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Ghost in the Machine

Envoy...


The holographic Ambassador placed a hand to its chin for a moment as it hypothesized, but then continued speaking "The signal's origins are a mystery to us and the other species as well, a mystery that should be alleviated as soon as the boarding parties discover its source. Either way, we can't very well speak on behalf of the Species controlling the probe. Their signals have washed over our ship as well, and though they leave us unnafected we see that it causes much more irritation for you. We could attempt contacting them for you in order for you to hopefully alleviate some of the tension currently building between you two. A lack of communication, I have hypothesized, will no doubt lead to bloodshed if not remedied. And as much as we would like to stay out of the affairs of others, fighting so close to the station risks the safety of all boarding parties and the potential loss of the signal."


The Ambassador folded both arms behind his back before speaking once more "If you'd like, we could attempt patching them through this very device using our own communication system as a relay."


Space Station...


Several Kadrel turned a corner only to find some more hallways, the group actually groaning at the sight. The Station so far had literally been nothing but massive hallways that seemed to criss cross and intersect all over the place. After winding up back at the landing zone twice they finally decided to mark their path. using the secretive juice of a Luquida slug, the Kadrel group let the neon green juice trail behind them. After that they found that even though they'd only come across long halls, they'd come across new long halls.


The places were different from before, and every so often they'd come across Large sealed doors. Maybe after the place is labeled secure enough the Ambassador guiding them would allow more equipment to shuttled over in order for them to start attempting to get them open. But as for now the Kadrel just marked their locations in Luquida secretions and took note of where they were before moving on


(@NeoLeaf )
 
The Swarm of Petrarica


​



The Leviathan...





"MAKE. IT.SO." The techno-snail replied.


The Station...


<Commander Ira, status?>


"No contacts from either parties. Nothing found as of yet." Ira said while she knelt before a vore colony. The vore colony consists of nothing but wet black organic balls producing a sick membrane of dark substances that looks familliar to melted cheese - only black.


"I'm just spreading the membranes farther into the station, letting swarms of hounds and crows patrol the area."


"Tanks and soldiers are orientating themselves on the platform with the medics who are producing the gasses as we speak.


"I am scouting the area with a number of heavy soldiers and special units."


<Alright, keep your head open for any further developments, We've been contacted by one of the factions, The one seemed to come from that flat-nosed cylinder ship and we've been offered the opportunity to communicate with both factions.> The warm voice paused as to end the sentence.


"But they aren't-" <Ira, silence.> The commander had been cut off.


<You should know by now that I have my reasons for doing things this way. But I thought I would like to inform you on what was going on in your absence. If you find either of the factions - I'll let you know if you can spare them or not.>


"And Gof?"


<Gof is against it. For better or worse he'll kill anyone on sight. if you find him eliminate him, punish him, assimilate him, do whatever for disobeying orders.>


"Sir." She nodded.


The swarm seem to be controlling the upper levels of the Station. The walls and floors are slowly being covered up by a dark slimy substance giving an eerie feel if one were to tread into their territory. The silent halls and corridors are sounded with the high shrills and shrieks from the hundreds of hounds and crows running and flying about. vore colonies would exploded and unleash more colonies of their like to spread the substance throughout the floor. The area of the Platform is completely crowded with the more powerful units, breathing the nigh transparent vapor within themselves and breaking off into packs once every few minutes to patrol the halls or to support the lesser hounds and crows.
.


​
 
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-----Onboard B-2 Command Vessel-----


"Sir the Organic vessel has not responded to our hails, shall we commence our attack?"


Tarzak considered his orders. His orders were to attack this unknown and potentially dangerous enemy whose only acknowledgment of his fleets existence had been blowing up their probe. While this could bee seen as an act of aggression, Tarzak doubted they meant any real harm as they had not yet attacked him fleet, or called in reinforcements for that matter. Perhaps they did not have hailing technology and therefore there efforts had been pointless.


"Negative. Do not attack their ship just yet"


"But si-"


"Do as I say, I know my orders". Tarzak grimaced. Dravak would not be happy he had disobeyed him.


((@Atom made it so im not attacking him))
 
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The Eternity Damned, a rickety old ship but a deadly reliable one was were Agent 12, now Shane Warner, made his home. The ship wasn't large, but it wasn't small by any means, it infact resembled a Henson Corporation Freighter to an uncanny degree, suggesting this may have been the sinister conquest of the Expeditionaries. The hull was rusted red on the outside, the paint chipped and faded all across it's unglamorous body. At the back, a rounded rectangle made up most of the ship's body with six large thrusters, three to a side, lining the rectangle at an angle to give it forward propulsion and steer it up or down. Extending from the rectangle was a smaller cylinder, roughly 40% the size of the body of the ship emerging from it's center and served as the neck of the ship, connecting head to body. The head of the Eternity Damned was made up of seven rounded rectangles that all melded in the center. One facing forward and three on each side of the head.


Across the hull of the ship were small grooves and indents where directional thrusters lay hidden to allow the ship to be surprisingly maneuverable and though it was clearly not built for combat, the head of the ship had an Ajax R2 Railgun, the larger of the two models used by Henson Corporation vessels this Cannon was often found on Destroyer or Battleship classes making it an off-putting sight for such a vessel as the Eternity Damned. The Ajax has a rate of fire of 15 shots every 5 minutes, or 3 every 1 minute and can pack a heavy enough punch to thrash larger vessels easily. On the body of the ship, seven small Phalanx M3 cannons dot the rectangle, the Phalanx being the smaller model of the two, it is primarily used for defensive measures, firing a smaller, more rapid cannon to take out oncoming missiles and fighters.


Finally, hidden in the six smaller rectangles on the head (all aside from the forward facing rectangle) are six Warheads known as EpaC missiles, Electronic Plasma Cutter missiles. The EPaC missile is a 15 foot missile and the fore end is actually a moldable electronic surface. When this surface hits a kinetic barrier or shield it releases a massive surge of E1 electromagnetic radiation, temporarily carving a hole in the enemy shields and allowing the rest of the warhead to pass through unharmed. When the warhead itself to slam into the enemy armor and magnetically fling clusters of superconducting toroids. These donut-shaped projectiles are designed to shatter upon impact, arcing electricity between the fragments and flash-converting them into blasts of plasma that impact with the heat of a cutting torch.


All these weapons, this surprising arsenal that would normally be found on a Destroyer or Battleship class ship were hidden (aside from the Ajax) on the maneuverable Eternity Damned's clever disguise as a shipping freighter. The inside of the ship further exposed the ruse, as the head of the ship was only a cockpit(the forward facing rectangle on the head) and six missile silos. The neck served as a walkway and contained various machinery but was kept rather bland as it was a weak point on the ship. The large body of the ship was what truly defied the 'Shipping Freighter' disguise. The large open space that would normally be used to hold cargo was not at all used for such, instead it held a four deck area.


The main deck (2nd deck) was what you would walk into from the neck and were immediately greeted by a recreation room with several chairs, coaches, pool tables, virtual reality games, TV screens, smoke pits, the works! Behind the rec room was a small dinning area with four large metal picnic tables to seat the crew as they ate. Past the Dining area was the kitchen itself, smaller than the other two rooms though as much is to be expected being pressed up against the bulkhead in such a manner. Above the main deck was 1st Deck, which housed a Navigation room, the Captain's Stateroom(a king sized bed, personal desk and computer, armor display case, weapon display case, quite a luxurious room compared to the rest), and a Weapon's control room. Just below the main deck, on the 3rd deck was most of the electrical workings of the ship as well as it's relatively weak shield generator. The third deck also housed the Crew's barracks, each member getting his or her's own bed and lock box to store their gear/loot from any mission the ship may perform. On the bottom of the ship, the 4th deck was the Engine rooms, the Machinery rooms, the grease works.


Right now the ship was ablaze with activity, the rec room was populated by several crew members who idly chattered, played games, watched the TV screens, anything to relax. The Kitchen wasn't active, lunch having just passed and the mess cleaned up the staff of the kitchen were now likely in the rec room. Meanwhile, down below the Engineers of the ship, the Electricians, the Mechanics were performing preventative maintenance on their equipment. Everyone had a job to do and once it was done, their time was their time. All the while, in the Captain's stateroom; Shane sat at his desk, staring into the screen of his computer with a disconnected look in his eyes, his chin resting on his hand as he slowly scrolled through the report that Henson Corporation had sent him on his current orders. Just as Shane's thoughts began to wander towards putting the Solaris to his head and blowing his brains out to avoid paperwork- a knock was heard on his door.


