Hyperspace Failure: The Kefalonian Trade Empire and The Mariquilla Freelance Technological Union

MILKY WAY GALAXY

0.02 PARSECS GALACTIC SOUTHWEST OF FREDERIKA

The Milky Way was a backwater galaxy to the Trade Empire, but nevertheless close enough to Kefalonian outposts in Andromeda to warrant surveillance by the Kefalonians. The Yurians, a militant race that had been on the ascendancy in the Milky Way, had been attacking trade routes and harassing military convoys. Thus, the 1,899th Strikefleet, eight dreadnoughts, and associated convoys were sent to cripple the Yurian war machine.

Near the inhabited system of Germainia 21, the dreadnought Harporov had suffered a hyperspace engine failure and needed repairs. It was here that they were attacked by a much larger Yurian fleet, although much less advanced. While the fleet passing through the system might not have tripped the more primitive scanners of the Teuto Conclave, the massive firefight that had ensued certainly would.

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"The best move you can make in negotiation is to think of an incentive the other person hasn't even thought of - and then meet it."
-Eli Broad
Picture depicting Antriya. Local Captial: Arno

"Wake up, we have a situation." I felt the rattling moan of Yaun in my ear. His arms thrust into my stomach, shooting me up from my restless sleep. I rubbed my weary eyes with a dash of tears watering them. Crossing his arms, Yaun stared at me. My tongue poked out as I jumped out of the spherical bed I knew little of. Not like I loved sleep anyway.

"What is this situation oh mighty one?" As I walked into my outpost Office on Antyria, Yaun shoved a little sphere into my chest, letting it glow before projecting signals on a star chart. Yaun pointed to on red cluster of dots near the Milky Way, as the Futile called it. The chart refocused on the anomaly and displayed a small firefight between one large ship between a whole fleet. "We can't react in time. The ship will be obliterated by the time we reach it."

Yaun motioned his arms in a circle, "The Current Accelerator is ready for a test run. Pezir suggests we should use it and be there in roughly a forth of the time. Also, scans indicate that the larger ship is far more advanced than the fleet to which it combats. If we determine that the larger ship is of good purpose then..."

'We'll eliminate the savages involved and make diplomatic relations with the other. I assume we have not met either of them before." Yaun nodded, I looked behind me to she my little party of advisers. I twist my wrist and one approaches the chart.

"Send in fleet number H3K1, both sides have shielding technology unlike our own. The adaptive weapons of the fleet is our best bet to counteract either side." I nodded, noting that Margulius was a new yet impressive clerk of mine. I pat my head, seeing the page run out of the room.
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Small Craft Archive of the Master Ship Yard, North Pole, Cintaquin.

The Fleet Hierarch entered chill two hours after Arshis's. The Current Accelerator currently charged the current on Cintaquin, reducing the time of travel greatly. In human terms, four battle-cruisers, nine frigates, two fighter carriers, one dreadnought, the experimental "Restorer" Lufyia Gesalt, and the flagship, the Avon Prime shrunk and entered "Chill-space". Only a quater went. Ten battle-cruisers, twenty-five frigates, three fighter carriers, and another dreadnought remained in the Cintaquin Master Shipyard. Upon arrival, the fleet will attempt communication.
Shireling

The Yurian vessels circled the Harporov like harpies, prying at her armor with their weak gunpowder weapons. In the command bridge, Captain Reklan Ouvius was barking frantic orders to his lieutenants.

"Shields at 40% and holding, Captain!"

"Weapons report!"

"All guns functional, starboard turrets are out of ammuntion."

"Tell the armorers to send down a few more crates of energy cells. What's the status of our hyperspace engine repair?"

"The engineers said it was a shattered Yuvgin coupling. It could take hours to repair."

The Captain sighed and moved to the window, watching as an enemy fighter exploded into pieces right before his eyes, ripped in half by a point-defense turret.

