NationStates Jolt Archive

Not all fleets were equal in their evasion of their pursuits or in the competence of their commanders. Lieutenant commander Veriaan, sighed as she sat in her command chair, the three evacuation vessels and the five combat ships under her command were fully stocked and fully medicated. She meditated, meditated on her mistake, if it was a mistake, if it was a mistake indeed. She looked at her crew, who in turn were shooting her glances that were less than favorable.

At least those who heard the rumors about why the pursuit stopped, she set a drifting course towards the nearest star. Logistically things were looking up, very up, food was plentiful, weapons were plentiful, everything was a plenty, even the ships which had battled the union blockades were in good condition. Though no one knew of what she had to sacrifice in order to achieve her goals, and those who did indeed know were tight lipped.

The wolven commander let her ships drift on, wondering what to do, what to think, what to feel. The gate had been closed, sealed forever, destroyed as the initiative protected itself. They were abandoned, with no way to contact the home galaxy or even the Eunoch clan to actually open a temporary gate and help them in any way shape or form. Though something called to the commander, something made her sit up straighter, something was out there, something familiar.

“Helm, lay in a course for… For….”

She brought up her star map and put it on the bridge viewscreen pointing to a red dwarf at the edge of a nebula surrounded by what seemed to be an ion storm. It was there. It was there that was so familiar a forest, a thick oak forest. Wolves inhabited forest areas but this one was special, she could feel it somehow. The helmsman shot the wolf a confused glance before steering the ship in the direction.

“All vessels, prepare to hyperspace to coordinates one kilometer outside of set 211.52. I repeat all vessels prepare to change course and hyperspace to coordinates one kilometer outside of set 211.52.”

The fleet moved almost in unison, the four destroyers centered around the refugee carriers with the heavy cruiser leading the way. Preparing to jump to hyperspace just outside the ion storm, then take gravitational engines in closer to whatever the commodore wanted to see. The other wolf the ship’s XO and a vixen weapons officer stayed silent but wordlessly showed their discontent. They saw their captain’s actions as someone operating on a whim maybe the commodore has finally gone mad. Maybe it was time for a leadership change. Though it would be between the wolf and the fox who would get the prize.

OOC: Sorry about not posting before. Now that I'm bored...

IC:

Inside the nebula awaits a large black vessel in the shape of a star. It possessed a strange presence, like that of a creeping shadow. The presence was enough to make chills run down anyone's spine. And today, the spidery vessel would entrap its prey.

A great web of gravity descended upon the fleet, preventing escape into hyperspace. The Black Star Fortress (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluRpTIK-lE&feature=related) rumbled out of the nebula and a deep sense of terror would descend on the helpless prey.

Then it began. Deep purple lances of fire lit up the sky to carve up the refugee ships and the combat ships like so much meat. Oddly enough, the fire would deliberately miss the Lt. Commander's ship, but everything else was fair game. Almost as soon as the purple beams lashed the ships, hundreds of gnatlike shadows boiled out of the nebula, preparing to sting the enemy with the death of a thousand sickly green cuts.

It was a trap, plain and simple. A trap to kill and destroy. A trap to eliminate all but the one who was the true prey of the Black Star Fortress...

The initial reaction to the horrible bloated fortess in the middle of the space around the harsh sector was indeed a sense of dread and a sense of… joy. Joy from the wolven commodore that encompassed everything else for a few moments especially the screams of her officers behind her yelling at her to do something this continued for the moments until a shot pierced one of the destroyers literally cutting it in half.

“Fuck it. I assume command since Commander Veriaan is a blithering idiot!!!”

The wolf yelled since he was indeed the vessel’s XO making him Co-Commodore in this situation. The vixen let out an angry growl, about to shout something to the effect like ‘well you aren’t much better don!’ but she thought better of it. Simply taking her post as she knew the weapons would need to be firing if they were to get out of this place.

“All combat ships, hard to port and prepare to form over shield! We have to stand up to this assault if the evacuation ships are going to have any chance to get away from this piece of shit that just popped up.”

