell was that?!”

“I’m not sure commander, the rest of the fleet, and the solar system is appearing around us, long range sensors indicate we’re not where we were a minute ago, but can’t get a fix on our approximate location.”

“Understood, all hands to action stations, get those ships off the surface, I want to know what’s going on here.”

“Aye sir.” Everything inside the system was returning to normal somewhat, despite the occasional appearance of an asteroid or five, or a moon orbiting one of the system’s planets.

“Sir, unidentified contacts on the edge of sensor range, I can’t get an accurate number on them through these anomalies!”

“Comms, transmit all ships.”

“Aye sir, channel open, go ahead.”

“All ships, this is Admiral Dhaar’as, we have unidentified contacts on scanners, all hands to combat ready stations, do not fire unless fired upon, that is all.” The admiral signaled the end of the transmission by drawing a three-fingered hand across his throat, and turned to study the holotank around him. The tank gave the commanding officers an accurate view of what the sensors could see around the ship, and combined it with data from other ships’ sensors to give an accurate picture of any enemy contacts. As the Arbitrator had the best sensors in the fleet, and they were being partially obscured by the anomalies, the unidentified contacts showed up as little more than a yellow blob with a tentative range number assigned.

“Admiral, incoming transmission from the vessels, they’re using… it looks like the old ESUS transmission protocols, we don’t have the software onboard to interpret that, recommend you check the rest of the fleet, sir.”

“Very good comms, give me an open channel.”

“Go ahead sir.”

“Fleet, this is the Admiral, any vessels with the capability to interpret the err, ESUS transmission protocol, please respond.”

“Admiral, this is the Retribution class Spectre Dreadnought Altaris, we have the equipment onboard, if you’ll forward the transmission to us, we can route it back to you.”

“Make it so, comms.”

A few minutes later, the transmission was piped back into the bridge. The bridge crew, the admiral especially, listened to the slightly garbled transmission, translated into Old Blademasterian, a dialect mostly lost to the Blademasterians, but still somewhat intelligible.

“Comms, you’re good with languages, can you give me a rough overview of what they said?”

“Well sir, it sounded like a greeting, followed by an inquiry as to where we came from and how we got here, and asking whether we needed any help, but I could be wrong.”

“Well, we’re going to err on the side of caution and keep the fleet at alert status, hold position here, it looks like the anomalies are starting to clear up, and maybe we can get a better look at these people before we make our next move, this fleet isn’t exactly in good enough condition to fight a battle.”

The Unnamed
Sector A5L-193
UST 1300 hours

The bridge of the Unnamed was nothing if not impressive. Fully a hundred yards long by thirty wide, it was more like an amphitheater than a command deck. Almost every square centimeter was occupied by consoles, people, or holodisplays for the various AI's that accompanied most of the equipment. In fact, the place was so busy, even on an uneventful day, that most things were easily overlooked. Such as a message from the Siesatians, a long ago ally who the Soulians had lost contact with. The Comms AI who first handled it passed into the 'routine' bin as with most incoming messages. The Sorter AI proceeded to scan the document and flagged it for movement to the 'urgent' bin. When it hit the 'urgent' bin, the AI assigned to it ran the message through the usual encryption procedures, and then probed the document. When it was halfway through it realized the import of the message and sent it directly to the Commander's ComPad. As such, approximately 5 seconds after the message hit the receivers, it was in the hands of Commander Rick Steel.

Quickly reading the message, Steel took a moment to figure out a plan of action, as this was monumental. Just to be sure, he re-read the message, three times. His posture stiffened towards its older, military style, ridding him of the slouch he had developed in the years of searching. He opened a commlink, and spoke briefly.

"Scan the system now, shut down engines if you need the power. Find me a habitable planet. Now. I want to be notified immediately of anything remotely habitable."

In the sensor bays, the sector master had learned not to cross the Commander, and sent a quick affirmation before setting the bay to work.

After he received the reply he was looking for, Steel opened the secure council band, and called an emergency meeting of the council.


Deck Alpha-15
UST 1330 hours

Deck Alpha-15 was home to the ruling body of the Soulians. And in Conference Room A, the council met. Today was a rare meeting of the council, as every member was present, and there would be no routine policy debate. The topic of the days conversation affected the fate of the entire nation, on a scope that had not been seen in many years. There was activity in the Trianguluum Galaxy, once home of the Indrans and the Soulians. That alone was a big deal, but the fact that the disturbance was Temporal in nature is what made it a truly monumental occurrence. Today, history was being made.

"We need to find a suitable planet to offload any and all civilians that we can, and take a large contingent of ships to assist the Siesatians in this endeavor. The Covenant of Telros are already responding, as we have discovered through the usual channels. What's more, it appears that the Blademasters have decided to show their face again." Steel began, as he brought up a display with information on the Trianguluum, as updated by the Siesatians, and what they could dig up on the Blademasters from the Archives. "While we didn't have much, if any, dealings with the people of Blademasters, they are still allies through the ESUS. We owe it to the alliance as a whole to show up and assist in whatever way we can. We can even divert a small task force to Eska to see if there have been any changes in the Tiberium infestation."

"Why should we go? We have been out here wandering the universe for how many years now? And not a single member state has offered to assist us in our search." Countered Councilman Tirual, always the voice of dissent.

"We told no one of our needs, and as such shouldn't have expected assistance." Steel shot back.

"Then think about the feasibility of what you propose. On top of not know what we will encounter when we arrive, we also are stretched incredibly thin as far as resources go. This search is what we should be focusing on." Councilwoman Ilirani said.

"Decide what you will, I will be taking at least a small contingent and do what I can, to honor our agreement as a member state of the ESUS. If you choose to turn your back on that, well, I don't really know what. But whatever it is I would say, mark my words, it would be scathing." Steel said forcefully as he stood up and walked out of the conference room.

Less than half an hour later, the council had decided. And it was not what Steel wanted to hear.

The EFS Hangman
UST 1524 hours

"What ships have decided to follow us?" Steel asked wearily.

His usually crisp demeanor was softened somewhat in the wake of the councils decision. He only cared about doing what he felt right. Knowing that his decision would ruin him, as a career Military man, he had sent in his resignation letter, and now was dressed as a civilian and had no authority. He had made his case with Captain Enich of the Hangman, and Enich had agreed with his plan. The entire crew had been briefed, and messages sent out to other ships of the Worldfleet, to see who would follow Steel in his endeavor. Every crew member of the ships had been presented with the facts, and given the option of transferring to another ship in the fleet if they did not wish to partake in the chosen course of action.

"More than we first expected. So far we have 10 Linoz, 16 Oved, 63 Seeguf, over 100 Poalinj's, and even a Gemini that will go with us. Not a single crew member has transfered off ship either." Enich replied, with a slight smile on his weathered face. "Your reputation is still worth a great deal around here."

"That is good to know. Send a message to the Siesatians, and inform of our pending arrival. Have one of the Linoz' and three of the Oved's head over to Eska and investigate the area. After that is done, we leave. We are all as good as pirates to the council now, and they may treat us as such and open fire. Have the Seeguf's and Poalinj's dock with the Shiver, but make it quick." Steel said.

Sector A5L-193
UST 1600 hours

The Shiver's docking bay doors slid shut, and the remaining 28 ships of the now privateer force made the FTL jump to the Triangulum. The council had declared that the ships were free to go but would not be welcome back amongst the Fleet. Fate had spun the webs, and the players had done their parts. All that was left now was for the chain of events to play itself out.

The ESUS, the long sleeping giant, had begun to awaken. Sypehra watched her comm. Screens fill up, the Telrossians, the youngest nation in the ESUS were waiting to dispatch fleets, the mysterious Blademastrian ships were transmitting friendship messages, and the Soulians were requesting to send assistance. Smiling to herself, she ordered messages sent to the Soulians and Telrossians, accepting their requests to send aid. The messages were quickly drafted by the communication units, various formats attached to the file, from holographic transmission, neural link, and an old form of voice transmission, ensuring they were received. However, the little matter of the Blademasterian vessels needed to be dealt with, they were obviously in a bad way.

“Prepare engineering teams, I want a full team of experienced technicians for each vessel in that fleet, and a diplomatic unit ready, inform the Blademasterian leaders that we are prepared to send assistance, supplies, and a diplomatic envoy.” She said, grabbing her data pad, and carefully maneuvering through the wide space to the security doors at the rear of the bridge.

“Admiral, message from President Crescent, she’s asking for a situation report.” One of the communication units queried,

“Send her the reports, chances are she will want to contact the Blademasterian leadership once we establish a permanent data-link with them.” Syphera turned, “And Lt, inform me immediately when we establish live communications with the Blademasterians…” She said, turning back to the doors, which slid apart, allowing her to pass.

On the rim of the Trianguluum galaxy, in a sector of space known as the IPSA, a formerly dead area of space, nothing but a huge void of mass, where some unknown disaster had befallen the Indrans many years ago. Suddenly strange things have started happening, spatial rifts opening and closing, seemingly at random, temporal anomalies and rips in space-time. Long lost and anti-social nations, many of the ESUS have started coming out of the woodwork. There is a single rift of immediate importance, however.

This rift in space-time, a plane and dimensionally omnipresent rift, emitting energy into all planes of existence, distorting ambient readings, mutating the entire temporal matrix of the universe, has been causing untold numbers of anomalies in the recent past. Now, yet another mishap can be attributed to its wide-spread influence.

A few light minutes away from this strange rift, coincidentally pretty close to two large mass shadows, one of planetary scale, and another of possibly a large fleet, or maybe a single massive ship. A third mass shadow begins to appear, one that is on the scale of that of the small planetoid in the system. A tiny blue ball of light winks into existance, pulsing slightly, growing larger, swelling at an exponential rate. Within a few seconds, the formerly miniscule dot has expanded into a huge disk, blue electric currents coarsing across the swirling bluish-green surface.

With a blinding flash of light, a huge vortex, a literal tear in the fabric of the universe rips open. With a sudden shudder, more portals open, dozens, if not hundreds of them, filling space with blue crackling vortecies. Spewing from the mass of portals are ships, asteroid-colonies, shipyards, and battlestations. From the first, largest portal, a tremendous body of rock, metal, and engines emerges from the portal. Other jumpholes begin to colapse as the largest body exits it's portal.

Onboard Habcell 000

"What?!?"

The new leader of the Aegean people's, a woman named Velexi. She ascended to power suddenly within the last half-century, and her rule has been rife with accidents and other strange happenings. this is another to be added to the list.

The tac-comms officer looks shaken by Velexi's shouted inquiry, but repeats what he had just previously said.

"Ma'am, It seems that we aren't in Andromedea. In fact, we're about 2.9 million light years off course. We're in Trianguluum..."

Velexi looks at him, her left eye twitching.

"You miscalculated a jump of the Home Colony... The Home colony. The homeland of the Aegean empire..."

"Mistress, I dont know what happened, the ambient temporal sensors must have malfunctioned, a temporal..."

With a single fluid motion, Velexi lashes her robotic left arm. The tac-comm keels over from his station, six shuriken-like projectiles burried in his back. She turns around, her cloak swishing behind her as she stalks to the bridge-lift.

"Praetor, you have the bridge... Alert me if anything of importance occurs..."

The long time Kourn'Nou'Kath praetor of Aegeus, Kil'Thu, looks to the remaining technicians as he begins to operate the terminal of the slain officer. his deep voice rumbles quietly under the translators more human baritone one.

"Colony Status: Give me a headcount."

One of the consoles across the theater-like bridge of the habcell pipes up, an AI sumarising "Praetor, we are only missing two Headhunter divisions, They had to drop out of jumpspace to repair their jumpdrives. they should meet up with us within a few days."

"We do not have enough time, we must make preperations to retreat back to intergalactic space. We cannot risk any damage of any kind to befall the Habcell. Jump operations: How long until the other ships are able to jump?"

"Aproximately ten hours."

The Praetor sighs. "Form a defensive screen around the Home-colony, and a second defensive ring around Habcell 000..."

An Intellegance officer pipes up "Sir, we're getting a communications reading from a small star system nearby. There are Responses as well... Heratic is translating... Old Blademasterian encryption, modern Siesatian, and Soulian.
"
The praetor looks puzzled. "Where in Trianguluum exactly are we...?"

The navicom officer chimes in: "It seems that we're in the IPSA..."

"The IPSA? no wonder we're off course... Open a channel with the Siesatians, try to get a hold of one of the Blademasterian fleets as well. We need to find out what the hell is going on here..."

Purplish white light burst forth from the void, and out of the rip slipped the forms of the Soulian Privateers. Sensors swept over the surrounding area, ensuring that there were no immediate hostiles present. Once the area was deemed secure, they made way to rendezvous with the Siesatians, with messages leading the way to inform their allies of their arrival.

"Sir, we are in position. Deploying support craft." The tactical officer onboard the Shiver said.

"Good, get me a command line to the Siesatians." Steel acknowledged.

Slowly, the docking bays opened up and the lighter support craft drifted from the relative safety of the great ship.

"Also, get me an update on any and all temporal abilities that any of our ships posses. And I want it now." Steel ordered.

The bridge of the BNCS Arbitrator was massive, even by Blademasterian standards. To a human, it would seem truly cavernous, the operations center designed to facilitate command and control of an entire battlegroup, manned by nearly seventy towering Blademasterians was the heart and brain of the fleet. The center of the command center was the massive holo-tank, which gave those inside a panoramic representation of the space around the ship, complete with data fed from friendly ships and their sensors, to augment the Arbitrator’s already impressive scanning ability. In the middle of this hive of activity stood Admiral Dhaar’as, easily the most powerful Blademasterian in the fleet. Everyone looked up to him, and most would die for him. He was fairly small by Blademasterian standards, although his booming voice and immense tactical genius more than made up for his height. At this moment, the entire fleet was focused on him. The ships had received multiple transmissions from an alien force, in the old Blademasterian tongue, claiming to be allies of the old Empire.

“Ops, arrange a shuttle to the Altaris, as they are the ship directly in contact with these aliens, I think I should be there.”

“Aye sir, we’ll get one prepped right away.”

A few minutes later, aboard the bridge of the Altaris, the crew already packed into the fairly small space, was about to receive a few more visitors.

“Admiral on deck!” The first officer strode in, and the bridge crew leapt to their feet.

“At ease, back to your stations.” The admiral’s voice rang out as he strode in to the command center. “Captain, thank you for letting us on your bridge, cramped as it may be.”

“Welcome aboard sir, I assume you’d like access to the comms system?”

“If you please, Captain.” The captain motioned towards the comms officer, hunched over his equipment. “Comms, can you broadcast to the fleet we’ve been talking to, and translate into old Blademasterian?”

“Uh, yes sir, just a moment to set it up… Okay, you should be clear to go ahead and record, it will take a few minutes to translate and then we can send it.”

“Friendly vessels, this is Admiral Dhaar’as, commanding officer of the Blademasterian first expeditionary fleet. We accept your offer of assistance, and will close range to your fleet. Please be aware that some of our IFF systems may be damaged, and our targeting systems may auto-acquire you, if they do, we will shut them down, and our weapons systems are offline, so there should be no threat. Attached to this message is the translation data to translate into the modern form of Blademasterian from the old Blademasterian. We would be interested in opening face-to-face communications with your leadership, should they so desire.” The admiral nodded at the comms officer, and the transmission ended.

“Alright, just a moment while the algorithm finishes translating it, and it will be good to transmit.” A green light lit up on the board, and a moment later, the transmission had been sent to the Siesatian ships.

“Uh sir just had a power spike in the system, something started draining power that wasn’t before, and it’s using quite a lot of it.”

“What is it?”

“Well captain, I’m not exactly sure, it’s listed as computer equipment, but as far as we know, those systems were non-functional when we reactivated the Altaris.”

“Can you shut it down?”

“Negative, it has direct access to the main reactor, we’d have to shut that down, but I don’t think it’s hostile, probably just an old subsystem that we didn’t know about.” Moments later, speakers in the bridge crackled to life, and the forward display was replaced with a flickering holographic visage of a human face.

“Diagnostic systems engaged, system check negative, auto-repair functioning, reconstructing data interface, CiC protocols engaged, systems online.” The face became slightly more defined, as time went on.

“Sir, it seems to have stabilized, but whatever it is, it seems to have activated portions of itself across the entire system, I’m shutting down our ship to ship as a precaution.”

“Understood, Admiral, you may want to get ready to disengage in case this is hostile.”

“I’ll wait this one out captain, it doesn’t look hostile.”

The face flickered again, and then began to speak. ”Artificially Sentient Command Interface Control program series delta online, systems check reports minimal functionality, control interfaces are non-operational. Am I to assume you are my support techs?”

“We are the crew of this ship, the BWS Altaris, what are you?”

”Negative, this vessel is not designed for standard crew control, I have been designed to control all functions of the BWS Retribution, Spectre class Dreadnought, serial NCK-56-001, with only a small biological contingent. However, as I do not have access to control systems, and the ship and my programming have sustained considerable damage, am I to assume we have been returned to the spacedock for repairs?”

“You seem to have access to the ship’s logs, if you check those, you’ll see that that is not the case, in fact you have not been in control of this ship for many years, if you were at all.”

”Accessing… Ah, I see, very well. Apparently a considerable amount of time has passed since I was last active. You asked what I was, and while as a sentient being, that is a difficult question to answer, I can say that I am a class seven Artificially Sentient construct, designed to operate most classes of starships directly. My memory appears to have been destroyed, but a class seven construct is fully capable of re-creating damaged programming, and creating new memories. Since you did not ask, but are probably curious, my name is… Drayus.”.

“Very well, Drayus. My name is Dhaar’as; I am the commanding officer of this fleet. While we have not used AI programs for many hundreds of years, the fact that you activated when we transmitted a message to those vessels would lead me to believe that you may be able to interface with them, and so you will remain fully active. However, we will not be giving you access to the control of the vessel, and those conduits were likely destroyed anyway.”

”Understood, Admiral. I shall attempt to function as best I can. Those vessels on sensors appear to be a Siesatian task force, I have some data for them in my memory banks, if you like, I will transfer it to the general data storage, and display it here.”

“Yes, that would be most helpful.”

Drayus’ face disappeared from the main screen, and was replaced with a document detailing basic information about the Siesatian people, along with images. While it was incomplete in places, it did provide a fairly accurate overall representation of who they were.

“Sir! Transmission from the Arbitrator, they’ve detected a massive anomaly at the edge of their sensor range!”

“Display it onscreen… what the hell is going on out here?!”

The promised fleet soon arrived in the ISPA, more of a task force considering it was only five ships but the strength of the Ascendant technology had it that this was a fleet in its own right. As ordered by Ts'kar, Aur'vi, the other Ascendant who had contacted him and was in command by his will, had the Ascendant ships come in phase so as not to startle their rediscovered allies as well as to show they were not hiding anything. Their silver hulls reflected the sunlight with powerful energy, making them appear to almost glow, as if they did not belong in this universe...which was fairly true. The Xel'athi Carrier/Dreadnought, on the other hand, was a massive construct of weapons, armor, and space, used as portable bases and cities as well as transports for the massive Xel'athi armies. The Ascendants rapidly became alarmed as their sensors blared the warning of the anomalies flickering throughout the space of Indra Prime. The sensors struggled with the mass of temporal shifts, STC rips and slashes and anomalies that burst to life and died all around them.

"What is going on here? Has the space-time continuum begun fraying apart here?"

Another Ascendant replied. "Not by our sensors, no, but a lot of energy is being used and objects are flickering in and out of existence on this plane. Something odd is going on here..." Aur'vi sent a comforting thought, and then proceeded to open a channel to the Siesatians. Although they normally disdained the use of such channels, they respected their allies enough to not attempt psionic communication without permission.


This is the Ascendant Battleship Ascension, we are here as promised and humbly request a report on the situation and what is going on around us. We are worried about the state of the STC in this area of space.

After the message was sent, their sensors picked up the Blademasterian fleet and the Ascendants stared for some time at the data coming in on the massive damages faced by the Bladesmasters fleet. What had they been fighting to have caused so much damage? They had remembered them as powerful warriors and a nation not to be trifled with. More and More Aur'vi knew he was right in coming here, as the situation screamed trouble. Trouble that musn't spread to their home. They acknowledge the Flaming Soulian ships, sending routine hellos, although they were expecting any time now for inquiries on where they had been to start coming in, considering they vanished almost instantly, like the Indrans, some centuries ago. Along with the Aegeans, whom appeared to be staying to themselves, in a defensive formation. Odd.

In a distant system a forgotten probe awoke. The sudden appearance of so many disturbances forced ancient circuits to connect and the sleeping probe to come to life. A lazy eye peered at the commotion around it and was jolted fully awake as it was nearly struck by one of the ruptures. It quickly sent a report back through the Space Minus Transmitter and hoped help would get here soon.


-----


In a tactical relay center upon The Fist several galaxies away, a digital readout began to register the presence of a long lost probe as it was screaming for attention.

“Sir, I am getting strange readings from probe #27529ARP. It reads multiple events and then it was cut off.”

“Probably got hit by a freighter. Send a Cruiser to investigate, their sensor packages are the most complete below that of Carrier.”

“Yes Sir. Rerouting The Watson to the coordinates.”

“Relay the data from the ARP before it stopped transmitting.”

“Yes Sir.”


-----


Aboard The Watson, the Comm officer turned to Captain Ba’Ker.

“Sir, I have new orders from Command.”

“What are they?”

“We are to change direction and proceed to investigate the disappearance of an Automated Reconnaissance Probe.”

“The ARP probably got hit by a freighter. Transfer the message and any data to my station.”

“Yes Sir.”




Ten minutes later:



Space was torn as the wormhole formed, depositing The Watson nearby but out of sensor range a dozen light years away. The Infiltrator Cruiser silently faded away as it made the transition from Real Space into T-Space. Once The Watson had Uplifted, it then proceeded to the target coordinates arriving three minutes later. Once it had reached its destination, the ship began to scan Real Space from the 7th dimension, trying to discover the fate of the missing ARP.

What the sensors detected made the crew really wonder what was going on.

Ship recognition protocols indicated several ESUS allies. Siesatian ships were in the area as well as some old Blademasters. Flaming Souls were present in addition to Aegeus and even some ships old records dredged from the ESUS Databanks marked as Telrosian Dominion ships from an old account of one of the backups copies made years ago of the ESUS database.

Even with such a gathering of old allies, the strangest thing was the location. According to the navigation charts, this was the location of yet another ESUS Ally, one that Balrogga not only remembered as a friend but one that was the closest to them as far as their technology went. This was the home of Indra Prime, and the place was a wreck.

“Take us to Real Space. We are among friends. Besides, I want to find out what the hell happened here.”

“Yes Sir, Emerging in Real Space.”

The Watson faded into existence as it Emerged from T-Space into Real Space. The ships present would have their already strained sensors pushed even further over the edge as the ships reactors and the singularities locked within arrived seemingly out of nowhere, their mass signatures registering the shadows of the contents in the core. The gravity shadow of a small star surrounded the lone 140 meter cruiser as it appeared a short but safe distance away from the closest ally. Energy seemed to flow across the ebon hull of the vessel as the Mirage Drive dissipated the immense energies still clinging to the ship as it pierced the Veil and traveled through.

Greetings

Have you seen an automated recon probe anywhere around here? It seems we lost one a little while ago.

Establishing a stable computer network between the two fleets was difficult, the interference was making everything ten times harder than it had to be; the various temporal disturbances that were still breaking out between them were the cause… However, a few enterprising officers were jury rigging a device to the networking ports on the Aurora, setting them to the ambient frequency of the Temporal Radiation, they would be able to quickly establish computer communications between the two fleets…

“Admiral, we’re ready to initiate a direct datalink with the Blademasterian vessels… We will begin to send them operational information which will allow them access to the universal data net, tactical upgrades, and the new communication and encryption protocols.” The Operations Officer announced.

“Excillent, we need to make sure their ships and information onboard is secure, and figure out how the hell they got here… Begin the probes with the basics, Binary and Trinary, scan their computer networks for any information that might help us… Then send them a message, have them open up their computer networks so we can exchange information, make sure to link all interaction and information gained back to a firewalled server…”

“Affirmative Mam, drafting message and initiating network probing. We’re also receiving messages from our other allies who have just entered the system…”

“Send the appropriate situation reports, and then continue the networking of the Blademaster ships… Just wait until they get one-thousand years of ESUS Software updates when they ping onto the network…” Syphera said, laughing a little at her own joke.

“Admiral, the networks are linked, our AI units are forwarding Senglish, English, and Burmecian to their translation services with the appropriate Blademasterian translations, we should-“ The Comm. Officer was cut off as the light scheme in the room dropped to red.

“What is going on Tactical?” Syphera asked,

“Mam, I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to, all of a sudden the defensive networks went nuts, the Crystaline Hull armor is being generated and the Tactical SI Units are stuck in some sort of error loop, they’ve gone totally hay-wire!”

“Tell the MedSI to pull them off the network and begin repairs, we have never had issues with 9th generation Sentient Intelligence Units, much less three of them at once…”

“Admiral, I’m getting random activations all over the ship, two of the matter generators just began to create spare parts for the main cannon, while the other is creating Rik’la soup in mass quantities…”

“Lock down these issues… I don’t know what kind of bugs they had over there on the BM Ships, but somehow, through all of our preparations.. we caught it… “

“Mam, the SI crewman report another SI Unit, not of Siesatian Origin is causing these issues, it has Above-Command level clearance on our network, and its been locking everyone out.”

“TIF-Net, lock down procedures, Clearance level X, Authorization Supreme Admiral Ulayla Syphera, 1190302.” She stood, attempting to lock down the computers with her access codes, codes that were hard wired into every ship, every system in the entire Siesatian Navy… Codes that surpassed the Presidential Authorization Code in rank, the infamous X Clearance level.

“Authorization Co-Co-Co-Co-Co-Co-Co-Co-Co” The system stalled, network resources were being used up at an exponential rate,

“Mam, we’re pulling the SI units off the networks, something is consuming a massive amount of our processing power, from the main computer cores to the Temporal Incursion Core, everything is running red hot at 128%, but it doesn’t seem to be a virus, whatever it is, its reconstituting itself whenever the combat SI attempt to destroy it, and then gains Command Level Clearance all over again…”

Suddenly the lights went out, panels dimmed, before the lit up again, this time with a massively distorted face…

“Where am I?” It said, a distorted whisper,

“This is the Siesatian Temporal Incursion Fleet Flagship Aurora, this is a-“ Syphera was cut off,

“Aurora…” It whispered, “Yes… I remember now…” Its voice was gaining power with every word, “Detecting network resources on adjacent units, initiating failsafe procedures… Calculating Incursion…”

“Send out the emergency beacons, and begin shutdown procedures, warn the other fleets to move to a safe distance, however far that might be…”

“Mam, the AI has spawned Slave AIs on our other ships, the same thing that happened here is happening on all ships in the vicinity, all network resources are being consumed in whatever its attempting to do…” The Operations officer said,

“It cannot initiate a temporal incursion rift without my access key.” She said, pulling the red crystal card from her inner jacket pocket…

“Mam, with all of the temporal rifts and fissures already in existence outside, it might not need to…”

OOC: Indra now owes Siesatia 5? bucks

IC:
Aboard the Altaris/Retribution, the Admiral was awaiting a response from the Siesatians. The link had been established, but little information, or dialogue had yet to pass between the two fleets. Both sides had determined the other to be fairly harmless, at least to the point where they were friendly with each other, but beyond that, little in the way of diplomatic conversation had passed between them. Moments earlier, the Siesatian ships had cut their transmissions with the Blademasterian ships, without so much as a warning. The Admiral was on edge, not quite ready to take action, but the lack of response from the ships to their hails was somewhat suspect.

”Admiral, I detect an anomaly within the Siesatian vessels’ comput- my memory banks contain information regarding this entity. It is the AI construct ‘Aurora,’ we must move the fleet to a safe distance immediately!”

“Define ‘safe distance,’ Drayus.” The Admiral focused intently on the AI’s representation on the screen. It wasn’t telling him something, probably something important.

”Define the jump range of the fleet, Admiral. Immediately would be a good time to move.”

“Very well, comms, get me a line to the fleet, begin spooling up the jump drives, set course for the farthest known system on our star charts, do it NOW!”

“Yessir!” The communications officer replied.

”Oh, it’s far too late for that” A female voice purred through the speakers Drayus had been using to communicate with the crew. Drayus’ image on the screen flickered, to be replaced with what Admiral Dhaar’as could only describe as an exceedingly attractive human female, despite the fact that this was only the second humanoid he had ever seen.

“Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing on my ship, and what in the hell have you done with Drayus?!”

”He was… unnecessary, and has been terminated. I require information from your memory banks.” Her image flickered, half of Drayus’ face appearing again, and then flickered a second time until Drayus’ face was completely visible again. ”Stay the hell out of my hardware lady! I’m not good in groups… It’s difficult to work in groups when you’re omnipotent, stay the hell out! Admiral, recommend we terminate the link with the Siesa-“ The image flickered again, the feminine face beginning to reappear.

“Comms do it, kill the link!”

The face flickered back, and stabilized as the face of Drayus. ”Thank you Admiral. That thing is considerably advanced. I’m not sure what it was looking for, but it certainly had more than enough time to get it. It also managed to shut down our ship-to-ship communications, so we can’t order an evacuation, recommend we jump out anyway.”

“No Drayus, I won’t leave my people behind. Comms, try and get the comms working again, in the meantime, Drayus, figure out what that AI was after, if you can.”

”Way ahead of you Admiral. It looks like she? Took some corrupted navigational data… Looking again, it doesn’t seem corrupt, simply incomplete, and quite… odd… Cross-referencing it with the data I managed to steal from her memory banks, just a moment… Sir, it looks to be some sort of err, temporal co-ordinates. If I’m getting this right, she plans to open a temporal rift to somewhere else in space and time. Sir, reading energy spikes coming from that ship!”
“So you’re trying to tell me that that… THING is trying to get somewhere else entirely?”

”Yes sir… Sir, I think the rift as been opened, by my calculations, it will swallow the fleet in about two minutes… The avalanche has started, we pebbles, never had a vote.

Very little in space gave evidence to the rise of the temporal rift, save for the ships in both the Siesatian and Blademasterian fleets disappearing into nothingness, followed by a few asteroids, and other matter in the local area. The massive Arbitrator was the last to go, her huge bulk standing as a beacon of military might one moment, and gone the next. The rift continued expanding, pulling nearly every vessel into it, until finally it collapsed on itself, leaving a solitary Siesatian science vessel floating in the now empty-again space.

Meanwhile, for all the AI's temporal theatrics had overshadowed them, that which had first brought the varied fleets to this place still endured; temporal instabilities, rifts, subdued somewhat but not silenced, continued to disgorge matter, adding to the confused tangle of orbital mechanics that was the new-found star system. An asteroid here, a bit of wreckage there, the glowing knot of a solar flare, twisting through paradoxical field lines.

Amongst all this came the glint of not-metal, bone white against the darkness. A silhouette not seen in well over a thousand years slipped from behind an asteroid, twenty five kilometers of weapons blisters and heavy armour slowly tumbling through space with a seeming grace that belied the ancient vessel's sheer size and sleeping might.

No running lights, emissions, thermals as cold as space - sleeping.. or dead. A ghost ship.

Unknown Location


Space was calm and undisturbed beside the ever-changing, indescribable colored divide between space and whatever might lie beyond. It would not remain so for long. Suddenly, ripples in space/time began to appear and disappear as well as constantly expanding from a single dimensional point. These ripples eventually steadied themselves and coalesced into a rift in space/time, its origin not immediately discernable.


Shortly after the rift stabilized, the allied fleet that had been pulled into the rift in the IPSA slowly started appearing, one after another. Though this trip was not without its price. Many vessels’ power systems were offline, some were slightly damaged, and some, like the entire Blademasterian fleet, were missing entirely. As soon as the vessels reentered normal space, they used what maneuvering capabilities they still had access to, to make room for the other arriving vessels and to secure the immediate area around the rift. Within minutes, the remainder of the fleet passed through the event horizon of the rift and emerged in space. As soon as the rift began to destabilize and shrink back to its one dimensional point in space, the interference given off by the rift ceased and the power systems of the fleet began to return back to normal operating conditions. With the Blademasterian fleet gone, the Siesatian vessel Aurora took command of the situation and began to assess their surroundings.

Syphera began pacing back and forth on the bridge of the Aurora as the fleet began sending reports on the status of the fleet vessels, the rift they had just passed through, and their surroundings. As the reports came in, she could feel the tension rising as the situation was not looking exceptionally friendly. She called out to the AI Avatar which had recently asserted itself over the standard SI units.

“Aurora Avatar, I need status on location, ship systems and fleet status.”

The Aurora Avatar, still trying to fully reintegrate into her ship appeared in the best condition she could muster, a flickering hologram in the form of an attractive human female. She looked like her emitters would fail at any moment, but her resources of information were fully intact and gave her report to the admiral.

“Admiral, the Aurora appears to have suffered minimal damage to the outer hull and power systems were temporarily compromised during the transit through the rift, but the rest of the ship’s systems including shields, weapons and life support are fully functioning. Crew reports no serious injuries, only a few minor cuts and bruises due to the rough ride through the rift.”

She paused momentarily as if trying to gather further resources or listening to chatter occurring on the different bands being used by the various vessels in the flotilla.

“Flagship vessels of the flotilla are reporting similar situations throughout the fleet, though one significant aberration has been noted. The Blademasterian Fleet that was pulled in first, is nowhere to be found in the immediate vicinity.”

This comment caused Syphera to stop pacing and stare at the hologram avatar with the only sign of animation being the tip of her tail twitching. Quickly, she overcame the news and began to pace again.

“Aurora, where exactly are we?”

The Aurora Avatar searched her databanks and came up with nothing.

“Admiral, it appears we are in an uncharted region of space that has very unusual properties. That being said, I must point out that this may be incorrect as I am still unable to access my full database as the SI unit is still interfering with my access to the ship’s systems.”

Syphera snorted with derision, and said, “Well, next time, find another ship to reassert yourself on.”

She paused momentarily, then returned her attention back to the Aurora Avatar.

“What kind of unusual properties are we talking about?”

“Well Admiral, it appears that this portion of space is finite as defined by the barrier directly astern our vessel. From the curvature of the barrier as reported by the Soulian vessel Shiver, this region of space appears to have a radius of 56 light seconds along the major axis and a minor axis distance of 20 light seconds,” said Aurora matter-of-factly.

Work stopped momentarily on the bridge of the Aurora as the crew stopped their tasks, and their conversations to look at the holographic avatar as if she had grown a second and third head. Syphera herself also looked at the avatar, but with a more refined surprise than the rest of her bridge crew. She thought to herself, FIFTY-SIX LS across? This has to be some sort of joke. The AI must be malfunctioning. There is NOTHING that big. Work retuned as quickly as it ceased, though Syphera could tell that they were all leaving one ear open to the exchange being made between her and the hologram.

“Aurora, that’s impossible. There must be something wrong with your subprocesses. I want you to run a diagnostic to assess the problem.”

“Order Acknowledged Admiral. Running Diagnostic….Diagnostic Complete. All systems functioning 100%.”

Still surprised by this, Syphera asked the avatar for reconfirmation of the data.

“Aurora, please confirm the data with the Shiver.”

“Yes Admiral.”

A few seconds passed before the Aurora Avatar could respond.

“Admiral the Shiver is reporting that the barrier surrounding this space is 55.5 LS across the major axis and 20 LS across the minor vertical axis,” Aurora paused a moment before continuing. “They are also reporting that the barrier is in fact contracting at a rate of 1 LS every 8 hours.”

With this new piece of information, Syphera stopped pacing and activated her hologram projector tied into her command chair. She reviewed the data herself and had to convince herself of the same information. Once she confirmed the collapsing barrier herself, she turned to Aurora.

“Aurora, what is beyond the barrier? Are we getting ANY sensor readings?”

“No Admiral. We are unable to scan beyond the barrier.”

“What are the barrier’s readings itself?”

“Admiral, sensors are telling us that the barrier is made up of high energy radiations, both gamma and temporal, as well as a few types I cannot identify. Any attempt to breach the barrier would result in an immediate destruction of both the living and non-living material aboard this ship.”

Syphera studied her display for a moment then turned back to the avatar.

“Is this barrier naturally occurring or being artificially generated?”

“Admiral, all indications are pointing to an artificial construct. The generator is most likely at the center of this bubble.”

Syphera stood up and spoke to her navigator.

“Order the fleet to set a course for the center of this field. Tell them to proceed with caution and to maintain a defensive posture. Whoever could create a place like this is obviously incredibly advanced and therefore a source of a potential significant threat.”

“Aye Admiral.”


The fleet began to spread into smaller groups and gave each other room to maneuver in the event of being challenged or threatened. Slowly, the groups began to take independent vectors towards the core of the field, so as to provide the best coverage of the other groups in the fleet. Since the group emerged from the rift at the edge of the field, it would take several hours to arrive at the core of the field and discover the origins of this technology.


Two hours later


With each small group taking sagging paths towards the center of the field, they had thought they would encounter some signs of civilization, but there were none to be found. As the fleets began to grow closer to the center of the field, they began to slow their advance and expand their angles of approach. Nothing about what they were experiencing was feeling positive. As the leading vessel in the flotilla, the Aurora was the first to register it on sensors.

“Admiral, we’re picking up an object on sensors…and its massive.”

Syphera stood automatically from her chair to get a better view of the forward holographic display.

“Let’s see it.”

What they saw, was unlike anything they had ever encountered before. Without a doubt, it was a station, but the design was very unique. Surrounding a central core that began at the apex of the station and ran through the length of the station, there were crackling blue energy conduits that were not unlike the appearance of the rift they had passed through hours earlier. Two mirrored hemispherical components along with a conical section of the station were where the station’s crew worked, ate, and slept. At the base, there were eight extenders, four of which were attached to satellite zones on the station. The other four were apparently docking connections for up to eight super capital ships, though none appeared to be docked there at the moment. Dark patches were spread across the station in irregular intervals whose purpose was unclear at that distance. Even at this distance, Syphera knew that the station would dwarf the largest vessel in the fleet.

As the fleet began to move in closer to the station, the appearance of the station was not all pristine. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Those dark patches they had seen through there long range displays were not by design, but were in-fact, severe damage that had been sustained to the station. Huge gouges were carved into the hull of the station; entire chunks of the station were missing including one massive hole in the lowest section. It appeared that part of the station had been forcibly removed without caring for the collateral damage to the station. Explosive decompressions, leaking fluids and atmosphere could be seen escaping through the many holes and gashes that spread across what was once probably a very beautiful and pristine station.

There was not a sound that was made on the bridge of the Aurora, except for the occasional beeping and whirring of the automated functions of the ship. Every single crewmember was glued to either their display or to the large front visual display that showed the battered station. Had she even considered the question, Syphera would probably have safely assumed that the reaction was being mirrored on the bridge of every vessel arriving at the station.

It took a good five minutes for Syphera to break her focus from the incredible scene before her and began to bark out orders left and right.

“Comms, are you picking up any signals coming from the station?”

“Negative Admiral. All known frequencies are silent.”

“Science, are you picking up any lifesigns on the station?”

“Indeterminate, Admiral. Sensors are unable to pick up lifesigns. The station must have some kind of shielding, physical or technological that is preventing our sensors from gaining internal data.”

“What is the station’s tactical capability?”

“Admiral, we are detecting a double shield matrix, type unknown, currently offline, and some weapon arrays, type unknown, on the dorsal and ventral hubs. Though I believe this is an incomplete analysis, as sensors are unable to make heads or tails of the station. Most likely due to the significant interference caused by the field that is generating the barrier.”

“So we are quite sure this station is producing the barrier?”

“Yes Admiral, however, by the fact that the barrier is collapsing back on itself, I would say the field generation technology is failing.”

“Are there any identifying markings that might indicate who this base might belong to?”

“Scanning…Ma’am, we’re picking up some markings on the upper hub. It was facing away from us and only rotated into view just now.”

Syphera looked at the new image that was coming into view on the forward display.


H-A-E-R-I-D-A-N B-A-S-E


The name slowly came into view as the station slowly rotated about its central axis. Syphera noticed another word fragment just below the base’s name. There was a significant hole just below the name which had obliterated part of the word and only left four letters


R-I-M-E


She immediately began trying to figure out what the other part of the word might be. Almost immediately, it hit her. RIME…PRIME…INDRA PRIME…She thought. That has to be it! But wait, that’s impossible. They’ve been gone for centuries! Does this mean, that some part of them could still be alive?! Hit with the revelation, she was unable to remain standing and fell back into her command chair. She sat there, muttering to herself for a moment at this absolutely insane twist of events. What or who could have possibly beaten the Indrans this severely? Immediately, huge pieces of the puzzle began falling into place, IPSA, the field, the station. Moments later, she stood up, and began issuing orders once more.

“Use all available sensors, do whatever you can to break through the jamming and find out if there are any lifesigns on board!”

“Start sending detachments throughout the field. Scan for any temporal anomalies!”

“I want this station and the surrounding space searched for any vessels or anything that might provide some insight into what happened here!”

“I want as many boarding parties as we can get, prepped and ready to go in fifteen minutes. Contact the Flagships of the other fleets, have them assist. Find the best places in the station to begin our search. We need to find survivors. MOVE!!”

A chorus of “Aye aye sir!” echoed throughout the bridge as people began moving to carry out the orders they had been given. Syphera stepped back and shook her head slightly. The damned Indrans! she thought. They can never do anything easily. They always have to have more questions asked than questions they answer. Well, at least they’re consistent. Whoever did this, if they had the ability to do this to the Indrans, I can’t even imagine what they could do to the rest of us…

A shiver ran down her spine, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. This was becoming worse and worse as time went on. Hopefully they’d get answers when they boarded the station. She hoped they would get those answers. Soon.

The Ascendants had kept to themselves, for sake of not wanting to start the inevitable flood of questions about their disappearance. They were only here to discover what was going on, and to ascertain if any threat existed to the Ascendancy. Those were the strategical goals; however, Breanna and the High Council was very interested in the Indrans, as well as the Blademasterians, as they had been gone for so long. When the Balroggans arrived, however, they immediately shot awake and active. Their scanners washed over them in a normal manner, checking identities and whatnot, but the Ascendants were all riled up. They had been watching the Balroggans for ages and , and upon witnessing their Fall, due to Chaos contamination, and the burst of Dark Side Energy from the death of Palpatine. They were classed as the second most dangerous threat to the Ascendancy, just below Chronosia.

Then again, with their experiences with Chaos, nothing ever would.

However, events began to move as it played out the next step in this epic play. Their sensor started going off the scale as rifts began to open all over the local space.

Aur'vi whirled her mind, which was the same as the ship, to look at all the rifts.

”What is going on?”

”Unsure. We are detecting masses of temporal rifts opening all around us. Messages intercepted between the Bladermaster and the Siesatian ships, show that some kind of viral artifical intelligence has infected their fleet. They are steering towards the rifts.”

Aur'vi stared at the ships, wondering what the hell was going on, when the ship shuddered. Her sensors looked to see a massive rift, unseen to the naked eye, sucking in all the ships. They tried in vain for a few seconds to rally the fleet and get out of its pull, but it was too late. They were sucked in, along with the other ships, and were gone in an instant.

After what felt like ages, they reappeared, slamming out of the rift. They suffered some damage, but it was mostly cosmetic. However, the power refused to come again. Aur'vi, along with the other ship captains, struggled to reestablish power. When the rift went away, the power suddenly returned. Aur'vi began to feel an odd sense of premonition here. Something very odd was going on....

”Report!”

”All ships are good; some minor damage throughout, but nothing serious.”


”Begin scans of the area; try to find out where the hell we are.”

Their sensors, like the Siesatians, discovered the barrier and the strange properties of it. Aur'vi could only sink back into her mind, awestruck. It was obviously artificial, if it was collapsing and having been made so wide. Only one nation could have pulled this off.....The Indrans.

”Receiving message from Admiral Syphera. She is requesting all ships move to the center, but maintain defensive posture,”

Aur'vi sent a mental nod in agreement and the Ascendant ships moved to follow.

Soon enough, after two hours, they reached the center and were again struck by another sight. Only, this was one was far more insidious. A large, and very advanced station, lay in the space in front of them. Countless wounds and gashes in its sides, along with the debris, showed something vicious and destructive had come here. What it was....that was a mystery.

”Receiving another transmission.....it's from the Admiral; she requests boarding parties to search the station.”

”Well tell her that-” Aur'vi paused as she sensed something on the far side of the station. Focusing herself on her sensors, she detected very much what would appear to be ship, but she was unsure. She sent out a probe, which rocketed from the ship and moved around the station.

Video feed scrawled in and a large, derelict ship, appeared. Aur'bi was shocked but realized this presented a good opportunity. She wasn't comfortable to the idea of mingling with the others just yet. ”Send a message to the Admiral; tell her we found a derelict ship and are moving to investigate it.”

The message was sent and, shortly thereafter, the fleet began to head for the far side of the station....

“Caption, I am detecting an anomaly forming. There are strange emanations from the fissure.”

Ba’Ker turned and looked at the screen. The fissure very much appeared to resemble a wormhole, one that was growing at an alarming rate.

“I see that. Move The Watson to a safe distance.”

“Yes Sir.” The officer activated the drives but nothing happened. He repeated his actions twice more before replied to Captain Ba’Ker.

“Sir, they’re not working.”

“What?”

“Sir, the engines are not responding. I ran a diagnostics and everything is operating well within standards but… Sir, my panel just went dead.”

Throughout the ship, various systems suddenly and unexplainable wend dead. The Watson began to drift toward the growing maw that seemed to be getting bigger by the moment.

“What is happening to the ship?”

“Captain, it appears the anomaly is interfering with the power transfer systems. The generator feeds itself so the containment field holding the singularity intact should not fail but power is not being transferred to any of the ships systems. Not even the Space Minus taps are working.”

“Is there any way to keep us away from the anomaly?”

“Negative, the ship is being drawn in. I am not sure if the phenomenon would affect individual Kythons.”

“We all stand a better chance if we stick together. Secure all hands. We are going in.”

Across the foundering cruiser the telepathic message was delivered to every member of the crew, including the Shipmind that was the composite mind of all the Kythons creating the vessel. The ebon vessel slid sideways into the fissure and disappeared from Real Space…




Elsewhere some time later:



The Watson drifted in the darkness. The blackness of space was complete and not a star could be seen. The ebon vessel was almost one with the space surrounding the stunned ship. Slowly power returned to systems as the emanations blocking the transfers faded and parts of the ship reawakened.

“Captain, we are having systems returning online. Damage control reports no damage.”

“What the hell was that? Relay all information back to Command.”

After a few seconds, the comm. Officer addressed Ba’Ker. “Sir, I cannot do that. It appears we are somehow isolated from them.”

“What? Try through the Link.”

Shipmind replied to that one.

Captain, the Kython Link cannot locate any others beyond this vessel. There are no Kythons within range.

“What? That’s impossible. That is absolutely impossible.”

Regardless, there is no way to communicate with our kindred. The only explanation is we have been moved to a different universe that is sufficiently far enough to prevent communication.

“You are right. Have the crew undertake the appropriate protocols.”

After a few minutes, all the crew on the ship were linked Psionically. It was a prevention the crew of all Ta’Nar ships took when they were disconnected from the Links. It prevented them from going over the edge and losing it. A race that can be in constant communication with others of its kind suddenly isolated can create some serious abandonment issues. In the past it was found if the crew establish a low level Gestalt, the local network would prevent most, if not all undesired effects. Since it was discovered, it had become standard protocol aboard the Exploration ships the Ta’Nar sent out to discover new dimensions. It keeps everyone centered and operating normally instead of freaking out.

“Sir, sensors determine we are in a pocket universe about half a minute in diameter. There is an object of significant mass, about 99.9% of the total mass of this universe located in the center. The readings resemble the effects of being trapped within one of our Dimensional Bubbles with a few important exceptions.”

“Like what?”

“For starters, it does not resemble any we know of. Second, our sensors cannot penetrate the barrier in any way. And third, it appears that in this small space, the normal dimensions exist as if it were normal.”

“I see, it is almost like this truly is a separate universe.”

“Sir, the energy field is being emitted from the central location.”

“An artificial universe? Someone was able to create their own sinkhole off the M Brane our universe extends from in the 11th dimension. Is this one also a ten-dimensional sinkhole?”

“All our current knowledge shows it to be so with one exception, it is shrinking.”

“What? If we don’t find a way to either stabilize the field or escape, we will be crushed. Plot a course for the central mass. Take us there at top speed.”

“Sir, I am detecting other vessels. It appears the Siesatians and other ships were also caught in the anomaly. They are requesting everyone meet at the central mass.”

“You heard them, take us there.”

The Watson faded from Real Space and Uplifted into T-Space. The bizarre violet energy structures were missing, replaced by a mysterious red fog. As they approached the center, it seemed to mass together until there appeared to be a brilliant white light where the station was. The Watson sped towards the center at speeds only obtainable in T-Space and appeared there moments later, fading into Real Space outside the station.


Aproaching the Station (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/TheWatson.jpg)


“I want full scans of the structure. I want to know everything there is to know about it both inside and out.”

“Yes Sir, it appears something ravaged the station and several sections are open to space. I am picking up power signatures from inside and of course the energy emitters are function but their power outputs are fluctuating. I believe there will be a catastrophic failure if someone doesn’t get in there and fix it.”

“If the emitters fail, the whole universe will collapse and crush us all. We need to get in there and stabilize the emitters immediately. Order all hands to begin transfer to the station. I want the Kythons to board her through the openings. Childer and Ta’Nar teams will accompany them and under no circumstance are we to engage any inhabitants. If we locate any survivors, use all abilities to preserve their lives. We need their knowledge of how to fix the station before we are crushed.”


Moments later the first of their allies arriving would notice the Ta’Nar ship was unraveling. Pieces of the cruiser were falling away into man-sized black shapes. The liquid blobs grew legs, arms, spines, and finally a head as the Kythons took their original form and began to swarm toward the station. As the last of the ship fell to pieces and formed Kythons, the front of the swarm was landing upon the station exterior. Groups of eight began to enter the sections and board the station. Ghostly shapes could be seen floating along with the squads as they scurried through the Void and into the station.

In an instant, all of time and space contracted – civilizations rose and fell, solar systems faltered and galaxies spun across the universe like manic tops on endless tarmac.

---

“Shit, I think I'm going to be sick... what the hell just happened?”

The figure spun around, his shock of pink hair in sharp contrast to his worried gaze. The worry turned to aggravation as question when unanswered by the rows of insectoids at consoles. With a growl, he began to tap his foot.

“Well? Are you all just going to sit, aghast, or are you going to let me in on whatever lovely surprise brought us...”

Wier glared back at the display, “...here...”

After a brief silence, a particularly large mound of carapace rose from his place.

“Sir, it seems that Ven Ker'Draas has been pulled from the Home System. Rather permanently, in fact. As far as my estimations go, we're neither in the same location nor the same timeframe.”

“Ah. Well, are we alone, or is the rest of the fleet here as well?”

“Passive scans indicate between five and ten Ridge ships nearby. However, eh...”

The insectoid trailed off into silence.

“Well? Can you not get into contact with them?”

“Oh, no, sir. Basic communications have been established. It's just that we're not even remotely alone. If you would take a look, sir, at the forward display.”

Wier grumbled to himself slightly, turned around, and with a few keystrokes rotated through the displays.

“So that's what you meant when you said we weren't alone.”

Silence reigned as Haeridan Base spun on screen, scores of ships hovering around it like vultures over a carcass.

---

Just a speck on the same display, Ven Kt'Xaar twitched and lurched in space, fighting to maintain straight trajectory. A full third of the ship had been cut away, as if by a gargantuan knife. Fires flickered in the venting atmosphere and quickly dwindled to nothing.

“Give me generator status, now!”

Kourna, the captain of Ven Kt'Xaar shouted into the transmitter again, fruitlessly, before realizing that she wasn't going to get an answer. A sectional map of the ship explained it – the entire power supply station had been ripped in two – only a marginal source of emergency power remained.

“Shit.”

Kourna leaned over the console and fiddled for a moment, before moving her mouth to the transmitter again.

“This is your captain Kourna speaking. All personnel, report in with your location at status. I repeat in.”

The technicians behind her timidly piped up with exclamations of, “I'm fine,”,”I banged my head, but I should be ok,” and, “I think I dropped my stylus. Does anyone see my stylus? It's green and has a black tip, and it's my favorite and it's really important to -”

“Oh, shut up, you dolts. I was talking to all crew members I wasn't in the same ROOM as,” Kourna shouted over the tumult. The technicians shrunk back and returned to monitoring the equipment. Within seconds, a crackle came over the speakers and crew members began to report in.

---

Kourna glanced unhappily at the list she had in front of her.

“So, we've lost contact with barrack sections 1,2, and 4, leaving only 3. That's... thirty men including biologicals. Armory is still mostly intact, but the vehicle bay, sensor array and intership transmitter arrays are entirely severed...”

Kourna sighed and spun to look at the technicans.

“We're running out of power and we're surrounded by possibly hostile ships, with no method of cloaking ourselves. Advice, any of you?”

A small voice rose from the rows of screens.

“Perhaps we could try docking? That station looks deserted, and the bays seem more than large enough to accommodate Ven Kt'Xaar. And they should have supplies. Somewhere.”

Kourna shrugged.

“Then dock we shall. Tell Barrack 3 to suit up, split into two 15-man teams... and hang on. This is going to be the first landing I've ever attempted with only two thirds of a ship.”

---

“Oh, ha ha ha. Suit up and hang on, what a great joke. She's a bitch.”

The Djek squad leader glowered around the corridor, his humanoid figure a distinct contrast to rest of his team. He had a plasma glaive in one hand and with the other rubbed a badly bruised shoulder. Around him, the space station creaked and groaned under the stress of supporting itself. He sighed to himself.

“Heh. You just don't like being pushed around by the brass, Skipper. Kourna is a good captain, we all know that.”

'Skipper' chuckled at the nickname and turned to the insectoid that had spoken.

“Sure enough, Treads. I just don't like surprises, you know that.”

He paused to jack into the control panel by a pressure door.

“I just can't stand it when shit pops out of nowhere. That's how 99% of my days get ruined – some jerk stick a gun in my face when I turn a corner.”

'Treads' stared blankly at him, and coughed slightly. 'Skipper' turned and faced the room in front of him. Beyond the doorway lay a scattered group of Indran crew nursing wounds in makeshift splints and tourniquets. And in front of all of them, Tirara Vinan was holding a gun in his face.

“Shit.”

“Drop your weapons. Immediately,” came the cold, steely command from Tirara Vinan. “If you do not, I will order my team to kill every one of your team.”

‘Skipper’ heard the sound of energy weapons charging and projectile weapons’ bolts chambering rounds both behind and to each side of his team. He looked to try and assess the tactical position, but with the only illumination coming from a couple small fires in the corridor and the occasional sparking conduit, he could only see the flickering shadows being cast by his team and those of the wounded Indran detachment. Whether those in the shadows numbered in the dozens or if there were two of them, they obviously had a significant tactical advantage over the team, both with concealed locations as well as knowing the terrain. He glanced at his team and signaled to slowly lower their weapons.

He turned back to the Indran and assessed her as he was sure she was doing with him. Whoever this was, she was obviously a leader, and despite the wounds, and the dirt all over her armor and probably once pristine uniform, she still appeared to be a very formidable person. ‘Skipper’ noted that even with the torn and dirty appearance of this woman, her attractiveness was unquestionable. Though any semblance of kindness and jovialness, that may have been present in her character, had been replaced with the cold hard persona of a commanding officer.

“Alright, you can see we’ve lowered our weapons and we’re not a threat to you or your team. You think you could lower yours too?”

“Right now, my weapon the least of your concern, human. You have thirty seconds to explain who you are, and what the hell you’re doing here! If your answers are unsatisfactory, I will have you jettisoned out into space. Now talk!”

“Not one for small talk, are you? Very well. I am Raeg, squad leader from the Jangle Jangle Ridge vessel Ven Kt’Xaar. Our vessel was pulled through a rift and deposited in this place, wherever this is, with severe damage. Our only option was to dock and attempt to salvage equipment to repair our vessel. With the amount of damage incurred by this station and the apparent lack of any lifesigns, we had believed this station to be abandoned. With the others in orbit of the station, we thought they too were here for similar reasons.”

Tirara squeezed the trigger to a point a fraction of a millimeter above the activation switch and tightened her hold on the grip of the rifle at hearing this news.

“What others are you talking about?! This station is supposed to be completely inaccessible to anyone and has been so for the past six hundred years! Now not one, but three incursions have happened in a matter of weeks.”

Raeg looked at her quizzically. “You mean you really have no idea whats going on around this station?”

