Imperial Ambitions

[Lordsservent]

1 week had passed at the Dyson sphere, and the Genorachians had already taken over half of the sphere. 2 of the inhabitable planets were converted into large colonies, with dozens of hive hills dotting the landscape. Dozens of ships, both Debrus and Metorius patrolled the sphere, keeping a watchful eye out for intruders and possible explorers of their new home. The queens were very satisfied with this, but knew much more lay beyond where they were currently living. However, things were about to take a turn for the worst with their most recent discovery…

On a very lush, tropical world, some of the drones who were attempting to excavate and deforest and area to build a new hive, when they made a horrifying discovery about those who had been there before them. "Martriarchs, there is a fallen ship here, and all of the enterances have been sealed air tight, please invistigate this now!" Soon, word began to spread like wildfire, and the Queens rapidly began to pull together special units to investigate this without puncturing the ship's hull.
"Queen Kirrebal, I have news for you, but you may not like this at all." A drone spoke as it began to relay information to the queens. "Yes, I have heard news of this mysterious ship that was found sealed airtight on one of these planets, investigation is already underway." Kirrebal spoke as they started to investigate the mysterious vessel. What they discovered was about to have massive consequences for any future interactions with future explorers of this Sphere.

"My queen, this ship has a variety of incurable plagues on board." one of the drones spoke as the information began to flood through it's mind. "What?! This is the worst possible scenario!" Kirrebal decided to speak up." We should warn those who come in here after us, by marking the crash site with a skull shape."

Another spoke up. "But won't that make other races think that we are hostile?" the queen spoke as they were debating on what to do with the bio-plague ship. "Well, if any of us have better ideas, please speaks up now." Minutes pass in silence, as the queens realize how limited their options are. Either they try to defuse the ship themselves and risk their home, or warn others, and have an evacuation route prepared in case any who try to defuse the bio-bomb end up messing it up.

"No? Then we shall mark it immediately." With that, they set to work on placing a symbol that was universal with death in many races: a human shaped skull was put around the crash site, and a Shield was erected to deter any unwanted investigators from looking their heads in before they knew what they were dealing with. "All we can do now is wait for someone else to show up, I guess."

With these words, the queens silently guarded a potential doom to their little Oasis in the stars, and watched for any possible allies to start investigating their new home.

 

[Icywinter]

"Enemy dreadnought... neutralized," Erika said.

The entire CIC erupted into cheering.

"We-We did it..." Christina sighed over the TACNET. "We really did it..."

"You and I, sister. We all did it." Samantha could hear Erin grinning in celebration.

Samantha merely smiled and let the cheering continue, hitting a switch on the ComCom she wore on her wrist.

"Phoenix to Seraph, that was one hell of a shot right there. Good going."

 

[BlackHadou]

The docking port on the Umrazi landing craft flexed, ready to receive the incoming vessel.

Click to shrink...

The machine was still man-like like its contemporaries, though it's defining feature was the pod upon it's torso. It docked with ease, almost as if it had practiced doing so hundreds of times, yet such a thing should have been impossible. Through the port, hopped a small Usagi, only a foot and a half tall, his nose twitching as he took in the new sights and sounds.

Then he turned to the nearest Umrazi, and spoke.

"Take me to the Admiral. He arrived shortly before me."

Even if the words and the actions that made up the Usagi language was meaningless to the other species, the little creature was a Extended, a Usagi who's exposure to Hoppy Particles, space and emotion had granted it a measure of understanding of the area around it. To the Umrazi he spoke to, the meaning behind little Tullip's words were somewhat clear, even if the words themselves were complete nonsense.

'Take me to the other Usagi'.

That was the meaning that was conveyed, in it's barest terms.

 

[TheBleachDoctor]

The machine was still man-like like its contemporaries, though it's defining feature was the pod upon it's torso. It docked with ease, almost as if it had practiced doing so hundreds of times, yet such a thing should have been impossible. Through the port, hopped a small Usagi, only a foot and a half tall, his nose twitching as he took in the new sights and sounds.

Then he turned to the nearest Umrazi, and spoke.

"Take me to the Admiral. He arrived shortly before me."

