In the universe, anything can happen (private)

*The galaxy has become a much quieter place since the Praos incident. For all intents and purposes the coalitions set up by the Heraklea and Christana have collapsed, more or less. It ended very amicably, however, as the Ordenreich was closer to its neighbors then it ever has been before. The Hierarchy/democratic balance of power has worked surprisingly well as the Hierarchy could narrow its focus more when before their administrative resources were spread very thin in domestic affairs. Now, however, a citizen government has taken that role and their administration of the local economy combined with the military professionalism of Ordenreich Strategic Space Command and the fact that the Ordenreich sits in the middle of the largest and busiest trade routes in the galaxy has allowed the Ordenreich to experience an economic golden age. Because of this the Ordenreich has once again focused on colonization and has recently expanded its borders to control three new systems. The main goal was for the Ordenreich to one day expand to the galactic rim with the purpose of looking for extragalactic life. The Hildenburen invasion has given the Ordenreich a fear and curiosity of life beyond the galaxy. In one of the new colonial systems one of the Ordenreich first "Artillery" fleets led by the Ultra-Dreadnought, T.S.F. Invictus, was just completing a patrol. The Ultra-Dreadnought had been retired from active service in the Ordenreich military as they were deemed to big of a target and too costly to repair, maintain, and replace. The ship was still a formidable asset as her firepower rivaled that of any other normal Ordenreich fleet and her sheer size was a great intimidation factor of any would be pirates. On top of that the Ultra-Dreadnought was and still remains a symbol of the Ordenreich navy so while technically retired the ship still served an important role symbolically and physically with the protection of Ordenreich systems.

The Ultra-dreadnought and its escort fleet of 5 frigates and 2 carriers drifted on the edge of the system scanning for threats. The Invictus was loaded with the system defense package (5 Ordenreich destroyers were stored in her hanger to be used as a surprise deployment for any enemy that might attack the fleet. The carriers had a few fighter wings deployed that flew lazy patterns around the ships waiting to be sprung into action at the slightest provocation. In the Invictus the Order Admiral in charge made his last patrol report for the day.

Order Admiral Nelacar: This is Order Admiral Nelacar, T.S.F. Invictus, Ordenreich 4th Artillery fleet, to O.S.S.C. New Novgorod Colonial. Patrol pattern complete, nothing of note detected. We are returning to base.

O.S.S.C. New Novgorod: This is O.S.S.C. New Novgorod Colonial. We read you Invictus. We will see you when you arrive. New Novgorod out.

"Dammit, Samsir, we're heading the wrong way-"

"Gieffrei, did you want to get burnt to a crisp by that neutron star? Neutron radiation is no laughing matter, mind you- hell, our sensors indicate that parts of our hull are damaged by neutron capture!"

Samsir swore that he thought he heard 'idiot' come from his partner's mouth, but said nothing of it as he read each passing line that appeared on the vessel's newly-aquired avionics terminal: Two days had passed since Sister Miriam took in Koen and Genevai for the latter's medical treatment, leaving the D'tyzkin Corsair understaffed by both men and Irdin- the guard whose name escaped Gieffrei's mind for so long. Y'linl's mutilated form laid unconscious in the hold as thick, orange-red blood swirled around the comatose Aurelian's body, suspended in the air only by weightlessness in the zero gravity environment.

A pair of antigraviton projectors stationed at the organic craft's fore glowed precipitously from side-reactions- photons were streaming off into the void- as the intricate machinery worked to fold space around the D'tyzkin Corsair's profile. Within thirty seconds, the Tantalan crew would find themselves in an unfamiliar system after breaching the heliopause; Gieffrei let himself plop into a torn, aging exotic leather stool produced decades ago by a skilled Aurelian artisan. After reading through another several chapters of the Conclave Bible, thought Gieffrei, it was perhaps best for him to continue calming down and let Samsir do the dirty work. Y'linl's screams still resonated in both men's ears along with slaughterhouse-like images of Y'linl's torturous experience.

*Order Admiral Nelacar had just finished prep work to bring the fleet back into orbit around New Novgorod when his comm officer spoke up.*

Comm Officer: Sir, I got an anomaly on the edge of the Rus system. Its nothing we seen before but the tac computer says best guess its something entering the system.

Nelacar: What like space junk?

Comm Officer: No sir, its moving too fast for space junk.

Nelacar: How many are there?

Comm Officer: The computer predicts one but we can't be sure.

Nelacar: *sigh* Just when I thought my day was done. Order crew to remain at their stations and send a drone fighter to investigate the anomaly. Also inform O.S.S.C. New Novgorod whats going on. It better be more than space junk or you're going to have to deal with an entire Ultra-Dreadnought's worth of pissed off crew members

Comm Officer: *gulp* yes sir

Raised bumps glinted under the starlight which made obvious the craft's organic nature. Streaks of space dust streamed along the lifting body's major axis, interrupting warty growths with evidence of sustained abrasion. Even the now-trimmed proboscises, once accountable for identifying subtle changes in the ISM, spoke words of wear at the filed barbs.

However, the D'tyzkin Corsair was not without a serious retrofit; Ripping through the foremost chitin were two Relativity-Displacement probes that seemed to join each other at the base. To the sides of the ovoid vessel's 'nose' gleamed an array of access panels cauterized to the organic surface- likely used for accessing the Corsair's new hardware. Proceeding to the midsection from the Corsair's nose, bound cables fed through minuscule loops in the hull towards the aft and into the impatient, Aurelian warp drive.

