RP Space Engineers C2 Roleplay Thread.

Hey guys, welcome to the second-stop-shop for Space Engineers forum roleplay.

Thread fully in-character, see C2 OOC thread for discussions on the game and participation.

Session 1: Amidst the Glimmering Lights

The Canon-Rei system.

Three jumps past the far side of the middle of nowhere, the binary star system contains no strategic value, no inhabited planets, and on a good day, the combined population of only a few hundred. Even its three lifeless planets have barely merited a footnote in the science books, and were it not for its proximity to the major commerce route between the CSAR and the Imperial House Ritcherson, it would probably be forgotten entirely. Mining opportunities are also lackluster, as the system's asteroid belt contains few rare minerals, and common ones in less abundance than can be found more easily elsewhere.

Despite its apparent irrelevance, what Canon-Rei does possess is the secluded Galatine Ice Belt, currently completely under the ownership and jurisdiction of Brightside Mining Solutions. The remote location of the belt has allowed BMS to operate without competition, harvesting the precious resource for sale elsewhere. Their processing methods tend to be slower than other companies in the same business, however the quality of their product leaves the short supply in high local demand. BMS operates a small security force, often voted one of the most boring positions in the company, as well as a handful of freighters that transport their refined ice to more populated systems.

Historically, or rather allegedly, Canon-Rei owes its discovery to explorers from the Outsystem Welding League, who claimed at the time to be in search of a lost treasure. Finding little of value and having more ambition than patience, they soon left the jump gate they had constructed and moved on. Years later, the system was host to a small scale skirmish between forces from CSAR and the IHR, each attempting to find clandestine back routes into each others territory. The battle ended indecisively with both sides retreating, neither able to accomplish their objectives. Local legend says the ghosts of those who died in such a worthless backwater still haunt the shadows of the asteroids, eager to lure more to their deaths to join their eternal company.

But that was all before. As the history books would soon explain, it was in this worthless backwater that events would soon be set in motion. Events that had the potential to shake the very core of the known universe. The stage was set.

It was only a matter of time before the players arrived...

 

The streaks of light faded back to points as stars as the pair of ships dropped out of warp. On the bridge of the El Dorado, The pilot briefly studied his instruments, then let out an exasperated sigh. His copilot cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me...?"

"Yup, they didn't come."

The pilot buried his face in his hands and rubbed vigorously. This would only complicate matters, turning the simple run into an extended nightmare. If it were up to him, they'd set off for the refinery in a second, but with him on board...

Oh crap.

Him. The highly prestigious "Administrator" Lloyd Lee. Weasily bastard. Pain in the ass the entire trip.

The pilot raised his hand, all five fingers extended. One by one, he dropped them, counting down.

Four, three, two...

On one, he waved his hand in a dramatic gesture. As if on cue, the door to the bridge slid open, the thin man in his sharp black suit striding forward, his face set in a scowl.

"Why aren't we moving yet?" he asked in his sharp, almost whiny voice.

"Because, the escorts you picked out didn't make the jump with us. I told you they wouldn't. They've heard the ghost stories, Lee. They were never gonna step foot in here in the first place."

"Tsk, unreliable riff-raff. I'll see to it they're held in complete breach of their contract. And you will refer to me as Administrator Lee, as per your contract, Mister Carver."

"Yeah, fine. Whatever. So what, you want us to just go? It's like...literally one intrasystem jump and we're at the entrance corridor to the ice field."

"Absolutely not!" Lee snapped. "Company policy is that all unarmed vessels employed by Brightside Mining are to travel with an armed escort at all times!"

"Ugghh..." Carver moaned. "Can't we just get Davis to put on an EVA pack and float outside the hull? There's no way we're gonna find anyone to fly cover out here."

"Amusing, Mister Carver. I'm putting in a call to headquarters. They'll send out someone, and we'll be able to continue on when they get here."

"Headquarters?! That'll take days! You really expect us to just sit here and do nothing when we could literally be there in ten minutes?!"

The two men starred daggers at each other. It had been this way the entire trip.

"Look, it's fine." Davis finally interjected. "You'll have to use the comms station in the crew lounge though, the one up here's been giving us trouble."

"Hrmph. When I get back, we'll be conducting a thorough review of company policy, Mister Carver."

Lee turned, strutting off the bridge with his air of superiority. The door slid closed behind him, and Carver gave his copilot a sideways glance.

"I thought the comms station downstairs was the one that was broken?"

Davis smiled. "I won't tell him if you won't."

He turned back to his console. "Just have a little faith."

He opened the system wide channel, and cleared his throat.

"Attention, any vessels in-system. This is Brightside Mining freighter El Dorado, please respond."

((As I am apt to say in my tabletop games, Take It Away...))

 

One Year has past since the battle of Styx. One Year to rebuild what was lost and find a new home.
The Dragons of the B.R.S. Managed to accomplished those goals and now their Race was growing in the broken Husk of an earth sized planetoid. Here begins the Story of the Silverdragon Research Fleet. Build with two main missions... Find technologie that was left behind by the Order of Sol Protection and reach out for the friendship of the Human race...
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<<The Hall was filled with life, the dwarf star of Freedom's Hope was shining through the glass roof onto the lines of roughly fourhundred bronze scaled Dragons. They where all looking up to a podium where the Lord of this System and all the free Dragons of the B.R.S. was standing. He looked down onto the Dragons wich would go out in the vastness of space to find the children of earth.>>
„We all gathered here today to send this brave Crews away from Home for a Mission. A Mission wich will bring us closer to the children of earth and our own past. We gather here to say farewell to our brothers, sisters and children. They will come back to us and hopefully they bring the children of earth with them in peace.“ The Lord looked down and smiled. It was the proud smile of a father who sends his children into the harsh world, knowing they will survive and they will be successfull with whatever they encounter.
„We say Godspeed Drachenherz!“
<<The Civilians in the Hall cheered from their ranks and seats as the, for this small race, gigantic cruiser lightened up it's thrusters and moved itself above the hall to bathe in the light of the dwarf star while threehundred Dragons stepped forward and saluted before their Lord.>>
„Alexander Darion, Fleetmaster, now takes command of the B.R.S. Drachenherz.“
<<Another Cheer rolled like thunder through the hall as the Commander of the Drachenherz walked infront of his crew and expanded his Wings in a final salute before the Crew of the Drachenherz kneeled down.>>
„We say Godspeed Cheana!“
<<The Civilians cheered again and twenty Dragons stepped forward to salute before their Lord as the Corvette's thrusters lit up and parked itself next to the Drachenherz.>>
„Chereza, Shipmaster, now takes command of the B.R.S. Cheana!“
<<Again they cheered for the crew as the Commander of the Cheana walked forward to spred her Wings in a final salute before kneeling down with her crew.>>
„We say Godspeed Seraz!“
<<It looked like the cheering would never stop as another twenty Dragons stepped forward to salute as another Corvette parked itself next to the Cruiser over their heads>>
„Karun Den, Shipmaster, now takes command of the B.R.S. Seraz!“
<<This time, the commander of the new named ship didn't spread his wings but nobody judged him for that. The Dragon wich took command had lost his wings in an accident and he refused to replace them. The crew neeled down and bowed their heads.>>
„We say Godspeed Drachental!“
<< A loud roar came from the ranks of the civilian watchers as some dock workers cheered a bit to much for the crew of the Drachental wich took it's place behind the Drachenherz. Laughter followed as sixty Dragons stepped forward and saluted.>>
„Thela May, Shipmaster, now takes command of the B.R.S. Drachental!“
<<The Dragoness wich took command of the Drachental was smaller then most of her comrades but she was eager to set sail and spread her Wings in salute.>>
„And last but not least we say Godspeed Wissensdurst!“
<<The Cheers where different this time. Colorful objects flew through the hall as the A.I. of the B.R.S cheered for their bretheren onboard of the Wissensdurst wich had nearly the same length of the Drachenherz but was much rounder. Someone would call her Fat but that wasn't the case. The ghostly form of a giant feral looking Dragon materialized itself infront of the Podium above the heads of the kneeling crews.>>
„Demigod A.I. Askor, Shipmaster, now takes command of the B.R.S. Wissensdurst!“
<< The big Dragon hologram bowed his head and the Lord of the B.R.S stepped forward and spread his wings.>>
„We hadn't had an celebration like this since the Launch of the B.R.S. Flügel des Drachen and other then that time we won't see the crews for a long time back at home. We send you away to find friends in space, friends from our old home... Stand up, stand straight and stand with honor Dragons of the B.R.S. Fleet Silverdragon. Stand tall so that we all can look up to you.“
<<The crews lift from their knees and roared in unison. Would the vacuum of space transfer sound, the roar would be heared in the whole system, at least so it feeled.>>
„Board your Ships and Good Luck.“ the Lord said and folded his wings back up as Alexander Darion turned around to his now official subjects.
„You heared the Lord. Board the Ships Silverdragons!“
<<The Crews and the Civillians around them cheered before the crew walked outside of the hall while the ships above them moved to the Port area to take the crew's onboard their new homes. This would be a journey the B.R.S would remember.>>
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„Canon-Rei... Two Stars, Tree Planets, and an big Asteroid Belt and thats where we should look for Human vessels?“ Chereza asked herself with a sigh. She was sitting on her commandchair on the Bridge of her Ship. It was a good Ship, it was fast, it was armed, and it had it's own GMU and thus a own A.I. She thought. But for whatever reason the A.I. Would refuse to speak to it's Crew. „I hope Alex knows what he is doing by sending us there.“ She said before she gave the command to initiate Subspace Jump Procedures.
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<<One week earlier...>>
„Fleetmaster! The Long-Range Sensors have found a suitable System!“ The Bridge of the B.R.S. Drachenherz was bursting with activity. Since they left Freedoms Hope the small Dragons of the Silverdragon Researchfleet where looking for a suitable System for their first contact attempts- Many of them they've seen on their Long-Range sensors weren't very suitable but this time it looked promising.
„Put it on the main Screen!“ Alexander Darion, Fleetmaster of the Fleet stood up from his Commandchair to look on the main Screen of the Bridge. He had nearly fifty Dragons on the bridge and they where all looking on monitors to check through sensor readings. But it looked like they wouldn't have much to do anymore as a small double Starsystem was forming slowly out of the Sensordata. „Any further information on this system?“ He asked the bridge officer wich found the System on it's screen.
„Two Stars, Three Planets, an large asteroid belt and two larger artificial structures. One near the inner side of the asteroid belt and one on the edge of the system. We are also detecting energy signatures wich are most likely a form of FTL-Travel near that second object.“ Replied the officer while Alexander was scratching his chin. „This is realy interesting... It doesn't look like a very importand System to Humanity... Monitor that System and call the Wissensdurst if they can provide some better scans of the System.
Nia call the Cheana please. I would like to talk to Cherry over here on the Drachenherz. We might have a little Quest for her.“ Alex smiled before he left the bridge in the Arms of the Ships A.I. Nia wich huffed. She doesn't like it to play the mailman for her Captain but what should she do? An order was an order and so a certain shipmaster would have to come over to this ship.
Thirty minutes later Shipmaster Chereza entered the Command and Control Center of the Drachenherz and saluted „Shipmaster Chereza reporting for duty!“ She said to the waiting Fleetmaster and his brother as well the two A.I's Nia and Askor That where standing around a holographic table „Why so formal Cherry?“ The Fleetmaster asked after returning the salute and waving the Dragoness over to him. They where friends since they've hatched and he gave her this position becouse he could count on her when he needed her.
„You know Alex that at least some order has to reign inside the fleet or we are all going to regret it.“ Chereza said with a smile before she hugged the Fleetmaster and his younger Brother. „So say why did you tell Nia to tell me to come over here?“ She asked.
„Becouse of this.“ Tash answered for his Brother and waved to the holographic table where the discovered System was displayed. „We think we found a suitable System for the first contact attempt and you should go there to get some information for us.“ The Squadleader of the Fireborn explained for her.

