NationStates Jolt Archive

Planet Unknown

There was life on this planet, life so extraordinary in its power that no one knew of the inhabitants except those that created them and lost them. This Planet was not named and remained nameless but those that lived on it had a name. They were the Kezarn and they were a powerful race, highly intelligent and highly dangerous. They were not satisfied with occupying just this one small insignificant planet, they were after more and they could easily do it.

The Kezarn were intelligent but they were also animals. They believed in survival of the fittest and smartest. Ever since their battle with Londim they had learnt a lot more about war. It had been there first war and in it they had been able to take a planet, although temporarily.

The Generals, who were the Kezarn's leaders, had decided that they would send out warriors and find any who opposed them. These opponents would be engaged and battle would commence. The ships were prepped and launched. It was only a matter of time before first contact was made...

The ships had been sent in four directions to find any signs of other races. It wasn't long before scanners on Kezarn Ship Alpha picked up a trace of a ship. They sent out a probe.

(OOC: Basically a lot of you can pick up the traces of the ships if you wish, OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=555034))

The Kezarn would find themselves, at least one of their ships, in the outer rim of the Kelauan Dominion. A war-like race of great power, the Kelauan were a lot like the Kezarn. Strong, intelligent, knowledgeable in war. The Kelauan, however, also loved war. They loved the concept of battle, pitting themselves and their strengths against their enemies. So it was that the Kezarn would be in a great fight, if they disturbed this giant. However, for the moment, there was nothing to bother them yet. The ship they sensed was a Shield-class Light Cruiser (http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/BigShips/concept_Vfrigate.jpg), one of three ships in system that were patrolling to ensure the areas was protected. They were far enough away from the system that they hadn't been detected yet, but the probe was. A squadron of Phoenix-class Interceptors (http://eaw.heavengames.com/cpix/foc_units/underworld_fighter.jpg) came from one of the ships, and headed for the probe, looking to investigate. Meanwhile, a message was sent to Command, detailing their find and what they had done, requesting orders on how to proceed beyond normal protocol.

The Kelauan and the Kezarn were about to meet, for war or alliance, whom could tell?

The vessel detected was almost like a lifeform. Chitinous black armor plating covered pale blue "muscles" made of nanites. Shaped like a lobster and sized like a football field, the Gargantua class Frigate was designed to intimidate.

On board, the crew was relatively small. A sophisticated AI sensative to the psionic empathy of the Golugan race managed most of the ship's manueverings. It could hypothetically be crewed by a single Golugan, but the developers of the AI insisted upon the minimum school size for the crew to ensure maintained sanity for long-term missions and combat situations.

The ship turned its head, where the visual detection systems were mounted, to look upon the Kezarn vessel and the probe that it launched. One of the crew initiated more complete scans, while another got the ship to come about to face the alien vessels.

The Golugani hailed the Kezarn, using the language learned from the Bryn Shander to communicate with what they figured was an airbreathing race. "Greetings. Are you native to this system, or exploring as well?"

Planet Unknown

There was life on this planet, life so extraordinary in its power that no one knew of the inhabitants except those that created them and lost them. This Planet was not named and remained nameless but those that lived on it had a name. They were the Kezarn and they were a powerful race, highly intelligent and highly dangerous. They were not satisfied with occupying just this one small insignificant planet, they were after more and they could easily do it.

The Kezarn were intelligent but they were also animals. They believed in survival of the fittest and smartest. Ever since their battle with Londim they had learnt a lot more about war. It had been there first war and in it they had been able to take a planet, although temporarily.

The Generals, who were the Kezarn's leaders, had decided that they would send out warriors and find any who opposed them. These opponents would be engaged and battle would commence. The ships were prepped and launched. It was only a matter of time before first contact was made...

The ships had been sent in four directions to find any signs of other races. It wasn't long before scanners on Kezarn Ship Alpha picked up a trace of a ship. They sent out a probe.

(OOC: Basically a lot of you can pick up the traces of the ships if you wish)



OOC: WHY YOU STOP DR. WHO THREAD???:mad::mad::mad:

A humanoid grey wolf wearing a green digital military uniform stood in front of the Space Cruiser's C.I.C primary computer. A scar ran along his face a memorial of past battles General Lupus is a terrifying sight. Standing at more then seven feet and weighing some two-hundred pounds the proud Mu Cepheian could handle his own easily.

The communications officer spoke, "sir. I have a message from the Space Destroyer Trident. It reads: the Trident and the Stallion are ready for the patrol. Standing by for further orders." The General nodded and picked up a phone wired onto the C.I.C's computer.

"All hands," the speakers all over the ship boomed with his rough voice, "standby for increase in gravitational pull," the General pressed a button on the phone and spoke again, "engineering. Bring us to one-third thrust." The General put the wired phone away and held onto the massive computer terminal in the middle of the large room filled with the command staff.

The Sun Riser, the Trident and the Stallion sliced though space at moderately high speeds. The ships made several delta-v maneuver the ships for the 'jump.'

General Lupus, after gaining his balance, picked up the phone again. This time he warn the crew that the ship was about to 'jump.' Afterwards he and the X.O. put their keys into the C.I.C's computer and put in their codes. Moments later all three ships were traveling roughly at 70% the speed of light heading towards their patrol spot. It only took two hours before the ships began to decelerate at a rabid pace. The three ships were soon back to their one-third speed and their crews were shaken by the sudden stop.

"Report," General Lupus turned to the X.O who was reading some data off the terminal in front of him.

"Everything is green and the other two ships report that they are green as well," General Lupus looked at his friend wondering why he wasn't jumping around like he usually did after a good 'jump.'

"There is a contact right in front of us..." General Lupus went pale wondering why it was always him who had to deal with the life or death problems.

Have they done anything yet?" General Lupus asked.

"No, but they did launch something-" the sensor officer spoke.

"From the engine exhaust and power readings it is a probe, possibly a small space craft." The General nodded and picked up the wired phone again.

"Report to battle stations, repeat, report to battle stations. Bring gun batteries online and get me a fix on that contact." General Lupus sighed as everyone got to work, wondering what a lone vessel was doing on the very edge of the Mu Cepheian Empire's borders.

A message was sent in english (which seems to be the intergalactic language to the Mu Cepheians):

Identify yourself and your purpose or you will be fired upon.

OOC: WHY YOU STOP DR. WHO THREAD???:mad::mad::mad:

OOC: If you HAVE to waste our time with your weak anger, go do it in the OOC thread. Do not interrupt this thread because he didn't continue a thread.

The Kezarn would find themselves, at least one of their ships, in the outer rim of the Kelauan Dominion. A war-like race of great power, the Kelauan were a lot like the Kezarn. Strong, intelligent, knowledgeable in war. The Kelauan, however, also loved war. They loved the concept of battle, pitting themselves and their strengths against their enemies. So it was that the Kezarn would be in a great fight, if they disturbed this giant. However, for the moment, there was nothing to bother them yet. The ship they sensed was a Shield-class Light Cruiser (http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/BigShips/concept_Vfrigate.jpg), one of three ships in system that were patrolling to ensure the areas was protected. They were far enough away from the system that they hadn't been detected yet, but the probe was. A squadron of Phoenix-class Interceptors (http://eaw.heavengames.com/cpix/foc_units/underworld_fighter.jpg) came from one of the ships, and headed for the probe, looking to investigate. Meanwhile, a message was sent to Command, detailing their find and what they had done, requesting orders on how to proceed beyond normal protocol.

The Kelauan and the Kezarn were about to meet, for war or alliance, whom could tell?