Even if the words and the actions that made up the Usagi language was meaningless to the other species, the little creature was a Extended, a Usagi who's exposure to Hoppy Particles, space and emotion had granted it a measure of understanding of the area around it. To the Umrazi he spoke to, the meaning behind little Tullip's words were somewhat clear, even if the words themselves were complete nonsense.

'Take me to the other Usagi'.

That was the meaning that was conveyed, in it's barest terms.

Click to shrink...

"Huh?" the second bodyguard thought she could understand the small creature... but that was impossible right? "Of course... this way."

And she led the newcomer to where it wanted to go.

The first bodyguard was still staring at the food in her hand.

 

[Greek Fire]

"Phoenix to Seraph, that was one hell of a shot right there. Good going."

Click to shrink...

"I was actually hoping to leave that thing a little more intact so we could board it and and take a look at its main gun." Cobalt responded.

 

[Icywinter]

"I was actually hoping to leave that thing a little more intact so we could board it and and take a look at its main gun." Cobalt responded.

Click to shrink...

"Yeah..." Samantha looked over to the AEGIR display. "Looks like the forward three quarters survived relatively intact, Admiral. We could go over and pick over the remains, if you want."

 

[Greek Fire]

"Yeah..." Samantha looked over to the AEGIR display. "Looks like the forward three quarters survived relatively intact, Admiral. We could go over and pick over the remains, if you want."

Click to shrink...

Cobalt nodded.

"I'll prepare a landing party, we can probably board in that giant hole we blasted through its side."

 

[Diomedea]

"Who is your leader?" the tired looking scientist (named Tia Corvo a Jeann) asked Rhett. They were playing a game of patience it seemed, where the locals asked silly questions, and got silly answers in return. Eventually, someone would tire of this and attempt to change the topic. Rhett hadn't lost yet, but she had the advantage of also playing another game at the same time. She couldn't use words that she hadn't been taught yet, or else it might raise bothersome questions. Dall had gone to spend time with other friends, so it made it easier for Rhett to resist asking him for clarification.

It made her confusion seem more natural.

"We do not have one. Maybe everyone is the leader? I am not sure I understand the question," Rhett replied.

Tia sighed, rubbing her temples. She sat on the other side of the table from Rhett, dressed in a heavy robe that denoted her as an academic. It had taken two weeks, but Rhett was finally trusted enough to not be a danger to them that they had stopped wearing suits, and let her see them face to face. They still kept her in the box she had arrived in, their energy shields had retreated to the access way, giving Rhett a much larger cage.

The small animal they had brought in when they had first arrived was traditionally kept as a companion, given waste organics to live off of. It was quite healthy, and now roamed freely, though the scientists seemed to give it a thorough examination on a semi-regular basis. Rhett was growing fond of feeding it, and the temptation to befriending it sometimes was almost overwhelming.

It was so limited, and it could be so much more...but the time would come soon enough.

"Ok, so if we negotiate with you, will another...uh, friend who isn't you honour the agreement?" Tia asked, trying a different tack.

"Negotiate? Honour?" Rhett replied, somewhat irritated at the limits of her supposed vocabulary. Her sessions with the linguists had been shortened just a few days ago, once it became clear that all she was doing was learning their language. They had learned next to nothing in return. It wasn't their fault really, but most [friends] didn't even have tongues to speak, or ears to hear. Rhett couldn't teach them anything even if she had particularly wanted.

Well, not without [befriending] them.

She had successfully [befriended] Dall, and she did not think anyone knew of their [friendship] yet. Still, even he had been a risk, and Rhett dared not [befriend] anyone else here, at least until Dall's return. That didn't mean no new [friends] were being made. Almost the entire farm had been [befriended], both plant and worker alike, and the [friends] sent to the local wildlife had made many new [friends], both in the small plants that provided the ocean its bioluminescence, and the creatures that fed on those plants. Additionally, the worker's friends and families had also been quickly [befriended], as well as most of the residence building Yuvina.

"Um...to negotiate is to work out an agreement, where two parties agree to certain things. To honour an agreement means to do what was said," Tia attempted to explain.

"Ah, I understand!" Rhett said, acting with a greater enthusiasm than she felt.

"Oh, ok! So, um...if we talked to you, Rhett, and you agreed that you wouldn't hurt anyone from the ocean, if we didn't hurt any friends of yours, would we need to talk to every single friend, or could you agree for them?" Tia asked, looking quite serious.

