Chapter Two

[Quantum Rain]

First topic message reminder :

As the forum auto-splits topics every 50 pages, the next topics will be named further chapters accordingly. This is chapter two, guys, KEEP IT UP!

Post.
POST.
POST!

---

Reeds just kept on whistling as guards and crew cleared out of his path. Eventually, he stopped at a door, the label addressing it as 'Science Lab 2A.' He smiled as he opened the door and Lae saw that the science lab was not small by any means. It was massive, in fact, taking up at least five rooms and two floors entirely on its own. It also seemed to host a massive range of equipment, some of which were entirely foreign to him. With all of the technology, equipment, and stores here, one could only wonder what Reeds' intention was with this lab.

He rolled the cart up next to two others and then proceeded to rummage around for a datapad. "Sit down, my fine lab rat." He said friendly still as he finally found his desired object, turning it own and turning toward Lae, a mischievous grin on his face.

[SGOS]

Hiltz drew his bow and a single arrow, the tip had been jury rigged to explode the quantum displacer grenade on its tip, upon impact. He had four. Barom was now walking at the same speed as the previous encounter.

“1 for the money” Hiltz whispered as he let the first arrow fly. Barom dodged, but was off balance.

“2 for the show” he said as he released the other three arrows at once.
Barom couldn’t dodge, instead the ribbons on his remaining limbs intercepted them, thus nulling them void of damage, at the price of exposing the limbs, one of the arrows didn’t explode

“3 for my honey” he said as he threw three throwing knives at the newly exposed limbs, limbs now severely damaged they had the ribbons ‘cut’ and thus all that remained was the torso and head.

“4 to go! GO! GO!!” Hiltz screamed throwing a javelin at Baroms’ head, rigged with the final quantum displacer.
The ribbons covering the head and torso intercepted the javelin. Barom was now fully exposed. Hiltz drew a tomahawk and threw it. It landed in between the ribs as he knew it on regular humans: an absolute kill. Baroms’ body fell back. Hiltz walked towards it. He looked at the body: lifeless, nonhuman, and almost innocent looking. He almost felt bad.

“Barom, you are the only opponent I could have died against in this life, for that I will show you some honor…”
Hiltz paid his respects all great warriors do, hands on both breasts, eyes closed. Then suddenly pain. He opened his eyes to find a single ribbon had pierced his backside where the armor was weak, and his wrists, which lay over the center of his ribs, exposed with their position.

“How did you…” Hiltz noticed the graceless ribbon protruding his boy had stemmed from Baroms’ tongue. Baroms’ eyes could be seen open on each side of the ribbon, those bright blue eyes; maybe looking into the light of death itself too; staring right into Hiltz’s own.

“Do you have no honor? Does death itself have no honor?”

There was no reply. The ribbon receded, back into Baroms’ mouth. Caruk said nothing, for a solid minute then: “you both passed.” After proceeding to teleport to the door, after Caruk exited, medical staff rushed in. The scientists rushed to Baroms’ body before the medical staff could tend.

“You cannot touch him! The large man said blocking all the relatively tiny medical staff in size.

“For he is not human, only we can operate! Only we can save him!” the small man said. He managed to pull the axe out, to reveal a carbon-fibre sternum replacement they had given him. No one had seen it.

“You were very lucky my friend, so it lucky for us your fate is tied in ours.” He said with a devious smile.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Palaven--

*Fields's explanation only makes Tiamat angrier.* Tiamat: And so they use us like toys in their little plans. When this is over...we will make them regret it.

Fedorian: I'm with Her Grace, Ambassador. This Collective may be violating both galactic law and our sovereignty, and conspiring with rogue elements to foment instability among my people, but that doesn't give your people the right to do so as well. *He prepares to go on, but Fields's speculative plan piques his interest.* Who, in theory, would these saboteurs be? And how would they hypothetically get on your ships in the first place?

--Alba--

*Addrson's head feathers lift in excitement.* Addrson: By Aves, High Senator, that is quite a find! Have you discovered anything from this Wall that points to the Primitus's return?

