Ghost in the Machine

[Jarkov Malachai]

Deep inside the planets surface. A single creature delicately stepped over the bloody and utterly mangled remains of Terrans and Nightguards. Looming over the one nightguard knocked out it leaned in close and opened its mouth of which a long slender tongue came out and poked around the aliens armor. It found an opening, and slid through.


The Nightguard suddenly snapped awake, as if something had jumpstarted his metaphorical engine. He shook his head and winced slightly at his bruised and or broken ribs but there was no time, looking out amongst the vast armor of robots he spied the trackers of his team and with a grunt moved off to join them. He made good time despite his injuries and somehow was gaining ground on them, as if something were helping him... (I aint out of this fight yet)

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

-Veely-





Captain Veely shivered slightly as the foreign alien, who had never graced his presence, or that of any known Nafarian military or government official previously. It worried him, and rightfully so. His fears were only increased however as she mentioned the fracture than ran through the once unified Nafarian race. A fracture that had not fully split, a fracture, that up until this moment had been thought to be all but unknown to any foreign species, especially since Nafarians had, at the very least managed to maintain this visage of unity in front of foreign species. However the captain's anxiety did not end there, as the crippling audio files, along with filled his ears.


Those damned audio files would be the end of him, and worse yet, reveal the true intentions of his general, who had not yet revealed his intentions to lead the outer empire in the event of full blown civil war. Currently, political officials convening on Rofiria believed Velsus to be fighting vigilantly to keep the splitting nation together, most of his supporters viewing the Nafarian male as the last thread keeping them from an intergalactic Nafarian war. More directly however, and more important to him was the fact that he outwardly supported the Neo Republic, a faction that wished to do away with any form of dictatorship or monarchy to rule the Nafarian race. His speeches, praising the ideals of the Neo Republic led to his eventual placement in a fleet filled with Neo Republic sympathizers, making Galumora's possession of these files a literal trump card.


Captain Veely gritted his teeth as he glared at Galumora, a cold sweat soaking his skin and uniform as he chose his words carefully. He could have blown the dredge to kingdom come and it would make no difference, the damned alien had him in the palm of her slimy hands. His pale face turned beat red, he slammed his fist on the command chair, resisting the urge to curse the alien's name into oblivion before cutting contact and destroying her precious soldier.


"Sir! Air to surface devastator cannons fully charged, the captain of the ship is awaiting your command before fire!" Rang the voice of Veely's arms corporal.


Veely's eyes shot to the man, who shook slightly as well due to Galumora's aura effect. "Delay that order" The captain reluctantly hissed, his narrowed eyes darting to Galumora. "By Ven'Ziel... have it your way alien scum." He snapped back. "I will spare your precious soldier, and will accept your ceasefire. But know this... this isn't over. Your little trump card has an expiration date." Veely hissed vehemently, practically spitting with every word, as his face, now glistening with sweat nearly grew as red as a ripe tomato, his body seething with pure rage. A few members in the crew threw him quizzical glances, not knowing what he spoke of but were too fearful of Galumora to advocate their confusion. "Consider yourself lucky."


Veely then briskly keyed a button upon his command throne, cutting communications with Galumora as he overrode the external intercoms upon the nearbye Razor class Interceptor that hovered over the gruesome battlefield, where heavily armored legionaries trudged through mud, gore, and metallic wreckage as they continued their assault against the Dredge. Above them, the Razor's weapons remained red hot, still prepped to fire. The battle did not last for much longer however, as Veely's voice carried over the terrible scene below.


"Attention, valiant soldiers of Nafaria!" He stated, pausing for a moment as he cleared his throat and thought his words carefully. He knew the words he would speak wouldn't ride well with all of the legionaries down below. "Due to some... unforeseen circumstances, a ceasefire has been issued with the alien assailant. By my executive order, all hostilities shall cease towards the behemoth. Instead, turn your arms to the cybernetics at your backs! Take them down! Show them your true might!" He roared, hoping to instill moral among the soldiers.


As he finished, Veely keyed the intercom off, sighing as he rested his head upon an open, sweaty palm. Velsus would not be pleased with the knowledge that these audio filed were in the hands of an alien. Such information being released to the Nafarian public would mean guaranteed civil war, a fate that none of the populace truly wanted, despite the recent skirmishes.


-Planetside-





The Nafarian legions halted their advance, most of them staring at each other, and then the massive Dredge with awe. Many of them couldn't believe their ears, what could possibly have driven their captain to order a halt of hostilities against a being that had spilt several regiments worth of Nafarian blood on foreign soil. Regardless of the doubt and confusion however, they obeyed their captain's orders, but refused to acknowledge the Dredge, despite obvious earned respect for it's prowess as a warrior, choosing instead to simply turn their backs on the foreigner.


"You heard the man!" A strong willed voice cried through the crowds as he lifted himself up upon the wreckage of a demolished tank. He wore more elaborate armor than his comrades. "Turn your weapons on those damned cybernetics! That thing wasn't worth our efforts anyways! Now move, double time!" He yelled, waving towards the hordes of borg.


The soldier's listened to the platoon leader's command, bringing their weapons to bare against the cybernetic beings, unleashing torrents of roguetonium rounds upon the borg armies. Legions reorganized and advanced while tanks spun on their powerful treads, lobbing the roguetonium shells away from the Dredge and instead at the advancing borg. The Razor began to turn as well, facing it's hot weapons towards the borg armies, taking a moment to position itself before unleashing it's payloads of volatile roguetonium upon the enemy. It quickly erupted into a bright explosion, an explosion that likely temporarily blinded both the Dredge and the Nafarians alike. The volatile substance exploded as it slammed into the borg, splashing in all directions as it impacted the ground, leaving nothing more than a massive crater filled with a shallow pool of the red substance where borg soldiers once marched. A few of the legionaries took this moment to throw ugly glances back at the Dredge, obviously wishing this fate on her as opposed to the borg.


-Underground-


The beast was successfully able to infect the nightguard, his battered and tired body offering little resistance against the thin beast's will. The man groaned as he was forced to stand, however the beast, was soon to find that as he searched for the tracker on the Nightguard's HUD, it remained blank, offering him no clue as to the whereabouts of Holly or the other nightguard. Being so far underground, the GPS system, which was the primary source of the squads tracking one another had failed, unable to reach the orbiting host ship's tracking dishes to pinpoint their location. The being however was able to see several strange symbols flickering across the HUD's left side. They were strange, and entirely foreign to him, silent commands written in code that was quickly flashed by the squad's leader, but without an understanding of how the nightguard's communicated, the system was entirely worthless.


All was not lost, however, as the nightguard's cloaking devices remained intact besides the being's previous assault on the nightguard's body, meaning that he too could slip past the borg without detection, meaning that the nightguard was not entirely useless to the dredge, meaning that it could, in essence, follow the nightguards to the best of it's ability without the need of entering combat with the hordes of borg ahead.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

The Pirate Queen slowly retreated back to her shadowed throne atop the Bridge and sat down ever so slowly, the Kukri’s crew aware of every movement she made as if their very lives depended on it which in reality… it did.


“Luck?” The creature questioned aloud, speaking to itself more than the now absent Nafarian Captain. “I do not rely on luck dear boy… I make my own path amongst these hostile stars.”


The Lady of Ravens then went silent and the aura of terror and fear slowly faded away and the crew began operating at full capacity reminded once again that their Captain was a creature beyond most of their comprehension and why the Terrans and many other species amongst the core worlds feared what this species might accomplish if their boundaries ever broke.