"No one would hurt anyone unless they were hurting a friend. I would not need to agree to anything," Rhett replied.

Tia just sighed heavily, and the game of patience continued.

 

[Greek Fire]

Cobalt turned to his ship's XO.

"Gather a team of Combat Engineers to help analyze that Dreadnought's weaponry." He ordered.

"Aye aye!" The officer said before running off into the depths of the ship.

...

Soon a team of the finest Combat Engineers in the Mechion Fleet were assembled in the Seraph's hangar bay. 10 men and women in total, all clad in the most advanced engineering armor available. All of them were also trained in the common forms of modern combat, including sniping and CQC, but that was beside the point. It wasn't long before the group was loaded up on the 50 meter long Spatzon salvage ship. The ship floated out of the hangar and sailed across the void, passing a patrolling group of torpedo boats on its course to the Dreadnought. As it closed in on the crippled warship, it soon became clear how much damage the Asgardians had actually done to the massive vessel. Most of the starboard side of the ship was still molten slag. As the pilot guided the Spatzon in, it was clear that the Seraph's main gun had left few places to land. The pilot voiced her concerns.

"Sir, there's no where where we can land safely." She said.

"What about there?" Cobalt asked as he pointed at thick slab of armor that had been bent almost parallel the bottom of a massive set of blast doors.

"There's too much debris in the way, I don't think we'll fit."

"Then use the cutting laser, it's there for a reason."

"Yes sir!"

A port on the front of the Spatzon opened and a thin laser beam shot out, and began cutting through the debris surrounding the proposed landing zone. Soon, all the debris had been cleared and the Spatzon landed and her passengers disembarked.

...

OOC: Okay, @Icywinter, bring your people in.

 

[Icywinter]

Samantha adjusted her space suit, checking the seals for any leaks. Satisfied, she checked her ComCom.

"All green here," Wendy said, giving the brunette a thumbs up. Samantha gave one in return before looking over her ComCom again.

Erika was looking over her shoulder, staring at the bulk of the damaged dreadnought. "My gods," she muttered to herself. "What a mess."

"Indeed," Samantha rumbled. "All clear, team?"

"Ready Captain," Wendy replied.

"Ready."

Samantha looked over to Galia, who had nodded and hefted her rifle. "Awaiting instructions," the raven-haired girl said. "My boys and I are ready to go."

Samantha nodded before guiding the Anvil transport to a clear landing site, setting down the angular vessel beside the Mechion transport.

"We're here, folks," Samantha said. "Coms check?"

"Erika."

"Wendy."

"Galia."

"Markus."

"Charlotte."

"Melody."

"Hank."

"We're all here, boss," Erika said after everyone signed in.

"Tanks ready and running?" Samantha asked. Everyone nodded.

"Alright. Let's go." Samantha made her way to the rear of the transport, pressing a button and releasing the atmosphere inside of the ship. Seconds later, the rear door opened, permitting the eight Asgardians entrance into the dead warship.

"Guns at the ready people. We have no idea if they have internal automated defenses like we do," Samantha reminded everyone.

"Yeah, no kidding," Galia muttered under her breath. "Don't want to get cut up today."

 

[Greek Fire]

"Alright. Let's go." Samantha made her way to the rear of the transport, pressing a button and releasing the atmosphere inside of the ship. Seconds later, the rear door opened, permitting the eight Asgardians entrance into the dead warship.

Click to shrink...

"Glad you could make it." Cobalt said as led his team over.

"Guns at the ready people. We have no idea if they have internal automated defenses like we do," Samantha reminded everyone.

Click to shrink...

Cobalt reached behind his back drew his assault rifle and checked the charge on the gun. Full, hopefully he wouldn't need to use it. Sheath checked both of her SMGs, confirming that they too were ready.

Cobalt began walking to the large blast doors that seemed to be their only point of entry. The blast doors were thick, do doubt about that, probably as strong as the armor protecting the rest of the ship they were standing on.

"How do you think we open these doors without blasting them open, because I don't see any consoles, or any emergency releases for that matter." Cobalt asked.

One of the engineers walked over, her armor's name tag read Svilir, and began sizing up the doors.

