Chapter Three

[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 three, guys, KEEP IT UP!

Post.
POST.
POST!

~Jediluigi

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--Yaga Minor--

“Unfortunately, they did not have one.” He stated, looking over the janitor’s shoulder to confirm his directions mentally. Now there was just the matter of blending in without magic…

--Unknown World--

Leon walked up cautiously toward the creature, pistol ready in his free hand as he kept himself aware of his surroundings. So it takes a shot to the head to kill them. He thought, as he used the opportunity provided by the creature to learn how to combat his potential enemy.

--Gothis Orbit--

The Hive Ship activates its telekinetic powers once more, managing to deflect the torpedoes utilizing similar abilities to the Rachni. The Collective fleet presses on still, taking light losses via the Thanix cannons by comparison to the Turians.

--Gothis Land--

Despite the Collective Troops hunkering in and luring the enemy to them, several were still dieing, while some managed to put up a fight.

--Charad--

The pilot looked at the kiwi incredulously, as if annoyed. She hands the drawing to the kiwi, as if emphasizing it.

--Konnsallann Station--

Cross was annoyed, at first, to the interruption, but then intrigued by the report she overheard. She remained silent, however, waiting to see if anyone would even remember her presence and what they would say in explanation.

--Bladnir--

(On hold until JL either gets Victoria II or managed to talk to me on Skype to discuss where to go from here.)

[Comrade Greiv]

Alec took the consideration to mind and turned to another of his squad, "Sergeant, get me a status report from Hadron Squad and damage report from Engineering's sensor systems"

The Sergeant did both and began, "Hadron Squad is not responding to any hails and I cannot establish links to their suit systems to tell if they are alive or dead. As to the damage; a systems scan reports both port and starboard stabilizers as destroyed, several of the ships repulsorlift generators were knocked out, and major fires across all but four decks and that the engine control and maintenance sections are engulfed. Cause of the Detonations appears to have been fuel that might have been leaking from our starboard Heavy Sublight thrusters according to a simulation ran using the data from the detonation until now."

"Lieutenant, seal all air vents leading to and from Engineering and open all air locks within that sector to starve the fires. Then have Valkyrie Squad send someone to find Hadron Squad or their remains" Alec commands and pauses as the Lieutenant did as he was commanded followed by the Sergeant's report.

"Sir, fires in Engineering are out according to sensors. Also, because of the destruction of the stabilizers and the repulsorlifts have led to a new estimation of how long until our orbit decays to the point of no return and to impact with the planet. We will reach the outer layers of the planet's full gravitational forces in t-minus 15 hours and impact with the planet in t-minus 16 hours." The sergeant stated without stopping for a breath.


"We will have to soon evacuate, yes but we cannot allow the reason we had a real reason to take the ship for the Red Faction to be destroyed." Alec pressed a button on the holo-desk and a holoprojection came up from the floor. "This is a diagram of this ship's Shield Generator and it is the latest generation of shield tech for the Empire. With it the Sith Imperial navy would be too powerful for us to attempt the coup, however if we could remove the Shield Generator and get it to the Rendezvous point with our forces It would prove invaluable against the Sith Armada.

If that is able to be accomplished we can get out of here quickly though it would be a process that would take about 4-8 hours with the proper tools, which we do not have, but given the state of this vessel it could possibly be done in the same amount of time with and without the proper tools but we would need a vessel that could pull it from its hold and carry it to that location through hypertravel. Once that is done we can scuttle the ship before the pirates who we took this vessel back from are able to track us down"

[Sir Noret]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

"How big is this generator? Also, how were pirates able to acquire a state of the art capital ship? and just how good are these shields if this is how damaged your ship is?" the Captain asks, fairly skeptical of the story he's been given.

