The Galactics UnionBoard

The Cold Below || Ex-Machina 374

The immense beast slamming into the Viskova battlecruiser sends it careening off-course, the nose pointed downwards, yet still flying, dorsal-side ahead. The shields are unable to cope with such a huge kinetic impact, and buckle seamlessly around the stern. Two of the ship’s five main engines are crushed into the hull as the ship itself is sent flying, a wildcat explosion resulting mere moments afterwards from the catastrophic damage, sending out a shockwave of blue-purple energy across the foggy air.

Despite all of this, the battlecruiser regains its footing; coming parallel to the ground, yet now keeling to her left slightly, the reaction thrusters trying to compensate.

Although it must’ve looked to be a gruesome blow, fire still billowing from the ship’s aft section, they still remain airborne and mobile. Casualty reports finally reach the bridge - by the grace of God, none are killed. The exact area of the impact was almost completely unmanned, as most of the crewed areas made up the front two-thirds of the vessel.

A dozen or more are injured - some worse than others. Compared to a crew of nearly 9,500, it was either a testament to the ship’s engineering, or their incredible luck.

Probably not the latter.

For what must have been at least a few weeks, the wounded ship drifted above the fog, not daring to descend again. But what goes up, must inevitably come down.

Over a wide swathe of flat yet unknown ground, the immense vessel finally made its descent. Slowly, gracefully - the 1.6 kilometer vessel came to finally rest on solid ground.

New Saharia wrote:

The Cold Below || Ex-Machina 374

The immense beast slamming into the Viskova battlecruiser sends it careening off-course, the nose pointed downwards, yet still flying, dorsal-side ahead. The shields are unable to cope with such a huge kinetic impact, and buckle seamlessly around the stern. Two of the ship’s five main engines are crushed into the hull as the ship itself is sent flying, a wildcat explosion resulting mere moments afterwards from the catastrophic damage, sending out a shockwave of blue-purple energy across the foggy air.

Despite all of this, the battlecruiser regains its footing; coming parallel to the ground, yet now keeling to her left slightly, the reaction thrusters trying to compensate.

Although it must’ve looked to be a gruesome blow, fire still billowing from the ship’s aft section, they still remain airborne and mobile. Casualty reports finally reach the bridge - by the grace of God, none are killed. The exact area of the impact was almost completely unmanned, as most of the crewed areas made up the front two-thirds of the vessel.

A dozen or more are injured - some worse than others. Compared to a crew of nearly 9,500, it was either a testament to the ship’s engineering, or their incredible luck.

Probably not the latter.

For what must have been at least a few weeks, the wounded ship drifted above the fog, not daring to descend again. But what goes up, must inevitably come down.

Over a wide swathe of flat yet unknown ground, the immense vessel finally made its descent. Slowly, gracefully - the 1.6 kilometer vessel came to finally rest on solid ground.

not long after they land, they'd both hear and even somewhat feel the marching of what could only have been an army. hen a rapid fire sound of lightning wound be heard, which is followed by more dragon roars.

Sol System.
Segmentum Solar.
406.M-10.

The eldritch light of the Warp erupts across space as a plethora of warships are spit out of the hellish dimension, already in perfect formation - auspexes immediately set to scanning the surrounding area, and the tech-priests are appalled at what they find.
The system was gone.
It was as if it had never existed in the first place, with not even a trace of the forces that would have been emitted from the existence of an entire solar system, or even of whatever could have possibly destroyed it. The fleet hangs immobile in the void - nine Iwein battleships, seventy-five Spiclyeus cruisers, thirty Agathaumas light cruisers, and sixty Maniraptora frigates - as the flotilla's admiral is at a loss.

Unitess

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Vissier was shocked by that request. On one hand, it would be a defining moment in his career as a diplomat - to be personally escorted to their capital world to meet with their leader. On the other hand, it seemed somewhat out-of-line for what was supposed to be a brief interaction with an alien vessel…

“I agree - I would be honored to meet with the Primarch. However, I must inform my government of my departure and gain their approval. Although I am positive they will accept…”

And indeed they would. The nearby Republic taskforce had already established a direct channel with Viskova. All it took was for Douglas to send a message back to them on his shuttle’s shipboard computer.

Although having somewhat rudely left during the middle of the conversation, Douglas Vissier returned not but a minute later, somewhat excited. “I am ready to depart.”

Daeztegon wrote:

Sol System.
Segmentum Solar.
406.M-10.

