Author Topic: TFWFTM: Game Thread  (Read 54472 times)

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Offline crizza

  • 210
Arvida waited and a soft smile ghosted around her lips, as the feed suddenly cleared. The smile drained from her lips, as the speaker identified himself.

"Ma'am, you are speaking with Commodore Guderian of the Neo-Terran Front - yes, your sworn enemy. This is the 5th Cruiser Squadron. We are charging jump drives for immediate escape. I do not know what has happened or what sick game you are playing, but we will not parley willingly, nor without demanding information in return. You have us outgunned, yes - but the slightest false move on your part and we will gladly jump right through the heart of your battlegroup. And our secrets will go to fate along with us. I want answers, ma'am - is the rebellion over? Where is Admiral Aken Bosch? Why has subspace travel failed - assuming you are not lying about that as well?"

Slowly Arvida leaned back and rubbed her hand across her eyes, all the while knowing that the feed was still open.

"You know how much I value the word of a privileged GTVA Vice Admiral. We have been dealing with your kind since the coup that started this mess."

Arvida lowered her hand just beneath her eyes, watching the feed intently.

"It is simply a fact that this mysterious event has happened. A curse on the circumstances that bought us to this impasse. A curse on the GTVA if this impasse is your design. I have no need to destroy your vessels without due cause. At this juncture... if we cooperate, we can both get what we need."

Slowly she lowered her hand and cracked a smile.

"We await your response. Take what time you need. Bring that weaponry of yours no closer."

Typing an order, the three corvettes stopped, in her heart she trusted the range of the beam cannons to stop them. 6750m and 8250m promised enough stopping power. But what really set her teeth on edge was the name. Commodore Guderian, of course the name rang a bell. Inputting the name in the database, she checked his file and with another flick of her fingers forwarded it to the Well Done.

“Commodore Walther Guderian. Born and raised on Polaris, almost promoted about Extra-Solar Terran History. Commanding Officer of the 5th Cruiser Squadron… I honestly don’t know how this is possible…”
Arvida rose and flashed a salute.

“Back in the day I commanded the GTCv Ravenheart, stationed at Regulus. The Commander of the 19th Battlegroup is Admiral Christopher Schulz, 19 years ago Captain of the GTC Malta… requisitioned to the 6th fleet Polaris.”

Arvida sighed audible, aware that all eyes on the bridge were on her.

“The rebellion is in fact long gone. The whereabouts of Admiral Bosch are unknown, the Iceni was one of the few ships which managed to escape into the nebula beyond Gamma Draconis. He somehow managed to join the Shivans, while the Iceni was self-destructed. Why subspace travel doesn’t work, I don’t have a clue right now…”

In one swift move, Arvida settled on the chair again. Relieved she noted that the bow of the Vengeance had swung around and pointed at the five, as of now, confirmed NTF ships. With the rest of the ships following close, turning so they could bring beam cannons to bear.

“Honestly, I don’t care if you think me privileged or not. The actions of Admiral Bosch brought the Shivans upon us for a second time. The sun of Capella went nova because of the Shivans, I don’t want to tell you how many people died because of Admiral Bosch,. Terrans for that matter.”

Arvidas face turned to stone, after she read something.

“NTC St. Lo, NTC Fort Grace, NTC Ark, as well as the two Argos Sunder Marcel and Ransom: Destroyed at the Regulus Sirius jump node, trying to prevent the GTC Malta, GTCv Ravenheart, GVC Isfahan and attending vasudan merchantmen from leaving the system.”

Arvida shook her head.

“With all due respect Commodore Guderian, I don’t know how this is possible, but I saw your squadron being destroyed, despite being asked to stand down. Pray tell me, do I have to witness this again? What do you want?”

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
*****************************
"Capella, gone NOVA?! You will excuse me..."

Guderian turned to the nav officer. "I need you to check the - "

"I have already done so, sir... where Capella would be, sir... there is a rapidly expanding supernova."

It took Guderian five seconds to regain his composure. He turned again to the feed.

"Vice Admiral Arvida... I do not rescind my opposition to your military and what you stand for. But I ask you to forgive my insinuations. If what you are saying is true, as it seems you have witnessed the death of the most prosperous and happy Terran colony... forgive me. This must have been hard to bear indeed. Also, you have no need to salute me, especially in light of what you may well have been through. I am still your enemy, as you are mine."

"Yet I need you to explain further. I confess I was aware to an extent of Bosch's mission. What more I know I will not say yet. I need more explanation - what exactly happened to Bosch?"

A plan began to grow in Guderian's mind. "Perhaps we can parley with a little flexibility regarding that. I may have some ideas..."

"Where are the Shivans now? What of the NTF systems? Are there any pockets of the rebellion - besides my squadron?"

"Furthermore, I assure you that the 5th is very much alive, as you see us before you. You describe an engagement that never occurred, ma'am. The name Christopher Schulz... it is odd that you should mention it, ma'am. There was a well-known NTF deserter by that name. Caught and summarily executed by Belisarius himself, ma'am, early days of the Rebellion. I do not recall your name."

Guderian cut the feed momentarily. "Get me any GTVA officer under the name "Arvida"...

He turned back to the screen.

"Ma'am... the fact remains that our experiences of past events appear to be entirely different from yours. I can draw a number of conclusions. I could be dreaming. You could be dreaming. There could be mind-altering shenanigans at work here. We know your GTVA intelligence did work with Shivan minds... rumour had it that there were darker projects. Furthermore, spacers tell tales of subspace travel altering time, aging travelers rapidly or prolonging their life. It is not entirely unwise to consider that possibility."

"In any event I remind you that, for my part, we are still at war. If you want to guarantee the safety of all those under your command..."