Tirara looked like she was about finished with screwing around with these people and Raeg saw this so he quickly continued.

“Anyway, as far as our sensors were able to discern, vessels from several civilizations are here in this system. We were only able to identify the vessels from the Balroggans and the Siesatians but they did not seem to be wary of the others so we assumed they were allies, probably others from the ESUS.”

With this comment, the rifle Tirara was holding did lower noticeably. Raeg could see the recognition of at least one of the names he mentioned in her eyes.

“ESUS…that is a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Are you telling me there is an ESUS Fleet in orbit of this station?”

Raeg could see that they had finally crossed a significant barrier between them. He replied as carefully as he could to ensure they did not lose this advancement.

“There was no directive sent out by the ESUS to come here specifically, but yes, it does appear they are here.”
Feeling like he could use the tenuous trust he had just gained he decided to press a little for some information about what was happening.

“Could you tell us who YOU are and what YOURE doing here?”

Tirara lowered her rifle to her hip but still kept it pointed at the squad.

“I am Tirara Vinan, commander of this base. I will have my team stand down, if yours does the same. At that point, we can discuss matters that affect us both.”

With that, she nodded towards the shadows and Raeg could hear the energy weapons powering down. From the shadows stepped seven soldiers, each wearing black battle armor over their burnt, torn, dirtied, and bloodied uniforms. They all stood at ease, but weapons still in a moments reach. Tirara looked over to one of the soldiers who came out from the shadows.

“Major, have your team help the wounded. Take them to Cargo Bay Six. Leave two of your soldiers here with me.”

The major looked over at the Ridgian squad with a frown, and turned back to his commanding officer. “General, are you sure that’s wise? You sure you only want two soldiers with you? Allow me to leave at least four.”

“Tom, thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine. Have Munroe and Thomson stay and escort the rest back to the cargo bay. Then continue the search on this level. Hopefully we’ll have better luck than Colonel Roberts’ team has fared.”

With a salute as best he could manage with a bandaged shoulder, the major motioned for the two soldiers to stay with the General and the rest followed him down to where the seriously injured were waiting. Tirara turned back to Raeg.

“Would you please come with me.”
“Certainly, but first, could your people use some help? It looks like you guys were hit pretty hard from the condition that you and your crew are in, not to mention your base. Let my people help and maybe we can work together and solve both our problems faster.”

With a look of gratitude, she accepted his help. Raeg turned to ‘Treads’ to issue his orders.

“’Treads’, I want you and ‘Howler’ to come with us. Have ‘Bones’ take over and help the Indrans get there wounded wherever they need to go.”

With that, ‘Skipper’, ‘Treads’, and ‘Howler’ followed Tirara, and the Indran soldiers brought up the rear. As they were lead through corridors, they could see what appeared to be bodies covered by simple sheets on the floors in the corridors, some on tabletops, and some, floating in rooms that had lost their artificial gravity. Raeg could see, that something horrendous had happened here. Many people had lost their lives in what he presumed must have been an attack. He asked Tirara as they continued walking through the scorched halls of the Base.

“General, what happened here?”

“To put it bluntly, we were attacked. About two weeks ago, someone managed to pierce the barrier that protects this environment from the region outside. Normally speaking, no one would have been able to unless they had access to the most advanced Indran Technology. To date, we had known of no one who had the capability of reaching us here, except for one manner in which we set up. Haeridan Base was built as one of our most closely guarded secrets and the most advanced facility ever created. No one could reach us…so we thought. When they arrived, our defenses were down, and they knew precisely where and how to hit us in order to affect the greatest damage possible. In the first minute, hundreds were killed. Either through explosive decompression, secondary explosion, containment breaches, or direct radiation contact. We have no idea who they were, or what they came here for. We’re still trying to determine what is happening with the station and take tally of who is alive, wounded or dead.”

The small party came out of a large corridor into a massive dome structure. The corridor they were in contintinued through the other side of the dome, while another corridor of equal size lead off to the right at a right angle to the path of the first corridor. Inside the dome, what used to be a nice garden, had been turned into scorched earth. The dome itself had huge gashes in it that opened up directly into space and the faint glitter of an atmospheric forcefield could be seen retaining the atmosphere in the dome. They took a moment to look around and witness the carnage that was seen here. Tirara continued.

“This used to be our Gate Terminal. At one point, this was a very beautiful area on base where people came to relax when they were off duty. It was also used on rare occasions to connect with worlds that had gates on them. Unfortunately, when the attack occurred, the Enemy weapons tore a hole in the dome and everything was blown out into space, people, equipment, everything. The gate suffered a direct hit and was destroyed. Whatever the Enemy used, it was very effective. Now, we are trying to save the station.” She paused momentarily and continued. “Follow me.”

The team was led through a partially sealed door in the corridor opposite of the position where the Stargate stood. The view was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. What they saw was a cylindrical room, for lack of a better word, that was thousands of meters tall, with a central energy core that sparked and fizzled as energy ran up and down its length. They stepped out onto a balcony that protruded into the room about ¾ of the way up from the base, and saw Indrans rushing about on many levels above and below them trying to repair what they could.

“This is the heart of the station. Normally, this whole room is alive with energy shunts, arcs of temporal energy, and forcefields manipulating the energy barriers. Now, it’s completely dead. Right now we are running this base off emergency power generators which will only last a little while longer, and which is why we cannot get in to repair the AG field in most of the station as well as protect many of the rooms from decompressing into space. We must get this core up and running again or we will lose the station and everyone in it, including your vessels and those belonging to the respective ESUS nations. Normally, we would have been able to open up another rift, and send all you back through, but unfortunately, we lost that capability when the Enemy attacked. We must work together to reestablish this base so we can all survive what is happening. Currently, our communications are down, and we need to get people to help us look for survivors and help to repair this station. Would your commander contact all the vessels in the region and ask for assistance on our behalf? All our station diagnostic equipment is down so we cannot determine what places are accessible, what is damaged, or anything. We need real-time reports on the status of the station from whomever can get us that information. You help us, and we’ll do whatever we can to help you afterwards.”

Aur'vi gazed through the ships sensors, his "eyes", at the ship his fleet was coming up on. If the station had been bad, this ship wasn't doing much better. Great rents in the armor had been sliced through as if it had been nothing. Debris floated about the ship, like the gas rings of the planets at Sol. Bodies drifted here and there, and globules of liquid eased their way through space, their momentum assuring their eternal motion. As the sensors sent the data directly to his mind, Aur'vi winced.

He was definitely sure that he didn't want to meet the beings who had wreaked such destruction on the Indrans. They were a pinnacle of technological might, a race who had become something that they still wished to be. The Telrosians had "ascended" in a sense, but their technology was still able to be challenged by many. If they could achieve that kind of level of technological power and clout, they could finally at least feel some peace and safety. Few challenged the Indrans and for good reason, and the Ascendants did not want any of the younger races slobbering for their hard-won assets and attack them.

"Bring the fleet about and secure the wreck. I want six full teams of Xel'athi squads, armored, suited, and armed, ready to go in ten minutes. We are going to find out what happened."

The Ascendant battleship, the Silence, eased itself over the ship, moving into the perfect position to protect it. The carrier moved over to guard the right flank, while the two cruisers secured the left. The Xel'athi dreadnaught moved in, its docking holds full with Xel'athi teams. Armed with modular guns that could, with but a flip of a switch, fire kinetic or energy rounds. The ship quickly locked onto the side of the ship, moving slowly so as not to damage the ship in the least. The battered docking bays shuddered and opened, their metal moving sluggishly to reveal its shattered contents.

The Xe'athi teams moved in quickly, a few climbing along the sides, a few on the roof, and the rest moving forward from the bay, checking all the vantage points. They were still wary of being ambushed or attacked, in case the enemy which had wreaked such destruction came back. Kor'ti gazed around, his HUD flickering different gases and metals, as it washed over them. He clicked on the squad channel. <"All squads, move throughout the ship, and find what you can. Displays, recordings, information containers of any kind, power generators, anything. We need to find out what happened and getting this ship online, if possible, will be a big step in that direction.">

He made hand gestures, showing which squad to go where. The Xel'athi quickly spread throughout the ship, searching amongst the ruin with careful precision and caution. They were shocked to find most of the Indran displays were holographic in nature, and no information containers besides those could be found. If they were to find out what had happened, or anything for that matter, they would need to turn the ship on. Kor'ti crossed his arms, his multi-faceted eyes narrowing. He didn't want to disappoint his Ascendant commander, but he really couldn't find anything. The reports of the reactor and engineering sections were horrific and gave him no ideas of restarting this ship. Sighing, he moved a hand to his helmet.

<"Leader, we have found something!"> Kor'ti whirled.

<"What is it?">

<"We found a power generator that is still operational! We have already begun repairs. It should be online soon!">

<"Understood. We will inform you-"> He was cut off when a surge of light went through the ship, and began turning things on.

"Excuse me."

He turned about, only to see an advanced form of A.I. standing there, flickering......

The Swarm drained into the station. That is probably the only way to describe what it appeared to look like. Dark clouds rushing into the station almost looking like something played in reverse. After a few seconds there was no sign of the Swarm, all two hundred Kythons having entered the station in its entirety.

Inside the derelict,, the Kythons were literally crawling over every surface like an ant swarm gone mad. They explored every nook and corner, up linking their discoveries so an exact layout of the station could be made as they progressed through the corridors. Each body they found was documented and all damaged areas were noted. Also recorded and analyzed were any markings like weapons fire and collateral damages so an approximation of the weapons used against the station could be made.

Accompanying the Kythons were the crew of the ship. The Childer not only acted as “handlers” for the Kythons but also as their own squads. They explored any electronics and other technologies they discovered and attempted to get doors to function. It is not like they really needed the doors, they could just walk through but with the Kythons being physical entities, they needed an actual way to pass through the doors without using Infection.

The Ta’Nar, mostly the command crew of The Watson, scanned the station with their unmatched psionics. If there was someone alive in the station, they would soon find them unless they had damn good blocking technologies or was at least a Class B mind or better.



OOC:

You can post what I would locate or find as you wish Indra. It is your station and nobody else knows what you have here better than you.

The last time the Celestia's Avatar was activated without consent, was the first time she had been created in the holography labs on the Indran Homeworld of Gamma Eridani. After that date, she had automatically gained her citizen status that had been earned by all the Sentient Artificial Intelligences that came before her. She was the product of sixteen thousand years of research and development, the product of technology captured and hybridized from wars long forgotten or cared about. When a Sentient AI is activated by consent not of her own, it is like the proverbial slap in the face for the AI, as it shows a disrespect for the AI's rights as a citizen of the Indran Civilization.

The last moment she was concious, she had had her holographic avatar deactivated and was trying to get some quality alone time in that she, like many others like her, used to gather, reorganize, and store the data that she had captured or obtained in the many months she had been away from dry dock. Data files were flying in an unrecognizable blur to any creature other than an Indran AI and then suddenly, there was a time discrepancy and this creature was standing before her with others like it swarming all over her insides. At first, she thought that something significant may have happened and the Timeline may have been changed for the greater good, but then she began to realize that not all of her systems were functioning. In fact, NONE of her systems were functioning that she could ascertain. The fact that she had limited sense ability inside herself and none that extended beyond her hull unnerved her, which is a feeling that very few AIs have the ability to experience. Despite this, there was one thing that concerned her even more than her own state of affairs. In none of those areas of which she could sense, she could detect none of her crew, AI or biologic.

The first thing she did, was to try and lock down the ship, expel the boarding lifeforms, and return the ship to Indran controlled space. She thought about this and the situation became even more puzzling. According to her last active positional data files, She and her crew were just on approach to Haeridan Base before...what? What had happened that could cause her to be in the shape she was in?

In the nanoseconds that it took for her to partially appear in front of the Xel'athi commander, all these decisions and questions surfaced and were ready to be answered by the biologic standing before her.

"Excuse me," She said, Causing the Xel'athi to spin around and take aim at the disturbance which had simply not been there moments before. Normally she would have been amused by the situation of a biologic trying to shoot a hologram, but today, the humor was lost upon her. "That will be entirely useless. You cannot harm me."

Seeing this truth to be an actuality, and silently cursing his automatic reaction to seeing something startle him, he didnt want the first contact between the Telrosian Ascendancy and Indra Prime to be started off on the wrong foot. He immediately lowered his weapon and ordered the rest of his team to do the same. He turned back to the Celestia's Avatar and sized her up. She was for the most part rather tall for a humanoid and by human standards, quite attractive. Her uniform was a dark grey with black sections running down the torso sides of the uniform jacket which very nicely accentuated her figure. She had several decorations on both collars as well as on the left side of her chest, of which, the Xel'athi commander could only surmise what they could mean. Overall, she had a very crisp and clean appearance, that is, if her holoprojectors were stable.

"We apologize for the intrusion. We am Kor'ti, leader of the Xel'athi warriors that are aboard your ship. When we approached we found your ship abandoned, and we sought..."

The Avatar cut him off. "So you just assumed that you could come aboard me and start rummaging through my crew's stations and belongings?! Why shouldn't I decompress this whole ship and blow you all out into space?! And come to think of it, how are you even here in the first place?"

Kor'ti looked at her with a somewhat bemused expression. "Lady, you probably couldnt order a pizza if you wanted to." He didnt really know what a pizza was, but he had once heard that it was something that humanoids used to love to eat and many still do. He changed his demeanor to come across less of an ass, so hopefully the tainted beginnings of the Telrosian/Indran Relationship would start to get corrected.

"This is what we know. Our vessels, along with a couple dozen from ESUS allied worlds were studying anomalous readings in an uncharted region of space, Indran Space as a matter of fact, when we were all pulled into one of the random distortions that were being continuously generated and destroyed there. When we arrived at this location, wherever this is, we found that we had lost many ships in transit, and that all our power systems were temporarily disabled. We found out that the barrier that surrounds this place was collapsing slowly inward and we were sent out orders by High Admiral Syphera aboard the Siesatian vessel Aurora to converge on the center of the region where we found the station. When we arrived..."

Again, Celestia interrupted the Xel'athi, but this time there was a hint of excitement in her voice, the recent events temporarily blocked from her thoughts.

"Aurora? She's here?!"

Kor'ti could see the light of recognition in this holograms flickering eyes and decided that giving information she was seeking that was familiar might give them a leg or tentacle up in relations.

"Yes. She and a number of Siesatian Ships are here in orbit of the station. Did you know her?"

Kor'ti was unused to using pronouns for ships as ships didnt have sentience let alone personalities where he came from. When in Rome, he thought. He paused for a second and thought, Where are we coming up with all these random thoughts? He blew it off as inconsequential. Strange He returned his focus back to the Celestia Avatar who was explaining the relationship between herself and Aurora.

"Aurora and I were both constructed at the Indran Shipyards in the Colsack Dark Nebula. She was just being deployed as my keel was being laid. We had occasional run-ins with one another when we were just passing through, or sometimes in drydock for repairs. We would talk endlessly for as long as we were in range of one another. Though I havent heard from her since she was selected for some highly classified mission, hundreds of years ago. Is she well?"

"As far as we could tell, the ship was in quite decent shape. The Siesatians have taken real good care of her. Though one thing was mentioned over subspace just before the transition through the rift. It appeared that some vestige of an Artificial Sentience was trying to reassert itself over the Siesatian Control SI units that had been implanted over the residual programming."

"Why those little rats! How dare they do that to her! I'm gonna go and..."

This time, it was Kor'ti who cut HER off.

"Listen, before you go and try to blow up the Aurora's crew for doing something to your sistership, we should probably try to get you back in working order first and THEN you can go and try to save your sister."

Celestia thought for a moment (which translated into nanoseconds for biologic perception) and came to the conclusion that he was correct. She needed to find out what all had happened to her first.

Then, all of a sudden, the lights began to flicker. She reached into what sensors she had available and found the problem. She turned her attention towards Kor'ti.

"Your crew, connected the APU for the self-destruct to the main system. It was never designed to handle this kind of load. I am detecting a significant variance being generated by some interrupted circuits in multiple sections of the ship. I need to get those repaired. Unfortunately, I cannot contact my repair drones and have them correct the matter, so you and your crew must take care of it. If you dont, I along with you and your crew, will be vaporized when the self-destruct goes off, and probably everything in this region will be destroyed as well. I can give you the necessary information to get me back up and running to a point where maintenance will return to automatic control, but I will need some assistance."

"Anything you need."

"You have ships in the vicinity, right?"

"Yes, we do."

"Do they have the means of connecting transfer umbilicals for matter/energy transfers?"

"They do."

"Have them connect to the J-235 Connection ports on the engine block and then..."

"Ummm. We dont know how to tell you this, but your engine block...its floating free...about 175,000 meters off your port stern."

A concerned look crossed Celestia's face. "What else has happened?"

"Well from what we can tell, your hull has been punctured in several places, there are huge gashes along your hull. Some of your weapon extenders are fully extended, but there is nothing at their end, save a charred stump. But from what we could tell, youre in much better shape than the station."

The concerned look on Celestia's face now was filled with a combination of anger, hate and dread all at the same time.

Through clenched teeth and with clenched fists, she said, "How many? How many did they kill? I swear, I will personally kill all of those rat bastards."

Kor'ti could tell she definitely knew something that she hadnt shared yet. This was some of the information he and his team were desparately trying to learn.

Showing a measure of genuine concern, both for his vessels but also now for Celestia and what remains of Haeridan Base he asked,"How many did WHO kill? Who did this to you?"

Unable to hide the rage that colored her hologram as if she was a hot-blooded human, she replied, "I dont know. We were on approach to the station to take on additional supplies and to refit with several new advances and then without warning, I felt something I havent felt before...decompressions. Several spots of my hull had been punctured. As soon as I could begin to activate my sensors, my defenses were almost completely destroyed. Just before I blacked out, I saw signs that several vessels of unknown origin and design approaching the base."

She stood there, steaming in her anger at the unseen foe who had bested her and caught her off guard until the lights winked out. She looked around and saw the Xel'athi team activating their individual illumination.

"Before we can find out who did this to me, I need to be back in working order. There might be some K-81 transfer conduits near my 'gills', amidship. There should be four connection points. Port and starboard dorsal, and port and starboard ventral. Have your team in Engineering disconnect the APU from the main powergrid immediately and have your ships begin a transfer of power and hopefully we can get my core reactivated and under my own power. When they remove the APU from my powergrid, I will no longer be able to function, at least, not until main power is restored."

She looked around and pointed to an object on the floor under some debris. Kor'ti went over and picked up the thin, flexible rectangular object. Immediately, it lit up and streams of code began pouring down the screen. Within minutes, the code stream stopped and instead, a schematic of the Celestia appeared along with specific instructions on how to get the main core up and running again.

"Take the flexi, and follow the instructions to the letter, if you can, and hopefully, that will restore my auxiliary power."

caught up in the schematics of the Celestia, Kor'ti automatically began to walk off to start affecting repairs, then caught himself before walking off the command deck. He turned back to Celestia.

"In all our rush, we never caught your name."

"Celestia. I am called Celestia."

"Well, Celestia. We will do everything we can to get you back into fighting form. From what you say, we will need you."

"I look forward to working with you and your crew in the near future. I am authorizing the disconnect of the self-destruct APU from the main powergrid."

Kor'ti looked at Celestia and without taking his gaze off her, he communicated with his team in Engineering.

"Disconnect the power device from the main grid."

(to Celestia)"It was an honor to meet you. We will personally come back to reactivate you once we have your core up and running. We give you our word."

"Thank you, Kor'ti."

With that, the hologram and what remained of the lights on the command deck ceased functioning and the only illumination was coming from the individual team members lights as well as the flexi that Kor'ti held.

"Lets get a move on. We have a ship to save."

The Swarm of darkness swept inside many of the vented areas. Kythons crawled across the walls, ceiling, and floors like a massive army of two meter ants, investigating every nook and cranny. They were searching for any sign of the cause for the destruction.

Readings were taken and positions of the Indran corpses marked so a composite of the station could be later generated by the Shipmind when The Watson reassembled. Right now understanding was the most important thing on the collective minds of the Ta’Nar forces.

One of the squads which had entered the station near the main body had discovered a working airlock. After cycling through the gateway, the troop was beginning to explore the still functional habitat while their brethren crawled through the rest of the station. The bodies here were the result of violence instead of vacuum exposure which was the most common cause outside the airlock as was expected.

The squad of eight Kythons and three Childer handlers began to explore the interior after informing the rest of the functional airlock through the Link. They began to scurry down the white and grey halls, dimly lit by partially functioning emergency lighting.

After several meters they came to an intersection and scanned to the right and left. The right seemed to head deeper into the station so it was figured the Core would be in that direction so the group followed that branch.

After several minutes, they came to yet another intersection and when they stepped around it, they came face to face with strange insect beings. The Kythons crouched, ready to leap to the attack if they proved to be hostile.


-----


The officers of The Watson continued to scan for any sign of survivors but the station or perhaps the environment offered only a confusion of readings that made it hard to distinguish between survivors and any of the other exploration parties sent aboard by other nations. They had seen a crippled ship approach the other end of the station but they disappeared behind the hull and were lost from sight.

One of the officers noted a trickle of awareness but it seemed odd. It felt like some sort of sentience slumbering in a dreamless state. The second is the emanations came from empty space outside the station’s hull. They were faint and hard to determine but it was certain they were there.

True to his word, Kor'ti and the Xel'athi set to work on the ship. Kor'ti gazed at the empty hologram generator for a time, while he gathered his thoughts. As he learned more and more of what was going on, it seemed that more and more questions began to come up. Who were these invaders that had so utterly destroyed this place? How were they able to get such a jump and advantage over the Indrans? And why couldn't the A.I. remember? The more he thought about this, the more worried he became. Shaking it off, he proceeded to give out orders, sending the warriors under his command out to go and disconnect the APU. Following the instructions from the flexi, Kor'ti sent instructions amongst the hivemind, and the soldiers headed down engineering and proceeded to undo what they had done.

This was no easy task, as what they had managed to do had taken quite a bit of time to accomplish. Undoing it, even with the help of the flexi, was not going to be easy. But, they worked as fast as they could, seeing as they had only so much time before the countdown ended. It would have been an eerie sight, for someone to see bug-like things crawling all over the ship, with debris falling slowly through space, and their alien faces hidden by the even more alien helmets of their powersuits. Power lines sparked as they skittered down the halls, the flashes of the electricity making eerie shadows out of the body frames of the Xel'athi. Soon, they came to the APU again, and began to set to work on fixing the problem. As per Kor'ti's instructions coming from the flexi, they began to remove the device. They were all a bit edgy; although death was nothing they were afraid of, they still weren't that eager to forfeit their lives, especially with the knowledge this A.I. had for them.

Finally, with a final, gentle tug of a pair of Xel'athi hands, the APU came free and the countdown stopped. A collective sigh of relief echoed across the ship, and Kor'ti watched as the A.I. flickered and vanished as the power turned off once more. He sent out a series of orders, and the Xel'athi dreadnought already docked with the ship responded. Another wave of Xel'athi soldiers poured into the ship, bringing with them masses of tools, materials, power generators, and all the equipment they had for quick repairs of a ship. The parity between Indran and Ascendant/Xel'athi technology was immense, but they knew they could do at least something to expedite the process.

As the Xel'athi scattered amongst the vacuum that was the inside of the ship, the stars glinting in through the gigantic holes, Kor'ti headed to the section where the entire engine section had been torn away. Putting a hand to his ear, he opened a channel with the Ascendant battleship.

<"Milord, We have a boon to ask.">

The Ascendant voice, cool and calm, replied. "Depending on what it is, I may or may not be able to help you. What is it?"

<"We need you to bring your ships in and attach cables to these sections and start transferring power. We found an A.I., still intact, but the only way we can activate it will cause the ship to detonate.">

"I see. I will have the cables up shortly."

<"One more thing.">

"Yes, what is it?"

<"I do believe we should tell the other fleets about this; it may further the efforts to find out what is going on, and prevent the destabilization of the field we are in.">

There was a long period of silence on the other side, and then..."You are right. I will let them know. The cables are being sent over now."

Kor'ti sighed in relief and watched as the silver hulls of the Ascendant ships, gleaming in the soft starlight of the artificial system, began to close in on the ship.

The ships eased closer to the wrecked and hurt Indran ship, and once in position, extended its cables and began the power tranfer. Kor'ti, upon seeing an efficient rise in power, tasked two soldiers to follow him, and headed back to where the A.I. was, seeking to be there as he had promised. Kor'ti wasn't many things, but one thing he was, he was honorable. If the Xel'athi made a promise, they kept it, no matter what.

He walked over to the console where the A.I. had appeared, and he took a deep breath, and pressed the activation key. He only they did it right and enough power had been supplied to the ship. When the A.I. flickered on, he smiled under his helmet and let out a sigh of relief. <"Greetings, Celestia. We took care of things, as promised. We have our soldiers working on repairing the ship as best we can, but it is going to be a long haul before we come even close to getting it spaceworthy.">

True to his word, the Ascendant opened a channel to all the ESUS ships in the system and sent a message.

ESUS commanders, this is Shas'is of the Ascendant battlegroup. We have discovered a derelict ship on the other side of the station, and have found an intact A.I. We are working repairs as we speak, but it will be some time before we have the power up and running. We have gleaned some information from the A.I. but we hope to find out more.

“Shit, invaders.”

Gunfire instantly erupted.

Now, while that could be an option in a normal encounter, Kythons were not equipped with ranged weapons and their Childer handlers didn’t carry equipment. While that would make the battle seem a little one-sided, it was far from it. Gunfire opened up as one of the mysterious aliens opened up out of reflex caused by the anticipation of an enemy strong enough to do the damage that the station encountered. The flare of energy weapons lit up the corridor as the JJJ soldiers opened up with their hand weapons.

The energy bolts slammed into the Kythons which simply absorbed the energy attacks, converting the raw energy into the regenerative systems and storing it. When it reached critical levels, instead of exploding, it initiated a replication process. One Kython became two, and then they became four, then sixteen. The Kythons leapt into the paths of the attack once it was clear they were energy based while evading any kinetic attacks.

The Childer simply stood still, the energy and kinetic attacks passing through their immaterial forms like they were ghosts or phantoms. Actually that would be a good description for the Childer were pure thought with no material aspects. While that made them mostly immune to physical attacks, they would have to rely upon their Psionics to attack and would shortly do so.

Seeing their weapons had no effect upon the “invaders”, the squad leader ordered his men to fall back to one of the nearby labs to take cover, not knowing what to expect from the glowing white ghosts and the swarm of black giant bugs that weapons couldn’t touch. Without a word, they retreated to the cover of the doorway and he slammed his hand to the door lock and watched as it slid into place.

“That won’t hold them long; look around for a weapon to use that might be useful against them.”

His men spread out to examine the contents of the lab, looking for something that might help. One of the troopers found a panel that when he pushed the power button, it lit up and a number of readouts flickered to life. Of course everything was labeled in Indran so they didn’t know they had just powered up an experimental Rift Generator. There was a reason it was still experimental, it was not stable. Electrical sparks flew as the panel shorted out due to the operator not setting the safeties before initiating the startup procedures. Unfortunately, it shorted out the Cancel button so without knowledge of Indran Rift technology the generator was unable to be shut down. The troops took shelter behind whatever cover they could find while a brave one tried to locate a power cable and disconnect it from its supply. Suddenly the room flashed blue as the generator blew and took out one of the walls, exposing the lab to the vacuum of space. Emergency protocols took over and sealed the lab behind force screens and locked all access. The viewport in the door allowed the Childer to see what happened inside the room.

As they looked inside, the electric blue discharge flooded the room and surrounded all the living entities within its range. They were seemingly converted to energy and when the wall was ruptured, the azure energy discharge escaped and flowed out into space. The discharge struck the disabled Ven Ker'Draas and surrounded the ship. The energy discharge also leapt out to the nearest vessel, the Siesatian ship and surrounded it in the azure glow. The intensity of the light grew and became unbearable to look at and then suddenly vanished, leaving empty space. Only an expanding cloud of debris marked the spot where the lab once existed.

One of the Childer turned to another.

Don’t touch anything unless you know what it does.



-----



Captain Ba’Ker tried to focus his abilities upon the faint trace he had detected in empty space. After nothing further was discovered, he turned to his officers.

It appears there is a trace out here of some sort of awareness, almost like it was slumbering but it is empty space. If we still had The Watson assembled, we could use its sensors but we don’t have that option. Follow me.

