Starwhip

Galactic Conquest

AURORA - SHADOW STAR
Combat Information Center

"...They've expressed an interest in setting up a forward base with the SCR-1. In my opinion the situation has not escalated to a degree where we would need that much presence..."

Kel'ar stood at one of the central holotables, dictating to High Command back in Hasrya. The room was relatively empty save for a few database operators hard at work on the info the away team had collected. As large as the fortified command deck was, Kel'ar still felt it was quaint, accustomed to the sprawling decks of the flagship.

"Noted, Commander. The council will review the situation within the hour. The civilian proximity should prompt some response; expect infiltrators at the least."

"Thank you. Comms, out." Kel'ar deactivated the relay, pulling up the data sets they had on the three contacts. She frowned at the first, finding it difficult to believe what the program was indicating. It would be incredibly improbable to simply run into the empire so soon...

The other factions concerned her more. Their aggression didn't sit well with the kyrian. And whatever they were after seemed to block any reasoning with them; it would be almost hopeless to attempt further negotiations.

The black kyrian jumped and let out a small cry as the ship's red alert siren blared, orange illumination replacing the normal light blue. For a moment her eyes were as wide as the other officers on the deck: she coughed and straightened up, pulling up the tactical map. Red lines were extending from Covenant ships they had been tracking, signifying abrupt changes in velocity, and the last-known position of the Destiny Ascendant was designated with a large red sphere.

"High alert. Large fusion detonation detected, range seven-seven-five-zero. Contact Alpha status unknown. Large portion of Covenant ships under propulsion, moving away from the planet, assumed hostile."

"Kriek..." Kel'ar punched in a code and reactivated the line to Command. She hardly waited for the man on the end to greet her, barreling through the formalities. "Get me on the line with the council, there's been a development."

Galactic Conquest

DESTINY ASCENDANT
Main Hangar

Arelya bowed in return, kneeling on one leg while the other folded underneath her body. "Cal trel, Vier'yen." Her voice was subtly different in her native tongue, a bit smoother than it was in Aurerran. With a wing she gestured for Raldyr to get in the shuttle, before turning to follow, opening a channel to the Shadow Star. "This is Arelya, prepping for departure. Requesting a flight path to '31."

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SHADOW STAR
Observation Deck

"I don't think we should get involved down there. There's almost too many different xenos to count, and we'd be spread thin with our current forces. It would be a tactical blunder to be caught planetside if a large-scale conflict broke out." Kel'ar shook her head, the jet-black scales on her neck shimmering from the overhead lights. "We'd need more troops, some fightercraft and a handful of surface vehicles to even stand a chance of making a dent, and that would require Command to send Archangel to this hellhole."

Lyra sighed, putting more weight on the railing she leaned on. "You command the ship; I would imagine you have some influence over where it goes."

"Some, yes, but it would be treason to take it here without orders. With the current situation, even though there are civilians involved, it isn't a sound decision. I'll put a request in, but I doubt anything will come of it yet."

The two commanders watched as the away team's shuttle continued its slow approach for docking, its dorsal side becoming illuminated by the hangar floodlights as it halted beneath the Shadow Star. The kyrian snorted, fogging the window in front of her for a moment. "At least your weapons officer didn't get herself killed, we might need such a position in the near future."

Galactic Conquest

DESTINY ASCENDANT
Main Hangar

Both kyrians present in the hangar bay instinctively drew back towards the shuttle, hunkering down as if about to dodge a pounce as weapons were drawn on multiple sides. Arelya momentarily let out a low, loud growl, before cutting herself off and tucking the wing that held her kalbiir back onto her side. "Situation has gone south, we may require evac. Stand by." The message went silently to the Shadow Star through the shuttle's uplink, before the kyrian stood to her full height on hind legs and wings, resembling some massive, scaled praying mantis, and let out an eerie, attention-grabbing cry from her throat. She was eye to eye with the escort droids now, looking down at the Overseer. "We intend no harm to any party, Overseer. If there has been a plot we have had no part of it."

Slowly she walked forward until she was ahead of the shuttle again, transitioning back to four legs now that she had their attention. Her voice was laced with the same near-musical tones of synthetic speech, even more prominent with the increase in volume and the fact that she was being translated, and she was still holding herself up higher than normal, reaching close to seven feet at eye level."Presuming our host isn't bluffing, I would suggest refraining from violence. It would be a shame to lose whatever it is on the surface."