Guderian fumbled a bit for the words. He hit upon a sudden flash of inspiration, something that had been brewing in his mind since the conversation began. Taking a risk, he pointed a finger at the small cruiser in the center of the battlegroup. The strange ship. It didn't look Terran. They had been hovering around it when he came, so perhaps...

"... bear in mind I can easily take out that small vessel you seem so interested in. Not only do I have the ranged firepower, but moreover, as I have explained before, we can all crash-jump through it. And you have as yet to prove to me that we cannot jump. I am tempted to test it for myself... in the direction of said vessel, of course... or a corvette. Or your command vessel. Or anyone else..."

"Forgive my continued digression, but something else did occur to me... you spoke of Schulz as though he were extant, and currently in command of the 19th. Yet you speak for him? May I inquire as to his whereabouts? You must understand, at this desperate juncture I wish to speak with the officer of the highest rank available. We talk of such sensitive matters..."

Guderian turned swiftly to the nearest deck officer. "Do you have anything under 'Arvida'?"

"Two Arvidas, sir. One Arvida Mason. A logistics officer. Saw no action after the Great War, elderly, relegated to administrative duties by the time of the insurrection, sir. Another, Arvida Syrghalla. SOC operative, sir. Assigned to operations within our command structure - a deep insertion sir, of the worst kind. Caught attempting to extract... sir, she was captured by Belisarius' counter-operatives while on-mission attempting to extract the same Christopher Schulz upon his decision to defect. She was caught shortly after the death of Schulz, sir, then summarily shot. As spies go. Belisarius, he knew how to deal with them, sir."


 
The message from Sally came in hot over the speakers. "Five unknown vessels have shown up on our sensors! It appears they were affected by the same phenomenon as we were! Fisher, get back up here, you have to see this!"

Fisher ran across the floor and headed into the elevator, his three guests and Na'Far in tow. As they reached the bridge, he started to shout. "Can't I have one peaceful drink with my new buddies from this universe, for ****'s sake?!" He turned to Schulz and the Vasudans. "No offense, this whiskey is delicious and I'm prety sure this map you handed over will be really helpful to us."

He looked at the monitors. Five ships, three of them the size of a cruiser, were sitting in space only a few clicks away. Most of the GTVA battlegroup was moving around right now, except Schulz' flagship. These new ships seemed... older than the ones from the GTVA... much older.

Sally came over, looking a bit insecure due to the size of the Vasudans. Then she reported: "They appeared a few minutes ago. We were able to tap into the communication channel between them and the 2nd in Command from the GTVA. Tell me, Admiral Schulz, what kind of organisation is the NTF?"

Fisher realised the strange expression on the face of the admiral. Even the Vasudans seemed to react to this name, though telling about anything that would go on inside one of their heads was almost impossible.

"I'm pretty sure they're no friends to you, I guess?! Sally, open this comm channel!"

"... bear in mind I can easily take out that small vessel you seem so interested in. Not only do I have the ranged firepower, but moreover, as I have explained before, we can all crash-jump through it. And you have as yet to prove to me that we cannot jump. I am tempted to test it for myself... in the direction of said vessel, of course... or a corvette. Or your command vessel. Or anyone else..."


"Oh bloody... Franky, get our ship into firing position! Code Red across the ship! Marcus, I want as much power being transferred to the navigational systems as possible!" Fisher took place in his seat. With satisfcation he felt the cruiser turing around its own axis, with a speed and maneuverability no one would deem possible by a capital ship of this size. As he lighted a cigarette, he saw the view of Schulz. A view he knew all too well... With a smile, he threw the small package towards him. "Warm up our secondary engines. We might need to evade a kamikaze maneuver! And Sally, now open a comm channel to both of them. Introduce us, then let me speak..."

"This is the independent cruiser Nightfly. We overheard your conversation and are requesting both of you to listen. Right now we're powering up our weapons and engines and we request that you keep calm or we will defend ourselves. Patching through to you, now, John!"

"Alright, since we're already in a meeting here: To our new visitors, we are as much surprised about the events of the last hours as you are. But all of us should not make bad decisions right now. We, as an independent party, have no idea about the conflict between your two factions. But we invite a group of three of our new guests in this system to come over and have a talk with us and the delegation of the GTVA that's already aboard this ship. Here, on neutral ground, we can guarantee your safety, my security personell will not let anyone get harmed as long as they are guests on this ship. Sending docking path cordinates now. Please respond. Send a shuttle over or lower your weapons. Otherwise, we will have to take defensive actions. And trust me, you don't want that."

Then Fisher looked to Schulz. He wasn't entirely sure if inviting an enemy of his guest would solve any of his problems. But he had to take actions to ensure the health of his ship and its crew. He hoped that Schulz would understand that.

Na'Far, on the other hand, didn't seem very happy about the prospect of more trouble close to him.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2018, 10:21:49 pm by bomb3rman »

 
The message from Sally came in hot over the speakers. "Five unknown vessels have shown up on our sensors! It appears they were affected by the same phenomenon as we were! Fisher, get back up here, you have to see this!"

Fisher ran across the floor and headed into the elevator, his three guests and Na'Far in tow. As they reached the bridge, he started to shout. "Can't I have one peaceful drink with my new buddies from this universe, for ****'s sake?!" He turned to Schulz and the Vasudans. "No offense, this whiskey is delicious and I'm prety sure this map you handed over will be really helpful to us."

He looked at the monitors. Five ships, three of them the size of a cruiser, were sitting in space only a few clicks away. Most of the GTVA battlegroup was moving around right now, except Schulz' flagship. These new ships seemed... older than the ones from the GTVA... much older.