He didn't flinch, he didn't even move, only his eyes shifted towards the door as he waited a moment and called out;


"Come in." pursing his lips as the door opened, he slowly set the screen of the computer flat against his desk to hide it's contents from whoever would enter his room. A thin feminine figure activated the door, the metal bulwark rising into the ceiling with a slight whoosh. Danielle 'Dani' Newman, the ship's Weapon Engineer and Co-Captain, a sight for sore eyes. The woman was thin, standing at only 5'5 she appeared even smaller than she actually was. Her skin was almost white and had shaved half her head, growing the otherside out longer to be combed back over her ear. She wore a tight black leather jumpsuit with a heavier yellow and black jacket over the top of the jumpsuit, naturally she had a pistol on her hip.


"Y'know Uty'er is just as strong as he looks." she said rolling her shoulder as she came in and promptly sat on the corner of Shane's desk.


Shane sat back in his chair and tried to look alive, stretching out his arms as he spoke. "He's a Cho'Gnaanth, they're not exactly known for their meekness."


"I know that, but shit you'd think he'd be dumb enough to trick into a grapple or something!" she exclaimed with an open mouth smile. She scooted a bit closer to Shane, who remained leaned back in his chair in a casual manner.


"Is there something I can help you with, Ms. Newman?" he asked grinning despite his attempt to hide it, earning a dirty scowl from Dani who immediately produced a disgusted groan.


"Yeah, there is, asshole." she hoped up from his desk and motioned for him to stand up. Shane merely raised his eyebrows and gave her a tired stare, forcing the woman to grab him by the arm and haul him to his feet with a surprising bit of strength from the small girl. "You know you still owe me a date, right?" she said, looking up at Shane with a smug look on her face. Shane scoffed and opened his eyes wide.


"Is that so?" He retorted, he didn't fight the pull of the young Weapon's Engineer, but for the fun of it he certainly didn't walk with her, causing her to tug on his arm every once in a while to get him to move. "I run a professional crew, Ms. Newman! The Captain couldn't possibly fraternize with-"


"Call me 'Ms. Newman' one more time and I swear to god I will mutiny." It was hard to tell if she was joking or not but regardless she stepped close to Shane and put his hands on her hip and on her shoulder and began leading in a bit of a dance in the office.


"Dani..." his was stern as he pulled away from her. He motioned to his computer and gave a shrug "I'm busy. The Corporation is trying to hem us up with Illegal looting of derelict vessels and I'm trying to refute it." it was a logical enough cover for his report to Henson Corporation. Illegal looting was the smallest charge on a very large list of crimes they had broken since Shane had boarded all those years ago. Dani didn't seem amused in the slightest however, flashing an angry scowl at Shane who gave her no response she pushed past him and threw a hand in the air.


"Fine, nevermind the-" she began before Shane's computer began beeping. They were picking up a signal from somewhere, though she was angry, she opened the door and took a step out. She was also curious, so she turned and waited to get word on the beeping. Shane lifted his computer screen off the desk, set the report aside and opened up the Signal. Shane smiled and looked up at her.


"Want to piss off some Corporation geeks?" he asked looking up at the girl who despite her frustration couldn't hide back the eager smile. She looked at the floor and said; "Yes.." under her breath.


The preparation took almost an hour, the crew all running to their battlestations, manning up Rail Guns, ensuring all the Engines and the Shield Generator were running at full capacity before they made the FTL jump towards the signal. When all was ready, they made the jump following the signal sent by the derelict ship. When they came out of their jump they were greeted by quite an unwelcoming sight; dozens of other ships already surrounded the husk and the red alert blared over the loudspeaker inside the Eternity Damned.


"Uty'er, scan the Communications Array, I want to pick up ANY signal ANY of these ships try to send to us. If they start telling us to back off, we'll back off, a derelict isn't worth this sort of fight." Shane said to the large reptilian. Shane and several others had manned up the Navigation Room which also served as a Command Bridge and Communications Hub for the smaller ship. Uty'er said nothing but nodding in acknowledgement, Shane had his attention on the scanner however, eyeing the other ships with his heart rate picking up a bit. It appeared there was a Battle Royale going on for this derelict, it begged the question; what exactly was on that ship?


NOTES

None of the crew onboard the Eternity Damned are aware of Shane's affiliation with the Corporation. The Eternity Damned is NOT a Corporation ship, it is rather harshly disguised as a Freighter to draw in smaller pirate ships that can be easily destroyed and looted with the Ship's armaments.


The Eternity Damned is a multi-species ship, several Cho'Gnaanth are onboard as well, most notable Uty'er. The Cho'Gnaanth stand at roughly 9ft tall, are humanoid in shape, have six fingers (two thumbs), short stubby tails, and closely resemble iguanas as far as the face goes. They are incredibly strong and smart but have short lifespans of about 35-40 years.


Text will be colored based on who is speaking for your convenience. If you pay attention up to the dialogue you should be able to decipher who is who.
 
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Tal'Shari


A single lone figure entered the small bar a short time later, stopping uncertainty at the bar until her eyes alighted on a few points in the room that, to the naked eye, were quite unimportant. Her eyes then led her to the seat next to Captain Valerian and, without further hesitation, she slowly walked over and took the seat.


The woman looked humanoid bodily, but upon the removal of her hood her true, more fish-like appearance was revealed. This would be the woman that had been described to Valerian, and it could easily be told that the rumor he'd most likely heard regarding her was true, that rumor being that she was unlike any intelligent species in this known universe.


The woman didn't turn to him or say a word in his direction, quietly ordering a drink and facing forward as if waiting. She, unlike Valerian, had not been told who to look for in the rendezvous. So it was no surprise she didn't recognize the man to her right as her contact.





The Reclaimer


An eerie silence seemed to descend over the inside of the station, punctured only by the low static crackle of an active speaker system of sorts. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and no where at once, "Who...are you?" A voice asked, crackling to life from the static echo and silence. "How... did you find this place?" It continued.


A short length of time passed again before the silence cracked again, "Ah... that blasted... signal she sent..." the voice growled lightly, "Well...my master won't be pleased...but it's off no matter...he shall be here soon... and until then...I guess I have to entertain my guests..." the voice faded into a mad cackle before a blue glow lit along the floor, "Come now younglings...come to your doom...I await you in my maze of death..." the voice cackled once more before the eerie silence returned.
 
-----Control Room, Klavikan Homeworld-----


"Sir, Commander Tarzak has not fired at the Organic vessel"


Dravak growled, Tarzak was ignoring his direct order? He better have a good reason....


Dravak picked up a mic and orderd the same technician to contact commander Tarzak. A few moments latter a nervous voice crackled over the speakers.


"...Sir?" Tarzak said, rather tentatively.


"Greetings, "Commander", what is the meaning of this?" Dravak asked angrily, his wolfish voice coming as more of a growl.


"Why haven't you fired at the Organic ship?"


"Well sir.." Tarzak started rather nervously before clearing his throat. "I believed, I believe firing at the ship would be... Less than advantageous" Tarzak said carefully, avoiding insulting the soundness of Dravak's order.


Dravak, still angry but intrigued, growled;


"And what do you suggest?"


"Well...". Tarzak cleared his throat once again before continuing more confidently.


"I believe that the Organic vessel is incapable of responding to our hails and our scans may of been harming their ship and therefore attacked the probe as a result. They have not attacked our ships or troops and I believe they do not intend to"


Dravak nodded, despite the fact Tarzak couldn't actually see him.


"Very well. Normally I would de-rank a commander who disobeyed me so easily but I have faith in your decision.". He paused for a moment and then added;


"Don't let me down"


Commander Tarzak sighed an audible sigh of relief.


"I won't sir"


-----On board B-2 Command Vessel-----


Tarzak sighed in relief as Dravak. terminated the call. Turning to a technicians, he said


"Keep me updated on that Organic ship and the projectiles"


The technician saluted Commander Tarzak and continued to monitor the ship in his hollo-screen. Suddenly the same technician raised his voice in alarm;


"Sir!, I'm detecting a new ship that has just dropped out of FTL."


"What?!" Tarzak asked, surprised. "Scan the ship, I want to know how much, if at all, of a threat this newcomer is"


After a few moments of silence (as all the other technicians were anxiously awaiting the report) the technical gave his report of the results;


"Visual wavelengths show the ship to be a quite decrepit cargo freighter."


Tarzak sighed in relief. "So, no threat?"


The technician looked at his screen, then at Tarzal and said


"Well... It does support a vast array of seemingly powerful railguns, quite unusual for a freighter and gamma and radio scans suggest it may be equipped with missiles"


hmm... How unusual Tarzak thought to himself. Freighters weren't usually equipped with such powerful weaponry. If the scans were true this this lowly "freighter" could pose an actual threat, albeit low to his fleet as a whole, but to his smaller ships the freighter could prove deadly in one on one combat.