"We could probably force the doors open, but that would take a load-lifter grade exosuit." She said as she scanned the surrounding area.

Cobalt nodded and raised a hand to his ear.

"Spatzon, deploy the Crab." He ordered.

The belly of the Spatzon split open, and a large, boxy, four legged exosuit was lowered down. Svilir climbed into the cockpit and started the machine. Cobalt and the others stepped out of the way of the bulky machine as she piloted it over to the door.

"let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She said with a smirk.

 

[BlackHadou]

"Huh?" the second bodyguard thought she could understand the small creature... but that was impossible right? "Of course... this way."

And she led the newcomer to where it wanted to go.

The first bodyguard was still staring at the food in her hand.

Click to shrink...

*Hop* *Hop* *Hop* *Hop*

*Waddlewaddlewaddlewaddle*

Snooky looked away from the bodyguard that was staring at the food in her hand, to the newcoming presence of a Usagi. His nose twitched.

"Name?"

"Ensign Cales, Admiral."

The younger Usagi came to a stop a moment later, his nose twitching in unison with Snooky.

"Good, good." The admiral turned his attention to the aliens about them. "First contact is proving difficult. Would you provide translation?"

"Yes, Admiral."

The admiral felt his eyes narrow. The Ensign was too deferential.

A problem for later.

"I am Admiral Snooky of the Usagi." The admiral declared. Cales stepped forward two steps, before dutifully relaying the words.

Even if those present could not understand the letter of the word, the meaning could still be gotten across.

 

[Icywinter]

"let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She said with a smirk.

Click to shrink...

"Yeah," Samantha nodded, switching her marksman rifle to automatic mode. The bakelite brown and steel-grey weapon's integrated sight dropped downward, revealing a bright blue meter. The barrel of the gun shortened, retracting into the body of the rifle.

"Ready, group?" she asked over the comms.

"Ready here, Captain," Galia responded.

"Alright. Let's go," Samantha said.

She turned to Sheath. "We're all ready to move out. Is the way clear yet?" she asked.

 

[Greek Fire]

She turned to Sheath. "We're all ready to move out. Is the way clear yet?" she asked.

Click to shrink...

"Almost-" Sheath started as the platform shook, signaling the successful opening of the blast doors. "Yep, they got it."

The Crab exo-suit paused under the door, holding it open for the others.

 

[Icywinter]

The eight Asgardians went through it first, scanning the interior of the darkened hallway with their portable AEGIR sensors.

"We're all clear here," Erika said, looking at her ComCom. "Looks like it's safe for now."

"For now," Samantha repeated. "Okay, keep your head on a swivel, and always look at the roof before entering a room."

"And the floor too," Galia added from somewhere.

"Sheath, looks like we're clear over here. The rest of you can come in," Samantha wirelessed.

 

[Greek Fire]

"Sheath, looks like we're clear over here. The rest of you can come in," Samantha wirelessed.

Click to shrink...

Cobalt nodded and waved the team of Engineers forward. Once they were, in the Crab followed them in, but still held the door open.

"Should we keep the door open?" Svilvir asked.

 

[Icywinter]

Cobalt nodded and waved the team of Engineers forward. Once they were, in the Crab followed them in, but still held the door open.

"Should we keep the door open?" Svilvir asked.

Click to shrink...

"Yeah," Samantha said. "We never know if we need a speedy exit. Can you keep it open without the machine, though? We might need it later."

 

[Greek Fire]

"Yeah," Samantha said. "We never know if we need a speedy exit. Can you keep it open without the machine, though? We might need it later."

Click to shrink...

"Yeah, just give me a few moments to fabricate something to keep the door open." Svilvir said as she typed away on the Crab's control panel.

Soon, the Crab held a long, solid pole in its free arm. It raised the door a little higher and jammed the pole under the door and took a step back. Svilvir gave a thumbs up before moving the Crab forward a few steps. Cobalt nodded.

"So, where do you think we should start?" He said as he rested his assault rifle on his shoulder.

 

[Icywinter]

"Do we have an internal map of the ship?" Samantha asked.

"Actually, we do," Erika answered, pulling up her ComCom. "Here," she said, showing the brunette a picture of the scan that the team had done so far.

