[IC] Terror on Galaga

Terror On Galaga

Current Logs

Sector G5 - Galaga System - Galaga 6 “Taurus” - Remote Research Outpost
15/43/4389 GSF [Galactic Standard Format MM/DD/YYYY]

Interview with the commanding officer of the responding vessel follows. 

Col // “Good evening Captain, can you state your name for the record?”

Capt // “Captain Geoff Morgan, commanding officer of the LMV Eudora.” 

Col // “Thank you. Now, just go ahead and tell us your take on events please, starting from the top.”

Capt // “Well, sir, we had dropped into the sector on a standard patrol schedule when our comms officer picked up a weak intermittent distress signal. After adjusting our instruments we were able to pinpoint the originating point, an RRO in the local system. After relaying the data to the nearest hyper-comm relay we moved to respond on our own. Upon approach to Galaga 6, known locally as Taurus, we attempted to establish contact with the RRO. Our attempts at communication were unsuccessful, at the time we were unsure if it was due to interference or worse. Proceeding with protocol we breached orbit and, after ensuring no threat of AA interference, proceeded to establish an aerial recon of the facility.”

Col // “One moment, when mentioning communications you said, ‘or worse’. Can you elaborate?”

Capt // “In due time sir, you said you wanted my take, from the top, right?”

Col // “Correct Captain, sorry for the interruption, please proceed.”

Capt // “Right, so aerial recon established that the facility had definitely suffered from some sort of attack. The western most edge of the main compound was breached, a sizable hole leading straight inside. After deliberation a four man squad was sent down in a URV while the LMV would return to orbit and achieve a geo-syncronous position.”

Col // “You mention a four man squad. Who were the members?”

Capt // “You already have this information Colonel, right?”

Col // “Yes Captain, but please state it for the record.”

Capt // “Ahh, right, Yes sir. The squad members were Gunnery Captain Alexis Roderick, Gunnery Captain Bryce Von, Gunnery Lieutenant  Vince Marshall, and 2nd Gunnery Lieutenant Mason Grey.”

Col // “Thank you Captain, now skip ahead a bit to what they encountered upon arrival.”

Capt // “Yes sir, upon arrival Gunnery Captain Alexis, henceforth GC1, reported a gooey viscous fluid coating the opening of the hole into the facility. A thin membrane was present stretching the entire hole that, upon inspection, was revealed to be maintaining atmospheric pressure in the facility. After deliberation the squad attempted to traverse the barrier, finding that it posed little resistance to them and allowed them to pass through without breaking the seal. Upon entry it was immediately apparent that the facility staff had been unaware of the impending attack. Workers decapitated at nearby workstations showed little sign or resistance or even any attempts to flee. Clearly the attackers had managed to breach rapidly and somehow with serious stealth.”

Col // “You said the hole was large right, yet it also sealed the building from atmospheric pressure, and yet the workers hadn’t even left their stations? How is that all possible captain, none of these facts lineup?”

Capt // “I’m just reporting the events to you as we were able to witness and report ourselves, sir, may I continue?”

Col // “Yes Captain, please.”

Capt // “Right, GC1 reported that facility power was down throughout. GC1 and Gunnery Lieutenant Vince, GL1, made the decision to head to the facilities command hub in order to halt the distress and secure facility logs. GC2 and GL2 proceeded on to the sub-level in order to ascertain facility power capabilities. The deeper both units proceeded into the facility the more signs of struggle they reported. It was clear the further along the assailants got the more aware facility staff was and the level of resistance increased. Upon arrival it was quickly established that restoring electrical capabilities was impossible. The equipment was liquified, preliminary tests suggested an acid, lab reports have since confirmed it was a bio-based acidic compound. GC2 and GL2 proceeded to the command hub to link back up with GC1 and GL1.”

Col // “Can you explain to me what evidence was present on the bodies and the facility that might provide insight on the assailant?”

Capt // “Squad reported that the bodies were originally decapitated but as they progressed deeper into the facility things began to get messier. Bodies appeared to have chunks eaten out of them, bodies were divided into many segments. Squad reports rarely spotting bodies that appeared disfigured and morphed beyond previous recognition, weaponized in twisted horrid forms and set upon their previous comrades. There is no evidence of any sustained damage on the beings encountered, it appears like they merely fell over and died in the aftermath.”

Col // “Right, that’s what was written in the report as well.”

Capt // “Reports accurate as written sir, this is all just a waste of time.”

Col // “As you were Captain, we’ll proceed anyways as protocol dictates. Can you pick up where you left off?”

