Is the planet with the Aerlanican-Khanian referring to the rp between Aerlanica and me, the planet Du Pou? And, if so, is the ship made of metal or contain more than just trace amounts of metal?
If the answer to these questions is yes as I suspect, then...unfortunately for the battle destroyer, it would be torn apart in transit by powerful magnetic anomalies in space that affect many metals (somehow, including some non-magnetic metals), with almost certainly no survivors.
If it is somehow not containing any more than a trace amount of metal, how big is it?
No, it is a larger region of space. Not a massive region though. The anomalies are most frequent at that system, but elsewhere they are still frequent enough that space travel with metal is impossible. Such anomalies are sometimes - but not always - marked by a large field of metal scraps floating and moving dangerously.
The Macross-class battle destroyer, like pretty much all other Roxium space-fairing vessels, is entirely made from metal. Atomantine and mythril are the main metals used, primarily in the ship's structural components and armor.
Within seconds of exiting hyperwarp, the magnetic anomalies begin to bend and warp portions of the Macross-class battle destroyer's hull and armor. Alarms go off in the bridge as the anomalies threaten to rip the massive 1210 meter-long ship apart. The shields are pushed to their absolute limits in a desperate attempt at buying enough time for the ship to reenter hyperwarp. Roughly 40 or so seconds later, the ship's hyperwarp drive kicks in. less than a second later, it exits the solar system at FTL speeds. From Du Pou's surface, a flash of blue is seen before a flash/streak of red light appears around 43 seconds later, the blue flash being the Macross-class battle destroyer exiting hyperwarp, and the red flash/streak being it entering hyperwarp.
The anomalies continue to affect the ship in transit, as they permeate many parts of interstellar space in the region. The "metal fields" (i.e. the floating metal shards) are luckily too minor to significantly affect the ship. The fields even permeate several higher dimensions, adding to the anomalous properties of the anomaly.
The effect is less severe in Rift Space and similar methods of transportation, but it is still present and destructive.
Luca shrugs. “Yeah, Kansas is just a strange place, I guess. Though, I suppose I can’t complain, the breakfast is good and I never have to go to war. Plus the weather is pretty nice, at least here in Topanga.”
Max nods. “I’m proud of how far she’s come, even if she does still have a long way to go.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. You’re my star, you can do anything. Just go for it, I promise I’ll make you look even better when I edit this together, if that’s even possible.”
Kira blushes and shakes her head. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but we won’t be doing that.”
Corali eventually got to the point where she gave up trying to read and just asked others to read for her. It was clear that this was make her quite frustrated and a bit scared. "Luca...what is the environment of Kansas like in general?"
Vara shook her head. "It would seem that people are not very good at learning from mistakes. People all too often do the same thing over and over again no matter how much it damages them."
******
The sergeant saw it as well. "Hmm...must have been the enemy, although I've never seen them look like that..." He turned to a guard. "You, call it in." The soldier nodded and ran off. The sergeant sighed. "We may be out of time. Our own warships should be arriving soon. They are mighty vessels. A one is even made of new armor plates, so the enemy won't know where the cannons are placed."
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Given the after effect of the torture sessions, Delegata began to do more and more of them. The children were slowly becoming demonic as they were mischievous and evil. One particular boy already had small nubs of horns growing and a one-inch reptilian tail, and Delegata let him try torturing a couple of people.
(Were they gonna go on tour of the succubi and incubi manors or something like that?)
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The child continued to grow quickly. By the end of the day, it already looked to be a few months old and perhaps a year old by the second day. However, it didn't really look like Lithalia, as though it really wasn't her child, and it bore no horns or tail or other succubus feature - it was not a succubus, that much was clear. It was also very hungry but seemed to be healthy.
"Anyway, let's finish up this experiment preparation and get ready for the other girls."
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Rare nodded slowly. "I hope you're right...for our sakes...I'd hate to be pummeled before our guys get a chance to set them aflame."
