• Last Seen: 3 yrs ago
  • Joined: 7 yrs ago
  • Posts: 396 (0.16 / day)
  • VMs: 0
  • Username history
    1. Raylah 7 yrs ago
  • Latest 10 profile visitors:

Status

Recent Statuses

7 yrs ago
Currently super swamped by work and having cold on the top of it, so posts will be delayed

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

“We are the Undefeated of the planet Ellara. Despite all the perils and trials that we had to overcome just to survive, we never wavered and never surrendered. Yet, we have never strayed away from what it means to be human. We will welcome those who are true to the ideals of our ancestors as our friends, and together we will pass the legacy on to the next generations.” The Grand General waited a few seconds in silence, before turning the recorder off. “So, what do you think?” He turned to Kelsie and Hamonga, who were standing behind him during the short speech. Kelsie as the newly appointed representative of the Undefeated at the Meeting Place. Hamonga as a silent threat. This is what our warriors look like. Be intimidated. “Too pathetic?”

“Just the right amount of pathetic. Let’s hope it brings those more ‘normal’ colonists to us.” And we will need more support. Nations kept to themselves mostly in the past few months, but even then there was some friction between the Zetans and the ECU. The Undefeated stood by the ECU, although no official treaty or an alliance had been debated yet. Still, the Zetans had an undisputable technological advantage over the other two. Even though none of them had any weapons to speak of when they first met each other, both ECU and the Undefeated now had a fleet of spaceships ready to fight. No doubt the Zetans also spent the time preparing for a possible conflict.

“Great. My work here is done then. From now on, you are in charge here, Guardian Blackwood. I will return on the Thorsten and take it back through the Gateway. The Chimera will remain here at your disposal.” The Thorsten was the flagship of the new fleet, the very first battleship designed and constructed on Ellara. It was carrying experimental new plasma-based weapons and deflector shields. While the tests and simulations looked promising, the technology had not been tested in battle conditions yet. Kelsie hoped it would stay that way. The Chimera was a tiny vessel in comparison, sleek and elegant, designed for swift transfers and scouting rather than for combat situations. It was, however, equipped with the best sensors and various scanners available.

The Grand General, Hamonga, and most of the other Undefeated, aside from those that Kelsie chose for her team, have left the station. She watched from the window as the Thorsten made a slow turn, showing off all the new fancy guns. His visit here was a power play, a display of strength. Kelsie could have recorded the message just as well, but Pawlowski insisted on coming in person, bringing the new flagship for a joyride. The other Thorsten-class ships were still under construction, nearing completion, but not flight-ready yet. There were smaller cruisers, troop transporters, fighters, and other types of ships Kelsie had lost track of, some operational and guarding their end of the Gateway, some being finished in one of the new large shipyards that grew on Ellara.

First of all, she decided to take a long hot shower, a thing that had become almost a luxury back home. As nearly all resources were poured into the arms race, other parts of the economy, society, and everyday life had to deal with shortages of all kinds. Most recently, the lack of turbine parts for heating plants caused hot water to become unavailable in the capital and all over the central regions. People weren’t happy about these things, but most of them either believed it was for the good of all Undefeated or were just smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Even so, there have been several arrests and two of the biggest insurgents were publicly executed to remind everyone about the nation’s priorities.

(Addressing: @Tortoise)


Refreshed and dressed in her brand new uniform (simple, yet elegant black suit with silver-embroidered insignia on her shoulder), she opened the message from Abadi again. Kelsie didn’t have time to respond to her back home and decided it would be better to wait for the Meeting Place completion since they both would probably be stationed there anyway.

“Oligarch Abadi,” Kelsie smiled, glad that Abadi got promoted. Interesting how they nearly started a war and yet both got praised for it. “I will be glad to meet again and continue our discussion. I believe that our governments share a similar point of view on certain… matters. I have just arrived at the Meeting point, perhaps I could come and visit you in the ECU section of the station?” Kelsie could have just as well invited her to the Undefeated part, but there was really not much to see. The ECU, however, had the holoprojectors installed all over their section (or at least that was what the rumors said), and Kelsie was eager to see them.
(Addressing: @Sigma)


Kelsie sighed. If only it were that simple. “I am afraid that all efforts on communicating with the natives were in vain. They seemed to be capable of understanding some basic things, but ending a conflict wasn’t one of them. Their society is very primitive and based heavily on warrior culture. Before we arrived, they were fighting each other, now they are fighting each other AND us. We do have a technological advantage, but they breed and mature very fast, giving them strength in numbers. But, our problems are our problems, no need to bother with them.” Kelsie didn’t want to go into details of the bloody mess that was going on Ellara for the past 300 years.