Everyone followed suit. There was no choice really since the wolf’s tone was appropriate for the situation. Follow what I say or die. Indeed that was pretty much what was happening, another destroyer lit up in a fiery blaze under the massive torrents of fire coming onto the hardy initiative vessels. The evacuation ships tried to huddle and use their combat vessels to divert the fire from their massive hulls and the precious cargo they held. They were then deactivated as they got within the growing purple dome that two destroyers and the heavy cruiser now formed.

All their shield generators were operating at full power but the heavy cruiser had diverted all power to it’s shields as was standard initiative doctrine hoping to deflect the death of thousands of cuts and hopefully allow some way for their charges to escape this assault. Together the shields were stronger and hardier but a continued assault would break them completely. The new wolven commander sighed softly eying Veriaan.

“Get that madwoman off my fucking bridge. Commander Veriaan, you have shamed your blood and killed us all!!!”

With that the commander was dragged off by some of the cruiser’s many marines. Meanwhile everyone who wasn’t going to fight was getting into little holes where they would hopefully hide from the overwhelming assault which came from seemingly ‘the deep’

The assault continued, relentless and devastating. Each blast of purple meant death if they touched the refugee ships. Each of the hundreds of gnats launched wave after wave of assaults on the combat and refugee ships. Going turtle was all well and nice, but if the enemy is out to kill you, there really is no protection. And then something pounded into the very skulls of the anthropmorphic animals. A terrifying weight began to fall onto their pitiful minds.

You are weak. You are prey. You are dead. Resistance is futile.

As the psychic assault battered their brains, the hypercannons now turned upon the heavy cruiser. They were surprisingly precise in their attacks, targeting only the shield generators, the weapons and the engines. Once the shields were down, the inhabitants of the Fortress would be able to board the heavy cruiser. The other ships, though, got the full blast of the hypercannons, blowing them up or ripping them apart depending on the intensity of the beams.

As the Black Star Fortress continued its assault, Commander Veriann was carted off the bridge...but as she was done so, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared in front of her. Only she could see the figure.

"See how the fools betray you, Commander. Your wolf knows nothing of command and will destroy your people with his inepitude. A pup playing with fire will burn to ashes." The cloaked figure said dismissively. "It angers you that your rightful command is denied you, does it not? If you wish to save your people, then you must regain your command. See the fools you call 'marines'! They know nothing of who you truly are. Their armor and weapons are no defense against you."

A black ball appeared on the cloaked figure's hand. It then slammed into Veriaan's chest painfully.

"I have awakened the power within you. Use it to regain your rightful place as commander of your forces by taking the minds of these marines for your own." The cloaked figure then chuckled. "After all, they are yours, not his, are they not?"

The over shield crackles and fizzes as the evacuation fleet turned around and made best speed away from the massive thing blocking their retreat. The combat fleet advanced in the hopes of distracting the advancing star fortress that’s what they wanted, that’s what their sole purpose is really. The male commodore proceeded with the ill begotten attack on the fortress. The shield generators went out on their own when they overloaded but that wasn’t important, what was important was the fact that they were going to ram the fortress itself if they didn’t get destroyed in the process.

The message affected the members of the crew but not all of them responded with the fear and terror intended. Some of the command staff were trained against psyonic attacks such as this one and of course there was the language barrier which was tall and in place since the initiative’s primary language was latin. Still some were made to cower where they stood simply because of the feeling and the tone of the message though it only slowed operations in the fleet not stopped them in their tracks.

Meanwhile on the way to the brig the commander simply moaned at the pain in her chest, coughing violently as she was still in ‘happy land’ as of sorts. She coughed and sputtered at the figure who she could only see. Her mind not quite understanding what was said since she too spoke only latin but she sensed something had changed, something imminently important.

OOC: You should still be able to understand the words since it's telepathy and not spoken. At least that's how mine works. And besides...language barriers are no match for the power of the Dark Side. Muahahahaha!

IC:

A strange feeling would come over her as something tickled in her mind...her language center, specifically. Then it went away.

