NationStates Jolt Archive

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http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x9/Mikko_M/starsystemmaelstrom.jpg

The Maelstrom System. Hell in space. The blazing star that could be seen light years away as a white-hot orb wreathed in hellish flames. For years, the system had remained off-limits for all intelligent life, the Principality maintaining the strict quarantine to avoid colony ships, merchant vessels or convoys trying to take a short-cut through the system and risk death in the fierce particle and electrical storms generated by the slowly-dying sun.

But even a hellish star like the Maelstrom central sun must take a breather from time to time, and the signs of mellowing storms did not go unnoticed by the keen sensors of Tiresias, an unmanned probe protected from the storms by maintaining its position behind the gas giant Maelstrom V, also known as Inferno.

From Tiresias, the telemetry was transmitted to the Principality outpost Port Hellgate, and from there to the civilian and military authorities in the Central Worlds. The news was greeted with glee, for it meant that soon the Maelstrom System could be put to good use. For the infernal fires of the star were also a vital component in the formation of a particularly valuable ore. This ore was known in scientific circles Nikulite, while its obsidian-like, crystalline appearance had given it the apt nickname Hellglass. A rare and highly-sought commodity among many spaceborn civilizations, and one of its sources was Maelstrom Prime, a world permanently glassed by Maelstrom's fierce storms.

Envoys were sent to friendly races, and news of the mining frontier opening travelled by Hypernet, word-of-mouth and news agencies, from civilized worlds to mining vessels in the outskirts of colonized space, possibly beyond.

The Hellglass rush was about to begin...


Maelstrom Research Station
AKA Port Hellgate
Maelstrom System
96 hours to quarantine removal

"Vessel Hyperion, this is flight control. Prepare for docking procedures."
"Time to quarantine removal: Ninety-six standard hours."
"All vessels are reminded that unauthorized approach of quarantine perimeter will result in immediate termination of mining permits and/or vessel."

The space near Port Hellgate, once a humble research station during the opening phase of Principality colonisation, now a citadel in the aether, was anything but quiet as the date for quarantine removal approached. Mining vessels, large and small, were either docked in the station itself or waiting around it under the watchful eye of cruisers and missile frigates. Merchant vessels hovered at the outskirts, shuttles transporting last-minute gear and other necessities to awaiting ships. Further back, large ore-transport vessels were waiting anxiously, hoping to fill their holds with ore that would be sold by miners themselves or through the Principality magistrates now stationed on Port Hellgate.

In the distance, Maelstrom herself was a burning beacon in the void, her wrath sufficiently reduced at this distance that the computer systems and shields could be operated normally.

On the bridge of Hellgate, two figures were watching the buzz of vessels swarming around the station. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man in grey military uniform, his epaulets marking him as the fleet commander, the highest-ranking military presence in the system. Beside him stood a dark-haired woman in a long saree that was commonly used by women in the tropical zones of Vestal, a major trade world in the Central Worlds.

"Commander", the young woman spoke, looking at the officer with calm but commanding eyes. "I think it's time we call in our prospectors."

"As you wish, magistrate", the tall man answered and nodded to his comm officer. A broadband message echoed in the bridges and command decks of the gathered vessels.

"Attention, this is fleet commander Matila. Will all command personnel and representatives arrive aboard Port Hellgate immediately? Attendance is mandatory in order to purchase mining licenses."

(Bump)

As TRIAD's contacts and information in this universe spread, the branch office finally purchased a local hypernet feed, and analysts began voraciously digging into every scrap of information available, searching for any clues to potential customers, competitors, and resources to exploit.

It was through this research that MACE learned of the Hellglass mining in the Maelstrom system. In an emergency conference of the local Branch Directors, it was decided to dispatch a fleet of vessels in the hopes that TRIAD might be able to invest in the apparantly lucrative Hellglass market.

The ships selected were the destroyer 'Advent Guard', the frigates 'Majestic Glory' and 'Dawn Shard'. These would comprise the defenses for the five mining transports 'Ascendant Glory', 'Imperious Night', 'Heretic Scream', 'Eternal Echos', and 'Defiant Cry'. Each transport was a 'Renderer' class mining ship, able to strip-mine large asteroids in single passes. While the combat ships normally carried small crews, the mining transports were true behemoths, measuring over seven hundred meters and crewed by five hundred miners and crew, half of these were the mechanical Marduk.

MACE was not taking chances with this expedition, and this was the first time the new colony's fleet had operated on more than a single ship basis. Aditionally, each of the warship was armed to the teeth with the best weaponry and defenses TRIAD could purchase or develop. For the time being Slipstream drive was the fastest FTL drive easily available; the transit to Maelstrom would take seventeen jumps and eight days.


Maelstrom System:

The slipstream aperature opened on the outskirts of the system, fifteen light minutes from the Hellgate station. The three warships formed up in a wedge formation, with the frigates flying outrider to the destroyer on point, and the transports following behind. When the small fleet came into tachyon comms range, the destroyer opened a channel to the station.

"Greetings Hellgate station, this is the Destroyer "Advent Guard" of the TRIAD Enterprises Expiditionary Fleet. We would like to request clearance to the Maelstrom system and docking instructions so we may negotiate mining rights on Inferno."

After sending the transmission, the ships proceeded to a distance of one light minute then halted.

The Phalanixian fleets had been in dire shape since the end of the civil war. Most were in a sorry state of affairs only leaving them to be decent space stations as their engines had been damaged or even blown off. Fortunately they were still left with a decent sized fleet of frigates and destroyers as well as a few capital ships. However there was still the problem of the plasma weapon focusing systems starting to fray on a large portion of the fleet.
Salvation for these weapons surprisingly came in the hands of a small merchant ship that decided to visit the graveyard system of Epsilon Eridian offering an ore that would solve their weapons problems, Hellglass. Upon testing it was concluded that more ore would be needed to fully restore the active fleet.
Upon gaining access to the hypernet via the merchant vessel news of the Maelstrom System came to light and plans were set in motion to send a small mining task force to acquire more Hellglass.

Maelstrom System
Roughly ten light minutes from Port Hellgate a small spacial anomaly began to form. Only minutes after picking it up a sickly green sphere appeared in the location before shrinking down into the ghostly green outlines of a pair of Error class frigates escorting a massive Fury class cruiser that had hastily been modified for mining operations in place of orbital assault. Finally the green outlines faded away revealing the ships looking surprisingly patchwork and ragged for the tech they were sporting.
As their external running lights powered up once more the Fury class hailed the station.
This is the PSN Catalyst of the Allied Forces of Phalanix requesting clearance for system entry as well as any permits needed for mining of said system.

a purple black rift opened in space on the opposite end of the system, inside its borders. Three ships slipped out, their hulls de-gaused to neutralize any EM signature and their cloaking systems online, masking their presence against passive sensors.

The center ship, a Hive class recon/support carrier (http://fc87.deviantart.com/fs11/i/2006/181/2/0/Ares_MKIV_by_dreamwa1ker.jpg), was flanked by two Hunter class frigates (http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs13/i/2007/043/7/3/Expediteure_class_Frigate_by_Jager375.jpg"). The three ships glided throughthe EM storms, their shields holding under the cloaking field. The carriers captain yawned from his seat on the bridge. The sensors officer grumbling slightly. "Long range sensors are showing alot of strangereadings through the storms coming off of that sun. We're calibrating to compensate. but everything looks clear so far." The captain nodded. "Have fighter crews stand by." He looked over his shoulder to a robed feline anthro. "What about you Ma'am, what do you see?"

The female lion anthro nodded, removing a metal torc from her neck and closing her eyes. She reached out, feeling for anything. After a long moment she squinted her eyes shut tighter. "I sense something.... from the other side of the system.... i can hear faint whispers... but i'm not sure what it is..."

The captain nodded. "Sensors, focus on that area see what you can find once you get the sensors adjusted. Tactical, have weapon systems on stand-by."

a few light years away resting silently in the void between stars, a small object observed the increase in communications at the nearby A class star. A portal in space formed in front of the object and with a breif flash of its engines it slipped silently into subspace. A short while later the object emerged silently from a portal on the edge of the maelstrom system.

Port Hellgate
94 to quarantine removal

The appearance of two fleets within Principality territory did not go unnoticed. In normal circumstances such intrusion into sovereign space would have been dealt with swiftly by a detachment of the Far Fleet escorting the military vessels out of their space.

"Sensors, what do we have?" he asked as he walked to the sensor officer's table, Port Hellgate's eyes turning to study these two fleets with active sensors.

"Two fleets, sir, one of eight vessels: five miners, two frigates and a destroyer. The other, three: two frigates and a cruiser... but she moves clumsily, like she's top-heavy."

"I see", Matila said, standing up as he heard the messages from the comm systems. "Damn space jockeys, always pushing gym socks down their flight suits..."

"Hardly a constructive point of view, commander", the magistrate suddenly broke in, her calm, almost regal gaze staring straight at the commander. "They seem to come with peaceful intentions. I am sure we can come to some agreement with them."

"I would prefer not to have foreign military vessels in my jurisdiction, miss", Matila grumbled. "But, as you wish. We'll do this your way. Open comms."

Destroyer "Advent Guard", this is fleet commander Matila of Port Hellgate. Be advised, you are in Principality territory. Maintain distance of two light minutes from the quarantine boundary. Send your delegation. We are beginning our introduction to the system, followed by purchase of mining rights.

PSN Catalyst, this is fleet commander Matila of Port Hellgate. The quarantine will be lifted in less than ninety-four hours. Send your representative to Port Hellgate; we are beginning our introduction to the system, followed by purchase of mining rights. Be advised, you are in Principality territory, and Maelstrom System is a forbidden zone until otherwise stated. Maintain distance of two light minutes.

Maelstrom System

The central star of the system burned like an infernal gash in space. Even in her dormant stage, Maelstrom gave out prodigious amounts of radiation, the electrical and particle storms painting the darkness of space with clouds of blood-red, gold and deep purple.

All these disturbances, of course, exacted their pay on anyone foolish enough to enter the system. Even sophisticated systems would suffer from blinks, sensor echos or outright refusal to work. The leonine anthros had been lucky: they had exited space near Maelstrom III, a small geologically unstable planet. Her atmosphere was choked with noxious volcanic fumes, spewed forth by the thousands of volcanoes that dotted the surface of this hellish world.

If their telepath was any good, she might catch something else as well: emanations from the second planet, her orbit now taking her away from the hellish star that scoured this system.

On the bridge of the Catalyst it was ordered chaos. Originally the ship had been used for orbital assault operations involving several hundred drop troops and heavy ortillery barrages. Now crew members who originally trained for her original operations scrambled to cram in the propper way to work the mining subsystems that had only been hasitlly added.
All the while Lt. Commander Marshal looked over the response from Hellgate.
"Well I don't think they'd enjoy one of us going over there too much," he muttered refering to the rather large and overbearing armored troopers that flanked the bridge wall.
"A suggestion then, send one of the jr. officers with a fragment of myself," the shipboard AI Kaia chimed in.
"Fair enough, alert Lt. McGlynn to prepare her dress uniform. Also have a portable projector sent to her room."
"I've already started to prepare the fragment as well as plot our course within two light minutes of the system while having the the frigates hang back by ten light seconds."

Ten minutes later
Lt. McGlynn strapped into one of the smaller dropships that still dotted the port side hanger and braced for the gut wrentching inital burn of the ships engines, fortunatly it only lasted a few seconds but even that was enough to make anyone hate flying. As the drop ship took off Kaia shot off a message to the port.
Port Hellgate our dellegate is onboard the currently launching dropship please direct any docking instuctions towards it.

The small TRIAD fleet suddenly ground to a stop when they received the transmission from Hellgate. They had already closed to one light minute, and accidentally ended up crossing the requested two light minute range. Instead of 'backing up' however, the fleet commander chose to simply hold position and contact the station again.

"Hellgate Station, we are launching a transport with our representative. Please direct docking instructions to the shuttle so they may board. May I inquire how long this orientation process is expected to take?"

From the rear of the destroyer an opening formed and disgorged a small craft, shaped almost like a caterpillar without legs. The small ship circled around the Advent Guard then boosted up to 40 PSL to approach the station. It would take roughly five minutes to reach Hellgate.

Phalanixian vessel, this is Port Hellgate flight control. Hold your present course. We are transmitting docking coordinates to you.

A similar message was transmitted to the TRIAD shuttle, as the two delegation vessels approached the edge of the Maelstrom system. Already some of the onboard systems showed might show signs of sensor disturbances, though minute and mostly in the form of difficulty trying to pinpoint the exact location of some of the planetary bodies within sensor range.

Destroyer "Advent Guard", the orientation process is to set up certain guidelines while operating in the system. Quarantine will be lifted in less than ninety-four hours.

Port Hellgate was surrounded by an armada of civilian and commercial vessels, from large space-born mining facilities to jury-rigged merchant and corsair ships. Mercenaries offered their services as 'security forces', and larger merchant vessels peddled their goods: Rad-X pills, mining equipment, weaponry, distress beacons, even prostitutes and other sordid pleasures. Around them hovered Principality cruisers and other military vessels, smaller fighter planes flying between the vessels like flies following a flock of cattle. A pair of these Peregrine-class fighters also escorted the delegates towards Port Hellgate itself, a massive space-station that had at first served as a research station, but had become a military and government installation following the discovery of Nikulite.

The object, which would look like a 50m long obsidian black egg if anyone was close enough to see it, rested briefly and observed the system, the stars output caused significant noise, but 7 major planets were identifiable and traces of an unrecognised compound were observed. The main source of transmissions in the system was identified as being situated on the orbital plane outside of the orbit of the outermost planet.

A portal opened in front of the object and with a flash of its engines it disappeared through it, a short while later, it emerged silently from another portal roughly 30 light minutes from Port Hellgate above the orbital plane at roughly the same orbital distance as Port Hellgate

The bridge
Port Hellgate

"Sir, we have an unidentified portal signature", the sensor officer snapped as he looked at his screen. "Distance approximately 35 AUs. We are not receiving a transponder signal, and within below-FTL distance of quarantine zone."

Commander Matila frowned. This was the last thing he needed. "Start active scanning, lieutenant. XO, which of our vessels are closest to those coordinates?"

"Sir, cruiser Hektor and the frigates Svartholm and Mainila are in that sector, on their patrol route."

"Excellent. Contact Hektor, tell them to intercept the vessel. If it is friendly, have them escort it away or here."

"Yes, sir."

The captain of the carrier grumbled. "See if you can get any more information." The telepath nodded, removing a katana from its sheath at her side, holding out her other paw to the captain. The captain sighing and handing her his katana as well. The black crystal blades gleamed in the telepaths hands. She kneeled, crossing the blades in front of her as she closed her eyes in focus. Her mind bloomed, her psi energies magnified by the crystal of the blades. she was able to see the stations, the masses of people outside the system. For a moment, she got a glimpse of the bridge of the hellgate station. in an instant her senses snapped back. "There's two stations..." She paused, moving to the holo display. "One here, the other here." She pointed to the orbital area around the fifth planet, then at a point just outside the systems outermost planets orbit. Their own position, was just above high orbit of the fourth planet on the other side of the system.

The ship shuddered a bit. The tactical officer called forward. "This storm is taking its toll on our shields, i recommend we move into the shadow of the planet." The captain nodded, turning to the telepath. "Your our eyes and ears out there. Tell us whats going on." He turned to the comms officer. "Inform Pegasis command that we may have found something interesting. Send them a tactical readout." The comms officer nodded. "Yes sir." The QE transmitter humming to life as it relayed real time data across the expanse to the RTMR command fleet.

(OOC: Red Talons, I hope you are not planning on zerging the system.)

OOC: No, i'm not. The only reason i would ever zerg anything is if someone contracted me for alot of money and fancy tech blueprints, and even then i wouldn't use more than half my forces, otherwise i cant be sure the guy hiring me isnt going to double-cross me.... in any case, no i wont zerg swarm. i try to avoid large fleet engagements when possible, nasty vicious things that are a waste of resources.

(OOC: Phew, that's good to hear. I just get worried sometimes that someone will try to just take over the whole system by throwing in a bajillion ships or a ship the size of Jupiter - which, incidentally, I've seen happen once.)

OOC: Only one of my ships is that big, and it wouldnt be able to do anything beyond ram you despite the fact that its over 44,000km from one side to the other.... my largest combat vessel is 4km, which isnt really that gigantic.

Approaching Maelstrom IV
Maelstrom System

Making for cover in the shadow of the roiling methane world, the anthros' vessels began to register power fluctuations, the shields being bombarded by a sudden waft of radiation and electromagnetic interference. In the distance, the Maelstrom star seemed to pulse briefly. And then, a corona of hazy orange began to surround the star.

From a distance, the sight was almost beautiful.

From close-up, not so much... unless a roiling front of a particle storm was the observer's culture's definition of 'beautiful'.

The wave of radiation came first, like the infernal noise of a blasting volcano in the silence of space. Then would come the storm itself, a thunderous cloud of released energy rolling across the system.

Port Hellgate

"We have a storm front!" the sensor officer yelled out.

"Estimates?" Matila asked.

"We should be in the clear, sir. Purgatory and Inferno will soak up most of the storm's rage. Furthermore, the epicentre of the solar quake was on the far side of the star."

"The signal?"

"Already given, sir. Rescue crews are alerted."

"Good, last thing we need is a panic with the shuttles. Close blast shields!"

As the bridge's and the others of station's windows were closed behind blast shields, a wide-frequency message was transmitted to the vessels around Port Hellgate, and on military frequencies to ships patrolling the system perimeter.

"Attention all ships, attention all ships. This is Port Hellgate. Particle storm approaching. Repeat: Particle storm approaching. All shuttle- and fightercraft, dock immediately. Raise shields and close all non-essential systems. This is not a drill. Repeat: This is not a drill. Raise shields and close all non-essential systems. ETA: thirty-four minutes, twenty seconds."

may i drop in?

research satellite 2b5532 M,MW
AI:
radiation flux outside N-zone>(notify command)
command notified>(prepare to notify all local life of existence)
OOF cloak deactivate>(notify all local stations of particle storm)
stations notified>(sleep mode)

OOC: NERV, where exactly did your satellite jump in? And how does it "notify all local life of existence"?

The sensors officer aboard the scout carrier paled slightly. "Sir, we've configured our sensors to the interferance. Confirmed, theres two stations in the system, there salso a solar storm approaching, ETA 10 minutes." The captain nodded. "All ships, all power to shields, move us behind the planet to ride it out, it should shield us from the worst of it. Comms, can we get a standard transmission out through this hell?"

The comms officer shook his head. "Negative, nothing local, unless they have subspace or entanglement comms. but even then we would have to know what frequency to broadcast with, otherwise everyone and their brother will pick us up... we'll have to move out of the radius of the sun-storms."