The eldritch light of the Warp erupts across space as a plethora of warships are spit out of the hellish dimension, already in perfect formation - auspexes immediately set to scanning the surrounding area, and the tech-priests are appalled at what they find.
The system was gone.
It was as if it had never existed in the first place, with not even a trace of the forces that would have been emitted from the existence of an entire solar system, or even of whatever could have possibly destroyed it. The fleet hangs immobile in the void - nine Iwein battleships, seventy-five Spiclyeus cruisers, thirty Agathaumas light cruisers, and sixty Maniraptora frigates - as the flotilla's admiral is at a loss.

Unitess

The bright flash of light startled the captain.

He fell over his own feet, and hit the floor in a rather loud thud. As he looked around in embarrassment, he realized nobody was even looking at him. He got up quickly, brushed himself off, and then stared in awe at the massive fleet in front of him.

He and his men were stationed at a scientific research base, investigating suspicious traces of radio waves in the area.

His ship, a Venator-class cruiser, was accompanied by two Arquitens-class light cruisers. They were sent to the station on guard duty, as the base’s defense systems recently went down.

After assessing the situation, the Captain said; “Gentlemen, I think we found the origin of the radio signals.”

He signaled for backup from any nearby systems and put the ships on high alert. Such a massive fleet only meant one thing: Invasion.

He gave the order for attack positions, and ordered for one of the bridge technicians to opens a comms line to the fleet.

“Unidentified fleet, you have entered restricted airspace of The Colonies of Unitess. Identify yourselves.”

New Saharia wrote:

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Vissier was shocked by that request. On one hand, it would be a defining moment in his career as a diplomat - to be personally escorted to their capital world to meet with their leader. On the other hand, it seemed somewhat out-of-line for what was supposed to be a brief interaction with an alien vessel…

“I agree - I would be honored to meet with the Primarch. However, I must inform my government of my departure and gain their approval. Although I am positive they will accept…”

And indeed they would. The nearby Republic taskforce had already established a direct channel with Viskova. All it took was for Douglas to send a message back to them on his shuttle’s shipboard computer.

Although having somewhat rudely left during the middle of the conversation, Douglas Vissier returned not but a minute later, somewhat excited. “I am ready to depart.”

"The journey will take some time; several weeks at least, if the currents of the Warp are peaceful... Or months, if they prove turbulent. Much of the ship will, of course, remain off-limits to you; though I'm sure you understand, as a sovereign power cannot simply allow any outsider to enter gun bays, the barracks, or any other myriad location. Quarters will be provided to you, along with a servo-skull; should you have need of myself or the Magos, alert the skull, and we will do what we can to make time for you. In the event of a Gellar field failure, your quarters will lock themselves - the ceramite armor should hold against most predators of the Warp, but should they fail, you will also be provided with a bolt pistol. If you find yourself outside of your quarters in the event of a field failure, follow the nearest Guardsman - they will be your saving grace. Otherwise, Mr. Vissier, welcome aboard. You are more than free to peruse the onboard data-archives, if you wish to learn more about us en route to Bastion."

With that, the Captain leaves - two of the Tanegashima Guardsmen escort him to his quarters, where a new servo-skull awaits with a loaned bolt pistol. Soon after, the battlecruiser jumps into the Warp; leaving the Saharian vessels dazzled by the display of otherworldly energies, and certainly causing their scanners to go haywire trying to make sense of the psychic dimension's readings.

Unitess wrote:

The bright flash of light startled the captain.

He fell over his own feet, and hit the floor in a rather loud thud. As he looked around in embarrassment, he realized nobody was even looking at him. He got up quickly, brushed himself off, and then stared in awe at the massive fleet in front of him.

He and his men were stationed at a scientific research base, investigating suspicious traces of radio waves in the area.

His ship, a Venator-class cruiser, was accompanied by two Arquitens-class light cruisers. They were sent to the station on guard duty, as the base’s defense systems recently went down.

After assessing the situation, the Captain said; “Gentlemen, I think we found the origin of the radio signals.”

He signaled for backup from any nearby systems and put the ships on high alert. Such a massive fleet only meant one thing: Invasion.

He gave the order for attack positions, and ordered for one of the bridge technicians to opens a comms line to the fleet.

“Unidentified fleet, you have entered restricted airspace of The Colonies of Unitess. Identify yourselves.”

Onboard the flagship of the battlegroup - the Wailing Wind - the tech-priests are in a frenzy as cogitators begin translating the xenos' language. The rest of the fleet, however, simply readies their gun batteries in the event of a fight; with even the smallest frigate almost double the size of the xenos cruiser.