“Mr.Williams.” Galumora’s voice suddenly cut through the air like a precision knife making the young coms officer stand up straight. “Contact Aligora, shes been off doing her own thing for quite some time and ive given her enough leeway, my patience is begging to wear thin dealing with these ignorant high minded fools. Tell her to get back in the fight and quit fooling about in the wreckage of that super carrier.” @Atom


The coms officer swallowed. “Yes Ma’am”


Down on the planet’s surface, fire and death rained down from almost every corner of the battlefield, due to the ceasefire and Nagashira not utterly murdalizing (yes I know that’s not a real word but I Likes it) everything that came near her, the Nafarians were able to utilize the downed Walker and the cover its still smoking wreck provided. Casualties greatly were reduced due to the ground units no longer being flanked and in a now superior defensive position, however they were still surrounded and outnumbered. Even with the orbiting ships fire support there seemed to be no end to the damn things, they simply came on in a never ending wave of robotic limbs and plasma fire.


Nagashira, even in such a state as she was didn’t give up even when the ceasefire was announced… no she was too old and bloody minded to even think of submitting to the multiple grievous wounds she had received. She even walked amongst the Nefarians reloading that monstrous Bessie Mauler minigun, roaring out in a boisterous voice. “C’mon lads I aint dying to an overgrown computer with a peashooter, HOLD!” she finished with a throaty laugh and opened fire, mowing down the first of the unthinking wave of robots. Nagashira as a class C Dredge had a psionic ability and though it was limited due to her host, it was simply to project an aura much like the Lady Galumora’s save much less in span its effect was no less potent and that ability was to inspire confidence in those who fought by her side or even witnessed her killing shit that wasn’t them.


Nagashira had received orders from the Kukri not to long ago which summed up to, hold this position, it’s the safest LZ which we can pick you up with limited damage, everywhere else is a suicide run with those rail guns. Heavier ships can take the punishment they dish out but we cannot. The Nefarian commander has also been notified of this information as it was sent along with this message. HOLD this LZ and await further orders.


Deep inside the planets surface, the nightguard/Dredge nimbly lept through the seemingly never ending waves of borg, gaining on its hosts compaitriots as it used the Nightguards own muscles augumented with its own to perform seemingly amazing feats of agility. However the creature was not yet used to its host yet, thoughts kept forming in its head of which it banished as soon as they entered its mind as they confused and frightened it. This resulted in several near detections and slip ups but due to luck or some act of god it was able to recover and carry on with its mission, one which its Matriarch, its queen, its Lady, had branded into its mind. Find the power source, bring it to her. Failure was simply not a viable option.

 

[NeoLeaf]

The Swarm of Petrarica

Space: Unknown area of space


Celestrial-Bodies: Unknown planet


Vessels: 7 Leviathans + approx.15,000 units


Facilities: Gravemind's Meteorites


Factions present:

• The Swarm of Petrarica
  
• Dredge allies
  
• Nafarians
  
• Trelians
  
• Syhelians
  
• Terrans
  
• ???( Apex's species )
  

Planet's surface.

Spoiler

Hounds of War

The Footsoldiers

The Commanders

The Heavy fighters

The Tanks

The Light Flyers

The Heavy Flyers

The Leviathans

The ground had shivered lightly open the present location of the overpowered Dredge. The rocks and pebbles began to clinker violently and an area of the ground had begun to crack. Alike from a dolphin or a fish, Ira emerged from the ground and had landed along side with Nagahira and with her her whole legion of tentacle critters coming in just behind her. five move areas of the ground began to crack and from them burst ugly greenish brown tentacles that towered 120 meters over it's foes and allies - The Gravemind had come top assist the armies.


"Commander Ira," Ira had lowered her torso and head towards that huge creature known as Nagashira.


"We came as fast as we could."


With that The levitating medic had floated towards Nagashira and had begun the procedure. Ira smiled lightly and rose to her normal posture, She looked to see and examine her ally. A Dredge that stood around three time her height, is inside a heavy mecha suit or sorts and by the looks of it relatively beaten up. Ira smiled a girlish smile and looked away to face her troops. The medic in the mean time hugged itself around the mechanized creature and spewed out a pink vapor from it's tentacles. The vapor should start healing the female Dredge immediately and would have helped recover the fearsome warrior's stamina.


"Hounds of War begin the Assault, Tanks, Heavies and Commanders go assist them!" She boomed with her voice.


Fun fact. The Hounds of war blow up thanks to triggering a number of chemical glads from within their bodies. They can fight sure but their main role in the military is being excellent suicide bombers. The Tanks are giant masses of tentacles that crush things with their brute strength and shoot psionic balls at their foes. The Heavy fighters are flying serpents, unlike the Tank they spew great amounts of acid, Attack with bladed limbs, bleed acid and like the Hounds of war blow up upon death. The commanders are the more warrior like of the troops, They attack with hand held weapons, operate tools or sophisticated equipment and see what they can do to change the outcome of the battlefield.


The Hounds of war have begun their attack from underground launching themselves upon the mechanic humanoids and holding them at by with whatever they had under their disposal, The Tanks made a parameter along with the commanders and have begun firing from long range. The Tanks threw psionic balls of energy from afar and the commanders used artillery motars of and were setting up manual turrets. The heavy fighters joined the Hounds of war and have begun to strip away what Borg they could with their given abilities. The Five long tendrils that stand erect from the ground too have begun to take action: Four of those tentacles slipped back into the Earth and emerged from under the Borg infestation, slamming and whipping them away with the natural strength of the Gravemind, ruining the ground and footing underneath them and then retreating only to attack a different area. Only to do the same thing over.


"It's Too bad that we don't have a Matriarch Thresher Maw with us... They could have helped us out a bunch here." Ira shook her head and smirked whilst looking up at the Dredge as the white tentacle mass had parted from her.


"What's your status, Nagashira?" Ira is waiting to hear the word 'green' coming from the thing's mouth.

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

-Holly-





Holly continued her assisted sprint down the hall crowded with borg warriors. Dodging the masses of cybernetic beings was no easy task as she was forced to weave through their masses, slowing her progress down through the hall. Her comrade suffered a similar fate, being doomed to be separated from his commanding officer, completely isolated from any support should he get caught himself. Nonetheless, the two charged, pushing ever so silently through the army, heading straight for the planet's core. Holly only hoped that whatever lay down here would end up being worth the lives of two of her squad mates, for she would personally have Veely's head should it be nothing more than a fool's gambit.


Behind Holly she could hear the distant screech as the other elevators landed, four of them opening to reveal lines of grey armored legionaires, rifles raised as they poured from the massive cargo elevators. Many of the first row were felled instantly, smoldering holes stemming from where the borg soldiers shot them down. The others however proved to be luckier, unloading their weapons into the Borg lines. It would soon be evident however that the legionaries, for all of their childhood training and prowess, would not be enough to stop the never ending borg, and while some of the legionaries began to desperately search for cover, the fifth elevator slammed down with an unusually loud thud. Soon after, before the doors even had time to begin to screech open, a massive tank rolled through them, blowing the cargo elevator doors clean off their hinges, sending them flying towards the horde of borg soldiers. The tank looked different than the ones being deployed on the surface, it stood up higher from the ground, it's massive treads thicker than it's lighter counterparts. It's head, meanwhile looked sleaker than the lighter tanks above and bore a much larger barrel.