The captain nodded. "Very well. Hold our position here, we dont know if they know we're here or not, i'd like to keep us off their sensors. Hold here for now. drop a marker drone into low orbit on this side of the planet, this place needs further study. sensors, get on the analysis of this planet and what you can of the storm as it passes."

The sensors officer nodded, beginning in depth scans of the planet. The two frigates lending to the scans, as well as sampling the storm to see what sort of stuff the sun was spitting out.

OOC: NERV, where exactly did your satellite jump in? And how does it "notify all local life of existence"?

it send a signal and deactivates a cloaking system,it jumps in after the blast shutters are activated,its 100,000 years old its a bit slow.

IC:
port Dover:
"particle storm in MW-D local life is also detected"
"send an envoy ship to the nearest station"
"alreaddy done,the VIVA is on her way now"

on-board the viva:
"this is the viva, to port Dover requesting permission to leave port"
"this is Dover STC,viva you are cleared to leave retracting boarding ramps now"
"thanks Dover,see you when we return"

the viva exited the large crescent shaped port
"prepare for intergalactic wormhole jump"
"jumping now"
the viva disappeared

near research satellite 2b5532 M,MW:
the viva reappeared
"sir im detecting a station near by,its rather big"
"head towards it,slowly"
the viva leaped to FTL speeds ,then stopped right outside port hellgate
"this is INN viva requesting to dock"

the viva (http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/107/a/2/the_viva_by_seb_deadzedcomics.png):

Nightside of Maelstrom IV

The radiation levels in the system were picking up rapidly, as the first wave of the coming storm, radiation, scoured the system. The sensor signals were erratic, the interference growing steadily as the wave passed Maelstrom IV.

The planet was relatively small, a pale purple orb of roiling methane clouds and violent storms. The surface was nowhere near habitable, fissures blasting violently-gassing methane from the large ice shelves beneath the planet's surface. No sign of life was present, although sensor echoes also registered trace amounts of artificial compounds on the surface, scattered in patterns along the equator. Perhaps a convoy that had not weathered the storm?

As for the coming storm, it looked like a gigantic storm front of plasma, as if the sun had spat out in wrath into space. The closest three planets were scoured by it, and as the plasma wave hit the sun-side of the second planet, the telepath - if she had not protected herself again - could feel a psychic scream echo from the turbulent orb. It was the dying cry of millions of lifeforms, incinerated by the sun's wrath.

As the wave hit the planet, it looked like the planet's outline had suddenly caught on fire. The roiling clouds turned into streaks of purple and blue and red, the storm setting up violent aurora borealis in the planet's atmosphere, and likely scouring its surface like some angry god was punishing the planet.

the viva:
"radiation levels are high,activating RD shield"
"comms,offline but censors are still active"
"incoming solar wave,shields to max"
the solar storm hit the viva,the shield glowing bright red,but the viva didn't move an inch,as the sheild soaked up all the energy and deposited it into the ships core,as long as the storm blew the ship would have boosted shields.

The dropship upon receiving docking permission had begun it's casual burn towards the station's docking bay. Only a few minutes away the warning signal came through amid the pilots making dirty jokes about what they'd do if they got some leave in the station.
"Ma'am brace for it we need to burn hard if we are going to beat the storm," one of the pilots said over the cabin's intercom.
McGlynn bracing for it groaned slightly before the Gs started to increase as the dropship gunned it.
Docking wasn't graceful but it was efficient and quick permitting the hanger to be sealed whenever.
A message was quickly shot off to the Catalyst upon landing.
Docking complete and safe. Lt. McGlynn will be deployed shortly. Leave requested for dropship crew.

On the Catalyst both the storm warning and the drop ship request was received and both acknowledged.
"Shut the blast doors and see if the fore shields are ready for this."

the viva:
"try hailing the station again"
"okay"
"hellgate station this is the viva requesting permission to dock after the storm"

the object observed the change course of the three ships but remained still and silent waiting to see what they would do, a while later the tell-tale em spike that was the sign of a large stellar emission, that the object and its "siblings" had seen many times on there long journeys, was detected and a thought went across the inside of the object "This should provide some insight into the behavioural response of this group, self preservation, exploration... we shall see".

The small envoy team aboard the transport pod felt a moment of tense concern when the storm alert was recieved, followed by a collective sigh of relief as the small craft reached the safety of the Hellgate station and set down in the assigned bay. For a moment the ship just sat there as those inside considered how to handle things, and how long they might be stuck aboard the station while the star raged.

Outside, things were equally frenetic as the TRIAD ships maneuvered into positions to weather the storm. The three warships formed up into a protective wedge at the front of the transports, with all ships moving far closer than safety normally allowed. The destroyer launched upwards of three hundred tiny, five meter long drones, which began taking up positions ahead of each transport. The Sentinel drones were equipped with purchased particle shield technology, each drone acting as a relay for a geometric defense field. Beams of charged particles lanced out from drone to drone, and where three or more beams enclosed a plane of space, a shimmering curtain of energy snapped into existence. These drones would likely be destroyed by time the storm passed, but they would allow the mining ships to survive.

Meanwhile the warships had their own defenses. Vents on the hull disgorged shimmering clouds of high-density hydrogen plasma, which were then funneled into invisible containment fields. The combination of gravitic and magnetic containment pressed the plasma into flat, hexagonal sheets of raging star-fire, as the energy density of the plasma matched that found on the surface of typical stars. Each individual shield was only enough to cover a small portion of the hull, but the hexagons moved so that they overlapped, covering the forward half of each ship as the vessels turned into the oncoming storm front.

A message was transmitted from the destroyer to the station:

"Hellgate station, thank you for your warning. We would like to request any spectrographic data on this system's star which would assist us in weathering any further storms or unstable stellar activity. Our envoy now aboard your station will be able to negotiate any fees or contracts for our stay in your system."

******
Aboard Hellgate Station
******

Thyrin Veshan checked the atmosphere outside the transport pod one last time before nodding and opening the boarding ramp. As the Khyrolii male descended, his silver fur brushed to a gleaming metallic sheen, his blue eyes swept the bay curiously. The canine was an unusual one, his facial features resembled that of the terran animal known as the fennec fox, whereas his body looked almost like that of a feline like a cheetah, slim and lanky. His tail also resembled that of a feline, bearing very short fur, only the appendage was easily longer than his entire torso, sweeping back and away from his body seemingly with a mind of it's own. Digitigrade legs descended the ramp as he stepped down to the deck, tugging at the edges of his shipsuit, which resembled for all the world a short-cut wetsuit, terminating at biceps and thighs.

Thyrin took in the view of the docking bay with interest, looking for any sign of a welcoming party.

Port Hellgate
93 hours until quarantine removal

Docking Bay C-6

The docking bay's doors opened and a small welcoming party of one officer and two guards stepped inside. These Principality types were clearly human, although only the officer's face was visible (the soldiers had their faces covered with the tactical screens of their helmets). The tall, brown-haired man in light-gray uniform approached the Phalanixian vessel and stopped, clearly waiting for the delegate to appear. The two guards stood back, the barrels of their pulse rifles pointing down at the deck.

Docking Bay D-3

A similar process was going on at the bay where the TRIAD vessel had landed. Only here the officer was a young female. Being of the "fairer sex", however, did not apparently mean she was any less tough than her male counterparts, judging by the ease she carried herself and the weapons on her hips - a pulse pistol and a vibro-blade.

"Welcome to Port Hellgate. I am lieutenant Aili Korte, Principality Far Fleet. I have been assigned to take you to the delegation hall. The orientation and sale of mining rights will begin shortly."

Bridge

Commander Matila listened to the sound of the particle storm outside, as the sun's rage clawed at the shields that protected the station. The blast shields were a matter of last line of defense, not to mention a protection from anyone who would be foolish enough to look outside and observe the burning wave with fragile organic eyes.

Soon the storm abated, and an all-clear signal echoed on the station.

"Report", Matila snapped as he stepped to the opening windows, wanting to see the orange star that still burned in the distance.

"Two ships have been heavily damaged, a total of twelve suffering minor breaches or tech issues. Rescue teams are on their way.", the comm officer reported, sifting through the reports send by the vessels orbiting Port Hellgate.

"Casualties?"

"No fatalities, but the free-trader Glittergold has requested medical assistance. Twelve wounded in total, one critical."

Matila shook his head silently. It happened every time: even in her calmed state, Maelstrom was still one hell of a monster for a star. Even at this distance, these sudden bursts of plasma could wreak havoc on unspecialied ships and systems. Port Hellgate was built with the exact purpose of weathering such storms, but even Matila always prayed silently to himself whenever a storm front blasted out.

"Sir... it seems a new ship arrived just before the storm. The Viva, apparently. I'm scanning her now, but she looks... odd. Like somebody threw an old steamer in space", the comm officer said, frowning a little as he looked over at the sensor readings from his neighbour's monitor.

"Begin active scanning of the vessel, ask of their intentions."

"Yes sir."

Viva, this is Port Hellgate flight control. We have no designation of your vessel. State the name of your species and/or culture, and the purpose of your arrival.

Advent Guard, this is Port Hellgate flight control. We are sending telemetry readings of Maelstrom. Be advised, you will not enjoy what you see.

The Principality broadcast was an understatement for sure. Even the initial reports that arrived showed that the sun herself was highly unstable, practically a supernova waiting to happen within the next few million years. Violent solar activity, high levels of radiation, plasma bursts... No wonder that each planet in the system carried such an infernal moniker. And no wonder the Principality kept the system quarantined: even as weakened by distance and part of its rage soaked up by the gas giants in the outer system, the particle storm still shook the TRIAD vessels like sailships in a storm.

As the dropship troop bay hatch lowered Lt. McGlynn checked her tac-computer on her wrist to ensure Kaia's fragment would be active and functioning at it's full ability. Satisfied she unstrapped herself from her seat and headed to the ramp at the rear of the troop bay.
Stepping out she put on a friendly smile and approached the officer. "My name is Lt. Alice McGlynn of the Phalanix Space Navy, though I am not the diplomatic envoy I am merely her caretaker," she said patting her tac-comp, "A fragment of our shipboard AI is stored on it and will be doing the majority of the talking. At this point it is initializing and syncing with the ship to update anything it needs before the storm hits so I'll be answering any questions for the time."
Behind her the pilots started to exit the ship to inspect it as well as subtly remind Lt. McGlynn they wanted to get some leave while here.

******
Docking Bay D-3
******

Thyrin watched the Hellgate officer approach and nodded in response to the woman's introduction. Curiosity and orders compelled him to reach out with his mind, examining the humanoid for any signs of telepathic ability, a tendril of though groping carefully without actually touching the officer's mind and withdrawing rapidly withdrawing if he made inadverdant contact.

All of this happened in the span it took to cough, then Thyrin curled his tail close around his waist and gestured, "Please lieutenant Korte, lead the way. We are eager to find out what it will cost to begin mining operations in this unusual system."


******
TRIAD Fleet
******

The admiral of the TRIAD mining fleet examined the incoming data as the storm finally died out, a deep frown set on his muzzle. Closing the holographic display with an aggrivated wave, he shunted the data to those waiting to review it and who would better understand how it would affect their mission here.

Geshen Kyrtrel turned to the Advent Guard's captain, a female Reikoan, "Captain, how badly did that storm hit us?"

"Sir, the Eternal Echos sustained minor hull damage, and there was a hull breach in one of the Defiant Cry's holds. Both ships report they should have repairs finished within a few hours. Thirty percent of our sentinels were destroyed, and another fourty percent are disabled, the remainder are returning now." The Reikoan waited expectantly for any further questions or orders.

The admiral considered the situation. The three warships were bio-hulls, they could adapt to the fierce radiation and the plasma storms, plus they had the plasma shields. The five mining transports were standard inorganic hulls. If this kind of punishment kept up, none of the transports would make it back home. "Get everyone useful analyzing that data. Try to find some way to increase the effectiveness of our Sentinels, or some other way to protecting the transports. If we loose those ships, our mission here is over."

The captain saluted, then turned back to her station to issue the necessary orders. Elsewhere on the ship, minds from five species were studying the star's data, looking for anything which would give them an edge before the next storm came.

The telepath gasped, dropping the two katana's in horror. "Theres life down there!" She cried. staring in shock at the holograpgic display of the system. "Second planet.... theres life on it!"

The captain blinked, watching the plasma blast past their hiding spot. "Thats impossible... nothing could survive in this system." The captain growled, shaking his head. The sensors officer began to give a report of the planet, which was interrupted by the telepath. "I know what i heard, and i heard millions of sentients burning to death on the second planet...."

The captain eyed the telepath for a moment, the look in her eyes was fierce, and she had picked up both crystal blades. The captain sighed. "Very well, once its clear take us in to the second planet."

The navigation officer nodded "Yes sir." The sensors officer cut in. "The storm is dissipating, system returning to.... normal..." The word normal could hardly be used on a place like this.

The captain nodded. "Very well, ahead full, get us into the shadow of the second planet, lets see whats going on."

The three ships slipped out of the shadow of the fourth planet and took a arcing path to come innto the shadow of the second planet, sensors scouring the planets surface from a low orbit.

Docking Bay C-6

"Lieutenant Eduard Ranthane, Principality Far Fleet", the officer introduced himself with a soldier's nod. "And I understand. Come, follow me. I will escort you to the delegation hall. The orientation will begin shortly. I trust your AI will be ready by then? Some of the captains have been waiting for hours already."

Docking Bay D-3

Thyrin could find very little as he reached out to touch the young woman's mind. She seemed to flinch a little, shaking it off with a laugh. "Excuse me... It's sometimes quite cold here in the docking bays. Gives me sudden chills", she explained. She apparently had little talent for telepathy herself, but apparently this stock of humans had some level of genetic competence on that matter. Lieutenant Korte was probably a latent telepath, someone with a sixth sense, as the saying often went.

"I am sure the magistrate and the commander will answer all your questions, rest assured of that", she continued as she nodded to her guards, ready to take the guest inside.

Maelstrom system

Meanwhile, another telepathic entity had gotten her captain's attention, and the three ships were maneuvering their way through the burning space towards the second planet. The world was a little larger than a standard habitable planet. In normal circumstances its trajectory would have kept it in the "Green Zone", a belt of space where carbon-based life was possible. The planet did, however, dip very close to the star - and as the anthros had already noticed, the concept of "normal" was something that had to be redefined in case of this system.

The second planet soon appeared on visual range. It was a world of dirty brown and green soil, apparently some sort of deep green sea washing the shores of two large, fragmented continents. One of the landmasses was heavily burnt, the atmosphere above it thick with carbon dioxide, a sign of organic matter burning.

For the telepath, the planet was something more: it whispered in jumbled voices, a mixture of murmurs and whispers and growls. Something was definitely down there.

"this is the viva calling hellgate ATC,we are here on behalf of the NERV conglomerate and the local sun is giving off previously unknown readings. during the storm our research satellite picked up a new type of radiation, and some previously unknown exotic particles, this sun is not going to go supernova but something else will happen, our reason to be here is to make contact with local intelligent life and to ask for permission to send a research vessel close to the sun ,our race is alteran, the viva is a steamer class ship, do we have permission to dock? "

(OOC: NERV, I hope you aren't going to godmod anything happening to the sun... I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now.)

The Viva... Send a delegate aboard our station. We must discuss this in private. Come unarmed, we guarantee the safety of your delegate.

OOC:no sun exploding,supernova-ing. i only plan to research the sun
IC:
"thanks hellgate ,we,ll proceed to transport our delegate to your bridge"
"sir you can stand in the pad now"
"matter transferring now"
the delegate rematerialized in the bridge of hellgate
he was wearing the traditional nerv officers uniform, a purple trench coat with a black shirt underneath and black jeans and the NERV seal on its shoulders

(OOC: Okay. Although, as a friendly tip: having the delegate just pop in at the bridge kinda negates any possible shield effect or jamming signals the station had. After all, it is a military installation. Just... try not to do things like that, okay? Unless you are playing a civilization that sees a force field and thinks of it as a bead curtain)


Wait, what? To our bridge? Viva, please rep...

"...eat that", the stunned comm officer finished his sentence, just as the NERV delegate rematerialized on Port Hellgate's command bridge. The security personnel on the bridge reacted with trained speed, pulse rifles training at the intruder who had just broken through a star system's worth of security systems.

"Stand down!" a tall, blonde officer of keen eyes and gold-threaded shoulder insignia barked. "Stand down, for God's sake."

Then he turned his eyes at the delegate who had appeared so suddenly, and it was clear that this man was not in the mood for diplomacy. "Sir, I don't know what kind of protocol your culture follows, but it should be part of any sentient's survival instinct not to 'port to someone else's home as if it was a barn."

"Commander", a female voice broke in, and a tall, lithe figure dressed in a saree stepped inside. "I do not think this is a proper way to greet a guest. Especially in first contact situations."

The man frowned, clearly showing some level of deference to the younger woman. "As you say, magistrate. My apologies, delegate. You come in a time when everyone here is at their last nerve."

hellgates bridge
"sorry for the intrusion but you didn't say where to send me so i decided to come here. so on with the talks..." he said in a kinda Bill Nighy way


OOC:we don't see jamming/shielding as a bead curtain but we didn't detect one on your bridge at the time

Docking Bay C-6

"Lieutenant Eduard Ranthane, Principality Far Fleet", the officer introduced himself with a soldier's nod. "And I understand. Come, follow me. I will escort you to the delegation hall. The orientation will begin shortly. I trust your AI will be ready by then? Some of the captains have been waiting for hours already."

"Certainly, Kaia will be fully functional within the hour," McGlynn stated taking a quick peak at the progress bar on the small screen of the computer, "Please lead on as I don't want to keep the others waiting any longer. I'm sure the interest in the system has already attracted a large number of others."

********
Docking Bay D-3
********

"Interesting, she appears to be a latent psionic, perhaps a precog?" Thyrin thought to himself, then kept his mind to himself for the moment. Much as he was curious, and incidentally under orders to find out as much about their operation as possible; it wouldn't do to get caught snooping around in someone else's head. Perhaps later there would be time to do some mental recon, but for now the main concern was to discover exactly what it would cost to allow TRIAD access to the unusual minerals in this system.

"My apologies for being so blunt about this, but may we skip the formalities and pleasantries and get down to business? Please lead the way to wherever this orientation is supposed to happen." The Khyrolii did his best to smile in a friendly manner, however for a human the sight of all those teeth might end up seeming unsettling instead.

((OOC: Sorry for the short one, but low on time today and wanted to get *something* posted. I'm going to sit back and wait till the orientation to post again, so feel free to RP whatever for everyone else. I'll be back for orientation.))

Bridge, Port Hellgate

The commander was clearly not liking the casual attitude this alien had about entering the station. But before he could say anything, the young woman - "magistrate", the commander had called her - stepped in.

"We are currently in the middle of something here, delegate. If you will excuse us, we will join you shortly. Guard...", she said calmly, nodding to one of the armed men wearing a hooded tactical helmet and what looked like a carapace armor.

