Noctis
Lord ZeeTeolara
Otovar Star System
Ghost Region
One Thousand Seven Hundred Years Ago
Colonel Dider Ar Mason let out a long, exasperated sigh, as he stepped out of the Congressional building. His eyes naturally looked up at the night sky. Night? Was it dark already? Damn. The Congressional hearing had begun at noon. Noon! And only now was he leaving.
The colonel let out another exasperated sigh, but soon felt a slight smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He’d always found the night sky of the Ghost Region to be beautiful and, more importantly, comforting. He’d always felt secure and hopeful for a future that was under the Twei’s control, not that of the Yrrani Empire.
And that was what was so exasperating about Congress. They wanted to cut military funding! Leave the Republic weak! Sure the Republic was safe for now, cut off from the rest of the galaxy. But how long would that last? When would the Yrrani Imperium come to reclaim the Ghost Nebula? Dider was determined to not allow the Yrrani to find a weak Republic when it finally did turn its gaze back to the Ghost Nebula.
Something in the night sky drew Dider out of his internal musings. Something in the night sky suddenly didn’t look right. It was… there! A shooting star breaking up in orbit. It was a rare sight nowadays, but Dider always enjoyed… And then there was another. And another. And another. And…
Dider’s mouth hung open as he came to a realization. Those weren’t shooting stars. There was no way so many could be entering Teolara’s atmosphere at once. This was all of the satellites in Teolara’s orbit being destroyed. But…
Dider’s eyes widened. They were under attack! The Yrrani had come back! But even as he formed the thought, giving name to the Republic’s supposed attackers he knew he was wrong. He could see new shapes in the night sky. Shapes that seemed to be swimming through the sky towards him. Reaching out hungrily with outstretched tentacles. He screamed out in terror, his voice joining the chorus of a million other doomed souls.
Kesitov Star System
Ghost Region
((Darkspleen x Sigma collab)
Having safely made its way through the remnants of the astral tears surrounding the Ghost Region, the Augustan task force found itself in a seemingly peaceful star system. The star system was blanketed in nebulous gasses that gave the entire system the sense of being covered in a dense fog that seemed to dampen the task force’s ability to not only see at a distance, but also use its sensor systems at range. This limited what the Augustans could discern immediately, but did leave them with a few points of interest.
Not too distant from them lay a red and blue planet. The task force’s sensor could determine that the planet had an abundance of oxygen in its atmosphere, hinting to the fact that the red of the planet might be some kind of plant life instead of iron rich soil. The planet had two moons orbiting it. The task force didn’t detect any artificial bodies in orbit around the planet, but given all the interference in the star system this didn’t necessarily eliminate the existence of such entities.
On the opposite side of the task force was a dense asteroid belt. Most of the asteroids were effectively invisible to the task force due to the dense haze of the star system, but the presence of numerous dwarf bodies certainly hinted at the existence of smaller asteroids. Perhaps of even more interest was the fact that some sort of… signal seemed to be emitted from somewhere in the asteroid belt. It was impossible to determine whether the signal was an attempt at communication, emp pollution of some kind, or the signature an energy weapon might give off. Regardless it certainly seemed to not be natural in origin. And it was the only such signal the Augustans could detect.
Within the bridge of the Courageous, an Outrider-class Fast Attack Ship, the bridge crew and others stared in awe at what they were seeing. The fog-like gases that blanketed the system giving both a feeling of adventurous wonder….and the feeling that something ominous hides within, the asteroid field before them adding additional hazards. Given the system has been cut off for untold centuries, any attempts to bring up holo-projection models were met with constant errors. Soon a persistent signal blip dully rang in the air. “Captain, I don’t believe it…but we got a signal.” One of the bridge officers called out.
Captain Ryan Hood, a man young for his rank, leaned forward, keeping calm, but was deeply intrigued. “Can we pinpoint the signal? Anywhere in particular?”
The officer was silent for a moment before answering. “No, sir, all we have is the origin point somewhere in the Asteroid belt.”
In one corner of the bridge, the Hawthorn siblings observed, taking in the scenery. Elisa was especially interested. “It’s downright beautiful, Darius.” She commented. “Imagine, this system, and a bunch like it, were cut for hundreds upon hundreds of years.”
“Mhm.” Darius mumbled.” Makes me a little anxious though. Thinking about what sort of things got locked up in here in the first place.”
“Eh, nothing we can handle.” Elisa replied with an elbow bump and a cheeky smile. “We survived the Scorched Line, whatever comes next is cheesecake.”
Darius let out a little chuckle before rubbing Eilisa’s head, much to her annoyance. “For Astraia’s sake, not in front of the new people…” She said, fixing her hair.
“Right, right, sorry.” Darius backed off, can’t help but be the dotting older sibling. Both returning their attention to the captain, just in time as a call from the Fearless Wanderer came in, the command ship of the Ghost Region Expedition.
“Captain, we’re being hailed by Admiral Drofrim.” The Comms officer announced.
“Put it through.” He ordered, a holo-projection model of an aged Dathu male materializing before them. “Captain, am I to assume you’re received the signal as well?” Captain Hood nodding to the Admiral, nodded back in acknowledgement. “Good, I’ll make this short, we’re sending your ship alongside two others to scout ahead of the main force, we don’t know what the hell’s out there, and we don’t want to walk straight into a mess unprepared. Once you find the signal’s origin point, we’ll rendezvous with you.”
Hood nodded once more. “Understood Admiral, we’ll take care of it.”
Some moments pass before the Courageous and a pair of Starlance corvettes broke away from the task force and ventured deeper into the dense gaseous fog, being among the first ships to properly step into the system.
It took hours of traveling towards the asteroid belt before smaller asteroids began to become visible. First asteroids tens of kilometers in diameter. Then asteroids comparable in size to the Augustan warships. It was only as they were entering the asteroid belt itself that they could begin to make out the even smaller asteroids through the haze. Had the smaller asteroids been moving at an appreciable higher speed than the larger ones, they might have proven to be a hazard. Instead they seemed to float about almost leisurely. This was an ancient asteroid belt. One that had long since settled into a seemingly peaceful and sedate group of stellar objects. And yet the asteroid belt elicited a sense of unease, of dread, amongst those that encountered it. It was like walking through the woods and suddenly realizing that the forest all around was absolutely quiet.
And the signal, whatever it was, lay even further in the asteroid belt. Its origin and purpose still frustratingly obfuscated by the haze of the star system and the asteroid belt itself. And it was still the lone signal the Augustans had detected. Until it suddenly wasn’t. The Augustan ships suddenly detected a second, but weaker, signal. This signal was in the same direction as the first, but much closer. In fact, they were so close that under normal circumstances it would have been impossible for the Augustans to miss the signal’s origin. And there was little room for doubt that this second signal was some kind of communications signal. And an unencrypted one at that. Still the signal was too garbled to be able to get any sort of message out of it.
“No dice, captain.” The Comms officer said, shaking her head, who had attempted to get some sort of response from whomever sent the signal in the first place…. that is if they’re even alive. “All I’m getting is a garbled mess.”
