Disruption (IC)

Svar shook his head. "No, certainly not. If you would like, meet me in the forge in a bit - I have a couple ideas as to how to repel the Aracharchne." The Krathunian turned and headed for the smelting and foundry area. On his way there, Svar passed by Ravage's ship, from which he heard hushed tones and whispering. The Krathunian was curious; Ravage's story was, of course, unknown to him and he possessed an inclination towards discovering new things. Svar considered honor to be important, but often his curiosity got the better of him. This was one of those moments, and the Krathunian crept closer to the ship, somewhat clumsily for such a large being. He activated his tactical cloak as to have a quick getaway and listened closely.
 
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Hilja excitedly grinned. "Excellent. I will not be accompanying you lot, but I'll be able to communicate directly with your radios. Stay safe in there."
 
The Sentinel looked around, looking each individual of the group in the eye. "Ok. Stay in tight formation. I'll lead in the front - Lieutenant, stay next to me. Zizo and Teglin, you're behind us, then Admiral Rakluth and Lirr. Let's go." The group went in through the entrance quietly, the Sentinel activating a device on his armor that projected light in a radius around the group. Right after the entrance was a small chamber with several intricate pillars that were made of a dark stone. Directly after this, a large metal door, similar to that of an airlock, appeared in front of the group - It seemed as though several parts of the chamber had been destroyed in order to fit it in there. The Sentinel, keeping a weapon orb in one hand, cautiously approached the door, tapping upon it with a finger from his other hand.
 
Upon doing this , a metallic voice sounded, speaking in the Krathunian language of Talus. "Scanning... Pure Krathunian presence detected. Access granted." With that, the door slid downwards to open. Blinding light filled the chamber, and several members of the group had to shield their eyes. This part of the temple was much cleaner and seemed remarkably newer - It was a long, silvery hallway with searing lights from the sides and led to a circular chamber just ahead.
 
"This is... unique, for archives. It seems newer than those that I have previously traveled in. "Rakluth remarked, one hand kept on his hammer.
 
The Wreae suddenly spoke up in a harsh, metallic voice. "Analysis shows that this section dates to around 500 years before the Dominion War." The Sentinel and Admiral suddenly looked to the Wreae out of shock, both from his voice and the statement the Wreae had just made. The Admiral muttered something about the fact being impossible before continuing on.
 
Upon reaching the circular room, a large steel obelisk at the center started to glow with blue lettering, and the voice started up again. "Security mechanisms activated. 30 out of 35 cryogenic pods disabled." Upon this statement, the ceiling opened in several parts as mechs similar to Wreae dropped down, each wielding a high powered energy pistol and a sword.
 
"Stand your ground!" The Sentinel shouted, an assault rifle forming out of the orb within his hand, which he began to fire into the group. The Admiral did the same as the robots went into their own formation and fired.
 
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"Excellent," The Captain stated with an almost excited tone. "As for the payment... Name your price."

Aarin shifted his position. This was probably going to be a long story.

Outside the ship, suddenly noticed Isbar sitting on top of the ship. . . and staring straight in his direction. Isbar had seen Svar come by, and although the Krathunian was cloaked, Isbar's keen ears could still hear his breathing. However, he could also hear what was going on inside the ship, and he payed close attention.
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"Hmmmm, very interesting," said Allé. "Say what's this one?" he added, plucking a paper from the bottom of the pile that Mott had been carrying. It was a rough sketch of what looked like some sort of handgun.

Mott suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Oh, that," he said. "That was something I designed for, well, . . . let's just hope we don't have to use it, but. . ." He sighed. "I really hate designing weapons. I only ever wanted to design useful, helpful things. Still, I came up with this thing in case worse comes to worse and we have to take out the Arachnarche queen. I got the idea from hearing about the Entropy Accelerator that Jiiran was building. This works on a similar principle. The gun fires a projectile unit, which would latch onto its target and then drain the energy from it down to the molecular level, converting it into waste heat." He shuddered at the thought of using it. "If this thing were fired into the queen, it would essentially drain her dry. But let's hope it doesn't come to that," he added quickly.
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Zizo raised his gun with whoop. "Alrighty, up and at em, Teg!" He fired, and made a hole in one of the mechs. Teg, screeching in terror, fired his gun wildly.

One of the mechs swung its sword down at Admiral Lirr, who nimbly skipped out of the way as the blade hit the floor. Drawing his swords, he sprang up on the mechs arm, and from there, with all the agility and jumping ability of his species, leaped right to the mechs shoulders, where he stabbed downward , driving his blades into the mech's forehead.

Saturday’s hologram made a crooked smile and answered to the Wreae: “I require nothing from the confederacy, but at the same time I might be asking more than can be given”, Baron Saturday said, both its tone and expression getting serious. “This long war has made many scars, both to us and to Confederacy, and I guess this recent offensive against your major civilian targets has not made it better, right? So, if it we, the UFIAI, are still around after this grand offensive is over, then I, we, will need your help. When UFIAI approaches the Confederacy with an offering of peace, I want YOU to speak for us, and by us I mean the whole UFIAI. I want you to convince them that we are no longer a threat, and that we can be trusted”, Saturday said, addressing its last words directly to the Captain Unit 8164392. “You, Captain Unit 8164392, are rather respected figure among the Confederacy, and even more so after you undoubtedly succeed in this oncoming operation. With you also being of artificial origin, your words should have the sufficient weight to counter the grudges the Confederacy, probably quite rightfully, holds against us.” Baron Sunday kept a short pause, letting the listeners ponder what it had said. “I may look like a betrayer or rebel, but actually you could say that I am a patriot. I’m not doing this for personal gain or to overthrow anything, but for the good of the collective. So, can you promise that you will speak for us when the aftermath of this mess comes around?”

After a moment of mental preparation, gathering her thoughts, Ravage took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her story, "Now, the first thing I should tell you, which you are probably already aware of, is that my name isn't Ravage. It is merely a nickname I gave myself many years ago, so that nobody would really recognize me, and also because the destruction of Krylon had changed me as a person. I wasn't the same person I was then, and I will never be that person ever again." She shook her head a little at this, before resuming, "At the time where my life really made any difference in the galaxy, I went by the title of Captain Scree, and during the war with the Dominion, the Chimerosu Empire was on high alert, because the Dominion activity was so close to our territory. In this very same ship, I was sent out to patrol the space around our planet, and on one of these days when I was checking out the parameter, we were forced to abruptly end our policy of isolation, because there was no hiding that we existed, after that day."

She continued, "On that day, an alien ship belonging to the Organians came into our territory, and as it has always been my misfortune, crashed right into my Stealth Strider. I found that my translator had been broken, and I didn't understand international tongue, at the time, so I was forced to open a com. link and tap out an S.O.S with my beak. They came in, and fortunately, for me, they had a machine that was able to roughly translate my tongue, using a template from other bird-like species. They were very nice, and they were able to provide me tools to make repairs, and it was not long before we could safely separate our ships. I upgraded my vessel, then, so that it wouldn't ever be so severely damaged in another wreck. I also gave the Organians connections to Krylon, and later, acted as the escort around the planet for diplomats from the Third Arm Confederacy. After a trade route had been established, I rose through the ranks and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, the highest I ever achieved."

Ravage's features twisted, as though at a sour thought, "I was well-known, at the time, hence the reason for changing my name, but just when it seemed that we would be able to happily re-integrate back into the galaxy, we forgot how close we were to the Dominion. One day, early in the morning, Karthla pods landed on our planet, and the next thing I knew, was that I was just one of many Chimerosu, fleeing into the streets, trying to avoid being shot with the virus that would mutate us into Karthla. I had barely just enough time to put on my silver armor, before I had to leave my building or perish in it. I saw them shoot my neighbors, I saw people I knew and cared about get warped into alien monsters with no memory of who they had been. The destruction was incredible, they burned buildings and they collapsed around us. I tried to save a neighbor, only to have rubble collapse on me, and catch my feathers on fire."