"He will escort you to our relaxation quarters. I will organize refreshments for you. I assure you, I will be joining you shortly", the young woman spoke, her tone of voice soft but calm.

"I will go ahead", the commander broke in. "Lest we have to break up fights in the delegation hall." With that, the commanding officer stepped out of the bridge.

Delegation hall

The large hall in Port Hellgate's military sector was a multi-purpose room. The beige chairs and benches formed a large semi-circle, set up like a Greek theatre. On another occasions it served as a lecture hall and a venue of military entertainment tours.

Today, however, the large room was bustling with captains, trade negotiators, mining crew heads and others of various races and cultures. Both the Phalanixian and TRIAD delegates had been led into the hall and given seats according to their rank as foreign delegates, above the more seedier crowd.

"Officer on deck!" a young, grey-suited ensign suddenly yelled, and the armed guards at the doors saluted as a tall, broad-shouldered man in his early forties stepped inside. Like the other officers, he was wearing a pale grey dress uniform, with the insignia of fleet commander on his shoulders. He walked with the ease of a career officer, his eyes travelling along the crowd before him.

"Ladies and gentlemen", he began, his voice booming in the large hall. "On behalf of the Principality and her Far Fleet, I welcome you to Port Hellgate and the Maelstrom system. You have come here from every part of known space for a single purpose: to mine Nikulite in this system - and, I believe, to get rich or die trying."

The last remark brought a few appreciative mutters.

"My name is fleet commander Matila, and while you are in the Maelstrom System, my task will be to maintain law and order as decreed by the Principality lawmakers. Those of you with your own escorts, mercenary or military, be reminded: while here, you will be considered to be under our jurisdiction. And you will follow the law of the Principality as well as the command of the Fleet. This will be for your own protection."

"The Fleet will maintain a military presence in the system throughout the mining operation, and they will be your first sign of warning. The sun is highly unstable, and once her fury awakens, a system-wide evacuation alarm will be given. Until then, unless you break the law, the Principality will not interfere with the mining operations."

"Lieutenant, give me Maelstrom system map", the commander said, turning his eyes to one of the officers. Holographic projectors lit up in the hall, projecting an image of the Maelstrom System in mid-air, the seven planets and two space stations clearly visible as they orbited the burning star.

"Hades. The Cauldron. Phlegethon. Styx. Inferno. Purgatory. Malebolge", the commander listed, the planets lighting up in order. "Be advised, the names of the planets do not come from a mapmaker who had read Dante's Divina Commedia one too many times. For most of the time, Maelstrom is Hell. You have already witnessed the fury of one particle storm. During her normal phase, no ship can enter the system without risking destruction in storms that have permanently glassed the first planet."

"We are currently here, at Port Hellgate" - the symbol of a space station at the outskirts of the system lit up - "Remember this: all in- and outbound traffic in Maelstrom takes place through Hellgate. Any unauthorized attempts to jump in or out of the system, or pass the quarantine zone anywhere else will be considered a smuggling attempt and will result in the loss of mining rights and cargo."

"Your destination in the system is here", he continued, the closest planet lighting up and expanding to an image of a scarred, black-purple world. "Maelstrom Prime, also known as Hades. The fury of the sun has permanently glassed the planet's surface, and most of the outcroppings on the planet surface are Nikulite. For mining purposes, Nikulite appears in three different forms:"

"First, as a compound that can be sifted from the planet's oceans."

"Second, as fine grain that make up the coastal regions and the inner deserts."

"And thirdly, as its most valuable form, as crystalline formations in mountain ranges inland."

"After this orientation, we will grid the planet surface, and you may purchase mining rights on that territory. The fee will be a standard mining fee, plus a percentage of any Nikulite you carry off-world. Ten percent of sift, twelve percent of grain, twenty percent of crystal. These are not negotiable."

(OOC: NERV, you are testing my patience at the moment. I will get to you in the morning, when I've had some good night sleep, so please stop with the godmodding. Viva was not given docking permission, and nobody sent for your delegate yet. Not to mention you just handwaved the whole bloody meeting just to get a word in.)

********
Assembly Hall
********

Thyrin followed the human as they entered the large meeting hall, glancing curiously around at some of the other representatives and delegates, reaching out carefully with his mind and brushing the minds of those he passed to determine how telepathicly adept any of these people were. Whenever he encountered a psi-active mind, he apologized and claimed the telepathic equivalent of a handshake. Anyone who was not psionic shielded however he intruded deeper into, trying to determine identiy, relative wealth, and where they were going to be mining. Anything which might give the TRIAD team an edge was explored.

Outwardly, the Khyrolii appeared calm and perhaps a touch bored. His physical and mental attention was drawn when the officer came in and began the initial orientation. Thyrin listened attentively When the three types of Nukilite were described, Thyrin could not help but wonder at the potential applications of all three forms. The fleet admiral would need to consider splitting their efforts among all three types of mineral.

When the station's officer finished his speech, Thyrin returned to his clandestine operations, sending his mind sifting through those of the assembled would-be miners...


********
Advent Guard - Bridge
********

"Sir, I think we may have something." The Reikoan officer approached the admiral and saluted. who quickly returned the salute and gestured for the female to continue. "We have analyzed the spectral signature of the star and compared that to the frequencies of the last plasma storm. Our technicians believe we can alter the plasma shields to compensate and fully protect the warships. As for the transports, we will need to recycle some of the mining equipment aboard the Ascendant Glory and use the mass to fabricate shield emitters and new Sentinel drones. We've done the calculations and we should have enough time to fully prepare the transports with additional defenses before the next storm hits."

Admiral Geshen listened to the explaination, nodding ocasionally. Finally he frowned slightly, "That will mean we will only have four miners until we can get more mass to re-fabricate the mining equipment. So be it, issue the orders. Send word to the envoy on Hellgate to negotiate permission to mine one of the outer planets for the mass we need."

The officer saluted again then turned away to get to work. Geshen looked back into the holo-tank at the representation of the Maelstrom star. He privately hoped that this expedition had better be worth the risk they'd be taking as soon as they entered the system proper.

The telepath focused her senses onto the surface of the planet. An avatar of herself appearing standing on the surface. She looked around with vision that would see more than normal eyes. Seeking the source of the cries and moving with a speed of mere thought to their location, calling out gently to anything in the area. ~Hello? Where are you? can you show yourselves?~ she asked, hoping that they could hear her call.

The captain, meanwhile. "Put us in low orbit on the dark side and await further orders. I want to know what sort of life we're dealing with down there and weather or not its hostile."

Occ: those ships are taking a long time to get here

OOC: huhwha?? who are you talking to Pyrovia?

OOC: Damn, sorry, Pyrovia, I forgot you momentarily. Next post will include yours. Scout's honour.

Outskirts of Maelstrom System

Three vessels, the battle cruiser Hektor and her escorts Mainila and Svartholm were making their best possible speed at the location where the unknown jump point had appeared. As always, they expected to find some idiot smuggler who tried to sneak into the system without having to pay the Principality its due and proper for Nikulite ore.

"Sensors, begin active scanning", captain Oli Vainio commanded as he sat on his chair in the bridge, perusing the sensor data on his tactical screen. "All ships, weapons and tractor beams at ready. If it's a smuggler, they're going to make a run for it. Tactical, is the JDF generator ready?"

"JDF armed and ready, sir", the redheaded tactical officer announced.

"Good, I don't want this son of a bitch to make a run for it once we get his location. Helm, when you get his location, make full speed so we can get at firing range."

"Yes, sir!"

OOC: Argh, computer kicked me out just when I had finished a long post. More to come in a few hours, now I have to run.

(OOC: NERV, you are testing my patience at the moment. I will get to you in the morning, when I've had some good night sleep, so please stop with the godmodding. Viva was not given docking permission, and nobody sent for your delegate yet. Not to mention you just handwaved the whole bloody meeting just to get a word in.)

sorry, i was over-exited il delete the posts if you like?

(OOC: I'd appreciate that, NERV)

Delegation Hall
Port Hellgate
91 hours until quarantine removal

"While you are in the system", the commander continued. "The Fleet will handle security matters, such protection from smugglers and pirates, as well as offer evac and rescue services if and when somebody gets caught in the particle storms. On your way out you will be given a ticket to Maintenance, where you can get an emergency transponder that has been set on parameters that allow us to hear the signal even through the solar interference."

"As for matters of civil law, such as purchase or sale of minin rights, we have with us a magistrate. As we cannot tell for sure when the Maelstrom star's calm phase will end, we have made these services available to any miner or crewmember in the system. The phase may last a few weeks, months... or even years. During that time the Maelstrom system will be organized as a Principality colony system."

"Any and all traffic, incoming and outgoing, in Maelstrom goes through Port Hellgate. After you have given the Principality its share of Nikulite, you are free to sell the ore in any fashion you see fit. The civilian district of Port Hellgate also offers equipment, munitions and entertainment, as do many of the freetrader and nomad vessels that have anchored around Port Hellgate. Most of them will acceptmost forms of money, precious metals - and of course Nikulite - as payment. Be advised: any attempt to jump out of the system or cross the quarantine perimeter at any other point than Port Hellgate will be considered an attempt at smuggling, and will result the loss of mining rights and cargo. Resistance will be met with deadly force."

"Furthermore, there is one planet which will remain in quarantine. The Cauldron, or Maelstrom II. As some of you already know, the planet has an atmosphere and can support life. However, our expeditions to the planet have met with disaster, as the local flora and fauna is extremely hostile to all alien lifeforms. The planet is off-limits, and any attempt to land there will be considered a violation and will be dealt with accordingly. If you should find yourself crashed on the Cauldron, it is recommended that you barricade your vessel to the best of your ability and await for rescue. The Fleet will attempt to rescue any survivors, but so far none has survived on the planet surface longer than two hours."

Maelstrom II

As the telepath started studying the planet, she could indeed see that the planet below her could sustain life. In fact, the planet was actually booming with it, in the form of lush, fetid jungles that covered vast tracts of land, even invading the oceans with large, tentacle-like roots that formed cathedral-like spaces over the brackish waters. The sky was a permanent hazy green, except in the area where the particle storm had scoured the planet. Burning vegetation and biomatter produced heavy clouds of oily smoke, and the worst-hit regions were little more than ragged, deeply-gashed canyons and plains of ash and cinder.

Nonetheless, the psychic emanations that she felt were still there, like a steady murmur in the very air around her. It was no less clear than it had been on the orbit, no clear language present in the cacophony of squeaks and howls and whispers and yelps. Yet a deep emotion burned behind it all: the will to live...

sorry, i was over-exited il delete the posts if you like?

done and...done

The telepath, looking at the captain with hazed eyes, spoke softly. "There is what seems to be primative life abounding on this planet!" The captain sighed. "Sensors, get a full work up on that planets atmosphere. Navigation, i want you to extrapolate this planets vectors, flight control. send a shield drone on a drone fighter, i want to get a look at the sun-side of this ball."

A shield drone deployed from the hull of the carrier, crawling with magnetic spider legs into the hangar, where it climbed onto a drone interceptor. Securing itself to the drones hull. The interceptor accelerated out of the ships bay, pulling up and diving gently down to the planet. To start a low level scan of the sun side surface.

The captain looked to the coms officer. "Inform Home, open a live feed data stream, transmit all the data we've aquired so far and appraise them of the situation." The telepath tapped a device on the side of her head, relaying a live feed to what she was seeing and hearing. The feeling was left out, but audio and visual could be transfered. The Telepath proceeded to move around the planet, exploring the ocean, moving to the sun side through the water to get a look at what was going on.

Lt. McGlynn checked the progress of the fragment's activation, with only a minute to go she continued to listen and make notes. During this time she felt her ears perk up slightly, her own body's reaction to a psychic actively scanning the area. Unable to pinpoint the source of the activity she tapped an icon on the tac-comp increasing the level of her psy-shield implant and making a note in the comp to get a psy-active trooper over here once the permits were issued.
Her attention was again returned to the briefing upon the mention of the Nukilite and began to ponder upon the applications of it in repairing and rearming the fleet.
"Miss McGlynn I'd like to inform you that I'm active now and able to take over any negotiations," the fragment chirped up during a break in her train of thought.

Thyrin's attention was again retaken by the Hellgate commander as he resumed his briefing. The comment about the transponder beacon was especially interesting. Granted, the star's chaos wouldn't affect particle resonance comms aboard the TRIAD ships, but those only worked from one TRIAD ship to another. If the beacon could be reverse engineered, then they would have one more piece of technology which might be sold to others. Who knows, perhaps they could sell back-engineered communications systems to hopeful smugglers and raiders for this very system, as long as their sales were not traced back to TRIAD that is.

The khyrolii chuckled softly at the idea as the commander went on. How much longer was this briefing going to take? By now the crews of the fleet would be getting eager to begin operations, and here they were, stuck waiting for these locals to get on with it and open the dammed system already. A soft sigh as Thyrin made note of the commander's point about local ships handling security matters, and made a mental note to ask for clarification when they were allowed to ask questions. Another mental note to be sure to advise the admiral to send additional MACE operatives down to the Hellgate markets, to see what might be on sale that TRIAD could either purchase for reverse engineering, or else might be replaced by a TRIAD product.

Finally it seemed that the commander was done speaking, but since this was still a large, public briefing, questions right now didn't seem overly prudent. Instead, Thyrin went back to his casual mental snooping of the guests, finding a few interesting facts among some of the less shielded minds; some spacers friendly with pirate clans here, there a smuggler worrying about how well the sensor shielding on his freighter would work. When Thyrin's mind brushed against the edges of a mind which was artificially shielded, and immediately withdrew. When no counter contact was made, Thyrin again reached out and examined the mind. It was as if he was "looking" at a featureless void, so effective was the shield. Very interesting indeed. The khyrolii opened his eyes and looked across the room at Lt. McGlynn, a small smirk crossing his muzzle, as he made another mental note to try and find out what ship this one came from.

Thyrin withdrew his mind again and looked around for any of the Hellgate staff, eager to ask a number of questions, and wanting very badly to just get on with the mission.

As the ships approached the first thing there long range sensors would reveal would be an egg shaped object 50m in length. As they approached closer sensors would reveal indications of carbon, ceramic composites, various alloys and organic material but distorted in an apparent randomly changing way.

Any telepaths of reasonable strength would sense signs of disguised shifting "half thoughts" that would fade in and out and layer on top of each other, but would find it very difficult to sense any intent other than a vague feeling of being observed, when pushed the feeling of being observed would shift to one of being tested challenged and remnants of music with shifting harmonics some which may be hauntingly familiar and others completely unknown. When they approach visual range they would see, or not see, a object with a completely smooth black surface, resting silently and not moving relative to either port Hellgate or Maelstrom's star.

Active targeting sensors would have a hard time locking on to anything specific other than the object itself and what locks they could achieve would periodically shift, passive targeting would give differing information indicating what would appear to be the front and back of the object and therefore its orientation towards the ships as they approached.

OOC: the music may or may not be music in the traditional sense depending on who you have met and where your nation has come from, what you have encountered and to some extent the individual telepath, the conciousness inside the object, while not an "active" telepath uses various tunes and patterns it has come across as a form of telepathic defence to obfuscate its thoughts and test anyone that tries to "read" it, is rather good at it, and will adapt its response to individual telepaths.

OOC: sensors and targeting may give better readings given a bit of time and the correct insight.

bump

(OOC: My apologies, gentlemen. Real life is treating me like Rocky Balboa treats a side of beef)

Delegation Hall
Port Hellgate

"On your seat's right-hand handrest you will each find a datapad describing the current geography of Hades", Commander Matila was finishing up. "We have divided the planet into corporate and private mining zones, to satisfy everyone's needs and capacities. Each zone permit allows mining operations in that area, and you will find the datapad contains estimates of the amount of Nikulite each zone has yielded during previous calm phases."

"Before we begin the selling of mining permits, are there any questions you would like to have answered?"

As he said that, the door hissed open and a tall, young human female dressed up in a sky-blue saree walked in. Clearly a civilian, but she bore herself with almost royal dignity, her calm eyes perusing the audience before she nodded to the commander. Apparently this was the magistrate the commander had spoken of, as the gruff fleet commander reciprocated the greeting.

Outskirsts of Maelstrom system

"Sir, we're getting telemetry of the foreign body. It is approximately fifty meters of length, and composed of a variety of alloys, ceramic elements and parts that register as organic", the sensor officer reported as the three ships continued their approach.

"What? Lifesigns, do you have any lifesigns?" the captain asked, frowning.

"Not sure, captain. I'm calibrating the sensors to get better readings."

"Captain, the targeting sensors have difficulty finding anything to lock on. Sensor data shows no clear engine or sensor location", the tactical officer reported, trying to find something to lock on to.

"Turn off active targeting", captain Vainio commanded. "Cut speed to one-quarter. Open hailing frequencies."

"Hailing frequencies open, sir."

Captain Vainio coughed once, sensing that this might go one of two ways: either the ship was a hostile, or perhaps they had walked into a first contact situation right in their backyard.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Captain Oli Vainio of the Hektor. We represent the Principality, the goverment that controls this and neighbouring star systems. You are approaching a quarantined area. Hold your position and identify yourself."

Relaxation quarters
Port Hellgate

The NERV delegate had waited for a good while in a guarded chamber, but apparently the Principality did not perceive him as a prisoner. The soldiers behind the door seemed antsy about him, considering the rash manner in which these aliens had appeared, but they gave no sign of open hostility. A small replicator unit was grafted to the beige wall, allowing the delegate to choose something to eat or drink, and he also had limited access to the environmental controls to make himself more at home in the small room.

Outside in the corridor, one of the station officials walked behind the door and cleared his throat. "Computer", he called out and the station's main computer answered with a beep from the wall console. "Display inside atmospheric conditions", he asked, wanting to make sure that the environment settings the guest had chosen were ones he, too, could survive in.

Maelstrom II

The solar interference was picking up again, but apparently a new particle storm was not rising. Not yet, anyway. The trouble would come from trying to transmit the message out from this hellhole of a system.

The low-level scan showed some interesting data: high levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as low levels of ozone. The planet seemed like a verdant garden gone rampant and untended, the atmosphere thick and humid, ideal for the blooming and yet festering jungles that covered most of the planet.

The telepath's search also showed first signs of local animal life: skittering things on branches and tree trunks, insectoid, crab-like, some even partly mammalian forms with thick skins and reflective eyes hunting in the canopy and in the waterfront. Gigantic, half-whale-like leviathans foraged in the mangrove, large, shovel-like mouths ripping algae and leaves. The waters were deep, murky brown, but even there life was plentiful, and from the depths could be heard distant, echoing sonars of larger entities.

Delegation Hall
Port Hellgate

Thyrin pulled the datapad out of it's compartment and skimmed the readout. Locating two potential mining sites, one deep in the mountains which proved very rich in nikulite in the last season, and another on the coastline. Assuming the system allowed it, the khyrolii placed an immediate bid on both sites. Then his attention was drawn as the commander opened the floor for questions. Ah well, might as well get it over with.

