[b]Contact, Bridge of the LIV [i]Terminator[/i][/b] "Captain, the colony is under attack! We have lost settlements five through sixteen, the shields of settlement one are holding!" Called out the tactical officer in disbelief. "They were actually planning to attack?" Said Kuuyi Oras "Damn! Order the [i]Challenger[/i] to evacuate the citizens, have them provide cover fire using their coilguns! Order the other ships to open fire on the alien fleet." "Yes Ma'am, orders sent!" "Broadcast a message to the alien fleet, begin recording!" "Done Captain!" "This is Captain Kuuyi Oras of the Lakfakalle Interstellar Vessel [i]Terminator[/i]. You have made a grave mistake, we have only had a minor scuffle in our entire spacefaring history, it was a massacre. A pirate ship was completely obliterated by our weapons, you must think us primitive, with our gravity rings and gunpowder, but we have far more powerful devices. You have attacked civilians, if they were military personnel then we might have had a chance at peace, but they were innocent civilians! We are now at war, know how great an ally you could have won today, and know that they are now your eternal enemy!" The LCF fleet opened fire, streams of antiprotons eating into the alien ships as a hail of coilgun rounds struck their shields repeatedly. The [i]Kelsof[/i], the refurbished ancient battlecruiser, took point. It fired off fusion missiles and all ten of its antiproton streamers, creating a storm of antiprotons heading towards the aliens. The fleet was splitting its fire, trying to cover as much of the alien fleet as possible using the tactic of just spraying antiproton streamer fire in the alien's general direction. The reactors on all ships went into overdrive, compensating for the sudden drain on power. Nobody said anything, but they were horrified at the destructive energies being used, 500 megatons compared to the 50 of the fusion missiles. It was obvious that the crew's naivety had been ripped from them, showing them that the only thing they had going for them was the antiproton streamer. At least the streamer was a damned powerful weapon. A message was sent to known Sazkarjhit space from the LIV [i]Terminator[/i]. "This is Captain Kuuyi Oras of the Lakfakalle Interstellar Vessel [i]Terminator[/i] the Lakfanikolien colony at Nikolien is under attack! We are requesting immediate assistance, they do not know the location of Lakfakalle and will not be able to find it using out coordinates system, but they will likely come across it while searching for us! We are requesting assistance in our war against them, please send help!" [b]Radio Message, just now reaching Kashyyyk[/b] While the Goddess and the Triarians were having their petty argument regarding whether or not the Goddess cared about mortals, a radio message was screaming through space at the speed of light. After fifty thousand years of travel, the desperate cry for help had finally reached the planet of Kashyyyk. The Goddess, capable of 'hearing' radio transmissions, picked up the ancient plea. "This is Admiral Fergus McClain of the Allied Interstellar Federation to any allied vessel! We have lost FTL communications and sensors and are under attack by a Reaper fleet! If anybody is hearing this, please respond! In the name of Faust, save us! Have we been forsaken? Abandoned? Have our wars angered her? What did we do to deserve this? Somebody help us! They're latching on, the nanobots are feeding!" The familiar voice became quieter as it moved into the background, taking on a much more urgent tone. "Uplink pods, now! Preserve and transmit as many memories as possible! We cannot allow-" The message faded into chaos, screams of terror and pain taking over the transmission. Finally, it cut off. The crew had lived their last moments believing their Goddess had either abandoned them or sent punishment, believing they had done something so terrible the entire universe was to be punished. They never once considered that she may have just been gone, or that someone else had committed the assumed evil. They were too overtaken by the chaos to think it could have been anyone's fault but their own.