Once More, With Feeling

[Shadowcatbot]

Aboard the NC cutter viewing the event:
The captain sent a message back amongst the broadcast in her less then perfect creation of the NR's language: "The Nivanssshae Collective congradulatess the NR on their ascheivement".
After viewing the mining ship consume the chunk of rock a sensor operator called out:
Coretta, Unknown object, large, exiting the atmosphere of the planet under the NR ship.
The psionic thought was received along with images of a large fuzzy target moving away from the planet.
General Alert. Maneuver us away into higher orbit and focus the sensor arrays on it. Charge main capacitors and load just in case.
Coretta looked up at the screens lining the bridge wall. Most of them showing various external cameras and system maps with one zooming in on the unknown target. Fiddling about with the web around her command station she wondered just what the Neorome mining ship had dug up.



OOC: I'm considering developing the Nivanshae some more, really flesh out the differences between them and the other races. Also: Psionic communications ftw.

[Vinyl]

The NR Hierarchy has invited several empires (Read: All the Terran ones, Macaian, not the Strigiforme) to observe the test-firing on Tervius Prime.

Nivanshae were not invited.

[Shadowcatbot]

The NR Hierarchy has invited several empires (Read: All the Terran ones, Macaian, not the Strigiforme) to observe the test-firing on Tervius Prime.

Nivanshae were not invited.

Virtually all of the empires friendly to NeoRome were there.

Last I checked NC and NR were neutrally cool with each other. Not only that but this is nothing more then a * waving event so why wouldn't I be invited? Also your not Fenway so fack off hexashit

[Professor Fenway]

They were invited, I just didn't specify.

[Ivan2006]

Onboard the ME observation ship, Vishnu demonstration site:

"Well it seems I am going to have to write a report on that now. HQ will undoubtedly want to know how it went."
"Do that, Admiral."
"I shudder to think what would happen if it was aimed at something else than a lifeless planet."

later...

"Okay, I got the report, sending now."
"Admiral, Sir, something big is ascending from the planet!"
"What?"
"Look, it's pushing through the cloud layer!"
"Charge FTL, just in case, and tell HQ to keep reinforcements on standby, I have a bad feeling about this."

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

[Federation Diplomatic Cruiser Czar Alexander, after demonstration of the Vishnu]

On the observation deck, president Antonov of the UFS looked out towards what was once a planet.
Maria Hale, the federation Chief of Economics, walked up to him.
"Quite something, isn't it?"
The president nodded.
"Indeed. But it goes without saying that such a thing could be misused were it to fall into the wrong hands."
"I have spoken to Lin and Cloverfield, they believe we should make a scientific alliance with the Hierarchy. After all, from what we can tell of the little documents left behind by TechTron, it seems we are the two political powers who account for most of the galaxy's scientific advancement."
"Very well. Inform the high senate. We'll have a proper discussion the moment we return to Technoma, and if the majority favors the decision, we'll make official contact with the NeoRomans. It wouldn't hurt to open a line to them now, give them some time-"

The president was cut short by a communications officer.
"Sir, it's the bridge. They report something from the planet; they're not sure what, but they report that it is very large and it is ascending. Since we're uncertain of what it is, the captain has ordered to charge the FTL and direct all diplomats to the lifeboats, just in case."

[Professor Fenway]

"Sir, the object is breaking through the atmosphere." The sensor operator looked up at the captain, who was at the command console.

"Bring it onscreen." The primary screen--mounted on the command console and extremely large-- activated and shifted, showing a small section of the planet below. The atmosphere was roiling more then usual. It began lifting and dispersing around something massive. A small dome appeared, and then grew. It continued to increase in size, forming a massive hole in the planet's atmosphere. "What the hell is that?" he yelled.

"I'm detecting massive life signs," replied the sensor operator. "Size estimate eighty, no, a hundred kilometers in width. Several kilometers in height." He paused. "Reading weapon signatures! More than 5000 individual targeting signatures, all focused on Vishnu." The captain rushed to push several dials and sent a high-beam radio broadcast towards the massive ship, still rising out of the atmosphere. The view-screen above him began showing a large hole in the massive ship's armor; Vishnu must have extracted this.

"This is Captain Karlyus of the NR 3rd fleet Battalion," he said into the channel. It would be broadcast in all known languages automatically. "Unknown ship, stand down! Hold your fire, we are not your enemy!" He sent off the message and waited. The ship--he could only describe it as a City Ship--continued to rise. After a moment, he received a reply. In his own language.

"You destroyed our only sanctuary, Captain," replied the city-ship. The voice seemed to be double, as if it was being spoken through a translator; the original voice and the translation layered over each other."And now you attack us here. You are an enemy of our people. You will be exterminated." The channel shut off.

"They're charging weapons!" The sensor operator rapidly switched through data channels. "Detecting radiological, infrared, ultraviolet, hyperspace emissions."

"Open fire!" Karlyus yelled.

The 70 ships of the NR 3rd fleet Battalion unleashed their entire arsenal--nuclear weapons, fusion coil splicers--to cover for the Vishnu's escape. It charged FTL.

[ACH0225]

The small Strigiforme scout ship nearby observed with interest, making a few passive scans of the object and the fleet capacities of the NeoRomans.

Making note of their exposed position, the crew sent a tight beam transmission to a Strigiforme comms relay nearby.

"Vishnu test successful. Stop.

Large chunk of planet raised up. Stop.

