NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Alright, people. This is the first thread with this nation, and it is one that I plan to be the basis of my nations beginning history, along with giving something fun (I hope) for fellow NS'ers to enjoy. There are some ground rules for this rp, and I want to make it clear. I want them obeyed to the letter, and any infringement on them will not be taken lightly. By joining this thread, you are essentially agreeing to abide by these rules.

Rules

1. I do not want massive armies and fleets auto-spawning to my planet, and trying to conquer it automatically, or acting all uber. There will be consequences to your actions. If you think you can spawn a fleet and think I won't be able to do anything about it, I WILL see your forces annihilated and driven from my rp. However, if you wish to do massive battles, you can ask others in the rp, or in the case of armies, ask me and we can discuss the idea. Basically, don't godmod, wank, powerplay, etc.

2. The demons ARE immune to non-Arcane, magical, Psionic, etc, weapons. If they do not have any special abilities attributed to them, (if you have something not included in my brief list, let me know and I will let you know if it will work or not), then they will be basically ineffective. Plasma, antimatter, nukes, c-frac, the whole shebang. All you can do is maybe hurt my people, and destroy the countryside and ruined cities. That's about it. Note, this is a good chance for people who like to rp consequences, or even places where they don't pwn everything in sight, to have some fun interaction with the Templar, and get weapons ABLE to do damage.

3. This thread has a plot to it, although how long it will be is up to me, and it will have a final solution. Don't suddenly go, “Oh we just discovered X-weapon to fight the demon and it is so much more awesome!”, or, “We have just the thing to close those nasty Hellgates, and we've had them for centuries, despite not knowing of their existence.” If you want to get involved in the plot, I will consider it, and only a few people, if they want, can get involved and change the events with their ideas. I have a goal with this, and I do want it to go forward.

4. No auto-detecting Templar, no auto-knowing them, their weaponry, culture, the demons, the Great Dark, anything within the Hellgate universe. Also, the weapons are not able to be manufactured by anyone unless they know how to mold Palladium, have access to it, have eldritch forges, and have been taught how to make them by the Templar. And on that note, no having Palladium beforehand, suddenly finding it, having eldritch forges, or knowing suddenly how to make them, same with Arcana, everything. Just don't think you know the stuff that they know, as you haven't been on this planet, nor faced this threat before.

And that is all, for the moment. If cases force me to do so, new rules will be put up. Aside from this, you are free to do what you want, within the limits of the rp rules we all abide by. Have fun, and thank you for participating!


IC: Earth. The homeworld of humanity, a highly adaptive race of beings who had developed their technology at an amazing rate. They had arts and culture of an incredibly high level, and they had potential to become a space-faring power within mere decades. However, internal strife, and the lack of a racial, unifying structure prevented them from uniting effectively and using what resources they had to move out into space fully and begin colonization/exploration. However, they had a much more sinister and revealing problem than the social ills of their culture.

Long ago, they had believed in demons, who had been working to assault their world, and wipe them out in their hunger to kill, to consume, to corrupt. Man, in his belief of them, and his continued vigilance against the demon with sword and arcane energy, was able to destroy any foothold the Great Dark managed to secure on the world, in the times of knights, sword, and feudal nations. The Order of the Knights Templar, born of God and their duty to fight against supernatural threats such as the Great Dark, were formed during those times to fight against them, and they quickly gained power and influence, fighting conflicts such as the Crusades, which were just wars to drive the Great Dark from tainting their world. However, a jealous king hunted them down, forcing the Order to hide in order to prevent its extinction. The massive loss of funding, land, and most importantly, members, the Order was greatly weakened, but could still do its job due to humanity's belief in the demon and their vigilance.

As time passed, and humanity became more “advanced” and “civilized”, they discarded the beliefs of such things in favor of sciences, and the stuff which could only be proved with things the eye could see, the hand could touch. Their belief in the demon waned, until naught but the Templar knew of their existence. This weakened the barriers of Creation that separated the Great Dark from their world. The Eldest, in the name of the First, prepared their invasion, stealing Harbringer demons to open the gates to the Great Dark. They found wells of power on the planet, long-forgotten wells of Arcana that could be used with horrific and sacrificial rituals to open the Hellgates. These Hellgates were large portals to the Great Dark, which the demon poured their limitless legions into our world. The Templar did their best to prepare and counter this invasion, but they were too few. Humanity, in all its modern glory and might, did not have the weaponry to harm the demon. Their armor-piercing rounds, and missiles were utterly ineffective without the power of Arcana behind it. The Templar offered their services to the nations of Man, but they refused, scoffing at the old beliefs. Without their aid, they fell, and their armies eradicated. The Great Dark won the battle for Earth, and none but the Templar stood in their way.

Now fully revealed, the demon hunted the Templar mercilessly, seeking to crush the final hope humanity had. The Grand Master of the Order, Alexander Collins, lead a massive counterattack at the main demon Hellgate in London, at St. Paul's Cathedral, in order to buy time for the last of humanity to go into their underground havens. There, they could rebuild, prepare.....and find a way to defeat the demon. This attack was initiated on All Hallow's Eve, and the entire army of Templar, which was large enough to make the demons think that they had wiped all of them out and secured their victory, was killed after a long battle with the endless legions of the Eldest.

That had been in 2023. It was now 2041, eighteen years later. Eighteen years of brutal struggle. Of rediscovery of Arcana. Of technological advancement. Of united hope and struggle. Eighteen years of life had been bought with the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice of countless Templar, Hunters, and Cabalists. And now, the remnants of humanity were close to uniting, to combining all the pieces of knowledge that remained to give them the final key to the destruction of the Hellgates and victory of the Great Dark.

The First, however, was not so fooled as to think that he had fully defeated his foe. With the increase of Templar attacks over the years, it had learned of its mistake and was now making the final preparations to fully scour the Earth of humanity's last hope, to fulfill their final damnation, and assure victory for itself never more.

For Man was the weapon to which it had no defense, the balance which had been created at the same time as the First itself. If Man fell, if they were destroyed by the awesome might of the Great Dark, there would be no hope for stopping the rampage of the First throughout all of existence, and it would eventually consume all life.

What both human and demon did not know, however, was that their desperate war had sent out large bursts of Arcane energy, which racked the galaxy around it with storms, energy pulses, and vast and unimaginable readings. In universe where space-faring nations existed and traveled the stars, of which they knew not of, these would inevitable draw various nations, good or ill, to their planet. And with their actions, could change the very course of the war between darkness and light, void and creation, forever......


OOC: Just rp whatever ships and stuff you have coming into the system, and I'll get this party started.

*bump*

Rarely RP'd with this nation, ah well.

Fleet:
SSV New Hope, Regal class capital ship.
SSV Red Line, Oblivion class heavy cruiser.
SSV Cold Sun, Oblivion class heavy cruiser.
SSV High cloud, Mother class super carrier.
: Carrying 120 Sentinel class AI gunships.
SSV Barrier, Infinity class troop carrier.
: Carrying most of my ground forces, detailed when they land.
: Also the communications relay of the entire fleet.

Sorry, no introduction. But could i perhaps become a part of the plot?

OOC Thread:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13358640#post13358640

Edit: Check your TG's Schavakia.

The ship exited hyperspace well outside the system, not wanting to end up inside a celestial body. It was a unimpressive sight, with it's crude yet functional design. The few knowing of distant Zirzla would have identified it as a Minotaur-class cruiser, a noble ship of the Federational Navy. It's name was Chimera and it was the second Zirzlan ship ever to leave the safe haven the Anaecron system was. Captain Graius Saros still wondered why he had volunteered for the mission, leaving a wondeful wife and a five-year son behind for the emptiness of space. Still, something was dragging him here, something he couldn't explain. Maybe the Merging had strengthened his instincts as well as his body? He looked at the fur covering parts of his arm, a reminder of the panther within him. It was as much part of him as himself. While he could remember playing with his brother in the gardens surrounding the mansion where they had lived, he also remembered the thrill of the hunt, the triumph when the prey laid dead and the taste of warm blood and flesh. He shivered. Something was wrong with this system. His senses, both human and animalistic, was screaming out warnings. He looked around the bridge and saw the same feelings on the faces of his men. "Any information on the system ahead?", he asked his liutenant. "None, sir", the man answered. "This is unexplored space".
"Any sign of danger?"
"None, sir. But", he looked uneasy, " something is wrong, if you understand what i mean. I have a bad feeling about this, sir".
"So do I, liutenant. Still, we have sworn our oaths to the Senate. There is no turning back because we feel bad about it, I'm afraid".
"I know that, captain". He straigthened up. "We could follow you to Hell without hesitation, sir". He saluted and left. The older man looked after him.
"I know you would", he whispered. "But how many of you will come home after this journey?"
He sighed and turned his attention back to the instruments.

tagging

HMS Orion – Vanguard Class Battleship

ATTENTION ALL HANDS: DO NOT ENTER

It was an unambiguous sign mounted on one of the hatches in the rear section of the ship, most who walked past it assumed it was a power room or something equally as mundane. Anyone who looked closer however would have noticed the keypad and the iris scanner mounted on the bulkhead.

Inside, the darkened room was cramped with computers; they were linked into the sensor grid running their own scans, looking for certain indicators that would have slipped past the ‘hats’ in the CIC. There were four people in the room, 3 crewmen and an officer. Lieutenant Shaw, the duty officer in the small compartment, was peering over the shoulder of one of the crewmen checking the readings on his datapad with those on the screen.

“Realign sensor suites four through to twelve and increase gain by....” he glanced at the datapad, “twelve point eight two.”

“Aye sir,” mumbled the crewman, tapping away at the console.

This was the Paranormal Observation Suite (POS), otherwise known as ‘Spookie’ central. The crew that operated it were picked specially by MI12, the Military Intelligence Section dedicated to Paranormal Studies, specifically because they were trustworthy and ‘controllable’. HMS Orion was nosing around relativity close to the Wintrees Boarder, looking for trouble. Trouble of the Pirate kind officially, unofficially however, the POS was working overtime looking deep into space. MI12 received reports from independent sources of some kind of weird energy from a quadrant that had previously gone uncharted.

Wintrees culture had always spoke of a race of demon like aliens called the ‘Night Stalkers’, mythical almost, they had cultivated a culture of xenophobia ever since ancient writings were discovered on the Planet Tor. Legend has it that once the universe had reached a certain level of development that Night Stalkers would return and lay waste to the universe, regressing it to the primordial soup and restoring the natural balance. Due to that, Wintrees don’t like the paranormal... not one bit and they spend a great deal of time tracking down sources.

HMS Orion was a priority ship because of this; she had a fleet on standby to support her if she found something. There were a number of other ships also in the area trying to track down the source. Whoever found it first was in for some serious prize money.

“Err... I’ve got one... I’ve GOT ONE!” yelled one of the crewmen, half standing up from his seat.

“Calm down,” growled Shaw pacing over to the console, “What have we got?”

“Planetary body X-302/A, emitting huge amount of energy on the Zeta band, this is it!” smiled the Crewman.

“Agreed, plot it and give me jump coordinates,” ordered Lieutenant Shaw, “I’m going to the Captain, send them to the CIC as soon as possible.”

The crewman nodded and Shaw bust out of the room, making for the CIC at best speed.

Thirty Minutes later -

HMS Orion flashed in existence in high orbit above the planet and started detailed scans all the time transmitting on all bands.

This is the HMS Orion of the Wintrees Colonial Fleet, any ships in the area transmit your identification codes. Do not approach this ship, all contact to be made on the following frequencies...

The ship drifted throughout the system, which held planets not yet touched by any force, good or evil. However, one would soon register itself on its sensors. A wave of unknown energy was hit the ships sensors, hard. Data would scroll down their screens, while strange symbols occasionally appeared to distort the screens. When they looked to see where it came from, the would find a planet that had an oddly blood-red sky, darker than any other planet in the system. Even that of the red planet preceding it.

The waves of energy would emanate continuously, sometimes in a pattern, sometimes not. But it kept coming, and it was a strong signal. On the heels of that signal, however, was something recognizable. Radio signals, years old, coming from abandoned satellites in orbit around the planet, signs of some kind of civilization....only these satellites no longer transmitted anything but a few scattered signals.....


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


IC:

This is the HMS Orion of the Wintrees Colonial Fleet, any ships in the area transmit your identification codes. Do not approach this ship, all contact to be made on the following frequencies...

Being there were no ships, in the area, no one replied. However, like the Zirzla ship, they received a response, which they would recognize as automated, from the decaying satellites in orbit around the planet. Brief flashes of light in the sky of the red world would show that some kind of activity was going on. It would appear to be lightning, but bursts of the strange energy would be seen spurting every time the flashes came. Sensors would also detect some kind of organic objects, many of them, floating all over the planet in the atmosphere.

Something quite odd was going on here.....

OOC: My apologies WinTrees, didn't see you there.

The Demise flowed through T-Space, engaging in patrols of the area just in case the Ta’Nar decided to travel this way in their next nomadic traveling. The Interceptor Destroyer had left its escorts behind so they could investigate other systems encountered previously.

“Captain, I am detecting strange fluctuations within the drive.”

Kal’Gohn looked over at the pilot. “What do you mean?”

“I am not sure, it is unexplained.”

“Contact Engineering and have them investigate. Meanwhile take us to the nearest system and bring us to a full halt. If there is something wrong we don’t want to do more damage than we have to.”

“Yes Sir, plotting course and we will arrive shortly.”




A few minutes later, The Demise faded into Real Space on the outskirts of the system. The destroyer simply floated there in the Oort Cloud while the Ta’Nar and Childer engineers went through the drive systems to determine what was causing the mysterious fluctuations. While that was going on, the crew was busy scanning the system.

“Sir, I am detecting a ship that just appeared in orbit of the Earth-type planet of this system. It looks like they are scanning the planet. They have not noticed us yet.”