The tank quickly rolled forward, lobbing a high explosive shell towards the nearest turret as a grey armored figure emerged from the top of the tank, a slender man slacked casually against the lifted porthole of the tank's head. Zander. He quickly lurched himself forward, curling his fingers tightly around the heavy looking machine gun mounted near the barrel, instantly squeezing each of the triggers as he mowed down lines of borg trooper, his eyes bright with glee.


"Oi! Commander!" He shouted from his perch. "Just wanted to let you know that I really didn't give a fuck when you told me not to bring armor!" He shouted.


The dreadnought commander halted mid kill, his wrist blade stuck through the mid section of the borg as he turned to face the massive tank as it fired another shell at a second turret. "The hell Sergeant!" He barked. "What do you think you're doing?"


"Oh nothing much really Commander!" Zander shouted as his entire body shook from the force of the machine gun's recoil. "Just saving your sorry asses from certain destruction as all! You can thank me later!"


"Thank you? I'd sooner have you court marshaled you buffoon!" The commander shouted, which was just met with maniacal laughter from Zander's end, for he knew that the Commander would have very little to say when his tank would be the tool to bring them to the core.


"Court marshaled Commander? Nay! I think the captain would be rather pleased if he finds that my decision made the difference between a certain victory or a crushing defeat!" Zander finally shot back.


With that the commander sighed, not wasting anymore breath on the fool of Nafaria as he returned his fool attention to the fight at hand, hoping dearly that Zander would be sniped in the process.


-Surface-





The Nafarians were uneasy fighting with the Dredge, and it would soon become apparent to her that despite the aura, which surely did induce them with newfound courage and moral, the Nafarian legions were uneasy with her. Most of them kept their distance, even opting to take more exposed positions if it meant that they were out of her arms reach. For seeing her slay their comrades by the dozens was not a sight many of them would soon forget.


Nonetheless the legions continued to fight against the endless scourge of borg warriors. Many of them stacking up behind their many tanks as they slowly ebbed their way forward, pushing to gain ground against the cybernetic warriors. Shouts of pain rang out among the battlefield mixed among various encouraging battle cries from over confident squad leaders, fueled with Dredges powerful aura.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

The Dredgnaught didn’t respond to commander Ira other than with a grunt and stood up rolling its shoulders with a stomach lurching crack as they popped back into place. The Female was to old a warrior for niceties and left political games and the like to younger more able minded Dredge such as the Lady of Ravens, war was all Nagashira knew and it was the lifeblood she lived until the day she didn’t come back from the battlefield. She was a weapon that cleaved through her foes and Lady Galumora… was the hand which wielded her oh so effectively.


Nagashira finally opened up that tower shield from her back that she had been carrying around for nearly three hours on the ground now and was now pretty much invulnerable from income frontal fire but her sides were still weak, until her wounds fully healed she was a support unit in this fight. She absent mindedly patted the medical Aliuu like one would a dog that had done a good trick and then grabbed her mini gun again and simply pointed it at the oncoming Borg, and ‘let her rip’.


Even as death roared from her weapons muzzle and the satisfying sight of robotic limbs being blown apart, being crushed and decimated filled her vision she couldn’t help but wonder at what caused her young Matriarch to lose her temper so. Apprehension prickled down her neck and she kept firing, for though the Dredgnaught’s trade was death, The Lady of Ravens was a broker in the stuff, she fairly reeked of it, blackmail, subterfuge, strike teams and the like are what the Infamous Pirate Queen was a legend for. Her daughter was just as good if not better than she was and quickly outclassing her mother’s memory. Where this lineage would end… well Nagashira didn’t know, even she had not lived long enough to begin contemplating where the females of that line would end nor did she think she wanted to.


Far above the battlefield, far far above where a single Dredge in the planets surface grew ever nearer to its goal with each passing second.


The Lady of Ravens watched all that transpired with the air of a god amused with its subjects antics though multiple monitors of feeds that were being siphoned directly off of other fleets Intel.


(short but im kinda awaiting in anticipation for our newest member to post)


Her crew had recovered fully from the fear strike or aura whatever it was called and continued their work diligently. But the ‘clatter clatter’ of her claws rattling on the arms of her throne was never far from their minds, or their hearts. Those soft violet eyes watched everything.

 

[Doomshroud]

-The Vertex Imperium (Planetside Scouts)-


For the time being, the Vertex scout ships hadn't been perturbed by any of the other forces roaming about the planetside. Hovering mere feet above the ground, the troopers inside remained attentive, closely examining their unfamiliar, previously uncharted surroundings. Minuscule antennas attached to the roof of the dropships enabled them to stream live feed directly to Apex, as well as certain Vertex operators within the fleet. Should more troops be deployed downward, the feed would inevitably enable the soldiers to get a good grasp of what they could be dealing with on the planet. Should Apex HIMSELF go down there... well... such a situation was unlikely, anyway.


"Nice work thus far, keep the feed coming. After a while, I'll have each of you warped back up here, prepped and ready just in case another assignment is formulated," Apex's mechanically masked voice sounded through the intercom devices carried by the scout dropships. Picking up the pace ever so slightly, they continued onward, their cloaking mechanisms remaining on. There was no telling what they could be dealing with down here. Best not to take any unnecessary chances.

 

[GrieveWriter]

As the planet's battle for the core raged on, another ship warped out of light speed. It came to a stop way out, farther than even the Nafarians. The ship seemed more like a massive shuttle than an actual ship. It was notably large, not as big as some of the other ships that've been sailing around the anomaly but big enough to be concerning if it wasn't for the obvious design.

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​

Yes, crafted under the design of the science-based race known as the Sargonians, the ship was impressive compared to several others, but was obviously not the best design they'd produced. Even still, it was hard to ignore something so obviously out of place. Especially with the Sargonian traits of Nuetrality and such making ships like these something of a rarity outside of Sargonian space. On board, a plethora of activity was occurring.


Thousands of Kadrel ran to and from various work stations and consoles, many wearing their Tiro Suits but a noticeable number of them not. The majority of them were heading to clusters of pods that were being produced from on board factories as they floated. Every so often there'd be a single unarmed Android stationed at certain clothing facilities and such, these were known as Ambassador droids. They were pretty human in appearance, but resembled walking corpses more than anything. Ambassador androids were used mainly as maintenance personnel when they weren't in use, generally having small roles until other races wished to interact.


A single Kadrel bumped one of them to the side as he stomped off angrily towards one of the pods, the Ambassador stumbling for a moment before righting itself and standing stock still once more. This Kadrel was known as B06, and he was pissed.


As he neared the loading bay he opened up a holo-link to the bridge, he would amn well get an answer before risking his life one more time. He expected to find the towering figure of Captain Skaz staring him down, instead he found the pale-faced neutral expression of another Ambassador.


"Good evening, B06" came the even tone most would expect from the androids "what we can we do for you here on the bridge?"


"Where's the Captain?" B06 asked immediately as he continued walking


"After setting this procedure and motion, Captain Skaz retired to his chambers for, and I quote: A power nap."


B06 actually paused at that before trembling in anger "We're about to get launched out of a hyper-Cannon, spiral through anti-air defenses and face off against an army of Robotic menaces! And he's taking a damn nap?!?"


"Correct."


B06 groaned "Why is it that the bridge's response to almost every situation is to fire a bunch of Kadrel at it?"


"Because its worked so far."


B06 just grumbled as he entered the loading bay. It was a wide area about the length of a football field, dozens of pods were lined up on a tract and Kadrel were piling into them one after another.