Sally came over, looking a bit insecure due to the size of the Vasudans. Then she reported: "They appeared a few minutes ago. We were able to tap into the communication channel between them and the 2nd in Command from the GTVA. Tell me, Admiral Schulz, what kind of organisation is the NTF?"

Fisher realised the strange expression on the face of the admiral. Even the Vasudans seemed to react to this name, though telling about anything that would go on inside one of their heads was almost impossible.

"I'm pretty sure they're no friends to you, I guess?! Sally, open this comm channel!"

"... bear in mind I can easily take out that small vessel you seem so interested in. Not only do I have the ranged firepower, but moreover, as I have explained before, we can all crash-jump through it. And you have as yet to prove to me that we cannot jump. I am tempted to test it for myself... in the direction of said vessel, of course... or a corvette. Or your command vessel. Or anyone else..."


"Oh bloody... Franky, get our ship into firing position! Code Red across the ship! Marcus, I want as much power being transferred to the navigational systems as possible!" Fisher took place in his seat. With satisfcation he felt the cruiser turing around its own axis, with a speed and maneuverability no one would deem possible by a capital ship of this size. As he lighted a cigarette, he saw the view of Schulz. A view he knew all too well... With a smile, he threw the small package towards him. "Warm up our secondary engines. We might need to evade a kamikaze maneuver! And Sally, now open a comm channel to both of them. Introduce us, then let me speak..."

"This is the independent cruiser Nightfly. We overheard your conversation and are requesting both of you to listen. Right now we're powering up our weapons and engines and we request that you keep calm or we will defend ourselves. Patching through to you, now, John!"

"Alright, since we're already in a meeting here: To our new visitors, we are as much surprised about the events of the last hours as you are. But all of us should not make bad decisions right now. We, as an independent party, have no idea about the conflict between your two factions. But we invite a group of three of our new guests in this system to come over and have a talk with us and the delegation of the GTVA that's already aboard this ship. Hre, on neutral ground. We can guarantee your safety, my security personell will not let anyone get harmed as long as they are guests on this ship. Sending docking path cordinates now. Please respond. Send a shuttle over or lower your weapons. Otherwise, we will have to take defensive actions. And trust me, you don't want that."

The Fisher looked to Schulz. He wasN't completely sure if inviting an enemy of his guest would solve any of his problems. But he had to take actions to ensure the health of his ship and its crew. He hoped that Schulz would understand that.

Heads up: if you continue with this plan, I'm going to have something happen while the shuttle is en route. Structure the story around that please (i.e. don't have the shuttle complete its entire trip in the course of a single post).
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

 

Heads up: if you continue with this plan, I'm going to have something happen while the shuttle is en route. Structure the story around that please (i.e. don't have the shuttle complete its entire trip in the course of a single post).

Well, this is the offer. It's up to the others to go this way or give me and you another possible decision :)

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
********************
The incoming message interrupted Guderian's response to the Rear Admiral.

"This is the independent cruiser Nightfly...."

A civilian?!? No idea of the NTF Rebellion? A meeting on neutral ground... are the Tevs putting them up? Guaranteed safety...

Guderian turned to the feed patching him through to Arvida. "One moment!"

Shutting all comms off, he fell rather heavily into his command chair, his head in his hands. None disturbed him. Everyone stared, silent as stone, waiting for his next order.


Something changed for the Commodore that day. Something deep inside bent, weakened.


As a child Walther had always been blunt. He had been an advocate of the most direct options available. Academic work and military training had built up a veneer of professionalism, of calmness, of moderation.

All that melted away like snow in the sunshine.

Or the last light before darkness falls.


He was exhausted, deeply fatigued. Sleep beckoned. But he was more tired of lies, deceptions, complications. Everything was clear to him now. He would abandon it all to fate.


He keyed for communications with Arvida, as well as with the civilian cruiser.

"This is Commodore Guderian, once more. I have made my decision. This is my ultimatum. Civilian cruiser Nightfly, I thank you for your offer. I have no interest in bringing a civilian party into this. My dispute is with the Galactic Terran Vasudan Alliance. Continue to confer with your delegation, that is your affair. I will not speak with you again unless there is need. I will not carry out my threatened action against your ship. Rear Admiral Arvida, I believe the best way to bring this situation to a fair conclusion would be to meet with you in person. Aboard your vessel. I believe at this point if you should promise to host me aboard your destroyer, you will honor your promise. I will come armed or unarmed, with a single aide or alone, as you see fit. I will speak with you alone, with bodyguards, with your entire bridge present if you should so wish. But I will speak to you over this affair. One of my Argo transports will bring me to your command vessel, drop me there, then return to a holding position."

"That is my offer as it stands. I remind you that our jump drives - on every vessel under my command - are charged at this time. Any foul play will result in the consequences I described earlier."

He sat down again.
*******************************

Sorry for the delay, guys! I almost forgot about this topic, things have been crazy! But this sure is a neat little community game...  :nod:

  
-HNS Phuur-Nan Task Force, Unknown System-

The carrier, escorted by its entire air group, was a modest sight to behold, especially for sectors far from the war. Properly positioned and deployed, it was a key player even in pitched battles involving shipyards and battlecruisers. However, next to the Drones' megastructures, one would be hard pressed to even find their engine trails. The sheer discrepancy in size and scale was vertigo-inducing. The Phuur-Nan joined the stream of Drones, a foreigner following a silent pilgrimage. The megastructures stood, temple-like, beside the anomaly, sheltering it between their massive forms. The moment the carrier crossed some kind of unseen boundary, a few of the Drones that were travelling with them responded, closing in to investigate the interloper in the midst. Lights began flickering on the carrier, the PA speakers screeched and crackled and alarms screamed all kinds of mutually-conflicting warnings. Raonaid could feel a electricity-like tingling running down from her head to her feet. Looking at the way the rest of the CIC crew winced, it was likely they were going through the same thing as well.