“On the other hand, the Yulzan could possibly become a threat to everyone, should they return. Now that the Gateways are opened, it would be easy for them to travel to any other colony, and not everyone is as capable of fighting them as you or us.” She was totally bluffing. The Undefeated couldn’t fight off an alien invasion any better than they could land on the sun. But the Colombians didn’t know that.
@datadogie nothing serious has happened yet, you haven't missed anything ;)
(Addressing: @Sigma)


A small frown appeared on Kelsie’s face as the Chancellor spoke of the war with the Yulzan. An advanced alien empire that enslaves other races, forcing them to fight their wars. Guess the Colombians weren’t so lucky after all. “You certainly did overcome your own struggles to get here. I am terribly sorry for the fate of your people,” she turned to the captain. “These Yulzan sound like a formidable enemy that could endanger all our colonies.” Especially now that the Gateways have reopened, which would allow them to travel anywhere they wanted, Kelsie thought. She hoped that the contact with these people would not put Ellara in danger.

“As for us, we struggled from the beginning. Our planet, albeit beautiful, proved to be very hostile. In the very first year after landing, we had to deal with aggressive fauna and flora, a serious disease outbreak which nearly decimated the starting colony, and we also discovered that there were primitive natives present. Sadly, they proved to be unwilling to communicate and immediately started to attack us. We have been at war with them ever since.” She decided to not mention the fact that some of the captured Screechers were used as slaves. Such a fact would probably not establish the best relations between the two nations, especially with all the new information about the Yulzan.

“So, what are your thoughts on the Zetans, if I may ask?” She was rather curious about what others think about them.
(Addressing: @Sigma)


As the door opened and a completely normal-looking elder man came forward to greet them, Kelsie was relieved. Right until the moment she looked over the rest of the group and saw the alien captain. She tried to mask her surprise as best as she could, but a short gasp escaped her lips. Well isn’t this unfair. Why do these guys have nice and friendly aliens and all we got was hyper-aggressive primitives? Kelsie wondered who was actually in charge here. The human, Chancellor Constantine, seemed to be the head of the diplomacy. She vaguely remembered that the title had great political importance back on Earth. But then again, the captain of the ship was an alien. Were these humans under the yolk of some advanced alien race? It was a possibility, but Kelsie didn’t think so. The ship, while very advanced, was clearly of human design. And its name, as well as the name of the nation, was Earth-based. There must be some interesting story behind all this.

“We are glad to be here,” she managed to smile, focusing on the Chancellor. He seemed like a friendly elder man, but she could see he was a smart politician, not to be underestimated. “I am Guardian Kelsie Blackwood from the Undefeated nation of the planet Ellara. This is my assistant, Miss Julianna Petrova.” She had decided not to mention that Julianna is a member of their science team as it could be seen like she had brought her along to spy on Colombian technology. Which she did. But they didn’t have to know that. Plus it would be useful to have them dismiss her as an unimportant assistant and ignore her. Julianna had her way of becoming nearly invisible in situations like this.

“It seems that you were lucky to find new friends among the stars.” She nodded towards the alien captain, feeling strange. Spending years shooting every alien that crossed her path didn’t really prepare her for this situation. How different would it be if the Screechers were this civilized? 300 years of war, unimaginable resources being poured down the drain, while we could have just coexisted peacefully, advancing both our societies. Well, life doesn’t play on what-ifs. The Undefeated were at a disadvantage here and she needed to make sure that no one is going to use it against them.
As the village gathered, Freyhild could finally take a moment to sit down and rest, watching them from afar. They were a small village, all the faces were at least familiar. That way she could see that every group that stood there, eating and chatting, had people missing. Family members, friends, fellow craftsmen. She liked how the village held together, the builders worked not on just their own houses, but helped anyone who needed to; Freyhild had no idea how she would get her roof and holes in the walls fixed on her own. Kjotve always took care of that kind of thing. She chased away a memory of him swinging his hammer, singing a worn-out song in an incredibly lousy tone. She didn’t want to think about his smile now.

