Author Topic: TFWFTM: Game Thread  (Read 54466 times)

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Sorry for the OT: are we supposed to write in this thread or another? (never played sth Like this, tool

Yes, post in this thread.

As for Autohummer's storyline:

Your salvage team successfully recovers a black box from one of the Vagyr ships. After decrypting the data, it is revealed that the Vagyr arrived here several months ago in search of resources, but discovered that the system was in the process of being mined dry by what appeared to be some type of automated drones, that match nothing in your files. The Vagyr attacked, destroying several of the mining drones, but were quickly cut to pieces by a swift counterattack by a massive number of more heavily armed drones, using unknown types of energy pulse and beam weapons.

The drone ships ranged in size from strikecraft to behemoths over 4 kilometers long. They were all completely unmanned and did not reciprocate any attempt at communication. Their aesthetic traits were unlike those of any known faction, being mostly dark blue in color, with the smaller ones being mostly saucer-shaped with a bulge in the middle, and the larger ones looking like asymmetrical amalgamations of various mechanical parts. Data recovered from the black box suggests that they had converted a sizable percentage of the resources they had stripped from the system into more copies of themselves.

Currently, your ships detect no signs of these drones remaining in the system, but a further investigation of one of the former areas of heavy concentration of drone forces indicated by the Vagyr data might reveal a clue.
Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline Colonol Dekker

  • HLP is my mistress
  • 213
  • Aken Tigh Dekker- you've probably heard me
    • My old squad sub-domain
Reading intently.   (Still sad I can't commit to engaging with my own fleet)
Campaigns I've added my distinctiveness to-
- Blue Planet: Battle Captains
-Battle of Neptune
-Between the Ashes 2
-Blue planet: Age of Aquarius
-FOTG?
-Inferno R1
-Ribos: The aftermath / -Retreat from Deneb
-Sol: A History
-TBP EACW teaser
-Earth Brakiri war
-TBP Fortune Hunters (I think?)
-TBP Relic
-Trancsend (Possibly?)
-Uncharted Territory
-Vassagos Dirge
-War Machine
(Others lost to the mists of time and no discernible audit trail)

Your friendly Orestes tactical controller.

Secret bomb God.
That one time I got permabanned and got to read who was being bitxhy about me :p....
GO GO DEKKER RANGERSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
President of the Scooby Doo Model Appreciation Society
The only good Zod is a dead Zod
NEWGROUNDS COMEDY GOLD, UPDATED DAILY
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Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
The three cruisers sat about twenty to thirty klicks out from the Faustus. The science cruiser and its tiny escort circled lazily...

Upon arriving at the assigned patrol waypoint and stumbling upon the vessel, Guderian had requested twenty seconds of silence on the bridge. This was his usual practice when immediate danger was not present. He wanted time for him and his deck officers to think before he simply gave an order.

An idiosyncratic practice indeed. But it did work. Usually.

The Commodore spread his hands on the console, bringing up a tactical map. Nothing showed but the NTF cruisers. Only a low-resolution telescopic sight, piped directly to a small screen on the deck, indicated the presence of the offending science vessel and its attendant fighters. That, and the occasional engine burst or flickering light, visible to the sharp-eyed - such as the eager young deck watch. Having been mildly reprimanded on multiple occasions for "seeing things," they were rightly proud of themselves for picking out the Faustus quickly against the starry expanse.

"Well, men, this is the way it would seem - we've found something worth seeing. So have they. If our equipment - such as it is - can pick them up, you can bet they know that we're here, that we're NTF, and my mother's maiden name." A mild chuckle. Guderian picked up the comms chip. "Drive Core, Drive Core, pre-load these coordinates for jump... I want those jump drives primed and ready to go!" He turned to a nearby lieutenant. "Will, pass the same order to the 'Grace and the Ark. Thank you."

The Fire Control Observer frowned. "Sir... are we going to engage?"

"No. With sensor shielding like that, I'm guessing this can only be a GTVI expedition. Maybe SOC. They're after something important. If the mission was expendable, they'd have booked it once we showed up. Likely they'll bolt if we close the distance. It must be something worth sticking around just a bit longer for."

"We can manual aim. It's a bit tricky but it's been done. I can load up the 'boresighting' macros and we can get a pretty good guess as to where to aim... but of course..."

"Right. As soon as we open fire, they'll take on an erratic course. Maybe one of those new Hecates could calculate the differences and put out enough fire to saturate the target, but we can't. Again, they'd probably bolt. That said, if we stay here... we may find something worth seeing. Or not. Either way, we'll have the drives ready for jump if they call friends."

"We could call friends."

"We could... again, they know we're here. Likely all ears are pointed in our direction. Chances are we can't mask a transmission from a Faustus equipped with gear like that."

"So we wait?"

"We wait."




OOC: Thanks Assassin, these scenarios are cool!  :D



« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 02:06:46 am by HLD_Prophecy »

 
After several minutes of the uneasy standoff, the Faustus and its escort begin moving away from the NTF battlegroup. You still can't register them on sensors, but it seems likely that they are preparing to jump. Do you attempt to intercept, or let them escape?

Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Guderian watched without a word as the Faustus moved off.

"Sir? They could well be preparing to jump."

"I know. The sensor masking is keeping us from getting even a vague idea of their destination. Usually, with this much time, we'd have been able to get a general fix on where they're headed, but..."

"So... this was all for nothing?"

"Not at all. We went on patrol, as ordered. We found that some GTVA spook has been snooping around in our capital system. We know they're on to something juicy. And we took no losses doing so. All that? It's quite something. I know some of you are itching for action, but we're going to let them move off, jump if they like. We've found something worth knowing. Time to pass this along to Command, in person."

The Commodore gave orders to this effect to the other cruisers.


EDIT: Guderian muttered to himself. Strange, very strange indeed. Worrisome. How did they get past the nodes? Have they been hiding here since before the coup? How are their orders getting through? If our defense network is that permeable...

...best not to let the men know. By the fates... they'll probably figure it out soon enough.





OOC: Wow, quick response! Thanks!
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 02:18:26 am by HLD_Prophecy »

 
I just gave a quick response since I happened to be online.