"Our systems are receiving heavy interference from their scans, compensating," said the sensors officer. A moment later everything seemed to return to normal again.

"Are they done?" Raonaid asked.

"I think so. The interference has ceased."

"So far, so good. The grand total of times we've been shot at is zero, let's keep it that way."

"Boss, some of those drones are peeling off and coming all around us. We'll be surrounded at this rate."

"Steady now, nobody does anything stupid."

"Won't dare imagine it."

"Those drones have put themselves in a spherical screening formation, like those on our old sentinel microships," said the Air Battle Manager (ABM). "The only difference is every gun is pointed right at us.... I think."

"No other movement?"

"None except station-keeping maneuvers."

"Well, looks like we've gotten ourselves an escort. Maintain current course and speed and let me know if anything strange happens."

More than a hundred Drones kept the carrier and its escorts under constant watch, and, of course, threat of annihilation. The Phuur-Nan stopped a few kilometres short of the anomaly and the Drones stopped with it as well. It was clear the drones were waiting for the carrier to make its move and they had all the time in the world.

"All right, this is it. All ships, dock and prepare to enter hyperspace," Raonaid said.

"Yes boss," said the ATC officer. "All squadrons, you heard the order, come on in nice and easy."

"While you are at it, leave the third probe here before we go in. Make a backup of our logs and save it on the probe in case the rest of the fleet comes here. Helm, is the hyperdrive charged?"

"Emergency hyperspace ready to go, Boss. I'll kick it in on the first sign of trouble."

"Good, we're as ready as we'll ever get."

A minute later, all of the carrier's strikecraft were back in their hangars and secured for whatever that was to come.

"Helm, take us in, cruise speed," Raonaid said.

Everyone held their breaths as the carrier closed in.

"All hands, brace for impact," said the Helm officer. "Entering the anomaly in five, four, three, two, one."

There was no impact, if it wasn't for the fact that everything outside had changed and the navigation console was wailing that it could not locate the ship anywhere in known space, nobody could have told they had just been whisked untold light-years away to Sajuuk-knows-where.

"Anomaly navigation successful. All systems show green, except navigation. We'll shut it up in a moment.... There, we are now the first Hiigarans to venture outside our galaxy."

"And Taiidan," Ferdi said, "though that probably doesn't matter for you. Captain, your orders?"

"Give the homeworld a call and see if it goes through. Relay it through the probes we left if you have to. Tell them we have made it through and will update whenever we can."

"Very well."

"Meanwhile, keep following the outbound drones until they disappear. We'll set up shop there and try to figure out how their FTL works and where they are going. The folks back home would love to know this. Besides, we'll need to share telemetry with the homeworld. We're miners and soldiers, not engineers or biologists. We left them behind to make it here and pave the way for them."

"Should I ask the homeworld to redirect their scientific personnel transport here?"

"Sure. That's the sensible thing to do, unless the Admiral blocks it for one of her many reasons."

The "escorts" continued their cover around the carrier as it moved on. Eventually, when the Phuur-Nan was about a thousand kilometres away from the anomaly, the "escorts" decided it was far enough and began to lose interest. One by one, they returned to their perimeter around the anomaly. It was until the last drone left the carrier that the order was given to launch the standard escort flights.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2018, 07:02:45 am by Autohummer »

 

Offline crizza

  • 210
19th Battlegroup, Delta Serpentis, aboard the GTD Phoenicia

Arvida listened silently.  Ranged firepower? This must surely be a joke. Sure thing, the beams could damage the 19th, but only if the cruisers would get into range. Ramming into the formation at terminal velocity was a threat, this was also taken for granted, but then again, every ship of the 19th could scatter at the same speed. And given that manoeuvring at such speed was impossible, this would lead to a rather dumb situation.

Aboard the Nightfly.

The Admiral and Captain Fisher had just toasted when the new survivors arrived. Listening over a comm system in the collar of his armour, Christopher’s face turned into stone. Just when he was about to get friendly with the Nightfly, things turned sour.

Commodore Guderian. He remembered that man, reserved, rational, cold. When he had arrived with the Malta in Polaris, Bosch had hosted a welcome dinner to make him acquainted with the 6th fleet commanding officers. Guderian was not present back then, but he wondered if things had played out the same in his timeline. During dinner, Christopher had realized pretty quick, that he was being tested, not by Bosch, but rather by Koth and that damned skipper of the Belisarius.
The fact that his grandfather and uncle had died during the 14 years’ war, was the opener. He had played along, but his first officer worried him. In the end, after dinner was finished, he had returned to the Malta and joined a squadron of Myrmidons in the far reaches of the system. The vasudan reactor specialist had not been able to get transferred to the vasudan trade outpost in Polaris. In retrospect, this saved him. Christopher never learned who had ordered it, but the moment the Neo Terran Front declared it’s independence from the GTVA, the Repulse carved the trade station open, with the rest of the sixth’ capital ships annihilating freighters, transports and the lone Mentu guarding them. It was efficient, ruthlessly so, but the Iceni did not fire at all.

He remembered staring at the feed with utter revulsion, when the door to the Aeolus small bridge slid open. Disappointed, but not shocked he heard a handgun being primed and his first officer looking at him. To prove his commitment to the NTF, he should kill the vasudan, who had been escorted to the bridge by the Malta’s terran Chief Engineer and a deckhand, both pointing their rifles at the vasudan.
He was dimly aware of taking the gun, aiming over the shoulder of his first officer and firing.
BANG, the deckhand, straight into the head, his first officer cursing him for a dumb fool.
A sick crunching noise as the vasudan crushed the torso of the engineer.
BANG, his first officer summarily executed for mutiny.
This was how it all began, what followed was a mad dash and what Christopher believed consumption of his life’s amount of luck.