"Ah, that's better. I was wondering why you didn't understand Basic. Seems it's not Basic, but a language called Latin..." The cloaked figure spoke in perfect Latin and chuckled. "Anyway, let's rephrase. It angers you, doesn't it? That your subordinate would treat you so and take away your rightful command. Well, I have just awakened a power within you that will allow you to regain your command. Do so, and you will save your people. Let no one defy you, not even these fools you call Marines. They are yours, not his, after all."

More feelings came over the fleet as their language was ripped from their minds. Then the message was repeated. Stronger, literally pounding their minds with the uselessness of their fighting the Black Star Fortress, over and over and over again. And this time, understandable.

You are weak. You are prey. You are dead. Resistance is futile.

Vos es pallens. Vos es preda. Vos es mortuus. Refragatio est vacuus.

You are weak. You are prey. You are dead. Resistance is futile.

Vos es pallens. Vos es preda. Vos es mortuus. Refragatio est vacuus.

Again and again and again.

As for the Fortress itself, the armaments of the enemy splashed against the shields, creating a pretty thermonuclear fireworks show, but did little damage to them. The Fortress did not move, but stayed on what appeared to be its primary target: the heavy cruiser. Fire from the Fortress continued to smash down upon the cruiser to disable it for good. It also continued to smash into the combat and refugee fleets, intending to rip them apart...

“But… I can’t do anything… Too much… It’s all too much…”

She whispered into the air as the wolfess is dragged off the marines look down as they near the brig. The males laugh softly as she seems to be whispering into the air.

“Too much? You might have killed us ‘commander’ if you hadn’t got us into this mess it wouldn’t be too much.”

“She’s crazy kenzy… Leave her be. She’s gonna ramble on and on about nothing till we get her behind a shield. Then maybe a thousand volts will shut her up while we kick that giant thing’s ass.”

The second marine shook his head as he stopped speaking cleaning out his ears.

“You know. I really wish ‘the body’ was here right now. They could stop that awful chatter coming from whatever the fuck is going on out there.”

“I just look at it like this. What did you expect the enemy to say? Peace and love to you? That would be fucked up. I couldn’t shoot someone saying peace and love and all that.”

“Yea… It’s just. Annoying is all.”

“Yea it is… -pained grunt- But of course the civis are in the most danger. I heard the ‘Nashorne’ can’t keep itself steady so they’re gonna try and ram the giant ball for us. Since they wanna tell us we’re weak so bad, let them deal with a hundred thousand weak, scared civis.”

The other guard started to laugh as he carried the limping broken wolfess still muttering about ‘too much’ to the unknown figure.

“Yea, let mother sort out the weak cubs. Maybe give em all a good spanking in heaven.”

Both guards laughed as the wolfess sighed and shifted, trying to make sense of all what she was feeling, feeling the force for the first time and then this figure before her. She took a quick peek at the marines and their armor. They were in full battle armor covering them from head to toe.

“I… Have no power. I can’t make them do anything… I can’t kill them.”

She noted taking advantage of her perceived insanity. Meanwhile in space one of the vessels retreating from the field turned around, it charged and then activated its hyperdrive but instead of directing the power into space they would shunt power to the engines, destroying and overloading them despite the gravity field. Sure it wouldn’t produce the true FTL speeds that they needed to escape but they would make one hell of a battering ram, a ram that was aimed right at the fortress. The action broke the overshield and the formation of the initative fleet meanwhile sending the populous the fortress occupants hoped to drive mad karreening towards them in their madness, making them a priority target aside the heavy cruiser who’s shield generator overloaded the moment the colony ship broke though. The remaining colony vessels made best speed away and possibly out of the field without an escort.

“But… I can’t do anything… Too much… It’s all too much…”

She whispered into the air as the wolfess is dragged off the marines look down as they near the brig. The males laugh softly as she seems to be whispering into the air.

“Too much? You might have killed us ‘commander’ if you hadn’t got us into this mess it wouldn’t be too much.”

“She’s crazy kenzy… Leave her be. She’s gonna ramble on and on about nothing till we get her behind a shield. Then maybe a thousand volts will shut her up while we kick that giant thing’s ass.”

The second marine shook his head as he stopped speaking cleaning out his ears.