Anyway, as the Faustus begins its jump, it sends a tight-beam transmission aimed directly at Guderian's cruiser. The data is incredibly dense and highly encrypted, and it quickly becomes apparent that it is unlikely that any NTF hardware or software short of Bosch's personal resources on the Iceni could crack it.

Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline Lorric

  • 212
As the player I'd send a wing of scout fighters to go have a look, but if I'm in character, I don't do anything. We're not at war at this time, there would be commercial traffic in the belt, unless there's anything unusual to rouse our curiosity, there'd be no reason to go investigate a faint signal I presume is on the edge of censor range. If it's closer, then we might want to see. Make sure it's not smugglers or pirates trying to hide themselves or a ship in trouble losing power.

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Guderian turned to his deck officers.

"That science vessel, it seems, was trying to send us a message. A heavily encrypted one. Nothing short of the highest levels of Command have the gear to crack this... and that means Admiral Bosch himself. I'd assume, then, that this message was meant for his eyes alone, at least initially. We're returning to Cascade Station for debrief, and then we'll hand this over to the Admiral."

I'll get it to Bosch in person if I can, he mused. Hand it off to our local superiors and it'll take ages to get up there... or worse, someone might think they have the clearance to crack it themselves.

 
- Independent Cruiser Nightfly, Delta Serpentis -

Fisher watched his Comm Officer as she tried to open a channel.

"This is Admiral Christopher Schulz, 19th Battlegroup, GTVA. Unknown ship, identify yourself!” The message was still set on a loop. Slowly but steady, it became a real nuisance.

Some curses came from Sally's place.

"Dammit! I can't get a transmission out! There are still energy fluctuations, blocking almost everything!" Then the sound of the dying engine echoed through the ship. The lights started to flicker. "Oh, great! Now even running isn't an option anymore!"

Fisher started looking for his cigarettes. A year ago, he started a try to stop this vice. It didn't last long.

"Bloody hell, Marcus, what's going on down there?! If we can't get a message out, these guys will start tearing us apart!"

"Several other leaks occured suddenly. We're working on it. At least our weapons systems are still online."

Weapon systems... Maybe that's it. If we fail to answer, we're dead anyway.

"Ok, listen up. Franky, I want you to give me manual control over one of the pulse turrets on the stern. The one that points right behind us."

"Eh, what's the plan? If we start firing, they will return the favor!"

"Not necessarily. Let's hope these guys still have been taught Morse code."

The lights on his console began to flicker. Fisher took over the controls and adjusted the gun point of the turret so that it exactly pointed at the jump node.

Now remember your training.

Years ago, during the long and peaceful summers, he used to sit in the treehouse on Earth that his grandfather had built for him. Only a few hundred meters away, his former best friend Fred had been hiding in his own. After dusk, they had always used their flashlights to communicate, tell stories, rumours and jokes for hours. Both he and Fred had decided to join the resistance on Mars in their fight against Earthforce. Fred had paid a terrible price for this.

Come on, buddy. Show me that it wasn't just a game for kids.

Then he started pressing the button.

Short - short -short - long - long - long - short - short - short
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 05:28:23 pm by bomb3rman »

 

Offline Novachen

  • 29
  • The one and only capella supernova
    • Twitter
Well, i made some introduction stuff aswell, to build up this properly :).

I actually never wrote something like that in english, but well, i hope it is understandable.



»Status report!«, i said.
One of the my vasudan officers tapped on his console. »Only minor damage, but long range sensors are still offline.«, she replied.

»What happened?« was my next question, as i was very bewildered about the situation that took place a few moments ago. All of the sudden the GVD Cleo and the GTD Nova were attacked by a previously unencountered ancient Phaistos corvette. After the first shots, a subspace turbulence took place and jog around the Cleo. After this was done, nowhere the corvette or the Nova was to be seen.
»This is still under investigation. As it seems, we were attacked by an Ancient corvette. Like the same type the Cleo encountered four years ago.« was the only answer i get, which was not very satisfying, because i knew that already due to my own experiences with the Ancient corvette that was able to pull both the Cleo and the Nova into a shivan controlled nebula at the given time.

»And where is it, now? And where is the Nova?«, actually everything was so strange, the only thing i could think about were questions over questions.
»Unknown. This can not be determined right now.«, was again the not very helpful answer.

Well, the Nova was nowhere to be seen, but maybe it was in the same system, as this one was not a nebula that could hamper long rang communications. So there was hope, that i was able to get in contact with the Nova, maybe they had some more information already.
»Open task force communication channel.« i ordered. One of my officers nodded to me in response. »GVD Cleo to GTD Nova. Please respond!«, i asked... but the only thing i got as an answer was silence. »Rear Admiral Maximillian-Vasuda from the GVD Cleo is calling the GTD Nova. Please respond!«, i repeated this two times, but silence was still the only answer.
»Well... change to the general GTVA communication channel, then.«, i requested to my communication officer, who again only nodded to me. The vasudans were still not very talkative to a terran, even as i was their commanding officer. »This is the GVD Cleo from the 1st Crisis reaction force to all GTVA craft in communication range, please respond!«, i hailed into the communication channel, but the only response was silence.
»Rear Admiral, could it be possible that we are not longer in GTVA space, like the last time as we encountered such vessel?«, one of my officers asked, one of the only crew members, who survived this event four years ago.
»Maybe. But it is no nebula this time. And the last time the whole event was different. Also the Cleo was in the same system as the Nova.«, i answered, as i still remember it very well.
Because none of my officers was interested to reply anything, i asked »So, as it seems that aswell the Nova nor any other GTVA craft is in this system, i have to ask, where are we?«, even if i could swear, that i know the star constellation that was shown in the several outside cameras of this Apothess.
Once again, i only get silence in response, but as some vasudans tapped on their consoles, they were at least trying to determine the position of this ship.