„You know i wouldn't send a Corvette on such a mission if i had some fighter Squads at hand... Maybe i should have asked Father for a Carrier then a Cruiser for the Flagship but it can't be changed now.“ The Fleetmaster replied „I know you would rather stay by the fleet but we can't send much away from the Drachental and the Wissensdurst or we would leave them defensless..“Chereza sighed.
She knowed all this „And the Drachnherz is to big for such a mission i know i know.“ She watched the holographic display of the System and lifted a scaled brow „How far away is this System?“ She Asked and the Voice of the feral looking Dragonhologram answered „It is approximately two Subspace Jumps Away... Roughly a one week trip to a safe location outside of the system.“ The feral Dragon was laying lazy on the edge of the table. „The Fleet will make one jump together to this position and from there the Cheana will make the Jump inside the System.“ Alexander explained as the Hologram formed itself into an Starmap. „There we can hide undetected and be there fast if you run in any trubble that is to much for you to handle.“ Alex said while Chereza nodded.
It wasn't a very hard mission but it would certainly be a interessting one. „I think i will come from the north side of the system. There i can snug into the System without being detected and after entering i can hide the Cheana inside the Asteroid Belt. From there i can move undetected around the System... Or i could come from the East and do the same there. Eitherway i would be far away enough to be detected by most sensors or seen by the naked eye.“ Chereza suggested. She wasn't very good at reconnoissance missions but she wouldn't let her friend down. „Any other Suggestions?“ She asked and Alexander shook it's head. „I would do it like this myself so... Maybe you should consider to repaint the ship for better camoflage but i don't think someone would spot the Cheana with its naked eye. Space is infinite and you ship is just a small part of it. I think the Flügel des Drachen would be the only ship wich you could see with the naked eye in this System.“ The Fleetmaster walked around the Table to get a different view on the map before he changed it back to the System overview. „The only other information we gathered so far is that this,“ he pointed to the first unknown artificial objekt in the system „is actually a space station build by humans. Also we could intercept an very old transmission wich gave us the Name of the System and it's Stars. It is called Canon-Rei after those two Stars. We couldn't get a clear reading on the Planets inside the System so if you can get a good look at them we would appreciate it.“ Chereza nodded. „Mission objectives other then reconnoissance?“ She asked and Nia took the word. „Some good scans of the Asteroid Field, clearence of the planets, traffic etc. The Sensor and Scanner equipment of the Cheana should be good enough to get some good readings on everything.“ She explained.
„Also look for ships with an JPF IFF signature. If they didn't change much in the last year you should be able to identify them easiely. If you find some come, after leaving a beacon for them, back to the fleet. We only establish the first contact if the fleet is complete. I don't want any unwanted suprises while we are at it. And if we are lucky they've found our Probe one year ago in Styx. Then it would be even easier. If you don't find any suitable ships however we have to send in the Wissensdurst into the System ((something i do in Sessio two maybe)) after you can give us a clear. Rendezvous point would be here.“ Alexander pointed to the northern entry point. „Askor are there any anomalies in the system that would affect our Subspace drives?“ The Fleetmaster asked the Shipmaster of the Wissensdurst „Only if you try and jump between the two stars. The Drive shouldn't be affected by anything inside the system. Even the Jumpgate doesn't interfere with it.“ Askor explained while the Hologram of the System changed a bit to show the Mission and movementplan of the oncoming mission. „If we can't find anyone to establish contact with we send the Wissensdurst, as i said, with a shuttle of Fireborn into the system to capture a communications satellite. Maybe we can get some good information from there and we would have a information hub for ourselfs. We should avoid the Station for the moment unless we know more about it.“ The mission plan formed out and it would be a good challenge for Chereza wich was nodding and making mental notes for herself. „Well then i should get over to my Ship and ready everything.“ She said and payed a good bye to her close friends. Alexander hoped the JPF Forces found the small surveillance Probe the B.R.S. had sent to Styx after they've jumped to Freedoms Hope the first time. There they would find an IFF transmitter with the IFF signature of the B.R.S. They wouldn't have the technology to recreat it but it would help them to find a B.R.S. Ship inside of a System easier.
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<<Pesent Day>>
On the horizontal plane of the Asteroid belt, 20 km from its outskirts, relative position North.
A small anomaly was forming. It looked like a white glowing water fountain in outer space from wich a green and white Ship emerged. It was everytime a nice feeling for Chereza when she left Subspace to be part of the normal universe again. „Ship Status?“ She asked and for the first time the A.I. Of the ship responded „Ship Status all green. Energy levels nominal. Subspace Drive disengaged. I apologize for my silence so far but the Drachenherz's A.I Nia is very intimidating for me and i don't want to be the target of her pressence.“ A Hologram formed infront of Chereza and bowed as an excuse. The A.I. Hologram looked similiar to Chereza herself but the Hologram itself was smaller then Chereza and had blue Scales wich covered her boddy. „Don't worry Cheana. No hard feelings. It's good to finaly have you at our side.“ Chereza said and smiled while the Bridge crew nodded towards Cheana. „So enough shared feelings lets get to work. Extend the GMU and set course for the Asteroid Field. I don't want to be in the Open for so long.“ Chereza ordered and looked up to the main screen while her pressure Suit adjusted itself for the GMU. The GMU might be a very powerfull device to protect a ship but it comes with a cost. If the Dragons of the B.R.S. wouldn't wear their Suits they would be ripped apart by the gravitational fields of the Device. „As soon as we find a good parking spot begin with the first scans and Cheana. Please send to the Drachenherz that we commence the mission now.“ The A.I nodded in response befor she vanished for now.
The B.R.S. Cheana set course into the Asteroid Field to commence it's mission. Only the Future will tell what will happen here in Canon-Rei.
ORDER OF EVENTS:

• Epic speaches in Freedom's Hope.
• Silverdragons set sail.
• Chereza wondered over Canon-Rei.
• Flashback to one week earlier.
• B.R.S. Cheana arrives in Canon-Rei from the North and sets course into the Asteroid Field.
• The A.I. Cheana speaks and fears the A.I. Nia.

(So post one... I hope it's good enough :/ Here is the Music i have heard while writing this, gives it a nice feeling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1_p3q9x1h0 ^^)

 

”Good luck Captain, we all count on you.”
The channel closed.
Captain Eric righted his officers cap. Out in front of him lay the Anomaly.
”You heard the man, ahead full.” He told the bridge crew.
In the corner of his eye a tiny picture of Hexagon nodded approvingly. He nodded back and closed the call, the tiny Hexagon dissipated.
”Ahead full, aye sir!” The helmsman confirmed as the ship accelerated.
A curious feeling of anxiety and excitement settled on him as he watched the cosmic rift filling his right-eye viewscreen.
He decided that he didn't like it.

The CSN Return to sender and the CSN Farsider approached the anomaly. They were small ships, and they were utterly dwarfed by the huge crack in space-time. From the journals and records, that had been passed down from generation to generation since the original incident, they knew one thing about it: It wasn't a pleasant.

”We're entering the perimeter now Captain.” A crewmember chimed.
Hexagon nodded. An alarm sounded.
”All is well, stay on course.” He replied.
His smooth silver-grey body glinted in the dull lighting of the bridge. He crossed his bulky arms in front of his chest. Inside the arms hid dormant weapon systems: Micro missiles, flechette launchers and machine guns. They were made to kill, they wanted to kill, it was their purpose. But he kept them dormant.
”Brace, we're enterin...”A horrible wailing cut the crewman off.

They entered the anomaly. It engulfed them.

The ships were thrown around like leaves in the wind. Even though they were made to handle it, they still showed signs off stress. One of the docked Wasp combat drones was ripped off the Return to sender. Its transponder unceremoniously silenced as it was smashed into pieces. There wasn't much sense to be made from the passive sensors either, they had all started showing wrong readings the moment they passed into the anomaly. Eric very much doubted that the Return to sender was INSIDE the Farsider. Somewhere behind him someone was bending over double, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor. It looked like standard rations.

And just like that, it was over.

Eric coughed and got up from his chair. He lightly rubbed the place where the chair had pricked him with a hypodermic needle, having injected him with a cocktail of drugs to keep him lucid.
”Status report.” He thought.
In the corner of his eye a schematic of the ship popped up.
”Green across the board, we lost one of the Wasps though.” Box said inside of his head.
”Acceptable losses. And the Farsider?” He thought in return.
AI implants were commonplace in the CFC, they helped with everything from everyday chores to running starships.
”Farsider reports no damage.” Box replied. Its avatar popped up next to the schematic. The blue box spun slightly.
Eric nodded and ordered the communication system to hail the Farsider using his neural uplink.
”You fine over there?” He asked.

”We're at an operational state.”Hexagon answered and unfolded his arms.
He paced around the tiny bridge.
”Are sensors up and running yet?” Hexagon queried.
”No sir, not yet, they should be online any minute now.” The crewman answered.
Hexagon returned his focus to the comms channel.
”How does it feel to be one of the first of your people to return to your cradle?” He asked.
The picture of Eric showed him stroking his chin.
”It's an honour.” He replied after a second of thinking.
Hexagon nodded.
”We should start the spinup on the Phase drives, we don't know what's out there.” He said, ordering the relevant systems to do as he told.
This time Eric was the one to nod. They closed the hail.

And there they were, among the stars of their ancestors.

Order of events:
- The ships enter the Anomaly.
- A combat drone is lost to violent turbulence.
- Blinded, the ships emerge on the other side.

 

At the outskirts of the Canon-Rei system, a vessel appears, in a streak of white, dropping to sub-light speed. Sparks fly from the aft thruster blocks, and part of the starboard hull explodes outward as the energy from the destabilizing warp bubble shorts out part of the FTL drive. The Nikola drifts toward the twin stars, the windows lining its sides emitting a pulsing red glow.

“Sir, we’ve got major damage to the light drive, and the propulsion grid is overloading!” The helmsman made some quick adjustments to his console, trying to regain attitude control. “I’ve got six docking thrusters working, but everything else is fried. Main engines are down, and maneuvering thrusters are offline. We’re dead in the water, Sir.”

The lieutenant looked around at the bridge crew, trying to ignore the blaring klaxons long enough to figure out what to do next. Night shift was supposed to be calm and uneventful, but somehow he managed to break the damn ship. The Commander wasn’t going to like--

A brief tone signaled an intercom connection to his station, and that dreaded voice came over the speaker. “This is Malaryk. Sitrep?”

“Sir,” the lieutenant said with some difficulty, “We dropped out of warp too soon. I- I don’t know what happened. We’ve lost propulsion and-”

-------------

“Calm down, son.” With the touch of a button, Malaryk transferred his comm link to the bridge overhead speakers. “Attention, bridge. This is Malaryk. Navigation, what’s on the scope?”

“No objects in range, Sir.”

“Good.” He began to gather up his uniform and get dressed, the lights in his quarters gradually turning on. “Stay on that scope, passive systems only, and inform me if you see any contacts or obstructions. Is AMGReS online?”

“Yes, Sir,” came the voice of the third-shift weapons officer. He couldn’t remember the woman’s name, but she sounded just as frantic as the rest of them. “Turrets nine and ten were damaged, but I have full coverage.”

“Alright, stay at your stations and keep calm. I’m on my way. Malaryk out.” He tapped the button to hang up, then slipped on his wrist communicator, touching the activation pad. “Engine room.” The pulsing tone of a pending connection gave him time to pull on his jacket. He wasn’t surprised at the delay, as they were probably as busy down there as on the bridge.

“Engine room.” That wasn’t the voice he was expecting.

“This is Malaryk. Where’s Wellington?”

“Uh, Sir, she’s under the-- Yes, Ma’am… Yes, Ma’am.” He could hear what sounded like Ensign Wellington’s voice in the background, but couldn’t make out the words. He slipped on his boots and calmly adjusted his uniform. “Sir, she says the FTL drive was overloaded, and the warp field ruptured. She says… She says…”

A bit of static came through the link, followed by a more familiar voice. “I said you shouldn’t have pushed the engines this far, Sir.” Somehow, Wellington made the honorific sound like an insult. “I told you this was too far a jump, and now the engines are fried!”

Commander Malaryk left his quarters and made his way to the stairs, meeting his second-in-command in the corridor. Mills gave him a look, but saw him on the link and stayed silent. “Well deploy the--”

“I’ve already deployed the repair drones,” the Chief Engineer interrupted. “I’ve got maintenance bots working on the internal systems, and I’m pulling extra crew to assist. Damnit, Lucas,” she said with a sigh, her voice softening a bit, “I can fix this thing, but it’s going to take time. It’ll be at least a couple hours before I can restore propulsion. FTL will take longer.”

“Understood. Just get her purring again, Maria. Malaryk out.” He turned to his second, answering Lieutenant Commander Mills’ unspoken question. “Seems you were right.”

Mills shrugged, walking alongside the Commander as they neared their destination. Both of their quarters were located in the forward section, only one deck below the bridge, far away from the rest of the crew quarters. It isolated the command staff a bit, but it meant they were always close by in case something went wrong. “At least we know her limits now. Command did want us to put her through her paces.”

The doors to the bridge slid open, and Malaryk was greeted with the always-annoying danger alarms. “Will someone shut that thing off?” The klaxon ceased, but the pulsing red lights continued. “Much better. Navigation, where are we?”

“Outer edge of the Canon-Rei system, Sir. Binary star, three uninhabited planets. Scanners are damaged, but I’m definitely getting tachyon signals. We’re headed directly inbound. Almost opposite the jump gate. No objects within sub-light travel range.”

“Fine. Power down non-essential systems and divert extra staff to the repair effort. James,” he turned to his first officer as they both sat down at their stations, “I want better intel on this system if we’re going to be here a while. Have Varra take the Aristotle and start a recon sweep.”