The probe from Kezarn Ship Alpha was being watched with close intent. Traces had been picked up of scans on the probe from an unknown race to the Kezarn. They would observe this race seeing how they would interact with the probe and to also allow the Kezarn to consider this race either valuable or disposable.

The vessel detected was almost like a lifeform. Chitinous black armor plating covered pale blue "muscles" made of nanites. Shaped like a lobster and sized like a football field, the Gargantua class Frigate was designed to intimidate.

On board, the crew was relatively small. A sophisticated AI sensative to the psionic empathy of the Golugan race managed most of the ship's manueverings. It could hypothetically be crewed by a single Golugan, but the developers of the AI insisted upon the minimum school size for the crew to ensure maintained sanity for long-term missions and combat situations.

The ship turned its head, where the visual detection systems were mounted, to look upon the Kezarn vessel and the probe that it launched. One of the crew initiated more complete scans, while another got the ship to come about to face the alien vessels.

The Golugani hailed the Kezarn, using the language learned from the Bryn Shander to communicate with what they figured was an airbreathing race. "Greetings. Are you native to this system, or exploring as well?"

The ship the Golugani had encountered was Kezarn Ship Delta who also keenly observed the ship. They received the message and went through all the possible replies. Allow for contact to be established and so alert this race's home planets of the Kezarn existence or to open fire and take out an enemy ship before it could relay information. The Kezarn being the cold calculating race they were chose Option 2.

Heavy Strikeforce guns were online, designed to cut power to enemy ships and so leave them sitting without defences. From there either a boarding party would go and take out all on board or destroy the ship without them seeing a Kezarn face. The Kezarn fired.

OOC: WHY YOU STOP DR. WHO THREAD???:mad::mad::mad:
OOC: Because it was going in a direction I didn't see feasible and moving to fast.
A humanoid grey wolf wearing a green digital military uniform stood in front of the Space Cruiser's C.I.C primary computer. A scar ran along his face a memorial of past battles General Lupus is a terrifying sight. Standing at more then seven feet and weighing some two-hundred pounds the proud Mu Cepheian could handle his own easily.

The communications officer spoke, "sir. I have a message from the Space Destroyer Trident. It reads: the Trident and the Stallion are ready for the patrol. Standing by for further orders." The General nodded and picked up a phone wired onto the C.I.C's computer.

"All hands," the speakers all over the ship boomed with his rough voice, "standby for increase in gravitational pull," the General pressed a button on the phone and spoke again, "engineering. Bring us to one-third thrust." The General put the wired phone away and held onto the massive computer terminal in the middle of the large room filled with the command staff.

The Sun Riser, the Trident and the Stallion sliced though space at moderately high speeds. The ships made several delta-v maneuver the ships for the 'jump.'

General Lupus, after gaining his balance, picked up the phone again. This time he warn the crew that the ship was about to 'jump.' Afterwards he and the X.O. put their keys into the C.I.C's computer and put in their codes. Moments later all three ships were traveling roughly at 70% the speed of light heading towards their patrol spot. It only took two hours before the ships began to decelerate at a rabid pace. The three ships were soon back to their one-third speed and their crews were shaken by the sudden stop.

"Report," General Lupus turned to the X.O who was reading some data off the terminal in front of him.

"Everything is green and the other two ships report that they are green as well," General Lupus looked at his friend wondering why he wasn't jumping around like he usually did after a good 'jump.'

"There is a contact right in front of us..." General Lupus went pale wondering why it was always him who had to deal with the life or death problems.

Have they done anything yet?" General Lupus asked.

"No, but they did launch something-" the sensor officer spoke.

"From the engine exhaust and power readings it is a probe, possibly a small space craft." The General nodded and picked up the wired phone again.

"Report to battle stations, repeat, report to battle stations. Bring gun batteries online and get me a fix on that contact." General Lupus sighed as everyone got to work, wondering what a lone vessel was doing on the very edge of the Mu Cepheian Empire's borders.

A message was sent in english (which seems to be the intergalactic language to the Mu Cepheians):

Identify yourself and your purpose or you will be fired upon.

Kezarn Ship Beta

The probe had been picked up but one Kezarn ship against 3 unidentified ships were largely improbable odds to win. Instead they would go the other Kezarn route and learn more about these people. They replied to the message they had received:

"We are the Kezarn. We are out on a diplomatic and explorer voyage to make contact with other races in this area. We do not wish harm upon you and would expect no harm to befall us."

The Gargantua brought its lobster-like claws up to shield its unarmored neck against the fire. Not being part of the circuit of power and data flowing through the nanites, the weapons wouldn't disrupt the power systems without first having to break through the condensed armor.

Not that the Golugan pilot planned to let them.

Turrets sprouted out of the shoulders and elbows of the claws, giving potential targets for the shutdown weaponry as the ship strafed for the cover of a nearby asteroid. The weapons fired, looking like gatling lasers but were far more insidious.

Each beam of energy was actually a cluster of nanites contained within an energy shield that would burst upon impact. Worthless for deflecting fire, but just the ticket to beat down enemy shields. If the Kezarm shields didn't hold, they'd be facing difficulties as the nanoclusters began eating their ship at the impact site to replicate. The nanites weren't fast enough to make this combat applicable for direct destruction, but it tended to bring shields down faster than the alternative, and disrupted enemy systems to boot.

Kezarn Ship Beta
"We are the Kezarn. We are out on a diplomatic and explorer voyage to make contact with other races in this area. We do not wish harm upon you and would expect no harm to befall us."

"Oh, so they got lost?" General Lupus asked his communications officer.

"The officer nodded, "it seems like that, sir." Lupus turned to the sensors officer.

"Gather all the data you can on the ship; it's exhaust, the energy output, and anything else you think is important." The sensors officer nodded.

"Yes sir, but I just want to inform you that the data I already have seems to be everything the sensors can find," the sensors officer looked down at his computer. There hadn't been an update in the data since the patrol came into first contact.

"Very well, send what data you can to other ships in the area and to High Command, Space Fleet (HICOMSPACFLT)," Genera Lupus ordered for a message to be sent.

Understood. Do you have proof of your diplomatic mission? What is your purpose here?

The Gargantua brought its lobster-like claws up to shield its unarmored neck against the fire. Not being part of the circuit of power and data flowing through the nanites, the weapons wouldn't disrupt the power systems without first having to break through the condensed armor.

Not that the Golugan pilot planned to let them.

Turrets sprouted out of the shoulders and elbows of the claws, giving potential targets for the shutdown weaponry as the ship strafed for the cover of a nearby asteroid. The weapons fired, looking like gatling lasers but were far more insidious.

Each beam of energy was actually a cluster of nanites contained within an energy shield that would burst upon impact. Worthless for deflecting fire, but just the ticket to beat down enemy shields. If the Kezarm shields didn't hold, they'd be facing difficulties as the nanoclusters began eating their ship at the impact site to replicate. The nanites weren't fast enough to make this combat applicable for direct destruction, but it tended to bring shields down faster than the alternative, and disrupted enemy systems to boot.

"Incoming fire." said General Mye calmly. He waited for the impact to occur and analysed the damage.

"Nanites Sir. Eating through the shieds quite quickly." said Officer Hin.

"Very good. Copy the weaponry and send the plans of its components back home." replied General Mye.

General Mye watched the readings as the shields fell calmly. Though his face was a mask of calm on the inside he was a psychotic warrior and also cunning.