The dragons seemed to be omnipresent, sniffing around empty bowls, stealing a bite or two out of those still full, carelessly set aside by their owners. It was surprising how quickly the people got used to them being around. Freyhild wondered what the dragons would do if the attackers followed them here. Would they fight and protect them? Or would they just disappear and wait who would win, coming back later to sniff around their bowls? Dark thoughts for such a nice day. Freyhild frowned, she found out it helped her to fight the tears off.

When Hog Morsan came to talk to her, Freyhild bowed her head in respect. “Thank you, but it is just a stew. It can hardly be called a miracle. The people are working hard, I figured they needed a proper hot meal to keep their strength.” But it was satisfying to look at. “It would have been done a lot faster if it weren’t for all these damn dragons getting in the way,” she grumbled.
“We are being hailed.”

Finally. Kelsie jumped up from the oddly uncomfortable captain’s chair. The Zetans seemed to have beaten them in contacting the battleship first and now their delegations have apparently been engaged in a very long talk. The suspense was killing her, she wished she had at least some information about who the people on the big ship were. Or if they even were people. “So, how did they respond?”

“Um…,” Parker hesitated, “the transmission is not coming from any of the ships. It seems to be coming through the Gateway.” He re-checked the screen. “It’s the Grand General.”

Awesome. Just awesome. Maybe he will just order someone to execute me and so I won’t get another chance to screw up with yet another technologically more advanced society, Kelsie thought. “Good, I will take it on my personal comlink. Meanwhile, transmit every piece of data we have obtained so far - scans of Earth, all the ships, the security footage, everything. Make sure it is encrypted.”



(Addressing: @Sigma)


The call seemed to have taken forever. Pawlowski wanted to know all the details, they went through the security footage together, debated about every word the foreign delegations had said. Surprisingly, at the end of it, not only he didn’t order her execution, but he actually praised her for making the right choice. Apparently, his stance on the Zetans was even more strict than hers. Officially, there was no business to be done with them.

Just as she ended the call and thought she would get a moment's rest, she got called back to the bridge.

“So, the ship is called Alamo and belongs to a state called the United Republic of Columbia. They have agreed to accept our delegation on board and sent us docking instructions.”

Alamo. Columbia. Those names had some vague meaning to her, something from Earth’s history. Hopefully, they won’t be another old Earth fanatics like the ECU. “Can we even do that?”

“Well, fortunately, someone thought to add an extendable airlock bridge to the ship. But whether it will work… no idea.”

“That’s just perfect.” Kelsie rolled her eyes. “Call Miss Petrova, she is coming with me. You are in charge, while I am gone. If anything happens, and I mean anything, you immediately detach and make a run for it. If these guys prove to be hostile, we need to warn the high command.”

Parker saluted her. “Good luck.”

Julianna was already at the airlock, and so was Harding. “Surely you will not take my assistant on this vital diplomatic mission,” he said with a threat not very subtly hidden in his voice.

“Commander Harding, I would never endanger the life of such an important scientist as you by taking you to a potentially hostile situation on board an unknown ship. I was just telling Major Parker that if anything goes wrong, he is to take the ship back through the Gateway immediately, leaving us behind. Your research is too important for Ellara, we cannot afford to let you fall into enemy hands,” Kelsie explained as calmly as she could. She has about had it with this guy.

He stormed out, gritting his teeth, knowing exactly what she was doing, but couldn’t say a word about it.

“You should be careful around the Commander,” Julianna said quietly. “He is a powerful man.”

“Honestly, unless he is blowing the Grand General on a daily basis, I don’t care. And maybe even then.” Kelsie has worked hard for her position, so she could afford to be a bit arrogant about it.

Julianna giggled. “As you think.”

A series of soft thumps signaled the airlock connecting to the other vessel and the green light that a stable pressure was achieved. The two women slowly walked through, entering the Colombian ship.
Meanwhile on the planet Ellara

The air tasted weird. A soft breeze caused by a passing hovercraft moved her hair a bit and she had to blink vigorously to fight off tears suddenly filling her eyes. She barely even remembered feeling the wind on her face. Her transport was waiting on the roof, just a few steps from the door, but for some reason, her legs wouldn’t move. After years in a small cell, the open space just felt too huge. Claire knew about the phobias one could develop, about fear of open areas after spending a lot of time in a confined space, but considered them so illogical, something her scientific mind could deal with easily. Yet here she was, frozen in place, staring at the night sky over the Citadel.