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(They were going on the tour of the Succubi and Incubi establishments...but I sorta want to do that after Tabitha and Vara to avoid any confusing time stuff. We could always timeskip for Vara and Tabitha if u want. and I can do a TLDR)
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Lithalia was extremely upset that her child looked nothing like her. However, she still cared for her religiously.
Now, through the grounds of the palace, colossal titans made of black iron and stone marched, while more guards swarmed the main thoroughfares and arterial pathways. The Palace was locked down and on high alert.
Vara nodded and finished setting up. "Well, I think we should be ready then. Do you need help during the experiment?"
******
"Well, let's get back to training. If we are needed, command will send for us." The trainees slowly got back to work making and throwing bottles. The sergeant stopped them. "Let's...focus on making them for now. We can throw them more later."
******
(Nah it's all good. No need to rush.)
Delegata showed her new demonic form to Iblion. In addition to the eyes and nails from before, she added horns with inlaid, spiraling gold and ruby. She decided to change their shape often. She also added not one but three tails, which again she would change in style often. She was considering also adding wings, spines, extra arms or tails to her back, but she wasn't sure. She felt that her back needed some sort of ornament, something going on, but she couldn't decide what.
She didn't always take that form, and sometimes even just was plain human, sometimes even in her old blue robes.
******
The child grew further and within a few days was able to walk and talk. Its hair was extremely curly and reached just past the shoulders. The child was quite talkative, curious, and social.
Kiki nods. "Now that Nate's out of school for the day we're pretty much free as well for the rest of the day. And Blue should be up from her nap soon, too."
Kenji takes the time to slow down and explain things to Eastrid, showing her how to read some of the words and explaining whatever she doesn't understand.
Luca tilts his head. "Well, there's a pretty wide range. We're in what Ace calls "the mid-latitudes", so it really depends on where you are in the country," he explains. "Down here it's generally pretty warm, it snows like, once a year and the weather usually just looks like this," he gestures out the window to the sunny blue sky and warm temperatures. "Up north on the coast near the capital, it's usually a little chillier and they get some rain or decent snow in the winter, and once you get further inland it tends to be pretty cold most of the time. The summers are nice, though there are some places higher in the mountains that have snow on the ground year-round. In the winter up north, they get some pretty crazy snowstorms. And the whole middle of the country is mostly protected forests and river valleys and stuff, a lot of national parks and open spaces and things like that. The Queen is pretty big on conservation and eco-friendliness all that."
Corali tilted her head. "Big on...conversations? Or what did you say? Cons...conv...cov...conserv...oh, conservation, right, yeah. I know what that is. Nevermind." She shook her head, a bit annoyed with herself.
The LIDARR array seemingly found nothing... It did however detect an extremely subtle, nigh-invisible "Distortion" that appears at random, but always vanishes milliseconds later. Unfortunately, pointing the telescope at where the "Distortion" was detected showed absolutely nothing. It was almost like the ship was a ghost. At some point while they were watching the LIDARR, the "Distortion" seemingly begun moving, never staying in the same place for more than a few moments. Its movements are highly unpredictable, but it seems to be remaining within a certain radius of Kemptburge, more specifically, the hospital Spencer is in.
Magnetic Anomaly
After several harrowing minutes, the now damaged Macross-class battle destroyer exits hyperwarp in Roxium-controlled space a few lightyears away from the edge of the anomaly.
The region of space the anomaly is in, known as the Jin-Rya Cluster in the Roxium Federation, is not very far from the front lines of a war that has been raging for around a year at this point. The war in question is between the Roxium Federation and a communist rival faction called the Kaizen Empire. The battle destroyer was part of a Roxium United Armed Force fleet group task with hunting down a very notorious Kaizen fleet. The battle destroyer was moving through the Jin-Rya Cluster in an attempt at flanking the Kaizen fleet, but the Anomaly forced it to abandon the mission.
When the battle destroyer arrived in Roxium-controlled space, another RUAF fleet nearby initially thought it was attacked by Kaizen forces attempting the same flanking maneuver, which does happen every so often. After the battle destroyer's captain explained what happened, it was decided that investigation of the Anomaly was needed.