[Comrade Greiv]

E7-81 1IC

"The Generator is approximately 30 meters by 13 meters by 15 meters in length, width and height but to remove it require precision through ripping up several decks in the lower sections of the ship towards the center of the ship." Alec began as he began to relax again after the incident in Engineering

"As to how the ship was taken by pirates. This ship was taken from an Imperial Shipyard two weeks ago by a group of insurrectionists that we were backing, however once they had gotten it out of its dock and jumped away they were pulled out of FTL before they reached a pre-determined rendezvous point by a pirate fleet. According to the about 400-600 survivors of the capture, the pirates were able to board before the people aboard could power up defenses and weapons fully. And just 48 hours ago our teams were ordered to take the ship back by the Sith Lord, Darth Korr. We were able to infiltrate the vessel while it was traveling with the pirate fleet via a cloaked Megalodon-class Shuttle and within half an hour we had control of the major sections of the ship and had freed the insurrectionists who were still alive and were able to utilize a VI we brought with us to automate most systems, including minor weapons and minor/major non-critical systems, so that we could handle just the important tasks of getting this ship to the Rendezvous with one of our Battlegroups."

"The effectiveness of the shielding is much more than you think, especially since you could not see the fight we went through to blind jump the ship. The pirate fleet was approximately 50 strong with multiple Battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and frigates amongst it. Once we had control we started to spool up out FTL and the pirates that were still onboard within sectors we sealed were able to contact the rest of the fleet." Alec then turned to look out the windows of the bridge,

"Once the word was out, for three minutes we attempted to fight back against them. The shield held for two straight minutes, against sustained fire from each of their ships, at full power until projectiles were able to penetrate through then another 30 seconds before energy weapons and the like had completely torn the shields apart. Al the while we were preparing to jump and had vented all sectors that were sealed off to eliminate the pirate threat onboard. The damage you see was from 30 seconds of concentrated Missile, Mass Driver, and Turbolaser bombardment that had led to all the complications onboard." Alec then brought up a holodisplay of all the damage sustained.

"The shield's special properties are: that it is multi-layered with the ability to prevent heavy Radiation from leeching through, projectile munitions from penetrating, and heavy energy weapons fire for varying periods of time, and the other thing that makes it special is that it is self-powering via an internal Zero-Point-Energy Reactor that allows it to be an entirely self-sustaining system that does not require any power from any of the Reactors a ship can use. With that it would help considerably when it comes to what we in the Red Faction call the "Crimson Rising", which is the day we will begin the war to overthrow the Sith Empire, but if the Imperials kept it we would need quadruple the amount of ships that we'd have ready to take complete control of the Empire's territory."

[Sir Noret]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

"Your pirates have impressive fire power.... then again, this is the Unknown Regions... Regardless, I'll admit your shield generator does sound impressive, our ship should be able to carry it though, we will provide what assistance we can in removing" the captain replies and gives the order for Survey 72's engineering section to get prepared to assist.

[Jediluigi]

The federation fighters continue to duel with the droids as federation corvettes and gunships swing in to provide support swatting drones with their heavy flak batteries and pinpoint laser cannons and missiles.

Federation capital ships close to range and ripples of phaser, turbolaser and and maser fire erupt in a multicolored wall smashing into the Imperium fleet. Federation destroyers begin opening fire with their thanix cannons and several federation assault ships fire their devastating Jovian high density beam cannons. Several wings of bombers and support fighter wings are launched. Meanwhile the massive federation carriers continue to launch wings of star fighters into the massive drone fighter duel. The concentrated atrium artillery barrages and plasma weaponry managed to overwhelm the defenses of several federation warships but the fleet continued undaunted.

The Klingons break in all directions as they pass through and beneath the enemy fleet firing torpedoes and disruptors as they go they reform and continue making lightning fast sweeping strikes the sheer maneuverability of the agile Klingon ships being dizzying.

Meanwhile federation ships continue with their charged particle screen soon half the sector would be saturated by particles making the feild an uncomfortable place for any cloaked vessels.

