The Invasion

[Professor Fenway]

Alarms blared as Xen rumbled, ever so slightly. "Shield core 3 has overheated," announced the AI with a clear matriarchal tone. "Diverting power from life support. Put on respirators now." Cyytiil didn't bother.

"Whats the evacuation status?" Cyytiil barked at the microphone embedded in the holographic control system in front of him.

"87 ships have left the vicinity without harm. 4 of the remaining ship's FTL drives have failed. 8 ships are still launching from the planet." Another rumble. "Shield core 2 has overheated. Shield breach imminent."

"We can't wait for the last ships. Prepare to shut down the shield and jump as soon as it collapses."

"The last ship has the Hierarch on board." Cyytiil paused. He looked at the tactical map. It would take that ship 10 minutes to clear the no-jump zone.

"Why wasn't he evacuated immediately?"

"He stayed with the people. The captain goes down with the ship, as is commonly said in human tradition."

"We're not staying for them. Prepare to jump." The holoscreen, flashing red due to ship damage, began to pulse green.

"FTL jump will commence in 10 seconds," announced the AI over the ship-wide speaker system. Cyytiil checked the console. Their signature was masked. They wouldn't be detected. As he checked the console, one of the civilian ships contacted him.

"You can't just leave us here!" Cyytiil saw that this ship was full of children. Of all ages. He felt a pang of sadness before returning to his composure.

"5 seconds," announced the AI. Cyytiil looked at the captain, and all he got was a hopeless, absolute look of despair.

"Sometimes, one must be sacrificed for the good of many," he said.

"You fucking Strigiforme bastard. I hope you rot for eter..." The channel closed and Xen disappeared in a burst of light.

The shield flickered off as the planetary generators overloaded. Xen was the only thing keeping it up. The planet began to destabilize.

[Error]

Cussing, Markus yanked on the controls of his ship, sending it into a dive. His repeated attempts to escape the atmosphere had been thwarted, again, by the planetary defense corps. Levelling out, he shoved the throttles forward and aimed up.

He put his hand over the FTL controls. In space? Would work. In atmo? Would probably explode. Time for wacky fun.

He punched the controls, and was promptly tossed around the cabin like a rag. The thrill-ride continued for several seclnds, then settled down. Clambering into his seat, he looked out the window. At a Strigiforme fleet.

Finding no curse up to the task of conveying his disbelief, he let out a string of Lyran expletives and swung around. Punching the FTL drives, he braced..for nothing. The drives gave a whimper and failed.

More creative language escaping, he throttled up, driving straight in at the nearest cruiser. With any luck, he would do some dam- wait. A hangar. A smile crept onto Markus' face as he angled towards it, waiting until just before impact to slam on the brakes.

In a moment of prescience, he saw pain coming. Surprise.

[ACH0225]

"I want a situation report- what's going on with the Unyielding?" Cyyr was, of course, upset that a possible enemy scout had suddenly appeared only a few hundred kilometers from their battlegroup.

The Unyielding, a cruiser, had recently encountered a ship of unknown origin entering its landing bay.

"Commander, preliminary reports find it to be one of the enemies', and Special Forces on the Unyielding are preparing to breach the ship. What are your orders?"

"Get some tug ships; bring it back to the Kyytis. I want an interrogation room ready for our... guests..."

MEANWHILE ON THE UNYIELDING!!! (Spinning owl head and nahnahnahnah na na!)

The Strigiforme Special Forces, renown for their creative ways to kill people, had set up a perimeter of regular grunt soldiers, napalm turrets, and a hovering gunship, and loaded the outside of one of the hatches with breaching charges. They had no idea who or what was inside, which was why they also had all picked out special issue flame-proof armour and highly incendiary weapons, as very few enemies had not been defeated by being repeatedly lit on fire.

They exploded the door, rushed in, and found an unconscious human, disappointing all of them.

