NationStates Jolt Archive

On the home planet of the Star Inheritors, the population waited expectantly for Sank'eth to reveal to them what had happened in the labs under the Imperial palace. Sank'eth was the Emperor's spokesman, and he was about to tell the entire planet if the Emperor has succeeded.

The Emperor was creating superwarriors, he named them Kaelis Astartes. He had also announced that the superwarriors were going to be put into Legions,all led by the demi-god Primarchs, each Primarch was given a Legion, and the Emperor's first superwarriors had been the Primarchs and the Kaelis Custodes. The Custodes were the Holy bodyguard of the Emperor and stayed with him constantly. Some were assigned to High Ranking Inheritors, such as Sank'eth.

But everything was silent, for the first time ever, their was utter silence on the entire planet.

Kaldeer was one of the lucky few people who had a view of the Holy Imperial Palace, and he felt as if something was going to happen soon. Everyone was silent, and he looked hopefully at the platform at which Sank'eth would address the people. He waited for several minutes, and was about to say something when everyone around him cheered
Its happening He thought. And, Sank'eth appeared at the huge podium, and Kaldeer had to strain his neck to see the Holy figure.
"Attention the Holy Star Inheritor race. The Kaelis Astartes program has been successful, we shall finally reach out and take what belongs to us." Sank'eth bellowed, and everyone on the planet cheered as one. The sound was huge, and most people had to clasp their hands to their ears. "The mighty Emperor led the Empire of the Star Eaters to victory, and he will do this with the Star Eaters descendants as well. You!" The Holy warrior cried, and the world cheered again. "Now, the Kaelis Astartes will go again to conquer the galaxy! With thirty holy legions we shall rule all!" Yet again the planet cheered, but died down when Sank'eth waved his hand, and disappeared behind the door he had come from. That’s when the ground started to rumble, and this rumble could be felt from miles away in all directions. And the mile-long doors at the front of the palace started to open. Everyone went silent again, as a glaring light shone from the door as it slowly opened. That’s when the ground started to tremble again, but this wasn't because of the Ancient machines inside the door of the palace, it was because of Hundreds of thousands of plated feet marching in unison coming from inside the palace. That’s when Kaldeer saw the Immortal warriors of the Emperor.

The Kaelis Astartes in their magnificent silver power armour and holding huge swords, bolters, and banners, marched down the huge steps in front of the palace. Each of them was at least ten feet, and their faces were masked by large helmets on their heads. It took two hours for the Silver plated warriors to march down the steps, yet the entire population was still cheering at the gods that were going to lead them to victory. The silver plated warriors got into ships the size of continents, and were lifted into space. Everyone stood there silently looking up at the stars. But the rumbling hadn't stopped, and Kaldeer thought for a moment and gasped.
"Thirty legions and that was just one of them." he whispered, as Purple armoured Astartes started to march out of the doors and down the stairs. Despite everyone knowing that it would take days for all the Legions to march out, they started to cheer, and kept cheering until the very last Legion had been carried off into space.

Kaldeer stopped cheering as he counted off the thirtieth Legion. They had been cheering for how many days? He had lost all track of time. He was about to start walking away when he noticed the rumbling hadn't stopped, he looked to the doors again and saw huge warriors, bigger than even the Kaelis Astartes, march through the doors and down the stairs. They all wore massive golden power armour and carried large halberds, and connected to the halberds were huge bolters, the weapons that fired explosive rounds. On their backs were huge red capes, and they wore helmets as long as a mans arm. The man next to Kaldeer punched the air; "Its the Kaelis Custodes!" the man shouted, and cheered again. Then suddenly the Custodes stopped, and lined up on the sides of the huge stairs, then as one they kneeled to the floor, heads bowed and facing the Custodes on the opposite side of the stairs. Thats when the things the gods worship arrived. Sank'eth, his helmet off, and wearing beautiful golden power armour, strode down the rows of Custodes kneeling before him, and smiled at all who met his gaze.Then, once had had gone down the stairs and reached the bottom, he entered another ship at the bottom, and sat visibly on the last seat to the ramp. From here Kaldeer could see people leaning out and stroking Sank'eth's cape, trying to have the honour of touching one thread of it. Then everyone cheered again as huge warriors sporting the colours of the individual legions started to walk down the stairs. The Primarchs. Everyone cheered again, Kaldeer could even see the Primarchs faces because he was so close. Some were smiling at the people who would give the lives of themselves, their family, and pets for the Holy leaders of each legion. Some were looking sternly ahead, sometimes nodding at random people, then laughing to see the peoples dumbfounded faces that the Primarchs had given them attention. Once the Primarchs got to the bottom of the stairs, they got int the ship along with Sank'eth and waited. Then Kaldeer noticed a huge shadow blocking out the Light from the palace, he saw the outline of something huge, something twenty feet tall, bigger than even the Primarchs.
"It can't be." He heard the guy next to him say, and Kaldeer nodded his head.
"It’s not him, it can't be it just can't be." Some people whispered, but they all went silent when he came out into the open. He was wearing enormous plates of power armour, with cream robes draped about him. On the Gods titanic chest, there was an eye the size of a normal mans torso. In his hand he carried a huge mace, made of some sort of strange silver metal, with inscriptions covering the entire outside of it. The god had long white hair that fell about his broad chest, and it seemed as if he looked upon every person in the entire population of the city. The world cheered so much there would have been tidal waves on the other continent if there had been any more water on the surface of the planet. Every person in the world shouted his name. "Kaelis Ra. Kaelis Ra. Oros Ra. Oros Ra." The people chorused, and the Emperor smiled.He slowly walked down the stairs, and as he passed each Custodes they got up and fell into two lines behind him. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, people flocked to him, they crowded all around him, but he didn't have to break his stride, as even though people were trying to get one touch of his sacred power armour, they still pulled away when he took a step towards them. Kaldeer was pushed forward by the crowd surge, and before he knew it he was pushed to the ground by the crowd. He smacked down hard on the floor, and he shook his head free of dust. He looked up and stared open-mouthed, and tried to say something, but found he could not speak. Because the Emperor was standing right in front of him, and Kaldeer was blocking the god's path. Kaldeer started to shake, as the Emperor had stopped in front of Kaldeer. Everyone was silent, the people filming the entire scene stopping to take a look for themselves instead of through a lens. The Custodes behind the Emperor took a step forward, but Kaelis Ra gestured him back. The God knelt down, and looked down at Kaldeer. Even when he was kneeling down he was higher than even a Custodes, and everyone was looking open-mouthed at what was happening. Then Kaelis Ra smiled, and held out his hand.
"Kaldeer, hows your mother? been unwell has she? Can't have that." The God whispered. His voice sounded like a purr, a whisper, and a brazen cough at the same time. Kaldeer lied there motionless, remembering that the Emperr was renowned for his amazing Psychic powers, and the Emperor smiled, slowly taking Kaldeers hand and pulling him up. Shocked, Kaldeer staggered out of the way of the Emperor, and fell into the crowd. People strained to touch the hand the Emperor had touched, and Kaldeer gazed at the Emperor as the deity walked into the ship. The ramp closed ever-so slowly and the last thing Kaldeer saw was the Emperor smile at everyone cheering at him.