---

"Samsir, are we out of range of interference? We need to relay Red Devil's information to Commodore Ayub-Stinley."

"We are, but this ship's handling sucks. It takes minutes for these drives to compensate our trajectory," began Samsir as he impaled one analog switch with his index finger. The dated monitor flickered to another screen, detailed with information regarding navigation and... Shit!
Rippling turquoise dots of gravitational distortion met Samsir's eyes.

"Gieffrei, we've got-"

"Damn, I well know when we have contacts! Is the transponder active?"

Samsir shook his head whence his eyes read off information regarding power consumption.

"Our transponder is active. Extending tachyon frequency range to the radio bands."

---

Originating from one edge of the system, the Tantalans' transmission would stream with marvelous amplitude as alternating pulses of tachyons preceded their slower electromagnetic counterparts towards the the Ordenreich vessels.

~ Initiating Standard Contact Procedure-Doublenull-Eight

This is the D'tyzkin Corsair of the Tantalan realms to any possible contacts in range. We are proceeding through the system on standby alert.

~

((Sorry for the delay. There was a big-ass project my team and I had to complete for class.))

(OOC: Not a problem)

*To say the Order Admiral was surprised would be an understatement. O.S.S.C. was fairly certain that the regions from the Ordenreich to the rim were relatively clear. Deep space scans showed no signs of any space capable species in the area. First contact was the last thing he expected.*

Comm Officer: Sir our drone is awaiting orders on what to do about the new contact.

Nelacar: Hmm... its one contact and based off data we received from the drone the ship is either damaged from battle or a derelict vessel that was salvaged. Perhaps a combination of the two.

Comm Officer: It could be a pirate trying to lure our fleet from New Novgorod.

Nelacar: Possibly... Tell O.S.S.C. New Novgorod Colonial to begin First Contact procedures. The colony is to remain on high alert until we give the all clear. Prepare micro-slipspace jump to the contact. Our fleet is to go there at full combat alertness Ultra-Dreadnought out front, frigates in support. Also deploy escort destroyers immediately upon arrival. If this is a trap I want to be prepared.

Comm Officer: Yes sir.

*The Ordenreich fleet jumped from New Novgorod to the contact. They arrived a few hundred kilometers from the contact and the Ultra-Dreadnought immediately deployed its destroyers and armed FOABs in preparation for any attack. (OOC: The Ultra-Dreadnought is the size of a Covenant super carrier from Halo. If you don't know any of that I posted its exact dimensions in my military codex page.) After the fleet was fully deployed Order Admiral Nelacar responded on the same frequency that the unknown contact called them on earlier.

Nelacar: Unknown vessel self-designated as "Tantalan." This is Order Admiral Nelacar of the Ultra-Dreadnought, T.S.F. Invictus, Ordenreich 4th Artillery Fleet. You are currently trespassing on territory owned by the Hierarchy of the Ordenreich and protected by its military branch, the Ordenreich Strategic Space Command. Declare your intentions or you will be subject to boarding procedures.

"What is going on here?"

"I don't know!" Shouted Samsir amid hull-vibrating klaxons which, until recently, did not exist days before. One dashboard light flickered on and off with a bloodthirsty crimson glow, perhaps signaling a major update on Samsir's console, who cycled through the various displays until his gaze met the original navigation screen: The dots were much, much closer and seemed to drift towards their relatively petite, underarmed, sluggish transport.

"Irdin speaking here: What the hell is going on? I'm busy enough keeping Red Devil alive- shit, are we under attack?"

"Irdin!" Began Gieffrei after his fingers plunged into the intercom transmission panel. "Take cover now! The RD probes detected a cluster of objects which seemed to warp instantaneously near our position. God forbid if-"

"Sir, I would suggest looking out the portside pane: Looks like we have a visual!"

"What? I thought-" Gieffrey had interrupted when his heart swelled with terror: From behind six inches of flesh-carbon fiber hull, two sets of war-weary eyes recoiled in horror at the sight of so many large vessels... Against one stolen Aurelian frigate equipped with a glitchy Alcubierre drive.

"Hailing signal detected and processed: Immediate response suggested!"

"Samsir, issue another hail. Elaborate on our nature so that we may not get killed-"

"Dammit, Gieffrei! We need to leave right now!"

"Samsir! Enough! We even so much as let our Alcubierre bubble glide us along another inch, and these unknown, omniscient basards could smash our hopes of saving our fellow countrymen into pieces!"

Samsir wanted to say something, but his mouth felt as if it were under crosshairs by Gieffrei's ferocious gaze.

"Do it, my God!"

"We're dead, but fine!"

And so Samsir, catching only "... Declare your intentions-" typed in five strings of commands before the onboard tachyon-radio transmitters pinged back a response.

---

~

We are shippers hailing from outside of this region; We ask only for clemency for intruding upon... OSSC territory, if we hear correctly.

We are in the process of initiating an Alcubierre warp out of this system once our anti-graviton projectors are fully charged. Our destination: Our home world in the Core regions.