“How’s that even possible?” Captain Hood said, disturbed that despite their proximity, the second signal had only just been detected. “….Send instructions to the captains of the Intrepid, and the Outlander.” Captain Hood ordered. “We’re going after that second signal. It’s closer, and I need answers.”
The comms officer nodded as she turned back to her station, pressing down a few keys, making the call, and within moments, the trio of ships began to make their approach towards the source of the second signal.
It didn’t take long for them to get close enough for the signal to clear up. Less than a minute in fact. As the three ships made their way around a particularly larger asteroid they were greeted with the beginning of a message.
“WARNING!” A deep masculine voice began. “You are now entering a restricted military zone. Reverse course and-” The voice was momentarily cut off by a screech, before being replaced by a gentle, almost happy sounding female voice.
“This is the GRNS Witch of the Void. Disregard the previous message. All civilians take heed. This is a safe zone.” There was a slight, but noticeable pause. “For now. Head to zone Alpha-Charlie-18 and ensure that your ship’s IFF is functional and activated. If you are a military vessel with orders no greater than Priority Grey, you are hereby ordered to head to zone Alpha-Charlie-18 and report in for new orders. I repeat, this is currently a safe zone.”
A moment later the original masculine voice spoke up again. “This buoy is overdue for maintenance by 3,660 days. Please notify any navy official at your earliest convenience.” And then the whole message repeated itself.
The bridge crew and others were startled by the sudden and abrupt messaging, although, after hours of searching, it seems they finally have a lead worth investigating. “This is what we needed.” Hood said, calling out to the comms officer. “Send the Admiral an encoded message to those coordinates, we’ll rendezvous with the expeditionary fleet at point Alpha-Charile-18.”
“Aye aye, captain.” The Comms officer nodded as she got to work. All the while, Darius was pondering about the message, at least the last portion. “3,660 days….” He mumbled to himself as he mentally did the math, tapping on his sister’s shoulder, turning to face him. ”….Elisa, that was over ten years ago…”
Her neutral expression quickly morphed into one of horror. “Oh my gods…there were still people in here.” Elisa said, the realization setting in. That sense of dread everyone felt had a new meaning…something horrible had happened here, and even as far back as a decade ago, there were still people alive in the Ghost Region. “I want all ships on full alert, and all pilots on standby. Whatever took these people out….we’re not taking any chances.” Captain Hood ordered.
As if to punctuate Darius’ point a small ship floated into view. Or at least what had once been a ship. It was now little more than a shredded heap of metal. Utterly and literally shredded. As if something had taken hold of the craft and simply torn it to pieces. It had been a small craft too. A single seater craft. Perhaps two seats at most. The purpose of this craft was probably lost to time, but the presence of what might have been a cannon of some kind pointing out of what might have once been the craft’s nose did hint at a military purpose.The cockpit, assuming it had ever even had a cockpit, was simply gone.
The wreck wasn’t the most pleasant sign of civilization in the Ghost Region, it most certainly shows whatever threat was faced here, was something truly savage and primal, putting the combined crews on edge. The wreck in particular thought had caught the captain’s attention, the cannon being the main prize, and maybe something the eggheads would be interested in. “We’re proceeding forward to Point Alpha-Charile-18…however, I want a salvage team to extract that wreck, it might be something of worth.”
The trio of ships momentarily paused their journey as two Razorwing transport craft had departed from the Courageous’s hanger bay as they investigated the wreck, rangers and sentinels in zero-g gear picking apart the wreck, taking select pieces and the cannon with them, and something very curious indeed, a cybernetic brain was hidden among the wreckage. “Captain…you’re not going to believe this.” One of the Rangers spoke over comms.”. The transports soon get what they were asked for and returned. The flotilla moving forward to their objective.
As the Augustans continued on they encountered a few more wrecked ships. All about the same size as the first and all somehow even more damaged. One thing was apparent though. Whether they were crafts made for different purposes or different generations of craft, the Augustans had no way of knowing, but it was clear that they simply weren’t the same models of ship.
The signal continued to grow in strength as the trio of ships pressed on, yet its purpose continued to elude the Augustans. The signal was powerful. Far, far more powerful than what was transmitted from the buoy. If its purpose was communications surely it would have become coherent by now. And yet, frustratingly it hadn’t. If anything the single was making less sense. It had changed. Sometimes it would suddenly cut out, be silent for several minutes, only to come back. Other times it would seem to pulse before becoming steady once again. At one point it had even duplicated, and although the second signal was certainly weaker than the first, it was still far stronger than the buoys.
And at some point the asteroid belt had become devoid of wrecks. There was still evidence of battle to be sure. The experienced eye could see where a missile, or perhaps a spaceship, had struck an asteroid. And those with keen eyes could see smaller ship debris. But there was a notable lack of larger debris. In fact there was also a notable lack of medium sized asteroids.
Even though they were technically safe in the confines of a warship, everyone present in the bridge felt a sense of great unease, a sense of vulnerability unlike any had felt before. “I feel so….naked.” One officer noted. The signs of battle clearly felt off, most due to the lack of well…the combatants. Even the asteroid field itself felt wrong, less whole than one would expect. That sense of dread was intensifying by the moment.
Suddenly a proximity alarm went off. Something off their starboard side had moved. And it was close. And yet… nothing was there. Motion had surely been detected. A double checking of the log confirmed as much. But there really was nothing over there. Except for a cluster of small asteroids. Far too small for anything to hide behind.
“The hell was that?!” The captain yelped, the flurry of noises and movement catching him off guard. His eyes darting around as he scanned the outside, nothing, just nothing, the fear and anxiety was beginning to get on his nerves, he needed to do something, make a show of force to whatever was out there. “I don’t like this at all…fire warning shots.”
“Where, sir?” The gunnery officer asked.
“Anywhere and everywhere, it doesn’t matter.” He said. “Make our presence known to what is out there.”
Within moments, the three ships fired short energy bursts from their light guns, illuminating the fog with weapons fire. “Cease fire!” The captain ordered as all three ships went silent.
THUNK THUNK THUNK
Three space rocks, each about a meter in diameter bounced off the ship’s hull. Space rocks that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The impacts dealt no damage to the ship, but their sudden appearance should have been impossible.
THUNK THUNK THUNK
Three more impacts.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
The rocks hadn’t shown up on infrared before the impact, but now the ship’s sensors had no trouble spotting them. They were too hot for the environment. Same for radar and any other sensor the Augustans had active. One moment there was nothing. And then THUNK, suddenly there was a space rock bouncing off the hull.
And just as suddenly as the bombardment had begun it stopped.
This clearly wasn’t a natural phenomenon, they were being targeted by something, for all they knew, this was a direct engagement, and they needed to respond in kind. “All ships aim starboard guns towards the last impact point. “Captain Hood ordered. The ships resume their attack, and unleash a volley of energy fire towards the origin point of the showering asteroids, fighting back against their unknown attacker.
Their counterattack didn’t seem to hit anything, simply passing through empty space. The unseen assailants did not continue their harassment. The asteroid belt felt unnaturally still. And all on the bridges of the Augustan ships had the sense that they were being watched. That something, hidden just out of sight and reach, was gazing at them.