After some moments that seem to be aeons, i got an answer for one of my questions finally. And this one was not really expected by myself.
»After we have checked the star constellations, we can seen from our position in comparsion to our database, we are actually certain, that we are at the edge of the Capella system.«, was the incredulous answer by the vasudans, were other ones on the bridge were murmering about in vasudan what i would translate to »impossible«, at least how far i was able to understand vasudan without any translator. As this was also the only response i was able to get as i looked absently into the stars.
»Does not look like a nebula that was caused by a supernova out there.«, i talk more to myself in totally disbelief. »What about the long range sensors? anything new?«, i asked as i remember, that they were offline right after the 'jump'.
The vasudan on the sensor control panel was about to begin »No, there are sti..-« as she changed her tone into an excited one. »They are online again. We have several contacts in the inner part of the system. I can not determine the types, but these are clearly terran and vasudan energy signatures!«.
That was indeed good news, even it was strange that there was no response to the hail to all GTVA ships.
»Why there was no response to our hail?«, i asked to the communication officer, who look onto its console. »Rear Admiral, it is strange, there is no GTVA subspace communication relay in this system.«
»This is very intersting. First an ancient corvette that shows up all of the sudden from subspace to attack us, now we are in a system that is identical to Capella with Terran and Vasudan ships and then, there is no GTVA?« I summarized the events of the last hour.
»Did you have checked all other frequencies?«, i asked him. He tapped again on his console and got an surprised looked. »Yes, i am receiving messages on non standard frequencies. They are encrypted, but they have an encryption that was used even before the foundation of the GTVA.«
»I think nothing should surprise us. Please tapping us in. I am interested what they are talking about.«, i ordered. But only to hear untranslated vasudan messages i was not able to understand, so i ask if it is possible to activate the translator for them.
»... seem to have new fighters. They seem comparable to our Horus interceptors. PVD Girga, we are under attack, we request assistance.«, i heard an excited vasudan pilot, who seems to call for help. Was this a battle between Vasudans and Shivans? »Understood Amenemhat wing. Cleopatra wing accepted to help you, jump to their position, now. We are transmitting you their coordinates as we speak. With Cleopatra's help, you should not have problems to destroy these new chimp fighters.«, the as-it-seems commander of the vasudans returned. »Understood, we are jumping out to the received coordinates.«, the pilot responded and after he ordered his wingmates to jump out to the given coordinates the communication channel went dead with a rush only.
»Well... do anyone of you know a ship called PVD Girga? Why PVD at all? And do they mean terrans with chimps actually?«, i was very wondered about what i have just heard.
The sensor officer seems to be cowed, but finally she speaks up. »Sorry Rear Admiral. Chimp is indeed comparable to your 'zod' term for our species. It is still used by some vasudans, who dislike the terrans as an insult, but it was commonly used during the war between our species.« she explained. But she was not finished after she had take a breath, i used to understand the meaning of her words. »About the PVD Girga, i can not explain, what is happening here, but the Girga was a Typhon class destroyer that was one of the first vasudan capital ships that were destroyed by the SSD Lucifer during the Great War. And it was stationed in the Capella system by this time. My father was stationed on this ship and survived, but was killed in the uprising on the PVD Tanis a few days later, which retrieved the Girga survivors, but then defected as one of the first ships to the Hammer of Light.«
I actually could not believe, what she told me right in front of the others.
»You tell me, that we have just heard a communication message from a ship that was destroyed over fifty years ago?«, i asked her in skepticism. And the only thing she could do, was to nod to my question.

I thought about her words. But it was too early to jump right to conclusions. So i ordered to send a scouting wing that should observe the terran and vasudan ships from a safe distance to get more information about them. So i arranged a meeting with the chief scientist on board the Cleo to talk with him about any data the scouting wing might be collect.


