(Personal / DS)

    Continuing on to the outer reaches of the Mercevica Nebula, ever closer to the source of the energy signal, Roesh, Casey, Todd, and the crew of the Kodiak cruiser come across a dark planet.  They maneuver to a low orbit over it, only to discover the readings suddenly stop.
    "Hey boss, that's wierd." Casey mutters.
    "They went away?" Roesh asks, looking over her shoulder.
    "Yeah." she answers.
    "Well all that proves is that there's something here." Todd adds.
    They maintain a low and slow orbit running minimal power themselves, hoping to catch a glimps of the reading again so they can pinpoint it's location.  Roughly an hour passes before the passive scanners pick up readings of other ships jumping into the well.  Knowing they've been spotted, they power up and move away from the planet.  In their sights approaching at a high rate of speed are two pirate Corsairs.
    "Are we attacking or are we running?" the captain asks.
    Roesh takes a few seconds to contemplate the possibilities before finally answering, "We're doing both."
    "Aye sir." the captain says before yelling orders to his crews, "All stations prepare for battle!  On my mark, open fire and engage overdrive!"
    Todd yells, "I'm headed to engineering!" and bolts from the room.  Casey sits down with a few tactical officers to start figuring out ways they can take advantage of the planet and surrounding system to help even the odds.
    "Helmsman, full speed ahead!  All batteries, pick a target and open fire!  Engineering, engage the afterburners!" the captain barks out.
    They throttle up to full speed and blast their way past letting their shields take the first volley of enemy fire.  Turning back around while maintaining their speed, they make a wide arc that allows them to line up on the pirates taking away their side by side firing angle.
    Temporarily evening the odds, the crew of the Kodiak open up with their heavy autocannons again, peppering the front of the lead corsair.  It's shields maintain a good bubble absorbing all of the damage.  Passing at a high rate of speed again, the kodiak makes another wide angle arc, again lining up their opposition taking away the side be side firing angle.  Like last time, they open up with full fire, the lead corsair takes it's hits, returns fire, then pulls away beginning it's turn early, allowing the chase corsair to take it's shots.
    "They changed their tactics." the captain muses.
    "So, we'll just change ours." Roesh responds with.
    This time, not being able to line the two corsairs up, the kodiak goes solely after the lead corsair, leaving their backside exposed, but without worry since the kodiak never stops moving giving the second corsair time to try to pull around into flanking position.  Continuing the jousting maneuvers with the lead corsair, they once again fire on each other dropping each other's shields to practically nothing.
    "If this keeps up, the second corsair out there will have us for breakfast." Roesh Comments.
    "I agree." the captains states.  "Tactical, give us something good."
    "Aye sir." comes the reply.
    As the kodiak flies on past, the two pirate corsairs break with their patterns and trade assignments, forcing the Kodiak to engage the shielded one with each pass.  A tactical officer finally reports, "Circle close the planet rather then making short passes.  After enough distance is gained, break orbit once more and charge ahead with afterburner assist to the phase lane.  When we get to the other side, we can turn around and as soon as they jump in, we can fire as we pass them and jump before they can turn around and line up more shots on us.  If they jump paired up, it'll slow them down giving us time to repair and recharge our shields each pass.  If they jump in separate, then we can keep on hitting one at a time."
    The captain thinks for a second, "I like it, and each time we jump to the star our antimatter gets a boost in recharging as well.  Helmsman, next pass head for the planet and circle it."
    The Kodiak circles close to the planet, buying themselves time by not allowing the corsairs to line up a shot, when they line up on the phase lane, they break orbit and fire the afterburners once again to put some real distance between themselves and the enemy.  They jump back to the star and turn around waiting for the pirates to give chase.  Having more time then they expected, Todd is able to lead the damage control efforts in restoring some of the shield's power.  The two Corsairs jump into the star's well, only to be surprised by the waiting Kodiak, who immediately opens fire on the one that has close to no shielding left.  When the Kodiak's shields drop, they charge past the corsairs and before they can turn around to fire, the Kodiak makes the jump again, resuming the jousting style of hit and run attacking via the phase lane.  Once on the other side the Kodiak spins around and waits for the corsairs to jump into the well as a pair again before charging the lane while firing.  The tactic remains the same until the lead corsair is eventually destroyed.  Cheers go out across the bridge.
    "Keep it down, we haven't won yet.  All we've done is even the odds." the captain barks out.  The second corsair, not wishing the same fate gives up the phase lane chase and takes up a more defensive posture near the dark planet.
    "Captain, it looks like they're giving up the fight.  We'll have to come back with an exploratory force and see what's on the planet in a more proper fashion." Roesh says.
    "Aye sir." the captain replies.  "Helmsman, take us home."
    The kodiak jumps from the planet back to the star, and from the star back to the Finley system.  Roesh orders the ship back to Finley 2 for repairs and to give the crew some down time to relax after a well fought battle.