[Quantum Rain]

--Palaven--
"Does it really matter who? We get creative, Primarch." He says, tapping the comm again. "Isn't that right, Captain Steros?" Fields is, for once since learning of this predicament, smiling. He nods and taps the comm again. "Repairs should be complete within a half-hour and we can start out then, hopefully with a destination when the Balmorra returns."
--Alba--
(I would like to point out that playing the Dues Ex Machina card is not very favorable for a good story, DM. Please don't ruin the plan set in place already.)

[Roach]

--Balmorra--

Roach: "Yes we shall accompany you." *roach feels something is wrong about the whole situation but he keeps it to himself musing over his data pad still*

[SGOS]

12 years later
Barom sits in the drop-ship alone. No commandos. No back up. Just himself. He thinks of yesterday’s events, and how they shaped todays
*
“Barom, you have served me well over the years, with unwavering loyalty.” Caruk says looking out a window over seeing a large city

“I live to serve you Caruk, my duty is my life” Barom says like the perfect soldier he is.

“Of course you do, I have almost completely unified Osana under one flag. What cause is more noble”

“None sir, you’re all that is perfect.” Rings out of Baroms voice with a monotone pitch.

“And Osana is too, with one final exception, there is a group of Rebels that wish to overthrow me, they are the final group on this earth that publicly denys my right to rule; You must deal with them. The details are in the folder” Caruk says still looking out the window.
*
“All clear, get ready to drop!” the ship pilot refers to Barom

“Understood”

The hatch on the back of the ship opens and Barom jumps through.
The 3 kilometer fall ends as barom crashes to the ground, kneeling, and palm on the dirt of crater he faced facing the center of the planet. The rebels are nowhere in sight. He stands up, the fall had no impact on his body.

“The report said I should have dropped into their next rendezvous destina-”
A number of quantum displacer units around Barom activate. The blasts are catastrophic reshaping the landscape around him, Barom was mildly injured, but he managed to jump into the air fast enough to avoid the majority of danger. He lands on an already exploded crater.

“Damage report, 20%. Mission hindrance, 0%. Moving to new coordinates”

He would make a note that the intelligence department forgot to list quantum weaponry under the rebel armaments. Barom walks for a couple hours, the arid scenery made for bad ambush settings, an advantage that may prove useful if he lacks the opportunity of surprise. His focus became quickly alerted when he saw smoke from a nearby hill. After sneaking to the area of high priority he noticed the fire was set in the center of a barren campsite. No quicker than he realized he found at least 80 soldiers had risen out of the sand in black jumpsuits with odd mechanical circles on various important points of the body, the word ‘Gantz’ was faded on the chest area of them. They fired their quantum assault rifles with precision and intent to kill. Barom ducked the first volley, causing some minor friendly fire, after morphing into the ribbon covered form he began tearing the group apart; limbs, blood, gore, and bones were thrown around like fruit in a blender. And as He took out more of them, they somehow managed to take more and more out of him too…

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Palaven--

Fedorian: Creative, you say? Let's head up to my office while we wait for the Balmorra and the rest of the Blackwatch. I hope they haven't run into any trouble.

*He leads them back to his office and summons Chellick to help discuss plans for the week that the lie will buy them. However, without the rest of the Blackwatch squad, they don't have much to go on.*

*Fortunately, the task force soon returns to Palaven, and Fedorian summons Praetorius, Callurnia, and Roach to his office.*

Fedorian: Good, we're all here. Now, Captain, what did you find?

Praetorius: Not much, I'm afraid. *He explains what happened on the mission, including the fruitless scan of the War Faction's territory.* However, we did have a stroke of good luck on our way back: we managed to locate the turian prisoners.

Chellick: Finally, some good news at last.

Praetorius: The strange thing is, though, they're not on a "declared" War Faction world. *He pauses.* Sir, the prisoners are on Gothis.

*Silence.* Fedorian: But...that can't be...Primarch Scipio has always supported the peace.

Chellick: It's possible he doesn't know they're on his planet. The War Faction could have secretly smuggled the prisoners there to throw us off the trail.