-------------

“Aye, Sir. On my way to Alpha Dock. Varra out.” Lieutenant Danielle Varra tapped off her wrist communicator and headed for the lift. The Nikola was crippled, but she still had four working dropships, and it would be nice to get outside for a bit. This was the longest FTL jump she’d ever taken, and she was starting to get a bit of cabin fever. Four whole days with nothing to look at but the white glow of the warp field. As far as she was concerned, they should have gone with a quantum tunnel drive instead of this warp garbage.

Three men waited at the entrance to Alpha Dock, just as expected. Two were soldiers, members of her security staff. The third looked like he should still be in school. “You must be Kanning,” she said without even meeting his gaze. He gave a slight nod, but she spoke again before he had a chance to waste her time. “Good. Keep an eye on him, boys.” The two crewmen nodded, and she placed her hand on the access pad beside the airlock. “Lieutenant Danielle Varra, authorize entry to Aristotle dropship.” The familiar green approval message lit up the pad, and the airlock opened.

Unlike the massive Nikola, the Ambassador-class dropships were simple enough for one person to fly. Still, a co-pilot was always assigned just in case. One of her soldiers sealed up the airlock, while the other accompanied her to the cockpit, leaving the young astronomer in the passenger cabin.

“Aristotle to Nikola,” she said, hitting the inter-ship comm circuit. “Three crew and one civilian on board, ready to depart.” There was no reply from the bridge of the Nikola, but that wasn’t entirely unexpected. She clicked off the comm circuit and shrugged to her co-pilot. “Commander Mills said they’re having issues with the comms.” Three taps on the console, and the docking clamps released. As the Aristotle pulled away from her berth, Danielle got her first look at the extent of the damage. A swarm of repair drones buzzed around a rupture in the outer hull of the mothership, and sparks poured from one of the thruster banks. Clearly, Ensign Wellington was going to be busy for a few days.

“We’re clear of the Nikola, L.T. Course plotted to the first planet, scans active. Ready to jump.”

Lieutenant Varra took one last look at the mothership before turning her gaze forward. “Buckle up, boys. We’re hitting the gas.” One touch of the console, and the Aristotle jumped.

ORDER OF EVENTS

• Nikola unintentionally arrives at eastern edge of Canon-Rei system, damaged.
• Aristotle dropship detaches and warps toward planet Obs, actively scanning the system.

 

In the Galactic Northwest section of Canon-Rei, the area was still and silent. No trace of life in the area, that is, until a cacophony of 6 thunderous warp booms rang out across the void. In place of empty space, 6 vessels now appeared, their majestic red, black and gold livery shining from the twin suns, the unmistakable colours of KAE ships. A single Void Walker was the backbone of the formation, a relatively small capital ship, but growing in reputation as a heavily armed Honey Badger of a ship in capable hands. Around this vessel were 5 Tigershark Fighters, regarded by some to be KAE's masterpiece for their agility, ease of use, and stopping power. All was still again for a moment, until the vessels lit up their IFF Beacons, stealth not on their minds. These Beacons identified the Tigershark formation as members of Direwolf Squadron, and the Void Walker as a veteran of the legendary Battle of Styx, the Warstalker. On the Warstalker's Bridge, General Ulysses Roberts gazed out at the view, getting his bearings before finally turning to the Sensors Officer.

"Report, what vessels and installations are in the region?"

Not much sir, theres a few vessels on the outskirts of the system directly to our left, but at this range I can't identify them. Another vessel at Galactic East of the system showing signs of damage, same story, Brightside Mining Solutions owns an station in the ice belt in the Galactic Southwest, but its not much to brag about."

"Brightside?"

"A mining company sir. Apparently the ice they mine here is a valued commodity due to their slow refining methods creating rarity."

"I see. Keep an eye on the fancy ice-lolly makers, they may not enjoy our presence here and could become bothersome."

"Aye si-, sir, we're picking up a distress signal from another vessel in the region. It appears to be a Brightside vessel requesting escort, must be an unarmed Freighter."

"Let them be for now. If someone else helps it isn't our problem, if not, the wait will make them all the more cooperative. Head for Obs to begin scans. Sooner we start, sooner we can leave this backwater rockpile."

"Aye sir."

The formation moved in sync to Obs, using low power, intrasystem warp to reach Obs. The mission was simple enough, one might even say boring. But The CEO assured Roberts the mission would be worth it, and so Roberts did as requested without complaint. They were unlikely to encounter any significant resistance beyond the occasional brigand with a skull denser than Warstalker's armour, but Roberts knew preparation was important, hence the presence of Direwolf Squadron on this mission. Roberts relaxed as streaks flew by in front of him, no point tensing up on what was sure to be a long assignment.

 

<<onboard the Envoy1 in some random system with a jump gate>>
Chief engineer Kazuma knocks on Captain Haruko's quarters door.
"Captain we have finished pre-departure from Fleet checklist." Kazuma Said.
After Haruko opens the door and replies "I KNOW KAZUMA why did you have to wake me up were not scheduled for departure for 2 Days."
"But captain the astro-samurai pilots have been assigned for our escorts and you know those Pilots and how impatient they are"
"YES KAZUMA I know how precious your engineering section is and how you hate having these pilots bunk with your crew its not like we have extra space with the 10 security goons shoved into the crew quarters and the extra sensor and computer equipment they have shoved into my ship"

"Captain " Ensign Naomi says out of breath, "The commander aboard the Tokyo would like a word with you"
"Kazuma we can talk about the berthing issue later I have a call to answer. Now ensign Naomi please go back to your station and route that call to my quarters screen."

<<Kazuma stomps back to engineering to tinker with his WBD since he was one of 4 engineers and physicists to create the drive>>


ORDER OF EVENTS

• Chief engineer Kazuma and Captain Haruko argue at his quarters.
• Ensign Naomi interupts.
• Call from Comand on Tokyo.

 

weeks ago

It was only a small waystation - and not a prosperous one - so it only had one bar, and it was a dive. Dinah Shrike's composure was a thing of myth and legend, but even she couldn't help wrinkle her nose at the quality of her environs. It smelt of piss and cheap alcohol, and the clouds of whatever godforsaken herb the locals smoked did nothing to improve matters. As a result, it came as a great relief when her contact entered the room, despite the fact she didn't particularly enjoy his company. He was an older man, all salt-and-pepper stubble and old scars, and he moved through the station's underbelly like he knew what he was doing. If Dinah had been made to pick a single word to describe him, it would have been 'tired' - but in fairness, a second would be 'reliable'. She watched as he visited the bar, purchased a mug of whatever swill they drank here, then joined her at the table. Calmly, she watched him take a seat, then make a point of looking about the room, back to him, and raised an eyebrow.

The man sighed apologetically. "Yeah, I know, Shrike. But this was the only station we could meet without goin' a week outta the way, an' you know it. Cut me some slack." His voice was low; not just a deep voice, but the kind of cracked and gravelly cadence that only came with injury or illness. Whichever it was, it was long past.

Dinah huffed lightly. "I need do no such thing, Captain Macall. Indeed, I believe that, as a fellow ship-owner and rival, it is no less than my solemn duty to give you a hard time." Her lips curved in a hint of a smile, but it was impossible to tell if she was sincere, as the smile didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes themselves precluded that; prosthetics, flat, black, round, marked only by the dots of pinhole cameras, and grafted into her eye sockets. Dinah didn't mind. They made her hard to read; all the better. Macall roll his decidedly normal eyes in response. They'd been through this song and dance before.

"Ech, don't start that rival nonsense again. If we ain't past that, how're we supposed to cooperate? This business proposition'll mean we're workin' together. Tell me y'can manage that." Dinah huffed again. She preferred to keep her expressions of irritation nonverbal; didn't want to say he had a point out loud, even if she tacitly admitted it. Appearances. "Yes, yes - no need to belabor the point. I believe the ambiance here is damaging my manners - " Macall snorted, disbelief. Her manner was calm and icy as ever. " - and I further believe my appearance is garnering unwanted attention." That was no surprise. Most of the clientele in this place, Mac included, wore old vac-covers and work cloths in some combination. Dinah wore a finely tailored suit. Her vacuum gear was skintight, and underneath. The slim helmet sat beside her on the table. It hadn't been cheap, but, again - appearances.

"So. Let us move on. This system - Canon-Rei?" Macall nodded as he fiddled with the slate computer sat on the table between them. It shifted, showing a star system map - binary suns, three planets, asteroid belt, ice field. "Yeah, that's it. Arse-end a' nowhere. League mapped it an age ago - only reason I've got these charts. Ice field's the only bit of it worth a damn, an' Brightside's got it locked down. Mostly." He fiddled with the slate to zoom in on the field. Dinah remained quiet as Macall continued, grasping each fact, examining it, and holding it in her mind as he laid out the plan. This was she did well - really well - planning, tactics, the fine art of actually thinking things through properly. So few bothered; it gave her an edge.

"I had a friend dig up the legal records, an' they technically don't own this bit." Macall pointed at a spur in the ice field's boundary, at the farthest edge. "I figure we can get in, get a load without much fuss. Security'll be bored dead-enders - ain't many of them'll want to tangle with Choleric, 'specially with the legalities so dicey." He paused, looked over at her. After a moment, she nodded, made a 'go on' gesture. "Right. So we fab a container for Strife to pull, fill it with refined ice. Freeports are real hungry for heavy isotopes recently - they're building up to something, no-one knows what. Anyway, Brightside ain't shipping that far - goes through half a dozen middlemen before it gets out Freeport way. We get a load to them, we can give 'em a good deal, an' still make a killing."

Macall stopped talking, and looked up, apparently having finished his pitch. The look he gave her was searching - trying to figure what she thought, even though he knew it'd be in vain. Force of habit. Dinah stayed silent for a few minutes - she needed to complete her analysis of the scenario he'd presented. Leaving him hanging was just a side benefit.

At length, Dinah Shrike nodded; brief, perfunctory, efficient. "Captain Macall. I believe we have a deal."

now

The Calamity-class Choleric drifted in system like a wreck; quiet, cold, the thick hull pitted and scarred. Unlike a wreck, however, she was undamaged aside from the cosmetic wear-and-tear. The crew knew not to skimp on maintenance, lest they provoke the ire of the Chief Engineer. No-one took her threats very seriously, but it was unpleasant, and a little embarrassing; plus everyone she woke up would blame you. Anyone who'd served on Choleric long knew not to bother being annoyed at her for being loud; she was a force of nature. Grass grew, suns burned. Cassandra Lethe shouted.

The Choleric had been drifting quietly for over a day, however, so there'd been little to shout about. Jumping in some distance out-system, they had lit engines for a short period, then gone dark to drift in the rest of the way. Mac had said the plan would work better if they were already busy doing their jobs before anyone realized they were here, though that relied on the locals being lazy. Active scans would naturally pick up the reactor signature - but as long as the engines were cold, no-one would spot them unless they were looking. Dinah had insisted he go ahead, while Strife is Joy and the corvettes stayed by a nearby Tannhauser, so avoiding a fight was a priority. They were still fabbing the container they needed to transport the ice.

Captain Macall had just dozed off in his cabin at the time the El Dorado arrived in-system. His long, boring watch on the bridge has just ended, as Hawkespur arrived to relieve him. He liked Hawkespur; damn good organizer, and always on time. His opinion of her dropped, albeit temporarily, as her crisp voice tore him forcibly from the sweet respite of sleep. "Sir. Sir? Sir, we've been hailed. You'll want to hear this."

Mac thumbed the button on his handset to respond. At first, nothing but wordless grumbling came out of his mouth, until he shook the sleep off enough to grapple with actual words. "Goddamnit Hawkespur, don't 'Sir' me. Hold on, I'm comin'." True to his word, Mac hauled himself to his feet, shrugging his arms back into the top half of his vac-suit, and hooking the comms handset onto the collar. His cabin was close to the bridge; a short corridor, flight of stairs, and a few doors, and he was there. Despite the fact he was practically shambling, crew made room for him, nodded as he passed, or slapped his shoulder cheerfully.

Hawkespur stood in an 'at ease' posture as he walked in, despite the fact no-one else on the crew was ever that formal. At least she's stopped saluting, Mac thought, though he noticed her heels twitch as she resisted the reflex to snap to attention. "A Brightside freighter, sir," she said, pre-empting his question. "Didn't sound like an SOS, but their home station isn't responding." She fiddled with the slate computer she had in the crook of her elbow, replaying the message.

"Attention, any vessels in-system. This is Brightside Mining freighter El Dorado, please respond."

Mac scowled; that was a fly in the ointment. Probably, the freighter would be fine without help, but it didn't sit right with him, leaving them hanging. And depending on the situation, it might work out well for them. Still, you didn't stay in one piece in this business by being reckless - unless you were Disorderly bloody Jim, apparently, but Mac wasn't going near that particular line of thought. This captain would hedge his bets. He looked back at his second-in-command. "Alright - screw down the comms antenna to tight beam. I wanta respond, but I don't want the whole system hearin' it."