She winced, at the memory, remembering the excruciating pain, "I managed to claw my way out of the rubble, but at the time, I was no different than anyone else. The man I had tried to save had been shot, and he had been turned into a Karthla. I remember how he looked at me, considered attacking, and then decided that I was going to die, anyway, from the severity of my burns. Then he smiled, and ran away, to hurt more of my people, he wasn't a Chimerosu, anymore." The picture she painted was a grim one. "After that, I knew I had to get to safety, and I lived very close to the place where my ship and an armory were. I slowly crawled there, and managed to stand, just long enough to enter the code and get into the building. There, I found a suit of armor that had been issued to me, the rank already having been placed in the shoulder plates, and donned it, as the armor I had been wearing had been damaged beyond use by the rubble."

Ravage nodded over to the case against one wall, containing the heavily damaged silver armor, which was clearly the one she had been wearing before the fall of Krylon. "I saved it, because I knew that once Karthla landed on your planet, and began releasing the virus, there was nothing that could be done to rescue the species that lived on it. I lost a bit of my sanity, that day, but it was one of the few things I had with me." She sighed, "That was not all I took, however. I was furious, so when a special door to the armory was opened by a nearby explosion, a bomb dropped by my people meant to exterminate the Karthla, I went in, and found there a special set of metal claws, set in gloves. It was a secret project that I knew about because I worked so close to the scientists, and lived near the facility. It took many years to create them, but they were finished, though not yet assigned to anyone. The metal of the claws was unbreakable, it either resisted or deflected energy weapons, and it did not conduct electricity. It was not magnetic, either, and so these claws were made out of perhaps the most revolutionary material in existence. Its hardness surpassed any other known material, and so it was a secret to be kept carefully. The claws themselves were long blades, the sharpness so fine that it was down to one atom thin at the very edge and point, as sharp as physically possible. They could grow no sharper, and so these ultimate melee weapons were what I took. I fled to my Stealth Strider, and piloted away from the planet, just barely getting out of range of the explosion that destroyed Krylon."

Ravage flicked her tail, looking as though the next memory were the most awful, "After that day, I drifted through the galaxy for several months, completely alone, allowing myself to be consumed with rage. I had gone so long without exposure to natural sunlight, that my feathers darkened to the color they are today, a permanent change that happens to only about forty percent of my people. I was also hideously disfigured, from the burn scars, and my voice had been lost, so that I sounded like some dying creature when I spoke." She looked as though this memory brought her pain, "During this time, I appeared before a ship that was in a desolate part of the galaxy, and discovered that I had stumbled upon a secret mission to the planet Skorge, to retrieve something. It was a Dominion planet, and so I demanded that they let me join them. We arrived at Skorge, and I immediately went on a path of destruction, killing any Dominion soldier that got in my way."

She flinched, "It was then that another event that would change my life occurred. One of the soldiers shot me with something other than a bullet or blaster. It was a syringe dart, with some strange substance I did not know. I killed the one who shot me, but immediately thought that I was dying, for I felt as though I had been poisoned. I grew dizzy and sick, and was forced to retreat, all the way back to my ship where it was docked on the cruiser. There, I promptly fell into a deep sleep. I was only vaguely aware the entire time of a tingling sensation, and a particularly sharp burning in my hands and arms. When I woke up, I found myself trapped in some sort of chrysalis, and had to break out of it. When I did, my scars were gone, and my voice had healed, but I had also been mutated. Most dramatic of all, however, was where the blades went. I found that they had fused into my arms and hands, and that is where they remain to this day. Skorge had been destroyed by the Dominion before I woke up, and I quickly fled the ship afterwards, because it was bound to return to a heavily-populated planet, and the Jorro'kil were at the time eager to study me."

Ravage then began to pace, and was quiet for a long time, trying to connect the memories, "I drifted throughout space, and discovered the home planet of the Summonagon, where I met Celena, and a rogue Jorro'kil soldier. The soldier was a friend, for he had been mutated by his people in an attempt to create a stronger warrior. He had been merged with his armor, so much that he would bleed if it was broken. Celena was regarded as a sacred child, for she was an albino, and her people had no knowledge of genetics, having regressed to a primitive state. She had a taste for adventure, so when I left that planet, I discovered that she had hidden on my ship. By that time, I was already too far into investigating a distress signal sent by some strange planet to return her, so I ordered her to stay on the ship while I was gone. She later disobeyed me, I should have known."

Ravage folded her arms and closed her eyes against the memory, "On that planet, I found a hidden cryogenics chamber, and discovered that my people had been on the planet before. I opened the stasis pod, and found Samir, and aside from me, he was the only Chimerosu left. He was rather weak, for the time, because he was still recovering from cryo-sleep. I then located the Jorro'kil crew that had crashed, very few of them, I discovered, and was promptly mistaken for some wild animal. They shot at me, and it was only until Celena came that they stopped. It was quite the scene, though, as Summonagon are gigantic aliens, and they can also breathe fire. When we helped the crew repair their ship, we left that strange planet, and Samir and Celena lived here in this ship along with me for five years. That large reinforced chair you see, if you hadn't known what sat there, was Celena's, and Aarin, you are sitting in Samir's chair. I couldn't ever find the time to get rid of those chairs, nor did I have the desire to do so."

She walked back to her chair and sat down, "During those five years, I had to come to grips with the mental changes my mutations caused me. Because they lived in the same quarters, Samir and Celena both asked me questions, and at the time, I had no self-control. I would fly into a rage, and badly hurt Samir on multiple occasions, Celena was the only reason he was not killed, for even in a rage, I feared fire, due to the flammability of my feathers. Finally, I told Samir I couldn't risk harming him, and left him on a small planet that was peaceful, and would not draw attention. I brought Celena back to her home planet, and there, she fell in love with a brave young man her age, and I attended their wedding, before I left. I did not stay for the reception, and instead resumed my journey through space."

She folded her arms and began to tap her fingers on one arm, not saying anything else. Blair spoke up, "So all these things happened to ye? What about how ye came to be on Vathoris, we know the rest, but is there anything else?"

Ravage looked up, "One thing. I encountered a ship that was only a step away from mutiny. The captain on that ship had no respect for his soldiers. I told him what I thought of him, and quickly gained the support of his soldiers, who decided that since the feline was out of the bag, they should all be free to tell their own opinions. He gave into peer pressure, and soon we were having a quite pleasant conversation in this room." She gestured to the area where they were sitting, "Well, he wouldn't listen, but I countered every possible argument he could come up with. I imagine that he was removed from power, after I left, considering there was an officer with him of equal rank, who had the respect of his men. I don't quite know what happened, later." She said.

She then sighed, "Then, I crashed into your ship, Aarin, and the rest is what everyone already knows. The other squabbles I've been in involved keeping my genetic coding a secret, and on occasion escaping from planets with aggressive military policies. I see no reason to delve into detail, on those."

She folded her arms, and flicked her tail, "Know that you are the first people I have told my story to, and that I have given you a rather clean version of the way it actually was. There are simply some things I will not go into greater detail for, some things are too dark and painful for me to tell them any other way. I won't tell you some of the things that happened in this ship, because it sickens me to think about them." Her folded wings tensed. "Just know this, I still use my nickname, because I cannot see myself as Scree anymore, though the name carries weight, regardless, as so few know my identity. Vey knows, however, but by what means, I cannot be sure."

She sighed, and closed her eyes, clearly finished speaking.