~

---

Well... If smuggling military-grade equipment counted as shipping, so be it. Both gentlemen in the bridge and one below in the holds were well aware of their own donated cargo, and Gieffrei found enough room in his anxiety spurt to sigh: For all both men knew, this could be one of several pirate groups which a pilgrim back at that Missionary Post had mentioned. And losing a siege's worth of cargo was Gieffrei's last necessary setback even before death.

Nelacar: Did we get any of that?

Comm Officer: Most sir, universal translator is still working out the kinks but we managed to get the gist of what they are saying. Based off what was said I think we successfully put the fear of God into them. They claim they are shippers and are they did not know they were passing through Ordenreich territory. All I got after that was they were attempting a warp which I assume is their form of slipspace and are returning to their home system in the Core...

Nelacar: The Core? What core? You mean the galactic core?!

Comm Officer: It would seem so sir.

Nelacar: I thought that region was all supernovas and black holes... and why the hell are they out here? This is pretty damn far from the Core and I doubt a serious trade route could have been running from the rim to the core without at least someone noticing. Something in their story is not adding up... Prepare return message.

Comm Officer: On sir

Nelacar (on comm): Attention Shipping vessel, why we are willing to grant clemency based off the fact our scans show your vessel has no weapons and is quite literally falling apart we cannot permit you to jump system. Elements of your story do not add up and we will require further inspection to check out your story. Our scans also detect that your ship is quite literally falling apart. If you plan to get to the Core in that then you're going to be drifting half of the journey. Our drone fighters are moving in to escort your vessel to a docking bay on our Ultra-Dreadnought. Do not attempt to deviate or flee. We have 4 fusion ordinance astro bombs or FOABs trained on your vessel and each is capable of a 1.2 petaton yield. This is enough to destroy a quarter of any planet in this system. We will not hesitate to utilize FOABs if you give us a reason.

"Gieffrei, I think I just pissed in my trousers. Literal-"

"What a pleasant visual, fool! Now that we've hesitated, we've lost our chance to escape! Damn it all!"

"You're the fucking fool, Gief'! They would have opened fire on us anyways the moment we activated the damned fusion-antimatter generator!"

"Samsir. Enough..."

Literally breathing down his neck, Samsir resisted the urge to backfist his CO in the face as the man's words continued:

"If one Godforsaken shot even so much as breezes past us, I will strangle you first until you asphyxiate into unconsciousness, you hear?"

"Gieffrei, if you do not want them to fire on us, perhaps it would behoove us to follow their orders? At the very least, these 'Godforsaken' bastards won't have any jurisdiction to imprison us for transporting ammunition back home-"

"Samsir, tell Irdin to hide Red Devil and his dismembered limbs, and to spray down the improvised table. We've no telling what we can expect from these bastards."

"Irdin?"

"Yessir?" The guard's voice emerged through a slight static background induced by passing radio waves from the galaxy's many stars.

"Clean up Red Devil, throw a shawl over him and his hewn limbs; and do something about that fecal odor in the operating room; it smells like their bioships' shit."

"Roger that, replied Irdin as footsteps could be heard through the intercom grille.

---

~

Approach orders confirmed. Proceeding to enter standard approach pattern as designated by your interceptors' orders. We will not diverge from our path, nor will our warp drives fire a single quantum particle into the ISM.

~

As so, the D'tyzkin Corsair was joined by the interceptors and let them guide the bioship towards the carrier: Light reflecting off of the chitinous hull would indicate to mass spectrometer sensors that the vessel's composition, if its metallurgy upgrades were disregarded, was of a carboniferous nature which stayed consistent with its actual appearance. Every inch closer to the battle group would give observers greater resolution to study the bioship's form- how each grown chitin plate seemed to overlap one another in an outermost skeleton which maintained a proper semi-permeable barrier for allowing hydrogen ions to pass into the vessel's hydrogen compression vacuoles, but not back out.

*The Order Admiral watched the vessel as it approached the hanger. He was satisfied that they were obeying orders and ordered the hanger locked down and had security teams establish themselves around the hanger. He was heading down to the hanger via elevator when his second in command who temporarily commanded the bridge spoke over his mike.*

Order Captain Harkin: Uhh... sir. On a whim we decided to use our drones to perform deeper scans on the vessel.

Nelacar: Ok...? and...?

Harkin: The material on its hull appears... organic in nature.

Nelacar: You mean an organic design. Aesthetically presentable, streamlined design?

Harkin: No sir. I mean honest to God flesh surrounds the vessel.

Nelacar: How? How can organic material survive in the vacuum of space.

Harkin: All I can say sir is it might have some sort of exoskeleton around the fleshy parts. However, we have never encountered something like this before and we have neither the know how nor the tech to find out more.

Nelacar: Understood keep me updated.

*Nelacar stepped off the elevator and some paladins in full power armor took up his flanks and he began walking to the vessel just as it was setting down. Even though the material and design were completely alien it was clear that the vessel seen better days. Nelacar activated his comm as soon as it powered down*

Nelacar: Unknown vessel, open up and send out your commanding officer plus whichever two crew members you deem appropriate for negotiation. Exit without weapons or my men will be authorized to fire.

"Umph!"