Off in the distance the signal the Augustans had come to investigate spiked in strength, just long enough to determine the signal was probably intended for some form of communication. And then it disappeared, only to begin pulsing a minute later.
“It’s no use remaining here, keep tracking that signal.” The captain once more ordered, the ships firing up their thrusters as they moved towards the source of the signal. The captain turning his attention to the Comms Officer. “Any luck so far?”
The comms officer gave a somewhat reassuring nod. “I think I got something, sir.” She said as he began to input a form of Morse code, hopefully whoever is sending the signal might pick something up. “That’s the best I can do sir.”
“It’ll have to do, we keep moving forward and pray to the gods that we get there in one piece.”
If whoever or whatever was sending the signal received and comprehended the Augustan’s Morse code, they seemingly made no effort to communicate back. The signal returned to being steady, but gradually grew weaker.
Another hour of traveling through the asteroid belt left the Augustans in eerie silence. No more attacks. No real changes in the signal. No new wrecked spacecraft. Only more asteroids. And then, finally, the signal became coherent for a moment, if still badly degraded.
“..... Witch…” A new masculine male voice said, his words interrupted by interference and static. “Code………Repeat… Cobalt Red….. Cobalt Red….” There was a brilliant flash from the direction of the signal. An explosion. Then several more flashes. “Destruct…. Take out….” The distinct flash of a high power energy weapon could be detected for a moment. It was followed by a second, then a third one. “Pike… sunk… Halberd… escape… will broadcast…end.”
The sudden flashes of light and the previous broken transmission had taken the Augustan spectators by surprise, it seems there may very well be survivors, and they seem to be in a fierce struggle against whomever has been stalking the Augustan scout flotilla and killing the natives. “This is it people!” Captain Hood exclaimed, jolting up from his command chair. “All ships, full speed ahead! Battle stations!” Hood ordered. Without hesitation, all three ships sped towards the flashing lights. Although with their numbers, may have little hope to turn the tide of battle, they at least have a lead on the signal they’ve been chasing for countless hours.
“Station….hold them off….” The masculine voice broadcast. “Three levels… overrun…reactor room.” Two more brilliant flashes. Some kind of powerful energy weapon was being employed. “Halberd! Break! To port now! Halberd!”
By this point the three Augustan ships had reached the edge of a vast void in the center of the asteroid belt. At the center rest a decent sized asteroid which had obviously been converted into a military base. A large communications array jutted out of the base, damaged almost halfway up. Two large energy cannons, particle beam cannons to be precise, fired into the void. Near the asteroid base three large civilian vessels had been welded together and formed what looked like some kind of makeshift drydock. The wrecked remains of a warship, a destroyer or light cruiser, littered the area around the drydock.
At the far side of the clearing a similar destroyer or light cruiser could be seen making its way out of the clearing. It was visible for only a moment before it exploded into a brilliant ball of fire and debris.
“Witch,” The station broadcast, “if you are hearing this do not return. We are lost. Glory to the Republic!” A second later the asteroid belt was enveloped in the fires of a nuclear explosion, torn apart from the inside. Chunks of rock, propelled by the explosion, tore into the makeshift drydock, utterly wrecking that structure as well.
And through it all the aggressors had somehow remained out of the Augustan sights. Their sensors did pick up some hints that some things were out there, some many things, and that they were moving away from the clearing. But the hints were so slight that under normal circumstances they would have been written off as simple glitches.
“Holy shit!” Darius cried out as the asteroid station was engulfed in nuclear fire. A new feeling of dread had set in, rather than horror, it was more of a sense of failure. Who knows how many people were aboard the station and gave their lives against such a ruthless and savage enemy. The captain acted without hesitation. “Combat stations! Launch all strike craft and arm guns! We’re in the middle of a battle people!”
The bridge was ablaze with life as the bridge officers went to task, coordinating all three crews of the flotilla.
In the chaos, Elisa was deep in thought, like her brother, catching some hints that may prove useful. “Witch? Witch of the Void maybe?” She shoved herself in front of Darius’ view. “There’s still a ship out there! The Witch of the Void!” She blurted out in quick succession, as if not to lose her train of thought, the captain close enough to hear her revelation.
“By the gods, you’re right!” Captain Hood exclaimed, turning to his comms officer once more. “Make contact with the Witch of the Void! Tell them we’re friendly and have come to help!” The comms officer nodded to her captain and went to work. Only left is will and prayers that they’ll survive the moment.
Within moments, Elisa’s excitement was dulled by a slight pain, a really persistent headache. “Oh gods…what the hell is that?” Darius said, placing his fingers over his temples. Both siblings, as well as every psionic ranger aboard the ship, can feel…something out there. Something far, distant, yet very, very hungry, a hunter stalking its prey. Both siblings looking very pale from such a strong and primal psionic presence.
For now the presence was content to stay back and observe. It was… curious. And for the moment its curiosity outweighed its hunger. Still it had placed itself behind the Augustan flotilla, placing it squaring between the flotilla and the rest of the Augustan task force.
And to the front of the flotilla movement was detected once again. But this time it was different. There was no idea, no ghost or hint of movement. Something was moving about out in the open, not even trying to hide itself.
A single spacecraft, a strike craft, had flown into the clearing around the asteroid base, revealing its seeming hiding place from deeper in the asteroid belt. It flew over to where the more recently destroyed warship had been, circling around several times before slowly making its way towards the remnants of the drydock.
The captain approached the two siblings, their discomfort clearly on display in their expressions. “What’s going on?”
“Hell of a strong psionic presence…. they have hungry eyes but…..they’re simply observing.” Darius replied, the pain somewhat subsiding as the presence further away, simply now watching, observing for what? It’s anyone’s best guess. “Either we’re not worth the trouble, or is bidding its time….either way, really don’t want to stick around for long…”
The captain nodded. “Agreed, for now, we should pursue the unknown craft that flew past us.” With that said, the flotilla made a steady approach to what remained of the makeshift drydock, the most probable hiding place of the survivor.
The strike craft had arrived at the drydock and proceeded to circle around it. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then it started to move towards the asteroid base. It stopped part way there, then headed back towards the drydock, only to once again turn and head to the asteroid base. And it kept doing this, over and over again, making almost no progress towards the asteroid base as it kept backtracking. It seemed almost frantic… panicked. Lost. And it seemed to have either somehow not noticed the Augustan flotilla or simply not cared about its presence.
The moving pattern of the pilot seemed very..…erratic, but In a strange way in the moment, consistent. Consistent enough for the captain to devise a play to get their attention. The starlance corvettes had split off from the ranger vessel, the Courageous blocking the path leading to the drydock, while the two corvettes blocked the path leading to the asteroid base, although somewhat confrontational, it seemed to be a good enough means to at least get the pilot’s attention…or cause unnecessary altercation.
The strike craft was just turning back towards the asteroid belt as the two Augustan corvettes slid into position to block its path. It was now impossible for the strike craft to ignore the Augustans. It first veered up to go over them, only to abort the maneuver before the Augustans could even react. It then nosed down, but once again seemed to think better of it. Finally it turned back towards the drydock and the final Augustan warship. It slowly drifted towards the Courageous for a few moments before it began to bob up and down. The movement seemed almost reminiscent of an excited animal. After a few moments it straightened out and continued to drift towards the Courageous. A moment later the strike craft sent a communications signal towards the Augustan ship. There were no words or images in the signal, only a series of beeps.