"In regards to your vessels handling security matters. Does that apply to hostile actions as well as local police matters? If any of our ships or personnel are attacked, are we permitted to defend ourselves without violating your rules?" Thyrin paused to let the locals consider the question before moving on, "Next question, do you have any limits as to the quantity of nikulite which can be extracted? Finally, will our fleet be permitted to extract any resources or minerals other than nukulite?"

The answers to all three questions were important, as it could determine if this venture would be worth the expense.

Delegation hall

The datapad indeed allowed for pre-selection of more than one mining site, though apparently there were also others who were interested in those areas. In such an occasion the datapad blinked and showed the current running bid for that section, and asked if the Khyrolii was willing to make a higher bid. The price was steep alright - more than a fleet officer's annual salary per square kilometer - but the previous reports showed the area to have been rich in Nikulite during previous mining efforts.

"Naturally you are allowed to defend your ship and crew, but we also expect that such events are reported to us. We've had our share of small-scale trade wars in the system, and our approach has been draconian: the side commencing the hostilities loses all mining rights and cargo - half to the offended side, half to the state."

"As far as Nikulite is concerned, you may mine as much or as little as you like, provided that the Principality gets its due and proper. That is why we have limited entry and exit to the system at Port Hellgate", the commander continued, then turning to discuss with the magistrate in hushed voices.

"We've been studying Hades for many years now, sir", the magistrate answered, her strikingly blue eyes looking at the Khyrolii straight in the eye. "Mostly the planet is slag with only trace amounts of other precious substances. You are, however, within your rights to extract other minerals from Hades if you so decide."

********
Port Hellgate - Delegation Hall
********

The khyrolii listened to each answer intently, smiling at the first two and finally nodding at the last. "Thank you Magistrate. One of our ships was damaged in the storm, and we were forced to recycle that ship's mining equipment to produce repair parts. We would need to extract common elemental mass in order to replace the mining equipment."

Turning his attention back to the datapad and frowning at the result. Both chosen sites were being bid on. When Thyrin entered a new bid, almost ten percent higher than the competing bids, he cast his mind out wide. Without actually touching any one mind, he searched for any traces of frustration or other emotions which might allow him to identify whoever was placing these counter bids. If he could locate them, perhaps he could "persuade" them to look elsewhere for their nikulite.

The probe moved to the sun side, losing its LANSAT connection and proceeding under its autocomp. Meanwhile, the telepath continued around the ocean, looking for the larger ocean creatures, calling out greetings, seeiking connection with any sentience on the planet.

The captain sat forward a bit as he watched. The Ansible's quantum entanglement system providing Home with a live data stream of sensor and video/audio data.

Lt. McGlynn lifted the datapad up and skimmed it quickly before removing a small system link cable from her tac-comp to attach to the datapad.
Moments after the cable was connected Kaia's fragment flared to life and began to look over the sites that were offered and settled on a mountain site a short distance away from one that was under a bidding war as well as another one at the base of the mountain region.
Lt. McGlynn now letting Kaia do her work focused back on the questions being asked and waited until it she was able to speak, "What happens if one group ends up mining into someone's mining site both by accident or with the intention of theft?"

Delegation Hall
Port Hellgate

The magistrate nodded at the Khyrolii's words. "You are within your rights to do so in your mining area, sir", she said calmly, looking at her own datapad with an unreadable expression. "If you are unable to fulfill your ship's demands on Hades, we are willing to discuss a special permission for you to gather the necessary mass from one of the non-quarantined planets."

As he probed around, Thyrin finally found one of the two main bidders for the coastal site: a representative of a mining corporation, it seemed, based on the man's tailor-made suit and the casual ease with which he tapped his datapad. He wasn't a telepath, however, so it took only a little prodding to make him "reconsider" his bid, and select a poorer mining site.

"As for accidental mining or intention of theft", the magistrate continued. "If there is an imminent threat to your mining operations due to another group stealing from you, you are within your right to use non-lethal force to defend your property. We will not, however, tolerate any level of trade warfare in the system. If you have grievances, you can bring them to our attention, and we will render a verdict based on the evidence. And as Commander Matila already pointed out: we take a very draconian attitude to lawbreaking in Maelstrom. Attempts to steal Nikulite will result in heavy fines and compensation, accidental mining only in more lenient compensation."

Maelstrom II

As the telepath continued her journey throughout the planet, she could see that in the depths of the oceans lived true leviathans, some of the deep sea monsters measuring in several hundred meters in length. The planet's ecosystem also seemed to be a quite violent one: even these monsters were being hunted by packs of marine predators, and even some of the flora seemed highly mobile and violent.

In the depths of the ocean, however, she also found something... unusual. A stronger glimpse of telepathic power, like a beacon drowned into the cyclopean depths of the canyon-like ocean floor.

Meanwhile in orbit, the passive sensors of the leading vessel picked up something in the disturbance: a rough sensor outline of a large object moving through the system, but not following the trajectories of planetary bodies or meteorites. No... a ship. Somewhere in the system, approaching the planet.

Thyrin smiled triumphantly as he managed to 'push' one of the competitors into selecting a different location, using subliminal whispers of how expensive it would be to keep bidding on that particular spot, and maybe this place over here would get overlooked. Now Thyrin just had to either outbid, or locate and influence the other bidder for the mountain sector. It seemed that their bid for the coastal sector had gone unchallenged, since most of the potential miners present wanted the more valuable crystal nikulite found in the mountains.

As Thyrin adjusted his bid for the mountain sector again, he used both physical and mental senses to try and discover just who was trying to compete with him.

The captain nodded to himself, looking over the data being gathered on the planet. Depending on the results of the data from the probe, which would be finishing its circut of the planet about now. Depending on what the other side looked like would determine their next move.

"Sir, possible contact closing in." The sensors officer called over" The captain nodded "Keep the planet between us, if it means going to the sun side, so be it. continue to keep the rest of the fleet appraised of our situation." There was a pause "Sir, drone is coming around from its pass, establishing LANSAT link now, downloading data from teh sun side low orbit pass. lets see what its like over there."

The telepath, meanwhile, followed the source of the telepathic power. Diving deeper into the depths, using her Talent to see even when there is no light. The image would turn a black/white shade as the equipment compensated for the shift.

(My apology for the lateness. RL, she is a bitch)

Delegation Hall

"Are there any more questions?" the commander asked, looking around in the hall. It seemed that the most pertinent questions were over for now. "Very well then... You may proceed with the bidding for mining sites. Within the next ninety hours, we will have the devices set on all of your vessels. After that, the quarantine will be lifted.

Bidding continued hectically as a holographic image of Hades was projected in the air. Small red flares marked areas that had been taken, and slowly but surely the planet was slowly turning from its obsidian black hue to a reddish glow.

Thyrin for one might have reason to be pleased, as a small amount of prodding and bidding secured him the mining areas he had chosen for. The same happened for Lt. McGlynn and Kaia.

As for their respective vessels...

Phalanixian convoy, this is Port Hellgate flight control. You may advance to within 2,000 kilometres of Port Hellgate. We will send a mechanics team to attach the transponders in sixteen hours.

TRIAD convoy, this is Port Hellgate flight control. You may advance to within 2,000 kilometres of Port Hellgate. We will send a mechanics team to attach the transponders within sixteen hours.

While these messages were being transmitted, the magistrate approach Thyrin calmly.

"Delegate Thyrin, of TRIAD Enterprises, yes?" she asked, her voice clear and calm, as if being in the presence of the Khyrolii did not have any kind of effect on her. "I believe you were interested in mining for raw materials to repair your vessels."

Maelstrom II

The contact kept approaching, and soon it appeared in visual range. A warship, apparently. A battle cruiser, by the looks of it. It appeared as a sleek shadow of durasteel against the orange glow of the particle clouds, and kept approaching the planet on a steady course. The Red Talons sensor officer might notice that in its wake followed two more sensor echoes, soon appearing as a pair of missile frigates. And they were actively scanning the area...

Meanwhile in the planet's oceans the telepath was approaching the source of the telepathic beacon. In the darkness before her she saw the shadow of a spacecraft, a large one. She had taken a heavy beating, judging by the massive ruptures and holes that marred her hull, and the local wildlife was practically enveloping this skeletal ship. Seaweed and coral grew on her hull, skittering crab-like creatures and schools of fish around her. The beacon was flaring somewhere inside of her...

One AU out from the actual "Edge" of the system, faint Slipstream Drive returns could of course be seen. They weren't trying to mask them. But the sheer distance wound make them faint.

((OOC: This is happening roughly around the same time everyone else is arriving, but the sheer distance is causing a time delay. ;) ))

The Sutufinai Aligned Worlds had arrived. The Convoy moved carefully towards the system, not taking any chances with a possibly damaging star. It would take quite a bit of time to arrive at the station, but the station would have ample warning of the Convoy's arrival.

The Convoy consisted of a 8 Medium sized Cargo Vessels, a single large vessels geared towards industry of some type... Probably a mobile refinery... 3 Destroyer Escorts, and then the rather striking form of a Fortitude Class Heavy Cruiser. This in itself would be rather worrisome, as the missile armament of the Fortitude would allow long Range heavy bombardment. The resulting Bombardment was meant to be able to take out Dreadnoughts and other more massive combatants.

But, wait... The sensor returns on the Missile area were off. It soon became apparant that it was in fact not a missile cruiser, but the area where the Missiles should be has been refit into a massive Cargo Hold. While the Nations might know this or not, they were looking at a Pickaxe Class Primary Mining Vessel. The S.A.W. Mining Commission was Unique. While Asteroid miners and such were usually privately funded, heavyweight Miners such as this were owned and operated by the Naval Auxiliary and "Rented" out to private companies. The Private "miners" here were in fact the Captains of the Cargo Ships that wouldn't take a step past Hellgate Station. In doing this only trained naval personnel who are in a ship capable of not only defending itself from claim jumpers but also from natural forces is going into Harm's Way.

As the ships grew closer, the Pickaxe Mining Vessel reached out with 'Commo to communicate with Hellgate's Command Information Center (Bridge, whatever you wanna call it. I wanna call it CiC.)...

This is Sutufinai Auxiliary Navy Surplus Extractor, we are leading a mining excursion by Private Companies into the system to mine your planet. We will be acting as the Mining Unit In-system for several companies and would like to place request for multiple claims, one for each company we represent and will be mining for. The Escorts and Support vessels will stay with the Cargo Vessels at Hellgate while the Surplus Extractor enters the system. We are Requesting docking permission for the Extractor at your station to commence communication with your people on securing the mining permits required.

As they had stated, upon arrival at Hellgate, the Cargo Vessels, Refinery, and Escort Destroyers held off from the station. They sat solemnly away from the rest of the ships and station outside of the System, deeming it better to be Safe than look cool and impressive. However, as they sat at the edge of the System... The Surplus Extractor continued towards the Station. While it was certainly not the biggest vessel in the area, the ship had been designed as a highly adept warship even without it's missile armament. It's clean,but sharp, lines were obvious against the many other ships surrounding it as it cruised towards the station and prepared for docking procedures upon the station's agreement.

********
Port Hellgate - Delegation Hall
********

Thyrin smiled wide, his fangs showing as he watched the final competing bid fall and not renew. He'd found the minds of the people interested in "their" claim and pushed them enough to consider other sites, and the bidding did not go high enough to seriously affect the predicted budget for the operation. Once planetside, the excavation would have to work fast to ensure enough of the valuable materials, especially nikulite, were removed as quickly as possible.

When asked about mining resources other than nikulite, the magistrate had made no mention whatsoever about taxing those other resources. Assuming the planet held even trace elements in certain families, then this effort could easily pay for itself just on that alone. The Khyrolii looked up as the magistrate approached. Thyrin got to his feet and bowed at the waist, "Yes Magistrate. As I mentioned, we were forced to recycle the mining equipment aboard one of the transports in order to rebuild the drones and other equipment damaged in that particle storm. We will need to harvest sufficient elemental mass to re-fabricate the mining equipment before that ship will be able to join the planetary mining effort. Since you said Hades is primarily stripped of heavy elements, we may need to harvest a few asteroids in order to get the right mix of elements to fully replace our losses. I would like to negotiate for permission to do this before our convoy proceeds to Hades."


********
Maelstrom Space - TRIAD Convoy
********

After receiving the message from Hellgate, the TRIAD ships approached to the designated range and again stopped in formation, awaiting whatever crews or machines would arrive to install the beacons. The technicians aboard the transports were waiting to dismantle the beacon that would be attached to the 'Ascendant Glory'. The transport's shipmind would be linked to the shipminds of the rest of the convoy to attempt to reverse engineer the beacon for any potential useful technologies. If Hellgate asked about the missing beacon, a cover story had been prepared: that the beacon had been vaporized when a plasma grid conduit clos to the hull ruptured. The Advent Guard's captain was willing to intentionally cause a plasma explosion near the beacon's position, after it had been removed and dismantled by the nano-forges, to lend credibility to the cover story.

OCC: sorry for slow response have been busy of past few days

"Unidentified vessel, this is Captain Oli Vainio of the Hektor. We represent the Principality, the goverment that controls this and neighbouring star systems. You are approaching a quarantined area. Hold your position and identify yourself."

Shortly after the receipt of the message a short transmission was made by the object

stellar relative V=0 dV = 0, PSF-AJP0187

at the same time the surface of the object rippled slightly and a series of 8 symbols appeared repeated across the surface of the object consisting of groups of filled and unfilled circles "orbited" by a number of smaller filled circles with a gap between the 5th and 6th and 6th and 7th

in the following pattern (filled circles, unfilled circles, orbiting circles)

(1,0,1),(2,2,2),(3,4,3),(4,5,4),(5,6,5),gap,(7,7,7),gap,(9,10,9),(10,10,10)

OOC: if don't want to / can't work out what i mean see (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table)

Lt. McGlynn had been watching the bidding carefully to ensure the cost of the locations wouldn't be too outrageous, carefully though she had been attempting to locate the origin of the psychic activity.
Interrupting her search Kaia chirped up, "Ma'am we have secured both sites within the cost limitations set by the mission. I've informed Lt. Commander Marshal already and am awaiting further orders."
"Good, to hear. If you need anything just let me know."

Back on the Catalyst.
With Kaia's report of success in the bidding Marshal had already ordered mining crews to prepare for deployment.
"Sir, inbound message from the port, putting it on your screen," Kaia stated

Phalanixian convoy, this is Port Hellgate flight control. You may advance to within 2,000 kilometres of Port Hellgate. We will send a mechanics team to attach the transponders in sixteen hours
Upon receiving this the small fleet began to move towards Port Hellgate with the Catalyst pausing at 2000 km and the destroyers pausing at 3000km.

The sensors officer relayed the new data, The drone having gotten a look at the approaching ships from the sun side. The captain nodded. "Right then. so we've got company.." The captain sighed, looking back to the flight control officer. "Have a decoy drone rigged to emit a signal twice the strength of normal, and have it accelerate at its best possible speed. I want you to set it on a course that will be sure to get that patrol's attention. Meanwhile, take us lower, bring us into the atmosphere and hide us in the clouds." The various officers on the bridge nodded, going to work on their consoles.

From the top of teh carrier a small barrel shaped frone popped out, accelerating away from the carrier around the planet. Activating holographic imaging systems, it took on the likeness of a heavy cruiser as it accelerated using the planet to slingshot it out, emitting a pulsing EM signature. The drone shot out from the planet at a 45' angle to the approaching fleet, continuing to accelerate out of the system.

Assuming the patrol didnt follow the drone that was screaming across all sensor bands that it was a heavy cruiser(figuratively speaking) The carrier and two frigates lowered themselves into the atmosphere. Securing any non-essential systems outside the ship, engaging sensor cloaking screens as they passed below the clouds of Maelstrom II.

The telepath moved into the ship, calling a greeting to the psi beacon, wondering if it was a living being or simply a mechanical contraption.

(this has piqued my interest. >.> i do believe i may have to try and salvage this ship. gelegram me your messenger, msn preferred ^.^; ))

Surplus Extractor, this is Port Hellgate flight control. The bidding on mining rights has already begun. Open an encrypted frequency, we will allow you to peruse the available sites. You may proceed to within 2,000 clicks of the station.

Welcome to Maelstrom system.

As soon as the connection was made, it was clear that many of the best lots had already gone, but there were more being bid on frantically by various mining conglomerates. The heaviest bidding took place on the mountain ranges, while the deserts and oceans were less violently 'fought over'.

Delegation Hall
Port Hellgate

"I see", the magistrate answered, nodding. "Our scans of Hades have indeed shown very little in terms of mineable minerals, especially considering the hazardous conditions of the system. If you wish to use the mining slag, recycle it through your fabbers, that is your prerogative."

"However, should you wish to maximize your time mining for Nikulite, I am ready to offer you a temporary pass into the system. The outermost planet, Maelstrom VII, or Malebolge, is an ice world we use as a water source. Our drilling stations there have penetrated the planet's methane ice crust, and we've uncovered the solid bedrock underneath. If your fabbers do not require a particular element to re-fabricate your materials, we can allow you to mine for materials on Malebolge. Shall we say... A percent and a half extra of your mined Nikulite for a forty-eight-hour mining permit? You will have plenty of time before the quarantine is lifted."

Port Hellgate

The appearance of two new mining fleets, and now a third, had sent a buzz of electricity through the freetrader community that had formed around the station. In a way Port Hellgate resembled the mining towns of Old Earth; a base of operations where miners could purchase supplies and sell the fruits of their labour.

Larger free-trade vessels were announcing sales of mining equipment, Rad-X, scouting vessels, calibrated sensor systems, even charts and predictions of Maelstrom's solar activities. Smaller ships serviced other needs: food and water cubes, escort and mercenary services... There was even two or three "flying whorehouses", bordellos that offered the company of prostitutes, masseuses and dancers of various species and sexes.

The whole area was guarded by a selection of frigates and cruisers, these ships of war using this place as their mooring station on their patrol routes.

Smaller Principality shuttles were flitting about, teams of mechanics bringing and installing the transponders. On TRIAD vessels it also became clear that the Principality was not as naïve as one might have thought: the mechanics were adamant that they would install the transponder. The accompanying datapad also gave a warning: any attempt to tamper with the transponder would cause "counter measures", a notification to Port Hellgate, and possible consequences under Maelstrom Temporary Jurisdiction Act and Principality Intellectual Property Act.

Outskirts of the Maelstrom System

"What the hell...?", Vainio cursed. "Comm, can you make anything out of it?"

"Not yet, sir... The computer suggest a pattern based on the periodic table, but we have trouble identifying the meaning of the symbols. Possible translation is a list of various elements: Mendelevium, three Heliums, then Lithium, Beryllium, Lithium; Beryllium, Boron, Beryllium; Boron, Carbon, Boron; three Nitrogens; Fluorine, Neon, Fluorine; three Neons. The computer is trying to decipher the message."

