NationStates Jolt Archive

-OOC-
A continuation of sorts off of THIS (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=528554) thread.

If restrictions need to be made, those'll be dealt with as they come.

One restriction to start off: No attacking the Eris Sector.

The Shivans will start off by attacking NPC systems, which will scream in terror nice and loud into thier communicators so people who AREN'T obsessive-compulsively observing the Eris Sector thanks to the ass kicking that took place there will have an IC impetus to investigate.

Or if you want to automagically have prospectors or something in one system that got eateded (sic) that works too.


-IC-

Eris used to be such a peaceful, beautiful system. It held such promise, such abundant life.

Then the Destroyers came, and changed everything. They destroyed the Erisians. They destroyed many of those who came to investigate. Then they destroyed the system itself. In what seemed like a single day of blood, fire, and subspace upheaval, Eris was no longer recognizable.

The Eris Sector was now the Shivan beachhead in this galaxy. A thick nebula-like cloud of dust and gas, full of ice and rock, surrounded the burnt-out remains of Eris's former star, and the second star that crashed into it.

Everywhere, there were Shivans. Shivan installations built into asteroids. Shivan installations built in (reletively) empty space. Everywhere, Shivan ships darting about on patrol, or gathering resources.

And where the Erisians' home planet once was, unmoved since the battle and the upheaval, was the Lucifer.


The system had rested, unchanged save the ever-increasing number of Shivans. It would be impossible for non-Shivans to understand just what threshold had been reached, but it was just another hour, in another day, when the Lucifer's thrusters flared to life.

The Shivan Incursion into the rest of the galaxy had begun.


Aurora had been the name of one star system in particular, before the Shivans approached. The Aurorans had barely enough time to scream about being under attack before the Shivans silenced them. The orbital bombardment of thier inhabited planets was swift, precise, and brutal. Their defense forces could only try to flee before the brutal onslaught. Try... and fail.

Another system, designated Zero Delta by some long-forgotten explorers, held no planets. Only prospectors, who Shivan fighters and bombers descended upon like a pack of wolves.

A third, called Rosanna by its people, managed to put up a fight. Right up until the Lucifer arrived and shredded the planetary shields on its one inhabited world. As their cries for help reached the ears of the rest of the galaxy, the Lucifer was still tracking down and destroying pockets of resistance.


As the death cries of the Aurorans, the shouts of panic of prospectors, and the Rosannan military's request for aid reached out, the Shivans listened...

... And waited...

The Shivans; The name itself was capable of sending shivers down the spines of the strongest nations, the most powerful warriors in the galaxy. A race that had wiped out countless ancient civilizations, many far stronger than they, and had come to Eris. Long ago, in the history of the Dominion, back when they were a Republic, they had fought alongside the ESUS when it had tried to prevent the Shivan's arrival into this universe...and failed miserably. The large flagship had come...and was invulnerable to any and all fire. The Kelauans had kept the report of that day well in their databanks, and now when the distress call from the Aurorans, showing images and desperate cries about the images, a collective seizure happened all across the Dominion. Then, they got down to business. Kalthir was quickly informed, and he ordered the entirety of both Warfleets Gemini and Inferno to go deal with the Shivan threat in the Auroran system, while he proceeded to ready a message along the ESUS battlenet:

"All ESUS nations, we have a situation on our hands. As some of you may remember,the Shivans came back briefly when they attacked Eris some time ago, and forced us out. Well, they're back. They are attacking three new systems, and are expanding fast. Local defenses of the races there are already gone. If we don't act quick, they'll get a larger foothold, and our chances of defeating them will be nil. I am sending two Warfleets to try and take back the Auroran system; any help there is obliged. Time is of the essence, the longer we wait, the more time they have to consolidate."

As the message was sent, four hours was spent gathering the entire Warfleets Gemini and Inferno at the capital, taking off all the ground equipment; they weren't going to try and fight on the ground. They would just burn the planet. And losses, which would be taken, needed to be minimized. When all this was done, the ships pointed themselves at the Auroran system and engaged their Jump Drives. Within seconds they were gone.

Some time later, they reappeared in the Auroran system, all one hundred ships. Warlord K'sar, commander of the entire force, roared out orders, as his A.I., Phillias, carried them out. Fighters and bombers were deployed, shields raised, and weapons armed and ready to lock. The Kelauans were coming to fight, and were going to do their damndest to ensure the Shivans were pushed out. However, even they agreed, they had little chance of doing so, if the numbers of ships in system had anything to say about it.

<"Dammit. Phillias, get some sensor data on those things. They'll be coming for us soon, and I want to know what to start hitting!"> The A.I. nodded and worked frantically, seeking to get the jump on their enemies.