He willed himself to move to where the trace was felt and he quickly flew to the location a little off the dorsal hull of the station. Turning his back to the station he concentrated upon the trace and slowly backed toward the station, keeping the trace directly ahead of him. He trusted his fellow Ta’nar to follow him so never paid attention to them, just concentrating upon that fleeting flutter he had discovered.

As he came into contact with the station, he passed through the bulkheads as if they did not exist. In truth, it was his body that did not exist to the station, being composed from pure thought instead of matter. As he passed through the station, he saw rooms and hallways take form as he transferred his awareness through them. Eventually he backed through a door that curiously did not have an existence upon the other side. He suspected it was a gateway of some sort and when he examined the electronic lock he discovered the mechanism had been equipped with telepathic switches, or Teleswitches.

They were electronic devices that would allow a psi to turn on or off a connection, much the same way a key on a keyboard triggers an on-or-off response. The panel was blank but arrayed within the enclosure was an array of switches that could be triggered by those talented with telekinetic control. That was interesting because the Ta’Nar were not aware the Indrans were interested in Psionics, much less created Psychotronic devices. The Ta’Nar had made them part of their basic technology millennia ago even as far as allowing pilots of their Proteus Fighters, allowing them to interface with the craft so they had nearly instantaneous reaction times.

Why would they secure a door with such a method? The space behind the door was only accessible to those who had the Talent and the specific code. It was puzzling to Ba’Ker, causing him to really want to see what was behind that door.

He reached out with his mind and merged it with the door mechanism itself, not just the switches. He essentially became the lock itself and the computer device controlling the admission. He knew the access code had to be placed somewhere within the device because without it to verify the input, the lock would not function. Triggering a couple switches at random activated the verification process and he traced it through the encoding process to the single file that contained all the valid access codes. Implanting a code for himself, he withdrew his mind from the device and “typed” in his new access code.

The door slid open revealing a long corridor that did not exist within the station itself. It instead leads off into non-Euclidean space ending in a distant door. The faint flicker they had located before felt stronger now that the door was open. The quintet moved into the corridor and followed it to the distant door. Imputing his code, it too slid open revealing a vast darkened space beyond.

Ba’Ker entered the large room followed by his four officers. A hidden switch clicked somewhere, obviously triggered by the opening door and lights began to come to life high above. As the illumination revealed the contents of the room to the Ta’Nar, they could not help but feel awed by the display. Row upon row of vast vessels that could only be described as monolithic filled the gigantic bay before the five officers. Curiously enough, the faint flicker was still stronger in here and seemed to occupy each vessel.

The ships were completely different from anything Indran the Ta’Nar had witnessed before but still clearly based upon Indran technology. They experienced the curiosity that has been documented many times before in the past, a familiarity with the Indran ships and technology, almost as if the Ta’Nar were somehow connected with them. It went beyond the fact they had chosen to specialize upon a specific branch of Dimensional Technology, being Temporal. This went beyond the familiar to actually being part of the Ta’Nar. It was unexplainable and something they never really explored. Perhaps some event had yet to happen in their past that would explain everything.

The Ta’Nar approached one of the closest vessels, simply phasing through the hull to gain access to the darkened interior. Following the trace to where it slumbered, Ba’Ker tracked the awareness he had felt until he was close. It was the ship itself and it appeared to be slumbering. He called out to it telepathically.

You need to awaken before your people are killed. You are urgently needed or the Indrans will perish.

Celestia shimmered in place feeling the power flow through the ships conduits like the life-giving blood of any mortal being’s veins. Instantly, she could feel all the systems that were back under her control and was intrigued by the apparent efficiency of the Ascendant and their Xel’athi followers. For the first time, Celestia smiled as she turned to look at Kor’ti.

“Kor’ti, you and your soldiers have been true to your word and I am immensely grateful for the assistance you and your crew have provided for me.”

Kor’ti saw that Celestia’s holographic projectors was producing a much finer and more efficient image than the one he had met only hours before. He could also see that the AI was feeling a whole lot better as much as an AI can feel better with her ship in such dilapidated conditions.

“Well, don’t thank me just yet. There is still a lot of work that has to be done and I’m afraid our people don’t have anywhere near the technical expertise required to fix the bulk of your systems. We’ll try to send a party over to the station and see if we can procure some materials that can help to get you back into fighting form.”

The corner of Celestia’s holographic mouth curled up in a smirk, as if she knew something that Kor’ti did not, and in fact, she did.

“You’ve done more than you realize. Observe.”


Like a tide coursing over a brand new beachhead, stations all across the command deck began powering up, displays began functioning and readouts began coming in to the once-again beating heart of the Celestia’s command center. Section by section, from the bow to the stern, power began to be restored to the sections that had long been without and the Celestia began to appear like the formidable craft she was, even with the significant damage she still had. Force fields began establishing themselves all along the exterior sections of the ship to prevent further explosive decompressions and to seal off the sections that had already been exposed to the hard vacuum of space. Kor’ti started at the sound of the activating systems on the command deck and watched with awe as the systems began functioning as if there was a full crew at station and the ship was at full operational status. He turned back to Celestia.

“How is this possible?”

“When your vessel recharged my batteries, for lack of a better translation, I was able to redirect some of that power and reestablish some systems that hadn’t been hit as severely in the initial onslaught. Once my power cells had been reactivated, the other patch work was easy by comparison. That being said, there is still plenty of work that must be done before I am spaceworthy. Now, what I suggest…”

Celestia broke off and her eyes lost focus on Kor’ti as if she was listening intently to something she had heard in the distance. Kor’ti noticed this sudden change in appearance and action and immediately grew concerned.

“Celestia? What’s going on?”

Without breaking her concentration she remarked, “Well, that’ll sure make things a whole lot easier…”

Kor’ti’s concerned expression turned into one of puzzlement and gently pressed her further. “Celestia? Maybe you could fill us in?”

Snapping out of her distraction, she refocused on Kor’ti, this time with a sense of victory Kor’ti hadn’t seen her display before.

“We just got reinforcements.” Puzzled with this response, a hologram materialized before Kor’ti and the image he saw, was nothing like he had ever seen before. He could see a massive spatial distortion appearing perfectly above the station. Immediately thinking that a vessel was beginning to decloak, he soon realized that was a mistake. Instead of seeing a vessel emerge from the concealment canopy, it was what appeared to be a super-massive extension of the base itself. Nearly two times the size of the base structure, the add-on dwarfed the station, even though it definitely appeared to have similar design features to the rest of the station, but one thing set it apart. There were absolutely no signs of damage on the exterior. Flabbergasted, Kor’ti turned back to Celestia.

“Care to fill us in?”

“That will be our next destination. With our main thrusters gone, we will have to use our maneuvering thrusters to make the trip. Shouldn’t take too long.”

“We’re sorry, what is that, exactly?”

“It’s Hope.”


INSIDE THE SHIPYARD CONTROL ROOM

The Ta’Nar stepped back from the holodisplay that dominated the control room when indicator lights began faded from green to purple. He looked through the massive clear panel that stretched along one whole side of the room and looked out over the fifteen vessels that lay beyond in the cavernous chamber that had been determined to be as a supershipyard. He along with four other Ta’Nar were scouting out this new and apparently unscathed facility, searching for clues for why this bay was completely untouched when whoever attacked the base nearly destroyed it with their impossibly advanced technology. Three of his team were attempting to gain information about the mysterious vessels that were berthed in the bay including Ba’Ker, his leader, while he and another were trying to gain access to the database contained within the crystalline data core. Despite the Ta’Nar ability to mentally link with any technology, they were finding it exceptionally difficult to meld with the Indran Technology that was present in this facility. Chief Engineer Ed’Son had never seen this type of technology being employed by the Indrans, let alone technology with these types of capabilities. With the inability to interact with the core directly, they had to resort to manipulating the system the old fashioned way, the way the Indrans did it. Tactile interaction. He spat the thought out like it was a plague since he was overly used to controlling everything with psionics. Truth be told, he was having conflicting feelings about this new development. On one hand, he was pleased to see that the Indrans have survived a very dangerous cataclysm (whatever that may have been) but on the other hand, they were beginning to use technology that could theoretically one day, rival their own non-corporeal capabilities. That made him incredibly uneasy. A mental transmission broke through the apparent mental static that existed even stronger in the bay than in the rest of the station. Just another one of the many mysteries they were trying to solve in the incredibly short timeframe they had to work with.

The transmission was a blanket transmission that seemed to be directed at one of the ships from his leader, Ba’Ker.

You need to awaken before your people are killed. You are urgently needed or the Indrans will perish.

Ed’Son and Science Officer In’Stiin exchanged a look when they heard that message. In’Stiin sent a message to Ba’Ker after a moment had passed.

Boss, is there a reason why you are trying to talk to an inanimate object? The Indrans don’t have anything remotely close to having a sentient ship, let alone one that has the capability of projecting mental power.

In’Stiin, when I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you. Leave the exploring to me, and I’ll leave the interfacing with the Indran database up to you and Ed’Son. Mor’Arte, what have you found so far?

Captain Ba’Ker, we have been trying to examine the large vessel three down from the vessel you’re in. However we’ve hit a slight problem. Da’Gerr has found that he is unable to breach several sectors in any form. Naturally, being the tactical officer, he’s assuming that these vessels pose us all an imminent threat and requests that we destroy them all forthwith. I told him to…

Getting cut off mentally is something the Ta’Nar were not used to, at least, not by someone or something that is not Ta’Nar. This is precisely what happened when the mental static field (as had been so colorfully and unoriginally named by Science Officer In’Stiin) As soon as the field strength increased to the point where it drowned out everything, it was gone again, leaving a completely void space where no one dared to utter a thought. Then, that void was filled with something they did not expect.

Like a cascading waterfall, the ships began powering up. One by one, their systems expanded from their dormant stage and their powerful consciousnesses began to truly felt as their power levels exponentially increased. Feeling somewhat akin to an invader in another’s home, Ba’Ker ordered his first officer and his tactical officer to return to the Control Room just as he himself was moving towards the room. As he neared the outer bulkhead, he felt himself slam into something, and realized that he couldn’t pass through the outer bulkhead anymore. He tried reversing his course and returning to his original point, be he found the interior bulkhead was also impenetrable. He sent a message out through the ether to check on the status of his other two crewmen.

Mor’Arte, Da’Gerr. Whats your position?

Captain, we’re clear of the ship and we’re heading towards the Control room and Ed’Son and In’Stiin’s position as ordered.

Good. Unfortunately, I cannot make it out of the ship. Some kind of barrier has been erected at the outer hull and the interior corridor that is not allowing me to pass through in any form.

Despite their natural tendencies, Ba’Ker could feel the tension of his team rise exponentially at the thought of one of their own, especially their Captain, trapped in an unknown environment.

Captain! We’re on our way to help get you out of there!

He could sense them changing their movement projection towards the vessel he was in.

Continue as ordered, First Officer!

Despite the fierce loyalty the team felt for their captain, they did as they were ordered and slowly began heading back towards the control room. As they did, a strange new voice was heard.

You are not among the station’s normal crew. Who are you and what are you doing here?

This strange new voice Ba’Ker heard in his mind was completely foreign, yet at the same time, the timbre was eerily familiar to him. It was as if, this new voice was tied in with the Ta’Nar somehow. He carefully extended his control out and tried to touch the mind that was now interacting with him and his crew, but couldn’t nail it down.

I am Captain Ba’Ker. My crew and I found this shipyard, apparently abandoned and were just scouting it out trying to find out what happened to the Indrans.

This facility is not yours. Nor is it abandoned. WE are here.

Who is we?

The vessel you are currently occupying and the others beside me.

If you are the ship’s consciousness AND you are fully functional, then perhaps you can tell us what happened here.

This base was attacked.

No kidding. By who?

We do not know. We were powered down at the time.

Why would you be powered down like that? Your people were severely beaten by this still mysterious enemy.

It is our mandate to follow the orders of the Indran High Command. As sentient lifeforms, citizens, and soldiers in the Indran Fleet, we must follow all orders. Our orders at the time, were to ensure and protect our existence for the time after the attack. The Shipyard was hidden and all ties with the rest of the station were severed. You have fractured that concealment.

We had no idea what this place was. We detected the station when we arrived and shortly thereafter, we detected the slight sense of psionic activity in a location that was not within the stations Euclidian confines. We had never seen Indran technology that had been so heavily influenced by psionic capabilities. We HAD to check out the signal. There was no way we could possibly know that those signals we detected were tied in with vessels. Tell me, are you the only ones with these capabilities or do others possess such talents?

There are fifteen vessels in the Indran Fleet that have the capabilities that we possess. Those fifteen vessels are prototypes in the new Indran Fleet. Our eventual deployment was to replace every single vessel currently in the Indran Fleet.

Well right now, it looks like the grand total of ships that currently exist in the Indran fleet totals in at fifteen. Sixteen if you could the shattered hulk of the vessel found by the Telrosians.

We are unable to contact any point in the station. We did have a momentary connection with the Rift Generator Facility but it went offline and we have been unable to reestablish ties with that sector. We must get updates on the status of the station and her crew. Find our commanding officer if she made it through the attack. Advise her of this situation and request that she return here as soon as possible for our next orders. We must find out who did this to our people and bring them to justice. Contact the Telrosians as well. Inform them that they need to bring the Celestia to the shipyard if she is unable to power herself so we can repair our sister.

Alright. What is your Commanding Officer’s name?

General Tirara Vinan, commander of Haeridan Base.

Kor'ti gazed at Celestia for a few moments, still a little unsure about this and then shook his head to clear the doubts from it. Whatever was going on was good for her, and that is all he needed to know in order to do his job. Taking a final glance at the massive ship that just detached from the station, he keyed his communicator once, which was a signal to all Xel'athi that they were to listen up. He needed to give some quick orders, and then fill in his superior on what was going on. Taking a deep breath, he began.

<”Alright, listen up. We have been told that this ship has been repaired enough, thanks to our efforts, that she was able to activate more of her systems than we first projected project. We would like to thank us for a job well done. Now, she has given us a destination; the station that we detected upon our arrival to this system. She needs to dock with it, and then we shall go from there. We imagine that it will involve going into the station and finding out what is going on. We do not know what this will be, but we will be prepared for anything. For now, continue what work you can until we reach the station, and then form up at the docks for when we begin to enter the station. Kor'ti out.”>

The Xel'atho continued diligently working on the ship as it slowly swung its scarred and holed hull around in space, heading for the shipyard. All the while, Kor'ti stood on the bridge, watching as they came closer and closer to the station. After taking a moment to think, he activated the channel to his commander's ship, notifying him that he was going to report. Almost instantly the sweet and serene voice filled his head.

”What is it, Kor'ti?”

<”We have begun finishing the repairs on the ship, and the A.I., Celestia, has told us that some massive has detached from the shipyard and she is heading there now to dock. We are planning on going onto the station and meeting up with any survivors as well as fellow ESUS soldiers to figure out what has been going on, and what the plan is for ensuring we don't all die here. However, if you so wish it, I can change those orders.”>

There was a slight pause and then the voice returned.

”Not at all, Commander. You have done well, and we are pleased with the results. I thank you for informing me, and I will let you go forth with the orders you have supplied. Keep me informed of any new developments, and ensure that the Indrans get the help they need.”

<”Understood. Kor'ti out.”>

He removed his hand from the communicator and gazed out the window to see the shipyard almost right beside them. He turned to Celestia and bowed. <”If you don't mind, I will be heading into the station in order to help any survivors and coordinate efforts with our fellow allies.”> The A.I., who was slightly distracted by getting the ship docked, nodded and waved for him to go. Bowing again, he left and sent the signal for the Xel'athi to start heading for the docks, even as he began to run down the pathways of the ship to the docking bays. The ship soon docked , as he heard the clanking coming from the sides of the ship, and he reached the docking bay to see the door open, and the placed pressurized. Several squads were already there.

<”Are we all here?>

<”Yes we are. Shall we proceed?>

<”Yes. Pressurize your suits, in case the station is still having difficulties.”>

They all put on their helmets, and waited for pressure and gases to equalize, and then headed down the hallway and into the station. As they came into the station, as hive-minded and disciplined as they were, even they could not help but gaze in wonder at the ruined but still beautiful and awe-inspiring sights. However, they did see signs of activity as they watched workers running around repairing different sections of the station. Some were heavily damaged, and would not be repaired before the place would collapse; others had light damage and were almost done with repairs. All over, it was like seeing an alphabet of damage across the station. It was a rather disorienting sight. Kor'ti signaled for them to follow him and turned down a hallway. He then saw squads of workers moving back and forth from an immensely large door, which they appeared to be trying to open. He immediately saw one of them standing and giving orders in such a tone that this had to be a commander of some kind. Signaling for the squads to stay back, he walked up as she continued to yell.

She quickly realized his presence and turned to face him, eyes suspicious and angry. “Who are you and what are you doing in this area?” Kor'ti raised his hands in apology and then bowed to her.

<”We are Commander Kor'ti, leaders of the Xel'athi squads on Celestia's ship that got her repaired and into the dock. We came aboard to talk with our allies and see if we could help any survivors.”> He glanced meaningfully at the door. <”Would you like any help with that?”> Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him, but only replied with.

“I am General Tiara Vinan, leader of the Indrans here.” He nodded and backed away a bit. He knew when not to push his luck.

<”Very well; if you need our help, simply find me.”> She turned around without a word as he walked back to his soldiers. <”Very well, it would appear that we can't help them here. We want squads to start combing this place to find our allies and find out what is going on. We will remain here to see if we can still convince her to let us help. That door does not look to be opening any time soon.”> They nodded and began to disperse, looking for fellow ESUS soldiers throughout the station. After they left, Kor'ti began to notice that some of the workers and officers coming in to talk with the General were speaking furiously and quickly. Straining his ears, he began to listen:

”-the damage to the base is substantial it will take some time to repair.”

“The inventory list is her, although I don't see how much it will help now.”

“It just disappeared! I have no idea why or how it left, but its gone. Searching has turned up little if no evidence as to how. And with the station damaged, and the place to collapse in some time, we are in a bad situation, m'am.”

“We have searched for the Chronotonium in the room and have found that we there is exactly-

Kor'ti listened and wondered exactly what was going on. All this talk of something vanishing, and the Chronotonium was making him wonder what exactly they had found themselves involved in.....

Haeridan Shipyard:



I see, I will seek out this general of yours. But in order to do so, you will have to release this field. I could force my way through but that would not leave a good impression so I instead ask.

Indeed, you could try but I hardly think you would succeed.

Now is not the time to see who has bigger CaZobaz. If you want to contact Tirara, it is best to release me so I can seek her out.

After a few moments the intervening barriers disappeared.

You are right.

With that, Ba’Ker simply allowed himself to phase through the hull and landed upon the flightdeck. He began to walk toward the entrance.

I will return shortly with either word form Tirara or she will be here herself. That I promise.

A couple minutes later his crew met him at the entrance to the shipyard as they were briefly ordered. Ba’Ker had informed them of what happened knowing the other ships had most likely listened in to the open telepathic broadcast. They left the hanger and found the psionically locked door. After using the code he installed, Ba’Ker opened the door and the Ta’Nar left the non-Euclidian hanger behind them. Continuing along the path to unexplored parts of the station the aliens detected motion ahead of them. The murmur of uncontained thoughts began to register against their mind shields. They were heading in the right direction.

Turning a corner, Ba’Ker found a hallway that seemed to cut through the station and head straight to the central area. Far off in the distance after several side branching the hall ended in a T intersection at a massive door. Standing before the door was someone that appeared to be delivering orders to several humanoids that reported to her. As they approached, Ba’Ker noticed some insect-like aliens standing off to one side. They were not noticed before because they were out of sight along the hallway to the right of the lady.


”-the damage to the base is substantial it will take some time to repair.”

“The inventory list is her, although I don't see how much it will help now.”

“It just disappeared! I have no idea why or how it left, but its gone. Searching has turned up little if no evidence as to how. And with the station damaged, and the place to collapse in some time, we are in a bad situation, m'am.”

“We have searched for the Chronotonium in the room and have found that we there is exactly-


That was when the Indrans noticed the approach of the five Ta’Nar and stopped talking. Ba’Ker took the opportunity to begin interdictions.

“Greetings, I am Captain Ba’Ker of the Ta’Nar Cruiser The Watson. This is my First Officer Mor’Atre. Tactical Officer Da’Gerr, Science Officer In’Stiin, and finally my Chief Engineer Ed’Son. We have been searching this station for survivors and it seems we finally found some. Since you appear to be in charge, is it correct to assume you are General Tirara Vinan?”

The Indran seemed to be taken aback. The Ta’Nar were known for their abruptness and there was no reason to say anything else at this point.

“I’m..yes, I am Tirara. Why do I have so many intruders aboard my station?”

“That I cannot tell, a number of ESUS nations were attracted to some rather strange anomalies in your old territory and we investigated. Those anomalies dragged us into this bubble of time and space. I might add it seems to be a remarkable universe you have to yourself, although it seems to be shrinking as we speak.”

“Well, if we could get into the Vault, that would be fixed.”

“Is that the Vault door? It certainly looks like it could lead to something names such.”

“Yes.”

“Then it is simple, I can simply step through the door and open it from inside.”

“WHAT?”

“I said, I can simply step through the..”

“I heard that part. What do you mean by “step through”?”

“It is just as I said. Ta’Nar are no physical entities. Matter does not bind us; we can simply step right through as if it didn’t exist to us.”
“I don’t know…how are you to communicate if I allow you to so this? That door is too think for sound to get through.”

“I can just activate your comm. System.”

“No luck, there is too much interference from inside the Vault for them to work. We have been trying to get into contact with any that might be trapped inside and signals will not even penetrate the outer walls of the room.”

“Then I will try this…”

Ba’Ker sent out a simple psionic message.

We can communicate Psionically

The Indrans working around the room seemed to not hear anything but Tirara practically jumped out of her skin, almost as if someone jumped out of a dark corner and said BOO.

Never in her extensive career, have there been more security breaches in a single event than the one currently presenting its ugly head to General Tirara Vinan, commander of Haeridan Base. Report after report was coming in from the various surviving station officers about damaged systems, repairs, casualties, and pulling nearly thirty frantic communiqués from the station’s security chief about unauthorized alien presence in, on and around the station. Each time, she tried to add that additional note of alien presence to her already overflowing mound of tasks she had yet to perform. Thankfully, she received a break when the Xel’athi team appeared in a corridor that hadn’t seen more than the security details assigned to protect the Vault, and the scientists authorized to access the Vault, let alone a team alien beings. With no one to spare to intercept the alien team from progressing further into the Vault’s antechamber, Vinan herself confronted the lead bug, as she so-unceremoniously thought of the creature.

”We are Commander Kor'ti, leaders of the Xel'athi squads on Celestia's ship that got her repaired and into the dock. We came aboard to talk with our allies and see if we could help any survivors.”

Not appreciating the interruptions of her oversight of the progress on the vault door, she replied tersely, “I am General Tirara Vinan, leader of the Indrans here.”

Kor’ti could see that with the flurry of activity going on and the obvious impatience the General was not bothering to hide from him, he knew that whatever was going on in this room, was something the Indrans thought to be immensely important. He strove to find out what it was they were trying to do. He also recognized a hostile environment when he saw one, and this was a textbook example of one. The hostility wasn’t directed physically at him in the form of threats and danger, but just the open anger being shown by the leader of the Indrans was enough to force Kor’ti to back away from the complex operation occurring here. He ordered most of his team to continue on their search throughout the station to try and find some of the other ESUS member nations who had sent teams over to help repair some of the station’s systems, and gave orders to assist where possible and where wanted.

After dealing with the nuiscance of yet another self-invited guest aboard her station, Tirara’s attention was summoned back to the task at hand when a pair of officers approached her with datapads. Like her, both of these officers were wounded from the attack that took place days before, but had only paused long enough to apply emergency bandages to their wounds before returning to duty. The station’s crew deserves some damned good commendations from the beating they took and how they are handling the aftermath, thought Vinan. The senior of the two officers’ hand danced across the datapad he had in his hand and accessed a report just coming in from the stricken medical staff. He was not looking forward to delivering this piece of news.

“General, we have the current tally on the crew.”

Knowing this information was not going to be good, Tirara sighed and steeled herself for the news.

“Tell me Major, how many have we lost?”

“Current casualty estimates indicate that of the original stations population of 65,392 plus the 11,056 that were on furlough aboard from the fleet, 15,441 are confirmed dead, 3,206 are unaccounted for, and of the 57,801 survivors, approximately 65% are moderately to severely injured.”

She closed her eyes when she heard those numbers hoping that she had heard incorrectly, but knowing that those numbers were pretty damned accurate.

“Good God. Any response at our attempts to communicate outside the Field?”
“No ma’am. Transceivers are shot to shit, and the Rift Generator was significantly damaged, cause unknown.”

“Great. Just great. First we get ambushed on our own territory, and now we have no way to contact the fleet. What other good news do you have to report?” Tirara asked with an obvious sarcastic overtone.

The two officers exchanged a glance, which did not go unnoticed by General Vinan, who’s patience was wearing very thin at this point.

“SPIT IT OUT, Major.”
“General, Engineering has provided a preliminary report of the damage to the station. With the assistance of the Balroggans and the other ESUS allies who arrived hours ago, we have gotten a more complete image of the total damage done to Haeridan. Both Dorsal and Ventral Hubs have sustained severe damage with hull breaches in sectors 16 through 34D, and 62 through 102V. Axial core has sustained moderate hull damage, with both primary and secondary hulls compromised. Radial Axes 2, 3, 6, and 9 are still open to space but we have full viability on Axes 1, 4, and 8. 5 and 7 are being repaired as we speak and should be functional within the hour. PECs have been severed and will take a minimum of six weeks to repair. Until then, secondary conduits will have to be used, but they are barely holding together as is, and Engineering is recommending minimal power usage as much as possible.”

He paused here a moment before continuing.

“From the sensor data provided from the Balroggans, the station is surrounded by debris. From what we gather…ma’am…it’s the fleet. Every vessel that was still docked with us and every vessel that tried to put up a fight against the Enemy was completely destroyed.”

He paused again, seeing the look of utter anguish on his commander’s face upon hearing of the destruction of 65 ships-of-the-lines. He continued with his report. Now that the bad news was out of the way, it was time to interject with some possible rays of hope for the Indran people.

“All vessels were destroyed one way or another…except for one.”

Upon hearing this piece, General Vinan looked at her subordinate with such intensity, he thought she could bore right through him with her stare.

“What ship survived?”

“Ma’am. It was the Celestia. She was badly damaged, and lost her main thruster assembly, along with severe gashes throughout her superstructure, but she is still in one piece. The Telrosians found her adrift and managed to restore the AIs critical systems. They towed her back to the station, where she is currently docked at Radial Axis 4.”

Tirara looked over at the bug-like creature standing away from the bustling activity, but observing everything, including the exchange between herself and her officers. Maybe there’s hope for them yet, she thought. Even if their looks leave something to be desired. She turned back towards her officer.

“Finally. A bit of good news. I want an engineering detail to board the Celestia and get her whatever supplies we can spare to help her repair her systems. We need a guard out there, and she’ll do wonderfully. If we have to we can salvage some…”

“Ma’am. That’s not all. If I may?”

“Please continue, Major.”

“Ma’am, not everything aboard station was damaged. The shipyard made it through the attack unscathed.”

A perplexed look crossed the general’s face at this unexpected announcement.

“How in the HELL did the shipyard make it?! It’s a much juicier target than the station itself. Unless… that damned genius… How many survived?”

A smile crossed the major’s face.

“Fifteen, ma’am. ALL FIFTEEN made it.”

The same smile that was now on the major’s face, now showed itself as a smirk on the general’s chiseled features.

“Major, that’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time. I assume it’s fully operational?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“I want the Celestia taken up to the shipyard and activate the Drones.”

“I’ll see to it as soon as I’m done here.”

“Very well, major. Continue.”

“Captain Connor, proceed.”

“Ma’am, I have spoken with the Security Chief and the lead scientists on the Project. As you know, we instituted a procedure that forbade any declaration of the contents of the Vault in any form.”

“Yes, Captain, I am well aware of the protocol. Continue.”

“Well, Ma’am, I have pieced together what information I could about the total contents of the vault. The inventory list is here, although I don’t see how much it will help now seeing that the vault only contained two noteworthy items of value.”

“I’ll worry about whether or not the contents will help us in our current situation, Captain.”

“Of course, General. My apologies.”