"We have a main corridor that ends in an elevator here," she said, tracing a line from where they were standing, to a large box with a staircase symbol on it. "And numerous branching rooms on this level. Not sure what they're for, but we've been looking inside of them. Empty, for the most part," she said, shrugging. "I think we should head up to the next level, if there is any. Or down, too. There seems to be some reserve power in the dreadnought still, so while the systems are working inside of this thing, we also have to be on the lookout for any sentry guns."

"Alright. So Admiral, what do you think about the elevator? Should we head up or down?" Samantha asked as the rest of the Asgardian away team returned from scouting the rest of the floor.

 

[Greek Fire]

"Alright. So Admiral, what do you think about the elevator? Should we head up or down?"

Click to shrink...

"Let's head to the next level, we might find something there." Cobalt said as he stowed his rifle. "Salvage team, move out!"

 

[TheBleachDoctor]

*Hop* *Hop* *Hop* *Hop*

*Waddlewaddlewaddlewaddle*

Snooky looked away from the bodyguard that was staring at the food in her hand, to the newcoming presence of a Usagi. His nose twitched.

"Name?"

"Ensign Cales, Admiral."

The younger Usagi came to a stop a moment later, his nose twitching in unison with Snooky.

"Good, good." The admiral turned his attention to the aliens about them. "First contact is proving difficult. Would you provide translation?"

"Yes, Admiral."

The admiral felt his eyes narrow. The Ensign was too deferential.

A problem for later.

"I am Admiral Snooky of the Usagi." The admiral declared. Cales stepped forward two steps, before dutifully relaying the words.

Even if those present could not understand the letter of the word, the meaning could still be gotten across.

Click to shrink...

The bodyguard stared in shock. She could understand... like the meaning was being conveyed directly into her head.

"Captain!" she waved Leeja over, "I think they have a psychic over here!"

"A psychic?" Leeja instantly came over, leaving the other two diplomats perplexed... and they came over too.

"Hello!" Leeja greeted the Admiral, "I'm Captain Leeja of the Umrazi Extragalactic Exploration Fleet!"

 

[willyvereb]

[MUSICAL THEME]
"Alright, which brainbug can tell me exactly what the nine debts going on?"
Tychus asked with an irritated tone. By the Devil's luck they survived the crazy experiment, or at least for now. But the Captain wasn't in such a giddy mood to begin celebrating yet. Especially not when the sight that welcomed him is unlike anything before.
"Captain, we created a Lorenz-Lnatosh hypermathematical quantum dimension in an elongated hypercylindrical shape stretching exactly in..."
Explained special science advisor Ploon Krayn-Klauc Iakhihtar, a short bug-eyed and bigheaded greyish-white alien belonging to the Zetasapiens species, before Tychus interrupted his lengthy monologue.
"Okay, okay! Spare me the science talk! I am a simple man, Ploon! But even an old spacer like me knows what's the interrior of a wormhole's like. This isn't one. So I rephrase it, Ploon. Tell me, in simple worlds, what's going on!"
Ploon sighs. Mundanes, why simpletons like this guy are allowed to command an entire starship? Something is seriously wrong with the universe. Either way for the duration of this trip the simpleton called Captain Tychus Friday is one of his superiors. So it's better to get over this quickly.
"Well, we are traveling through the wormhole... in hyperspace."
"Alright, that's more like it... WHAT!?"
If Tychus would be calm enough to drink tea he'd have spewed it all out in his recent surprise. What Ploon explained to him went against decaes of spacer common sense. Yet the whole truth was even stranger. The estimated travel time through the wormhole to the Messier 2027 galaxy took hours via real space if not more. In comparison they had less than 3 minutes till the collapse. Another consideration was that even if they stretch the tunnel in real space it would not mean the same for hyperspace. As such other measures had taken place which resulted in generating a quantum tunnel and shrinking the over 3 kilometers wide hypercarrier to the size of a needle. All of these are explained in through scientific detail in the papers issued for the whole crew but of course an ordinary spacer could never understand the science jargon. Once Tychus gasps the full extend of this mad science he may even strngle Ploon in anger but for now they have more pushing concerns to deal with.
"Captain, wormhole exit in 30 seconds!"
"Very well, all hands prepare to do... whatever the instructions said."
Tychus, and the rest of his crew still felt their situation was a mess. Regardles they were spacers on the job. That's all they really needed to know. The crew did as they were trained to do in the last few weeks. Even though they were no scientists or understood the details behind why the complex procedure they knew enough that a single error can lead to the worst.
"Boundary complete. Exiting wormhole in 5...4...3...2...1...!"
Told the monotone voice of the navigator, Gayatt Iste'knel. His lack of fear or enthusiasm is something not even the current situation could change.
With a bright flash the gigantic Galaxy class hypercarrier "The Enterprise" finally emerged in normal space, reaching the alpha quarant of the Messier 2027 galaxy. At last Tychus can put all this madness behind him. They're finally saf-
"EMERGENCY! WORMHOLE IS DESTABLIZING IN 20 SECONDS!"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF TH-... Gayatt punch this scrap into hypercruise! NOW!"
"Dammit Ploon, I don't care if your calculations were wrong or not. Just tell me this, can we expect a hyperdetonation?"
"Absolutely, with the rough energy of 85 jiggabams."
For readers uninitiated in the Zetasapien measurements, just 10 jiggabams are enough to destroy our Sun.
"... I swear to every god if we survive this I'm gonna murder every scientist on the deck. Safe trip my-"
Tychus' violent monolgouge was cut in half by the suden acceleration of the hypercarrier. Inertia cancellers prevent the crew from feeling the massive accelerations required for starship maneuvers yet even that system is far from almighty. For less than a femtosecond the system failed to react which still generated enough force to drop every crewmember but the pilot to the floor. In the same time the foldspace drives reached emergency maximum speed, running away from the exploding wormhole faster than even light!
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!"

