[IC] Void of the Stars II: Return to the Stars [Sci-Fi] [Always Accepting]

[Keyguyperson]

Lamhirh City, Lakfakalle
It was a normal day for Fairlan Miklan, aside from the fact that his stove was where his sink normally was. He didn't notice of course, nobody ever notices when they see it. For whatever reason, he was incapable of finding his visual aid visor. It should have been right next to his bed, but it wasn't. Perhaps Emily moved it, of course, if it was anybody but Emily then there would have to be a serious problem with the automated security system. Fairlan trusted nobody else with entry into his bedroom, there were far too many times he had to tase some crazy speciesist fanatic. As he walked out of the kitchen holding a bowl of cereal he didn't remember picking up, he noticed something else was wrong, namely the fact that his computer was sitting where the television should be.
Wait, wasn't yesterday the day before the launch? Or is it today? Maybe the launch was yesterday.
Despite being the Captain of the ship being launched, Fairlan's brain accepted this as logical and he got up to use the bathroom, his cereal having mysteriously disappeared. Sitting on a piano was his visor, and he put it on without giving any thought to the fact that the piano it was on was sold and shipped to a Dolphin xenophile last month and was no longer in his possession. Walking into the bathroom, he saw himself in the mirror. His appearance was an inexcusable oddity, the man in the mirror certainly wasn't him. He was... human? Pink skin, black hair, no antennae.
No antennae
This was no longer just an oddity, this was horrible! He had no antennae, how could he convey emotion? How could he show affection for his love? How could he feel the thoughts of other crewmembers on his ship? Could a captain like that even function? He'd be kicked out of the service, never to see the stars! Blubbering senselessly, Fairlan began to scream gibberish, at which point another image appeared in the mirror. It wasn't any Child of Lakfakalle. It looked somewhat like a horse, but was obviously completely different. While he had never seen such a creature before, Fairlan felt like he knew it somehow. Shocking him, it opened its mouth and spoke in human English.
"Hello my old friend, it's time to wake up."

"Are you okay? It's time to wake up!"
It was the sound of a voice, a human voice. Fairlan awoke with a start, finding himself soaked in sweat and a flashlight being shone into his eyes. He knocked the flashlight away, and could feel his antennae folded over on their side as a sign of fear. It was surprising to him, such a vision shouldn't have bothered him. Was his self-identity truly more important to his subconscious than the moral values he had held himself to for decades?
"I'm fine." He said to the human woman, Emily, his wife. "I just had a dream, it was nothing."
"I hope so." She said "The launch is today, we can't have a Captain paralyzed with fear while we're moving faster than the speed of light."
Fairlan laughed, half truthfully and half forced. He jumped out of bed and put on his visor, which was in the right place. It was comforting to know that his dream wasn't a vision of the future like those of other, artificially enhanced Delphans.
"Launch is at midday, be ready. There's no reception desk that you can get a free toothbrush at, and you can't instant stream forty light years away from Lakfakalle."
"You're never going to let me live down that incident, are you? I'm telling you, that wasn't my fault, my visor cracked in half! I had no idea!:
Emily laughed, and went off to pack while Fairlan sighed and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast.

[darkwolf687]

Space...

"Patrol group eight, anything to report?" The voice came through the comms, and the Overseer peered over the view screens, and his bridge officers head lit up bright orange, before he responded
"Just another minor tear. Hang on... biotic readings here." The Overseer looked up to the view screen displaying the tear, then the tear anomaly reading from the terminal below him... He paused "Cicuta (Poison)!" He cursed, and his fears were confirmed when a ship drifted through the tear. "Amputate!" He ordered, and the four ships that composed his patrol group sped forwards, opening fire with their plasma weapons on the Extra-universal ship, burning through several places of it's armour...
Hold on, this class had shields and weapons... yet it wasn't fighting back "Cease." He ordered, and the four ships stopped firing almost as suddenly as they had started, the flagship slowly drifting towards the Extra-universal ship. As the extra-universal ship slowly spun in space, he learnt why it hadn't fired back. Nearly half of it's other side had been torn off, including the life support systems.
"Must be a casualty of the Universal War, left floating in the secondary universe until it hit a tear" One of the bridge officers commented, and the Overseer nodded "Should I prepare an extraction?"
"Affirmative" He hit the comms terminal again and spoke to his CO again "Revise: Bringing in destroyed exogen ship for recycling"
"10-4"

Videt, Triarius

"The tears are driving the Primicerii rampant"
"Indeed, it's harder for them to focus on the Collective when there are so many conflicting energy signals being tossed around."
"Is there no way to close them?"
"The only way to do so is to cut off the energy to them, within a few years there shouldn't be any more tears within this galaxy though, so we can return to... relative normality."
"I see... Hm, I was reading in the archives about a species who referred to themselves as 'Equestrians'. It was very odd, they had four legs and no..."
"No arms, yes I know. No manner of fingers either, the ability to grasp objects would have been above them."
"So how did they become space faring, are the archives incorrect, in which case how many of the other files are incorrect?"
"I don't know, I find it best not to dwell on it. It does seem that they could not exist, there would be no way to construct the various devices to advance even partially, let alone to space faring status. Of course, it's quoted as saying they used something they referred to as 'Magic'. Maybe some other species had given them a piece of technology beyond their understanding? Maybe this 'Faust' mentioned in the file?"
"I don't know, Faust appears to be an extra-dimensional being, in which case might she not have been destroyed along with Extra-universal forces by project Severance?"
"Not necessarily, she may not have had the correct alignment of particles. It appears, from the records, that they were some how destroyed shortly after a war with the Collective, implying that they were destroyed by us, am I correct?"
"The files do seem to lean that way, in which case Faust must have been destroyed."
"Indeed, there's no logic to leaving alive a being of such power after destroying it's allies. That is, unless it fled and hid away, which is also possible."
"With the destruction of nearly all Extra-universal life, and all others being hunted, shouldn't we be focusing on the destruction of Extra-dimensional life as well?"
"As far as I am aware we are, there's just less records of it due to it's nature."