The Golugan race was new to the galactic domain, eager to expand with its new understanding of what it had once called the voidsphere. They turned everything they could get their hands on into something of use: gas giants had water vapor harvested for the aquatic race's life support, asteroids were harvested for creating ships and interdiction satellites, and planets that could support oceans gradually began to gain oceans through Golugani terraforming.

Such efforts required resources, however, which Zero Delta had in abundance without opposition. The Harvesters would literally devour asteriods under the vigilant watch of Gargantua Frigates and the occasional Matron fighter carrier. A modest battlegroup to fend off meer pirates.

When the Shivans came, their intention was obvious. The Harvesters were quick to retreat, while the lobster-like Gargantuas formed a loose spherical perimeter around the Matrons, which launced automated fightercraft to tighten the perimeter. The Shivans weren't in range, yet, but would be in due time.

The Harvesters were restricted to hyperdrive for now, which would delay their arrival in the home system to call reinforcements. The battlegroup would have to hold out until then.

OOC: ..God damn it.

IC:

The message was garbled, warped. It had, after all, been relayed over the ESUS battlenet to a location some three and a quarter billion light years away, in the newly founded Traileric Helot State of Volantikos. The ship it was delivered to, after all, was embroiled in a campaign against a massive, technologically inferior hegemony that called itself the United Federation of Planets.

The message had been rushed to the Imperial Throne as fast as physically possible for Hadriel's personal review. He sat now, slumped upon his mighty black-iron throne, head in hands, his crown listing to the side. First, the UFP attack his allies, then Tyranids wipe out one of his mighty Legica and the entire Proto-Sarmatia star system, and shortly after the Helot State of Seibutsu successfully revolted. Now the Shivans return to his homelands to burn his fields and kill his people. The Trailarii were mighty, but the military was exhausting itself on its current fronts, and now another one about to open up. This was going to be a logistical nightmare.

Hadriel replayed the message, listening to the Kelauan's strange tongue, and watching as a translation into words of his own tongue was manifested itself in the cauldron before him. The Trailarii were abnormally fond of the peoples of Telros, and he truly desired to commit his every asset to assist them, lest they be overrun before the rest of the ESUS could respond to their aid. Unfortunately, his Legica were scattered across this galaxy, engaged here and there at the UFP front. It would be at least a week before he could assemble even one Legica here to resupply it, and another week to get it home through the wormhole.

"Speaker.", the Emperor's voice was uncharacteristically soft as it echoed through the dimly lit chamber.

The half machine creature snapped to attention and averted its eyes to the floor, "It is my honor to serve, Holy One!"

"Assemble Ar'Repeta Mavroi, and see that they are a hundred and ten percent combat effective. Then, relay these orders to Echleeander. He is to return to Octavian's Reach and immediatly make contact with the Telrosa. Make sure he understands that his Legica must represent our entire military for the foreseeable future. Then, contact the Kelauans and alert them that assistance will arrive to them in no more than fifteen common days.", the Emperor waved his hand, "Make it so."

(Bookmarked in case there is anyway that I can be involved in this.)

The world was dirty and untamed. Once the beacon of all civilization, the birthplace of humanity herself, Kobol was a beacon to all. It was paradise. According to the sacred scrolls, the gods and men lived together in peace, united. It was not to last.

A great blaze came and engulfed her. The thirteen tribes of humanity has scattered to the stars, the first twelve, settled close to each other, to later found the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. The thirteenth, the one that worshiped the God that could not be named, went their separate ways from their pagan sisters. They landed on Earth. At least according to the scriptures.

However, behind every legend, beneath the surface of all myths lies truth. Four thousand years had passed, as Earth and Kobol faded into legend. The Twelve Colonies held their head high, in their forgotten knowledge. The only real evidence was the Galleon, a ship that had crashed on Tauron, which was believed to be the only ship that survived the exodus of Kobol. That was until twelve years after the Colonies had emerged on the Galactic scene. Kobol was discovered...

Sanctioned under President Adar, and ignored by Admiral Cain, Kobol was re-settled. But the price was high. The sacred scrolls tells of a warning, that Zeus, lamenting over the blaze stood in the City of the gods, and proclaimed, “Any return to Kobol would be paid for in the price of blood.” Blood certainly spilled.

As the nine million people settled the planet, with nothing more than tents and shovels, war engulfed the Colonies. The cylons attacked, and nearly destroyed her colonies. Civil war gripped the nation, and in the end, Nineteen billion laid dead, and the cities of the Colonies laid in waste.

Had it not been for the grace of Remiel, the power of the Empire, the charity of Earth, and the virtue of the Avatars, Ascendancy, and Ta’Nar, the Colonies would have laid extinct. Although through out all of this, Kobol suffered on it’s own.

As the people settled, some to search the ruins of old, others to find a new life for themselves, disease began to take it’s toll. Land mines from the past civilization took the lives of many. Any form of government broke down, and lawlessness took it’s apathetic hand to the population. Pride was gone, only the law of the gun survived.