Her escort wasn’t of the most patient kind. One man gave her a slight nudge and when she didn’t move, they just grabbed her by her elbows and half dragged her to the hovercraft. The flight was short and the vehicle soon stopped in a hangar in one of the science complex buildings. The soldiers pushed her out rather roughly, not giving her enough time to adjust her eyes to the sudden sharp light.

“All right, that is enough. You are dismissed.”

Claire blinked into the lights. She would recognize that deep voice anywhere. “Ikei Hamonga. Long time no see I guess?” Her eyes finally focused on a massive dark-skinned person standing in front of her. Hamonga was a perfect descendant of the long-lost Maori tribe.

Hamonga seemed nervous and uncomfortable. “Claire, I… Let’s go inside.” He led her through a maze of hallways, opening a lot of doors with a keycard, the last few also required a biometric scan. “This entire section is dedicated to the Perun project. The labs and the test areas are there in the back.” They stopped in a small conference and leisure room.

“Well, this cell certainly seems more comfortable than the last one,” Claire sat in one of the armchairs, feeling the soft material with her fingers.

The Guardian sighed. “Claire, I really don’t know what to say. I’m sorry I didn’t do anything when Jeremy…”

Claire snorted. “At least you don’t hide behind a mouthful of excuses like some others.” She paused for a moment, continuing in a more conciliatory tone. “The Grand Douchebag said that you have protected her all that time.”

“Not that she would need much protection,” Hamonga smiled. “Children shouldn’t pay for the sins of their parents.”

“Of course trying to save lives is a sin to you, tin soldiers. You prefer to march and shoot in a pointed direction.”

“Screecher lives.”

“Not just Screecher lives. Jeremy was trying to prevent bloodshed on both sides.”

“I see you haven’t changed a bit,” Hamonga sighed.

“Have your ‘correction facilities’ ever actually corrected anyone?”

“You would be surprised. I think we will have to agree to disagree, just like we did years ago. Let’s just talk about the project. What’s the deal here?”

“Are you kidding me?” Claire laughed. “Aren’t you supposed to be leading it?”

“You and I both know that I am no scientist. My orders are to make sure you do the work…”

“And then you take credit for it,” Claire interrupted him. “I know the drill. After all, I am a Rejected, the trash of society, only ever good when you need someone to solve your problems.” Her voice was bitter, remembering all those years when she was an ‘assistant’ to high-ranked scientists, who couldn’t even teach science to third-graders. All her papers and inventions published under someone else’s name.

“I never really thought about you that way,” Hamonga said defensively. “Even the Grand General has always known that you were the one behind the research. That is the reason why you are here after all. Honestly not many high-ranking officers think that way. Jeremy was proof of that.”

“Don't you dare to talk about my husband,” Claire hissed at him and Hamonga kept quiet. He had learned a long time ago not to correct her on Jeremy not technically being her husband. The Rejected could only get married to other Rejected, but a Rejected and a soldier could never be officially together. That was the reason Kelsie had her father's last name and Claire didn't blame her for it. On Ellara it was easier to grow up as a daughter of a soldier, even of a soldier executed for disobeying orders, than as a daughter of a Rejected. Claire sighed, she didn't want to argue. “Do you know who Perun was?”

Hamonga just shrugged. “No idea never heard of him.”

“In the ancient times on Earth, it was the Slavic god of lightning and thunder, even of war in some cultures. Project Perun was exploring the possibilities of using plasma in warfare - both in weapons and in shields. We came up with a revolutionary set of weapons that could be used in space combat and deflector shields that could protect spaceships from nearly anything. But the project got canceled before we even got to the prototype phase.”

“There was no need for fancy space weapons against the Screechers,” nodded Hamonga.

“It would benefit ground combat as well. Eventually. But yes, at that time it cost too much and brought too little. I guess we were just ahead of our time.”

“Claire,” Hamonga said quietly, “I have got to ask you. Are you actually on board for this project or are you just trying to get back at the Grant General?”