Some hours later i am sitting in my chair in my quarters with the information from the scouting wing in my hands. The vasudan scientist seemed insecure after he looked into the information, too.
»Well, Professor. So far this are all data we have. Our scouting wing was able to record a skirmish between a wing of Anubis and Apollos fighters. Not only both ship classes were not used since the formation of the GTVA, aswell both sides did not have any shields and the enery spectrum readings confirm, that both fired with lasers, that were in use at the end of the terran vasudan war, only. Additionally we have a confirmed communication messages from a vasudan capital ship that was destroyed by the Lucifer fifty years ago. And at last, it is confirmed, that we are in the Capella system. So, your conclusions?«, i summarized all information and ask my chief scientist. Unfortunately the Apothess class was never developed for research operations and so have only a small laboratory and a small scientist stuff.
»Rear Admiral. I and my collegues are not sure, how that this is possible. But there is only one logic conclusion so far and that is, that we are indeed in the Capella system... in the year 2335 of your terran calendar.«, he answered. And this was one of the worst answers i wanted to hear. But after i looked into his face. »But you have a theory, at least?«, i asked.
»Well, within the research community we are still estranged about the question what the Shivans tried to archive with the Capella Supernova. The public opinion that was released by the GTVA is, that the Sathanas fleet created some kind of Mega Subspace Node, that was only active shorty before a Sun goes Supernova. It was might be used to make a subspace jump not over hundreds but over thousands or even millions of light years instead. As we know, that subspace is faster than light travel, one minor theory within our community however is, that the Sathanas fleet was able to travel through time with the supernova subspace field instead.«, he explained, even it seems that he did not accept the minor opion by himself.
»Are you kidding me?«, i answered in the lose of formality, because i could not believe what i have just heard. »I do not believe the time travel theory by myself. Even if it could be possible, the fact, that we are still alive contradicts this theory. If the shivans can travel into the past, they would had simply killed us already. But also we know, that the Ancients did knew much more about subspace than we do, even with all the data we have collected from Altair IV and the Gamma Draconis portal. We know that some of their ships are still active today, maybe they are actually ships that have travelled 8000 years into the future to survive the end of their race? We actually never considered that so far, as the only Ancient ship, we were able to investigate closer, never show such devices. But because we made some kind of time travel in every subspace jump, at least time travel into the future can not be excluded totally. But it does not explain how we have ended up in the past, however.«, he is explaining in a long monologue that was very confusing for me. But i am the commanding officer of this ship and have to make decisions.
»Okay, Professor. Because the data is as it is, i have to expect, that we are really in 2335 right now. So the only question for me is, how i can bring this ship back into 2387? Without to wait for fifty-two years of course?«, i asked him. To my surprise he has an answer already, even it was not an answer that was very helpful right now. »The only answer i have so far is, that we have to find the ancient corvette, because it is most likely that it can cause the other way, too.«
»I think, you know, that this is like the search for the needle in a haystack. Even if i knew the system where this ship is right now, we only have very few options here. Even with the knowledge what will happen, we can not warn anyone about the Shivans and although i would love to kill the Lucifer right at the moment it arrives in our space to save both Vasuda Prime and Earth, this would have catastrophic consequences for the history we know.«, i explain my thoughts about this situation. The only thing the scientist was able to say was »Of course. We do not know what will happen if we intervene. We will try to analyze the data of the ancient corvette before it dragged us here. Maybe we are able to find something, what make it possible to detect this ship.«. After that, i sent him out of my quarters, what was a very unfamiliar for all vasudans which had a personal talk with me, because this quarter was full of personal items, which is very unlikely for Vasudans.
After the scientist left, i weighed the available options.
Because it was not possible to determine the exact date, it was not possible to predict when the Shivans will appear. It was risky to stay in Capella, as the shivans with their advanced sensor technology could be able to target the Cleo even it would stay at the edge of the system. To jump to Vega would be even more risky, because it was a front line system in the terran vasudan war with heavy military traffic and so the Cleo could be detected at the Capella node in Vega. Epsilon Pegasi however would mean less risk, because it was nearly unpopulated during the Great War as far as i know. Epsilon Pegasi was an interesting destination, because it offers several jump nodes to other systems and even the possibility to get into Sirius undetected through the former NTF systems.
Also i know, that there is an Ancient storage in the Deneb System, which could contain some data Aken Bosch did not retrieve for the database of the NTF Iceni. But even before the Shivans' Arrival Deneb was a hotspot of war activities. It would be impossible to get there without a detection. Well, the Cleo could fight through Sirius and Deneb guns blazing and kill every terran and vasudan on its way, like the Shivans did before they were confirmed. As far i remember, the Shivans were able to be called 'phantom ships' in the early days of the great war, because they did not leave any survivors to report them. But before i consider that, there is also a safe system reachable from Capella that was discovered a few months ago at the most: Gamma Draconis. And in Gamma Draconis there lies the subspace portal. Maybe it is worth a look? Maybe there are still some information, the GTVA was not able to collect in 2367 which could be helpful to return in our time. Even if there is nothing to find, it would take only a few days at least before i could reconsider for the other options, so i open the ship communication to the bridge.
»Helm, set a course to the coordinates of the Knossos portal in Gamma Draconis and keep distance to all known vessels.« i said and i get a confirmation and i feel a light hum of the ship engine that were accelerating.
This flight would take a few hours. Time enough to prepare a command briefing for the GVD Cleo's crew to inform them about our situation.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 04:23:02 pm by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline crizza

  • 210
19th Battlegroup, Delta Serpentis

As the message continued to be repeated, the Admiral watched rather pleased as wing after wing of strike craft left the hangarbays. While not one of the new and shiny Titans, the Phoenicia and Vengeance had close to 26 squadrons at their disposal, the Diomedes corvettes were not even factored in. Of course, his old Apollo, painstakingly disassembled and rebuild to modern standards sat in one of the fighter clamps, but this was owed to the fact, that he disliked slow transports.

The pride of the Vengeance however were the Sphinx’s class heavy assault fighters, courtesy of the Vasudan Medjai, which formed up in squadron strength around the two logistic ships.
Slaved to the Norma’s vast array of sensor systems, each fighter was able to unleash it’s complement of missiles at once…
Oh how he yearned to see them fire at some real target.

A small blinking light signalled an incoming message from the Vengeance, but he dismissed it. His wife would have to wait… in fact they all waited while that strange ship did… nothing.
“Sir, we’re reading energy fluctuations aboard the unknown ship. I can’t say for sure, but…”
His sensor officer left the sentence hanging.
If that unknown ship was shivan, he was pretty sure that it would’ve started to fire the moment it had arrived…
“Do we have a log when this little bugger stumbled into our gun line?”

His bridge crew was a good one. Many were not happy to have been taken from their previous postings, but he had tried to build an esprit du corps ever since the 19th had been assembled. Those responsible for Sensors however were beaten by his first officer, Ramses.
“The unknown ship did not emerge from subspace Sir… one moment our scanners were clear, the next it was there.”
Frowning, the Officer in charge of Sensor nodded. From his own experience with the Vasudans, he knew all too well that their manners were sometimes a little irritating, but then again, they were right, most of the time at least.
“So… I guess you ruled out the possibility of that thing being somehow cloaked?” As answer he got a nod and what passed for an irritated shrug amongst Vasudans.

Thrumming his fingertips on his armrest he watched the unknown ship sitting there with almost casual impunity, daring them to take further steps. Maybe another cigarette would…

“Sir, the unknown ship is going weapons hot! It is firing it’s… aft turret?!”
Dumbfounded silence followed the announcement. One look to his equally puzzled Sensor officer showed that he had nothing to report.
His Comms Officer however, once again displayed his most annoying habit: Knocking his hand on the metal of his console to the beat of the enemy weapons fire, which continued to fire at empty space.
“Lieutenant Wilson… as impressive as the lightshow of the unknown ship is, I’m sure I speak on behalf of the bridge crew, if you stop drumming along!”
Although he had raised his voice only a little, Lieutenant Wilson did not react, instead he sat in front of his station, eyes closed, knocking each time the unknown ships aft weapon went off and mumbling something.
“LIEUTENANT WILSON!”

Two words, loud enough that his Comms officer flinched, finally got through.
“My apologies Sir, but… I think… the sequence they’re firing… Short, short, short, long, long, long, short, short, short… I mean, I’m no expert on weapon systems… but this is either a rather interesting misfire or…”
Christopher’s head snapped up. There were many things he’d considered tedious during training and only after Anita had explained to him in great detail the history of it, that he’d even considered Morse code useful.
“Or they’re using Morse code to signal… general distress… Well Lieutenant, consider your drumming as useful, for now.”
Listening into the communication chatter of the battlegroup showed, that other people had realised this as well, but were none the wiser as how to answer.
Would this ship be able to register an answer if they fired weapons not pointing at the ship?