            Thenos was in his cabin, having been present for the majority of the cleanup operation after the pirate incident. The crews from Gromov had been surprised to see the highest authority in the fleet helping detaching and carrying the strange PsiTech-TEC adapters that had been installed throughout the Halycon. The devices were worrying. Advent could always capture Vasari and TEC ships, while the other two factions could never control an Advent ship. However, this technology changed things. Most of it was now on Gromov being analysed, but some was being taken back to Rebirth onboard the Revenge. The fleet was heading home, as Gromov was now producing its own ships to accompany its defences. The Halycon, also, was accompanying the fleet, with its crew fresh from Gromov. Gromov would be a major asset for the Collective, as the majority of new crews would be taken from its population of almost 12 billion. Thenos had never heard of such a huge population, but then again, he’d never seen a solid planet as huge as Gromov, which was also essentially one big city.

            While on his way back to Rebirth, Thenos decided to see what had happened on the bridge of the Halycon. He had been given the memory chip from the helmet camera of one of the marines. The helmet camera for the new armour had been Daala’s idea. It could act as a black box for a dead marine, if recovered. Thenos started the recording on a screen that was part of his desk. He saw from the full view of the visor, which was his first experience of how the world appeared outside the helmets he had designed. The visor could tint itself, but now it was at its clearest, allowing for very good visibility. The HUD didn’t seem too obstructive either, which was good. Thenos skipped to after the first firefight on the bridge, where the captain of the pirates was attempting to make a deal.

            “Look,” he said, “you can have the ship and everything on it. We’ll ask our mates to cease fire, and we can head home with them. Everyone’s happy.”

            “I don’t think so,” replied Corporal Hendon, “because we could kill you, and get the same result. I’m saying that you give us your ship, and tell us where you got the experimental tech. Then, we’ll give you a ride out of here, with an escort, to a planet of your choosing. What do you say?”

            Thenos could see, as the marine whose helmet camera it was turned her head, Major Kolt talking on a radio, and the pirate near his feet who would turn out to still be alive. The view moved again to a nervous looking pirate officer, who broke first, and spoke.

            “Lord Ryat,” he said, “that’s what Gerr-”

            Thenos saw the pirate captain flick a hidden pistol out of his sleeve, and, despite the quick trigger fingers of the marines, shoot his own officer through the head. The captain’s chest was reduced to a mess of semi-molten flesh by plasma rifle fire, as pirates reached for firearms wherever they could get them. Thenos stopped the recording there. Lord Ryat, and… Gerry? Gerrard? Possibly a pirate, as Lord Ryat sounded like someone too important to be a pirate. He would probably be part of the TEC, as Advent didn’t use titles like lord, and Vasari despised pirates and their lack of honour. Thenos made a mental note to search for this Ryat in a database when he arrived at Rebirth, but for now, decided that he needed to get some sleep.

            Thenos ran his hands through his hair. He was in a council meeting on Rebirth, with the council, Teldin, and Captain Jard, the new leader of the Revenge’s marines. The Halycon now had its own three platoons of marines, taken from the best of Gromov’s military. The council meeting had been spurred on by a disturbing chain of events. The council had decided to make cuts to the defence budget. Shortly after this, an Arcova Scout Frigate had turned up in the system, and had reached Rebirth before fleeing back the way it came. Ryan’s Disciples confirmed that there were indeed two wormholes reachable from the deep space sector, and that the Arcova had fled through the one that the Revenge hadn’t used to get to the Daros system. Now, Thenos was attempting to persuade the council to grant him additional supplies for defences.

            Don’t you see? he questioned, if we had been granted enough resources for the quick completion of the drone hangars, the Arcova would never have escaped. Now, it is only a matter of time before we face the wrath of a TEC fleet. I humbly request more resources to be diverted from improving this colony in order to defend it.

            I think, a young woman from the council said, that you should proceed with a little more caution. A sudden increase in weapons production will cause any enemy factions to attempt pre-emptive strikes, especially those who can see what we are doing.

            To be honest with you, Captain Jard said, I don’t think Roesh will give two shits about us defending ourselves. He gets far more from our existence than our destruction.

            Despite being shocked by his choice of language in a council chamber, an elderly councilmember agreed with the captain, saying, The good captain is correct. I believe that we can trust these new allies. They-

            Nevertheless, the irritating young woman said, until Gromov begins shipping resources to us, we are limited in our investments. Your… intensive use of building materials means that this colony’s progress has been extremely slow. Without a growth in the colony-

            Without defences, Thenos protested, the colony will be a puddle of radioactive sludge within the month. Once we can adequately defend ourse-

            Defend ourselves? Mister Garr, I recall that you submitted a request recently for a Deliverance Engine to have a place in orbit reserved. That is not defence. That is an example of military mindlessness and a lack of concern for the people of Rebirth.

            Thenos stood, saying, Military mindlessness? Do you think this is an easy situation? We are one of the few systems which can be entered from three points! Two wormholes and the star. This is a tactical nightmare! You can have your additional comforts down here when the sky up there is ready to take on the bastards who would blindly sweep us off the star charts.

            Thenos… Teldin privately warned, stay calm.

            As Thenos sat, Thenos’ rival spoke again, As I believe you may know, these are not mere “comforts” that we seek. These are advanced water collectors, improved cooling devices. Your delusions of us being an important military power are misconceptions of an overdeveloped ego. Simply because you managed to separate enough people from the Unity to start a new civilisation does not mean-

            That’s it, Thenos stood again, what’s wrong with you? Do you enjoy sitting there in your safe democratic chambers while people lose their lives on the front lines? What I propose is the continued safety of my people against those who are too blind to see people waiting with words of welcome! Now you can either join the military in its opinions, or you can side against the people!