“You know. I really wish ‘the body’ was here right now. They could stop that awful chatter coming from whatever the fuck is going on out there.”

“I just look at it like this. What did you expect the enemy to say? Peace and love to you? That would be fucked up. I couldn’t shoot someone saying peace and love and all that.”

“Yea… It’s just. Annoying is all.”

“Yea it is… -pained grunt- But of course the civis are in the most danger. I heard the ‘Nashorne’ can’t keep itself steady so they’re gonna try and ram the giant ball for us. Since they wanna tell us we’re weak so bad, let them deal with a hundred thousand weak, scared civis.”

The other guard started to laugh as he carried the limping broken wolfess still muttering about ‘too much’ to the unknown figure.

“Yea, let mother sort out the weak cubs. Maybe give em all a good spanking in heaven.”

Both guards laughed as the wolfess sighed and shifted, trying to make sense of all what she was feeling, feeling the force for the first time and then this figure before her. She took a quick peek at the marines and their armor. They were in full battle armor covering them from head to toe.

“I… Have no power. I can’t make them do anything… I can’t kill them.”
"Your eyes deceive you, my friend. Their armor is useless against your new power. Listen for their hearts. Feel the pumping of blood through them...and seize them. Quickly, now! Your people will be lost if you don't regain your rightful place as their leader!" The figure warned.

She noted taking advantage of her perceived insanity. Meanwhile in space one of the vessels retreating from the field turned around, it charged and then activated its hyperdrive but instead of directing the power into space they would shunt power to the engines, destroying and overloading them despite the gravity field. Sure it wouldn’t produce the true FTL speeds that they needed to escape but they would make one hell of a battering ram, a ram that was aimed right at the fortress. The action broke the overshield and the formation of the initative fleet meanwhile sending the populous the fortress occupants hoped to drive mad karreening towards them in their madness, making them a priority target aside the heavy cruiser who’s shield generator overloaded the moment the colony ship broke though. The remaining colony vessels made best speed away and possibly out of the field without an escort.
"Fools." Spoke a voice. "Brace for impact."

The ships slammed into the Black Star Fortress with force enough to crack planets, shaking it heavily. The shields flared and crackled, straining against the onslaught. It was perhaps the one thing that could have wrecked the Fortress...if it wasn't a starship that rivaled a Super Star Destroyer in power output. Still, bulkheads buckled at points and damage control were ordered to seal hull breaches.

Other than that...the Black Star Fortress still hung there like a menacing shadowspider, its tentacle-like spires appearing to reach out for the heavy cruiser.

As for the colony vessels...the smaller fighters and bombers that cut the fleet into ribbons continued to nip at their heels as they fled, shooting little green spikes of energy to nibble away their shields and hull until they were disabled and then nibbled some more to destroy them...

The demoralizing message played in the minds of everyone of the initiates until they got a bit of news. The Colonists were away. Despite the attentions of the strike craft the colony ships had managed to hyperspace away into two seemingly random sectors. As the news circulated from the bridges to the soldiers there was a cheer in the minds of nearly every military initiate. These aggressors weren’t invincible! They could be defeated! We are not prey! We are strong! That was the gist of what rang in the minds of the soldiers and those not driven mad by the message.

Meanwhile on the heavy cruiser the wolfess started to chuckle then laugh as she did indeed reach out. She heard their hearts beating in their chest among the endless chatter around her now. She snatched her hands away from the guards only managing to get one free. She laughed at the figures words without tapping into the force; since it was important the guards thought she was just mad from the stress. She reached out as the guards came closer to her.

“Fucking crazy! Hold still! We’re trying to help you commander!”

One of the males yelled as he reached out to grab her once more. The wolfess closed her hand in a harsh manner towards him laughing all the while. He froze in place suddenly dropping to his knees and falling over, dead. The wolfess and the other guard were dumbfounded at this, completely and utterly dumbfounded. The marine’s hand went to his pistol as the wolfess crushed him as well. He leaned back against the wall clutching his service pistol in one hand and his chest in the other. The wolfess simply looked at her hands, then the guards then to this unknown figure.