"It seems those claws are protecting the main hub of the ship. Jump to the area behind the enemy ship and concentrate offensive fire upon its rear. That should damage their shields well enough to allow some damaging fire to follow."

"Yes Sir.", said Hin, "Prepare for instant jump." Hin said over the ships telecom system.

They jumped.

"Oh, so they got lost?" General Lupus asked his communications officer.

"The officer nodded, "it seems like that, sir." Lupus turned to the sensors officer.

"Gather all the data you can on the ship; it's exhaust, the energy output, and anything else you think is important." The sensors officer nodded.

"Yes sir, but I just want to inform you that the data I already have seems to be everything the sensors can find," the sensors officer looked down at his computer. There hadn't been an update in the data since the patrol came into first contact.

"Very well, send what data you can to other ships in the area and to High Command, Space Fleet (HICOMSPACFLT)," Genera Lupus ordered for a message to be sent.

Understood. Do you have proof of your diplomatic mission? What is your purpose here?

"The only proof we can give is that fact that this ship has not taken offensive measures. Our purpose is to open up relations with those near our system and even open up talks of an alliance."

<"Well, what do we do about it?">

<"Meh, tell the Captain to send a drone and let them talk to it. They're near-insane from boredom, and like to talk anyways.">

A message was sent and then a drone was launched, and it headed, more like rocketed, to the other probe. Stopping in front of it, it's scanners washed over it lovingly, taking in every detail, hovering ever so close to get the best picture. Then, after putting the toys away, it opened a channel to probe.

"Greetings, I am PDN-45789. May I ask why you are in our space? I'd hope not any hostile intentions; we have ways of ensuring you vanish if you do."

The Gargantua did not have the transport interdiction systems of the of Warden satellites, or even the lesser versions of the Fearmonger corvettes. Still, the Golugan did not see any sense in lessening a ship's capacity to be aware of threats potential and obvious, so the Gargantua could detect jump patterns, incoming and outgoing.

There was little time to react. But when the interface between ship and crew was as fast as the speed of thought and the ship had a mind of its own, that narrow window was sufficient. The Gargantua shifted its pilot bulb within the torso nanite cluster to change direction for a beeline to the destination point, backflipping to bring its tailspike to bear, firing the fifth and final gun there to finish chewing through the shields before closing the gap for what the Gargantua was designed for: latching on to the foe with its claws and tailspike and ripping it apart, wearing down its own shield against the enemy shielding in an effort to break through.

"The planet of Lanoria, beautiful isn't it?" A man in an army vest said. He was standing next to a female Leanorian, a lion-like (or in this case lioness-like) creature, who gazed at her home planet for the station that floated above it. "It is quite beautiful, are all of your kind like you?" She said happily. "Not all-" he was interrupted by a voice coming through a speaker system, "Attention! Attention. Unidentified ship appoaching. All personel to your stations."
"Well looks like I gotta go, talk to ya more later." The man said as he ran off. The anti-assault cannons were activating and repositioning to prepare for a possible conflict. Each one began bombarding the ship with messages in Universal.
<You are crossing into the Greywatch Empire, Hollow Falls region, planet Lanoria space. Please state your name and what you require or move on.>

OOC: Shit, never saw this. Post coming...soon...

<"Well, what do we do about it?">

<"Meh, tell the Captain to send a drone and let them talk to it. They're near-insane from boredom, and like to talk anyways.">

A message was sent and then a drone was launched, and it headed, more like rocketed, to the other probe. Stopping in front of it, it's scanners washed over it lovingly, taking in every detail, hovering ever so close to get the best picture. Then, after putting the toys away, it opened a channel to probe.

"Greetings, I am PDN-45789. May I ask why you are in our space? I'd hope not any hostile intentions; we have ways of ensuring you vanish if you do."

The probe was scanning the technology thi drone wa using and relayed the information back to the ship. The ship in turn studied the drone specifications and sent the information back to the Kezarn planet where scientists would try and copy the drone.

The probe communication device was activated and through it spoke a Kezarn voice, sounding harsh upon ears.

"We do not know who claims this space. We have no hostile intentions unless you give you reason to, which we hope you do not. We are the Kezarn and investigating the pace around our own area, wishing to branch out and ee what we find. It seems we have found you."

The Gargantua did not have the transport interdiction systems of the of Warden satellites, or even the lesser versions of the Fearmonger corvettes. Still, the Golugan did not see any sense in lessening a ship's capacity to be aware of threats potential and obvious, so the Gargantua could detect jump patterns, incoming and outgoing.

There was little time to react. But when the interface between ship and crew was as fast as the speed of thought and the ship had a mind of its own, that narrow window was sufficient. The Gargantua shifted its pilot bulb within the torso nanite cluster to change direction for a beeline to the destination point, backflipping to bring its tailspike to bear, firing the fifth and final gun there to finish chewing through the shields before closing the gap for what the Gargantua was designed for: latching on to the foe with its claws and tailspike and ripping it apart, wearing down its own shield against the enemy shielding in an effort to break through.

"Shields down. Next course of action Sir?"

General Mye just stared fascinated at the enemy ship.

"Have the enemy ship specifications been noted?. he asked.

"Yes Sir. It is protocol after all."

"And the information been sent home?", Mye further inquired.

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Now onto to this situation. How do you think our gun will fare against this extraordinary beast?"

"We should cast ome effective damage on the enemy ship sir. Maybe enough to interfere with it power to allow enough time for a more devastating attack."

"Very good.", commented Mye, "Fire."

"The planet of Lanoria, beautiful isn't it?" A man in an army vest said. He was standing next to a female Leanorian, a lion-like (or in this case lioness-like) creature, who gazed at her home planet for the station that floated above it. "It is quite beautiful, are all of your kind like you?" She said happily. "Not all-" he was interrupted by a voice coming through a speaker system, "Attention! Attention. Unidentified ship appoaching. All personel to your stations."
"Well looks like I gotta go, talk to ya more later." The man said as he ran off. The anti-assault cannons were activating and repositioning to prepare for a possible conflict. Each one began bombarding the ship with messages in Universal.
<You are crossing into the Greywatch Empire, Hollow Falls region, planet Lanoria space. Please state your name and what you require or move on.>

Kezarn Ship Gamma

The space station they watched was interesting but as it was too cloe to a planet, the Kezarn knew this would be a fight they could not win effectively. Instead this Kezarn ship decided to watch from afar, just outside Greywatch borders to see if the race they had encountered would be unsettled by such a n action. If in this way the Kezarn were attacked they would have a legal reason to go to war, should they be attacked in neutral space.

They did not respond to the message, merely waited.

OOC: Shit, never saw this. Post coming...soon...

Look forward to it.

"The only proof we can give is that fact that this ship has not taken offensive measures. Our purpose is to open up relations with those near our system and even open up talks of an alliance."

"That point has merit, sir."

General Lupus turned to his X.O. "Yes I know that point has merit, but that doesn't help us in handling this. Damn, I wish they had attacked us. At least we could have ended this problem swiftly."

"True, but then that could result in a war, sir," the X.O. countered. General Lupus sighed.

"Fine! Send them a message or something," the communications officer looked up.

"About what sir?" General Lupus turned to the officer.

"I don't know... Ask them how they wish to hold these talks," the communications officer nodded.

"Yes sir. Right away sir," the officer went to work.

Understood. How do you plan on holding a diplomatic meeting with us? We cannot allow you near our ships nor near our planets. It would have to be an isolated site with equal distance between our systems.