Worlds

Homeworlds: Six (Triarii homeworld, Saeva Simius homeworld, Selkath homeworld, Lance Human Homeworld, Umbrae Populus Replacement homeworld, Honoratissimus Aviarius replacement world)
Habitat worlds (Not including homeworlds): 11
Forge worlds: 8
Hive worlds: 6
Total: 31

Type Meaning:

Homeworlds: These are the designated homeworlds of the species of the Collective. not every species has one, and the Corruptelae Insectum homeworld is designated a Hive World rather than a homeworld. They function similarly to Habitat worlds, with the exception of Triarius, which is more of a Forge World as it's not well suited to agriculture.
Habitat worlds: These worlds include massive amounts of population along with massive amounts of agricultural land. These are often the largest planets within the Collective, some being many times the size of Earth. These worlds are obviously of the utmost importance; The Collective has a massive population due to refugee's and barely manages to sustain it's self through these Habitat worlds. If it weren't for the Homeworlds and Habitat worlds, the Collectives population would have starved long ago.
Forge Worlds: These worlds are the industrial powerhouses of the Collective, with massive manufactorums going many miles deep and spanning the planet. Mining operations are also prominent on these worlds. These worlds are also where the majority of augmentations and synth processes take place, and thus they also double as Penal Worlds and military bases. These worlds are vitally important for Collective industry for obvious reasons.
Hive Worlds: These worlds are home to the massive Corruptelae Insectum hives. These worlds generally have massive forests with much life which is all subservient on the food chain to the hordes of Corruptelae Insectum. They are an extremely hostile and dangerous type of world, and any land invasion is doomed to massive losses. In times of war, the hive worlds will have 'Harvesters' take vast amounts of Corruptelae Insectum from the hive worlds, with the co-operation of the Queens who are practically the only truly sentient Corruptelae Insectum. These will then be quickly augmented and thrown into combat and used as a wave of bodies or meat shields, the idea being the enemy will run out of ammo before the Collective runs out of easily replaced Corruptelae Insectum.

Navy and Size

Velites class Corvette: 80

Venator Class Frigate: 100

Indespectus Class Prowler: 10

Hastati class Cruiser: 110

Princeps class Destroyer: 100

Evocatus class Battle Ship: 80

Aquilifer class Carrier: 35

Praetorian Class Ship of the Line: 40

Invictus Class Super Carrier: Four

Aethereus class Super ship: One

Total: 560

Current Problems

Food shortages across the Collective as approximately 15 agricultural production planets attempt to support the trillions of people within the Collective. 'Triage office for Food Distribution' has been set up.

[null123]

Canterlot, Equiis
The rays from the morning sun leaning over the horizon and pierced the hanging clouds. Tall buildings flew into the sky, constructs of glass, silvery metal, and streaked with lines of gold. Helicopters and other flying machines darted across the early morning sky, there whirring adding life to the mountain city. People, of every species of the Equestrian Empire, walked across the paved sidewalks and roads of the city. They often stopped and chattered to each other, only amplifying the effect of the many sounds and lights of the city. It was truly the gem of Equiis and of the Empire.

However the gem of the city itself was the Castle. A beautiful structure walled in by Marble and with Towers scattered about, topped with golden cone roofs. The Castle Grounds and gardens were bright with a rainbow of blooming flowers, and lively with other flora and fauna. Guards clad in silver and gold kept a watchful eye over the grounds, and the city itself. The inside of the Castle was bright, evident by the many magical torches broadcasting there light across it. Banners representing any of the 4 alicorns were hung across the white marble halls, along with other brilliant works of art. The clopping of hooves and the clatter of armor could be heard hitting the marble in the Castle.

Inside a chamber the annual meeting of the councils was held. It was between the Princesses, High Council, Species Councils, and the most important members of the low council. The Chamber was also the throne room, thrones of gold and red that each Princess sat upon were also adorned with there cutie marks. The discussion filled the room, giving a general state and idea of the Equestrian Empire. It continued prosper off the ever growing success of the planets they had settled. While research had slowed there was a constant stream of new theories and ideas, which had been approved for testing. The people of the Empire remained happy, no one starved, and dying of old age was the most common cause of death.

Overall the Equestrian Empire was in a Golden Age, a age that was set to last.

[TacticalGarbageMan]

Orak Station

"Captain, the engineers say the gun is ready to fire."
"I'll let you do the honors, sergeant."
"Alright lads get ready for the show. You won't want to be missing this beauty. 1... 2... 3... FIRE!"
The whole bridge began to cheer and clap as the railgun successfully and accurately fired at its designated target, an old, broken down ship.
"That gun has some firepower now doesn't it, captain?"
"That was the goal, sergeant. Now, take some engineers and head out there. I want to know exactly what this gun is capable of. Alright?"
"Yes, sir."

The sergeant walked out of the bridge and into the hangar where his team of engineers awaited him. Along the way he picked up some of his gear that he would need for the trip outside of the ship. He stopped by his barracks where he got his spacesuit and his KR-7 recoilless carbine. He then preceded to go to the hangar.

"Hey Sergeant Thaarr." said the second highest ranking sergeant in the squad.
"Greetings, lads. I assume you've all been briefed. Correct?"
The whole squad muttered different forms of 'affirmative'. Thaarr nodded in response.
"Alright then, mount up, move out, and let's get this damn job done before the captain's patience gets the best of him."
The squad followed Sergeant Thaarr into a small personal transport vessel where they checked their gear before heading out to the wreckage that was just created by the railgun.