*Praetorius shakes his head.* Praetorius: I wish that was the truth, but no. We were on our way back to Palaven when Admiral Roach telepathically detected something odd coming from Gothis. We landed covertly to investigate and discovered the prisoners being held in an undersea facility under Primarch Scipio's direct supervision. We would have tried to free them, but without the other two ships, we had neither the manpower nor the capacity to transport them. *Nihlus fidgets uncomfortably, and Praetorius shoots him a sympathetic look.* Don't feel bad, son. I made the call to send you and Bartus off. He'll be missed.

Nihlus: Yes, sir.

Praetorius: At any rate, Primarch, there can be no doubt: Scipio is an insider for the War Faction, is willfully keeping those turians from their families and homes, and is working to bring about the Rachni's extinction.

Tiamat: That treasonous, barb-tongued, sandblasted monster!!

Fedorian: I...I see. *Pause.* Ambassador Fields, please inform the others of what you have discovered. I need to...mull things over. *Shaking his head, Fedorian goes outside onto his office's balcony, activating its kinetic barriers as he does so.*

[Quantum Rain]

Fields goes to explain the entire fiasco that's plaguing the situation, every last detail. After he is finished he enters a inquisitive silence. In his mind, he was thinking and dissecting the situation. "... If the Astrum Collective is present on that world, it is likely that any Turian not of the War Faction may be under their control. Willingly or not..." He mulls to himself.

[Roach]

--Palaven--

Roach: "Something you would like to share with us ambassador or is your inquisitive state for another matter?" Roach said as he sat hovering over the ground in an Indian style sitting position seemingly in a meditative state his eyes closed and his head bowed.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

*Both Chellick and Praetorius stare incredulously at Fields.* Chellick: How the hell could this Collective have Gothis under its control?

Tiamat: War-song Leader Roach, did you detect any of this Collective's poisoned Singing there?

[Roach]

Roach: I detected strange things It is hard to be certain had I not been meditating we may have not found them at all. But Fields would know more of this than I.

[Quantum Rain]

Fields looks to the side, as if racking through his brain for an answer. "The hive communicates across the entire galaxy, distance is not a factor. As well, I believe there are old records of people being assimilated into the hive by force... I can't remember the details, but I believe we considered it a form of slavery. And with every being assimilated, the hive in general grows in strength. It is possible that the entire planet was mentally enslaved, and if that's true... the implications of such an act... Vires help us..."

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

*The turians pale. Grave indeed are these implications.*

Praetorius: Then why didn't we fall under this hive-mind's influence when we landed on the planet?

[Quantum Rain]

"There can be innumerable factors to it, I can't explain it, though. I'm an empath, not a telepath." Fields states, sighing deeply. "Either way, we should err on the side of caution... somehow..."

[Roach]

Roach: Would it mot be possible to use the telepathy jammers our foes were using to block their connection to thee prisoners?

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

Chellick: I don't see how that would help. We need to free these turians from physical imprisonment, not mental.

*At this point, Fedorian enters the room again.* Fedorian: On that, my friend, we are in agreement. And you're wrong, Praetorius...with this newest revelation from our friend Mr. Fields, there is some doubt that Primarch Scipio is a willing lackey of the War Faction. But arguing about it endlessly accomplishes nothing. Praetorius, I'm assigning additional squads to your command. Your mission is twofold: First, find out if what Ambassador Fields says is true and send word back immediately. Then, get the prisoners off Gothis as quickly as possible, by any means necessary, because you may be escaping in the middle of a civil war. Admiral Roach, I would appreciate your help in this mission. Your abilities may help detect whether the Collective has truly enslaved the Gothian populace's minds.

Tiamat: We will assist as well.

*Fedorian blinks, surprised but grateful by the offer.* Fedorian: Thank you, your Grace. (to Roach) Can we count on your help, Admiral?

[Roach]

Roach: You can always look to the federation for help my friend.