"Attention all Pod occupants," came the voice of an Ambassador over the sound system "please be sure not to activate your pod's drill function unless prompted by our communications managers. We wouldn't want you to miss and get lodged in the planet until you starve to death or claw your way out."


None of the Kadrel even batted an eye as the Ambassador's droning tone continued.


"Now, half of you will be sent directly to help repress the robotic menace. The rest of you will be spread to southern areas to feel for entranceways to the planet's interior. If proper entrances cannot be appropriated, then we will activate drill functions on pods which are positioned over or near any underground caverns."


The last Kadrel filed into the last two shuttles, along with B06, and the pods were soon being loaded up as new, empty ones were brought in to take their place.


"Now please, strap in and enjoy some soothing music as we get into firing position."


The Kadrel around B06 began sliding down metallic harnesses that quickly fastened them to the walls, B06 sighed at the imminent thrust into peril that was about to occur.


Back on the bridge...


"First round of pods are ready," the Ambassador said to the Bridge Crew as he placed both hands behind his back " take us closer in and aim us towards these separate coordinates, prepare to fire."


As the Kadrel began following his orders, the ship began angling itself towards a specific spot on the planet as it began steadily moving in.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

On the Kukri

​

“Lieutenant Valerian Sir! We have more contacts warping in from slipspace.” One of the crewmen shouted out at the short but broad shouldered man.


“Detailed report.” Barked the lieutenant and he quickly glanced up at the no longer occupied throne which sat behind him like a constant reminder. The Ship Mistress had left not to long ago, retiring to her chambers and leaving her second in command, Valerian, in charge. None of the crew asked what she was going to do in her chambers, no one really wanted to know in all honesty. Sometimes even Pirate Queens needed a little break from stupidity.


“Im counting a single ship that’s warped in, I apologize when I thought it was multiple, class is unknown like most of the shit we have seen so far and its of substantial size Sir.” The crewman replied.


Valerian snorted. “You all know size means nothing to this ship, we have overcome challenges and hurdles far greater than any single ship, nevertheless we must greet the new arrivals as our Lady would do, you all know what she would say in this situation.”


As one the crew replied in chorus. “Yes this is the Lady Galumora speaking, I am afraid I cant come to the com right now but, for murder press one, blackmail press two, subterfuge press three, the beginings of genocide and civil war which will rip civilizations apart press four, for pizza delivery press five.”


…Valerian just stared at them dumbly for a good five minutes and one of the crewman, the guy from before says defensively. “Well she has it for her answering tone! And you damn well know she would say it to just to fuck with someone.” Well… he had to agree on that one.


“Just… look alive people and get ready to contact that ship, Mr.Williams please start our link, secure this time if you would please. Bai’core please remove your feet from the holodesk and stop eating virtual food, it doesn’t fill you up man and we have a damn good cook! What the hell is up with your obsession for nonexistent food?”


“Man I gotta feed my virtual self as well as my physical self.” Snickers all around


The lieutenant sighs and rubs his forehead between his finger and thumb. “why is is the moment our Lady leaves you all become idiots?” The entire bridge turns to stare at him. “point taken, carry on.”


A few minutes later the link was ready and in standard fashion for the crew, the commanders of said ship were greeted by the scarred Terrans visage.


“Greetings this is Lieutenant Valerian of the Kukri and I represent Lady Galumora. As you can see you’ve either warped into the wrong place which I suggest very kindly you get the hell out of here before the planet blows you to pieces and or a certain signal drew your attention here and if that’s the case im sorry to inform you that your not the only one as you can most likely see. Theres a serious battle going down on the surface, one of which isn’t going well. On another note, we await your reply with grace.”


Mr.Williams chuckles and mutters to Valerian. “Yea what a way with words man, I think you should let the scary alien do the talking, shes much better at it than you.” Only to get slapped upside the head by every man in the area. The com officer didn’t do anything other than mutter its true and get slapped again. While they were not the same species, or even remotely similar in any way. The men were loyal to The Lady of Ravens, each in their own special way. She had made a home for them amongst these desolate stars, the unwanted, the forgotten and cheated and with their lives they would repair her.


[edit] @GrieveWriter

 

[GrieveWriter]

The bridge went silent for a single moment as it intercepted the transmission, the Ambassador android stationed there turned to the sudden holo-visual of a terran male. The Ambassador walked over to the visual and stood still as it gave its best attempt at a smile, which was just as dead as the rest of its appearance. As it took the message, the various Kadrel went about there business assuming the Ambassador could handle it.


"Greetings, I am Ambassador E75." It said with a wave "Due to our captain's current situation I am the representative of the Sargonian Advancement Coalition, stationed aboard the Fabricator-Class Hyperion Shuttle Epsilon."


As it said that, one of the Kadrel spoke something to it. The Ambassador turned to it momentarily for a moment "Halt our forward movements and angle us into position."


After which he turned back to the callers and reassumed his previous stance "We were sent here in response to said signal's appearance on a plethora of Theta Station monitors. As such, we cannot leave until the source of the signal, namely whatever appears to be in this planet, and its various qualities and attributes can properly be studied. In conclusion, our soldiers will be making their way onto the planet's surface soon."


(@Jarkov Malachai )

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Lieutenant Valerian stood there looking at the droid for a good five minutes before reply a single word.


“Dibs.”


Upon seeing the droids confusion or the long pause that was generally droid confusion Valerian shrugged. “we called Dibs, its ours… what never heard of the universal Dibs protocol? Its quite easy to understand, Dibs. Its mine. End of story… that and the fact theres around 5 different factions all duking it out down there to get the blasted thing and two of said factions are holding the only LZ close to the entrance that allows troop landing without major losses. My opinion that’s a pointless venture and all in all one that someone would be kinda stupid to go af-“ Lieutenant Valerian was interrupted by a sonorous voice.


“Mr.Valerian, I assume your treating the newest members of this party honorably and with language that befits a commanding officer yes?” The second in command stiffened and thought to himself. ‘shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit”


Behind the Terran, just behind the Shadowed throne, leaning across its back lazily was the barely visible form of Lady Galumora.


“I apologize for any thoughtless remarks on Mr.Valerian, you have my… deepest regrets. However he makes a good point E75. How do you plan on gunning for what so many have already tried and as can be witnessed…. Are suffering most harshly for the rashness of their actions.” The creature purred deeply at that last bit, sauntering forward and reclining down on her throne. Valerian was almost certain now that she never actually retired to her quarters but just decided to mess with him today, matter of fact she probably was just resting atop the damn ceiling. Damnit god above why me?!


“However you do not have to take my word for it, after all what is it that I know from watching a simple screen? By all means go for it, send thy soldiers in-mass towards the planets surface but.” The Female leaned forward, allowing the light to catch her facial features drawn up in a rather sadistic looking smile, her alien looks, six soft glowing violet eyes, and her delicate horns coming to a tapered point near the back of her head.. “I suggest against any AI or robotically controlled armaments. They seem to have some trouble on the surface for some reason”


Biological scans would reveal nothing on this creature, nor would they even register her save for an anomaly at most and no substantial data was noted on them at all.


“Did I mention that we called Dibs?” @GrieveWriter

Deep down in the planet once more we go.

The Dredge/Nightguard had made it past the Nafarian compatriots and using the Dredge enchanced superior agility and speed, even with wearing the out cold Nefarian as a living suit, his muscles still responded to stimuli and therefore were capable of being manipulated by the creature.