And now the Legions of the Emperor blasted off into space, looking for sentient life other than their own. What would they find? Emperor knew.

So what does everybodies nation think of that?

Planet-43112

The blinding white seemed to blink into existance as the 80 megaton pure-fusion nuke detonated. The castle it was detonated over was turned into vapor instantly, as was its inhabitants. The surrounding villages also disappeared, vaporised instantly. The onrushing shockwave scattered all the others in a ring of devestation stretching over 100 kilometers from the point of detonation. The fireball rose into the air, cooling down, twisting, rising, then began to blow away.

Across the planet these fireballs bloomed into existance, delivered by near-relativistic missiles launched by a mere five destroyers and ten frigates. Each ships semi-sentient AI watched the explosions with unfeeling, uncaring, and frankly electronic eyes. As far as these machines were concerned, they were here to complete the mission perscribed by their creators. As far as their creators were concerned, the sentient creatures of this planet were not worthy of living, for they were not strong enough to resist the HOA.

In a few hours, the factory ships would appear and land to reharvest any of the surviving planetary population.

They did not know they would have company a bit sooner then that.

OOC: Err... their not firing at your planet. Their not even in your system. Their in another system which you are travelling too. The technology at this other system is roughly the same as our Medieval Soceity.

OOC: My apologies, I wasn't entirely sure considering you used the words "castle" and "villages", but I went on ahead. Oh well, I'll get rid of the post.

IC: The first Legion fleet that entered the new system was the XXV Legion.
"Sank'eth" The holo-screen activated and Primarch Fulor's face appeared.
"Primarch Fulor, pleasent to see you."
"And I you Sank'eth. But we have found soomething..interesting."
"I see, what would that be?"
"We have found a planet, devoid of all life, sensors indicate. We found nothing but smoking ash, and even then we couldn't find much ash."
"Any atmosphere?"
"Not any more."
"I see."
"Allow my legion to land there first, brother Inico thinks that his Legion will feel its soil beneath their disgusting purple boots before mine, please prove him wrong."
Sank'eth smiled, the Primarchs treated each other like brothers, which they were in some sort of way. "Why don't you race to the surface?"
"What an excellent idea. Inico will love this." Fulor's face disapeared, and Sank'eth smiled again.

As it turned out, neither of Inico's or Fulor's Legion set first foot on the soil, it was their brooding brother, Epar whos Legion won the race; the Nightbringers.
Epar stared coldly at his two brothers arguing about who won.
"Epar wasn't even in the race, and my Legion was the winner out of the race between yours and mine"
"no, I think its fair Epar wins."
"Look at him, he doesn't care."
"How do you know you can't see through his helmet."
"Well what do you think, whats he usually like?"
"Brothers, can we please stop arguing over stupid issues it is giving me a headache and the crusade has barely started." Epar hissed, putting his hand to his helmet. The pair turned and looked at him, and behind his helmet Fulor smiled.
"Yes, lets look for xeno scum to kill."

The outpost was small, concealed on the back of an asteroid. It consisted of the primary hub, containing everything the two man crew needed to live and work, and an attached hangar, containing an Attack Ship (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/attackship.jpg), the smallest vessel to be considered a starship.

It had been reconfigured to be crewed by two people instead of twenty, and the resulting extra space was taken up by a transwarp core. The extra room also allowed for an upgraded weapons suite. It was by no means a match for a frigate, but it could hold out long enough to run.

Seated at the sensor array readout, Second Leuitenant Tom Horn was processing the latest sensor sweep of the outlying systems. He just taken a sip of coffee and abruptly spit it out in alarm,

"Mary mother of God! We've got a huge fleet movement from previously thought to be uninhabited sector!"

"Well," the voice of Master Sergeant Celia Wolf drifted in from the common area, "what do you expect being on the edge of nowhere sir? EVERYTHING'S deemed uninhabited until we detect spacecraft."

"Sergeant, we're going dark. This is huge. I mean invasion force huge, and want nothing to do with it."

"Sir!" she snapped off a quick salute before powering down the outpost.

In a brief instant, the extremely powerful signals emanating from the asteroid ceased, but there was no way of knowing whether or not they'd been detected. Even with artificial wormhole technology, help would be at least a day away.

Their best hope if detected would be to send a final distress call, activate the self-destruct, and take the Attack Ship on a course toward the nearest Dominion system. But if any of this was necessary only time would tell...

Sank'eth looked at the sensors and his eyes widened. "Admiral get me to one of the Primarchs."
"Sank'eth, good to see you, when does the race to the surface start."
"Unfortunately Silonq, its already finished. But I have found something else that could do with your Legion."
"I'm interested." The Primarch on the screen sat back on his throne, and gazed intently at Sank'eth.
"Sensors have indicated yet another abnormality. Ships so to speak. No power has been picked up by the sensors, but it has created this shape for us in the hologram." The hologram showed a small ship sized picture.
"If that doesn't look like a ship I don't know what does, but I don't understand why there isn't any power on the ship.
"maybe its hiding from us?"
"maybe.."
"Finally, xenos to destroy."
"Possibly, but check them out first, we could even establish trade contact with the ships race on board, if it is a ship."
"By Kaelis Ra Sank'eth, I was thinking blow them to oblivion."
"Not just yet my good friend, who knows you might get a fight yet."

Primarch Silonq watched from his throne at the asteroid.
"Sir its just an asteroid."
"Well somethings being picked up from it." He pressed the vox communicator. "Attention this is the Skysinger Legion, respond now or face the wrath of the Kaelis Astartes!"

"Shit! Shit shit shit!" Leuitenant Horn was frantic now, "We're compromised! Sergeant, warm up the ship, I'll keep them talking."

"Sir, do you honestly think we can outrun a fleet that large?" Celia's calm front belied the fear she was also feeling.

Maybe if they survived, she'd be promoted for remaining cool whereas her Commanding Officer hadn't.

"Just do it!" he yelled, but she was already en route and he opened a channel, "Attention Skysinger Legion," his voice quivered slightly, "This is Dominion Intelligence Station 27-Gamma. We are here legally in unclaimed space monitoring spatial anomolies."