The behavior of the pilot seemed even more peculiar to all observers, behaving more like an animal, were the comms down for the ship perhaps? For moment that wouldn’t matter the ship begun as the ship begun transmitting a series of beeps to the ship. “I’m getting something…” The Comms officer spoke, listening deeply to the beep’s pattern, quickly placing a hologram projector device, with a listen for her to read off of. “I think it’s some sort of hexadecimal code…. oh shit.”
“What’s the problem?” the captain asked.
“Sir, this is ancient Yrrani code, it dates back from millennia ago…well, it’s not exactly a match, but it’s pretty damn close.”
Captain Hood’s raised his eyebrow, intrigued at what they have all have just discovered. A long-lost sect of Yrrani perhaps? The thought also occurs….perhaps a treasure trove of ancient pre-fall Yrrani tech?
“Can we send a reply?” the captain asked.
“I can give it a try, sir.” The comms officer replied as she tried to send her own code to the fighter craft.
It took a few moments for the strike craft to reply, but when it finally did it did so in simple text. “FRIEND? FRIEND! DANGER UNEXPECTED! YOU? WHO? THE WITCH WILL WANT TO KNOW.”
Another transmission was sent in simple text for the receiver to understand. “Friend. Augustan Empire. Friend. Who Witch?”
“AUGUSTAN? NOT KNOW! ENEMY?” There was a pause. “MAYBE? WITCH WILL DECIDE. WITCH IS BOSS. WITCH IS NICE.”
“Augustans friends. We come in peace. We see Witch, yes?”
“PEACE? NO PEACE. NOT HERE. NOT ANYWHERE.” There was another pause before the strike craft continued. “WITCH NOT HERE. HOW SEE? WITCH LEFT. SHE SEARCHES.”
“Keep it up, I’m more intrigued as we “talk” with whoever this is.” The captain said, his comms officer nodding as she resumed her work.
“Why not peace? Why witch searches?”
“PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION.” The strike craft began to shift its nose to the left and right without changing its course, which was slowly taking it towards the Courageous. The movements seemed almost frantic.
“…Let it pass but keep tabs on the stranger.” The captain ordered. The ship shifted slightly, making a clear path for the strike craft to do whatever it needed to do. “From whom?” The comms officer sent to the craft. “Who did this?”
The strike craft let out a stronger signal then the one it had been using to communicate with the Courageous. Far stronger in fact, but still weak when compared to the signal that the asteroid base had been emitting. After a few minutes it ceased emitting the second signal and resumed communications with the Courageous.
“WITCH CAN’T HEAR. MUST FIND. MUST FLEE! THEY WILL RETURN.”
“Who will return?” Another message sent, a stepping stone towards finding out what caused all this, and maybe find out what is hunting them.
“SWIMMERS.”
Swimmers? A rather odd name for a seemingly ferocious enemy, although often the most deadly of predators have most unassuming names. “So, we finally have a name at least.” The captain commented.
“You take us to witch, yes?” A new message was sent. “Friends. No harm.”
“YES! WITCH LOVES MAKING NEW FRIENDS! WE GO! WE GO NOW!” The strike craft began to accelerate towards the Courageous. “WITCH SEARCHING. BUT WE FIND WITCH! OLD FRIENDS GONE BUT NOW NEW FRIENDS! WITCH WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO. SHE KNOWS ALL! HANGAR WHERE?”
A sense of relief washed over the bridge crew, finally, some progress was made, and potential new allies as well. In such a dangerous region, a friend could really be needed. “Send an all clear signal for our new guest and guide them to the hanger bay.” The captain ordered as he rose up from his chair, looking to the siblings. “Hawthorns, you’re with me.” Both nodded to him and followed him out of the bridge as they made their way down to the hanger bay.
Now that the strike craft had a sense of purpose it appeared more graceful in its movements. Numerous tiny thrusters, which indicated an emphasis on maneuverability, helped it slide neatly into a path that would take it directly to the Courageous’s hanger bay. The craft smoothly touched down onto an open section of the bay as if it had landed inside the Courageous a thousand times before. And once the craft had settled down its canopy slid open. The now revealed cockpit proved to be empty.
The lack of a pilot had unsettled the welcoming party, perhaps the pilot was of…small stature maybe? The Augustans both admired the ship’s design and searched for the pilot, nowhere to be seen. Although, the Captain did recall a small report from the salvage team a few hours ago, finding a “brain” of a sort among the wreckage. “Could it be…?” He thought of the possibility.
Out of reflex, Darius peaked into the cockpit. ‘Hello…?” he said, just to see if any kind of response would be made. Was this a drone craft or something? Certainly not anything like what the lokoid had back during the war.
The cockpit did possess a seat and all the components necessary for a pilot to manually control the craft: a control stick, various gauges and display screens, and numerous other currently unidentifiable gadgets. Still there was a notable lack of any living being in the cockpit. After a moment something inside of the cockpit beeped. The display screens at the front of the cockpit opened up to reveal a compartment, inside of which sat an artificial brain of sorts. This one, unlike the brain that the Augustans had previously found, had a slight blue glow to it and some kind of fluid could be seen circulating around inside the brain and back into the strike craft itself.
A display screen lit up as the craft beeped again. “HELLO.”
“Ooh, I think I found the pilot. “Darius said as he brought attention to the brain within the vessel. In a way, they were talking to the ship itself, or at least the brain. “The thing’s one big clanker.” A Sentinel made note of, using the derogatory term often used for Lokoid war droids. “Clanker or not, it’s by far the only friendly thing in this godsforsaken region.” The captain said as he approached the craft. “Uh…hello! I am Captain Ryan Hood, we mean you no harm and only wish to find the Witch.”
“YES! SEARCH TOGETHER. SEARCH FOR WITCH JUST LIKE WITCH SEARCHES FOR BLACK KNIGHT.” There was a long pause. “CAPTAIN. BOSS. UNDERSTOOD. FOLLOW BOSS UNTIL WITCH IS FOUND.”
The Captain grinned, nodding to the ship as he turned to the rest of his entourage. “You heard the clanker, people, back to your stations, we begin our search for the Witch.” All acknowledged him and saluted him as they scattered back to their posts, the hawthorn siblings all that remained as the trio made their way back to the bridge. “Black Knight? Hmm.” Darius mumbled to himself. “Another ship like the Witch perhaps.”
After some time had passed, the strike craft had departed from the Courageous’ hanger bay as it led the scout flotilla to the location of the Witch of the Void. The only concern though that remained was the fate of the rest of the Expeditionary fleet. Although they theoretically have the firepower to handle whatever is thrown at them, who knows what these “swimmers” are capable of.
Otovar Star System
Ghost Region
One Thousand Seven Hundred Years Ago
Colonel Dider Ar Mason let out a long, exasperated sigh, as he stepped out of the Congressional building. His eyes naturally looked up at the night sky. Night? Was it dark already? Damn. The Congressional hearing had begun at noon. Noon! And only now was he leaving.