Click to shrink...

"Wheewh, this was one hell of a 3 minutes. All hands, damage report!"
Tychus Friday said after having a moment of relief. At last he could say that whatever madness they went through he along with nearly a million passengers had survived.
"All sensors indicate no damage to the hull. Ship power reserves are down to 2.42%. Recovery to safe operation levels would take approximately 6 hours."
Thanks to the crew's quick actions The Enterprise fleet survived the hyperdetonating wormhole without a scratch. Speed was the key and inverse square law was their friend. Even though the hyperdetonation sent out superluminal waves of energy faster than The Enterprise's fold drive, by the time it could catch up to them the wave was spread to many astronomical units in diameter. Thanks to the forward thinking of the crew they prepared the shields in time and by the moment the wave hit them the barrier was at full strength. The fleet had countless ways to fail and consequently die yet here they are as the cheeky survivors. Everything looked alright. Everything but...
"Captain, I can't seem to locate our probe! It's missing!"
"Dammit, I knew things can't be this easy! Alright, put the supposed location of the probe on the screen."
"Right away, Captain!"
"Now overlap it with the detonation wave."
"Done!...Uh-oh."
"SHIT!"
Tychus audibly cursed. As he feared the hyperdetonation caught their probe dead on, assuredly destroying it. Without the probe acting as a quantum relay they can't link up with their home galaxy, meaning they can never contact White Corps about their success. Without the probe they may as well be dead. So yeah, Tychus had all rights to be pissed.
"Send out the search parties immediately! I don't care if you only get a few scraps, find that probe ASAP! Our return ticket is on the line!"
"Captain, shall we contact Miss De'Nouelle about this? I mean-"
"Nah, she already knows. We are behind schedule and she can make her own checks. If anything please pretend we have problems with our comms so you can save me another pain in the ass! Got it?"
"Aye Captain. Rather listen to her melodious voice as she rips you apart for another time."
"Call up the Vice Admiral, instead. I ask him very nicely to help us out from this mess."
"Right, like a real master of words, Captain."
"At least when I'm not drunk. Speaking of which, where's my damn Whiskey?"
The discussion or more like the argument with VA Jhamir Khan lasted for just 30 seconds. They both knew their situation was mess they should solve quickly. In spite of WSE lending all their fighters for the task the search lasted for 3 hours. They recovered roughly 1% of the original probe. In any other situation such effort would've been pointless but the probe was made of nanomachines. How else you expect scientists to make a space-worthy exploration vessel here? Long strands of pencil-thin colonies of special nanomachines were catapulted straight into the wormhole where they gathered up and formed the probe. Said probe had working hypersensors, quantum link and could use a simple fold drive to pass interstellar distances. Each part of this vehicle was made up from the same kind of nanomachine, only learned to specialize later. As such in theory it was possible to extract quantum data from any piece of the probe. Well, in theory.
"So...What are the chances?" Tychus asked the specialist through the comms.
"I'm not sure. This probe got near damn vaporized. It's a miracle we could recover this much. Furthermore I have to analyze each particle and cross-reference the data. It's a very through process."
"How much time?"
"A generous estimate would be around 160 hours."
"...You gotta be kidding me! A whole week? Do you know how much I can do under a week? Don't bullshit me here!"
"Ahahaha! Like I said it's a very through process... and delicate. You wish to return home, right?"