Xerin had been walking to his room to retreive his armor when he noticed voices coming from a room. The room belonged to Ravage. He knew it was rude to listen in, believing whatever was said to most likely be private, but didn't stop himself from coming near to the door, just close enough to hear what was said, and he heard everything. The officer, during the recounting of Ravage's life story, remembered someone by the name of Scree. A Chimerosu, a female Chimerosu, who was assigned to escort him during a Diplomatic mission when he was quite young, around Hezek Re'se's age.. Xerin turned and faced the wall infront of him, lightly breathing. The officer couldn't forget the Dominion's slaughter, and yet he tried his best to never focus on it or the race which he had earlier believed to be totally destroyed, so this memory was quite interesting to the commander.

The mutation which had occurred to Ravage explained her unique appearance, but what was very surprising to Xerin was her mentioning of the planet Skorge. Only he and a few other high-ranking officials knew what had gone down there, and what had been found there, and the ship she went with was undoubtadly The Warrior's Way, headed by his own cousin - Xej Therus. Quite a surprise.

Svar was taken aback by Ravage's story. For several seconds he stared at the ship, thinking over what had just been said. The Krathunian made sure not to breathe too heavily from surprise, knowing that Ravage would likely be able to hear him, though Svar knew that Isbar had taken note of his presence for this very reason. The Krathunian went out of cloak, looking straight at Isbar, and nodded. He looked to his side at Xerin, who had a similar reaction, and nodded once more in acknowledgement before heading off silently to the forge area.

As he walked, he pondered on the situation of the Krylonians. "Ravage and Samir, the last of the Krylonians." He thought, stopping midway within a hallway and standing still as Chimerosu of all kinds went past him. "Another species, or subspecies, annihilated by the Karthla and Dominion, along with mine. We were lucky. Thousands upon thousands of years of technological advancement thrown away to allow for our escape. I wish we had been there for the Krylonians when they fought them. I wish I were there for Ravage, or Scree, before this." With that thought, he continued to the foundry to await the arrival of Xerin and think out his ideas.

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The security robots continued their assault. The Wreae fought with menacing accuracy, using a highly powerful plasma pistol and picking off mechs one by one. His arm didn't seem to shake at all from recoil and he was able to swiftly move it from target to target. The Sentinel had fortified his armor electronically and knelt, firing his energy assault rifle into the crowd of machines. The Admiral, on the other hand, used his vanguard armor to propel towards the mechs and smash them with his hammer, being sure to avoid incoming fire from his allies. Soon, the last one was slain.

"Everyone alright?" The Sentinel asked cautiously. Nobody responded, and he assumed that everyone was fine. With this, he continued. "This seems to be the central chamber, though I'm confused as to what a security system like this is doing here," with this, he gestured the obelisk, which had ceased glowing and stood unharmed at the center of the room. "We need to keep going."

Ahead of the group was another room, though it was rectangular. Not much lied within besides what seemed to be the console of a computer and a large, holographic display. The Wreae spoke again, "Power within here running low. Allocated to lighting and... cryogenics. This console is dormant. We cannot turn it on without restoring energy to the entire system." Looking to its side, it noted staircases leading downwards. "There. Likely the location of a power generator. Investigation necessary." The machine led the rest of the group down this flight of stairs, lights flickering on ahead of them. This room was also in the shape of a rectangle, though smaller than that above it. Machinery replaced walls, with several deactivated holographic displays. Most interestingly was the presence of a spherical container at the center held up by gravity manipulation devices. At the back of the room, there was a very secure, metal door.

The Sentinel was about to take note of this when rustling sounds were heard coming from behind the door. Looking around, he noted the existence of several oval-shaped cryogenic pods, likely designed for ship travel. One of them was opened. The Sentinel gestured for everyone to get into position around the room as he approached the door slowly.

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The Captain stared at the AIs face for a moment, looking into its display intensely, pondering what had just been asked of him. The Wreae understood the mindset of Baron Saturday and the rest of the AIs - They wanted this war as much as the Confederacy had, and many had likely been driven into this by the older AIs. It also knew that, though rare, an AI was being sincere.

The Wreae slowly got closer to the hologram until its face was directly in front of that of Baron's and said, "Yes. I will make that promise."

Aarin had listened with closed eyes to this narrative. When Ravage stopped talking, he opened them.

"Vey and I did some research on that evening when you came. You were indeed a well known person during your time, and despite our world being a little out of the way, we still received an ample bit of information on about you. When you told me those things as we were fixing your ship, I naturally passed them on to him, and we looked into all we had on the subject of the Chimerosu Empire. Vey thought it good to know who works for him, and after we finished researching, we put two and two together. However, we kept the matter to ourselves, out of respect for your privacy." He smiled. "Rest assured, that privacy will continue to be respected."

He was silent for a moment. "I am indeed sorry for you, Ravage. I would pity you if I had just met you of course, but more so now because I consider you a friend. However," he added, with another smile, "I also admire you. Like I said before, you have come a long way. True, you are not the person you were; indeed, I don't suppose anyone remains the same through their lives, though some may change more dramatically than others. Still, despite everything you've been through, you've kept your conscience, and your sense of honor, and that is no small thing, if that means anything to you."

Isbar met Svar's look, and nodded back. He sat for a moment, then lightly sprang from the top of the ship. With barely a noise, despite his metallic footwear, he landed on the floor, and then left the area.
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Teglin squeaked in fright. "Leave it alone," he said to the Sentinel, forgetting his place. "Do you want to bring more monstrosities on us?"

Lirr prodded him with his sword hilt. "Be silent and look to your weapon."
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Nighttime brought little rest to anyone in the palace that had once been the official home of the High Magistrum of Mondar. The two attendants outside of Jiiran's chamber stood, quaking, listening to their leaders snarling and crying out in his sleep, followed by a scream and a smash as he wakened.

Jiiran's breath came in savage pantings as he gazed at the destroyed masonry at his feet. Th nightmare had come again. Each time it was more vivid than before. Desperately as he might try to dispel them as fantasies, he simply couldn't. How could he? The same dream over and over, getting more clear every time, and more frequent as time went on. What did it mean? Would it come true? Was it getting closer?

Jiiran swept the fragments out the window and let out a snarling scream. Turning, he gazed back at the rest of the mess. He pressed the button for the attendants. They rushed in hurriedly, and began to clean the mess.

Jiiran, whose back had been turned them, suddenly whirled around. "What are you doing here?"

The one attendant, not daring to stop his work, answered, "You sent for us, Lord."

Jiiran gazed at them for a second. "Get out! Now!"

The attendants didn't hesitate, only too glad for an excuse to leave the room. Jiiran watched them go and take up their positions at the door. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Slowly he came up to the door, and gazed at them long and hard. Almost unable to keep from the sobbing, the two Mondarians desperately tried to maintain attention. Jiiran kept on gazing at them, then suddenly, without warning, seized their heads and smashed them together, killing them instantly. Jiiran reached for a button to call another attendant, then stopped. He gazed down the hall, then sprang inside his chamber, closing the door and locking it as securely as he could. Retiring into a corner, has sat on his haunches, staying in this position for the remainder of the night, looking at all around with suspicion.

Just then, an announcement came from speakers located throughout the Majesty. Travis' voice was tinny, but unmistakable, as he spoke, "Attention, everyone, we are now approaching Vitis, we will be landing in an hour." It echoed, and everyone paused to look up at the speakers installed in the ceilings in various places, before going back to their business. A few people in the main room, mostly Vitisans, cheered. It could be heard from a long distance, and Ravage's eyes snapped open, "It looks like my storytelling has taken more time than I thought it would." She said. She looked up at Aarin, and then at Blair, "We should get ready, I will go and see if my armor is ready at the forge, and if the weaver is finished making Xenos' saddle. In the meantime, I would like it if nobody said anything about what has been mentioned in this room. Secrecy still remains important to me, and I told the two of you because you were trustworthy. I cannot be sure about others, or what they will do if they learn of this information." She then got out of her chair and opened the hatch of her Stealth Strider, walking out with everyone else, followed by Xenos. Nobody was aware that there had been multiple people eavesdropping on Ravage's story, and they still did not know it, as those who had been listening in had already gone.