Only in the stars above, did any sign of the Colonies of Kobol exist. Fourty seven battlestars, unconcerned about the plight below, stood vigilant watch over the dying mother of the human race. Safe in their armor, and their guns, they stood watch, to protect the hope of the survival of the human race. But the curse of Kobol was not content with the planet. It soon reached to the stars. Two battles soon ensued. First, Ships, with Coredian codes came. They came in, X-wings blazing, and their laser hot, they attacked their ally, shooting at the battlestars above. The Battlestars fought vigorously, but in the end, it was the Empire, with the Eclipse that won the day.

The other, was a Shivan scouting fleet. Out of no where they appeared, fighters in tow. As they came, they opened fire, until they crashed into a near by moon. Kobol the birth place of humanity, forgotten by it’s colonies, and under constant attack, knew it was truly alone.

(OOC: Another nation playing the Shivan attacked Kobol. I know it was not you)

The Battlestar Athens
In Orbit of Kobol.

Lt. Kean yawned, as she listened to the com chatter. It was just another day, Vipers took their formations, as the viper jocks chatted amongst themselves. Flirting, bitching, and general nonsense filled the airways. Lt. Kaen though could not help but to laugh though. Sometimes they would amuse her.

As she listened, a unscrambled message passed by the planet. It was strange, usually no messages ever came to this planet. Kobol was four thousand light years from the colonies, six thousand from Earth, and in the Galactic sense was in the middle of no where. The speakers began to crackle to life. Lt. Kaen sat up, as she listened intently.

"All ESUS nations, we have a situation on our hands. As some of you may remember,the Shivans came back briefly when they attacked Eris some time ago, and forced us out. Well, they're back. They are attacking three new systems, and are expanding fast. Local defenses of the races there are already gone. If we don't act quick, they'll get a larger foothold, and our chances of defeating them will be nil. I am sending two Warfleets to try and take back the Auroran system; any help there is obliged. Time is of the essence, the longer we wait, the more time they have to consolidate."

She quickly grabbed a pencil and began to write down a memo. “Commander” she shouted.

Commander Latte, a strong older man, turned around. “What is it?”

“We have just intercepted a signal sir.” Lt. Kaen responded. “The Shivan have appeared in a sector known as the Auroran System.”

He turned to her, as his face came filled with dread. “It will only be a matter of time then.” he replied. He looked to one of the enlisted. “Get me a map of the system.” he replied.

“Sir, do you intend to intervene?” Lt. Kaen asked.

“We can not let them come back to Kobol.” Commander Latte replied.

“What about the Colonies?” she asked him.

“It would take months for the message to reach Caprica. By then it may be too late. Give me the tactical situation, and put me in contact with this... Kelauan.” he replied.

“Sir,” she said, as she pushed a button on her com.

“Kelauan vessel, this is the Battlestar Athens, of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. We intercepted your message, and would like to know if you need assistance. I repeat this is the Battlestar Athens of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, to the Kelauan vessel. Do you need assistance.”

She pushed the send button. She knew it would take hours to reach them, but it was better than to try to triangulate their position, and jump in without a word.

0900 hours, Far wake Observation post, Joint UGF-UTF border command and intelligence center…
Beep beep… beep … beep… beep….beep rang out a console in the massive rather busy command center in the middle of the large floating facility, the light beating down upon the marble like metal blue painted walls and chrome floors, holographic consoles floating, above flickering projectors.
An Ensign looked upon the singles being emitted by the consoles, he opened his eyes gently his metallic hands moving along the console a bit, thoughts rang through his head, there were being emitted from a nearby system. The signals were recognized only by code alpha zero and displayed in bright red. He blinked a few times swiveling his hovering chair over to the commander who was peering up at a tactical console of the sector.

He said with a robotic yet soft human like voice emanating from his mouth.
“Commander, we have …. A situation to say the least.. Apparently we have a code alpha zero reading just out of our borders several light years in to another system.”

The command humed a bit placing a bio metallic hand over his smooth pale chin he raised an eyebrow his blue eyes looking at the console, he said with a response as he sat back in his hovering leather like chair..

“Send a message to the Sector command, tell them we might have a situation, we haven’t seen this for years..” his own soft mechanical reverberating through out the large busy command center.

A message was quickly tendered to the TFSNSFCOM, containing the packet signal and sensor readings. It was promptly sent up the chain of command, and eventually went passed the UTF command and control in to UGF hands, from there a scout mission was authorized, with TFSN 4th carrier task force backing in reserve, and several scout ships they would meet up with a GDI fleet, and have a scout force proceed in to the system.

