Desperation

[Error]

OOC: Said Novan engineer will, after he gets the drive running nominally, return to the Repulse via shuttle.

Solar, I figured, given that you kept up with the others, that antigravs and flight fields were standard fare. It's sci fi, I think we can assume Space is an Ocean for the most part.

But anyway, BIC:

Valkyrius stared at the sprawling expanses of the orbital station. Deep in thought, he almost jumped when a lieutenant coughed beside him. "Sir, in medbay... something you may want to see."

Hans followed the man to the medical bay, and was led into the CMO's office. Captain Annthurea looked up at him, an odd expression on his face. "Commander. Something you'd like to see, I imagine..." he said, handing over what appeared to be medical imaging scans.

As the commander looked them over, the doctor explained; "I don't know how, sir, but apparently we've ended up with the universe's first Novan-Aurin hybrid. And the even stranger thing, ignoring the fact that you'd need an army of genetesists to get that to work, is who's DNA-3B sequence I found in the kid."

Handing his CO another scan, he deadpanned, "It would appear the PM's kid is aboard, sir."

Valkyrius just shook nis head, muttering a curse. "I swear, that man will be watching over the Commonwealth until the gods die off. Now, find out: one, does Commander Mayala know, and two, how in the name of Odysseus did it wait this long?"

Without waiting for a response, he stepped out, heading back to the shuttlebay. He needed to talk to Meinholl.

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

OOC: I'm so confused at whats going on in the story.

People are doing things and I'm an NPC.

[Error]

@Tell: the fleet managed to get o the Novan colony in Andromeda and is currently resupplying and repairing and such.


EDIT: Someone post something! It's too quiet!

[Julo]

"Captain, Hgalvan has docked and is now heading for this room."
"Okay, have you double-checked his armament?"
"Yes, your emergency kinetic field should protect you, as long as he doesn't use anything that has the equivalent energy to a military plasma grenade."
"Please pay close attention to his neurotransmitters."
"This can be very difficult sometimes, especially when he is wearing a hat or helmet. We could improve that if we increase his mental activity. Maybe we could use some biological or chemical substances. Taurine might be useful."
"I already solved this problem."
"How?"
"Coffee."

Hgalvan arrived two minutes later, guided by MIRU. He knocked at the door. Lotho was ready. This would come down to what he would say and how he would say it.

"Please come in."
"Captain Lotho."
"Hello, Mr. Hgalvan, do you want a cup of coffee?"
The door shut.

[Professor Fenway]

Hgalvan looked at Lotho for a second, with a quizzical look on his face. And then he shook his head. "No thanks," he said. "Caffeine allergy. Can't touch the stuff."

"Ah, I see," Lotho responded. Hgalvan noted his expression- he seemed disappointed, maybe annoyed. But he dismissed it. He had more important matters to attend to than Lotho's reaction.

"I'm here about the subspace pulse," Hgalvan said, looking around the room. He noted the strange orange lighting and raised his right arm, where the holo-pad was grafted. He typed in a few commands and the pad began outputting sensor data. "I want to know what made it, and why." He swept the room, noting a spike in activity around a small stasis pod, and shut the sensor off. He hovered over his pistol for a second. "And whether we can weaponize it."

The box on his right hip began flashing more urgently as he said this.

_______________________

Return message to: Slipknot

Our drive will hold up for a while, as long as we don't push it like we did last jump. It can still move the fleet, but we don't know how long it will last. Your own drive is severely damaged; we don't want to risk a total failure.

[END]

-Message to: Meinholl of the Prometheus-

Our jump drive suffered damages during the last jump, and unfortunately, it does not use standard parts. It is an experimental drive. This drive allows us to take multiple ships through one subspace tunnel at once, without every ship requiring a functional FTL drive.

However, we have retained the blueprints to said drive, and have the capabilities to repair it. To do so, however, we need to refine Titanium-Arconium alloy, also known as Arconic Alloy.

We have the Arconium and Titanium necessary for synthesis, but we require access to a Fusion Transcriber to properly layer the alloy. Alternatively, we can use a PEG Particle Accelerator to refine it without issues, though it will take longer. We request access to one of these devices so that we may repair our drive system.