"Sir." Hawkespur walked over to talk quietly with the crewman manning the comms, who looked only marginally more awake then Mac felt. Still, less than a minute later, she gave Mac a thumbs up. Taking a breath, Mac thumbed his handset. "El Dorado, this is O.W.L. Choleric respondin'. You got y'self in some trouble over there, kid?"

ORDER OF EVENTS
- Choleric is drifting with engines cold, now getting close to the edge of the ice field. Active scans will still detect her.
- Choleric responds to El Dorado's hails on tight-beam comms.

 

At the edge of the Canon-Rei system, two small points of light appeared. They swelled swiftly into spheres, one somewhat larger than the other, then vanished in a brilliant flash, revealing a pair of vessels in their place. Aboard the destroyer Valiant, Hideyoshi Bern, still getting acclimated to the title of Captain and feeling it to be rather a bad fit, glanced out through the viewport. One of the advantages of operating under cruising conditions was the use of the navigation deck, which -- in addition to being rather more spacious than the command center -- had a fantastic view.

Naturally, the glance told him exactly nothing. They were a comfortable distance away from the Galatine Ice Belt, at the north-eastern edge of the system, and opposite both the jump gate and Chulip. As such, the only thing his eyes could reveal was the presence of the corvette Vanguard, holding formation above and to port. At this distance, it would be a little while before their sensors could tell them anything, so he waited through the chorus of post-jump announcements. Jump-drive, weapons, engineering, communications --

"Captain, comms are picking up ... uh, something."

"Really?" Bern was merely surprised that they were picking up a transmission so soon this far out in the system, but Ensign Lang flushed. Bern made a note to clarify later that he hadn't been going for acerbic.

"Y-yessir. It's very faint, blends in well with background radiation, but it's there. There's not a lot of data in it; it looks like a basic tagging signal, like an IFF. If we'd picked it up before Styx, we'd probably have missed it."

Bern felt his stomach tighten a little at the mention of Styx, but kept his voice level. "If it's from the post-Styx update, what group is it?"

"Checking ... the same as the Kastellan's. Pegged as 'BRS,' though we don't actually know what that stands for."

Bern nodded, opening the file the JPF had on the BRS on his terminal. It was a very small file. "Where's it coming from?"

"System-north; still narrowing down the range. Relatively nearby, though."

Bern thought for a moment. Finding some sign of or, better yet, establishing some sort of contact with, the BRS was one of the reasons they were out here. It seemed altogether too good to be true to have found them so quickly.

Of course, it might not be so good. One of the reasons the Joint Provincial Fleet was interested in the BRS was that there had been something very peculiar about the schematics JPFV Expeditious had received from Kastellan during the prelude to the Battle of Styx. Specifically, the layout of the decks: they were too short, unless the crew was walking on their knees.
There was nothing conclusive to be drawn from that; after all, the Ardentrallis themselves were shorter than baseline Terran humans purely due to their environment, and having had some limited experience with the genetic tinkering of the Wanderers, it was certainly conceivable that the mysterious BRS had simply taken things a bit further. There was also no reason to question their motives: the BRS had been the first group to move to assist the imperiled hospital ship at Styx, after all, and had demonstrated both bravery and selflessness in doing so. Nevertheless, the general mood of the JPF at present was "healthily paranoid."

Hence the precautions they'd taken for this trip.

"Understood. Continue monitoring, but at present, keep us dark. No transmissions, no IFF. Engineering, dump heat into the sinks as long as you can." That wouldn't be long; neither of his ships was built for stealth. Hell, they had red stripes down the sides, and those didn't even help them go faster. He turned his head to the other side of the nav deck. "Sensors, anything?"

"Passive sensors return multiple contacts. Active sensors on standby until ordered. Passing contacts list to your station."

"Thank you." He browsed the list. Sensors hadn't found it yet, but there had to be a BRS ship here somewhere. Remnants of a destabilized warp bubble in system-east, and some decent-sized contact there; multiple warp shockwaves coming from system-northwest, along with KAE IFF beacons; and two BMS freighters ...

Lang cut into his thoughts. "Captain, one of the BMS freighters is sending out an open broadcast. Putting it on speakers."

Bern listened to the transmission. "That's not a distress call?"

"No, sir. It's not really any kind of call; almost like they're just saying, 'hi.'"

"Hmm." Tricky. The Belt was owned by BMS, and even if the system proper wasn't theirs de jure, it was theirs de facto. On the other hand, this wasn't a restricted system, and this wasn't a call for aid. "Continue running silent for now. Our jump flare will let everyone in the system know that we're here sooner or later; no sense in telling folks who we are just yet. Let them ask first." For all the good that would do; the Tanji-Koning drive had a rather distinctive signature.

His console pinged; Vanguard was sending a transmission via tightbeam laser. He tapped a button. "Captain Bern."

"Hideyoshi! How's it going over there?"

He closed his eyes. One. Two. Three ... He opened them. "Captain Yakimura. In the JPF, it is not the accepted practice to address other officers, even if they are fellow captains, by their first name while on duty."

"I know, but I'm a slow learner. Kansai PF is much more relaxed." He could practically hear her grinning; they'd known each other since the academy, and he still didn't know how she got away with half the stuff she pulled. Her voice turned more serious. "You saw the BRS signal, right?"

"We did. And we'll stick with the plan. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

"So, we wait?"

"We wait."

Order of Events

• JPFVs Valiant and Vanguard enter system north-east of center.
• IFF signal of Cheana detected; location unknown.
• JPF vessels in reduced emissions mode.

 

((On board Terra Noctis, 11 1/2 hrs ago))
The bridge lit up as they started another FTL jump. They were about 12 hours from the Canon-Rei system.
Mika - “Mal, why are we going through all the backwater systems? Using the gates would be so much quicker!”
Mal - “I have told you three times now! These people need our help and the only way to do this without getting caught is to spend the extra couple weeks using our FTL to get us to the meeting spot.”
Mika left the room after her failed attempt to persuade the captain. She proceeded to the armory to clean her rifle. This would be her fourth time today…
The intercom loudly barked, nearly making Mal jump out of his chair.
Rye – “Sir!, this Calthala” Rye spouted in an anxious voice.
Mal - “Listen here Geek Squad, I know you are new here but I have only a couple rules on this ship. And the first one is that you don’t call me Sir, lord, or any other honorable name, I am the captain of this ship and that is all.”
Rye – “Sorry Si… ah Captain Malathar”
Mal – “Now what is the problem?” he said calmly
Rye – “We will be 1 jump from the nearest system once we drop out of FTL. Some place called Canon-Rei. Supposedly some small system off th…” Rye was cut off mid-sentence.
Mal – “Get to the point!” Mal said pushily.
Rye – “We will need to recharge our FTL banks with power soon. This system has binary stars at its center and should help us recharge fairly quickly using our solar inlets. Sending the details now. Calthala out…” The intercom cut out.
Rye sent the calculations up to the bridge computer. The captain looked at the estimated time of charging: 5 days.
Mal thought to himself - “Good lord we have to sit around for that long?”
Mal started to prepare a encrypted message to be sent to the Isha system. The home system was far away at this point. It would take 1 full day before it would reach the nearest relay outpost and an additional half day to reach the proper person. The message was to inform the Order of the current location and downtime. The message also was included with instructions to be sent to the Order’s outpost in the proposed meeting place.
Order of Events
Terra Noctis starts FTL jump.
Calthala informs the captain of the engineering problems
Terra Noctis ETA to Canon-Rei : 30 min

<<
Edited:
1/23/2015 Adjusted ETA to 30min
>>

 

((in random system))

A Message for Brightside Mining Solutions,
The T-13 Envoy1 and two fighters are requesting a docking berth.
They Also will require flight path instructions from the jump gate.
Sincerly
Captain Haruko Envoy
T-13 Envoy 1.
((hopes this message gets to the station))

Order of Events.
Captain Haruko sends a message to the station in Canon-Rei

 

"It's getting more lifely in here Shipmaster." The sensor Officer of the Cheana said "We have several different FTL-Event's in the System that aren't connected to the FTL Net of the Jumpgate. Some of them are relatively close."

Chereza pondered. What was it that after there arrival so many new contact's had entered the System. "How many Contact's in total? And where are they?" She ordered and the Map of the System was forming on the main Screen of the Bridge. East, North East, North West...
"Well trapped between a Stone and a Hard place are we? How long until we enter the Asteroid Belt and can get of the Sensor Grid?" Chereza asked.
"Just a few moment's Shipmaster, preparing the engines for the manouvering." The Helmsman responded as Cheana apeared of the Bridge again. "I may have some good news Shipmaster." She replied as her form was completed.
"What do you have Cheana?" Chereza asked before the A.I. pointed towards the main screen where the Starmap was displayed. "I've identified some of the nearer Jump Signatures... It apears that a Ship, that shows up in the records of the Battle of Styx, has arrived here." An small KAE Logo apeared over the position of the Warstalker and her Fighters. "Also, sensors have picked up a very familiar jump signatur here. The proximity to the asteroid belt interfered with the Sensors a bit as those FTL Events occured but they may be from the JPF."
Those three letters send shivers down Cherezas Spine. "Are you sure that those are JPF Ships?" The Shipmaster asked.
"I am to 75%sure that those are JPF FTL Signatures. Fleetmaster Alexander got some very good readings of those at his first encounter with them."
Chereza felt cold. It was extremly exciting to find some JPF Ships so soon. "We stay silent for now until we know more... How long until entering the Asteroid belt?" She asked while her thought's where floating.
"Right now Shipmaster!" The Helmsman answered.
She knows how possesed Alexander was of the possibility to meet the JPF again and she knew if she would send the confirmation of JPF Vessels in this System that the Fleetmaster wouldn't wait for the Cheana return to the fleet and Jump right onto them. "Send a short report of the FTL Events to the Drachenherz but don't tell anything about the JPF Signatures. I don't want Alexander to do something dumb. We first need to establish contact with one faction before we say where we are. Alex just has to wait."

Meanwhile the Cheana entered the Asteroid Belt. The GMU made the path for the ship as it pushed gently some larger Rocks out of her way and covered the Ship in a dense cloud of dust. "Good. I want to run silent through this belt... Cheana it's time to spread your wings." Chereza smiled. Knight Grade A.I. doesn't have a lot of chances to affect the real world outside of their appereance as a hologram. Most of them encounter the joy of physical contact only when they get promoted to a Demigod Grade A.I. but sometimes those A.I. have luck or a shipmaster who just want's to emit as less trackable readings as possible. "Understood Shipmaster. Killing the Engines and taking direkt control of the GMU and manouvering Thrusters. All Crew prepare for rapid movement... And Thank You." Cheana smiled and vanished again in thin air. And thus the Cheana vanished. Nothing was left showing of her excistence. Vanished from sensors and the naked eye. It would be hard to find her and only the JPF had a little idea of where they have to look for that possible alien ship.

<<The blue glowing engines of the Cheana went silent. All lights on the outer hull went dark. And then the Ghost's of Canon-Rei made an apperance.
At least it looked like it. The Dustcloud around the B.R.S. Cheana pressed herself in Shape as the gravitational fields of the GMU took the form of a gigantic Dragon wich put it's claws onto the Stones around her to hold herself in place. Her Head looked around while the wings on her back and her tale made of dust roamed through space. From the outside of the field their wouldn't be seen becouse of the dust between the Asteroids but a keen eye would spot the shape of the Dragon inside the field. The Dragon crawled forward, using the Asteroids as steps and moved through the field slowly.>>

On the Bridge of the Corvette the Helmsman leaned back and streched himself before he crossed his Arms behind his Head. "This was nice of you Shipmaster." He said "Not only i can take a break but you made Cheana realy happy with this." The Dragon turned around his Chair and looked up to his Shipmaster wich was smiling. "Yeah i know. Sometimes i am just to nice." She laughed warm as she watched the holographic projection of the outside and could see that the Dragon, wich was crawling through the Asteroid field, was smiling with Joy. "I hope this isn't the only time i can get her some movement in space." She said and stood up. "Get the passive Sensors ready. Until we are in a isolated part of the belt are those our only eyes and ears. Also i want an analysis of the Belts composition. Askor is interested in rocks so he can get some readings of them." She ordered. Now the Mission was running and she hoped they doesn't run into some trubble.

ORDER OF EVENTS:
- the Cheana is picking up some FTL Events.
- KAE Forces get discovered.
- Entering the Asteroid Belt.
- First impression of how the GMU is controlled by it's A.I.
- An A.I. happy to make her first own steps in space.

 

"Da-da, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, mmm, nnn
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough"

The throaty tones of the woman's singing were washed out by the sound of the shower's air dryer roaring in to action. They'd be hitting their last jump to the rendezvous in a minute or two so she cut the cycle short and snagged her suit from where it was clipped up just outside the collapsible curtain.

"God damn fraggin sleeve holes. Mother-f..."