The colonel let out another exasperated sigh, but soon felt a slight smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He’d always found the night sky of the Ghost Region to be beautiful and, more importantly, comforting. He’d always felt secure and hopeful for a future that was under the Twei’s control, not that of the Yrrani Empire.
And that was what was so exasperating about Congress. They wanted to cut military funding! Leave the Republic weak! Sure the Republic was safe for now, cut off from the rest of the galaxy. But how long would that last? When would the Yrrani Imperium come to reclaim the Ghost Nebula? Dider was determined to not allow the Yrrani to find a weak Republic when it finally did turn its gaze back to the Ghost Nebula.
Something in the night sky drew Dider out of his internal musings. Something in the night sky suddenly didn’t look right. It was… there! A shooting star breaking up in orbit. It was a rare sight nowadays, but Dider always enjoyed… And then there was another. And another. And another. And…
Dider’s mouth hung open as he came to a realization. Those weren’t shooting stars. There was no way so many could be entering Teolara’s atmosphere at once. This was all of the satellites in Teolara’s orbit being destroyed. But…
Dider’s eyes widened. They were under attack! The Yrrani had come back! But even as he formed the thought, giving name to the Republic’s supposed attackers he knew he was wrong. He could see new shapes in the night sky. Shapes that seemed to be swimming through the sky towards him. Reaching out hungrily with outstretched tentacles. He screamed out in terror, his voice joining the chorus of a million other doomed souls.
Kesitov Star System
Ghost Region
((Darkspleen x Sigma collab)
Having safely made its way through the remnants of the astral tears surrounding the Ghost Region, the Augustan task force found itself in a seemingly peaceful star system. The star system was blanketed in nebulous gasses that gave the entire system the sense of being covered in a dense fog that seemed to dampen the task force’s ability to not only see at a distance, but also use its sensor systems at range. This limited what the Augustans could discern immediately, but did leave them with a few points of interest.
Not too distant from them lay a red and blue planet. The task force’s sensor could determine that the planet had an abundance of oxygen in its atmosphere, hinting to the fact that the red of the planet might be some kind of plant life instead of iron rich soil. The planet had two moons orbiting it. The task force didn’t detect any artificial bodies in orbit around the planet, but given all the interference in the star system this didn’t necessarily eliminate the existence of such entities.
On the opposite side of the task force was a dense asteroid belt. Most of the asteroids were effectively invisible to the task force due to the dense haze of the star system, but the presence of numerous dwarf bodies certainly hinted at the existence of smaller asteroids. Perhaps of even more interest was the fact that some sort of… signal seemed to be emitted from somewhere in the asteroid belt. It was impossible to determine whether the signal was an attempt at communication, emp pollution of some kind, or the signature an energy weapon might give off. Regardless it certainly seemed to not be natural in origin. And it was the only such signal the Augustans could detect.
Within the bridge of the Courageous, an Outrider-class Fast Attack Ship, the bridge crew and others stared in awe at what they were seeing. The fog-like gases that blanketed the system giving both a feeling of adventurous wonder….and the feeling that something ominous hides within, the asteroid field before them adding additional hazards. Given the system has been cut off for untold centuries, any attempts to bring up holo-projection models were met with constant errors. Soon a persistent signal blip dully rang in the air. “Captain, I don’t believe it…but we got a signal.” One of the bridge officers called out.
Captain Ryan Hood, a man young for his rank, leaned forward, keeping calm, but was deeply intrigued. “Can we pinpoint the signal? Anywhere in particular?”
The officer was silent for a moment before answering. “No, sir, all we have is the origin point somewhere in the Asteroid belt.”
In one corner of the bridge, the Hawthorn siblings observed, taking in the scenery. Elisa was especially interested. “It’s downright beautiful, Darius.” She commented. “Imagine, this system, and a bunch like it, were cut for hundreds upon hundreds of years.”
“Mhm.” Darius mumbled.” Makes me a little anxious though. Thinking about what sort of things got locked up in here in the first place.”
“Eh, nothing we can handle.” Elisa replied with an elbow bump and a cheeky smile. “We survived the Scorched Line, whatever comes next is cheesecake.”
Darius let out a little chuckle before rubbing Eilisa’s head, much to her annoyance. “For Astraia’s sake, not in front of the new people…” She said, fixing her hair.
“Right, right, sorry.” Darius backed off, can’t help but be the dotting older sibling. Both returning their attention to the captain, just in time as a call from the Fearless Wanderer came in, the command ship of the Ghost Region Expedition.
“Captain, we’re being hailed by Admiral Drofrim.” The Comms officer announced.
“Put it through.” He ordered, a holo-projection model of an aged Dathu male materializing before them. “Captain, am I to assume you’re received the signal as well?” Captain Hood nodding to the Admiral, nodded back in acknowledgement. “Good, I’ll make this short, we’re sending your ship alongside two others to scout ahead of the main force, we don’t know what the hell’s out there, and we don’t want to walk straight into a mess unprepared. Once you find the signal’s origin point, we’ll rendezvous with you.”
Hood nodded once more. “Understood Admiral, we’ll take care of it.”
Some moments pass before the Courageous and a pair of Starlance corvettes broke away from the task force and ventured deeper into the dense gaseous fog, being among the first ships to properly step into the system.
It took hours of traveling towards the asteroid belt before smaller asteroids began to become visible. First asteroids tens of kilometers in diameter. Then asteroids comparable in size to the Augustan warships. It was only as they were entering the asteroid belt itself that they could begin to make out the even smaller asteroids through the haze. Had the smaller asteroids been moving at an appreciable higher speed than the larger ones, they might have proven to be a hazard. Instead they seemed to float about almost leisurely. This was an ancient asteroid belt. One that had long since settled into a seemingly peaceful and sedate group of stellar objects. And yet the asteroid belt elicited a sense of unease, of dread, amongst those that encountered it. It was like walking through the woods and suddenly realizing that the forest all around was absolutely quiet.
And the signal, whatever it was, lay even further in the asteroid belt. Its origin and purpose still frustratingly obfuscated by the haze of the star system and the asteroid belt itself. And it was still the lone signal the Augustans had detected. Until it suddenly wasn’t. The Augustan ships suddenly detected a second, but weaker, signal. This signal was in the same direction as the first, but much closer. In fact, they were so close that under normal circumstances it would have been impossible for the Augustans to miss the signal’s origin. And there was little room for doubt that this second signal was some kind of communications signal. And an unencrypted one at that. Still the signal was too garbled to be able to get any sort of message out of it.
“No dice, captain.” The Comms officer said, shaking her head, who had attempted to get some sort of response from whomever sent the signal in the first place…. that is if they’re even alive. “All I’m getting is a garbled mess.”
“How’s that even possible?” Captain Hood said, disturbed that despite their proximity, the second signal had only just been detected. “….Send instructions to the captains of the Intrepid, and the Outlander.” Captain Hood ordered. “We’re going after that second signal. It’s closer, and I need answers.”