            Once again, the woman said, you mistake the people as part of your military machine, and I tell you, that this is exactly what happened at Try’shd with your mother, and-

            Right, Thenos said, then we vote.

            You can’t just force a vo-

            Who’s with me? Thenos continued.

            Cautiously, four of the seven council members voted in favour of prioritising the military budget. Afterwards, Teldin caught Thenos on his way out.

            You need to be careful, Thenos, Teldin said.

            Yes, I know. I’m sorry.

            Look, I know it’s hard, but you need to see why they are concerned. They… well, not to cause offence, but they think you could end up like your mother.

            No, Thenos said firmly, I’ll never be like her.

            I believe you, Teldin assured Thenos, but they are politics. They think that what they do is for the good of all, and usually it is with us Advent, but if they feel threatened by something, they act… irrationally. Your military presence worries them, and as I’ve said, your mother was put in a similar position of power before-

            Yes, I know, and I can see how soldiers outnumber civilians in most of this system. However the civilians can’t be threat-

            Yes, I agree with you. Just… just try not to force decisions on the council from now on. I know that this is a dangerous situation if the enemy know where we are, but in future… Anyway, you find Jard, and you two meet me at the nearby bar. We can get to know him over a drink.

            The Arcova phase jumped from the wormhole, only stellar object in the Yusta system, to the star.

            “This is a promotion for sure,” said the first lieutenant, “an Advent outpost like this should get us a lot of credit with Paragon Carbon.”

            “One step at a time, my friend,” the captain said, “I’ll try to get a private appointment with Carbon. That should boost our chances of receiving good favour.”

            As the vessel arrived at the star, an officer reported, “We’ve found a capital ship, sir. It’s a fellow –UE_ vessel, called the Charybdis, but it’s not responding to our hailing signal.”

            “Really? Strange. Go closer, it may be a communications fault.”

            The scout ship moved closer. The captain never did return to Carbon.

" Been quite since the last bout sir"

Xenon was sitting in his quarters. He had been talking with the Underworld for the past hour, getting cought up on -Ue_ events while he had been busy.

" So the board had mode no major moves yet?" Xenon asked

" No seems, they are waiting on something, probably trying to suck as much money out of here before they head out. Iron is still rebuilding, has a nice fleet but you know he likes the biggest and baddest. Guesses are that he will come back for you and Carbon, he doesn't like to leave jobs unfinished."

"No he doesn't, what news of Gold?"

"Nothing new, holding some systems for us and getting the Underworld supplies, Fending off most of the other devisions that have tried to move in, but again no major battles to date."

" Alright, keep me posted if anything big happens."

" Will do sir, oh on a side note, one of Carbon's scouts, AS 376C90, It hasnt returned yet, all other scouts sent out have retured and sent thier info to us. Not sure whats up, probably the captain forgetting to send us the his info. Just find it and tell him to send it to us so we can take his ship off the MIA list."

" Alright I'll talk to Carbon and see if its back yet. In the mean time keep a close eye on the board, they have to be up to something"

"Yes sir, Underworld out"

Xenon hit some buttons on his desk, soon the communication officer came up on his screen

" Yes sir"

" Get me a connection to Carbon"

" Be a little bit sir, the array is down at the moment, one of the crews working on the Kostra ran into it"

" Ok well let me know when its up again"

" will do sir"

Xenon turned the screen off, Leaning back in his chair. The work on the Kostra had been intresting so far. With the joint work of the Visari and his own techs, they had made many technological break thoughs, which was good for all involved. Xenon thought of how each race, Human and Visari, could benifit from a lasting relationship. Then maybe they could kill off all of those damn Advent. Xenon continued in his thoughts, just waiting for the work on the Kostra to be done so they could continue on to the target.

(DS RP)

The Abettor and Advocate pull alongside Blue Fleet, small shuttles moving back and forth as materials are exchanged between both the fleet elements and the nearly hollow trade hub structure a fair distance away. One of the vessels arrives on board the DLS David, with a full parade of officers ready to meet the arrivals. The shuttle lands and doors open to allow the visitors onto the flight deck. The first man off walks towards Admiral Draakjacht and extends his hand, "Hello, Admiral. My name's Todd Degroff, fleet engineer. It's nice to finally meet you in the flesh."

The admiral extends his hand, taking Todd's and shaking, "It is indeed. I hope you had a good flight over."

Todd shrugs, "Nothing particularly interesting most of the way, but that Vasari gate. That would be something to get my hands on."

Alexander smiles, "I agree. My men won it into custody, but I've held back on having it cut apart to keep others happy."

"Understood. It's a constant trade made with someone." The officers are acquainted with the men coming off of the shuttle, handshakes exchanged all around.

Once the pleasantries are completed, Alexander turns his attention back to Todd. "If you'll walk with me, I can show you to the bridge," Alexander says, extending his arm to guide Todd off of the flight deck.

Todd takes notice of the vessel's tight corridors and some of the equipment as they make their way to the bridge. Once there, Lieutenant Commander Frishman rises from the admiral's chair and salutes. Alexander lazily salutes back and says, "Lieutenant Commander Frishman, this is Todd Degroff of the Roesh Free Traders. Mr. Degroff, this is my second in command and tactical officer."