"... Alright, whatever. Just get it done. Meanwhile I hope I packed some fire retardant with me because we're looking forward to 160 hours of hell. Tychus out."
"Captain, priority transmission from WGS-A22026 Galenaie's Grace. Identification is XO Amanda De'Nouelle."
"Put it off. Tell her the comms are still not fixed yet."
"Captain, this is the eleventh time. I don't think she listens to any of our excuses."
"Well, did I say fire retardant? Give me a damned reflector shield! Put her through."
Here comes the inevitable. After an entire hour of hell the discussion was diverted back to the topic about the fleet's future.
"What?"
"Looks like you haven't made your required reading, Captain. As outlined in line 13,202 of Project IGE-000001, even in case contact is lost the fleet must continue its mission as intended. According to line 13,441 I also gain emergency authority over the fleet until we could receive further instructions from Homeworld. Any questions?"
Amanda De'Noelle, exec commander and chief liaison officer of the fleet, told it to Tychus in her sharp yet indeed melodious tone. She's quite a looker, Tychus must admit, but at heart she's a real harpy. You could say in a world where replicators made plastic surgery obsolete looks could be indeed very deceiving. Especially for the opulent 0.00001%. Tychus is not sure exactly what species Amanda really is but Tychus once overheard she's over 90. So yeah, the less he knew the better.
"Good. I assume you already set up a beacon to contact Homeworld. Once the crew had returned I expect you to prepare for Farcast procedure."
"Miss De'Nouelle I must remind you there are still a bit less than 2 hours until the ship's power reserves are restored to safe levels."
"I know it well, Captain. Don't worry, it'll be only a small jump. A tiny one. I downloaded the coordinates to your terminal. I trust you can inform your crew on your own. Pleasure working with you! Amanda out."
And so the Enterprise Fleet headed for the Sparkling Nebula. Their adventures had just begun!

 

[Icywinter]

"Let's head to the next level, we might find something there." Cobalt said as he stowed his rifle. "Salvage team, move out!"

Click to shrink...

The next level was dark and, like the previous level, devoid of life.

And there was a very large door blocking the way.

"Svilvir, do you think you can get this door open as well?"

 

[Greek Fire]

The next level was dark and, like the previous level, devoid of life.

And there was a very large door blocking the way.

"Svilvir, do you think you can get this door open as well?"

Click to shrink...

"Not sure, this looks like a pretty heavy blast door, I'll burn out the servos and hydraulics trying to get it open. We'll have to cut through it." She said as she started typing in commands on the Crab's control panel.

"Do it, quickly, I got the feeling that something is coming." Cobalt said as he readied his rifle.

Something groaned down the hallway, a sound of tortured metal. The engineers all gripped their rifles and shotguns tightly. The Crab's left hand rotated and a glowing ball of energy formed in between the three fingers. It pointed its hand at the door and a beam of pure heat shot out and started burning through the door. The sound of metal tearing echoed through the hallway once more. Sheath knelt to the ground and touched her hand to the floor.

"Something's coming," She said, "Something big."

 

[Icywinter]

Samantha spared a glance at Erika. "RDS, now," she ordered.

The thumping got louder. Everyone felt it through their feet.

"Guns up, now, everyone," Samantha said, pulling up her own Gauss rifle. All of the Asgardians obeyed, filing to the sides of the room, aiming their guns at the door.

"Svilvir, get away from the door. It's going to punch through it!" Galia warned the engineer. "Everyone, get ready!"