"Very well. Continue deciphering the message. And hail the ship again, same message."

(OOC: Chem was never my strong subject ;) )

Maelstrom II

The approaching ships had apparently taken the bait: the missile frigates broke formation and changed course, adopting an intercept course with the drone and accelerating. The slower cruiser, however, continued its approach towards the planet, continuing its sensor sweeps of the area.

The Red Talons vessels soon noticed that the planet was quite unwelcoming, the clouds looking like poisonous, sickly-green mist on top of the planet. Apparently the atmosphere was also slightly corrosive, as the clouds around the ships started to sheen slightly, as if the atmosphere was attempting to digest the shields.

Meanwhile, in the crushing depths of the ocean, the psychic beacon pulsed at the telepath's urging. Suddenly all the wildlife froze still for a heartbeat, and then began to scurry away, as if something had startled them. Schools of razor-finned fish swam frantically past the telepath's psychic form, crabs and ray-like creatures diving into the cyclopean darkness below. The ship remained, a skeleton perversely decorated with seaweed and coral, the psychic beacon still pulsing, a sense of warmth, a welcome emanating from the depths of the vessel, half-embedded into the coral mountainside.

IC:

The same response was repeated

followed a short while later by a audible message

Greetings, This is the Pyrovian Space forces Automated Jump probe Number 187 and is currently stationary relative to this systems star. You may refer to me as Zhi, I apologise for the delay in my verbal response your language differs from those I am familiar with speaking. What is it that you wish of me?


OOC: think i need to find a better way of saying that in future, is actually list of the first 10 elements, with their most common forms but with Carbon and oxygen left out

filled circles represent protons, unfilled circles represent neutrons and orbiting circles represent electrons

so (1,0,1) give 1 proton, 1 electron which is hydrogen
(2,2,2) 2 proton, 2 neutron, 2 electron is helium
etc.

so the appropriate response would be the sequence with carbon(6,6,6) and oxygen(8,8,8) included
"(1,0,1),(2,2,2),(3,4,3),(4,5,4),(5,6,5),(6,6,6),(7,7,7),(8,8,8),(9,10,9),(10,10,10)"

in case you missed with the chemistry

the response "stellar relative V=0 dV = 0, PSF-AJP0187"

is the ship saying that is not moving and not accelerating relative to the star, velocity(V) = 0 dV delta V or acceleration = 0

and PSF-AJP0187 is the ships reg number.

can assume solar radiation partially scrambled first signal if want

The telepath moved deeper. following the beacon to its source, meanwhile, the ships, having taken sensor readings of the atmosphere, had polarized the magnetic shielding to act like a buffer. The corrosive chemicals in the armorsphere repelled from the ships hull as the three ships mofed deeper into the atmosphere, looking to hide from the cruiser.

"Sir, the two smaller contacts have broken off, but the lead is still headed this way." The captain nodded. "Right then, set us down on land. power down all non-essential systems. use the gravity shields to keep this atmosphere off of the hull, i want to drop our EM signature as much as possible." The shields flickered a bit as the three ships switched from magnetic fields to gravity fields to keep the caustic atmosphere at bay.

The telepath moved into the wreckage, peering around inside it, looking for the beacon.

((OOC Note: Bad news I'm afraid. Least bad news for me. I and my housemates have just been served with an eviction notice this morning. The notice states that we have till the end of the month to vacate. The landlord is being an ass and kicking us out because on of the roomies received a service dog. Technically, it is illegal to refuse a tenant to own and house a service animal, as it is an ADA violation. Our landlord however is ignoring that and looking for any excuse to evict us anyways.
We are going to be fighting this, however I don't know what is going to happen at this stage in time. I am going to *try* and keep up with things here on the forums, but consider this a heads up if I suddenly stop responding. Even if I can watch, I may not have the time to write replies in a timely fashion. For those who care, please bear with me and be patient. I will return actively as soon as I know what is going to happen.
Thanks in advance for any prayers or well-wishes.))

((OOC: You're getting kicked ou because of a service dog? I call bullshit.
Hope you can post here as often as you can, but more importantly I hope that everything will turn a-okay for you and the roomie. ))

Outskirts of the Maelstrom System

Captain Vainio frowned. Well, this was certainly proving interesting...

"Comm, establish contact with Port Hellgate. I believe we have a first contact situation in our hands."

Hektor to... Zhi. We arrived to your location because your flight path took you dangerously close to a system we have under quarantine. We mistook your vessel for a smuggler. For that, we apologize.

We are, however, curious to know what brings you to this part of space. Pyrovia is not a culture we are familiar with.

Maelstrom II

Finding a place to land was easier said than done. The scans had shown that the planet's vegetation could easily by described as overwhelming: it was if every square centimeter of the planet was being choked with thick, high-reaching jungles. The only possible landing space they could find was in the area scoured by the particle storm earlier.

The landing ships' engines sent out a blast of cinders and ash as they came down. Despite the burnt-out landscape, the sensors still picked up massive amounts of biosignals in the vicinity.

In the depths of the ocean, the telepath had made her way to what had apparently once been the ship's engines. The ship had apparently been sunken for many years, as even the very depths of her quarters were being slowly eaten and dissolved by corals, rust and seaweed.

The engine room, however, was like nothing the telepath had ever seen: self-luminating corals and mushroom-like growths gave the large chamber an eerily beautiful, blue-tinted glow, pillars of oxidized metal descending from the roof like nature-shaped pylons. The most powerful glow, however, and the source of the beacon, came from near the ship's anti-matter reactor. Unbelievably, it still seemed to operate, even after years of neglect and being cocooned in in brilliantly glowing coral.

As the telepath approached, the sense of warmth emanating from this glowing coral heart began to grow, as if something in there was expressing and sharing a sense of euphoria at the answer. As she approached, she could see the faint outline of a humanoid figure trapped in a translucent cocoon. A young female human by the looks of it, the cocoon-like coral preserving and displaying the beauty of its captive even in death. She was wearing a tattered uniform, yet the sleep of death had lended her an expression of peace so rare among the living.

Suddenly, her eyes jumped open, and a pair of dead, pale grey eyes stared straight at the telepath.

'Run', came a whisper, barely even a sound at the edges of the telepath's consciousness, the dead human in her cocoon staring at her with dead but seeing eyes.

The anti-matter reactor began to thrum more deeply, a shiver running through the reef as something was arising from it, something terrifying in its psychic proportions, something whose tendrils were trying to drive themselves into the intruding telepath's brain...

OOC: are the ignore cannons firing?

The Surplus Extractor continued moving in-system to meet Hellgate station. The Large heavy cruiser wallowed in space as it came to a halt outside the Station, rather close by. While it didn't launch shuttles... The Mining Smallcraft were -much- larger than a simple shuttle... It connected a Video link to the station.

Onboard the station at the correct Video screen the Captain of the Surplus Extractor, A Dastrilian (http://kesame.deviantart.com/art/Kjetterkhan-and-Rekje-73853331) wearing a suit of what looked like modified combat armor. Except it was painted yellow and red with "Caution Stripe" (http://www.sharecg.com/images/medium/17334.jpg) edging. It also had no helmet. He had a smile on his face on the utilitarian bridge of the converted battlecruiser.

While the bridge of a normal Fortitude class Heavy Cruiser was rather cramped, the Pickaxe class however had lost many of the missile control suites and battle coordination suites. This changed the bridge of the ship from a cramped military control center to a relatively open-air, utilitarian bridge that looked erroneously huge for a starship. This size allowed the many crewmembers who ventured to possible danger-areas of the ship (Like the flight bay and Cargo bay) to wear their protective armor anywhere in the ship including the bridge... Which on the Fortitude class would've been much too cramped.

He captain smiled lightly and gave a slight bow. "Captain DeSilva, Sutufinai Auxiliary Navy Miner Surplus Extractor. I am here to secure 9 Mining claims for the Sutufinai Aligned Worlds and the Eight corporations I will also be representing. Their eight ships may be seen at the edge of the system. I would like all Claims to be connected in one block square. If there is a reason able claim area that I can choose from. Please transmit them to be for overview."

((Sorreh))

The telepath gripped the two blades, her vision shifting slightly as the tendrils came into her view. She turned from the human, the two katana's began to glow a soft blue from their core as she channeled her talent through them. The magnifying effect from the crystal allowing her to push off the intrusion, but not for long. She snapped back to her body on the bridge of the carrier. "Its a ship, probably an old terran scout ship. its antimatter reactor is still online but the ship's in bad shape. one possible survivor. There's something else here as well..." The telepath winced as she could feel the assault of the unknown entity. "She touched the metal torc around her neck, sliding a digit along it a bit, turning the psi-dampner up to its maximun setting, the torc hummed softly against her neck.

The captain, having seen the ordeal on the screen as the rest of the bridge crew landed the ship, the two frigates landing nearby. "Shields holding. switching off all non-essential systems." The sensors officer called out "Gravitic sensors showing the unknown vessel, eta 5 minutes till it clears the horizon." The captain nodded. "I want external camera's online, and keep an eye out for anything approaching us."

The three ships floated a few feet above the ground on their shields. their drive cores powering down so that they provided just enough power for active systems. The hope was that between the erratic sun, the clouds, and the planet they were on, they would avoid detection. Meanwhile, the drone would continue to accelerate, and very rapidly, out of the system. clearing the suns radiation field before it pulsed with what was usually picked up as the surge of a jump. The drone having overclocked its core into its engines, which upon overheating caused the core to go critical. the gravitic core imploding while the fission core detonated

Lt. McGlynn took the time during the end of the bidding to start sending her report back to the Catalyst as well as a request for a additional psi-active unit.
Tapping away at her tac-comp she began to memorize the faces of anyone that seemed note worthy and proceeded to wander about the room putting on her best "I'm new here" look.

Back on the Catalyst...
Shortly after pulling into the requested distance a dropship launched quietly and proceeded to fly towards the port requesting docking clearance.
Inside a trooper sat quietly reading the report Lt. McGlynn had filed in an effort to prepare for the task at hand.



((OCC: Sorry for the shorty, writers block.))

Zhi responded with the following
Put simply my reason for being here, as is my vocation in general, is the search for knowledge, more specifically I am here, at this time, because recent increases in ftl activity in this system combined with changes in stellar activity gave this system a higher priority for investigation than other nearby systems.

((OOC: NERV, I threw an answer your way. Take a closer look at the thread))

IC:

Bridge
Port Hellgate

The Surplus Extractor's vidscreen showed a functionalist-design bridge, each station located between pylons brimming with vidscreens, read-outs, sensor screens and controls. In front of it all stood a tall, stone-faced commander in a grey uniform, his epaulets showing the rank of fleet commander.

"This is fleet commander Mathila, of Port Hellgate. We are transmitting the information about available claims as well as basic information of the system. We remind you that while in Maelstrom you are operating under Principality jurisdiction. Keep your nose clean, and we will have no trouble. If you wish, Port Hellgate's civilian quarters are available for your crew if you wish to give them shore leave before the quarantine is lifted."

Port Hellgate

Phalanixian shuttle, this is Port Hellgate flight control. Docking clearance granted. Proceed to docking bay A-7.

Maelstrom II

Even with the psi-dampeners on, the telepath could still feel... something clawing at the edges of her consciousness, making lunges against her guards. It was if the entity was testing her limits, seeking a way in.

As the ships powered down, they remained hovering over the desolate landscape. The unknown ship above was running active scans of the planet's vicinity, but the planet's atmosphere and the solar activity seemed to interfere with their signals.

At the same time, they were also transmitting a message, badly broken up by the same anomalies:

"Unid... ssel, this i... ea, of th... ipalit... esenc... in viola... arantine... is sys... nswer imm.. ly; do n... roach the pl... epeat: d... appro... planet. You... t danger."

Outside, the glaring sun was shining down through the shimmering clouds. The ground grumbled a little, showing seismic activity. In the distance, clouds of black dust arose intermittently, accompanied by strange, ululating sounds. Life forms perhaps? Local animals?

Outskirts of Maelstrom System

I see. We are willing to answer your questions, Zhi, but I must ask you that you allow us to escort you to our outpost in this area. We are currently in the process of opening this system for mining.

(OOC: Everybody ready to start mining? Or shall we continue before the quarantine is lifted?)

OOC: i did like the little post about the civilian quarters

the NERV dignitary pondered, he wondered when the people from Hellgate would come, and whether the people would be glad to speak to him, he was sure that it would be beneficial for both sides of the agreement after he makes the offer at least.

OOC: 2 first contact situations at the same time, nice ^_^
i am wondering when the nerv dignitary is escorted to the meeting room, i will wait if you desire

Meeting Room
Port Hellgate

The door slid open, and inside stepped a tall young man who looked a little nervous at the situation. His clothing bore similarities with the uniforms of the military personnel, but the cut and the materials were more relaxed, marking him as something of a dignitary.

"I apologize for the delay, sir. I trust you have been well taken care of?"

"yes all is well, i am patient when it suits me,the NERV conglomerate is interested in your sun, we have been for 10,000 years which is why our satellite was there in the first place. 9,000 years ago the satellite picked up a change in the suns cycle, i was sent here because the satellite recorded the same phenomena now, we would like to send a research ship into the suns corona to perform more tests, we would of course have to arrange a contract of some kind, are you interested?."

OOC:this should be rewarding for both our nations

The dignitary frowned deeply. "A most unusual request, to say the least. As far as we know, the Maelstrom sun is at her dying stage; we expect her to go supernova within a few million years. And most people who come here come after Nikulite."

"I would be most interested in seeing your research data, however. Your willingness to share your research will, of course, be taken into consideration."

"we are willing to share all our data with you,also as part of the deal we could set up a permanent refinery station in this system allowing for the refining of Nikulite and other raw materials. with ships fitted with similar shields as my ship year round mining could be accomplished. all we ask is to be allowed to send the research ship in."

The captain listened to the message as it was played. "right, sensors, i want you to look for anything coming in." He paused, looking out across the surface as it was displayed on the walls of the bridge. "have fighter crews prep for launch. Anti-fighter loadouts." They waited as the ship passed over, as soon as it cleared the horizon the ships raised altitude to a few hundred feet. The telepath focused on keeping her mental defenses up. the two crystal blades amplifying the potence of her talent, guarding her mind against the entity, she growled as she sensed it prodding and exploring her defenses. "its trying to force its way into my head.... i'm calling it. Type six supernatural contact. it may have telekenetic abilities, captain, if we dont move away this could get ugly quick."

The captain nodded. "Navigation, move us into lor orbit, and make sure we dont move into line of sight of that ship. Tactical, keep our gravitic signature masked, bring weapons online, i want an active lock on the sunken ships power signature. if its reactors are still online we should be able to lock on. Begin I field propagation, and adjust our magnetic field appropriately."

The Minovsky monopole particles were released into the area around the ships like a cloud, their magnetic field generators tuning the particle field, anyone observing the event would pick up a strange emission spike from the area. any psi users looking into the area would register static.

Maelstrom II

Just as the vessels were beginning to rise, the sensors recognized a sudden tremor in the planet surface, right below the vessel. The telepath could feel it too: it was like having a blade of ice cutting into her back, a sense of dread emerging from the entity's almost arrogant breaking into her mind, telling her she had been found.

The ground burst violently just under the ships, a cloud of dust and dirt spewing from the rupture, boulders and dirt pounding upon the ships' bellies. The sensors picked up a massive swell of life forms from the rupture, approaching rapidly.

The first thing the Red Talons saw was massive tendrils spurting from the ground all around them, like gigantic ferns pouring out all around them - and below them. One pod-headed tendril, its top a pale brown pod the size of a small shuttle, smashed against the carrier's underbelly.

Meeting Room
Port Hellgate

The dignitary looked positively amused by the NERV delegate's words.

"Sir, we haven't named the system's planets after mythological underworlds for no reason. If you have been observing the planet as long as you claim, you should know that the plasma storm we weathered recently was nothing compared to the star's normal fury. Trust me, we have tried, but the solar storms have proven too strong for our ships. Especially since the mining world is the closest to the star. We believe that Nikulite is formed because of the star's fury; the planet is for all intents and purposes glassed."

That is acceptable, please provide directional information and any necessary approach protocols, and I will accompany you.


The ships surface returned to its black finish and its energy field shifted as it charged its linear displacement drive and awaited course information

Hektor, Mainila and Svartholm moved into an escort formation around Zhi, as the "directional information" was transmitted to the alien vessel, along with an information package about the region.

Apparently the closest outpost was officially designated "the Maelstrom Research Station", but the package also included its colloquial name: Port Hellgate. Apparently this human culture considered the Maelstrom system as some kind of "hell in space"; the political entity ruling the region - "Principality" - had apparently placed the system under quarantine for a two-fold reason. First, because at her normal stage, the central star was giving out massive amounts of radiation and solar flares, which for all intents and purposes made the settlement of the system impossible. Even trying to ride out the plasma storms was considered a death wish. And secondly, apparently the only export of the system was Nikulite - or Hellglass - which was mined in the system; a most precious substance indeed. Apparently the rise in FTL signatures was because the quarantine would soon be lifted and miners allowed into the system.

Maelstrom II

Meeting Room
Port Hellgate

The dignitary looked positively amused by the NERV delegate's words.

"Sir, we haven't named the system's planets after mythological underworlds for no reason. If you have been observing the planet as long as you claim, you should know that the plasma storm we weathered recently was nothing compared to the star's normal fury. Trust me, we have tried, but the solar storms have proven too strong for our ships. Especially since the mining world is the closest to the star. We believe that Nikulite is formed because of the star's fury; the planet is for all intents and purposes glassed."

"this is true, but the NERV conglomerate has the perfect shield, the system is already in place around many suns in our nation, it is capable of holding back a supernova from exploding using gravity and conventional shielding, the refinery ,access corridor and glassing satellites would have a similar set up."
he picked up his data pad and showed the other delegate a proposed map (http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/127/8/c/NS_mealstrome_system_by_seb_deadzedcomics.png)
"the glassing satellites will collect the Nikulite then cargo ships will transport the Nikulite to the refinery as the refinery wouldn't be orbital, the orbit of the glassing satellites means that every cycle of the orbit every satellite will pass trough the shielded zone, from the refinery ships would transport Nikulite past or through port hellgate to the safe FTL Jump zone"

The ships surface shifted slightly as manoeuvring engines reoriented towards Port Hellgate and activated its Linear Displacement Drive, planned to deactivate the prescribed distance from Port Hellgate

OOC: the LDD is a sublight drive capable of speeds upto ~95% light speed, it is a rapid cycled drive that causes shifting into and out of normal space that gives an appearance of disappearing and reappearing a short distance forward.