Y'linl, with his legs now no more than mere stumps at the knees, felt his left shoulder absorb the impact as Irdin shoved him into an elongated crate whose open side was only eighteen inches high. Still loopy from sedative, Y'linl could do nothing more than pass out as Irdin lowered a curtain-like cover over the opening, leaving the alien enshrouded in darkness and alone as his captor sank through the bubble-like portal which divided the cyanide-rich cargo hold from the Terran-standard atmosphere all three human occupants had pined for in their initial stays. Both Samsir and Gieffrei joined Irdin in the main corridor before the trio let the vessel's automated boarding ramp hiss near the flesh-coated hydraulic pistons. Onlookers in the hangar would be able to watch the five-meter boarding ramp smack against the hull before three HAZMAT-suited gentlemen emerged from the vessel's interior.

God, Samsir, oh how you will be punished back at home...

Gieffrei bit his tongue at this seething thought as his bubble helm's photochromic surface lightened up, giving the soldiers in the hangar a good look at his war-hardened face. Through his speaker grille came a low voice which seemed to be soft-spoken... For now.

"This is Gieffrei of the D'tyzkin Corsair. We are Tantalan-human men carrying supplies to our home world when we had to take a hairpin turn away from a noisy neutron star."

Nelacar: I see... I am Order Admiral Nelacar of the Ordenreich. You say you are carrying supplies but what are you doing here? This system is the closest Ordenreich system to the galactic rim. Why are you so far away from home I wonder. If you merely tell me the truth I will be sure to take that into consideration when we decide what to do with you. As it stands you are humans who don't claim to be part of any known empires to us taking supplies from a region of space we are sure has no intelligent space faring life to an empire that lies near the galactic core, the complete opposite end of where you are now. Right now you are under suspicion for piracy which according to the laws we passed with our neighbors makes you subject for execution. Tell me... what will I find if I ordered my men to search your vessel? If I find weapons and you haven't told me anything I should know I will have you arrested for piracy which is pretty much a death sentence here. If however I find said weapons and you tell me whats going on now. I'd be more than willing to show leniency.

*As the Order Admiral finished he nodded to the knights and paladins around them and they started to approach the foreign vessels boarding ramp*

"I fucking told you, Samsir! Now we're going to be arrested-"

"Gieffrei? Samsir? Perhaps I should represent our cause."

Both senior Tantalan men went silent, the Captain keeping his calculating gaze focused on Irdin's gait while Samsir looked the other way towards the architecture of the carrier.

"If you insist on knowing our origins, I will tell you: We traveled away from the Core throughout the avast, populated Centauri realms. Searching high and low for medical supplies for an injured lady, we stumbled upon a Conclave Missionary Post which offered sanctum for our crippled passenger and her physician- Koen- who stayed behind with her."

Irdin resisted the urge to tear open his helmet to wipe away some beads of sweat, no matter how anxious he was, and continued to orate.

"We are members of the Abrahamic Movement for Free Tantalus: An organization whose goal is to liberate our home world from an anthrocidal species hellbent on exterminating our cultural heritage. Our lady stayed behind with the Conclave Post, us believing that she would receive better care under a sedentary environment rather than within our ramshackle medical bay. Among the things we received are crates of concentrated-foci laser rifles, external charge packs, chemical weapons-resistant HAZMAT suits and other numerous supplies. We continued to travel away from the Core- away from other civilizations- in order to interrogate an Aurelian bastard we captured on accounts of connections with a clandestine Alcubierre Drive research program in our nemeses' backwater worlds. That was when we inadvertently passed through a neutron star system and forced our efforts back here, where we stand afore your presence under questioning."

---

If the inspectors were to pass up the boarding ramp and into the main corridor, the first observation that could be made was the relative unavailability of light save for newly-installed emergency lamps which blinked overhead in alternating crimson-institutional white patterns. Equivalent to doors were portals webbed shut with a membrane which would allow passage into maintenance shafts, storage compartments, and the main cargo bay. Passage into the lattermost room would require the donning of a HAZMAT suit equipped with an external air tank, however, as stipulated by a steel plaque suspended from the right edge of the portal:

No entry without HAZMAT suit; Dangerous cyanide atmosphere present!

If a HAZMAT team was available, such soldiers would be able to enter the dark room and let their eyes adjust to see stacks of fabric-curtained crates which contained supplies... And an operating table-like apparatus with cufflinks towards the top and center-bottom of the table. Upon close inspection, the faintest hints of blood could be spotted within minute creases in the biologically based textile canvas, fresh with orange-crimson streaks indicative of another species's presence.

*Nelacar gave the captain a very intent stare, like he was trying to stare into his very soul. After a tense ten seconds his face lit up and he chuckled startling even his guards.*

Nelacar: See? Was that so hard? You have told me the truth. While it won't get you my complete trust you have earned enough of it for me to let you go. Men get out of there!

*The knights that Nelacar sent into the ship came out, some of them definitely unnerved by the completely alien, organic nature of the ship. Nelacar then ordered that the new arrivals be now treated as guests and not as prisoners.*

Nelacar: As you can see my people can be just as nice as we are terrifying. I apologize in advance for the way we treated you early on. We had some fairly nasty First Contact scenarios in recent memory hence why we treat every one with a high degree of suspicion and caution. Why just ask the Hildenburen...

*Nelacar ordered one of his knights to display the footage taken from the Hildenburen invasion of the Ordenreich long ago*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmsCnZwsmAc

(OOC: Yes I did make that video)

Nelacar: As you can see such events can really change a people's disposition towards outworlders. But please enough about us come with me I will give you a tour of our pride and joy as you explain this revolution of yours.