The vessel left the station and headed to the obliterated, decommissioned ship. It stopped and Thaarr was given the green light to take his men outside of the vessel and begin work.

"Everyone out. I want all the information you can find so get working."
"Alright, sarge."

[TehAlphaGamer]

Sylve Command Station, Rigel System

Space. It was something of such beauty, but also a cold and heartless void. SCS Alpha 3 drifted lazily around the star Rigel as reports were coming in from around the galactic sector, monitoring for the next freighter convoy to strike. Captain Switch stood at his office, looking out the window at the endless expanse of stars, with Sylve patrol fighters zipping past. He took a sip of tea from his desk and sat back down, observing his terminal. Suddenly, a document window popped open with a frenetic beeping and flashing light. He clicked on it and scrutinized the report.

DELTA III LISTENING POST DETECTS PASSING CONVOY.
ORIGIN: UNKNOWN, POSSIBLY SAZKARJHIT, MOST LIKELY AIF.
CONTENTS: IDENTIFIERS STATE THE CONTAINMENT OF FOREIGN SPICES OF HIGH VALUE.
VIABILITY OF STRIKE: VIABLE

The pirate captain smiled to himself. He had gotten on the comm and ordered the Delta III assault squadron to move in.

"Assault at least two of the freighters and take what you can on board. If anyone tries to attack you place nuclear detonators and clear the area. Once area's clear...hehehe...return to the me before we can put it on the market. Now GO!"

He almost lost control at the end. He checked himself and deactivated the comm, reaching under his desk for medicine. He took two capsules and threw them into his mouth and swallowed them. He sometimes reminisced how odd it was that they made him a leader so fast. His intense bipolar disorder often made others worry that he would make a tactical mistake. But alas, he held to it. He looked at Delta III's scanners and observed the vessels moving into the kill. He cackled slightly, reclining into his chair and taking another sip of tea.

[Keyguyperson]

LIV Starfire, Lakfakalle Orbit
"Aye, Captain! Reaction wheels online!"
The call came from the starship's pilot, an Abh with decades of training in spaceflight. As they were able to interface with electronic systems due to what must have been some bizarre evolutionary quirk, every spacecraft was required to have one of them onboard as a pilot. There was also a Delphan navigator, who sat right next to the pilot and gave him orders telepathically. The tactical/communications officer say to the right of the circular bridge, watching the scanners for any unauthorized spacecraft. On the opposite side of the bridge was the science/engineering officer, the one in charge of the warp drive and all forms of sublight propulsion. In the center of the bridge there was a tower with two seats at the top, one was occupied by the Captain, Fairlan Miklan. In the other seat sat Emily Natālija, his wife and current First Officer. Since the ship was suppose to be outside of the system for twenty years, it was required that every crew member bring their families and friends with them. This resulted in a massive civilian population, protected and policed by the best the military had to offer. The bridge had a half-dome viewscreen that seemed to give all but the Abh vertigo when they first saw it. Of course, non-Abh got used to it.
"Mr. Hoshino, check for traffic blocking our fold path. I want everyone to give me a status report." Said Fairlan calmly.
"The path is clear, our shield breaker and coilguns are stowed for FTL transit." Replied Mr. Hoshino, the ship's tactical officer.
"Magnetic barriers operational, all internal lead plates are in place. Internal plastic barriers are in place. Hydrogen tanks are filled ad cut off from chemical rockets for radiation shielding. Hull is ready for FTL. Negative mass blocks are prepared for the jump to FTL velocities." Said the Boskop science officer, Vilihanan'Notkesh (More commonly called Vili).
"Navigation systems fully online." Said both the navigator and the pilot at the same time, having linked themselves together into a mini-hivemind using the navigator's antennae.
"Activate warp drive!" Called out Fairlan, and without speaking the Vili gave the order to transfer the negative mass to the warp ring. As more and more was transferred, the ship accelerated faster and faster through the rings that marked its planned course away from Lakfakalle. After just a few seconds, it hit 1c and was obscured by its own gravitational lensing effect, which illuminated the skies of Lakfakalle as it rocketed away from the only known homeworld of the Cooperative species. The speed kept climbing as more negative mass was moved to the warp ring, hitting 10c before even a quarter of the ring was full. The transfer went faster and faster, until it finally stopped when the ring was filled and the ship reached 1,000c, its maximum speed.

After many hours of transit, the ship was suddenly rocked with an explosion. The civilian passengers, residing in a heavily shielded compartment near the center of the ship, felt nothing. But on the bridge, everyone was thrown out of their chairs, including Fairlan and Emily in their command tower. Just before they hit the floor, the gravity ring ceased to operate and they bounced off of the floor. Emily grabbed onto the tower's railing, but Fairlan smashed his head into the ceiling, having most likely broken his arm in the fall. The navigator scrambled to catch him, but the one to save him ended up being the tactical officer, as Fairlan happened to fall onto him. Emily pushed herself over to him, floating across the bridge. She had taken a medical kit from the tower, and expertly applied a bandage to the cut on his arm as well as the cuts all around his eyes from his now shattered visor. Taking a look at his leg wound, she took the small (and extremely expensive) vial of nanobots from the medical kit and sprinkled a small amount of it lightly over the massive gash. It began to seal up amazingly quick, not even leaving a scar. The entire event was really a testament to modern medical technology and Emily's skill, as Fairlan was now only lightly wounded after suffering a battering that would have left someone without such help dead in a few hours. Fairlan looked at the viewscreen, not sure whether he should consider it up or down. He saw a massive cloud of dust streaming past the vessel, most likely from whatever they had impacted. Obviously, it wasn't a meteorite. If it had been, that dust would be his own ship. When the Starfire exited the cloud, it became clear what the dust was from.