Capt // “Yes Sir, there’s not much more to mention. GC1 reported total destruction of command hubs and facility terminals. It’s a wonder enough was left for a weak distress signal to even be sent out. After confirming logs were unrecoverable and disabling the comm signal GC1 and squad reported back to the URV and returned to the Eudora. Following contingency protocol we slated the facility for erasure and nuked it from orbit, about 4 times. Upon dust down we visually confirmed no trace remained and reported back to the nearest military port for debriefing. Aaaaand now here we are.”

Col // “Thank you Captain, that will be all. All details of this discussion are henceforth classified and any reveal of said details will be handled appropriately, do I make myself clear?”

Capt // “Aye Colonel, anything else Sir?”

Col // “No Captain, you are dismissed, thank you for your honesty. Good day.”

Capt // “Good day,  Sir.”

Capt // "Sir, off the record. My men saw some scary shit while they were down there. Described to me things that made seasoned soldiers shiver. In all my years and many tours I've seen nothing like this. And our unit ain't fresh, we've served in many theatres and many conflicts, but nothing like what we've dealt with looked anything like what we saw down there.

Col // "That'll be all, Captain."

End transcription.

Attached are two files, an audio recording salvaged from a comms unit recovered from a mutilated body at the initial breach point, and a video recording from a security terminal in the command room.

ATTACHMENT 001

***WARNING***
It is recommended that this file not be accessed or played without proper safety equipment and prior authorization. Failure to heed this recommendation will result in penalization.
***WARNING***

Footnote: The above file has been classified and restricted by myself, Doctor D. Nothing can be extrapolated from the data without the proper equipment regardless. In layman's terms the recording only suggests usage of some sort of high powered sonic resonance at the breaching point. It’s impossible to predict how this might have been used in the attack without further data and accessing the file itself is likely to just lead to irreversible auditory damage. Access at your own risk. 	~Doctor D.

ATTACHMENT 002

A blurry soundless image barely depicts the final moments of the command center, clearly the file was damaged before recovery. The recording starts out in a flurry of movement, half dressed staff rush too and fro whilst a trio of engineers works on securing the bulkhead. Behind them stand two security personnel geared up in basic run of the mill power armor. The armor is sleek, providing an extra layer of defense as well as assisted mobility and an enhanced available arsenal. Panic ensues as one of the engineers is knocked from the door, a basketball sized dent having formed in the metal where he once stood. 

Quickly the security personnel train their guns on the door as staff begin scattering as best they can from the breach point. More dents from as the camera shakes, and then everything is still. The room's occupants seem frozen and one might almost assume that the playback was paused. The only giveaway is the occasional shifting in weight from the two armored soldiers.

Suddenly the doors buck once more, twice, and finally with a third heave the left side busts free from the wall and careens across the room, quickly extinguishing three lives. Smoke pours through the opening and security doesn’t hesitate as automatic guns go off and bright flashes of light burst forth from the muzzles. Security empties both weapons, pausing a moment as they reload. One man hesitantly steps forward, easing closer to the opening as he attempts to shine a light through the doorway. The thick smoke obscures the man's vision and after a moment's hesitation he creeps another step further.

In a sudden rush of motion an arm lashes forth from the smoke and wraps its fingers around the faceplate of the man. It’s hard to tell for sure but from the angle of the camera it almost looks as if it’s a human hand grasping the man’s face. The man struggles in futility for a moment and his partner panics unsure of how to react. In a momentary lapse of judgment he fires his gun in the general direction of the door. The armored suit of his partner and the assailant both deflect the bullets which ricochet around the room resulting in further casualties. As the situation devolves the man finally decides to take decisive action and makes a step forward to assist his partner. It becomes clear though that his hesitation cost him as suddenly the off balance man is pulled from the room and into the smoky corridor. 

The remaining soldier stands seemingly paralyzed. Nothing happens for what feels like a painfully long time, though in reality merely moments pass as indicated by the recording’s timestamp. And then suddenly movement towards the bottom of the door. A spherical object bounces its way into the room towards the remaining man. At first he takes a step back as if expecting an explosive but as the object comes to a stop it quickly becomes obvious that no explosives have been tossed into the room. Rather the severed head of the first man who’d been pulled from the room.