Daeztegon wrote:

Onboard the flagship of the battlegroup - the Wailing Wind - the tech-priests are in a frenzy as cogitators begin translating the xenos' language. The rest of the fleet, however, simply readies their gun batteries in the event of a fight; with even the smallest frigate almost double the size of the xenos cruiser.

The captain, hearing no response, repeats the message. "Unidentified fleet, you have entered restricted space. Do you read me?"

Unitess wrote:

The captain, hearing no response, repeats the message. "Unidentified fleet, you have entered restricted space. Do you read me?"

After several tense minutes, the cogitators have managed to partially translate the xenos language - and a choppy message is sent in return.

"Terra gone. You did?"

With that, several hundred Fury interceptors, alongside Shark assault boats, depart the hangar bays of the battlegroup's larger vessels, taking their own formation. The entire fleet slowly powers towards the aliens, closing to a distance of 50,000 kilometers.

Daeztegon wrote:

After several tense minutes, the cogitators have managed to partially translate the xenos language - and a choppy message is sent in return.

"Terra gone. You did?"

With that, several hundred Fury interceptors, alongside Shark assault boats, depart the hangar bays of the battlegroup's larger vessels, taking their own formation. The entire fleet slowly powers towards the aliens, closing to a distance of 50,000 kilometers.

The captain looked at the crew on the bridge, almost like he expects answers from them. Seeing no answers, he turns to face the worsening situation. He orders the preparation of shields and receives verification that the distress call he made earlier has reached RUSF High Command. He speaks, hoping to reduce hostilities.

"What is Terra?"

He also turns to face his pale-faced assistant, telling him to "Bring in the calvary if the time comes."

Unitess wrote:

The captain looked at the crew on the bridge, almost like he expects answers from them. Seeing no answers, he turns to face the worsening situation. He orders the preparation of shields and receives verification that the distress call he made earlier has reached RUSF High Command. He speaks, hoping to reduce hostilities.

"What is Terra?"

He also turns to face his pale-faced assistant, telling him to "Bring in the calvary if the time comes."

"Terra home species origin. Sol system. Terra gone. You did this?"

The battlegroup grows steadily closer, coming to a halt some thirty five thousand kilometers distant from the trio of aliens. With such relatively 'close' range, the aliens will be able to easily see the size of individual vessels as opposed to mere silhouettes on a scanner - with the largest of the fleet at twelve kilometers, and the smallest at nearly two.

Daeztegon wrote:

"Terra home species origin. Sol system. Terra gone. You did this?"

The battlegroup grows steadily closer, coming to a halt some thirty five thousand kilometers distant from the trio of aliens. With such relatively 'close' range, the aliens will be able to easily see the size of individual vessels as opposed to mere silhouettes on a scanner - with the largest of the fleet at twelve kilometers, and the smallest at nearly two.

"We're not aware of any solar systems near this area, nor anything that would've happened to said system. Are you sure these are the right coordinates you're looking for?"

Everyone is visibly shaken as alarms blare through the trio ships. Everything, even escape pods, are being prepared.

Unitess wrote:

"We're not aware of any solar systems near this area, nor anything that would've happened to said system. Are you sure these are the right coordinates you're looking for?"

Everyone is visibly shaken as alarms blare through the trio ships. Everything, even escape pods, are being prepared.

Growing irritated with the xenos' excuses, the battlegroup surges forward. Interceptors and assault boats flit between the craft, while the frigates move to surround them - no response is sent. Several of the assault boats grow closer to the largest alien ship; clearly, they intend to board.

Daeztegon wrote:

Growing irritated with the xenos' excuses, the battlegroup surges forward. Interceptors and assault boats flit between the craft, while the frigates move to surround them - no response is sent. Several of the assault boats grow closer to the largest alien ship; clearly, they intend to board.

"Alright f^ck it, let's roll!"

All three vessels split up in different directions, separating the alien ships' focus away from one central area and toward three different ships.

Intermittent flashes of light can be seen around the alien ships; The cavalry has arrived. 50 Imperial-II class cruisers, 13 Imperial-class cruisers, and 5 Quasar Fire-class bulk cruisers from nearby areas exit hyperspace.

As the hangar bays of the ships opened up, a spew of X-Wings, TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and Y-Wings zoomed out of their ships, all going into attack and defense positions.

"Unidentified fleet, we are not afraid to fight, no matter how outnumbered we are. We ask you to stand down and send an emissary to a ship of your choosing, but nothing more."