Plumes of fire appeared on the viewscreen, somewhat framing the image on it. There was a huge wreck, obviously from a much more advanced empire due to how thin the hull was. Even though the ship was moving near the speed of light, the wreck only got slightly larger, indicating its immense size. It was shaped like a dagger, with weapons emplacements all over it and surrounded with a cloud of smaller craft which had also been disabled long ago. There was a gash straight through the middle, cutting the object in two. There were faded white markings on the front of it, most likely a name of some sort. It felt slightly comforting to the crew to know that even ancient empires with godlike technology slapped the names of their ships on the front for all to see.

"Mr. Hoshino, I want you to begin a transmission. Loop it and send it on all known frequencies." Said Fairlan, his leg still feeling shaken up from the ordeal.
"Yes sir, channel open." Replied Hoshino professionally, completely focused on his job. He gave up his seat to allow Fairlan to record audio and video for the transmission. Whoever picked it up would see his blue face, bandages over his left eye and twitching antennae folded over to the sides of his head.
"This is Captain Fairlan Miklan of the Lakfakalle Cooperative Federation Interstellar Vessel Starfire, we have collided with a piece of an abandoned starship at the transmitting coordinates! We require immediate assistance, our vessel is heavily damaged and our radiation plating is likely compromised! If anyone is hearing this and can somehow understand, please help us!"
He continued on is the Ehtra'Hirel language, in the hopes that perhaps the grammar of it might be easier for an alien species to understand.
"HoD Fairlan Miklan Lakfakalle jIj DIvI' vI'omchugh Duj Starfire ghotvam'e', ngeQ maH lon 'ejDo' legh Daqvo' Quv 'ay'! BoQ poQ maH, 'ugh QIH Duj 'ej ghaytan moS woj! Qoy 'ej laH nuv'e' SoptaHbogh targh yaj vay', nuqneH maHvaD QaH!"
Finally, he spoke in the most ancient and mystical language known to the Children of Lakfakalle: Latin. It had long been connected with the myths, and was said to be used by the oldest and wisest of the godly empires.
"Hoc autem centurio, Fairlan Miklan Lakfakalle Cooperantem Interstellar vas Starfire, ut a piece of an deserta vas incurrat in tradendo ordinata! Nobis opus est auxilio immediate, navigio est graviter laedantur et vestimentum radialis est suspectus futurus; Si quis potest aliqua intelligere auditis adesto nobis!"

Worlds

-Lakfakalle: homeworld of all the Children of Lakfakalle. Name means "Cradle of the Empire" in the Abh language of Baronh. Origins of this name are unknown. Most heavily developed planet in the Federation. Perfect environment for habitation by all Federation species.
-Terra: Named for the mythical birthplace of the human, Boskop, Ethra'Hirel, Dolphin, and Abh species, second most developed planet. Extreme temperatures on surface, cities float above the clouds using oxygen to stay up, as the atmosphere of Terra is extremely dense.
-Shuroh: Named for the mythical homeworld of the Delphan species, also known as Delphi. Least developed, almost entirely frozen planet with a warm underground ocean with many Dolphin cities. Surface is uninhabited save for a few domed cities that act as transfer points into the underground ocean.

Starfleet

-20 interplanetary militarized vessels, each equipped with two coilguns and one railgun. Incapable of FTL travel.
-1 interstellar militarized vessel, LIV Starfire. Not currently in communication with Mission Control on Lakfakalle.
-1000 defense platforms around Lakfakalle, highly advanced. Nobody understands how they work, but all they appear to need is power in order to fire antiproton bursts. No tools have been able to get to the inner workings.

[darkwolf687]

Patrol group eight handed off the wreckage to recovery group two, and preceeded on it's patrol alone... When it picked up an odd signal.
"Hoc autem centurio, Fairlan Miklan Lakfakalle Cooperantem Interstellar vas Starfire, ut a piece of an deserta vas incurrat in tradendo ordinata! Nobis opus est auxilio immediate, navigio est graviter laedantur et vestimentum radialis est suspectus futurus; Si quis potest aliqua intelligere auditis adesto nobis!"
There was a strange looking blue being on the screen, and the Overseer frowned, tapping a few command buttons and an estimated 3d image of the being formed on the holopedestal. The Overseer tapped a few commands and then his head lit up orange as he transmitted a few commands to the communications officer, who in turn tapped several commands and nodded to him as if confirming something. The Overseer pressed one of the holographic buttons on the terminal in front of him before speaking to High Command
"Patrol group eight to Command. We have picked up a signal transmitted in Triarian Standard by an unknown exogen species. Any overriding order?"
"Negative, your course of action is discretionary." Command quickly cut the signal so he could return to directing other ships, and the Overseer transmitted back location, a course plan and that his group was breaking the patrol pattern. The four vessels, two Velites, a Venator and a Hastati, turned and transmitted a message back towards the Point of origin of the strange communication
"Hoc est Præfectus Licinius de circumitarum coetus octo de Collectivum. Vestra angustia sumus respondens ad signum. Tene." The ships then jumped into the secondary universe for FTL

They arrived near the unknown vessel a few moments later. They seemed to examine the scene and glided closer to the alien ship before an orange ray seemed to shoot out and swept through the human ship... a scanning beam of sorts, before the same beam swept through the other ancient vessel. The next act was a hailing message, an attempt to open a video feed. As that happened a sort of gravitational beam formed from the largest ship, the Cruiser, pulling the human ship away from the wreckage and separating the two. The ships were all unmarked save for the symbol of the Collective engraved on the side, small to the point one might not even see it at first glance or assume it to be minor damage. Nothing else appeared, no identifying name or numbers... all that was done through HUD's and ship commands now.
"Hoc est Præfectus Licinius de Umbra intentus, praetoria nave de circumitarum coetus octo. Ingrediatur et fama condicionem?"

