STC Syren

Velka listened intently, leaning against the table slightly as Voroei stepped up to her. She did not know if there was any truth behind the Terrans accusations either, although believable. She would not lie to these people just to secure an ally, honor was held in high esteem in Aradite culture as well.

“ I do not know if the accusations are true, I have received no reports of the slaughter of civilians. From reports I have received from my high command, the Terran union and the Eternal Union were once allied. There was a treaty involved but it was broken. The Terrans claim the Eternal Unions broke it but I’m sure the Eternal Union will say the opposite, personally I don’t know who to believe. I haven’t had any contact with the UTF but in my experience, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you are asking my opinion Major……I think they are formidable but not honorable. They fired on my stranded countrymen and have nearly crippled their rescue, I the only joy I can take from the Eternal Union, is the joy of watching their people burn over Septonian fire.”

Her statement was met by a round of cheers by the officers as they all touched glasses and downed their drinks in unison. Velka smirked slightly before her ears shot up, remembering she forgot to answer one of his questions “ oh yes, civilians. They are non-military personnel, people outside of the armed forces. They are artisans, merchants, farmers….common people”

Falacia Asteroid complex

As the Iscandarians retreated the Aradite instinctively moved up to occupy their positions, just reaching the crates as the mech showed up. The charging sound of its rail-gun was unmistakable and it was quickly apparent it was going to be a problem as it fired a round at the last operator to take cover. The round zipped through his shoulder, spraying a mixture of blood and bone on the wall behind him and nearly taking off his arm. He went down with a scream as blood immediately started to pour from the wound, pooling around the writhing Aradite. The two closest operators quickly pulled him behind a crate to start medical care while the breacher had taken out a large wad of C12 explosive.

“ What are you doing!?” Gul asked as he glanced over his shoulder at the mech “ We don’t have any AT sir, this will do the trick!” the operator said, smirking a bit under his polarized faceplate. Gul stole another look over his shoulder before a rail gun round forced him to duck his head again. “ Five…no…..Three second fuse!” Gul yelled to the breacher, watching him take produce a small fuse and tear it to the desired length. This was risky, tear it to short and it blows up in his hand, killing the entire platoon. Too long and the mech would just move away or shield itself as it realizes what is coming. “ Fire in the hole!” the breacher said over the teamcom channel as he pulled the primer and tossed it at the mech.

Facility A-1

Kacha yelled as the blades were forced through his arms and legs, making blood begin to collect around his appendages. “ Don’t….quit……don’t quit…” Kacha said to himself under his breath as the Archmage casted his second round to spells. Now he was clearly in distress, sweating profusely and mumbling to himself to stay conscious and in control of his mind. In the midst of all this chaos however, he couldn’t shake the memory of his resistance training.

5 years ago
Jalag, Hubert Industrial complex
Cpl. Liam Oveaux ( Kacha)

“ Wake up worm!” a man yelled before throwing a bucket of ice cold water on Kacha “ Its time for another question and answer session”. Kacha was borderline delirious at this point, they had managed to keep him awake for days and feed him next to nothing. To add insult to injury, Kacha had been left hogtied and hanging from the ceiling since he got here. “ I….know…no-nothing…” Kacha said weakly as they roused him from whatever sleep he managed to get. His refusal to answer only made the interrogators angrier as they pulled out a knife and cut the rope holding him to the ceiling. Expecting the hard concrete floor Kacha braced himself for what was going to be a very hard landing, but was horribly surprised when he impacted more ice cold water. He let out a gasp as he smacked against the water and quickly began to sink down to the bottom of his rather glass tub. Keeping panic from his mind, Kacha focused on holding his breath before the pain of not breathing began to take effect. Looking up through the water, Kacha could see the two interrogators laughing at him drowning in the water, only adding to the despair he felt. His vision began to tunnel and get smaller until he was furiously yanked form the bottom of the tub and thrown on the concrete floor, coughing and vomiting all over himself.