The last man falls to his knees, gun slack at his side, hands shaking uncontrollably as he stares at the head sitting on the floor. Moments later a twisted figure marches through the door. It was a man, once. He wears a suit of power armor of his own, armed with two electro swords dangling from each arm. As he slowly steps into the room it becomes obvious that whatever just walked in was certainly no longer human. Stretching from an unknown source behind the man are a number of gray pulsating feelers that seem to have wormed their way into the power armor through a variety of cracks and service ports. The faceplate reveals nothing but a swollen mass of flesh making it clear that whatever controls the man's body is orchestrating him like a puppet rather than controlling his actions.

For moments nothing happens. The marionette stands completely still as more gray feelers enter the room from beyond, stretching and unfurling across the floor as if searching for further occupants. The true intentions are quickly revealed though as any that come into contact with the dead start to wrap and envelop the bodies, their purpose unknown. Suddenly the last soldier lunges forward, arms outstretched as if attempting one final desperate move. The marionette barely seems to register before it’s arm twitches and, with a quickness that the human body can’t naturally endure, beheads the man, shearing through the armor as if butter. The man's head flies through the air growing in size until the last image on the screen is the man’s last face of horror before the feed cuts out.

FACTIONS

Grand Imperial Duchy of Man

The GIDM has been around for centuries. They are solely responsible for the breadth with which humanity has explored the known universe. Their infrastructure links together thousands of known and unknown systems throughout the known universe. Hyperlanes, deep jump gates, transit lanes, anything that contributes to the growth and colonization of discovered space finds roots with the GIDM. Like all things though, the GIDM as it was known eventually had to come to an end. With the death of the previous Holy Monarch the GIDM fell into a perilous civil war that resulted in the fracturing of all known space into a multitude of feudal societies. Various houses now rule systems they’ve carved out of the chaos themselves. Some tend to be more civilized whilst others have practically slid back to the dark ages of man. For centuries man spanned the universe but now the sun sets on a golden age and terrors unknown whisper in the dark fringes of known space.

Holdouts from the GIDM still remain though far too weak to exert any form of authority. Those who remain also tend to disagree between themselves on how the GIDM should exist going forward and thus they remain fractured. An unknown number of GIDM capital-ARK ships remain, entire archaeology ships housing immense numbers of GIDM citizens and personnel. These ships tend to be accompanied by GIDM support cruisers and assault carriers and the fleet tends to exist in a nomadic state. GIDM ARK fleets tend to vary from fleet to fleet, some see themselves as upholders of the law whilst others might seek some form of imperial tithe. GIDM fleets typically attempt to form relationships with local holdings in order to guarantee some sort of save zone to resupply and station the fleet as they travel.

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REDACTED INFORMATION TO BE REVEALED//PLACEHOLDER

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REDACTED INFORMATION TO BE REVEALED//PLACEHOLDER

LOCATIONS

Taurus

Sector G5 - Galaga System - Galaga 6

Taurus is the capital planet of the Galaga system. House Balam controls Galage as well as the 5 neighboring systems. Taurus itself is still a rough frontier planet undergoing terraforming. As such most of its buildings are pressurized and its major population centers exist under domes.The actual terrain of the planet is windswept and sun-scorched, its current atmosphere strong enough to maintain air pressure but unable to protect from harmful solar radiation. As such the landscape is windswept, varying from flat unending plateaus, deep wind gouged canyons, sprawling salt flats, and deep acidic oceans. The landscape is rough and terraforming has been and shall continue to be a challenge, but out of all of the planets in the Galaga system G6 presents the best opportunity.

02/30/4389 GSF // 8:45 AM Mother Theresa Time // Mother Theresa Commons, Sector G17, Alpha Ward // Romero System, 2 Systems from Galaga System

Admiral Rebecca Black

Commons

The hustle and bustle of the commons was well underway under the morning’s artificial light. Overhead an advanced array of holograms and braided fiber cables worked in tandem to create the appearance of a wide open cloudless blue sky. Even the most perceptive eye could not tell the difference between the fake sky created on Mother Theresa and the actual sky on many of its citizen’s home worlds. Below these artificial skies citizens of the GIDM hustled too and fro along their daily agendas, rushing around quite like bees in a hive. Life on Mother Theresa was peaceful, structured, consistent, and free of strife. The citizenry bobbed too and fro with smiles upon their faces and happiness residing in their hearts.

The Admiral smiled, taking in all the sights upon her usual morning stroll. As Admiral of the Mother Theresa Rebecca had a long list of duties and tasks to complete throughout her day but regardless she always strove to ensure she had time for a walk through the commons every morning. It was a grounding exercise, as nothing in Rebecca’s life went without purpose, but it was one she certainly found enjoyment in. Walking along the footpaths and hallways of the Commons was not only important for herself but for those amongst the citizenry and common soldiers alike as it fostered a relationship between herself as their de facto leader and them as her charges.