As he talked, he also attached the fleet's sensor readings to an encoded message back to Epsilon Prime. It read as follows:
Large hostile fleet has found us. Send help ASAP. Prioroity Sigma distress call.

He quickly fired it back toward Dominion space, where minutes later the Archer Deep Space Array picked it up and slingshot it at transwarp speed. The Dominion TacNet received it and took another five minutes relaying it through the proper channels to Starbase Waypoint. They did not send a response, but instead readied Task Force Talon, consisting of
1 Gold Eagle Class Universe Cruiser (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/GoldEagleclassuniversecruiser.jpg)
2 Falcon Class Ships of the Line (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/FalconclassSotL.jpg)
5 Raven Class Capital Ships (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/p2prototype.jpg)
15 Omega Cruisers (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/battleshipside.jpg)
30 War Cruisers (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/WarCruiser.jpg)

The intent would not be to openly engage the fleet, but to protect the outpost and evacuate the crew, though neither the hostile fleet nor the crewmen of Outpost 27-Gamma knew that. If the fleet was monitoring the station closely, they would surely have picked up the transmission as it shot out of the system.

The Hell hath no fury (Universe Cruiser) fired up its artificial wormhole generator and the task force moved through it. ETA was thirty minutes. If Leuitenant Horn made one false move, there would be nothing left for the Dominion to save.

(OOC: is it ok if i get into this, using one of my other nations, the Empire of Diclonus? (The Kingdom of Ice Forge isn't that advanced yet.) I'll put up and intro post for if it is, if it isn't just say and i'll delete it.

IC: Listneing post Vector Zeta, Gamma Eridani system, Fareach Sector, Near Diclonus Dominion border.

Lieutenant Alyna Nordaris was confused. Acorrding to the sensor logs that had just been picked up, a previously uninhabited sector of space was suddenly spewing huge fleets, and the Dominian Scum were sending one of their own fleets to meet it. This was something unprecedented. Just her luck.

"Ensign, i want you to send a message to FleetComm. Tell them that we are monitering a series of fleet of unknown origin that are emerging from the Terminus Sector. Infrom them of the current Dominion movements as well, and ask for orders."

Before the ensign could aknowledge the order, another ensign burst into the command center. "M'am! Sensor readings have just come in! Two of those Unidentified fleets are on their way here, and should be here in less than forty eight hours!"

"Blight!" Alyna cursed under her breath. This was not good news. "Ensign Gorman, send the previous message right now! Then i want another message sent to Fleet Admiral Omnis, requesting that she bring her Fourth and Fifth Cluster Fleets to our location. Make sure to advise the Admiral of our situation. If our luck doesn't turn, she should be here within a day."

As her subordinates rushed to around to follow her commands, she couldn't help bu rub her two horns in exasperation. This was just her luck.

A mighty Fortress Monastery surrounded by two hundred Imperial vessels entered the system in a flurry of color and an explosion of warp energy. The Hunter's Lair and the fleet of the XXIII Legion appeared in overwhelming force. Kivpa Hekis Primarch of the Hunters of Darkness stood silently on the command deck of the Hunter's Lair. On their way through on covert missions to undermine the attack by the Republic they had detected the fleet of the Star Inheritors. He stepped forward and in a booming voice fit for a true son of the God-Emperor he sent a message to their fleet,

Who are you who would dare to claim themselves to be sons of the Emperor! I am Kivpa Hekis son of the almighty God-Emperor who watches over us even now. I have battled the forces of Chaos across four galaxies and battled the xenos scum even further. Moreso I wish to know where you gained the technology to create these forces!

OOC: No its fine :)

IC: Who are you who would dare to claim themselves to be sons of the Emperor! I am Kivpa Hekis son of the almighty God-Emperor who watches over us even now. I have battled the forces of Chaos across four galaxies and battled the xenos scum even further. Moreso I wish to know where you gained the technology to create these forces!

Sank'eth looked confused at the Admiral. "You dare blaspheme? The Holy Emperor Kaelis Ra is on this very vessel, and you claim he watches over you? I was the first superwarrior he created. And as for your question, we got this technology from the vast mind of the Emperor, he created everything, but we have also used some of the technology that our ascendants used, the Star Eater empire, the Holy Emperor ruled that too, but they were not to be. I personally saw the downfall of the Empire, Xeno scum. I have no idea what or who the "forces of chaos" are, but I'm sure our Holy Emperor will, he knows more than your pathetic "God-Emperor" ever could. I have all the Kaelis Astartes Legions at my command, do you realise how many that is? I'm giving you one chance, back way before the Legions come into this. We have you in a pincer grip, our fleet and Primarch Silonq's, it would bevery unwise to fire." Sank'eth shouted into the Vox.

Nothing, they are all nothing. Imposters squabbling for a crown supernal. Children, arguing over who should be king in their minds. They lack the foresight to understand that they are truly nothing. Gnats biting at the skin of gloried giants, pretenders to true power with their Astartes-not-Astartes, with their Emperor-not-Emperor. So similar and so different. They shall march to war with righteously misguided fury.

Each think themselves a power, a power that can change the galaxy. But they are fools devoid of true power, idolators deprived of true insight. Chaos is the way and the glory, Chaos the pulsing heart of the universe, the canker that will consume!

By Tzeentch, we have seen the fates of these lapdogs to False Emperors. By Tzeentch's will shall their destinies be spurned.

- Unknown transmission broadcast to Dratherian and Star Inheritor forces, Sorcerous Pronouncement of Lord Severino.

"Sir, theres a message, sent from an unknown source."
"Set it up on main screen."
Nothing, they are all nothing. Imposters squabbling for a crown supernal. Children, arguing over who should be king in their minds. They lack the foresight to understand that they are truly nothing. Gnats biting at the skin of gloried giants, pretenders to true power with their Astartes-not-Astartes, with their Emperor-not-Emperor. So similar and so different. They shall march to war with righteously misguided fury.
The crew was silent, it had a very sinister tone to it, as if it had been warped somehow.
"Should we reply?" One man at the controls said.
"Don't be stupid boy, theres nothing to reply to." Muttered the Admiral, but the statement had no steel behind it,because he was also scared of the message. "Tzeentch, the name is, strange, like my mind can't understand it." The Admiral whispered, rubbing his head.
Sank'eth was silent, looking at the message. "Its.... it is-"
"Enemy propaganda, sent by people too cowardly to show themselves." Cut in a booming voice. Everyone in the bridge quickly got onto their knees, head bowed.
"Holy Emperor of the Inheritors of Stars." whispered the Admiral.
"Enough formalities children, I have a Crusade to lead."
Sank'eth's mouth shut, and opened as he tried to talk but couldn't, his mouth like one of a beached fish.
"Continue your conversation with that mortal Hekis, tell him his Chaos is here."
"Silonq?" asked the Emperor into the vox.
"..Father?"
"Prapre for an attack, pincer movement. Continue speaking with the mortals on the asteroid, we don't want them to attack them when we are least prepared for them. Sank'eth, get my children off of that desolate planet, and tell them to prepare their Legions."