On the fringe of the cluster of star systems controlled by the Dominion, business was going as usual. With the Slaughterian race expanding and allies in the neighboring inhabitable systems, the Dominion Starfleet Corps of Terraformers was dispatched to what Dominion star charts classified as the Pi Zeta system. When they arrived one year earlier, all of the planets were in around Class H. Now, Zeta Prime was a full-fledged Class M planet with the other five at Class L; habitable but hostile.

With Zeta Prime now fully terraformed and populated, it was no longer under Starfleet control but was turned over to the government, the civilians. Aside from a case in the capital city and outposts and barracks on the planet for the standard Dominion Defense Force garrison, no military were present. In orbit, Starfleet maintained its terraforming and patrol operations in the system through a central Command and Control Station (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/baneth.jpg) in orbit. To compliment it was a Raven class capital ship (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/p2prototype.jpg) acting as the big guns in the system as well as making use of its wormhole generator FTL drive to relay supplies between the Antares Fleet Yards and here.

From there the firepower diminished drastically, with patrols of a dozen frigates (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/Omegaclasscruiser.jpg) and five squadrons of Attack Ships (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/attackship.jpg). They were fairly well spread out, covering the unusually wide orbits of the planets in the system. An asteroid belt cut off the outer two planets from the inner four, and was composed of a subspace-dampening ore that something with the power of a planetary communications net would have to be brought to bear to penetrate it. There were currently one squadron of Attack Ships and two frigates out on patrol amidst the two planets, which contained small terraforming centers.

The command center of the first Leanorian defense cannon:

Officer: "Sir, they're sitting in nuetral space but they're still in range."
Commander: "Don't fire, if there's more that'll give 'em an excuse to attack us. We don't need another war."
Leanorian Officer: "What's going on?"
Commander: "Un-IDed ship just sitting there."
Leanorian Officer: "I'll contact the surface."
The commander nodded without saying anything. On the surface of the planet, anti-orbital cannons began to power-up.
Leanorian Officer: "I just told them, they're prepingthe cannons now."
Commander: "Alright, everyone, keep this up and running. Tell the other cannons to get ready."

The Gargantua sent a shockwave through the Kezarn vessel as its observation bulb quartered to open its mouth in a roar of outrage at the offending fire. With the discipline of the crew guiding the machine, however, it began using its three weaponized limbs to systematically attack the unshielded enemy weapon systems by impaling the mounts. It's blows were lethargic as enemy fire wore on, but the head snapped out at one of the severed weapons, the nanites in the primary hull syphoning off what power remained in the system before spitting the mount back out at the enemy ship with weapons velocity, aiming for where the nanites from the Gargantua's initial bombardment suggested the command center was.

ADV Uplifting Demon was a standard Pinnacle-class heavy cruiser, a ship designed for war - and showing it. It was heavily armed and armored, though not excessively so - but discovering random, unknown objects moving around in space that had been claimed but not yet colonized by the Amazonian Dominion wasn't a rarity. It happened a lot, and the Dominion generally had to use a show of force to ward off whatever interlopers decided to flaunt such regulations.

The thing in question seemed to be some sort of ship - unknown in form or function. The Demon was ready for numerous situations - besides being heavily armed, also had a good amount of security personnel on board - security meaning "excessively armed and trained." The crew was the usual amalgamate of species of the Dominion, from the smartest species to the toughest to the most aggressive. In a multicultural civilization such as the one Amazonia had started, it was the tendency to take the best attributes from all and leave weakness behind.

The ship in question wasn't left alone, however. A Dominion probe shot from the Demon to go investigate, activating all active sensors to completely sweep the alien vessel in full. Whatever it was, the Amazonians wanted to figure it out.

"That point has merit, sir."

General Lupus turned to his X.O. "Yes I know that point has merit, but that doesn't help us in handling this. Damn, I wish they had attacked us. At least we could have ended this problem swiftly."

"True, but then that could result in a war, sir," the X.O. countered. General Lupus sighed.

"Fine! Send them a message or something," the communications officer looked up.

"About what sir?" General Lupus turned to the officer.

"I don't know... Ask them how they wish to hold these talks," the communications officer nodded.

"Yes sir. Right away sir," the officer went to work.

Understood. How do you plan on holding a diplomatic meeting with us? We cannot allow you near our ships nor near our planets. It would have to be an isolated site with equal distance between our systems.

Those aboard Kezarn Ship Beta analysed the message they had received from those they had encountered.

"Send a message to thee people and at the same time open up a closed communications channel so home can listen in." Thia was General Pulta speaking, one of the more calmer and wary Generals.

We can think of no area within that pace that would be suitable. Instead we propose you come aboard our ship and allow talk from there. Of course you may be wary of thi course of action, after all we are a new race. In light of this we will even allow every single one of your guns to be aimed at us and should harm befall you, we would be destroyed.

On the fringe of the cluster of star systems controlled by the Dominion, business was going as usual. With the Slaughterian race expanding and allies in the neighboring inhabitable systems, the Dominion Starfleet Corps of Terraformers was dispatched to what Dominion star charts classified as the Pi Zeta system. When they arrived one year earlier, all of the planets were in around Class H. Now, Zeta Prime was a full-fledged Class M planet with the other five at Class L; habitable but hostile.

With Zeta Prime now fully terraformed and populated, it was no longer under Starfleet control but was turned over to the government, the civilians. Aside from a case in the capital city and outposts and barracks on the planet for the standard Dominion Defense Force garrison, no military were present. In orbit, Starfleet maintained its terraforming and patrol operations in the system through a central Command and Control Station (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/baneth.jpg) in orbit. To compliment it was a Raven class capital ship (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/p2prototype.jpg) acting as the big guns in the system as well as making use of its wormhole generator FTL drive to relay supplies between the Antares Fleet Yards and here.

From there the firepower diminished drastically, with patrols of a dozen frigates (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/Omegaclasscruiser.jpg) and five squadrons of Attack Ships (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/DominionofRS/attackship.jpg). They were fairly well spread out, covering the unusually wide orbits of the planets in the system. An asteroid belt cut off the outer two planets from the inner four, and was composed of a subspace-dampening ore that something with the power of a planetary communications net would have to be brought to bear to penetrate it. There were currently one squadron of Attack Ships and two frigates out on patrol amidst the two planets, which contained small terraforming centers.

Kezarn Ship Zeta

This ship had detected small outposts of an unknown race and so did what the Kezarn did best. Initiate a quick attack and disappear in seconds. Zeta locked onto a couple of outposts and hit high speeds. They flew towards the outposts, fired their higher powered guns and without surveying what damage they had caused, disappeared into the darkness of space.

This seemingly random attack, was all part of a Kezarn plan.

The command center of the first Leanorian defense cannon:

Officer: "Sir, they're sitting in nuetral space but they're still in range."
Commander: "Don't fire, if there's more that'll give 'em an excuse to attack us. We don't need another war."
Leanorian Officer: "What's going on?"
Commander: "Un-IDed ship just sitting there."
Leanorian Officer: "I'll contact the surface."
The commander nodded without saying anything. On the surface of the planet, anti-orbital cannons began to power-up.
Leanorian Officer: "I just told them, they're prepingthe cannons now."
Commander: "Alright, everyone, keep this up and running. Tell the other cannons to get ready."

The highly inteeligent ship defence system had picked up that they were being targetted by weapons. Though this was the case, the ship had been in contact with others and was not worried. These people could not do anything without facing condemnation from bigger races and if this ship was destroyed the true fury of the Kezarn would befall such thses peoples. A fury so devastating, enemy soldiers would contemplate killing themselve instead of having to face the Kezarn.