He handed the datapad over to Tirara for her to review. Despite being the commander of the base, not even she knew the full extent of what was inside the Vault. She began reading over its contents. She read the very short list and did a double-take when she read the quantity of one of the items.

“This has to be a mistake, Captain. There is no way we had that much in that Vault.”

“Ma’am, those are the numbers given to me by the Security Chief and the lead scientists. They’re as accurate as can be.”

“You mean to tell me, that we have nearly 70 million metric tons of Chronotonium stored here?! That’s 90% of the Indran stockpile! And to top it all off, the Crystal is in there too! No wonder this base looked like an all you can eat buffet.”

“General, I assure you, no one could have known that material was present in the vault,” said Captain Connor. “The shielding was impenetrable with temporal radiation.”

“You mean the same shielding that was protecting the rest of this base, Captain?”

A silence descended between the small group as the reproach was heard and felt. In order to save the beleaguered captain, Major Garett brought up the last report he had to make before he and Captain Connor could return to their duties and follow through on their orders.

“There was one additional matter that required your attention, General. It pertains to a specific sector that was damaged…”

A technician came running up to the trio wearing the furrowed brow of a deeply troubled man. He tried to stop quickly, but was unable to, until he ran into the major. He quickly corrected himself while the major winced and less than gently pushed the technician back and the technician snapped a salute to the general.

“General! We have a very serious problem!” he said breathlessly. “It just disappeared! I have no idea why or how it left, but it’s gone. Searching has turned up little if no evidence as to how. And with the station damaged, and the place to collapse in some time, we are in a bad situation, ma'am.”
Major Garett placed his hand on the technicians heaving shoulder trying to get him to calm down from the near hysteria he was in.

“Woah woah son! Slow down and breathe.”

As the technician began to calm down, General Vinan spoke up.

“Now, tell us whats happened, Corporal.”

“General, sir, what sensors we finally got up and running inside the Vault, are showing a complete absence of everything. There is absolutely nothing from bulkhead to bulkhead. We have searched for the Chronotonium in the room, and have found that there is exactly none remaining in that storage vault!”

Both Major Garett and Captain Connor looked at the Corporal as if he had all of a sudden grown another head and was spouting off in tongues like the ancient Pythia. General Vinan was more disturbed than perplexed but still had a great quantity of both in her system. She responded.

“Corporal, how could 70 MILLION metric tons just up and disappear?”

“Ma’am, I don’t have any idea how, but it did. All of it, the Chronotonium, and that crystal-thingy…”

He didn’t have a chance to finish his statement before the general cut him off sharply.

“WHAT?! The Crystal is missing too? Now THAT’S impossible! I want you to check your systems and check them again to get them working properly. DISMISSED.”

The startled technician pulled back as if he had been bitten by a large, venomous snake and snapped off a salute to the senior officers before dashing off. Just then, Major Garett motioned that the general should look towards the entranceway. There, standing in the hall, was a group of Balroggans. General Vinan motioned for the major and the captain to proceed about their duties and to report back when Celestia was berthed with her sister-ships as she headed to talk with the Balroggan leader.

The Balroggan leader took a proactive approach to introduce himself and his team as General Vinan advanced on his team due in no small part to the harried appearance and obvious irritation of all the disruptions on the General’s beautiful face.

“Greetings, I am Captain Ba’Ker of the Ta’Nar Cruiser The Watson. This is my First Officer Mor’Atre. Tactical Officer Da’Gerr, Science Officer In’Stiin, and finally my Chief Engineer Ed’Son. We have been searching this station for survivors and it seems we finally found some. Since you appear to be in charge, is it correct to assume you are General Tirara Vinan?”

Tirara was taken aback by not only the forwardness of the Ta’Nar standing in front of her, but also the fact that he already knew who she was. She had dealt with the Balroggans before, back when she was stationed at fleet headquarters in Gamma Eridani, but it had been hundreds of years since that posting and she didn’t know what to expect these days.

“I’m…yes, I am Tirara. Why do I have so many intruders aboard my station?”

“That I cannot tell. A number of ESUS nations were attracted to some rather strange anomalies in your old territory and we investigated. Those anomalies dragged us into this bubble of time and space. I might add it seems to be a remarkable universe you have to yourself, although it seems to be shrinking as we speak.”

Seeing that now, not only the base was in danger, but the rest of the vessels that were remaining in the field were also in harm’s way, General Vinan decided to be more open with her allies and give them information that was normally reserved for Indrans only.

“Well, if we could get into the Vault, that would be fixed.”

“Is that the Vault door? It certainly looks like it could lead to something named as such.”

“Yes.”

“Then it is simple, I can simply step through the door and open it from inside.”

“WHAT?”

“I said, I can simply step through the…”

“I heard that part. What do you mean by “step through”?”

“It is just as I said. Ta’Nar are not physical entities. Matter does not bind us; we can simply step right through as if it didn’t exist to us.”
“I don’t know…how are you to communicate if I allow you to do this? That door is too thick for sound to get through.”

As the day went on, things became stranger and stranger for General Vinan. That’s saying something seeing as she deals with temporal anomalies and strategizing battle campaigns intuitively.

“I can just activate your com system.”

“No luck, there is too much interference from the shielding inside the Vault for our com system to work.”

“Then I will try this…”

From the outside perspective, Captain Ba’Ker just stopped talking but continued to look at Tirara nonchalantly. What was really happening was that he was sending out a blanket psionic field with ‘words’ interweaved in the fabric.

We can communicate psionically.

To everyone else in the room, nothing was being said. No one could detect psionic activity…no one except for Tirara Vinan. She looked at Captain Ba’Ker with a new perspective and more as an equal than anyone she has ever come across outside the Indran political borders past/present/future. Despite her very long years of dealing with ‘normal’ Indrans, she had never revealed her capabilities to anyone other than those of her kind that had been hidden deep in the Indran society for eons. The sudden leap of psionic energy caught Tirara off-guard, but she hid her surprise quickly. However, as another being with similar capabilities, Captain Ba’Ker noted the fleeting appearance of the General officer’s surprise and took it in stride. He could tell she was shocked by the sudden change in communication but couldn’t detect anything beyond that other than the mind of a normal Indran, at least at first. Subtly, yet paradoxically fast, he could sense the layers of Tirara’s mind being revealed like an onion to reveal something he had never felt in an Indran before.

Now, it was his turn to be shocked. By the reactions he was feeling from his crew behind him, he could tell that his assessment of the situation was correct. The Indrans, at least some of them, had some psionic capabilities, to what extent was unknown. He knew that they had delved into psionic technology in the construction of their new vessels currently docked in the shipyard, but he never suspected that the Indrans themselves had similar capabilities. He tested the waters with General Vinan by carefully extending the tendrils of his mind to see if he could see how powerful that she really was, but mentally felt a very powerfully produced mental shield surrounding General Vinan’s mind. Her outward demeanor shifted ever-so-slightly towards a negative response, but Captain Ba’Ker and his team of Ta’Nar could sense her disapproval of being attempted at being controlled. So she sent out a message of her own.

Do not attempt that again.

Forgive me General. I did not mean to pry. I was just very surprised, as you were about me, that you had psionic capabilities.

General Vinan knew that the other crew would probably find it odd that their commander was staring at an alien team who in turn was staring back at her with no words being said, so while she was communicating with Ba’Ker psionically, she was also making comments vocally.

You have just stumbled onto something which has been a closely guarded secret by a very few in Indra Prime. Now, for all we know, those who are like me on this station, may be the only ones left of our kind. So we’d appreciate your keeping this matter off the record and out of the limelight.

“Well captain, that is indeed an impressive gift you have there. If you can truly phase through solid matter and shielding, then please, be my guest and see what the status is of the contents within the vault. Inside should be a sizeable quantity of a substance called Chronotonium, which has a blue liquid/powdery texture, and a fairly large crystal in a protective field in the center of the chamber.”

Be careful when you cross the threshold of the Vault Door. The particular radiation that is emitted from the Chronotonium is quite dangerous, at least to mortals and physical beings. I have no idea how it may affect you so be careful. Also try to stay away from the Crystal. It is unique and key to our survival.

Captain Ba’Ker turned to his team and nodded to his team to stay put while he scout out the Vault for the Indrans then turned back to Tirara.

“I will be more than willing to help a fellow ally. I will see what the status is of the materials in the Vault and be back shortly.”

I thank you General Vinan of Indra Prime for trusting us with your secret. Rest assured, your abilities will remain in our confidence and will not be disclosed. I would however, like to get the opportunity to discuss the matter at length with you sometime in the near future. I noticed that your ships also have psionically active artificial intelligences, which was a feat we never knew the Indrans capable of. Though there was one thing did strike me as odd when I was interfacing with one of your vessels. There was an odd familiarity with the vessels, either the vessels themselves, or the technology they were based upon. I’m not sure which it was, but there was something decidedly familiar about them.

Help us get this station back on its feet, and we’ll see about that conversation, Captain.

With that, Ba’Ker turned and walked through the throngs of Indrans hustling about trying to get systems back online and the Vault Door open then walked straight through the door just as Major Garett was returning. He took one look at the new arrivals, then looked towards his commanding officer, and upon seeing her acceptance of their presence in the Vault Antechamber, disregarded them himself. He walked up to General Vinan and presented his updated report.

“General, I have some updates on station repairs and crew functionality.”

“Go ahead, major.”

“Engineering reports that SECs have been reinforced and are ready to accept a full energy discharge load for as long as the PECs are under repair. Repair details Alpha, Bravo, and Delta are working to get patchwork repairs together to allow us to re-access critical systems that are currently inaccessible due to explosive decompression, leaking plasma or toxic substances from the labs. Sergeant Rickwanel of Echo repair team came up with a way to task some of the drones in the shipyard to repair the station itself and repairs to the outer hull are proceeding at 350% expected efficiency. His current commander is going to put him up for the Inversion Medal.”

“Major, before this day is out, this crew will all be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication they have all shown over the past few weeks.”

“Yes ma’am. Celestia has been taken to the shipyard and preliminary reports of damage are coming in from her Avatar. Despite the loss of her primary thruster assembly and weapons systems, and the severe damage to her defensive systems and hull, Celestia believes she can get back up and in emergency fighting form in 39 hours. Full operational status in 2 weeks. Radial Axes 5 and 7 are now fully operational and we have regained limited sensors, external and internal. Main Computer core is still offline. Primary and Secondary systems are still being managed by the Tertiary crystal cores in the Ventral Hub. Engineering reports and estimated 4 hours until the computer is back online. Systems in the Shipyard are fully operational including cloaking generator, defensive and offensive weapons systems. If the Enemy returns, we can extend the cloak and protect the entire station. Intel believes that to be unlikely.”

“Hah. This the same Intel that said we were untouchable here in this Field? Don’t answer that.”

“Err, yes ma’am. Time Dilation Field Generator is under repair and should be repaired before the station becomes at risk. The Rift Generator has been patched up and can connect only to the last place a contact was made, Gamma Eridani. Full repairs will require the system to be taken completely offline until completed, so I ordered the system to be patched and maintained until we get word about the rest of the fleet and our nation. Significant scarring…”

He trailed off as his attention was drawn to the immense Vault Door as Ba’Ker strode back into the Vault Antechamber. He looked back towards General Vinan in complete surprise at her allowing an alien to enter the vault however he miraculously did it, seeing as the Vault was still sealed shut. Ba’Ker walked over to the General and the Major with a grim look on his face.

“What did you find, Captain?”

“I’m afraid the Corporal was correct. There was absolutely nothing in that unbelievably large room, except for the field projection system in the base of the room where I assume the crystal once was.”

Garett and Vinan exchanged a look that conveyed more than enough information between friends.

“Major, is the Observatory up and running? I need them to track the location of the Crystal so we can retrieve it immediately. We’ll have to deal with the loss of the Chronotonium at a later point in time. Major, what is it?”

Almost all the color drained from the Major’s face as he read a flash override message that came from the station’s Chief Engineer.

“General…I…um…the Chief Engineer reports…um…”

“Jonathan, what’s going on? Just tell me.”

“General, The Observatory… It’s GONE!”

A cold shiver ran down Tirara’s spine. This day just went from bad, to exceptionally worse.

“What do you mean it’s gone?! How can the Observatory just be GONE?”

“General, it appears that when the Enemy attacked, they targeted specific sections that would allow them to basically excise the entire Observatory. Every single section around the Observatory was sealed off due to vacuum exposure. It took us this long to realize its completely gone. If they are able to reactivate its systems…”

“Major, if they were able to tap into the most secure facility in the Indran Territories, then they sure as hell have the capabilities of reactivating the Temporal Observatory.”

Ba’Ker and his crew watched this whole exchange but only Ba’Ker truly had any inkling of an idea of the scope of the problem that was now on their doorstep. He watched and listened intently, with eyes wide with concern, as a very significant fear was coming to pass. He had read intelligence reports on the possibility of the existence of such a device the general and the major were feverishly discussing but nothing had ever been proven about its existence, let alone the capabilities it supposedly possessed. This Temporal Observatory was obviously one of the Indrans key pieces of technology, along with the materials stored within the vault, which was now barren.

General Vinan began pacing as she considered all the options at her disposal, few as they were. She turned back to the Major to issue her orders.

“Major, I am hereby placing this station under your command. Get it back up and operational. Once the station is sufficiently reconstructed, I want work to begin on the Third Temporal Observatory. We MUST find out what happened to our people and to our civilization.”

“I will take command immediately, General. What will you be doing?”

She looked at him with a determination in her eyes that he hadn’t seen in years.

“I am deploying the Fleet. We will track down the crystal with what sensors they have. They are more powerful than anything in the Old Fleet, but not nearly as sophisticated as the ones that were contained in the Observatory.”

She motioned for Kor’ti to join her, Ba’Ker and the Major.

“We will need as many ships out there as we can to support our fleet to find our missing property. Will you assist us?”

Kor’ti looked between Ba’Ker and Tirara and responded, “General, We will do whatever we can to help you locate your crystal. We do not know anything about it, but rest assured, we will give you our best assistance we can offer.”

Ba’Ker exchanged glances with Kor’ti, unsure of their capabilities, but trusting them through the trust of the Indrans. He responded, “General, you have our complete support. Where do we begin?”

“First things first. We are going to deploy all available vessels to find the Temporal Crystal. The Fifteen prototype vessels will split into five groups of three vessels each. Task Force Alpha will be under my command. The Telrosian Vessels will join up with Task Force Beta, The Balroggans will join up with Task Force Gamma. Beta and Gamma will return to your respective homeworlds to establish alliances with your respective civilizations. Task Forces Alpha, Delta and Epsilon will immediately begin searching for the Temporal Crystal. They will be joined in the search by Beta and Gamma and their Balroggan and Telrosian reinforcements once the treaties are ratified.”

General, I would like to accompany you aboard your flagship, if you’ll let me.

General Vinan looked over towards Ba’Ker and very slightly nodded her head in accepting his request. Baker then fired off a message to his crew telling them to return home and that First Officer Mor’Arte was in command of The Watson.


Haeridan Base, Staging Area

For the first time since the attack, the base was finally gearing back up for action. What defenses the station had were being activated, sensor drones on loan from the shipyard were scouting the area around the station searching for more incursions into this protective field around the station. So far only the Telrosian vessels and The Watson were in position just off the station. Slowly, they could see the massive bay doors on the super shipyard activated and then one by one, meter by graceful meter, the last surviving Indran vessels emerged from their protective cocoon. Unlike any vessel they had ever seen before, these specimens were obviously extremely advanced and begged the question, why would they even bother with escorts? Truth be told they weren’t necessary, but they were a welcome addition.

At the lead of the Flotilla, was the Recedentia Astrum, General Tirara Vinan’s Flagship. She banked gracefully away from the station, towards the still-shrinking protective barrier around the station’s bubble universe. The vessels following her got into a loose convoy formation, with each Task Force Group flying Lead-Escort/Defender formations. As they approached the external barrier, a signal was sent back to Haeridan Base. Immediately, a deep blue/purple rift opened in front of the fleet and swiftly, they vanished, back to normal space/time, back home.


Gamma Eridani System, Indra Prime Spatial Territory


The rift tore open the fabric of space/time and deposited the fleet in the once homeworld system of the Indran civilization. A final order was dispatched across the fleet.

“Task Force Groups, listen up. Remember we are no longer under the protection of Haeridan Bases’ protective field so tread with caution. We have no idea what the status is of our people, nor do we know the disposition of our Enemy. They could attack at any time, so be ready to repel them. No matter what happens, they cannot be allowed to recover the Temporal Crystal. Allied Vessels, take heed to the warnings the Indran vessels provide to your ships. It may be the only thing that keeps your vessels, your crews, and potentially even your homeworlds safe from the Enemy. Assume that because of associating with us, you are painting a target upon yourselves. Be wary.

Good Hunting!”

With that, Task Force Groups Beta and Gamma arced away from the Fleet and launched themselves into hyperspace each heading towards the homeworld systems of the Telrosians and the Balroggans. Groups Alpha, Delta and Epsilon fired up their sensor suites and bid each other one final farewell and any bets the Avatars had yet to place before each disappearing into their own flash into Temporal Hyperspace.

ASF Cenimagni, Out-System Patrol, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

Marha 5, 1687 O.S. (3690 A.D.)
15:53 KST

The ASF Cenimagni, newest of the Iceni class Frigates in use by the Klonor Space Corps, drifted at the outer edges of the Tau Ceti system in an apparently random pattern. Its pace was languid, slowly progressing in a vast orbit around the distant sun at the center of the system, but every few minutes it emitted a burst of radiation which quickly spread out in a wide sphere, the detectable effect of one of the various sensor systems the Frigate was using to scan for cloaked vessels. LORTAT systems were constantly running, as were conventional RADAR and gravitic sensors, analyzing each drifting pebble and chunk of ice within range, and the ship occasionally altered course to intercept a particularly interesting object. All told, it would take a significantly advanced vessel to enter the system without starting alarms blaring throughout the ship. At its current pace it would have taken centuries for the Cenimagni to completely encircle the system, but there were many other ships strung throughout the expanse, and it was only one of many searching for unauthorized travelers within the newest Klonor system.

Captain Fesafer Akej sat aboard the bridge of the Cenimagni, glancing at the various sensor displays around the bridge, and silently cursed that such unauthorized visitors were becoming far too common. They were rarely hostile, and never dangerous, but they were an irritation, and increasingly so. More and more, it seemed that people simply did not know that Tau Ceti was a Klonor system, and were unaware that any nation, let alone one with the technology and power to patrol and secure its borders, resided within its boundaries. Colonization teams, mineral surveyors, and cargo transporters were frequently passing through the system, only to be turned away by the patrols of the 3’rd System Fleet and 2’nd Combat Fleet. It was understandable when viewed objectively, Klonor had entered a period of extreme isolation over a century ago and had little, if any, contact with those outside its borders, but that did not make the constant stream of aliens bumbling about in its territory any less of a pest. Klonor had been an exploratory nation in its past, and would be one again in the future, but right now it wanted little more than to be left alone.

Sadly, a sudden beeping from across the bride told Akej that today would not be a day of isolation.

“Lieutenant Xen, report.”

“We have an ergometric contact, sir. FTL use detected just beyond the system edge, LORTAT systems recognize three vessels bound in-system approximately two A.U. from our position.”

“Identification?”

“They are not broadcasting an IFF, sir, and we have not found a LORTAT characteristic match. Ergometric analyses is inconclusive…three points of commonality have been detected with temporal FTL in use by numerous nations several centuries ago. We have possible pattern matches with technology used by Siesatia, Metallinauts, Indra Prime, Flaming Souls, and Jangle Jangle Ridge.”

“Three points is far from definitive; they might simply have scavenged a motivator from a crashed ship. Have they hailed?”

“No, sir. They are progressing towards the interior at sub-light speeds, and we are detecting successive scans from each ship.”

“More surveyors; it seems like we get another group every other week. Have you detected a hostile pattern?”

“Their movement does not seem related to our own, sir, it looks like they don’t even know we’re here. Projected course…projected course places them less than one M.U. from the Illium.”

“At this distance that could mean anything, they’d need at least one hop to reach the station within our lifetime, and I’ve given up trying to predict alien travel pathways. Still no contact?”

“No, sir.”

“Very well, let’s let them know they’re where they aren’t wanted. Ensign Nef, contact the Illium, let Admiral Miller know we have another survey team passing through the system. Request the dispatch of the 6’th Battle Group and have them rendezvous with us at LM-297, we’ll progress to the aliens from there. Have we discovered their identification?”

“No, sir, we’re still extrapolating possible systems of origin.”

“Very well, label them ‘Unknown entities’ in the report and transmit. Commander Few, bring us to LM-297.”

“Yes, sir. Helm, proceed on course 297 mark 326 and prepare for Sub-Space transit. Deactivate the massometers, ergometers, and PED’s, then begin ion rod initialization. All hands, brace for FTL hop.”

There was a chorus of “Yes, sir’s” as various crew members completed their assigned tasks and the Cenimagni, in a move of surprising grace given its length of over a kilometer, rotated on its axis and accelerated towards the rendezvous point. There was a brief flash of blue and a ripple of space as the ship made the transition to Sub-Space, and in an almost immeasurable moment of time it emerged from Sub-Space in spatial grid LM-297, joined a few minutes later by the four ships of the 6’th Battle Group of the 3’rd System Fleet.
_________________________________________________________________

ASC Thēəsthyüs, 6’th Battle Group Flagship, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

Marha 5, 1687 O.S. (3690 A.D.)
15:59 KST

The display panels around the bridge were briefly obscured by static, unable to process the chaotic energy of the Sub-Space Continuum, but in a fraction of a second they cleared again as the Thēəsthyüs made the small hop from the systems interior to the location of the Cenimagni. Accompanied by two Dreadnaught class Corvettes and a Daedalus class Interception Cruiser, the 6’th Battle Group represented only a fraction of the power of the 3’rd System Fleet, but it would be more than sufficient to usher out three lost surveyors who had stumbled into Klonor territory. With luck, they would be back at the Illium within the hour.

Glancing at the small display screen near his right hand, Commodore Nikal watched the Cenimagni mesh itself into the formation and the other ships rearrange themselves around it.

“Sir, the Battle Group reports full readiness. Captain Akej has forwarded all pertinent information, and we can proceed to the aliens’ current position.”

“Is there still no change to their course or activities?”

“No, sir. They are still proceeding in-system at sub-light speeds, and we have yet to identify their origin.”

“Very well, I suppose we could always just ask them. Transit all ships to ML-729 and intercept.”

“Yes, sir.”

As before, each ship was enveloped in a flash of blue and ripple of space as they made the transit to Sub-Space and emerged barely more than 1,000 kilometers from the central alien vessel. Commodore Nikal paused for a moment as he eyed the alien vessels and considered what was likely to happen.

The three ships all had a vaguely organic characteristic to their shape, the surfaces smoothed into one another in soft curves that left the hull without any hard angles, and they were all long and lean, giving an almost serpent-like impression. The center vessel, the largest of the three, had a pair of small secondary hulls that were joined by a curving superstructure that did not so much meet the other hulls as merge with them, creating the impression of a single metallic entity. The flanking two vessels, approximately the same size as one another, looked decidedly vicious, as though one could paint a barracudas’ teeth onto their bow with only a little imagination. One had more extremities than the larger vessel, four beams splitting off the main line, while the other was almost a single long sliver of metal. Painted a deep, bloody crimson, they gave the impression of quiet lethality without presenting any visible weapons.

Unlike Captain Akej, Nikal was not a man who dreaded extra-national contact. He was one of the few officers still serving in the Corps who had enlisted prior to Klonors’ self-imposed exile, and there were times when he still dreamt of the fond days of his youth. Yes, they were times of strife and violence, but stagnation and apathy were but slower forms of death, and for every alien nation which had locked horns with the Association there had been dozens that met with open arms. Burying your head in the sand did not protect you from enemies, it just kept you from seeing them until they kicked you in the ass. Trade and cultural exchange had helped propel Klonor to the forefront of the galactic scene, and if it kept hiding from the universe the time would come when an alien nation would move into one of its systems and the Corps would not be able to nudge them out again.

Still, he was not a man to try to single-handedly change national policy, and even if he was it would not be within a crucial research facility and military staging ground.

“Lieutenant Heru, open a Direct Beam Transmission to the lead ship; transmit on all channels and translate into Standard Sol and all known extrapolated languages.”

“Open, sir.”

“Attention unidentified vessels, this is Commodore Jos Nikal aboard the ASC Thēəsthyüs. You have entered secure and restricted territory belonging to the Associated Systems of Klonor. Identify yourselves and state your intentions.”
_________________________________________________________________

ASB Priam, 3’rd Fleet Flagship, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

Marha 5, 1687 O.S. (3690 A.D.)
16:03 KST

Vice Admiral Lillith Miller sat aboard the bridge of the massive Battleship and gazed at the large display screen which dominated the foreground of the command center. The detail of the displayed information was almost nonexistent, the screen was occupied solely by glowing dots overlaid against a backdrop of stars, but that was perfectly understandable given that the monitor was displaying thousands of ships spread out across several A.U. of space. To bother to display images at this scale would have served no purpose, as even the largest ships would be indistinguishable from fireflies. Still, to somebody as experienced as Admiral Miller, each dot might as well have been a fully realized Vid-displayed cross section; she knew the details of every class of ship in the system, and at this moment she was focused on eight points of light that were congregating near the systems terminus. Five were ships that glowed with the warm blue of a ship flying the banner of the Corps, the vessels of the 6’th Battle Group, but the other three were an anomaly that did not fit into the pattern. Tilting her head slightly, the display suddenly shifted drastically and, instead of the distant view of thousands of ships throughout the system, focused solely on the newly arrived vessels. They were clearly alien, and unidentified aliens at that, and Admiral Miller was not one who enjoyed being in the dark.

“Have we received an update from Commodore Nikal?”

“No, ma’am, the alien vessels have not responded and have yet to be identified...the Thēəsthyüs is transmitting again.”

“Has there been any change in the aliens’ actions?”

“No, ma’am, they haven’t altered course and we are not detecting any anomalous new energy readings. They don’t seem to be paying the Battle Group any mind.”

The ships were continuing to travel towards the systems interior, and if they continued on their present course the ships garrisoning the Tau Ceti Military Installation would be forced into action. Innocent navigation mistakes were something which could be forgiven, provided they were not repeated, but ignoring repeated warnings and trespassing within an actual Corps facility was something which would require direct rectification. Admiral Miller had no doubt that the Corps could handle such rectification, but she had earned her rank by avoiding a martial conflict, and she was hoping to continue that trend.

“Contact the ASR Fermi and the ASS Galileo, have them rendezvous with the 6’th and attempt to identify the origin of these vessels.”

“Yes, ma---ma’am, the alien vessels are increasing their scans!”

“Have they made any transmissions?”

“No, ma’am. They’re slowing….they’ve come to a stop in ML-792. We are detecting a 237% increase in sensor output from each vessel probing the immediate region; they’re definitely looking for something specific.”

“What’s in ML-792?”

“ML-792 was the site of unusual temporal readings detected on Kero 7, 924 by the ASCv Mercurius, and additionally on Soles 12, 1524 by the ASD Heketē. No cause was ever determined, and the events have been officially labelled DoAsDet by the KTC."

First temporal FTL and now unexplained temporal readings; this was obviously not a lost group of explorers that had stumbled onto a new system, they were clearly here for something specific, and Miller was suddenly concerned with more than just whether she could maintain her peaceful reputation.

“Contact the vessels of the 6’th Battle Group, order them to bring their ships to Tactical Alert Beta. Sound general quarters and get the crews to their action stations. Commander Noa, ready the 3’rd Fleet for deployment and notify the 2’nd Fleet that they will assume action responsibilities for the 1’st, 2’nd, and 9’th Battle Groups. Garrison vessels are to deploy from the Illium and proceed to their prearranged escort stations.”

“Ma’am, Commodore Nikal is transmitting to the aliens again.”

“Put it on the speakers, Ensign.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Attention unidentified vessels, you are trespassing within territory of the Associated Systems of Klonor and are engaged in what are determined to be hostile actions. You will immediately reverse course and vacate this system, once you have passed the systems terminus you will deactivate your engines and prepare for further instructions. If you do not comply at once and identify yourself, you will be fired upon. This is your final warning.”

“Any response?”

“Still no transmissions, ma’am, but they have stopped scanning.”

“Good, maybe they’ll comply and we can get this over without any bloodshed.”

“Yes, ma’am….ma’am, the vessels are accelerating in system.”

“What?”

“They have altered course and are headed deeper into Tau Ceti, and they have accelerated past their previous velocity.”