After what seemed like forever of dodging killer robots or suffering some slight siezures which made it stumble, it made it finally, finally made it to the Core. The Nightguards allies would not be far behind though even with the Dredge’s benefits as they were capable soldiers in their own right and had a headstart. This would have to be quick. The creature stared at a large ark like opening and stepped through. @Atom
​

 

[GrieveWriter]

The Ship...


The Ambassador tilted his head to the side for a moment "Apologies, but my orders were quite clear. I'm afraid that we simply must get several studies run on the subject. My condolences to you and your people."


The Ambassador placed both hands behind his back and straightened up again "However, if our supervisors deem any findings we may acquire unbeneficial to any current research, then we will allow you and those other factions to continue your fight for it as if we were never here."


After saying that, the Ambassador nodded to one of the Kadrel. Immediately, a large assortment of cannons extended from one side of the ship and began firing their pods. The pods screamed through space like shooting stars as they barreled wildly through anti air fire.


B06 gripped his harness while they plummeted, nearby one of the other pods burst into flames as a round caused it to spiral out of control. The closer they got, more pods took rounds and exploded until finally the surviving pods embedded themselves into the ground.


The Ambassador and the Bridge crew looked over the results before the Ambassador tapped a finger to his chin "20 out of 36 hmmm? That's more than acceptable."


He turned to the Kadrel "Ready the next round." he then turned back to the callers (@Jarkov Malachai ) "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"


The Planet's Surface...


After two seconds, the doors began sliding open as the pods began commencing scans of the ground they were embedded in even as the debris from their fallen comrades rained down nearby.


b06 hefted his weapon as the door slid open, then took in the signs of battle even though they were distanced quite far from the actual battlefield. Ruined ships, dead soldiers and robots everywhere, a massive machine's wreckage which still burned.


As the other Kadrel in his pod peaked out, B06 assessed the situation....


....then immediately turned away from the battle and began walking in the complete opposite direction.


"Where the hell are you going?!?"


B06 paused and turned back to one of his podmates "What do you think? I'm going to search for a decent hidey hole."


"But our orders are to both defend the pods and repel the robot swarms!"


B06 shook his head with a sigh "Okay, look." he said before meeting his look again "How old are you?"


"Climbed outta my tank twenty minutes ago." the Kadrel said with a shrug


"Okay, I'ma call you twenty-twenty for now." B06 said despite the podmate's quick protests "But listen to me, if you go over there... I promise you that you'll never be able to experience an hour."


"Doesn't matter," Twenty-Twenty said "we have a mission-"


"No, you have a mission." B06 said as he pointed a thumb to himself "My mission is to stay alive, so that's what I'm gonna do."


"He's right..."


B06 and Twenty-Twenty turned to see another podmate with his legs dangling out of the pod "We ain't gonna survive being the first wave."


"And what do you know?" Twenty-Twenty asked with a hint of annoyance.


"I know that war... war never changes..." the Kadrel said with a dramatic sigh "you step on the battlefield first, you gotta be ready to be the first to fall."


"Well damn, Old Timer, thanks for backing me up." B06 thanked him before turning to the rest of his podmates "Listen up, any of you want a better chance at surviving to meet your first hour of life? Follow me!"


Unsurprisingly the majority of the group ran off to join up with the rest of the Pod Squads. Afterwards, B06 was left with the Old Timer, and three other Kadrel that hadn't spoken up yet.


"Well, could've been worse." B06 shrugged before turning "Come on, let's go find someplace to wait this out."


And so, the small group of Kadrel turned their backs on the battlefield and walked off to find a decent hiding spot.


The Battlefield....


As the Robots made a push towards the Nafarians, Aliuu and their Dredge companion, the Kadrel soldiers gazed across the carnage from a ridge in the distance.


"Come on!" Twenty-Twenty shouted at them "Ion settings only soldiers, find good places for shields and set 'em up!"


As such the Kadrel formed a slight curve to the current attack formation as several of them threw mechanical packs on the ground before them. Large sections of glowing shield popped up in front of the generators, while several Kadrel took cover between each. After the shields popped up, the Kadrel began firing around the sides of them. As they did so large numbers of the robots took notice of them and began firing at them as well. Soon the Kadrel were fully engrossed in the battle as well, ion bolts carving through the mechanical enemies with ease even as more quickly took their place. Several Kadrel began taking damage as well, wounds there, a death or two over there, but the Kadrel just continued their attack on the enemy even though they'd have to wait quite some time for the next round of pods.

 

[NeoLeaf]

The Swarm of Petrarica

Space: Unknown area of space


Celestrial-Bodies: Unknown planet


Vessels: 7 Leviathans + approx.15,000 units


Facilities: Gravemind's Meteorites


Factions present:

• The Swarm of Petrarica
  
• Dredge allies
  
• Nafarians
  
• Trelians
  
• Syhelians
  
• Terrans
  
• ???( Apex's species )
  

Planet's surface.

Spoiler

Hounds of War

The Footsoldiers

The Commanders

The Heavy fighters

The Tanks

The Light Flyers

The Heavy Flyers

The Leviathans

Ira was fighting along with her humanoid commanders, using mounted machine guns and occationally giving units the order of using the motars. She felt a sudden presence above them and saw that another faction has appeared and come to help the bunch. Fortunately the majority of her forces were too occupied with the Borg armada that they haven't had the time to consider killing whoever these helpers were.


"Hahahahaha!" Ira laughed heartilly under the high repeating gun shots as she aimed her machine gun towards more swarms of these inhumane grey cybernetic humanoids.


"Marching to battle with a stranger, holding the line, shoulder to shoulder - THAT is the great equalizer of War." She quoted old words from a certain Dredge.


"Welcome!"

 

[GrieveWriter]

The Battlefield...


Twenty-Twenty kneeled behind a shield as he waited for his weapon to cool down a bit. As he did so a voice called out from afar. He looked through the shield to see a humanoid Aliuu speaking loudly as it continued fighting, and seeing how they were sorta fighting the same enemy he quickly activated a wrist-mounted translator. He was only able to catch some of her quote.


"-equalizer of war." he recognized, there was a slight pause "Welcome!"


Seizing the opportunity, Twenty-Twenty spoke into the translator in hopes of getting some early communication set up between him and these new comrades.


"There were more of us," came a synthetic voice from the translator "but the-"


Twenty-Twenty paused as a dead Kadrel landed next to his shield, he quickly darted out to grab the corpse's blaster from him as he slid back behind the shield. The Kadrel used said blaster to fire several more ion rounds into the mass of robots before he continued.


"The Anti-Air armaments are taking out large chunks of our numbers before we even break atmosphere." came the voice of the translator "It may not be a problem now but if those robots don't stop coming we're going to want those reinforcements eventually."


After saying that he grabbed both blasters and fired a barrage into the mechanic horde before ducking again.


(@NeoLeaf )

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

-Holly-





Holly was next, behind the Dredge, panting as she reached the triangular opening. She paused for a moment to both catch her breath and stand in awe at the strange structure. Seems like she wouldn't be angrily lopping off Captain Veely's head from his shoulders afterall, for the spoils of this planet had now shown itself to her. She was hesitant to step inside the structure. She was alone, unaware of when any backup may follow her through the ark. Of course, she would have the legions of regulars who would likely push through the cybernetic abominations crowding the halls behind her, but it could take far too long should any major threat lie behind the strange doorway. Nonetheless, she made her decission, and decided to step through the ominous gateway.