Worlds

Homeworlds: Six (Triarii homeworld, Saeva Simius homeworld, Selkath homeworld, Lance Human Homeworld, Umbrae Populus Replacement homeworld, Honoratissimus Aviarius replacement world)
Habitat worlds (Not including homeworlds): 11
Forge worlds: 8
Hive worlds: 6
Total: 31

Navy and Size

Velites class Corvette: 80

Venator Class Frigate: 100

Indespectus Class Prowler: 10

Hastati class Cruiser: 110

Princeps class Destroyer: 100

Evocatus class Battle Ship: 80

Aquilifer class Carrier: 35

Praetorian Class Ship of the Line: 40

Invictus Class Super Carrier: Four

Aethereus class Super ship: One

Total: 560

Current Problems

Food shortages across the Collective as approximately 15 agricultural production planets attempt to support the trillions of people within the Collective. 'Triage office for Food Distribution' has been set up.

Patrol Group 8 Status

Hastati Cruiser 'Umbrae Intentus'
Rank: FLAGSHIP
Status: Green
Hull: 100%
Shielding: 100%
Weapon Strength: 100%
Reactor: 100%

Venator Frigate 'Umbrae Tormentum'
Rank: Vessel
Hull: 100%
Shielding: 100%
Weapon Strength: 100%
Reactor: 100%

Velites Corvette 'Circumferentia'
Rank: Vessel
Hull: 100%
Shielding: 100%
Weapon Strength: 100%
Reactor: 100%

Velites Corvette 'In lucem oculos'
Rank: Vessel
Hull: 100%
Shielding: 100%
Weapon Strength: 100%
Reactor: 100%

[null123]

Space, Near Char
The bridge of the Dreadnought Chaos was alight with activity. It was the Equestrian 1st Fleet, a 101 vessels, including the Dreadnought it self. They all hung in the void preparing for a jump, there mission was to find signals that were linked to other nations in hope to prove that the Equestrians weren't alone. The Admiral of the Fleet, and Captain of the Chaos was Steelclaws. A brilliant man who graduated the academy on Equiis with the top grades in his class, he quickly rose to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, and was recognized as one of the most brilliant Admirals in existence. He wore a grey outfit with the insignia of the Equestrian Navy, and a symbol representing as rank as Admiral. His head was mostly made of white feathers, and he had eyes of stone cold gray. While not visible most of his body was grey feathers, with some more white feathers on his legs.

"Steelclaws sir, transmission found, playing it now" spoke one of the unicorn comms officers.

The transmission played across the bridge. Steelclaws, and many other seems shocked. The first language played sounded exactly like Equestrian Standard. How could they possibly know the Equestrian's language?

"Never mind that, all ships prepare for FTL launch, lock on location of the transmission." shouted Steelclaws across the comms links to the fleet. The ships flew across a tunnel of purple and white, and arrived at the location of the ship that had broadcasted the signal.

"Prepare Grav beam, stabilize the ship and release nanobots to repair any fractures in the ship." spoke Steelclaws. The Grav beans fired, a pulsating beam of blue energy. They brought the ship out of range of whatever had damaged it as nanobots rapidly filled in any cracks or leaks within the ship.

The broadcast symbol activated, as Steelclaws spoke across frequencies in Equestrian Standard.
"Greetings, I'm Admiral Steelclaws of the Equestrian Empire. We are glad to meet your species and hope for long and happy relations."

[darkwolf687]

Distress signal

In response to the new vessels arriving in system and deploying something, one of the Collective ships, 'Circumferentia', jumped forwards and let out a burst of plasma into the empty space beside them, almost like a warning shot, transmitting a single message
"Desisteret. Exploratum in profectus" The message read, in the tone of an order a police officer might give to a citizen who was tresspassing. 'Umbrae Tormentum' took up a sort of flanking possition while this was transmitted, and 'In lucem oculos' moved closer to the ancient ship, examining it's form, while 'Umbrae Intentus' just held position.

[RPCWhite]

On the edge of the galaxy..

a sudden burst of energy happens and a rip in space appears. suddenly from this rip 30 ships come through into the galaxy. Anything from a light cruiser to a super carrier. once all of the ships are through the rip closes. one of the battlecruisers takes point as most ships take a defensive posture around where the rip was. Three construction ships begin immediately building a ring of some sort.

Aboard the lead ship the AEN Agamemnon.

a man who stands 6'3 enters the bridge and looks out among the stars. He looks to one of the crewmembers and begins to speak."Soldier have the rest of the fleet set up a defensive perimeter and scan for bogies on the radar. And have all fighter squadrons head 5 klicks outside main gun range."
"Yes sir!" The soldier replies and begins sending out the message via his headset. the tall man stands again looking at the stars and wondering about this new demension and wondering if it will yield any better than other places they have searched.

[null123]

Outer Space
A transmission was sent by the lead ship.
"Hoc signum navis dolor misit, postulans auxilium. Ut quod in navi ossa nostra non dimitti nanobots, gentem, cuius haec navis est, et varius velit."

[darkwolf687]

Space

The Collective ships paused and then attempted to open a video link with the new contact, as the flanking ship moved further to the side and the corvette slowly drew closer to the other ships

[TehAlphaGamer]

Space

A Sylve Manumar, the Repentance maneuvered towards the convoy of six freighters, outbound from Lakfakalle. It and a few other ships moved around to the side, making sure their reflective armor was raised to bounce off radio signals. A small pod was jettisoned from Repentance and affixed itself to an airlock on the freighter. Nose-tipped charges detonated, creating a hole which the pod quickly sealed. Sylve marines hopped on and made headway towards the bridge.