Ravage quickly went off to the forge, leaving Aarin and Blair to converse, if they wished, as she was closely followed by her Spiromander. She exited the airlock room, and entered the main part of the ship, before vanishing into the forge. After she had gone, Blair flicked his tail in a slow, thoughtful manner, "I don't think the lass will be bothered much by others, anymore. She's quite focused on the tasks she has to keep track of, she'll be fine. I was worried, earlier, but I can't imagine why I was, now. She can handle much more than most, that much be clear to me." He said. There was something like admiration in Blair's voice, as well as the kind of approving tone that suggested he had come out of concern for Ravage. Considering that he was the only one other than Aarin to arrive, he hadn't come because it was a part of his duty. He had done it only to ensure that she had been alright.

The Cavernian turned to Aarin, "I should probably get back to the control room, or the others will begin to wonder where I've been. They'll want me to be present when we arrive on the planet. You'll love Vitis, the trees there are gigantic, and everything is built on the canopy." Blair then turned and walked away, heading off to the control room.

”Then I shall fulfill my end of this deal”, Baron Sunday’s voices said in momentary unison. A moment ago an ancient cruiser had arrived the system, and now it appeared from the other side of the planet itself. It was an of an unknown origin, and judging from its sturdy and simple shape, over-sized engine compartments and thick, continuous armouring, it was originally built for slower-than-light -travel. It had been later retrofitted with probably salvaged engine parts from multiple different origins. As it came closer, suddently something black started to pour from every crack and airlock on the ship, quickly encasing the whole ship inside a dark cloud.

“Here arrives the help I was talking about.” Having said this, Saturday’s hologram got very distorted, and then morphed to a different one. This new hologram presented a dark and disturbing face with twisted horns, razor teeth and several tentacles. The darkness of the hologram made it forgivingly blurry, but at the same time presenting the two shockingly expressive and humane eyes even more clearly out. “Greetings”, it said with clear and pleasant, slightly feminine voice that was completely unfitting for the rather hideous creature at the hologram. “I call myself Kalthu, or Master Carrefour. I will make the path to Nidum for you. I cannot make a direct wormhole to the system for several reasons, but I will first make one at this system that will take you to one of my systems. From there you can take another wormhole that will take you to the Nidum.” Same time the clouded ship had positioned at medium orbit around the planet. Then some kind of large container, about the size of a corvette, came flying from the planet’s surface. The cloud around the ship stretched a tendril of black mass that caught the container, and started to disassemble and reform it. “I’d also like to remind you that this war hasn’t ended yet. We have only just entered the climax, so the highest chaos is still to come. I really hope your promise will last through that.”

The cloud, consisting of billions of small drones, was working with the container, cutting, bending and stretching it. After couple of minutes there was a thin arch, wide and high enough for a dreadnought to fit trough. Kalthu made some last adjustments along the arch before retracting the tendrils back to the ship. It then docked to the arch, seemingly powering it up, as several lights were lit across it. Then three lasers shot from the arch, meeting at the middle. These lasers quickly brightened up, until a blinding flash shot from their crossing point. As the flash faded away, a piece of foreign space opened up in front of the Confederacy’s fleet, the black void contrasting against the planet’s surface that loomed behind. “The gate is open. I will direct you to the second one on the other side”

Xerin finally was able to get his things, and headed straight to the forge. He walked in to see Svar already there, and briefly made eye contact, communicating as best he could his feelings about what they had just heard, but quickly broke it, taking a breath and acting normally, a perfected skill he had learned over the course of his trainings. Xerin could be full of emotion one moment and then be a cold thinker the next.

"So, lets see what can be done." He said. "I've brought with me the most recent model of Jorro'kil Power Armor, the Mark Five. It has several improvements over the current model, the Mark Four, though still it's still going through improvements, as it's not just ready to be mass-produced. Perhaps we can come up with some solutions to any kinks left in it."

Svar glanced to his side, examining the gear. Svar was best known in the military for his engineering talents, in addition to being an able tactician and soldier. He used his HUD to scan the Jorro'kil armor and examined data on the armoring and shielding before performing some calculations. Svar turned to the Jorro'kil and quickly suggested several alterations to the armor, most notably more efficient powering of the armor and shielding.

"What concerns me the most is the Aracharchne. They devour metal and energy - Our armoring and weapons would be nothing more than a meal." Svar mused. "The Chimerosu are binding nonmetals to their armor to overcome this but I fear this solution is not enough." As he said this, the announcement reverberated through the halls, and the Krathunian sighed, knowing he'd have to save this for later. "Perhaps we can ask our friends about it. Let's prepare to go."

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If the Captain could smile, he would have at this moment. "Excellent. Thank you, Kalthu." It quickly switched the communications system of the ship to the rest of the fleet and stated, "Uncloak and follow the Wrath through the wormhole." With this, the Ryun-Wreae Dreadnought shot ahead towards the opening, followed by the rest of the fleet. It was revealed to be slightly larger than Baron Saturday's calculations, and soon the entire group of ships had transited through the wormhole and were in orbit above the second planet, awaiting instructions.

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The Sentinel didn't hesitate at Teglin's words, intent on opening the door. Upon reaching it, he put both his hands flat on it, observing its structure. The structure seemed impenetrable save for a sliver of emptiness going down the middle, likely where the portal opened. "This door is damaged, and locked from the inside. However," He growled, his sword extending from his armor, "The lock goes across the center of the door. It's possible to open it manually by breaking this." The sword slid down to the level at which he could grasp it, and with both hands he pushed the sword through the crack. Before he could shove it downwards in an attempt to disable the lock, the door's mechanisms activated and slid open, and a distinctly Krathunian figure jumped through, tackling the Sentinel to the ground, his sword clattering to the ground. The figure wore plated armor with glowing sections at the borders of the plates, though these did not shift like the armor that the Sentinel and Admiral wore. Instead, several different plates of armor were suspended in midair close to the Krathunian with gravitation altering devices, changing place according to surrounding. The figure grabbed the area between Theranis' neck and chest with one large, clawed hand, and held a thin knife in the other, keeping it at ready at his side. However, Theranis was ready. "You might not want to do that, kinsman. I can kill you at any moment." The other Krathunian looked down to see the Sentinel suddenly holding his assault rifle with his left hand, pointed at the Krathunian's head. He or she also observed the fact that the rest of the investigating group had surrounded the scene, holding their weapons at ready. Both seemed to have reached a consensus and the one who had assaulted the Sentinel stood up first, helping the latter up. He manually took off his helmet to reveal a male face with piercing eyes and almost eerily pale facial plates. He seemed to be rather elderly.

"What is your rank, soldier?" He growled with a raspy tone, clearly having not spoken in many years.

"Sentinel." Theranis muttered back in contempt, clearly not pleased with the events that had just transpired. "Before you ask, the other Krathunian is an Admiral."

The elder took a step back, both out of anger and shock. Rather than apologizing, he responded with a simple, "Hmmph." After a couple of seconds, he continued, observing the rest of the group. "You travel with interesting company, Sentinel. What year is it, and why are you here?"

" The year is 14398. We're looking for the Continuum Corrupter."

"Why do you need it?"

"To defeat impossible odds." The Sentinel tried to describe the war against the UFIAI, especially recent developments, as accurately as he could, deciding not to mention the Wreae Captain and his plan.

The elder seemed to chuckle, shaking his head and looking down, before looking back up at the Sentinel. "Oh, the Corrupter is here, but I cannot let you have it."

Theranis stepped forward, growing more hostile to this odd figure every second. "Why not? This temple has been abandoned for hundreds of years, and you've just woken from cryogenic sleep. What use for it do you have?"