The sensors officer called frantically "Incoming from the surface." The captain growled "Open fire, try to cut it down." The Telepath groaned in pain as the ship shook from the impact. She growled, focusing her power to push off the intruder. The ships continued to rise swiftly, the two frigates now pouring fire onto the base of the tendrils. The carrier's guns firing straight down at it. The captain have a wave to the tactical officer. "load multikill torpedoes, tubes one and two, FIRE!" Two torpedoes slid out of the bow of the ship. The torpedoes bursting after they cleared the ship by a few meters, releasing hundreds of high maneuver micro missiles. The micro-missiles, each the size of a pop can and bearing a small antimatter warhead, accelerated for the tendrils, aiming for the lower section of the plants.

Maelstrom II

The three ships' weapons did tremendous damage to the outpouring of plantlife from the newly-born ravine, massive tendrils and trunks being cut down and splattering greenish-gray liquid all around. It was if the plants were bleeding as they took damage from the weapons fire, and in her mind the telepath could hear something howl in pain as the multikill torpedoes began to explode.

And yet they kept coming; tendrils pounding the two vessels, creeper vines lashing out and attaching on to any available surface, masses of rushing leaves and branches choking their engines. The frigates were taking the worst of it, as if the plants were trying to tie them down and rip them apart. The plants pounded against the ablative shielding of the carrier, trying to cause a rupture, while the creeper vines snaked around the engines, trying to pry them off.

Meeting Room
Port Hellgate

It seemed like the dignitary was not believing what he heard, a deep frown rising on his forehead.

"Sir, you do understand the nature of Nikulite? As far as our research has been able to tell, it is the very nature of Maelstrom system that allows Nikulite outcroppings to appear on Hades. We have not been able to replicate the process, but our research has shown that Nikulite seems to... grow, in the lack of a better expression, as a result of the sun glassing the planet surface."

"If I have read your plans correctly, such an effect would no longer take place once your system has been set up. Which would mean that any new Nikulite could not be mined once you've exhausted the planet."

"Furthermore, we have already divided the planet during this mining season. But I doubt such a large-scale project would even be possible in a matter of weeks or months, correct?"


Port Hellgate

Alien vessel Zhi, this is Port Hellgate flight control. Do you have a delegate to send aboard the station to negotiate?

For the benefit of these humans it had to be said they weren't easily spooked, even though Zhi's LDD had left her escort far behind with each 'jump' along the way. Two missile frigates slid slowly towards her, taking up guard positions around her. Yet their missile chutes were aimed away from her, and their weapons remained cold for now.

***

(NERV, Pyrovia, I'll continue with you two as we go, but I think it's high time to let the mining begin)

The next ninety hours had passed swiftly or slowly, depending on the leniency of the captains. The civilian quarters of Port Hellgate had been opened for the crews of visiting vessels, as were the flying merchant houses of free-traders. While the former catered to the expectations of a port-of-call, offering rest and relaxation, more exotic pleasures could be found on the free-trader vessels. At least, as long as one wasn't afraid of catching some STD or parasite that often haunted interstellar bawdy houses.

Still, the much-awaited hour approached, and mining vessels were settling closer to the quarantine line, marked by red-flashing beacons and the line of Principality military vessels.

All ships, this is Port Hellgate. The quarantine will be lifted in thirty minutes. Remember what you have been told, and good hunting.

OOC: Rangeria, would Hellgate have put a representative aboard to oversee the mining or some such? It may make the action I'm writing up a teenie bit more important. lol

Surplus Extractor - Main Bridge

The Captain smiled lightly, directing various things aboard the ship. "Navigation, bring us closer to the start point. Don't bring us over the line however. Keep sensors tuned. Report general quarters on all decks and rig for mining operations." The Bridge was a hive of activity as uniformed technitions and armored crewmembers moved about. The yellow spinning lights began flicking away as the regular lights dimmed. The activity keyed up a notch after that as the ship began shaking ever so lightly and a deep rumbling roar echoed throughout the ship.

The Haunting Melody of: General Quarters, General Quarters all hand man your Designated Stations. Echoed through the ship, it was of note that this was a mining alarm... Not the combat alarm as it did not state 'battle stations' as well as the fact that the lights were yellow not red.

The captain quickly moved over towards the intercom, "This is the captain to Auxiliary Mining Bridge, are you ready?" He listed carefully before the Intercom clicked back;

Auxiliary Bridge - Mining

"This is Auxiliary, Mining." The Mining Engineer yelled over the cacophony of noise behind him which was nearly ear-shattering. He was a Jenner (http://strype.deviantart.com/art/Freak-Show-Bob-20587649), a massive heavyset species from the planet... Jen. His back spines rippled softly as he looked over his shoulder. His headphones, amusingly, did not have a boom mic, only speakers which meant he had to move to a Intercom unit each time he wanted to speak. While this had a good reason, it was rather annoying.

"We are prepping for mining operations as we speak. Primaries are go, we are at 73 percent mining capability as we speak and rising." He watched a massive elevator move past the twelve inch thick Cyrosteel 'glass' around the 'mining bridge'. He could see the whole massive expanse of the Smallcraft bay and main unloading terminals inside the ship. The expanse was huge as elevators moved multi-hundred-ton 'Smallcraft' about the bay. He watched them taxiing about the deck far below, along taxi-ways built into the walls, and sit in their launch bays or ride elevators about. hundreds of little white flashing dots denoted Flight-deck personnel as their beacons blinked non-stop denoting their position and that they were alright. Large, extremely bright, Orange glowing sticks denoted the crew designated as Small-craft handlers. Not only this but their Combat armor was painted in a way that denoted their position. It was rather like the crews of old pre-space aircraft carriers.

He smiled as he watched his men work, despite the sound proofing and massively thick and armored walls... You still had to raise your voice to speak. The Auxiliary bridge was a hive of activity as techs and again, armored mining crewmen moved about making sure the place was prepared fully for mining operations.

"This is Auxiliary, Mining, out." He cut the line before reopening it. "Auxiliary, Mining, to Flight Operations One. Are you ready to send outgoing when we arrive?" He listend closely through the roar and rumble of the operations behind him. It was doomed to get louder when mining operations finally commenced.

Flight Operations, One

Flight Operations, One was the refitted missile bay monitor center. It was situated in a 'tower' that once overlooked hundreds of silo doors. Now it overlooked the Magnetic landing units, elevators, and the three dozen "Vaccuum Deck Crewmen" who worked the outer deck of the ship. It also managed Space Traffic Control for the smallcraft moving about the ship. Synchronising flight operations with mining and gun operations.

It however, was silent as death. The twenty people in the tower talked quietly and in whispers. Noone raised their voice. Soft rumbling did echo up through the ship, but the silence of space cut off other outside sounds. The crew needed complete concentration to do their job, failure to do their job could not only kill a shuttle crew... It could kill the Vacuum deck crewmen... It could cause a disabling of one or more of the deck guns... It could damage an elevator...

There, like the bridge, was of course an Auxiliary Flight Operations tower on the bottom of the ship... overlooking an empty and uncrewed flight-deck. With only enough room for so many elevators, the elevators served both decks which meant that only one flight deck could be operational at one time.

But, up in FLight Ops One the duty officer keyed the intercom, "This is Flight Ops One to Auxiliary, Mining. We are check and ready for flight operations. Send 'em up when we get the OK and we'll have 'em outgoing. Flight Ops One out." He let go of the Key before turning around to the Flight Operations crew...

"Alright Boyos! We'll have outgoing any time now."
-
One of the Flight Operations crew looked up, "We have Incoming smallcraft, possible shuttle are we cleared for landing?"

OOC: This is where you'll be if you say it's OK to have someone onboard. They'll be aboard a rather utilitarian and bare shuttle. Definitely not the smoothest ride, uncomfortable seats... pretty much webbing seats with a full 5 point harness.Diamondplate floors, drab grey walls that are scratched and marred. Basically a cargo shuttle with seats. xD

Space, overall.

The amusing thing would be that Flight Operations had directed all of the "Port of Call" vessels away from the Surplus Extractor. They were all Sutfen Space Navy crew, thus meaning no civilians aboard.

However, the Cargo vessels behind them took full advantage. WIth the escorts and mobile refinery refusing just like the Extractor.

The Extractor settled near the line, it's skilled navigation crew and astrogators moving to a point where the tips of the forward arrays were no less than 7000 yards from the designated line.

Zhi to Port Hellgate flight control

Port Hellgate flight control, I can dispatch an avatar if you would prefer more interpersonal interactions than remote communications can provide.


Zhi to Hektor

I apologise for leaving you behind, It appears I incorrectly estimated the cruising speed of you vessels.


OOC: didn't have to travel at full 95% c, just thought wouldn't want to take hours to get back there using kinetic propulsion and my FTL drive doesn't work for you escorting me as doubt you would trust first contact alien to be opening wormholes for you. so assumed you would prick a reasonable sub-light speed and Zhi would match it and just give strange readings, but can go with leaving your ships behind.

The carriers main drive was particle fission, its secondary was gravitic induction. The frigates shared such design. One of the two frigates shuddered slightly, the weapons continuing to fire as the small crew evacuated through the upper decks, wearing combat suits equipped with small induction coil generators, allowing for flight, the lot of the crew darting across space to one of the bays, the armed crew easily darting away from large tendrils while blasting and cutting smaller ones with flachette guns and vibro blades. the marine compliment of the carrier keeping the bay door clear of any foliage in a similar manner.

The captain growled "Deploy shield drones, all power to starboard shields, brace for impact!" as the frigate crumpled and detonated, its compliment of antimatter weaponry instantly vaporizing the ship as well as most everything around it. The carrier was rocked to the side as a few of the panels sparked. "Sir, starboard engine is offline, shield is at 20%."

The captain nodded. "Continue firing! Deploy corvettes with anti-fighter loads, have them deploy then provide long range support, it'll be too risky to keep em close, have our other escort deploy as much of his munitions load as he can."

The fire kept up, torpedoes sliding out of their tubes, the two hangars in the back sliding swiftly open as 20 corvettes streamed out in groups of four from each bay. each one deploying four multikill torpedoes.

The tactical officer called out. "Particle buildup complete, firing." The belly of the carrier lit up as a single blue beam reached out. the mega-particle beam, when used against armor, melted through like butter. The beam traced around, buring along the ravine from where the vegetation came, after a few seconds, it faded, and a second beam took its place. the onslought lasted a total of 10 seconds.

"All power to engines, break us free and get us out of here." The captain growled, feeling the ship shake slightly as its engines throttled up to full power.

Approaching the Surplus Extractor

(OOC: Sut, I think it's a fine idea to have someone aboard your ship. I'll have the representative under way)

Earlier, a team of Principality Fleet Engineering Corps had been aboard the Sutfen vessels in order to mount them with in-system transponders. The Principality military representatives had been adamant about setting them up, apparently as a precautionary measure. For one, while Maelstrom was still in her calm phase, plasm flares and particle storms were always a possibility, as was the threat of pirates trying to grab cargo in hit-and-run tactics. And secondly (while it wasn't implicitly stated), it was also a method of tracking and making sure that the legitimate vessels would not try to leave the system without giving the Principality its due and proper. The head engineer had made it clear that any attempt to remove or destroy the transponder now blinking attached to the ship's computer systems would result in an immediate alarm and penalties. And judging by the gathering of warships at Port Hellgate alone, it was clear that he wasn't just shooting his mouth off.

Nonetheless, the engineers were also impressed at the possibility of mining material from orbit, and after some negotiations it was agreed that a Principality delegate would be on board the Surplus Extractor, to observe the mining process. If they were as impressed as the engineers, the Fleet would negotiate for purchase of this technology.

In the small shuttle said delegate - a brown-haired human male wearing Engineering Corps red jumpsuit - sub-lieutenant Karel Venaja was holding onto his seat as the bumpy ride continued. He looked to his side, smiling a little to himself as he heard his companion and assistant, petty officer Mari Kanto, lose her lunch in a small plastic bag.

"Don't worry, it'll get over in a moment. Just relax and try to enjoy the ride", the sub-lieutenant tried to comfort his pale assistant.

"Only you could call this enjoyable, sir", the younger officer answered before she started wretching again.

Port Hellgate flight control to Zhi

We would prefer a face-to-face negotiation, yes. Your avatar is cleared for landing in landing bay F-6.

Maelstrom II

The fury of the attacking plant life only increased at such violent response, but even then the vines and tendrils could do little to hold on to the escaping carrier. As her engines began to burn, large pods began to burst, firing away large, spiked orbs that looked like overgrown burrs. Most of them bounced off harmlessly or were cut down by the explosions and plasma fire, but about a dozen orbs, each of them three meters across, flew with enough force that their spikes sunk into the metal and held. They then bursted, embracing their immediate surroundings with clouds of deep-red pollen that seemed to do little but stain the sides of the escaping carrier.

Approaching the Surplus Extractor

The shuttle continued it's rough ride, the compensators had obviously not been worked on in this particular shuttle in a while. It was obviously, from the looks of it, not in active mining condition. Which was probably why it was slated for this duty instead of one of the Small-craft being prepared in the massive shuttle bay. However, it was space worthy despite anyone's thoughts against that fact.

The Intercom within the shuttle's bay crackled roughly before the Pilot's voice called back; "This is your Captain speaking, we are inbound on the Surplus Extractor in roughly... Two minutes. Please hold on for approach as we'll be the first ship to test the Gravity clamps that'll hold us to the deck, they need to be recalculated in every system. Which means the ride might get alittle bumpy."

might, get, alittle bumpy? It wasn't already?

Despite the compensators onboard the shuttle, the poor occupants of the bay would be roughly shoved back into their seats as the decrepit shuttle came about to being the approach. Poor Sub-Lieutenant Venaja would be greeted with a worrying sound.... The Creaking of the roughly lashed in tanks of something inside the shuttle's hold. They strained against their lashings dangerously, looking ready to come loose and crush the two officers at any second... And then...

The Shuttle leveled out and began slowing down. The tanks noisily clanked and clattered back into position. However, it wasn't over yet as the Shuttle began hitting retroes and began violently shaking hard enough to rattle anyone's back teeth... Let alone the two officers stuck in the horrible seats in the shuttle. A loud whine roared through the shuttle's hold as the smallcraft began lowering it's gear. THe gear settled in and locked with a dull 'thoom!'.

Then, there was a massive shudder and a crash as the shuttle lurched onto the Extractor's outer flightdeck. Gravity seemed to double suddenly and hold for briefly half a second and then changed back to earth normal. The Ride promptly go smooth, extremely smooth, as the shuttle began rolling along the deck to it's designated positions.

Rolling onto the elevator, the shuttle was locked into position and slid down thorugh the first 'door' of the massive shuttle-sized airlock. It shuttered to a stop as the first door (Outer door) slid closed above them. It would've been hellishly loud had there been air in the chamber. However when it was locked closed, the chamber was promptly pumped completely full of air. The normal pressure of the chamber quickly began relaying the loud noise of the ship around the shuttle.

The second door below the elevator opened and the shuttle began lowering down into the main bay. The Intercom Crackled once more; "This is your Captain speaking, we in the cocpit are happy to report that we have arrived onboard the Surplus Extractor in relatively one piece. The Ride in the shuttle bay will be relatively short and we will be at the Debarkation point in say... Five minutes. Cocpit, out."

The shuttle rumbled thorugh the shuttlebay for, ten minutes... not five as a small mistake with arranging a mining smallcraft jammed an elevator causing the hold to freeze to a halt until it could be fixed. Suffice to say the Smallcraft's pilot was reprimanded roughly.

However, it reached the debarkation point... "This is your Captain Speaking, we have arrived. I will be turning off the imaginary Fasten Seatbelts sign now and you may now move about to cabin. When you are ready... just jump out the rear loading gate which I am opening now." As the Captain said, the massive door on the back of the shuttle began lowering downward and clanged onto the Extractor's shuttlebay Deck. The poor Lieutenant's ears were nearly instantly assaulted by the absolute thunderous roar of the shuttle bay outside.

However, standing at the end of the Loading gate of the shuttle was a single figure wearing white power armor with the same yellow and black caution stripping about it. The figure was a Nesrandi (http://Razor-Spine.deviantart.com/art/Scorpanidae-Guard-Concept-30500482) as evident by the massive (Now armored) spines sticking out about it's armored form. With a Soft Bow the Nesrandi waved;

"Please follow me Sub-Lieutenant, you and your aide must leave the Shuttle bay with haste. It is a highly dangerous place, and without armor we cannot be sure of your safety." He waved again and motioned towards a nearby armored door.

However when the Sub-Lieutenant stepped off the shuttle and felt the tremors through the deck beneath his feet, He would be able to look around the Cavernous interior of the ship's shuttle bay and it's organized ballet of chaos of nearly 50 multi-hundred ton Smallcraft sitting in place or moving about.

<Annnd, big enough post for now, I'll let you post yourself now that your aboard.>

Aboard the Surplus Extractor

Of the two Principality officers, it was PO Kanto who looked most distraught as she clambered down from the transport vessel. She definitely looked a little green around the gills, while the sub-lieutenant looked more at ease - or at least he was better at hiding the amount of punishment his rear and back had taken during the bumpy ride.

Nonetheless, even he wavered slightly as he felt the change in gravity. He fell a little forward, his hand grabbing a hold on the handholds by the rear loading gate. But instead of a small bump, a sharp clang of metal against metal ringed in the deck. He had kept his right hand down during the flight, but the Nesrandi crewperson could clearly see the cybernetic hand that was clutching the handhold. Small servomotors ticked and buzzed as sub-lieutenant Venaja released his grip and jumped down on the deck.

"I am surprised that you feel so unsafe aboard your own vessel", he remarked clamly at the Nesrandi's words. He followed him with a quick stride, the PO following him. Both of them wore the red jumpsuit of the Engineering Corps, duffelbags thrown on their shoulders, and silvery equipment casks carried in their left hands. Both of them also carried a combination tool-and-weapon-belt, a variety of tools, miniature readers and batteries girding their loins along with a standard-issue pistol and a long knife. Aboard Port Hellgate the Sutfen, Jenner and Nesrandi crewmen had probably noticed that these humans never went anywhere without a knife on their side. Even civilians carried a blade on their belt, the length and design of the blade changing from person to person, even among members of the military of the same rank.

Aboard the Surplus Extractor

The Nesrandi shrugged, "The operations here and in the hold are highly dangerous. Working a Pickaxe class vessel is rough work. You gotta move fast, do things right the first time, and keep doing it right. Because of the type of mining we do, Not only is the ship itsself is dangerous places, but during operations we're moving large amounts of ore through here, moving and fixing damaged smallcraft, Undamaged smallcraft loaded or unloaded are moving through this place. We have three tiers of operations, this level here and the three Catwalk-based levels above us, not counting the other things inbetween these levels. Because of the operations we do, we also have left the place open to assist in movement. This however causes problems if something should say, fall from the top level to the bottom level... It would indeed be dangerous. ON top of this, as everything is 'free' on this portion of the ship and mosto f it it being moved or somesuch along those lines.... Many things could break free or loose if the ship was impacted or if gravimetrics and artificial gravity went down." He shrugged, "It is not I, that I am worried about. I"m wearing safety armor, you however... are not."