Few questions now remained for Holly, ones she would be swift to answer as she once more took off in a mad sprint towards the followed by her one remaining squad mate, a smile creeping upon her face as she dreamed of laying her hands upon the artifact that the filthy human beings had wasted their lives for. She began to take the first, blissful steps into the ark shaped doorway, unaware of both the corrupted Nightguard or any borg warriors that may lay beyond it's threshold. Either way, she was ready to face what lay beyond.


-Planet's Surface-





Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, the battle continued to rage on as the cries of the fallen, mewed pathetically against the methodical booms and pops of war. Nafarian soldiers continued to fight against the cybernetic borg with more conservative tactics than used against the Dredge. They moved from cover to cover, taking losses as they emerged to take ground. They were on more equal footing against the Borg soldiers however, as they were no longer throwing themselves at a minigun wielding behemoth that would cut them down regardless of the cover they hid behind.


Fire continued to rain from the skies as well, as the Razor, that still floated diligently in the orange sky, polluted with smoke and fire, continued to aim it's weapons down on the Borg armies. It, along with the efforts of the deadly Dredge warrior and the Nafarian armor seemed to offer the biggest support to the valiant efforts of the Nafarian infantry that trudged through the blood slick mud below. Besides the horrible and likely psychological damaging experience of fighting among their comrade's blood, the Dredge's aura appeared to still work very well on the easily malleable minds of the Nafarian grunts. They showed little remorse or putrid disgust that many mortal men and Nafarians would face in such circumstances, and instead kept their eyes down their sights, and the sights pointed at their enemies. However, despite all of this, and their raging success in part of the Dredge's participation, the Nafarian regulars did not seem eager to fight with the Dredge as a true comrade, and still kept their distance from her.

 

[NeoLeaf]

The Swarm of Petrarica

Space: Unknown area of space


Celestrial-Bodies: Unknown planet


Vessels: 7 Leviathans + approx.15,000 units


Facilities: Gravemind's Meteorites


Factions present:

• The Swarm of Petrarica
  
• Dredge allies
  
• Nafarians
  
• Trelians
  
• Syhelians
  
• Terrans
  
• ???( Apex's species )
  

Planet's surface.

Spoiler

Hounds of War

The Footsoldiers

The Commanders

The Heavy fighters

The Tanks

The Light Flyers

The Heavy Flyers

The Leviathans

Ira didn't respond to the voice and continued firing her weapon. It actually would be really nice if someone or something were to take out those annoying railguns. They've already killed hundreds of thousands of individuals in the air. Ira's weapon had stopped firing and made a loud sound from its sides. A white vapor blew out from the mounted machine gun, a beeping sound could be heard and it stopped to restock on it's supply of ammunition. Ira let go of the handles and moved next over to a motar artillery device. The woman grabbed a small spherical shaped explosive and dropped it into the barrel of the device.


POW!


The ground shook from the energy from firing the explosive upward into the air. Ira rose up from her crouching position peaked over her mound to see if her explosive has landed. A neon green colored cloud came from amidst the synthetic grey humanoids, confirming that it was a hit.


"Come to die today as well?" Ira shouted when she dropped another explosive into the motar.


"We aren't in any position to escape this planet with those cannons clearing the air and these blasted things swarming around our area of defense." She held her tongue when she fired a second explosive onto the enemy. She returned to the machine gun that had finished it's cooling process and replenished itself with a new set of ammunition.

(@GrieveWriter )

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

 
Planet's Surface





@NeoLeaf


A Nafarian soldier threw his armored back onto the rough, grey exterior of a rock, panting hard near Ira's position, the armor screeching a bit as the thick metal plates slid against the stone. He lay for a minute, panting as his head lay directed towards the planet's sky, resting for a moment in the heat of battle. Quickly, he came back to his senses, and turned his gaze to the rifle that lay upon his lap, quickly releasing the empty mag that stuck out of the bottom of the weapon. He was just within earshot of Ira as he reloaded his gun, able to clearly hear the alien's rambling. He let out a loud scoff as he heard her complaints, halting his reloading process.


"That seems like a personal problem, doesn't it alien! See that ship up there?" He cried out as he pressed his back tight against the rock's surface and gesturing the the Razor up above, the shield flickering bright red as it did it's best to hold against the occasional rail gun fire. "That's my ride home. And we ain't allowing any hitchhikers on board nor are we going to sit here and baby sit ya until you can safely exit. We're only holding off these borg monsters as long as our captain commands it, and as soon as we get the order, we're jumping back into orbit and away from this damned rock!" He taunted with a laugh as he peeked back over the rock to let loose a few more rounds against the advancing borg.


It would seem that Karma was watching this paticular soldier today, as soon after his harsh words to Ira he caught a round on his shoulder. By sheer misfortune it missed both his shoulderplate and his chestplate, both of which would have stopped the round. It instead slipped right through the gap in between pieces of armor, cutting through the more easily penetrable black body suit that covered his body underneath the thick grey plates of armor. The man let our a pain stricken cry as blood frothed forth from the wound, splattering against the safety of his rock cover and dribbling down his armor. The man slumped against the rock as his arm went limp, and his long fingers released the rifle, allowing it to thud faintly into the mud below him.


"God damnit... I need a medic!" He cried out as he applied pressure to the wound, likely bringing a strong sense of satisfaction to Ira.

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

@Dys


Xandarian outer rim





In one of the outermost worlds of the Xandarian empire, a small Nafarian corvette warped in less than one hundred kilometers away from the planet's defense fleet. The ship was small, especially by Nafarian standards which usually boasted massive airships of destruction that knew nothing of their own demise. This ship however looked as if it would barely be able to handle a few salvos, not to mention an entire battle. It cruised forward initially, inching boldly towards the much larger Xandarian navy without stopping, it's blocky, triangle body devoid of the angry red lights that were a tell tale sign of heating Nafarian weaponry. It would soon become evident to the Xandarian ship captains that this ship was not a precursor to any form of Nafarian invasion, and likely meant no harm to the Xandarian colony world.


The ship slowed to a halt at around fifty kilometers away from the defensive ships, pointing it's prow to the colorful world below. Within seconds of the ship's halt, a transmission was quickly linked to the lead Xandarian ship, a pale skinned Nafarian male with pitch black hair and piercing red eyes appeared on their view screen. His uniform was jet black indicating a high place among Nafarian royalty, either in his bloodline or through his military achievements. Unlike the godly like command thrones and spacious bridges that most Nafarian bridges contained, this man sat directly in front of the corvette's viewscreen, and the dimly lit, grey cockpit looked cramped as it closed around him and two other men that could be seen facing their own holo screens directly behind him.


"This is Royal Lieutenant Nuk Ez'Lon" The man explained, his smooth, ,cajoling voice slipping through the Xandarian's speakers. "I am here strictly for diplomatic purposes and am here on my own accord, so I'd appreciate it if this was kept silent from any nearby Nafarian patrols. I request to speak to the highest commanding officer presently available to speak with me. It's urgent." He said confidently, his pointed chin risen high above his covered collarbone.

 

[Equipoise]

Xandarian Outer Rim

The prows of the defense fleet, a grouping of ten knife-like cruisers surrounding a significantly larger heavy cruiser, briefly alighted themselves with an orange glow upon sighting the ship before powering back down. Shortly thereafter, a channel between the Xandarian heavy cruiser and the Nafarian corvette was established. A square-jawed Xandarian officer appeared onscreen, dressed in the typical Xandarian naval officer dress uniform with an ornate peaked cap resting upon his head and his hands crossed behind him. Unlike Lieutenant Ez'Lon's corvette, one could easily see the full extent of the large bridge, crew members working on their various consoles behind him.