On the side of the asteroid field opposite the Star Inheritor fleet, a massive vortex of blood red coalesced seemingly out of the fabric of space itself. The anomaly cast a red glow over everything in the surrounding area. Out of the epicenter, a dozen small black shapes appeared, gorwing exponentially as the warships slid further out of the wormhole.

The shields on the War Cruisers flared as they exited, oddly enough they seemed to suck some of the energies out of the wormhole and into the 'bubble' surrounding each ship that then disappeared. Next came the Omega Cruisers, yet larger than their 400 meter long counterparts. They were followed by the Ravens, the oldest Capital Ship in service but still tough as ever. Behind them were the enormous glistening silver hulls of the Reliant and the Defiant, the Falcon class ships of the line. Finally, at five kilometers long and as black as the space between the stars, the DFS Hell Hath No Fury emerged before the wormhole collspased.

They began a steady advence through the asteroid field, dwarfing most of rock clusters and pushing the larger ones away with tracotr beams. Vessels in a fleet that has survived Shivans, rampant biological experiments, and a suitably described 'ruthless' civil war, they would not suffer mere rocks with Dominion citizens in danger.

Stopping a few scant kilometers short of the asteroid housing Outpost 27-Gamma, they kept their shields up, but weapons were not yet charged. They were facing the outpost and determined it was still indeed in existence. Better still, their crewmen were the only two aboard. Nothing had been violated.

On the bridge of the HHNF, Rear Admiral Gordon Stone stood peering through the viewscreen at the Inheritor fleet, his jaw set. He had listened to the one transmission they had sent the outpost on the trip over and was fuming,

"Who do they think they are to insult one of the oldest powers in the galaxy?!?!? I don't care who this 'Kaelis Ra' is or what his standing may be, but if our people have been harmed he shall know the true definition of experiencing wrath. Open a channel!"

"Sir!" barked the Communications Officer, "Channel open."

He took a moment to remember the exact name, "Skysinger Legion, I am Rear Admiral Gordon Stone, Commanding Officer of the Dominion Flagship Hell Hath No Fury and I would like an explanation as to why you are heckling a Dominion outpost. Surely any nation would know better than to irritate us and you most certainly have better things to do with a fleet of that size," he raised an eyebrow, "unless of course provocation was your intention. In which case let me assure you sir, it will be a fight you shall be hard pressed to win, but regardless of the outcome this outpost and its crew will no longer suffer any threat, direct or indirect, from you."
-----------------------------------------------
On the asteroid, Horn and Wolf were elated.

"They're here! We're saved!" Horn cried, "I knew they'd come! We don't have to explain anything more to them!" he said, pointing back to the viewscreen showing the Skysinger Legion.

"Well sir," Celia commented, "It certainly looks like we're saved," a shadow of a smile invaded the corners of her mouth.

Certainly the cavalry had arrived, but they were a mere task force against a fleet. The Dominion had always built vessels renowned for toughness and survivability, and their energy absorbing shields would render most energy weapons useless, but they were still outnumbered.

Kivpa ordered to his children, "Prepare battlestations engage warp sensors. Ready for an inbound attack and request assistance from the Malleus and to my brother Thor. Ready our weapons the forces of Tzeentch the Changer of Ways approach." Kivpa strode forward staring into the viewscreen and said,

Then you are foolish believing you can partake in a Crusade without knowing your truest perils. The God-Emperor of mankind was the most holy of warriors who battled Horus over Holy Terra where the Fist and the Angel of Blood battled with him. Horus a brother who was possessed of Chaos. Where you acquired Gene-seed I shall never know but I wish to know where your 'Emperor' claims to gain this technology from. For we are only a vanguard to the true might and forces of the Imperium of Man. SO before you in your infancy dare to make claims of superiority learn of us. For we hold the power to crush systems in moments and have destroyed galaxies to save humanity. I am Lord Kivpa Hekis and I am a Primarch a god among men and I lead the Astartes of the XXIII Legion the Hunters of Darkness who fights in the name of the holy Emperor beloved by all.

OOC: No its fine :)

IC: Who are you who would dare to claim themselves to be sons of the Emperor! I am Kivpa Hekis son of the almighty God-Emperor who watches over us even now. I have battled the forces of Chaos across four galaxies and battled the xenos scum even further. Moreso I wish to know where you gained the technology to create these forces!

Sank'eth looked confused at the Admiral. "You dare blaspheme? The Holy Emperor Kaelis Ra is on this very vessel, and you claim he watches over you? I was the first superwarrior he created. And as for your question, we got this technology from the vast mind of the Emperor, he created everything, but we have also used some of the technology that our ascendants used, the Star Eater empire, the Holy Emperor ruled that too, but they were not to be. I personally saw the downfall of the Empire, Xeno scum. I have no idea what or who the "forces of chaos" are, but I'm sure our Holy Emperor will, he knows more than your pathetic "God-Emperor" ever could. I have all the Kaelis Astartes Legions at my command, do you realise how many that is? I'm giving you one chance, back way before the Legions come into this. We have you in a pincer grip, our fleet and Primarch Silonq's, it would bevery unwise to fire." Sank'eth shouted into the Vox.

OOC: im just using this to show where this my forces are appearing... time for some fireworks=)

IC: As the two fleets argued with each other, none of them noticed as a fleet of twenty ships silently appeared in the void of space, leaving almost no sign of their arrival. The ships included ten Vector class War Cruisers, Five Onslaught class Assault ships, four Mariko Class Capitol ships, and one massive Queen Lucy class Fleet Flag ship. Each vessel, while varying in size, was long and narrow, with protrusiand jutting out of the sides of each vessel, one on each vector class, four on the Onslaught Classes, fifteen on the Mariko Classes, and on the Queen Lucy class a totel of twenety five. Each ship was pitch black and almost invisible to optical sensors. The largest was Three Kilomiters long from stem to stern.

Aboard the Flagship of this fleet, The DIFS Will of the Empress, Fleet Admiral Akana vel Omnis lisented to the openly transmitted arguement between the two fleets. As she listened, she realized that the listening posts assumption had been wrong. These were two fleets that were at odds with each other, not allies. Quickly growing sick of their preaching about Emperors and God kings, she opened a channel to both ships, while manipulating the ships controls with her vectors, invisible extra arms that sprouted from her back, to bring the fleet to battle stations.