(OOC: If you want you can make comments about anything on the ultra-dreadnought that tickles your fancy when you post. FOABs, destroyers being kept inside the ship, the size, etc.)

"Samsir! I am still going to kick your ass later, you hear?"

"For what reason, Gief'?"

"Don't you dare call me that after this!"

But it was too late. Before Gieffrei could shove Samsir in the shoulder, the latter and Irdin had already stepped forward to trail the Ordenreich personnel: The group would have to talk later since both men were helplessly observing the events which unfolded on the screen. Besides, there could be a remote chance that tales of Aurelian occupation reached this part of the galaxy decades before the men did. If so, and if this vessel's crew seemed to believe them, then Samsir was right... Speaking of who:

"You say that you wish to hear of our revolution, aye? Well, it is a sixty-year old story taking into account the suffering, torture and genocide our people have endured. Gieffrei would probably be the gentleman to ask. Gieffrei?"

"What?" Came from the sullen-looking man whose eyes glinted up at Samsir, devoid of apparent hostility for now.

"Tell them our story; We ought to regale our hosts with tales of heroism if we wish to be taken seriously."

Gieffrei sighed and listened.

"Fair enough... Before we start, our background is worth mentioning; I am Gieffrei of Tantalus as are Irdin and Samsir. Our home world is situated not necessarily inside the Core, but right on the edge. A perfect haven for travelers of all types both illicit and humble; legitimate and pompous. As you might have known, we are currently at limited war with the Aurelians, an ancient group of tyrannical monsters whose sole goal is to pillage, murder, and rape our planet and its inhabitants for the sole purpose of fueling their barbaric economy. We went from boasting a healthy population of six billion spread across an urbanized ecumenopolis, to as few as one and a half millionmen and women huddling in ruins, overcrowded labor camps and whatever toxic wasteland these brutes inhabit!"

At this point, anyone could clearly see tears welling betwixt Gieffrei's eyelids as the man sobbed in his dialog.

"At the same time, those hideous barbarians inhabit the intact frames of our upright towers, thinking that our buildings are exactly like the poisonous treetops of their arborist 'heaven,'- if such a word can come out of my mouth, God help me- but whose only predators are 'us.' And thus is why the Abrahamic Movement of Free Tantalus was born under Cmmd. Ayub-Stinley's command- and why sporadic human worlds are at risk of enslavement. Half of our scientists are exiled to their worlds in substandard HAZMAT suits, never to see their research pilfer back towards our home world; When a scientist grows even the faintest clue of feebleness, they butcher 'im in a blood-splattered slaughterhouse where his or her remains are used to feed their numerous bioships for maturation along with whatever standard fare is offered to those beasts. Our very vessel was probably formed from no fewer than two cannibalized Tantalan civilians"

All three Tantalan humans followed the Ordenreich personnel before one frigate which seemed to be docked for repairs. Irdin kept his gaze ahead, though his owl eyes seemed baffled: Gieffrei never told stories as gruesome as this.

"We tried to fight the Aurelian invaders from day one, but we were bombarded with chemical weapons and pathogens which halved our population overnight: Soot from acid-bombarded debris filled our dying atmosphere as our world entered debris winter. Like hornets from Old Terra, the Aurelians stung us on every square inch of our body until we bled white. Our syngas reserves dwindled within three months, forcing our crippled air force to disband as with any armored divisions under King Faroek Emomalli's reign. Today, our treacherous ex-monarch lives amongst the Aurelian bastards on their home world, where he sloths in a lifestyle magnitudes higher than our former middle class. This is all I have to say."

Nelacar: I see... I wish that we met sooner. Once upon a time the Ordenreich established a document called the Writ where basically the Ordenreich will fight for those who cannot defend themselves, the Hildenburen war which started with the video I just showed you changed all of that. If you arrived in the pre-Hildenburen Ordenreich then you would have had the 10 plus of ships like this one heading for your homeworld to defend it. As it stands though the Ordenreich's attitude towards foreign offensives is greatly frowned upon in the Ordenreich. Unless...

*Nelacar's eyes grew wide as he thought of something inspirational then quickly stepped aside as he made a call. The only words that could be heard from him were "O.S.S.C. Livenstein." Nelacar stayed on the mike for a full 2 minutes before closing the coversation he had on it.

Nelacar (on comm): Yeah... yes sir... I understand sir... Nelacar out.

Nelacar (to Tantalans): I just got off the phone with the highest branch of our military O.S.S.C. Livenstein and explained everything you just said to me. Our high command has just dispatched one of our stealth frigates to the area where you originated to confirm your story. If what you say is true then O.S.S.C. Livenstein might be able to convince the civilian portions of our government to authorize technological and military aid. Maybe even spare a few of our crack special forces teams like the Black Hole Legion.

*After saying this Nelacar pulls out a datapad and pulls up the Ordenreich Military Codex then hands it off to the Tantalans.*

Nelacar: If we choose to help you might be seeing everything on that list coming to your aid.

"If your government cannot spare us aid, we do understand: However, as you probably saw, the Aurelians have recently advanced to where they will eventually obtain Alcubierre drives within another human lifetime. The ship we stole is a prototype, bear in mind, but a devilish one at it- capable of traversing swaths of stars after a thorough recharging of the anti-graviton projectors. Each forestalled year will mean one additional breakthrough in manufacturing until the Aurelians are capable of swamping the core in their rotting flesh bags, capturing and selling chattel to their own bastard children until there are no humans in the Core. Irdin, you go ahead and tell them where our informant who told us of these breakthroughs is inside our ship."