Ursula poked at her arms experimentally. Yep, definitely needed to start taking myo if she was going to keep doing her R&R planetside. Yet another shot on top of the patches and pills she already had to take, but getting her uniform modified would be more of a pain in the ass. Sighing she mustered her now moderately and inconveniently increase strength and shoved hard.

"AIEEeeeeee!"

Her yelp trailed off into a high pitched whine as she quickly fastened the seals. Not. Fun. At. All. First thing when they got back from this little hunting trip: Change in to something stretchy. Second: Myostatin and lots of floating around. Grabbing her helmet she pushed out of the bathroom and headed for the command chamber. It was empty when she got there, but that was to be expected. William was handling the trip from engineering, and the others would be double checking the shuttles and securing the rest of the ship for patrol conditions. The Ardies had a lead on something that interested the Council and the Captain had been clear to take no chances.

So that's what they were going to do.

[Traverse on my mark, all hands, stand by. Mark]

The ship was there but not there for a moment and she got a nice view of the two Provincial fleet vessels, waiting patiently as the cruiser arrived. Well, by her clock they were early, but "cooperation" was the watchword and she'd been warned about undue familiarity. Best to keep the boss happy and not ruffle any of their precious little feathers. Professional, that was her.

[Will, bring us down to low power, and cut the engines, we're just a big chunk of ice until the protos say otherwise, okay?]

She got the line on the lead ship's laser array and opened the channel.

"This is the WDF <em style="color: #008000;">Willow</em>, hailing JPFV <em style="color: #008000;">Valiant</em>. Captain Bern, we are running cold and have your licorice. The ball is yours. Over."

Order of Events

• Ursula learns the dangers of exercise in a gravity well (also, she likes classic mid modern pop)
• WDF Willow traverses in.
• Licorice is code for "Those big scary space marines you wanted."

 

The Aristotle dropship slips out of warp, already in high orbit around Obs, the inner-most planet in the system.

“L.T., I’ve got contacts on the scope. Six ships approaching at warp, and starting to detect other signals further away.”

Lieutenant Varra hesitates only a moment, considering the situation. She brings up the navigation scope on her own screen, looking at the contact directions. None of them were in the direction of the crippled Nikola, so there seemed to be no immediate danger to the mothership. “Turn on the IFF beacon and keep scanning.”

“What if they’re hostile?”

“We’ve been sending out tachyon sweeps since we left dock. If they’re paying attention, they already know we’re here. Show them that we’re not hiding. Meanwhile, recharge the FTL. If they are hostile, I want a hook plot back to the Nikola before they get within weapons range.

“Aye-aye, Ma’am.” He flips on the beacon as ordered, and keeps the tachyon scans going. “Could really use the Nikola’s sensor suite. It’s going to take some time to get any detail on the distant contacts.”

Varra nods, watching the approaching ships on the scope. “Well, hopefully Wellington was padding her repair estimates. A lot can happen in a few hours.” Varra switches on the sub-light radio...

&lt;&lt; As soon as the KAE ships drop out of warp near Obs, she’ll send the following: >>

“Attention, approaching ships. This is Lieutenant Varra of the Viridian Institute, aboard the VI Aristotle. We are an unarmed exploration vessel, and seek only peaceful relations. Please state your intentions.”

&lt;&lt; Note: The Aristotle is clearly unarmed. No visible weapons, and it looks like a cross between a tour bus and a luxury yacht.>>

ORDER OF EVENTS

• VI Aristotle drops out of warp in high orbit of planet Obs
• Detects approaching KAE fleet, switches on IFF beacon (Is still actively scanning)
• Will send out friendly radio broadcast if/when KAE fleet drops to sub-light near Obs.
• Nikola is still at the eastern edge of the system, conducting repairs. No broadcasts.
  

 

The distinctive booming chorus of 6 Venn-IM Warp Drives rang out as the KAE vessels dropped out of warp. Roberts noticed the smaller vessel and didn't even need to turn to the Comms Officer before the message came through. Almost instinctively, the Warstalker's crew was already scanning the vessel, a nod from the Comms Officer confirming the vessel was unarmed. Deciding to not waste time, Roberts nodded back to signal his intent to hail back, straightening to attention out of habit, the Warstalker hailed back a response.

This is General Ulysses Roberts of Krovennan Astronautical Engineering, Commanding Officer of the Warstalker and leader of this expedition. Our intentions are to scan this sector per our orders, starting with this barren rock. Per the clearance level of our mission, I am not at liberty to divulge the details, but rest assured we are no threat to you. Please state your own intentions."

As he waited for a response, Roberts watched the Viridian Institute vessel closely. The VI were known as a peaceful entity, but Roberts knew that to let his guard down on reputation invited disaster, so for now at least, he kept note of the positions of Direwolf Squadron around the Warstalker. Who knows, the Battle of Styx was still fresh in people's minds, maybe the Warstalker's reputation as a frontliner in that fight could foster some good impressions, or at least put any plans of duplicity from their minds, Roberts cared little either way so long as they could work without interference.

 

Lieutenant Varra relaxes just a hair. Sure, it could be deception, but the ship systems had already detected a scan. Why would they bother trying to deceive an undefended dropship?

"What's the move, L.T.?"

"I'm lowering our approach. We'll swing around once to scan the surface, then jump to the next planet. Just be ready, in case these Krovennans change their mind."

"Aye-aye, Ma'am." He continues to perform tachyon sweeps of the system, while focusing the passive and EM scanners on the planet. The Ambassador-class is useless in combat, but the scanner suite is pretty impressive for its size.

Making a course correction for a hyperbolic trajectory, she gets back on the comm. She considers switching to a tight-beam transmission, but decides openness is best.

"The mission of the Viridian Institute is to advance scientific progress and share our knowledge with the rest of humanity. At the moment, however, I'm just running some scans of the system for the eggheads back home. We only just arrived here, so we'll be moving onto the next rock as soon as we complete our scans."

She switches off the radio and sets up a tight-beam tachyon transmission to the Nikola. It shouldn't be detectable unless a ship strays into the path of the beam. "Aristotle to Nikola. I don't know if you're receiving, but there are multiple unknown contacts in the system. We've encountered a small convoy identifying as Krovennan Astronautical Engineering, who has so far indicated only peaceful intentions. Other contacts are still unidentified. Suggest keeping the Nikola quiet until you have FTL capability. Will continue scans of first two planets, then return for recharge. Transmitting all data obtained so far." She nods to her co-pilot, who sends their scanner data along the same beam. "Aristotle out."

 

"That's strange."

Valeria Yakimura, who was not so much sitting in her captain's chair as lounging in it, looked over at Ensign Wu, manning sensors on the Vanguard. "What is it?"

"Some of the asteroids in the field have started moving wrong."

She frowned at him. "'Wrong?' How can asteroids move wrong?" She grinned. "It's not like they can start doing the Charleston."

"Their vectors are changing slightly, but there's nothing there to affect them. It's almost like there's something pushing against them."

Yakimura thought about this for a moment, then shrugged, and las-commed Valiant. "Bern, my sensor operator is telling me that invisible ghosts are in the belt, playing ball with asteroids. Take a look." She forwarded the sensor data to him, then caught the look Wu was giving her and blinked her eyes at him innocently. "What?"

- - - - -

"Acknowledged, Vanguard. Valiant out." Well, that was interesting. Bern had no idea what could be causing that kind of movement. However, now that they'd been in the system a little while, the BRS IFF had pinged a few more times, and Ensign Lang had started getting a better idea of its location. The vector he was getting was in about the same direction as the poltergeists in the belt, so it was a safe bet the two were connected.

He sat back in his chair, hand on chin. It was possible that it wasn't the BRS, in which case it was likely BMS miners just doing their job, and he'd hate to announce their presence by barging in on them with two warships. But his gut told him that it was the people they were looking for. That being the case, charging in could be even worse; they were here to open a dialogue, not come across as heavy-handed. And if they were wrong about the BRS and they were dangerous, then barging in was definitely a bad idea. Privately, he thought they were likely both friendly and dangerous. His thoughts were interrupted by his sensor operator.

"Proximity alert: Wanderer traverse signature detected. Right on schedule, right where they're supposed to be."

Ensign Lang joined in, looking over his shoulder. "We're getting a signal from them; it's secure."

"Put it through," Bern said, pleased to see that the Wanderers were just as professional as when he'd last worked with them.

"This is the WDF Willow, hailing JPFV Valiant. Captain Bern, we are running cold and have your licorice. The ball is yours. Over."

He grinned a little. "WDF Willow, this is JPFV Valiant. Good to see you, Lieutenant Commander. Glad you brought the licorice; hopefully, we won't get hungry." He looked out the viewport, and after a moment his eyes found the Willow. The size of the ship still surprised him, three times as long as his own. He worked his console for a moment, then hit the Send button. "We've got a will-o'-the-wisp in the belt ahead; not sure if it's trying to lead us astray or not. We'd value your thoughts on it."

Order of Events

• Yakimura detects traces of Cheana's movement, but has no idea what's causing it.
• Bern sends data to Ursula.

 

&lt;&lt;Tateo:

The message is sent properly, and you receive a prompt automatic notification that the request has indeed reached its destination at the BMS instillation. However, there is no reply. Strange, as Brightside Mining is known on priding themselves for their excellent customer relations.

Xen:
The scans of the planet indicate nothing more than barren, inhospitable rock. No atmosphere to speak of, presumably burned off by the planet's proximity to the twin stars during its elliptical orbit.>>

---

Davis allowed himself another smile as Carver shot upright in his chair, honestly surprised that someone had responded. Still, the smile hid a bit of worry. There had been only one reply, and it hadn't been from BMS. What's more, he had been watching the system map while Carver was arguing with Lee. Multiple FTL-indicative events had pinged across the screen. Could it be that the ghosts...?

No, silly to think that. All the times they had made this run before, they would have to have seen something by now.

...Wouldn't they?

His train of thought had given the computer enough time to narrow down general range and direction of the response, but he left the channel on the system-wide. A general suspicion there may be more ears listening than mouths talking.

With any luck, none of the ears would belong to the ghosts.

"Not a care in the world, Choleric, except one of the corporate suits in tow being a pain in the dark side of the moon, but that's SOP for them." He paused a second to think. OWL...The Outworlds...mixed grab bag of explorers, scavengers, and a shady slice of ner'-do-wells. Could potentially be anybody on the other side of the line, but it wasn't like they had many other options to work with. Keep it brief, don't provoke, appeal to their base instincts. "If perchance you'd be interested, there's a healthy business proposition I'd like to offer. Maybe call it humanitarian work, if you're so inclined. Over."

He let off the comms. The slower wavelength of the system-wide channel would take a bit longer to reach the Choleric, but it would give him time to place another call. Narrow-beam to the relay. "Brightside control, this is the El Dorado with the Shangri-La on scheduled supply run. Please respond."

It didn't take long for the lack of a response to cause Davis and Carver to exchange confused glances. The narrow-beam had successfully connected and the line was open, but nobody was on the other side. The refinery always had someone manning the comms. Even if it was down to the last man alive. A second call. The channel merely crackled a faint static.

Something was definitely wrong.

 

Roberts listened to their response, seems they came for the same reason they did. This wasn't a problem yet, unless they interfered with their operation, then they'd have problems with each other. The Comms Officer's scans showed they were already scanning the planet surface, meaning they were behind the VI in progress, and Roberts knew staying ahead of the competition was necessary to survive.

"Helm, bring the ship into a low orbit and begin scan, head in the opposite direction to the VI vessel, we don't want them getting suspicious, keep an eye on them however. Make sure they don't find anything without my knowledge.

"Aye sir."

Warstalker began to fly lower, turning away from the VI vessel and initiating its scan of the surface below. Direwolf Squadron followed, buzzing around the larger vessel like seagulls around a tall ship. The sector was getting more crowded, and Roberts knew time was of the essence.

 

The Aristotle continues its slow trip around planet Obs, and Varra keeps a close eye on the navigation scopes.

"This system is filling up fast, but no one's going near the Nikola yet. Any response from the KAE?"

"Nothing, Ma'am, but I'm receiving a system-wide broadcast coming from the direction of the jump gate. Sounds friendly, but only have one side of it."

Varra glanced out the cockpit window at the barren planet below, her mind going in a few directions at once. "Who's sending?"

"Claims to be a mining vessel, L.T. The 'El Dorado'. They're talking to someone or something called 'Choleric', but the reply must be tight-beam. Should I open a channel?"

The Lieutenant shook her head, making some notes on her console. "Keep monitoring. A mining ship isn't a threat to the Nikola. And keep those tachyon sweeps--"

She was interrupted by the cockpit door opening. It was that young astronomer. The other crewman flashed an apologetic shrug from behind him. "Lieutenant, I've been monitoring your sensor sweeps of the planet, and there are a few rock formations I'd like to get a closer look at. If you could just--"

Varra was about to respond, but her co-pilot did her the favor. "Kid, it's a dead rock. We're not going to waste time scanning some rocks."