Within a matter of hours, word of the Anomaly, now called the Jin-Rya Magnetic Hazard, had spread throughout the RUAF and reached both the highest levels of Roxium government and Cicada. As a precaution, RFASA (Roxium Federal AeroSpace Administration) established a No-Transit/Access zone that encompasses the entire Jin-Rya Cluster, effectively banning all GU civilian aerospace traffic from entering it, both by conventional and FTL means. Because the Jin-Rya Magnetic Hazard is in proximity to an active war zone, all on-field research is required to be under RUAF protection at all times.
Several theories about the Jin-Rya Magnetic Hazard begin springing up, with a few of them speculating that it has something to do with Celestials.
CEVA
(The test with CEVA-00 Mark II has not been done yet.)
"Cicada can best be described as the Roxium Federation's foreign intelligence gathering and black/covert-ops unit. They're generally tasked with gathering intelligence on foreign entities the Roxium Federation has deemed potential threats, and to eliminate said threats if necessary. A lot of what they do can be... questionable to say the least, so they keep their activities a secret, both to avoid tipping off who or what ever their target is, and to make sure classified information does not end up in the wrong hands. A large reason why they're keeping the CEVA Project a secret is because if Iblion finds out about it, it would lead to... potentially apocalyptic problems." says Risato.
The theories that relate it to Celestials seem to be the most promising. The anomaly doesn't fit any known natural explanation, and the scale suggests that someone or something put a lot of effort into setting it up. If it is natural, then it is odd that no similar occurrences have been found elsewhere in the universe. Whatever the explanation, research is difficult, as research can only be done from outside, or with single-use probes that Roxium is okay with not getting back - unless they can develop a nonmetallic starship or probe.
Corali nodded. "Yeah, I just...I don't know...maybe I'm just tired." She didn't really look tired.
Vara nodded. "Makes sense. Well, I can help with record taking. Or testing if that is needed more. Just tell me what to do, anything at all, and I'll do it."
******
The bottles did indeed keep coming.
Their culture was a religious-based one. Other than that, there wasn't a whole lot. They ate whatever they could find and cooked it however it tasted best. Their clothes were simplistic and somewhat colorful.
They believed that everyone was pretty much equal on a basic level. They were all of the same race, so racial equality was not even possibly an issue, though they treated the Aerlanicans well. Over time, women had come to gain an equal footing on most matters. There remained some minor inequality - about one third of the military was female, women tended to prefer healthcare and education jobs more than men, etc. - but it wasn't due to any rules or rampant discrimination, merely personal choice and tradition. Marriage was between one man and one woman - they had never thought of any alternatives - but the sergeant did say same-sex relationships did exist, and as long as nobody was getting hurt or forced to do something they didn't want to do, authorities didn't get involved.
Greetings were generally quite personal, with friends or even acquaintances hugging or cheek-kissing upon seeing each other. Such greetings were less common in more formal settings. There was only one holiday, the annual celebration of the founding of their civilization, but it was a rather major affair, with two weeks of vacation for most people.
(Anything else they ask about?)
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Delegata also added on accentuated canines, the roof-of-mouth retractable venomous fangs of a viper wolf, and a forked tongue. For her back, she tried adding four spider-leg-like appendages that ended in a sharp point, which could be used for walking but which would probably just be used for intimidation and torture. She asked Iblion for input, as it was a tad experimental.
Delegata welcomed Iblion's presence but insisted on caring for the children herself. She let Iblion spend a day with her "most developed" child, who now sported small bovine horns, thin reptilian scales, small claws, and a lengthy tail.
******
Alyne constantly asked to be let out to explore the world. Lithalia often caught her peering out of the windows. Alyne enjoyed the games, books, and stories. Alyne did as Lithalia asked, but Lithalia was unsuccessful in having a major impact on Alyne's mannerisms. The lack of time most likely was a sizable factor; within a little over a week, the child was nearly ten years old.