“Eventually they will notice the huge gravity well our drives make so I guess we better be prepared to contact them.”

“Sir, a message was picked up transmitted through normal frequencies. It must have taken time to reach us out here.”

“Play it.”

This is the HMS Orion of the Wintrees Colonial Fleet, any ships in the area transmit your identification codes. Do not approach this ship, all contact to be made on the following frequencies...


“That was fast. Too bad we do not use their type of ID codes, we have nothing to transmit.”

“Captain, I have one of the engineers on the line for you.”

“Patch them through and do not transmit any message to the alien ship. Keep monitoring them for the time being.”

“Yes Sir.”

The message from the engineers was relayed to Captain Kal’Gohn.

“Sir, there is nothing wrong with the drives. It appears there are some sort of signals that are interacting with the Hybrid components of the drive.”

“The what? Eldritch signals? From where?”

“Most likely in this system.”

“Can you set up a filter or compensate for them?”

“Yes, given time but we should investigate in order to get the proper settings. Either that or leave the area so we are outside their effects.”

“No, we cannot. The Warlord would want any Eldritch signals investigated. Set up some sort of filter to protect the ship and we will investigate them. Keep me informed.”

Kal’Gohn returned his attention to the screen showing the distant ship magnified so details can be seen. He carefully thought things over and decided the straight forward approach was the best to take.

“Plot a course for the planet. Place us opposite the alien vessel. Uplift to T-Space and take us in. We will respond when they notice us appearing on the other side of the planet from them.”

“Yes Sir, course plotted.”




Several minutes later, The Demise faded into existence as it Emerged from T-Space into Real Space. The ship was positioned exactly on the opposite side of the planet from the alien vessel, keeping maximum distance from them as they requested in their transmission. Still, it was too bad they would not be able to read the ship designation seeing as they are transmitted between Shipminds using the Link they shared instead of electromagnetic signals.

Their sensors would immediately detect the presence of the singularity locked in the drive of the Interceptor Destroyer. The drive contained the immense gravities of the singularity but it’s mass shadow was easily detectable from anywhere within range of sensors desighed to detect them. The energy readings were also extremely high. Two reasons the Ta’Nar never even considered using cloaking devices, it was impossible to mask those two outputs. It was also extremely dishonorable to skulk about pretending you were not around being invisible. They preferred to take situations straight on like a true and Honorable warrior would.


The Demise (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/interceptor.jpg)


“Begin scanning the surface and report all findings. Keep some sensors on that ship in case they try something but do not take any offensive actions.”

“Yes Sir.”

The 120 meter destroyer begins to powerfully scan the surface of the planet. It was noted the extremely disruptive circumstances on the surface as images of the battles was seen from above. The first problem was overcoming the interference caused by the Eldritch emanations from the planet. They technicians used the same filtering they had employed with the drives and it allowed some usage of the sensors. The presence of a network of satellites allowed the Ta’Nar to tap into their memory banks to find the history of the people below once the language was translated.

The sensors showed a number of underground power sources with a population much larger than the planet could support. There were also some extremely powerful sources near the surface that seemed out of place as well as unrecognized in their type. The sensors could not focus enough to determine any clarity of what was going on down there but it certainly looked to be a mess. The only source of information would be the satellites which they now turned to since the Shipmind had the necessary time to work on the translations…

Captain Granger stood in the centre of the CIC, hands clasp behind his back, “Any response?”

The crewman operating the communications console looked up for a second and shook his head, “Nothing past the scattered signals and we’re still working through them sir, although we’re getting something on the long range scanners.”

“How far out?” asked the Captain, checking the scanner of the command table himself.

“Edge of the system sir,” replied the officer of the watch, Lieutenant Mitchell, who was now stood by the command table.

“Good, Mitchell, dispatch the CAP to investigate,” he ordered as he turned his attention to the surface scans, “What’s the situation on the planet?”

Lieutenant Mitchell flicked through the documents on the clipboard he was carrying, “Biological signatures on the planet, we can’t determine specifics yet... there’s a lot of separate energy readings down there so we’re having trouble cutting our way through the interference.”

“Favourable fight conditions down there? “asked Granger, turning as he noticed someone come through the hatch.

“Its dicey,” piped up the CAG, Commander Turner, as he entered the CIC, “Its flyable though, I can have a squadron ready for a recce in force in ten minutes.”

“Good,” replied Captain Granger, “Once you’ve dispatched them liaise with Colonel McTavish for a Marine Party to go planeside.”

10 Minutes Later –

“Entering Atmosphere, keep tight everyone, watch for FOD,” came the cracking voice of the Squadron Leader, RedTop.

The squadron was obscured in flames as they entered the upper atmosphere, diving fast to get into the atmosphere proper. They were in a tight formation, standard practice to cover their radar signature. It took about 5 minutes before they could make out the surface of the planet, the outside of the fighters hull backend by the re-entry.

“All call signs,” called RedTop, “Engage recorders, Red Flight security... The rest of you, keep your eyes open, were searching for landing zones and signs of life. Keep an eye on your scanners. Good hunting.”


30 Minutes Later -

The CAP rocketed past the last planet in the system and started to blast open space with their sensors, searching for the ship that had appeared on HMS Orion’s long range sensors.

The translation did not take much time, as it already knew of the English language, and the others quickly followed suite. A variety of images bombarded the Balroggans in rapid-sequence. Paris afire, London being savaged by explosions as fighter jets attacked by some unknown enemy came crashing into the city, leveling entire blocks. Tokyo was completely crushed as the scattered and ravaged bodies of their once mighty Self-Defense force were strewn about the streets. All this horrific images continued to pour into the systems, with a mix of voices that went too fast to be legible but one thing was heard. Lots of screaming, both pained and frightened.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the screen focused on a scratchy but calm video of a reporter in London, his hand on his ear. He was grimy, his clothes were cut up in several places, and he stood behind a British Marine who stood stationed at the command post. His voice was garbled, but it then focused into something that could be heard.

"....and they came from nowhere. Suddenly, a series of fires exploded all over London, and calls for help, talking about strange monsters, began to pour in. Police and firemen were sent to go deal with this, but shortly after cries of encountering monsters, contact was lost. After twenty minutes, it became apparent something was attacking us. Screams could be heard from all quarters of the city, and unearthly cries began to fill the air and....."

The screen fizzled out again, but was quickly replaced with another. Only this time, it was following the camera of a military force in New York City. The sky was dark, full of smoke and some other kind of gas as fires raged all over. Blood spattered the streets, with the ruined vehicles and bodies of civilians. U.S. Marines huddled around their vehicles, as their Captain talked into a radio.

"Command, what happened to Charlie Company? They were supposed to have our flank. I tried raising them but there's no reply."

"We copy, Wildcat, and we can't contact them either. Squads are scattered all throughout the country. We are getting scattered reports of devastation all over the world, and of strange monsters. We don't know what's up, but we need you to investigate. Times Square went silent two hours ago; go in and find out why. Shoot anything that moves. Command out."

The Captain threw down his hand and shook his head. "Alright boys, prepare to move out-"

"OH DEAR GOD, SOMEBODY HELP US!"

The Marines whirled, the tanks and APC's aiming their weapons across the street, to see a couple, battered and bloodied, running for their lives. "RUN, RUN FOR GODSAKE!" There was a loud howl and something appeared, causing many to curse, and some to begin praying.

A large beast, its mouth a flapped thing with a large row of teeth, no eyes, and lightning curled around its hands. Wicked looking armor covered its powerful body, blood splatters all over it. Around it was a series of dog-like creatures whose jaws dripped a mix of saliva and blood, along with four large, muscled creatures with four arms wielding swords that glowed and flamed with unnatural colors. They let out a chorus of howls and charged the couple. One of the dog-like things impossibly gathered fire in one of its claws and launched it at the woman. It hit her in the back, and she fell, crying out. The man continued running, his terror overcoming his horror at what was to happen.

The dog creatures launched themselves at the woman, and began to rip her apart, her screams high and loud as she was devoured alive. The Captain finally snapped from his stupor, and roared out orders. "FIRE, FIRE! TAKE 'EM DOWN!"

A barrage of bullets, armor-piercing, incendiary, sabot, tank rounds, rockets, were all launched at the creatures, sending explosive shockwaves throughout the area and blasting smoke. The Marines began to yell, mocking, as they kept up the fire....until a dog creature flung itself through the smoke to stab deep into the chest of a Marine, who fell gargling as it ate through his intestines.

It was completely unharmed.

The tank they had with them exploded as a ball of lightning slammed into it, and went through the armor as if it were paper. The others charged, the bullets bouncing off them as if they were blanks, and the rockets were shrugged off. Even tank rounds could do nothing. Screams filled the air, as the Marines, their weapons utterly ineffective, were torn apart. Some resorted to combat knives in a hope those still worked, and were proven horribly wrong.

"DAMMIT, COMMAND, THERE ARE DEMONS OUT HERE. THEY'RE KILLING MY MEN! I NEED AIR SUPPORT!"

Static came over the receiver.

Command?!

Nothing. A deep bellow sounded, and he turned from the carnage, the camera following his helmet, to see the foot of some large creature that was on fire stamp down on it.

The video cut out again, and it showed more horrific events. The destruction of Man's nations and its military. The last thing the satellite gave was picture of a Hellgate, this one being in London, unleashing an endless tide of demons into the world, before it proceeded to repeat....

OOC: Ref Balrogga post, timeline wise my post is before you (was still typing it). My scanners and reactions are to that of the Zirzla ship. Just in case there is any mix up.

The WinTree squadron would find something very wrong with the world they saw. The atmosphere, as they came down, was a dark red, as seen from orbit, but it was also filled with black smoke, as if fires were burning. As they entered normal atmosphere, that would become apparent when some strange, organic looking aircraft (http://www.hellgatelondon.com/files/images/concept_exospector.preview.jpg) were seen floating through the sky. They didn't send any messages, but merely continued to float through the sky. The land all around was devastated; forests were burnt, the ground was pitted and scarred, and the local cities were in ruins. Stranger still, they would see weird bubbles with what looked to be lava pushing up out of the ground, from the walls of the buildings.

Movement was detected in the city, and it was on a large scale. Some of it was fast, and some of it was slow, and it was far more than a ruined city should have....

“RedTop, This is Badger,” radioed one of the pilots, “I’ve got movement on the ground, I can’t make them out... but jeeze are they moving fast.”

“Badger, this is RedTop, move in for a lower pass and try and get some of it on the cameras,” ordered RedTop while banking his fighter closer to one of the blimp like aircraft. “All call signs make your final passes and break to the upper atmosphere... I don’t like it down here.”

RedTop pulled up on his collective and started to gain height, noting down a number of potential landing zones just outside of one of the cities.

Badger thrust his fighter down to the deck and tore along one of the streets at building height, snapping away at the creatures on the ground. He then started to climb after the rest of his squadron as they all got out of dodge, hopefully with scanner readings and camera images that will help them understand what was going on down there.

As the aircraft flew down to take pictures, it would see a scene straight out of old horror movies. A variety of creatures walked the streets, moving around, some fighting with each other over some carcass of a creature, while others just walked around numbly. As it roared by, they all turned and began to chase it, as futile as it was.

However, it had more important things to worry about. Loud shrieks could be heard, and from the quarter of the city, a huge mass of flying creatures began to gather in a cloud above the quarter. When he began to climb, they eagerly followed, their teeth and claws eagerly seeking the metal of his fighter.

“Woahhh,” breathed Badger, catching sight of the mass of creatures attempting to catch up with them, “RedTop, this is Badger... We’ve got... bats or something pursuing us... over.”

RedTop craned his neck over to try and get a visual on the creatures, “Badger, gun those engines... they’re going to get you first.... Red Flight break off and engage if.... Christ... engage if they get to close to badger, the rest of you get back to the carrier. Blow the reserves on your engines and gun it. Out!”

RedTop flipped his fighter over and moved to close the gap between him and Badger, followed by the 4 other fighters from Red Flight.

“Missiles Hot, Guns Hot,” called RedTop. He was concerned now, was this the start of a cock up? Were these the friendly greeting party? “Sod it,” he mumbled, “Fire at Will, blast them!”

The 5 fighters sprinted past Badger as he continued his ascent, they emptied their missile racks at close range and then switched to guns blasting away as they headed for the centre of the mass.

The creatures continued their pursuit, undaunted by the addition of other fighters. They only doubled their efforts towards the fighter. There were different types; some were bat-like others, some slim and scaly kind of dragon, and even some half-bat, half-woman things that shrieked out hellish cries. They followed tightly behind them, though many began to fall behind due to the speeds being too fast for them. Many still followed.

When the five fighters moved past Badger and attacked, their attention focused on the new targets. They launched themselves, screeching, into the fray, the other laggers coming up quickly. Their missiles sped out and impacted with many of them, exploding into large fireballs of smoke and fire....only for the creatures to come through, unharmed. The guns spat lead at them, at high speeds, but they only bounced off them. Once they were within moderate distance, they unleashed balls of different colored energy, which if they hit would cut through normal armor like butter, the eldritch energies scything through normal matter. After which, they closed in, with their jaws and claws, to rip at the aircraft, to batter them apart with their sheer numbers.

HMS Orion

“....THEY’RE ALL OVER US!”
“....CAN’T SEE...!”
“...BALLING OUT BALLI...”
“...THEY’RE ON MY WING...”
“....INEFFECTIVE...I SAY AGAIN! WEAPONS INEFFECTIVE...BALLING...”

“SAR Birds,” shouted Captain Granger over the noise of the CIC intercom blasting out the cries of the pilots, “Get them ready to go. Message Fleet, tell them we have a Zeta Contact.”

Commander Turner was stood at the communications station, reading through the grabbled transmissions, “I’ve got two confirmed bail outs sir, not getting any distress beacons as yet.”

“Have the birds on the pad ready to go,” he turned to Turner, “What’s the situation on the rest of the pilots?”