“Cancel my broadcast, Comm.”
He needed to think and a moment later he exhaled smoke from just another cigarette. He knew that during the 21st century ships had used either radio or light to communicate via Morse code, but none of his ships had a signal light for this. Of course he could flash his main beams, but this could look threatening.

“Helm! Turn to port and flash our starboard navigation light as instructed by Lieutenant Wilson. Wilson, flash Who are you, whatever the Morse code for that is!
A moment later the huge green light at the tip of the Phoenicia’s starboard wing began to flash:

. - -    . . . .     - - -     . -    . - .   .    - . - -   - - -   . . -

 
-HNS Phuur-Nan Task Force, Coruc-Tel System-

The resource collectors diligently cut the carcasses of the two Vaygr capital ships into smaller chunks and queued orderly into the carrier's hangar bay. There, a salvage crew would go over it with handheld scanners and scoured every inch for clues, only when they were satisfied that nothing interesting could be found, did they authorise the PDAs to start disassembling the scrap. This drastically lengthened the queue, but eventually paid off as a charred fleet data recorder was carefully pried off what used to be the carrier's forward bridge. Wasting no time, that data was meticulously reconstructed and decrypted using Vaygr keys captured from Makaan's flagship. As soon as records of the last days of the fleet were reconstructed, the entire command and intelligence staff was called in for a briefing.

"Captain, may I begin?" asked Lieutenant Shaked Jaraci.

"Everyone's here, go ahead," Raonaid said.

"Thank you. Let's begin," Shaked said, adjusting her holo-spectacles.

The entire room dimmed and the holographic sensors manager glowed on, showing the Coruc-Tel System and the location of the Vaygr fleet.

"The earliest point we could recover from the recording was four months ago...."

The hologram zoomed in on the two ships, both bore the scars of multiple kinetic shell and ion cannon strikes. The top of the carrier, housing the production facility, was a charred, smouldering mess.

"We believe our wrecks are Vaygr carrier CV-2218 and destroyer DD-1322, last seen retreating from the Sarum system following a successful Hiigaran counterattack. The other two carriers of its fleet, 2217 and 2219, were both destroyed in battle. Obviously, they had fled here to recuperate."

The hologram zoomed out again to the system. Several pockets of space flashed yellow.

"As they had lost all their mobile refineries and most of their collectors, they were forced to move their carrier directly into the resource fields. Since their hyperspace module burned out during the escape, they were forced to take a stealthy, slow route using only sublight engines. This meant it took them five weeks to reach the closest field they could find. Which is right here at our present location. According to their sensors data, we should be sitting in the middle of a thick asteroid field where navigating capital ships could prove dangerous. Obviously this is not the case now. But back then, just slightly more than two months ago...."

The hologram zoomed in on the fleet and the asteroid field, which slowly and carefully slipped in between the asteroids. Suddenly, near their final resting place, dozens of sensor contacts dotted the space around it.

"They met something. Par the Vaygr norm, their first reaction was to shoot it. Here is a voice recording from their command corvette leading their strikecraft group. The destroyer held back to protect the carrier and did not participate in this raid."

"This will be easy, Hiigaran resourcers. The cowards will flee the moment they see us," said an old, guzzled voice.

"But haven't they seen us already?" asked a younger voice, rather nervously.

"No. We have hid ourselves well and they will pay for their blindness. Let loose your cannons, warriors. Today's battle may not bring much glory, but in a month we will be back on the warpath, stronger and tougher. Glory to the Sajuuk-Khar!"

"Glory to the Sajuuk-Khar!" said the pilots in unison. The chatter stopped for a while as the sound of kinetic autoguns filled the static.

"These aren't Hiigarans!" said the younger pilot.

"We will conquer them all the same. The Sajuuk-Khar demands it," said the commander.

"At least they go down like Hiigarans," said another pilot. "Give me a stroke to the tally!"

"Do you think we should inform the Chieftain about this?"

"Yes, we will. After the area is devoid of life but ours."

The recording cut out at that point and Shaked continued her briefing.

"The Vaygr was victorious in their first encounter with these unknown resourcers. In fact they received zero defence fire. Emboldened by this, they came out of hiding and openly commenced resourcing operations. They have recovered some debris from the unknown ships...."

The hologram switched to a strange spacecraft that resembled a dark blue saucer, the centre bulged out rather prominently.

"Despite their crude techniques, they managed to do a remarkably high resolution scan. It was immediately apparent that these ships were drones, either remotely or autonomously operated. We have cross-referenced the ship's design features with everything we have in our database, but we got nothing. The Vaygr came to the same conclusion as well. After they restored their carrier's systems and rebuilt their fighter facility, the first thing the Chieftain ordered was advanced sensors and scout squadrons to scan the system...."

The hologram zoomed out again to show the entire system, it was so thickly filled with red dots that the green shape of the carrier could barely be seen. Whispers and quiet whistles filled the room and Shaked waited patiently for it to die down before she continued.

"Is this responsible for the missing resources?" Ferdi asked.

"Sir, as an intelligence officer, it is my professional training to not jump to conclusions. However, the intel section agrees that is the most likely possibility."

"So, half a system's mass, eaten by these robotic locusts.... Then what? They breed?"

"I am afraid yes. Even though one individual ship might be small, a collective signature this big couldn't have gotten past the Hiigaran Control Zone HEWSUS (Hyperwave Surveillance System) without triggering an alarm. The logical explanation is that only one or a few of these ships infiltrated Hiigaran space and began harvesting and replicating themselves."

"And they ate the Vaygr bastards as well?"

"Negative. This is the very last recording of the carrier's command systems, a mere fourteen hours after the first encounter...."

The hologram zoomed in around the carrier again. Only this time it was clearly attacked by the red dots, which swarmed around the two larger ships, dogfighting the Vaygr's own fighters.

"The Hiigarans are using drone ships! Those milk-drinkers dare not face us in person! The cowards can't beat our warrior's spirit with mindless drones!" said the same command corvette officer from before.