What Cicada had accomplished, was pissing the Imperial Air Force off. By now, news of this event had reached the high command in Kaohai, resulting very angry response laced with expletives and generally derogatory language which was aimed at all parties involved. It was very clear that the air force's higher-ups were demanding results from their subordinates. Simply doing nothing was absolutely out of the question because it was ordered that the pest in the sky be dealt with accordingly. Whatever had to be done, was to be done.
Simply taking the object out was not an option due to its location over Kemptburge, and well, the general inability to target let alone destroy the object in question. Furthermore, there was a fear that sending a radio transmission would result in the object simply disappearing without a trace. Thus, there was only one option left. The high command decided to test the anti-ballistic missile defenses around Kemptburge by firing off a massive salvo of training missiles. With the limited information that the Imperial Air Force had, the incredibly low-yield warheads of the training missiles were set to detonate at a height of 1,800 kilometers. Their explosions would destroy the missiles they rode on, and hopefully scare the object into either leaving or surrendering. Perhaps, if the training missiles got lucky, they might even manage to take out the object.
Soon after the decision was made, nearly one-hundred missiles were fired into the sky. Leaving white streaks in their wake, they climbed into the sky rapidly in a simulated attack pattern to test the theoretical ability to hit an incoming ballistic missile swarm. The object would very clearly see the missiles given from where they were launched, and from where they were headed.
New Franco, New Franco
Ta'lhqejk felt obliged to change the moment they stepped foot in New Franco. The blue suit was just too much for New Franco's ambiance. It screamed formality and a degree of order that simply wasn't as obviously present here. Given that, it took them little hesitation to make the decision and snap their fingers after stepping aside into a seemingly empty alley to make the switch. Suddenly, the blue suit disappeared and was replaced by a fairly plain and subdued grey tunic suit. Pleased with their new choice in clothing, Ta'lhqejk went a step further and replaced their black Wayfair sunglasses with square horn-rimmed glasses that were tinted and polarized. Not quite as concealing as sunglasses, but they matched their outfit significantly better.
Having dealt with the appropriate wardrobe decisions, Ta'lhqejk looked up the New Franco Science Center on their phone. Predictably it claimed to be closed despite being a ruin that was not fit for its former purpose. After a quick sigh, they pressed the button for directions and began to follow them through the crowded streets of New Franco. A far cry from Seversvik, the cityscape of New Franco felt odd to Ta'lhqejk; it lacked a balance between nature and humanity. Things were built one on top of another, there were practically no open spaces, and the streets were chaotically planned with seemingly no consideration given to their usability. Still, the liveliness of the city and its people held some allure to Ta'lhqejk. The ambiance was not as cold and formal as that of Seversvik, or the Varlokiri Empire when it still existed. A rigidity lacked from the city's ambiance, which felt oddly relieving.
About halfway to the Science Center's ruins, Ta'lhqejk received Alena's text. Pausing at the side of the busy street, they glanced at the screen of their phone, and read the text. Sensing that something was wrong after reading the text, Ta'lhqejk asked if Alena was alright, to which the reply was only too predictable. It simply made the Varlokiri goddess roll their eyes. Still, Ta'lhqejk didn't have the willpower to lampoon and harass Alena over doing something that would imperil her health and wellbeing. After all, this wasn't a matter worth intervening in given that at the end of the day, it was Alena who made the decisions and nobody else.
"I am heading towards the ruins of the Science Center. Do you know where Hogan is in case Alex turns out to be a nutjob? I'd like a backup plan in case things don't work out on one end."
"Thanks for your help, by the way. Very much appreciated."
After sending the two texts, Ta'lhqejk resumed their course to the Science Center.
Kiki smiles. “That sounds great! Waffle Valley is beautiful. And I’ve been meaning to meet up with Zera again for a while now, too.”
“Dementia’s like, where your brain doesn’t work as well when you get older, you start seeing things that aren’t there and forgetting stuff.” Luca shakes his head. “But it usually affects people who are old.” He looks at Corali. “I mean... how old are you?”
Corali tilted her head. "Well...that depends on how you count...you could say I'm fifteen...or you could say a little over two hundred...I've been asleep - sort of - for a couple of centuries."