He stepped through the large door and stood waiting for the two officers to enter. He'd noticed the knives and weapons, but made no fuss about it. The Sutfen were very detailed about their reports, and the knives had been included and it was stated that they were both symbolic and of utility use. Though, more of utility than symbolic it seemed.

The Nesrandi nodded and closed the first door in the Airlock after the officers were inside before opening the next door. This was a safety procedure incase the shuttle bay de-pressurized. The next coorridor in the ship they saw was of start contrast to the utilitarian and rough looks of the shuttlebay, it was well made and reasonably designed into a Semi-hexigonal pattern with the flat top and bottom and the walls angling outwards. Doors were inset, as well as panels into the walls. The floor, while not carpeted, was a well manufactured metal with colored insets. Each cross-hallway had a small sign built into the floor that stated what each color of line meant at that hallway.

The group followed the Black line, designated "Ship Ops. - Bridge". This obviously assisted traveling about the ship well for crew-members not used to moving through certain parts of the ship, however Boardings were not the top priority for this class of ship however.

Blast doors and shield projectors were absolutely everywhere. All of them were open as of now, but it showed how the ship could survive a fight and obviously leant back to it's military heritage as well as why they chose it for a mining vessel.

The Nesrandi continued; "ANyway, I am just a Marine, however I've been aboard this ship for a few years and I've picked up a few things about it's mining operations myself. Your station obviously noticed the turrets onboard the Extractor, right? Well those are how we mine. Y'sit in orbit and shoot the planet with big ass rail guns and mass accelerators, causing the targets to blow apart or collapse. This either makes mined minerals smaller or it uncovers and blows them free of the mining area for the Small craft to pick up or make it easier for the miners to handle."

He shrugged, "It works well, it spooks pirates and claim jumpers away to have massive cannons capable of blowing things apart from orbit sitting onboard the mining ship that may have been their would-be target."

Aboard the Surplus Extractor

"A most unusual method of mining, if I may say so", the sub-lieutenant remarked as he and the petty officer followed the Nesrandi. "But I can see how it could be useful in a hazardous environment. Do you use drones or other automatons to harvest the blast debris?"

"Also, you mentioned that you use the hold and docking facilities to store the mined ore", the petty officer then broke in, her brow frowned with slight concern. "And yet your concern for the safety of those compartments is quite... noticeable. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but radiation has proven to destabilize Nikulite. In fact we regularly use controlled radiation burst to refine its granular and liquid forms. But what safety measures are there in place to keep the Nikulite ore from destabilizing in case of, say, a particle storm?"

Aboard Surplus Extractor

The Nesrandi shrugged, pausing at a Cross-intersection and waiting for some reason. The answer to his waiting came in less than 5 seconds later as a massive door opened on the cross corridor. A rather large machine, best described as a tractor, rumbled past in front of them towing a large hopper. It was currently empty, but it obviously wasn't new from the wear and tear on the Hopper's inside and outside.

The Nesrandi motioned towards the hopper; "One of the less direct ways of moving materials through the ship. We have direct chutes, but we can't stop mining procedures if one of them breaks down. So we have a back up manual transfer system." He waited for the tractor and hopper to pass before continuing.

"Back to your question, To mine the materials, we have tried drones and remotes to directly mine. However, quite a few places this ship mines at are rough enough to make subspace control of the drones hard. These rough conditions took a number of drones down, central command decided with help from various miner captains that having a small three person crew aboard a small craft would assist in repair and recovery of the shuttle, or even countering engine problems and such in mid air. We've found we have a lower attrition rate with crewed smallcraft."

He paused at another large door but started poking at buttons and such on the wall. The door opened up to reveal a rather large cargo-elevator. After stepping onboard and ordering it to move up to the 'Primary Bridge' deck. While they were waiting through the deep growl of the elevator.

"Mentioning the Hold and docking facilities, the only place I'm really worried about is the main transfer points. The main hold itself is heavily lined with anti-radiation and particle armor. We also have a secondary shield in between the hull and the protective armor." He shrugged, "Despite this the Transfer points between the minerals coming off the small-craft and either onto the main transfer chutes, which despite their name are horizontal with a conveyor belt, are places where things can go wrong. Be that loads shifting, things coming loose or falling, or as you said... Particle discharges. You noticed how every small craft taxied around the shuttle bay instead of flew about it? That's not just because their big and inside a ship, because they have much more efficient ion thrusters, we're worried that the Ion particles might set off a chain reaction that could be rather unfortunate." He shrugged, "And then, at the far end of the Chutes, we have the Hold transfer point. Which, while unlike the shuttle bay, is insulated just like the Cargo Hold... is a place where we have a lot of things happening at once and the large materials coming in from the conveyors and the tractors like the one you just saw, moving about it. We have Gantry-borne hoppers and buckets. The Cargo bay itself is safe, the chutes are safe. The Small craft are safe... It's all the spots in between that are dangerous. We have a lot of dangerous heavy machinery moving about, Small craft moving about, heavy and possibly dangerous materials moving about."

He looked over his shoulder and shrugged as the Elevator came to a stop. They were entering the "Navy" sector of the ship, the door opened and a number of Sutfen (http://damalia.deviantart.com/art/Concept-Alien-17635433) technicians accompanied by a pair of Dastrilians (http://kesame.deviantart.com/art/Kjetterkhan-and-Rekje-73853331) (A male and a female in fact.) stepped aboard the Cargo-elevator. The elevator was able to take twice as many beings comfortably. However it was of note that the group was wearing jumpsuits and other more uniformy-looking than the large Nesrandi's "Combat Armor"-esque safety armor.

With a soft lurch the elevator continued upward.

Following Port Hellgate flight control instructions Zhi moved to within a reasonable distance from Landing bay F-6. The surface of the vessel shifted and a sphere roughly 80cm in diameter slowly emerged from the side, with no visible sign of any docking port or entry hatch.

When fully separated it accelerated towards Landing bay F-6, pausing briefly for final confirmation then continuing into the bay. Inside the bay the sphere slowed to a halt hovering over a gangway, paused for a few seconds, and began to morph into the form of 2m tall metallic skinned humanoid with simple facial features and indistinct gender.

The avatar slowly descended until its feet touched the gangway, It looked around briefly before beginning to walk up the gangway. As it walked its surface shifted slightly as a loose fitting robe and and cloak appeared from its skin giving it a more natural appearance.

OOC: Finished my post. Sorreh.

********
Maelstrom Space - TRIAD Convoy
********

Thyrin had accepted the Principality's offer and terms. During the next fourty eight hours the Ascendant Glory had recycled it's mining equipment, using the resulting mass to fabricate replacement drones as well as shield modules for the other mining vessels. After this the Ascendant Glory and the Eternal Echos moved under local escort to to Malebolge. There the functioning mining ship dispatched multiple mining modules from it's hexagonal frame, the auxillery craft descending to the surface of the planet and began to strip mine as much material as they could within the fourty eight hour period granted to them. While the primary focus was on elements which could be used to re-fabricate the Ascendant Glory's mining equipment, the mining teams swept up a good deal of other useful heavy elements which could eventually be re-sold for a decent profit.

The technicians aboard the Ascendant Glory were somewhat disappointed that they would not have the opportunity to dismantle and reverse-engineer the Principality beacon, after Hellgate techs had warned against tampering. The commander of the fleet had deemed the effort too risky, for if they lost their chance to mine the Nikulite, this whole operation was a loss. Still, Thyrin was sent an encoded message to attempt to negotiate with the Principality to purchase one of the beacons. If it came down to it, the fleet would attempt to simulate an accident which may give them access to the beacon for later dismantling. In the meantime, the techs aboard the ship resorted to non-invasive scans of the device to try and determine it's composition at least. It would take a full molecular deconstruction to fully replicate the more complex portions, however valuable information could still be gained just from simple mass spectrography.

While the ship captains awaited the final countdown, the fleet commander aboard the Advent Guard was considering various mining options. The fact that this was not TRIAD claimed space precluded the use of a planet cracker ship, so they would have to use mining landers from the transports. The Nikulite's instability when exposed to radiation also prevented the use of Phase Disassembly Arrays to dismantle the matter into component elements. Nikulite was an exotic matter, and would be destroyed by PDA beams. They'd have to do this more or less by hand. The landers contained the massive excavators and explosive charges they'd need to break up the terrain and extract the Nikulite from the glassed rock. Each transport held two mining landers, each of which could strip several dozen metric tons of material per hour from the surface of a planet, so their total haul should be significant even with a short mining cycle. Each hexagonal transport also held two massive storage pods, using dimensional folding Flatspace technology to suspend matter in a pocket dimension, it increased the total storage of each transport by ten times.

Pirates were not a concern, his destroyer and the frigates could easily handle things until the Principality forces arrived. The commander's only concern was the star itself. A storm worse than the last could cripple the entire fleet at such a close range. He would just have to hope and pray they had at least several hours unmolested to make this expidition worthwhile.

Aboard Surplus Extractor

"I see, I see", the sub-lieutenant nodded, listening closely. "If you don't mind me saying so, I've also noticed quite a lot of - shall we say - 'wear and tear' about your vessel. If I've understood correctly, the Surplus Extractor was originally a military vessel. Why the choice of conversion rather than designing a ship from scratch? Unless, of course, you were preparing for this particular mining season."

Port Hellgate

The doors of the docking bay hissed open, and a young human delegate stepped inside, followed by two armed soldiers.

"Welcome to Port Hellgate, avatar", the young man greeted the metallic being and nodded quickly. "If you will follow me, I will take you to meet Magistrate Kivela."

Quarantine perimeter

Attention all system-bound vessels. Quarantine uplifting is proceeding. Do not advance before perimeter beacons are green-lit.

With that, the quarantine beacons that marked the perimeter of Maelstrom quarantine area began to blink from red to green, one by one. Similar lights were turning on at the transponders, the devices activating fully. At the same time, they also gave out instructions of safe locations in case of particle storms, most used routes to the first planet, and a forecast for the next five solar days. It seemed that for now Maelstrom was calming down, allowing the hundreds of ships a good chance at getting the mining started.

The quarantine has been lifted. Good hunting.

"Greetings, Lead the way.
For clarity avatar is a description of this unit's functionality rather than its name, you may still address me as Zhi, as you are communicating with the same entity are with the ship outside, though is more complicated than a simple remote unit."

The avatar cast a brief but thorough look at the two soldiers and proceeded to follow the delegate, observing and making note of the surroundings and route taken and any persons of note along the way.

while walking Zhi informed the representative

"If you wish I can adjust the appearance of this avatar, if you would find something else more aesthetically pleasing, as it would seem to stand out somewhat"

The carrier and frigate contionued their climb, reaching high orbit, the corvettes re-docking with the carrier where they would be re-armed. The telepath keeping up her mental battle with the thing, using all of her focus to push its influence away. The captain breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like thats over. Update fleet command, i want a damage report."

There was a pause before the engineering officer replied. "Starboard engine was torn off, maneuverability has dropped by one quarter, we lost the starboard turret as well, the frigate went up a little too close for comfort. It looks like most of the crew evacuated in time, they're reporting to sick-bay for radiation exposure. magnetic foeld generators are at 60%, and I field generator is at 30%, it took the brunt of the blast. We've got breaches across decks nine through twelve, three casualties."

The captain nodded. "are we still jump capable?" There was a pause. "Yes, but it would be best if we exited the sun's field first." The captain sighed. "Very well. mark this system and take us out, full speed." The nav officer called an affirmative and the carrier with its now one frigate began to accelerate out of the system away from the two stations rather rapidly.

**********
Maelstrom Space - TRIAD Convoy
**********

When the countdown for opening the system began to expire, the Advent Guard dispatched three more transport pods, each carrying four personnel and a pilot. These three teams were tasked with exploring the commercial opportunities aboard Hellgate and the attendant civillian fleet surrounding the station. The team members would be on the lookout for any opportunities that might offer additional profit, and given healthy credit accounts to make purchases with.

The warships of the TRIAD convoy had taken position ahead of the mining transports, and when the message of the quarantine being lifted was received, the destroyer was the first across the line. Plasma thrusters pushed the manta-shaped craft fully across the beacon line before letting the ship drift a few thousand kilometers further.

Tightbeam transmissions between the TRIAD ships spiked as they coordinated with each other for LDD jump to Hades orbit. Technicians had had sufficient time to determine that an LDD velocity of 20 PSL would allow them to arrive at Hades soon enough, without undue risk to the convoy.


**********
TRIAD Convoy - Advent Guard - C&C
**********

Admiral Geshen watched their progress in the holo-tank, watching as status indicators turned from amber to green. A tech turned and announced that all convoy assets were prepared for synchronized LDD jumps. The Reikoan turned to the spherical emitter on the wall, this one slaved to Genesis, the Digital Entity assigned to fleet command duties. "Genesis, do you have slave control from all ships?"

The fleetmind's avatar resolved as a spinning icon, a single spiral galaxy. #Affirmative Admiral. Awaiting course confirmation and initiation order.#

Geshen nodded once more and settled into his seat, combing fingers through his tail as he relaxed for the ride, "Very well. I want you to continue to make course corrections based on sensor data. Plot our course to keep us close to the nearest safe zone listed in the Principality data. Begin LDD on your mark."


Genesis would be busy guiding the ships so that at any given moment, the time it would take an incoming storm to reach them would be ten seconds longer than it would take the convoy to reach the nearest safe zone. #Acknowledged Admiral. Beginning synchronized Linear Displacement Drive activation in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... Activation.#

There was a slight lurch as the ship 'skipped' across spacetime. LDD operated by seemingly arcane principles and Geshen didn't fully understand the mathematics of how the drive teleported the ship a few centimeters 'forward'. What was important was that once up to speed, the drive could make those tiny jumps many hundreds of times per second, allowing apparent velocities of up to 80 PSL. The civillian drives aboard the transports could only achieve 60 PSL however, and this particular jaunt would only use 20 PSL. Geshen snapped out of his musing as the lurches smoothed out, and watched as the icons representing the convoy ships began to crawl across the holotank towards Hades.

(My apologies for the delay. It's been a rather taxing week...)

Maelstrom II orbit

After the Red Talons had broken from orbit, it was clear that something else was already taking place. The sensors showed a massive increase in ship activity in one particular sector of the system perimeter - the segment where the larger of the two stations was located. Dozens of individual energy signatures could be read, even over the tremendous static of the star.

(Just to make sure, are they trying to go into warp right there on the orbit, or are they heading out of the system first on sub-light speed?)

Port Hellgate

"I don't believe that would be necessary, um... sir", the young delegate remarked. "Unless you yourself feel the need to adopt another shape to suit our atmospheric and gravitational conditions."

The young man lead the avatar forward, along utilitarian but well-lit corridors. It would seem that while these humans were not militaristic by nature, this section of the base was certainly under military jurisdiction. Collar pips and stars denoted rank, and the cut of the vestments were military in style, or functional in design as in the case of a group of mechanics who bypassed them on the way.

The delegate lead Zhi to a doorway, which he opened with a few quick clicks at the panel. The door hissed aside, revealing what seemed to be a small, domed garden. The air was surprisingly fresh, and small pine trees reached towards the domed roof, a decorative pond glistening azure blue, surrounded by verdant grass. Beyond the dome flared the red-and-gold haze of the Maelstrom system, towards which hundreds of mining vessels were advancing.

"Please, make yourself comfortable. The magistrate will join you shortly."

Maelstrom System

Past the quarantine perimeter, the convoy began to break up, smaller and more agile vessels risking the troubled astral waters to stake their claim as fast as possible, larger vessels following in tow. The central star burned, like a fiery wound in the darkness of the cosmos, a haze of particle clouds and vented plasma surrounding her like some hellish halo, or an inflammation that spread out from the wound.

Travelling in-system was certainly a task onto itself, as even on her calm phase Maelstrom was a fickle and untrustworthy star, her emissions distorting sensor readings and causing power fluctuations. And even though the better-shielded Principality vessels were never far from the common route, there were still accidents on the way as some vessels bagan to lose life support or collided with their escorts due to faulty sensor readings. Each planet in the system was a marker whose passing was a feat unto itself as the ships delved deeper into the hellscape.

Small Malebolge, a rock of barren ice.

Swirling Purgatory, a gas giant in whose shade some ships stopped to make repairs or wait for the Principality ships to come and tow them away.

Inferno, another gas giant with several misshapen moons and one manmade one: Tiresias, an unmanned sensor station that served as the in-system ships' lifeline to Port Hellgate.

Styx, a world of roiling methane seas.

Phlegethon, a geologically unstable world with widespread volcanic activity, choking the planet and veiling it in obsidian black and scarlet red.

The Cauldron, the only planet in the system that supported life - and which the ships would never pass on visual range, unless they wished to discuss the matter with the heavy guns of Principality vessels.

And finally, like a black, scarred pearl amidst the bloodred haze of the sun's veil: Hades, the final destination of the mining vessels - and the likely burial ground of many who would prove too foolish or foolhardy.

(OOC: booking it out via sublight, keeping the star between them and the station)

The ships continued to accelerate out of the system. Making best possible speed to get clear of the suns interferance so that the nav-com can perform a safe jump.

(OOC: Bump, post in the morning, too sleepy now. Sorreh.)

Maelstrom System

The Red Talons vessels came to notice, however, that something had alerted the thus-far unidentified vessels to their presence once more. As they were making their way out of the system, the sensors picked up two vessels on their tail - and three more emerging up ahead from the 'blind spot' behind the third planet.

At the same instance, a wide-frequency message crackled on their comm systems.

"Unident...ied vessels, you are... espassing on sovereign Princip... y space. Power d... ur weapons and engines, and ...pare for inspection. Any ...ttempt to escape or fight will res... use of deadly force. Unidentifie... ssels, you ... assing on sov..."

The message was clearly a recording, sent as a warning over the turbulent space. The vessels were approaching swiftly, moving with ease that betrayed their capability to navigate in this dangerous area.

The telepath was also feeling something. Someone was tapping at the borders of her mind, not trying to penetrate it, but more like asking permission to make contact with her.

"make yourself comfortable", thought Zhi, I wonder if he has any idea how comfort applies to a being of my nature. Zhi being a non-corporeal lifeform comfort is more determined by the body or system is inhabiting rather than the environment.

Zhi looked around the garden, some of the plants were similar to known species others were obviously different, the difference the small peaceful pocket of nature and the blazing inferno of Maelstrom's star outside, with only the thickness of the dome and the stations shields holding back the force of the the star, was strikingly obvious. It wasn't that often that Zhi had the opportunity to be this close to nature, as it spent most of its time in the vast space between stars, and there aren't that many planets that support life.

Anyone coming into the garden would find Zhi looking out into space through the dome

The telepath tilted her head slightly, feeling from where the contact came and making sure it wasnt from the planet they had escaped before she allowed the other mind to contact hers. 'Hello? who's there?' She asked slowly.