He sighed, shaking his head slowly and downing his drink, following Fisher to the bridge.
The life warden tensed as the invitation was delivered, but relaxed the moment Guderian declined.

“Well Captain Fisher… the NTF, the Neo Terran Front was a rebellion of the GTVAs 6th fleet, using virulently anti-Vasudan ideology promoted the creation of 'Neo-Terra' as a new centre of Terran power, centred on Polaris. In the end, the NTFs leader vanished and the most thriving colony of the terran half of the GTVA was destroyed by another enemy. I can give you access on our database, it is really too much to explain.”

Grinding the finished cigarette between his gauntlet, he sighed again.

“This man over there, Guderian and his ships… they were destroyed on my orders as they tried to stop us from defecting the NTF as it begun. And here we are again.

Aboard the Phoenicia

Arvida listened to Gudaerian’s demand. It was her ship, the Ravenheart, that had destroyed the two Fenris’.

“Well, Commodore, you can of course come over here, but as a measure of goodwill, I have to inform you, that Admiral Schulz is aboard the Nightfly. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whom and how many people you bring, technology has come long way the last 18 years since the NTF… well, you get what I mean. I’ll take it your Argo knows where to dock with the Phoenicia. And for the record: I, Vice Admiral Arvida Syrgalla, solemnly pledge to host you aboard the GTD Pheonica, thereby guaranteeing the safety of you and your attendees, as long as you remain peacefull.”
« Last Edit: December 21, 2018, 07:24:46 am by crizza »

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
**********************************
"...I, Vice Admiral Arvida Syrgalla, solemnly pledge to host you aboard the GTD Pheonica, thereby guaranteeing the safety of you and your attendees, as long as you remain peaceful..."

Guderian nodded. "Your courtesy is appreciated. I, Commodore Guderian, pledge to come alone. I will speak with you in person, as I said. I do not wish to negotiate aboard the Nightfly. I want the civilians out of this picture. However, I am perfectly willing to patch our conversation through to Admiral Schulz. I will bring my comms device, my ID paraphernalia, and nothing else beyond my uniform. Let's work this out for the benefit of all concerned. Please give us a quarter of an hour to reach you - you know these docking procedures can take a minute or two."

Shutting off the feed, Guderian turned to his deck officers.

"You heard what I said. Know that I am deeply proud of you all. What I do here, I do for our best interests - even if that means "talking terms" with the Tevs. I need you all to follow my directions to the letter while I am gone..."
************************************


a pledge of safety


About ten minutes later, one of the NTF Argos (the Ransom) undocked from the NTC St. Lo. It traveled in a leisurely arc towards the Phoenicia, then docked. Guderian stepped into the airlock. Turning around, he took in the nervous faces of the crew behind him. He smiled.

"Relax! The glass is half full. This'll be easy."


don't be absurd


Straightening his cap, he turned, suddenly grim again, to face the door. The door sealed behind him, the Ransom Arceihn ready to depart once he had been safely welcomed aboard the GTVA destroyer.

And he would be alone.


ten thousand


Should have gotten a mug of black coffee. Probably won't get another for a while.

He smiled once more to himself, laughed internally. Do Tevs even drink coffee? He wouldnt have put it past them to have abandoned the drink. Probably won't touch anything without alchohol!
***********************************

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Quote
we'll set up shop there and try to figure out how their FTL works



Well that didn't take long looks like Autohummer is out  :lol:

 
Shortly after the Ransom docks, there is a subspace disturbance from the direction of the Sol Gate. Sensors on the GTVA battlegroup indicate that subspace has become traversable again, if only locally. Several small subspace vortices appear from the gate, and 8 ships emerge. They are immediately recognizable to everyone apart from the crew of the Nightfly as Shivan Dragon-class fighters.

Seconds after emerging, one of the Dragons jumps back out through the gate. The other 7 proceed on an intercept course towards the nearest ships, ignoring the gate itself.


************************************************************

In addition to having plot importance, I'm going to be using this little skirmish as a test run of the combat system. It's nothing really fancy and is narrative-based, but I think it can work.

Here's the idea: When combat starts, you can contact me (either via a post here or via PM, probably better to use posts if multiple players are involved so they can coordinate) and tell me what forces you are deploying and what actions they take. For example, you could say you are deploying a certain number of wings of X craft each, then give the ship class, the weapons loadout, etc. Then name the tactics and strategies you will use (attack certain subsystems, lure fighters into range of capships, have fighters escort bombers, have capships do flanking maneuvers, etc.)

I will then respond with the result and, if the battle is not immediately concluded, I will also tell you the tactics and strategies the enemy forces use in response to yours, as well as any new forces that enter the battle. We will continue this back-and-forth until the battle ends (one side is destroyed, escapes, surrenders, etc.) Then, one or more of the players will write up the events of the battle in a post similar to the ones that have been posted here already.

This battle is just a warmup really. In the future I may throw battles at you that you can't win, but you'll have plenty of opportunities to avoid them beforehand as long as you don't do anything foolish. I'll also give each potential battle a difficulty rating so you know what you're getting into. The rating of this first battle is EASY.
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
Out of character: You should know that this significantly changes things for my characters.  :nod: Commodore Guderian had a desperate plan up his sleeve that he was one turn or so away from enacting, one last throw of the dice in an attempt to get most of the 5th back home with haste before things degenerated further. What that plan was I will not say yet. For the moment, however, the plan has changed.


************************
Guderian stood in the airlock, awaiting his fate.

Then the alarms sounded. He could hear the warning klaxons blaring faintly as the sound crept along the hull of the Phonecia down into the antechamber on board the Ransom. Belatedly, the Ransom's own, fainter alarms rang. His comm chip vibrated...