"Hail the freighter, I want to speak with the captain" @Anaxial


-----Commander Jolf, inside the station-----


As Jolf and his company carefully crept through the eerie and dark halls the station seemed somehow quitter than it had before. This science, which seemed to emanate from deep within the structure caused his men to look side to side, up and down, as if there was something there.


Suddenly the PA system of the station crackled to life startling Jolf and his crew., who looked about even more franticly. Our came a eerie and disturbing voice.


"Who...are you?" A voice asked, crackling to life from the static echo and silence. "How... did you find this place?" It continued.


A short length of time passed again before the silence cracked again, "Ah... that blasted... signal she sent..." the voice growled lightly, "Well...my master won't be pleased...but it's off no matter...he shall be here soon... and until then...I guess I have to entertain my guests..." the voice faded into a mad cackle before a blue glow lit along the floor, "Come now younglings...come to your doom...I await you in my maze of death..." the voice cackled once more before the eerie silence returned.


"What the hell was that?" asked Jolf's second in command.


"Im not sure, we better contact HQ..."


((have to post it then add un the other parts otherwise my phone crashes and I lose all my work))
 
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Envoy...


"Wonderful, we shall begin linking up, hopefully this will work well enough to use in case of any other-"


The Ambassador was interrupted as he spotted something, yet another ship appearing from what he assumed to be a warp. He immediately noticed the differences in design it had with the other ships.


"-visitors." he finished before glancing back to the slug "For... convenience sake we shall connect with them as well. Hopefully all will be defused in time."


The Epsilon....


After speaking, E73 motioned towards the nearby Kadrel, who immediately began attempting to reconnect with what the President had called The Second Klavikan Republic's vessels.


"The Species that has recently destroyed your probe would like to make contact with you through us." he spoke in the hailing "Seeing as how the preservation of whatever the signal source is still remains a high priority task, we have agreed to help the two of you with this small bout of misinformation. We may also have other contacts soon so we will take this time to allow everyone to introduce one another."


Before he could move to speak to the slug some more, one of the Kadrel Technicians approached with a holo-pad in hand.


Glancing at it, E73 took note of the words the Kadrel on the Station had heard, he narrowed his eyes as he processed it. So something was very much still active on the vessel, potentially quite problematic... and intriguing.


A Holo-Screen appeared before him, one portraying the slug's appearance as viewed by the communicator the Envoy was holding. A second one appeared in preparations for the S.K.R's appearance and one appeared in at the side just in case they were able to make contact with the newer vessel. E73 was use to making deals with species, and had more than once had to play peacekeeper despite the actions of the Theno or even the Kadrel at times. He did hope, however, that he would be enough to reign in this obviously volatile situation that he had found himself in.


While he had no doubt that they should be able to escape if things went south, the risk of losing the signal was


"Ambassador Unit E73 of the Epsilon" he said as he tried to reach the newer ship "attempting to reach unknown vessel. Please, state your name and purpose for visiting this particularly busy sector."


(@Anaxial ) (@NeoLeaf ) (@Bobisdead123 )
 
The hail to the Klavikan vessels was immediately linked to the control room where President Dravak listened with interest;


"The Species that has recently destroyed your probe would like to make contact with you through us." he spoke in the hailing "Seeing as how the preservation of whatever the signal source is still remains a high priority task, we have agreed to help the two of you with this small bout of misinformation. We may also have other contacts soon so we will take this time to allow everyone to introduce one another."


So, these species can talk... I was beginning to doubt they could. Dravak said to himself, somewhat jokingly.


"Very well, I shall speak with them"


To @NeoLeaf


"Greeting Captain of the Organic ship. I am Dravak, President of the Second Klavikan Republic. My people, like your's I assume, are here in search of the signals source. When my fleets first arrived we tried to establish communications with you but our olive branch of peace and friendship was instead blown apart, im referring to that harmless probe you destroyed for no apparent reason. Now, I am a reasonable and understanding man. I'm sure you have some sort of explanation?"


To E37


"As for you E37, I humbly thank you for putting me in contact with these two vessels. How did you manage to contact the organic vessel anyways? They didn't respond to any of our hails."


To @Anaxial


"Greetings, I am President Dravak of the Second Klavikan Republic, a peaceful nation but one willing to fight if needed. We are here locating the source of a message that was sent from this location. May I assume you are tracing the same signal? And if so, what can your scanners pick up? Ours can't seem to penetrate very deep into the station."


@GrieveWriter (Just a short add on to my post)
 
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A hint of Danger upon the Horizons


In the Derelict Space Station


"Come now younglings...come to your doom...I await you in my maze of death..."


The words echoed throughout the station with a sense of damning finality of which no doubt shook the bone marrow of all those who heard them and the Hidden members of Odins eye were of no exception. The unnatural aura which then perpetrated the area reminded them of the presence of their lady when she was… irked. A memory of which made them shiver and beg to forget it.


“Orders?” came the silent message across the HUD of the Odins eye’s Kill team.


“Pierce the veil of which our goal hides in this maze. Deploy EME.” Rasped that dead voice, EME being an abbreviation for Echolocation Mapping Equipment, originally used for exploring caves and the like but with slight modifications made a great enemy warning and tracking system or suicide bombers


The rest of the cloaked soldiers spread out in the tight, metallic hallways and set up a perimeter whilst one knelt down and pulled out a canister looking piece of equipment of which he then slammed down into the ground. Small slits opened up in the sides and out poured a grey like mist which quickly faded away.


A few more moments pass before the one who had deployed this intriguing piece of equipment messaged. “EME Deployed, link up now.”


A map of sorts appeared on their HUD’s that grew larger and larger as time passed, slowly mapping the station whilst coordinating with the stealth cruisers hidden in the dark.


A few blips on the screen which quickly were deciphered. “Got Swarm like contacts according to the echolocation, 100m or so to our 5’oclock above.”


“Noted, avoid that sector though if possible leave them a message via imagery, anything else?”


“Negative, scan still in progress.”


“Pack it up, lets move it and keep an eye out. Anything else that’s here with us, if its moving we will know soon.”


And with that the Raven kneeling down picked up the canister and stowed it away In its shifting cloak and brought out its weapon once more. Like a well-oiled machine they flowed through the hallways, making detours as necessary to avoid the Klavakians, and Kadrel who had popped up though the map. Though the Ravens had no way of Determining who was who, they avoided both altogether effectively and pushed on through the station like the ghosts they had been trained to be and having a perverse sense of glee as they did so.


Spymaster Moroc had trained them well and it showed, they moved much like a Dredge would and used more or less the same techniques though… they were not Dredge themselves and couldn’t grasp nor perform the more complicated maneuvers and ideas of which that males mind were able to create, they could not replicate that ethereal grace. Though they were weary of the 13th one in their midst, they all knew just what it was. The 13th in question moved ahead at the spear point, never flagging, never slowing always going, driven with purpose same as the rest, though just what said purpose was no one other than 13 knew.


And so they moved unseen and unnoticed. The other factions on board the station could not but help and wonder at why were there Raven Feathers dusting the metal ground.


In Space


The Swarm, through channels of which were not entirely mechanical and or Biological but of the mind. The Leviathan itself, in its many bundles of nerves and stimuli responses and a few higher minds upon the ship suddenly got an image floating at the edge of their mind. A small one mind you, a dead tree sitting upon a bleak and hostile landscape with a single bird sitting on the top of the tree. A single Raven, watching all that happened down below which divided into two as the maggots down below squirmed helplessly in the rotten soil. A Message, a Signal… and an invitation. The delivery had that touch of something other. Something dark on the other side. @NeoLeaf


That something other grinned at the screen in front of it and said to no one in particular. “Well Brother Mine… think they will understand that?”


“Hopefully, our Lady knows patience was never our strong suit when there was fun to be had.”


“Mayhaps this is a test?”


“True… but if this is a test set by our Lady then there is always more than just one way to win.”


"And if we Fail?"


There was no reply


In an undisclosed Location





The Man known to some as Captain Valerian, a ‘simple’ merchantman, took a long drink from the bottle he had ordered and said in a bored, even tone. “Ahh bah… Ive got a ship to catch but my package has not yet arrived.”


Another patron of the bar, grimaced good naturedly, a grizzled mariner who had seen his share of space. “Aye brother, I can amend to that, damn couriers, think they’d bother to show up on time.”


“Isnt that the truth, though I must say, however, pleasant company makes it worthwhile wouldn’t you say?”


The Spacer grins and leers at the one next to the Captain. "ill say."


“Aye men to that, if there is a god up there somewhere.”


The Captain leaned over to the newcomer and said in the cheerful manner of a man flirting, confident of his next big score. “So what is it sweetheart? Can I get you a bottle of brandy? Champagne? I think ole’ Brutis has a bottle in the back that I can squeeze out of him for the right price eh?”