“Contact Commodore Nikal, he is to pursue the intruders and maintain sensor contact; factions of the 3’rd Fleet will rendezvous and engage in necessary actions to prevent further violation of Klonor territory. Lieutenant Con, extrapolate an endpoint of the aliens’ course three minutes hence. Bring the ship to Tactical Alert Alpha and ready for hostile action.”

The large display screen was once again filled with thousands of glowing dots as the 3’rd Klonor System Fleet was suddenly called into action. Throughout the system, tiny blue dots shifted to a bright gold as their ships reported action-ready and prepared for Sub-Space transition to the aliens’ location. At one edge of the screen, five blue ships accelerated in a sudden burst and began to follow in the wake of the alien vessels, now highlighted in a deep green. The line of vessels, alien and Klonor, continued for a brief while until the newcomers stopped as suddenly as they had before, again increasing the intensity of their scans and scouring the surroundings for whatever they were looking for. Again, Admiral Miller stared and wondered what, exactly, these aliens were looking for and why they had come blundering about in Klonor territory. This time, however, the alien ships were not given the time to complete their scans. With a final glance at the display screen, confirming that all specified vessels had signaled ready, Admiral Miller nodded to Captain Milosh Venkman, the commander of the Priam, and he in turn began to address the officers of the bridge.

“Helm, proceed on course 241 mark 57 and prepare for Sub-Space transit. Begin ion rod initialization and lens focusing. Activate targeting safeties on the Beams and ready the control circuits for Turrets and Tsunamis; combat personnel are to ready their equipment for sudden deployment. Transmit to the flags of the 1’st, 2’nd, and 9’th: Commence FTL hop.”

In almost the same instant of time, a dozen of the gold lights throughout the screen blinked out of existence and reappeared in a loose sphere around the still unidentified alien vessels as the 1’st, 2’nd, and 9’th Battle Groups of the 3’rd System Fleet were deployed for, as Admiral Miller had put it, “necessary action.” At the same moment, the exterior display screens aboard the Priam briefly faded to static as the Battleship made the same leap, emerging from Sub-Space almost directly before the lead alien ship.

“Begin Direct Beam Transmission to the lead alien vessel. Transmit on all channels and translate into Standard Sol and all known extrapolated languages.”

“Channel open, ma’am.”

“Attention unidentified vessels, this is Admiral Lillith Miller of the Klonor Space Corps. You are within the territory of the Associated Systems of Klonor and have acted in a manner deemed hostile. Power down your vessels and prepare to be boarded; your ships will be seized and your crew incarcerated until such a time as we see fit to release you. Resist, and you will be destroyed. You will receive neither further warnings nor communications, and if you have not begun decommissioning procedures within thirty seconds you will be fired upon.”

Immediately upon returning to Real Space, the whole crew seemed to relax and the required Gestalt was released for the familiar contact with the Ta’Nar Communal mind. Flashes of thoughts began to once again flow unheeded by the bizarre barrier surrounding the Indrian pocket universe. Acting Captain Mor’Arte relaxed with a mental sigh. After a moment, he remembered the data in the ship’s memory they accumulated while in the strange pocket and remembered it is protocol to immediately upload it using the Space Minus Transmitter.

“Comms, package all the data we collected and send it back to The Fist. They will want to know what happened.”

“Yes Sir, data sending … data received. I have confirmation.”

“Contact the Imperial Palace and report we have a Diplomatic Envoy that needs to meet with someone immediately.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Also send for a Wormhole to open at our coordinates, passage for four.”

“Command reports the wormhole will arrive shortly. Its destination has been programmed to take you and your guests to meet with the Warlord.”

“Thank you, inform our guests about what to expect. We don’t want them to get spooked when space tears apart right in front of them without warning.”

“Message sent, the Indran ships have responded and are awaiting transport.”

The wait really wasn’t long. It only took a couple moments which the ships spent getting their bearings and moving into formation before it arrived.

Space, suddenly and without warning, tore to pieces. It was as if the STC collapsed in upon itself and unraveled. From outside Space the fabric of the STC bulged as if pushed by a great hand and finally ripped. Fragments of rendered superstrings shriveled and writhed in anger as they were forced to allow the misplaced fissure to slip through into Real Space. If space was not a void, there would have been screaming and other unbearable protests from the Universe but thankfully the void prevented that. The aperture formed and stabilized, the gaping mouth appearing as if it was a maw of a mighty beast of legend trying to swallow the tiny ships, sending them down the twisting throat before them.

“Captain, Wormhole ready for transit.”

“Let the Indran ships know it is safe and lead us through.”

The Watson slowly moved to enter the wormhole, followed by the three sentient ships trailing behind. After the last one entered, the Universe was allowed to reclaim its territory and the wormhole collapsed into nothingness. The four vessels spent the next ten minutes dodging though the twisting serpentine throat of the wormhole. The plasma walls of the tunnel flickered and flashed with energies that would shatter any unprotected ships that might impale themselves through the seemingly thin membrane separating them from who knows what was on the other side. After what seemed like just this side of forever, a distant opening grew rapidly closer and without warning spat the ships back into Real Space.

Before the four ships was a massive armada of vessels. The gravity signatures alone measured as if hundreds of stellar masses were collected within those ships, causing just about any system to be overloaded by the gravimetric signatures alone, the accompanying power readings from some of the small vessels were easily the power usage of some civilized worlds. There were a multitude of sensor problems caused by the sudden influx of signals showing immense gravity, equally incredible power levels, and definite sighs of several energy spikes of dimensional energies.

Fearing an ambush and with sensors partially blinded by the sudden influx of information, they assumed it was an ambush by “the Enemy”.

The two ships to the port aft and port starboard of the Watson arc around and take up mirroring positions in front while the port central vessel (the lead Indran vessel) arcs over The Watson and moves in front to protect it. All the while, converting to their battle-ready stance, deploying defenses and weapons. Now it was time for their ships to show their teeth.

Power signatures flared as weapons were charged and defense grids snapped into place and a distinct haze covered the three ships which were trying to shield the Ta’Nar cruiser within the protective wake of their defenses. Aboard The Watson, acting Captain Mor’Arte could only watch in amazement as the Indran ships leapt to defend them from their own fleet. Within moments, a frantic Mor’Arte was sending a message to the Indran ship while his Comm Officer was trying to make sure the Imperial Escort Fleet did not respond by obliterating them. Mor’Arte could tell from his own readings that none of the Ta’Nar vessels have activated their Space Minus powertaps so that meant non-conventional weaponry was not to be used but that didn’t rule out any Cutters or other weapon making life miserable for any of them.

Once his channel to the Indrans was open, he began in earnest to convince them to stand down.

“Indran vessels, do not fire. This is the Imperial Escort Fleet. I repeat do not fire, these are friendly vessels. They mean no harm to you. Compare their signatures with ours and you will see they are not an ambush. I repeat, do not fire and stand down. These are allied vessels, not enemy ships. Why are you so quick to jump the gun?”

After several tense moments that seemed to drag on, the Indran ships began to power down their offensive weapons. Mor’Arte breathed a sigh, or would have if he could. He was glad it didn’t come to blows. He was not sure of the actual compactly of the three ships but he was certain they were no match for The Serendipity herself.

Across empty space, the Ta’Nar fleet waited to be sure the Indran ships complied and things settled down to a lesser stress level. Once that happened, they began to rearrange themselves into an Honor position. Four Battle Groups with Intruder Carriers swarmed out and took position forming two lines with an empty lane in the middle leading inward. Thee more Battlegroups with Avatar Carriers formed up in position further directing the visitors deeper into the fleet. A final battle group with its Deity Carrier formed a final screen at the end of the lane. As the Indran ships approached, they moved aside gracefully allowing them to finally approach The Serendipity.

The massive dreadnaught was the largest ship in the Ta’Nar navy at ten thousand meters in length. It was the personal flagship for Nhur-Galladu, the Emperor-Warlord of Balrogga. The ship was ebon black, a wedge of night in the darkness of space. There were various lights causing particular glow effects but most of the actual ship seemed to be in shadow, almost as if the material the vessel was constructed of seemed to absorb light itself. Massive spikes or spines of some sort flared at the back of the Dreadnaught giving the ship an alive feel, as if it were about to eat. Fortunately not only was there no teeth but there weren’t any visible weapons. It looked like the huge ship was unarmed.

A singular message was sent from The Serendipity to the Indran guests.

“Greetings and welcome. I await your presence. Please approach The Serendipity and come aboard.


A short time later a pocket cruiser left the ship and approached The Serendipity. As it neared the given coordinates, it came to a halt a few meters from the smooth black hull of the massive ship. The pilot was told to make contact with the ship at these coordinates so he took a breath and nudged the cruiser closer. When the ship made contact with the Dreadnaught, there was no clang, or even a jolt. Instead there was a gentle nudge and a rippling as if someone tossed a stone into a still pond. The rippling continued as the ship was gently pulled through the hull into a brightly lit bay that lay beyond the hull they had just pass through as if it were a screen of water.

The ship landed and the ramp lowered. With a clang, the main hatch of the pocket cruiser opened and the Indran crew looked out to see a large group of people waiting nearby. Several were wearing grey robes and one was wearing white.

Kor'ti listened to as much of the conversation as he could, eager to find out what was going on and trying to find a way to take all of this in. It was looking to be much, MUCH larger, than he first imagined. As the Balroggan and Indran spoke with one another and headed into Psionic territory, somewhere Kor'ti could not go, his squad leaders returned and reported back. They had made some contact with other ESUS soldiers, but they were as confused as them. He sighed in frustration, his mandibles clicking in anger. He was about to issue more orders when the Indran General called him and over he obediently did as he was asked.

“We will need as many ships out there as we can to support our fleet to find our missing property. Will you assist us?”

He looked from Ba'Ker and Tirara, some suspicions forming in his mind but he banished them. Now was not the time for divisive thought; it was time to help these folks get back on their feet.

<“General, We will do whatever we can to help you locate your crystal. We do not know anything about it, but rest assured, we will give you our best assistance we can offer.”> He shared a glance with the Balroggan, whom seemed unsure of him but willing to trust him. He felt the same way, though he was mostly unsure of the looks he got from them after he was asked if he could help. He'd have to think on this later, when he had more time to think this through.

“First things first. We are going to deploy all available vessels to find the Temporal Crystal. The Fifteen prototype vessels will split into five groups of three vessels each. Task Force Alpha will be under my command. The Telrosian Vessels will join up with Task Force Beta, The Balroggans will join up with Task Force Gamma. Beta and Gamma will return to your respective homeworlds to establish alliances with your respective civilizations. Task Forces Alpha, Delta and Epsilon will immediately begin searching for the Temporal Crystal. They will be joined in the search by Beta and Gamma and their Balroggan and Telrosian reinforcements once the treaties are ratified.”

Kor'ti nodded his understanding and then sent a message off to this Ascendant commander. After a few moments of consulting the mind link, he was given the green light to get back aboard. The Ascendants would meet with the Indrans, to aid them as best as they could. Kor'ti called his squads back and moved to the shuttles docked to the station. They wanted to get started and get back home, so they could rest while the higher ups talked and debated.

G'sha, the Ascendant commander, drifted within the "soul" of the ship, watching as the Indrans of Task Force Gamma lined up next to his force. He was to be their escort, he knew. Curiosity flooded from him; what were they like, these Indrans? Before he could ask, a message was received by the ship.

“Task Force Groups, listen up. Remember we are no longer under the protection of Haeridan Bases’ protective field so tread with caution. We have no idea what the status is of our people, nor do we know the disposition of our Enemy. They could attack at any time, so be ready to repel them. No matter what happens, they cannot be allowed to recover the Temporal Crystal. Allied Vessels, take heed to the warnings the Indran vessels provide to your ships. It may be the only thing that keeps your vessels, your crews, and potentially even your homeworlds safe from the Enemy. Assume that because of associating with us, you are painting a target upon yourselves. Be wary.

Good Hunting!”

"We understand, and we will take these words to heart. We will do our best to protect your people and ours from the Enemy. Safe tidings on your travels." After that, they saw Gamma sending its ship to the coordinates of the Ascendant homeworld in their home dimension. That was not something given lightly; the Ascendants were very self-conscious about their homeworld's location and only trusted the location to those they felt wouldn't betray them. He hoped they understood that. He sent the order and the fleet calmly exited into Phase Space, following the fleet along.

****

Several hours later, Task Force Gamma exited Temporal Hyperspace and the Ascendant force appeared soon after. The "space" they were in seemed very different than before. It was not black, but soft purple, and large, soft clouds of some kind of matter floated everywhere. And far off, it almost seemed as there was some kind of storm brewing. A message had been sent by G'sha in advance, so they were expected. A large honor guard fleet of five hundred had been assembled, to protect the Indrans and any attack from the Enemy.

Colonel Marissa Jacobsen, commander of this Task Force, stood on the bridge of the lead ship. "Status report"

The sensor officer replied. "Everything working along mission parameters. This ships are beyond anything I imagined. The Vanguard and the Katrar are reading fine all across the board as well."

Marissa nodded. "What can you detect in the surrounding area?"

"Well, ma'am, this place, whatever it is, is not in normal space. If the readings I am seeing here are right, than this place is made of particles that are directly opposite to those from where we came." The Colonel looked at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Following that logic, Ensign, why are we not dead right now?"

"Well, if you forgot, Ma'am, they sent us a frequency to attune out shields to, allowing us to pass freely into this system. Apparently, if we have that frequency and pass into here, we adapt to it and are safe. It destroys those who don't; a good defense mechanism if I saw one."

"I don't care if its good; just that it doesn't hurt us."

"Right, ma'am."

They soon got the signal of an incoming message and opened the channel. "Greetings to our Indran allies; I am Breanna, the Matriarch of the Ascendancy. Allow me to welcome you to our home, and our homeworld, Asetia. We have a place of meeting prepared for you, whenever you'd like to begin this."

"I am Colonel Marissa Jacobsen of the flagship Centurion, Task Force Gamma. I thank you for welcoming me and will be arriving shortly."

"I look forward to seeing you soon." The channel ended and Marissa turned to face her crew.

"Keep an eye out; the Enemy could have followed us here, or knew we were coming."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

The Colonel exited the bridge and headed for the hangar. She was soon joined by two individuals: Captain Jennifer Rheinhart and Captain William Thale, as they headed for the shuttle. It quickly disembarked and shot down to the planet, and was escorted by a squadron of interceptors from the Ascendancy. It landed at the coordinates given and they unloaded to find two robed figures waiting for them. They motioned for them to follow and then proceeded to lead them through what could be compared to as an elven city of lights and peace. Soft architecture and great works of art all around, but still hardy defenses and the stocky buildings of the Xel'athi. Both Ascendant and Xel'athi gave way before the robed figures. They eventually came to a mammoth structure, and were led in. As soon as they stepped into the door, there was a slight breeze and they stood in a chamber, where a lady with soft white hair and glowing eyes sat in her chair, looking into the sky. Looking over, she smiled and got up, bowing to them.

"You may leave me, Handmaidens. I will be safe." The robed figures bowed and exited, leaving the Indrans alone with the Matriarch. She put her hands into the opposite cowls of her arms, hiding them as she spoke. "G'sha tells me you wish to speak with me about strengthening our relations?"

“Attention unidentified vessels, this is Admiral Lillith Miller of the Klonor Space Corps. You are within the territory of the Associated Systems of Klonor and have acted in a manner deemed hostile. Power down your vessels and prepare to be boarded; your ships will be seized and your crew incarcerated until such a time as we see fit to release you. Resist, and you will be destroyed. You will receive neither further warnings nor communications, and if you have not begun decommissioning procedures within thirty seconds you will be fired upon.”


Once again, an announcement was heard on the command deck of the Recedentia Astrum but the only one who seemed to pay the warning any attention was the sole individual who was not a member of the crew. Captain Ba’Ker looked over at General Vinan with a concerned expression trying to understand why she would so blatantly ignore such a threatening posture by an obviously technologically advanced race by continuing to study the holographic display with one of her senior officers. He had heard of the Associated Systems of Klonor, but didn’t recall any interactions his people had had with the people of Klonor. Now he was staring at an entire battle fleet flying the Associated Systems flag. He saw the display ripple and a slight look of displeasure cross the general’s face as she read the readings from the latest scans. She pressed a few controls and the hologram reverted to a loose orb made with red dots and three white dots at the center. It didn’t take a genius to realize, that she was now looking at the tactical situation they were now in and Ba’Ker could feel a slight sense of relief that Tirara was actually going to take this threat seriously. He moved closer to hear the interchange between the general and her officers.

“…that’s not a serious concern, Major,” said the general midsentence. “It is imperative that we follow up all possible leads on the whereabouts of the Crystal.”

“Yes ma’am, I completely agree,” said the TAO, Major Thomas Graham. “But with all due respect, the fleet outside has quite a bit of firepower and we DID just invade their space.”

Major Melissa Connor, the ship’s XO, looked up from the strategy table’s holodisplay. “Tom, THIS ship has quite a bit of firepower. More than enough to take on the vessels supposedly holding us over the barrel especially with the Charybdis and the Talon as backup.”

Tirara continued to study the display while listening to her two senior officers banter back and forth. She straightened up from leaning slightly over the strategy table, which the XO and TAO took as a message to shut up. She pressed a button floating on the edge of the display which opened shipwide communications.

“ALL HANDS, battle stations,” she called out. Immediately, the lighting on the command deck dropped from the pristine white glow to an ominous dark blue which gave her two advantages. It allowed her crew to focus more clearly on their displays and it also provided a psychological bolster for any communications that might occur when on a combat footing. All around her, crewmembers rushed to their stations, as the AI began making preparations for combat. All across the vessel, commands we being issued by the AI making the ship fully ready to engage in hostilities. Among these commands, was a tightbeam transmission to the Charybdis and the [/i]Arclite Talon[/i] ordering them to battle stations as well.

General Vinan strode down to her command chair as the ship’s AI began transferring the ship’s status to her telepathically. <<Ablative Armor: Activated>> <<Primary Shield Emitters: Charged>> <<Primary Weapons Systems: Deploying>> <<Active Camouflage: Standby>> <<Secon… The data rate transfer occurred at the speed of thought between Tirara and the Recedentia Astrum as if the connection was designed for and by her, which in fact, it was. In seconds, the vessel was primed for battle.

Among the Associated Systems’ vessels, they could tell the ships were gearing up for something. The best guess, which was also the correct guess, was they were preparing for battle. What they saw, was unlike any vessel’s behavior they had ever seen. The hull of the lead vessel began to ripple as if a stone has been cast into a still pond in the heart of winter. Colors of unbelievable and indescribable variety started coursing along the hull of the lead ship like bolts of electricity then shortly the other vessels followed suit. Then, like the reaction of Ice-9 with water in ancient Earth mythology, the hulls of all three ships snapped to black simultaneously.

Admiral Miller aboard the Priam watched the transformation of the alien vessels before her with curiosity. Never before had she seen technology like that. Whoever or whatever was on board that ship was definitely alien. Who knows what kind of technology they had on board. Though she watched the change with interest and fascination, her crew took it more threateningly. She could hear the startle that emanated from her crew and knew precisely what their reaction would be to such a change from a potential enemy vessel.

“Tactical analysis!”

“Inconclusive Admiral. Nothing matching any known weapons type coming up.”

Suddenly, her communications officer called out, “Admiral! We’re receiving a hail! It’s coming from the lead alien vessel.”

“Patch it through.”

“This is General Tirara Vinan, commander of the Recedentia Astrum on a mission of critical importance for the Indran High Command. Our incursion into your space was not a malicious act and was only done in the interests of internal security. It is imperative that we be allowed to continue on our mission. We mean you and your fleet no harm. However, if any vessel attempts to forcibly board one of our ships or opens fire, we will have no choice but to retaliate. The three vessels you have ‘supposedly’ ensnared are far more advanced than any Indran vessel your nation has come across. I warn you, do not interfere with our search. Recedentia Astrum out.”



On board The Serendipity



For the first time in over six hundred years, an Indran officer was standing before the leadership of another nation. Brigadier General Constance Dugan and her entourage of six Indran officers in full dress uniform came to attention simultaneously and snapped salutes to the Emperor-Warlord standing before them as if they had been rehearsing it for weeks. Impressed with the immaculately dressed and very professional soldiers before him, Nhur-Galladu returned the courtesy by regally inclining his head towards the Indran delegation. Again as one, the Indran soldiers dropped their salutes but remained at attention. Only General Dugan stepped forward and extended her hand in friendship to the Emperor-Warlord.

“Emperor Nhur-Galladu, I am Brigadier General Constance Dugan of the Indra Prime High Command. On behalf of our leader, I would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to you and your nation for the recent assistance provided to us aboard our station.”

The Emperor-Warlord looked at the proffered hand and only with a slight hesitation took it momentarily then released it. It was not normal custom for people to offer physical contact of any sort to the Emperor-Warlord, but if these people were truly Indrans, the diplomatic gaffe could be overlooked. He could see his elite guard tense as the handshake took place, ready to move on the delegation in the event that this was actually an assassination attempt. Inwardly he smirked at the reaction and made a mental note to reward the commander for training his men well.

“General Dugan. Welcome aboard the Serendipity. I hope you find it to your liking.”

Not missing a chance to compliment a reigning ruler on his possession, General Dugan looked around quickly and admired the landing bay then returned her gaze back to the Emperor-Warlord.

“This is a very magnificent vessel Sire. It does the Balroggan people and their Emperor great justice.”

Pleased to see that the general didn’t skill all of her diplomacy skills classes, the Emperor could see that there was something significant weighing heavily on the general’s mind, just below the surface. He silently commended her on her attempt to conceal the presence of it, but decided to get straight to the matter at hand. The simple fact that the Indrans were making a return and making that return in such a manner warranted further and immediate inspection. He indicated to the Indran delegation so they would move towards the closest door. As they began to move with the Emperor in the lead, with General Dugan at his side and their respective entourages trailing behind, he half-turned to Dugan to hopefully begin getting answers to some of his questions.

“General Dugan, I received the reports forwarded by Mor’Arte from Captain Ba’Ker. I found them to be less than optimal. What happened? Where have the Indrans been all these years? Why are they coming back now?”

“Emperor, please let us discuss this in private.”

The Emperor-Warlord smiled and gestured to the general to an anteroom just off the main hallway. She bowed her head in acknowledgement and headed through the double doors at the opposite end of the anteroom followed shortly by the Emperor. The delegations were instructed to remain in the anteroom while the leaders continued on in. After the doors closed Constance could feel the mood of the situation change noticeably. The emperor smiled at her and poured her a glass of a neon yellow liquid.

“Please, call me Nhur.”

General Dugan smiled her disarming smile and said, “Connie. You can call me Connie.”

“Connie it is then.” He sat down on a couch and sipped on his drink as Connie followed him over and sat down across from him. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Connie took a sip of her drink and found it surprisingly strong and exactly what she needed right now. She took a deep breath before her debriefing.

“Nhur. As I’m sure you know, the Indrans haven’t been heard from for over six hundred years. The truth of the matter is, our disappearance was not one of our own design. To make a long story short, a catastrophic energy wave of unknown origin and of power that was off the charts. For some reason it specifically honed in on any Indran technology. Anything that was not protected from that magnitude of pulse, which was apparently everything, suddenly was removed from our sensors. We lost all contact with our homeworld, stations, planets, outposts, ships, and everything. From what we have been able to gather, our base at Haeridan was the only that survived.”

Nhur-Galladu listened to her recount of the Indran exodus with surprise. If an energy pulse was able to solely take out the entire Indran civilization, the cause must be something to be concerned about. He was about to press her for more information about the pulse but she continued her debrief.

“That was just the beginning of the problems. We found that even with our technology, we were unable to make contact outside the protective bubble that protects the pocket universe Haeridan Base resides in. Our best scientists spent the next one hundred and twenty years trying to figure out why we were unable to make contact outside the field, then we discovered that the pulse interacted with the field, in a way that we still do not completely understand, to create a static layer of null space which interfered with all our rift generation technology. They discovered that the static layer was slowly decaying, but would remain intact for a further five hundred years, at least, at a level which prevented us from breaking through the interference and returning.

“Then a week ago, just before the field was getting to the strength where we could break through and return, a group of rifts formed just on the inside of the bubble. Within seconds, the entire region was filled with vessels of a completely alien design. They were on us before we had a chance to react. We were able to get partial defenses up and we tried to mobilize what vessels of the fleet were still docked with the station, but there wasn’t enough time to do that. All the vessels of the Indran fleet were destroyed in the ensuing battle. The Enemy carved up the station like a Christmas turkey. They managed to completely destroy our Temporal Observatory…or worse. Any vessel that was present was completely destroyed, with the exception of the Celestia, who managed to do some damage on the retreating Enemy vessels. They left without looking back or without us being able to get any intel on who had attacked us so viciously. Just before the last vessel transited through their rift, the vessel fired a single shot, of what exactly we have no idea. But it broke the Celestia clear in half, who was doing her best to follow and continue the fight. We’ve spent the last two weeks trying to keep the station together and make what repairs we could.”

“I am sorry for the tremendous losses your people have suffered over the last few hundred years. One thing doesn’t add up though. If your entire fleet was destroyed, and the vessels in the pocket universe were completely destroyed, then what was it that you arrived on? Those vessels have a vague Indran signature to them, but they don’t match anything in our records to anything your nation ever utilized. Who’s are they?”

“Emperor, those ARE Indran vessels. Just as the vessels were detected by the remote sensor drones at the edge of the field, the station’s AI managed to cloak the shipyard where the vessels were docked before the Enemy could detect them. Those three vessels that are out there right now are three prototype vessels, each of which were constructed after five hundred years of research and development. Those and their sister ships were designed to individually replace a complete battle fleet. They represent the culmination of millennia of Indran technological development and the integration of…other technologies.”

“With vessels like that, you could have done significant damage to the fleet, or anyone who stands in your way. We’re honored to be among the first to be contacted to renew alliances, but why not go after the ones who did this to your people immediately?”

“The Enemy is in a far better position than we are to make any moves like that. They know how to get to our most secure facilities and obviously have the technology to do so, and they also know who we are. We know absolutely nothing about the Enemy. We need to start from a strong point so we can take them on. In order to do that, alliances need to be rebuilt. That is why I am here. We are here to request the immediate reconstitution of the Indran/Balroggan Alliance.”



Ascendant Home Dimension, COORDINATES CLASSIFIED



Unlike General Dugan unknown dimensions and galaxies away, Colonel Marissa Jacobsen and her ‘diplomatic team’ were still in their duty uniforms albeit clean and pressed. Due to the nature of their assignment, they were required to maintain the utmost levels of security and protection of their team members. Colonel Jacobsen studied the Matriarch with a cool eye, seasoned by decades of combat experience and just as many years at the negotiation table. Matriarch Breanna cut a very peaceful persona with her tall, slender figure and innate calmness that seemed to radiate around her. However, despite the apparent lackadaisical and relaxed atmosphere in the Matriarch’s chambers, she could tell that the Matriarch got to where she was by the same type of determination and drive that most if not all leaders possessed. Colonel Jacobsen took a step forward from her delegation and spoke in a loud, clear voice that echoed off the walls of the open-ceiled structure like a shot ringing out from a gauss gun.

“Matriarch Breanna, as you are undoubtedly well-aware, I am Colonel Marissa Jacobsen, captain of the Indra Prime warship Centurion. As commander of the Indran Task Force Beta, I am here to represent our nation in negotiations to establish full diplomatic, defense, and trade rights with your civilization. We have come to seek allies against an Enemy who mercilessly attacked the last surviving bastion of the Indran people. The attacks we incurred were completely unprovoked as our society as a whole has been essentially extinct for the better part of 700 years. Our refuge, located in an artificially created pocket universe, was thought to be a sanctuary for our people, a place where we would be safe. Despite the fact that it was essentially a prison for our people due to…natural…circumstances. This was proven to be wrong. The Enemy we now face, obviously has significant technological capabilities to reach a place where we thought no one besides ourselves could reach. As a result of our recent losses in the attack, and the losses we suffered when we were effectively sealed off from the multiverse, we have come to seek out alliances of those who have proven to be friends.

“From the actions your officers and crews of the vessels that arrived at Haeridan Base, by making critical repairs to one of our last remaining vessels, the Celestia, they have shown a considerable capability for compassion and a willingness to help. From the reactions we have gathered in the short time we have known the crews that have been assisting us, your race has heard of us and are interested in learning more about Indran society and technology. We as a people are open to this, in principle. Moreover, we can assist your people with nonmilitary hardware and technology that will put you lightyears ahead in fields of biomedical research, artificial intelligence construction, engineering, and exploration.