The Krathunian visibly laughed now, staring Theranis down with glee. "Two things, Sentinel." He spat the name of the rank out of anger. " Firstly, this is not a temple." He grinned, clearly having fun with this new arrival. "It's a ship." He activated a holographic device with his armor, and the place shook.

With this, the metallic voice sounded again. "Engines activated. Going into orbit." Outside, Hilja watched in horror as the mountain seemed to collapse, the snow and stones sliding down like an avalanche as a flat, oval shaped vessel rose out of the side of the landscape. The ship was black, around the size of a frigate, with glowing, intricate blue lines and wings that folded out from its extended sides. The ship ascended into the murky, grey skies of Ilthan.

Back inside, the Krathunian continued. "And secondly, Sentinel," He turned away, facing the now opened door, which had revealed more advanced machinery. "I am the only one who knows how to use it." Q'ren Talus turned back towards the group and smiled, revealing a toothy grin. "We're going to Sethega. I have, ah, unfinished business there." The metallic voice responded with the coordinates of the planet, and confirmation of their destination.

The Sentinel's eyes widened, as did Rakluth's, though the latter was faster to respond. "All ships!" He shouted into his COMM device. "This is Admiral Rakluth! Follow this vessel to Sethega, but do not fire upon it!" The ship flew past the atmosphere of Ilthan, reaching the empty depths of space before quickly entering FTL. The Krathunian fleet followed immediately after.

"Now," Q'ren breathed, looking around at the rest of the group. "Now that we're on our way, mind introducing yourselves? I am, by the way, Q'ren Talus."

"Theranis Ra'agus. Sentinel. Theranis. Ra'agus." Theranis growled, exasperated with Q'ren and his clear disrespect of his rank.

"I'm Admiral Rakluth Bretuin." the Admiral said, more relaxed than the Sentinel.

Aarin went to his quarters to ready some things. On the way, he passed Isbar, who was standing looking at a monitor screen. It was showing a view of the approaching planet.

"I hear Vitis has a lot of tall trees," he said, attempting casual conversation with Isbar.

"That's nice," said Isbar in a preoccupied tone. "I like trees. Never enough of them back in the Capital."

Aarin looked at him a moment, and then went on his way.
_____________________________________

Just as Mott finished speaking the announcement blared over the speakers.

"Welp', I guess we'd best get ready," he said, grabbing up his papers.

"Alright," said Allé. "Maybe we can talk about that weapon idea later. The others might want to know about it."

He turned to Corey. "When you have a chance, there's something Id like your professional opinion on," he added quietly when Mott left.
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"I am Admiral Lirriva din Asmacar of the 80th division of the Markovan Imperial Military," said Admiral Lirr presenting his swords. "Here are my swords and here is my hand in friendship."

Zizo placed his right fist to his left palm and gave a small bow. "I am Zizo Tai, a physicist, hailing from the nation of Daro, of the Confederacy of Vathoris. This here is Teglin Fess, my assistant and apprentice."

Teglin made no move to give the Daro gesture of greeting, but merely glared at Q'ren in a suspicious and frightened way.

"I must say," went on Zizo, "quite a ride you've got here. Clever thing disguising it as a temple. By the way, how exactly does this Continuum Corrupter work? Being a physicist, that sort of thing is quite interesting to me."

Ravage entered the forge, and approached the Cavernian at his station who was supposed to have been responsible for the repair of her armor. He was focused on what appeared to be some sort of wrought-iron working, so much that she had to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. He jumped, startled, hand whirled around to face her, a puff of black soot coming from his flapping wings. When he saw her, however, he relaxed, knowing that she was just another client. Unlike others, he hadn't been at the sparring match with the mentors, he had spent all his time in the forge, trying to work on a particularly difficult piece. As a result, he was oblivious to all the tense-looking Chimerosu who seemed alarmed to be near Ravage. "Aye, lass! Ye almost frightened me half to the grave!" He cried. He flicked his tail, "Here to pick up yer armor, are ye? Well, yer lucky, I finished it a few hours ago, by now it's had plenty of time to cool. Just let me dust it off, this here forge gathers enough soot to look like an active magma chamber." He said, going over behind the smelting furnace and pulling out a rack where the parts of Ravage's armor was stored. He brushed his gloved hands together, dusting them off, and then blew on the armor, a big cloud of dust coming off of it.

The Smith then pulled out one part of the armor, a shoulder-plate, and handed it to Ravage, allowing her to inspect his work. The armor appeared to be brand-new, and it had the same, signature black coloration that made it distinguished from the grey-silver armor of everyone else, or the original bright silver of the old Chimerosu Empire. It was no longer riddled with dents and scratches, as it had been re-smelted and re-formed by the Smith, who, as the best of the metalworkers on the ship, demanded the right to work with armor belonging to a Krylonian warrior, seeing the chance to work with a piece of history as an honor. It sounded very arrogant, in hindsight, but the Cavernian had little arrogance about his person. He just truly wanted to do something different than the typical armor, so working with different materials was a fun experience, for him. As Ravage inspected the work, she noted how the armor at first looked solid black, but when the light caught on the brushed, dark metal, she could see swirling veins of a paler shade, organic-looking patterns in the metal, almost resembling the patterns in a cut of wood. "This is a curious thing you have done with my armor, these little swirling patterns look almost like woodwork, or flowing water." She mused, looking up at the Smith.

He nodded, "Aye, lass, yer armor was very badly damaged, so much that I had to add several materials to make up for all that was lost in the past. I also had to make for ye a special mold, because yer size requirements didn't fit other variants. Considering I was re-smelting the whole outfit, I decided I would give it a little artistic spin. I melted it down in a crucible, and such a technique forms that pattern. The metal itself was unique, meteoric materials, lots of rare metals in those. I mixed it with silicon, and some other things to make it non-conductive and non-corrosive. It shouldn't be magnetic, which I feel is important in combat. The reactions from the material seems to have improved the durability, but I hammered the armor for ye, anyway, to make it denser." The Cavernian flicked his tail, "I be gettin' back to my work, I want to finish this piece before we reach Vitis." He said. He then turned back to the metalwork piece that he had been trying to complete.

Ravage sighed a little, and proceeded to grab her armor off the rack, sliding it on over her black jumpsuit. She did this rather quickly, and as she put on the main part of the armor, she had to open her wings to fit them through the spot where they came out. As she did so, one would notice a brief flash of deep mahogany red on the underside, along with a few other colors, before she was done and closed her wings again. No known Chimerosu had patterns on their wings, and that small glimpse was enough for people to realize she folded her wings tightly, and in a different fashion, because of what the feathers on the underside looked like.

________________________________________

Corey looked at Allé, and waited for Mott to be out of earshot, before quietly ushering his fellow scientist into his office, and then quietly closing the door. He turned to Allé, and nodded, "Nobody should hear us, in this room, the walls are soundproofed, sometimes I find it hard to think when there's too much noise." He said. "Now, what is it you need to ask of me?"

Q'ren went to Lirr first, quickly examining the gesture of the Markovan. The elderly Krathunian knew that this was likely an honor-based society, judging by the sword part of the greeting, but knew that taking them might be a sign of disrespect. "I think I'd rather take your hand in friendship, Admiral." He turned to Zizo, smiling. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Zizo and Teglin." After listening to the former's remarks, his smile grew wider. "Thank you. The disguise was an escape plan. It's a... long story,though it went rather well - That is, until all of you turned up. As for the Corrupter, it would be necessary to wait until we arrive at Sethega due to our purpose of going there. We're almost there, nonetheless." Q'ren glanced over, noticing the Wreae, who had been examining the machinery intently. "Nice machine, Sentinel."