Outside, the Yurian fleet had surrounded the ship on four sides with various light assault craft. The spheroid vessels turned about and fired off marine boarding pods, most of which careened into the inky blackness of space but more than a few found their mark, crashing into the Kefalonian ship's sidewalls and attaching, allowing Yurian marines to board the vessel.

On the bridge, these small tremors were felt almost immediately.

"We're being boarded! Seal off what decks you can and hit them with the nerve gas. Dispatch marines to levels 6 and 8. Seal the bridge, now!"

"Captain, more vessels have appeared... Sir, we're being hailed."

"On screen."

Aboard the Restorer, the captain's screen flickered to life displaying a tall, pale humanoid in a red commander's uniform, well-defined with a strong jaw and crisp white hair.

"I am Captain Ouvius of the HMS Harporov. Can you render aid?"

Previously: The Fleet Hierarch entered chill two hours after Arshis's. The Current Accelerator currently charged the current on Cintaquin, reducing the time of travel greatly. In human terms, four battlecruisers, nine frigates, two fighter carriers, one dreadnought, the experimental "Restorer" Lufyia Gesalt, and the flagship, the Avon Prime shrunk and entered "Chill-space". Only a quarter went. Ten battle-cruisers, twenty-five frigates, three fighter carriers, and another dreadnought remained in the Cintaquin Master Shipyard. Upon arrival, the fleet will attempt communication.

"The best move you can make in negotiation is to think of an incentive the other person hasn't even thought of - and then meet it."
-Eli Broad
Fleet H3K1 entered the Area of Operation in an hour after departure from the Ultoras sector. During travel, I established an attack pattern to gauge towards more of the fleet instead of the single vessel with the frigates and battlecruisers surrounding the Restorer in its high effect sphere of restoration in case of this fleet being more potent to our technology than expected. Likely it wasn't. The Avon Prime would sweep in front and separate most of the fleet from the large vessel. A gamble, but a small risk. Regardless, I inspected the AI systems on each vessel to ensure proper encoding and cybernetic coordination. The Psi Hyper Beacon thundered up as we approached the fifteenth mark before entry into the sector. The system evaluated beacon integrity and then sent a signal out to all fleet crew, creating the encoded signal we naturally could not perceive. My bridge on the Avon Prime sprawled out as a ballroom, allowing control consoles of the varying sizes to persist. Of a tower, a bush, a bird, and a rainbow to all connect into one piece of art that seemed delicate and innocent yet I know quite deadly. The bridge crew had assumed their positions and roll called into the Psi channel. I summoned the gem alert and braced for sudden engagement with the small fleet. They seemed aggressive.

Intel reports from the Hoy have been sparse, we have never met either collective of sentients and I fear the worst. I thanked Arshis for his vision for bringing the Restorer. While lacking in damage on its own, a ship capable of healing, various crowd control methods, and ship enhancement protocols will leave this battle in our favor in all but the insane case. "Daelis, systems leaving Chillspace. Prepare for an incursion." "Weito,(Rodger) Daesiar. Prepare the weapon systems, including the web inducer." "Web inducer prepared and fully automated captain. Since your last departure, the Avon Prime has been outfitted with a field pulse energizer designed for small craft disruption. Shall we ignite its Gnéar core?" Hmm, new toys. I like that, I rubbed the hilt of my chair and nodded to the projection onscreen. "Hierarch, fleet arrival in thirty seconds." I laughed. "Alright my brothers and sisters, Greminaar Cousins, and Spirit Animal Yodiqu let us remind our Union of the ass-kicking Yaun performed in the Futile War." The Psi channel hummed in a steady stream of "HEI!" before the ship entered the system with utter silence. "Hierarch, enlightenment connection complete. Enlisting large vessel communications upon the screen now."