The comms officer nodded as she turned back to her station, pressing down a few keys, making the call, and within moments, the trio of ships began to make their approach towards the source of the second signal.
It didn’t take long for them to get close enough for the signal to clear up. Less than a minute in fact. As the three ships made their way around a particularly larger asteroid they were greeted with the beginning of a message.
“WARNING!” A deep masculine voice began. “You are now entering a restricted military zone. Reverse course and-” The voice was momentarily cut off by a screech, before being replaced by a gentle, almost happy sounding female voice.
“This is the GRNS Witch of the Void. Disregard the previous message. All civilians take heed. This is a safe zone.” There was a slight, but noticeable pause. “For now. Head to zone Alpha-Charlie-18 and ensure that your ship’s IFF is functional and activated. If you are a military vessel with orders no greater than Priority Grey, you are hereby ordered to head to zone Alpha-Charlie-18 and report in for new orders. I repeat, this is currently a safe zone.”
A moment later the original masculine voice spoke up again. “This buoy is overdue for maintenance by 3,660 days. Please notify any navy official at your earliest convenience.” And then the whole message repeated itself.
The bridge crew and others were startled by the sudden and abrupt messaging, although, after hours of searching, it seems they finally have a lead worth investigating. “This is what we needed.” Hood said, calling out to the comms officer. “Send the Admiral an encoded message to those coordinates, we’ll rendezvous with the expeditionary fleet at point Alpha-Charile-18.”
“Aye aye, captain.” The Comms officer nodded as she got to work. All the while, Darius was pondering about the message, at least the last portion. “3,660 days….” He mumbled to himself as he mentally did the math, tapping on his sister’s shoulder, turning to face him. ”….Elisa, that was over ten years ago…”
Her neutral expression quickly morphed into one of horror. “Oh my gods…there were still people in here.” Elisa said, the realization setting in. That sense of dread everyone felt had a new meaning…something horrible had happened here, and even as far back as a decade ago, there were still people alive in the Ghost Region. “I want all ships on full alert, and all pilots on standby. Whatever took these people out….we’re not taking any chances.” Captain Hood ordered.
As if to punctuate Darius’ point a small ship floated into view. Or at least what had once been a ship. It was now little more than a shredded heap of metal. Utterly and literally shredded. As if something had taken hold of the craft and simply torn it to pieces. It had been a small craft too. A single seater craft. Perhaps two seats at most. The purpose of this craft was probably lost to time, but the presence of what might have been a cannon of some kind pointing out of what might have once been the craft’s nose did hint at a military purpose.The cockpit, assuming it had ever even had a cockpit, was simply gone.
The wreck wasn’t the most pleasant sign of civilization in the Ghost Region, it most certainly shows whatever threat was faced here, was something truly savage and primal, putting the combined crews on edge. The wreck in particular thought had caught the captain’s attention, the cannon being the main prize, and maybe something the eggheads would be interested in. “We’re proceeding forward to Point Alpha-Charile-18…however, I want a salvage team to extract that wreck, it might be something of worth.”
The trio of ships momentarily paused their journey as two Razorwing transport craft had departed from the Courageous’s hanger bay as they investigated the wreck, rangers and sentinels in zero-g gear picking apart the wreck, taking select pieces and the cannon with them, and something very curious indeed, a cybernetic brain was hidden among the wreckage. “Captain…you’re not going to believe this.” One of the Rangers spoke over comms.”. The transports soon get what they were asked for and returned. The flotilla moving forward to their objective.
As the Augustans continued on they encountered a few more wrecked ships. All about the same size as the first and all somehow even more damaged. One thing was apparent though. Whether they were crafts made for different purposes or different generations of craft, the Augustans had no way of knowing, but it was clear that they simply weren’t the same models of ship.
The signal continued to grow in strength as the trio of ships pressed on, yet its purpose continued to elude the Augustans. The signal was powerful. Far, far more powerful than what was transmitted from the buoy. If its purpose was communications surely it would have become coherent by now. And yet, frustratingly it hadn’t. If anything the single was making less sense. It had changed. Sometimes it would suddenly cut out, be silent for several minutes, only to come back. Other times it would seem to pulse before becoming steady once again. At one point it had even duplicated, and although the second signal was certainly weaker than the first, it was still far stronger than the buoys.
And at some point the asteroid belt had become devoid of wrecks. There was still evidence of battle to be sure. The experienced eye could see where a missile, or perhaps a spaceship, had struck an asteroid. And those with keen eyes could see smaller ship debris. But there was a notable lack of larger debris. In fact there was also a notable lack of medium sized asteroids.
Even though they were technically safe in the confines of a warship, everyone present in the bridge felt a sense of great unease, a sense of vulnerability unlike any had felt before. “I feel so….naked.” One officer noted. The signs of battle clearly felt off, most due to the lack of well…the combatants. Even the asteroid field itself felt wrong, less whole than one would expect. That sense of dread was intensifying by the moment.
Suddenly a proximity alarm went off. Something off their starboard side had moved. And it was close. And yet… nothing was there. Motion had surely been detected. A double checking of the log confirmed as much. But there really was nothing over there. Except for a cluster of small asteroids. Far too small for anything to hide behind.
“The hell was that?!” The captain yelped, the flurry of noises and movement catching him off guard. His eyes darting around as he scanned the outside, nothing, just nothing, the fear and anxiety was beginning to get on his nerves, he needed to do something, make a show of force to whatever was out there. “I don’t like this at all…fire warning shots.”
“Where, sir?” The gunnery officer asked.
“Anywhere and everywhere, it doesn’t matter.” He said. “Make our presence known to what is out there.”
Within moments, the three ships fired short energy bursts from their light guns, illuminating the fog with weapons fire. “Cease fire!” The captain ordered as all three ships went silent.
THUNK THUNK THUNK
Three space rocks, each about a meter in diameter bounced off the ship’s hull. Space rocks that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The impacts dealt no damage to the ship, but their sudden appearance should have been impossible.
THUNK THUNK THUNK
Three more impacts.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
The rocks hadn’t shown up on infrared before the impact, but now the ship’s sensors had no trouble spotting them. They were too hot for the environment. Same for radar and any other sensor the Augustans had active. One moment there was nothing. And then THUNK, suddenly there was a space rock bouncing off the hull.
And just as suddenly as the bombardment had begun it stopped.
This clearly wasn’t a natural phenomenon, they were being targeted by something, for all they knew, this was a direct engagement, and they needed to respond in kind. “All ships aim starboard guns towards the last impact point. “Captain Hood ordered. The ships resume their attack, and unleash a volley of energy fire towards the origin point of the showering asteroids, fighting back against their unknown attacker.
Their counterattack didn’t seem to hit anything, simply passing through empty space. The unseen assailants did not continue their harassment. The asteroid belt felt unnaturally still. And all on the bridges of the Augustan ships had the sense that they were being watched. That something, hidden just out of sight and reach, was gazing at them.
Off in the distance the signal the Augustans had come to investigate spiked in strength, just long enough to determine the signal was probably intended for some form of communication. And then it disappeared, only to begin pulsing a minute later.