"But come they still! Is there no end to them?" asked the young pilot.

"Stay steadfast, young one, and-" the transmission cut off abruptly.

"Grediel's corvette is gone! They've taken Grediel! The strikemaster is dead!"

"Lieutenant, may I stop you for a moment?" Fredi asked and the playback paused. "Exit the sensors manager and switch to the camera feed. Focus on one of the alien ships."

"Yes, Commander. This is the closest shot we can get."

"Good," Fredi stood up and walked to the still image. In the middle was a similar blue saucer, in the process of hunting down an assault craft. It was somewhat more streamlined and aggressive-looking than the mining drones from before. "Continue playback. Frame by frame."

"Commander Eliphelet Manaan," he asked the squadron leader of the ship, pointing at the alien fighter, "do you think your men can fly like that?"

"Challenge accepted."

"I will take that as a no. These ships may be even worse than those Progenitor Drones we met at Karos."

The crew fell silent upon hearing that. Even if they weren't invulnerable, unlike the Keepers, those little devils were still responsible for the loss of two destroyers and a dozen strikecraft squads.

"If these are bad, Lieutenant, I want you to show us what finally did in the fleet," Raonaid said.

"Yes, Captain."

The hologram shifted to the very end of the record, where a thing resembling a jumble of machinery sat in front of the two Vaygr ships, now left alone, their escorts stripped away by waves of drone fighters. The thing was about as long as a person was tall on the hologram, but on the same scale, the Vaygr capital ships were merely the length of a finger. That would put it at about 4 kilometres in length.

"This is Chieftain Kolos of the Yellow Streak Warband. Hiigarans, you have won. We surrender."

The 4 kilometre behemoth seemed to be charging some kind of ion beam weapon. One of its size would be quite capable of slicing a ship cleanly in half. It was already clear what was going to happen.

"Chieftain, they are not responding.... We've already tried every channel, even the signal lights.... What do we do?"

"We die."

The recording cut off the moment the beam reached the carrier. The entire room was silent for a few, long minutes, before Fredi found the strength to speak.

"I have to conclude we have a new player here. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about them? Hull composition, weapons, technology, behaviour, anything."

"Analysis of the Vaygr wrecks shows tell-tale signs of energy weapons damage, but the power levels exceed those of our pulsar cannons. We have not found any debris of the alien drones, it is possible that they have been recovered after the end of the battle. But based on the Vaygr's initial experience with them, they are not made of indestructible materials."

"Send a report to the homeworld, stat," Raonaid said. "Ferdi, any suggestions?"

Ferdi shook his head. "We don't know enough about these drones or their masters to do much, if they even had a master. Something bothers me. They tore through this system like hungry locusts, their materials processing ability would have rivalled those who built the Karos and Tanis megaliths, but they left behind a pile of perfectly salvageable Vaygr hulks and scraps of asteroids that we could still harvest. Not to mention that fact that we have never met any one of their ships ourselves, only their handiwork. If my only goal was to eat and procreate, I would have stayed behind and make sure there was absolutely nothing left.... I think they left in a hurry, or at least, they had been interrupted. But we have nothing to go on right now. Unless they've left behind something. People leave things behind when they evacuate. Captain, with your permission, I would like to commission some probes and send them to the areas where the drone concentration was the greatest. That is our best shot for now."

"Sounds like a plan, meanwhile, we'll continue our original task of mining and resourcing. Just in case that gigantic pile of industrial accident and its friends decide to pay us a visit, I am suspending all training flights and attaching an escort to the resourcing operations. Eliphelet, hate to put you and your guys on a real mission, but you've got your work cut out for you."

"No problem, Boss."
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 07:21:13 pm by Autohummer »

 
- Independent Cruiser Nightfly, Delta Serpentis -

With most of the consoles gone dark, his bridge crew stood before the windows, staring into the darkness and at the armada in front of the Nightfly.

"Their flagship is moving! They're exposing their starboard wing!" A piece of hope slipped into Sally's voice.

"Either they're going to unleash a ****load of missiles from that side... or they understood us..." Franky added.

Then, all of a sudden, a navigation light cut through the darkness. Cautious cheering came from the crew.

"Alright people, back to your seats. Now we can talk! So this means... W H O A R E Y O U - Who are you! Now let's deliver an answer!"

His fingers almost flew over the console.

. . . .    . . -    - -   . -    - .     . . .
.    . -    . - .     -    . . . .
. -    - .    - . .
- -    . -     . - .    . . .
- .    - - -     -
. . . .    - - -    . . .    -    . .    . - . .    .

Sally laughed. " HUMANS EARTH AND MARS NOT HOSTILE... Well, still more grammar than Marcus after his 1st bottle of gin."

A voice came from the internal speakers. "Hey, I heard that! But good news, we managed to power down the core, energy signatures are lowering. We'll have just 50 percent of juice, but it should hold for now. These alloys we used to attach the main power cords just couldn't handle the amount of power coming from this vorlon core... They literally vaporized! Hell, I don't even know how why this thing is generating so much power in the first place. To bring it back into balance, we'll have to aquire alloys that can resist the enourmous amount of voltage and heat this thing emits. With them, I might even be able to squeeze out more juice than we had before."

"How long till our systems are back online?"

"20, maybe 30 minutes. Keep it slow... We'll start with the engines first. Then the external communication systems..."

"Understood. Good job, Marcus!" Fisher turned to the crew. "Listen up, people. I don't know how these guys will react out there once we're able to start our engines again, but prepare for a rough start, just in case. Sally, open a comm channel once we're back online. And now let's tell them that we'll be able to talk in 30 min." His hands got back to the console.

Ha, just like the old days"

- . - .    - - -    - -    - -    . . .
. - .     .      . -      - . .     - . - -
. .    - .
. . . - -      - - - - -
- -     . .      - .      . . . 

 
As the player I'd send a wing of scout fighters to go have a look, but if I'm in character, I don't do anything. We're not at war at this time, there would be commercial traffic in the belt, unless there's anything unusual to rouse our curiosity, there'd be no reason to go investigate a faint signal I presume is on the edge of censor range. If it's closer, then we might want to see. Make sure it's not smugglers or pirates trying to hide themselves or a ship in trouble losing power.