[hacher5]

Agusto, formerly known as C-752

The day broke with an overwhelming heat like always, and the moisture would only make matters simply delightful for the Restupi. They were tall and slender, with a pale and fragile look. Their intelligence would be seemingly unrivaled to other empires if they weren't so young. Agusto, their home. For thousands of years, they've developed from sticks and stones into nations. And if with nations followed their Cold War era, nuclear missiles not managing to release hell just yet. However, each nation was looking for something, something that would give them an edge on their rivals, making them and their allies stronger. They searched for the remnants of another civilization.

The ones-that-lived-before them are a mystery. They held untold firepower and technology, something the Restupi nations would fight over endlessly for control. But the problems in getting these remnants were quite a handful. Natives, possibly the ones-that-lived-before, would guard massive territory, using only swords and bows. But when they would get their hands on much deadlier weapons, such as guns, they would be a much tougher enemy. They hid in the mountains, where large remnants of cities could be found. Another curiosity is that the mountains held a number of caves, or entrances into the unknown. What lay there could not be obtained by the Restupi, for the guardians of the mountains fought until the last man to keep the place theirs.

This would continue for decades, and endless struggle for power amongst the Restupi, followed by a large resistance from the Guardians.

And then one day, something peculiar happened. It was on a farm, deep outside a city, where a young boy played amongst the dilapidated fields of weeds and grass. Something caught his attention, however. It was something in the sky. Was it a plane? It didn't look like his nations' planes. Could this be a spy plane? An invasion? Then, it flew by, heading towards the city.

Inside the city, news stations bussled in excitement. They've never covered a story of extra terrestrial life, the closest to that would be skirmishes with the natives in the mountains. The ship was heading towards a large park, nearby what seemed to be a capitol building. Restupi officials already dotted themselves across the place, awaiting the new creatures.

The ship slowed down, descending into the park. A wall fell onto the grass, allowing a passage for the people inside to exit. That's exactly what they did, five men, two flanking on one side, two on the other, and one wearing a cotton vest, decorated top to bottom in medals. The four others flanking him wore some sort of armor, and each held a long rifle of sorts. The vested official pulled something out of his pockets and placed it onto his head. He spoke in his native tongue first.

"Hello, Restupi"

The leading Restupi could not understand him except for the "Restupi" part. He was taken back at that "How do you know us?"

The alien followed then in Restupi tongue "Do not be afraid, we have watched over this planet for some time. We come in peace if peace allows itself to be heard by both parties. We are the Castu, and we are in search of something you may know of." The Castu pulled out a medallion, one of the symbols of Zonan, the Green Life. "Have you seen this anywhere?" he continued.

The Restupi's eyes dialated, but he was quick to tone it down. It was obvious to the Castu that they did no of those origions, but would he be willing for them to know of it? To lose the edge that the Restupi may make on their foes? What if they take that technology as theirs, or even worse? "I'm afraid I haven't?" he followed.

The Castu pulled out another Zonan symbol, and once again asked the same question. Like before the Restupi seemed amazed that these newcomers knew of this technology. Maybe the ones-that-lived-before truly had lived across the stars and galaxies. This time, the Restupi grew slightly pale, and choked out "no.."

"Do not lie to us." The Castu said in a stern tone "If you know of this, you shall mention it."

"May we ask why?" said the Restupi

"It is a clue to our creation, our past, our history, and our culture" replieed the Castu.

The Restupi sighed, before saying "We use the technology of whoever held those symbols to better ourselves. There do seem to be some natives in the regions that hold the remnants of those beings, and they are extremely aggressive. We wish to keep the technology and study the remnants for ourselves."

"You have no use to" shouted the Castu

"It enriches our cutlure!" he replied

"Do not give me that bull, we know what you have done for decades. History repeats itself, don't you know? You abuse the technology and the natives to gain an edge on your neighbors!"

"Wouldn't you? This technology is there, and if it allows us to survive a nuclear threat, or any threat for that matter, why wouldn't we take the oppurtunity to jump on it?"

Ignoring the response, the Castu simply said "We wish to colonize this place, so we may share the cutlure and remnants of these people."

"Bring this up with the rest of the world leaders, my friend." replied the Restupi

"This is televised, other leaders are being mingled with as we speak." said the Castu "Like you, they are not willing. We will give you an ultimatum. Give up your home, and you may be spared to live under our rule. We treat those kinds of people well"

"And if we don't?"

"Then you shall face the consequences. This world shall be ours, one way or another." said the Castu. The four soldiers flanking the official raised their weapons at the Restupi, to which Restupi soldiers responded with their own armaments.

"Get the hell out of here, we do not need a bigger sibling watching over us. My people would rather die then live with you swine" the Restupi scowled.

At that moment, a Markham entered the atmosphere, walls detracting. Jets and bombers littered the air, moving in all directions and grouping with their squads. The Castu official and his soldiers rushed onto their transport ship, which littered the park with plasma bullets as it flew away.

Land troops came next, with support from landsharks and Macros. Military bases saw a mass infections from Jayd bombers, who rendered their planes dysfunctional from concussion bombs. Macro's stormed neighborhoods and major cities, wasting hell onto buildings and allowing them to crumble. Once soldiers had rounded up and taken around a hundred thousand Restupi as prisoners, an Eliptic entered the major cities of the world, around 12 or so. They began glassing the skyscrapers and monuments to smithereens, allowing nothing to stand besides the rubble that followed.

As the fighting and chaos ensued, the Restupi research centers near the ones-that-lived-before remnants were also taken by the Castu. Scientists were taken prisoner to gather research they knew of, while the data from files and computers also became of importance. Natives living in the mountains were somewhat undetermined on how to act. Most of them hid inside the large cave systems, while others simply watch the burning. The Castu army had been given orders on doing nothing to the Guardians for the time being, as many are uncertain on how to act towards them.