[darthme]

--Alba--

*Addrson's head feathers lift in excitement.* Addrson: By Aves, High Senator, that is quite a find! Have you discovered anything from this Wall that points to the Primitus's return?

"Sadly, yes and no. We did find a single file marked 'Return', and gathered that it was about the Primitus' return, but certain components of the file were too corrupted to be read. It's as if they burned their bridges so that we couldn't possibly know when to start preparing. We also encountered the same kind of data corruption on topics like weapon schematics and battle strategies. That is why I and the other High Senators believe that we should start building defenses like there is no tomorrow: You can't be too ready for the Primitus."

[Quantum Rain]

Fields hums to himself. "If I may, Primarch. Imperial soldiers are equipped with neural inhibitors designed to block outside mental assaults. While I can't really give them to your Turian spec-ops, being that they are neural implants, I would ask that one of the cruisers accompany them in the voyage, cloaked of course. We'll also begin working on a larger scale telepathic inhibitor, as I doubt the AC designed a weapon that could be used against them so effectively."

[Jediluigi]

Tor Hyperspace Launch Gate, System Beta 01, Beta Galactic Rim: ? Hours After Launch

Rebekka couldn't recall what occurred after the gate activated, the sudden acceleration causing her to black out, along with a dozen other crew members. If the ships hadn't had droid and A.I. units installed for such emergencies, they'd all likely be dead by now.

She slowly becomes aware of her surroundings, and also of the headache pounding in her head. She could barely see, but Rebekka knew by the white blurry walls around her she was in the medbay. Damn, how long had she been out?

Someone approached her bedside, and her vision started to clear up. "Good, you're awake. You had some of us worried there, Lieutenant. The Commander won't admit it, but he was." That voice... Beside her, she could finally make out who was standing there. Albert Thumm, still dressed like a cargo hauler, his worn jacket kept together through force of will. "We must have went to fast... How long was I out?" She asked, sitting up despite the surge of pain to her head. Bad idea.

"Twenty two standard hours. Enough time for the R/M Facility to get set up, and launch the mining craft. We'll have our fake trade coalition in no time." Her head was spinning, and she hoped it would end soon. "God, that long? Anyone else?" She asked, secretly hoping not. Albert Thumm nodded. "Two scientists, a deck officer and a few other crew members. They don't prep you for that kind of jump, eh?"

She could see him smiling with a cocky grin only a smart-[censored] could make. "Nope, not in basic last I checked." She found she was still in uniform, and stepped to her feet, finding purchase on the floor. "Time for work."

Twenty Hours Later:

It hadn't taken long, with most of the crews sticking to the schedule, and began setting up base. The deepdock facility, designated R/M Facility Number Beta One. It would begin the construction of the "merchant" fleet, comprising of various automated droid ships, along with the outdated Barloz-class heavy freighter, several Action VI transports, for carrying the supplies and gear. The level of paranoia and work put into this fleet would make and sane politician ask "Why?" The answer, of course, would be "You can't be too cautious."

It would take nearly twice as long to detect the closest civilized planet, heavily populated but deemed a good choice. Once the fleet, comprising of the AMS Explorer*, two Crusader class droid frigates, and four Action VI transports formed together, they locked hyperspace coordinates and jumped to lightspeed.

The Wheel turns.

*Anjia Merchant Ship

[Comrade Greiv]

For the sake of this post, let's assume that there is galaxywide infrastructure allowing easy communication between nations

"I understand. You can reach me at this V-mail address." Vilmos then gives Darth Karn a small holochip with the address: 'vilmosreke@hisen.alb'. "This is my secure inbox at my office in the High Senate building complex. You can be sure that only my eyes will see whatever you send, so feel free to give me correspondence when you need to. That chip also acts as a holocam, if you'd like to converse face-to-face."

"On behalf of those I truly represent I thank you once more." Lord Karn then bows respectfully and resumes, "You shall hear from us soon." Lord Karn then presses a few buttons on his right gauntlet and a hologram of a guardsman appears.

"Lieutenant Fel, you and your squad are needed up here." Lord Karn states to the hologram.