--Invictus Ground---

The Klingon fleet had dropped in several lances of mechs two divisions of infantry and six tank battalions. as well as several Mandolorian commando units led by Travis Farr

General Vladimir Suvorov moves quickly to set up a forward HQ several key positions are reinforced and federation troops settle in for a long battle.

=Nazario=

Stellvir gritted his teeth, getting increasingly annoyed by the enemy’s persistent nature as their vollies crashed against the Glory’s powerful shields. Then, an officer spoke up. “Sir, confirmation by three captains that their respective missions were a success. Two more report that victory will soon be attained.” “Ah good… took them long enough.” He nodded in approval, now viewing the situation in a different light. His task was completed here, though not in the way he originally desired. “Divert all power to shields and the main weapon; switch it to its secondary setting. We’re leaving this system.” “Aye, sir.” “All ships, form up once more on the proper signal. Defensive positions otherwise.”

All combat groups form up into “shells” of sorts, rotating as they compounded their shields into several large domes, serving to outlast the enemy. The Bane of Glory itself managed to hold out against the extreme bombardment, but found itself unable to retaliate. The mechs and drones were obliterated in droves as production outright ceased. The Imperium fleet had simply halted its offense in strict favor of its defense, as ftl drives were also being charged up. The Glory’s Primary weapon had completed its charge-up sequence once more, but instead of unleashing a beam, the shields of the ship suddenly expanded outward and created a vast emp field. Imperium shields were greatly weakened by the emp as it affected everything in range. What was also odd was the field’s composition, containing electro-magnetic energy, ion energy, and pockets of plasma, as well as an unknown, but definitely extra-dimensional energy that caused small rifts and wakes. As it expanded, it would soon reach the Morrigi stations positioned around the battle, aiming to cause malfunctions and disrupt their effect on out-of-phase cloak and travel.

As the rest of the allied volley crashed into the AI fleet, more ships were destroyed and the Bane itself was damaged to an extent, but as they had created a compound shield, the losses were not as disastrous as it could’ve been otherwise. With the interdiction fields disrupted, the AI fleet formed up and exited the system, retreating.

=Galactic Stage=

With the invasions of Rocam, Oma Ker, Daedros, Triginta Petra, and Altakiril underway by the AI forces, the first three of those systems had fallen to enemy forces. The IS fleet that was previously stationed at Nazario had moved to support defenders at the last two, seeking to hold the line as best as possible.

Turian Rebel forces, now under the command of the Astrum Collective, had begun to mobilize further as a new military command was set in place, to attempt to mitigate the damage and chaos caused by the loss of the Hive ships and prisoners. The Collective had now assimilated the Turian Rebels and began to march towards the border, seeking to unite with the Imperium forces on the other side of Turian space.

=Ruhen=

He glances over at the other squadmates as they readied their weapons, raising an eyebrow. “To prove one’s self worthy of the Rune is to defeat the guardians of that Rune. I am a guide, not a guardian. I will not interfere nor answer the tribulations of the close future.” He attempts to reassure the others before addressing the leader directly once more. “The Rune is…” He started, then pondered, wondering how he could answer such a question accurately. “It is the epitome of a power ascended past that of most mortals. He who wields the Rune wields the power it possesses.”

Sergeant Munzel looked to his team members, worried. "Right... And the catch to this all powerful object is...?" If there was one thing the Sergeant had learned in life, it was that if something sounded too good to be to true, then it sure as hell was. He didn't like this city from the start, and all this insanity simply made him want to leave as quickly as possible. "And while we're at it, we have to pass this trial, don't we? If we want to get this... Rune and leave, right?"

/Recopia|Recopi System|M-11|Mazeronian Core Worlds\

The Directorate fleet continue firing with their main batteries on the docks. The 100 or ships that made in before the gravity wells activated focus on the largest rebel ships at the docks. The main fleet fires another a salvo of missiles specifically aiming at where they believe the Moffs to be concentrated on the surface. The ships that did not make into the dock area hit the edge of the well and attempt to rejoin the main fleet. A hail is sent to the defense fleet's flagship:

The Directorate has no quarrel with you, let us eliminate these rebels and lower your gravity wells so we can we leave.