Unitess wrote:

"Alright f^ck it, let's roll!"

All three vessels split up in different directions, separating the alien ships' focus away from one central area and toward three different ships.

Intermittent flashes of light can be seen around the alien ships; The cavalry has arrived. 50 Imperial-II class cruisers, 13 Imperial-class cruisers, and 5 Quasar Fire-class bulk cruisers from nearby areas exit hyperspace.

As the hangar bays of the ships opened up, a spew of X-Wings, TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and Y-Wings zoomed out of their ships, all going into attack and defense positions.

"Unidentified fleet, we are not afraid to fight, no matter how outnumbered we are. We ask you to stand down and send an emissary to a ship of your choosing, but nothing more."

Aboard the Wailing Wind, the bridge crew look around them at the newly arrived xenos fleet - and immediately, chuckles begin to circulate throughout the room. According to the auspex, the largest of these new arrivals is under two kilometers; the nine battleships of the Dominate could easily destroy every single new arrival with little difficulty if it comes down to it. However, wasteful loss of life is something the Primarch doesn't encourage, so a reply is sent.

"Board group arriving. Allow on board. Or fire."

Daeztegon wrote:

Aboard the Wailing Wind, the bridge crew look around them at the newly arrived xenos fleet - and immediately, chuckles begin to circulate throughout the room. According to the auspex, the largest of these new arrivals is under two kilometers; the nine battleships of the Dominate could easily destroy every single new arrival with little difficulty if it comes down to it. However, wasteful loss of life is something the Primarch doesn't encourage, so a reply is sent.

"Board group arriving. Allow on board. Or fire."

The captain orders the ships to stand down, and speaks on the comms:

"We await your arrival."

Unitess wrote:

The captain orders the ships to stand down, and speaks on the comms:

"We await your arrival."

Three assault boats land in the hangar, and disgorge their complements - sixty Lightning Armsmen swarm out of two of them, the gold trim of their armor sticking out sharply against the obsidian plating. The other craft's occupants, however, are far more imposing. Ten Astartes in full battle-plate debark, their heavy steps ringing against the durasteel plating of the hangar bay - and in contrast to the armsmen, their armor is nearly devoid of color. Dull silver adorns the ceramite, with a golden aquila emblazoned upon their chestplates, and a single white chevron upon their helms. Each supersoldier towers over every other individual in the hangar, and the red glow of their eyeplates give them a somewhat demonic look. A single servo-skull drifts behind them, newly loaded with a translation of the aliens' language - as best they Mechanicum can approximate, in any case. A deep voice emanates from the skull, with a question directed to whomever is the highest ranking officer present among the xenos.

"Who here commands? Speak now."

Daeztegon wrote:

Three assault boats land in the hangar, and disgorge their complements - sixty Lightning Armsmen swarm out of two of them, the gold trim of their armor sticking out sharply against the obsidian plating. The other craft's occupants, however, are far more imposing. Ten Astartes in full battle-plate debark, their heavy steps ringing against the durasteel plating of the hangar bay - and in contrast to the armsmen, their armor is nearly devoid of color. Dull silver adorns the ceramite, with a golden aquila emblazoned upon their chestplates, and a single white chevron upon their helms. Each supersoldier towers over every other individual in the hangar, and the red glow of their eyeplates give them a somewhat demonic look. A single servo-skull drifts behind them, newly loaded with a translation of the aliens' language - as best they Mechanicum can approximate, in any case. A deep voice emanates from the skull, with a question directed to whomever is the highest ranking officer present among the xenos.

"Who here commands? Speak now."

The 80 men in Phase 2 Clone armor scattered around and the hangar crew are small compared to the towering men from the ships. The area around the ships has been cleared, save for a single crew member from the bridge. He's the commander of the ship and the stand-in captain of the fleet surrounding the area. He is only wearing his uniform, and he can clearly be identified as human. He speaks;

"I command here. What is your objective?"

Unitess wrote:

The 80 men in Phase 2 Clone armor scattered around and the hangar crew are small compared to the towering men from the ships. The area around the ships has been cleared, save for a single crew member from the bridge. He's the commander of the ship and the stand-in captain of the fleet surrounding the area. He is only wearing his uniform, and he can clearly be identified as human. He speaks;

"I command here. What is your objective?"

