[u][b]A Month Earlier[/b][/u]
"Lieutenant Commander. Request for you by President Verikan- special assignment, I hear." The messenger was a purple-striped Draconian, of average side and girth. The only outstanding feature was the armor he wore- also purple- which was the light armor common to Scouts. The purple, however, signified he was an Elite.

Lieutenant Commander Yl'Cadan turned towards the messenger, his gold-colored full armor glinting dully in the artificial light of the Strategic Combat Training Center, or SCTC, as the holographic 3-D map he was studying fizzled out and disappeared. Despite him and the messenger being, more or less, the same size and height, Yl'cadan would appear to any living creature's mind to be much, much bigger. The Commander glared at the messenger, for interrupting, before rumbling, "Take me to him, then."

The two armor-clad soldiers stalked through the starship, automated doors opening vertically (Top half goes up; bottom half goes down) after using scanners built into the walls to verify the two Draconians' identity, matching them to their profiles and access levels. Five minutes of walking through the corridors of the warship brought the purple-clad to a stop outside a door on Seventh Deck. The Elite Scout turned and saluted, facing Yl'cadan, right arm held straight out and parallel to the wall, bent at the elbow, pointing at the wall. Yl'cadan nodded at the Elite, and he obediently lashed his tail against the floor, then turned and walked off.

Verikan, the most powerful Draconian alive, stood as Yl'cadan opened the large door to the Leader's personal quarters. He said nothing; rather, he waited for Yl'cadan to hesitate, salute, and then say, "Lieutenant Commander Yl'cadan, reporting." Guarded, measuring stares filled the room; the prodigy versus the leader. After a moment, Verikan gave a short nod, and gestured vaguely at one of the Draconian seats- designed so that a Draconian's tail can slide easily through the gap in the chair. However, before he completely finished sitting down, three other Draconians appeared. Each were wearing purple Scout armor; one broke through the vent in the ceiling and dropped down, landing on all fours, a second burst out from a hidden panel next to Verikan's steel desk, and the last burst through the door that Yl'cadan just walked through.

As per Draconian tradition, Verikan hired his own men to assess Yl'cadan's leadership and strength.

Yl'cadan's sidearm was already in his hand, by the time the three Draconians finished making their appearances. He raised it towards the one closest to Verikan, who had come from the floor, and fired the weapon. A small, specially designed round burst from the blocky, utilarian handgun, shooting from barrel to target in less than an instant, piercing through the Draconian's chestplate- his thickest piece of armor- and into his body, straight into the middle, where it exploded in a tiny, lethal burst of plasma-heated fragments, the small charge within the SMART round having calculated its explosive to go off for best effect, based on the instant calculations done within the firing mechanism of the handgun. 

One Draconian dropped; Yl'cadan dropped his gun, knowing that the two lunging Draconians to his right and rear would already be too close, and whipped out two knives as he turned. Ventilation Draconian caught him full-force in a tackle, claws slashing against his armor for little effect. He fell to the ground, Elite Scout on top of him, crashing on the chair, and rolling off its rigid steel structure. The second Draconian came in with a drawn energy sword, the purple energy of the straight, long, sword radiating heat and the promise of death. The Scout struggled with him, trying to keep him down, as the last Draconian brought his sword down. As it fell, Yl'cadan shifted weight and threw the Scout on him off, straight into the falling energy blade. The Draconian momentarily gasped, as he was sliced nearly in half, the third Draconian stumbling back, dropping [and therefore deactivating] the energy sword. The hesitation cost him his life; Yl'cadan was already up, rearming himself with his handgun, and firing again. The last Draconian dropped, dead, just like the first one.

Verikan gave the Draconian equivalent of a smile, a bared-teeth sort of expression, and extended a small chip to the Lieutenant Commander. Yl'cadan turned, saw the Leader, and took the chip silently. "Your new mission, Fleet Commander Yl'cadan, awaits you. The DCS [i]Hells Guard[/i] awaits you with the newly formed fleet. Consider yourself promoted and under my personal command. All the information you need is on the data drive. Good luck, Commander."

Then the hulking Draconian waved a little hand at Yl'cadan, dismissing him. The former Lieutenant Commander saluted, and exited, as the IBCL President looked at the lifeless bodies of three of his guard, proud at their performance and of their honorable deaths. There was very little to be cleaned up; the Draconians who were shot had nearly no external damage, besides a shattered chestplate, and the Draconian that was cut in half didn't need any cleaning up, because his insides were already charred and burned!

[u][b]Present Day, Prologue System[/b][/u]
Space rippled, and a small ship slammed into realspace, a burst of radiation and heat signalling its entrance to the solar system. After a moment, similar phenomenon took place; small ships appearing in a burst, here and there and everywhere. It appeared disorganized, at first, but then a pattern emerged- they were all in a half-sphere, more or less, as if acting as the forward shield to a larger ship. A dozen of these smaller ships sat in a loose formation, awaiting their commanders. Several moments later, their masters appeared. Much larger ripples shook realspace; a blast of radiation and heat emerged, preceding their makers. Five much larger ships appeared; Two BVCs, and three BBs. The Fleet under command of Yl'cadan had arrived after much practice maneuvering and training, and eventually a week-long trip from their home system to an unknown place, in search of a distant hope.

Each of the ships glided forward, silent in the void, sharing information between each ship as scans penetrated farther in-system. It didn't take long for results to come in; a single very, very large ship, easily bigger than the BCV, which was currently the largest ship of the fleet. Several moments later, interest peaked even higher as two different types of ships were detected; neither 'fleet', puny though they were, appeared to share enough similarities to be called of the same race. The beacon's designs and construction matched the large ship; these two new ones were completely alien.

Yl'cadan took in the dozen bridge officers at work in the CIC- Combat Information Center- then gave the order. "Communications, open radio contact with the Ancient ship, send prerecorded message. After, send a binary message on broadcast towards the aliens; send our greetings and promises of peace." Grumbling was heard from the three Weapons officers and the two Helmsmen; it appeared some wanted to just attack. "Silence your rumblings, the smart hunter knows when to fight, when to hide, and when to stalk!" This was enough to shut them up; they apparently appealed to 'stalking' their prey, as did most Draconians.