“It’s no use remaining here, keep tracking that signal.” The captain once more ordered, the ships firing up their thrusters as they moved towards the source of the signal. The captain turning his attention to the Comms Officer. “Any luck so far?”
The comms officer gave a somewhat reassuring nod. “I think I got something, sir.” She said as he began to input a form of Morse code, hopefully whoever is sending the signal might pick something up. “That’s the best I can do sir.”
“It’ll have to do, we keep moving forward and pray to the gods that we get there in one piece.”
If whoever or whatever was sending the signal received and comprehended the Augustan’s Morse code, they seemingly made no effort to communicate back. The signal returned to being steady, but gradually grew weaker.
Another hour of traveling through the asteroid belt left the Augustans in eerie silence. No more attacks. No real changes in the signal. No new wrecked spacecraft. Only more asteroids. And then, finally, the signal became coherent for a moment, if still badly degraded.
“..... Witch…” A new masculine male voice said, his words interrupted by interference and static. “Code………Repeat… Cobalt Red….. Cobalt Red….” There was a brilliant flash from the direction of the signal. An explosion. Then several more flashes. “Destruct…. Take out….” The distinct flash of a high power energy weapon could be detected for a moment. It was followed by a second, then a third one. “Pike… sunk… Halberd… escape… will broadcast…end.”
The sudden flashes of light and the previous broken transmission had taken the Augustan spectators by surprise, it seems there may very well be survivors, and they seem to be in a fierce struggle against whomever has been stalking the Augustan scout flotilla and killing the natives. “This is it people!” Captain Hood exclaimed, jolting up from his command chair. “All ships, full speed ahead! Battle stations!” Hood ordered. Without hesitation, all three ships sped towards the flashing lights. Although with their numbers, may have little hope to turn the tide of battle, they at least have a lead on the signal they’ve been chasing for countless hours.
“Station….hold them off….” The masculine voice broadcast. “Three levels… overrun…reactor room.” Two more brilliant flashes. Some kind of powerful energy weapon was being employed. “Halberd! Break! To port now! Halberd!”
By this point the three Augustan ships had reached the edge of a vast void in the center of the asteroid belt. At the center rest a decent sized asteroid which had obviously been converted into a military base. A large communications array jutted out of the base, damaged almost halfway up. Two large energy cannons, particle beam cannons to be precise, fired into the void. Near the asteroid base three large civilian vessels had been welded together and formed what looked like some kind of makeshift drydock. The wrecked remains of a warship, a destroyer or light cruiser, littered the area around the drydock.
At the far side of the clearing a similar destroyer or light cruiser could be seen making its way out of the clearing. It was visible for only a moment before it exploded into a brilliant ball of fire and debris.
“Witch,” The station broadcast, “if you are hearing this do not return. We are lost. Glory to the Republic!” A second later the asteroid belt was enveloped in the fires of a nuclear explosion, torn apart from the inside. Chunks of rock, propelled by the explosion, tore into the makeshift drydock, utterly wrecking that structure as well.
And through it all the aggressors had somehow remained out of the Augustan sights. Their sensors did pick up some hints that some things were out there, some many things, and that they were moving away from the clearing. But the hints were so slight that under normal circumstances they would have been written off as simple glitches.
“Holy shit!” Darius cried out as the asteroid station was engulfed in nuclear fire. A new feeling of dread had set in, rather than horror, it was more of a sense of failure. Who knows how many people were aboard the station and gave their lives against such a ruthless and savage enemy. The captain acted without hesitation. “Combat stations! Launch all strike craft and arm guns! We’re in the middle of a battle people!”
The bridge was ablaze with life as the bridge officers went to task, coordinating all three crews of the flotilla.
In the chaos, Elisa was deep in thought, like her brother, catching some hints that may prove useful. “Witch? Witch of the Void maybe?” She shoved herself in front of Darius’ view. “There’s still a ship out there! The Witch of the Void!” She blurted out in quick succession, as if not to lose her train of thought, the captain close enough to hear her revelation.
“By the gods, you’re right!” Captain Hood exclaimed, turning to his comms officer once more. “Make contact with the Witch of the Void! Tell them we’re friendly and have come to help!” The comms officer nodded to her captain and went to work. Only left is will and prayers that they’ll survive the moment.
Within moments, Elisa’s excitement was dulled by a slight pain, a really persistent headache. “Oh gods…what the hell is that?” Darius said, placing his fingers over his temples. Both siblings, as well as every psionic ranger aboard the ship, can feel…something out there. Something far, distant, yet very, very hungry, a hunter stalking its prey. Both siblings looking very pale from such a strong and primal psionic presence.
For now the presence was content to stay back and observe. It was… curious. And for the moment its curiosity outweighed its hunger. Still it had placed itself behind the Augustan flotilla, placing it squaring between the flotilla and the rest of the Augustan task force.
And to the front of the flotilla movement was detected once again. But this time it was different. There was no idea, no ghost or hint of movement. Something was moving about out in the open, not even trying to hide itself.
A single spacecraft, a strike craft, had flown into the clearing around the asteroid base, revealing its seeming hiding place from deeper in the asteroid belt. It flew over to where the more recently destroyed warship had been, circling around several times before slowly making its way towards the remnants of the drydock.
The captain approached the two siblings, their discomfort clearly on display in their expressions. “What’s going on?”
“Hell of a strong psionic presence…. they have hungry eyes but…..they’re simply observing.” Darius replied, the pain somewhat subsiding as the presence further away, simply now watching, observing for what? It’s anyone’s best guess. “Either we’re not worth the trouble, or is bidding its time….either way, really don’t want to stick around for long…”
The captain nodded. “Agreed, for now, we should pursue the unknown craft that flew past us.” With that said, the flotilla made a steady approach to what remained of the makeshift drydock, the most probable hiding place of the survivor.
The strike craft had arrived at the drydock and proceeded to circle around it. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then it started to move towards the asteroid base. It stopped part way there, then headed back towards the drydock, only to once again turn and head to the asteroid base. And it kept doing this, over and over again, making almost no progress towards the asteroid base as it kept backtracking. It seemed almost frantic… panicked. Lost. And it seemed to have either somehow not noticed the Augustan flotilla or simply not cared about its presence.
The moving pattern of the pilot seemed very..…erratic, but In a strange way in the moment, consistent. Consistent enough for the captain to devise a play to get their attention. The starlance corvettes had split off from the ranger vessel, the Courageous blocking the path leading to the drydock, while the two corvettes blocked the path leading to the asteroid base, although somewhat confrontational, it seemed to be a good enough means to at least get the pilot’s attention…or cause unnecessary altercation.
The strike craft was just turning back towards the asteroid belt as the two Augustan corvettes slid into position to block its path. It was now impossible for the strike craft to ignore the Augustans. It first veered up to go over them, only to abort the maneuver before the Augustans could even react. It then nosed down, but once again seemed to think better of it. Finally it turned back towards the drydock and the final Augustan warship. It slowly drifted towards the Courageous for a few moments before it began to bob up and down. The movement seemed almost reminiscent of an excited animal. After a few moments it straightened out and continued to drift towards the Courageous. A moment later the strike craft sent a communications signal towards the Augustan ship. There were no words or images in the signal, only a series of beeps.