[Error]

Much to their un-dissapointment, the shpposedly unconcious human flipped a switch. The doors of the cockpit closed, sealing him in (and almost decapitating an owl), and then fuel lines opened and the cargo bay was lit on fire.

Appearing in holographic format outside the cargo bay door was the earning:

FUN TIMES AHEAD

Markus grabbed his Laser compression rifle and checked the cameras. Hm.

He reached over and shoved the throttles to full.

[Luna]

"Do you think it will work?"
"Why are you asking me, you are the one who made it and designed it," Luna looked through the viewing window at a large object the size of a frigate.
"I didn't make or design it, I just came up with the idea. We have never built one of this size. It should work though, we are just carrying over already mastered technology right?"
"We are putting the lives of our citizens in your hands."
"Speaking of us, where is Celestia?"
"She is inspecting the vessel, I don't think she fully trusts starships yet," She turned towards the Cavnin leader.
"Well she has a lot of looking to do. The ship dozens of kilometers long," CVN kept on staring at the large metal object glowing with various points of energy and light.
"May I just say now that I reflect her concerns. What if this doesn't work?"
"I promise it will, now go get your sister before she pokes something critical. You know where your suites are correct?"
"Yes and I cannot thank you enough for them."
"Now please go and relax, enjoy yourself if possible, you know we are all about luxury!" He said watching her walk away. 'I sure hope it does... if it doesn't, at least I won't have to blame myself for long.'

[Chairman_Tiel]

Alarms blared as Xen rumbled, ever so slightly. "Shield core 3 has overheated," announced the AI with a clear matriarchal tone. "Diverting power from life support. Put on respirators now." Cyytiil didn't bother.

"Whats the evacuation status?" Cyytiil barked at the microphone embedded in the holographic control system in front of him.

"87 ships have left the vicinity without harm. 4 of the remaining ship's FTL drives have failed. 8 ships are still launching from the planet." Another rumble. "Shield core 2 has overheated. Shield breach imminent."

"We can't wait for the last ships. Prepare to shut down the shield and jump as soon as it collapses."

"The last ship has the Hierarch on board." Cyytiil paused. He looked at the tactical map. It would take that ship 10 minutes to clear the no-jump zone.

"Why wasn't he evacuated immediately?"

"He stayed with the people. The captain goes down with the ship, as is commonly said in human tradition."

"We're not staying for them. Prepare to jump." The holoscreen, flashing red due to ship damage, began to pulse green.

"FTL jump will commence in 10 seconds," announced the AI over the ship-wide speaker system. Cyytiil checked the console. Their signature was masked. They wouldn't be detected. As he checked the console, one of the civilian ships contacted him.

"You can't just leave us here!" Cyytiil saw that this ship was full of children. Of all ages. He felt a pang of sadness before returning to his composure.

"5 seconds," announced the AI. Cyytiil looked at the captain, and all he got was a hopeless, absolute look of despair.

"Sometimes, one must be sacrificed for the good of many," he said.

"You fucking Strigiforme bastard. I hope you rot for eter..." The channel closed and Xen disappeared in a burst of light.

The shield flickered off as the planetary generators overloaded. Xen was the only thing keeping it up. The planet began to destabilize.

OOC: Average life expectancy of NeoRoman Heirarch <5 minutes.

[ACH0225]

The cargo bay, designed to be shielded during intense battles, had shields that we're more versatile than the average hull shield. While the ones protecting the interior from harm weren't especially strong, the human ship wasn't going very fast, and bounced off with a crumpled nose cone. Another thunk, the shield was weaker. During this time, the gunship, unaffected by the fire below, lit up the ship repeatedly with its lasers. Outside, the turrets guarding the hangar began readying lasers and rockets, prepared to stop the ship from relaying information to other humans.

Inside, the Strigiforme Special Forces began preparing to make their move. While their less flame-proof comrades below we're singed, they couldn't be stopped. A few began using plasma cutters on the hardened door, while the rest attempted to find the FTL drives and the other important things to blow up.