"This is the Commodore, what's going on out there??"

"Commodore, this is Mitchell! We've got Shivan jump signatures, sir! A handful of fighters, Dragon class, just emerged from where the Sol node should be! Orders, sir?"

"Get me Gascon, I need to speak with him alone! Pass the word to your crew and the Sunder Marcel; Battle Stations!"

**************************

"This is Gascon, Commodore. I take it you were appraised of the situation."

"Yes. The question is obvious. Do we go through with the plan?"

"I would suspect, sir... that the sudden and inexplicable arrival of Shivan forces may imply that Bosch was correct - or, at least, he had some inkling of this. It stands to reason that the Shivans could indeed be breaking the space-time plane, cracking and warping the plane into multiple 'dimensions' within one 'reality'. Or it could have any number of explanations. Many options must be kept open."

"And the plan, Captain?"

"With due respect, sir. You do know that I had qualms about the plan. Now more than ever. Especially with this new development, if we go through with the operation... do we leave the people of this 'dimension' to die? Are they even real, or an illusion crafted by darker forces? We do not know. Should we act as though we were responsible for their fate?"

"In short, sir, should we behave according to the suggestions of a well-formed conscience, even if this is all... unreal? If we willfully choose to neglect the dignity of others in our fantasy, what does that say about us?"

*******************************

"I was so close, Palmiro. So close to sending us home."

"True, sir. I would also be home, if I could, as would we all. Remember. There was no guarantee it would succeed in the first place. Furthermore, nothing stops us from finding a more... ideal procedure for the same operation at a later time."

Guderian clenched his hand over his eyes.

So impossibly close...

Never you mind. It is done now.

"Ransom, open that airlock and I'll get back inside! Prepare to cast off and return us all to the Lo." He switched to the wider 5th frequency. "All ships, Battle Stations! ENGAGE ENGAGE ENGAGE! I want every gun trained on those fighters and alert for threats from any angle! Transports, stay within the cruiser's defensive cover and get your Flak Cannons loaded! De-charge those jump drives!"

"Vice Admiral Syrghalla, civilian cruiser Nightfly, all GTVA vessels... this is Commodore Guderian. The NTF 5th Cruiser Squadron is preparing for battle with any and all Shivan forces. We recommend that our forces keep their distance from each other while battle is joined. We can sort out our diplomatic concerns at a later time. I offer you tactical data from our fire control systems - with coordinated fire, we can wipe out these Dragons!"
***************************

 
-Federation Cruiser Osprey, Last Stand Sector-

Today was not Fredi's day. He had to fly this ship all by himself since the crew died from oxygen-related complications a scant fifteen minutes after they had arrived in the first sector, but who needs oxygen when you have patriotism? He was so close to destroying the Rebel's superweapon and saving his beloved Federation. Then, of course, he ran out of patriotism, because, as he was so duly reminded, that it is impossible for a Taiidan to both be patriotic and not be an imperialist warmonger. The hull, which was wrapped over and over in a composite layer of flex tape and fiber-fix, decided to stop sticking after the front tip of the hull had suffered enough damage to completely drain an imaginary "hull condition" meter. The first parts to go were the completely undamaged engine nacelles, while the ruined front end stayed until the very end, for a certain definition of the very end.

"BAD SHIP! STOP FLYING APART!" he screamed. Or at least, he thought he screamed, but all his words were sucked into the vacuum.

The Osprey ignored his orders as its parts flew ever further away. The half-ruined Rebel flagship performed a barrel roll in celebration, detaching some more of itself in the process.

**************************

-Phuur-Nan Expedition, Unknown System#2, Unknown Galaxy (Presumed)-

Fredi woke up laughing, or he was already laughing before he woke up. No matter, he thought. He wasn't the kind of person who had dreams every night, but whenever he dreamed, it was usually the silly sort that made him giggle in the middle of the night. Perhaps it was his subconscious' way to deal with stress. This was the first funny dream he had in months.

Back in the real world, the Phuur-Nan expedition, as was officially christened by the Admiral, had stopped to wait for their scientists to arrive. It proved impossible to make contact with standard transmissions, but the probe relay method worked. While the Drones were indeed leaving, they scattered into smaller groups and departed at several different locations. The carrier had stopped next to one of the spots to run some scans, but without anyone to make sense of it, the only feasible thing they could do was to collect more telemetry for the boffins.

The only good news was that Admiral Raltha already ordered the crew transport to meet up with them before the Phuur-Nan made the jump, so the transport ship was only two days instead of two weeks away. Escorting the crew transport were a pair of flak frigates and all three ships were turned over to the expedition. In addition to the scientists, the crew transport was filled with enough replacement crew in cryosleep to fill out an entire battlegroup.

Speaking of the scientists, the first things they did after exiting their shuttles were to rush straight to the research modules and throw out all the nuggets and their flight instructors. For now, the squadron had to hold their lectures in the hangar and practice with real strikecraft instead of the simulators.

Until the scientists could come up with something, there wasn't much to be done. Ferdi walked down the corridors for his breakfast, when suddenly every screen, even those showing today's menu, went blank and slowly looped a sentence in Hiigaran.

"GREETINGS, PHUUR-NAN TASK FORCE. YOU ARE A LONG WAY FROM HOME. PERHAPS LONGER THAN YOU REALIZE."

"If this is some sort of prank I am going to flay someone today!" Ferdi shouted angrily and rushed to the CIC, leaving behind him a crowd of dumbfounded 2nd-shifters.