Several minutes after first detecting the signal, you detect a series of energy bursts from its location that may indicate weapons fire. Then the signal vanishes.
Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline Lorric

  • 212
As the player I'd send a wing of scout fighters to go have a look, but if I'm in character, I don't do anything. We're not at war at this time, there would be commercial traffic in the belt, unless there's anything unusual to rouse our curiosity, there'd be no reason to go investigate a faint signal I presume is on the edge of censor range. If it's closer, then we might want to see. Make sure it's not smugglers or pirates trying to hide themselves or a ship in trouble losing power.

Several minutes after first detecting the signal, you detect a series of energy bursts from its location that may indicate weapons fire. Then the signal vanishes.
Well that is enough to get a response out of me, but I need more details. How far away is it, and how big are these bursts?

 
-HNS Phuur-Nan Task Force, Coruc-Tel System-

The resource collectors diligently cut the carcasses of the two Vaygr capital ships into smaller chunks and queued orderly into the carrier's hangar bay. There, a salvage crew would go over it with handheld scanners and scoured every inch for clues, only when they were satisfied that nothing interesting could be found, did they authorise the PDAs to start disassembling the scrap. This drastically lengthened the queue, but eventually paid off as a charred fleet data recorder was carefully pried off what used to be the carrier's forward bridge. Wasting no time, that data was meticulously reconstructed and decrypted using Vaygr keys captured from Makaan's flagship. As soon as records of the last days of the fleet were reconstructed, the entire command and intelligence staff was called in for a briefing.

"Captain, may I begin?" asked Lieutenant Shaked Jaraci.

"Everyone's here, go ahead," Raonaid said.

"Thank you. Let's begin," Shaked said, adjusting her holo-spectacles.

The entire room dimmed and the holographic sensors manager glowed on, showing the Coruc-Tel System and the location of the Vaygr fleet.

"The earliest point we could recover from the recording was four months ago...."

The hologram zoomed in on the two ships, both bore the scars of multiple kinetic shell and ion cannon strikes. The top of the carrier, housing the production facility, was a charred, smouldering mess.

"We believe our wrecks are Vaygr carrier CV-2218 and destroyer DD-1322, last seen retreating from the Sarum system following a successful Hiigaran counterattack. The other two carriers of its fleet, 2217 and 2219, were both destroyed in battle. Obviously, they had fled here to recuperate."

The hologram zoomed out again to the system. Several pockets of space flashed yellow.

"As they had lost all their mobile refineries and most of their collectors, they were forced to move their carrier directly into the resource fields. Since their hyperspace module burned out during the escape, they were forced to take a stealthy, slow route using only sublight engines. This meant it took them five weeks to reach the closest field they could find. Which is right here at our present location. According to their sensors data, we should be sitting in the middle of a thick asteroid field where navigating capital ships could prove dangerous. Obviously this is not the case now. But back then, just slightly more than two months ago...."

The hologram zoomed in on the fleet and the asteroid field, which slowly and carefully slipped in between the asteroids. Suddenly, near their final resting place, dozens of sensor contacts dotted the space around it.

"They met something. Par the Vaygr norm, their first reaction was to shoot it. Here is a voice recording from their command corvette leading their strikecraft group. The destroyer held back to protect the carrier and did not participate in this raid."

"This will be easy, Hiigaran resourcers. The cowards will flee the moment they see us," said an old, guzzled voice.

"But haven't they seen us already?" asked a younger voice, rather nervously.

"No. We have hid ourselves well and they will pay for their blindness. Let loose your cannons, warriors. Today's battle may not bring much glory, but in a month we will be back on the warpath, stronger and tougher. Glory to the Sajuuk-Khar!"

"Glory to the Sajuuk-Khar!" said the pilots in unison. The chatter stopped for a while as the sound of kinetic autoguns filled the static.

"These aren't Hiigarans!" said the younger pilot.

"We will conquer them all the same. The Sajuuk-Khar demands it," said the commander.

"At least they go down like Hiigarans," said another pilot. "Give me a stroke to the tally!"

"Do you think we should inform the Chieftain about this?"

"Yes, we will. After the area is devoid of life but ours."

The recording cut out at that point and Shaked continued her briefing.

"The Vaygr was victorious in their first encounter with these unknown resourcers. In fact they received zero defence fire. Emboldened by this, they came out of hiding and openly commenced resourcing operations. They have recovered some debris from the unknown ships...."

The hologram switched to a strange spacecraft that resembled a dark blue saucer, the centre bulged out rather prominently.

"Despite their crude techniques, they managed to do a remarkably high resolution scan. It was immediately apparent that these ships were drones, either remotely or autonomously operated. We have cross-referenced the ship's design features with everything we have in our database, but we got nothing. The Vaygr came to the same conclusion as well. After they restored their carrier's systems and rebuilt their fighter facility, the first thing the Chieftain ordered was advanced sensors and scout squadrons to scan the system...."

The hologram zoomed out again to show the entire system, it was so thickly filled with red dots that the green shape of the carrier could barely be seen. Whispers and quiet whistles filled the room and Shaked waited patiently for it to die down before she continued.

"Is this responsible for the missing resources?" Ferdi asked.

"Sir, as an intelligence officer, it is my professional training to not jump to conclusions. However, the intel section agrees that is the most likely possibility."

"So, half a system's mass, eaten by these robotic locusts.... Then what? They breed?"

"I am afraid yes. Even though one individual ship might be small, a collective signature this big couldn't have gotten past the Hiigaran Control Zone HEWSUS (Hyperwave Surveillance System) without triggering an alarm. The logical explanation is that only one or a few of these ships infiltrated Hiigaran space and began harvesting and replicating themselves."

"And they ate the Vaygr bastards as well?"

"Negative. This is the very last recording of the carrier's command systems, a mere fourteen hours after the first encounter...."

The hologram zoomed in around the carrier again. Only this time it was clearly attacked by the red dots, which swarmed around the two larger ships, dogfighting the Vaygr's own fighters.