[END]

[Error]

-Message to Restitution-

We do not have any of the required devices available. In the interim, we will provide you with a modified Novan jump drive. It should be capable, at significant power cost, of jumping a number of ships together.

If we can find the parts to a fusion transcriber or PEG, we will assemble one.

-End-

Valkyrius stood with his and the Admiral, staring at the medical scans on the wall in front of them. A silence hung in the air.

Meinholl broke it. "So, Commander, two questions. One, is the ambassador aware-" this drew a snort from the doctor - "-and how long has it been sin-"

The doctor cut across him, "At least eleven years since Korriman was even in the same star system as Commander Mayala. So unless they have some form of magical conceptive, way too long, Admiral. And for extra points, Commander Valkyrius informs me she haveth not a clue."

Meinholl raised an eyebrow and muttered a curse. "Lovely. So not only do we have a pile of civvies to worry about, their queen will be occupied elsewhere during evacuation. Bloody lovely. Commander, the Aurin trust you well enough, oversee the evacuation. Captain, I want you to break the news to Commander Mayala and get her aboard Repulse for a scan or five. Try to keep a lid on this, at least for now, until we get this mess sorted out."

As Meinholl stomped out, Valkyrius raised an eyebrow. "Well frak if I didn't see this coming. Beep me when you get May in here, by the way, I'd like to speak with her."

The doctor shook his head and opened the communications book, muttering to himself as he searched through the lists.

[Julo]

"WHAT?"
"I asked you if we can weaponize it."

Lotho couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Wait, wait, wait a second. You want to weaponize her?"
"Her?"
"Yes her. What do you know about her?"
"Well what I can tell you is, that she was able to disable the darkness fleet."

Lotho couldn't believe it. Did Hgalvan go nuts? How could he be so dumb and inconsiderate to gamble with a human life?

"You can't just put her into a torpedo tube and say: "Go ahead and almost kill yourself because we had to wait too long!" Haven't you seen this huge scar ruining my face? Do you think, that you are able to control something that is extremely dangerous and even I, a high ranked member of the galactic physicians, am not able to even begin to understand what is happening with this poor individual?"

"I think that even you, should be able to see the difference between one death and possibly thousands of deaths."

"Of course I am, but this wouldn't be a death, this would be a cold-blooded murder."

Lotho knew, that he shouldn't have said this. From Lotho's point of view Hgalvan was a pure utilitarian. But it was to late, Hgalvan looked very angry. At least his mental activity must have been boosted by now.

[Error]

Alarms rang throughout Prometheus as Meinholl rushed to the bridge. Sealing the hatch behind him, he snapped a short "Report!" towards tactical.

"Fifty-six contacts, sir, on the edge on the edge of the system. Night Hawk reports more in the systems surrounding us." the man reported.

"*. Recover any and all auxiliary craft, and tell Tiara to evacuate. Civvies?" he asked, eyes on the sensor boards.

The comms officer looked over. "All civilians off Pandora, the last ships are coming off Lazarus in an hour. Estimate... seven minutes until all auxiliary craft docked and fifteen until Tiara's evacuated."

Meinholl nodded. Flipping several switches, he lifted the comms handset. "All ships, this is Admiral Meinholl. We have incoming ringworld ships. All civilians, group up in orbit of Pandora. All military vessels, assume defensive formation around them. Repulse, Aegis, cover the transports over Lazarus until they can depart. Restitution, I advise you assume position behind our defensive screen."

Hanging up the handset, he turned to navigation. "Helm, warm sublight drives. Transmit clearance codes, and bring the JumpGate online. Signal Night Hawk to taae position near the gate, and to warm up her nukes."

Ignoring the stirring and looks of surprise, he turned to stare again at the immobile enemy ships. Just what were they doing?

[Professor Fenway]

Hgalvan paced around the room, looking at Lotho as he thought. It was clear that he was being extremely short sighted, but he supposed he had to compromise before making a decision. He sighed, and then turned toward an inconspicious spot on the wall. He unsheathed his pistol and fired at this spot, three times, until sparks came out of it, before holstering it again. The spent brass casings clattered on the floor, red hot and slightly smoking. He turned towards Lotho. "I'd rather not be monitored, thank you," he said calmly and deliberately. He patted the box on his left hip, which had returned to normal functioning.