The Gargantua sent a shockwave through the Kezarn vessel as its observation bulb quartered to open its mouth in a roar of outrage at the offending fire. With the discipline of the crew guiding the machine, however, it began using its three weaponized limbs to systematically attack the unshielded enemy weapon systems by impaling the mounts. It's blows were lethargic as enemy fire wore on, but the head snapped out at one of the severed weapons, the nanites in the primary hull syphoning off what power remained in the system before spitting the mount back out at the enemy ship with weapons velocity, aiming for where the nanites from the Gargantua's initial bombardment suggested the command center was.

"We're being locked onto sir, we have only 10% chance of survival."

General Mye was prepared for such an event. The ship was already taking heavy dmamge and it would be suicidal to stay.

"Initiate Operation Breakaway."

The Operation meant the ship would split into two, with the Command Centre, holding all the crew, going into hyperspace and leaving behind the main body of the ship which would initiate its final defence, a large explosion which last but a second and in that second cause some final damage to the enemy.

The Ship comand centre broke away and vanished...

ADV Uplifting Demon was a standard Pinnacle-class heavy cruiser, a ship designed for war - and showing it. It was heavily armed and armored, though not excessively so - but discovering random, unknown objects moving around in space that had been claimed but not yet colonized by the Amazonian Dominion wasn't a rarity. It happened a lot, and the Dominion generally had to use a show of force to ward off whatever interlopers decided to flaunt such regulations.

The thing in question seemed to be some sort of ship - unknown in form or function. The Demon was ready for numerous situations - besides being heavily armed, also had a good amount of security personnel on board - security meaning "excessively armed and trained." The crew was the usual amalgamate of species of the Dominion, from the smartest species to the toughest to the most aggressive. In a multicultural civilization such as the one Amazonia had started, it was the tendency to take the best attributes from all and leave weakness behind.

The ship in question wasn't left alone, however. A Dominion probe shot from the Demon to go investigate, activating all active sensors to completely sweep the alien vessel in full. Whatever it was, the Amazonians wanted to figure it out.

Kezarn Ship Ion

A heavily armoured warship had been detected. The Kezarn watched it and investigated the probe that was now canning thier systems. They let it do so without interfering but at the ame time launched a probe of their own to ee what kind of specifications they had encountered.

The day had been a quiet one for Lueitenant Alfredo Santiago, Commanding Officer of the the DWS Epsilon, the head of the formation. They were throwing off long range sensor scans at preset intervals as they cruised along the rim of the outermost planet's orbital trajectory. His crew of twenty were all halfheartedly going about their business; the Dominion had not engaged in any kind of conflict since their exodus to the is galaxy after the great Civil War.

This was about to change, however, as a klaxon sounded at the sensor station. The Ensign manning it checked the station and reported to Santiago,

"Sir, we have a sensor contact moving in-system at speed. It seems to be headed toward-"

He turned pale, his words somewhat broken as he informed Santiago of what happned next, "S-sir, they've ch-charged weapons and fi-fired on Terraforming Stations 5 and 6. We-we've lost all contact with both stations. My God...I had a cousin on Station 5..."

"Get ahold of yourself soldier!" Santiago barked, "OPen a channel to the Squadron. All Attack Ships we are moving in on a sensor contact moving quickly out of the system. Raise shields and charge weapons."

With fighter-like precision the ships fell into formation behind the Epsilon and altered course. They gunned their impulse drive and began pursuit when suddenly the contact vanished, going to FTL.

"I've lost them! Dammit!" the Tactical Officer yelled, "Nothing we can do now sir, our ships aren't designed for pursuit at high warp. I suggest we rendezvous with the frigates Horizon and Indefatigable at Zeta 5. Squadrons Alpha and Beta are accompanying the Halcyon to Zeta 6. The Lazarus is moving past the asteroid belt to get a transmission to Zeta Prime, but it was farther out than we were. It'll take an hour at slower-than light speeds."

"Very well," Santiago replied, "Squadron, change course to Zeta 5."

All of the vessels on the outer side of the belt were now at the two planets, save the frigate Lazarus moving toward the spatial boundary to contact the control station Baneth, orbiting Zeta Prime. The remaining eight frigates and two Attack Ship Squadrons were patrolling the inner system and the Acheron was docked at Baneth Station.

The commander eyed the screen in front of him, "They want us to shoot. They've got a bigger force behind them, I'll bet and they want us to give them an excuse." The Leanorian officer looked at him quizically, "I understand you humans are more concerned with making friends rather than enemies but if that is the case than why not fire? If they intend to attack you'll be getting rid of one ship before the battle even begins."
"That's against our protocol, I wan't to remedy this situation, not make it worse."
"I understand, but know that if they plan to attack, my people will not be so merciful."
"I understand that fully. Just know that if they attack your people, you will have full support of all your allies."
The Leanorian nodded, "in that case I'll be returning to the surface. Please keep be updated." The commander looked over at him and nodded. He then went over to one of his own officers and whispered something in his ear. A few moment later that station went to pre-combat mode. A voice from the speakers around the ship began calling for all non-personel to begin evacuating the ship. Multiple small transports began leaving the station to return to the planet surface.

OOC: The weapons on the surface can't detect the ship yet and have only powered up.

The day had been a quiet one for Lueitenant Alfredo Santiago, Commanding Officer of the the DWS Epsilon, the head of the formation. They were throwing off long range sensor scans at preset intervals as they cruised along the rim of the outermost planet's orbital trajectory. His crew of twenty were all halfheartedly going about their business; the Dominion had not engaged in any kind of conflict since their exodus to the is galaxy after the great Civil War.

This was about to change, however, as a klaxon sounded at the sensor station. The Ensign manning it checked the station and reported to Santiago,

"Sir, we have a sensor contact moving in-system at speed. It seems to be headed toward-"

He turned pale, his words somewhat broken as he informed Santiago of what happned next, "S-sir, they've ch-charged weapons and fi-fired on Terraforming Stations 5 and 6. We-we've lost all contact with both stations. My God...I had a cousin on Station 5..."

"Get ahold of yourself soldier!" Santiago barked, "OPen a channel to the Squadron. All Attack Ships we are moving in on a sensor contact moving quickly out of the system. Raise shields and charge weapons."

With fighter-like precision the ships fell into formation behind the Epsilon and altered course. They gunned their impulse drive and began pursuit when suddenly the contact vanished, going to FTL.

"I've lost them! Dammit!" the Tactical Officer yelled, "Nothing we can do now sir, our ships aren't designed for pursuit at high warp. I suggest we rendezvous with the frigates Horizon and Indefatigable at Zeta 5. Squadrons Alpha and Beta are accompanying the Halcyon to Zeta 6. The Lazarus is moving past the asteroid belt to get a transmission to Zeta Prime, but it was farther out than we were. It'll take an hour at slower-than light speeds."

"Very well," Santiago replied, "Squadron, change course to Zeta 5."

All of the vessels on the outer side of the belt were now at the two planets, save the frigate Lazarus moving toward the spatial boundary to contact the control station Baneth, orbiting Zeta Prime. The remaining eight frigates and two Attack Ship Squadrons were patrolling the inner system and the Acheron was docked at Baneth Station.

The Kezarn would not attack this race for a while. They were lucky as they had not been followed and their first major attack since the War was thought to have been successful. The Epsilon had gone into neutral space and the crew knew that the enemy would step up their patrols everywhere looking for them. They would have a long search.