“But… But they were… But… This… It doesn’t… It…”

She simply couldn’t process what was happening. She couldn’t it was simply too much to handle, she’d killed two of her own men. Oh god. Oh god it was happening again. Her mind flashed back to what she done to gain the hatered of the crew. Of the deal she made to sell some of her people into slavery so that the rest could live. Oh gods… She started to panic, curling up into a little ball closing her eyes, it was just too much. Just too much for her. Even as the heavy cruiser shuddered and groaned with the impacts on it’s thick ceramic armor.

The figure looked down upon her with pitiless eyes. "You have done only what is natural, my friend. Now, go and take the bridge and save your people. They may fear and hate you now, but soon, they will understand...or be made to."

Little did the colony ships know that they were being tracked by the Black Star Fortress. In the midst of the battle, some of the shots the fighters used were tiny tracking beacons that attached themselves to the hulls of the ships. Let the initiates think they have won!

Meanwhile, the fire from the Fortress began to slowly slack off, as if tiring of the fight. In reality, the heavy cruiser's sensors would detect buildup of energy from the Fortress. It was powering up a hypercannon to destroy the ship in one shot! They were doomed!

The colony ship that had rammed the fortress steadily drove on and inwards, letting their entire crew delve into madness as they pressed the attack. The passengers themselves disposed themselves as the ship impacted. Airlocks, windows, and even bulkheads leading to the outside were shattered and broken letting the cold eternity of space rush in. Their madness was so all consuming that they damaged the life support controls before they did this. So normally there would be additional shielding covering any breaches but in this case some of the passengers could be seen floating out in space. Before the pain and horror that was decompression in space that is…

Meanwhile the small fleet moved in a column formation, the destroyers attaching themselves to the cruiser via their towing beams. They then moved hard to port and continued in that direction threatening to rupture bulkheads and the general hull integrity of the flagship in an attempt to move it out of the way before that big old gun fired.

Onboard the heavy cruiser the lupine before the sith lord started to come back to reality as she heard him speak. As soon as she came out of her fetal position the ship suddenly lurching to the side as the goings on outside were too fast for the artificial gravity well to compensate. She stood up with a deep sigh as the vessel maneuvered out of the way and gravity once again normalized.

“Is it really natural I lead? And if so… where? Where do I lead my people? To what end? ”

She asked purely confused at this point. She shook her head as all of this ran through her mind.

“I need a sign. I need some proof. Just where am I leading my people? Or at least a little bit of information… Who are you? Why have you come here?”

"You will find out soon enough." The pitiless voice replied. "It is only natural for the strong to lead and the weak to follow. That is the way of the universe. If you are strong, your people will be strong and you will lead them to greatness beyond their wildest dreams. But if you are weak..."

The figure let that veiled threat trail off. He spoke more softly...a sense of instructorial patience in his voice. "I understand this all may sound strange to you. Therefore, I shall impart a clue."

Suddenly, she gained knowledge of a set of star coordinates. The first of many she will learn as she goes along.

And then the Black Star Fortress opened fire with its huge hypercannon, capable of searing the atmosphere off a continent...and missed the cruiser by less than a mile! It seems that the destroyer's plan worked!

As if tired of this game, the Black Star Fortress suddenly stopped firing. Just simply stopped.

"You shall see me again soon enough. Just remember this:

'Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.'

Use your new talents well. I look forward to our next meeting..."

The Black Star Fortress hung there like an ominous star for a long moment...then disappeared.

Everything calmed down after the massive blight on the space seemed to flee taking the remains of the colony ship with it. Instantly there was a hum of activity along and behind the hulls of the damaged vessels, repairing and making the fleet battle worthy again. The colony vessels that fled were awaiting escort and they couldn’t be left to themselves forever. Meanwhile aboard the heavy cruiser, something did awaken in the wolfess, something glorious, and something that she and everyone around her needed to reach. The dark figure’s words made sense. Everything made some sense now. It was a revelation beyond all compare a revelation beyond all compare. A revelation that brought an supreme power with it.