"Please, call me Todd. It's a pleasure." The two shake hands and the men accompanying Todd disperse to mingle with others on the bridge.

Todd notices the camera setup and smiles, "You've got a lot of outdated equipment on this vessel. If you wanted some nice upgrades, you should stop by the Finley system. We can have you hooked up in no time with the best tech."

Alexander returns the smile and replies, "That's a very nice offer, but if I remember correctly, we are providing you with more advanced technology."

"For some things, yes. We still have a lot to offer you. Take that camera there. If you let me, I can have a visual communication device hooked directly into your holoprojection system. I can even have external visuals prepared."

"I don't see any reason we couldn't use the communication update, but there's no reason for externals. Targeting systems care little how pretty the other ship is," Alexander replies.

Todd laughs, "True, but you never know when it could come in handy."

Alexander shakes his head, "I think I'll pass on going through that much trouble. We..."

"Sir," the helmsman interrupts, "we have incoming from Portage III. Largely cruisers, but we have two confirmed capitals."

Alexander takes his seat, "All hands, red alert. Bring the fleet about and have Red Fleet form up. Mr. Degroff, have your Dunovs take position near the trade port and hold position."

"They would be put to better use giving you support," Todd argues.

"Negative. You're under my watch and, although we outnumber them, it's my responsibility to keep you and your men safe."

"You know I'm on your battleship, right?"

"Yeah, you might want to get belted in."

Realizing the soundness of the advice, Todd makes his way to a nearby seat and secures himself. Turning to watch the holoprojections, he sees the numerous red blips flood into the gravity well. The Lions are out of range as the last come in, but close in fast on the targets, the support vessels easing up on their engines to allow the Kols to take the lead. The enemy fleet is headed by a mere dozen Skarovas Enforcers with ten Serevun Overseers and another ten Junsurak Sentinels. Behind them a Kortul Devastator and Vulkoras Desolator cover their flanks.

Alexander keeps his focus on the holoprojector, "Tactical, what have we got?"

"Usual armor weakness, but they're packing a large load of phase missiles, sir," Frishman shoots back.

"Alright, have Captain Adler prepare a missile barrage and hold the line until the Vulkoras gets in range. I want that down before it's in range to do damage. Pull all strikecraft in for the time being," Alexander orders.

"Yes, sir."

The Samson moves up, taking position below the line of Kols. The Vasari vessels move in, the Enforcers maintaing the lead to shield the support vessels. The capitals continue to lag behind the lot.

"Sir, the enemy is moving in formation."

Alexander shakes his head, "There's no way they're that stupid. They know what a Marza is."

Frishman replies, "They could be using the cruisers as a wall in hopes of getting the Kortul close."

"And flood one ship with nanites while dozens retaliate? Doesn't sound right to me."

"Deperation isn't becoming of the Vasari. They do stupid things when cornered," Frishman quips.

The Vasari vessels fall within range of the Lions' extended weapons fire. Alexander says, "Mr. Degroff, let me introduce you to the more advanced parts of our vessels. Lieutenant Commander, open fire."

Ferro-Uranite rounds and Cyclotaurite loaded missiles blaze across space, a wall of hot metal crashing into the face of the enemy. The initial impact causes the enemy Enforcers to stutter in their course, a couple already consumed in fire. The Vasari vessels push against the fire for a moment longer before launching phase missiles.

"Sir, we have incoming."

"All hands, brace for..."

The ship rocks violently, justifying the call for safety belts. Amidst the turbulence, Alexander shouts, "Status."

Frishman holds onto his panel, steadying himself, "Three missiles penetrated the shields. The resilient metalloids are holding."

Todd's ears perk at the words while he holds the bottom of his seat. Outside of the vessel, the last of the Vasari cruisers come within range of the Marza's barrage and it opens up, a flood of missiles glittering the void and adding splashes of enemy debris. The Vulkoras is the first to break through the wall of fire, attracting the attention of the Kols. The Rebecca releases an ion bolt, sending the vessel into a drift before round after round from the Kols' railguns rip into the ship. The last of the Kols fires off its gauss cannon and the Vulkoras crumbles under the onslaught.

"Sir, the last of the phase missiles should be gone. Do we launch fighters?"

"No, we aren't in need of strikecraft cover. Turn and engage the Kortul," Alexander answers.

The Kols turn towards the Kortul now emerging from the cooling mess. Just before they can open up on the Vasari vessel, a power surge is detected coming from the Vasari core. The Kols open fire, only to find that the shielding regenerates at a rate comparable to the weapon damage. The Kortul returns fire with its wave weaponry, the damage being tolerable, but the rate of fire causing concern.

"Sir, we're not cracking their shields fast enough," Frishman warns.

"We'll hold. Just keep firing all weapons," Alexander insists.

The Kortul's shields, although holding, become opaque as light bounces across a great portion of its surface. The vessel arcs around to point its nose back in the direction it came. It's rear shielding takes the punishment with grace as it attempts to escape. Even with an ion bolt, the vessel's shields hold until the other systems come back online. The Kortul is almost far enough to begin its phase transition when another ion bolt passes blue fleet, striking the Kortul in the rear and again bringing it into a lazy drift.

"Sir, Red Fleet's made it from the other side of the gravity well. Their reporting all systems ready at full power," Frishman reports.