“They’ve just broken upper atmosphere,” noted Turner, “I’m getting them to transmit the data files now.”

“Good, have them routed to the intelligence cell straight away,” he turned to the Communications console again, a quiver in a voice this time, “Have you sent the Contact message yet?”

“Yes sir,” replied the crewman, “No response yet.”

Planetside -

“....INEFFECTIVE...I SAY AGAIN! WEAPONS INEFFECTIVE...BALLING...” RedTop’s canopy blew off as he pulled the ejection handle on his seat, he rocketed out of the fighter amazingly finding a gap in the horde of creatures. Another pilot wasn’t so lucky, being ripped limb from limb before he was even fully out of the cockpit.

RedTop fell through the sky, his neck was braced forward as he couldn’t bring himself to look behind him... hoping he got away clean...

The creatures tore through the aircraft, much as they had when decimating the modern armies of humanity. They tore through the craft, ripping them up, sending bits of debris and metal as they exploded. Eagerly ripping the pilots out of their cockpits and ripping them apart.

RedTop had some kind of luck with him as the cloud of creatures were too busy fighting over the scraps of the former pilot, to worry about him. However, as the ground began to come up, he would be able to see a few creatures still milling around, with some being too close to the ruined building he was heading for....

The ship drifted throughout the system, which held planets not yet touched by any force, good or evil. However, one would soon register itself on its sensors. A wave of unknown energy was hit the ships sensors, hard. Data would scroll down their screens, while strange symbols occasionally appeared to distort the screens. When they looked to see where it came from, the would find a planet that had an oddly blood-red sky, darker than any other planet in the system. Even that of the red planet preceding it.

The waves of energy would emanate continuously, sometimes in a pattern, sometimes not. But it kept coming, and it was a strong signal. On the heels of that signal, however, was something recognizable. Radio signals, years old, coming from abandoned satellites in orbit around the planet, signs of some kind of civilization....only these satellites no longer transmitted anything but a few scattered signals.....


"Captain, we have signals incoming!", a communication officer shouted. His voice was excited and, Graius noted, scared. "By Taurus, sir, you really need to see this!"
The captain walked over to him. He opened his mouth to ask the younger man what all the stir really was about, but then he saw it. Data was scrolling down the screen, occasionally interupted by strange symbols which sent a shiver up his spine. "Good Lord", he whispered. "What is this?"
"I don't know sir, but it is coming from", the man pressed a key, "here".
A strange planet appeared on the screen. It's appearance made him shudder. "Are you sure?", he asked the officer. "I can hardly believe that any civilized race would wish to live on that thing".
"I am sure, sir. The signals are coming from there".
"In that case we will close in. Keep it under observation, young man".
"Yes, sir".

The Zirzlan ship slowed down and crept closer, carefully watching for danger. The weapon crews readied their guns. One thing they could all agree on, that something was wrong with this system.


This is the HMS Orion of the Wintrees Colonial Fleet, any ships in the area transmit your identification codes. Do not approach this ship, all contact to be made on the following frequencies...


Seconds later, a second message reached Medusa. The contents didn't exactly calm them. Something out there was not trusting them. A quick reply was transmitted.

This is FFS Medusa of the Zirzlan Federation Expeditionary Fleet. We have no ill intentions against you, but if attacked we will defend ourself with all means.

COLD SUN

The Cold Sun had moved ahead of the fleet in a classic vanguard formation, to inspect both the other factions already in the vicinity of the planet, and to investigate what looked like fleshy satellites orbiting the planet.

Bridge commander Vreil Sascha stepped towards the communications desk, where they were receiving transmissions from the SSV Barrier. The Barrier's advanced comms relay had thus far picked up all traffic between the other ships, and Sascha had determined them to be a non-hostile.


This is the HMS Orion of the Wintrees Colonial Fleet, any ships in the area transmit your identification codes. Do not approach this ship, all contact to be made on the following frequencies...

"Sir, are you hearing this?"

Sascha turned.

"They have no right to know who is in this system. it's uncharted space, free space."

COMMUNIQUE TO THE WINTREES COLONIAL FLEET
This is Scahavkain fleet Gothic. We are here on recon and peacekeeping duties.Our identification codes are held classified until such time as we choose to disclose them.

Salvation and Hope (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8aKSpnArSU)

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol, had existed for thousands of years in isolation, free and ignorant of the galaxy around them. For thousands of years, since the great blaze, they had existed free of enemies except the true enemy, themselves.

Internal wars, and the creation of the Cylon race, the machine race once designed to serve humanity, had turned on it’s creators. Only the intervention of other races of the galaxy had saved the Colonies from total destruction. But that salvation, came with a price.

Since the day the Colonies discovered other races, other nations, other Empires, nation after nation had tried to subvert the Colonies. Fiercely independent, Admiral Cain had freed the colonies of the influence of the Coreworlds, had put down the corrupt Adar presidency. To do so though, she had to make a deal with the devil, the Galactic Empire.

Now things are much worse, the Empire, in a treacherous act, was attempting to subvert it’s own members, to take total control of the colonies, in the same method as the Coredians. Truly it was a wonder the Colonies had lasted as long as they have. Survival, it seemed was the only true virtue and attribute the Colonies were proficient in.

Kobol, the cursed planet, the birth planet of humanity, had been compromised. Once hidden, it was now known to many in the Empire, and in Coredia. The very shield that had saved the Colonies seemed to become a sword to strike at their very heart.

It was with this in mind, that the Battlestar Miranda, a Mercury class battlestar had been commissioned by the Ministry of Defense. It’s mission was simple, find a new planet capable of housing a base for Colonial Operations, outside of Colonial space, one that was uncharted and unknown to the galaxy as a whole.

Battlestar Miranda
Deep Space Nine thousand lightyears outside the red line.

A blond woman, her hair cut short, was sitting at her desk. In front of her, were pictures of her family, a young boy, around the age of nine, with short brown hair, and green eyes. He held a pyrimad ball in his hand, and wore a white jersey, with the number twenty three. Behind him, a taller man stood, with brown and slight gray streaks. His face was covered by a goatee, nearly gray with age. The picture was wrapped in a brown oak frame, with gold trim around it.

She stared at the picture, as she placed her hands to her forehead. “They are now gone.” she thought to herself. Her mind flashed with the memories of the past, her Battlestar’s guns firing on Aquaria, the screams of her pilots, shortly before being lost to the vacuum of space.

“Did my guns kill them?” The question had haunted her since the Colonial Civil war began. “Did I kill Aaron, and Michael?” she asked herself again. Her hands trembled as they reached for her coffee mug. She felt the warmth from the cup, as she took a sip of the black bitter drink.
“Duty, honor, what good are those words if they killed the ones I loved?” she asked herself again.
As she took a sip, she grabbed a report. She opened the file, trying to take her mind off the horrors of the past, the sins that covered her soul. She had to bury herself in her work, it was the only thing keeping her mind off the events of the past, the sins of humanity, her sins.

Commander Jasmine Socrates, began to shift through the files. Pictures, of space, and stars, of dead planets, or of planets that could not house humans. “This is a useless search.” she thought to herself as she took another sip of her coffee. “Looking for a planet to meet our needs is like trying to find a needle in a rain forest.

As she continued to read, her train of thought was interrupted by the intercom. “Commander Socrates, please report to CIC, Commander Socrates please report to CIC.

Her attention broke, as she raised her eyes to the door. She reached over to her cup and finished the last bit of her coffee. She raised herself up, and began to walk towards the door. As the door opened for her, two marines dressed in black, holding their assault rifles, they stood ready. The two men saluted their commander, as she began to walk down the hall.

Minutes past, as she smiled to her crew she passed, shaking hands with those who needed it. Morale, was key to any military ship, or venture. Morale, although was something she lacked, was something her crew would have. They needed respect, and pride, and she was damn sure going to try to give it to them.

Soon she turned the corner to be greeted by large bullet proof glass panels. The doors slid open, turning to the right, revealing the passageway to the CIC.

“Status.” Commander Socrates ordered.

Her executive officer, Major Devion’s eyes shifted up. “Sir raptor recon three, has found this.” he replied. His hand shot out to hers. In it contained a photo, of a planet, with blue skies, and large land masses. “They have also detected the ruminants of satellites and burned out cities sir.

Commander Socrates looked to Major Devion. “I am not interested in planets that have civilizations in them. Every time we meet a new nation, we find nothing but problems, and another power hungry society that wishes to stab the Colonies in the back. We have enough enemies Commander.” she retorted.

“Sir, I do not disagree with you, but this planet is different. According to the low orbital scans of Raptor crew three, the planet’s society appears to be utterly destroyed. It is possible sir the planet is dead of sentient life, and if that is the case, it might prove to be a perfect staging ground.” He replied.

Commander Socrates looked down to the picture. “Fine, do you have jump coordinates?” she replied.

Major Devion’s back straightened up, “Sir yes sir, it is exactly two plotted jumps from out current location.”

“Fine, let’s take a look at this candidate.” she replied.

As she gave the order, the FTL drive officer, opened a small silver looking case. He reached in, and grabbed a key, with two glowing rods. Slowly he inserted it inside the computer. As he turned, the Battlestar Miranda jumped, vanishing in a large white glow.

Moments later, the Battlestar Miranda appeared, near the southern pole. In a bright flash, out of no where, the space fold placed them exactly in the location.

Commander Socrates looked to the draidus screen. She turned her head to her executive officer. Send five raptors out, to scout the planet. I want to know for certain if anyone or thing is alive down there. Draidus, begin long range scans to see if anyone is around.

“Sir yes sir.” they replied, as Major Devion picked up the phone and issued the orders. Only time would tell if they were alone here or not.

(I know others are here, but I will pick them up on draidus in the next post, I just wanted to get in this thread first.)

The Medusa would suddenly have the screens be filled with similar to what the Balroggans had seen. Scenes of destruction, death, and utter chaos, as the demons overran the planet. Scenes of great horror and despair filled the screen. When it first settled, it showed a cameraman following a group of scared refugee's. Fires raged all around, the black sky ominously reflecting the horror which had hit the Earth.

The streets around them were cracked and broken, with vehicles scattered everywhere. Scattered gunfire and yells could be heard, as the dying military made its last stand all around the city. A loud roar sounded and the camera turned to see Manhattan. The city was almost completely aflame, and small explosions sputtered here and there like rapid fire machine guns. Some airplanes still futilely struggled against the demons, only for the airborne creatures to rip them apart. A massive demon strode through the city, its strides slow but purposeful, completely afire. It trailed fire in its wake, and a wave of fire exploded outward with every step. A wing of helicopters flew in and began to engage it, their bullet tracers and missile trails visible.

Impacts trailed all over the demon's body but nothing happened; it wasn't damaged in the least. Turning to face the helicopters, it revealed its massive mouth which extended a bit into its chest, teeth lining both sides, and a fiery furnace burning within. A large volume of flame shot out, impacting with the helicopters. Several small puffs of explosions showed the last remainder of Manhattan's valiant defenders. An airplane streaked across the sky, half of its engine missing, and slammed into a nearby skyscraper. A massive explosion wracked the building, the lights flickering, as its munitions detonated. Screams and cries of horror sounded as the building tottered and then streaked to impact with another skyscraper, which caused a ripple of explosions and then caused that building to fall. About two full blocks of the city collapsed as the buildings fell all around the demon, who returned to its earlier walk. The camera turned back, just as a shape slashed across the screen and the screen returned to its earlier watch of the energy readings. If they looked for the origin, the decayed satellites would be the source.

The Colonials, along with the other arrivals, would also begin receiving signals from the satellites, and if they investigated further, they, too, would see what had happened to humanity....

A crewman broke the shocked silence. "Good Lord", he whispered. "The poor bastards didn't have a chance".
"What was those things?", another man asked.
"I have no idea", Graius answered. "I've never seen anything like that before, thank Taurus".
"Weapons don't seem to harm them", a officer noted. "Some sort of ethereal beings, it seems. From another dimension, maybe?"
"Whatever they are we don't want to run into them, Graius said. "Back to your stations, everyone. Saien, stay here". The man in question, a young officer, raised an eyebrow. "What can I help you with, sir?"
"Where did the transmission come from?"
"Some sort of primitive satellites in orbit around the planet we saw earlier, sir".
"Hmm. Take us closer, but do it carefully and slow. I don't want to run into one of those things".
"Yes sir".

Slowly, the ship closed in on the planet. All sensor system were searching for signs of danger.

HMS Orion – Operations Room

A number of ships officers were sat around the conference table which took up the majority of the room, Lieutenant Shaw was stood at the large monitor mounted on the wall, rattling out a detailed analysis of the satellite images...

“It’s not good,” declared Lieutenant Shaw, turning off the monitor which was displaying the satellite images, “Massive paranormal incursions on the surface, the larger ‘demon’ seen the satellite images appears to enter the Class One Alpha category. Our Recce images and sensor readings from the Orion confirm that there is still a sizable presence on the planet, which suggests that portals of some kind are still present. We know for a fact that our current weapon systems are useless against at least one of species, and we assume that is a universal truth.”

“Zeta Contact has been confirmed with the Homeworld and assets are being despatched, for the moment however we are on our own,” Captain Granger stood up from the conference table, “There are other ships in orbit which need to be dealt with, so until there is a outer-atmosphere credible threat, all our resources will be concentrating on not turning this into a violent confrontation. With regards to our pilots on the ground...”

Pilot Briefing room -

“...We’re not getting them?!” yelled Badger from the back of the room, “No man left behind!”

His voice raised over the mumbled protests from the room as a whole.

“Granted,” waved Turner, trying to calm down the room, “It’s the Captain’s decision though! And I agree with him, sending CAS birds down there will result in more deaths... And that’s what they are people... dead, concentrate on reviewing the gun cam footage and the recce photos, DO NOT spend your time embittering yourselves to either the situation or the Captain. They were Colonial Pilots, they died doing their job.”