"I thought this was a research mission--"

"You thought wrong. We're out here to--"

Varra silenced him with a gesture, and smiled as all eyes turned to her. "I think we can spare a little time to indulge Mr. Kanning here. We'll see to it."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," the astronomer replied. "Nice to see some people can be reasonable." He gave the co-pilot a nasty look before returning to the passenger cabin.

"He's sending me coordinates, L.T. Are we really going to do this?"

She smiled, making a small adjustment to their course as he refocused the EM scanners to some rock formations on the surface. "This is a good, central location for our tachyon sweeps. Now that we have an audience, we're going to have to leave for the next planet as soon as we complete one orbit. This gives us an excuse to stick around longer."

"What about our friends over there?"

"Let young Mr. Kanning think we care about his planetary survey, and let the KAE ships think we're just interested in the planet. None of that matters. Just keep those tachyon sweeps going. I want to identify every ship in this system, and I want to know instantly if there's any threat to the mothership. And keep an eye on the comm traffic."

"Aye-aye, Ma'am."

ORDER OF EVENTS:
* Aristotle makes a slight course correction, and starts scanning some rock formations in detail.
* Aristotle begins to receive the El Dorado's transmissions, but does not reply.
* Aristotle continues tachyon sweeps of the system

 

-Two hours prior to current events-

"304, you okay?"
"Just a dent Mal, the ship's fine."
A small meteor had just hit the 304, it was the first vaguely interesting thing to happen for about three hours. The two frigates had been stationed near a pirate base, ready to intercept any escaped vessels that came their way when the assault started, for PasCO and the Free Colonial Navy had began a campaign against numerous pirate factions and have been targeting pirate strongholds for most of the past year. "Captain Shirou, you and captain Mainwaring are being repositioned to the Canon-Rei system. We have detected several IFF signals, JPF, WDF and KAE vessels are currently in the system. You were at Styx, you know when such groups meet bad things happen, so you know full well what this could mean."
"Is that all admiral?"
"That is all."
"Roger that sir, 304 out."

The two ships activated their Hyperlight Skimmer Drives, accelarating dramatically whilst large flashes of light exploded upon their bows, expanding with each consecutive blast until it shrouded the vessels in their entirety...
And then they were gone.

-Present Time-

The Canon-Rei system, a barely inhabited system which was supposedly haunted by the ghosts of a previous battle, was lit up by seemingly random flashes of light. PasCO has arrived.

 

((On board Terra Noctis, 8 hrs ago))
The ship leaves FTL and the light around the ship slowly started dimming. A minute later: Malathar’s computer displays that all outgoing messages have been sent. He starts up the ship wide intercom and starts giving orders for the crew to inspect for damages.
Mal - “Mika, call in from your nearest station when you are available.” He said on ship wide intercom. After this he ended the intercom transmission.
Mal - “Take the controls, I need a nap! Also port <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her</em> call to my room, when she finally calls up.” He said to the flight crew. They responded in obedience.
Mal walked down the hall to the captain’s quarters with a spring in his step. Thinking only about sleeping he opened his door and flopped himself on the bed.
------------
((A few hours later))
Mika - “Hey Mally, wake up….” She said in a flirtatious whisper, <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to confuse him of course</em>. He didn’t hear her and continued snoring away. “Mal, wake up….” She said loud enough to hear it down the hall. He woke up gasping for air and trying to gauge his surroundings.
Mal - “Mika? What the hell are you doing standing over top of me? Oh crap, how long was I out?” He sat up in bed searching for his glasses… Mika had them in hand and gave them to him.
Mika - “You have been out about 4 hours, I have been calling your intercom for the last half an hour, but no answer. So I went to the bridge and they said you were in your room, and here we are.” She said with a big smile on her face.
Mal - “What is the status of the ship?” Mal assumed she knew because she is always eavesdropping on others work.
Mika - “No damage during the last warp. Rye reported that the FTL should be ready for another jump in about five to ten. The crews have cycled and are all rested up.
Mal - “Walk with me to the hanger, I have something for you to do.”
They both started walking down the hall towards the hanger. The captain explained what they might see when they got closer to the CSAR border system and that they should be prepared for some engagements. Once they were on the glass overlook of the hanger they stopped. Mal asked her to replace the mining drone’s modular drills with a Gatling gun design that he found during their last time in the home system.
Mal - “Have this ready by the time we leave our next warp. I want to do some testing with the new system during our FTL recharge before heading across the border lands. Grab one of the geeks to help you get the Drone Printer system working with this.” He said while walking towards the bridge.
On his way back towards the bridge he stops at the nearest intercom and orders Rye to activate the warp sequence once he gets back to the bridge. He has also informed him that he may go play with his rock stuff ((geology)) once they get in system and settled.
((A few moments later, 4 hrs ago))
Another flash of blueish-white light streaks around the ship and the feel of pressure against the hull. The next warp phase had begun...

Order of Events
Terra Noctis leaves FTL and crew checks for damages.
The captain takes a nap and is woken up by Mika.
Mika is to convert their (5) mining drones to work with gatlings.
Terra Noctis starts FTL Jump
Terra Noctis ETA to Canon-Rei : 1 more &lt;&lt;Clyde>> post.

 

:Aboard Signet Zulu 20 minutes until reentry at Point Alpha:
The slight audible ticks of the console seemed to echo around the small, sparsley furnished room where a single bed sat agianst the far wall as a window beyond provided a view of steadily moving streaks of light. There was a single light rested above that did well to illuminate the otherwise unadorned walls and floor and aside from a protruding console and single straight seat integrated to it, there was but one brightly colored item and that was of a small cushion located in the adjacent corner of the bed.
Sitting at the console, near the side of the bed, sat a woman. She had Shortened tawny hair and piercing blue eyes that were steadily focused upon the display before her. There was not much expression shown through here gaze into the brightly lit screen but there was plenty to be said as her fingers quickly typed a log of her thoughts.
"It's been almost a year now. A whole year of being couped up in this can and there's nothing to do on this ship. I've probably told you that many times over already.
At least the recreational areas are spaciuos. Me and the rest of the team spend most of yesterday there. Me, Kaig, Sance and Bast vs the others in Lancing and they actually won a match. Roy was coaching them from the sidelines. We got them back for it in the simulator. Honestly the simulators are the only things that have kept me sane. But there is just no substitue for the real thing. Luckly... soon, we will have the chance to stretch our legs. I'd tell you more but we're under orders not to.
So, Kaig is currently off running some errands and taking care of her own business today. It's nice to have time to myself for a little while. I'm sure she feels the same way... While I'm on the subject, Ikip has been complaining again. I don't understand why Kaig can't just have a normal avatar but there's not much convincing her; you know how she gets.
I don't know where I left off from the last message. This one will probably be a whole ten years late. I know you wanted to say something before, but I'm glad you didn't. If i had thought about it anymore than I did I probably would have never volunteered. Give mother and father my regards. I'll see you when we have taken care of business over on this end.
Love you sis."
[Message Sent: ID: RRS-3 73-44VS-SL: Kedra Udeen.]
Taking a deep breath and exhaling in a sigh, Kedra brushed her hair backwards as she glanced towards the window. Thoughts flashing through her mind; things she wished to say aloud, thoughts on her choices and concerns of the uncertainty that accompaneid everthying they were doing.
She was not fond of the secrecy of things either. The corporation and its policies were usually open and leanant, but with this mission, things appeared ever more strict. This was apparent with the way she was restricted with regards to her letter among other details. Glancing back to the console, she looked to the time.

"Almost there." She said.

:Minutes Later:​

As Kedra sat at the console to overlook some preliminary data of potential squadron formations, a loud chime filled the room.​

"Attention all hands, attention all hands," The communications officer repeated. "Pepare for normal space-time reentry. I repeat, prepare for space-time reentry. Lock down all loose articles and brace for turbulence. Tee-minus five minutes and counting."
In a calm mannor, Kedra stowed the items she had before her within a compartment upon the desk and quickly finished completing her task. In standing, the console and seat retracted into the wall. She exited the room and began walking at a brisk pace to steal a spot along the exterior hallway where others had begun taking up possitions near the large, elongated windows. It seemed, despite the initial warning of bracing for the impact of reentry, most simply wanted to see the spectacle of the ships return to normal space.
They had been aboard the ship for nearly a year now. Some military, but most were civilians and fresh recruits. Many of which had never been stationed aboard a ship for this long nor had they experienced FTL travel. Yet most had likely been told of the spectacle that occurs during rentry to normal space/time. As the few minutes went by and the countdown aired throughout the ship, the excitement and anticipation continued to build.
3...2...1...
Upon the final moment of the countdown, the ship jolted forward as a wave of light and color banded its way along the exterior. From within, behind the glass, it appeared as though a rainbow had washed along its length as that of a wave along the shore. Colors of visible light meeting together, several of which existing only during this single moment when space and hyperspace mixed the spectrums together.
This display lasted mere moments, but it was always a calming and beuitiful display to behold least of all a proper and radiant means of announcing that their long voyage was now over. Several cheered, many congragulated one another on the journey made and for a time even Kedra breathed a sigh of relief; but the festivities were short-lived.
With the event now passed and cheers from the onlookers dying down, the jubulent time was quickly quelled by the comms officer over the speaker.
"Attention all personel, Destination arival confirmed. Begin your assigned mobilization orders. I repeat begin assigned mobilization orders..."


"Sigil-Z: 801st Mobile Fleet Command: Arrival at Point Alpha: Day 342, 14:36 Hours"


The Sigil-Z was the last ship of the Forward Expiditionary Force to deploy from the C-1's "Andrios" Galaxy, but became the first ship to arrive at the destination. Following its arrival, all personnel aboard were immediatly mobilized in order to prepare for the weary travelers of the 801st Fleet that would be soon arriving.
It took nearly three more months for the first group of ships to finally arrive. These were the ships sent ahead of the Rapid Response Squad spearheaded by the Strike Carrier Bastone. There was an obvious moment of confusion and alarm when the RRS Vessels first appaered. In truth, they were ahead of schedule.
To compile it, they were unaware that the Sigil-Z had been deployed. 10 years worth of traditional FTL travel had completely severed them from communications with Central Command and as such non of the Forward Expiditionary Force could have known that they had sent another vessel, let alone that vessel having managed to arrive before them.
However, with the new ships arrival, plans were quickly drawn up to capitalize on this.
Signet Zulu Council Chamber
:4 Months after Arriving at Point Alpha / 2 weeks prior to First Contact:
Within the halls of a large room sat a woman dressed in a white robe trimmed with a bright blue. Her hair was brunette with signs of grey betraying her otherwise youthful appearance. Before her stood a gentelman who wore the same fashion of robe but who's hair and features were of a much older contenance. Through his aged tone and white trimmed beard he spoke.
"Madam Chairman, We have only recently arrived into the galaxy, I believe to act now would be a rash decision on our part."
With her arms before her and her fingers interwined, the woman did nothing to betray a calm demeanor.
"Councilman, we have already begun the establishment of a ralley point for the rest of the fleet when they arrive. We have spent the better part of a years time in transit and by the grace of the powers that be, the first of the ships from the 801st have arived ahead of schedule." With a simple gesture of her hand she contineud "with the way events are unfolding, I feel that we should step up our plans and begin the next stage of operations."
"I understand you feelings, but we should take this time to consolidate our possition and to ensure that we are able to respond to potential threats before making our presence known. There is no telling what to expect from their response."
Looking up to him and for the first time with an air of definace the woman spoke. "Councilman Mond, Being ready to support the fleet is a top priority but I will not allow us to remain idle while we await their arrival."
"Madam Chairman, if we expose ourselves now without their protection, we will be puting the entire operation as well as the lives of those within the fleet in jeapardy."
Though she remained seated, she straightend her posture to look the councilman squarely in the eyes as she raised her voice just enough to ensure her words were heard and her possition on the matter known.

