NationStates Jolt Archive


Of Federation, Dominion, and Empire (FT, attn TFU, Thrasia)

Feazanthia
22-03-2008, 14:39
Listening Post M-18 (Antares series)
Code Name: Silent Oracle
Sojent-Ra System, ~120 AU from furthest limit of stellar gravity influence

Silently it hung, like a yellow diamond in the black. Grey, ominous shapes slid past the yellow structure in patrol formation as a shadow fell across it. Relatively above the Dominion station Silent Oracle appeared the green-and-yet-not-green tear in reality that was common with Slipstream distortions, and from it slid the immense, asymetrical shape of an Explorer-series command vessel. An eyesore against the comparatively elegant (albeit minimalistic) warships that had been entering the outskirts of the Sojent-Ra territory in the last few hours, the Heaven's Wrath II could swipe many of them aside like kep'moks with her immense Siege Cannon.

"This is Heaven's Wrath to Silent Oracle control. We have the phia-sa aboard. Requesting permission to join formation."

"IDC confirmed, Heaven's Wrath. Request granted. Welcome to Sojent-Ra."

---

The CIC for Listening Post M-18 was physically large, but felt very small. It was especially today, the young jefet'ne known as Richard Parks LiirHra mused. Three of the four steel walls were covered with immense video screens depicting all the information that was constantly being absorbed by the station. Within the center of the room was a small cluster of personnel - hadat and hadat'ne mostly - who were already plugged into the station's mainframe and directing the data flow with their minds. LiirHra had spent three years in the ranks of the "unbound"...he never wanted to go back. The flow of knowledge was too tempting to leave willingly, even though an untrained mind would quickly become burnt out from the constant bombardment of information.

"Linear accelerators at ninety-eight per-cent," said one of the unbound controllers through the room's speaker system. "Forming Slipstream breach. Stand by probe sixteen." With the amount of fully-operational Shaw-Fujikaw drives now around Oracle, the station had the power to launch multiple probes per hour into the twisted sub-dimension that was commonly called slipspace. These probes monitored all translight travel for several hundred light years, and even picked up the odd translight transmission. They were essential for maintaining the security of Sojent-Ra and all of the Dominion's Milky Way holdings. However, LiirHra knew that they had another purpose - to scan any passing vessels for possible technology that would be useful to the campaign.

He pushed the thoughts aside. Comm chatter, picked up by the immense array beneath the station, was increasing in the system. It was becoming increasingly hard to filter out friendly singals from alien. The fact that the phia'sa himself had just arrived hadn't helped the situation, either. Transmissions were becoming more heavily encrypted and harder to filter. Why him? Why his station for this meet? Why in the hells was the phia'sa even here?!

LiirHra kicked himself mentally. Of course the highest-ranking military official in the galaxy would be here. It was the first time foreigners had set foot in Feazanthian territory in...forever!

"Jefet'ne," said one of the unbound into his earpiece. "Perhaps it would be prudent to head towards hangar two. The phia'sa's Pelican is inbound." LiirHra nodded a silent thanks to the hadat that had warned him. Gods help him survive this day.