“ So then…..Corporal, why don’t you tell me where the rest of your team is. The interrogator said as he squatted down to Kacha’s level. “I….I don’t know….” he nearly sobbed before the interrogator let out a loud growl and kicked him in the stomach. “ I will make your life hell, we are going to be with each other for a very long time….” another man said before picking Kacha up and placing him in a chair. What followed was the worst beating and electrical torture Kacha had ever received and by the end of the day he was too beat up to speak. Every time Kacha would drift off to sleep, men would come in and beat him or shock him with large conducting rods. Over the next couple days, Kacha would be interrogated three times a day and tortured at least five. For the seven days he was in captivity, he would only sleep for three hours. Days and hours became blurs and soon he couldn’t even remember his own name, but he didn’t break.

STC Syren

The Major frowned at Commander Vellais description of civilians "But these 'civilians' are not trained as warriors? They are not prepared and trained to take up arms should the nation be threatened?" He shook his head in disbelief "That... I am unable to understand. Alien society is... alien." He paused for a moment, then his facial expression changed, his Mandibles raise slightly and drew backwards. An expression of amusement. It changed back a moment later and was replaced by a frown, as if judging his own actions. It wasnt so much that he had consumed the alcohol, such drinks were commonplace in religious events. It was more that he had gone down the polite path even after being told he could avoid it. For not the first time, he wondered if his adherence was slightly overzealous. Would the guardians judge him heavily based on his actions at a small feast, after all he had done? Honour dictates that you consume as much of what your host gives you as possible. After all, failing to do so would be sending the message that you did not appreciate what they were giving you. He would never wish to send that message to anyone, growing up on the outermost of the outer colonies had taught him to be appreciative.

"Commander, I have one last question, which may seem rather intrusive; What would you consider your own and the Eternal Unions technological development and military capability?" He inquired with a small tilt of his head, before repeating a practiced line "'If you know your enemy and yourself, you know the result of all battles'"

The Minors continued to sit perfectly still, unmoving even to the cheers of those around them. It was not proper to consume while your superiors were not, should you have been invited to their table. That really would apply to all Lorca here. They were Minors and a Major, granted they were Special Operations, but they were Minors and a Major none the less. Not what any other species would consider officers; Enlisted and NCO's, perhaps, but not CO's. The Lorca system did not lend its self well to comparisons, especially since there were massive jumps in authority due to the much smaller number of ranks. Thus, there could be an entire team made up of the same rank. When this occured, the leader adopted the word "Lance" before his rank, ie Lance Minor. Oddly, this was even the case when the unit being commanded was not a Lance. Commonly, the unit being commanded was the smaller 'File', the equivilant of a fireteam.

New Alas
"The Terrans could have easily faked the transmission, after all radio-waves is a common way to send transmissions. Our voices also sound similar, so it is not as have it they would have to go to a great deal to make a similar sounding voice. When we met them they also attacked us before we had even managed to translate their language, they have been suspicious of us since tile one for seemingly no reason. As for what I have done to be a honorable warrior? I held back entire battalions of creatures that do not even posses a physical form by myself. I have killed many of the Eternal Union's enemies, and earned much honor and glory for my family. Defending our honor against them would be pointless and a waste of energy, they will merely continue to shout out their lies despite all evidence to the contrary, and I doubt they would even talk to us anymore so we could even try. Why waste time trying to when there is so many more important things to be done?"

Facility A-1
The three redoubled their result. The energy of the Septonian was seriously drained, due to the loss of the blood and the fact that it was powering the spell, the Archmage sealed the wounds quickly, but only so the Septonian would not die of blood loss before they got into his mind. It was unlikely the Septonian could hold on much longer, he had lost a lot of blood and could already feel himself fading in and out of consciousness, combined with the fact that he heard another 7 people come into the chamber, all mages, and all begin attacking Kacha's mind as well.

Falacian Asteroid Complex
The Mech merely paused for a minute as the explosive detonated, leaving a black scorch mark on the armor. The Mech has been built to withstand a lot more then the plastic explosives used against it. He fired rail-gun rounds at the crates, which were easily shredded as they were made of steel. With the crates gone the Mech began firing rounds at every Septonian in the sight, but interestedly enough he was aiming for arms or legs, as if only attempting to neutralize the Septonians rather then kill them completely.