"Status report!" Ferdi yelled the moment the door CIC slid open. In response, Captain Raonaid, Intelligence Officer Shaked and most of the 1st-shift command crew looked at him blankly. It was obvious he was the one barging in this time. "Sorry. Carry on," he said and assumed his station, which was still repeating the same phrase over and over.

"OU ARE A LONG WAY FROM HOME. PERHAPS LONGER THAN YOU REALIZE. GREETINGS, PHUUR-NAN TASK FORCE. Y"

"Can we get the systems back in control?" Raonaid asked.

"I am manually rebooting all ship systems. One moment," Shaked knelt down and pulled a few wires from under her console, before sitting back down to type a few lines of code. The ship's lights flickered for a moment. "Here."

Ferdi looked at his screen, which, after a few loading bars, were back to normal again.

"Everyone good?" Raonaid asked.

"Yeah," said the sensors officer.

"Emergency transmission from the research module, Boss. They said they've lost their work progress due to the systems reboot and the last time they saved was fifteen hours ago, they seem rather angry."

"Tell them that's not an emergency and save more often. Reactor and engines?"

"All good," said the helm officer.

"Now, where did that come from?" Raonaid asked.

"No idea. Before it happened everything was normal on sensors," said the sensors officer.

"There is no signs of internal or external hacking or tampering with our ship's network," Shaked said. "The system logs didn't mention anything."

"Well, is it really an attempt to communicate or is it just some jock with a datapad?" Ferdi asked.

"I have an idea. Try contacting the other ships, do they have the same thing?" Raonaid said.

"Yes, Boss," said the ATC officer. "The escorts are reporting the same thing. Some got the same idea as we did and manually rebooted, the others reported that it stopped by itself. No signs of tampering, nothing in the system logs, just like us.... It's almost as if the words just popped up."

"I'll hazard a guess that someone is trying to talk to us and can see everything we do on our systems...." Raonaid said and sat back down in her seat, opening a new, empty entry on the logs, she put the title as "If you want to talk, talk here" and on the first line, she typed one word, "Hello?"
« Last Edit: December 17, 2018, 05:02:05 pm by Autohummer »

 

Offline crizza

  • 210
Arvida watched the Argo crawl closer, until a signal confirmed it was docked. She stood with Chufu and Sethak on the other side of the airlock and waited. At least until the alarm began to blare.

“Vice-Admiral, I… I don’t know how, but 8… no… 7 Dragons just emerged out of the jump gate.”

Arvida looked up on a small screen just in time to see one of these accursed fighters jump out again. It had paid out that the whole 19th was on a war footing already.
They had dozens of squadrons ready and waiting for something just like this. Something to kill, without being questioned.

“White Scar squadron, intercept them ASAP!”
It was a logical choice, 12 Draco-class interceptors banked hard and with afterburners propelling them towards the Dragons at 200ms, they should be the first to reach the target. Armed with two banks of Balors as primary and a bank of Trebuchet and Harpoons as secondaries, the had to firepower to do this. Standard procedure would be to launch the Trebs at maximum range and then disengage, returning back to the protective umbrella of the Battlegroup.
Listening to the words of Commodore Guderian made her smile.

“With all due respect Commodore, but your ships are outclassed and antiquated, let us handle the situation.”

Other squadrons stayed close to their assigned ships, keeping the escort tight.
Yes, as of now Shivan strikecraft had been nimble, but the war in Sol had taught them one thing: Why risking your own life, if a capital ship could do the job?
As it stood, 24 Trebuchets were racing to destroy seven Dragons, command and control systems of two destroyers, four AWACs and numerous corvettes and cruisers were scanning for targets. The ballet of moving ships, which had been interrupted after the agreement with the Nightfly and then by the NTF now resumed anew. Ships were moving into optimal firing positions, while screening each other, none more than the two Anemois and four Charybdis.
While aboard every craft of the Battlegroup crews and pilots readied themselves for combat, Arvida had another thought.

Why would shivan fighters emerge from the jump gate leading to Sol?
Arriving on the bridge, she jumped into the chair, watching the Dragons closing in.

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
@Autohummer:  :lol:

******************************
"Sir, the Tev fighters are moving to intercept."

"Let them."

Watching the unusual strikecraft burn their way towards the Dragons reminded Guderian of a pressing issue. Standing orders were for the 5th Cruiser Squadron to have small fighter or bomber units attached on a temporary basis when strikecraft involvement was deemed necessary. Out here, far from home... We could use a couple of fighters, he mused. Just one or two would make a difference.
******************************

Guderian is thinking about asking for a loan of one or two fighters from the GTVA forces, possibly as part of the terms of temporary truce. Old ones, something the 19th could do without. Lokis are the most preferable since pretty much any NTF pilot can fly a Loki. He's going to ask for Lokis first, Myrmidons or Hercs (original Hercs) next second if y'all don't have Lokis. Remember, he needs something that someone on his cruisers might be able to fly.

At this point Guderian has two directives: Number One, get his men safely home. He has no time for anomalies or reality-breaking mysteries if they are outside of this objective. He wants out of this mess and back to his obligations to Bosch and Neo-Terra. Number Two, he is willing at this point to work with the GTVA on a very temporary basis - to defend against the Shivans and more importantly maybe get home.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2018, 06:16:36 pm by HLD_Prophecy »

 
Battle report:

6 of the 7 Dragons are destroyed by Trebuchet missiles before they can enter weapons range. The 7th manages to evade the missiles and engages in a dogfight with the Draco interceptors, where it is quickly overwhelmed and destroyed by superior numbers. One of the interceptors suffers moderate shield damage but is otherwise intact.

Battle Result: GTVA victory.

The Dragons seemed to be identical in performance and weapon loadout as those encountered during the second Shivan incursion.

After several minutes have passed, there are no signs of further Shivan ships.