The Bartender in question just grunts and goes back to cleaning glasses with a dirty rag, semi self defeating, however there were a few problems with that sentence. First off Champagne in a bar? Damn right sketchy, secondly the bartenders name wasn’t Brutis, his name tag, filthy though it was said Dave. The introductions were set, the ploy began as the key to recognize the contact had been played. The second part was required before all was said and done.


@Atom
 
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The Swarm of Petrarica


​



The Leviathan...





The three orange circles on the mask seem to 'blink' by rapidly flaring a number of times and stretched it's neck as though it were looking down on the grey furred bipedal mammal creature spoke.


"Greeting Captain of the Organic ship. I am Dravak, President of the Second Klavikan Republic. My people, like your's I assume, are here in search of the signals source. When my fleets first arrived we tried to establish communications with you but our olive branch of peace and friendship was instead blown apart, im referring to that harmless probe you destroyed for no apparent reason. Now, I am a reasonable and understanding man. I'm sure you have some sort of explanation?" The furry creature ended it's sentence and went on to talk introduce itself to the newcomer.


A mellowed voice came from the Aliuu, a voice that seemed to echo from the ends of a distant horizon or mountain range and yet sounded as though it came from inside a person's wet inner body. Every word that was spoken by the slug came with a pause and there seemed to be a soft hissing sound that amplified itself on occasion.


"You..." The orange 'eye' on the mask brightened up.


"Are. The. ONE. Who. Is. ANNOYING. US. With. Your. Utterly. Useless. Contraptions!" An animalistic roar could be heard from the secondary voice before it had been drowned out by the hissing sound.


"WE. Do. Not. Need. To. Heed. You... We. Do. NOT. Need. To. Answer. Something. So. Trivial. And. Obvious..." The Flare stopped and the three orange circles acting as the mollusk's eye return to their normal intensity.


"If. YOU. Truly. Claim. To. Be. A. Reasonable. Individual. THEN. An. Explanation. Would. Only. Waste. Breath. And. Words... For. THESE. Ones. Thought. And. Attempted. To. Contact. US. Through. The. Use. Of. Other Means..."


The masked mollusk then jolted and it's tentacles froze in place. The captain was experiencing a vision of some sort, a small vivid projection in his mind as though someone were reading a poetry out loud to him. A small one mind you, a dead tree sitting upon a bleak and hostile landscape with a single bird sitting on the top of the tree. A single Raven, watching all that happened down below which divided into two as the maggots down below squirmed helplessly in the rotten soil. The Leviathan wailed a low intense sound and shook it's head for a moment.The vision went away and left the captain and the slug dazzled temporarily before resuming with the conversation.


"She. Is. Watching." The masked mollusk thought out loud.


"No. Matter..."


The mollusk turned it's attention towards the Leviathan and pointed it's head towards the station. There must be a reason why this vision came, whatever the vision was it didn't exactly indicate anything for the swarm. judging form the vision's setting the captain can narrow it down to one suspect. not minding it the captain returned to the conversation with the two species from the holo-screens that it observed. It had nothing more to say to the furred creature.



.


​
 
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E73...


"We sent an envoy over in order to get more physical, for lack of better words, in terms of contact. The view you see before you is being linked through our Comms to a simple Holo-Communicator being used by a single Kadrel." E73 said with quite a bit of calmly voiced speed "Turns out they were fully capable of speech, though our usual attempts at using our technology for long distance communication proved ineffective prompting us to Improvise."


"As it has said, the probe had been showering it with scans that, though tolerable by us, was either irritating or unpleasant to beings of this type." E73 said without even taking a break "I doubt they'd have any way of knowing whether or not such a device would be harmless or not seeing as they got no word and only agitations from it. I should know how dangerous plain-looking and small contraptions can be. I have one ingrained into the back of my head which will mercilessly fry me the moment I am labeled as compromised. Though we shall not attempt to alleviate the hastiness that went into just blowing it up, I believe we can all admit it was the result of blatant miscommunication."


Characters or Factions Mentioned: (@NeoLeaf ) (@Bobisdead123 )
 
@NeoLeaf


"" You..." The orange 'eye' on the mask brightened up.


"Are. The. ONE. Who. Is. ANNOYING. US. With. Your. Utterly. Useless. Contraptions!" An animalistic roar could be heard from the secondary voice before it had been drowned out by the hissing sound.


"WE. Do. Not. Need. To. Heed. You... We. Do. NOT. Need. To. Answer. Something. So. Trivial. And. Obvious..." The Flare stopped and the three orange circles acting as the mollusk's eye return to their normal intensity.


"If. YOU. Truly. Claim. To. Be. A. Reasonable. Individual. THEN. An. Explanation. Would. Only. Waste. Breath. And. Words... For. THESE. Ones. Thought. And. Attempted. To. Contact. US. Through. The. Use. Of. Other Means..." ""


Dravak was somewhat puzzled by the creatures odd pronunciation and manner of speaking. Perhaps these creatures use other means of communication...


But mainly Dravak was somewhat angered at the creatures insults and lack of respect.


But he couldn't let his anger show... well he shouldn't;t anyways... especially in this high tension


Despite his effort to control himself, his anger got the better of him and he growled;


"Annoying you? Obvious? What's obvious to me is that your species haven't even invented a little thing called "radio-communication". Its where you can talk to other ships without going into them or whatever your people do..." "Besides, how could some simple scans hurt that monster you call a ship? Must be rather weak if you ask me..."
 
-----On board B-2 Command Vessel, Commander Tzarzak-----


Commander Tarzak winced as the harsh and angry words left Dravak's barred teeth.


Oh come on Dravak... Diplomacy!


Commander Tarzak had come to realize after many decades of service under "President" (Who was actually more of a dictator) Dravak that diplomacy wasn't really his strong suit, or military strategy for that matter. Dravak tended to be short tempered and Brutish, intimidating his opponents with physical force, threats and the occasional "accidents". Dravak's basic military strategy was more or less the same, send in an unnecessary amount of ships, intimidate the enemy and fire at the first signs of trouble. While admittedly this strategy would work if the enemy was in fact an enemy, but this situation required diplomacy and pure diplomacy, something Dravak just wasn't good at.


Tarzak had tried and tried again to allow himself to act as the chief diplomat in place of Dravak, but to no avail. In fact it actually pissed Dravak so made he had almost gotten demoted for it.


As Dravak continued to speak Tarzak winced and winced again. Was he insane? Does he WANT to start a war? Over a stupid cheap probe...


This cant go on, if Dravak continues he gunna start a fucking war!





Tarzak turned to his communications technician and said;


"Contact Dravak, I want to speak with him now"


The Technician nodded and soon a communication link was established with Dravak.


"What is it Tarzak? I'm trying to talk with our friends here!" Dravak said angrily


Tarzak cleared his throat and swallowed hard. THis was gunna be hard... and painful


"Well, sir" he started, choosing his words carefully "I think you should let me speak on your behalf sir"


Dravak was silent for a moment, before angrily but eerily quietly he growled


"And just why do you suggest that, friend?"


Tarzak gulped, here I go...


"Well sir, I just think they would feel, less threatened by me, since you are such an intimating and fearsome figure sir.


Dravak was silent once more, considering what Tarzka had just said.


"Hm, very well Tarzak, I see your point. You may speak in my place"


Tarzak sighed in relief. "Thank you sir, I shall represent my people well!"


With this Tarzak hastily spoke to the commander of the Organic ship;


"I think what my President means to say is we apologize deeply for annoying you and your vessel. We were merely trying to leanr more about that interesting ship of yours, it is rather magnificent if I do say so. If we had thought of another way to communicate with you we would of, but we assumed you were simply ingoring our hails. I apologize on my people's behalf"


-----Inside the Station, Commander Jolf-----


As Jolf lead his battalion ever closer into the dark and eerie station his men followed, not giving any signs of fear, whether they simply hid it or there Klavikan arrogance caused them to assume they were safe were to blame, Jolf could not tell.


As they walked farther and farther the party came to a fork in the "road". They could either go right or lef,t each way seemingly not getting them any closer to the station. At Jolf's halt his second in command came back to his side to see what was going on.


"A fork in the road? Let's turn around, we proably took a wrong turn" he said.


Jolf studied the dark passages for a moment before responding. He could just make out the end of the tunnels, as his Rovilan eyes were quite adapt for seeing in the dark. The tunnel leading to the left seem to turned back to go the way they needed.


"We go left, I can just make out the end of the tunnel and it seems to turn towards the direction we need to go" Jolf replied firmly, knowing what was about to happen.


"Go LEFT?? Are you STUPID? Its gunna lead to another fork in the road, or a dead end or something and then we will have to turn around and ever so slowly CRAWL back here so "no one hears us"."