The Imperial defenders were clearly out-gunned and possibly out manned, but they would hold their lines to end. They moved to surround the now trapped enemy ships and lock on with ion cannons and anti-munitions weaponry, to mitigate their firepower. The missiles aimed for the surface would have limited success against the planets defensive systems, but some missiles would land in the capitol of the planet.

As the situation began to deteriorate, the Imperial ships began to falter. They couldn't hope to keep the Directorate out forever, and it would appear as if they would have to give in to the demands of the aggressors. At least, it appeared that way until a new energy signature appeared on their sensors. A massive anomaly on the southern edge of the system, it was continuing to grow in size and power. Several of the high ups feared the worst, the Directorate were going to destroy them.

Then, without notice, the anomaly manifested, a massive hole in the fabric of space, a shimmering wormhole of pulsing gold and silver, energy crackling from the center outward in a dazzling display. The vortex intensifies, an object taking shape as it emerges, lightning clashing against its shield violently. The ship itself, once it is free of the wormhole, can be seen in all its glory. Nearly twenty-five kilometers long, the ship was decked in red and black armor plating, with an added golden gild on the edges of the ships frame, obviously only intended to showcase the wealth of the Empire.

It wasn't alone, of course. As it exited the wormhole, soon more ships followed. Most were the familiar vessels of the Imperial Navy, but there were other, stranger ships, nearly fifty that were not standard. These ships sported the same red and black plating as the larger ship, and each had a bronze gild that was slightly more functional than the lead ship. They were ten kilometers long and decked with large, powerful deck guns and clearly meant to obliterate anything they came across. The ships slowed, coming to a stop as the vortex collapsed.

Once the wormhole had collapsed, the large ships sent out a system-wide broadcast to the Directorate forces, short, and to the point.

//Message Begin...

=< "And behold, the Kaiser does come. By Decree of His Majesty, Lord of the Imperial Domain, the Kaiser does decree that the Moffs of the former United Colonies, are hereby granted asylum and citizenship, now and forever, until they relinquish it. Furthermore, the Directorate forces will have 30 minutes to begin leaving, or the Kaiser shall smite your fleet. So it is spoken." >=

//Message End...

(Editing in replies now. Don't get excited.)

[Comrade Greiv]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

"Your pirates have impressive fire power.... then again, this is the Unknown Regions... Regardless, I'll admit your shield generator does sound impressive, our ship should be able to carry it though, we will provide what assistance we can in removing" the captain replies and gives the order for Survey 72's engineering section to get prepared to assist.

"Such will be highly appreciated." Alec said as he turned to his XO, "Mantes."

"Sir." Mantes responded.

"Go get Valkyrie squad as well as a few dozen of the insurgents and head to the munitions stockpiles. Gather up Krakatoa charges and set them up at the primary tension points in the ship, then work on the removal of all data center nodes as well as each black box." Alec stated with a tone of urgency.

"Very Well, Alec. We will get to work immediately." Mantes said as he left, taking 3 of Omega Squad's Praetorians with him.

Alec then turned back to the Captain, "As to how to remove the Generator... Unfortunately Darth Korr did not think that the Generator would need to be removed at any point of time, as a result this ship was built with the Shield Generator integrated. In order to get to, and remove, it we must cut through 15 meters of armor and 12 decks. With the current condition of the ship it should only take 3-5 hours especially if we have a large number of insurgents to help work on the job. I will also meet your men at that sector of the ship with those I can gather, we will start the cut at the generator room once it is fully shut down."

[Sir Noret]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

"It wouldn't happen to be conveniently located in a tower like the Imperial-class, would it?" The captain asks, hoping for a shortcut.