"Weapons free."

Gauss rail guns fire, one after another, until a round makes it through the shielding, blasting a hole in one of the rear sections. Ion bolts, carefully spaced, keep the vessel in place while rounds are piled on and the target steadily buckles and eventually erupts with the breaching of its anti-matter reserves. The flash of light subsides, and the Lions stand down. While crews across the board return to their normal operations, Alexander stands to address guest.

"I believe you were going to work on our communications screen?"

Todd smiles in return.

     Lord Ryat studied the holomap as the Kol dashed forth and disappeared. He queued up for information on any readings for that particular Kol and its activities here in the gravwell.  It came quickly and the results are odd. The Kol was registered as a -Ue_ vessel with a baseline energy reading. But the vessel that came through just showed some enormous energy usage in an attempt to escape. He studied the actions taken. Coming in, contacting him, his head hurt just thinking about the conversation, then contacting Xenon? just before the Kol jumps? He called up Xenon.
     "What!" Xenon said, clearly frustrated.
     "Is everything okay?" Ryat asked.
     "Yeah, just go some bad news," Xenon said in a dismissive tone.
     "From Charybdis?" Ryat asked.
     "Yeah," Xenon growled.
     "Anything I can help with?" Ryat asked in a concerned tone.
     "No!" Xenon almost shouted, "Wait, what did the captian of the vessel talk to you about?"
     "Um, wanted to know something about the pirates in the region," Ryat said, caught off guard. "Said it was for Carbon."
     "Kay, thanks," Xenon said, then cut the transmission adruptly.
     Ryat looked at the viewscreen for a while. He then called up the recording of the conversation with Captain Donson, studying it carefully, but not catching anything odd. Except the pain. He couldn't feel it now, but when he thought back to that event he could. It was like pain, sort of, almost like damage that would never heal. He paused for a moment, then sighed. All his resources were all tied up in preparing for the attack on Kyrene. He would worry about this later.

Here are some Galaxy Forge maps for the systems we were/are/will be RPing in

Eras

Portage

Kyrene

(No longer necessary view edit for original post)

(NO LONGER NEEDED, SEE EDIT FOR OP)

(Pesonal / DS)