Rebecca briefly strayed from her usual path to admire a bakery along the way. She briefly shared pleasantries with a couple of the citizens waiting in the queue for service before stepping to the counter to admire the many fresh loaves the baker had in stock. Just like a bakery on the surface it was likely that this baker had been up since the early hours of dawn hand kneading and preparing the dough for the day. The baker himself soon appeared while Rebecca was surveying the bread, insisting greatly that she take a few loaves for herself as a gift. She graciously accepted, tapping a few commands in her PDA to summon an assistant to take the gift back to her quarters.

Sparing a few words of gratitude and farewell for the baker, Rebecca made her way from the bakery and back onto her usual path. A bright red light indicating a priority alert flashes from Rebecca’s PDA. As she stops to read it a deep frown grows upon her face. At about the same time a soldier manning a transport buggy rounds the corner in the distance. By the time Rebecca has finished reading the report the soldier and buggy arrive and without a word she boards the buggy. Quickly she is whisked onwards towards Command.

Briefing

As the doors to the briefing room close behind Rebecca the intense noise from various command staff rushing too and fro is finely cut off. Rebecca takes a moment, leaning back against the door itself and letting an audible sigh escape from her lips. 

“Sophia, organize long range communications with Malik of House Balam. Also plot a course for the Galaga system and set the fleet on high alert.” Rebecca called out, directing her orders towards the ship based AI. Wordlessly Sophia carried out her orders. Rebecca preferred her AI to respond as little as necessary, she was an old school individual and never personally enjoyed conversing with AIs. Rebecca pushed away from the door and strode forward towards the large table in the center of the room. As she did so a hologram of a tall imposing man with dark short hair wearing a military dress uniform appeared.

House Balam was run by Anthony Malik, an old school vet like Rebecca herself who had ties to GIDM nobility. Rebecca and Malik had a long standing professional relationship from before the final days of the GIDM that had carried over and led to their fruitful partnership in these trying post-GIDM times. Malik was a traditionalist and preferred to display that in his attire, donning a military dress uniform that even included a cape. A tad dramatic in Rebecca’s opinion.

“Rebecca, you received my message I presume?” Malik’s face betrayed a look of worry that his voice endeavored to hide.
“Of course Malik, why else would I have put everything else on hold for you? Certainly not because I like you, you know that.” Rebecca responded coyly. Malik did not respond immediately and Rebecca quickly realized that the situation must be dire. “What’s going on Malik? You didn’t include a lot of details in the SOS.”

“Taurus is lost.” Malik said flatly, letting the words hang in the air.
“Lost?!” Rebecca practically shouted, shocked at the news. “How could an entire planet be lost?! You sent out the SOS not even an hour ago. What’s going on Malik?”

Malik’s face darkened at Rebecca’s outburst and it was clear to her that his words were true as the man suddenly seemed to put on an extra twenty years in the way that his shoulders sagged and his demeanor changed. 
“It’s bad Rebecca, at 0500 hours early warning systems beyond Taurus’ orbit detected a multitude of signatures on approach. First scans indicated it was merely space debris and we decided to ignore it unless their trajectory showed any sort of indication that they were on course for population centers. Early trajectory showed that very few were even close to such a path.” Malik takes a moment, clearly trying to find the words.
“At this point we had no idea how big of a mistake that was. As the objects neared orbit they started to breakaway and show signs of trajectory adjustment. Before we could react a majority of our population centers were now under risk and the density of incoming objects was too great for ground based orbital defenses to counter. Estimates say we managed to shoot down only twenty-two percent of oncoming UFOs.”
“What were they Malik? You said they changed trajectory mid flight? Were they ships?” Rebecca asked.
“No, something else, they almost seemed like masses of rock and biological material. We weren’t able to react quick enough to get any sort of in-depth scans. Logistics is still trying to sift through all the data we’re receiving still from planetside. They landed on a majority of the major population centers, puncturing domes and cavern ceilings alike and causing depressurization lockdowns all across Taurus’ colonies. Within a matter of hours planetside defenses were in shambles and communications fractured. We’ve been trying to evacuate anyone that we can but there’s zero organizational structure planetside.” As Malik finished he seemed to deflate a little. This was easily the biggest crisis Balam had faced since the fall of the GIDM. Rebecca herself wasn’t too sure how to proceed, especially against an unknown threat that had yet to make any demands. She was still trying to process the pace in which things had happened.