"Lieutenant Ez'lon, this is Commander Velsus Sha'a. Presently, you are speaking to the highest-ranking officer of this fleet detachment. However, since as you say you are for a diplomatic purpose, the highest-ranking diplomatic officer presently available in this area would be Governor Za'gog, who resides on the planet below." Commander Sha'a said, briefly letting one of his hands come from behind him to gesture at the planet below.


"I assume this shall suffice for now?"

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

-Xandarian Outer Rim-


@Dys





Nuk shuddered at the name 'Velsus', his eyes widening briefly before receding as his thoughts reassured him that the man before him certainly could not have been the Velsus he was currently here to warn the Xandarians about. The Velsus that had caused so much turmoil within the empire and the Velsus that he currently plotted against. Shaking his invasive thoughts, he returned to the task at hand.


"Velsus aye?" He said with a nervous laugh. "As if I haven't heard enough of that name in recent months. But do tell me Commander, can this governer make military pacts? Or does he not hold the permission, for I desperately require someone who can make a steady decision without the need to check with one's superiors. I'm willing to wait as long as possible for one who can, but you see you'll find it rather hard to reach me once more if time needs to go by for this governor of yours to acquire the proper clearance as there's no telling where I will be." He stated smoothly.

 

[Equipoise]

Xandarian Outer Rim

"Under typical circumstances, it would take a bit of time to make it's way up to the highest authority in this sector, yes. However..." Commander Sha'a says, gesturing towards the screen. "...if you were to state the purpose of this diplomatic mission, it would make the red-tape cut much more quickly. We can guarantee secure channels off-record, if that is how you wish it. You could also plead your case directly to the highest authority in this sector. I find it worth noting that said highest-authority only has to answer to the Grand Prince, the Emperor's Council, and the Emperor himself." Commander Sha'a finishes.


"However, you may go about this in however manner you wish."

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

-Xandarian Outer Rim-


@Dys





Nuk leaned back against his chair, letting his back rest against the chairs uncomfortable steel surface. Being a corvette, the ship was meant more for quick deployments of troops in smaller riot situations and occasionally covert ops and was built with less thought towards how comfortable the operators were. He stroked his chin thoughtgully a few times as he weighed the risk of stating his goals to a mere commander, but he quickly decided that should this Commander stay true and keep Nuk's business a private matter, then it would all be worth it in the payoff.


"Alright." He stated after a brief moment of silence, leaning forward and facing the Commander. "But this mustn't get out, am I clear 'Commander'?" Nuk asked condescendingly. Despite seeming to be a more calmer and rational fellow to the Xandarian commander, Nuk's ingrained Nafarian traits seemed to still clearly shine through.


"As I stated previously I'm here on my own accord, and I wish to speak with someone in power about forming a military pact, not with the Empire as you know it however, for you see, all is not well to put it bluntly. I won't spare too many details with you, as a lot of that's quite classified, I feel a civil war is on the verge of breaking Commander. And I, along with many others find no love for the groups threatening to break over our emperor's absence. We are a small group with no declaration against these groups and lack a leader. Should all hell break loose, we're going to need military support." He explained.


Once he finished speaking, he rested his slender, pale face on one of his open palms, red eyes peering into those of the commander. He seemed relaxed, as if all stress had seeped from his body with his words. Now he only patiently awaited the commander's answer, hoping that he would indeed patch him through this promised Xandarian prince.

 

[Equipoise]

Xandarian Outer Rim

"I am offended," Commander Sha'a said. "that you do not believe that I am a man of my word. But I suppose, should it give your mind ease, that you are clear. I shall patch you through to the Prince, and you and he shall discuss the matters of this at your leisure."


With that said, the Xandarian briefly closed communications between himself and Lieutenant Ez'lon. He gestured briefly to his communications officer, who immediately began relaying a message to the sector's capital.

***

​

Many light-years away, on the sector's capital of Carnassus, Prince Yor sat in his throne. He gazed at the hologram in front of him, a mid-level scientist who twittered on about things Yor couldn't possibly care about. He slowly rapped his fingers upon the gilded armrest of the ornate throne, a clearly bored expression on his face. The room he was in, the throne room of the large capitol complex, was massive. Its vaulted ceilings were high, giving the room a cathedral-esque appearance. A massive red-and-black banner hung from the wall behind him, proudly emblazoning the royal crest and surrounded by orange light, one of the few sources of light in the room. The room was dimly lit, forcing Yor's eyes to give off a color similar to that of a coquelicot. He began absentmindedly picking at his nails, occasionally giving a glance back to the hologram of the still talking scientist. He sighed deeply, thinking quite seriously about a reason to end the conversation, although it can hardly be considered one as he had yet to speak more than a sentence, when one of his many advisers gave one for him.


D'shevius T'sinet, head adviser to Prince Yor, burst through the large double doors at the opposite end of the chamber, rapidly making his way towards the Prince.


"Your grace!" he said, stopping meters away from the Prince, breathing heavily. This causes Prince Yor to look up from the hologram.


"T'sinet, have you no manners?" Prince Yor said, sitting upright in his throne, raising his head high as he gazed at the head adviser, feigning irritation. "You just interrupted the conversation I've been having with this scientist."


"I know, Your Grace, and for that I apologize." D'shevius said, finally managing to get his breathing under control. "But this is of great importance, a correspondence was just received from the outer rim of the sector-"


"When are correspondences not being received from any part of the sector, T'sinet? It happens so frequently that it is not worth my time to act upon every single one."


"If I may, Your Grace, it is imperative that you act upon this one."


Prince Yor quickly stated an apology to the scientist, waving his hand over the hologram and causing it to turn off.


"Explain."


"One of the defense fleets bordering the Nafarians reported that one 'Royal Lieutenant Nuk Ez'lon' interacted with it and had some valuable things to say."


"Explain further."


"Your Grace, the military's foreign intelligence on the Nafarians appears to be correct. The Empire's state of being has been called into question, and may fracture at any time."


Prince Yor's eyes widened slightly at this. A Nafarian Civil War? 'Now,' he decided. 'things are getting interesting.'


"A Royal Lieutenant, you say?"


"Yes, Your Grace."


"Someone high up in the ranks of the Empire, I presume, and not a mere footsoldier?"


"I can only suppose so, Your Grace."


"So someone in the higher echelons of Nafarian society has come and claimed that the Empire is to fracture at any time..." Prince Yor said, briefly closing his eyes as he thought about what his adviser had said.


"Is the defense fleet still in contact with him?"


"Yes, Your Grace."


"I grant him an audience. I want him brought here to plead his case. Have a royal fleet escort him here."


"Yes, Your Grace."


With that, D'shevius bowed, quickly turning around and walking back out of the chamber.


"Yes." Prince Yor said to himself. "Things are getting interesting."

***

​

After a brief few moments of silence, communications were reestablished between Lieutenant Nuk and the Xandarian ships.


"Well, Lieutenant, it appears you have caught the Prince on a good day. He has not only agreed to listen to what you have to say, but will do it personally. A royal fleet has been deployed to escort you to the sector's capital. They should arrive any moment now."