[Comrade Greiv]

E7-81

"Unfortunately not. The Shield Generator is 8 decks up from and is around the center of the keel, about 1800 meters from the bow." Alec stated as he brought up a holoprojection of the Venator II-class to show the location, "Fortunately, it should take less time due to damage to the Beskar armoring and concussive damage to the decks above the armor layers in that sector."

[Sir Noret]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

"Unfortunate indeed General, oh well, some of our engineers are on their way over. In the meantime you may want to star preparing any other equipment and personnel for transfer to my vessel, unless you have ftl capable shuttle craft left?" The captain suggests.

[Comrade Greiv]

"We'll have any of our people who won't be involved with the scuttling, data recovery, or the Shield Generator removal start transferring over immediately." Alec said as he went to leave the room. "I'll get those who will assist with the cutting process and will meet your engineers down at the generator." Alec then left with a few of Omega Squad and headed for the Generator room.

[Sir Noret]

/Crippled Red Faction Vessel|E7-81 1IC|System E7-81|Sector E-7 Space\

The captain also left to return to his ship to tend to matters on that end and to get into contact with his superiors about the recent developments.

[Quantum Rain]

--Ultra Vires--

The shadow that was speaking stopped for a moment, tilting its head in confusion. It spoke another phrase, which seemed to end in a query. It spoke another statement in a more mocking tone and laughed again. And then, the shadows became one again, forming a humanoid figure made of a black mass. "It is a shame that you can not yet understand us... A pity that I have to resort to this form of communication. It's always so... primitive and restrictive."

Daniel gave the demon a look of boredom. "I'm sorry," He began in an annoyed tone. "I didn't realize that sounding like a choking cat was more civil than this." He was clearly not impressed by them. He kept his hand ready to draw his short sword at any moment, but knew that it would be better to avoid a fight with all of them if he could.

The demon sighed in annoyance, having heard that description before. "That's what everyone says..." He muttered. "It sounds like that because you aren't listening you [censored]!" He yelled out at him, proceeding to charge with a black, but defined sword drawn from nowhere.

[Wynn]

Lae smacked the side of the demon's blade with the side of his hand to deflect the incoming attack. He quickly drew his sword with his other hand and did a reverse-grip upper-cut to counter the demon.
"I'm listening, but I DON'T SPEAK YOUR DAMN LANGUAGE!" He shouted.

[Quantum Rain]

The demon grabbed the blade with his other hand, moving at an incredible speed compared to Lae. "You shouldn't listen with your deaf ears and impudent mind then." He said in a darker tone. He then pulled on the sword and tossed Lae over his shoulder and a further distance still, causing him to crash into the sandy floor. "Swordplay is not your speciality I hear. After all, you got beat up pretty badly last time. You sure you want to try again?" He spoke in a condescending manner. He flourished his blade, waiting for Lae to stand back up.

[Wynn]

The demon grabbed the blade with his hand, moving at an incredible speed compared to Lae. "You shouldn't listen with your deaf ears and impudent mind then." He said in a darker tone. He then pulled on the sword and tossed Lae over his shoulder and a further distance still, causing him to crash into the sandy floor. "Swordplay is not your speciality I hear. After all, you got beat up pretty badly last time. You sure you want to try again?" He spoke in a condescending manner. He flourished his blade, waiting for Lae to stand back up.

Lae was caught by surprise by the counter, but managed to land on his feet after being thrown.
"As I recall, I was the reason half a legion of your dumb-[censored] troops got blown up." He shot back. "I cant imagine you'd be much smarter, seeing as you ruined my one day off."

[Quantum Rain]

"You were the reason? I was under the impression it was one of your assassin friends... But I guess our intel could always be wrong. Either way, you're not proving your own claims." He said, reaching down into the sand and casting a blast of hellfire. The shockwave quickly travelled to Lae and caused spikes of glass to shoot up at him. Meanwhile, the blast also served to launch the demon into the air...

[Wynn]

"You were the reason? I was under the impression it was one of your assassin friends... But I guess our intel could always be wrong. Either way, you're not proving your own claims." He said, reaching down into the sand and casting a blast of hellfire. The shockwave quickly travelled to Lae and caused spikes of glass to shoot up at him. Meanwhile, the blast also served to launch the demon into the air...