After a few seconds, he raised the holo-pad. "You mentioned a scar? May I see it?"

Lotho looked slightly startled. "I don't see what this has to do with weaponizing an innocent, but sure?" Hgalvan slowly walked towards him, activating several sensor controls. He took several pictures of the scar and a thermal image before turning away. "You're not going to get anything if I never got anything, Hgalvan."

"Doesn't hurt to try." Hgalvan flipped through the images, looking through them. As he turned through them, he noticed characters inscribed on the scar. His expression changed to one of curiosity, and he opened up a communication link. "Hgalvan to Restitution."

"Lieutenant?" the communicator squawked. Hgalvan pressed a couple buttons.

"Piece together these images and run the characters through every database. Send the images to me."

"I can run it through an algorithm now." After a few seconds, the holo-pad beeped and the channel shut off. The screen showed a composite image of the scar, and the characters were perfectly aligned against. Hgalvan looked at them, studying them. His eyes drifted over the symbols. As he went over the final symbol, he felt his head nearly burst in pain before falling backwards into infinite darkness.

____________

When he came to, he was lying face-down on a very hard, yet warm, rocky floor. His head still hurt, but it was manageable. He didn't feel the weight of his suit anymore, which was odd. He tried to push himself up, failed, and then instead sat up. He was momentarily blinded by light, sunlight which he had not experienced for 10 years. As he regained his vision, he found himself in a city. He was lying on concrete. But nothing moved apart from him; the city was ruined, destroyed, partly by war, mostly by age.

He took a look around. The buildings strongly reminded him of something, but he couldn't identify it. He appeared to be on some sort of street; next to him was the dilapidated ruins of vehicles that strongly resembled automobiles. How did he know this? As he looked over the ruins, a glinting silvery object caught his eye. It lay next to him. He picked it up, and looked over it. It was exceptionally round and reflected almost all light, and was very cold to the touch. Hgalvan pocketed this and turned up the road. He needed to get to the top. He didn't know why; he had to.

He slowly picked his way up the hill, skirting around abandoned cars and climbing over debris from the buildings around him. He could see it at the top, a low, pulsing blackness, darkness. He could feel it's corrupting influence from here, and he was afraid, but he kept forward. He needed to. The city began to waver more and more as he approached, as if the very fabric of reality was tearing away. Dark cracks began appearing in everything around him, all emanating from the point at the top of the hill. As he surmounted one last barricade, crushing several skulls as he did so, he finally saw the terrible object.

He could only vaguely discern it's shape, for it absorbed all light around it. And indeed, even from here, the world was darker. As he slowly walked towards it, the outside world faded into darkness, until the only light was from it's purple glow. He could only describe it as a monolith, something truly great yet truly terrible, a pinnacle of Irkanian technology. He stopped next to it, basked in it's sick glow, and began reaching out to touch it. His instincts told him that this was a terrible idea, something he needed to avoid, and he nearly turned around and ran. But he kept doing so. He made contact with the monolith and it's surface rippled at his fingers. He drew back, instantly afraid, and stumbled over at the monolith began humming a sinister tone. He backed away as it increased in size, and suddenly became aware of the silver orb in his pocket. He reached at it, fumbling, until he had a grip and held it out at arm's reach. He was blinded by light and then fell back into darkness.

______________

Hgalvan opened his eyes. He saw the steel plating of the med-bay's steel plating. He noticed the weight of his suit was back, and then he noticed Lotho in his wheelchair next to him, with a defibrillator in his hands, clearly shocked. He felt something in his right hand, and lifted it up to see the silver orb, glistening in the artificial light of the med-bay. Lotho's eyes were drawn to it. He looked back to Lotho. As he did so, alarms sprang through the ship. Enemy contacts.

"Wake her up," he ordered, simply and calmly. Lotho nodded. His mind was a flurry of activity; he understood the message. It was a warning.