On the UTS challenger, Commander Brian Calabreese folded his pale skinned hands upon his blue uniformed lap, the large bridge of the cruiser well lit with white photon gas lamps, his brown eyes peered out of the holographic port... he peered out in to the utter darkness of space, information on these signals was unconfirmed, but they had records of a race called the shivans, from many years ago, as well as an engagement nearly a hundred years ago with UCA forces , however at this point they did not want to jump to conclusions and thus a scout mission was authorized by the UGF high command, under this mandate they would look in to see what was going on and confirm reports….
Brian swiveled his chair around placing his arms upon the rests on either side of him, he was breathing gently as he rose a hand and said in a commanding voice.

“Engage void drive, tell the scouts to keep their spooled up to jump in to the system.”

The con officer was connected in a central chamber, via crackling lines of energy rushing in to its head, combined with a high powered sentient AI, it was the heart of the ship, it was the most powerful piece of military computer hardware the Terrans had, the lines of crackling energy poured from its head, it was sending commands to the spoolers to engage the Void drive, and in a split second the ship shifted from normal space in to a bubble of contained extra universal and dimensional space, along with the rest of the task force it began to travel at high speed , un detectible by sensors unless you had the right kind the ships moved quickly towards the rally point, the void bubble snuffing out the stars all around the ship, making it seem like the only beacon of life and light within its own black universe. The ship came to a stop, without a jolt, without an iota of inertia, reverberating around the cruiser, space opened up around it as the bubble dissipated, starts starting to glimmer once again, and the task force bursting out of their void bubbles in to normal space.

The commander quickly composed a message through QETT Nets, which would be translated to a tight UGF encrypted frequency.
“This is the United Terran Ship Challenger; we have arrived in reserve to assist scout forces with you if necessary.”

The smaller 150 meter ships, a group of three had continued on to what was known to them as the Aurora system but to the UTF as system A-190, the three ships bubbles had popped by this time, Jeffery Sinclair the commander of the UTS Swift angle had sat back on his chair looking out in to the darkness of space, his ships had jumped in to several van Allen belts, they were ordered to go on minimal power, and passive sensor sweeps.

Sinclair looked over to his tactical officer who was hooked in with his sentient AI already computing some results from sensor sweeps, hopefully they wouldn’t be noticed with a fight going on, and them in the highly radioactive van Allen belts of the planets , as well as the low energy readings coming from their ships….

A message that was quickly received, as one of the Dominion probes near the Colonies, exploring, picked up the message. Upon seeing its contents, it was quickly sent to the Praetor's desk, who grinned grimly. Some friends at last. Not anything from the ESUS, but he knew they must be scrambling as it was. He had the military triangulate the area it came from and sent a message through.

"Battlestar Athens, I am afraid that I sent that message from our homeworld to all the ESUS nations. I do not know how you heard it, but right now that doesn't matter. If you can possibly spare any ships, I would be very grateful. We have only so much strength and the Shivans have more than we alone possess. Where can you deploy to, and how fast can you come? Although, if you cannot come since the Colonies are weak enough as it is, we do not blame you for making that decision."

The Allaneans heard the world's cries for help, and they responded, and the world would now shudder.

Yes, they had a fleet tied up on the Federation Front.

Yes, they had a fleet tied up Kara-hunting.

But they would not stand by while the multiverse bled. For they were the Allaneans.

And so the very fabric of space-time would scream as it was torn, and so the Third and Fourth Force-Projection Fleets would deploy at a short notice. Along with them went 16 X-cruisers – the advanced stealth vessels of the Navy of Allanea Shinji Watanabe, the Mortician, would command the fleets into battle.

The Auroran system was their goal.

Yes, the Field Marshal of Allanea was still on his vacation – the arrogant Allaneans did not view the Shivans as sufficiently important to call Kazansky out of his secluded estates just yet. But the Star-Spangled Banner would unfold among the stars now, and the multiverse could rest secure.

“USS Sodom, all weapons armed, entered realspace. Ready to lock and load.”

“USS Gomorrah, reading you loud and clear. We have weapons armed and are ready to cover you, bearing Delta-Six.”

“USS Hitomi Matsugawa, all weapons armed, proceeding to position.”

“USS Berserk, all ready, entering realspace. We have USS Carl Drega and USS Marvin Heemeyer on our screens, they seem fine, too.”

The X-cruisers, of course, maintained radio silence as the ships emerged 15 AU outside the orbit of the outmost planet of the system, and proceeded inward.

The Mu Cepheian species had always wanted to expand from it's single planet to those around it. The colonizing in their own system was successful and the colonizing of the rest of the systems in their galaxy was also successful. It was only a matter of time before the Mu Cepheians would expand again and they did. A galaxy next to theirs' fell victim to colonization and was now under their rule. Everything was going great for them, but there was one problem. As the only intelligent life in their galaxy there was no one to fight them when they left their home world to expand. The other galaxy didn't even have life on it in the first place let alone life that could put up a fight against The Eight Dynasties. Not so long ago, the Mu Cepheian had found a galaxy called the Milky Way. An invasion force was planned, but it was halted after a diplomatic meeting took place where an exchange of languages and goods halted any ideas of war. The Mu Cepheians had only fought in one intergalactic war and it only lasted twelve years.