Jolf sighed. Whenever he said soemthing, his second in command was sure to disagree.


"We go left and that's final." Jolf said calmly as he started down the left tunnel. His Rovilan troops followed him without hesitation or question while the Klavikan troops looked to the second in command, looking to him for order (Despite the fact Jolf was the Commander). After a few moments hesitation he muttered to himself and followed Jolf down the left passage, with the Klavikan troops following close behind.
 
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Within moments of dropping out of FTL, the Eternity Damned was hailed by multiple communications. Shane eyed the hails nervously, these could very well be the last messages they received, no escape from a fleet. Whatever this derelict was, it was worth of bringing in an entire fleet of ships so it must be good, now was the time to utilize those years as an Agent to connive his way inside.


"Uty'er, I want you to take the second call. I'll take the first, watch what I do, follow my lead." Shane said resting his hands on the Navigator's holographic map, showing the virtual renditions of the ships in the area that could be picked up on long range scanners. The large reptilian again didn't respond but instead tapped away at his command console- a few bleeps as the connections were made and jutting from the side of the Navigator came the first Communication from the Klavakian ship. He stood patiently as the President introduced himself and waited for his chance to speak.


"President?" he immediately questioned the title as he crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly, he didn't exactly buy that. "Would you mind explaining to me what a derelict ship signal could possibly require the deployment of an entire fleet along with their President? Seems a bit overkill to me doesn't it? Leaves A LOT of territory vulnerable." the man uncrossed his arms and wagged a finger at the alien. He was sure he'd seen aliens like these before but it was hard to keep track of every mutant E.T. out there. Placing a hand on his chin, Shane thought for a moment. "Mr. President, my name is Shane Warner, I'm with the Expeditionary ship Eternity Damned. We picked up the signal in hopes of salvage. My crew is much better at dismantling working parts than a military fleet and frankly... We're at your mercy until our FTL cools down. Would you be willing to compromise? We'll help you dismantle working pieces, you give us our fair share?" He asked taking a much more professional tone than before. Shane rested his thumbs in his pockets and rolled his shoulders a bit. "As far as the signal or survivors go, they're all you. We're only interested in bringing back some scrap to sell. Hell, I'd be willing to trade you one of the missiles I've got on board as cargo as a sign of good faith." all the crew members in the navigation room were silent, their heads turned, they awaited a response.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the Navigation room, Uty'er manned his own Communications tab, opening the hail from the second ship. When it opened and the Embassador Unit had finished his message, the massive reptilian stared down the robot with a similarly fearless, blank expression. The hulking alien wore a simple garb, exposing much of it's scared and muscled scales. On his head, a simple metal ring worn like a crown produced a third eye on his forehead and on his body he had a simple shoulder pad that held up a kilt-like garb that covered only the lower half of the creature's body. The eye on the forehead lit up, it was safe to assume it was a translator of sorts as the alien's mouth didn't sync up with the words AT ALL.


"This is Navigator Uty'er, of the Eternity Damned. We are simple salvage crew, followed message but now... A fleet is here? Seems unnecessary, dishonorable even, to outnumber your foes in such a way." The creature waited for the translator to catch up to him before he continued. "The Captain is predisposed, I will relay message that we only want to salvage ship. We are experienced, much better at taking apart working mechanical parts. You allow us to board, we will help salvage the ship for fair share. We can offer you some of our cargo as a sign of good faith."


@Bobisdead123 @GrieveWriter
 
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-----Control Room, Klavikan Homeworld-----


As Dravak ended his hail with E37 and the Organic ship, Tarzaks hail to the suspicious freighter was answered, and was automatically transferred to Dravak.


"President?" The creature said immediately, as if it creature didn't believe him. Dravak wasn't quite sure why this hairless creature would question his authority but it didn't really matter, the creature was obviously only a petty pirate.


"Would you mind explaining to me what a derelict ship signal could possibly require the deployment of an entire fleet along with their President? Seems a bit overkill to me doesn't it? Leaves A LOT of territory vulnerable." said the creature.


Dravak chuckled to himself. There was no such thing as "too many ships", but again Dravak said nothing as he waited for the rather ignorant creature to finish talking.


Next the creature said;


"Mr. President, my name is Shane Warner, I'm with the Expeditionary ship Eternity Damned. We picked up the signal in hopes of salvage. My crew is much better at dismantling working parts than a military fleet and frankly... We're at your mercy until our FTL cools down. Would you be willing to compromise? We'll help you dismantle working pieces, you give us our fair share?"


A salvage ship going after a signal warning of the end of days to salvage it? Does this creature think I'm stupid?... Or maybe he's just a cocky buffoon, the ship does have quite a bit of firepower... It would take more than your average ship to take it out... Dravak said to himself, but again, he let the creature continue to talk.


"As far as the signal or survivors go, they're all you. We're only interested in bringing back some scrap to sell. Hell, I'd be willing to trade you one of the missiles I've got on board as cargo as a sign of good faith."


At this the creature stopped talking and looked at Dravak, awaiting a response.


The creature would give him a missile? Dravak doubted their missiles would be even half as good as his own but still, it would be interesting to see one of their missiles... But then again they might activate it inside of Tarzak's ship (They were likely pirates after all, and Dravak didn't trust a salvage ship that was armed to the teeth)... Besides, if he allowed the creature to keep his likely primitive missile he could earn himself an ally inside the station...


Dravak looked at the creature and began in a friendly tone;


"We sent a probe here first, discovered these other ships and sent in a small fleet to... "establish a presence" you could say. But this fleet is a offensive fleet, I assure you any army stupid enough to attack our territory would be squashed like a bug."


"As for me, I am not actually "here" per say. I had the commander of the flag ship sync his come with my personal control room on our home world, therefore allowing me to communicate with you "creatures" from the comfort of home"


"As for a compromise... As I said, we are a peaceful people and will not harm your "salvage ship" (not that Dravak believed they were salvagers, they were likely pirates or mercenaries). You may board the station and salavge it, in return you give us half of course... And anyone or anything you find in there. As for the missile, we don't want it, you may keep it, friend"
 
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The Swarm of Petrarica


​



The Leviathan...





A third screen had emerged from the aberrant communication device and The techno snail pointed it's head towards the new visual whist the grey furred creature was being replaced by a calmer and polite mind. The creature ignored what the ruler had said to it and paid better attention to the replacement.


"Flattery. Will. Get. You. Nowhere... But. Your. Apology. We. Will. Accept..." It clicked at the end each sentence.


"This is Navigator Uty'er, of the Eternity Damned. We are simple salvage crew, followed message but now... A fleet is here? Seems unnecessary, dishonorable even, to outnumber your foes in such a way." The creature waited for the translator to catch up to him before he continued.


"The Captain is predisposed, I will relay message that we only want to salvage ship. We are experienced, much better at taking apart working mechanical parts. You allow us to board, we will help salvage the ship for fair share. We can offer you some of our cargo as a sign of good faith."


"You. Are. Blinded." The masked mollusk quickly spoke out when the reptillian had finished speaking.


"This. Station. Reeks. Of. An. ANCIENT. And. Enigmatic. AURA... Emits. A. Warning. Of. An. Unknown. Enemy. So. powerful. That. MANY. Have. Come. Here. To. Witness. It's. Action...Yet. You. Believe. That. YOU. Can. Gain. Something. From. It. Other. THAN. YOUR. DESTRUCTION...?" The orange 'eye' blinked.


The Station...


Gof, the commander who has gone rogue out by the thought of working together with non-Aliuu species, has taken a platoon of thirty soldiers and a small pack of hounds to aid him in killing whoever non-Aliuu he encounters. The group ventured to look for an entrance or passageway that would lead them to the lower levels of the station, but it came to no avail for whatever reason. The group are avoiding areas that have come under Commander Ira's control because he knows by no doubt that she's hunting him down.


"What a pain in the ass." He said while flexing a number of tentacles behind him.


"keep searching - otherwise we're all dead." He pointed towards the hallway with his plasma sword.


The small contingency ran, crawled and scittered down the hallway.
.


​
 
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Eternity Damned

With their offer accepted, Shane gave the Klavikan President a shy smile, perking up his shoulders a bit. He seemed down right proud of accomplishing next to nothing. He cupped his hands behind his back and nodded, approving of the conditions very by motion, then verbally.


"You have a deal. We'll take this derelict apart, give you half of what we find." he reiterated his statement and turned over his shoulder shouting back at the crew of the Navigation room. "Start bringing her in, slow and steady. Don't want our new friends to get jumpy" turning back to the Klavikian Shane gave a respectful nod "We'll bring in the Eternity Damned, we're going to dock directly onto the Derelict so if you could clear a path for us I'd appreciate it. I assume you'll have a welcome wagon for us there, just know we'll come out armed. Gotta protect our own." Shane cut the communication before the President could retaliate and the Eternity Damned shifted in space, turning towards the derelict and the thrusters gave the ship some forward momentum. The railguns on the hull of the ship seemed to track any smaller vessels that flew by the disguised Freighter but didn't fire. The ship made a slow approach to the derelict and an even slower docking process.





"Look at the halls of the Ancients. The ancient kings who were all the most powerful that had ever been, all spoke of disaster and mayhem, all fell to the sands of time." Uty'er said, the translator gave his voice quite a bland and monotone sound to it. Whether it was intentional or if it was just how the large Reptilian spoke couldn't be said. "We do not fear fallen kings of old. Their richest are ripe for the taking, cower if you must..." Uty'er saw the conversation with the Klavikan end and had caught the gist of it. "We will be landing soon, more for the taking the less that stand in our way." The lizard promptly cut the communication channel and joined Shane's side as the human rushed out of the Navigation room.


Outside, as Shane stormed out of the Navigation room, he was immediately greeted by Dani who was waiting patiently for the conversation to end. When she spotted Shane she popped up and chased after him.


"Shane! What's the plan?" she asked, catching up to Shane just as Uty'er had exited the Navigation room. Shane looked over at her and said nothing. His pace quickened and he stopped outside of his captain's cabin.


"Uty'er, I want you to gear up, grab some boys and get 'em ready for a fire fight. I don't want to be caught with our pants down if Fido is meaner than they say." he said, the Reptilian gave a nod and strode quickly down to the main decks where most of the crew had gathered in curiosity of the alien ships. "Dani, you're gonna stay here. Keep me updated on whats going on out here and keep the E.T.'s out of our ship if they start getting frisky." He gave Dani a rather stern look, Dani only returned his stern face with one of her own, one of disbelief. She didn't like the idea of being stuck on a ship while they tore the derelict up. She opened her mouth to protest, but Shane had already stormed into his cabin and opened his armor case.


 The Derelict


By the time the ship had docked onto the Derelict and opened it's airlock, almost 30 minutes had gone by. In that thirty minutes, a boarding party had been organized and Shane led the team in his hefty suit of Power Armor. The armor made him almost as tall as Uty'er and just as big. Speaking of the big reptile, Uty'er wore a rather minimalistic suit, a face mask covered all of his head and had two glowing blue orbs where his eyes were. The armor wasn't HALF as bulky as Shane's and seemed to be made of overlapping metal plates. In his hands, Uty'er held a large sprayer that connected to a tank on his back. The Sprayer was the Nidhog, a weapon that sprayed a jellied substance that burned away at flesh and metal just the same.


Other than those two, the group numbered 30 in total, while they all held some sort of Directed Energy weapons (either SMG's or small shotgun models), only 10 of the group including Shane and Uty'er were wearing power armor and held big guns. They were the guards for the other 20 who wore simple spacewalk gear, thicker suits with large orb helmets to allow for a larger view range. They had smaller defensive guns and carried large bags on their backs and tools in their hands for dismantling the ship.


@Bobisdead123 @NeoLeaf
 
Plan and Prepare for the worst.


The Terrans filed out of their ship, unaware that they were being watched from the shadows. Eyes hidden behind helms and misdirecting glittered with a calculating look about them. One passed by a cloaked Raven so closely that the Raven could have leaned forward and whispered into the humans ear. To be honest, the Ravens were not surprised to find the race here, it was rather abundant in the stars. Hell, half the Ravens on the derelict station were Terrans themselves, the other half a mismatch of various alien species.


<Do we board as with the Wolf-men 13?> A silent message relayed the inquiry, the encrypted channels were operating on a low frequency almost undetectable but a close eye might reveal its existence.


<Negative, that’s a airlock to their ship, its an unknown to risky. Besides, we have no reason to, 1-6! Are you finished setting thepackages?> Somewhere else, in a hangar bay of whist the Klavakians had set down. 6 cloaked figures flitted and moved amongst the shadows like wraiths.


<Affirmative 13, objective almost done.>


<Good, make sure their hidden and in place amongst those dropships, that’s our diversion in case things go to shit on or off this station.>


<Aye, we will move as soon as there is an opening and meet up at the rendezvous, wonder if these canine like bastards hear as good as a regular dog?> Their technology and training would shield them from all but the most basic of blunders, thermo, infared and the like might be able to pick them up but t’would be only a distorted image. Easily passed off as a glitch or temperature change in the air, but even so, the alertness of the guards didn’t make it easy. To be honest, none of those amongst Odin’s Eye could blame them, they to were on edge. Something about that announcement did not bode well.


<Don’t find out, move silently and avoid the swarm, they seldom care who is friend or foe>


13, the half breed, looked up as the last of the Terrans filed past, noting the weapons they carried and the like as well as tools for tearing apart the ship and carting it back. Scavengers, opportunists… Oh the Terran race, always so eager to die in the face of the unknown, the fools. 13 paused, frowned at that train of thought and its meaning. ‘What in the hell? Im Terran! Why in the name of the gods would I-‘ his train of thought derailed as an armored glove touched his chest, underneath a blistered rose shaped lump of flesh above his heart… marking his shame, his curse. No… no don’t tell me it affects my thoughts as well no, no no no NO! You may get my body, but not my mind you son of a bitc- <13 were ready to move, the coast is clear.>


The message interrupted his spiral into denial and firmly grounded him back into the mission. <Aye… remember to record everything you see and be ready to move on my mark… Mark!>


So they fled, gone as if carried on the wings of a raven.


Meanwhile


One of the two Stealth cruisers dropped its optical distortion generators for a moment and appeared amongst the black drop of space as a long, slim beauty of a ship. Its lines were harsh yet organic, unnatural architecture swirled and warped its way around the main body, a sleek creation which seemed to be made, fashioned in such a manner, that it gave the willies to those who gazed upon it. Hidden in the shadows of the ships unnatural contours, methodically placed lay meticulously crafted heavy turrets, anti-missile batteries, torpedo tubes and the like, t’was a ship not without its own devious brand of firepower.


The captain of said ship was hailed by its twin. “Just what is it your doing brother?” Said voice asked wearily.


“Just having a bit of fun, oh do calm down, the rest of the scanners and sensors are still jammed. I just want to imagine their faces should one of them look out and see us visually for a moment, tell someone and then us not be there at all.”


A long sigh which broke off into a chuckle. “Very well, I suppose one cannot be denied a bit of fun now and then.”
 
The Epsilon...


One of the Kadrel manning a control console on the bridge immediately tilted his head at the appearance of another ship out of nowhere. He had given up on expectations when the freighter had shown up, but he still shook his head at the sudden appearance.


Turning back to E73, the Ambassador still surrounded in holo-screens and swiping through them mechanically, the Kad told him about the sudden appearance of the ship.


"I am currently running several programs at once, I will check up on this later. But for now, just try to keep an eye on it."


The Kadrel nodded before staring back at the screen intensely, to take in as much detail as possible.


B06...


A defect... of all the newborns he'd turned out grouped with, one of them just had to be defective. The Kadrel would've pressed his fingers to his eyes in irritation if it weren't for the fact that his square helmet was secured tightly, so he just settled for placing a hand upon his helmet in disbelief as the Defect continuously held them up.


Ever since that damn message had played, the Defect had been holding them up far more than tolerable. Sure, they'd started going slower in response to the slowly activating systems on board the station, but this was ridiculous.


Every corner, he'd yelp as if there were something right there, only to find another hallway. He claimed to hear taps coming from the other side of one of those massive sealed doors, but B06 wasn't really aching to go proving or disproving that theory.


Either way, the only reason B06 hadn't mowed him down and taken his stuff was the fact that his utter uselessness made him a perfect meat shield should things go south. And B06 was fully expecting things to go south. If the Comms were anything to go by, two or three more drop ships had arrived in the time they'd been moving. Several more Kads would help, but B06 still wanted to be sure of a decent escape route come the likely event that they all started getting mowed down by eighteen meter tall Plasma Turrets.


Honestly, he couldn't really expect any less being a Kad.


As he thought over how many of his current Team mates he'd have to trip in order to hold up potential pursuers, he heard a shout from up ahead.


Sure enough, the Defect had fallen backwards with a horrified gurgling sound echoing from his helmet as he stared down one of two halls that seemed to diverge rom the one they were currently in. B06 would've given this some more consideration if he hadn't done the exact same thin when they came across one of those massive sealed doors earlier. B0came up behind him for a moment and stared ahead only to give a gravely whistle at the sight before him, he then congratulated the Defect for having something to genuinely be concerned about for once.


The hall the Defect was staring at was completely coated in some black, gooey substance. The rest of B06's little assembly stared at the gooey hallway as well, taking note of the high pitched shrills and the like which seemed to echo from the depths of the hallway.


B06 considered the hall for a moment with a small hum, before lifting his foot and kicking the Defect directly into the stuff. Resisting the urge not to laugh as the Defect nearly had a heart attack, scrambling out of the goop frantically while panting, B06 just looked him over as the Defect flopped out of the ooze and frantically tried scrubbing the remnants of said off of himself.


While several of the other Kadrel couldn't help but snicker at the Defects whiny grunts of misfortune, B06 had already concluded that it must have something to do with the organics.


Seeing as not antagonizing them had worked so well if the reports from the Epsilon were taken into account, B06 decided to steer clear and take the non-ooze covered hall. H e was already walking down it when the other Kadrel realized he was off and immediately ran to catch up with him. The Defect ran behind the group, pausing every once and a while to wipe more goop from his suit, complaining woefully as they continued their search.


(@NeoLeaf ) (@Jarkov Malachai )
 
The Shaman

Uty'er was among the boarding party, his race was peculiar, they resembled a race that would value strength and endurance over all other aspects of life. Discovered by Humanity some fifty years ago, these Reptiles were still in a tribal state of existence. The humans found them useful as soldiers at first, their biology was perfect for the role. Their sight is naturally thermal, they recovered from near ANY injury so long as they lived through the experience, and to ice the cake; they fought viciously and never turned on their masters. But as they slowly began to spread throughout Human settlements they were found to be so much more, the Cho'Gnaanth were artists at heart. Their own culture stated that to replace a leader, you must prove yourself better physically, mentally, and artistically. Their art came in many forms, poetry, paintings, ceramics, or alchemy. They concocted many drinks that would serve as hallucinogens, guiding them into the spirit realm.


Uty'er was what humans would call a; "Shaman". His art was alchemy, his talent was introducing young Cho into the spirit realm to show them their own mortality and he himself was said to commune with the spirits of the universe themselves. When he boarded the ship, he took a look around, seeing the shifting images of the spirits he was reluctant to board the ship.


"Spirits of the dead are still here, Chieftain." he said, stopping dead in his tracks. These invisible hunters would find themselves in an awkward situation as the largest of the Boarding party seemed to track their movements as if they were standing in broad daylight. Shane merely chuckled and looked over at the Reptile.


"Yeah? Are they warning us to leave or we'll get the Mummies curse?" he said, rather harshly to strike down the Reptile's purpose, his so called calling in this life. The Cho'Gnaanth shaman wasn't hurt, wasn't affected, he knew the truth and would leave it to the Chieftain to make judgement.


"They are watching... counting... They are bad omens." despite his doomful prophecy, Uty'er boarded the ship, practically locking eyes with the spirits that surrounded him, though he made no attempt to touch them or point them out. Eventually, the Chieftain Shane Warner would use his Power Armor to swap to thermal imaging and observe the spirits for himself. Following a chuckle, the Chieftain mocked them;


"Uty'er these are... air pockets. Some sort of residual heat. This isn't the first derelict we've boarded." Shane looked back at the Reptile and gave a shrug. "Sometimes... shit gets trapped on these old things. And this is a very big old thing." They were silent for a moment, the boarding party already prying at the metal on the walls and observing what lay beneath them.


"Spirits of the dead can be trapped here." Uty'er's voice translator did something it hadn't done before, it fluctuated, signifying a bit of fear. A cold chill waved over the Chieftain but he disregarded the Shaman, disregarded the Omen, and pressed his crew farther. "Spirits... Forgive our transgressions." Uty'er reached out for the first time towards one of these shifting forms and bent in his three center fingers, leaving three still standing on the outside of his hand, clearly some sort of respectful gesture to what he thought was the spirits of the dead. With his final thought, Uty'er followed.


 Henson Corporation


Earth, some would say nothing has changed since the Corporation took over. The Governments still had free reign, they still fought wars with one another on the planet's surface, they even had a few skirmishes between Earth and Martian colonies. Some would say that everything has changed. The MegaCorporation held all the nations of the Earth and Mars at their beck and call, the formation of the United Planets Federation was more of a novelty towards the United Nations on Earth and instead served as a way for Henson Corporation to wretch control of the nations and have themselves and international, interplanetary army at their disposal.


On Earth, the buildings got higher, the glass got shinier, the world became more building than Earth and entire continents were converted into Megacities that spanned thousands of miles. In these Megacities the Corporation held control of all the trade, all the money, all the people. The Corporation often held meetings to discuss the goings on around the worlds, the successfulness of their outside colonies and their attempts to claim more of the vast universe for their perverse wants. Such a meeting had been called and a moot was held of all the elitists of the world. The 15 people met in an office that was impossibly high on an impossibly high skyscraper, overlooking the miles of city that lay below, drones and helicopters made constant patrols over the narrow streets and crowded roads, armed guards paced the streets and deterred any thoughts of crime, any thoughts of resistance.


"We've received a report from 12, seems they've stumbled upon a rather interesting derelict in open space." a man, dressed in an identical black suit and tie said, he stood at one end of the table, displaying the report that slowly scrolled on a holographic projection.


"The area isn't claimed by the Extra Terrestrials already there? Doesn't seem likely-" began a woman in an identical black suit and tie, of course she wore a long skirt in stead of pants.


"Aliens aren't a concern for us. They never have! Why are we discussing this? Let's call the UPF council and stake a claim on the area before the damned Aserians do!" a man, dressed in an identical black suit and tie said, he seemed frustrated.


"And what if they are larger than us? Larger than we can handle alone?" The man at the head of the table said, he wore an identical black suit and tie and adjusted the pens lining his pockets as his question was met with blank, awkward silence. The members at the table swapped glances as they awaited further word from the head. "We are dealing with something much larger than anything we've dealt with before. Let's call the UPF, stake a claim, but wait. We can have 12 gather information on the derelict, on the... creatures that have occupied our space." the words came out like poison, everyone had their eyes on this man at the head of the table, in his identical black suit and tie. "When we know what we're dealing with, we take what is ours."


So the meeting came to an end, the 15 identical folks, in identical black suits and ties left the high office in the high building and calls were made. Ships were mobilized, armies were formed and the Humans began to prepare for their first Interspecies war- at least one that may not be so one sided as it was with the Cho'Gnaanth and the Aserians. A dark haze was looming over the Earth as the combined forces of multiple worlds had began to mobilize.


The UPF council didn't need much convincing, their pockets lined with Henson Corporation cash, their minds corrupted by Henson Corporation wants, they came to the conclusion that the space was no recognized by the UPF as claimed by anyone nation- or indigenous life. Legally granting a massive sector of space to the Corporation, these invading aliens had performed an act of war. With the Corporation as a player, John Henson began to set up his chess game.
 
-----"Drop Zone", hangar inside the Station-----


Sergeant Yovolk grumbled as he and his men stood around patrolling the large hangar. Of all the squads to be chosen for guard duty, his was chosen. Standing here was boring and demeaning. Besides the station war empty! Or at least he thought, until the eerie voice came over the PA. Ever since them him and his squad had been alert and fully focused on guarding the drop ships. In fact they had been so focused a beep on his COM hud almost made him shit himself, not that he would admit it had scared him though. In the bottom left of his vision, a little blue figure appeared- Commander Tarzak.


"Yes Commander?" Yovolk asked, hoping he would send them out to explore the station. What he got instead was somewhat disappointing.


"Greeting Sergeant Yovolk. Seen anything?"


"No sir, but an eerie ass voice came on the PA." Yovolk said.


"Yes I heard" replied Tarzak, his voice calm and not showing a hint of worry. "We have some "friends" that will be docking in the station. They are a salvage crew wanting to salvage the station"


Surprised, Yovolk said "A salvage crew come to salvage a place speaking of the end of times? Seems unlikely sir" Yovolok said suspiciously.


"Yes I know, but until we discover their real motives there no point in being hostile, the other creatures may take it as a sign and begin to fire at us" Tarzak replied.


Yovolk nodded. "We'll keep an eye on them"


----- A short time later -----


After the "salvagers" ship landed, the Klavikan guards watched the crew suspiciously as they exited their freighter and began walking deep into the station to "salvage". The "salvagers" appeared to be a hairless bi-pedal species for the most part while there was a scaly one that spoke of "spirits". A few of the Klavikan guards snickered at this on their coms. Stupid creatures.


Yovolk activated his coms using his mental connection with his armor and contacted Commander Jolf. "Be advised Commander Jolf, a new "party" has entered the station. They are friendly "Salvagers" so do not attack".


The response came a short time latter. It began with a burst of static, and then Jolf's voice could be heard, although the static made it heard to understand


"*pssh* Sal*psh*ers?, her*psh*? Roger *pshhh*"


Damn station must be messing with the station Yovolk thought, But Jolf had gotten the message so that's all that was important really.


As the rather noisy "Salvage" crew marched past, the Guards attentive hearing was muffled, as the "Salvagers" didn't''t even to keep their tools from banging around, whether it be with their guns, the floor, or even on the ground. If the crew had been even a little less noisy, the Klavikan guard's fine hearing would of picked up the soft *clink* of metal boxes being set on their drop ships, but alas the crew WAS noisy and they did not hear the soft metal *clink*s. Instead they were left to grimace as the boisterous and annoying crew filed past.
 
B06...


Dear Creators, why is it that everything in this damn station looked exactly the same?!?


Honestly, besides those slimy dark halls everything in this building looked like it was repeating itself! If it weren't for the Luquida slug juice markings the Kadrel would've assumed he and his team had been wandering in circles at this point. Oh yeah, the dark halls, they'd been coming across them more and more frequently as they traveled and if the Helm-Net communications were anything to go by several other groups of Kadrel had started coming across them too. So far, Captain Skaz's eternal wisdom of not worrying about something until Kads start dying had held true so far. The groups had simply passed the mush while taking note of their locations, but at this point B06 was preparing to just throw caution to the wind and just walk right in.


Every single hallway was so simplistic, even with the blue glowing that had continued as they had ventured deeper in, and sometimes they stretched for so long that you'd think they'd have something worthwhile in them, but instead you just got more hallways!


And the Defect... just... kept... Bitching!


Yapping on and on about how they'd all die and that they should just turn tail and book it back to their ship while they had the chance. Freezing up whenever he heard the creaking of the metal structure settling, and downright balling at pretty much every single turn.


B06 had had enough, and was in the middle of considering the dispersal of the Defect's belongings when they turned another corner, immediately wincing at the pathetic Kadrellian whines of the Defect. What a surprise, yet another damn hallway.


This one had several other halls branching from it, one directly on their left and two more up ahead past that on their right. Walking over and taking a peek down the closer one on the right, it seemed to lead to another long hallway with two more branching off from it. B06 sighed before ushering his companions over. As they began entering this hall, B06 noticed a growing sound coming the farther of the two branching halls on the right.


Peeking back out of the hall, he recognized the sound of scurrying limbs, having been torn into by several Lugnor experiments in the past. The sound of writhing fleshy limbs approaching, He alerted the rest of the team to this via the Helm-Net, to which they replied by simply hefting their weapons and turning around. B06 held up a hand and made several gestures which his fellow Kadrel looked at each other in response to before beginning to back up down the hall. B06 turned his attention back to the hall the sound was originating from.


After the sound grew louder, he was treated to a view of... fleshy things... which he immediately assumed to either be part of the station's defenses or the organic ship. He'd been to several Theta-Stations where Drip Addicts had been turned into sentinels by Overseers, so he wouldn't put it past whoever built this place to have similar guardians as well. On one hand the Organic ship seemed to be tolerable of them if reports on Helm-Net were anything to go by, on the other the threat made by that mysterious voice didn't bode well if those things were security. Or maybe they could be whatever wiped out this station's personnel and were just now being released to clean up again.


Either way, the moment the creatures turned on the Kad he immediately ducked back into the hall before turning and shouting some Kadrellian to the Kads who were still waiting down the hall. They spread out in the hall as best as they could before the ones in front began crouching as the group continued walking backwards towards the next branching hallway.


B06 often found himself mistrusting the advice of the Thenos, but if there was anything he'd learned over the course of his life of torment was that meeting face to face with new species brought a seventy-five percent chance of him having to go through reconstruction surgery. Grumbling to himself, he grabbed the only Kadrel who hadn't joined up with the others... the Defect.


He'd bumbled all over himself and tripped as he'd gone in, the rest had passed him by.


The Defect fumbled once B06 pulled him to his feet, but quickly gave a confused grunt as he felt his weapon from being taken from him.


He looked up at B06, who patted him on the shoulder reassuringly before he brought up his leg and delivered a crushing blow to the Defect's knee, impact amplified several times by the synthetic make up of the Elder Kadrel's leg.


"If they don't eat ya, congratulations on your new Envoy status. Otherwise, I dunno, make the Creators Proud or something nd try to hold one dowen so we can shoot. At least then ya contributed something to this military." Grunted B06 in Kadrellian before continuing over to the rest of the ready and waiting Kadrel, ignoring the panicked grunts of the Defect as he tried standing on his injured knee.


(@NeoLeaf )
 
The Swarm of Petrarica


​



The Station...





@GrieveWriter


The leading hound stopped abruptly by a hallway causing the platoon to stop and turn around to the hound had stopped moving. The hound waved it's tentacles seemingly upwards in the air as though it were sniffing or feeling the nothingness of the long empty hallways. The rest of the pack crawled and scattered back to the abnormal hound and rapidly climbed over it like ants would on a rotten fruit. They stopped climbing on it and too acted abnormally as the one who had first stopped. Gof walked over to the eight dog-sized land squids and narrowed his eyes and had glanced down the hallway.


Gof, lowered his head and waved a number of his orange tentacles behind him. Something is there and he's going to find out what. A four legged arthropod stood beside the humanoid Aliuu and chomped it's chelicera a number of times in front of the hallway. Staring at the smooth head of the arthropod Gof smirks feeling reassured by the soildier reaction and the hound's behavior. Whipping a number of thin tentacles and throwing out some arm gestures the platoon ran down towards the hallway. The pack of critters came up front while The soldier followed closely behind with Gof in the middle of the platoon.


Racing through the halls and going through a number of branching corridors they could see something in the distance that seemed to be a living creature. It wore a rectangular helmet, bulky thick armor of sorts, looked vaguely humanoid and it seemed to have trouble moving with it's leg. Gof's gem-like eyes seem to flash when he saw the being and through releasing a pheromone in which the creatures felt a surge of adrenaline within them and charge headlong towards the being from the hallway with blood thirsty eyes. It's killing time.



.


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B06...


"Well, you wanted confirmation," one of the nearby Kadrel grunted out in Kadrellian "and there it is."


B06 barely noticed this remark as those creatures swarmed the Defect, jabbing at him with their protrusions. Sure the suit seemed to handle the first wave of blows, but enough damage to a single spot finally tore a hole in it, a hole which was torn wide upon before the gray, rugged skin below was assaulted.


"Yep." B06 said with a slight smirk within his helmet, and as the line of Kadrel began readying to fire he stopped them with a wave of his hand "Hold up, let me savor this for a bit."


For five straight seconds, B06 and the Kadrel just watched as the Defect was torn out of his suit and mauled under a wave of writhing flesh, the Elder Kadrel actually humming along to the sounds of sweet release from the Defect's utter inaptitude.


It was only after the Defect finally stopped screaming, settling into more of a pitiful gurgle, and the creatures began moving around his dying body towards the rest of the Kads that he finally motioned to them.


Several crouched Kads in front of the Elder began picking targets as the rest of them simply backed up with their weapons raised.


"Small to large Newborns," B06 grunted to the front row "first injured gets meat shield privileges."


And as he hefted the Defect's weapon and his own, he raised one up and grunted loudly, to which the row responded with the discharges of small streaks of plasma aimed towards the encroaching creatures.


(@NeoLeaf )
 
The Swarm of Petrarica


​



The Station...





@GrieveWriter


The pack consisted of eight individual hounds, who ravished the body in quick fashion. Their tentacles shot through the screaming Kadrel's suit as though they were bullets, going tor 'sweet spots' and areas where the armor could be easily penetrated. It proved difficult until the first soldier arrived and swooped the vague humanoid upward only to have the second soldier impale the blocky creature with its horns. The soldier rammed itself with the creature against the smashing it from inside it's suit and flung it over to it's to have the soldier from before attack it along with the pack of hounds. Thrashing the body around like a stuffed ragdoll they dropped it at some point and began tearing it apart.


Gof on the other hand noticed a group wearing the same kind of armor and fell behind the rampaging arthropods. He lowered his sword to free his other hand and looked for a device on his belt. Something to throw at the enemy while the soldiers are charging at their perimeter. Feeling his sides frantically for a certain shape, he felt relieved when his fingers went over a smooth surface of an pyramid shaped object. Pulling the object from his belt Gof threw the object above the rampaging insects. The pyramid shaped object was something identacle to a flash bang - it unleashed a vast amount of light to blind the foes in front of it.


Half the platoon that was charging with Gof readied their tentacles and glads that would later combine a composition of an acidic mid ranged bile shooter. Gof grabbed his plasma sword with both hands and drew his sword to his sides to balance himself upon acceleration. The other half of the platoon finished mauling over the Kadrel and joined the charge by a 10 second window.



.


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