The captain thought for a moment before sighing. Whats the predicted error ratio if we jump inside the system?" He asked. The nav officer responding slowly "Error ratio remains at 5.17% error ratio." The captain nodded. "Right then, well, i guess than we do as they say. power down weapons, reduce speed to half."

Garden 2, Port Hellgate

The Principality did not keep its guest waiting for long. After a few minutes, the door hissed open again, and a tall, regal-looking young woman in a flowing, pale green dress stepped inside. Unlike her escorts - two stern-looking men in grey combat uniforms - she seemed almost otherwordly, tanned arms and shoulders bare, her long, brown hair flowing down her back.

"Ambassador Zhi", the woman spoke, nodding politely. "Welcome to Port Hellgate. I hope you did not have to wait for long."

Softly she nodded to her escorts, who stepped out of the door and closed it after them. "My apologies for the fleet commander's men. They have been on the edge for days now, because of the mining fleet. My name is Jana Sarén, the station's and the system's magistrate."


Maelstrom system

'Lieutenant Kaupala, Principality Far Fleet', came the answer in a calm male voice. 'I was certain I could feel a fellow telepath. Please advice your captain that we mean no harm. We come in peace, and if your intentions are like ours, you will be safe.'

The five ships continued on their approach. As they came to visual range, the captain could see them to be battle cruisers, each and every one of them. Their lines and contours bore similarities to Kostemetsian vessels, but the added gauss guns made them a formidable sight indeed.

Slowly but smoothly the ships encircled the Red Talon vessels, sensors picking up signs of activated weapon systems, as if these people were telling the Red Talons to hold still, or else...

Three shuttles began to make their way towards the ships, one to the escort vessel, the two others for the larger carrier.

Attention unidentified vessel, this is commander Jari Vasta of the Principality. Open your docking bay doors and have your identification documents ready. Do you read me?

**********
Maelstrom Space - Planet Hades - TRIAD Convoy
**********

The TRIAD vessels were among the first to arrive in orbit of Hades, quickly setting up stationary orbits around their selected mining site in the mountain ranges. As the warships took up defensive positions around the convoy, three auxiliary craft detached from each of the transports. These were the excavators, each a hundred meters long, almost a frigate in it's own right. Descending down to the surface of the world using mass reduction systems to allow their small plasma thrusters to let them touch down safely.

Six landers set down at the mountain site, another six at the coastal site, and the final two made a water landing at the ocean site. Almost as soon as the vessels touched down, hatches opened and legions of machines of various designs swarmed out over the area.

First up were the survey teams, tasked with hunting out the richest Nikulite deposits in rock, sand, or sea.
Next came the actual extraction process, different for each site. For the mountain site this consisted of placing blasting charges which would rip the rocky faces apart. For the coastal and ocean sites this was less necessary. In all three sites however, large extraction drones would begin loading rock, sand, and seawater in great quantities; then deliver their loads to the holds of the landers.

This process continued non-stop until the landers' holds were full of whatever source material the Nikulite came in. At this point the landers would take off, leaving the drones on the surface to continue preparing more cargo. Each lander would dock with it's transport, offload the rough material, and return to the surface.

Once on board the transports, Nanoforges processed the rough material, reducing the rough to it's component elements to be sorted by element and transferred into storage bays. Everything was harvested, nothing was wasted. The Nikulite freed from the rough was then transferred to specially shielded storage bays.

Progress reports on the bridge of the Advent Guard indicated that at current extraction rates, the Nikulite holds of the mountain transports would be full in five days of constant mining. At this point the landers working the coastal and ocean sites would move to the mountain site and continue operations there until all five transports were full to capacity. If any transports' elemental holds became full, the excess would be distributed to other transports until each were full, then further excess would be jettisoned into space.

((OOC Note: I don't know an exact figure for full capacity of one of these transports, but since each is roughly five hundred meters long, with at least two hundred meters of that length being storage, I figure these behemoths can strip out several million metric tons of surface material.))

The telepath gave the equivalent to a nod. The mental acknowledgment to the other telepath. 'i understand, i will inform him.' She paused. "captain, they mean peace. They have a telepath who has relayed their wishes." She said, returning the captain sword.

The captain nodded. "Right then. Hold position, not that we can run anyway..." He sighed

They recieved the transmission and had it reformatted to play. The captain sighed. "Very well. Open the main hangar," He looked at the telepath. "Go to greet them. I dont know what they mean by identification documents..." He said. The telepath nodded and stood. "I will greet them." She said, mentally sighing at having to conduct a half botched first contact.

She made her way to the hangar bay, arriving at about the same time the shuttles would be landing. She reached out to feel the occupants of the shuttles as they moved into the bay and to where a flight crew was directing them to land. Sensing for any hostile intentions.

Greetings Magistrate,

The wait was not unpleasant, it is not often that I have the opportunity to experience nature, without tasks to perform.

No need to apologise, security is often an unfortunate necessity,and to tell the truth I suspect that they would find handling this avatar a challenge so I do not find them particularly threatening, not that I intend to test that unless anyone wants to volunteer for a sparring match.

I am an Explorer, Cartographer, Researcher, Scholar and Representative of the Technocracy of Pyrovia. My vocation is to travel, acquire knowledge and return it to my people.

I am interested in survey information of this system, any information on your and other cultures you would care to provide and the compound you refer to as Nikulite. From the trace readings I have so far it appears to have some interesting properties, and its formation process is of interest.

I can provide information, mining, refining or manufacturing services in trade.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask them.

OOC: a sparring match would take some working out

Red Talon vessel
Maelstrom system

The smooth-lined military shuttle, her white-and-blue hull bearing many marks of being hit by particle storms, landed with a deep groan on the Red Talon main hangar. Her front entrance opened, a ledge touching down on the metal deck.

The first people to come out were two battle-armored soldiers, human by size and shape, even though the reflective visors of their helmets hid their faces. They carried pulse rifles openly, but the barrels were pointed towards the deck. Following them, two male officers walked down the ledge. The senior officer, wearing a dark grey uniform, looked around himself in the hangar, while the junior officer in a green uniform stood back.

Once the telepath arrived, she could sense that the man in green was the telepath she had spoken to earlier. He nodded silently, while the grey-uniformed man walked forward. Of the two, the grey-uniformed seemed slightly hostile, or at least more wary of the situation.

"I am commander Vasta, of the Principality Far Fleet. With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

Hades

If a human excavator had landed on the planet surface, he would have been greeted with an eerily beautiful atmosphere. Large outcroppings of crystalline Nikulite sprouted like strange plants from the ground, jagged edges as sharp as knives, mountain ranges glittering black in the hellish red sunlight.

Very little was known on how Nikulite actually formed, but it seemed like it was growing like some strange plant on the otherwise barren and inhospitable landscape, taking root on whatever surface it could cling to. One of the TRIAD mining drones even found a large mining vessel that had been unable to escape the rage of the star as the last mining season ended twelve years earlier. The plasma storms had wracked and warped the ship into a twisted, skeletal figure, large breaches on the hull showing where the ship's engines had erupted. Even on such an alien surface Nikulite was sprouting, the ship half-sunken into a crystalline crust.

The seas and shores of Hades were equally beautiful and inhospitable, the sea thick, oily and black from Nikulite. It was not actually water, but a compound of Nikulite and other terrestrial elements in a liquid state. The Principality had asked less for 'mining rights' of the sea, considering how much of the liquid had to be processed to produce even trace amounts of Nikulite.

Garden 2,
Port Hellgate

"All in good time, friend", the magistrate laughed, a smile on his lips. "We are curious of you as well, as you may have already noticed. We do not have non-organic lifeforms as sophisticated as you are, and we are curious to know where your origins lay. That is, if you don't mind us asking these things?"

Around the bay marines were busy refitting a few of the corvettes. suited humanoids standing roughly 8 feet tall. The telepath carried only a katana with a red wrapped handle. "I am Sandra, of the Red Talons Mercenary Republic. I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience we've incurred, welcome aboard the Sirocco." She spoke softly, gesturing for them to follow, "May i escort you to a conference room?" She asked.

I have no objections to you asking, but there are some questions I will not answer, at least for the moment.

As to my origins, firstly this avatar while it may appear non-organic that is not entirely accurate it is actually a complex combination of macro and nano scale biological and mechanical components, it is similar in nature to a remote unit but that is not an entirely accurate description. The adaptive technology of this avatar and vessel outside took a long time to develop and refine to its current state, and their control is similar to how most biological lifeforms control their own bodies, but is difficult to explain, other than in complex technical terms, without having experienced it.

I myself am what you may describe as a non-corporeal conciousness, while I am not evolved enough to exist without a physical vessel, I am not bound to any specific one and currently I inhabit the vessel outside which I have done for quite a while.

I was brought into existence as the result of research into the minds of my parents species, my siblings and I were originally intended as detailed models of their minds, with which to study learning and functionality but as we learnt we evolved and became self aware, inheriting their characteristics and similar but different personalities, essentially we were "children of their minds", though this was a long time ago.

In Pyrovian society the majority of citizens are "augmented", bioformed, or as some refer to it as "technorganic" in one way or another with most having augmented nervous systems to the extent that those of biological origin, like me are not bound to one physical body. Though for some reason, I do not entirely understand, a lot of them are not comfortable in bodies other than their original (birth) body, though I think it comes from the familiarity of having lived in the same body for the formative part of their lives, our society has strict rules on augmentation and bioforming before age of maturity.

OOC:
think that's enough for now,
any constructive criticism welcome as haven't worked this lot out properly myself yet,
oh and isn't the magistrate a her?

((Placeholder for now folks. Sorry for the delay, I needed a couple days off to deal with RL issues. It looks like our current landlord is going to seek an eviction after all, so now we've got to work on a case to stop his injunction before it goes through. Wish us luck folks!))

Port Hellgate

(OOC: Yes, she is. My apologies if there's some mix-up in personal pronouns. My native language does not make that gender distinction, so I sometimes get those mixed ;) )

"That is, for lack of a better expression, amazing", the magistrate remarked. She was clearly impressed by such high levels of biotechnical ingenuity. "In layman's terms, then, one could say you are a biological entity but with the adaptability of an artificial intelligence - that is, you can transplant your mind into another platform, such as the vessel outside. Would that be a correct, if somewhat crude, assumption?"

"Tell me, do your people make diplomatic and trade contact with other FTL-capable cultures? Our forays into bioengineering are quite limited, as we limit such alteration to repairing and curing life-threatening conditions. But I am certain that my government would be interested in exchanging technologies - or at least establishing diplomatic contact with your homeworld."

((TRIAD, fight the good fight! This thread will be here when you get back))


Aboard the Sirocco
Maelstrom System

"You may, ma'am. But I will have to demand a reason for breaking quarantine procedures", commander Vasta answered, following the female with his telepath in tow. "The quarantine of this system was lifted only a matter of hours ago, and our sensor readings indicate you have been in the Maelstrom system for several hours, if not days already."

From my experience the adaptability of artificial intelligence is highly dependent on how it is developed and in general just simulates intelligence with limited scope. The adaptability of this avatar and the vessel outside, are derived from a combination of the study of nervous systems of various species and the distributed processing capability of nanotechnology, which to simplify drastically allows "thought to be given form", so while it does allow for rapid adaptation it is limited by the mind in control.

We do make diplomatic and trade contact with other nations, however we do have rather strict rules on the transfer of knowledge and technology, as we have learnt, both from our own history and planets we have visited, that obtaining knowledge, technology before having the wisdom to know when not to use it can have severe and unfortunate consequences.

I cannot make such determinations alone , but can arrange for a further diplomatic envoy to assist if you would like to proceed further.

She nodded slightly as she led them down a short corridor to a nearby briefing room. Where she offered them seats. "Our mission mandate is to scout unexplored area's for possible mining sites. We observed this system from long range scans and it was logged at a possible location of exotic materials, when we jumped into the system, our sensors were greatly hampered by the systems sun. I myself picked up a strong empathic call from the systems second planet, where we encountered a type six supernatural contact. We lost the frigate Whisp, the crew managed to abandon ship in time thankfully." The telepaths mind was open, allowing the other to see that she was being honest

((OOC Note: Alright folks, good news and so-so news. If any of you were keeping tabs on me back on Jolt, you'd have noticed that recently we had troubles with our landlord, and he wanted to try and kick us out. Well, now we're in the clear. We just found a new house, and the owners want someone who can move in immediately, so it's ours for the asking.
What this means however, is that we're going to be attempting to pack, move, and unpack... All over the weekend. Wish us luck on that one.
I'm posting this because while in this transition phase, I probably won't be able to get online often, if at all, until we're settled into the new house. So until we're unpacked and have our net connection set up again, I won't be around to post or even read anything. I'll be leaving this announcement up on all threads I'm actively involved in, so when you see it come down, expect to see me back. ETA is roughly one week from now... Hopefully. Catch ya flipside!))

((OOC: Hookay, now I'm back in business. Sorry about the long delay, folks, I had double trouble with the computer acting up and then Jolt refusing to let me in for some completely obscure reason. Let's just say that I typed in my handle and password, it welcomed me in... and then started telling me I needed to login again. Repeat ad nauseam.

I managed to get in by changing my password, but if it happens that I can't log in to Jolt again, I'll set up a continuation thread in the new forums and TG the address to Red Talons. But hopefully this'll work now.

And TRIAD... good to see you're back. Hope everything goes okay for ya.))


Port Hellgate

"Yes, I can understand your point... the few self-aware AIs the Principality have are actually more 'grown' than programmed, after we learned that a process simulating childhood and emotional growth was beneficial in creating a more life-like and less... shall we say, draconic artificial intelligences."

"As for trade and diplomacy, I would be glad to inform my superiors about the chance of establishing contact with your people. I am sure that despite our technological differences trade would prove fruitful between our two nations."

Aboard the Sirocco

The telepath and the commander exchanged a quick, worried glance after hearing about the "supernatural contact" on the second planet. Something about that seemed to vex the two men.

"I see", the commander then spoke, frowning deeply. "Considering you went so close to the second planet as to lose one of your vessels in the contact... I must insist that you follow us back to Port Hellgate, our main establishment in the area. We have learned, through many lost ships and men, that the ecosystem of the second world is, for the lack of a better expression, extremely violent and extremely virulent. Even if you did not make tissue contact with the atmosphere, it is highly likely that your ships and crew have already been infected by the spores. We must insist that you follow us to quarantine. You are free to contact your people, and we will allow your nation to send a trade delegation to Port Hellgate to purchase Nikulite. Mining we would also allow, were it not that the mining rights to the planet have already been sold for this season."

One other thing I should point out is that the term artificial intelligence is rarely used in reference to my siblings and I, as it is felt to be somewhat insulting as the word artificial has implications of "falsehood" in the sense that we are not true intelligences.

Is there anything else you wish to know ?

Sandra nodded, she was taking mental notes. "May i request any information that would allow us to assist in checking our crew and equipment? We've had experience with such entities, and its best that we start as fast as possible." There was a tone of understanding as she spoke of the incident, her experience still clear in her mind. "I have notified the captian to relay our situation to fleet command. Untill then i'll give you a forwarding signal to my personal com." She smiled slightly, looking to the telepath. "If i may, would you have any information regarding the history of the second planet?" She had an heir of concern in her voice.

On the bridge, the captian finished the transmission to fleet command. he looked over to the science officer, "Scan the ship, stem to stern, i want to know if we've come into contact with anything. Have the Sparrow-Hawk do the same. And sickbay is to go under quarantine immediatly." A few of the bridge crew nodded. The science officer began scanning the ship, Bio-sensors flickered to life across the ship, if either of the two were paying attention, a green indicator light similar to a smoke alarm would start blinking in each corner of the room.

(Sorry about this, gents... Life is being less than co-operative of late)

Aboard the Sirocco

"Naturally", the commander answered. "Me and my companion here have been inoculated against most of the spores, but in the case of a budding infection treatment and quarantine are absolute."

With that, he took out a small datapad, and with a few beeps procured what appeared to be a medical analysis of various kinds of fungal and vegetative spores as well as of a number of parasitic entities. Much of the report was heavily encrypted behind passwords and gene-scans, but the fundamentals were there, along with timelines of infection as well as appropriate treatments for various stages thereof. Many of the infections were absolutely fiendish, both highly lethal and extremely contagious. No wonder these vessels had appeared so swiftly once they had realized of the quarantine breach; if even one of these infections would get out to the galaxy at large...

"I'm afraid the Cauldron - as we call the planet - and everything about its ecosystem is strictly classified and on need-to-know basis only", the commander spoke sternly, the telepath frowning with worry. "All we can tell you is that we lost many ships and many good men trying to understand the planet until we put it under quarantine."

On the bridge, the science officer was beginning to receive some disturbing news. Decks with contact to engineering, outer hulls and docking bays were showing alarming numbers of unknown biological particles in the air, and the contamination was spreading slowly, deeper into the ship. The first signs of infection were showing themselves in small ways: dryness of the throat; irritated eyes; back pains...

Port Hellgate

"My apologies, then... what moniker would you prefer?"

Sandra nodded. "we should move quickly then, i would like to get this information to our medical teams as fast as possible..." The two may or may not notice that her eyes were watering slightly as she turned to the console on the wall. Scanning through the available data on the datapad as the console's keyboard seemed to work itself, The telepath utilizing her Talent to input the data as fast as she could read through it. Finishing up by sending it along to the medical bay.

On the bridge, the science officer had grim news, reporting the rapidly spreading infection, the captain nodding. "Right then, lockdown the ship, have the Sparrow Hawk do the same. we want to slow its spread as much as possible. inform the crew, class three biohazard."

Across the ship, green lights began to flash, along with a friendly voice. "Attention, Attention, Class three biohazard detected." The voice repeated its message a few times before going silent, replaced by the captians voice. "Attention all hands. we've picked up a rather nasty bug from that planet. I would like to stress that there should be no problem. Everyone remain calm."

On the bridge, the captian recieved a signal from Pegasis command. A medical ship and a diplomatic envoy were going to be sent to the Sirocco's location within the next few minutes. The captian mentally relayed the information.

Sandra turned to the two once she was done. "Unfortunately due to the nature of the situation, any further diplomatic proceedings will be shifted to an envoy that is en-rout with one of our medical vessels, just in case our own facilities prove inadequate. they will be here in the next few minutes, you should inform your forces in the area that they will be arriving soon. two ships." Her tone held worry, though her mind was focused on staying calm and rational.

OOC: sorry for slow reply

IC: no need to apologise, use of synthetic instead of artificial is seen as less negative, but we don't often use the term as, for a non corporeal conciousness whether is origin is "natural" or "synthetic" is not particularly relevant.

where necessary we refer to there species, though our species classification system is more complex than that used for pure biological lifeforms as it additionally includes mechanical, biomechanical and non corporeal life forms. The use of biotechnology, nanotechnology and understanding of nervous systems, with the addition of discovered species, revealed forms of life that did not fit in older classification systems.