So, the Mu Cepheians stopped their expansion and gave up. Realizing that the universe around them was peaceful; the only thing stopping the space fleet from being discarded is the stories that come in from the Milky Way. Telling of strange fleets destroying planets and systems all together. These came in as a cry for help and the Mu Cepheians listened, but they could not act. Their galaxies were ways apart. It is impossible for the Mu Cepheians to deploy a fleet to help in time for a single system, but there was a problem that caused a few of the higher up humanoid Canidaes to keep them awake at night.

Everyday a new message for help came in.

The amount of emergency messages was staggering and all of them were telling the exact something. Strange fleet. Defenses not holding. Planets being destroyed one by one. Then nothing. The messages would stop coming mid-day. Thanks to the delay between the two galaxies the messages were useless and the Mu Cepheians would not be able to get a clear picture of what was going on. Even if the message gave great details of the invasion, the data would be useless since everything the data told about could have changed be the time the Mu Cepheians got the message. The fact that the messages were coming in everyday, however, was still frightening regardless of the great distance between the strange fleet and Mu Cephei. For when the cries of one system stop playing the messages of another system would begin to come in...

There were debates everywhere in the Mu Cepheian Empire.
Should we send a fleet to help?
Should we just send a few scouts?
What happens if they don't make it in time to help or gather data?

At last, after days of debate a fleet was being assembled to travel the long distance between the two galaxies. The fleet would be small, since only the larger ships could make the trip, but only a few would be needed since each ship had the fire power to handle its own without any support.

Above the the planet of Mu Cephei the command ship was getting ready to disengage from the docks of the massive battle station. That ship, a Space Super Carrier, is called The Big Bad Wolf or B.B.W for short. It was the very first Space Super Carrier ever made by Mu Cephei and it's squadrons were some of the oldest. The experience of the crew and their skills in combat is, to this day, unmatched in the entire galaxy. The massive vessel was soon joined by two Space Dreadnoughts and then all three warships prepared their Faster-Then-Light Drives.
The Drives were actually not the wormhole openers themselves, but when the three ships entered the wormhole it would be the only type of engine that would work. Already, as the command ship and it's escort made their way though the wormhole, they were joined by a few more vessels. Two Space Carriers and four Space Battleships to be exact. It would take time before the fleet would arrive to the galaxy let alone the system in which this strange fleet was attacking, but at least help was on it's way.

ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-_ZOMG!_-_-__-_-_ZOMG!

General of the Space Fleet Fenrir Quinn, a menacing humanoid wolf, stood in the center of his C.I.C in The Big Bad Wolf. His X.O, a large humanoid dog, stood by his trusted commander's side. The two watched their command staff hurry about their duties, trying to get the whole fleet in formation. Which would not be too hard, this crew had worked side by side with fleets that blotted out an entire star. The General, while confident in his and his fleet's abilities, could not, but wonder why The Eight Dynasties feared the fleet in a galaxy so far away. Hell, the entire fleet has to receive injections everyday to slow done growth so they would still be alive when they arrived and everyone who wanted to make it back to Mu Cephei had to take a cocktail of pills to slow their body's growth even more.

"X.O. Do you believe that fleet were moving to engage is a serious threat?" The General asked his second in command.

"You have to remember that Mu Cephei has only been to war with intelligent life only once and even then, the best that system could pull was a battleship. I can see how a fleet never seen before could scare The Great Dynasties."

"Your point has great merit," the General chuckled at past memories of the battles with the snuckies, "very well. We will not know if these invaders pose a threat until we meet them. I just hope he crew doesn't die of boredom before we arrive..."

[Hope you don’t mind some annoying plasma flies to flicker out, but I feel that a race that goes about destroying planets for no apparent reason would piss off the Sertians enough to help with the resistance despite their small numbers in the galaxy. Asides, they’re allied with UTF so *Shrugs*]

The first notification that the Sertians had to this invasion was from the Phoenix-Class Fireclaw, still commanded by Commander Anathon who had made first contact with the Red Talons and successfully reclaimed a derelict ship dating thousands of years old and containing a Data Matrix similar to their Atrix, but unfortunately the data was just as corrupted and little could be gained besides a few words where the data added up, resulting in the words: Earth, war, and Sertian.

Now though, the glory-lusting Commander was deployed on a scouting mission of a different kind, something he was much more eager to do that search for old ships. There was an interception of a United Resistance transmission that led the Empire to be 85% sure that the UR had a member-planet there. It was something worth transmitting to the fairly autonomous Sertian Expidition, and from there the Fireclaw was dispatched with its advanced warp-engines to the edge of the main galaxy.