    Back at the Finley Star, Tim is holding a video conference with his fleet captains.
    "Hey kids.  Just so we're all clear, the Assailant, Contender, Fulcrum, and Firebrand are heading out on assignment.  The Hoshikos are going with us as well as frigate group Baker.  Group Able is staying put with the rest of you for now.  The unassigned Kodiak and the remaining scouts are all assigned to group Able as of right now.  Henry informs me that since internal defenses are being reprioritized lower, to give us some mobility back, 6 Raloz are scheduled to roll off the assembly line ASAP.  Four will head to the star, one will head to Finley 1, and one will head to Finley 4.  So that means we'll have some shiney new starbases by the time this little expedition returns, and both phase lanes leading into the system will have 3 Argonevs each.  Good enough to slow down most fleets.  Hopefully as the system grows, so will fleet division, but you never know.  Odds are, we'll only grow as the contracts come in.  Henry also tells me that Finley 3, and the moon over Finley 1, as well as the third moon over Finley 4 will all be gaining repair bays by the time we get back.  Unfortunately, no upgrading ourselves just yet even though We really can't keep waiting like this.  The way planetary division is absorbing resources latelythere just isn't enough to put into fleet even if there were upgrades available.  So that's the jist of things...  Anyone have anything they'd like to say?"
    The captains all remain silent so Tim dismissess the meeting and has his expedition fleet form up at the star and jump to the Mercevia Nebula.  Like Roesh's trip through, the scanners pick up lots of energy readings, but almost all of them come from natural sources.  The only one they can pull out that doesn't appear to be natural is an intermitten source deeper in the system.  The pair of scouts are sent in ahead while the slower fleet forms up to make the jump together.  The scouts, after making the jump, run into the pirate corsair guarding the dark planet and the secret it's hiding.  They take evasive action outrunning the corsair and dodging it's random weapons fire.  The expedition fleet receives the warning from the scouts before they jump and sound the battle station alarms.  When the fleet arrives, the captain of the corsair sends them a message.
    "Don't get comfortable, you won't be here for long." he says and terminates the comms before anyone else can speak.
    The corsair jumps from the gravity well using another phase lane leaving the fleet alone to scan the planet.
    Aboard the Assailant, a sensor officer says to Tim, "Admiral Hodgkins, sir...  The readings stopped all together when we jumped into this well.  Surface scans aren't picking anything up either.  Whatever it is, they're below ground beyond the depth our scanners can penetrate."
    "So they must be really deep then." Tim says.
    "No sir." the sensor officer corrects him.  "The rock here is really dense and I wouldn't be surprised if something else is there jamming out signals.  We're not penetrating more then 30 meters."
    Tim leans over to look at the sensor display. "It's pretty uniform around the planet isn't it?"
    "Yes sir.  I would suspect there are rare metals or crystals naturally occuring inside the planet reflecting our signals or scattering them so we can't get readings.  It's far too vast to be man made and not have some sort of energy reading bleeding through it."
    Tim thinks for a moment before switching his attention to Captain Ellis. "Hey Josh, you think you and Stephany have any marine squads that would go planetside and check things out?"
    "Only every one of them." Captain Ellis replies.
    "Great, get them prepped.  I'll tell Steph to do the same.  As soon as we find the antenna being used, we'll send them down."
    "Yes, sir." Captain Ellis says with a salute and walks off.
    Tim calls up the other three fleet captains and informs them of the plan.  The two Kols move into a low orbit pattern and prep for a marine landing.  The Sova and Marza maintain a much higher orbit providing cover.  The frigates of battle group Baker scatter throughout the well.  The scouts soon report that probes found an antenna array built into the surface of the planet, and the marines are sent in to investigate.  Two platoons worth land near the array, 120 marines in all, and it doesn't take them long to find a cave entrance to the North of it.  The lieutenant in charge of the marine forces stresses maintaining radio contact at all times and if contact is broken, the squad is to return to the surface so cantact can be re-established.  This is in response to the sensors not being able to scan very far into the cave system.
    Not long after the marines begin to enter the caves, a pirate battle group jumps in from the star.  The group consists of seven corsairs, nine pillagers, six reapers, six cutthroats, and more importantly, a battleship, a stolen halcyon, and a stolen Dunov.
    "HEAVY CONTACTS SIR!" a sensor officer yells out to Tim while activating the general alarm.
    Tim jumps into his seat and buckles in. "Perfect timing.  Caught us with our pants down.  Captain Ellis, notify the marines we may need them to pull out quickly if things get too crazy out here."
    "Aye sir." captain Ellis replies while strapping himself into another chair.
    Battle group Baker begins to collapse in and around the pirate ships and open fire as soon as they hit maximum weapons range.  Several of the reapers break formation and head straight for the Fulcrum hoping to reach it before it can lauch a full compliment of fighters.  Normally, this would be a wise tactic, but this time, the Marza clears the planet and opens up with a missile barrage forcing them to back off.  When they try to rejoin the group, they're met by a flurry of missiles launched by the Javalis.  Although severely damaged, not one of the reapers fall.  The stolen Halcyon launches is full compliment of fighters and bombers forcing the Garda to all take up a screening position just in front of their capital ships.  The garda do their job and shred the incoming strikecraft up.  Again, most are able to return to the Halcyon severely damaged.  Tim advances the Kols to the front where they actively engage the pirate battleship.  The stolen Dunov sits behind it, supporting it whenever it can while shooting off both port and starboard heavy pulse laser batteries preventing anyone from moving into a flanking position.  Several cobalts and javalis fall under the intense punishment of the firefight.  Fortunately, Battle group Baker is able to knock out all of the cutthroats and most of the reapers allowing the strike craft to have almost free reign to make attack and bombing runs.  The battle seems to be a one-off, the RFT having greater numbers, but the Pirates having better weapons, shielding, and armor.  For each pirate ship that falls, so does one from group Baker.  For each ship of Group Baker that dies in a fiery explosive death, they retaliate to make the same happen to the pirates.  The hoshikos move in behind the Assailant and the Contender, each doing it's best to hide from enemy fire and keep up with the repairs to the Kols.
    It doesn't take too long for the pirate battleship to begin showing signs of distress.  Their shots come faster and with less precision, a typical sign of a panicked crew.  Both Kol captains begin shouting words of encouragement and praise to their crews and ask them to step up their performace to ensure victory.  They take turns firing rail gun blast after railgun blast at the Pirate battleship until it begins to turn away.  Captain Luhrs aboard the Fulcrum orders all strike craft under his command to actively target the battleship.  It doesn't take much longer for it's back to be broken.  Explosion after explosion rip the outer hull apart.  Several more shots from the main beam cannons from both Kols seal it's fate.  The pirate battleship drops from it's position and explodes sending metal shards in every direction.  Still being lined up, the Kols take on the Dunov which is clearly no match.  Knowing exactly where to hit it to produce the most damage, the Assailant and the Contender make short work of it and move on to the Halcyon.  The Firebrand with the aid of the remaining Javalis and Garda, maintain protective coverfire using their missile batteries to take out any drone that are launched.  The remaining cobalt and Krosov all form up and concentrate their fire on each pirate frigate remaining, taking them out one by one and minimizing their own losses.  Soon the Halcyon falls as well and battle group baker surrounds the remaining  pirate frigates removing any chance they have to escape.  When the last one is destroyed, the remnants of the battlegroup take up positions around the planet so the Hoshikos can work their magic.
    Tim calls up the lieutenant in command on the ground, "I hope you guys have something for me, we just took a beating up here."
    The lieutenant replies, "Sorry sir, progress has been slowed since we keep losing radio contact with the advance teams.  We've been holing up at locations and using squads as radio relays, and I personally don't care for playing this game."
    "I don't either so do what you can to find out what's there." Tim says.
    "Yes sir.  We'll do everythig we can."
    Half an hour later not much more progress has been made in the caves.  The marines have encountered booby traps and small pockets of resistance, further slowing their already slower then normal pace.  Unfortunately for the fleet, that wasn't their only problem.  Another group of pirate ships, very similar to the previous one, jump into the system looking for a fight.
    "SIR, HEAVY CONTACTS!" the sensor officer yells out and once again triggers the general alarm.
    "Son of a bitch!" Tim says as he pushes the radio officer out of the way so he can contact the troops planetside. "Emergency evac, get your asses back here yesterday, if you don't hurry we're all dead."  He jumps back into his seat and straps in for another battle.  "Set up a screen we need to fight and give time to get everyone back.  As soon as the landing ships are on, we're out of here."
    The fleet lines up in a blockade and opens fire on any frigate that comes too close  Captain Hubiak aboard the Firebrand designates targets for the fleet to fire on giving them the best possible chance to take ships out and minimize their own losses.  This pirate fleet makes more erratic actions showing off their obvious lack of battle experience, but even so, the pirates still manage to decimate battle group Baker after several minutes, leaving only the capital ships.  Captain Luhrs calls out for a cease fire.  To his supprise, the pirates stop shooting.
    "I am Commander Tahl.  Are you prepared to negotiate your surrender?" a man asks over the radio.
    Captain Luhrs answers, "Stand by Commander Tahl, our Admiral is on one of the Kol class Battleships, and they are currently experiencing communications issues.  I'm sure they're working on it as fast as they can since they're not being shot at anymore."
    "So you are not prepared to negotiate your surrender..." Commander Tahl says.
    "I personally cannot, sir.  I am not the commanding officer present." Captain Luhrs answers.
    Commander Tahl's face appears on the screen.  "I can make you the commanding officer by destroying the Kol." he says.
    "I'm sorry sir, but I'm actually the lowest seniority captain here, you'd have to destroy all three other ships first." Lurhs says stalling for time.
    The landing craft all break orbit and head for the Kols as fast as they can, prompting Commander Tahl to start making demands, "What are those and what were they doing on my planet!?!"
    Lurhs answers again doing his best to stall for time, "Those are technical engineers, Commander.  We found the antenna array and after following the intermitten signal here.  They were sent down to establish contact with what we assume is a colony and see if they needed any assistance in repairing their transmitter so they could communicate properly rather then in bursts."
    Commander Tahl looks back at one of the people behind him.  That person shakes their head no, and Tahl looks back at the camera.  "LIES!  You will tell me what you were doing or we will destroy you!"
    Captain Luhrs looks back at some of his officers on the bridge delaying his answer until he gets a thumbs up from one of them.  "Okay, okay.  The truth is we have no idea what is there and we were investigating it."
    Commander Tahl grunts out a little laugh, "Investigating with soldiers...  I like that.  I'll have to try it with your ships."
    Tim's face appears on the screen and he says, "Yeah...  But not today."
    All four RFT ships open fire.  The Fulcrum, already pointed in the right direction, throttles up, and heads for the jump point.  The Marza throttles up and turns the opposite way as fast as it can and heads for the jump point.  The two Kols, fire up their adaptive force fields and charge straight at the pirates forcing them to scatter.  The adaptive force fields soak up all of the damage thrown at them as they turn and head for the jump point as well.  Tim radios to the captains to not wait for a formation and to make the jumps as soon as they can.  The fulcrum reaches the jump first and vanishes.  The two Kols arrive just before the Firebrand and all three take hits to their aft sections until they all jump to the star.  The Fulcrum, well ahead of them, launches it's strike craft to provide cover during their retreat.  The pirate ships begin to jump into the system in small groups, and the strike craft do their best to stall them before they're recalled to the Sova so it can make it's next jump.  They arrive just ahead of the Kols and Marza, and all four jump from Mercevia back to Finley and to safety.
    Back at the Finley star, they're delighted to see that Henry did in fact get the starbases built.  Checking the system data, they see the other three repair bays got built as well.  Tim asses the ships and finds out all four took moderate to heavy damage, so he orders them all to head for a repair bay each, get patched up, and head back to the star, while he heads planetside on Finley 1 to talk to Henry about fleet's losses.