"The Hiigarans are using drone ships! Those milk-drinkers dare not face us in person! The cowards can't beat our warrior's spirit with mindless drones!" said the same command corvette officer from before.

"But come they still! Is there no end to them?" asked the young pilot.

"Stay steadfast, young one, and-" the transmission cut off abruptly.

"Grediel's corvette is gone! They've taken Grediel! The strikemaster is dead!"

"Lieutenant, may I stop you for a moment?" Fredi asked and the playback paused. "Exit the sensors manager and switch to the camera feed. Focus on one of the alien ships."

"Yes, Commander. This is the closest shot we can get."

"Good," Fredi stood up and walked to the still image. In the middle was a similar blue saucer, in the process of hunting down an assault craft. It was somewhat more streamlined and aggressive-looking than the mining drones from before. "Continue playback. Frame by frame."

"Commander Eliphelet Manaan," he asked the squadron leader of the ship, pointing at the alien fighter, "do you think your men can fly like that?"

"Challenge accepted."

"I will take that as a no. These ships may be even worse than those Progenitor Drones we met at Karos."

The crew fell silent upon hearing that. Even if they weren't invulnerable, unlike the Keepers, those little devils were still responsible for the loss of two destroyers and a dozen strikecraft squads.

"If these are bad, Lieutenant, I want you to show us what finally did in the fleet," Raonaid said.

"Yes, Captain."

The hologram shifted to the very end of the record, where a thing resembling a jumble of machinery sat in front of the two Vaygr ships, now left alone, their escorts stripped away by waves of drone fighters. The thing was about as long as a person was tall on the hologram, but on the same scale, the Vaygr capital ships were merely the length of a finger. That would put it at about 4 kilometres in length.

"This is Chieftain Kolos of the Yellow Streak Warband. Hiigarans, you have won. We surrender."

The 4 kilometre behemoth seemed to be charging some kind of ion beam weapon. One of its size would be quite capable of slicing a ship cleanly in half. It was already clear what was going to happen.

"Chieftain, they are not responding.... We've already tried every channel, even the signal lights.... What do we do?"

"We die."

The recording cut off the moment the beam reached the carrier. The entire room was silent for a few, long minutes, before Fredi found the strength to speak.

"I have to conclude we have a new player here. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about them? Hull composition, weapons, technology, behaviour, anything."

"Analysis of the Vaygr wrecks shows tell-tale signs of energy weapons damage, but the power levels exceed those of our pulsar cannons. We have not found any debris of the alien drones, it is possible that they have been recovered after the end of the battle. But based on the Vaygr's initial experience with them, they are not made of indestructible materials."

"Send a report to the homeworld, stat," Raonaid said. "Ferdi, any suggestions?"

Ferdi shook his head. "We don't know enough about these drones or their masters to do much, if they even had a master. Something bothers me. They tore through this system like hungry locusts, their materials processing ability would have rivalled those who built the Karos and Tanis megaliths, but they left behind a pile of perfectly salvageable Vaygr hulks and scraps of asteroids that we could still harvest. Not to mention that fact that we have never met any one of their ships ourselves, only their handiwork. If my only goal was to eat and procreate, I would have stayed behind and make sure there was absolutely nothing left.... I think they left in a hurry, or at least, they had been interrupted. But we have nothing to go on right now. Unless they've left behind something. People leave things behind when they evacuate. Captain, with your permission, I would like to commission some probes and send them to the areas where the drone concentration was the greatest. That is our best shot for now."

"Sounds like a plan, meanwhile, we'll continue our original task of mining and resourcing. Just in case that gigantic pile of industrial accident and its friends decide to pay us a visit, I am suspending all training flights and attaching an escort to the resourcing operations. Eliphelet, hate to put you and your guys on a real mission, but you've got your work cut out for you."

"No problem, Boss."

Your scouts encounter a scattered group of the smaller mining drones, which appear to be inert and deactivated. However they begin moving when you approach them, and subject your ships to very detailed, high-intensity sensor probes. So far, they do not display any hostile behavior.
Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 
As the player I'd send a wing of scout fighters to go have a look, but if I'm in character, I don't do anything. We're not at war at this time, there would be commercial traffic in the belt, unless there's anything unusual to rouse our curiosity, there'd be no reason to go investigate a faint signal I presume is on the edge of censor range. If it's closer, then we might want to see. Make sure it's not smugglers or pirates trying to hide themselves or a ship in trouble losing power.

Several minutes after first detecting the signal, you detect a series of energy bursts from its location that may indicate weapons fire. Then the signal vanishes.
Well that is enough to get a response out of me, but I need more details. How far away is it, and how big are these bursts?

Near the orbit of the outermost planet. The bursts are small, indicating strikecraft caliber weapons, although unusually strong ones by most standards.
Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline Lorric

  • 212
Well that would have me worried that one of the other factions' military is in system.

The 1st CRF is stationed in orbit around St. Heira, and better placed to respond than I am. I ask them if they know what's going on / can they investigate, and begin moving the fleet out of the belt.

  
Well that would have me worried that one of the other factions' military is in system.

The 1st CRF is stationed in orbit around St. Heira, and better placed to respond than I am. I ask them if they know what's going on / can they investigate, and begin moving the fleet out of the belt.

They respond to your contact.

"We actually already picked it up and sent a wing of scout fighters to check it out. They should be reporting back right about now... wait, what? Virtue Seven, could you repeat that?'

"What is it?"

"Debris - from what appears to be a Fura'ngle Adasya-class vessel. Looks like it just happened - no trace of whoever attacked it, though."

"Fura'ngle? What are they doing in this system?"

"No idea. If they found some kind of backdoor into our space, this needs to be reported immediately. We could use your assistance searching the site."

Shivans view most other species the way we view infectious diseases. They think they are doing good by curing the universe of them. After all, no one mourns the fate of smallpox.

The Final War For The Multiverse

 

Offline Lorric

  • 212
Well, I didn't think we'd met the Hierarchy yet, but it's your story, so okay, the Hierarchy is in play.

Oh and "Virtue", that's a very CRF callsign! :)

Anyway, I agree to assist the 1st CRF.