While he was expecting United Resistance forces in the area, he had no idea of what lay ahead. The result that within seconds of dropping out of FTL speeds the ship was fired upon, the fusion core fueling the warp-engines going offline and plasma shields being blown to shreds before they knew what happened. It was only through a quick order to retreat that they managed to charge the back up Drift Drives and drop into the drift fifteen seconds later, leaving behind shredded plates of Emprium armor and one sensor array that managed to make it to the Drift as well and would for the next twenty-four hours of its battery life report on the happenings in the sector, hopefully undetected by the mysterious forces and give them a clue on how to fight them.


Back at Solaron, one of two planets occupied by the Sertian Expedition word had come from transmission of the Fireclaw, suffering from ten percent of its crew dead, major hull damage and warp engines scrambled. It would take them over a month to return at the slow, crawling speed of the Drift and that was factoring in the increased speed from the lower gravitational pull outside the galactic halo. But communications through the drift traveled faster than ships, and soon Grand Admiral Trilano stood within the bunker of Solaron City analyzing the limited data the crew had collected in their near destruction, as well as whatever information trickled in from the sensor array and relayed by the Fireclaw.

“Lieutenant Templar Alexander, communications channel one. Prepare a communication channel to the Red talons and the UTF as well, channel two and three respectively,” he ordered to no one particular, being alone once more and devoid of any life, but there was the Tactical Computer Assistance, upgraded in his case to handle everything a secretary could do in ancient times. By his order the computer system registered the commands with a confirmation nose before opening up a holographic window in front of him, showing the tall Templar. Two other windows, blank and empty, opened on either side for future use.

“What is it, Grand Admiral?” the second in command asked, currently on the moon and overseeing the building of a subterranean base for mining as well as a back up computer system for the orbital defenses. He appeared to be the same as always, gold and red tinted armor with an almost bald crew cut, his entire body etched in the same charismatic and fit way that allowed him to join the highest ranks of the Cult of Searing Flames.

“We’ve got reports of a mysterious force that almost destroyed a Phoenix-Class Cruiser in twenty seconds, fortunately its currently heading back in the Drift to us, but this presents a problem. I’m putting all our forces of the Expedition in combat alert status, and I want you to make sure our defenses here are at their fullest capacity. In the mean time, I’m contacting our allies in the galaxy for more information.”

Rather unceremoniously he waved a hand through the hologram representing channel number one, disconnecting the video feed. He then prepared a message to the Red Talons and UTF, sending them both whatever information they had currently collected about the fleet that attacked their Cruiser, asking as politely as a race facing an unknown enemy could about all information relevant to the problem.

The Imperium was not blind to the problems of the universe. But they had turned a blind eye to the xenos Shivans. So much like the Tyranid as they were but somehow they had been ignored. No longer could the Ordo Xenos ignore them. However no normal Inquisitor would command this mission no for this mission High Inquisition Lord Ornas Envoy of the Ordo Xenos to the High Lords was taking personal command of the incursion fleets. He contacted Lord Kailen of the XXVII Legion and requested the aid of the 12th Expeditionary Fleet.

Ornas was an old man he had lived for centuries before this and had killed many foul xenos creatures wiping out entire civilizations in the name of the Emperor. He had a clean-shaven head and wore a set of jet black ornate artificer armor. Attached to the armor was a C'tan Phase Sword and mounted on the other arm was an Eldar Plasma Rifle. Many in the Imperium disapproved of his use of Xenos technology however he did not care for their sentiments. An adept approached him and handed him a data-slate with force dispositions on it.

Fleets

1st Deathwatch Fleet

1 Ramilies-class Star Fort Xenocide
1 Black Ship Verum
1 Battle Barge Purgatus
3 Strike Cruisers
4 Emperor-class Battleships
2 Nemesis-class Fleet Carriers
8 Armageddeon-class Battleships
8 Apocalypse-class Battleships

2nd Defense Fleet

1 Ramilies-class Star Fort Victus
1 Nova-class Battle Barge Crusader
2 Battle Barges
2 Dominator-class Cruiser
2 Gothic-class Cruiser
4 Daemon Slayer-class Cruiser
4 Nemesis-class Fleet Carrier
6 Oberon-class Battleship
6 Mars-class Battlecruiser
7 Victory-class Battleship
7 Armageddeon-class Battleship
8 Apocalypse-class Battleship
8 Invincible-class Fast Battleship
8 Long Serpent-class Battleship
16 Nova-class Frigate