Lae would jump into the air after the the demon, avoiding the hellfire blast in the process. He quickly stabbed into the demon as he reached the it. "Nuh-uh, [censored] you." Lae said simply as he did so.

[Quantum Rain]

The demon swirled to the side, somehow being capable of controlling himself in the air. As he dodged the blade he did a roundhouse kick, launching Lae across the sky. Oddly enough, the demon remained in the air, sword in hand still. "I'm sorry, what was that you said? I couldn't hear you over the sounds of my awesomeness."

[Wynn]

Lae would slam into the ground hard farther down the beach. He flew a long way, and landed face-first and slid a short distance, stopping in front of a woman who was sunbathing. He got up to his hands and knees, spitting some sand out of his mouth. He looked over at the girl who was now sitting up and looking at him with a rather startled expression. He looked back, his face now covered with small scratches and one bruise.
He laughed in embarrassment and waved weakly. "Uh, h-hi..." He said to her weakly.
Man I'm just not going to stop embarrassing myself in front of the women today, am I? Lae thought to himself as he got back up and ran back up the beach toward the demon, not sure if he was trying to get back in the fight, or escape the embarrassment.

[Quantum Rain]

"That's a cute lady friend you met there, kid!" The demon yelled down at Lae, flourishing the blade again. He swung the sword and called a wave of frost down on Lae and the now retreating survivors. "If you save her life, you might get a fan!"

[Wynn]

"That's a cute lady friend you met there, kid!" The demon yelled down at Lae, flourishing the blade again. He swung the sword and called a wave of frost down on Lae and the now retreating survivors. "If you save her life, you might get a fan!"

"Wait..." Lae stopped at that statement. He was distracted by it, then took the full-force of the icy blast. He fell stiffly to his knees. He was shivering up a storm once the blast had passed, but he managed to look up at the demon. "You [censored] [censored]!" He managed to shout, recognizing him.

[Quantum Rain]

"My my, what a foul mouth... That's no way to impress the ladies." He said tauntingly, landing softly on the ground. "I don't think I really deserved that... I mean, I haven't killed you yet." He flourished the blade a third time, holding it out to his left, all while creating a shell of ice around his body. The shell soon shattered, revealing a slightly mutated, white hair and blue eyed human, with a frosted blade jutting out of his free hand's wrist. "Though I guess I should emphasize the word, 'yet'."

[Wynn]

"My my, what a foul mouth... That's no way to impress the ladies." He said tauntingly, landing softly on the ground. "I don't think I really deserved that... I mean, I haven't killed you yet." He flourished the blade a third time, holding it out to his left, all while creating a shell of ice around his body. The shell soon shattered, revealing a slightly mutated, white hair and blue eyed human, with a frosted blade jutting out of his free hand's wrist. "Though I guess I should emphasize the word, 'yet'."

Lae stood up and sheathed his sword, however he would quickly give the man a hard punch to the face, knocking him flat on his back.
"Of COURSE you [censored] deserved it, you ruined the first day off I've had in months!" Lae screamed at him.

[Quantum Rain]

The demon rolled twice, sitting up again as he was done. He clutched his face. "Dammit, my nose... You are heartless! Do you know how long it took me to find the perfect body amongst this beach!" He exclaimed, jumping up. "Oh great, it's bleeding... Man, so annoying..."

[Wynn]

The demon rolled twice, sitting up again as he was done. He clutched his face. "Dammit, my nose... You are heartless! Do you know how long it took me to find the perfect body amongst this beach!" He exclaimed, jumping up. "Oh great, it's bleeding... Man, so annoying..."

Lae took off his hood, revealing all the scratches that cross-crossed his face and the bruise beneath his eye that resulted from the earlier kick. "I'd say we're even... jackass." Lae stated harshly.

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