On the bridge it was nearly chaos as the command ship organized the fleet repair efforts. The vulpine weapons officer was doubling as the fleet communications officer as the real communications officer was in a fetal position rocking back and forth. The acting commodore eyed the skunk as he rocked back and forth whimpering at the slightest stimulus. He sighed, at the weakling on his staff. He couldn’t blame her though; whatever transmitted that message was an immensely powerful psychic. He couldn’t do anything about her since for one any additional stimuli would probably kill her. That and psychic overload was rampant in his fleet all of his marines were dealing with it.

“Damage report, all ships, I wanna know exactly how long the colony ships are gonna hafta wait or if they need to try and come to us.”

The vixen was immediately broadcasting the order and filtering the great amount of information to and from the remaining destroyers. She shook her head, making a motion at her ear, the com device she wedged in her ear was starting to itch. She looked at the whimpering skunk shaking her head.

“Every fucking thing is broken or about to be. ”

She whispered before announcing the damage reports as they came in, the pilard’s hyper drive was out of commission for a month at best. It’s gravity drive was looking like it was going to overload if it didn’t shut down soon. The victor almost had it, with various hull breaches and bulkhead failures. Some of the ship caved in on itself but they’d try to hold it together. The purity, was holding though it’s crew took a massive beating during the psychic attack. It was now operating with a closely guarded skeleton crew.

The skunk made a loud growling noise and then a massive pained groan after the damage report, holding his ears, his rocking changed from back and forth to up and down. Soon he started to scream at the top of his lungs.
“NOOOOO!!! NO! GET OUT!!! GET OUT!!! IT’S EVIL!!! PURE EVIL GET OUT!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! I DON’T WANT TO!!!”

The lupine crossed his arms, simply watching the results of the ‘battle’ for his officer’s sanity. He watched as the skunk repeated his plea and refusal until he finally realized it wasn’t going to stop on his own.

“Fuck… We’re gonna have to do something about him. Alex. Get someone up here to get him off my bridge. Just don’t kill him. Good com officers are hard to find.”

The vixen nodded grumbling to herself before she spoke.

“Yes sir. Bridge to medical bay we need an immediate evacu…”

Before she could finish the bridge elevator doors opened, revealing nothing until the mere viscera and other assorted body parts of what looked like a fully armored marine came out. all of the remaining command staff stood from their seats horrified to find their former commander, out of uniform, only in her standard muscle shirt. Her lower pants and boots covered in blood. She was clapping as she walked in.

“Bravo… Bravo that was such a good idea throwing me off of my bridge before I could do anything.”

Before the male lupine could say anything the vixen dug her communcation’s device out of her ear and threw it down on the ground breaking it. The high pitched squeal it emminated caused her nose to bleed slightly.

“Security! Security to the bridge! We have an intruder!”

Veriaan only pointed to the huffing bleeding fox as she approached, she was breathing hard, growling even. She had never felt more alive. Yes. This is the way things needed to be, yes, this is not only the start of her awakening but the start of a new age!

Veriaan thought it would be an excellent start if she displayed what would happen to blasphemers like her former first officer. Those who went against her word were now blasphemers. After all victory was only obtained through power! She simply focused her untrained and unfocused power on the male wolf who was reaching for his pistol. He slowed down to a crawl as the energies surrounded him; he growled audiably as he felt his whole body slow down. The wolf’s form soon seemed to compress, slightly at first and then more quickly, every one of his oraphaces starting to bleed under the massive unseen pressure. Then suddenly the pressure was released causing the male to explode in a rain of gore all over the bridge.

“This is the fate of those unwilling to follow me. If you will not be with me then say so now… I might be merciful.”

Nothing was said, everyone was simply stunned at what happened, at what was happening. Especially alex, she backed away from her console trying to see if she could somehow someway run away from this, thing, that had obviously possessed her commanding officer. There was no escape however, but on the other hand there was no punishment for her flight aside being knocked on her rear end. Veriaan approached her command chair as though nothing had happened.

“If there are no objections, then get another com unit and tell the fleet we shall be preceding without them. They are ordered to link up with the colony vessels and then come back here. Once they are here they are to await further orders.”

Soon after that the cruiser did lurch forward and then proceed at hyperspace to what appeared to be a gas giant.