((Not saying I am expert on it or anything, but I thought plastic explosives required a blasting cap? I heard that fuses do not work with them.))

New Alas

The Ultra gave a short 'hmpf' noise and gestured to a Major, who handed the Ultra a small hilt. The Ultra took his own from his side and held them out "Take your pick, archmage. We shall see how much of a warrior you really are." He said, letting out a small chuckle after it "If you are half as honourable as you claim, then I expect a good and honourable duel!"

STC Syren

Velma took another drag on her cigarette, expelling the smoke before answering again

“ The EU has a strong defensive capability, they use shields and portable defenses to protect themselves. From what I have studied they like to set up structures around their enemy before engaging, but I have only seen them advance once. What always seems to vex me is that fact that they always seem to have people available and that they have energy, shields and propulsion based of something other then the normal sources. If anything, their mystery energy source is the only thing they have over us. Their troops are sub-par on the ground and I have seen no effective special strike units. Some of my officers describe what they do as…….magic unfortunately”

She paused for a minute as she took another drag, " In Space, they are superior. They come in numbers and their ships are quite effective, on the ground however....my troops will shred them, we just have better training and equipment."

Facility A-1

Kacha couldn’t hold out anymore and simply passed out, blood loss and his own exertion took its toll. What ever was in his head was now open to interpretation by the mages in the room.

Falacia Asteroid

It was clear that the team had stumbled into something they weren’t prepared for and, began bounding their way out. Throwing smoke and stun grenades to cover their retreat. As they bounded back towards the entrance, they made sure to keep their rate of fire up to keep the EU troops head down.

New Alas
The Archmage paused for a minute, before speaking.

"Any duel between us would be unfair and dishonorable, in my eyes atleast. I am not trained in hand to hand, nor the ways of the sword. Rather I am trained in the forces of magic." said Tullian, as his hands glowed with a purple energy as 5 balls appeared in the air. One was water, the other air, then fire, and earth. The 5th was orbited by the other four.

"I have many spells in my list, including shields and various offensive spells. I do not think the duel would last long, however if you would like to challenge someone who is actually trained in sword combat..." said the Archmage, as a Sentinel appeared, her helmet was off as she drew out her energy sword. "Be my guest."

Facility A-1
As quickly as possible, the mages ripped apart Kacha's mind and took his memories into his own. He was dragged off elsewhere, likely to be used in one of the many twisted experiments going on in Facility A-1. They began analyzing, seeing what information they could uncover.

Falacia
The Mech did not pursue the soldiers, going back to it's post as the base alerted the rest of Falacia of the Septonian attack. Defensive guns activated everywhere as the fleet moved into position and activated it's shields, as well as the battleships and dreadnoughts forming the infamous shield wall. Soldiers prepared on the ground, just in-case the Septonians attempted to land any forces.

STC Syren

Major Voroei watched the smoke curioysly, perhaps even somewhat mesmerised as she exhaling it, before nodding slowly.

"Do not be so quick to dismiss rumours of magic, commander. Magic is just a word for that you cannot explain. To some, you and I are carrying magic tools and riding the heavens upon blessed chariots." Major Voroei said, frowning slightly and folding his arms "If you outmatch them on land, then I believe our warriors would be able to as well. We are raised from hatching to fight, I would like to see them match that." He said, bringing his fist up as if to demonstrate his next point "If your problem is space, then give us the numbers, Commander. I may be able to present a possible solution to your star ship problems. We have many experienced ship and fleet masters, who are constantly ready to lead an assualt. We have a sizeable supply of vessels to deploy against them, if we can safely reassign them. How many worlds do they own, Commander? How do the numbers work when compared?" The Major placed his hand upon the table as he spoke, tapping against the table in rythem

STC Syren

Velma looked surprised as the Major suggested this, as much as she hated to admit it this was a conversation for her leadership.

“ I don’t have accurate world numbers, or fleet numbers for that matter. We have seen fleets as small as three and as big as 101 ships at any given time. My estimation is that they have a decent amount of worlds to sustain a fleet of that size, assuming they have more. I will not lie to you major, your officer is hard to turn down. Our ships were not designed for space combat, rather for orbital support of ground troops. I am sure I speak for the rest of the concordant when I say we will gladly accept the assistance of your navy.