______________

[Error]

Meinholl watched as the flagship approached the JumpGate. A shiver ran down his spine; screw military rules, the massive construct coming to life looked damned awesome.

A Spyglass recce craft darted from the port hangar, heading out towards the gate. Meinholl watched, tracking until the craft vanished in a flash of light.

The comms officer sat up, listening to the transmissions sent back. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow. Turning to the admiral, he said, "Sir, spyglass one-six reports... no hostiles detectable. But... no signs of intelligent life in the system. Ships appear undamaged, if in need of maintenance... wait, correction, many are damaged, but some are repairable. They say they're investigating the surface now."

Meinholl blinked. No intelligent life? The bastards sure were picky. He lifted the comms handset again. "All ships, assemble in formation around the JumpGate."

"Admiral!" hollered a tactical officer. "The ringworld ships are moving in! Rate of closure... two hours to contact."

"Meinholl lifted the handset and sighed. "All ships, prepare for enemy contact."

[Professor Fenway]

As Lotho busied himself with her, or whatever she was, Hgalvan returned to the Restitution in time to hear the news; the ships were back. Brilliant. He went to the bridge and requested a tactical report. 2 hours until they would reach them. Hgalvan placed the orb in a secure location on the main console and ordered a retreat of his fleet to the warp-gate. The Restitution bridged the smaller jump to the warp-gate, bringing about 50 civilian ships in orbit above the planet with it, including his own fleet.

As they approached the gate, Hgalvan opened up a communication channel to the Prometheus, the largest ship defending the jump-gate. "This is Hgalvan of the Restitution," he started. "I have brought 50 ships with my ship to the warpgate. Requesting permission to travel through the gate." There was a pause and a click at the other end.

"Permission?" The channel squawked. It was Meinholl's voice; it couldn't be mistaken. "All Novan civilian ships may pass." Hgalvan looked at the console in disbelief.

"But what about the rest of the-"

"You brought the ringworld ships here," Meinholl said, cutting him off. "You deserve to die here." The channel shut off. The Novan civilian ships broke off from the fleet towards the warp-gate. Hgalvan looked at the console in disbelief.

[Error]

Meinholl stared at the comms officer.

"He said WHAT?" the admiral demanded. The officer shook his head.

"Sir, someone who sounded identical to you... said the non-Novans deserved to die here." The man reported. Meinholl growled.

"Tell the gate to jump them through." he muttered, staring at the Restitution's blip on the DRADIS. The comms officer shook his head.

"Sir, the gate... just sent a text reply. It says 'only those of Novus may pass throuh this.' Sir, orders?" the man's voice shook. Meinholl turned. "Re-establish comms with Hgalvan." The comms man nodded, then jumped and ripped the headohones off. Even from across the bridge, the Admiral heard the squeal.

"Jammed? Frak. Tactical, use maser to relay the following to all CSN ships: Maintain defensive formation around the gate, and any non Novan civilian and military ships. If it comes to shooting, hold off the enemy as long as possible, then begin retreating via the gate. End message. Helm, I want this ship to be the last one out."

As the Novans moved into position, the Prowler beside the gate cloaked, vanishing from sensors.

The tactical officer looked up, sharply. "Sir, enemy ships have accelerated. Estimated time to contact, thirty minutes. First group of civvies is through. Weapons online... oh, and Commander Mayala would like to speak with you." the Captain finished, looking mildly concerned.

[Luna]

OOC: I hope I'm not too late

[Name] Aze Chandlemere

[Species] Feles

[Ocupation (Before fall)] Navy Commander.

[Name of Ship] Tugboat

[Type of Ship] Fox class pinnace.

[Armament level] low

[Defenses level] mid to low

[Back-story] Aze made his way through the ranks as the pilot of the Fox class pinnace. A small and fast craft that has a Hive rocket launcher as well as two drones (fighter and heavy strike in this case). Designed for scouting and intercept roles this ship can stay disconnected from civilization for several weeks.

[Solar112]

"HRpmh. Shoot at Meinholl."

"We're a mining ship!"

"We're going to die anyway"

"True..."

[cats]

Spoiler:

shouldn't have waited until 0343 to check this RP. Entry tomorrow.