"This is the Fourth Cluster Fleet of the Star Empire of Diclonus. You are both on the verge of trespassing on Diconlus space with the apparent intent of doing so. In the name of the Empress, may she live forever, you are all ordered to turn your courses elsewhere, or face the wrath of the Diclonius. Should you need to cross our space, you must first send an ambassador to us. Try to force an entry, and be destroyed."

Aboard the HHNF, the Communications Officer shuddered involuntarily, "Admiral sir, it seems this is not one fleet but two, and they are just as much at odds as we are with the Skysinger Legion," a tone chimed, "Now picking concentrations of material that seem to have just...appeared. They're transmitting to the other two fleets. Patching it through."

This is the Fourth Cluster Fleet of the Star Empire of Diclonus. You are both on the verge of trespassing on Diconlus space with the apparent intent of doing so. In the name of the Empress, may she live forever, you are all ordered to turn your courses elsewhere, or face the wrath of the Diclonius. Should you need to cross our space, you must first send an ambassador to us. Try to force an entry, and be destroyed.

"Well then Mr. Gibbs, it seems they're intent on protecting their interests, and these other two are arguing over some kind of divine gibberish. Let's take a moment to take advantage of a good situation. Drops shields and beam everything and I mean everything off of that outpost and into Hold 1. They can keep their rhetoric, I want my officers safe until this all subsides and they can be beamed back.”

“Aye sir!” the Tactical Officer barked, “Shields down, and the officers are in Infirmary 4. The Attack Ship is secured in Hangar 6 and the last of the equipment is in Hold 1...now! Raising shields!”

The translucent ‘bubble’ around the Hell Hath No Fury that had disappeared moments earlier now flared into view and slowly shimmered back out of sight.

“However sir, I advise leaving. It’s just an outpost-“ the Tactical Officer started.

“It’s the principle of the thing Mr. Gambardella,” the Admiral retorted, “One, it doesn’t matter if what was at stake was an asteroid or a star system, it’s ours and we will defend it. Two, the flagship of the fleet does NOT run from anything, no matter the threat. They have not made their intentions clear and therefore we will not leave until a peaceful outcome has been reached or they are burning in space in the fires of our plasma weapons. It’s a waiting game, Mr. Gambardella, and patience is my middle name.”

OOC: hmmmm, time to follow up on one of my earlier posts.

IC:

"Admiral, we have just picked up another ship that we had previously not noticed... Its a Dominian Flag Ship!"

Akana growled audibly as she heard that announcement from her Tactical Officer. The Dominion, one of the other Star Nations, the one whos predecesors had long ago waged war on the Diclonius. Like all Diclonius, she hated them with a passion. She noticed on her view screen as two of her vector class ships, the Truth and the Guidance broke formation and began approaching the Dominion ship, weapons charging. Much as she would have loved to see the Dominion scum, blasted from the stars, she had her orders from the empress, may she live forever.

"Truth, Guidance you are to return to formation now! Our standing orders are to not engage in any hostile action against the Dominion unless they engage in it first. We are here to give a warning, nothing less."

The Admiral growled as the commanders of both ships tried to protest her orders. She cut them both off quickly. "Need i remind you that these orders come from straight from the Empress, may she live forever, and are thus law? Unless you are questioning her wisdom?" She said the last in a deceptivly calm voice. Both commanders blanched and hurridly obeyed their orders.

Akana sighed. This day could not get any worse, could it?

Then you are foolish believing you can partake in a Crusade without knowing your truest perils. The God-Emperor of mankind was the most holy of warriors who battled Horus over Holy Terra where the Fist and the Angel of Blood battled with him. Horus a brother who was possessed of Chaos. Where you acquired Gene-seed I shall never know but I wish to know where your 'Emperor' claims to gain this technology from. For we are only a vanguard to the true might and forces of the Imperium of Man. SO before you in your infancy dare to make claims of superiority learn of us. For we hold the power to crush systems in moments and have destroyed galaxies to save humanity. I am Lord Kivpa Hekis and I am a Primarch a god among men and I lead the Astartes of the XXIII Legion the Hunters of Darkness who fights in the name of the holy Emperor beloved by all.

Sank'eth looked over to the Emperor expecting him to respond. Kaelis Ra shook his head. "Mortals should not talk with gods my son."
Sank'eth nodded. "I have no idea what "Horus" is, or a gene-seed, but I can assure you your Emperor is not beloved by all, in fact any being who claims himself a god apart from the Holy Emperor, is executed. Now surrender your weapons and your floating rock, the Holy Emperor has thirty Legions at his command, and with these Kaelis Astartes we will destroy you if you do not keep yourself in check. I was the spokesman of the Emperor when he led the galaxy-spanning Empire of the Star Eaters, and you dare claim we are in infancy. Our Emperor created this technology from scratch, what has your Emperor done? Your Imperium is so weak, your own memebers rebelled, and they were supposed to be the best of the best. If they are your best, I advise going back to your pathetic Emperor." Sank'eth hissed angrily, cutting the link.
"All Legion fleets heading our way sir."
"There is no need, we can deal with this rabble with the fleet we have." Whispered the Emperor.
One of the doors to the bridge hissed open, and the three Primarchs Inico Fulor and Epar entered the room. Inico and Fulor were grumbling at each other, annoyed that they had been called off a planet that they were so eager to destroy. Epar nodded his head at Kaelis Ra, the other two waved cheerfuly at him.
"Look its father!" Fulor excalimed
"How goes the Crusade? Battling xeno scum already?"
Kaelis Ra smiled at the two.
"We are in quite a diplomatic situation." Muttered Sank'eth, a shaky smile on his face.
"Diplomatic? I'd say argument on the brink of warfare." Cut in a new voice. Primarch Silonq's face appeared on the main screen. "I've been listening in, doesn't sound too good for our cause, I was hoping at least one xeno would realise our power and fall to their knees."
"You are not as experienced in the matters of the Universe child, leave that to Sank'eth. But I must admit boy, you are being slightly aggresive in your approach."
"I feel you must be aggressive with the aliens master, you must create a powerful first inpression."
"Yes, but a psychopathic, murdering destroying Empire doesn't sound like the best impression I would have thought to press onto any Empire." Cut in Epar's icy voice.
"Trust in Sank'eth my children, he has never let me down." Said the Emperor. "Now, Sank'eth, your diplomatic approaches are no longer needed, I thank you, but this is a matter of war now." Sank'eth bowed, and left the room.
"Theres another message, blessed Primarchs." Noted the Admiral.
"This is the Fourth Cluster Fleet of the Star Empire of Diclonus. You are both on the verge of trespassing on Diconlus space with the apparent intent of doing so. In the name of the Empress, may she live forever, you are all ordered to turn your courses elsewhere, or face the wrath of the Diclonius. Should you need to cross our space, you must first send an ambassador to us. Try to force an entry, and be destroyed."