12th Expeditionary Fleet

1 Hellblazers Nova-class Battle Barge (Hellfire)
1 Hellblazers Battle Barge (Hell's Fury)
3 Hellblazers Strike Cruisers
3 Apocalypse-class Battleships
1 Nemesis-class Fleet Carrier
2 Victory-class Battleships
2 Retribution-class Battlships
4 Armageddeon-class Battlecruisers
5 Orion-class Battlecruisers
3 Mars-class Battlecruisers
1 Dominator-class Cruiser
1 Firestorm-class Cruiser
8 Defiant-class Light Cruisers
15 Viper-class Missile Destroyers
8 Cobra-class Destroyers

Ornas spoke in an old gravely voice, "Well it seems the High Lords sent us the 2nd Defense Fleet. How...........generous." He stepped forward and smiled as he watched out the window at the flowing space. Looking around he smiled briefly and then looked to his men, "Tell the Deathwatch to ready themselves I want all six companies prepared for boarding actions. Also ready your stormtroopers for deployment in secondary waves. That is all you are dismissed." He watched them leave in a hurry to carry out his orders. Seating himself at his desk he made plans as the mighty fleets of the Imperium drifted through space waiting for the next Shivan incursion.

((OOC: Red Talon Mercenary Republic here. I've been listenin to all these 'old timers' making such a huge fuss over the Shivan. From what i've heard they sound like a powerful lot. Though IC, all my people know is cries for help and galactic superpowers getting really nervous. So Heres a scout frigate. Think of it as an eye in the sky. Here to observe the goings on.))

High above the horizontal plane of the system. Far enough out to be at the edge if it were level with the system.


A single tear appeared in space. The fold drive of the scout frigate cycling down as it exited the circular portal. The sleek black shape of the frigate blending with the blackness of space as it activated degaussing systems, demagnetizing its own hull. Sensor diffusion screens absorbing and breaking up any active sensors directed at the frigate, making it look like empty space. Deploying two long range drones, one to scoot off, giving off the same signal as a frigate, the other giving the same signal but staying with it. Each drone deployed at the same instant the cloaking screens became active. The frigate shifted its course, moving in the opposite direction of the first drone. The second drone accelerating ahead of the frigate as the frigate simply stopped, masking itself behind a small asteroid field. Running on minimal power. On the bridge of the frigate, Dimply lit with small LED lights.

A man standing at the tactical station looked back to the captain. "cloaking screen is online and running steady. Core power output is operating at 2 percent. Gravity signature shows us as a large asteroid." The captain nodded, a female with long furred ears. "Confirmed. Have the probes begin long range passive scans of the system. Have the second probe continue its course to circle the system. Deploy Periscope."

From the top of the frigate, a single small can like object extended up, lifting above the asteroid masking the frigate and above the rock debris of the small field. The screen showing a display of the system from the periscopes view. The colors on the screen seemed inverted. Showing things in a different spectrum. Panning back and forth, looking for drive flares. Spotting varius signatures, it blinked to normal spectrum.

The navigation officer, a woman in her mid twenties had her fingers running over her station. "We've detected Imperial ships, Sertian ships, as well as multiple other alien contacts within the system." The captain nodded. "Maria i want visual and energy signature recordings of all unknown ships in the system." Said the captain, gesturing to the com officer, a younger man in his late twenties, bearing a set of fox ears and a tail. "Record any com traffic you pick up, all frequencies. Tactical, Keep the weapons offline for the time being. We're only here to observe." She grumbled that last part. 'An Immortal Ctarl Ctarl shouldn't have to hide....' Thought the captain.

The two probes, moving in separate directions, both displaying identical signatures to the frigate as it exited jump would hopefully draw anyone looking away from the frigates location. Allowing them time to jump away before anything caught up with them. Each probe accelerating to .3c at a steady rate to simulate a frigate sized ships average acceleration.

Frigate. (http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs13/i/2007/043/7/3/Expediteure_class_Frigate_by_Jager375.jpg)

Reports were filtering in from Battlenet. Younger races were gathering in resistance to the Shivans. They had no comprehension of the magnitude of the monster with which they were about to engage.

Cleonias of New Sparta stood upon the bridge of The Serpent Black, flagship of Legica XXI Ar'Repeta Mavroi, and stared blandly into the darkness of deep slipspace. He knew that somewhere nearby, nearly a thousand vessels also made this journey. Nine hundred seventy four capital ships, a numberless cloud of frigate and sloop class vessels, and strikecraft without number. Their lives were in his hands, and he knew that they would do little more than delay Shivan expansion. He only hoped they would be able to arrive in time to keep the less numerous, younger races from committing and act of suicide. Telrosa was already there, and they brought their legions of iron, and that would help..But they were still greatly outnumbered by what he hoped was only ONE worldfleet. Zeus help him, he feared they were about to go the way of Legica Tyrannos: no survivors.

Zeus help them. Zeus help them.

Jeffery raised an eyebrow, he saw plenty of ships coming in from all around, the holographic CIC panel suddenly expanding through the entire bridge, the bridge went dim and all every one could see was stars, and the planet they were hiding behind, like they were in the middle of the void itself, Jeffery smiled, his gloved hands folding behind his back as he started to step around. He was ordered not to break communications silence.