Velma chuckled and raised her glass to the Lorca at the table “ To spur of the moment meetings and unlikely allies…hear hear!”. The officer responded in kind and downed their newly refilled glasses, they were in rare form today.

“ If you would like, I would have you speak to our leadership. I can make diplomatic meetings but this is something for High command’s ears as well. We will provide you with coordinates and you can follow us back to Shao IX”

Facility A-1

Due to the immense amount of magic pumped into Kacha’s mind most of the memories were corrupted and fragmented. Most of his personal memories had been destroyed and there were no military secrets to be found, the only thing that could be pulled was the location of a planet. Whether or not that planet was a core world or a colony was unknown.

New Alas

The Ultra watched the orbs "You are right, Archmage. You do not appear a swordsman, I would have to be careful not to fry you entirely." He laughed. In Lorca culture, nominating another to fight in your place was acceptable, though often looked down on in dueling circles. Belonging to one such circle, the Ultra found those who did such somewhat arrogant and, to tell the truth, distrustful. The Ultra turned his head towards the sentinel and lowered himself to her level "And you are? Name and title, warrior" He inquired, tilting his head slightly and examining her
"Do you not wish to don your helmet? And that sword, do you not think it comparitively short?" A Major inquired as the other Lorca returned to the sidelines. The Ultra tossed the major the hilt and slowly backed away from the Entinel, taking up position ten of his pace, approximately 18 of her own, away. The Major stood between them, speaking in the same tongue Major Voroei had used at the table on the STC Syren. The Ultra activated his energy blade. The air around it shimmered as the two blades formed the energy curving near the hilt to link the blades. It was at least 5 foot in length though the Ultra held it in one hand due to his height.

STC Syren

Major Voroei nodded swiftly to Commander Vellais. He 'smiled', he top mandibles pulling backwards and his eyes widening, but he raised his voice and spoke "I make no oaths, for I am not the council. I am the blade, and it is the mind. But I believe with conviction that they will see this as I do."

The Major turned his head towards the commander "I shall not be the one talking with your high command." He said, as he lifted his helmet from the table. His neck guard extended out swiftly and curved, encasing his throat and hiding his scar, though nothing can hide the shame of it from judgement. He places his helmet over his head and the guards extended, clasping to his mandibles again. The eye pieces came down and dulled his eyes again, and once more he could see the glyphs and data flowing before him. "We have a File down upon the planet awaiting the Terrans and the Valk Nation." He switched over to a comm chanel "Lance Minor, return to the Ardent Inquisitor immediately. Apologise to the contacts, something important has arisen!"
Major Voroei looked back to Commander Vellais as the Minors rose from the table and took position behind him. The shields of all three Lorca shimmered as they came to life.
"You shall lead us along the path, Commander. The Ardent Inquisitor shall follow with impunity." The Major turned to lead his men back to the Inquisitor...

Ardent Inquisitor

The dropship fron the planet returned to the hanger, and the three Lorca disembarked. One approached the Major, walking with him to the bridge
"Major, why have we been recalled? We have not even had time to make contact." The minor inquired, not meeting the Majors eyes
"We have a new destination, brother. The contacts will have to wait."
"It is rude to leave them like this, major. We had just told them to meet with us and now we run like prey."
"Then may they forgive us and the ancestors judge us. I am in control of this Lance, brother. I shall shoulder the dishonour for this, not you."
The two reached the bridge, and the Major approached the command station "Key the hologram in to the council signal. Prepare to disengage from and follow the Syren from the system." The minors hit away at their holographic keys as they set to work. The Major watched the data flow through the network and frowned slightly

Message to the Terrans and Valk Nation
"Deepest apologies. We must withdraw. Regret plagues this action, may our peoples meet at a less taxing time!"