 

[Romulus VenZiel]

Xandarian Outer Space


@Dys





Relief flooded Nuk's body as he heard the Commander's words. He was thankful, Xandarian assistance could possibly turn the tide against the three warring factions. Suddenly things began to come more clearly to Nuk, adrenaline coursed through his veins and his muscles tensed as he grew excited before quickly subduing himself. Perhaps his collective actually had a chance, maybe they could yet steal the throne from the ravenous hands of General Velsus. He wasn't entirely settled yet, nor was his dreams for his people secure, for his small collective lacked a leader, a position he knew he was not powerful enough to take without uprest. No, he needed someone who could rally his small crowds, someone who was equally as upset with the state of the empire and Ven'Ziel's rule, but that was a matter of it's own. He let his eyes rest on the Xandarian commander, ignoring the Commander's uneasiness over Nuk's lack of trust.


"Of course Commander, and once again I thank you." He stated, closing communications with the Commander as his muscles relaxed against the cool metal arms of his chair.


He then turned to his navigator, who sat beside him, staring blankly out into space as he grew bored with the dull conversation between Nuk and the alien. He drummed his hands against the ship's control stick as he appeared to be pondering the glistening white stars that infinitely surrounded them in all directions.


"Pilot!" Nuk barked, snapping the man out of his lifeless trance as he jumped in his seat.


"Yes sir!" The man nervously stammered in response.


"A patrol fleet will be arriving in due time to take us to this planet's surface. When they arrive follow them closely." Nuk explained to the still distant man.


"Aye lieutenant!" The pilot replied, flipping various switches about the control desk in front of him.


The switches began to glow a bright red color as his hands pranced about the slanted desk as the ship began to rumble to life, awakening from it's idle state. The large thrusters in the back of the ship began to burn a brilliant orange hue as the they burned against the Vacuum of space. Nuk in the meantime settled down and closed his eyes, preparing himself for his conversation with this Xandarian prince.


-Planet's Core-


@Jarkov Malachai


As the unwitting trio entered the core they were initially met with immense heat that was angrily being emitted from the planet's heart. However, instead of the a craggy rocky cave complete with stalactites hanging dangerously from a smooth rocky surface, they were met with brilliant silver metal that curved about the walls. Upon closer inspection they all could see flashing lights of various colors racing across various tubes that ran up and down the walls and ceiling. But this was hardly the most awe inspiring feature of this room, as if one were to follow the metal tubing, they would see a massive holo computer system bellow a clear window. This window did not grace their eyes with fields of green grass or a beautiful beach however. instead they were greeted with the vision of an insurmountable wall of lava that extended all across the left wall. The lava lit the room in a bright orange glow, and although they could only speculate, likely powered the entire computing system.


The entire room looked as if it contained technology far beyond the grasp of the mortal's minds. As they walked across the sleek silver floors, their boots, despite being crafted to hide the sounds of their footsteps, gave off loud, resounding clunks that echoed throughout the room. Holly listened carefully as she walked, counting three separate pairs of footsteps about the room. She smiled, safe in the knowledge that the other two must be her remaining comrades, unknowing of the third's possession by the Dredge warrior. Despite this, her inner conscious kept her from disabling her suit's cloaking abilities, convincing herself that danger could still be afoot in this unfamiliar artificial cave.


"By Ven'Ziel's wrath..." Holly breathed silently as she looked around, making her way slowly towards the computer system. "This is nothing like we have back at home aye?"


"No kidding sarge." The other nightguard said, he too relieved that everyone in the room was what he believed to be friendlies. "What do you think this place is? Some sort of mining factory or something?"


"Don't be daft private." She shot back. "This looks like it's some sort of damned bunker or something, or a factory of some kind that keeps producing those cybernetic warriors our regulars are fighting off behind us. Only one way to be sure." Holly stated.


"A damn shame we couldn't be fighting with them, getting all the glory those legionnaire bastards. I'd love to sink my blades into those things. They creep me out." The private stated back.


"Aye private. But our work here is what makes their lives back there matter. They all die in vain if we can't harvest anything from this place. But to business now. Let's see what these cyborgs have stashed here, perhaps we can shut all these things down, hell, I'm sure the eggheads back in orbit would just love to study this place." She replied, picking up the pace, slightly behind the Dredge infected and odly silent Nightguard.


Just as Holly finished speaking, five more sets of footsteps could be hear clanking through the corridor. The other five nightguards, catching up with their squad ahead. They remained at the doors however, none of them speaking as they remained shocked with the core's computer room.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Galumora


The Lady of Ravens
​

The Dredge Matriarch was about to reply to the Robot Ambassador when a tickling sensation in the back of her mind caught her attention. Normally a Dredge Matriarch can hear and see, feel and breathe what those under her rule and power experienced and through short distances, however thanks to Technology that the Starwalkers had to willingly provided, she could receive and transmit her orders on a much larger scale. Albiet not as effective but good enough, and The Lady of Ravens was not one to complain when something worked. Sadly it worked not on non Serai'Drakhoul races but oh well, one couldn't have everything her way now could she?


"I am so sorry Monsieur E75 but im afraid ill have to end this call... prematurely." and with a airy wave and quick flip of the hand the connection was Severed and the Pirate Queen investigated what her Feral had deemed so important to draw her Attention. Delving partly into its mind whilst keeping the majority of her mental functions on the Battle which raged down upon almost all sides of the planet and in the atmosphere. More than once they had to Maneuver out of the way of one of those Railguns as it fired towards something just behind it not detecting the Stealth Cruiser. To be honest they were Irking her and she contemplated Sending Nagashira to deal with the nearest one before discarding that idea as impossible even for the Mighty Dredgnaught. Moroc was still on the ground and available for retasking as he seemed to be having trouble at detecting the Ebony sailed ships.


However what the good Lady received was oh so much more than she could have imagined, but she had to work fast. The Feral was synthesizing onto its host and beginning to awaken, a dangerous process in a sealed environment, on a battlefield it was impossible to predict and Galumora wanted to lose not a potential weapon in the upcoming conquests. That and there was no telling when the still out cold man might reawaken. But the Dredge was prepared for that.


She nudged the Ferals Attention towards the main computer which it willingly Oblidged at her suggestion that it was interesting for it was, the Dredge had never seen things like this before and neither had its host.


However as the three ran and the other two decloaked, Galumora had to do some mental crushing in order to let the Feral hand the reigns over slightly in a manner of speaking.


Before the Ferals host decloaked, the Dredge semi Phased and removed from its inner maw a Data Cube, one very similar to the one Moroc used to steal the Terrans Ship logs and home planet coordinates. Seeing as she did not know which group might double back to the ship or what they might find down there, Galumora had equipped both Dredge accordingly and her foresight paid off.


The Dredge/Nightguard made it to the console only slightly ahead of the other two due to its hosts injuries and even its strengths could only go so far. Holly literally ran into the still cloaked night guard which almost made the Dredge loose it but Galumora managed to hold its panic and calm it down. The Nightguard de-cloaked and nodded to Holly but then turned his attention to the main console. A Nefarian version of the thumbs up or good luck sign, which Galumora had to wrack her brain for and send it to the Dredge/Nightguard to imitate. A point at the neck and slicing motion to try and communicate he couldn't talk and then instructed in simple images what She wanted her sleeper to do. Basically press this button, slide this, move that, smash that one like your playing fuckin wack'a'mole


Subtly plug in data cube, and figure out what was down there... well in there. Let the two others see of course so as to not arouse suspicions, every now and then hold stomach in pain and the continue...


Now now now, what secrets do you hold I wonder?