Another world under their belt, and an insignificant number of losses. A well planned invasion, even if they were just a barely space-bound people.

Worlds

1 Homeworld, Castully

1 developed world, Daim- Another major capitalist center. Many casinos and entertainment on this world. It serves as nothing else but another culture center for Castully.

5 corporation worlds- All are used by corporations to gather resources and for farming.

8 conquered worlds- 6 of which were once Zonan controlled

3 Research centers- All did not have sentient life but still were once apart of the Zonanese Powers

Agusto Status

Prisoners are being accommodated to other corporation worlds for labor purposes. The Prophets believe it necessary to make contact with the Guardians, though it's uncertain on their plans.

The attack was a big expense, and the fleet of 1 Markham, 15 Eliptics, and 10 Kalimas are being rested there until the time being.

[Keyguyperson]

LIV Starfire
The Starfire sent out a message to the first fleet that appeared, while also activating its coilguns due to the fact that one of the vessels just fired a huge ball of plasma at the other fleet present. They both seemed to have translated the human languages extremely easily, perhaps indicating a similarity with their own languages. In fact, it seemed like speaking human languages was natural for them.
"Aperiens porta, fractum est gravitas generationem. Terra paulatim. Tibi gratias ago pro respondendum,"
Next, a message was sent to the other alien fleet that had responded in perfect English, while speaking, Fairlan couldn't help but feel a sense of Déjà vu.
"Thank you for responding, we too hope for peaceful relations. We require repairs, however. Is your fleet capable of providing repairs to our vessel, or perhaps bringing us to one of your own worlds? We can arrange an official meeting on our own planet with our leaders, but for now we just need repairs. Our people have almost no radiation tolerance, and we cannot make an FTL jump without the shielding that was just town off by the collision."

Piracy
The corvette assigned to protect the freighters opened fire on the alien craft with everything it had, although it was clearly incapable of taking down the ship. The convoy sent out a distress call, and five other craft from Lakfakalle's defensive complement of seven came to aid the convoy. As it was carrying cattle and seeds to Shuroh, it was an extremely import convoy that had to be protected. The new ships opened fire as well, their railgun shots streaking towards the enemy ship and in some cases puncturing its armor. On the freighter that had been boarded, marines fought back against the pirates with their assault rifles, which appeared to be surprisingly effective despite how far ahead the pirates were. One of the marines threw a grenade at the invading forces, but instead of detonating it released some sort of dust-like material that they breathed in. It was nanodust, and it quickly analyzed the brain structure and memory patterns of the aliens and them inserted itself into their ears, forming something similar to earbuds. This process allowed the nanodust to translate English to the alien language and the alien language to English. Knowing the process was done, the soldier screamed at the invaders.
"You will cease your attacks immediately! You have invaded our territory and attacked a convoy operated by the Lakfakalle Cooperative Federation! Failure to comply will result in the destruction of your ship and the interrogation/execution of your crews! Stand down immediately!"

Construction
With the attack on the convoy, the LCF has ordered new warships to be built and fitted with the Warp Drive. Instead of building entirely new craft, the LCF has moved eight defense platforms and split them between two shipyards, attaching them to already existing interplanetary craft. Due to the highly advanced energy shields on the defense platforms, the two ships will not require bulky radiation shielding plates. Two new warp rings have been commissioned, and the completion of the vessels is slated for sometime this year.

Worlds

-Lakfakalle: homeworld of all the Children of Lakfakalle. Name means "Cradle of the Empire" in the Abh language of Baronh. Origins of this name are unknown. Most heavily developed planet in the Federation. Perfect environment for habitation by all Federation species.
-Terra: Named for the mythical birthplace of the human, Boskop, Ethra'Hirel, Dolphin, and Abh species, second most developed planet. Extreme temperatures on surface, cities float above the clouds using oxygen to stay up, as the atmosphere of Terra is extremely dense.
-Shuroh: Named for the mythical homeworld of the Delphan species, also known as Delphi. Least developed, almost entirely frozen planet with a warm underground ocean with many Dolphin cities. Surface is uninhabited save for a few domed cities that act as transfer points into the underground ocean.

Starfleet

-20 interplanetary militarized vessels, each equipped with two coilguns and one railgun. Incapable of FTL travel. (Two currently undergoing refit)
-1 interstellar militarized vessel, LIV Starfire. Not currently in communication with Mission Control on Lakfakalle.
-1000 defense platforms around Lakfakalle, highly advanced. Nobody understands how they work, but all they appear to need is power in order to fire antiproton bursts. No tools have been able to get to the inner workings.

[Coga19000]

Korimenoa-kir Seriopems Reopsadi (Interstellar Comms, staged in Korimenoa)

A signal was received from deep space. The general head of Interstellar Operations, Serohimean Sokolat (having no idea how ancient and legendary his heritage was), was immeidately called.
The message was in a language learnt from the Korvichai during the alliance with the Earth Alliance; it was such an ancient one, they only learnt it for fun, and passed from generation to generation for so many milleniums for fun, never expecting that they would actually use it.
"Hoc autem centurio, Fairlan Miklan Lakfakalle Cooperantem Interstellar vas Starfire, ut a piece of an deserta vas incurrat in tradendo ordinata! Nobis opus est auxilio immediate, navigio est graviter laedantur et vestimentum radialis est suspectus futurus; Si quis potest aliqua intelligere auditis adesto nobis!"