Prison 53-2, Char
As the Terrans awoke they found themselves strapped down to some pretty old and rickety chairs. The room they were in was lit by a sole blue orb floating in the air, and surrounding them were various tools torture, including various rusted blades and hammers. A chainsaw was also pretty clearly layed across the table, as well as huge amounts of various bottles labled toxins. Two Iscandarians stepped into the room, one really big Earthen and a smaller Sentinel. The Sentinel held in his hand what looked like a old 6 shot revolver, reminding the Terrans of old Earth times.

"So I was studying you guys history archives and I came across this interesting game. Invented by some Russians guys or something. I needed a new interesting way to torture, so I thought we could have some fun with this." said the Sentinel, pointing the revolver at the head of a random one of the Terrans. He spun the barrel a few times.

"For 1 out of 6 chances of boom, tell me everything you know about the Terran military." said the Sentinel.

Prison 53-2, Char
The Terran with the gun at his head was obviously afraid, but a sad glance from one of the others quickly reminded him of what was at stake. His muscles tensed, and his eyes lit up with hatred. His face was wrinkled, but he was not a frail old man. No, nobody at his age was frail, not after WWIII. They remembered everything, and he in particular remembered the worst of it. Medina, Washington, Guantanamo-he'd seen all of them. All the pain, all the death, and all the torture. As long as he could hold on to those memories, he wouldn't be broken.

Looking the Sentinel in the eye, a smile on his face and a defiant glint in his eyes, he spoke in an oddly confident tone.

"I'll need a specific request, without one, all I can say about our military is that it's a damn sight better than yours. I bet one of your pathetic excuses for a soldier would cave to such a sad excuse for torture as this!"

Colonial Report, Civilian Colonies (Can be Intercepted)
"This is Governor Bradford of Noveau Paris. I have been elected to speak for the five colonies due to by achievements here. All colonies have reached the one million population milestone, and all have constructed their orbital tethers. My colony has already constructed a second city on the planet's moon, with an additional ten thousand living there. We've also found that there are large, bamboo-like trees on our planet, which we have used for extra housing so we can gestate more of our colonists. The El Dorado colony has begun mining the vast gas resources of the gas giant they orbit, which has an unusual amount of oxygen. New Ottawa has found dolphin-like creatures near their underwater colony, in the place of fins, these creatures have surprisingly humanoid hands and arms. Their explorers have seen shelters constructed by these creatures, which are most likely built to keep them warm during the harsh nights. New Edinburgh has also discovered unexpected creatures in the form of giant gasbags. These gasbag creatures are almost like whales, earning them many nicknames. They too, appear to be sentient. They seem to have a language of their own, though due to the Venus-like climate of New Edinburgh, they cannot go beneath the clouds. We request a small defense flee to be stationed here at Noveau Paris, as we have the largest population. As long as one of these colonies survives, humanity will endure."

Colonial Report, Epsilon Indi (Cannot be Intercepted)
=Decoding=
=Decoding Complete, Initiating Jugsaw Program=
=Jigsaw Complete, Displaying=
"Short message, Iscandarians may be close to breaking code. Kaa'ri joined UTF, delegates on way to Terra. Unexpected finds, being delivered by delegates. Population remains at 20 billion, system fully developed according to Colonial guidelines. Warships being built to supplement main fleet, following Dreadnought construction code. Declassification to the public is recommended, nothing to lose. Recommend construction of an alliance to oppose the Iscandarians, strike at all systems at once when adequate strength is reached. Epsilon Indi out."

Prison 53-2, Char
"That is not the answer I wanted. Let's see how lucky you are today." said the sentinel, as he pulled the trigger. The man's blood and brain matter went everywhere, soaking the already bloody floor and covering his companions.

"Not as effective as I had expected, looks like I will need to call in the spec-ops to complete that mission for me after all. I have to leave for now to prepare for this, but the next session with you guys will be all the much more fun." spoke the sentinel, as him and as friend left the room and sealed the Terrans in a shield. The Sentinel could be heard saying things, but the Terrans could only pickup a few things, one of them being the word civilians.

Spec-Ops Mission, Noveau Paris
The small stealth ship entered the system after having intercepted the Terran's signal about the colonies. The stealth ship silently glided towards the world, invisible to everything, and landed near the most populous city on the world. The spec-ops soldiers left and began heading towards it, there mission simple. Capture a few civilians, including some children, and bring them to Char.