Galactic Conquest

Destiny Ascendant Hangar

Raldyr watched the speaker of the purple craft as he spoke in shorter fragments, assuming he was trying to get his speech across. From what the translator program and the body movement, it seemed he was claiming to possess the planet.

"I believe he calls himself the Fleetmaster. We're seeing matches from earlier broadcasts now. Try to keep them talking." Artenan was monitoring the translator back aboard their ship, interjecting when he could if they found something new.

The brown kyrian nodded to himself, focusing on the Fleetmaster. "You claim to own this planet. Only one site shows your kind. Several of your ships have come since our arrival. I believe that this planet is not yours." Raldyr's voice echoed quietly in the hangar, its almost musical tone seeming out of place amongst the other dialects.

Unsure of the name of the taller alien, but fathoming a guess based on what he had said, Raldyr turned to Kindal next. "The same goes to you, Kindal." The parroting of the name was eerily accurate. "Ships of similar form to your shuttle have been seen on the surface, fighting over the same site. What is down there?"

He hoped that he could be understood by these two, without having to sound as ridiculous as the Fleetmaster.

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AURORA ORBIT
Shadow Star coordinates

There was a subtle twist in the space near Shadow Star as a warp conduit opened up on them. In another moment, a large vessel, glowing for a while before its hull radiated the strain of the jump away, appeared a few kilometers from the Cindorian stealth craft. The antique battlecruiser maneuvered to match orbit and intercept with the cruiser, which now decloaked in a bright flash of pent-up heat before cooling to a less detectable temperature.

Minutes later the two ships had berthed, the crew complement of the Shadow Star filtering onboard through the docking tunnels where they were greeted by a relieved Captain Lyra. Many of the new staff manned turret substations, the rest distributing themselves amongst the shield and sensor tuners.

"Commander Kel'ar." Lyra saluted the superior officer as the former stepped aboard the newer vessel, stretching in the increased breathing room of its hallways. "Thank you for the reinforcements."

The black kyrian dipped her head in acknowledgement, motioning to be at ease. "You certainly needed them. This ship isn't fit for proper combat with just its bridge."

Lyra cocked her head, showing a bit of a smirk. "I'll have you know that we have some of the Corps' most talented operators on board... at least, when they aren't off on an alien craft."

"Perhaps. At least you can breathe in here, I can't imagine how my father coped on that old thing." Kel'ar chuckled, before changing the subject to the matter at hand. "About these peace talks; I've been instructed to hold here and observe the situation, act as a more immediate authority if Command loses your signal. They've been noticing some periodic disturbances and don't want to take any chances."

Galactic Conquest

WE HAVE A DISCORD?

@SantosGabriel77

Aye, check the last page of chat I think.
discord.gg/vZfVN2

Galactic Conquest

SHUTTLE B-1
Destiny main hangar

The craft touched down with a gentle click as the mag-lock engaged, the whine from the engines spooling down filling the cockpit for several seconds before there was relative silence. Arelya disengaged the door locks and the electrical polarization of the cockpit screen, brightening the interior of the shuttle and allowing the hangar a glimpse inside as her head swung snake-like out of view.

"Radios have a communications uplink with our ship?" Arelya glanced at a terminal over Raldyr's shoulder, checking before he answered.

"Yeah, relay on the shuttle reads green. I hope that it translates enough to make some sense." He shrugged, flicking off the display and stepping to the door, releasing the manual latch and giving it a firm shove. It swung open overhead, folding in half on the way to save space. A short ramp folded down at the same time, the two kyrians stepping off of the craft onto the hangar floor.

Stepping forward to the nose of the shuttle, Arelya glanced at the other craft uneasily. Its design gave her a slight shudder down her spine, the beings who had gathered around it not helping either. "I'm not sure what I expected," she spoke to Raldyr over her direct radio, "but they were not in my list."

"Agreed." The comms officer stepped slightly forward, pleased that he was not that much shorter than the Destiny's crew. "Greetings. I am Raldyr of the vessel Shadow Star, chief communications officer." He looked at Arelya, left wing twitching outward in a pointing gesture. "This is Arelya, our weapons operator and acting shuttlecraft pilot. We come only to seek information on a broadcast we received from this system." All his speech came from the implant embedded in his chest, Raldyr remaining otherwise motionless. "Am I translating correctly?"