The room quietened down, as many of the pilots slumped their heads resigning themselves to the fact that their buddies weren’t coming back. Turner broke the silence, turning on the monitor showing a detailed map of the space around the planet, “Our attention is being turned to space, we’re tripling the CAP to squadron size, and we’re going to be putting out a number of Raptor Recce patrols to take readings from other side of the planet and the small moon. There’s going to be a lot of traffic out there, so watch yourselves and consult your ROE cards. Squadron leaders will give the mission orders. Good Hunting.”

CIC –

Lieutenant Mitchell, the officer of the watch, stood in the CIC which was devoid any senior officers. He was dealing with the communication requests, “Send same message to both Schavakia and Zirzla.”

BE ADVISED, planet is declared HOSTILE by Wintrees Colonial fleet. DO NOT descend past high-orbit. DO NOT approach this ship. Own estimates of the situation may be carried out without our interference... BE ADVISED, weapon systems are ineffective against species on the surface. Assistance requests are to sent on this frequency, CAPTAIN HMS Orion requests communications with all ship’s commanders in order to orchestrate an accord.

Planet Surface -

RedTop hit the ground hard, detaching his parachute before the wind caught it. He pulled himself to his feet and made a quick appreciation of his surroundings. He’d landed on the roof of one of the more intact buildings, looking around he started to panic. All he could hope for was help... however unlikely.

RedTop would feel a harsh, cold wind, slicing through his jumpsuit. The buildings around him were covered in ash and completely ruined. Some were barely frames of their old, modern glory. The haunting moans of the zombies echoed from several of the side streets, but especially from the main road to his left. A dark alley way was to his right, with small jets of steam coming from the sewers below.

As he stood deciding, the moans would get louder, and closer. The zombies would detect him if he stayed too long. RedTop would have to make a choice soon.....

RedTop staggered outside of the building, the groans shot shivers up his back. He’d flicked his emergency transponder on but so far hadn’t got a response other than static, he was starting to realise by this point it was probably over for him.

But hell, he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

He jogged over the street to the dark alley in the hope of finding some cover where he could hide from the hordes which he assumed were on their way. When he arrived the steam was rising from the sewers caught his attention, it seemed odd. He pulled the manhole cover open and peered inside.

“Ahhhh, it can’t be worst then out here,” mumbled RedTop before dropping himself inside.

The "sewers" were actually the old subway systems. Old, decaying posters would show this was one of the railways of London. The subway cars in the area were pale reminders of what had occurred. One was fired charred, while the other had been torn into pieces at the stop it had been at. Dark black stains showed the violence of the encounter and hinted at the fates of the occupants. The lights were dull, and flickered at random intervals.

The air was musty and filling with a kind of corrupting age to it, as if breathing it in made one feel older. There were two pathways to go down, either one curving around to hide what was beyond the tunnels.....

RedTop drew his pistol and started to edge his way down one of the tunnels. Adrenaline heightened his senses, he heard every drop of water, every gust of steam as he worked his way down. He could feel his heart punching through his chest, he swallowed and bust out around one of the corners, pistol in the ready position.

He had no idea what was down here, for all he knew there could be one of those monstrosities around every corner... he’d be ready and he sure as hell wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Scorched Phoenix

Across several lightyears, afterimages of the ship could be seen as it flickered into existance, only to vanish in a trailing streak. The hull fractured and crumpled as the fluctuating fold space bubble sent gravitational waves inwards towards the massive generators that attempted to hold it stable. The cylindrical ship within bucked and groaned from the stress. Six of its eight troup carriers were open to the harsh mercies of space. The forward section fared little better. An observer might think some massive giant had taken bites out of the ship. The emblem of its origin and its designation were obscured entirely, scorched by enemy fire. The realspace engines sat aft of the troup pods, and had been severely damaged as well. Three gave off sporadic streams of superheated matter, throwing the ship into even greater gyrations. Inside, chaos reigned supreme. Red emergency lights flickered and failed, only to spring to life once more, throwing grim shadows on the bulkheads. The scream of tearing metal and cries of terror rent the air as gravitational eddies warped bulkheads and twisted living bodies in ways that would give surrealists nightmares. Smoke clogged the air and flames lit the dimness. The engineering room was aswarm with crewman desperately trying to hold the ship together for just a few seconds more. Commander Delphi Nighteyes, Chief Engineer, was hoarse from shouting over the din. His eyes burned from the acrid emissions of the over-stressed fold space generators. His body was sore in places he had never imagined. His repair teams scrambled over the massive hulks, working for the chance to live a minute more. Several were litterally flattened against a bulkhead as one gave an erratic pulse. Consoles sparked and blew. Plasma arced between the generators, searing flesh from bone. The smell of burnt fur filled the air.

Commander Delphi slapped the comm panel by his console, coughing on the acrid fumes. "Captain! We won't be able to hold out much longer! I'd rather have died in the flames around Infernus than be crushed into a cingularity. You've got maybe a minute before the generators overload, that's all I can give you!"

On the bridge, Captain Lorae Whitefang sat silent in her chair. The bridge was dark, her emerald eyes glimmering in the light cast by the viewscreen. The emergency lights had been shut off, as had all other non-essential functions, to reroute as much power as navigation as possible. Her ears twitched slightly to and fro, the only outward sign that she was anything but completely calm. Comander Delphi gave them one minute. The eta to destination was over five. One hand absently stroked her armrest, nearly whispered words falling from her lips in the silence.

"Please, baby," she begged. "Just hold it together a little longer. I know you're hurt bad, but we need you to keep it together, love. I promise, it's only a little longer."

As if in spiteful answer, a miniature eddie spiked beneath her hand. She glanced down in time to watch as her bones were twisted, breaking to stick out of her flesh at odd angles, her flesh mangled nearly beyond recognition as it was nearly fused with the foam and metal of the armrest. She blinked, her gaze almost contemplative as she examined the mess, her mind and body far too shocked to yet register the pain.

The speakers crackled overhead, and an agonized voice filtered through, spectral and distorted. "I'll... try... Just a little farther... only a little farther... a little farther, a little farther..." The phrase repeated over and over, though whether a mantra or a prayer she could not decide. "Just a little farther, a little farther, a little farther..."

Her mind wandered to the troop carriers and their contents. The unfortunate soldiers lay dormant and sleeping in their stasis chambers. What would they think when they awoke in the Silent Meadow before ever facing battle? She almost hoped she would not survive just so she would not have to face their families if she ever made it home. As long as their chambers remained sealed, they would live, even if stranded in deep space.

"Set the carrier pods to jettison the second we hit real space," she ordered. She recieved a subdued affirmative. "Order shipwide evactuation. Tell everyone to get to the escape pods, or anything else that will get them ashore. That includes all of you, as well."

"But ma'am! We're-" Her comm officer attempted to object, but her doleful gaze cut him off.

"Go... just go, Nickolais. I'll join Burn in command."

The lupine hesitated momentarily then nodded. The calm faded from the bridge momentarily as a mad scramble ensued. When it quietted once more, Captain Lorae gave the computer her command authorization. Slowly, her chair sank into the deck. She closed her eyes, willing herself to remain calm, breathing deeply. A lid snapped shut on the small recess. She heard the gurgle as oxygenated liquid began to bubble up from the floor and felt its warmth soak into the fur of her paws. She hated this part. She always felt like she was drowning, despite knowing otherwise. She struggled with herself as the liquid quickly rose, holding her nose above the surface as long as she could. When it had filled the chamber, she exhaled slowly, squeezing as much air from her lungs as possible, before breathing in the viscous fluid. She gagged and nearly paniced, screaming, holding her body rigid by sheer force of will when she wanted to pry the hatch open and free herself. After a few moments, when her body realized it was not dying, she calmed. Opening another hatch, she found herself in a small globe, the center of which was dominated by an avian form from which trailed numerous tubules and wires. Slowly, mindful of her injured hand, she moved over to it. She secured herself beneath the pilot, jacking herself in to his interface, helping him control the ship and issuing commands in the last moments of its life.

Amazingly, the generators lasted longer than Commander Delphi had predicted. As they finally gave out and ruptured, gravitic distortions trailing in their wake, the ship broke into real space. The troop carriers immediately disengaged, flung away by centrifital force as the ship spun out of control. The realspace engines flared and sparked to life, giving it further forward momentum, a massive candle lighting space. The boost was only momentary, however. The luminescence cut off as quickly as it had began. A second later, bright pustules appeared on the engine housings then burst, spewing plasma in all directions. The troop carriers were left little more than heaps of slowly spinning slag. Life pods launched towards the tortured planet ahead as the engines finally exploded. The blast obliterated nearly half of the ship and most of the life pods, some few escaping the destruction. As the ship hurtled towards the atmosphere, the forward section opened, disgorging a small, dark sphere. Pilots were some of the Ga'al's most precious commodities, and thus were provided every protection possible. Short of falling into a star, very little would be able to harm the two in the miniature globe. The dozen remaining life pods and the pilot's sphere hurtled downwards, their occupants only hoping that whatever awaited them on the ground was less hostile than what they had left in space.

RedTop inched down the right tunnel, his pistol in hand. While walking past, he would see fresh blood on the walls, and it was not human, strangely. It was a dark, greenish hue, and it covered the walls, along with a series of bullet holes. Below it sat some strange creature; it looked vaguely humanoid, with massive arms and chest, but it had lost much of its human likeness with the pulpy remains of its head.

The smell was horrific, but the pilot pressed on. As he emerged into another large area, he would find himself shocked again. He would see a large area, filled with a bunch of climbing stairs, leading to higher levels with storage rooms. There was a single train there, another burned out hulk, along with the scattered remains of boxes and barrels. That was not what made it amazing, however.

He would see the sight of a massive carnage; a graveyard of the creatures. Different hues of blood were splattered everywhere, along with bits of meat; testament to the ferocity of their death. Strange creatures could be seen; large green, brainlike creatures with tentacles coming from its lower body, undead, grotesque hulks that appeared to be made out of flesh, and other undead, strange dog like creatures, some creatures bested described as small but tought humans, with dog-like heads, and others. Some larger versions of the creatures were scattered here and there.

It was made obvious to RedTop that something else existed on this planet, something that was fighting the demon. Something that could do what they could not...

Kill the creatures.

There was a side-passage, leading to a set of hallways, and in the settling dust, he would find something else that would make things even stranger....

A human footprint.

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

The Scorched Phoenix shot through the sky, its few escape pods following it along with a strange orb. The front half of the ship collided with two of the strange, fleshy aircraft (picture in one of my earlier posts) who could not escape in time, and they were instantly pulverized; their pinkish blood spraying everywhere as they caught afire. It finally crashed in what used to be the Thames, but had been drained somehow. The massive explosion and shockwave crushed the few vehicles and buildings in the area, although they were all ruined. The demons it landed on were caught in a major plight; unhurt by the crash, they nonetheless could not move at all under the massive weight of the hull. Others rushed forward, moving over intense flames as if they were nothing, to calmly investigate the crashed ship.

The few escaped pods landed in an area known as Fleet Street, while the orb landed in what was known as Blackfriar's street. Their crashes were bound to attract all kinds of demons, who began, at their best speeds, to rush towards new sources of food and beings to torture. To kill....To corrupt.

However, as RedTop himself was just beginning to understand, the demons were not alone on this world....and the crashes had attracted the attentions of these mysterious killers of demons....

RedTop crouched down over the foot print; he traced the outline with his finger before looking in the direction of the print.

“Things are looking up,” he muttered to himself, “Well... it can’t get any worse.”

He staggered down the corridor, still shaken from the ejection. He’d thrown up when he saw the bodies and he was still white faced...

Pistol again in the ready position he carried on down the corridor. “Anyone there?” he breathed, switching on the light mounted on his pistol.

His voice would echo throughout the room, but nothing replied. He went down the corridor, and would see more and more dead bodies. More and more types, larger and more powerful than the ones he had seen before. There were a couple craters, along with several blast marks that reminded RedTop of grenade explosions.

He would find some stairs and begin walking down, when he would hear a faint staccato sound, and see some faint light flashing on the wall.....

"Hello?" breathed RedTop again, he knew it was a bad idea wandering around darkened corridors shouting into the darkness... but hey what has he got to lose?

He caught the light in the corner of his eye, he stopped for a minute and watched it before approaching to investigate.

As he investigated, the light would grow stronger, and the staccato sound even louder. The faint cries of the creatures could be heard, and it was obvious they were in agony. In fact, the staccato sound was kinda like that of an automatic weapon.....

That did it for him.

“Hey!” he yelled at the top of his voice, “Hey! Friendly coming through!”

He hoped he hadn’t found another type of monster, he hoped it was his ship mates... he hoped it was something... anything.

He spirited down the corridor until he came face to face with the situation.

“Friendly! FRIENDLY!” he yelled with his pistol half raised, “Don’t shoot!”

His cries were quickly drowned out as he began to hear the loud roar of what HAD to be a large and powerful weapon. Which, as it turned out, was. He would see a strangely-armored soldier (http://www.hit.ro/images/content/articles/2007/8/hellgate_hunter_06.JPG), wielding a very hefty rifle, which spat out a huge amounts of rounds per second. He was facing more of the dog-like things, which were throwing fireballs at the soldier. He didn't bother to move, and it looked like he was going to get fried, to RedTop's horror. However, he would see them impact with some kind of shield, which appeared at the impacts, covered with all kinds of ancient, archaic symbols.

The soldier shook his head, and then popped a grenade at the creatures feet. He watched as it exploded and sent the creatures blown-apart pieces all across the room. An electronically-filtered sigh could be heard and the soldier pulled out the magazine, replacing it with a fresh one. At that moment, he sensed RedTop and swiftly jerked to aim his rifle at him.....and froze. A long, tense silence filled the air, as the guy stared at him. Finally, a rough, military-clipped voice sounded through the air.