STC Syren

As the Lorca left the Syren became a flurry alf activity, powering up for the voyage back to Shao IX. Ice melted and shook from the walls as the reactor spun to life, making the engines fire for the first time in over a week. This was one of the many burdens that Blackhole class crews must shoulder, stealth is not comfortable most of the time and requires a certain mental maturity. Every Blackhole crew is screened and re-screened for any emotional instability or unfavorable traits, they are truly an elite group. You need to be mentally tough to withstand the rigors of hiding in space, while being able to function like a crew.

“ Engineering, report” Velka said through the ships intercom as she settled herself in the command chair. “ No leaks and nothing is frozen, I’m purging the anti-freezing solution” the engineering officer replied as a clanking noise throughout the ship confirmed his actions. “ Pressure is green, temperature is…..acceptable, Slipspace drive is spun up and ready. We are ready to jump ma’am” he added before closing the comm channel.

Tagging the Ardent Inquisitor with a friendly FoF tag allowed for data to be freely transferred between the two vessels without having to encrypt it. This allowed for coordinates and communication to be sent much faster and clearer. The trusting nature of the Aradites may have seemed a bit odd to the Lorca, but any Aradite will tell you that they can usually judge someones character within the first few minutes. Once the tag was accepted by the system Velka transmitted a group of coordinates to the Ardent Inquisitor. One group was the jump to their first cooling stop and the second was the jump into the system itself. Guiding a ship into Shao IX would be dangerous, there was only one safe way into the system. Between the gravity given off by the binary star, quasars and asteroid fields that litter the area, there was one draw maybe a couple thousand kilometers wide to enter. That draw just happens to be in between two large gas cloud, named the Twin Giants by the Aradites.

“ Send the Ardent Inquisitor a countdown to our jump” Velka said as she entered in her own jump command before the ship made its first jump out of the system.

Falacia
Task Force Blue ( 50 ships strong)

Once Gul’s special operations team returned from the asteroid, one of the Blackhole class vessels retreated a safe distance from the planet before making a jump back to the main fleet, leaving on ship behind to continue the recon. Data from the failed raid and from the ships recon had to be analyzed for continued planning and adaptation.

Flagship CIC
“ So what you are telling me is that that asteroid is actually a military research facility?” the task force admiral said incredulously as he looked over the pictures from the site.

“ Aye sir, that is correct” Gul said flatly “ Troop strength and equipment leads me to believe that is true. Total ground strength is unknown at this moment, but there is a heavy concentration of troops on the surface itself, I doubt there are many more in the facility.”

“Why is that?” the admiral interjected

“ There asteroid isn’t big enough to sustain much more, where would they be housed? fed?. I suspect the majority of the people in that facility are research personnel.” Gul answered, pointing to the asteroid on the star chart. The admiral couldn’t hide his interest in the facility, he wanted to find out what was there. In the same breath however, was is worth risking the fleet in order to make it happen.

“ Naval strength?” the admiral asked, looking towards the captain of the recon vessel.

“ 101 ships and defense stations, traditional EU defenses” the commander said, pointing their positions out on the star chart.

101 ships versus their 50 would be a massacre in open fighting, they had to find a way to even the odds a bit. “ Activate the mine field beacons but do not activate the mines yet. If they take the bait, I want the task force to warp into the system and take down that asteroid.” the Admiral ordered before beacons activated. To EU radar it would seem like 55 Septonian vessels just warped into the system behind the EU formation.