"I'm well aware of the risks invovled Councilman. However, this region of space was only ever ideal as a rally point. It has no means of sustaining a fleet least of all for prolonged operations. Every ounce of material we use from our supplies is one less day we have to survive. I want, and the fleet needs, a stustainalbe and secure means of supporting itself. And by any means nessassary. Do we have an understanding here?"
Without argument the councileman responded with a slight nodded as he replied.
"As you say madam Chairman."
Hidden within the asteroid belt of the Canon-Rei System
:First Contact / Start:
Just within the vain of asteriods surrouding a binary star-system, from which the Bastone and the Dignitary Vessel Rossetta remained hidden amongst its hazardous landscape, there was great concern building.
"Are you certain you wish to move forward with the operation Ambassador? Without the Rossetta's shields fully functional, the ship will be immensely vulnearable. At least allow a full squadron to provide escort for you."
"Captain Walhurst, We've not the time to spend on the shields repairs. This signal we received may be the best chance for us to make contact and i do not want to risk that they may see an entire squadron as an act of hostility. We will continue with the operation unhindered. If there are any signs of trouble, I have faith that your pilots will be enough to protect us should we need to escape."
"But if we were to return or send a request to Captain Hershall or Captain Lan -."
"Captain, we have our orders. We will have to make do with what we have. Both the Ikaigu and Yanma are guarding Signet Zulu and ensuring that they are protected. Our mission now is to identify the source of the signal we attained and to make contact if applicable. Those are our orders."
"Very well Ambassador Mond... We'll do everything in our power see to it that you are properly protected."
[Video communications off]
"Dammit." the female captain muttered under her breath. "You'd think there would have been time to service the ships properly before sending us out here like this."
Leaning forward in a telltale expression of fatigue, she peered up as a cup of coffee was held before her.
"Here you go captain. Just as you like." Came the warm-hearted voice of the girl standing beside her.
"Thanks Ikip." the commander replied as she grasped the cup and took a sip.
"Captian Alivia, Is the Ambassador really going to go through with this without the Rossetta's shields functioning?" Ikip asked.
Between another sip, Captain Alivia replied. "He's got the Chairman up his back side about this and now it's trickling down the chain of command to become my problem."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Ikip sympathized as she looked to the others manning the consoles. "Everyone looks sort of... despondent." she commented.
"That's because no one told us we were going to be dealing with this."
"Taking orders from someone else." Alivia said under her breath. "We were sent out ahead of the fleet to do a job. If we had been allowed to do just that then it would have been simple. But no, after ten years of traveling, we show up to find that the corporation has sent a ship ahead of us. Not that I'm grateful, but it would have been nice to simply do our jobs without having the rug pulled out from under us... no, instead of allowing us to do what we came here to do we've now been placed under new management. And to compile the problem we get 2 months of "vacation" after ten years and then lo and behold they spring up with this plan that has already gone from bad to worse..."
Taking a solidary breath, Captian Alivia closed her eyes as she composed herself. "Forgive me. I should not be complaining like a child."
"No Captian. It's healthy to express your concerns and frustrations. In fact, that's why everyone respects you so much."
Raising an eyebrow and with a slight glance Alivia let slip a chuckle "So is that the reason?"
"Well... and the fact that you take such good care of us." Ikip smiled back.
"Captain." Came the call from one of the men stationed at a forward console. "We have the operational parameters and checks are complete. The Ambassador is preparing to move out."
"Understood." Captain Alivia acknowledged before turning to Ikip. "Sorry, but we're about to commence with the operation."
"I understand. Is there anything else i can do for you Captain?"
"Not at the moment thank you."
With a nod, Ikip turned and exited the bridge as Captain Alivia began to issue commands to those within.
:Meanwhile:
Within the hangar of the Carrier Bastone where many people and machines moved about. There was a conversation taking place. One that was steadily becoming heated.
"Roy... if you say it one more time I swear I'm going to beat you to death with the nearest blunt object." Kedra shouted as she worked to position herself within the cockpit of her Corsair Fighter.
Standing above the platform just off to the side, Roy appeared to take little mind of her threat. "It doesn't matter how many times i say it or if i say it at all." he responded. "This operation is foolhardy at best. The variables are not in our favor. We do not have enough information on the technological, tactical, political, or even the historical aspects of their organization. We are, to an almost literal expression, flying blind when it comes to any form of Diplomatic or military action."
"And that is why you and the others are going to be waiting here if we run into problems." Kedra stated as she fastened her harness and began flight checks of the fighters systems.
"yeah Roy," came an additional voice of Kaig that emanated from the fighter itself. "Don't worry about it until it happens. At least then we can formulate a plan and gather details. Now get out of the way before i knock you off of there."
Roy stepped back as the platform moved backwards from the cockpit. With the ships engines beginning to spool up, there was a brief moment where Kedra met the gaze of her other three pilots and with a quick salute, her fighter dropped from its mooring and quickly exited the Carrier as each of 4 hatches opened and closed in precise timing with the fighters forward speed.
"This is Flight Officer Udeen of Viper 1 checking in. Requesting comms check."
"This is Sance and Bast of Viper 2 reporting. Comms link secure." came the response and to the right of her, another of the Corsair fighters positioned itself in formation.
"Comms check with Ambassador Ship Versailles." Kedra called out as she and Sance took position at the sides of the larger vessel.
"Comms channel link secure. It's good to have you with us. We're prepared to initialize jump."
"Understood. Locking in jump coordinates now. Initiate countdown at your leisure."
"Roger Viper 1. Countdown commence. T-minus 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..."
Upon the final second, the three ships vanished in a lackluster display as the edges of their silhouette bent the light of the stars behind them and a darkened void momentarily appeared. In the split-second after their disappearance, small glittering particles correlated into a scene like that of snowflakes drifting in the breeze slowly dissipated against the backdrop of starlight.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Bastone and VIP Vessel Rossetta arrives on scene to respond to unknown message signal.
• Bastone remains Hidden within Canon-Rei's asteroid belt while VIP Vessel Rossetta move out with escort.

 

"Roger Valiant, I'll take a look."

Ursula racked her brain. She could ask what a will-o'-the-wisp was, weaknesses, possible modes of attack, but lose face like that? Not on her life. Better to check out the data, augment it with their own passive stuff and...

[Ma'am.]

[Just a second Lieutenant, I've got a packet I'm running through. Weird moving asteroids out in the belt.]

[Yes ma'am, about that.]

[Which is strange because there's nothing there. I mean, something that big would have to be emitting something we could read, right?]

[Well, yes, but Commander...]

[Okay, shoot. Bill, you've got something?]

[I was checking our in system gravity reads, getting our possible fallback presets mapped out, and there's...something moving.]

[Something. Lieutentant, please elaborate?]

[I'll send you the reconstruction.]

Ursula drummed her fingers while running the visualization. Green for the go zones, yellow for where the gradients were ramping up, red for no go. Belt was yellow, yellow, yellow, red. Big red. Definitely not a will-oh-the-whatsit.


[Thanks Lt, I'll send this right over. Get the Lancers prepped, I want them to be ready for immediate departure. That is...not normal.]

She sent the file over the lasercom, and keyed up the audio channel.

"Willow returning. We're getting some anomalous gravity readings you may want to investigate Captain. Looks less like a willathewasp, more like..."

She ran the image again. The yellow of the belt suddenly overtaken by huge red clawed feet.

"...some sort of giant space dragon made out of gravity."

She paused, actually hearing the words made it simultaneously more and less real.

"Sir, I don't think I've got enough licorice for this."

 

It did not take long for the Diplomatic Vessel and escort to exit beyond the asteroid field with the use of the FTL to make their way into the open space beyond. Though the asteroids had done well to mask their position, they had also limited their communication capabilities. Already they were just now becoming aware of other random signals and communications being broadcasts. Several odd signals in fact sprouting up in every which direction.

"Ambassador" Came the call from the captain of the Rossetta. "We're picking up several other signals dotting the system... and we're picking up another message from what we believe to be the same ship that we received the initial signal from. The Escorts are now in the process of identifying and isolating the contacts."

Looking to the monitor at his desk, Ambassador Mond was held at a moment of surprise as he saw the data and information upon it.

"So it seems we're not the only ones to have received the message." He said to himself.

Over the comms device the Captain of the Rossetta once more spoke out. But his tone was filled with a little more trepidation than before. "Ambassador, should we withdrawal for now?"

"No Captain," Ambassador Mond responded "We'll stay the course and see where this takes us." With a slight smile as he rubbed his chin, he added to himself "Lets see who we're dealing with."

"Your orders then Ambassador?" the Captain asked.
"We will contact the vessel that had sent the initial signal. We need to find out what they have need of or why they would call out in such a manor. Until that time, keep me informed on the position of the other vessels and communications that may be available... also, tell our escort to be prepared for immediate action. While we're at it, we might as well commence with the detailed scan of the system. All we know is that object that brought us here to begin with."

"Yes sir." Came the captains response.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rossetta and Escort arrive outside of Canon-Rei's astroid Belt.

Direct Message sent to the El Dorado: "Attention El Dorado, we have recieved your communications broadcast. This is the C-1 Corporation Diplomatic Vessel Rossetta. Are you in need of assistance? Please Respond."

Detailed Scanning of area initiated. (Current known elements involve planetary possitions, a single large artificial structure on the outskirsts of the system as well as sporatic signals from various other objects and locations.)

 

"Report status of the scan."

"10% of the planet surface scanned sir, but due to how slowly we must move to scan thoroughly, that number will be much slower from here on out."

"Acknowledged, anything new on scanners?"

"One thing sir. A trio of vessels emerged from the asteroid field under warp, unable to identify at this range."

"Their destination?"

"I...I can't determine that. Their FTL technology is very unusual, I haven't seen anything like it, the sensors can't read it properly."

"The last time we encountered something we'd never seen before, we lost the Dragonfire to it, I'm not taking chances by leaving that anomaly an unknown factor. Roberts to Direwolf Leader, come in."

"Ulysses! What you need friend?"

"Direwolf Leader, you'll answer to me as General or sir, understand?"

"Yeah yeah yeah. What do you need, "sir"? Decided the opposition needs thinning out?"

"No. You probably have picked up the latest additions to the sector, correct?"

"Sure have. Its becoming rather cluttered on the radar screen, like Christmas but more of a sense of foreboding unknown. Then again, "Guess The Sock Colour" got pretty intense sometimes."

"...We need you to tail those vessels, find out what you can, and only communicate if necessary, understood?"

"Window Peeper style eh? I can do that."

"Good, report back once you've gained sufficient data. Roberts out."

Direwolf Leader snorted at Roberts, the man had become so humourless since Styx, and it rubbed Direwolf Leader the wrong way. Putting his frustration aside for now, Direwolf Leader entered the co-ordinates to warp a small ways away from the vessels to help him stay unnoticed, hopefully without attracting anyone else. With the Tigershark's nose pointed in the right direction, Direwolf Leader swiftly went to warp, hot on the trail of these new arrivals. Meeting new people was so interesting, even more interesting when they come to cause trouble. Direwolf Squadron had not been in an engagement for weeks, and Direwolf Leader was practically begging for something other than sitting in the Cockpit and flying around larger ships.

 

They where still crawling through the Asteroid Belt and Chereza could tell from the blue pulsing of the A.I. Status Monitor that Cheana had a good time. "Have some Fun for me too." Chereza said touching the Monitor gently while watching the blue pulsing. She wished she could spread her wings again and take a little flight but the Cheana was to small for a proper flying excercise.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shipmaster. We have more FTL Events. Two in total." The sensor's had picked up something again. This System wasn't so backwater afterall when that many ships arrive without using the normal route through the jump gate. "Something we know or unknown?" Cheana asked while she walked back to her Command Chair from the A.I. Monitor.
"We have records of the signatures from the Time Fleetmaster Darion met the JPF Forces. They look like some factions that where involved in the Battle of Styx but without the aktive Sensors i only can say that there is one chunk of Ice next to the possible JPF Signals and two ships that may be some PasCo ships. I can't get a good reading with the passive sensors. Also there is an open communications channel from a ship... Looks like they are asking around whos aktive here in the system." The Sensor Officer replied.
Chereza pondered. Canon-Rei is becoming more and more of an powder barrel. "We don't want this to become Styx 2.0... Cheana." The Shipmaster called out for the A.I. wich was materializing itself next to her Shipmaster. "Yes Shipmaster?"
"Look for an area with less Asteroids so we can activate the active Sensors. I want to know what's going on here in the System and i want clearance of the Jump Signatures. After we confirmed at least the JPF Signature and the one next to them find us a way through the Belt to them. We have to prevent that they get the wrong Idea... We might look like Lizards but we have nothing in common with the Sheshir." She ordered and Cheana vanished again with a nod.

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The Dragon made of Dust, gravity and the B.R.S. Ship as it's hearth moved faster through the asteroid belt until they've found a small area in wich where less then the normal amount of Asteroids. There the Dragonform collapsed and revealed at least the front of the ship from the Dust that was still around them. The Cheana activated it's Main Sensors to get a good sweep of the outer boarder of the System.