[cats]

-Application-

Name: Karesh'Shi II

Species and Age: Feles, 76

Skills (Define these): Has a certain influence over other citizens of the Combine, skill with most weapons (including blades, handguns, rifles, lasguns, plasma launchers, anti-material, explosives, etc), knowledge of naval tactics, ground tactics, hand-to-hand combat, mech combat.

Location and Proximity to invaders: Bata Viel. 3 days away from invasion.

Assets: Several sets of power armor that utilize the latest in technology (both domestic and foreign, NSCD Myomer musculature, Darkstar optics & stealth, etc.), small team of former Navy special operatives, team of recruited jump marines, crew for her ships, one Merekiin-class planetary assault cruiser, two Deorum'Vis-class destroyers, one Narok-class assault frigate, a few Kaal dropships and assorted corvettes. All ships are outfitted with triple fusion reactors, Darkstar stealth coating, and the latest in weaponizable Slip-Merge Drives. The Merekiin cruiser holds two lances of heavy mechs. Her personal weapons are two 70 cm nanoedged blades, two EM accelerator pistols, and one modular accelerator rifle.

Comments and other information: The child of Shi'Ker (Navy special operative, became famous after ending a massive pandemic in one of the Combine's main systems) and Karesh'Ni (Speaker of the Central Council for ~500 years), 'Shi was destined for greatness. She was provided all that she needed to fulfill the expectations set by her inherited status, and excelled. Instead of following the political footsteps of her esteemed father, she chose a more exciting role in the Marines, and later the Navy Special Warfare department. She rose to the rank of Rear Admiral (not a coincidence that her mother was still a very active member of the Admiralty Board). As social discord between the Clans increased, she "left" the navy in order to fill the role of a neutral figurehead for peace among the Clan Militias. She was heavily supported by the government in her new endeavor, and was able to bring a lasting unity between the Merek and Karth, subverting the bureaucratic red tape of the Council and focusing the tension on the growing Strigiforme threat. Now, clear of most government instruction, but in the Navy and Council's favor, Keresh'Shi runs shadow ops both internally and externally, proving that she is less of a figurehead and more of an actual force.

She has the killing instinct of a natural-born apex predator as well as the charm, discipline, and posture of a politician.

[Ivan2006]

"Have you understood the deal?"
"Well, if I got it right, you delete my criminal record if I perform the most risky mission in the entirety of the universe?"
"Basically, yes."
"And if I disagree there won't be any criminal record of me to delete, right?"
"As well as any buiseness opportunities you may have. If you can survive yourself, that is."
"Fine, I'll do it. Send me the details please."
"Starting transmission now."

[Error]

Accepted, cats.

Markus readied his rifle and yanked the throttles to zero. Hearing tne hissing of a torch at the door, he turned and slapped a switch, opening the underside escape hatch.

...which was crumpled on the deck. Frak. He hit another switch, and the security door opened a crack. Markus sigted and fired a blind shot out. Hearing a squawk, he fired again and closed the door, looking for another way out.

OOC on this, the ship's FTL is fried, man engines are almost dead, and shields are down. The hull is also slowly melting.

[Ivan2006]

After recieving the data and reading though the instructions, Benny angaged his FTL, jumping right towards the closest known position of Strigiforme forces.
Upon arriving, he punched a few buttons, resulting in a surrender transmition - in the language of the Strigiforme - being sent.

OOC: Yes, he WANTS to get captured by the Strigiforme, he has reasons for that which will be revealed later on.