"If you insist, sir," began Irdin as he scratched his left pockmarked ear. "We are holding one dismembered Aurelian captive inside the hold, stuffed inside a crate after we learned that some of our long-kidnapped scientists are collaborating with these Red Devils on developing Alcubierre-class warp drives. To our knowledge, this is the ship-of-the-line."

As Irdin spoke, Gieffrei nodded slowly as he took the datapad and glimpsed through the Codex... And froze.

Once we win this war and repatriate our kidnapped citizens, we've got a long ways towards restoring glory. At least it's sobering to know that our foes are almost like us in the vessel department....

Nelacar: I see... well as much as I want to help you we must follow orders. As it stands all we have in terms of evidence is your word and that is not enough for our government. As I said O.S.S.C. as deployed a stealth frigate to your system to confirm your story. From there, if you speak the truth, our general assembly and hierarchy must come together and decide on what to do with this new information. I won't lie to you but the general assembly might choose not to aid because your systems are so far from ours that it wouldn't benefit the Ordenreich in any way to send a liberation force. There was once a time we would aid you with no strings attached out of sheer principle but the galaxy has unfortunately beat that ideal out of many of our people. Now on to more pleasant matters. It will take time for the stealth frigate to arrive in the Core regions and send back a report to the Ordenreich. Longer still for the Ordenreich to come to a decision. I extend an offer for you to stay abroad the Invictus as a guest for the time it takes to make that decision. During that time you can stock up on supplies, ensure your crew are well rested and taken care of, and your engineers and supervise any repairs your ship needs. Ordenreich engineers are some of the best the galaxy has to offer so with your engineers supervising we can probably fix up some of those patches. In addition we may be able to provide some small arms for your crew. Our weapons use an element we call Element Zero and use thermal clips in their guns. Essentially our guns almost never need to reload but they function like old gunpowder weapons, all you have to worry about is overheating.

*As Nelacar was speaking the stealth frigate from the Ordenreich was just starting to come up on the Core. The crew engaged stealth systems and prepared to survey the system*

(OOC: I don't know if there is anything in particular you want me to see or not. In your post you can partially take control of my stealth frigate and explain what they see and don't see if you want. I'll roll with whatever you decide)

As the stealth frigate drew closer to the core, radiation readings would seize up on available dosimeters whence one drew close to the Core Rim: Supernovae yonder, a neutron star there.... One K-class star out of several dozen white giants could seem out of place, but there it was nestled between three such giants. And its location did seem to match the Tantalans' description of a thin void separating the proximost arms from the Core, for a subtle decrease in stellar concentrations was detectable.

Radio signals from the system- whether they existed or not- were washed out by the neighboring white giants' interference long before the Ordenreich vessel could even pick them up. To verify the existence of these radiological anomalies would require entering the system's heliopause, where derelict, unusual-looking asteroids drifted around Zeus. Here, however, the vessel would receive faint signals originating from somewhere close to the center of the system: When it drew closer to around 60 AU from the source, the signals became numerous and seemed to cloud around a pinpoint region of mass some eight-and-a-half lighthours away.

"Zzzzz- Y'piqi Xi- Zzzzz-"

If the stealth frigate listened on, it would become clear that this was an alien tongue- however indistinguishable- speaking betwixt intermittent bouts of solar background radiation overpowering the lower energy wavelengths. Something was up with the distant world, one could ascertain.

---

"F'rik! Did you assemble Hr'ikin's women and men?"

"Not at all! She descended to the surface with forty-something Xu'tharin an hour ago! I thought you-"

Byu'zikin Vh'riixin's ornate, vicious tattoos shimmered beneath with a history of some two hundred years in-chemostasis and another forty years worth of living out various insurrections on every major Aurelian world there was: Gol'Azkhor, Aurelia minor, Teiresias major. Not to mention larger but ineffective revolts on Tantalus- oh, whose name seems to glare upon Her Majesty like an irritable child.

Kh'uunari Vh'riixin sat naked, except for a loincloth which was embroidered with more frivolous gold and silver mined from the Gol'Azkhorzin depths: An image of a Tantalan human torso being hewn off would remind anyone familiar with Vh'riixin's brutality of her complicity in the 2753 TSC Massacre at Poliakoff-Feynmann Square, where more than two thousand Tantalan women and children were gassed with Aurelia's finest chemicals in retaliation for V'l Izun's death at the hands of AMFT personnel. Again, it seemed as if history was repeating its last major threat- A threat which was intolerable given that her system's most valuable asset was stolen many days ago. Y'linl's vessel was nowhere to be seen, giving the Aurelian Uli'kiotinarin of every world a painful collective headache. It was time to prepare for the second round of beatings which would commence with an offensive in several days.

Outside of Vh'riixin's vessel, in the Tantalan orbital floated some thirteen other capital-sized bioships interconnected amongst one another by their trademark proboscises. Together, a strange organic lattice seemed to transport materiel, slaves and supervising Tihn'tharin to every ship in the network- Tihn'tharin were included at Vh'riixin's request- as if something vile hovered below the horizon of time yet someone had seen the cusps of infernal light.