"Very well M'Lord. We're on our way." the Lieutenant responds befroe the holoimage of him disappears

Within a few moments they arrive and enter the chamber.

"It was a pleasure to speak with a person such as yourself, Vilmos. And given how things are here, these men are from my personal guard and will ensure your safe passage to your shuttle and a safe departure from Nar Shaluka. I sincerely hope we will be able to meet again, under less stressful times here."

---Some were else---

An old Sentinel-class landing craft drops from the Courageous'' docking bay and head toward the Venator Cruiser.

Seeing the shuttle depart the Courageous and head off the Centurion maneuvers its way to the front of the shuttle. Both on path to enter the Faltur Nebula.

"If this is what you wish, ensure to follow us precisely." Lieutenant Commander Ka'The Lant stated over the comm to the shuttle. "The flight plan we are taking is the safest way to attain passage to the Dauntless, we will lead you on that path."

[Roach]

Mc Govern: don't worry about us we can handle it.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Palaven--

Fedorian: Of course, Ambassador. Such help would be welcome--your people have far more experience dealing with the Collective.

*The plans for the mission are thus laid down.* Your mustering point is the Baurus system in the Oculon Nebula. May the Spirits be with you. *The mission's commanders leave. While Fields and Tiamat send word to their respective peoples, Fedorian turns to Chellick.* Chellick, check if any of the War Faction's Primarchs are on Palaven.

*Chellick consults his omni-tool.* Chellick: None, sir. Looks like they're all home.

Fedorian: I thought so. Call an emergency meeting with every other Primarch. And have the evidence that we've gathered ready to present.

Chellick: I'm on it, Primarch. Anything else?

Fedorian (nods): Call Admiral Coronati. He's to begin planning an invasion of the War F--*He breaks off.* Of the rebel worlds.

Chellick: Rebels, sir?

Fedorian: Yes. They are no longer a faction of the opposition, but an open rebellion against the Hierarchy. *He voice suddenly turns cold.* They have betrayed everything that it means to be turian. If the Primarchs don't see that, then they are fools at best and fellow traitors at worst.

Chellick: Consider it done, Primarch. The meeting will begin in one hour's time.

Fedorian: Thank you, Chellick. Ambassador, Your Majesty--would you please come with me to the meeting with the Primarchs? Your support would be invaluable in helping them see the truth of the rebels' treason.

Tiamat: We will, if helps our people.

Fedorian: Trust me, it will.

*Meanwhile, two dozen Blackwatch ships leave Palaven and set a course for Baurus.*

--Alba--

*Addrson is disappointed, but presses on.* Addrson: I'll take your word for it, High Senator. If you don't mind indulging my curiosity a little, what are the states of your military and defenses? Hypothetically, how well could they hold off a Primitus attack?

--Aves City--

*Ackbar sits in his office, forging ahead through the day's work. There are colonies to be administered, a military to oversee, political debacles to work out, trade to monitor, the healing of Aves itself to spearhead, and dozens of other issues to handle.* Aves...I'm in way over my head, thinking I could handle all this on my own. I need to relegate some duties out of this office, or I'll never see another beautiful Aves sunset again. *He leans back to take a short break, picking up a small cup in his foot and sipping nectar-and-honey wine from it. Blearily blinking his eyes, the hawk's gaze falls to a picture at the far end of his desk, and he sets the cup down to pick it up. His eyes close for a long moment, and he clutches the photograph to his heart, taking a long, deep breath and exhaling it as a heavy sigh.*

*His reverie is interrupted by a knock at his door. He sets the memory down.* Ackbar: Come in.

*The door opens, and a young Black Heron intern tentatively flutters into the room with a file folder clutched in his foot.*

Intern: P-package for you, Admiral.

Ackbar: Strange. I'm not expecting anything today. Good job, lad. Just leave it here on my desk, and grab yourself a treat on the way out.

Intern: Th-thank you, sir! *He nervously deposits his delivery on Ackbar's desk, takes a candied bee larva from the bowl at the edge of it, and flies out of the room, calling over his shoulder.* Have a good day, sir!