Ardent Inquisitor

The Ardent Inquisitor changed it's engines power levels in an attempt to match the Syrens speed, preferring not to risk over shooting the Syren and spending their time searching, or vice versa.
"Major, receiving information from the Syren, it is a countdown." Minor Morei said, her hands crawling over the holographic symbols with the grace and deliberation of a sleepwalker. It mattered not, Latte Morei may not have seemed it from her apparently half focused behavior (indeed, something which had caused her no small amount of trouble with superiors), but she was eagle eyed and rarely missed even the smallest detail. She was certainly pedantic too; she had ensured that everything was to the exact letter on the Ardent Inquisitor... And Voroei was thankful for that, even the smallest scratch in the stealth ablative coating could result in it returning radar signals, hence why it was routinely repainted. Radar was a primitive detection system, to be sure, but worth defending against just in case.
"Engage jump when it is finished, match the Syrens trajectory. Ensure the hanger doors and shut and shields are raised" The Major ordered, and a noise came from the terminal again as it engaged
"Complete, await jump... Jump." The Ardent Inquisitor vanished from space and began its journey. It shouldn't take long, but the Major retired regardless, He had to convene with the council, after all he was only there to deliver. The words would not be his own, that was not his purpose. He was an instrument of their will, with all the advantages and disadvantages this entailed for him and his position within the hierarchal society.

STC Syren

The Syren exited slip-space for its first cooling stop, immediately opening its heat sinks to the vacuum as it drifted through space.

“ Ardent Inquisitor exiting behind us, drifting at equal speed ma’am” the navigation officer said a green diamond symbol appeared on the star chart behind them. Velka nodded and ordered all of her stations to report in, receiving no status alerts. After a quick scan of the area with their active radar the drive was cool enough to make their second jump. After sending another countdown to the Ardent Inquisitor the Syren jumped again, exiting just before the twin giant entrance. The Lorca scanners would of been able to see the immense heat sources on either side of them behind the gas.

“ Don’t stray from the path” was the message Velka sent to the Ardent Inquisitor as they carefully picked their way through the two clouds. After an hour or two of maneuvering the clouds dissipated and gave way to the remainder of the Shao IX system. The first planet in the chain of four was Taoshe, the military center of the concordant and their destination.

A large space station was the only point of contact between orbit and the surface, ships would have to dock and the crew would have to take a space elevator down towards the planet. Since the Lorca ship was already cleared by the Syren, the station sent a message to the Lorca ship showing them where to dock.

Message to lorca ship: “ Arm 2, bay 5”

The Ardent Inquisitor

The Lance Minor glanced over to another Minor who was dancing his hands over the terminal
"They're venting heat, Lance Minor. I think their system may require more frequent cooling than our own" He said, glancing backwards and turning his head to the Lance Minor, before facing the terminal again
"Noted. Perform as commanded" He said as he relayed the message to navigation "Make sure you map the way, sensor readings within those clouds could be off, if one of our ships ever gets lost in here, I pity them."
There was a beep and the majors voice came through the intercom
'My contact with the council is strained, report?"
"We are inside a gas giant, Major. Attempt contact again upon exit" The Lance Minor said, glancing to the hologram of the Major
"Run on alert, we do not know what lurks in this clouds..." The Major ordered, and his hologram vanished. The Lance major gestured to Moroei, then tapped in some commands upon his terminal
"Keep running sensors, check for persistent anomalies. We shall keep close to the Syren."

Upon exiting the giants and receiving instruction, the Ardent Inquisitor glided towards the station and engaged docking procedures once more. The File prepared to head down to the planet below, and again the Major wondered about proceedure. Would they view it as threatening for them to arrive in full armour and weaponry? The officers aboard the Syren certainly didn't appear to have been as heavily armed as the Lorca had been. If escaping the Syren in the case things went south would be difficult, this would certainly be impossible.
Furthermore, he wondered why they were heading down in an elevator. The Ardent Inquisitor was more than capable of dropping him on the surface... The Major sent a message to the Syren
"Your guidance through that abominable gas is very much appreciated, Commander." The next part of the message was not in the black tongue. "Ehlnada emero ni."

Asteroid Belt, Exact Location Unknown [REDACTED BY Sazkarjhia Bureau of Clandestine Operations AUTHORITY]

The firebase established there long ago awoke from its dormancy as major events unraveled in Sol and nearby systems. The base went on full alert and a transmitter sent out a message beckoning for a more imposing Sazkarjhit warfleet to come to give support.

Conflict between Eternal Union and Septonians

As the Vesselage conducted its report seminar for the week, the Vessel of Yuturata had noted something quite problematic. He cited that there was some economic troubles and correlation was drawn between the conflict between the EU and the Septonians, a race only known of through signal traffic around Nouvelle. While not major due to Sazkarjhia's vast abundance of raw materials, a message was still broadcast, trusting it would hold to its Union allies.