Seeing Fulor quickly lean over to push the Communicator's button to activate it, Epar strode over to his brother in two steps.
"Leave it to me brother, we are in enough of a mess as it is. Make sure the oter fleets cannot hear this." He said to the Vox operators, pushing away his brothers hand from the Vox.
"Greetings Empire of the Diclonus, we mean you no harm, we are merely an expedition sent from our homeworld to explore the stars. We are a peaceful race, but these ships have just appeared assuming we are a military force. We are a large force of Kaelis Astartes, they are the explorers of our race. Our Emperor has led this mission looking for peace, looking for people to trade with, but these people have threatened to attack us. We request help from you, and we will not forget the favour, our people can create wonderful pieces of artwork and can give you masses of wonderful food, we just need help against these beings, help us, please." Fulor smirked at his brother, and Inico shook his head, but Epar held up his hand for silence.

Kivpa spat on the floor, his spit sizzling softly as it ate through metal deck plating and said, "Ready all weapons. Power up shields. Load up Haywire, Cyclonic, and Vortex torpedoes. Ready Lance batteries and Nova Cannons. Power basilicas and acquire firing solutions." Kivpa then stepped forward into the light and motioned to his surveyors to continue their scans. Standing twelve foot six his short cropped black hair indicated his obvious military bearing. His well muscled form showing through in his molded black and dark blue armor which was polished to a bright sheen. Across his back was his Exitus Bolter a specialized weapon he had crafted many years ago when he had trained with the Emperor. His legion carried similarly crafted weapons but nothing that met the 1.00 caliber and precision of his Exitus Bolter. He held a long ornately decorated silver bow with no string in his left hand. It's edges bladed with a handle in the middle. He reopened a channel to the Star Inheritor fleet,

If you believe you are truly superior then you would not mind dueling me. If you agree we will meet on the battle arena the Hunter's Lair is currently deploying in one hour. Choose any challenger you wish but I shall duel them personally. However if you wish to concede I could always destroy you. Because regardless of who you are I have fought and won wars you were never alive to see against forces you couldn't even imagine.

The console at the Tactical station chimed, "Admiral, I've been reviewing these Diclonians. It seems that in the past-in the Old Records-our races developed quite the animosity between one another. We've made enough of an impression to earn the title 'Dominion Scum' and their people hate us with a passion," he raised an eyebrow, "I know we weren't perfect before going democratic, but...they just had to reign in two of their vessels from firing upon us."

"Well damn," the Admiral half-laughed out of nervousness from being broadsided by this precedent, "I guess we'd best try and make amends. It would make sense for the two sane fleets who don't worship men as gods band together here. I mean, we're both simply protecting our land. Open a channel to the Diclonians."

“Channel open,” the Comm Officer chimed.

“To the Fourth Cluster Fleet, this is Rear Admiral Gordon Stone of the Dominion Starfleet. I’m well aware of our...differences, but if you’ve listened to some of the banter going back and forth between these other two fleets I think it is perfectly clear that despite the scorn held between our two races we are in the right, defending our land from these two entities.

I’m not proposing cooperation, far from it, but if shooting starts let’s just say you won’t be our primary target. Despite what our races have endured, and I must admit our records from that far back are vague to put it nicely, we are not the aggressive, xenophobic Dominion your ancestors knew, and are willing to be reasonable in this matter. There seems to be...more pressing issues at this point and time.”

“Um, sir?” the Tactical Officer cut in once the channel muted awaiting Diclonian response, “I’ve restored more of the files and apparently there’s a good reason they hate us: we waged interstellar war with them.”

Stone’s jaw dropped, “WHAT?!?!? You couldn’t have told me that earlier? Do you have any idea how they’re going to take that transmission? They’ll think we’re touting our superiority and throwing them a bone! They’ll likely fire on us for being smug bastards! Chances are we just alienated any hope of reconciling completely.”

Then the return from the Inheritors came in and his disposition worsened, “Always the hard way...Reopen channel.

“Channel open sir.”

“It was not us who declared our leader as a god. Those that did have been suspiciously silent, though on the notion of surrendering our weapons and our outpost I am afraid I must flatly refuse. It is territory belonging to our sovereign nation and we are duty-bound to defend it. I don’t know what kind of game you expansionists are playing at, but where I come from, threatening an outpost and demanding the responding forces surrender is a blatant act of aggression. We did not come here looking for a fight but rest assured we’re always ready for one.”

Seeing Fulor quickly lean over to push the Communicator's button to activate it, Epar strode over to his brother in two steps.
"Leave it to me brother, we are in enough of a mess as it is. Make sure the oter fleets cannot hear this." He said to the Vox operators, pushing away his brothers hand from the Vox.
"Greetings Empire of the Diclonus, we mean you no harm, we are merely an expedition sent from our homeworld to explore the stars. We are a peaceful race, but these ships have just appeared assuming we are a military force. We are a large force of Kaelis Astartes, they are the explorers of our race. Our Emperor has led this mission looking for peace, looking for people to trade with, but these people have threatened to attack us. We request help from you, and we will not forget the favour, our people can create wonderful pieces of artwork and can give you masses of wonderful food, we just need help against these beings, help us, please." Fulor smirked at his brother, and Inico shook his head, but Epar held up his hand for silence.

Akana was silent for a few moments when she heard this message from one of the fleets, the one that intercepted transimissions had pegged as the "skysinger legion". Her face was totally blank, but her bridge crew were fidgeting and doing their best to avoid her gaze. For her eyes, which were the same distinct red as all Diclonius, showed nothing but murderous rage, and her aura, something felt by all Diclonius, was a veritable maelstrom.

Slowly, she reached out a vector and opened a channel with the Skysingers. Then she began to speak with deceptive calm.

"Attention "Skysinger Legion". As a servent of the Empress, may she live forever, i have been trained in combat for eons, led forty campaigns against foes deadlier than you could imagine, and heard much better lies than the pathetic one you just told me. Have you not realized that we heard your whole debate with your enemies? Do you take me for a fool? You are no better than the Dominion scum who fed us the same lies ages ago, and if you insult me and my fleet and the Empress, may she live forever, again, I swear by the great Queen Lucy herself, I. Will. Kill. You! As it is, i will simply say again; come any closer to Diclonius space or fire any weapons at us, and you will face DEATH!"

(Bump)

Fulor sniggered at Epar, but his brother merely smiled. "All part of the game Fulor." He whispered.
"And what exactly did we say that threatened you?" Said Epar into the Vox, recalling that the Diclonius had come in the middle of the conversation. "We merely asked their leader a few questions and he took it as hostility, I assure you, when they started threatening us, I admit our spokesman got angry but who wouldn't? You must realise that they were the hostile ones, we are merely defending ourselves."