The commander eyed the screen in front of him, "They want us to shoot. They've got a bigger force behind them, I'll bet and they want us to give them an excuse." The Leanorian officer looked at him quizically, "I understand you humans are more concerned with making friends rather than enemies but if that is the case than why not fire? If they intend to attack you'll be getting rid of one ship before the battle even begins."
"That's against our protocol, I wan't to remedy this situation, not make it worse."
"I understand, but know that if they plan to attack, my people will not be so merciful."
"I understand that fully. Just know that if they attack your people, you will have full support of all your allies."
The Leanorian nodded, "in that case I'll be returning to the surface. Please keep be updated." The commander looked over at him and nodded. He then went over to one of his own officers and whispered something in his ear. A few moment later that station went to pre-combat mode. A voice from the speakers around the ship began calling for all non-personel to begin evacuating the ship. Multiple small transports began leaving the station to return to the planet surface.

OOC: The weapons on the surface can't detect the ship yet and have only powered up.

OOC: Gotcha

IC: The ship stayed just outside the borders and went around it scanning any thing of significance that could be copied. It was still in neutral space and the Kezarn knew how to worry their opponents. They would continue circling outside the border until they received some kind of reaction.

One of the officers looked over at the commander, "Sir, they're trying to scan us. Long range, quite impressive." The commander kept his eyes on the screen, "Send a message to the other stations to change their shield frequencies. Also, send another message, but with a little more 'umph' this time." The officer began transmitting a new message wave.
<We are aware of your scanning capabilities. We are aware that this is a lure. We do not like being tested. By scanning us you are commiting an offence against us: this offence would be known as spying. We are not looking for a war, but we will not back down if you give us a reason to attack. This is a warning and I suggest that you heed it well.>
"Message sent sir," the officer said, "I hope they'll get the picture now." The commander looked down at him, "Me too soldier, me too."

One of the officers looked over at the commander, "Sir, they're trying to scan us. Long range, quite impressive." The commander kept his eyes on the screen, "Send a message to the other stations to change their shield frequencies. Also, send another message, but with a little more 'umph' this time." The officer began transmitting a new message wave.
<We are aware of your scanning capabilities. We are aware that this is a lure. We do not like being tested. By scanning us you are commiting an offence against us: this offence would be known as spying. We are not looking for a war, but we will not back down if you give us a reason to attack. This is a warning and I suggest that you heed it well.>
"Message sent sir," the officer said, "I hope they'll get the picture now." The commander looked down at him, "Me too soldier, me too."

The scans stopped but a handful of information had been gathered. Maybe enough to help the Kezarn. They stopped scanning and instead held their position outside the border. The Kezarn were sensible but they also didn't just back down.

Just then there was a huge spacial disturbance that looked like what could only be described as a bright blue glowing fissure opened up behind the ship. It was a massive Pressure Space rift, a technology that only the Empire of Greywatch knew how to create. As multiple transports and frigates shuffled out of the rift, the small unidentified ship began to be pulled in.

OOC: Pressure Space is an exclusive Greywatch spacial travel system, it's called this because the rifts generate great amounts of gravity and ships that cannot adapt their sheilds to them are pulled into and crushed by the free-flowing energies inside.

Just then there was a huge spacial disturbance that looked like what could only be described as a bright blue glowing fissure opened up behind the ship. It was a massive Pressure Space rift, a technology that only the Empire of Greywatch knew how to create. As multiple transports and frigates shuffled out of the rift, the small unidentified ship began to be pulled in.

OOC: Pressure Space is an exclusive Greywatch spacial travel system, it's called this because the rifts generate great amounts of gravity and ships that cannot adapt their sheilds to them are pulled into and crushed by the free-flowing energies inside.


OOC: Very interesting way of destroying something.

IC:

"They're going kill us. Send the distress message home!"

The ship managed to send the final message before being dragged in and crushed like a small insect.

Home

It was official. An act of hostility had been committed against the Kezarn, killing them in a very unhonourable way. This angered the Kezarn. The Generals convened and decided upon an open war, sending a universal message to all that would hear them.

"Today is a grave day. A peaceful expedition ship of the Kezarn was destroyed by the psychotic people of Greywatch just for going around their border. At no point was the Greywatch border breached by the expedition ship. A senseless murder of our people.

In light of this event, the Kezarn formally declare war upon those of Greywatch. Any who ally with them, merely show all they are just as big a monsters."

The message was sent.

While the message was sent, the Kezarn Warrior Guard was sent to fight the Greywatch fleet. Thanks to technologies copied, the Kezarn were able to send over 700 battleships without leaving a dent in numbers in the main body of the army. Cloning had it's advantages.

These 700 ships approached the Greywatch border...

The multiple ships approached the planet, "Sir, I'm pretty sure a small ship got pulled into the rift." The commander of the station looked in horror at the screen before responding, "Well that could be one hell of a problem, we're sure that they were trying to start a war with us and were looking for an excuse. Did you detect any messages?"
The lead ship responded, "Uh, yeah actually. Shit, you think this little accident is going to lead to another war?"
The commander looked around the room, everyone's faces were pale, "Yes, I think we're going to have a war on our hands. Get the transports down to the surface and prep for an evac, meanwhile I'm gonna need your frigate to help prep a security border around the planet," he looked to one of his officers, "Contact the Leanorians, tell 'em we have a possible situation," he looked to another officer, "Contact Greywatch Prime and alert them of what's happened."

OOC: Accidental wars are funny when you think about it.

After the detonation, the Gargantua was nearly dead, if an automaton could be said to be alive. Onboard, however, life support was still fully functional, and the Gargantua could hear the guiding thoughts. Disassemble the nanites that were disrupted by the enemy weapons to restore minimal operational capacity, then feed on the remnants of the detonated hull.

The multiple ships approached the planet, "Sir, I'm pretty sure a small ship got pulled into the rift." The commander of the station looked in horror at the screen before responding, "Well that could be one hell of a problem, we're sure that they were trying to start a war with us and were looking for an excuse. Did you detect any messages?"
The lead ship responded, "Uh, yeah actually. Shit, you think this little accident is going to lead to another war?"
The commander looked around the room, everyone's faces were pale, "Yes, I think we're going to have a war on our hands. Get the transports down to the surface and prep for an evac, meanwhile I'm gonna need your frigate to help prep a security border around the planet," he looked to one of his officers, "Contact the Leanorians, tell 'em we have a possible situation," he looked to another officer, "Contact Greywatch Prime and alert them of what's happened."

OOC: Accidental wars are funny when you think about it.

OOC: They are indeed.

IC:

The 700 ships, a mix of Frigates, Destroyers and Warships, approached the Greywatch border and sent a message.

"You have committed an act of war against our people, killing friends of ours in a senseless act. You're paranoia will now lead to your untimely destruction. A shame as we were thinking of opening talks of diplomacy with you."

The message was sent and the ships got into formation. The frigates moved to the front of the formation creating a defence. They opened fire upon any ship that traveled within the Greywatch border.



After the detonation, the Gargantua was nearly dead, if an automaton could be said to be alive. Onboard, however, life support was still fully functional, and the Gargantua could hear the guiding thoughts. Disassemble the nanites that were disrupted by the enemy weapons to restore minimal operational capacity, then feed on the remnants of the detonated hull.

General Mye and his crew were making their way back to the Kezarn planet, to regroup. A message had reached them of a possible war breaking with another race they had encountered.. Things were looking promising though the people the General had encountered had destroyed his ship and he wanted revenge.