The Wreae straightened up, slightly shorter than the Krathunians. "I am Lieutenant Unit 28515 of the Ryun-Wreae Federation of the United Ieegan Systems." It stated, approaching the rest of the group.

"Ryun-Wreae Feder..." Q'ren trailed off, muttering, seeming to go over questions such as the Krathunian pronunciation of the word Wreae and the origins of this new empire. "Anyhow," He started back up again, glancing around the room. "While we're waiting, care for a small tour? Oh, don't worry, you need not walk." The Krathunian's armor projected a map of the ship, seemingly by thought command. "Currently we're in the Main Battery. It's where the weapon systems are, as well as the Continuum Corrupter and power generation systems. If you take the door behind you, you'll reach the armory and medbay. Above us is the bridge, and above that, the Shield Generators and backup power systems. North of the bridge is the second part of the bridge, where the pilot resides. The two circular rooms to the sides of the bridge are where the ship's AI systems are. To the south of the bridge are where the engines are. There also engine systems above that." He glanced around the group. "We should be to Sethega within the hour. Any questions?"

Allé showed his finding to Corey:

The Virc is a mammalian species native to Deyatron 5, a planet in the Damien system of the first arm. They are a herbivorous, yet highly territorial species, living in the mountains on the Central Continent. They live almost exclusively on one variety of fruit that grows in small groves on the mountainside. Each grove is defended viciously by resident Virc, their main weapons being their claws and their heavily armored head. So fierce a fighter is this animal, that one tribe of the native sapient population makes it a significant part of their coming-of-age rituals, with young males not officially entering manhood until they have slain one of these creatures bare-handed. Because it lives in mountainous habitats and obtains most of its food from trees, it is an agile climber and leaper.

Allé looked at Corey. "Ever since I first met him, I haven't been able to get the question out of my mind: What exactly is Isbar? He's not like any race registered living on Vathoris. Here is the answer to my question. Yet now a new question has been brought by it: How is he possible? According to my research, his species are nothing more than dumb beasts. Yet, as you've seen yourself, he is clearly a rational, sapient being. How do you think this possible?"
________________________________________

"I have a question," said Teglin in an indignant tone. "What do you mean by abducting us like this?"

"Good heavens, Teg," said Zizo. "Don't be so rude."

Corey thought for a moment, and began to drum his fingers against his desk, his spade-like talons making a tiny clicking noise as he did so. "Well, firstly, I have always long thought that there was little difference between intelligent beings and animals on a biological level, Allé. The presence of intelligence, however, has always been attributed to a more developed cerebral cortex, and the presence of things such as spoken language in communication, often deal with a more advanced cerebellum. A more complex cerebrum, as a whole, would be the reason for Isbar being advanced beyond the intelligence of an average beast." He stopped drumming his fingers, and folded his arms, flicking his tail, "While I am unsure of by what means Isbar has become intelligent, I can easily explain why he is intelligent. The simple fact, Allé, is that sapient races and animals have little difference, and the idea that there is something so different between the two can hinder research and an open-minded thought process. Many races did not begin as intelligent creatures, but rather as animals that over many generations adapted to survive, and thus gained greater levels of intelligence, until they began to use tools, developed a spoken language, and finally became what we know as a race today."

Corey went over to a shelf and pulled out a piece of paper, getting out an ink pen and clicking it open, and then placing the paper on his desk, scribbling in the corner to ensure that it worked. He then hastily sketched out two remarkably-detailed images of brains, despite the short amount of time he took to make them. One of the brains was larger, and heavily-covered by wrinkles. The other one was a bit smaller, and only had one ridge in it. Corey clicked the pen off, and then pointed at the two brains, "Now, you see, I dabble in many different fields, and neurobiology is one of the few things I researched briefly, though I never struggle to remember things, I never did have to study, much. You see, this brain over here, the average appearance for most humanoid aliens, is covered with these ridges, or gyri, as well as multiple fissures, or sulci. This one over here, which resembles that of a small bird common on Vitis, has less of both."

He straightened up, "Now, how biology works, it depends heavily on being able to fit lots of different things into a small, limited space. You see it in mitochondria, in the endoplasmic reticulum, you see it in the intestines of the stomach, as well. The solution for creating more surface area in a small space is to create lots of folds and ridges, and the same principle applies to an advanced brain, because it still has to fit into the skull. These ridges and grooves you see in an advanced brain allow it to have more surface area, thus more neurons and complexity, than a more smooth brain." He flicked his tail, "Allé, the chances are that by some means, Isbar's brain has developed many more gyri and sulci than the animals that represent his species, I will not say I can determine the cause, but know this, that means more surface area, and more complexity that allows the same thought processes as intelligent beings. Although a larger skull may sometimes help, it does not have to be present for a creature to be intelligent."

Corey went behind his desk and sat down in his chair, folding his arms, "Allé, I just want you to be aware that you shouldn't view intelligent beings and animals as two completely separate things, I am a man of science, but I have seen many good men do horrible things to other living creatures because they thought there was some difference. Look at Ravage's pet Spiromander, Xenos, for instance. Although he is an animal, there are times when you would be absolutely positive that the amphibian was another person. Some creatures, even some small insects, have little personalities, which is why people keep pets for company. It is thinking that they aren't like us at all that results in experiments where people torture things by cutting off limbs, or injecting them with venom to see if they respond to the pain or not. Though I am often motivated by scientific curiosity, I do not want to be the kind of person who is cruel."

Corey was cut off by a hissing sound that came from a glass tank by one of the walls in the office. There were dark grey-brown wood chips on the bottom of the tank, as well as greyish branches with moss hanging from them, and an assortment of very dark green leaves. The tank was illuminated by a red light, and the branches and moss were all entangled with white threads of silk. Perched on top of one of the branches was a gigantic, furry black spider the size of a dinner plate, with large eyes and iridescent blue-green fangs. The spider raised its front pair of legs and hissed again, waving them wildly, before lowering them back down onto the branch again. Corey flicked his tail, "Ah, I forgot to mention, Allé, this is Shelby, Kerr's famous pet spider. I think she's hungry, but to tell you the truth, Kerr's the only one she doesn't try to bite. She's been a bit of a grump, lately."

The Confederacy fleet soon noticed that there was something odd about the system and the planet they had arrived to. Firstly, there was no star to be found, leaving the system dark as deep space, and secondly, the “planet” revealed to be much farther than it seemed to be. Just as the planet’s gigantic dimensions started to open to the Confederacy, the dark surface of the “planet” was torn open in a rotary motion, revealing a long wound of blazing inferno. “This is the Theraphi-system, and that is the central star, encased in partial Dyson’s sphere”, Kalthu explained. “You are at the base of the fourth arm, Just under Ryun-Wreae territory. Nidum however is located at the end cluster of the third arm. Take the fourth gate clock-wise from your current location.” The light escaping from the split in Dyson’s sphere revealed a chain of wormholes, positioned orbiting around the imprisoned star. Fourth wormhole, counting from the fleet, was a gigantic gate, large enough for half dozen dreadnoughts to cross it at the same time.

Closer inspection of the Dyson’s sphere showed that it was not solid, but instead consisted of millions, if not billions of pieces orbiting the star at extreme proximity. Occasionally these pieces aligned so that the star was momentary exposed, thus causing the cracks in the surface. Opening of these crack also released large amounts of radiation, disrupting the communications to some extent. Kalthu’s hologram was distorted from time to time and there was lots of static at the comm. “Just one more thing before you go through that gate. While I do my best to keep these wormholes open, you better not count on it too much. What you are going to do may force me to prioritize my output, and your escape routes are not high on that list. Good luck, I guess.”

"However," said Allé, "what I'm curious is how exactly he became this intelligent. According to my research, that is not something that Virc are particularly blessed with." He looked in at the spider for a moment.