"Exactly....who are you? I was sure Arianna told us that all humans in the area had been firmly placed within the portal communities. Why are you above ground? You should KNOW what kinds of things are out here!"

The Scorched Phoenix shot through the sky, its few escape pods following it along with a strange orb. The front half of the ship collided with two of the strange, fleshy aircraft (picture in one of my earlier posts) who could not escape in time, and they were instantly pulverized; their pinkish blood spraying everywhere as they caught afire. It finally crashed in what used to be the Thames, but had been drained somehow. The massive explosion and shockwave crushed the few vehicles and buildings in the area, although they were all ruined. The demons it landed on were caught in a major plight; unhurt by the crash, they nonetheless could not move at all under the massive weight of the hull. Others rushed forward, moving over intense flames as if they were nothing, to calmly investigate the crashed ship.

The few escaped pods landed in an area known as Fleet Street, while the orb landed in what was known as Blackfriar's street. Their crashes were bound to attract all kinds of demons, who began, at their best speeds, to rush towards new sources of food and beings to torture. To kill....To corrupt.

However, as RedTop himself was just beginning to understand, the demons were not alone on this world....and the crashes had attracted the attentions of these mysterious killers of demons....

The escape pod hatches popped almost simultaneously. From four of the six, five of the crew swiftly disembarked. The remaining two disgorged a pair of much larger beings each. They wore environmental suits that doubled as blast armor, las-pistols and -carbines carried at the ready, quickly forming a perimeter. They scanned the area, targetting reticles dancing across their visors, as two of the surviving engineers made hasty tactical scans.

"Where'd the pilot touch down?" Commander Telish Redtail demanded, his tone sharp and clipped. He had been the First Officer. With the Captain who in the Nine Hells knew where, he was in charge. His golden-brown eyes passed over the ruined and deserted terrain as he waited for the answer, his vulpine ears twitching behind their protective covers.

"Half a klick west of us!" Lieutenant Nickolais Verdant finally replied, tapping away at his handheld. "I was able to download a few sensor sweeps of the area prior to evacuation. They're only cursory scans, enough to provide a barebones map if anything. The only data we had on this planet was over two decades old..."

"Lieutenant Razack!" Commander Telish called. An armor-clad lupine trotted over, giving a sharp salute. "Secure this location. Set up basecamp. Activate the emergency beacon. I'm taking two teams to secure the pilot." And hopefully the Captain as well. He accessed the data Lieutenant Nickolais had downloaded. "Be sharp, keep your ears perked. We don't know what to expect here. Data shows this was a thriving pre-space industrial civilization at last check. This doesn't look anything like that, and it doesn't feel anything near right either. Be careful."

The wolf gave another salute with an over-eager affirmative. Barking out orders, the security officer gathered twelve of the remaining personel, detailing them to go with Commander Telish. The four felines grabbed scout kits from the downed escape pods, with the two vulpines grabbing sniper rifles and stealth kits. The wolves retrieved the weapons of the others, in case they needed the spare, and broke out sonic pulse rifles. The remaining member, one of the draconian giants, stepped momentarily into its specially designed pod, returning momentarily with a massive cannon mounted to its back. The First Officer gave a nod of approval, holstering his own pistol to take a las-carbine. He set off at a hasty trot, pulling Lieutenant Nickolais in tow.

0.53 klicks west
Captain Lorae jolted awake to pain and dark. She panicked momentarily before regaining her senses and realizing where she was. She took a few deep breaths, feeling the viscous fluids still clinging to her fur. She blinked. Air? That was wrong. That was very wrong. With a moment's concentration, her vision shifted to infrared. A soft glow covered ever visible surface, evidence of the oxygenated liquid's former presence. The center of the sphere was empty. Cables dangled free around the support harness, disengaged, the monitors blank. Her eyes dropped to the floor. There lay the avian pilot, his breathing labored, pulling in long gulps of air only to huff it out. He was half her size and a quarter of her weight, though he seemed smaller with his feathers damp and matted. His wings were a tangle of cybernetic cords, his body half-covered in metalic plating. She rose to go to him but collapsed almost instantly. She had used her injured hand to get to her feet. Now it hurt, and hurt badly. The first two fingers on her good hand quickly straightened, driving themselves into the pressure points of her elbow and shoulder. It made her left arm nearly useless, but it stopped the pain. The support fluid had stopped the bleeding, but the wound was far from healed. She then moved to the avian's side.

"Burn? Burn, can you hear me?" Her voice was tender. She trailed her fingers over the red-tailed hawk's crest, asking again. "Burn? Burn are you okay?"

An eye slowly opened to look up at her, its iris silver, a soft glow emanating from within. A heavily cyberized, mechanically produced voice replied. "I am... functional." His wings fluttered against his side as he tried to right himself, wet feathers clinging to one another, his struggles ineffectual. "It is hard to readjust after so long suspended from this form."

She nodded, standing to examine his harness. She quickly found what she was after. Pulling a small med kit from beneath his main control interface, she squatted back down and rolled him onto his back. This produced a squawk of indignation, which she ignored. It was hard to work one handed, but she managed to pull out a hypospray and load it with an enervating agent. She pushed it against his chest, over his heart, and activated it. He stilled for a moment, then began to tremble slightly. After a few seconds, the semi-seizure was over. He flipped onto his talons and stood, extending a dripping wing and eying it with distaste.

"You are damaged," he observed. "You require repair."

"Yeah, but I'm not likely to get much down here. It didn't look very friendly. What the hell were those lifeforms we saw coming down?" Her eyes scanned the interior, searching for the breach that had allowed the support fluids to escape.

"There are no records of such life forms in our files. We have no data on anything similar. They gave off unusual lifesigns. Data relevant to this planetary system does not describe such lifeforms. This planet was last catalogued twenty three cycles, four months, twelve days, seven hours ago."

"Well that's helpful. We need you mobile. Get in the rover and activate the homing beacon."

With a soft growl, Burn did as he was told. The "rover" was technically designated as an Pilot Landbound Autonomous Transport Unit, but no one liked calling it a PLATU. The platu happened to be a distasteful creature indiginous to the Ga'al home system. Instead, everyone, including the creators, called it the rover. Burn had to maneuver himself back into his harness to activate the assembly. Captain Lorae had to scoot quickly out of the way as parts of the sphere's hull leaped into motion, all of them converging on the avian at the center. His harness became the center of a complex webwork of cables and interface cords as he was encased in a much smaller gyroscopic sphere. To this framework, nearly a dozen multi-jointed appendages were attached.

"I despise this ridiculous contraption," he grumbled, his inflection and tone much less mechanical. "You know I despise this thing."

There was a soft hiss of air as Lorae broke the seal on the emergency hatch, harsh red light filtering in, blinding her for a second before her optical filters switched back to normal light wavelengths. "Yes, but until your feathers dry, we need you mobile. So shut up and walk, like the rest of us."

"They'd dry a lot faster if I weren't cooped up in this cage..."

She ignored him, forcing the hatch open. There were a few supplies embedded into the surrounding wall, which she retrieved: one command pistol, one portable scanner, one multiband communicator, and an emergency kit. She shuddered instictively as she stepped out. Every sense tingled with danger. Her eyes scanned every inch of debris and rubble, searching for a threat. She heard a soft growl and realized it was comming from herself. This place was... wrong. Very, very wrong. She gave the scanner a cursory glance, fiddling with a few of the controls before slipping it into a pocket of her uniform.

"C'mon, Burn," she said, edging away from the hatch. "Let's get the hell out of here. I want off this heap ASA-frackin-P. I'm picking up the pods to the east."

The spidery contraption eased through the hatch, a very damp, very grumpy hawk inside. "The faster we move, the faster I'll dry out," was his only reply.

The security detail, well-armed indeed, would find itself walking through the deserted and ruined streets of downtown London. For some reason, the sky here was much darker than the rest, almost as if it were literally filled with blood, and clouds gathered, shooting lightning everywhere. They could almost feel a strange....pulse of something in the area. Beating steadily, sending out auras of evil and corruption....The commander was right to think of things not right; things were most definitely not right.

The city as they passed was incredibly ruined, with bullet holes riddling the ruins, carbon scoring from explosions everywhere. Some battles, although not too recent, had occurred here, and they had been some fierce ones. Ruined and abandoned APCs and tanks littered the streets, showing the eerie reminder of the civilization that had been here before.

The security detail would, out of nowhere, hear a deep, threatening growl....then another....then another.....then another.....

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

The Captain would see a much similar scene in Blackfriar's, only that the sky was less threatening and right off the bat she would be in trouble. There were bullet casings on the ground, fresh ones by the look of it. Human footprints were in the dust on the street, and a couple of demon bodies lay down the street....where a bunch of undead were currently ripping apart and eating.

There was a side passage for her to try and go down, although many growls came from that section...or there was the road going left, but it was close to the undead currently picking apart the corpses....

The Zirzlan ship ignored the WinTreean ship's warning and placed itself in orbit around the planet. An exploring party of Aenorii was prepared. They were a special breed. Their bodies were like human ones, except that they had large wings on their backs, allowing them to fly through the air. On this planet that would give them an advantage, everyone hoped, over the strange creatures walking the ground. In fact, when the bird-men readied themselves for battle they looked like angels, heavily armed ones of course. As the airlock opened they soared through the sky like vengeful eagles, their ear-piercing shrieks carried by the wind.

“Humans?” coughed RedTop, “Please, please tell me your not a fraking demon as well.”

He lowered his pistol, it was fairly obvious that he was out gunned, “I’m Lieutenant Commander Sheen-Tai, and I’m a Pilot in the Wintrees Colonal Navy... What the hell is going on here?”

The soldier scoffed. "A demon? Please, do I look like one? And would I be killing them if I was? Now-" The soldier had taken a step towards him when he had introduced himself and where he was from. A tense silence fell as the warrior froze. Long moments of silence passed and there was nothing but the hum of the underground.

The soldier finally moved and laid a hand on his rifle. "Strange....you look human....yet you say you are from something that sounds like its from a sci-fi movie..." He shook his head. "Alright, hold on."

He put a hand to his ear. "Covent Station, Covent Station, this is Hunter Marcus. Can you hear me?"

There was a crackle, followed with a woman's voice. This one sounded very commanding, and mature, not unlike the one of RedTop's commanding officer. This one meant business. "Yes, Marcus, we hear you. What is your status? I'm tracking you in the approach to the station, what's going on?"

The soldier shifted. "You're not going to believe this, but I have found a human here. And he's not from Earth."

Another silence.

"Is he alone?"

"Yeah?"

"Holding a gun and looking lost as shit?"

"Right on the money."

There was a sigh.

"As I thought. We've been getting word of some kind of skirmish that occurred in the air over by Monument Station. Some fighters came down and tried to fight them after a bunch of Seraphs started chasing them."

"Ripped apart?"

"Quicker than a hot knife through butter."

"Well, that explains the jumpsuit. What should I do with him?"

"Bring him to the station. I will talk with you two there; we're getting reports of a massive crash by Temple Station, along with some other objects going over by the Temple Base. I'm about to go into a meeting, infact, but when you get here, tell them that you have my express permission to interrupt and report to me. Covent Station out."

Marcus nodded and then turned his helmet to gaze at RedTop. "Alright, I'll be your escort to the station. However, I don't want to be babysitting you, as that would cause both of us to end up dead. Here-" He put down his rifle and reached back to pull off two large, wicked-looking pistols. He handed them to RedTop.

"These are SRAC's, pistols that fire napalm rounds that have palladium bullets. These bullets let us hurt the demons, whereas you couldn't with your normal weapons. I want you to keep an eye on the rear, and watch for any sneak attacks and the like. ALERT me first, do not engage on sight. I may be able to dispatch anything we face quietly; now that you're my responsibility, I have to be careful. Now, let's get moving."

He hefted his rifle, pulled back the chamber and then began heading down the corridor, his step careful and his helmet always sweeping the area.


********

The eagles would find the same sight at the WinTree's had; red sky, strange organic aircraft, and lots of ruined buildings. So far, nothing had happened. There was nothing in sight that whispered anything out of the ordinary, aside from the state of the planet.....

The security detail, well-armed indeed, would find itself walking through the deserted and ruined streets of downtown London. For some reason, the sky here was much darker than the rest, almost as if it were literally filled with blood, and clouds gathered, shooting lightning everywhere. They could almost feel a strange....pulse of something in the area. Beating steadily, sending out auras of evil and corruption....The commander was right to think of things not right; things were most definitely not right.

The city as they passed was incredibly ruined, with bullet holes riddling the ruins, carbon scoring from explosions everywhere. Some battles, although not too recent, had occurred here, and they had been some fierce ones. Ruined and abandoned APCs and tanks littered the streets, showing the eerie reminder of the civilization that had been here before.

The security detail would, out of nowhere, hear a deep, threatening growl....then another....then another.....then another.....

The Commander gave a signal and the team slowed instantly from their quick trot to a combat crawl, shifting to a tight mobile ring formation. The four felines stood in the center, watching the roofs and windows of the buildings that still stood while the wolves formed the perimeter, with Commander Telish continuing to lead the way and the large dracon watching the rear, one sniper with each. The dracon was particularly edgy. He paced backwards on all fours, the cannon mounted on his back swiveling right and left, following the movements of his head. He was the heavy support if things went down, and it seemed as though they were about to. He had served under Captain Whitefang and Commander Redtail for seven years, since the war began, and he had learned to trust his instincts when it came to such things.

"Commander..." he growled, the bass rumble enough to vibrate the stone shards that crunched beneath his talons. "I think we should move faster..."

"You've got your opinion, Vel'raes. I've got mine." His ears pricked up at the growls, trying to focus on their source, but failing. He switched his scanner to local tracking sonar, giving a soft snuffle at the readout. "But I think they may coincide this time."