The behavior of the pilot seemed even more peculiar to all observers, behaving more like an animal, were the comms down for the ship perhaps? For moment that wouldn’t matter the ship begun as the ship begun transmitting a series of beeps to the ship. “I’m getting something…” The Comms officer spoke, listening deeply to the beep’s pattern, quickly placing a hologram projector device, with a listen for her to read off of. “I think it’s some sort of hexadecimal code…. oh shit.”
“What’s the problem?” the captain asked.
“Sir, this is ancient Yrrani code, it dates back from millennia ago…well, it’s not exactly a match, but it’s pretty damn close.”
Captain Hood’s raised his eyebrow, intrigued at what they have all have just discovered. A long-lost sect of Yrrani perhaps? The thought also occurs….perhaps a treasure trove of ancient pre-fall Yrrani tech?
“Can we send a reply?” the captain asked.
“I can give it a try, sir.” The comms officer replied as she tried to send her own code to the fighter craft.
It took a few moments for the strike craft to reply, but when it finally did it did so in simple text. “FRIEND? FRIEND! DANGER UNEXPECTED! YOU? WHO? THE WITCH WILL WANT TO KNOW.”
Another transmission was sent in simple text for the receiver to understand. “Friend. Augustan Empire. Friend. Who Witch?”
“AUGUSTAN? NOT KNOW! ENEMY?” There was a pause. “MAYBE? WITCH WILL DECIDE. WITCH IS BOSS. WITCH IS NICE.”
“Augustans friends. We come in peace. We see Witch, yes?”
“PEACE? NO PEACE. NOT HERE. NOT ANYWHERE.” There was another pause before the strike craft continued. “WITCH NOT HERE. HOW SEE? WITCH LEFT. SHE SEARCHES.”
“Keep it up, I’m more intrigued as we “talk” with whoever this is.” The captain said, his comms officer nodding as she resumed her work.
“Why not peace? Why witch searches?”
“PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION.” The strike craft began to shift its nose to the left and right without changing its course, which was slowly taking it towards the Courageous. The movements seemed almost frantic.
“…Let it pass but keep tabs on the stranger.” The captain ordered. The ship shifted slightly, making a clear path for the strike craft to do whatever it needed to do. “From whom?” The comms officer sent to the craft. “Who did this?”
The strike craft let out a stronger signal then the one it had been using to communicate with the Courageous. Far stronger in fact, but still weak when compared to the signal that the asteroid base had been emitting. After a few minutes it ceased emitting the second signal and resumed communications with the Courageous.
“WITCH CAN’T HEAR. MUST FIND. MUST FLEE! THEY WILL RETURN.”
“Who will return?” Another message sent, a stepping stone towards finding out what caused all this, and maybe find out what is hunting them.
“SWIMMERS.”
Swimmers? A rather odd name for a seemingly ferocious enemy, although often the most deadly of predators have most unassuming names. “So, we finally have a name at least.” The captain commented.
“You take us to witch, yes?” A new message was sent. “Friends. No harm.”
“YES! WITCH LOVES MAKING NEW FRIENDS! WE GO! WE GO NOW!” The strike craft began to accelerate towards the Courageous. “WITCH SEARCHING. BUT WE FIND WITCH! OLD FRIENDS GONE BUT NOW NEW FRIENDS! WITCH WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO. SHE KNOWS ALL! HANGAR WHERE?”
A sense of relief washed over the bridge crew, finally, some progress was made, and potential new allies as well. In such a dangerous region, a friend could really be needed. “Send an all clear signal for our new guest and guide them to the hanger bay.” The captain ordered as he rose up from his chair, looking to the siblings. “Hawthorns, you’re with me.” Both nodded to him and followed him out of the bridge as they made their way down to the hanger bay.
Now that the strike craft had a sense of purpose it appeared more graceful in its movements. Numerous tiny thrusters, which indicated an emphasis on maneuverability, helped it slide neatly into a path that would take it directly to the Courageous’s hanger bay. The craft smoothly touched down onto an open section of the bay as if it had landed inside the Courageous a thousand times before. And once the craft had settled down its canopy slid open. The now revealed cockpit proved to be empty.
The lack of a pilot had unsettled the welcoming party, perhaps the pilot was of…small stature maybe? The Augustans both admired the ship’s design and searched for the pilot, nowhere to be seen. Although, the Captain did recall a small report from the salvage team a few hours ago, finding a “brain” of a sort among the wreckage. “Could it be…?” He thought of the possibility.
Out of reflex, Darius peaked into the cockpit. ‘Hello…?” he said, just to see if any kind of response would be made. Was this a drone craft or something? Certainly not anything like what the lokoid had back during the war.
The cockpit did possess a seat and all the components necessary for a pilot to manually control the craft: a control stick, various gauges and display screens, and numerous other currently unidentifiable gadgets. Still there was a notable lack of any living being in the cockpit. After a moment something inside of the cockpit beeped. The display screens at the front of the cockpit opened up to reveal a compartment, inside of which sat an artificial brain of sorts. This one, unlike the brain that the Augustans had previously found, had a slight blue glow to it and some kind of fluid could be seen circulating around inside the brain and back into the strike craft itself.
A display screen lit up as the craft beeped again. “HELLO.”
“Ooh, I think I found the pilot. “Darius said as he brought attention to the brain within the vessel. In a way, they were talking to the ship itself, or at least the brain. “The thing’s one big clanker.” A Sentinel made note of, using the derogatory term often used for Lokoid war droids. “Clanker or not, it’s by far the only friendly thing in this godsforsaken region.” The captain said as he approached the craft. “Uh…hello! I am Captain Ryan Hood, we mean you no harm and only wish to find the Witch.”
“YES! SEARCH TOGETHER. SEARCH FOR WITCH JUST LIKE WITCH SEARCHES FOR BLACK KNIGHT.” There was a long pause. “CAPTAIN. BOSS. UNDERSTOOD. FOLLOW BOSS UNTIL WITCH IS FOUND.”
The Captain grinned, nodding to the ship as he turned to the rest of his entourage. “You heard the clanker, people, back to your stations, we begin our search for the Witch.” All acknowledged him and saluted him as they scattered back to their posts, the hawthorn siblings all that remained as the trio made their way back to the bridge. “Black Knight? Hmm.” Darius mumbled to himself. “Another ship like the Witch perhaps.”
After some time had passed, the strike craft had departed from the Courageous’ hanger bay as it led the scout flotilla to the location of the Witch of the Void. The only concern though that remained was the fate of the rest of the Expeditionary fleet. Although they theoretically have the firepower to handle whatever is thrown at them, who knows what these “swimmers” are capable of.
An offshoot of the Yrrani, the Twei are an ethnic minority that are most easily distinguished by the fact that they have longer ears. They are usually fair skinned, pale even, but can be darker skinned, often as the result of cross breeding with humans. Much like their cousins, the Twei are blessed with longevity, general physiological resilience, unnatural beauty as well as graceful aging, and generally keen minds. They are also noted as possessing great spacial awareness and reflexes, both of which are often further enhanced by cybernetics.