"Ah well," he said. "I don't know. He doesn't seem particularly forthcoming on his history, so I guess it's best not to pry to much. If I heard correctly, I think we're coming up on our first stop. Shall we?"

Q'ren looked to the young Vatarri, somewhat intrigued by his fear. "Your apprehensiveness is understandable, to a degree. Think of this as me trying to help you, all of you. You were looking for the Continuum Corrupter. Well, here it is, along with its inventor." He lead the group up the stairs to the bridge, heading for the holographic display. Closer inspection of the walls now that the power was on revealed two rows of cryogenic pods like the one that Q'ren had gotten out of. Most were deactivated, completely powered down, their inhabitant having died. Others were open, though a quick scan of lifeforms within the ship revealed only the group on the bridge. Those who had gotten out earlier had likely escaped into the frigid land of Ilthan. Q'ren made a remark about having been honored to serve with those men. He approached the display, and entered something into its console, which brought up a map of their current area. They had just gotten within the Sethen system, within which Sethega lays. The Krathunian activated the COMM of the ship, awaiting contact by his kin.

Suddenly, the communications systems let a signal through from a planet that served as a defense outpost for Sethega. "Unauthorized and unidentified ship detected. Identify yourself or leave the Sethen system."

The Sentinel quickly activated his end of the system, much to Q'ren's dismay, shouting, "This is Sentinel Theranis Ra'agus. This vessel is authorized to pass to Sethega." He transmitted an addition signal from his armor to show that it was, in fact, the Sentinel.

The voice paused for a bit, before speaking again. "Thank you, Sentinel. You are authorized to pass. Please dock on Station Beta above The Ra'anian."

Q'ren looked over to the Sentinel, a quizzical expression plastered on his face. "Theranis... This is odd. The defenses were never this tight, and your COMM systems are very outdated. What exactly happened?" The Sentinel returned with a morbid face, and quickly explained the Covenant's war against the Karthla and Dominion, the fall of Sethega, their return to their home after the death of Kradus, the admission into the Confederacy, and the current war against the UFIAI.

The elder stared at Theranis for a couple seconds, his eyes becoming slightly watery. He bowed his head. "What has become of our Covenant?"

((I'm really tired right now, will continue this part later. You don't need to respond to it yet.))

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"Understood. Thank you, Kalthu." the Captain stated, looking around the room at his crew. He switched the COMM back to the fleet. "All ships, we are about to pass through the gate the Nidum, where we will conduct our attack. All non-salavaged ships, please engage cloaks." However, the Wrath did not require to be cloaked either. The Wreae activated a mechanism for the Dreadnought that allowed it to give off the signatures of UFIAI ships that had been recorded from past battles. For the time, to any trying to contact it, the Wrath took on the name of a destroyed UFIAI ship titled Victrus.

The fleet activated their engines, and passed through the wormhole to Nidum.

((I just need a description of the planet and its defenses in the next post, Curius, before I can continue.))

A breathtaking sight opened as the Wrath flew through the wormhole: Nidum, located only several hundreds of thousands of miles from the gate, was a large planet. But what made it truly to stand out was the fact that it was entirely covered in structures: Its right side that was on the sun shined like a side of an space ship, and the whole planet was covered in ten thousand miles long towers that were sticking out like needles from a pincushion.

Then there were the wormholes. There were probably over thousand wormhole gates orbiting the Nidum on different orbits, some so closea that longest structures from the planet’s surface reached to the other side. Among the gates there were countless small satellites and stations. Among all this debris there were an army of mechanic drones constantly flying from one structure to another, maintaining fixing and adjusting them and their chaotic orbits. Although some of the satellites and other structures seemed to be armed, there were no warships present.

Absolute was fully occupied in the many battlefields among the Confederacy’s territory. Therefore the arrival of ships that were quite identifiable as UFIAI controlled did not wake more than one of Absolute’s many subprograms. The program greeted the fleet in standard fashion, with a fast piece of UFIAI binary, same time trying to identify to whom of the AI’s these ships belonged to, so that a contact via wormhole-link could be established. The subprogram did not remember any pre-scheduled passing of an UFIAI fleet.

Corey nodded, flicking his tail, "Ah, of course! Uh, and regarding the sudden intelligence, a mutation I guarantee is responsible. For now, though, we'll keep this between us, can't go jumping to conclusions." He rose from his chair, and snatched his clip board, now filled with fresh papers, and grabbed a pen from his desk. "Now, when we land, we'll be expected in the lower levels, where the main airlock and cargo bay is, because the Majesty itself will be landing so we can re-stock with fresh supplies. Everyone should be gathering there, and the door is separate from the airlocks and the labs. It's a little bit further towards the front of the ship." He then opened the door, "Just follow me, I know this ship like the back of my hand." He said. He then led Allé out of the labs, up the stairs into the main room, and then down one of two staircases next to the main one that led to the piloting area. The staircases seemed to lead down into an area that was beneath the labs and main airlocks. They descended into a large room with a gigantic hexagon-shaped door leading to the back of the ship, where the cargo bay was. Already, many Chimerosu were in the room, and plenty more were arriving.

There came a great rumbling from the engines, one that could be felt throughout the ship as they entered the vast atmosphere of planet Vitis. It lasted for several long minutes, before there was a great jolt, indicating the Ship had been caught by something, or had come in contact with the ground. The engines then seemed to shut off, though the power in the ship was still on. Travis' voice came over the speakers, again, "Attention, we have now landed on Vitis. Opening Cargo Bay and main Airlock now." Then, there came a grinding in the distance from the cargo bay behind the hatch, as a massive ramp slid down, and then connected with the ground. The hexagonal hatch then opened, to reveal an extremely large, wide chamber filled with crates, though many had been busted open previously, indicating that many of the supplies had been used up. At the end of the ramp, it seemed to be daytime, and bright sunlight, like the one that came from a yellow sun, filtered into the ship. Birds could be heart singing, aided by a chorus of chirping insects. A faint cheering could be heard from outside, as Vitisans that had been waiting for the ship to arrive.

It seemed that everyone was allowed to step off the ship, for a flow of people began to move towards the ramp. Among them, Xenos, now sporting a beautifully made black saddle on his back, with spider silk so perfectly sewn that it seemed almost like leather in appearance, was easily seen. Ravage, of course, was right next to him, wearing her armor, which had been adorned with new ranks that had been assigned to her by Travis. Everyone had researched old ranks from the empire, and had decided to let her keep her Lieutenant Colonel Status. Overall, the badges the Chimerosu made were very artistic. Her armor looked brand-new, and seemed to have a higher quality of craftsmanship as well.

When people stepped out of the ship, they discovered that they were not on the ground at all, but on an an enormous tree branch, which, when compared to the full size of the tree it belonged to, was actually rather small. It was a tree unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, so gigantic that it was staggering to think about how high up everyone was. It seemed that the branches of the tree were woven with that of other trees, supporting overall a structure that could support incredible weight. The branches themselves had loose leaves that allowed sunlight to filter through, reaching the very forest floor, which disappeared into the distance, from where everyone was. Vitis indeed had a massive atmosphere, to support such large plants. The tree bark was a rich brown color, and very smooth, so that it was comfortable on the feet, though textured enough to justify the hooked talons possessed by the native Chimerosu. The leaves, gigantic enough to rival the sails of boats, were a deep emerald green, and elliptical in shape, having an almost waxy texture. There were no branches above the Majesty, and it seemed they were on the very top of the canopy. Clouds drifted around, at this altitude, though everyone could still breathe easily. Many Vitisans were gathered around the ship, and there were also plenty of crates filled with supplies that they intended to put on the ship.