Clare gave him a sad smile. “Trust me, if it was just about me I would simply use this project to build the biggest bomb I could and shove it right up his arse, blowing this entire place to particles. But I am not going to do this to Kelsie. Again. And quite frankly this whole planet is in danger now so I'm going to do my best and play along.” For now, she didn't add.

Hamonga seemed satisfied with that answer. “So, is that the plasma thing we donate in the hospitals? I mean, we should have a ton of that.”

Claire closed her eyes slowly. “No, Ikei, that is not the same plasma. It’s…,” she hesitated, no idea how to dumb it down enough so he would understand, “well let’s just say that it is very complicated and it requires strong magnetic fields to create and, more importantly, to keep it in some form and shape that could be useful to us.”

“Why does it have to be on a spaceship? Wouldn’t it be easier to make a shield around something smaller, like a hovercraft?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be around a spaceship, just around something big. The electromagnetic field is generated by magnets and, at our current level of technology, they need to be huge. Using this technology on something smaller is just not possible until we come up with a more efficient way of electromagnetic field generation. Also, the power requirements for this kind of thing are enormous. Honestly, this project was just an idea that was technically unfeasible at that time. Unless something has changed?” she asked him, seeing his cryptic smile.

“There is something you should see.”




The hangar was huge, but the ship still looked like it was about to burst out of it. There were dozens of people running around and over it, cranes hovering above bringing pieces of metal; sparks and fumes from welding and cutting filled the room.

“This is the Thorsten,” Hamonga said with pride. “Our very first space battleship. The Perun project wasn’t the only one that was deemed unnecessary and canceled before and now reopened. We began with the construction as soon as the Gateway was reactivated. So far it is armed with conventional weapons just like we use for ground combat - laser and projectile turrets, both with offensive and defensive capabilities, and conventional missiles upgraded to be used in space. It is powered by some fancy new reactor thing which I’ve been told shouldn’t have any problems powering your plasma-magnetic-whatevers. So if you can come up with some fancy new weapons, we needed them like yesterday.”

“I am terribly sorry, but I was in jail yesterday,” Claire mumbled, still stunned by the view. As much as she hated the military system, she had to admit that in situations like these it was incredibly efficient.

“Right,” Hamonga grinned, turning back to the ship. “It is just a prototype, but the initial tests are looking good and we already have facilities prepared to start building several more of those. Plus smaller cruisers and fighters. If all goes well, we should have a fleet ready in a matter of weeks.”

“What? How?” As far as Claire knew, there weren’t nearly enough people to just start mass-producing spaceships on a scale like that.

Hamonga shrugged. “Well the progress on the northern front has been stopped, and 8th and 9th recalled, we have more than enough workers. We are scrambling resources wherever we can, halting other unnecessary production chains. The mining station on the Donut was rushed to completion and soon we will start getting the material from there.”

“Aren’t your tin soldiers mad that they will have to slave away in factories instead of murdering the enemy?”

“Not all of them are happy about it, naturally, but those working in the spaceship assembly will have a priority when the crews will be selected, and that is worth it. Plus, and I realize how pathetic it sounds, it’s for the good of all people on Ellara.”

"Right," Claire snorted, "for all people on Ellara."




Oscar Pawlowski was exhausted, it felt like he hadn’t slept since the Gateway opened. But at least everything seemed to be going well. If they just had a little more time, before some alien armada comes knocking on their doors. Just a few weeks. Even a few days. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Sir. The Gateway has reactivated.”

So much for having a few more days to prepare. “The Revenant?”

“No, sir. It was just some sort of an automated probe, that broadcasted a message in English, binary, and some unknown language and then self-destructed. It moved away from the Gateway and our ships before doing that, we sustained no damage. Our scouts are trying to collect the pieces to get some more information on the technology, but it doesn’t seem very promising.”

The Grand General rested a little. No danger for now. “Smart. Show me the message.” He took his time to read it several times, carefully analyzing each sentence, and then sighed. “They sure aren’t afraid to rattle weapons and show strength. My kind of people.” If only we had something to rattle with, he thought. “Thorsten isn’t ready yet, right? So we have no ship to send there even if we wanted to. And we haven’t heard from the Revenant?”