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BETA STARDOCK
Hasrya System

Kel'ar scanned over the crews she had been assigned to as they organized in the Beta dock, the large grey and black vessel they were about to board fully visible though the large windows of the starport. It surprised her that they kept such an old design in active service. Although, it would be a shame to decommission the famous craft. Sixty years prior, its predecessor by name had made first contact with several alien races. Now it would help in establishing relations with more.

The black kyrian stood, stepping forward with a chirp from her radio to get the attention of the officers. "Bridge crew, report to stations. Alpha section, you are to man engineering and sensor positions. Beta detachment, you may board at ease, but be prepared for prompt offload once at rendezvous site. We are go for departure in ten." Silently the crew filtered into the boarding tunnel, the Aurerra receiving a breath of life that came only rarely. Kel'ar followed behind the main body of the crew, taking her time on the way to the bridge through the comparably pinched hallways for her kind. "Damn old crew passages. I prefer the Archangel."

Galactic Conquest

HIGH COMMAND
Hasrya System

The officer on the line with Shadow Star leaned back in his chair, listening to their latest transmission. Their hail had been received, and they had launched a shuttlecraft to rendezvous with the other craft. Several new and seemingly hostile entities had also appeared, and now they were asking for reinforcements.

"Anything we send your way will take several hours to arrive. It doesn't seem advisable, not with how quickly things are evolving at your location."

"We won't be able to stay here for much longer without help. What about the Gate? Lock it to our signal, send a transport with a crew detachment. Soldiers, security officers, someone. We're running barebones here."

"That would attract a lot of attention. If you can head to the edge of the system, it would still take an hour. We cannot advise it." The man swiped through a list of all ships at the ready, double checking every one. "We just don't have anything that can make the trip without alerting the whole system."
The officer started at a sudden cough behind his chair, having forgotten he was being watched. "Sir?"

"There's a ship. Hand over the line." The kyrian stepped forward as the man relinquished the spot at the console. "Shadow Star, this is the Admiral. We have a ship that can make the journey to you. It will not be able to provide any additional firepower, but it can carry enough crew to staff your vessel. Are you still requiring assistance?"

"...Sir! Yes, we are in need of at least a full staff, but what vessel are you sending?"

"AURI-1. She can make the trip in minutes. I'll have my officers send a notice when it is underway. Command out." Spirion cut the line, turned to walk out of the tactical floor, but addressed the officer at the station. "Notify Commander Kel'ar that we require her on-duty at dock Beta in fifteen minutes. And call up a staff for a type Azkar and a half staff for a Federal BCS designation. You'll find the records somewhere, I'm sure."

"Of course, sir."
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SHUTTLE B-1
En route to Destiny Ascendant

Arelya tweaked the nav map on her seat, checking that they were still heading to the rendezvous coordinates. They were only a few minutes out now, close enough for the shuttle's optical sensors to pick up the Destiny Ascendant ahead. Behind her, Raldyr opened a channel to the cruiser. "Destiny Ascendant, this is shuttlecraft Bravo-One, three minutes to target. Requesting docking protocols."

Both wore almost fullbody uniforms, resembling standard Star Corps attire; mostly black, with stripes of grey and green breaking up the neck and shoulders. Underneath was a fine mesh of steel and composites, which would block most light firearms and stop gauss drivers from becoming immediately lethal. In the back of the craft were two exosuits, and both kyrians sported a single kalbiir. The plasma blade, currently all but invisible on the joint of the right wing, was more for show and ceremony than anything else. In a pinch, it could prove invaluable.

"Captain says we're seeing more ships jumping in. I hope this meeting is quick."

Galactic Conquest

I don't have any explicit "I-win" buttons but I do have a get off my lawn ye interstellar invaders card.

Galactic Conquest

@6slyboy6 To be clear, I'm not suggesting my dreadnought class be able to core the Eternal Gem in a single battery (Although it might glass a small continent with one), but it could likely do more than just tickle.

Galactic Conquest

Unless of course, it melts the plates so fast that they cease to function bfore powering the shield up. In which case, we are already talking about a death star laser firing at my ship, and not some random old destroyer or cruiser.

@6slyboy6

Well yeah, it's not some random cruiser, it's my dreadnought class. :P
Strongest dedicated combat design in Coalition active service. Not the largest, but the Aldeztaille supercarriers are only potentially superior in their greater accompaniment of fighters and bombers.