(NO LONGER NEEDED, SEE EDIT FOR OP)

Captain Siegel is consulting with his tactical officer when the helmsman calls his attention, "Sir, we have activity at the gate."

Siegel looks to the helmsman with confusion across his face, "Is anyone scheduled to come through?"

"No, sir. I have no clearance coming from the other side."

Siegel approaches his seat, but half way there, a Jarrasul Evacuator emerges from the gate, flanked by ten Skarovas Enforcers and eight Lansurak Transporters. With the red dots erupting on the holoprojector, Siegel dashes the remaining distance, yelling, "Red alert. All hands to battle stations!"

As the fleet, spread out in the space between the planet and the Vasari gate, begins to converge, the Aaron's broadside is exposed to the Jarrasul as it enters weapons range. The two begin to trade light blows until the Vasari vessel launches a blob of metal, constantly moving within its own structure, which passes clean through the Kol's shielding and slams into the hull, causing only a light shake with which to alert the crew to the blow.

"Sir, we've taken on nanites," the tactical officer alerts. "Armor plating on deck seventeen has been compromised. We're getting hull breaches in section twelve through fourteen."

"Evacuate the adjacent sections," Siegel orders. "Bring weapons to bear and disable that vessel."

The Aaron brings the port beam weaponry within their angle of attack and opens fire on the Vasari. Soon two Kols nearby come within range and engage the Jarrasul with full weaponry. With these arrivals, the Vasari support vessels swing into action, the fighters and bombers rushing ahead of the group to deliver phase missiles, many of which impact the hull of the Aaron. The Enforcers move to the head of the formation, engaging the three Kols while providing partial shielding for the Jarrasul.