And, of course, several hundred fighter-like capsules whizzed around their orbitals with dozens of frigates providing support for a barrage-like net encapsulating regions of the Tantalan atmosphere; No doubt Sister Miriam's vessel's route was still capable of exploiting that temporary hole... For now at least.

---

Spoiler:

Private Ceaser-Berdimuhamedow watched with suspicion at an alien vessel's outline "fading in" as the Flagellants began to disembark from the curious vessel: Everyone's panic had subsided in favor of paranoia once the news had broke out. Contact was made not once but twice- God forbid that these strangers were hostile-, and help arrived in the form of heavenly quantities of supplies spreading across the site.

The boy leaned across the railing as his gaze studied the mystery vessel's outline, and quivered uncomfortably: Cedrik's father was right in that these Devils were suppressive towards innovation. Everything not Tantalan seemed much, much more advanced than possibly High Command envisioned, leaving work cut out once liberation turned around the corner.

Colonel Vinci dominated the scene on the ground as she barked out orders for the Flagellants to bring out supplies. Crates of tightly-packed nutrient rations were distrusted to the hungry crowd that now surrounded the landing site, and a makeshift medical clinic was set up as the combat medics dispensed medicine to the sick and ailing among the Tantalans. Though the transport had quite a large capacity, it was certainly finite and eventually most of the designed relief supplies found their way into the hands of the needy Tantalans. It was enough at the least to make sure that a few thousand Tantalans would not be wanting for food for a few weeks. Meanwhile, as she observed the scene, she spotted a Tantalan soldier in uniform on the sidelines, watching with apprehension.

Calling out to Private Ceaser-Berdimuhamedow, she said, "You there! You're part of the AMFT, aren't you? We're the Flagellants, crusaders come from the Lord's Believers of Chiron to aid you in the struggle against the Aurelian slavers. As you can see, we've distributed these rations and medical supplies, but there is more yet. If I could talk with your superior, we have equipment to provide your forces."

(OOC: I'm going to let Sela establish himself before stepping in. Again AT I'll leave it up to you to say how much the stealth frigate sees)

The Ordenreich frigate's sensors would pick up something massive- or rather, many smaller objects whose mass summated to a worrisome total- surrounding a comparable mass of dense rock whose radius was probably two thirds that of Old Terra's. If the vessel sought for moons around Tantalus, scanner personnel would be disappointed; There were to be none in this anomaly of a system, yet there was much more to discover than what met the eye. Unlike other K-class stars of similar composition, Zeus burned with traces of high-mass spectral lines which would show again in an available spectrometer's display: Iridium, holmium, gold, uranium, and countless other metals with their unique spectral lines would show up in the blueshifted bands of radioactivity.

While Zeus's neighbors could boast a collage of jovian worlds, only one Neptunian-scale world- Cronus- silently drifted about Zeus in a thirteen year period. No signals seemed to emerge from that particular world, however, suggesting that the Ordenreich vessel should refocus attention towards the mass anomalies near the opposite end of Zeus.

---

"I am a mere guard, ma'am, but I can relay your request to my higher-up," replied Pvt. C-Berdihumanedow as the youth walked to the other edge of his balcony to set his chipping rifle against the corroded railing. His fingers furled around a bulky, black box and held the device to his ears after a button was depressed.

---

"This is Pvt. CB speaking here. Copy."

"This is Comms Officer Hayes speaking. How may I help you?"

Wyrdin Hayes and one other gentleman sat across from each other in two metal cots, the latter preoccupied with swiping sets of rusty punchcards through an improvised lap-engine. Hayes's feet rested on a broken coffee tabletop besides a dusty shot glass and curled their toes in response to Cedrik's voice.

"We have one Flagellant officer requesting a visitation with Commodore Ayub-Stinley, sir."

"Birdie, recall that Ayub-Stinley is in a meeting right now and that our contact will have to wait-"

"Seems more urgent than a simple 'hello' statement: We've got 'equipment,' she said, and it seems as if they wish to deliver it into our arms as quickly as possible."

CO Hayes kicked back into his recline and listened as his eyes stared up into the moldy ceiling paint.

"If that is so, then I will beam this message to the server- oh! Cedrik, I need you to keep watch while they are still below-"

"I'm already there, that's how the woman made contact with me!"

Comms Officer Hayes opened his mouth but fell short of a "damn" when his radio transceiver's ping light shone in green: Someone was contacting him.

"Good enough, Cedrik. I will get back in contact with you. Until then, make sure that the delivery proceeds to completion by integrating into the group: If you see an elder struggling, God forbid that you deny compassion via relieving her of the burden. Stay alert and assist wherever possible."

"Roger that. Over."

---

"Urim, that route is too risky! We need to consider a more viable path through Blowdart Borough, now-"

"Dammit, Dresket-Ugyen, your path does not resonate with the Devils' patterns! As I've told you before, close air support is not an option even with these 'Flagellants.' We've got no working aircraft, and those vehicles in our derelict motorpool which still work are few and far amid the husks-"

"I never said to drop bombs so much as we ferry men-"

"Still too risky, 'DU-'" Commodore Ayub-Stinley interjected as his fingers traced a crescent around a jagged roadway feeding into the ancient Tantalan superhighway project whose roads were dilapidated with potholes and other hideous malformations.