After recovering from the battle, the Gargantua swept the system to determine if the hostiles were natives to the area. After failing to find anything more than a promising tropical world with an abundance of saltwater oceans and devoid of sentient life, the vessel returned, slightly thinner than when it left, to its homeworld that friendlier aliens had come to call Cannakalle.

It arrived through hyperspace, easily identifying and bypassing the artificial gravity well generated by the satellite network's interdiction system. Hyperspeed travelers unable to differentiate would come short of the field's perimeter, while those using gate based travel would find the gating system kaleidoscoped and scattered, forcing hostiles incoming through such methods to either 'port in outside the perimeter or give the native Golugani a fireworks display.

The Gargantua docked it the Interdiction satellite orbitting, and thus protecting, Cannakalle. After the crew of the ship debriefed, the scientific minds of the race went about developing systems to make it so the nanites could restore their power and communication networks more efficiently. Meanwhile, macrotechnicians went over the computer systems that the Gargantua had consumed, hoping to find coordinates for the hostile's homeworld.

Emergency teams were beaming down to the planets, which were fortunately habitable at this stage in the terraforming process. Out of the teams of ten on each planet, two were dead and another five wounded. The stations were an almost total loss. The dead were put into emergency stasis for tranposrt back to Baneth Station where the medical staff would attempt to revive using nanites to repair the damage and operate their life functions until they were fit to do so under their own power.

The Indefatigable left orbit and was taking them dead and wounded to Baneth at maximum impulse power, leaving the total count of vessel outside the belt at three Attack Ships Squadrons, and two frigates. The Lazarus had just crossed the belt's boundary and was transmitting on an open frequency across the Dominion ComNet:

Frigate [I]Lazarus reporting from Pi Zeta system. Zeta 5 and Zeta 6 have come under attack from unknown foe. Vessel patterns do match any known configuration in TacNet. Two dead, five wounded. Both planets have been evacuated. Request immediate reinforcement and hunter-killer groups.

The Acheron recieved the communication and relayed the message back to the homeworld, Epsilon Prime. It then broke orbit and began moving toward the edge of the system. It broadcast back to the Lazarus that all vessel save the Horizon and Halcyon were to move back to the inner system and beef up patrols around the intact stations. The terraforming stations on 5 and 6 were a loss for now, and all critical systems and technology were removed until reinforcements could arrive, but that would take some time.

They would rendezvous with the capital ship at Zeta 5 and start scans with Acheron's more powerful senor array. This change in formation would take nearly half an hour to complete.

A probe sent a deep space message back as soon as it recieved the first one:

<As convinitent as it would be to blame this soley on us, your ship recieved several friendly, non-threatening messages and chose not to respond. It even commited the offence of trying to scan us for what seemed like an attempt to gain tactical information. While you may believe we attacked your ship, we did not, your ship was destoryed because it chose to sit in an area commonly used as a waypoint for transports, the rift cause by the transports warp engine is what destoryed your ship, and as far as we could tell, you were trying to start a war with our race the entire time. We did not intend to fight you, but since you seemed so determined to start this conflict, we will not back down. It is a shame that you chose to pick a fight with us.>

The ships had already made it to the surface and preparations were being made. Around the planet, Guardian class anti-spacial assault cannons were already online. Each one had its shields powered up and a barrage of weapons ready to fire, the Greywatch Empire knew it had been forced into a battle it did not wish to fight, and was then blamed for the battle's creation. The 50 cannons opened up as soon as the ships dropped out of warp.

Meanwhile, the Greywatch Prime Council had already discussed the situation, they had declared a full war against this ne threat. Long had Greywatch been the victim of mindless assaults but no more, it was decided that 50 of there best ships would be sent to help resolve the conflict. These were no pushovers though, these were first class ships made to handle conflict like this. But it did not stop there, the 4 races of the council also agreed for the humans to call upon the Forbidden Ministry to help them in this time of need. All the races began to mobilize their forces and an alert was sent throughout the Empire that a war was coming. Even a few of the illusive Elden agreed to join the battle, knowing that they had as much to lose as the others. The command had been given, an agressive enemy had appeared, war was about to happen.

On the surface of the planet the Leanorians were already preparing for the worst. The enemy had made one huge mistake, Leanorians did not have much in the form of armored and air defense or support, other that what the humans gave them, but that was because as soon as an enemy fought in low attitudes or on the ground, the Leanorians were a force to be reckoned with. They began their prayers and their war rituals, anyone who wished to taunt them or their allies was going to face a true hell.

OOC: Note these are five-barreled, heavily-shielded, anti-matter charge firing, anti-assault cannons. They are able to fire with a 6 second cooldown time between each shot for every individual barrel. They are also armed with many other close range and medium range weapons. Note that every capital planet will have similar amounts of spacial defence.

Emergency teams were beaming down to the planets, which were fortunately habitable at this stage in the terraforming process. Out of the teams of ten on each planet, two were dead and another five wounded. The stations were an almost total loss. The dead were put into emergency stasis for tranposrt back to Baneth Station where the medical staff would attempt to revive using nanites to repair the damage and operate their life functions until they were fit to do so under their own power.

The Indefatigable left orbit and was taking them dead and wounded to Baneth at maximum impulse power, leaving the total count of vessel outside the belt at three Attack Ships Squadrons, and two frigates. The Lazarus had just crossed the belt's boundary and was transmitting on an open frequency across the Dominion ComNet:



The [I]Acheron recieved the communication and relayed the message back to the homeworld, Epsilon Prime. It then broke orbit and began moving toward the edge of the system. It broadcast back to the Lazarus that all vessel save the Horizon and Halcyon were to move back to the inner system and beef up patrols around the intact stations. The terraforming stations on 5 and 6 were a loss for now, and all critical systems and technology were removed until reinforcements could arrive, but that would take some time.

They would rendezvous with the capital ship at Zeta 5 and start scans with Acheron's more powerful senor array. This change in formation would take nearly half an hour to complete.

Kezarn Ship Zeta had been prepared to expect a backlash against them, but so far none had come. The Kezarn were not celebrating any victory for no victory had come. Even some on board were quite stunned they had attacked innocents, but those were the orders. However, any casualty taken now would be so in a state of war, something they had started. It was time for Phase 2:

They would fly in again and hit one of the many defence ships they would find. It would be the same attack format as before, go in and get out before the enemy could blink. There was a chance that they would not get out unscathed or even at all but it was risk they were willing to take to further the Kezarn cause. They went back to hit them again.

A probe sent a deep space message back as soon as it recieved the first one:

<As convinitent as it would be to blame this soley on us, your ship recieved several friendly, non-threatening messages and chose not to respond. It even commited the offence of trying to scan us for what seemed like an attempt to gain tactical information. While you may believe we attacked your ship, we did not, your ship was destoryed because it chose to sit in an area commonly used as a waypoint for transports, the rift cause by the transports warp engine is what destoryed your ship, and as far as we could tell, you were trying to start a war with our race the entire time. We did not intend to fight you, but since you seemed so determined to start this conflict, we will not back down. It is a shame that you chose to pick a fight with us.>

The ships had already made it to the surface and preparations were being made. Around the planet, Guardian class anti-spacial assault cannons were already online. Each one had its shields powered up and a barrage of weapons ready to fire, the Greywatch Empire knew it had been forced into a battle it did not wish to fight, and was then blamed for the battle's creation. The 50 cannons opened up as soon as the ships dropped out of warp.