The bridge rumbles beneath the feet of the Aaron's crew. Siegel now snaps his harness into place while saying, "Have the Samuel and Josiah catch those strikecraft on the second run. How far are the Elisha and Bathsheba?"

The helmsman replies, "Three and seven seconds out, respectively, sir."

The Vasari strikecraft turn in place, firing their engines hard to reverse their momentum. They come within striking distance of the Aaron and several fire off their weapons when burts of flak reach out from the two Kols on each side, enveloping their numbers in small explosions of hot metal. The density of the attack reduces an even half of their numbers into spinning wrecks. The Elisha arrives behind the attack, firing a beam of energy towards the Aaron to reinforce its shielding. The Cyrus and Bathsheba arrive simultaneously, one delivering additional fire into the fray and the other firing a high energy radio frequency bomb at the Jarrasul. The resulting impact releases a shockwave which pours over the tightly clustered Vasari vessels. The weapons fire begins to devastate the Vasari since the blast eliminated their shielding. The Jarrasul begins to turn about, only making a quarter turn before an ion bolt covers a great distance, pelting the round vessel in the rear and sending it into a drift.

The Transporters collect up their fighters and begin retreating through the gate as the Enforcers are cut down where they stand. Two Enforcers remain when the Jarrasul recovers power and continues its withdrawal. The Jarrasul reaches the gate as the last of its cover its reduced to rubble. Although a few shots manage to pockmark the Vasari capital, it escapes through the gate to wherever it came from.

With the threat gone, Siegel undoes his harness and proceeds to tactical, "Are the nanites still chewing through us?"

"No, sir. They stopped between sections ten and seventeen. Crews are on their way to assess the damage."

"Losses?"

His tactical officer shakes his head, "Too soon to tell, sir."

Siegel runs his fingers through his hair as he stares into space. After a moment, he turns to his communications officer, "Alert the fleets at Portage that the Vasari gate is not secure. Have all captains maintain yellow alert and divert resources to get our hull repaired."

"Yes, sir," the officer replies and begins relaying the messages through her headset.

Stationed at Portage IV, the David hovers near the phase path to the military planet while the Roesh Free Traders move their vessels about to service one capital after another. Alexander looks over a list of materials set to move when his tactical officer says, "Sir, I'm getting a phase signature coming from the star."

Alexander lowers the pad, "Are the slavers getting reinforcements?"

"No, sir. It appears to be a trade vessel of Vasari design. Not sure if it's a slaver vessel or another faction."

Alexander rises from his seat and approaches the tactical station, "Is there any chance that it's just an error?"

Frishman shakes his head, "No, the psidar is reading no discrepencies. It's clearly a phase jump."

"That makes things a little harder. Alright, keep an eye out for anything else coming in and log it. In the meantime, run a diagnostic. I don't want to find out we're shasing ghosts," Alexander orders.

"Sir," the communications officer interrupts, "Captain Siegel reports a Vasari attack came through the gate."

Alexander looks up, "Tell me you're joking."

"No, sir. They're maintaining yellow alert and beginning repairs."

Alexander rubs his eyes, "Alright, let Lord Arnoldt know that the Vasari gates are still connected to the network and that Portage III is getting support from another system. We might not be able to starve them out unless we come around from one of the Eras stars. Lieutenant Commander, work up a few plans in case we have to take care of the problem ourselves."

Affirmations come from both parties and they set to their task while Alexander departs to his ready room.

----

-- Stationed at Portage IV --

Blue Fleet --

5 Kols

DLS David - Fleet Admiral Alexander Draakjacht and Lieutenant Commander Frishman

DLS Elijah - Captain Ermler

DLS Abraham - Senior Captain Borovsky

DLS Isaac - Captain Neuhaus

DLS Job - Captain Halevi

3 Dunovs

DLS Jacob - Captain Feldman

DLS Judah - Captain Oliver

DLS Solomon - Captain Perlman

2 Sovas

DLS Moses - Captain Cohen

DLS Noah - Captain Dershowitz

1 Akkan

DLS Rebecca - Senior Captain Levin and Commander Maxwell

1 Marza

DLS Samson - Captain Adler

Red Fleet --

5 Kols

DLS Adam - Senior Captain Aronoff

DLS Abel - Captain Palatnik

DLS Daniel - Captain Ornstein

DLS Esau - Captain Mandel

DLS Jeremiah - Captain Leibowitz

3 Dunovs

DLS Jonah - Captain Kisling

DLS Joseph - Captain Jacobi

DLS Joshua - Captain Hyman

2 Sovas

DLS Esther - Captain Heine

DLS Sarah - Captain Greenberg

1 Akkan

DLS Eve- Commander Finkelstein

2 Marzas

DLS Isaiah - Captain Eliad

DLS Ishmael - Captain Berkowitz

-- Stationed at Eras VII --

Green Fleet --

4 Kols

DLS Aaron - Senior Captain Siegel

DLS Cyrus - Captain Strauss

DLS Samuel - Captain Sandler

DLS Josiah - Captain Flohr

2 Dunovs

DLS Elisha - Captain Bar-Lev

DLS Bathsheba - Captain Liebermann

1 Akkan

DLS Hagar - Captain Zuckermann