"If, instead, we proceed to send men through the Tertiary Longitudes into Uduk-"

"Commodore Ayub-Stinley, we still do not have viable intelligence in that quadrant of our planet-"

Ping!

"Well, we need a break after all."

"As do I," began the grim-faced Andri Ayub-Stinley as he remained seated, whilst the others stood to escort themselves outside. Near the meeting table's center stood two stacks of plastic-encased diskettes whose dimensions easily exceeded a palm's grasp; Encoded on their microscopic magnetic strips were diagrams of troop movements across the entire Tantalan surface- some of which were outdated, others not. The projector still reeked of burned rubber, but at least nobody's breath gave tattletale signs of tellurium poisoning as images of troop formations flickered across the screen.

"Recess for an hour. I need to answer this hail..."

---

"This is Commodore Ayub-Stinley speaking. How may I help?"

"The Flagellants are ready to unload 'equipment,' whose nature should help our cause, and one of their crew members wish to speak to you."

"Well, I've got only an hour until my council reassembles. I will be there in five minutes or so. Make it quick."

"Roger," replied Hayes before his radio handset found its way to one overstuffed pocket. The stale air seemed to fade from his consciousness as his eyes gazed down to the greyscale streets.

Colonel Vinci briefly turned back to her Flagellants, gesturing at a group of them standing at attention. "Bring the crates out, and prepare them for transport. Our contact should appear soon enough."

(OOC: Sorry for not posting more, but there wasn't much to respond to.)

(OOC: Not a problem I can't find a place to post at all at least till the stealth frigate is done)

Commodore Ayub-Stinley was escorted by two metal-clad guards when he appeared through a dark portal between two corroded columns. His olive-tan uniform rippled in the slight draft which was blowing through the city at the moment; Dust from forlorn materiel billowed around his feet as Andri's eyes scanned the zone.

"Of whom enquired my assistance-"

"Company, attention!"

Commodore Ayub-Stinley blinked when 120-something pairs of feet stomped together as everyone's bearing took over.

"... At ease."

"Sir, she's over by the vessel," said a muffled voice as a squatting HAZMAT-equipped soldier lifted an empty pellet by its base. "I'm just unloading some stuff."

"Thank you, Corporal."

And with that, Commodore Ayub-Stinley's eyes met the Flagellant group when he stepped underneath an aged, rustic arch bearing illegible characters whose meaning probably had something to do with a religious function: The overcast sky stank of unsettled dust as it stung Andri's nostrils.

"Someone called for Andri Ayub-Stinley? Well, I am the man you are looking for, Miss... ?"

---

The stealth frigate's sensors would pick up sharper readings within fifteen Astronomical Units- "Sharp" being the operative word, if the feeling of being stabbed by internal knives could be orated by other crews who passed afore these lads in decades past. Nearly one dozen capital vessels dotted low-planet orbit while two hundred more frigates and their biological fighter-escorts saturated the planet's geostationary orbital, though a minute gap in the northern hemisphere could be detected at higher resolutions.

"Vh'riixen, our warriors are sparring in the main deck!"

"Tell them to cut it out! We've got to resume our plans-"

"And one of them knocked over the X'yanin-" - Cyanide - "tanks-"

The signals became much more crisp within ten Astronomical Units of Tantalus.

"We've settled them with Vigor of A'ramibik. They are calm."

"Good. Order the Gol'Azkhorzin to clean up the mess."

"Yes, Your Majestic Strength."

---

Within one AU, Tantalus would come into view as a dull, minute pinpoint of light "dirtied" by the dark speckles of Aurelian vessels which made their presence known. The guttural alien language would awash no fewer than two dozen radio frequencies- None of which seemed to be in use by human voices.

Saluting Commodore Ayub-Stanly, Colonel Vinci said to him, "Vinci, sir. Colonel Maite Vinci of the Flagellants. I was under instruction not to provide any military equipment until I could make visual contact with yourself, as to confirm that the recipient is correct, and now that you are here, I thought we would demonstrate what we have to offer your people. Sergeant Ahmed - the fusion rifle, please?"

The broad-shouldered soldier nodded, and from a crate he retrieved a bundle of parts - a barrel, a stock, and several charge packs. Quickly fitting the parts together, Colonel Vinci scanned the area for an appropriate target, and then spotted a rusting metal sign at a fair distance away, probably once used to direct traffic when vehicles traveled the now-desolate streets. Taking aim, she then fired upon the sign, and streaks of lurid red light appeared from the rifle, burning a hole cleanly through the sign's center.

Then, looking back at Commodore Ayub-Stanly, she said to him, "As you can see, these weapons can be accurate from a great distance, and they do have an acceptable rate of fire on automatic mode. They are durable, too - they can survive heavy mistreatment and still fire as well as ever, though obviously avoiding it would be preferable. Also, each of these charge packs hold well over 5,000 shots, and as you can see each rifle comes with a fair number of them. A charging system can be jury-rigged quite easily, and we also carry a few dynamos that can ease the process of recharging if needed."

"Oh, and finally, we also have brought with us some silksteel armored environmental suits. We have heard that the Aurelians use biological and chemical weaponry, and our armor is equipped with sophisticated systems for environmental protection owing to the harsh nature of our planet. They should be sufficient against most gas and pathogens, and have been treated for acid-protection, in line with the reports we have received. We shall immediately distribute this equipment as you see fit. Besides that, we will report for duty in whatever capacity you require our skills for."