Sensor reports indicate that intrasystem jumps are now possible, and the Sol Gate is active, but the node is slightly unstable. The other nodes out of the system will require closer recon in order to determine their status.
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

For the briefest second every crewmember across the multi-verse heard a fleeting voice whispering.........



I am loving this thread.




It lingered for a moment or two, then all memory was gone as if it had never been heard at all.
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

For the briefest second every crewmember across the multi-verse heard a fleeting voice whispering.........



I am loving this thread.




It lingered for a moment or two, then all memory was gone as if it had never been heard at all.

Haha  :lol: Maybe you should join!

 

Offline crizza

  • 210
19Th Battlegroup, Delta Serpentis

The Draco’s of White Scar squadron were eager. They were a young squadron, formed after Capella had went nova. The first White Scar lead had a love for antique terran science fiction books, particular for something called Warhammer 40k. Meant as a joke, he had referred to the squadron as White Scars, for every pilot upon inception had come from another depleted squadron, having lost wingmen, family and friends in Capella, each one was emotionally scarred.
But the name stuck and with the white painted Draco’s each having a red lightning painted on their nose, it was their call.

“This is White Scar lead, Scars on me!”
White Scar lead, informally known as the Khan loved his bird dearly. The sheer speed it developed was second to none. The distance to the jump gate diminished rapidly.
This was about speed and weapons range.
The Draco’s were running at 210ms, owing that the energy for the guns was shunted to shields and engines.
The Dragons were burning in at 150ms. The Khan did not care for orders. Firing his Trebs as soon as they had achieved a lock-on, he continued to burn hard.
Eight of his Draco’s had turned after firing, racing back towards the battlegroup.
But his Alpha-wing was with him. Training could only teach you so much.
He needed this fight. Plus, they acted as bait, as the Dragons were continuing to race towards them. One after another, the Dragons turned into fireballs as the Trebs hit home. It was overkill and the Dragons should have been able to evade them, but this was the thing with the Shivans: They rarely did what you expect them to do.

One Dragon however managed to evade the missiles in a manoeuvre, which would have killed a terran or vasudan pilot.
On it came, closer, ever closer. To fire another Treb would’ve been a waste of ammo, so the Khan switched to Harpoons.
But the moment passed.
In an orgy of silver and red weapon flashes, the Dragon put up a fight. Valiant, skilled it fought, but the Draco’s had the numbers and killed it.

“White Scar lead! You had standing orders to fire your Trebuchets and return to the battlegroup! Not dogfighting! Land your bird immediately!”
The Khan flinched, the voice of the Vice-Admiral sounded angry, but he could not stop grinning. His kill counter showed a pleasing 2.

Aboard the Phoenicia
Arvida cursed the leader of the White Scars, he was talented, a natural fighter jockey, but too reckless. Something which could see him killed in Sol. Still, the White Scars had destroyed the Dragons and it looked like without damage, as the shield bubbles on screen turned from yellow to a healthy green. Tense waiting followed. Arvida did not care how shivan fighters had managed to jump in from Sol, what she really feared was another jump flash forming and a Sathanas emerging.
After several minutes, the message from the AWACs came in, the situation looked clear.

“Mam, message from Centaur Station, Sol Gate is active, but they’re getting unstable readings.”

Arvida looked down on the panel showing the status of the battlegroup. One after another the lights indicating subspace readiness of the ships switched from red to green.
“Asasiyun, redeploy to the gate ASAP!”
Quite a distance from the NTF’s 5th Cruiser Squadron, the three corvettes of Asasiyun flashed their jump drives and disappeared into subspace. Only to re-emerge around the Sol gate. Forming a triangle around the gate, the centre of it was at the maximum range of their beam cannons.

Arvida queried a subspace communication to Sol and Lieutenant Wilson dutifully opened a channel.

Admiral Steele, this is Vice-Admiral Syrgalla, we experienced a Subspace shutdown as we tried to jump as scheduled. Several minutes ago, 8 Dragons, I repeat eight shivan Dragons emerged from the gate. We destroyed seven but one managed to get away. Delta Serpentis – Sol node reads slightly unstable. Do our orders stand Sir? We have also six rather unusual visitors! Requesting mission update.”
Adding a tight data-package concerning their visitors, the message was send through the gate to Sol, the whole message was highly encrypted, meant for the eyes and ears of Steele himself.

She then called the Commodore again.

“Commodore Guderian, it seems subspace travel is possible again, but the other nodes Beta Aquilae and Ross 128 need to be checked.”
Toying with the grip of her knife, Arvida frowned.

“Do you still want your meeting Commodore? Or are we back to threatening each other?”

Aboard the Nightfly

The Admiral watched proceedings in silence. Neither Ramses, his life warden nor Christopher himself had said anything as the Dragon’s emerged. Listening to the comm chatter and watching the Draco’s pull through, he cracked a grin.
“Well Captain Fisher, you just got your first glimpse at the Shivans.”

 
You receive a transmission from Sol, using the same GTVA encryption:

"Syrgalla? Oh thank God! This is Rear Admiral Mitchell. We thought we had completely lost contact. There are goddamn Shivans here! Repeat, Sol is swarming with Shivans! They showed up out of nowhere just a few hours ago. We lost the Atreus to a shock jump tactic in the first few minutes. Admiral Steele is presumed dead.

We need any reinforcements you can send! We've agreed to a ceasefire with the UEF, but they're taking a pounding too. Word is they also lost one of their destroyers.

The Shivans seem to be striking random targets all over the system. So far we've counted 9 Shivan destroyers, and there are even reports of a Juggernaut. We just repelled an assault on Mars, but we can't hold out much longer if they keep this up. We need assistance immediately!"
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