"This is Vessel Pumar'kum of Sazkarjhia, ordering to halt the conflict as you fail to recognize who it also affects. We do have important trade out of that region, and if you do not halt your offensive or react angrily to our authority, aggressive military action will be taken as needed."

Sazkarjhit Message
"As much as we would like to end this conflict, we are not the aggressors here. We have not committed to a single offensive action since this war began, and we have only been on the defensive. The enemy appears to be suicidal, as they keep on attacking us despite our superior technology and numbers."

Task Force Blue
( 50 ships strong)
Admiral Lochan Kalai
Some distance away from Falacia ( Well outside of visual or sensor range)

The admiral chuckled as he looked at the message sent by the nation of Sazkarjhia, they obviously had no idea this was war. When coupled with the intercepted response from the Eternal Union Lochan couldn’t help but laugh aloud, getting the attention of some of his junior officers on the bridge.

“ They say we are suicidal” he laughed “ With their superior numbers and technology” he laughed again “ I hope they are always this naive” he said, taking a puff from his pipe. The drones around the planet were active but he was yet to hear anything from his recon vessel in system. He knew their naval strength and defense stations and had already calculated targeting vectors and their axis of advance. Overwhelming firepower was the name of the game, the fleet had enough missiles to alter the geography of planets and the cannons to back them up. Once their communications and their fleet were destroyed, landing on the planet itself would be the goal.

“ Sir?” the youngest and most junior marine officer said timidly “ If we already have coordinates and targeting solutions, why don’t we just fire from here?”

All conversations on the bridge stopped as everyone turned to collectively stare at the marine officer. The Kalai family were gods amongst Aradites and have been in the military since the 1st great war. They were first cousins to the Timonus family, the direct descendants of the Septonius family who founded the concordant. Talking down to a Kalai was tantamount to blasphemy, an immediate loss of honor. As everyone continued to stare at the young officer the weapons officer was furiously typing away at his console, calculting how the gravity would effect the shots.

“ Actually sir, that is feasible” the weapons officer interjected “ We are far enough away from the sun and other celestial bodies that the shot would be minimally affected. We can successfully fire out of visual range as long as we have the Blackhole ship spotting for us.”. Lochan nodded as he listend to his weapons officer, he was to busy coordinating other forces and communicating with command that he didn’t consider that option. A smile slowly spread across his face as he turned towards the young marine officer

“ You do the corps proud son, its good to see that academy is still teach you how to think” Lochan said with a chuckle “ share the targeting solutions with the fleet and form up in three vessel firing teams. We will stagger our firing times so that a constant barrage can be attained. What is our time till impact from here?” he said switching his gaze to the weapons officer.

The officer quickly went back to furiously typing on his console “ The first barrage would take an hour to reach its target and at our maximum firing rate we will land roughly two barrages every two minutes, including cooling time.” Lochan nodded again and did the mental calculations in his head. All of the vessels in this fleet, save the Blackhole and Carrier class vessels had two magnetically accelerated torpedo tubes which could fire two salvos before needed to cool. If 25 ships fired their salvos and cooled while the other half fired, they could cut that 2 minute lag time in half.

“ Split the fleet in half, maintain tight formation and prepare to fire on my order.”

Taoshe
Orbital station 2

As the Syren finished the docking procedures Velka and the rest of her senior crew made their way off the vessel and into the interior of the docking arm, meeting Voroei and his file there. The interior of the station would look extremely civilian, advertisements and holographic posters covered the walls. Citizens of the concordant calmly made their way down the length of the arm, glancing up towards the Lorca before returning to their conversations or prior business. If seen civilians wasn’t odd for the Lorca then their apparel would certainly turn some heads. Their dress varied from ankle length linen dresses, robes and suits to fluorescent tube top and mini skirt combos, shorts and even full spandex suits.
“ There is nothing like home” she said under her breath as walked towards the docking bay door, waiting for the Lorca to exit. “ Ehlnada euro ni? what does it mean?” she would say as the Lorca got off to greet them.