With another hand signal, his men broke up into their two teams, the dracon sticking with him as the others moved to either side of the street. Their pace quickened to a jog, trying to move as quickly as possible while maintaining a modicum of stealth.

As if it matters how loud we are... they seem to already know we're here whoever they are, and from the looks of things, they aren't friendly...

The Captain would see a much similar scene in Blackfriar's, only that the sky was less threatening and right off the bat she would be in trouble. There were bullet casings on the ground, fresh ones by the look of it. Human footprints were in the dust on the street, and a couple of demon bodies lay down the street....where a bunch of undead were currently ripping apart and eating.

There was a side passage for her to try and go down, although many growls came from that section...or there was the road going left, but it was close to the undead currently picking apart the corpses....

Captain Whitefang held up a silencing hand to her compatriot, eyes widening at the sight. Whatever they were, they were obviously not very nice. The casings and corpses indicated a recent battle. She found it odd that whoever had fought them was using solid projectiles, then remembered how unadvanced this world had been. Whatever those things were, they made her hackles stand on in and her tail tuck between her legs. They elicited base reactions, calling on ancient instincts. She wanted to growl and run and fight them and piss herself all at once. A deep breath helped to momentarily calm the sudden storm, but she was not sure exactly how well she could control it if these... monsters noticed the two of them. She was used to the cold, calculated fury of space battles. Facing an enemy her insticts shouted at her to fear and loathe face to face was not something she did on a normal basis.

"Burn..." she whispered, moving closer to her avian companion. "Do you think that thing can carry me? We may have to make a run for it."

The red-tail pondered momentarily, his cage rising and falling slightly with soft whirs and clicks. "I think so, Captain. I cannot be sure. I will try to be as quiet as possible. That road would seem to lead in the right direction."

She nodded, pulling out the pistol, holding it carefully aimed at the nearest of the creatures. Slowly, she began to edge towards the road, taking advantage of cover as best she could, the much more visible Burn following along. The pinpoint lasers that ringed his rover were also locked in on the nearest creature. Though they did far less damage individually than the average pistol, they were highly accurate, meant for precision kills so that a pilot could escape.

Escape Pod Landing Site
Lieutenant Razack organized the remaining personnel quickly. A sensor perimeter was set up with motion detectors set to sound the alarm if unidentified beings approached. He took stock of their supplies after activating the emergency beacon, wondering how long they would need to last. The pods came equipped with survival gear capable of sustaining five persons for a month. With twenty five Ga'al known to be on the ground, four of them dracons, they would probably not last quite that long without rationing. He snagged two felines and set them up with scout kits, ordering them to perform a recon of the nearest buildings to look for possible defensible shelter locations.

For now, the pods would have to do, but he hoped not for long. This planet was a hellhole if ever he had been to one, and he wanted his paws off of this forsaken rock as soon as possible.

As the group sped up, the trouble for them began. From behind and one the sides, dog-like creatures rushed out of alleyways, roads, buildings, whatever, along with undead creatures whose moans and growls cut through the air. From the front came weird creatures that had totally white eyes, black fur, and howling cries. They acted like wolves, moving in packs and led by a leader. Alongside them came several imp-like creatures, wielding some kind of guns and swords in their hands.

They all began to close in on the group, saliva dripping from their mouths, as they came closer to their prey, to the hunt. And all the while, from the shadows of a nearby building, unseen by either, a series of green and blues activated.....


**********

If the Captain believed in a God, she would be thanking him/her/it, as the undead creatures did not notice her as she made her way to the road. As she looked down the road, she would see more of the undead creatures, but they were fewer and more spread out over the street. At the end of the street, there was a large gash in the ground, with a subway car hulk, and the gash seemed to....attract the Captain for some reason. She wouldn't know why, but the place gave her a feeling of safety, of protection. It was almost as if it was saying "Come here and I shall protect you...."

However, she'd need to find a way to get past all the undead, as there was little cover and/or places to hide in.

RedTop certainly wasn’t going to argue, things were looking up. He did however, cock the pistol and pocketed one of the palladium rounds, just in case.

“By your lead Hunter Marcus,” smiled RedTop, the colour returning to his face, “What’s your man power down here?”

HMS Orion

Captain Granger was sat in his stateroom, trying to keep out of the storm of the activity in the CIC. More importantly however, he was feeling guilty about leaving his pilots to effectively die. He knew he shouldn’t, they all knew the score and it certainly wasn’t the first time he was forced to leave men behind. He sighed and took another sip of whiskey.

There were other problems brewing which can him concerned. A Zeta Contact meant RPA involvement, probably including Grey Legion. Ominous names for organisations which represented the black heart of the Wintrees Empire. The last time Granger saw a Grey Legion Inquisitor he was part of a fleet operating on the western fringes of Wintrees space. A day after a single inquisitor had arrived, the Admiral was dead and 3 destroyers had been stripped of their command staff.

Spread out on the desk was personal files for the key officers on the ship. He should technically be in the CIC, trying to gain a measure of control over the situation developing outside of his hull... But now he had to safeguard his Officers. He was looking for any sign of disloyalty in their service records... trips outside the Empire... attachments to disloyal officers.

The ships intercom bleeped silently on his desk, he let it flash a few times before he picked it up.

“Granger,” he muttered.

“They’ve arrived,” crackled the voice of the officer of the watch.

“What!” yelled Granger, jumping to his feet, “Who? Why are they here so fast?”

“A shuttle just jumped in, sir, they’re carrying an Inquisitor and his staff... they’re requesting clearance.”

“Give it to them, clear the deck and have them brought to the operations room,” Granger piled up the personnel files and shoved it in his personal safe, “Make sure they don’t go anywhere else.”

He hung up the receiver and made for the hatch, “They’re not taking over this ship by God.”

As the group sped up, the trouble for them began. From behind and one the sides, dog-like creatures rushed out of alleyways, roads, buildings, whatever, along with undead creatures whose moans and growls cut through the air. From the front came weird creatures that had totally white eyes, black fur, and howling cries. They acted like wolves, moving in packs and led by a leader. Alongside them came several imp-like creatures, wielding some kind of guns and swords in their hands.

They all began to close in on the group, saliva dripping from their mouths, as they came closer to their prey, to the hunt. And all the while, from the shadows of a nearby building, unseen by either, a series of green and blues activated.....

"By the lifted tail of Matron Valaera, FIRE!" Commander Redtail shouted.

He let loose a volley with his carbine, setting it for wide dispersal, peppering the group in front of him. The high-pitched whine of charging sonic generators filled the air before blast waves pitched outwards from the wolves, accompanied by the sharp crack of solid projectiles slung at incoming targets. Sergeant Vel'raes reared up to his full twelve foot height, shifting his cannon to his shoulder. Digging his talons into the ground, he focused it on the group to the front and fired. The weapon vibrated in his grip as the powerful focusing generators within warped time-space itself. The space between the two groups was filled with directed energy, the formation coiled tight at the center of the maelstrom. The air quickly began to heat around them from the weapon's fire. Vel'raes gave a shouted warning as his cannon finally fired, giving everyone just enough time to hit the deck.

If the Captain believed in a God, she would be thanking him/her/it, as the undead creatures did not notice her as she made her way to the road. As she looked down the road, she would see more of the undead creatures, but they were fewer and more spread out over the street. At the end of the street, there was a large gash in the ground, with a subway car hulk, and the gash seemed to....attract the Captain for some reason. She wouldn't know why, but the place gave her a feeling of safety, of protection. It was almost as if it was saying "Come here and I shall protect you...."

However, she'd need to find a way to get past all the undead, as there was little cover and/or places to hide in.

Warily, Lorae slipped around the corner of a building, giving a soft sigh as the sphere and its gruesome gathering were put out of sight, but she was far from safe just yet. She wrinkled her sensitive nose at the noxious scents that assaulted her, eyes watering slightly. Resolutely, she moved forward, keeping her back to the buildings, keeping wary watch on the creatures between herself and her crew. Burn followed behind, keeping as low to the ground as his rover would allow. For some reason, she felt drawn towards the crevasse in the road. A shudder passed down her spine at the thought of entering it and a momentary panic tightened her throat. An incident in her childhood had instilled in her a deep phobia of underground places. Burn was not overly fond of them either, but her reactions were purely instinctual.

She gave her head a clearing shake, taking a tighter grip on her pistol. She was not a feral. She was not a creature of instinct, but rather of intellect informed by instinct. She would not allow herself to be controlled like this. She caught sight of movement far down the road and ducked tighter against the wall. Her eyes widened as she recognized her crew. She tried to judge the best route towards them, as they seemed not to have spotted her yet. Then all hell broke loose. Creatures poured from the buildings surrounding the small group, and they opened fire. Throwing caution to the wind, she sprinted towards them. She gave a soft cry as she felt herself suddenly lifted. Burn dropped her on top of his cage, moving at a much quicker pace than she would have been able to under her own power. Weaving to and fro in an attempt to throw off any creatures that might give chase. He attempted to vault the massive gash, limbs clutching the other side, scrabbling for purchase.

HMS Orion

“Nice to see your punctual,” mumbled Granger as he entered the Operations Room, “I see you’ve made yourselves at home.”

“Thank you for your... Hospitality Captain,” smiled Lord Cobin standing from his chair at the head of the briefing table, “If you have a minute,” he motioned for the Captain to sit.

The Inquisitor’s staff were scattered around the room, some looking through files and others reviewing the images pruned from the satellites.

Captain Granger sat at the other end of the table, “I assume you’re up to speed, can I ask how you got here so fast?”

“Zeta Contacts don’t happen every day Captain,” sneered Lord Cobin, “We were taken from another assignment... I trust your curiosity doesn’t run to a further explanation.”

“No, I’m satisfied,” grinned Granger, leaning back in the chair, “I also know that this is still my command for the moment, so please restrain your staff from going through my ships paperwork.”

Lord Cobin nodded and motioned for his minions to cease what they were doing.

“What we need from you my Lord,” said Granger, starring the Inquisitor down, “It’s not to interfere with the running of this ship, your scope... and you know it... is the situation on the planet. Limit yourself to that and we’ll have no problems.”

“Now,” grinned Lord Cobin, leaning forward, “Now... You listen you to me, you report to me, or you’ll be replaced... terminally. Now what-“

“-No,” Snapped Granger, “You will not destroy this command, and you will have no say in this... at least until your cronies show up. Unlike other Captains you may have dealt with, I will not roll over at idle threats. We’re a long way from home, so until we get back to the Empire... this is going to be my command.”

“For now,” sneered Lord Cobin

“For now... Now take me through your solutions to our current problems...” ordered Captain Granger, a new confidence exuding from him

Marcus snorted at the question, as he eased around the corner, looking both ways. He saw no creatures, and he heard nothing. However, he had to keep his guard up. Pain Leeches loved to stealth themselves and ambush people who were not careful. "Manpower? Don't even bother with that kind of term. To classify us on the planet right now, I'd call us the remnant of Humanity. Not very many of us have survived after the Invasion, especially considering we only have room what safe havens we managed to make around the world underground. I don't know the official numbers, but its a couple hundred....maybe. It fluctuates depending on how many we lose a week."

He began walking down the stairs "Come on, let's get going. The portal isn't too far off."

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

The massive waves of weapons fire impacted into the group of demons surrounding them, and a wave of fire, debris, and smoke blasted outward, obscuring everything. Silence settled down on the area, and the smoke began to thin. The group would feel that they had won, nothing could have possibly survived such a barrage, especially from the cannon wielding by the dracon......

They were proved wrong as the smoke cleared, and one could see a zombie, drool dripping onto the ground. A demonic laugh came from one of the imp-faced demon, who actually spoke in a corrupted version of English. "You fools. Your pitiful weapons cannot hurt us." It pointed at them, and the group rushed in, claws ripping and tearing, guns firing bolts of hellfire, and the dog-like creatures began throwing balls of fire as well. They would not hold out long, especially as the other undead on the road began to notice the combat going down...

***********

As the Captain rushed forward, the undead turned to notice her. Fortunately for Burn and her, they were still divided between the battle with her security team, and her arrival. By the time Burn hit the gash, they were just starting to go after her. He tried to vault the gash, but his weight was too much, along with the fact something seemed to slow him down and he landed, roughly, near the back of the gash. The undead began running at them, their growls reaching them, their arms outstretched. A soft blue glow would get their attention, and they would see a large circular device, that had a few steps leading up to it. It was marked with all kinds of strange designs. The feeling of protection and attraction hit her again, stronger this time. It was coming from the device.......

They were proved wrong as the smoke cleared, and one could see a zombie, drool dripping onto the ground. A demonic laugh came from one of the imp-faced demon, who actually spoke in a corrupted version of English. "You fools. Your pitiful weapons cannot hurt us." It pointed at them, and the group rushed in, claws ripping and tearing, guns firing bolts of hellfire, and the dog-like creatures began throwing balls of fire as well. They would not hold out long, especially as the other undead on the road began to notice the combat going down...

"Uh oh..." was Vel'raes' observation.

Commander Redtail almost laughed. A quantum cannon does NOTHING and all he can say is "Uh oh"?

The thirteen Ga'al tightened ranks. They glanced to one another, memorizing the faces of their compatriots for when they met in the Silent Meadow. The enemy rushed forward. Death came for them, and there was nothing they could do except watch as it approached.

"Shoot the ground!" Telish cried. His carbine lanced at the asphalt. "If you want to live, then for love of your dam, shoot the ground!"

It had occured to him that there was a hole in the road up ahead. A large one. A deep one. And that meant underground tunnels. If he had any kind of luck, it extended beneath him. If not... well, he would do his best to take a few of these fiends with him, though that seemed an even slimmer chance.