Meanwhile, the Greywatch Prime Council had already discussed the situation, they had declared a full war against this ne threat. Long had Greywatch been the victim of mindless assaults but no more, it was decided that 50 of there best ships would be sent to help resolve the conflict. These were no pushovers though, these were first class ships made to handle conflict like this. But it did not stop there, the 4 races of the council also agreed for the humans to call upon the Forbidden Ministry to help them in this time of need. All the races began to mobilize their forces and an alert was sent throughout the Empire that a war was coming. Even a few of the illusive Elden agreed to join the battle, knowing that they had as much to lose as the others. The command had been given, an agressive enemy had appeared, war was about to happen.

On the surface of the planet the Leanorians were already preparing for the worst. The enemy had made one huge mistake, Leanorians did not have much in the form of armored and air defense or support, other that what the humans gave them, but that was because as soon as an enemy fought in low attitudes or on the ground, the Leanorians were a force to be reckoned with. They began their prayers and their war rituals, anyone who wished to taunt them or their allies was going to face a true hell.

OOC: Note these are five-barreled, heavily-shielded, anti-matter charge firing, anti-assault cannons. They are able to fire with a 6 second cooldown time between each shot for every individual barrel. They are also armed with many other close range and medium range weapons. Note that every capital planet will have similar amounts of spacial defence.

"An excuse for war.", said Commander Hison quietly.

The Kezarn would not respond with a message that would only prolong this situation. They would send a message in the form of destruction. The frigates were ready to fire upon the first enemy ships, while the shields were put up.

"Fire", said Hison.

Upon on his command 300 frigates opened fire on Greywatch. War had begun...

The cannons opened fire as soon as the first ship appeared, blue streaks lit up the darkness as all the cannons fired in a shotgun-like fashion, taking out many of the frigates that had formed a 'wall' formation. "Sir, we're taking out a lot of the ships, their shields are pretty strong though. Are we gonna get any support?" Said one of the officers. The commander was busy watching as ships dissapeared in bright blue explosions, "Yes, we are. For now we just want to hold them here. And watch those incoming blasts," the station rumbled as it was struck, "Dammit, how many are there?!" The commander yelled as the station rumbled from more blasts. "About 700 sir, fewer now that our cannons have knocked off a few. They're currently at 659 ships. Don't known how much longer a barrage like this can be taken though." Another officer yelled. "We've gotten word that Lea Station 28 has taken a big hit, their shields are almost down!" Screemed another officer. "Dammit, tell them to hold nothing back, fire everything!" The commander yelled back, on the screen a station taking in a large about of damage was firing off small pods at the direction of the enemy fleet. The pods were traveling fast and were so small that they'd be hard to target. Many of them hit their targets at the same time, suddenly there was a bright flash of white, everyone aboard the stations turned away from the screens in front of them. The station weapons continued to fire at any ships that moved toward the planet. "How many of the them are left now?" The commander questioned one of his tactical officers. "Hold on... okay, they have about 481 ships left, that left a bit of a dent I think." An officer responded, on screen the station that had fired the weapons burst into flames and soon after exploded as it was hit by two more shots. "Shit! Sir we've-" The commander cut the officer off, "I saw it soldier, they did what they had to." Three more stations were lost soon afterwards, "Dammit all, I don't know how long we'll be able to take this. Those reinforcements better get here soon." The battle raged on as ground forces prepare for what could be a long day.

Meanwhile on Greywatch prime, multiple cruisers were being prepared to offer support. Each one too big to land on the planet, they orbitted five at a time as soldiers and officers were loaded aboard. They were large ships that used a special extra-thick hull as well as powerful shields. Each one could be used to invade a planet, they were loaded down with weapons, men, and smaller fighter craft. The prparations were almost done and the ships began getting into formation. As soon as the last two crusiers were done, the group would be able to leave.

The Greywatch Council recieved news of the lastest in the battle, by this time nine of the stations were gone but 439 ships still remained. The council decide it best not to send off a few cruisers and then send in the bulk behind them, a full on hit would be good enough. From the information they'd already recieved, if the cruisers opened their pressure space rift near the enemy, they would be able to wipe out a few more ships without even having to do anything. Meanwhile the other races of the Greywatch Empire began preparing themselves for war. They had all been insulted, whether they were human or not, they all knew the situation. Someone ahd tried to provoke them, failed, and then when that someone was killed in an accident, Greywatch took the blame. And to top it all off, the enemy had tried to guilt trip them with the same bullshit that enemies always used to justify their attacks. Greywatch didn't have the most pleasant history, one more enemy they had to cut down... so be it. Forces all over the empire began to mobilize. The council addressed every world and every race to let them know of the situation, if this enemy want to be a warmonger, then so be it.

The Forbidden Ministry had also begun to stir, their soldiers were of the highest class. The dark and unknown members of the Forbidden found that their skills were needed more than ever, and they were going to give assaistance without question. The well known Council of Dragons also began to rise up. Its members knew that there was much at stake and they were not about to lose everything because some other race was so stuck up that they would crush others for stupid reasons and then claim it wasn't their fault. Even the forces in New Heaven were going to aid Greywatch if they had to, even though the two had bad relations with one another, they were apart of the empire and were not going to risk destruction. The holy warriors of New Heaven would be martyrs for all to praise. The ancient race, the Elden, too were planning to get involved, they were few in number and were widely scattered throughout the empire, but they were the most fearsome warriors amoung the other races. The entire empire was intending to fight together for the first time in many years. This war was going to be remembered.

The sensor operator on the massive bridge in the center of the ship picked up something moving back in-system,"

"Commodore, we've got an unknown object moving toward us at speed...it's the same one as before."

Commodore Alexei Stukov allowed a slight smile to crease his face. In a heavy Russian accent, he ordered,

"Shields up, weapons online. Alert the frigates to ready for combat. Take us to heading 159 mark 253 and power up focused plasma emitters 2 though 12."

The massive capital ship turned to face the approach trajectory of the oncoming vessel. The Halcyon and Horizon took up formation on either side, dwarfed by the two kilometer long warship.

As the unknown vessel approached weapons range, the Acheron maintained a tracking lock, and when the hostile ship came within range, unleashed eleven pinpoint motes of plasma on the enemy ship, with purpose of skewering it and cutting it into pieces as the plasma burned through the hull like a cutting torch.

OOC: I don't mean to bitch or anything, but this thread seems to be going unusually slow at the moment. Are we waiting for more people to post or something?

OOC: Glad I'm not the only one who noticed. Not to be rude, I'm just enjoying the thread! It's been...well...never since anyone violated Dominion space illegally and gotten away with it.

OOC: Okay, I've seen Londim online while checking this thread for updates, I've sent a telegram, I've posted asking why the thread's going so slow. So far, no response whatsoever, I can only conclude two things. One, that Londim has completely forgotten about this thread they've started altogether; two, that this thread has died and Londim never bothered to tell us. If I'm wrong, then Londim should respond to this and tell me otherwise because it has been a little over a week since Londim's last post which is kinda pathetic if this is thread is still supposed to be active.

At the very edge of the scanners, a small exploratory craft drifted along slowly. A small crew of 5 sat within very cramped quarters. They were Vrall's one shot at space-travel, and not the best. Their only benefit is the fact they received direct training from the nation's chancellor, a man known for some... interesting powers of his own. With that fact, they were a very powerful group, and something of a threat to those unprepared.

At this tiny empty spot of space, Captain Desmond Helzer was shocked to see the computer monitors flicker on with a foreign code. It could have been the local tongue, for all he knew. He smiled for a second, frowning in worry the next. He typed a short response

Hello from the Dominion of Vrall!