“Rebecca, one thing's for certain!” Malik started suddenly, stepping closer so that the hologram grew into a more detailed image of his face. A wild, almost unhinged look suddenly found itself upon the man’s face. “This is no human attack, this isn’t another one of the houses, none of my rivals have the capabilities and everything that I’ve seen or heard reported has indicated some other form of life.” he exclaimed, practically rushing to get the prior words out as if someone might cut him off. Just as suddenly he reverted back to his more exhausted looking facial expression. “All these years thinking we were alone and finally something else has appeared. Woe be us for the circumstances that it has arrived under. I never thought I would live to see alien life, and I never certainly anticipated that I would suffer from alien aggression. Yet I assure you these attackers are certainly extraterrestrial in nature.” Malik stated in an almost philosophical way.

“Malik, just give me a second.” Rebecca said, holding up her hand as she tried to process everything Malik had thrown her way. It only took a moment for her to prioritize and decide the next course of action. “Malik, tell me what you need. Mother Theresa is already enroute to Galaga as we speak.”

Malik’s face darkened even more, “As I said before, Taurus has fallen. My son and daughter were stationed there at the capital, Maldone. They were enroute for a priority evac but the position was overrun and they were forced back into the capital complex where they had to take refuge in the bunker. I need them safe before I can figure out how we should best retaliate.” Malik all but pleaded.

Rebecca sighed inwardly, this was the exact reason she’d forgone having children herself. Malik was a long respected comrade who had always put duty and responsibility above all. She understood his desire to save his children, at the same time Malik ruled over 6 systems besides Galaga and those systems were home to billions of civilians. Regardless of her personal feelings Rebecca would do all she could to assist Malik and House Balam. 

“Alright Malik, I’ll dispatch an extraction team while the main carrier group makes its way towards Galaga. When I get there though I expect a face to face so we can best decide how to proceed on preserving as many of your citizens life’s as possible. Mother Theresa out.” Rebecca abruptly cut comms before Malik had a chance to respond, hoping her words found their way home. With that she turned and strode from the briefing room. The moment she was through the door she began barking orders and issuing commands, she had an entire fleet to organize as well as an extraction to get underway and a very short window of time to get it all pulled off. 

Briefly her mind trailed back to the morning, the time she’d spent at the bakery, the artificial sun on her skin and the common citizens she’d greeted all replaying in her head. Rebecca had an eerie feeling that peacetime was something she’d not be able to enjoy again in the days to come.

“Send me Colonel Raleigh.”

Geoff Morgan

Eudora

Captain Geoff Morgan anxiously fiddled with the cover of his pants pocket, something he’d found himself doing an awful lot lately. Ever since the events on Taurus he and his crew had been grounded pending reassignment. He and his men hadn’t done a thing wrong, but regardless they seemed caught up in machinations far beyond their understanding. Like he had many other days since, he found himself once again wandering the main hander of the Eudora. 

Bright flashes of light from further down behind one of the URV’s was likely one of the mechanics, although having been grounded as long as they had been it was likely they were merely working for the sake of working rather than actually fixing any sort of real problems. Most of Eudora's crew was starting to get antsy, they’d been pending reassignment for months now, stuck in a hellish bureaucratic form of limbo. Geoff strolled further along the hanger, surveying equipment and counting munitions for likely the hundredth time. The rushed sound of footsteps soon caught his attention, a petty officer was rushing down the main hanger towards Geoff with an obvious look of excitement.

“Captain! We’ve received new orders! The Eudora flies again! Reassignment has been delayed until further notice!” They called out as they neared. The captain was shocked, and so too were the many heads that bobbed out from various places about the hanger. 
“New orders?” Geoff asked, surprise evident in his voice.
“Aye Captain! Priority alert from command to get the Eudora in flying order! Departure cleared for tomorrow morning!” The officer reported.

Geoff was struck dumb with surprise, not only were they avoiding the reassignment they were all dreading but they were also to ship out as suddenly as tomorrow. Geoff had no worries about readiness, the antsy crew had kept the ship in shape and ready for departure since the day they’d been slated for drydock. But regardless, protocols had to be enacted and followed and there was quite a lot that would need to be done before the Eudora flew out tomorrow morning. 

Geoff routed his comm unit to broadcast his next words shipwide.

“LMV Eudora, this is your captain speaking. We have received priority orders and will be shipping out as early as tomorrow morning. All hands to stations to prepare for departure. I repeat, the LMV Eudora has received priority orders, all hands to stations to prepare for departure.”

TaintedMushroom

TaintedMushroom