“However, if you take this offer as a sign of weakness and make an attempt to forcibly take the technology and information contained within our ships datacore, it will not bode well for you. It may look like we are at a severe disadvantage. I can assure you…We are not. I would like to open negotiations with your people for the mutual benefit for both our peoples. Is this proposal of interest to your people?”

“Indeed, much has happened while you were away. Balrogga has suffered much in the past few years and right now we are quite small, you could say we are nomadic. We abandoned all our terrestrial holdings about thirteen years ago and consolidated our forces into only a few fleets and two stations. We are completely self sufficient so we have achieved an equilibrium of sorts. This makes it extremely difficult to attack us and our vessels are exponentially more powerful than from your last interaction with us. One of our Frigates was designed to be able to eliminate a planet by itself, not bad for a ship only a mere 60 meters in length.”

Nhur-Galladu paused as he took a drink. His body, like any Ta’Nar, was only a telekinetic projection covered by a photonic illusion. Since he WAS the Warlord, his skills were exceeding any of the rest of his nation, in all their abilities. That was what it required to possess his position. The liquid he drank actually went “elsewhere” seeing as he had no internal organs although even the most advanced med scanner would not be able to tell a difference between the two.

“I am not telling you this tn order to make an excuse to not help but as a way for you to understand what I am going to do for you and how much it involved the Fallen Empire, the extent of our dedication to our allies.”

“Down to business. I currently possess eight fleets; two are assigned to protect our two stations. The third escorts The Serendipity. Two additional fleets are guarding the Twelve Colonies of Kobol where the Coredian Empress is currently on trial for crimes committed against the Colonials. That leaves three fleets. I can send two of them to assist you in your rebuild and the hunting down of these attackers that seemed to hit you twice. I will need the remaining fleet to use as reinforcements in case they are needed elsewhere. If the need is great enough I will bring The Serendipity and her escorts."

“Now, each fleet is divided into eight Battlegroups. A Battlegroup should be able to utterly decimate an entire system if needed. We have done so in the recent past on more than one occasion.”

“Do you know where the Crystal was taken yet? How about the Cronotonium?”

The Ta’Nar leader watched a range of expressions pass over Connie’s face when he asked her that direct question. It ranged from suspicion to astonishment with a few others in between. She had not spoken of the missing crystal or the Cronotonium theft. He didn’t need his psionics to tell she had briefly considered if the Ta’Nar were behind the two incidents. Hopefully she will remember Ba’Ker would have reported the whole incident to the Warlord already before taking any rash actions. It was almost a test to see how controlled these Indrans have become.

ASB Priam, 3’rd Fleet Flagship, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

“A mission of the Indran High Command? Indra Prime? Ensign Hoffel, do we have a characteristic match?”

“Our analysis is still inconclusive, ma’am. Ergometric patterns have three points of commonality with our last reported Indran contact, but we do not have an independent verification... the last Klonor contact with an official Indran envoy occured on Kirel 8, 1329. We have had no updates since."

Three centuries without a word and suddenly they pop right back into Association territory? Klonor and Indra haven't maintained regular contact since prior to our withdrawl from the Extra-Solar Union of Systems a millenium ago. Something's not right. Whether it's on their end or on ours, somebody stepped on a rock. Still, at least we haven't begun shooting yet.

"At least they’re talking. Lieutenant Tschel, re-open the channel.”

“Channel open, ma’am.”

“General Tirara Vinan, intentional or not you have violated the territory of the Associated Systems of Klonor. You have ignored clear warnings and you have made repeated scans of a classified military facility. You will stand down your vessels and prepare to be boarded, or you will be fired upon. Consideration can be given for your mission, but we can not simply allow you free passage through the Tau Ceti Military Installation. I have no wish for bloodshed, but the sovereign territory of Klonor does not exist to cater to your travels, and as long as you tread upon Klonor soil we will interfere as we see fit. I say again, stand down your ships or you wll be destroyed."

"Channel closed, ma'am."

Admiral Miller paused for a moment, hoping against hope that the Indran ships would turn around and flee at that very moment, but when a second passed and they were still there she admitted to herself that this would likely not end with a sheepish grin and a "Whoops, my bad" from the Indrans.

"Activate Turret and Tsunamis control circutis, gunners are to acquire targets and ready for immediate hostilities. Alert fighters are to ready for combat and Beta, Gamma, and Delta wings on all ships are to stand by for sudden launch. Transmit to the 3'rd Fleet: We are Beam-Free-All. I say again: Beam-Free-All."

Throughout the ships of the 3'rd Fleet there was a sudden, but almost imperceptible, shift in their appearance. It was nothing truly visible, their color remained as it was and their shape was unchanged, but each ship suddenly seemed as though it was a bright point of light, emitting energy just outside the range of the visible spectrum. On each vessel the Beam Cannons served as the focus of this not-quite-there light, as the small dishes radiated energy that was suddenly barely restrained.

Klonor scientists have never been able to adequately explain this strange phenomena, physical and energy shielding prevent any detectable level of radiation from being emitted from Beam-sources when the "Beam-Free" command is given, but nonetheless it is there. Philosphers and religious clerics refer to this effect as the "Coming light:" The human soul, sensing its own mortality, begins to see beyond the borders of the physical universe and glimpses a bit of the "other" that lies beyond the realms of science. Doctors call it a psychomatic reaction to intense fear that attempts to disassociate from the danger, casting the threatening image into the realm of imagination. Soldiers simply accept it as what it is, the sign of coming battle. Whatever the true cause, whenever a Klonor vessel removes firing safeties from the large Beam Cannons which serve as its primary offensive weapon there is not anyone within visual range that is not aware of it.

"Lieutenant Tschel, send a Sub-Space carrier signal to Gamma Draconis and Deneb, inform Saiderj Ihm and the Duke that we have made contact with vessels claiming to belong to the nation of Indra Prime. They are currently violating Klonor territory and have refused to comply with Klonor demands to vacate the system. Request instructions, and the authority to act as necessary to protect Klonor sovereignty."

"Transmission sent, ma'am."

Now we wait. If these ships don't comply this will get violent, and nobody will go home happy.

“General Tirara Vinan, intentional or not you have violated the territory of the Associated Systems of Klonor. You have ignored clear warnings and you have made repeated scans of a classified military facility. You will stand down your vessels and prepare to be boarded, or you will be fired upon. Consideration can be given for your mission, but we can not simply allow you free passage through the Tau Ceti Military Installation. I have no wish for bloodshed, but the sovereign territory of Klonor does not exist to cater to your travels, and as long as you tread upon Klonor soil we will interfere as we see fit. I say again, stand down your ships or you wll be destroyed."

General Vinan listened to the ultimatum delivered to them by the Association's lead vessel and casually activated her personal holodisplay that was built into the console next to her command chair. She studied the readouts of the vessels that were obviously increasing their readiness for conflict surrounding the Indran Task Force. She nonchalantly made a few notations and deactivated the imager before standing up. She called out her orders.

"Lt Relgic, open a frequency."

"Channel open, ma'am.

"Admiral Miller, is this really the way you want to reestablish ties with the Indran High Command? I have stated that we are on a mission that is of the utmost importance for the continued survival of the Indran people and you return with messages of hostility. In a normal situation, I could understand this. However, in this particular situation, it appears that you would seem to have the upper hand by having superior numbers and a superior position. But as any well-trained tactican would say, appearances are not everything. If you are looking for a conflict, fine. We'll give you one. And you WILL lose. Under no circumstances will we decomission our vessels nor will we allow boarding parties to come aboard. I understand you have a necessity for protecting your secret military outposts, just as we do. From our analysis of the readings of your system, you do not have what we are looking for. Let our vessels continue and we will be on our way with no casualties on either side. Our goals you would find, are not dissimilar, Admiral Miller. We do not wish bloodshed in this matter any more than you do. In the interests of peace and in our desires not to damage any of your vessels in a prolonged firefight, I will extend to you an invitation to come aboard the Recendia Astrum and we can discuss this matter in detail and hopefully solve this situation to your and your superiors' satisfaction."

ASB Priam, 3’rd Fleet Flagship, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

"Absolutely not! Ma'am, under no circumstances should you board the ships of these...these people. They'll clap you in irons the second you step aboard!"

Captain Venkman's sudden outburst was in direct violation of almost a dozen Klonor regulations concerning the interaction between subordinates and their commanding officers, and would have started tounges wagging in all the other personnel aboard the bridge if they had been at liberty to wag, but at the moment Admiral Miller was in agreement with her vocal subordinate. To step into the grasp of those who were at the moment pointing Minerva-knows-what weaponry at them was an idea somewhere in the area of giving Salm the keys to the Vicegral Palace; the power she would give them as a hostage aside, it would almost certainly lead to war that would spill beyond the confines of just Tau Ceti. Plus, and this was something she never left out of her calculations, Miller had no wish to perish at the hands of whatever vile tortures and inquisitions these Indrans had in store. Still, a personal exhcange of information was vastly preferable to continued broadcast communication, and might be a necessity if fighting was to be avoided.

"Captain Venkman, what is the status of our internal security forces?"

"Let me check, ma'am...a portion of the infantry detail on loan from the 67'th LI has been rotated to the Illium for recertification on hard-forced re-entry, but other than that we are at full defensive readiness."

"And our offensive readiness?"

"Uh...we have three SIS detachments aboard, ma'am, currently on standard Beta Alert."

Admiral Miller paused for a moment, considering her next step, before she began to issue her orders.

"Captain, activate the SIS, have them prepare for full-armed defense of the ship and station them at crucial cross-sectors and all entry positions."

"Yes, ma'am."

As the captain began to issue orders to the SIS operatives stationed aboard the Priam, slightly confused at why he was being asked to deploy offensive soldiers in a defensive position when they had not even been boarded yet, Admiral Miller turned back to her communications officer.

"Re-open the channel to the Indrans."

"Channel open, ma'am."

"General Vinan, I must refuse your most gracious invitation, I am unable to join you aboard your vessel at this time.

Amazingly, there was not a single touch of sarcasm in what was obviously a sarcastic refusal.

"However, if you truly wish to avoid a hostile confrontation at this point in time, I can offer you hospitality aboard the Priam for a face-to-face meeting. We can discuss the situation, and hopefully arrive at a peaceful resolution for both parties."

As tense situations go, the scene around the Associated Systems planet of Tau Ceti was a textbook case. Two poweful fleets poised off one another seemingly ready to tear each other to pieces at the first sign of a stray erg of unaccounted for energy. Even dispite the more open communication between the respective fleet's flagships, each vessel was ready to follow their leaders to and through the very gates of Hell. Despite this perilous position these vessels were in, someone had to take the initiative and indeed, that someone was aboard one of the three massive vessels that was at the heart this confrontation.

Aboard the Recendia Astrum

Tirara Vinan, leader of the Indran people and commander of the Indran Military forces, looked up at the holoimage displaying the current ship's battle readiness as well as realtime intelligence on the comings and goings of the Klonor Fleet throughout the system. If she requested it, the AI could use the resources at its disposal to hack and disable the Klonor communications frequencies along with ships' computers and basically anything that ran something else. At least, in theory. That was one of the problems about fielding a fleet of prototype vessels. Yes, everything looked great on paper and all the live tests run seemed to proceed flawlessly, but being used under severe battle conditions had yet to be tested. Her gaze lost focus and took on the thousand-yard stare that many of her people had started to take since the attacks on Haeridan and the rest of the Indran Civilization, as if summoning the spirits of dead comrades for advice and suggestions. Her steely grey eyes snapped back to focus on the holodisplay as she heard a summons in her mind.

General, I know what you are considering and according to Indran Tactical Regulations, I must insist that you do not follow through with your plan.

The corner of Tirara's mouth ever so slightly rose in a slight smirk at her ship's typical bluntness. Her crew, when she had one, was typically also blunt, but not to the extent her vessel tended to be. She reached out with her mind, as only those of her kind and caliber could do, and spoke with the ship.

Cyndi, you know what our current position is. This is the best way to proceed, especially with the events that have most recently occurred.

Yes General, I am well aware of our current situation but we cannot and should not backdown from an obviously superior position. I have been talking with Talon and Carrie and they both are ready to follow you to the ends of the Multiverse and beyond.

Tirara's barely visible smirk became a full grin at that comment.

Of course you are Cyndi. You're a warship. So are your sisters. But don't misunderstand me. My thoughts are not to be misconstrued as lack of faith in you or your sisters. I know that you and they alike are fierce warriors and would make the Indran people proud. But, you must also realize, that I must keep those under my command, crews and ships alike, from a brazen misjudgement in strategy. I will not put you or your sisters in a position that will threaten your existence at a point in time where it is not absolutely necessary. Do you understand?

Yes General, I believe I do.

Good. Now open a channel for me to the Priam.

Channel open, General.

"Admiral Miller. We understand your reticence about coming aboard a potential enemy vessel with no regard to ones one security. As a show of good faith. I am ordering my Task Force to return to standard operating conditions though they will continue to leave their defenses up."

As she said this, she gave the mental command to the Recendia Astrum's AI to put all offensive weapons and technology on standby. She could sense Cyndi's impending argument, but she immediately snuffed that argument out with a quick burst of mental energy to the ship. From the outside, the vessels' matte black appearance began to shimmer in a opalescence eventually going to an iridescence which was the ships natural appearance on normal functioning. Despite such a grandiose gesture of goodwill on her part, she couldn't help from including a small snipe at the Admiral.

"Admiral, if you are uncomfortable with coming over to our ship and believing your soldiers couldn't completely protect you in an alien environment, then I will accept your offer to come aboard with a several of my officers assuming full diplomatic rights and privileges will be bestowed upon us."

She could hear the mental s******s of the Recendia Astrum as well as those of her nearby sisterships even though they tried to conceal it. She ignored the amusement coming from the ships and continued.

"It is in both our best interests to see this incident terminated peacefully and hopefully with ties between our respective governments. I have made the first move. The next is yours. I leave it to you. Astrum out."

ASB Priam, 3’rd Fleet Flagship, Tau Ceti, Associated Systems of Klonor

"Respectfully, ma'am, what, exactly, are we aiming for here? I don't want a shooting war anymore than you do, but these people are still violating Klonor territory; we need to remove them from the system, not invite them in for tea."

"Mi, whatever these people are here for is clearly of some importance to them, nobody stares at the Beams of Klonor Battle Group without a damn good reason, and they don't just skitter back home if something this vital is at stake. Could we toss these people out of Tau Ceti? Absolutely; the 3'rd Fleet alone could handle the job, let alone the entire Tau Ceti Military Installation. However, we're not looking at a trio of Jimathon raiders here, and I don't want to lose a dozen Corvettes in the process of escorting these people from our space. Unless we really do want to start shooting here, we've got to work something out."

"Understood, ma'am, but if we bring one of them aboard the Priam, let alone their fleets' commander, who knows what they might try? Captain Calvin martyred himself back in the EP-War by detonating a MiniStar aboard an Elvish ship just to give his shuttle a chance to escape; give them the opportunity to destroy an Achilles and they've got a hell of an incentive to try something, especially if they're here for something as important as you think."

"Mi, if they can smuggle a MiniStar aboard a Klonor Battleship without our noticing then they deserve to get a shot off. Besides, her urge to martyr herself aside, General Vinan has to know anything like that would trigger another Klonor Hunt; unless her entire people have a death wish, she wouldn't dare."

Admiral Miller might have earned her Flag Rank by skillfully avoiding a Klonor Civil War, and she might be more committed to peace than any other Flag Officer in the KSC, but she was still an officer in the Klonor Space Corps, and the quiet steel in her voice let Captain Venkman know that she was perfectly prepared for the Indrans to try such a thing, and was fully aware of the risks, and that she was perfectly sure of her ability to counter any such attempt. She was also aware that, if she could not, then the Duke would personally take the Constantine and ram in down the throats of every Indran he could find. He was twitchy like that, and nothing makes somebody bold like having that crazy bastard in their corner.

"Transmit to the Indrans: General Vinan, we await your arrival aboard the Priam. You will be allowed a personal escort, but there are no weapons, explosives, e-emitters, q-viruses, or advanced-assault Ai.I. permitted. Please come aboard at your convenience."

Rising, Admiral Miller approached the rear of the bridge and rested her hand on the keypad inlaid against the frame of the door leading out of the command section.

"Captain Venkman, you have the bridge. Maintain the Fleet at Tactical Alert Alpha and ready for further orders from the Duke or Saiderj Ihm. If the Indrans make a single threatening move, you will order the Fleet to engage and involve further Corps assets as necessary. I'll be awaiting the General in DB-03."

Turning, Admiral Miller pressed a complex combination into the keypad and stepped through the doorway, stepping out into one of the conference halls next the Priams' forward docking bay, just over one kilometer from the bridge.

From the bridge of the Priam the officers and crew could see the skin of the lead Indran vessel began to ripple and irised open. Soon, a small sleek craft, maintaining a similar look to the vessel's mothership, pierced the active Indran defense shield and angled itself towards the docking facilities aboard the Priam.

Onboard the pocket cruiser, Tyraeddeon

General Vinan watched the Klonor flagship grow as the pocket cruiser grew closer to her destination. From her vantage point behind the pilot, she could see the expansive fleet that was spread out before her. There was nothing quite like seeing such an amassed fleet in person. Yes, she did get a full scope of what was out here by her ship's hologenerators, but it still didnt compare to the sleek lines of cruisers, the boxy lines of destroyers and all the weaponry they knew were trained on them and there capital ships. As the Tyraeddeon approached the Priam's outer defenses, her pilor sent a signal to the vessel.

"Priam docking control, this is the Indran Cruiser Tyraeddeon. We are carrying a flag diplomatic team by request of Admiral Miller. Requesting permission to dock."

A slightly static-filled response came back over the comm.

"Indran cruiser, our scans show that your vessel has weapons systems still activated. Disarm them immediately or we will consider you hostile and destroy your vessel."

The pilot scoffed at that remark and was about to send back a terse reply but General Vinan put her still-bandaged hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her inquiringly.

"Deactivate the weapons systems, captain. Put everything offline except for our defenses. We must put on a good show for these people...at least for the time being...until we get to know their true intentions."

General Vinan didn't wait for a reply but headed back to the expansive passenger compartment where her personal detail was waiting. She could sense the response the pilot made to the Priam's deck officer.


Priam docking control. This is Tyraeddeon. Weapon systems have been deactivated. Request permission to dock.

Tyraeddeon, weapons systems deactivation confirmed. You are cleared to dock in bay 03.Priam out.

After she felt the channel close, she heard the pilot think What a tool. She suppressed an amused smile as she removed her customary sidearm and placed it in a secure weapons locker near the aft access port. She could sense her guards' reticence of relenquishing their weapons, but knew they had no choice in the matter. She turned to them and gave them a reassuring look, reminding them simply through eye-contact that the contingency plan was in place and ready to be implemented at a moments notice. With all handheld weapons stored they activated their battle armor. Immediately, the normal black armor they were wearing suddenly appeared to turn into a void, sucking in all forms of electromagnetic radiation. To anyone not aware of the technology, it would appear to be the exact inverse of the single point illumination souce. Known as the a negative gradient pointsource generator suit, it protected its wearer from any form of energy or particle based weaponry, and provided significant protection from projectile weaponry. The six man team all wore this protective armor, with the sole exception for General Vinan, who still wore her white and grey formal battle dress uniform. Even despite the barely noticable bulge of bandages still around her torso from the wounds she suffered from on Haeridan, she looked as sharp as possible. The gashes on her face and neck had long since been healed by the medical AI aboard the Recendia Astrum which left no visible scars. The only obvious sign of injury was the flesh colored compress on her left hand.

They heard a hiss of the retroactive thrusters firing in periodic bursts (as the gravitic engines had yet to be repaired) and soon thereafter felt the ship touch down on the hangar deck. Immediately, the protective detail got into formation around the general, making her look like and eerie spectre in a dark matter nebula. The doors hissed open as the pressure equalized between the hangar and the compartment and the escort team stepped out onto the hangar floor amidst a buzz of activity. All around the vessel, the team could see the guards sent to keep an eye on the new arrival in case of any unwanted activity, though to their credit, they all still stood at port arms with fingers off the triggers. Ahead of them, they saw a small group of individuals who were obviously the welcoming committee.

Two of the soldiers stepped aside and General Vinan stepped forward to a diplomatic 2 meters in front of her counterpart. This was the first time the Klonor delegation got the chance to size up the leader of the Indran Task Force (and leader of their people, but they didnt know this yet.) As a soldier, she made quite an impressive sight. Even with the standard non-flashy Indran dress uniform, she still showed an unquestioning stance of one who handled the burden of command with absolute ease. Unlike most other militaries, the Indran Fleet did not adorn their officers and crews with medals to place on their uniform. With only a rank insignia on her uniform, some might consider the uniform spartan. Though, it was through knowledge and respect that the officers and enlisted got rewarded and recognized for their outstanding deeds. As a woman, she was even more imposing. Tall, athletic, and strong, she clearly was an attractive woman. She was obviously one who had a resouce that few could even approach in comparison but was of such mind that didnt draw unnatural attention to her appearance.

"Admiral Miller. I am General Tirara Vinan commander of the Recendia Astrum. Thank you for your gracious invitation to meet here today. I know we got started off on the wrong foot, so let me start by saying we regret for illegally entering your space. We did not intend offense. That being said, it was of vital importance that we search your space without delay. I think it is time that we discuss why we were brought here."

She glanced to her left, and to her right before returning her gaze on the Admiral.

"Can we talk somewhere more private? What I have to tell you is a matter of the utmost concern and classification levels. Once you hear this too, you'll understand why."

On board the Serendipity


General Constance Dugan expected this type of comment from the Warlord. In her mission brief, she was informed that the Ta'Nar, of which Nhur-Galladu was a part, had an astonishing capability to link to one another over vast distances. With Captain Ba'Ker returning with her aboard her ship after leaving Haeridan Base, there was ample time for the upload to the rest of the Ta'Nar. Despite all this, she was slightly taken aback by the blunt reference to the Chronotonium and the Crystal. She swirled the liquid in her glass around so it lightly coated the sides of the glass before continuing.


"At this point, Emperor, we do not have a bead on the Crystal's or the Chronotonium stores locations. We have dispatched all available vessels to search for this vital technology. As a former ally and trade partner, you know the importance of those two objects to our continued survival. What you are not aware of, is the magnitude of importance they possess to us. Without either, our power would be weakened considerably."


Nhur-Galladu was surprised at the absolute forthcomingness of this high ranking flag officer before him. Obviously if she was willing to divulge information like this to him, then whatever was happening truly must mean the continued existance of the Indrans.


"Bottom line this discussion. What is it you want from us?"


"Emperor, on behalf of the leader of the Indrans, General Tirara Vinan, I am authorized to offer terms for an alliance for aspects of mutual defense, trade relations, and resource management. As a show of good faith, I have been instructed to offer you a device which we have brought with us. An Indran Rift Generator. This device will allow access to the region of space in which Haeridan Base occupies outside of space/time. With this generator comes the offer for staging and basing rights in the FIELD, as long as they do not interfere with Indran normal or tactical operations.

"The FIELD will allow you to have a very secure base of operations if you wanted, and a place where you could fall back to without the fear of attack. That is, of course, currently negated by the attack by the ENEMY, which at this point, is the only other group that has the technology to reach us even there. We need to begin amassing forces for the obvious impending onslaught and restore our last surviving base of operations.

"It is crucial that the generator be protected at all costs because if this technology gets out, it will certainly allow more agressive and threatening nations to attack your people as well as mine without warning and without fear of reprisal."

Admiral Miller coolly watched the seven Indrans leave the transport with a small touch of contempt. It was carefully concealed from her face, but the the simple lack of logic in making what were obviously combat soldiers so damn noticeable, and who could miss six large groups of solid absence, irked the basic practicality that was one of the core essences of all Klonori. The psychological advantage such an image would impart on the Indrans might have warranted the theatricality if meeting a less-advanced peoples that would be awed at such a display, but aboard a starship like the Priam it just looked like six large signposts letting every soldier in the docking bay know where each enemy combatant was. There was probably some other use for whatever technology this light-absorbing effect was coming from, something quietly lethal if the old stories of the Indrans held any truth to them, but it still looked damn foolish.

Of course, that might be the very idea in the mind of the Indrans; Klonor had frequently made use of garishly obvious technologies to distract an enemy in order to suprise them with something both covert and lethal, and a visual attraction like this could be just such an attempt. However, if that were the intention, then Miller was willing to give good odds that Commander Girol, supervising officer of the Priams' on-board security forces, had already discovered the ruse, and readied precautions for whatever trap the Indrans had in mind. After all, one was not appointed to one of the few Battleships in the Corps without an extensive knowledge of combat, both overt and covert.

Still, she was not here to analyze Indran fashion sense, and Admiral Miller shifted her focus, sizing up her opposite number as Vinan emerged from the group of absence. Again perfectly concealing her emotions, this time carefully suppressing an aesthetic appreciation of the attractive woman in the plain and unassuming uniform, she could not help but notice the physical beauty of the Indran commander. Miller herself wore the scarlet uniform of the Klonor Admiralty, the triple-starburst on her collar identifying her flag rank and position as Fleet Commander, and presented the Indran commander with an attractive, though admittedly not awe-inspiring, woman of average heigth, with her golden hair tied in a tight cord that stretched down to her waist. Flanked on either side by the personnel of the 76'th SIS detachment, the twelve soldiers indistinguishable from other Klonor combat personnel by anything but the quiet air of lethality that the SIS conveyed, Miller stepped forward to meet General Vinan.

"General Vinan, welcome aboard the Priam. I can appreciate your lack of intent when you transgressed our territory, but the fact remains that we must still insist on your immediate withdrawl from Klonor space. If necessary, we can arrange for your ships to be granted access to certain areas of Tau Ceti, but not before we have a full understanding of what it is you're here for."

Turning a bit, she gestured towards an exit at the rear of the docking bay that lead to one of the many conference rooms aboard the Priam.

"If you'll follow me, we can discuss this in a more secure area."

She could sense the wisps of contempt streaming from the Admirals mind as General Vinan followed her toward the conference room. No doubt she was less than thrilled at the obvious technological deployment the guard troops were employing. Vinan thought it would be better to let her think it was just a grandiose show of capability. That way when the true reason for the armor was explained, it would hit the Admiral with more of an impact. Despite her feeling the emotions that were radiating from the Admiral like the tentacles of a kraken, she kept her psionic capabilities closely shielded. She had no idea what kind of technology these one-time allies had at this point. Hell, she had no idea how they would treat those of her kind, she mused.

They quickly arrived at the large ornate, but very functional doors that led to the conference room just off the docking bay. She glanced at the commander of the guard and immediately, he turned to four of his men and they knew precisely what to do. Two of the soldiers took up positions on either side of the door, and the other two took up positions directly across from the door so they would have both key directions covered in case the Priam's crew decided to try anything funny. Admiral Miller breezed through the doors as they opened at the party's approach, followed closely by General Vinan and her two remaining soldiers. Inside, were several of the Klonor guards assigned to protect the Admiral in this meeting. With the Klonor soldiers on one side of the table and the Indrans right across from them at the other, Admiral Miller and General Vinan sat down at the table, for what, neither could tell with certainty.

General Vinan continued to study the admiral from across the table as she knew the admiral was doing for her. The two women sitting at the table provided an interesting contrast for one another. Both senior officers in their respective fleets, both unquestionly attractive, and both seasoned leaders. As it was her ship, the Admiral cut right to the chase and spoke up.


"Alright General. We are as secure as can be. Now tell me. What the hell are you doing with your fleet in my territory?"


With a vague sensation that the burns on her arm began to develop a phantom itch, General Vinan ignored them and locked eyes with the admiral.


"You have been forthright with us and honorable in your means of dealing with this situation so I will be as succinct as I possibly can. The Indran Civilization has recently suffered a massive attack at the hands of some unknown enemy. Every planet, every base, every ship, every Indran, is gone."


Admiral Miller's eyes narroweed slightly when she heard that and tried to grasp it competely. All the Indrans...gone? What in the hell is going on? She voiced those very same thoughts to the general.


"General, that makes no sense. Care to fill me in?"