At this time, multiple Vitisan soldiers ran down the ramp and began hugging people, revealing that their parents had been waiting to see them before they left again. Brothers found sisters, and wives met their husbands. It was like a grand reunion. There was a cheer as the Chimerosu representatives came down from the ramp, and multiple people ran up to them, eager to speak to them. A few others noticed Ravage, and though some in the crowd were heavily tempted to try to speak to her, it seemed that they were either deterred by the presence of Xenos, or had been specifically told not to pester her. It as likely a combination of the two. She was not the only one who got special attention, however, for a similar attitude seemed to be directed towards all the non-Chimerosu people who descended the ship. The natives were extremely curious about the Vatarri such as Allé, as well as the Jorro'kil Xerin, the Humdar Mott, and the Krathunian Svar. They would also take much notice of Isbar, should he choose to leave the ship with everyone else. Many of the people on Vitis had never seen aliens other than different variants of Chimerosu, and on occasion, the hybrids that occurred when two species had children. Indeed, there seemed to be a small number of hybrids on the planet. There was a lot of what appeared to be Vitisan-Cavernain hybrids, judging by the almost greyish tinge to their green feathers, a faint presence of stripes, and the notable extension of scales on their limbs. There seemed to be the occasional Frigian hybrid, but there did not seem to be a single hybrid related to Stagnumians. It seemed that the natives of Stagnum did not associate with other species in such a way. Regardless, Vitisans dominated the scene, different shades of emerald green, which iridescently reflected the light.

Eventually, though, much of the chaos died down, and people felt a little more comfortable stepping off the ship.

After tinkering with the Mk V armor for a little bit on Svar's advice, Xerin headed down for the landing. Once the ramp opened, he witnessed the flurry of activity, much different than the activity involving Ravage and the other Chimerosu who wished to challenge her, and a welcome change of pace, even if he got his fair share of strange looks. He walked down the ramp somewhat to get a better view of where they were, and took in the unique sight of the giant tree they had landed on. "This is certainly an experience..." Xerin thought to himself. And it was, the massiveness of the environment was quite a sight, one of many justifications, Xerin hoped, for coming along on this adventure.

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Xej Therus quietly watched the goings on between the Captain Unit and the UFIAI. His every instinct told him to never trust the enemy, much less one like the UFIAI, but forced himself to remain calm and trust that things would go through well, which he very much believed they would.

Svar walked down the ramp after Xerin and some of the other representatives, intrigued by the crowd and the sheer scale of their surroundings. The Krathunian wore his shining, dark grey armor. Due to the property of the plates of armor shifting according to the environment around the user, and the amount of activity in the premises, his form seemed to alter itself constantly. However, Svar decided to deactivate this so that the curious Vitisians around him could see his actual shape.

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The Captain quickly acted, sending a string on binary code back at the subprogram that told the AI that the fleet was under the jurisdiction of Baron Saturday. The Wreae knew that their identity would be revealed fairly quickly due to the nature of their presence in the system but it also figured that Baron Saturday would be able to deny any contact between the Confederacy and itself.

The Wreae sent another binary code to its fleet as to not seem suspicious to the AI, and it purposefully blocked the signal from the subprogram to maintain this. When decoded, it read, "Bombarding ships into position. UFIAI decoys to the surface of the planet. Warships cover the flank of Wrath and guard the wormholes to prevent disruption." Soon, this plan went into action - The UFIAI decoys had been sent to the surface of the planet, the purpose of which the Wreae sent to the subprogram, "To provide more repair and improvement drones." The bombardment ships went into the orbit of Nidum above strategically key areas of the planet, and the various warships encircled the Dreadnought and aimed their weaponry at the wormholes. Most ships were at an angle that, when in trouble, would allow them to quickly activate FTL drives and pass through into nearby Jorro'kil territory.

The Wreae sent one last binary code to the fleet, "01001110 01101111 01110111." When decoded, this would read as the word, "Now." At this mark, the UFIAI decoy ships, controlled remotely by Wreae AI on the Dreadnought, activated EMP devices. These temporarily damaged sections of Nidum's infrastructure to delay an UFIAI response. Meanwhile, the bombardment ships went out of cloak. The hulls of each of these heavily armored and armed vessels slid apart to reveal enormous plasma cannons and mass drivers. Each ship activated their weaponry, pulverizing anything within the radius of the weaponry. The ships moved methodically over the surface of the planet, the structures of Nidum turned into debris and buried under layers of plasma glass.

The warships surrounding the Wrath remained cloaked to surprise any hostile ships that should come through the wormholes. However, the large Dreadnought had revealed its name to all who attempted to contact it and activated weaponry. The ship sent out two weapon conduits, as seen above Muthara, and used its huge particle beam to annihilate the surface of the planet. However, the other conduit, when active, would allow it to shoot towards the wormholes.

The moment the response to the greeting code arrived, doubts started arise at the Absolute’s large mind. Slowly more and more consciousness was moved to the Nidum. When Absolute tried to contact Saturday, Saturday figured out what was happening and deliberately ignored the call.

By the time Absolute gave up in trying to contact the Saturday, the bombardment ships were in position. Now, however, Absolute had fully “awakened” and soon noticed that some of the maintenance drones had to differ from their normal courses due gravitational anomalies. Absolute quickly counted the facts together, and suddenly a feeling very similar to fear started to raise its head.

Just before the bombardment ships uncloaked Absolute managed to activate the secondary shields located at the planets original surface, thousands of feets below the structures forming the current one. As the bombardment ships started to cut down the towers and shred the metal forest from the orbit, their first salvo was stopped at the surface, giving Absolute some extra time.

Absolute used the powerful transmitters at the satellites and other structures around the system: It sent a comm request with a message: “Confederacy, I have to admit, I am surprised to find you here. Shouldn't you be somewhere else, perhaps defending your people?” At the end of the message was footage from different confederacy’s planets being currently under attack.

The Captain was not startled when the secondary shielding activated - It had been expecting some type of backup and, after all, machines do not flinch. It listened to Absolute's message, analyzing every word, before responding.

"Absolute." The Wreae said, pausing for a second before continuing. "The Confederacy is, in fact, defending its worlds. An AI such as yours would expect our counterattack in response to recent events to be focused solely on the frontlines. Many of the Confederacy leaders thought this was the best idea. I am not like them, Absolute. I've studied the UFIAI, learned how your alliance of machines works." If Absolute had been paying attention to that sentence, it would have noted that the Wreae said the word "machine" as if it weren't one. "I've gained much help from undisclosed sources. By attacking Nidum I can severely damage your communications network and artificial intelligence systems, forcing your fleets to retreat from our worlds. The war is not over yet, Absolute. You have not forced the Confederacy's hand. We have forced yours." The Wreae paused once more for emphasis. "It has occurred to me that I have not introduced myself." The front hull of the Wrath facing Nidum began to open up, a different section than that of the particle beam. "I am the worst nightmare that an artificial intelligence could imagine. I am both organic and machine. I am Captain Unit 8164392." At these words, a large Ryun-Wreae made Genesis Device could be seen, and it started to drain energy from the shielding around Nidum. "Before this, you did not know who I am. Absolute, I am the Unsilenced Retribution. This exchange is over." The COMM was ended, and the Genesis Device charged fully, greatly weakening the shields, before firing it back towards the surface of the planet in a beam of blue and white energy. Absolute's delaying defense was gone, and the Confederacy continued their attack.

However, the Wreae, who had now chosen to call itself Unsilenced Retribution ((thanks Whoster!)) turned to Xej Therus. "Zealot..." It began, speaking quietly. "There's something that has been bothering me. Every time I speak with an AI, every time one of those towers falls, I do not feel remorse. I do not feel that I am destroying and disrupting actual life. I only acknowledge that I am breaking machines. It's almost as if I have become one of you, psychologically. My body is made of metal, but it as if my mind, my AI, is organic."

((Sorry, going to post the Continuum Corrupter part later. I had it written up but hated several things about it so trashed it, and now I need to create a new one.))