*Ackbar grimaces ruefully.* Ackbar: Shut up in this office all day? I envy him. May as well see what this is about. *He picks up the file, and a small data disc falls out. He inserts it into his desk, and the computer quickly de-encrypts the contents.*

A blip on sensors...coming from that direction? From outside the galaxy? *His eyes close as memories of things yet to come flow throw him.* So they come, then.

[Jediluigi]

Planet B22, System Beta 02, Beta Galactic Outer Rim:*

Back in the home galaxy, the mighty Marzeron Empire would arrive in a system with a fleet of hundreds of warships, ranging from the fearsome dreadnoughts and destroyers to hordes of fighter craft; The Empire could afford to be showy.

Sadly, the Empire couldn't afford it this time, for several reasons. Firstly, the ships themselves were still being manufactured, in too few numbers and smaller size in an effort to save resources. Secondly, a smaller, less sizable force would cause less of a ruckus as it ventured across the unknown galaxy.

So, it wasn't the mighty Imperial War Machine that appeared above the torn planet; Instead, it was a measly band of outdated escort ships and freighters, loaded with goods and other material. The biggest ships, the droid escort frigates, measured only a hundred and twenty meters in length, and lightly armed compared to other ships. The cargo haulers weren't even armed, or armored.

The lead ship, the Barloz, was a medium transport and had only three guns on it, all low grade. It was the one to hail what it could find to be the nearest port authority or control station for landing craft. It hailed on a variety of signals and languages until one of them stuck.

//Loading Message...

=< Greetings, sentient/sapient race(s), this is the AMS Explorer and the Anjia Trade Caravan, requesting permission to land at the local docks/trading outpost. >=

//End Message...

Imperial Classification System: Planet actually called "Aves"

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Aves--

*As the Marzeronian ships arrive in Aves's orbit, they find themselves before a wounded, sickly world. Most of its landmass ranges from dull brown to maroon to festering black, and its oceans exude a diseased grey tint. Scars and craters pockmark the surface of the continents. On the nighttime side, those onboard can see the eerie glow of radiation across wide swathes of the continents and oceans, and strange fires burning. Steely glints visible from orbit hint at massive graveyards of war machines from horrendous battles.*

*However, even in this picture of devastation, there is still hope. A few small patches of pristine land and ocean still exist in regions on roughly the opposite sides of the planet from each other, with the eastern one making up 8% of the surface and the western 12%. Other splashes of green and blue exist outside of these areas--clear signs of recovery progressing. On the nighttime side, several of the fires grow dimmer every few minutes, and a few spots of the poisonous radiation also gradually fade as the Marzeronians watch.*

*The healing is not just on the planet. A steady and growing amount of space traffic bustles to and from the larger green regions, as well as from several large space stations orbiting the planet. Several flights of cruiser-size warships patrol the world's perimeter, and more space platforms are under construction by strange-looking vessels employing beams of energy, which seem to convert into matter to form the stations.*

*The Marzeronians' arrival has an instantly-palpable effect. A wing of the patrolling cruisers breaks off to approach their position. They also receive a reply to their transmission, in Basic/English. The voice on the other end, however, doesn't even sound remotely human or even humanoid, with strange high inflections and trilling accents.*

Aves Traffic Control (wary, but not hostile): AMS Explorer, you are deep in the territory of the Galactic Avian Union. Please state your business in full and what government you are operating under.

[Jediluigi]

Planet B22 "Aves", System Beta 02, Beta Galactic Outer Rim:

The trade fleet, for its part, slowed to a crawl and let the cruisers approach, weapons non-active. The AMS Explorer replied again, in the same, mechanical tone as before.

//Received...Loading Message...

=< Attention, designated unit "Avian Traffic Control", this convoy is here to trade the following goods: Metal/Foodstuffs/Non-radioactive weapons/terraforming equipment and automated units, on the authority of the Anjia Trade Coalition. Requesting permission to land. >=

//End Message...

The monotone response was sent, seemingly automated but answering nonetheless.

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