There was another message in the corner of the holo-display, and Silonq took it upon himself to answer it. If you believe you are truly superior then you would not mind dueling me. If you agree we will meet on the battle arena the Hunter's Lair is currently deploying in one hour. Choose any challenger you wish but I shall duel them personally. However if you wish to concede I could always destroy you. Because regardless of who you are I have fought and won wars you were never alive to see against forces you couldn't even imagine.
Silonq frowned, and quickly scanned the other messages sent by these people. Ah, Imperial.
"Yet again you fail to realise that the Star Eater Empire was one of the oldest and greatest interstellar Empires in the universe, when we spaned the stars, there was barely any life, and now you are foolish enough to think that just because you have not seen us before, you presume to know how long our race has been alive. I have someone very special in mind for your duel, and on behalf of the Emperor, The Inheritors accept." He cut off the link, and called for his bodyguard Custodes.
"Blessed Primarch." bowed the Custodes.
"Vox the Emperor's fleet, and tell someone to fetch Emines, and get him over quickly before the fight begins."

Emines, the Pripreacher, the spiritual adviser of the Emperor himself was praying in his quaters when a man entered the room.
"Holy Pripreacher, you have been requested to duel an enemy commander, whether it is hand to hand combat or weapons we do not know, but be ready master." The man said, and exited the room. Emines nodded slowly, and got up. Blessing his power armour and weapons, he put them on one by one, until his weapon and helmet remained. His favoured weapon was a large mace, and he blessed it again. "Lets go and inlighten the infidels." He whispered, heading out of the room.

The console at the Tactical station chimed, "Admiral, I've been reviewing these Diclonians. It seems that in the past-in the Old Records-our races developed quite the animosity between one another. We've made enough of an impression to earn the title 'Dominion Scum' and their people hate us with a passion," he raised an eyebrow, "I know we weren't perfect before going democratic, but...they just had to reign in two of their vessels from firing upon us."

"Well damn," the Admiral half-laughed out of nervousness from being broadsided by this precedent, "I guess we'd best try and make amends. It would make sense for the two sane fleets who don't worship men as gods band together here. I mean, we're both simply protecting our land. Open a channel to the Diclonians."

“Channel open,” the Comm Officer chimed.

“To the Fourth Cluster Fleet, this is Rear Admiral Gordon Stone of the Dominion Starfleet. I’m well aware of our...differences, but if you’ve listened to some of the banter going back and forth between these other two fleets I think it is perfectly clear that despite the scorn held between our two races we are in the right, defending our land from these two entities.

I’m not proposing cooperation, far from it, but if shooting starts let’s just say you won’t be our primary target. Despite what our races have endured, and I must admit our records from that far back are vague to put it nicely, we are not the aggressive, xenophobic Dominion your ancestors knew, and are willing to be reasonable in this matter. There seems to be...more pressing issues at this point and time.”

“Um, sir?” the Tactical Officer cut in once the channel muted awaiting Diclonian response, “I’ve restored more of the files and apparently there’s a good reason they hate us: we waged interstellar war with them.”

Stone’s jaw dropped, “WHAT?!?!? You couldn’t have told me that earlier? Do you have any idea how they’re going to take that transmission? They’ll think we’re touting our superiority and throwing them a bone! They’ll likely fire on us for being smug bastards! Chances are we just alienated any hope of reconciling completely.”

Then the return from the Inheritors came in and his disposition worsened, “Always the hard way...Reopen channel.

“Channel open sir.”

“It was not us who declared our leader as a god. Those that did have been suspiciously silent, though on the notion of surrendering our weapons and our outpost I am afraid I must flatly refuse. It is territory belonging to our sovereign nation and we are duty-bound to defend it. I don’t know what kind of game you expansionists are playing at, but where I come from, threatening an outpost and demanding the responding forces surrender is a blatant act of aggression. We did not come here looking for a fight but rest assured we’re always ready for one.”

Akana stood silently for a moment, not betraying any emotions even through her psychic presence as she pondered the message from the Dominion fleet. They were truly arrogent if they thought a century of bloodshed could be forgotten with just a few petty words. No, it would have been better for them if they had stayed silent and out of the way. Akana vel Omnis was deep in the silence now, the state of merciless, emotionless bloodlust that all Diclonius could fall into when truly enraged. She was just about to open her mouth to order the fleet to turn and attack the Dominion scum when suddenly the preassure in the room spiked and a power she had not felt in years filled the bridge. Closing her mouth in shock she quickly fell to one knee, the other Diclonius on the bridge falling to their knees.

"Empress!" Akana exclaimed in her mind, speaking to the psychic presence that could only belong to the Grand Imperial Empress, may she live forever; the most powerful Diclonius in existance. "You honer me with your presence!"

The Empress' reply was filled with power and command as well as the benevolence that inspired such love in her people. "Admiral Akana. I have instructions for you."

"Speak my Empress, your will will be done."

"You are not to initiate battle with the Dominion, Admiral." The words shook Akana to the core, Surprising her. From what she knew, the Dominion was responsible for the death of one of the previous Empresses, one of her ancestors, the greatest crime imaginable. The Empress was not done yet though. "Admiral, the beings on those other ships are a great and terrible threat to both us and the Dominion. They hate all non-humans with a passion, and their entire existance is dominated by war. You are to repel them from the vicinity of our space by any means necessary, so that the other Cluster Fleets may prepare for war."

Akana understood now. She had not trusted these Legionarres, with their decietful words and honeyed promises. She now found her mistrust validated by her Empress, the woman she lived to serve. She knew her duty.

"By your will Empress, it will be done." She whispered quietly, and the presence of the Empress faded. Standing back up, she found all eyes on her. obviously the entire bridge had been privy to the conversation; probably the rest of the fleet as well. Quietly, she used a vector to open a channel to the Dominion. Then she began to speak, he voice cold and deadly due to her immersion in the Silence.

"Attention Rear Admiral Gordon Stone of the Dominion Starfleet. I am Fleet Admiral Akana vel Omnis of the Arm of the Empress, may she live forever; our navy. I have recieved orders from the Empress, may she live forever, to not kill you all. Be thankful for this, as your arrogance was an insult enough to begin war. As it is, I am ordered to... remove both of these fleets from this system and all systems in the vicinity. As this is a secure channel, and as it is your system, I am allowing your pitiful forces the privilage of fighting alongside us. We will attack when the moment is right. Vel Omnis, out.

After Akana sent that message she recieved a transmission from the skysingers. She did not like what she heard.