"Who are those Lakfakalle guys he's talking about?" asked an operator.
"Hmmm, I have no idea" said Serohimean, "but as I heard, they have found our experimental drone. I didn't even know it was actually still operational."
However, he did know who sent it; they were descendants of the ancient Earth Alliance. Now that they were ready to launch the first interstellar ship launch after so much time, they had to reestablish their alliance.
"Peace to you, Lafkakallians. We are the Children of the Phoenix, descendants of the Soul of the Universe. We were allies before the war with the Reapers started, and prospered, but afterwards we were almost destroyed. Now, however, our power has been restored, and we are ready to begin from scratch -with you as allies, if you also want to.
However, he also had to show that they were actually sharing experience with them during the war. He did not know Latin very well, but he knew some Ancient Greek, an even more ancient language. Hoping that they would also aknowledge this language, he retransmitted:
"Ειρήνη υμίν, Λαφκακαλλιανοί. Ημείς τα του Φοινίκος Παιδία, οι της Ψυχής του Κόσμου απογόνοι εσμέν. Συμμάχοι μεν κατά την εποχή προ του πολέμου τοις πολεμίοις Θεριστάς ημείς υπάρξαμεν και ευδαιμονησάμεν, μετά αυτής δε σχεδόν αφανισμόν υπομείναμε. Εν την σήμερον εποχή εντούτης, η αρχαίαν δύναμη ημών αποκατεστίθη, και ημίς έτοιμοι εσμέν υπό την αρχήν επανεκιννήσειν - με υμάς συμμάχους έστε, αν αρέσκεστε εις αυτό."

[Keyguyperson]

Children of the Phoenix Contact
Being a bit tied up with two species speaking to him at once without any force to pull him down to the floor, Fairlan forwarded the incoming message to Lakfakalle using the Quantum Entanglement Transmitter. Normally this would be prohibited, mainly because the government wanted to make First Contact dramatic for the enjoyment of the citizens. After all, wouldn't having a starship gone for two decades appear once more above your homeworld, then send down a shuttlecraft and parade an alien down the streets be more enjoyable than getting a message from that same ship saying "Hey guys. There are aliens."?

The message was forwarded to a group specially trained for first contact, a bunch of Delphans and Boskops that were able to focus easily on the task at hand rather than the existence of Exo-Lakfakalle life. Even with the training, three of them fainted upon the news that the myths were true and two others seemed to temporarily lose their minds. The remainders, quickly identifying the second language as Greek and matching this new nation with a few lines in the myths, decided that they told the truth and opened a channel with them.
"This is the Lakfakalle Foreign Relations Center, we apologize that the one that sent the transmission you picked up is unable to speak with you at the current time, as it appears the distress call attracted a lot of friendly attention. We would be happy to form an alliance with you, the message sent from the Starfire says that their Captain is awaiting a response from one of the contacted species about a meeting here on Lakfakalle. It may be possible to initiate three-way contact here."

[TacticalGarbageMan]

Double Post

[TacticalGarbageMan]

The Council

"You insist on moving a majority of our defenses away from this system. Are you crazy?" said Bulduum in an aggressive tone.
"Bulduum, what is there that we need to defend against?" said Farrak.
"Those damn aliens is what." barked Bulduum.
"We haven't seen them in a long while and I am certain that they won't becoming back again." said Farrak in an attempt to calm Bulduum down.
"How would you know? They could be hiding somewhere just waiting for us to lower our guard so that they can waltz on in here and wreck the place like they did the first time."
"Well I suppose I will have to differ with you on this one. Now, my fellow councilmen. I propose that we give permission for our military to conduct exploration expeditions outside of our solar system. All in favor raise your hammer. All not in favor raise your hammer. Bulduum, everyone else seems to agree with me on this, so the military will be notified and fleets will be being sent out as soon as possible." said Farrak.
"If we are invaded I hope that you personally will defend my planet from total annihilation." Bulduum said with sarcasm.
"Council dismissed." said Thane Thorum in an agitated voice.

TSC Morakar

"Admiral, the Council approved it. You have the green light now, but I'm afraid I'll have to restrict what ships can be brought with you. Bulduum met with me after the meeting and he was fairly concerned about the safety of Thorum, so I had to make a compromise." said Farrak.
"The restrictions aren't too harsh I hope." said Tormak optimistically.
"Well, you are only allowed to take three corvettes, two frigates, and a destroyer. The rest of the ships are needed to 'defend' us."
"I guess I'll have to make do with that then." said Tormak.
"If it makes you feel any better. The Bulduum clan is supplying the ships. They all have FTL drives and fusion reactors in them, so traveling and refueling won't be an issue. Also the frigates and the destroyer have the new railguns on them in case you run into any of our old alien friends. That's all the information that was given to me that you need to know." informed Farrak.
"Alright, I'll head out in the next 48 hours. Admiral Tormak out." responded Tormak.

[TehAlphaGamer]

Lakfakalle Freighter

The marine chuckled, pulling out the earbud and spitting at the feet of one of the marines.

"You dumbass, we speak English perfectly well. But I believe you underestimate who we are." he chided as he pulled out a small, metallic slip and tossed it at the soldiers. It was emblazoned with a peculiar symbol; a circular object with a sword going through one end and a frond of a certain plant forming an "X", with a spear in the middle. Text in a foreign language was also engraved onto it.

"We're members of the Sylve Faction, the elite druglords and pirates of this sector. We couldn't help but take notice of your...interesting shipment, and figured that we'd take a personal look at it ourselves. We've fought forces scores larger than yours, who stand before us."

He pulled out a small device, about the size of a human fist with a small safety lever, pin and a yellow symbol, a universally-identified symbol that told the device was radioactive.

"This is a Mark III Personal Nuclear Detonator. We recovered it a few weeks ago when we were scavenging the wreck of a few ships. Now, I want you to consider closely what you're doing, and how if you even think of pulling that trigger, how your precious little cargo ship, and maybe a few others, will be completely obliterated."