Massive entity, purposes unknown, attacking NeoRoman forces. Stop."

The ship began making careful, directed radiometric and electromagnetic examinations of the gargantuan ship, making sure to use its' RTS to move slowly and quietly between scans.

[Ivan2006]

The Macaian ship cought the comms chatter between the city-ship and the Vishnu and immediately jumped out when they started fireing on each other.

--message from Macai to NeoRome--
Whatever this is you just uncovered, this is your buiseness.
We wish you good luck dealing with that thing.
--end of message--

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

[[ Federation diplomatic cruiser Czar Alexander, bridge ]]
The captain of the Czar Alexander, one Graham Wells, was standing by to jump when the massive ship emerged from the planet.
"What in... Tana, Jacobs, what are the readings on that thing?"
"It seems to be an absolutely massive ship, Sir. Thousands of weapons, pointed at the NeoRoman ship."
The captain turned to the comms officer.
"Inform the president. I'm not big on politics, but I'm damn sure this is significant."


[[ Federation diplomatic cruiser Czar Alexander, escape pods ]]
"Mr. president, we've recieved word from the bridge. An enormous ship has emerged from the planet and is aiming at the NeoRomans. They call for advice."
The president was silent for a moment, then responded.
"Contact the capital, or at least the Chief of Military. Tell them to prepare to send out our best ships. And give me a line to the NeoRomans, I wish to tell them they have our support."


[[> Transmission to the NeoRoman craft Vishnu <]]
This is president Lance Antonov speaking on behalf of the United Federation of Systems.
We may not be the strongest faction in the galaxy, and our relations with you or anyone else may not be that close. But we are all people of the same galaxy, so we will do what we can to aid you if the current situation escalades into a firefight. We regrettably do not currently have many military-oriented ships in the area, but I shall personally make sure that support arrives as soon as possible.
[[> Transmission End <]]

[Professor Fenway]

The first nuclear warhead slammed into the city ship-and then more slammed into it. The city-ship was briefly obscured by dozens of detonations before the detonations went silent. Karlyus held up his hand and the fleet held it's fire. As the nuclear fireballs faded, the ship was shown again. A wreck.

Huge holes had been blasted in its entire superstructure; multiple sections were flaming or molten, and entire sections were flickering on and off. The lights that once dotted the entire structure were unstable.

"I'm reading over 80% power loss on the city-ship," said the sensor operator behind Karlyus. "All targeting signatures are offline. Engine signatures offline. The ship is dead in space."

"Dead?" Karlyus asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's it? This isn't a trick? We knocked it out?"

"The superstructure is intact but most of the ship is nearly completely without power. Life support seems to still be functional," the operator went through several screens, "The ship does not have a shield system. At all." Karlyus activated a transmission channel to Vishnu.

"This is Unceasing, threat neutralized. Cancel your jump and remain in the area." He shut the channel off and switched to a broadcast channel. "Form on us and prepare for boarding operations on the city ship. The thing is dead in the water." The ship jolted as it began accelerating towards the massive ship, now barely staying in space through it's anti-gravity field.

||Transmission to: NR Command||
-Encountered unknown race occupying a massive city-ship on Tervius Prime shortly after Vishnu firing. Thermonuclear bombardment managed to completely neutralize the ship. Conducting boarding operations immediately.
||END||

||Transmission to: United Federation of Systems||
It seems that won't be necessary, President Antonov.
||END||

[ACH0225]

Transmission to Strigiforme Command from cloaked scout ship

"Massive ship destroyed by NeoRoman fleet. Stop.

Moving closer to deploy strike teams via stealth infantry transport to search for survivors and technology. Stop.

Ship and all deployed units possessing self destruct protocol devices to ensure plausible deniability, teams composed of at least half non-Strigiforme members. Stop.

Ceasing transmission. Stop."

The stealthed ship moved close to the giant wreckage, swerving through debris. Fortunately for the ship, the massive size of the ruin meant that NeoRoman scouts and troops could only cover a substantial portion of it; there were only so many of them, and the Strigiforme could easily deploy and not even see a single NeoRoman.

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

[[ Federation diplomatic cruiser Czar Alexander ]]
"Captain, Mr. president, honoured Chiefs, it seems the NeoRomans have managed to completely disable the ship."
Shu Lin, Chief of Science, spoke up.
"I propose we send a boarding party to examine the ship closer. It would appear that they didn't have a shield, but they may have other technology that we might find useful. Or at least some bits of history regarding the presumably whole race the NeoRomans just killed."
The president nodded.
"I agree. But I doubt we will be the only ones sending boarding parties, contact the other factions so we might coordinate our troops. It would make the search of the ship more effective, and we'd avoid misunderstandings related to, say, accidentally opening fire on potential allies."

[Vinyl]

Light corvette Androgynous Heliosphere

"Admirable."
"Expected."
"Seeing as the... display has concluded and our data collected, I feel we should make our exit-"
"It appears the other nations are dispatching boarding parties to search the hulk."
"Contact command, request a team of Corpsmen. The 115th is due a field outing."

[Error]

'That... was rather unexpected. Stand down to Condition Bravo. Launch three med-teams in Raptors, and inform the NeoRoman ground commander they're going in behind his front.'

'Aye, sir.'

- - -
The first successful jump drive test has occurred in Nahr al Nair. Despite above-average power cost and a two-minute charge time, the drive has been slated for production.