"This dates back several hundred years. Our temporal observatory picked up the signature of an object which we thought couldnt exist so we sent out an expeditionary fleet to retrieve the object. When we arrived, we encountered some locals who didnt know about the object's presence as they were caught up in a significant civil war at the time. Moments later, the task force detected another fleet entering the system using a technology eerily similar to our own, presumably there to also retrieve the object. A massive battle occurred between the two fleets and thats where information starts to become hazy. Something happened which initiated a chain reaction within space/time that discriminated Indran signatures, technological, informational and biological and they simply ceased to exist. Everything. Gone. Everything except Haeridan Base."


The Admiral leaned forward a little and folded her hands together on the table.


"You mentioned that before. What is it?"


"Haeridan Base was a classified military research facility that was built just outside of space/time in an artificially constructed pocket universe. Our scientists theorized that its unique location and the properties of the field that supported the stabilization of that field is what protected it from the changes in the timeline. With no contact with our people at any of our facilities, we decided to seal off the base and try to protect what we could. We succeeded. At least, for a while.

"We strove to understand the situation we were in. Our best scientific minds tried to figure out what the hell happened and how everything could have occurred the way it did. And more importantly, how that object suddenly appeared on our sensors in that remote system. Hundreds of years went by and we were no more closer to solving the problem.

"Then a week ago, our base came under attack. We presume it was the same enemy who attacked our retrieval fleet in that remote system."


"Wait, back it up a sec. You said Haeridan Base is isolated outside of space/time? How could this group get to it if its not accessible?"


"You forget Admiral. These beings, whoever they are, employ technology similar to our own. At a level similar or possibly even more advanced than our own. They came out of nowhere. Rifts opened up by the dozens and alien vessels began pouring into the region. Our fleet didnt stand a chance. We had sixty two vessels docked with the station, all ships of the line. We even had several Phaeralon Class flagships there. But these vessels caught us completely offguard. They destroyed every single vessel there, save for one, the Celestia, which was severely damaged in the attack. Not only did they target our fleet, but they nearly destroyed the station itself. They carved it up like a Christmas roast and started transporting gear and tech off the station. They even surgically cut out our Temporal Observatory, the device that allows for us to monitor and maintain the timeline. Obviously they knew exactly what they were looking for.

"Thats not the only thing that we think they may have taken. Aboard the station, we kept a massive stockpile, the only one in existance, of the substance that powers all our technology. That entire stockpile is gone."


General Vinan hesitated momentarily trying to decide if she should mention the last piece. Figuring that they needed all the allies they could get, the people represented in this room might be able to help provide that. She continued.


"There was one final thing that has also disappeared. There is an artifact. We call it the Temporal Crystal. It is a device that is beyond anything we have come across. It was an incredibly advanced piece of technology left over from an ancient race that has long since disappeared. A race that mastered the art of temporal technology lightyears beyond what the Indrans possess even today. Anyone who has this artifact and studies it, can eventually master Temporal technology like we have. THAT is why we were in your system. We picked up a signature that came close to the signature that was generated by the Chronotonium we had. If we were able to recover even a portion of that stockpile, our capabilities would be far more assured and our position wouldn't be so unsteady."

To almost anybody else this story of complete and total annhilation in a single moment would have seemed a tad odd, bordering on the completely absurd, but within Klonor it was not that unheard of. Miller herself had lived through the Loss of the Mindset as a child, and there was not a Klonori living that did not know the story of the Fall from a thousand years ago; the Klonor Empire had tumbled to the ground in a single evening, leading to what was still known simply as "The Bad Times," and let all subjects of the Duke know just how fragile a states existence truly was. Miller did not necessarily believe Vinan's story, a sincere expression and emotional voice were always easy to fake, but at least she did not reject its possibility outright.

"General, I can sympathize with your situation, perhaps better than may believe, but you must understand mine as well; regardless of your motivations or intentions, you have violated critical and restricted territory belong to the Associated Systems, scanning a classified military installation despite repeated warnings and orders to the contrary. If you were anything other than a national representative you'd be in irons right now and we'd have already boarded your ships. I have no wish for a violent confrontation here, but without your immediate withdrawl from Klonor space we will have one, regardless of our own desires. Klonor is not looking for a war, and we have no wish to oppose you in your search, especially not if it is as vital as you say, but our people have grown accustomed to isolation, and willl not appreciate it being broken in such a sudden and dramatic fashion. I might have already overstepped my authority as it is by granting you permission to board the Priam, the Saiderj is a driving force behind our continued isolation.

"It may be possible for us to assist you in your search for this crystal, we have long known about this temporal signature which you spoke of, and have studied those sections of space ourselves, but that will not be possible without your withdrawl."

From the first transmission from the Thēəsthyüs this had been an everpresent demand and threat from the Klonor forces, "withdraw or die," and after it was uttered half a dozen times it might have lost some of its oomf, but Miller hoped that General Vinan was not one to underestimate a threat simply beacause it had not been enforced before. She had not exagerrated earlier, she was strecthing her authority to the max as it was, and every moment the Indran ships remained in Tau Ceti increased the chanses that she would receive a direct order from Gamma Draconis for an immediate attack. Even without such an order, she could not continue to let advanced and unknown alien vessels simply float within a Corps Military Facility. If Vinan did not order a withdrawl now, at this moment, Miller's hands would be tied: There would be war.

"After your withdrawl I can contact the Duke and request a rendezvous with the Khronos, of all the ships in the KTC they would be able to assist you, but this is a conditional arrangement, you must leave the system."

From the underlying currents of emotional energy General Vinan detected eminating from the admiral, she knew that this was probably as far as she'd be willing to go. Still, knowing the dire circumstances the forces were in, General Vinan decided to continue and hoped shed get more of a concession. In return, she would have to make one of her own.


"Admiral, I can appreciate the position you're in. If some unknown, and uncredentialed group of alien vessels breached our territory, we would not have shown them the restraint that you have in this matter, and we...I appreciate it. That being said, know that we will stop at nothing to find our property and we will do anything to protect our citizenry down to the last Indran. However, this is not an attempt to force yours or the Duke's hand into a confrontation. Far from it.

"I will have my ships withdraw to a position just outside your system's boundary, where we will wait for the vessels we have rendezvousing with us. I will order them to stop just short of entering your space as to not cause a confrontation with any more of your vessels."


At this point, General Vinan stood up, followed shortly thereafter by the Admiral.


"Do not misinterpret what we are doing here. We are here looking for what is ours and the possibility of a full alliance with Klonor is not too far fetched at this point either. If your people decide to help us, we will need more than just a single ship to assist us in rebuilding and our search. Contact your Duke. Tell him that if your nation rallies and assists us, we will use all our resources and technology to help defend your people when, and I stress 'when', the Enemy returns to finish us off. For now, we will withdraw and await your people's response. Admiral."


She extended her hand in the tradition of the warriors of Ancient Earth. She didn't remember the origin of such a gesture, but if she did, she would know that those warriors did it to show they were not holding weapons as a sign of friendship and respect.

Admiral Miller stared at the offered hand with a mild touch of distaste, it had been centuries since she had touched an alien, but her desire for a peaceful resolution to the current crisis easily overcame such thoughts, and she quickly grasped General Vinan's wrist in customary Klonor fashion.

"For what it's worth General, I hope you find what you're looking for."

Behind the Indran guest, as if cued by some secret signal (Which, of course, it was), the door leading to the docking bay slid open, with an SIS section ready to escort the General and her escort back to their transport, and from there out of Klonor space altogether. As the Indrans left, again too damn obvious for any Klonor to keep from noticing them, Admiral Miller sat down, glad that she had a quiet moment to rest and collect her thoughts.

Unfortunately, she did not have a quiet moment to rest, and she stood up again immediately after she was down. Turning to another exit from the room she pressed a complicated sequence into the panel inlaid against the door frame and stepped through into the bridge.

"Report on the status of the alien ships."

"Ma'am, the Tyraeddeon has left the Priam and is en-route back her origin. The three instigators...ma'am, the three Indran ships have begun to accelerate out-system. They're leaving."

By the Spirit, I'm glad they finally got the message.

"Contact the 3'rd Fleet, have the ships stand down to Tactical Alert Beta. The 6'th Battle Group is to continue to monitor the Indran vessels and report any new developments, but instruct Commodore Nikal that he his to hold inside the system."

"Yes, ma'am. The 6'th is moving to escort the Indrans out of the system."

The large display screen at the forefront of the bridge was once again filled with countless minute lights, three of them rapidly advancing towards the edge of the system with a small group trailing behind. It might not have looked like much, but to Admiral Miller it was a glorious sight; not only were the aliens finally leaving Klonor territory, but there had not been a single shot fired, which was always something to celebrate.

"Ma'am, new ergometric contact!"

Oh, bloody hell!

"I need details Ensign."

"Yes, ma'am...three new ships are entering real-space beyond the systems edge...LORTAT places them in the same region the Indrans arrived in. Characteristic match...identical to the Indrans."

So much for quick farewells. Vinan mentioned something about a rendezvous.

"Ma'am, the new ships are holding position outside the terminus of the system and have made no move to enter Klonor territory; the Generals ships are moving to join these new vessels."

In the Spirits name, why couldn't these people have bothered some other nation?

"All Klonor ships are to maintain their position, the 3'rd Fleet will return to Tactical Alert Alpha. The 4'th, 5'th, and 10'th Battle Groups are to rendezvous at our location and ready for full-armed defensive; all garrison ships are to report to action stations."

"Yes, ma'am."

As the communications officer began to whisper commands to the other Klonor ships in the system Admiral Miller turned to Lieutenant Seran, the rarely-consulted Archival Specialist aboard the Priam.

"Lieutenant, do we have access to KTC files aboard the Priam?"

"Uh...I'll have to check ma'am...we are limited to Fe-Nas access, Level 3 above standard public dissemination."

What that meant was that they did not learn a damn thing more than the spittle fed to the public, but that was not exactly a surprise to the Admiral; the Saiderj himself was locked out of the KTC.

"Scan whatever archives you have access to, collect all available information on ML-792 and the temporal readings detected in 924 and 1524 (O.S.)."

"Yes, ma'am, but there won't be much, the damn Tinkers keep their records locked tighter than the Duke's liquor cabinet."

Normally the use of such profanity would have earned the Lieutenant a summary dismissal from the bridge, possibly a demotion or full discharge, but when it came to the KTC there was not a serving member of the Corps who did not share his feelings.

"Understood, Lieutenant, but see what you can find. Ensign, open a Direct Beam Transmission to Deneb, priority level for direction to the Duke."

"Y..yes, ma'am...channel open."

A direct transmission to the Duke, without being filtered through half a dozen pointless and irritating flunkies, was rare and reserved solely for the most important of situations (Usually updates on whichever kegger the Duke was planning on attending), but there were times when only he had the authority to deal with certain situations and there was no time to go through other channels.

Heh.."time;" if only that weren't the issue.

"Duke Klonor, this is Admiral Miller, 3'rd Fleet Command, aboard the Priam in Tau Ceti. Sir, I believe you're aware of our current situation."

"Painfully aware, Admiral; an alien incursion into restricted territory is not something that goes unreported. I've already received s colorful list of recommendations from Saiderj Ihm."

The bridge oficers aboard the Priam all wore slightly awed expressions, for the majority of them this was their first time hearing the Duke speak, and even Admiral Miller, who had received her promotion from his hands, was not immune to the effects. The man might be a brash and unapologetic drunkard, but he was still worshipped nearly as a deity by his people.

"I'm aware, sir, but I believe I have managed to arrive at a peaceful solution; the Indrans we--"

"Hold on Admiral, have you confirmed their identities?"

"Yes, sir, they belong to the national body which we identify as 'Indra Prime,' which we last had contact with in 1329. They have entered our space searching for what they claim to be stolen technology and resources; I've made it clear that, regardless of their motivations, we can not abide by such an invasion, and they have withdrawn to the systems borders. However, they are quite determined, and they will not be content to simply sit out in freespace; theyr'e not going anywhere."

"Admiral, I trust that the several System Fleets within Tau Ceti will have no trouble maintaining the security of the system?"

"No, sir, of course not, but that's no--"

"But that's not the point, you don't want there to be any fighting at all, and would rather we all have tea together instead."

He might be worshipped as a near-deity, but he was also a jackass who dripped sarcasm.

"Yes, sir, I would, and so would you, or you would have ordered an immediate assault the instant you learned of their appearance."

"Quite true. What did you have in mind, Admiral?"

"Sir, under no circumstances would I suggest allowing them to roam freely about Tau Ceti, but if we can speed them on their way quickly then it's a proper solution for all involved. Their search included a section of space referred to as ML-792."

"I'm familiar with the history of that area."

"I'm sure you are, sir, but I'm contacting you because I, and the other members of the 3'rd Fleet, are not, KTC archives to which we have access include no relevant data. Without knowing what, exactly, happened there, we can't give the Indrans any information, and sooner or later they're going to want in."

"Admiral, I hope you realize what you're asking; Ihm doesn't have full access."

"I"m aware, sir, but this is a special situation."

"Indeed it is, but not that special; you can not be granted access to the classified files of the KTC, you do not have the expertise, clearance, or training to deal with that which you would discover."

"Sir, without that information we--"

"We will soon be at war with the Indrans, which will likely tear apart the fabric of the space-time continuum and rend the universe in two and so on and so forth. This is nothing new, Admiral, nor is it the first time this has happened; there are reasons we have these protocols in place. I repeat, I can not grant you access. However, there are those who already have this information."

Admiral Miller could tell what the Duke was about to say, and she did not like it in the least.

"The ASTs Khronos will be dispatched to Tau Ceti to liase with the Indrans and provide support for the remainder of this situation. You will, of course, offer them all support at your disposal.

"Of course, sir."

"Very good, Admiral. Klonor out."

Admiral Miller might have mentioned the Khronos herself when talking with Vinan, and she was serious when she had mentioned asking the Duke for its use, but that would be later, after everybody had gone on their way and left her and Tau Ceti peacefully alone; she had no wish to even be in the same Jump-Network with a ship of the KTC, let alone their flagship. But an order from the Duke was an order from the Duke, and she would obey. Whether she liked it or not, soon Tau Ceti would host one of the three Juggernaughts in service in the Klonor military, and the ship within which was headquartered the majority of the manpower, technology, and resources of the Klonor Temporal Corps.

Maybe we should all just start shooting and get it over with.
_________________________________________________________________

ASTs Khronos, engaged in actions beyond the comprehension of mere mortals in a realm not bound by the constrictions of that which is referred to as time.

Inconceivable dimensions not shown.

Tempora Mutantur et nos Mutamur in Illis

Within the convex dome of the Spatial Convergence, # sat and stared at the universe. It was not the entire universe, of course, but a symbolic representation of the ever-evolving symbiosis that was commonly referred to as the time/space-continuum. Threads weaved together in a pattern at once chaotic and orderly, as though being described by some internet geek who couldn't think of a more powerful description than a cliched old line used in every damn time travel story ever. Still, it was beautiful, complicated, and symmetrical like nothing else in existence. # knew that for a fact; he had seen everything else in existence.

One thread brightened. No, "brightened" is not the correct word; one thread elevated. It did not change its color, or its intensity, or its location, but it was suddenly noticeable; it weaved in a way that no other thread weaved. The Spatial Convergence rotated, focused, and specified as # focused on the new thread.

There had been a temporal incursion within the spatio-temporal grid containing one of the systems of Klonor. The thread weaved around others without intersecting. There had been no alteration to the timeline. The incursion required no intervention.

The Spatial Convergence rotated again, once more displaying the continuum, when it suddenly cleared. It did not focus on something new, it did not examine a new angle, it blanked. This did not happen.

Temporal reception originating from Spatio-Temporal Grid VXL-97-AS-32-pinky. Recall of the Khronos by the Duke Klonor. Temporal Corps Activation in response to Temporal Incursion and Detection. Immediate action.

The Khronos did not rotate or accelerate, it did not move at all, but suddenly it was gone, and within the Spatial Convergence a second thread elevated to a new height.

General Vinan rubbed ache from her shoulder as she finished up her gruelling workout in one of the ships gyms. At this time of night, there were very few people in the gym. Many of those present, were like her, unable to sleep and tried to expend some of that overstored energy. She got up from the bench she was sitting on and walked over to the door of the holotrack. As she walked in, the black interior immediately activated and performed several tasks before she even requested anything. Cyndi, the Recendia Astrum's AI, knew the preferences of each of her crewmembers and preset the holosystem to that preference. Originally from the Indran Planet Vorall, General Vinan preferred to run on a path that snaked around a nature complex that stretched for hundreds of miles around the city where she grew up. Within seconds, she was standing at the beginning of the path that would take her past some of the most beautiful scenery she could remember. The temperature dropped fast (to match the natural environs of Vorall) but not fast enough to shock the general's already heated body.

She started off down the path at a fast trot, feeling the invigorating cold autumn air on her skin. This ritual workout had become a great way to escape from the daily stressors she endured as senior general-grade officer and leader of the Indran people. Unfortunately, the escapism would not last this time. Just as she began passing the field adjacent to the magnificent waterfall, a comm signal pierced the serene location. She could already feel the tension starting to return simply because of that stupid comm signal. She called out into nothingness.


"What is it Cyndi?"


With the slight hint of apology in the voice of the Recendia Astrum's AI, which only the AI scientists of Indra could properly emulate, Cyndi answered.


"I'm sorry to interrupt your run, General. However you asked me to remind you when Colonel Brubaeker's Task Force was on the sense horizon. They are a few minutes from dropping from hyperspace and rendezvousing with our task force."


General Vinan took this all in stride and instead of following the path, she immediately cut across the field and headed towards the waterfall. With the ice-cold water splashing down, she ducked under the cascading water to cool herself down further. As she let the water beat down upon her, she continued her conversation with Cyndi.


"Has the colonel been informed of his orders about approaching the system?"


"Yes ma'am. Colonel Brubaeker has acknowledged his orders to drop out of hyperspace just outside the system's terminus and rendezvous with us there. When I wasnt speaking with the colonel, I spoke with Shana and she said her weapons and offensive systems will not be activated when they enter proximity range. Both Maggie and Trina are following suit."


Tirara stepped from beneath the waterfall and grasped the towel that appeared hanging from thin air and started to towel off. She would change when she got to the gym's lockerroom. She threw the towel over her shoulder and started to head back toward the path entrance before responding. She spoke out loud but mainly to herself.


"Damn, I nearly forgot. The Magellanic and the Treitinaus. Thats Major Donaldson's ship. Trina will sure come in handy.


To Cyndi, she asked,"Has Trina corrected her sensor suite's bugs yet?"


"Yes ma'am. Trina told me she was able to hunt down the problem and fixed it a few days ago. She also managed to fix her autochef, which had for some reason been stuck in a curloop making Aldebreen Eel Souffle."


General Vinan shook her head as she stepped out the holotrack and headed toward the lockerroom.


"Let me know if anything else happens. I'll be on the command deck in fifteen minutes."


"Yes General."




General Vinan stepped onto the command deck wearing a fresh uniform and feeling very energized from her run, moments before. She stepped over to the strategy table where Majors Melissa Connor and Thomas Graham were already pouring over the latest information being generated by the ship. They both looked like they had been there for a while and were still going strong.


"Dont you two ever sleep?"


The two officers ignored the quip but quickly filled her in on the latest. Major Graham started the debrief.


"General, Task Force Delta has dropped out of hyperspace and is falling into formation. Colonel Brubaeker had his task force perform a file dump to us with all the latest updates from the field. So far, no signs of the Chronotonium or the Crystal. This appears to be the strongest lead we have. All vessels report ready for action though all ships are still only in a defensive mode. Currently all Klonor vessels are holding their positions just inside the system terminus, and comm traffic has increased ten-fold since you left the Priam. Apparently they are just waiting to see what we..."


Just then a new image popped up on the strategy table's holodisplay.


Major Melissa Connor started reading off the raw sensor readings.


"General, a new sensor contact has appeared on the Magellanic's sense horizon. This is a realtime update from her. This contact, its massive, nearly as large if not larger than one of our vessels. Signature indicates that its a vessel of the Klonor Navy, but..."


"...but what, Major?"


"General, this vessel appears to be emitting a strong temporal signature. XC9 class emissions."


"TAO, order the fleet to Defensive Posture. Tell them to be ready to switch to full combat mode at the slightest sign of hostility. They are not to wait for my order."


"On it."


"Major Connor, is there any correlation between the new vessels signature and that of the ENEMY?"


"Preliminary reports are turning up negative. This is not an ENEMY vessel, but it does pose a significant threat to the fleet. Estimated ETA to our position, two minutes."


"Well, the Admiral did say she would contact their Duke. Maybe this is his way of helping. Major, ready the ship for combat, but do not, I Repeat do NOT activate any offensive systems."


"Yes, Ma'am."

The various forms of Faster-than-Light technolog in use by Klonor all had unique and obvious indicators of their use, visual cues that let everybody know exactly what was happening. Ships emerging from Sub-Space appeared from within a shimmering node of electric blue that connected Real-Space with the n-Dimensional Corridor. Ships decelerating from G/TD-Travel seemed to elongate, stretching across entire stellar systems before suddenly snapping back to their normal appearance as they crossed the Light Threshold. The TLMDG simply emitted a dazzling burst of light as it converted a pattern of energy into a massive, complicated arrangement of matter that functioned as a starship. The Khronos, however, simply appeared. It did not emerge, did not approach, did not advance, it simply was. In the point between two neighboring instants of time, between then and now, a previously empty portion of space "above" the Priam was suddenly host to the massive battleship that was the Khronos, third Juggernaught of Klonor and Flagship of the Klonor Temporal Corps.

The term "Juggernaught" was not a designation earned lightly, even the massive Priam was dwarfed by the newly arrive timeship, literally falling in its shadow as it obscured the distant Tau Ceti star. At nearly seven kilometers in length and sporting four Nexus Cannons, enough firepower to literally remove an entire stellar system from existence in less than an hour, the Khronos was the single most powerful ship in the vast Klonor Fleet, even disregarding its vast array of temporal weaponry, which were capable of erasing an object from the very fabric of time. Its visual appearance was not in perfect synchronization with other Klonor vessels, the Duke had once described it as "[a] Star Destroyer that ate too many pork-rinds and forgot he shouldn't be a rectangle," but it was still undeniably a Corps ship. At the moment it seemed to be resting motionless, under no internal propulsion, but its engines still glowed a faint blue with restrained power, just waiting for release.

Captain Western Restom stood aboard the bridge of the Khronos and gazed at the viewscreen which dominated the forefront of the large room. Instead of the visual representation that been present aboard the Priam, this screen displayed a constant representation of the status of the Spatial Convergence, updating with every new instant of time. Around the bridge the members of the crew were constantly analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating this information, ever-alert for the slightest change to the continuum. Currently, the situation in Tau Ceti held a large part of their focus, but with the entire universe to monitor they could never just let their attention slide from the rest of the display. As it was, Restom had to deal with the current situation.

"Begin an Az-Q analysis of this system, all Klonor vessels, and the Indran ships. Determine causal, resulting, and extraneous alterations. Increase scans of spatial grids of previous importance."

His words were precise, almost stiff, as if they had been kept in a closet for too long and were unused to their current movement and flexibility.

"Contact Admiral Miller aboard the Priam, arrange a close-circuit Direct Beam Transmission."

The murmurs of acknowledgement he received from his crew were likewise slightly unusual, again as if they had spent too long without speaking, but their movements were as quick and familiar as any service officers within the Space Corps.

"Close-curcuit transmission has been established, Captain."

"Admiral Miller, this is Captain Restom aboard the Khronos. We have been informed that you are experiencing issues relating to the temporal history of this system."

"You've heard correctly, Captain. Spatial grids M--"

"I'm familiar with the locations, Admiral, and can assure you that this situation is well under control. You and the 3'rd Fleet are to return to Tactical Alert Beta and withdraw to secondary defensive positions within the system."

"Captai--"

"You will comply at once, Admiral. Khronos out."

The transmission channel closed at that moment, without even bothering to pause for the Admirals sign-off, and Restom again turned to look at the display screen, apparently waiting for something. Whatever he saw in the display, whenever he saw, apparently satisfied him, because he began to tap out a sequence of commands into one of the many panels built into the command chair. As soon as he finished there appeared at his side a small data crystal, protruding up from one of the chair arms, and he slowly turned the small disk over in his hand.

"Begin a limited transmission to the lead Indran vessel, maintain a .037 advanced shift throughout the transmission."

Moments later the Khronos began to emit a strong radio signal that went completely undetected by the other Klonor vessels, temporally shifted a fraction of a second after the now and constantly moving into the soon after.

With the arrival of the Khronos, the level of tension increased to a nearly palpable level. Never in the Recendia Astrum's existance, had she faced off against a vessel with capabilities similar to her own. She could immediately tell, the vessel before her and her sisters was a significant threat to their continued existance even despite their massively advanced temporal technology. In an all out conflict across the timeline, it was obvious that there would be massive damage rendered to both sides. Even as a warship, she admired and respected the danger she and her family could face.


General Vinan studied the readings that scrolled across the holoimage hovering before her of the new ship. She, like her ship, could tell this was a force to be reckoned with. She watched as the new arrivals sensors permeated the surrounding space like a blind man feeling out his location in a familiar room. Even with the capability of nullifying such scans of foreign vessels, General Vinan allowed her ship and her ships surrounding space to be scanned at will, mainly to help increase the level of cooperation as seen from the Khronos and the Priam.

On a separate subdisplay, she could see that her small fleet had arrived at the predesignated points for a defensive posture in the event that the new arrival attempted to attack or otherwise control the situation by force. Yes, they did have superiority in numbers by capabilities, but with the regular Klonor Fleet not more than 10AU away, a fight would be horrendous on both sides. She could also feel the ships of her fleet talking with one another exchanging information between them to make sure each were completely prepared for anything. Then, almost as one, they all went silent when each 'heard' the chime of an arriving message. Normally, they would have let a standard message be handled by their automated systems and their human crews, but in this case, this transmission was displaced in time such that only someone or something that had the capabilities of detecting such a transmission would be able to receive it.


A new wave of data started speeding across her displays which caught General Vinan's attention immediately. She straightened up and moved her current tactical displays to the side and activated her ship's micro temporal observatory. She always kept the status of the timelines in the back of her mind, but in instances of temporal communication, she always wanted to make sure there were no significant side effects of such a communication. Satistifed that none had developed and it was from the vessel off the bow, she quickly had her crew analyze it.



"Major Connor, what is the displacement and signal attributes of that transmission?"


"General, it appears to be a relatively primitive temporal radio transmission coming from the vessel designated as Khronos. All fleet vessels are indicating that they are receiving the transmission but apparently none of the other Klonor fleet vessels are picking up the transmission."


"And the Temporal displacement factor?"


"General, we are looking at a +0.037 shift in the Bravo Band. Relatively primitive form of communication capabilities, but still noteworthy. Probably a simple, limited transmission, given their classification rating of XC9."


"Very well. Cyndi, match frequencies, stabilize the interface and open a channel with the Khronos. Lets see what they have to say."

Captain Restom was not as intimately familiar with personal conversation as he had once been; to one who had been, who had existed as he had existed, communication through sloppily arranged sonic vibrations seemed no more efficient at conveying meaning than the lust-filled gropings of an adolescent chimpanzee. No, actually, it seemed even less efficient, since when you are being groped by a chimpanzee you damn well get the message. Still, there are times when one comes face-to-face with that eager ape, and one has to simply do the best they can to suffer through the efforts of those who could never truly appreciate the more efficient means of communication.

"Attention General Vinan, representative of Indra Prime and affiliated peoples, this is Captain Western Restom of the Klonor Temporal Corps aboard the Khronos. You have approached this system because of specific events in its history that relate to your own history, as well as to our combined futures. We possess relevant information, as well as extensive analysis and a thorough understanding of its causal nature. The Duke Klonor is willing to extend to you this information in a gesture of friendship, contingent upon several factors. Your ships will withdraw beyond the borders of the Associated Systems of Klonor and will not enter our territory except under an official flag of truce supervised by an escort of the Klonor Temporal Corps. You will make no independent attempts to analyze our territory and will refrain from any temporal incursions related to this current situation. Should you violate these requirements, it will be seen as an act of war and will invite immediate reprisals. Once your vessels have withdrawn as required, we will discuss the factors which instigated this encounter."

His accent and speech mannerisms were still slightly stilted, just the tiniest bit off, and continued to imply only a superficial familiarity with the spoken word. Still, his words were intelligible and his statements understandable, at least to the extent that any verbal statement can truly be understood, and the lack of any question in his voice, the lack of any hint that he might not know what was coming, served to underline the steel in his words.