He would adhere to those orders mainly because it was for their own safety, the activity here was defiantly shivan in nature, and that did send chills up his spine, he quickly looked over to the tactical officer who was merged with the AI sitting in a chair with wires coming out of his head from all over the place, he said with a soft yet commanding voice reverberating through the darkened and rather noiseless bridge.

“I want you to send all our sensor readings and current images, to the backup fleet as well as Magellan Station, let’s make sure they don’t see us, use QETT, and QETS for our allies.”
He said this as he waved his black gloved hand in the ambient space light, the tactical officer with a soft mechanical like yet obviously human voice responded.

“Yes Commander sending now….” Lights blipped all up and down the wires connecting the man mind in to the massive AI of the ship, signals were sent, hyper secure and narrow band, undetectable by most ships, and even if it was detected they would have to break the code.

The fleet in position to bail the scouts out had received the message, the commander stood upon the bridge his own uniform crisply ironed on to him it seemed, his black gloved hands folded behind him as he looked out of the large holographic port, his eyes panning on the darkness of space, he waved one of his hands and said as he turned over to his own tactical officer who instead of wires, had beams transferring data at light speed in and out of his mind.

“Send this to fleet command both UGF and TFSC”

The officer responded, with a soft angelic mechanical voice, yet again with a human element.

“Yes sir sending now..”

The commander smiled, he wandered over to his chair and sat back folding his leg over the other and placing his hands on his lap, the information was transferred via secure interlinks to both commanders, it was near instant.
For now though it was time to wait, the rapid reaction forces of the 8th and 7th fleets had been activated and at the ready for anything at this point, this information would probably take the entire UTF in to Defcon 2 status, meaning all the fleets were ready for combat, the reaction forces would have been fully mobilized by this time.

(ooc the scout ships are Venture class attack ships fitted with scout pods http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/USFU/HeavyAttackship.jpg )

Karasu ripped his pen across the line in what some might have called a signature. What a disgusting attempt at a bill. Loopholes everwhere! Just as he finished his thought, a knock on his office door startled him.
“Come in. Ah Admiral, what can I do for you?”
”I just wanted you to know that the third fleet is being dispatched to Traileric space. A battlenet call showed up a bit gargled. A follow up to the Traileric Empire confirmed it. There’s a hostile force moving towards Traileric space.”
Karasu’s face dropped from the anger he had expressed over the bill to a solemn understanding. ”How serious?”
“Unknown. That’s why I sent the third fleet, they’re the most experienced and the only complete fleet we have. Our allies will receive the best help we can offer.”
“I appointed you to do these kinds of things, and I’m glad I have you. I pray for all the soldiers aboard.”
“As do I.”

Jack ran the clip to his pistol across the inside of his hand and snagged the hook linkup to his ammunition. He slammed the clip home with the short cable running from his hand into the base of the weapon. The tech beside him pushed a second cable into the butt of the weapon. Jack threw the bolt.
“Alright sir, if you would, just fire a few rounds down range. Target the center red dot.”
Jack leveled the pistol directly at the dot and fired off three rounds in quick succession. He pulled the pistol up and held waiting. He’d done the process so much over his life he knew exactly what to do every single time. The tech messed with a few more controls then asked him to fire a few more rounds. Jack threw another four down range.
“Alright sir, you should be calibrated. You can do a few practice shots if you’d like to make sure.”
“I’m good. There’s quite a few marines waiting behind me I’m sure.”
The tech disconnected his wire and took the clip after Jack disconnected his connection cable.
“Alright sir, you’re set.”
Jack left without another word. He couldn’t stand keeping calibrated, but such was the punishment for being an ex-enlisted soldier.
His quarters were nothing special, just enough to keep him happy. He was the only admiral left in the fleet who’s flagship wasn’t custom tailored to his likings. He sat down and keyed the fleet-wide COM.
“Attention all hands, this is Admiral Michaels. We’ll be winking out in a matter of minutes, please make any preparations you need to. Captains, key a SITREP.”
He leaned back and let his fleet work. The only thing that bothered him was who this enemy was.

The frigate sat silent. Its gravitic induction core shutting down as it ran on emergency power. It had no intention of being discovered. "Tactical. Whats the situation down there?" The captain asked. leaning back in her chair.

"All contacts appear to be proceeding on alert. Its unknown as to the cause of their alarm. I'm not picking up any weapons fire yet." Said the tactical officer. He continued to tap away at his station. The navigational officer had a similar report. "Looks like their looking for something. or waiting for something..." The captain nodded. "Continue recording. Store all data and ready it for relay back to the Pegasis."

The com officer nodded, along with the rest of the bridge crew with a unanimous "Yes Ma'am."