Fulor sniggered at Epar, but his brother merely smiled. "All part of the game Fulor." He whispered.
"And what exactly did we say that threatened you?" Said Epar into the Vox, recalling that the Diclonius had come in the middle of the conversation. "We merely asked their leader a few questions and he took it as hostility, I assure you, when they started threatening us, I admit our spokesman got angry but who wouldn't? You must realise that they were the hostile ones, we are merely defending ourselves."


Akana would have snarled at the message had she not already been deep in the Silence. As it was, this sent her deeper, and sent the rest of her Bridge crew into the Silence as well. Speaking in a voice that would terrify most sentients, she replied to the message.

"Your arrogance astounds me, skysinger. We heard every word of your exchange. We heard the words "supersoldier" and legion and the phrase "Xeno-Scum". You may be interested in knowing that the Star Empire of Diclonus is not human, and we take... offense at your words. In the interest of fairness, i give you one last chance; take you and your enemy elsewhere or face the wrath of the Arm of the Empress."

A message had been sent to the Star Inheritor fleet,

The contest will be a contest of both ranged combat and hand to hand combat. Lord Kivpa grants you the use of an arming chamber aboard the arena. He hopes to see you there shortly.

Kivpa's chaplain's tended to his armor as he waited in one of the armor chambers aboard the arena which had been named The Range. It's ancient structure filled with a hilly landscape reminescent of ancient Ireland of old Terra was a kilometer in diameter. It was a place of honor and history. Only the greatest of warriors were allowed to combat on this holy field.

Kivpa had never lost a battle and had battled Primarchs across the universe. From the foul traitors of the Chronosian Chaos Legions to his own brothers to even the mighty Emperor himself. He ha dven defeated the Greater Daemons of the Chaos gods in combat. The shots from his holy Exitus Bolter had killed commanders on many battlefields and the bow he wielded, named Artemis, had struck down his most hated foes. He stepped forward not deigning to wear a helmet for this battle. He slung the rifle across his back and carried Artemis in his left hand her gleaming beauty a thing of miracles.

Moments later he was standing in a wide valley awaiting his opponent. His perfect features rendering him striking in the false sunlight that shone down on the battlefield. He stretched out and his specially crafted armor bulged with barely contained strength. His armor was crafted by the Fabricator General himself after which Kivpa had further modified it. He smiled slightly and looked over at his bow Artemis as a breeze blew across his face taking in the sheer beauty of this arena. He would wait patiently for now to see who is opponent would be.

The frigate quietly re-entered reality. Where there was once empty space, there was now a rather full frigate. Scans began flooding in, and the ship's captain swore.

"Hell! Diocletan, what do we have here?"

The Neo-Roman looked up, bowed his head respectfully, for his captain, a Loriiean, was a temperamental man. A decent captain, all things considered, but he had been given this post more out of respect for his people than for his excellent command. There were eighteen on the scout-frigate, a diverse mix of the Republic's races.

"Ave, Captain Tharin. I'm not entirely sure. Passive scans are still flooding in, it'll take us a moment to conjugate them.."

Tharin waited, and turned to his Dracian weapons-officer. "Ilyev, what about our railguns?"

"Give me a minute, and they'll be running hot."

"Shields?"

"Already at sixty-percent capacity. We can run full power through them if we run into trouble."

"Adverto, Captain!". Diocletan waved a hand urgently, and Tharin turned to look at him.

"What is it, lieutenant?"

"Dratherian forces. They match all known identifiers. We're outgunned, Captain. What are our orders?"

"Orders? We are at war, lieutenant."

"Yessir. We're also, judging by these scans, outgunned by an order of magnitude."

"Ah. Sit in the area, prep jump drives. Call for reinforcements. Obviously we're not going to get one of those new swanky battleplates, but a Patrician or two could turn the tables here. Maybe a century or two of troops, too, if things get sticky on the ships."

"Captain, the transceiver is readied. Send a message?"

He nodded, and sat down to transcribe his message. He didn't want to get any closer to the enemy until they had reinforcements en-route.

bump

The bridge crew of the Hell Hath No Fury stood stunned at what they heard, "This is nothing short of an act of God that they not only held their fire but have...agreed."

The Tactical Officer spoke up, "I was listening to the part about them 'killing us all' and that we would be 'privileged to fight alongside them with our pitiful forces'. Surely they realize that this is simply a Task Force? That the three fleets once defending a galaxy are now concentrated in seven star systems? And that-"

"Irrelevant Sub-Commander," the Admiral retorted, "nothing short of divine providence saved us from yet another adversary because of your bungling the recovery of the data. You should have translated everything before apprising me of the situation so that I, the ranking diplomatic officer here, won't make the Dominion look like a pack of idiots when I open my mouth. Open a channel, Ops, encryption frequency Omega Zeta."

"Channel open sir."

"Fleet Admiral Akana vel Omnis," Gordon began, "I appreciate your clemency in this matter and do apologize for what, in context, would be seen as arrogant remarks. That war was generations ago and we've lost our complete records from centuries of isolation and later civil war.

I can't attone for the worngs of my imperialist ancestors, but I can graciously accept your offer. I appreciate the fact that we are banding together to neutralize a mutual foe. We await your signal and all weapons will be on standby. Stone out."

He then sat down in his chair and gave the order from which there was no turning back, "Alert Task Force Talon. Power all weapons to standby and arm all Phalanx torpedo arrays. And," he pinch the bridge of his nose before almost whispering, "load an antimatter torpedo into tube 3 and God help us all but there's just too many for a straight fight even with our flagship. I doubt the late Saving Grace could have withstood all this firepower in a straight up fight which means we sure as hell can't"

The insides of the barrels on the plasma turrets of all vessels begans dimly pulsing a dull red and beneath the closed doors of the bombardment pods on the HHNF and the two Falcons class vessels, the warheads of hundreds of Phalanx torpedos began glowing a bright blue as each one armed.

Deep within the bowels of the flagship, a robotic arm pulled an elongated cylinder from a heavily padded and insulated rack containing two more just like it. It moved along a track with surgical precision and slowness until it reached a hatch. It opened revealing a long, narrow tube which the cylinder was carefully loaded into and locked in place. The hatch then closed as the arm rolled away and a light went from green to red. The antimatter torpedo was loaded and ready.

"Tactical reports all weapons on standby."

"Good," Stone said absently as he reopened the encrypted channel to the Diclonians, "Admiral, should the fight go south, we'll send you a signal over this channel. If you receive it, tell your ships to move as far away as possible because the moment things look grim, we have a potent little surprise for our imperialist friends and I don't want you anywhere near the blast radius. This is of the utmost importance, please confirm you've received this."

bump???

Bump
My apologies for my absence, this past month was hell