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

Miguel turned off the communication unit in front of him.
"Useless" he said. "Not getting anything from anywhere. If we're going to find other fighting groups, we'll have to look for them ourselves."
His friend and co-leader rubbed his cheek while slowly shaking his head.
"It's dangerous. We don't know how far the owls have got."
"They are probably at least a week or two away, I'd say 4. As long as we don't head too far in their direction, it should be no problem."
"And what if we do encounter Strigiforme units anyways? Or maybe pirates? Most of us have small civilian ships with a few guns on them, they are the space version of a hoverbike with a machine gun. The few of us who do have larger ships have light cargo ships equipped with a cannon or three. If we don't find some other fighting group, or at least some better equipment, we're screwed."
"And if we stay here on this oversized rock we're equally screwed. A couple small towns, pair of mining stations, protection drones in orbit, that's all. If we move at least we'll have a chance."
"But for how long? And why can't we just surrender?"
"I doubt that these owls accept surrender. They'll kill us and strip this colony of resources."
The two stared into eachother's eyes for a moment, before Miguel broke the silence.
"We're in this together. I watch your back, you watch mine. We won't defeat the invasion, but we'll at least survive as long as we stay together."
His friend thought for a while, then sighed.
"You go pack the stuff, I'll go tell the others we're leaving."

[Professor Fenway]

This was not a normal FTL jump.

5 seconds into the jump, the ship suddenly began to heavily shake. The room began to flash red, but not from the alarm. Cyytiil grabbed onto the console as the ship momentarily rocked, and then he was thrown onto the console. The ship dropped out of FTL and a backdrop of destroyed ships and debris filled the void once taken by the holo-screen. Power arced through the holo-screen's conduits, bluish-green sparks of electricity no longer powering any systems. Several items nearby Cyytiil were floating, and he noticed he was floating off of the floor. He grabbed onto a rail and pulled himself down- the gravity was knocked out.

After a few seconds, the intercom crackled to life. "Warning, complete power failure," stated the AI in a slightly-alarmed tone. Cyytiil felt himself pulled towards the floor. "Emergency backup power active. Returning gravity to normal levels." After a few seconds, he was firmly on the floor. The console crackled to life again.

What it immediately displayed alarmed Cyytiil. In the last few hours of the defense, the Strigiforme had erected a large defensive station at these coordinates. It was emitting a massive gravity well, a trap. It would only affect warp-drive ships, which relied on gravity wells to stop. It was designed to intercept NeoRoman ships, which predominately used warp drives.

The Xen was lucky. It was very slightly off course, only putting it on the edge of the field. Had it been on full course, they would of joined the ring of debris now orbiting the station at the heart of the well. But it meant that the evacuation failed. The civilian ships were intercepted. And destroyed. As the systems came back online, the console registered weapon locks. The station had them. "What's the status on the shield system?" Cyytiil asked the bridge behind him.

"Shields are still overheated," replied an operator behind him. "We can't bring them up without frying the ship!"

"Very well." The sensor console began beeping incessantly. Multiple missile launches. "We'll have to do this the old way. Activate our flak weapons." After a few seconds, a spray of fire burst from the long, close to rectangular Xen. Seven missiles were destroyed immediately. Three remained. "We need to destroy the station's gravity chamber," he said calmly. "Find it. With a gravity well this large, the station will destroy itself when it collapses." Another missile exploded.

"Two missiles have breached the inner marker!" Cried one of the operator. "Brace for impact!" The ship rocked. Ten more missiles emerged from the station. Xen began firing lasers, missiles, everything they had at the station. The station seemed to have no shields either; the shots directly impacted the hull.

Seconds after the third wave of missiles was launched, with one missile from the last wave hitting Xen, 5 other ships appeared directly next to the ship. NeoRoman. Three were civilian. One was a small frigate. The last was a government ship- The Hierarch's transport. They were all heavily damaged.

[Error]

Cats, it has been pointed out to me that your complement of d00dz is massively OP.

Shame on thee for taking advantage of a half-asleep GM. You forces are reduced to one destroyer, plus a small force of drop troops.

[Ivan2006]

OOC: Somepne pls play the owls I surrendered to or should I do that myself?