As the Captain rushed forward, the undead turned to notice her. Fortunately for Burn and her, they were still divided between the battle with her security team, and her arrival. By the time Burn hit the gash, they were just starting to go after her. He tried to vault the gash, but his weight was too much, along with the fact something seemed to slow him down and he landed, roughly, near the back of the gash. The undead began running at them, their growls reaching them, their arms outstretched. A soft blue glow would get their attention, and they would see a large circular device, that had a few steps leading up to it. It was marked with all kinds of strange designs. The feeling of protection and attraction hit her again, stronger this time. It was coming from the device.......

Lorae wuffed as she rolled across the ground, tumbled off of Burn when he impacted. She glanced towards her companion. Several of the arms had broken in the fall, and the others were struggling to compensate. She drew her pistol and fired at the incomming creatures, taking the fact that her shot did nothing in stride. She rose to her feet, glancing around frantically for anything that might help. The glow caught her eye and she hesitated for a moment before rushing towards it, calling for Burn to follow. She had no idea what it might be, but it looked a hell of a lot better than the uglies on her tail.

“Huh,” grunted RedTop, “Well at least you can dent these... things. What’s the deal with these Portals?”

The Commander's team would tear through the ground as if it was paper....but they would only find more rock awaiting them. By the time that had become evident, the demons were upon them. The dracon was attacked by several of the undead, their hands clutching and snatching at his armor, as they sought purchase. He was also beset by a couple of the dog-like creatures, who began throwing flame at him.

The imp-like creatures and the remainder of the demons lashed forward with their limbs and weapons, seeking the armor and flesh of this mortals, eager to add their bodies to the endless numbers that they had accumulated throughout the infinite centuries.

The Captain, however, faced better luck as she raced for the portal. To her surprise, and good fortune, it opened just before she impact with the metal, showing a glowing and flowing blue opening. As she entered, she would close her eyes as something flashed in her eyes. She would feel something cold on her cheek, as her mind began to wake up again and her vision clearing. When she realized it was the steel of a floor, she sat up, to find a group of armored beings around her. Some wore fitting suits of armor, which glowed and hummed gently, and wielding wicked swords. Others hefted powerful rifles and gazed at her. They all watched her, and she could hear one comment.

"Oi, Commander, she's coming about."

The sound of metal boots on grating sounded and a large man, wielding the same armor as the sword-wielding beings, but his face was visible. He was....human. His gazed was fierce, but neutral. "I see. Thank you, Jenkins. Are your men ready?"

The one speaking, holding a sword, raised it. "Whenever you are."

"Very well; go through the portal and aid the group that has been ambushed. They appear to look similar to this one, and are probably her comrades."

"Aye, aye! Alright boys and girls, we have a party to go crash!"

The group of armored warriors went through the portal and the man kneeled down to look at the Captain. "You are safe now; I know you have many questions, but we should get you looked at first." He nodded and a medic walked over, holding out a hand to help her up.


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

Marcus sighed. "The portals, or Hellgates, are gates to another dimension, the demon's dimension. They are stable, large, and they send out millions of demons per day. The only reason our war has gone on as long as it has is because of those things. We have some clues on how to close the damned things, but we aren't close to getting anything. For now, we are working on a unified portal network, so we can combine all of humanity's efforts. That's the first step."

The Ta’Nar watched the recordings transmitted by the satellite network in silence. Old rage seemed to build up in them as the Childer and Kythons wondered at the strange feeling they were feeling from their Overlords.

“Captain? What’s wrong?”

“Never mind. I want a Childer sent down to the surface to investigate the truth of the transmission. For all we know they could be an elaborate hoax. It’s wouldn’t be the first time a system was set up to be a façade for some other use.”

Kal’Gohn knew it was for real and he was positive the Childer he was sending down would end up dead but he had to be absolutely sure of the danger to entities before he would risk any Ta’Nar down there. Minutes later the Childer volunteer was descending through space leaving a streak of light trailing behind it as it flew to the surface.

Aladar used to be a merchant before the Ta’Nar evolved the human into the immaterial Childer. The change gave him massive psionic abilities but they were nothing when compared to his Lieges, the Ta’Nar. Some days he wished he was still back there, piloting The Lucky Stryke from system to system through the ITH making credits just dropping loads and picking up other cargo to take elsewhere. He liked the freedom of being your own boss but now things were different. The Night of Rage changed everything. Aladar was grateful to the Ta’Nar that shielded him from the Others that night or he would have been eaten like almost six billion others. The sixty million survivors owed their very existence to the Ta’Nar.

Aladar settled gently down atop a skyscraper, or rather the ruins of one. He cast his mind out, feeling for any sign of these entities pictured in the broadcasts. Other than the strange shaped blimp-like structures far off in the distance there was no sign of any demons, only blasted city until the horizon with columns of thick black smoke off in the distance. Carefully scanning for life again, Aladar still could find nothing of any sentience within range.

Then it hit him, there was no signs of any life. No people and no animals, not even insects. Something either killed or scared off all the creatures. No cats or dogs living off scraps in alleys, no birds flying about or nesting, no insects crawling or buzzing anywhere within several blocks, the limit to his range.

“What the hell..?”

Aladar suddenly felt a presence. He turned around and saw a large creaturerising out of the floor. The curious thing Aladar noticed was it wasn’t actually rising out of a hole in the floor, just a space that existed as a pool of crimson light that seemed to hover slightly above it.

“Hell is right. What do we have here, you don’t seem right. The others falling from the sky are all fleshy but not you. You seem to be more but less…”
Black flames erupted from a wickedly barbed whip coiled in one hand as the thing flicked its hand to release the hellish weapon. Where the whip touched the concrete roof it left nasty blackened marks almost like it was burning through the stone like it was butter.

Aladar let out a little “eep!” and simply jumped over the edge. As he sailed away from the ledge he saw the monstrosity stepping up to the parapet.

“You won’t get away that easily.” It held up a single hand and made some weird gesture and the area around the creature shimmered and twisted. Flames shot up as if an explosion similar to opening the blast door of a furnace filled the air of the roof and more bizarre creature emerged from the flames although they showed absolutely no sign the fire touched them. The winged creatures appeared to resemble giant flies with twisted faces and a sharp pointed protrusion where the nose would be. It was easy to see it was not for sucking air from the reddish-brown stains clinging to the tips. The man sized creatures took off and swarmed Aladar, trying to catch him and return him to their Master above.

Aladar twisted in his fall to face the ground and exerted his willpower to fly horizontal instead of allowing gravity to dictate where he was going. He took off with the swarm trailing behind, slowing catching up to the fleeing Childer. As he flew, Aladar tried to strike at his pursuing foes only to discover they were either shielded against his attacks or simply too far away. He turned and shot charges of static electricity, grabbed debris as he passed with his telekinetics and threw them at the hellish bugs, even ignited a petro truck causing a tower of flame and smoke to rise into the air to join the others in making the haze above London. He still could not shake those fliers. He tried to twist and turn through the alleyways, dodging into and out of the deserted buildings, and even hiding but no matter where he went, it seemed they knew where he was.

He sent a plea upwards to his captain.

Captain, if I do not return to the ship, I will be captured.

Get your ass up here as fast as you can. We have found out what we needed.

Right away.

Aladar shot skyward, leaving the hunters to pursue him knowing they would have to stop once they ran out of air. He was watching the pack edging closer to him and failed to notice the strange dirigible above. While the slow beast was easily avoidable, the things that flew from it were not. Great reptilian creatures launched down to meet him part way, their leathery wings allowing them to dive quickly and efficiently so he did not have time to dodge. The sinewy torpedo struck the Childer which caused him to jolt and lose control. He spun downward, knocked somehow back to the flaming building top where the original monstrosity was still waiting, almost like it had planned the whole thing and Aladar was just a plaything. He quickly fought to regain control and righted himself as he neared the root top. He halted his fall and tried to gain altitude as quickly as he could when there was a sudden burning that flashed through his entire being.

He looked down and saw the beast has lashed out with his whip and it had scored a hit, wrapping around his right ankle and locked into place. The whip tendril was not the only thing that was locked. Aladar was trapped within his telekinetic form and could not become immaterial again to escape his bonds. The agony was unbelievable as it felt his very being was on fire. As the Hellfire burned into his soul and evaporated his essence, Aladar began to scream uncontrollably. The Childer thrashed around trying to get away from the burning. The fire. The Pain.

The Thing slowly reeled him in as if he were a fish, laughing all the while. The flies caught up and swarmed him trying to rake at him with their talons and scoring hits. While they were not hurting him, their actions beat him lower allowing the Thing to reel him in faster. He screamed and thrashed while the black fire continued to burn deeper into him. He was beyond thinking and deep into instinctual behavior and into full flight mode but the massive strength kept him on an iron leash made of burning Hellfire. A hand grasped his other ankle and he was thrown onto the rooftop where he tried to scramble out of the way, the tortuous ankle shackling him into a physical form. The Thing stepped forward and the last thing Aladar heard was the deep laughing of his captor as it pulled out a blade shrouded in the same hellfire and slashed at him.

Aboard The Demise, the crew was absolutely silent. Not a thought could be heard flashing between members as they all were stunned from the vicious attack upon their lost crewmember. Captain Kal’Gohn shook himself out of the numbness and barked an order.

“Contact Command immediately. I want a ship with as many Ta’Nar as we can spare. Send everything we have with the request. Don’t leave out a single thing. Now!”

The crew jumped and the message was sent.

“Also, get into contact with that other ship, the one we saw in opposite orbit from us when we arrived.”

“Y-Yes Sir.”

A few moments later a message was relayed to the WinTrees ship:

Greetings

This is The Demise hailing from Balrogga. We have experienced and lost a member of our crew on the planet and fully believe the satellite transmissions was not a joke or ploy. I have requested assistance from our command fleet which should arrive shortly. Do not be alarmed if another ship or two joins us here.

We need to meet in order to coordinate any activities we might have to take to sterilize this planet of those monstrosities. When the others arrive, I am sure whomever is in command would wish to meet with someone over there.

I cannot help but notice the arrival of additional nations and was thinking we should set up some sort of command post to better coordinate offensive action. Please consider these ideas and await the arrival of personal that may be able to fight these Things better before you take any direct actions. It is best to use our resources wisely.

Captain Kal’Gohn
The Demise

The gate opened somehow...wrongly. The troop stepped from the black mirror as always, their armor blacked against visual detection against its backdrop, into a strange circumstance.

<This is not the proper location. The stellar coordinates are off. We have linked with a boson in an entirely different sector.>

<Immaterial. It's on the survey list somewhere isn't it?>

<Yes sir, slated for survey in seven orbital cycles. We aren't even on the crew list for the planned survey.>

<Very well. Transmit back to headquarters and inform them that we are proceeding with the current survey, with my direction to reschedule the planned survey for the date planned for this survey. Begin making recordings of the architecture, and prepare to move out. Follow all first contact protocols. Remain in armor at all times, and do not engage the inhabitants unless they attack us and actually damage your armor.>

The incredible strength of Setian metallurgy, among other things, is what had first drawn the Imperium to their doorstep. Centuries of bloodshed passed, and humanities legions of murderers had been driven from their home. Years passed even farther into the future, and they had encountered other branches of the human race, none so barbaric as the so called Imperium of Man. They now sought out new life, allies against old foes, and fought the Empire wherever they met. But that was not this world. This world was sick, diseased with a burden that sang through the very bones of the earth like a scream in the ears of every Setian there, far away and distant, as the planet choked under neglect and slowly withered to nothing.

<Do you see this barren land, here laid to waste?>

<Ravaged, scorched, yet frozen, from some neglect.>

<There is no sign of life in these dwellings, nor upon the streets save for the smallest of prey and predators. The temperature readings are strange, in some places I detect extreme cold, and in others great heat. Is this world dead in truth, the life of this planet shuddering out its last centuries with no hope of repair?>

<It still lives. Any world that yet lives may be made to thrive again. You saw it for yourselves in Elysium. It need only throw of the weight of whatever parasite claws at its soul.>

The 11 foot tall suits of armor move away from the gateway, striding through ravaged buildings and burnt out shells of houses, seeking the living of this place, or possibly, as they had learned in other places, the unliving. Dead that walked, unclean beasts of bone and flayed flesh. Any number of things were possible, it was merely up to them to determine the truth of what was.

In a distant sector, The Fist drifted in the middle of a raging Force Storm created by the death of Emperor Palpatine. The station, actually a Battle Fortress, the only one completed by the Ta’Nar, was the seat of power of the Ta’Nar Empire. Empire was not technically correct since they did not possess any territory but old habits are hard to break.

Within the Comm center, the data from The Demise had been received in real time. The data was being crunched by the Stationmind and the Seneschal, the Ta’Nar who commanded The Fist in the absence of The Warlord, made the decision. He restructured the crew of The Despayr and ordered the Impaler Battleship to rendezvous with The Demise. The battleship quickly left using a wormhole and in ten minutes it would arrive. Hopefully it would be enough. If three hundred Ta’Nar cannot contain the outbreak, then greater steps will have to be taken and the Seneschal really did not want to have to remove the planet from existence but the outbreak cannot be allow to spread to other worlds. He could only wait to hear back from those he had sent.

After the Childer had been viciously killed by the large demon, the sound of a step was heard and the demon turned around. It hissed and turned to face a Templar wearing the normal power suits of his people and wielding a large, and wicked looking sword, and a large shield on his other arm. The demon chuckled and turned to face the human. "So, what do we have here? Another being come to challenge me? I don't see why you beings even try; Astarael is not so easily defeated. This creature shows testament to that."

The Templar glanced over, seeing the dead body and shook his head. He went down on one knee and did a quick prayer for the Childer, crossing his chest. "You will pay for that demon, and for all the others you have claimed." The demon smiled and raised it's blade of Hellfire.

"Why don't you come try, human? I love crushing you pathetic mortals and devouring your souls. Mankind's souls have such an.....exquisite taste." Astarael roared and leapt into the air, sending its sword crashing down. The Templar dodged to the side, as the Hellfire exploded into the ground, sending a flame that would burn for eternity outward. The Templar sent his own blade, powered by the Arcana the Techsmiths empowered into his weapons, and it was met by the demons own. A large gust of wind rushed from the clash and the battle began.