“No sir, but there is actually good news on that part. See we have been analyzing the signals coming through the Gateways, trying to unscramble the mess they create. But then we discovered that on certain frequencies and with proper coder and decoder, of course setting it up properly was tricky…”

Oscar interrupted him rougly. “Fewer words.”

“Uh, sure sir. We think we can contact the Revenant through the Gateway.”

“Perfect. Try hailing them then, see if they are able to respond.” If they are still alive.

“Kelsie, wake up!”

“Mmm, just a few more minutes.” The sheets were so warm and cuddly.

“KELSIE!”

“Whaat?”

“It’s… it’s your father, honey,” her mother was sobbing. “They… they murdered him!” She pointed to a message on a datapad.

Everything was blurry and fuzzy, Kelsie couldn’t focus on the letters, but some words popped out. Dishonorable discharge. Executed. “W… what did he do?” she mumbled.

“WHAT DID HE DO?” Claire yelled at her. “That is the first thing that comes to your mind? You are just like the rest of them!”

Image of her yelling mother blurred out, shifting and changing to a familiar figure.

“... terrorist attack.” Hamonga and Kelsie were in combat uniforms, their squadron heading out into battle.

“What? No, she wouldn’t do that.” Panic was threatening to take over.

“They stopped her, but…” Hamonga shook his head, unsure what to say.

“No, no.” That couldn’t be true. Kelsie curled down on the floor, desperately fighting the tears. “No.” She was alone. So alone. All alone now. How could her parents have done this to her?


(Addressing: @Sigma)


“NO!” she screamed out, trying to jump up, too late remembering she had fallen asleep in a hammock. As she tried to gather all her limbs off the ground, there was a soft knock on the door.

The stupid nightmare still lingered in her head. She hasn’t had them in years, all this stress must have been taking a bigger toll on her than she realized. “Come in,” she mumbled, still shaken.

Julianna Petrova peeked into the room. “I am sorry, Guardian, we have tried to reach you over the comms, but you weren’t responding.”

Kelsie must have turned it off to get a moment alone. Dammit. “What is going on?”

“You are needed on the bridge. Another ship just appeared.”

Fuck. “I’ll be right there.”

Julianna hesitated. “Is… everything alright?”

Wow, did she really look that bad? “I’m fine,” she sneered. “But… thanks for asking. I didn’t even have time to ask, what did you think about our guests?” she asked as they headed to the bridge.

“Well, to be honest, their technological superiority is intimidating. We don’t come anywhere that close. But, I agree with you that we should stay away from them. There was something really off about them. The way they talked and acted… And that predator form crap? Why the hell would they go into such detail as adding dreadlocks on a remotely controlled robot designed to fight off predators?”

Kelsie didn’t even notice such details. “So, you think there was an actual person inside that thing?”

Julianna shrugged. “I think there was something that used to be a person once. What is it now, that is a question I cannot answer. I would love to know how they were communicating, though. And not just through the Gateway, but they must have had some connection with each other. The way they moved in sync, without even looking at the others, like they were just parts of one organism.”

“I don’t think they will be eager to tell us now.”

The whole crew was on the bridge, looking at the monitors, chatting excitedly. “So, what do we have here?”

“Another ship came through the Gateway a few minutes ago. They are trying to contact us,” Parker answered.

“That’s good, so why all the fuss?”

“Because of that.” A 3D model appeared on one of the screens. “It’s huge, and it’s obvious it was designed for war. Look at all the weapons, and those are just the ones our scanners are able to detect and identify. These guys came packin’. They could blow us and the other ships up without breaking a sweat.”

Kelsie studied the battleship model. She was afraid of this, although it was clear that there would be more than a few former colonies ready to wage interstellar war. The Undefeated, however, weren’t one of them, and she couldn’t afford to antagonize yet another technologically advanced civilization. ‘Please just no more robots,’ she thought. ‘Let them just be nice guys who came armed to the teeth to scare off potential enemies.’

“All right, hail them, tell them who we are, that we are pleased to meet them, et cetera, just like the others. Tell them that we would love to send our ambassadors to their ship, if they want to meet in person.” If they want to appear strong, we can let them. Not that we have any other choice.
@Irredeemable Hmm, robotic puppies? That could be a good thing to export :D
or even, you could use them as an army of spies!
© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet