Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » SciFi RPG: Interstellar Wayfarers (CLOSED)

Service Date: Uknown
Role: Capture Vessel
Length: 2150m
Height: 320m
Width: 1580m
Class: Omega V
Decks: 7
Crew Compliment: 2,000 [200 Officers, 1250 Enlisted, 550 Marines]
{EMERGENCY CREW COMPLIMENT}: 2,200

Available Small Craft Squadrons:
4x of 7x Assault Fighters
2x of 4x Bombers

Auxiliary Craft:
4x Troop Transport
4x Shuttles
2x B29-A Gunships
2x Multi-role P27-D Craft
2x Scout M17-B Craft

20x Multi-role Standard Ion Drone

Defensive Capabilities:
Mark IV Titan Shield Generator
Mark V Turnover Matrix (basically the faster it flips the stronger the shield *250 Km/s*)
25x Double Barrel HMG Kinetic, Flak Turrets
16x Mark II Point-Defense Rotary Lasers

Offensive Capabilities:
19x Particle Beam Cannons
16x MAPL/Railgun Ship to Ship Turrets
4x Mangum Torpedo Barrage (6 cell)
2x Hangar bays
5x Particle Beam Transporter (this is the capture vessel part it transports troops over)

Power Planet:

B-AV 57 Plasma core w/ 3 Emergency Reactors

Propulsion:

1x Hyperspace Module
6x Standard Drives
2x Combustitory Plasmic Revolver Engine (6 barrels per engine these give the ship a turn boost and speed boost)

will find pic later (sorry)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
What seemed to be just another hulk of metal, was really a ship meant to capture and kill. This ship runs with a mechanical crew no lifesigns would be detected unless they had prisoners on board.
The hyperspace method is quite different, instead of warping in at intense speed, the ship sits in one place and what seems like a large square is it's hyperspace method it eats up the ship and disappears then reappears in its destination not too long after. it was called the ~Tarkat Nictov~

IC~
A hyperspace signal appeared, as if it wanted to be detected. Then a large square came into view of the ship, it hovered from one place to another revealing a ship whilst it moved, then the square disappeared leaving the ship at it's destination. It did not move but instead observed, waiting for something to happen.

The gunship turned to the other one that was firing at it. Yes, the bullets were starting to go through, but not all the way through the shields, which were more advanced than anything from this era.
The two cannons on the side began to glow blue and then a short range, high energy laser beam shot towards the hostile gunship.
Several of the fighters had turned towards Ascrith and were now firing their machine guns towards him and several more marines were trying to tranquilizer him.

"Captain Felix! Another ship has pulled out of hyperspace! It is not HRA aligned sir. What should we do?" Officer Trayton said into his comm unit.
"Send them an S.O.S," Felix ordered, "Explain what's happening. You saw it all, right?"
"Yes Sir. Hailing them now."

The message appeared through the unnamed vessels communications, forcing itself through.
"This is Communications Officer Trayton of the Time Dancer. Our crew is currently in trouble and we are being attacked with out provocation by the HRA. If you are able, we would like some assistance," she said as calmly as she could but still couldn't hidde her worry.

The message came through to the ~Tarkat Nictov~ and it turned its side towards the vessel of which gave out the message. A structure came out of the side of the ~Tarkat Nictov~ in which it emitted a pre-recorded message. "This is the ~Tarkat Nictov~ we have recieved your message and are currently scanning your vessel for any unidentified radiation signatures that may be hazardous to our own" As the message played back through the vessels radio, the hangar bays of the ~Tarkat Nictov~ opened and a few Ion drones flew out flying in a bizarre flight pattern. A new pre-recorded message sounded through "what is it that you require assistance fellow commander?" the message repeated itself two times before stopping and the drones were floating waiting for an order

The lasers ripped into the shields, breaking apart the first layer, and wounding the second layer. But it would take more than that to get through. Immediately, the void shields began regenerating and venting the energy absorbed, and recreated the first layer of shielding. Then it got pissed. It took off into the air, and shot forward, out of the bay, guns firing at the first gunship. It open fired with its main double barreled 60mm cannons, and four Valkarie missiles. At that time, it also shot two Lance weapons. The noise inside was deafening from the destruction.

Lysander hit the gunship with his foot first, smashing into the shields. They were slippery, but growing weaker. Not too hard to get through, though. He slammed his hammer down onto the cockpit, all the energy stored inside the Thunder Hammer ripping into the shields, and creating a massive shockwave that almost shot him into the air, if not for his jump pack.

Ascrith got on one knee, his one good eye almost shedding a tear of desperation and fear. But he would not be afraid. He was a space marine. Fear wasn't their thing. His one good eye no longer had that fear in it. No longer was it teared up. No, it was glowing. Glowing a white hot glow.

"I... Am... Ascrith. I am a Space Marine, and I SHALL KNOW NO FEAR!" He shouted, and let loose a burst of Psychic energy. Now his bad eye was repairing itself, and bolts of raw and pure energy seemed to emit from it. His sword glowed white hot, then red, and burst into flames, but did not melt or smoke. He aimed God's Warrior at the nearest fighter, and fired, a large explosion emitting from the gun, like an artillery piece. It was propelled by his Psychic power, and fueled with it. It hit the thing with a massive force, exploding on contact.

Before he could see that explosion, though, he sliced his sword through the air, hitting the ground, and letting loose a stream of fire on the ground towards the fifty marines, and exploding up as soon as it hit them.

Lysander never actually made contact with a shield, he actually went through it as he could see a pale blue low around his ankles where it was making contact with the defense system. Te thunder hammer though, was stopped in it's tracks and all that momentum went right back up Lysdander's arms, making his whole body shudder in an almost cartoonish way.
The lazer cannons were recharged and firing again almost as soon as the first two made contact and the super heated beams began to repeatedly blast at the hostile gunship, each round getting faster and faster as the cannons warmed up.
The fighter that Ascrith shot at went skidding backwards but never ceased shooting at the hostiles, it's machine guns dancing around with terrifying precision. The same could be said for each weapon on the fighters actually.
The marines fell back and the injured ones were pulled away but by now darts were covering the Field Marshall's body and injecting all of the tranquilizing agent into his body.
"You made the first move!" Felix called out, "If a war starts, it is your fault, Field Marshall!"

"Commander?" Lieutenant Trayton asked herself before responding, "We have hostile members of the HRA alliance aboard our ship. We request assistance in subduing them, not killing them if possible."

The ~Tarkat Nictov~ gave off a signal indicating it recieved the order and the transporter beams activated on the main Vessel. one by one in groups of three mechanical troops with weaponry were teleported into the Time Dancers bridge, the lights on their chests green signaling friendly and no threats detected in the area. At the same time the Particle Beam Cannons on the Vessel were activated as well and had begun firing upon the Field Marshal's ship with a large beam trailing almost every second then the Time dancer recieved one last message from the vessel "your assistance is being transported as requested please standby" it repeated three times before ending the transmission and the structure that had been deployed retreated back into the side of the ~Tarkat Nictov~

Everybody in the Time Dancer's bridge let out a startled gasp as the mechanized soldiers appeared. Yes, in the future there were a lot of robotic soldiers, so they weren't scared, just startled.
"Um... Thank you, Tarkat Niktov," Lieutenant Trayton said then looked at the soldiers, figuring they were for her to command if temporarily.
"Go to the hangar bay, subdue all hostiles but refrain from killing anyone unless it is absolutely necesary," she ordered them.

((Sorry, but I'm a little sensitive to godmod. No, I'm not saying you did, I'm just saying I used to see them everywhere. Just a little tip. I'll let this one slide, but next time, could you not control my character? Lysander did happen to swing his hammer, because there's no way to stop that, because he's wearing a full metal suit. Artificer Armor. But, I'll let that one slide. I'll just say that it didn't go through the shield at first, K? Sound okay to you?
Also, Ascrith is also wearing a set of Primarch Armor, which a 35mm round would have a little trouble going through. Just wanted you to know.
But I'd prefer a little bit more detail, please? Could you? I don't know if the round ripped through the shields or anything, but I'm assuming it did, because that was covered in runes that were meant to go through psychic shields.))

Lysander jumped back, distraught a bit by his first failure. However, he jumped back into the fray with his hammer, determined to rip through the shields. Below, Ascrith ran towards the retreating soldiers, not even feeling any sort of tranquilizer. It just flew off the edges of his armor. He fired a shot into the nearest man, watching as it exploded. He charged, sword at the ready. It was crackling with energy. If he wanted to, he could crush every person here, but he didn't want to.

The Bismarck watched as the enemy's weapons were woefully out of range, and laughed, slowly making it's way towards them. They aimed the hull, and went full speed ahead. They knew what was going to happen. That's when the wall of fire and destruction hit them. Their shields began shrugging off the first attacks, but there wasn't much the shields could do.

They fired the Nova Cannon, twice, right at the ship. Two massive 700 foot wide shells streaked across the space, making their way towards the doomed ship. Then they broadsided, opening up the guns and bays. Plasma, lance weapons, 800mm guns, and 60 foot cannons began shelling the enemy. Valkarie Anti Ship missiles opened up into the darkened sky, giving the black ship's position away.

Swordfish torpedo bombers, fighters, and dive bombers began flying through space, going towards the enemy ship. It would be a deadly encounter.

The Standard Ion Drones launched from the hangar bay of the Tarkat Nictov and flew towards the enemy fighter class vessels readying weapons and begun firing upon the fighters, bombers, and dive bombers.
While on the bridge of the Time Dancer the drones that were given an order had started their march towards the hangar bay of the ship in a very organized fashion, while the shields of the Capture Vessel held it activated it's torpedo pods and fired at the marshals ship the projectiles rolling in such a fashion. The main Double Barrel HMG flak turrets opened fire at the bombers.

OOC~ this is what the Tarkat Nicto looks like sorry I didn't provide a picture earlier

They may have survived the Valkarie bombardment, but the shells would surely be worse for them. The Lance cannons were the first to hit them, moving at nearly the speed of light. Their massive power plants continued to generate massive amounts of energy, creating huge explosions when they hit. The heavy FLaK open fired into the enemy torpedoes, sending huge amounts of shrapnel into them. One by one, they exploded, and Anti Missile Valkaries began taking out the ones that made it past the wall of FLaK.

The bombers themselves vastly outnumbered any drone attack they could bring upon them, but that didn't mean that they were going to all live. Two exploded in a fiery inferno, and five fighters blasted to shreds. But that was all that they could do. The Bomber's 35mm minigun turrets began opening fire, double miniguns firing at huge rates, spraying shells across the space like nothing. They moved fast, and aimed true. Quad barreled Lascannon turrets also began opening fire, spraying deadly lasers across the dark.

The fighters also reacted, breaking formation to attack the drones. Gunships open fired with their 50mm double barreled main cannons, two of them, 6 20mm guns, 12 lasguns, and their three Lascannons. It was a bloody battle. Fighters began spraying their four 21mm guns, and their eight lasguns into the enemy, and their one lone Lascannons would rip through small shields.

(Okay, so I'm jumping in here... just as a note for the size of my ship I wasn't sure what to go with, since I'm really rubbish at visualising distances/sizes from measurements... so if anything looks off please tell me! Sorry about the rubbish image, pretend the little circles aren't there, they just mark PD clusters)

Service Date: 2187-2342 AD [10187-10342 9A, 3E by the reckoning of the ship’s crew]
Role: Diplomatic Transport
Length: 1785 m
Height: 190 m
Width: 1430 m
Class: Envoy
Decks: 15
Crew Compliment: 1,500 Organics [110 Airwing, 250 Marine Honour-guard, 150 Officers, 990 Enlisted] and one Artificial Intelligence.

Available Small Craft Squadrons:
30x Fang Class Interceptors (Five squadrons of six craft)
15x Claw Class Multi-Role Bombers (Three squadrons of five)

Auxiliary Craft:
12x Shuttles

Defensive Capabilities:
100x Automated Point-Defence Turret Clusters (Even mixture of ballistic and energy weaponry per cluster)
Mark IV Adaptive Shield Matrix
Mark III Emergency Plasma Shield
Mark I Ablative Armour

Offensive Capabilities:
2x Twin Plasma Projectile Cannons
6x Railgun Turrets
4x Particle Cannons

Power Planet:
4x Fusion Reactors
2x Type 2 Mana Crystal Cores

Propulsion:
6x Sublight Ion Engines
42x Manoeuvring Thrusters
FTL Jump Drive

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The ship is designed for primarily peaceful purposes, and as such the major emphasise in armaments is defensive. The race that constructed this ship, the Terelains, have always had a very defensive mind-set as they live for a long time but have few children, so they try to minimise loss of life. The addition of offensive weaponry was a last minute decision on the part of the people tasked with designing this latest incarnation of the vessel because its first mission was to travel into the Deep Frontier, a place charted only by automated exploration probes thousands of years prior.


IC

The Modified Envoy class Diplomatic Cruiser, Hand of Terel emerged from the Aether, a realm similar, but not quie the same as, Hyperspace that the Terelains utilised for their on-ship FTL drives. In the bridge tower, Captain Iraesha Tolarim was sitting in his command chair high above the rest of the bridge, everyone but his executive officer were stationed below in a pit where he could see them at work without needing to turn his head, the humanoid feline was grey-furred and wearing a black uniform with golden thread along the collar, hem and sleeves with several epaulettes and medals on the right side of his chest, "Status?" He asked calmly.

"The spatial distortion we detected when we entered Aether-space hasn't affected any of our systems, sir, however I am having difficulty ascertaining our precise location." His navigational officer, a white-furred female by the name of Syra Elthun, said, "It seems as if it knocked us off-course somehow. I'm trying to see if I can matc our starcharts to the area's astrography."

"Sir, I am detecting numerous energy discharges consistent with weaponsfire a few kilometers from our present position, sensors also indicate at least three ships in the vicinity, possibly four... they don't match any known sensor profile." His sensor officer said.

"Lt Command Kahr, scramble the fighters and bombers, they are to establish a defensive perimeter around the Hand. Activate the shields and weapons systems." The captain ordered.


"Aye sir." His tactical officer said, "All pilots, this is he bridge. Prepare for immediate launch, take up defensive pattern... Tytha around the Hand and await further orders."

"Comms, open a channel, start with the Gogashi Trading Laguages and then start cycling 'til we hit something intelligble." Tolarim ordered.

"Aye sir. Opening channels, cycling languages now."


"This is Captain Iraesha Tolarim of the Royal Naval Vessel Hand of Terel speaking on behalf of Her Grace, the Revered Elder Nariel Amaar of the Aunidiel Lineage. This vessel is on a diplomatic mission any attacks upon it will be deemed an act of war against the Terelain Star Kingdom and my people will act accordingly." He motioned for his comms offcier to deactive the boradcast and then he activated the ship's internal communications system, "Revered Elder Amaar, I am sorry to disturb you, but could you please come to the bridge? We have a situation."

"Of course, Captain. I'm on my way." Came the reply.

The Tarkat Nictov was the first to get the transmission, it turned and activated it's standard engines heading towards the diplomatic ship that has just made an FTL jump into the area. As it approached communications length away from the ship. The Tarkat Nictov then activated a pre-recorded message "This is the Tarkat Nictov, you have 5 minutes to identify yourself or you will be fired upon" the message repeated 5 times before closing communications and the mechanical crew within had started to build spare troops to make up for the ones currently missing in action or scrapped.

((Awww what the hell? I'm replying anyway.))

The Bismarck picked her up as the other ship began trying to move towards them. That was good. Less defenses on the move. Also, they weren't focused on them that much anymore. Another plus. The shells finally hit them, and they watched the space. It was a massive series of explosions. The Nova Cannons hit, and detonated, creating a bright light, like a nuclear bomb. The men on board the Bismarck shielded their eyes.

The Hellraiser cannons also hit the enemy, though they knew not if any of the shells did damage. But that wasn't what they were concerned about right now. They had another ship that came in, a small ship, twice the size of the Nova Cannon's shell, but a very damned good looking ship.

"Colonel! Incoming ship! They've just exited FTL and now they're coming up on her right!" The radar operator shouted, looking worried. No one knew if they were here to kill, or to help. Or just a bystander. But the way this was going, it might as well be the enemy's reinforcements. Of course, if it was, good luck.

"Goddamnit! We already have our hands full! What's the class?" Colonel Braesk asked, looking up from the map of the space they were fighting in. They had found one other planet close by, a planet of the Alliance. It had a good port that they had used once before, but it could be a launching station for enemy ships.

"It's a small diplomatic ship! She's about the size HRAS Pink Floyd back home, sir!"

"Send out a message. Tell them this:"

A private encrypted message was sent to the new ship instantly. Braesk knew that even though it was a cry of help, they had to say it. The Bismarck's shields had been depleted in the attack, and even though the ship was regenerating the shields, something that big would take time. Now it was vulnerable to an attack.

Braesk ordered the boarding torpedoes to be fired at the Time Dancer, and as he requested, a Hellraiser cannon fired a shell, two Anti Armor Valkaries, and ten 10 man boarding torpedoes.

We don't know who you are, we don't care where you came from. We don't know if you're against us, for us, an old ally that we forgot, or a weakened foe. At this point, it doesn't matter. This is the commanding officer Colonel Braesk of the battle barge Bismarck. We have lost all communication with the HRA military convoy 1 light year from here. Please help.

(I've added a 1 in front of all the ship's measurements, so it's 1785 m long, 190 m high and 1430 m wide)

"Sir, one of the ships is breaking off and approaching, they've sent a messa- Ancestors! The larger vessel just opened fire on it... some of those shells are almost half the size of this ship!" His comms officer said, staring at the holographic display in front of her, "We're getting a message from the agressor, looks like a Titan-class vessel. Patching it through."

We don't know who you are, we don't care where you came from. We don't know if you're against us, for us, an old ally that we forgot, or a weakened foe. At this point, it doesn't matter. This is the commanding officer Colonel Braesk of the battle barge Bismarck. We have lost all communication with the HRA military convoy 1 light year from here. Please help.

Captain Tolarim frowned, "Bring up a sensor display of the local volume, what the hell is going on here?"

"This is what our sensors show, sir." His sensor officer said, tapping a holographic symbol on his display. A large hologram of the immediate area around the ship appeared in front of the captain's chair, blinking lights showed the relative positions of the various ships and small symbols annotated likely conditions and weaponsfire.

The doors of the bridge opened allowing two more felines to enter, a male and a female, these two were wearing simple back and silver clothing, though they had a lot of jewellry; bracelets, ankelets, torcs and armlet, made of gold and silver, "Captain report." The female, her eyes bright green and her fur a pale cream and white, said.

"We've been knocked off-course into an unknown region of space, there appears to be a battle ongoing in this volume; three smaller vessels are attacking a large Titan-equivalent vessel, identfying itself as a 'Battle Barge' under the command of Colonel Braesk. They are requesting assistance. What is it you wish us to do, Elder Amaar?" Tolarim replied.

"It is not our place to intervene in a local dispute, and in any event this is a diplomatic ship... we are not equipped for any kind of heavy fighting. Nevertheless this battle may pose a threat to this ship and her crew, broadcast a message to the combats, ask them to cease hostilities and send representatives to the Hand. Perhaps a neautral third party can mediate this dispute without any more bloodshed." She said.

"With all due respect, Revered Elder, I do not think they will listen. We hardly have the weaponry to enforce a ceasefire.We aren't even certain where we are right now, and I don't want to make another FTL jump until we can be certain of our position."

"Just put me on, Tolarm. We can't fight, so we may as ell try diplomacy first. This is my area of expertise after all." She said.

Tolarim sighed, "Very well, Elder. Comms, broadcast on all frequencies, let's make sure they all hear this."

"Aye sir, channel open." His communications officer said.

The Elder stepped forward in front of the captain's chair and began speaking, "I am Nariel Amaar, Elder of the Aunidiel Lineage and Living Ancestor of the Houses Amaar and Tynian, co-founder of the Third Kingdom of Terelian. I do not know why you are fighting, nor do I particularly care. As a neutral third party I offer my services in mediating this dispute. Our sensors show that all of your ships have sustained damage, some quite extensively. Dispatch representives to this vessel and you have my word of honour that they shall be unharmed... attacks upon this vessel or any representatives sent here will be considered an act of war. This vessel may not be a warship, but my people are well-versed in the arts of war. In all the sixteen thousand years we have sailed the stars never once have we been defeated in war. This is the only warning you will recieve."

She turned to the captain, "Hold position here, if they do not send represntatives to us, we will assume that they want to fight it out... unfotunate, but none of our concern. We will have fulfilled our duties in offering our assistance, and we will have no further part in this conflict... assuming they do not attack us."

"And if they do? What then?" Tolarim asked.

"Then we run." she said with a shrug, "We can come back later in a warship and kill them all then. It's been quite a while since we've had to unleash the Grand Fleet on someone. A nice little war out here might cheer the Moralinri up a bit, you know how grumpy they get over a couple of centuries of peace and quiet."

((Not a very exciting post, I know... but the first thing a diplomatic ship would try would be diplomacy))

((Team up with me? You may find me a valuable ally. If not, then a fearsome opponent. ))

"Diplomatic Vessel, this is the Warship Bismarck. What you are requesting is, as of this time, impossible. All communications with the other ships have been severed. Our leaders are currently engaged in battle on board one ship, the Time Dancer, which has no communication abilities at all as of now. All I know, is that there's something bloody going on there, and I can tell by the fighters stationed outside the bay, where my leader landed.

As of now, we are engaged in a full on battle. I cannot assure peace, as they have denied us an old artifact of our ancestors, which is not taken very kindly. We have wounded. May we send over our wounded, as our medical bay has been damaged badly?"

Colonel Braesk tried so desperately to get help for his wounded. He knew that a war was going to happen, and frankly, he didn't care at all. He almost wanted one. But war was a bloody thing. They already decimated a planet, completely. And now, they had this new ship that if wasn't categorized as friend or foe, could pose a bad threat.

To show what Braesk's intentions were, he moved his ship in between the battle and the diplomatic vessel, and sent out fighters to guard the ship. They would get there soon, and they were the White Flag fighters, showing peaceful intentions. Also within them, was a massive carrier, containing Captain Robbins, a good captain and highly regarded officer among the SS.

((Now its time for the "big man" to step in))

Lt. Colonel Follox, swooped and ducked and dodged and zigzagged with the grace of a ballerina, the tenacity of a parkour performer, and the raw power of an Olympian. He knew most of his team was down, but that that didn't matter.

From what he cared to hear, he knew that the Captain of the Dancer, had ordered his own men to fire upon the Field Marshall and was it about damn time.

"All able units fall back to the shuttle, and Major get the Captain the hell out of here!" he roared, as another large inch caliber came swooping, his augmented reflexes, sending him into a odd twist of a side way roll, that only those following the Karma Sutra could achieve for sure. He didn't stop, as he changed targets repeatedly between the hulking menaces, making sure to stay the distance, after he saw what they could do. Especially with their obvious psychokinetic abilities.

Damn it would be good to have that god hybrid with his, he quipped mentally, as he was roared along the force of another concussion blast.

Acknowledgments came back over the radio from his team, before CAG, Major Wills responded.

"Uh, Follox, what about your teams and yourself? I cant fit everyone in here and we still have people aboard that can't be transported in this tight firezone," the CAG pointed out.

"Exactly Kareem," the Lt. Colonel said as he was scrapped by another bullet. "You get the Captain and the Doctors out fast, back with the squad and haul ass as fast as possible toward the rendezvous point with the Valhalla. We'll try to hold off these bastards as long as we can, till our people are off the ship."

"Alright, bet," the Major acknowledged. "I'll be back for your bootlicking ass. You better save some fighting action for me."

"Pfft, your ass couldn't handle a job that's fit for a marine flyboy," Follox bellowed with an unexpected laugh. "You just better hope you get the Captain back safe, or else your ass will be licking my boots!"

"And you better get our people out and stay alive. Cause I sure as hell ain't becoming a marine in your honor," the Major replied before signing off.

The Lt. Colonel made a mad dash for the shuttle, and saw the two fighters that were laying down covering fire before take up position next to the shuttle. A stray shot, hit one of the fighters, sending it careening off to the side, toward a bunch of parked craft nearby. There was no way the pilot could safely eject, so he tried his best to maximize damage to the enemy as possible. The deck rocked violently, and the shockwave of heat and force smacked hard against Follox. He saw chain reaction explosions happening and motioned for his people to get out the way.

"Move! Move! Move!"

The shuttle and remaining fighter lifted off, surging out into the open expanse of space. Or rather out of the pan, into a whole other fire.

* * *

The Valhalla spat out into normal space, and the alarms and alerts went berserk.

"Detected weapons fire in the area!"

"The Time Dancer is moderately damaged!"

"Warning collision alert!"

"The Bismarck is attacking the Time Dancer and another unknown vessel!"

"Another vessel has been detected on scanners! Reading four contacts!"

"Status of our forces unknown. Attempting contact."

The flood of data coming in was tremendous.

"Commander, it seems things have...escalated, since our departure," Liala, stated obviously.

"It seems so," Commander Cigol agreed. "Full combat mode. Liala, get us between the Bismarck and Time Dancer. Coordinate with Chief Tact Nai'ti to maximize our firepower capabilities. Extreme force is authorized. I believe Evasive Pattern Tumble Barrel will be prudent."

Liala's digital avatar seemed to snicker before saluting, "Aye aye sir. I have also taken to responsibility of increasing our ECM/ECCM abilities, and started playing cyberwarefare with the Bismarck. Their systems seem to be enjoying it."

"Thank you Navigator," Cigol turned toward Communications and Operations Officer Breon Ty. "Mr. Ty, any word from our support forces?"

"Sort of Commander. I was able to pick up that, the Captain had been injured, but he's off the Time Dancer," Ty reported.

Commander Cigol nodded, "Good, cut through the interference and let them know we are here. Have whats left of our fighters take point around the ship in the Atom Orbit Formation. And give me an open channel."

Ty nodded and soon after gave the go ahead.

"This is Commander Cigol Nikephoros to all vessels within this area of space. You are to stop and desist immediately on the authority of the Coalition Alliance and withdrawn immediately. HMS Bismarck, under the authority of Field Marshall Taranis, is to power down all defenses and weaponry and turn over their commander for war charges against the Coalition Alliance. Time Dancer, is to immediately take point on our flank and prepare for aide to be rendered. To the two unknown ships in the area, be advised this is a warzone and should you fail to comply we will be force to assume you are in collusion with the enemy or have ulterior motives. You have 30 seconds to respond and identify."

Commander Cigol closed the link and turned toward Chief Tactical Officer Nai'ti. "Chief. I don't the Bismarck will comply. The moment we are in range. Fire at will."

"Yes sir," Nai'ti responded.

Commander Cigol turned toward the viewscreen and the Chief's eyes lay lingering on the alien officer. How did he become so...callus? No, that can't be the word...ruthless? Relentless? The Commander had changed and something must have triggered it. It wasn't all too long ago, herself and Commander Cigol, expressed the same concern for the Captain. Now was the Commander falling into the same hole? Or was there something else to this? Something they didn't know. Once this was over, if they got through it, she'll find out. She did it before, and she'll do it again.

It was her job as Head of Security.

* * *

"Is he stablized?" Major Wills called back, as his hands flew across the shuttle's controls, sending it into wild patterns and moves, it was not made for.

The shuttle and fighter had managed to walk themselves right out into the midst of a battle between capital ships. The squadron that was left behind, had done the sensible thing, when the Bismarck arrived, and that was defend the Time Dancer, until the other ships showed up and things got complicated.

"Yes! Yes!" Dr. Stratos exclaimed, being Dr. Lucas Rodden's current mouth piece as he tended to the Captain. "Moderate concussion, some broken bones, and a clot, but Lucas says the Ursan technology is accelerating his healing."

"Alright, good cause I'm going to need the Doctor to give the Captain something for high G maneuvers, and need you both to strap in. I'm going to be pushing the inertia compensator to the red line. Especially since the Barn just jumped in," the Major explained.

* * *

"Commander."

"Yes Mr. Briten?"

"The Bismarck is breaking off toward the newest ship that has arrived. She's launched weapons toward the Dancer," Briten reported.

"Liala..." the Commander called.

"On it Commander. Ploting a curved intercept course. We shall be able to intercept as much as possible, the missiles sent toward the Dancer and run parallel the hostile ship," Liala stated.

"Thank you. Ty please resend the message. And make it a note that the Bismarck is a war ship, with a war criminal, marked to be charged and surrender immediately."

Ty nodded, and Commander Cigol, merely rose a brow.

Elder Amaar seemed to consider the transmission from the Bismarch as well as the sensor display showing the ship position itself between them and the battle, as well as the fighter enroute to them, "Hm... very well. Send your wounded to us, our medical bay isn't exactly equipped for such a large amount of wounded, but we'll do what we can. Captain, try converting the obsevation deck to deal with the overflow."

Captain Tolarim was frowning, a slight disappoving look on his face, but he wasn't about to question somehow so high above him in rank, "Very well Elder." He touched a panle on his chair, "Medical by, this is the captain. We are about to recieve wounded from a presently embattled warship. Do what you can, enact triage protocols, military standard."

Elder Amaar nodded, "Good."

"Captain, Revered Elder. Another ship just arrived in the volume, heavil damaged. She's broadcasting, patching it through now." The comms officer said.

"This is Commander Cigol Nikephoros to all vessels within this area of space. You are to stop and desist immediately on the authority of the Coalition Alliance and withdrawn immediately. HMS Bismarck, under the authority of Field Marshall Taranis, is to power down all defenses and weaponry and turn over their commander for war charges against the Coalition Alliance. Time Dancer, is to immediately take point on our flank and prepare for aide to be rendered. To the two unknown ships in the area, be advised this is a warzone and should you fail to comply we will be force to assume you are in collusion with the enemy or have ulterior motives. You have 30 seconds to respond and identify."

"Open a channel." The Elder commanded, once it wasactivate she said, "This is Elder Nariel Amaar of the Ancient House Amaar of the Aunidiel Terelains, we are a neutral diplomatic ship taking on wounded from the Bismark. We reititerate our wish that hostilities come to end immediately and all parties capable are to convene aboard this vessel for peace talks in a neautral setting. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I suggest we all keep our distance from the ship designated Time Dancer until communications can be re-established." She sighed, "I also advise that any hostile action taken towards the shuttles transporting the wounded or this vessel will be considered acts of war against my people." She sighed, "If you lot want proof of why attacking this vessel is a bad idea, then I'll have my AI send you a few historical files on the last war my people waged. It was not pleasant. End transmission."

"Power down the weapons systems by half, let's show them we have no hostile intent of our own, but keep the shields at maximum... and keep the engines ticking over. Any luck locating where we are?" The captain asked.

"No known star-systems within a 20 light-year radius, stellar topography suggest we're located somewhere in the Deep Frontier, but there are no nav-beacons indicitive of mapping by the old probes. I have plotted several possible courses if we need to make a quick exit." The helm officer said.


"That'll have to do... Mr Rilam, plot the most favourable escape route and be ready to execute an insertion into Aether-space at a moment's notice." The captain commanded.

"Sir! The Valhalla just got out of FTL!" The radar operator said, and had a small look of panic on his face. He looked back, and saw that the ship got ready to fire. There was going to be debris everywhere. "Sir, they sent a message for us to surrender! They've charged weapons!"

"What? What's our status on the shields?" Braesk asked, concerned now. He looked out. Yup, there she was. Damaged as hell, and still deadly. He didn't want to know what they might have in stake.

"Down, sir. Another 10 minutes!"

"Shit! Finish them off! I want the Hellraiser cannons fired, ten rounds. Then angel the ship forward, guard the diplomats. Activate the Nova Cannon, and load the planet buster. Set it for 1 second delay. Fire."

The ship fired the 60 foot cannons, the recoil pushing it back slightly, but then began leaning into it. By the time the second wave fired, they moved forward. Ten deadly shells in the air, and one more to come. They were not joking around. As soon as they turned, the Lance batteries open fired. Fast moving laser like weaponry shot out, spewing energy bolts at a high rate of fire.

They charged up the Nova Cannon, and loaded in the shells. Hopefully, they would work.

****

Ascrith didn't have much time. He jumped out of the way as the explosions tore up the hanger bay, and was teleported to the ship. Everyone was, including those not equipped with the homing beacon. Ascrith made sure of that.

And waiting with them was a surprise. Ascrith got down first, and moved out of the circle. As soon as everyone else got there, there was two ten man Marine squads, and five 10 man Guardsmen squads. They had flamethrowers and their normal weaponry pointed at them.

"Dodge this, you bitch,"

*****

"This is Captain Robbins speaking. Requesting permission to land. Inbound at ETA 5 minutes, present speed," Captain Robbins said, sitting down at the radio. He waited for a response. This was just how he did things. By his way. Robbins was a captain of the Death Korps, the elite SS men of the Imperial Guardsmen. They were all armed with high powered 13mm guns, powerful enough to blast through even the thickest infantry armor, but non explosive.

There were 20 men on board, each dressed in their clothes. They wore black combat boots, and black armor pads on their shoulder, chest, elbows, knees, forearms, and crotch. The clothes was brown, with camouflage on it to blend in with the ground. They each wore a black helmet with the SS insignia on it, and the Death Korps logo of a skull with a bullet hole through the head.

The Tarkat Nictov hyper spaced out of the vicinity but it's long range communications devices were enabled to stay in contact, it had prepared a message in text format since it did not have all the proper pre recordings to suit for the current operation at hand. The message was sent to the Bismark it read *You have made an excellent opponent, you have our gratitude. If needed this capture vessel will remain within the vicinity* The Tarkat Nictov then disabled its weapon systems in terms of standing down. It had taken quite a beating and drones were activated to begin structural repairs immediately.

The comms officer replied to Robbins, "Acknowledged, permission granted. Hangar doors will open at your approach. The Revered Elders extend greetings to you, captain."

"Sir! The Bismarck just opened fire on the inbound Coalition vessel!" The sensor officer exclaimed.

"Toren take those trigger-happy idiots!" Captain Tolarim growled, "ETA on those shuttles?"

"Five minutes sir." The sensor officer reported.

"Damn... hold position until they arrive. Aelya, tactical analysis?"

"If we were in a proper warship I could take them... as the situation stands I recommend exiting this volume at the first opportunity." The calm feminine voice of the ship's AI advised.

"I just wish we knew what they're fighting for in the first place." Nariel's husband, Elder Nathaniel Tynian, said, "I hate being in the dark."

"Once we have the wounded on board I suggest we retreat to a safe distance." Nariel said.

"Exactly what I was thinking, Ancient One." Captain Tolarim said

"Must you use that honorific?" She asked with a pained expression.

"Not if you do not wish it so, Elder of Elders." He replied.

Nariel groaned.