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"Readings coming in Shipmaster!" The Sensor sweep was quick. Wouldn't it come from the Asteroid Belt someone would misinterpret it for just a small increase of solar activity but so it was a good reading for about three seconds directly from there position. "Good. Cheana hide us again." Chereza ordered and the Cheana became one again with the Asteroid Belt. They have to move quick. And they have to change the Plan. "Open a channel to the Drachenherz I have to talk to Alexander." Chereza said and a secure subspace Channel was opened.
"What can i do for you Cherry?" Alexander asked as his Face was showing on the main monitor of the Bridge. Unlike Chereza he hadn't had to aktivate his helmet.
"We might have a problem Alex." She said to her Fleetmaster. With the helmet active Alexander couldn't see Cherezas Face but he could tell that she wasn't very happy. "Canon-Rei has become much more populated then we thought. After our arrival, FTL Events started to pop up around the System and for the look of it they are most likely participants of the battle of Styx..." She said and she could see the Fleetmaster nod and smile a little. "Stop the smiling for now. We haven't the confirmation yet but it looks like that also JPF Ships are here and i am calling you for permission." She said and Alexander tilted his head a little bit.
"Permission for what?" He asked.
"Permission to establish contact with the JPF Vessels. If we don't want Canon-Rei as a Styx 2.0 we should reveal our selfs and show our good intentions.". Chereza hadn't the authority to boss the Fleetmaster around but Alexander nodded slowly.
"You are right... I give you permission to make contact. Meet them, talk to them and if possible put them through to the Drachenherz. We will stay hidden in our current spot, prepairing to come over if the Time is right. ((Nothing to worry they won't come until FP gives the go for it))" Alexander looked serious and as far as Chereza knows he wasn't a person wich becomes that serious easily.
"All right then. We call you if we need help." She said and the Channel was closed. Good that the humans hadn't the technology to detect subspace communication or the Cheana would be in big trubble.

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Meanwhile the Ship moved slowly through the Asteroid field. The course was set and Cheana tried to get as much time outside the boundries of her function as long as she could. The sense of Freedom was incredible and she couldn't wait to become a Demigod Grade A.I. Then she could be free whenever she wanted. "Cheana. Set course to the JPF Signals... We have determind the earlyer readings and we a sure that this is it... But i have you to change your form... A giant Dragon made out of dust may be to intimidating for them. I am Sorry..." Chereza said and Cheana moaned silently. She hoped to be longer in this Form but sadly she couldn't. But at least she could still enjoy the movement through the Asteroid Belt.

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"...I am Sorry..." Chereza sighed. She knows the A.I. would have wanted more time in her favorite form but now they have to go to buisness. Now the Crew of the Cheana had a good idea what was going on in the System and the Map of the System was updated. KAE, PasCo, JPF and the Wanderer's where there and some other unknown contacts. This wasn't a reconaissance Mission anymore. This was now a Gambling. Sure they weren't spotted by the looks of it but now all ships in sensor range knew there was something hiding in the Asteroid Belt and Chereza doesn't want to know who would find them first. She wanted to take the initiative by going to the JPF first. Alex said they are trustworthy and thus Chereza wanted them to be the first to find the B.R.S. Ship. It would take some time to get there but they move silently and without emissions. If Alexander was right they know the Cheana was here anyway so it would be easier. "Put more information in our IFF... If they can pick it up they shall know what is comming to them." She ordered. The IFF Signal they where sending all the time just said that there was a B.R.S. Vessel in the System. Now it would contain the Name of the Ship and her allegience to the B.R.S. Silverdragon Research Fleet. "Good that we don't have such a threatening name like the Fireborn Squad...". Chereza said while she sat down again. This would be much more complicating then she wanted it to be.

ORDER OF EVENTS:
- The A.I. Cheana has some fun flying around.
- The Cheana detects PasCo and Wanderer Jump signatures.
- Thoughts that nobody wants to make.
- Aktive Scan reveals the Ghost's of Canon-Rei wanabe B.R.S. Cheana's position in the belt for just a small fraction of time.
- Talk with the Fleetmaster and the hidden Fleet.
- A Sad Cheana and a course change.
- IFF of the B.R.S. Cheana now contains more information.

 

Mac snorted with amusement at the freighter's reply. If he was going to have to deal with a big corporate operation like Brightside, at least he'd gotten someone with a sense of humor on the other end of the line. "Sounds about right, El Dorado. You ever want work without the stuffed suits, look me up." He paused for a moment, thinking. "But t' answer your question - yeah, I could stand t' be paid today. What d'you need?" Mac released his handset, and the message winged off into the void. He glanced to his left; Hawkespur was frowning. He knew why. She disapproved of deviation from plans.

"I keep telling you, kid - speak y' mind." Mac grumbled when he spoke, but there was no hostility in it. Hawkespur looked embarrassed for a moment, before training and professional demeanor reasserted itself.

"Just wondering how this fits into the plan, sir."

"Doesn't. Might work out better this way, though. If we're doin' them a favour, they're less likely to ask what th' hell we're doin' out here." Mac paused, frowned. "An' something smells off about this - why didn't the station answer 'em? Better to be on-side with the locals when it all goes - "

"What the frak?!"

As if on cue, Mac explanation was cut short, by the shouted exclamation of the crew member at the sensor console. Fresh-faced, freckled, and probably an ex-prospector; or at least, that was what Mac assumed. She certainly seemed to think mineralogy scans were the most important part of a sensor sweep. "Cool y' damn boots, Friss. What's the problem?" Mac kept calm, but he had to work at it. His nerves were already on edge, and this did not bode well.

"Um - the dish just lit up like a frakking fireworks display, Mac. There's a whole lotta something going on. Um, lemme see..." She worked at the console rapidly for a few seconds, then frowned. "A whole mess of FTL sigs, I think. Three - uh, wait, four? - different kinds, probably twice that many vessels. Maybe. They're all overlapping, the parser can't sort them out!"

Mac swore, then thought, but only for a moment. In an unknown situation like this, it was always better to be in motion. Better to do something stupid, than to do nothing. He took a deep breath. "Right. Fine. Flip our sensors active, do a sweep. I want to know about anything with a reactor in the whole damn system. They're about to see us; we might as well see them, too." Leaning back, he lowered his voice. "Hawkespur, supervise. Make me a summary, huh?" The XO nodded curtly, stepping across the bridge to do just that. Friss was a competent sensor-tech, but she struggled with verbosity and organization.

As the sensor data started to trickle in, Mac adjusted his comm handset to shipwide announcement, cleared his throat. "Wake up, y' lazy bastards! I'm bringin' Choleric up to combat readiness, on account a' the heapin' pile of a' hot mess that's lit up the sensor grid. 'Multiple unknown contacts', if y' want a bit more formality, so get up, and get t' your stations. If it comes to fight, I wanta be able to actually fight, no just roll over and try to go back to sleep. Mac out."

Working quickly, the captain took a breath, flipped his handset back to broadcast, and added to his conversation to the freighter. "El Dorado - I dunno what the sensor suite is like on that tub o' yours, but my dish is getting a whole lot more action than I was expectin' in this backwater. Choleric is gonna make best speed to your position - what's y' plan, here, son?"

Slumping in his chair, Mac huffed out a breath; half sigh, half yawn. This was an awful lot more than he'd hoped to deal with before breakfast. He screwed his eyes shut, pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to regain his composure, and think. His ship was starting to wake up - he could hear the hum, both of energy systems and distant conversation - but they were still drifting cold. Time to change that.

He stood, stepped up to his command console; cleared his throat, and pitched his voice to address the bridge. "Time to move, kids! Light us up - reactors, engines, IFF. Charge the cruise drive, and lay me a course for El Dorado. Weapons - charge the hazard web - " Mac paused mid-sentence, revising what he'd been about to say, " - but keep the guns cold for now. Let's not startle the new paycheck, eh?"

ORDER OF EVENTS
- Choleric responds to El Dorado - 'What do you need?'
- Choleric starts an active scan of the system, looking for other vessels
- Choleric changes in-system FTL drive, and lays in a course for El Dorado

 

”Drone launched.” The ship reported.
Eric held his breath as the little message drone entered the anomaly. As it passed the boundary the anomaly let out a massive gravitational wave, according to the scientists back on the other side that meant that the item had gotten through. The wave gently rocked the ships around.
”Think they'll get the message, Captain?” He asked Hexagon.
Hexagon nodded in response.
”Yes Eric, i believe so.” The dull silver combat bot responded, the single camera eye in the middle of its head glowing a dull red.
”Good, they should start setting up communications equipment as soon as they get the message, we should get going in the meantime.” Eric responded and paced to his chair. He plopped in and secured the straps.
”Box, is the Phase drive spun up?” He thought.
In response the little blue box which his AI valued so much popped up in the corner of his vision.
”Yes it is Eric, we are ready to jump at any time, the AI on the Farsider reports the same.” Box said.
Eric leaned back, his heart was beating rapidly. According to sensors they were in the outskirts of an unknown system. Most star charts had been lost during the original incident, not much was known about the Milky Way.
”So, Captain, where are we heading?” Eric asked the picture of Hexagon.
The picture of Hexagon shrugged, a very human motion, Eric noted with casual interest.
”We have picked up multiple signals over the course of our stay, we have pinpointed their origins as well, i think we may have found some kind of transport hub.”
”We could go for one of the signals, do we have any idea what they say?” Eric asked in return. He leaned forward slightly. Over the years the language spoken by the Farsiders had changed significantly. To complicate matters most knowledge of the old languages had died out, only scattered records remained.
”No, unfortunately we do not, i am working on translating them, but it will be a while longer.” Hexagon replied, crossing his arms in front of him. Eric knew all too well what hid inside those.
”Hm, do we have anything else to go for?” Eric asked, waving his hand around.
Hexagon nodded. ”We picked up some kind of radiation discharge further in system, it does not comply to any formerly known cosmic events.” If Hexagon could have raised an eyebrow as he said this, he would have.
Eric sighed and told the ship to lock coordinates. ”Better than nothing, let's go Captain.” The ship obliged.
”Affirmative.” The call was closed.
”Let's go initiate first contact then...” Eric thought.
”Sounds fun.” Box said in his head.
Eric wasn't sure he agreed.

The space around the two heavily armed ships warped and in an instant they were gone, leaving the massive rift in spacetime behind. Hexagon wasn't affected by this, being an AI, but he knew the humans on the ship were going through pure hell. The ships arrived at their destination almost instantly, sensors retracted, crew dazed.
"First contact." Eric thought


Order of events:
- Message drone sent back to Farside space.
- Captain Eric and Captain Hexagon discusses intercepted communication, but ultimately cannot understand it.
- A point of interest is chosen and the Phase FTL drives are engaged. The event mentioned is the warp-in signatures from the P̶a̶s̶C̶o̶ (Scratch that, the PasCo ships were apparently still in FTL, my ships drop out close to Levits' ships instead) ships, but this is unknown at the time.
- The Farsider and the Return to sender arrive at the destination. Crew exhausted from the jump and external systems tucked away, booting up.

((Keep in mind that just as the CFC people have never seen a "normal" FTL drive, the humans of the Milky way have probably never seen a Phase FTL. Two ships appearing out of nowhere without any kind of signature ought to be very strange.))

 

&lt;&lt;I seriously got quadruple-ninja'd while writing this. Goddamn, you guys were ready to go, weren't you?>>

---

Repeated calls were failing. Concern was turning into straight up worry. Absolutely nothing was adding up. The station was supposed to always have someone on the comms. Barring mechanical failure, one of the patrol boats was supposed to sit on the rim of the entrance corridor and act as a relay. Barring that, general distress was supposed to be issued.

But now...nothing. None of it sat well, and both of the freighters were ill equipped to deal with any kind of trouble, save maybe an ill-tempered drunkard hurling harsh words. It was a much needed relief when the Choleric's response came through.

"Sounds about right, El Dorado. You ever want work without the stuffed suits, look me up... But t' answer your question - yeah, I could stand t' be paid today. What d'you need?"

Davis reached his hand to the console to reply, then stopped as the second message connected.

"Attention El Dorado, we have recieved your communications broadcast. This is the C-1 Corporation Diplomatic Vessel Rossetta. Are you in need of assistance? Please Respond."

"Seawon...Ceawun? Diplomatic? The hell are they?" Carver asked Davis, already checking the database. Nothing in the local contacts, though there was a Sea Run company that rented jet skis a few systems out... Probability of it being them was unlikely. Chalk it up to another random company that was positive there was something valuable hidden in the asteroid belts, confident they'd succeed in finding profit where countless before had failed.

Davis crossed his arms. "I dunno, but this whole situation is getting my nerves jossed. Station's gone quiet, and the ghosts are restless tonight. Much as I hate to agree with Lee, I don't think we should go in on our own. I smell trouble, and I doubt we'll be able to use Chef's tuna surprise as a weapon if we need to defend ourselves." He furrowed his brow, then nodded. "We need an escort."

He opened the comms channel again, still system-wide.

"El Dorado to Choleric and...ahh... Seeun ship Ro...Rossetta? Operationally, we're doing fine, however our corporate representative is...rather instant that we and our sister ship not travel unescorted to our destination. We'd be grateful for some traveling companions to keep the suits happy, and I am authorized to provide compensation for your efforts if necessary."

Carver gave him a glance. "No you aren't." he mouthed silently. Davis shrugged.

"We're holding position near the jump gate, if you've got a few minutes to spare. We can talk terms when you arrive, but we're anxious to set off. Be advised there may be others en route, too." He thought for a second. Gonna dig a hole, might as well make it a big one. "Compensation for everyone! Over."

His attempt at cheerful demeanor did little to mask the tension growing on the bridge.