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

Unfortunately for the Andermanii, they had stumbled into a zone that was currently being overrun by the demons. From time to time, humanity and the demons would trade blows, each taking areas, each losing areas. Currently, the Eldest had sent a large force into the area, and the Templar, Hunter, and Cabalist forces had been systematically forced out. Gunfire and explosions still sounded in the distance, as if a battle was still raging.

Suddenly a loud roar could be heard and the ground shook. Fire, hotter than anything natural, fire that would burn forever unless supernatural means were taken to suppress it, blasted down a street beside them. Another roar, and they would see an immense creature, many times taller and larger than they, stride slowly into view. It's mouth was immense, showing an array of teeth on each side, and fire burned from within. It was covered in fire, and an immense tail whipped to and fro. It turned to gaze at the Andermanii and took a step towards them.

After the Childer had been viciously killed by the large demon, the sound of a step was heard and the demon turned around. It hissed and turned to face a Templar wearing the normal power suits of his people and wielding a large, and wicked looking sword, and a large shield on his other arm. The demon chuckled and turned to face the human. "So, what do we have here? Another being come to challenge me? I don't see why you beings even try; Astarael is not so easily defeated. This creature shows testament to that."

The Templar glanced over, seeing the dead body and shook his head. He went down on one knee and did a quick prayer for the Childer, crossing his chest. "You will pay for that demon, and for all the others you have claimed." The demon smiled and raised it's blade of Hellfire.

"Why don't you come try, human? I love crushing you pathetic mortals and devouring your souls. Mankind's souls have such an.....exquisite taste." Astarael roared and leapt into the air, sending its sword crashing down. The Templar dodged to the side, as the Hellfire exploded into the ground, sending a flame that would burn for eternity outward. The Templar sent his own blade, powered by the Arcana the Techsmiths empowered into his weapons, and it was met by the demons own. A large gust of wind rushed from the clash and the battle began.


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

Unfortunately for the Andermanii, they had stumbled into a zone that was currently being overrun by the demons. From time to time, humanity and the demons would trade blows, each taking areas, each losing areas. Currently, the Eldest had sent a large force into the area, and the Templar, Hunter, and Cabalist forces had been systematically forced out. Gunfire and explosions still sounded in the distance, as if a battle was still raging.

Suddenly a loud roar could be heard and the ground shook. Fire, hotter than anything natural, fire that would burn forever unless supernatural means were taken to suppress it, blasted down a street beside them. Another roar, and they would see an immense creature, many times taller and larger than they, stride slowly into view. It's mouth was immense, showing an array of teeth on each side, and fire burned from within. It was covered in fire, and an immense tail whipped to and fro. It turned to gaze at the Andermanii and took a step towards them.

<That's not friendly. Suppressing fire! We will fall back towards the gunfire by fire and maneuver First team, heavy weapons and squad support, second team anti-tank and cold steel. I'm with second and will provide some support as necessary. Engineers may engage with the landscape as applicable, technicals would be preferred over direct attack at the moment. I'm not sure if we can kill this, so big as it is, but we won't let it kill us.>

A chorus of affirmatives greets him, and the two halves of the squad scatter, heavy weapons ripping through the air to play their horriffic energies across the beast's flesh, sending shattering explosions through the air and shredding the area surrounding the creature with the backlash from the impact. As they ran, lightning seemed to crackle around the body of the officer, sheets of electricity arcing off occasionally to blanket nearby pieces of metal, before leaping back to the main part, larger than before. It was a powerful weapon, but took a very long time to charge to full power in combat terms. Anti-tank weapons added to the devastation, while large pieces of metal blasted into the air by weapon impacts reached out with suddenly sprouted hands to clutch at the massive creature, heating to white hot intensity almost immediately, but still holding its solid form, grasping at limbs as the main parts of the metal mixed and flowed together, making a gargantuan leg shackle for the beast, while more bits and shards of metal speared into nearby foundations, snaking out to join the band connecting the beasts legs, and secure it hard into solid concrete.

<Don't let it move. Continue fire, first team prepare to fall back.>

The complicated dance of Andermani infantry combat played out across the blasted wastes of this alien planet, as ten isolated soldiers brought war to a nightmare from beyond this world.

The Andermani soldiers fought well, and if they had been facing any other foe, they would have surely won. The Great Dark, however, was not so easily beaten by the conventional weaponry of the mortal races it sought to consume. The massive creature came after them, it's feet sending gouts of fire throughout the streets, destroying countless cars and vehicles that still remained. Their weapons played all across the beast's flesh, fiery explosions and bullet tracers peppering its flesh, but to no avail.

However, the actions of the officer proved that the mortal races, those who could not use any weapon to fight the Demon, could still find a way to at least prevent their deaths. The metal, enhanced by the Andermani abilities, and having sufficient metal around to use, locked the creatures legs in place. It roared in anger, and tried to force its way through, but it wouldn't budge. In defiance, it sent a large ball of Hellfire at them from its mouth, determined to not let its prey escape.

Fire roared across the blasted landscape, and sheets of lightning rushed to meet it. Arcing from soldier to soldier, the wave of coruscating energy broke the assault into tatters, fragmenting the demonic assault into ineffectiveness, before plunging from all sides to rake the beasts flesh with earth shattering force, and crushing power and sound, shattering what glass had survived the gunfire and explosions of the short and apocalyptic firefight of mere moments previous.

<Cease fire! Fall back directly, engineers are free to engage directly in any way they deem fit. Maintain the shackle, but begin an assault as well. Thorns or chainblade are advised. I will maintain support weapons are ineffective, do not engage further opponents unless with steel. Any enemies must be brought to melee.>

Fire stops immediately, and suits scramble away from the beast, running flat out, smashing through walls and any other impediment with ease, weight doing what speed would normally not allow. Spikes, blades and other weapons sprouted from the shackles of the beasts legs, ripping and tearing at the flesh in a way their weapons could not, while lightning still coursed through the beast and the metal that held it, scorching everything it touched to blackness.

The Despayr sped through the twists and turns of the Wormhole as it neared the half-way point of the trip. Aboard the battleship, a conference of minds met to talk about the situation.

What are we expecting?

The Demise has been broadcasting the information real-time. It appears we have a major Class C outbreak. Our one attempt at reconnaissance resulted in the Childer getting attacked by a minor daemon. The Childer didn’t have a chance in hell, pardon the pun. The Daemon overpowered the Childer and ended up devouring it. There has not been any sign of Major Daemons or any Daemon Lords present, the reason it is only rated a Class C outbreak. That does not mean they are not there, the outbreak seems to be enticing the whole planet so the bosses could be just elsewhere and we only saw a local boss.

I see, what are we planning?

At first we will send down a small group of Ta’Nar, ones that are seasoned.

We all are seasoned, we remember the Hunt.

You know what I mean.

Yeah. Ones that are experienced in taking daemons and getting what they want from them before destroying them.

Yeah, the specialists. We will send down a group of specialist and let then gain info from the daemons we encounter. They will attract attention by creating a sizable disturbance and draw in something that might be useful. I bet they will never know what hit them.

The Ta’Nar chuckled at their joke as the ship twisted its way through the intergalactic wormhole.

((OOC)) They say bad things come in threes... lost my job, lost my mate, and then my computer blew up all within a span of a week... On a friend's long enough to post this. I really do appologize... Trying to get myself up and running again... Please feel free to consider the Ga'al inactive and/or dead, and just move on with the story...

At the edge of the system, a wormhole opened. The gravitational distortion from the sudden creation swirled in eddies of collapsed space as the terminus formed and a lone ship emerged from within the void. The Despayr, all 180 meters of spines and edges cleared the wormhole and was slightly lit from behind by the weird ghost lights as the wormhole collapsed back into nothingness.

It Impaler Battleship slowly rotated as it orientated upon the distant planet several dozen AU in the distance. The eerie blue energy discharges at the front of the vessel seemed to flash for a moment before the ship just faded away into nothingness. The Despayr Uplifted into T-Space and made the trip from the edge of the system in a few seconds as it took the shortcut through the 7th dimension. Moments later it faded into existence as the ship Emerged again into Real Space. The Demise silently approached The Despayr and the two ships took position within a hundred meters of each other.

The lightning and fire did nothing but impact the flesh of the creature and cause explosions, nothing more. They had magic, yes, but it wasn't strong enough to hurt this creature and it wasn't having any effect. It continued to struggle against the massive prison of metal, and roar, sending sheets of flame down at the Andermani soldiers. The metal ripped and stabbed at the creature, but it merely ignored the slight irritant and continued to thrash about. The Andermani would need to retreat soon, as the struggles and roars of the creature were bound to attract more demons....

As they crushed through the ruins of the buildings and walls that were the remnants of the human civilization, they would begin to hear sounds of battle. Gunfire, the whooshing sound of rockets, demonic screams, and the fervent warcries of humans at war.

To: Balrogga ship ‘The Demise’
From: Captain Granger, HMS Orion

Agreed, this is a series of events that won’t correct itself. We’ve already had specialists arrive and they are looking into the situation on the surface, we will forward any information we gleam to you.

Regarding a command post, we agree and defer command and control to you for the time being, as our experience is limited in dealing with situations on this size. This will however change no doubt when my commander arrives, we’ll have to cross that bridge when it comes.

I have another 3 ships en-route, the rest of the squadron. It won’t be long before we can mount a counter attack... once we figure out how to harm them.

I have at least two pilots on the planet, we don’t know if they are dead or not at this point... if you can shed some light on this, it would be appreciated.

A message was quickly crafted and returned to The HMS Orion:

This is Captain G’Rath of The Despayr. I have just arrived and I have taken command of the situation from the Ta’Nar aspect. I agree, we need a command structure to help our forces to act together. I wish to invite you to send a representative to work through so we can coordinate our forces better. Just wait until after the reconfiguration.

We have no information about your pilots. We also send a reconnaissance mission down but met with significant resistance. Out operative panicked and lost his head, literally. There is no trace of him anymore so we will restrict any further Childer from descending to the surface to keep them safe until there is a way for them to fight these minor demon lords. The Childer do not possess any Eldritch abilities, unlike the Ta’Nar.

We await your representative.


The battleship and the destroyer seemed to melt together and lost their distinctiveness as a new structure formed. A station of a sort now resided in orbit above the planet where two ships were before. It was large enough to accommodate a crew of about 600 and it retained the ebon coloring of the original vessels.


A message was sent out to all the vessels that have arrived and to the ones that might arrive.

The Ta’Nar invites any others to send a representative to the station in order to coordinate out efforts. We await your arrival.

The lightning and fire did nothing but impact the flesh of the creature and cause explosions, nothing more. They had magic, yes, but it wasn't strong enough to hurt this creature and it wasn't having any effect. It continued to struggle against the massive prison of metal, and roar, sending sheets of flame down at the Andermani soldiers. The metal ripped and stabbed at the creature, but it merely ignored the slight irritant and continued to thrash about. The Andermani would need to retreat soon, as the struggles and roars of the creature were bound to attract more demons....

As they crushed through the ruins of the buildings and walls that were the remnants of the human civilization, they would begin to hear sounds of battle. Gunfire, the whooshing sound of rockets, demonic screams, and the fervent warcries of humans at war.

<Engineers to the fore! Prepare to engage targets of opportunity, if anything gets close enough, do not be afraid to engage with steel. I will engage as much as possible, but such a dead world has few places from which I may draw energy to cast. All troops, I am aware that you aren't engineers, but try and fake it for a bit. We can't fight these things with guns, and I am apparently too weak to kill the large ones quickly. We will protect the engineers at all cost. If necessary I will cast one of the rituals while you escape, understood men?>

A chorus of rekluctant affirmatives greets his statement. Any mage may technically cast a ritual spell, but it takes several to survive the experience. Whatever he decides to cast, he, and most likely anyone nearby, will be doomed to a very violent death.

HMS Orion

“You’ll be over there for the foreseeable Richard,” mumbled Granger as they strode down the corridor towards the port hanger, “I’ve spoken to Turner and he’s stashed some gear and a Marine fire-team on the Raptor. Make sure that you’re with any incursion planet-side, we’ll keep you updated from our end with any research we come up with... ONLY forward the stuff that we tell you too and report back everything to us.”

“Yes sir,” replied Lieutenant Mitchell, “I assume the Raptor’s staying with me?”

“Correct,” grunted Granger, he stopped in front of one of the security hatches into the hanger, “Good Luck Richard, watch your back and don’t trust anyone over there, you’ll have the pilots and the marines with you, they’re all experienced officers and NCOs, but this is going to be your command... remember that the buck stops with you.”

“Yes sir,” replied Mitchell, stepping through the security hatch, “Thank you sir.”

Raptor 3237

Lieutenant Rick ‘Flashlight’ Chase shifted in his flight seat as the Raptor closed in on the mass that was The Despayr. “Did you see what happened about an hour ago?” he whispered to his co-pilot, “Freakly stuff.”

Lieutenant Mitchell bent down behind Chase, “You can say that again... but not when we’re on the ship, best diplomatic faces on lads.”

Chase smiled and keyed the communication panel, “Hello Despayr, This is Showboat One, requesting docking permission for 7 PAX and one Raptor. Over.”

“Showboat One, this is Hope Station. You are cleared for one Raptor and your escort to land at docking bay five. Navigation data being sent over now, please allow the Nav computer to land your ships.”

A request came over the network for the autopilot to link with the station’s computer system. Of course, this would still allow the autopilot to override commands if there was any trouble or risk to the ship. It was just standard landing protocols used my many nations to automate landing procedures and to make them more efficient and in most cases it worked so well people never gave it a second thought.



OOC:

If you want, you can RP the landing as you wish. There will be three people waiting for you after you disembark.