"The screen flickered to life displaying a tall, pale humanoid in a red commander's uniform, well-defined with a strong jaw and crisp white hair"


[POV Change]

"Hello! I am Fleet Hierarch Daelis, praise your judgment that we meet Captian Ouvius. It appears that this battle is quite annoying for you, and out of the compassion and judgment of the Union, Fleet H3K1 will gladly eradicate these parasites from your prescience. Please, let us wait until this laughable threat is handled." The Hierarch laid wispy on the crescent "Chair", smooth and elegant as the nebulas of the universe. It curved in an arch far more than that of Earth's moon, the light glimmered in happiness from it and the shadow hugged as a small child on the other side. This prize cultural nuance descended from the monument of Hanson and Human meeting located on Cintaquin. Daelis was, in fact, a Hanson himself, proving a skeleton form. While he was more chilling than most of his kind, he was tolerable after some "getting used to" as the Humans said. His hair was translucent with a spot of gray as the skin of a dolphin. His eyes almost depicted the meeting of the celestial stars whom breathed light of Carribean ocean contrasted by the fire of midsummer's night. Clashing and forever moving. Many say that Daelis is a moving figure in his appearance. Clearly identified in a number of toys he runs with on all of his runs. A toddler whose father is the owner of the toy store. His body was outstretched in bone intrusions, allowing his "skin" to appear as roots of great trees. His hands guided as the great fights of old and now, he was only bested by his natural commanding officer, the Chairman himself. Who in many ways proved even more tempting in appearance than himself.

The Hierarch thrust his hands as a wizard's casting to the fleet, letting his fingers motion and guide the fighters who popped from the carriers. The motion of eyes suggested the aim of the weapons of the fleet. His encircling motion allowed the Restorer to dance as the lover of a Spanish prince. Blue fields gilded of the Restorer causing a purple hue to fall over the elegant spires, spikes, and smooth edges that resembled the grace of a thousand hypernovae. An over shield had graced. Weapons had been coordinated, trapping fighters and ships in their damage. There was no harmless escape. It was assured that the Union ships would surely put on a display. Fleet H3K1, famous for tactical adaptability with a side affinity with grace and performance. The blind man could see and the deaf man could hear the fleet for their magical appearance and wonderous calls of a symphony that rumble human music to the ground as barbaric fools. The battlecruisers flipped and turned on the gestures of the Hierarch, adding touches of nuance on its own. A perfect coordination unlike any sentient being of its kind. The Avon Prime was quite different. In the display, it stayed still and silent. It did not fire, nor move. Instead, it seemed to be charging something. Orbs of energy flowed around it. On the top of the shrine looking ship, was a large crystal known to the Union as Gesahi. Gesahi glowed and hovered inside the enclosed hull of the ship. Shields protected it while it vibrated in increased intensity.

Shireling

While the Union fleet performed their dazzling display of military prowess, the Yurian fleet broke off its attack on the Harporov and began to engage the attacking fleet, despite what was obviously a loosing battle. Left and right, the primitive spheroid cruisers of the Yurian Navy wavered and exploded like pressurized tin cans, jettisoning yellow-skinned Yurian midshipmen and naval officers into the void. Within only a few dozen minutes, every last Yurian craft had been hunted down and eliminated. In the middle of the resulting debris field, the Harporov stood damaged, but still alive and well, its red and white buttressed sidewalls and reddish plasma observation windows emanating a white light from the exterior of the ship.

A hail came across from the damaged Kefalonian ship in the form of a binary code: THANK YOU FOR ASSISTANCE. BOARDERS HAVE SURRENDERED. YOUR CAPTAIN IS WELCOME TO COME ABOARD FOR FIRST CONTACT PROTOCOL.

Hierarch Daelis smiled as he recieved the transmission. However, he noticed the response from Arhis.
"Daelis bring the fleet back. We have new business to attend to."
Daelis put forth another message to the ship, "I am sorry, but it appears the Union has some business. Though from rumors, I think our countries shall meet again." With that, the Union fleet shrunk again and moved back towards Cintaquin.