Though the presence of other humans here is shocking to the Indronian soldiers, the Armsmen are the best of the best amongst the Domini Guard, and none move a muscle - and the Astartes are too well trained, too gene-edited, to betray any slip of the mind. One of the supersoldiers steps forward, his helm adorned with three chevrons in black. Gothic rumbles from his vox, and the floating skull translates it.

"We come to find Terra. Terra is not here, and the rest of Sol is not here. Explain."

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

It seemed that every word that came out of these people’s mouths only served to worry the Saharian even more. Warp currents? Gellar field? Was this translator bloody broken?

And a journey of weeks, possibly more. Did the Domini have extremely primitive lightspeed technology? Or was their territory much further than was originally thought? He had to inquire further about this, more than anything right now.

“That is certainly fine,” he said. “But… weeks? Possibly months? How far away is Bastion?”

Daeztegon wrote:

Though the presence of other humans here is shocking to the Indronian soldiers, the Armsmen are the best of the best amongst the Domini Guard, and none move a muscle - and the Astartes are too well trained, too gene-edited, to betray any slip of the mind. One of the supersoldiers steps forward, his helm adorned with three chevrons in black. Gothic rumbles from his vox, and the floating skull translates it.

"We come to find Terra. Terra is not here, and the rest of Sol is not here. Explain."

"You've been told this before, we don't have an idea about any 'Sol' System out here."

New Saharia wrote:

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

It seemed that every word that came out of these people’s mouths only served to worry the Saharian even more. Warp currents? Gellar field? Was this translator bloody broken?

And a journey of weeks, possibly more. Did the Domini have extremely primitive lightspeed technology? Or was their territory much further than was originally thought? He had to inquire further about this, more than anything right now.

“That is certainly fine,” he said. “But… weeks? Possibly months? How far away is Bastion?”

One of the Tanegashimans answers him, as Feversham had already begun walking to the bridge.
"Twenty-five thousand light-years, roughly. Afraid I'm not a Navigator, sir, so I wouldn't know the exact measurements. Is there anything you wish to do before being brought to your quarters, sir?"

Unitess wrote:

"You've been told this before, we don't have an idea about any 'Sol' System out here."

With more words being loaded into the servo-skulls lexicon every time the foreign humans speak, better translations become available.

"This is - was - the location of Sol. How can you not know? It was the birthplace of humanity."

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Finally, something connected. Although Douglas’s knee-jerk reaction was to assume their hyperdrive technology was hopelessly outdated, a more logical conclusion was that they utilized a different FTL system entirely. He couldn’t help but remark.

“25,000 light-years? Even a Class-5 hyperdrive could get us there in a few days..!”

New Saharia wrote:

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Finally, something connected. Although Douglas’s knee-jerk reaction was to assume their hyperdrive technology was hopelessly outdated, a more logical conclusion was that they utilized a different FTL system entirely. He couldn’t help but remark.

“25,000 light-years? Even a Class-5 hyperdrive could get us there in a few days..!”

"Archaeotech drive, huh? Lucky you, vanishingly few of those in the Dominate, archives said there were only a few thousand in the old Imperium. Tech-priests haven't managed to crack them even with six hundred years to try; we're stuck with the Warp 'til they make a breakthrough."

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Again, he was met with confusion at the terms thrown at him. Archaeotech - did they once utilize the hyperdrive in the distant past? How could such a crucial piece of technology be forgotten?

“All of the ships in service with the Republic, and across the Galaxy for that matter, use hyperdrives. The Palisade frigate - the one just nearby - has a Class-2 Hyperdrive; they could get us there within a day, maybe even-”

He stopped himself as his eyes widened. What an unfathomable mistake he had just made, revealing something of such obviously extreme advantage. How could he let such a damning thing slip? They were all surely doomed now.

New Saharia wrote:

Malevolent Intruder || Daeztegon

Again, he was met with confusion at the terms thrown at him. Archaeotech - did they once utilize the hyperdrive in the distant past? How could such a crucial piece of technology be forgotten?

“All of the ships in service with the Republic, and across the Galaxy for that matter, use hyperdrives. The Palisade frigate - the one just nearby - has a Class-2 Hyperdrive; they could get us there within a day, maybe even-”

He stopped himself as his eyes widened. What an unfathomable mistake he had just made, revealing something of such obviously extreme advantage. How could he let such a damning thing slip? They were all surely doomed now.

The Guardsmen stumbles in his step at this incredible information - just how much had changed since Horus's civil war? - and a nearby servo-skull discreetly sends this information through the noosphere to the magi deeper within the ship, who erupt in excitement at the possibility of new technology.

"All of your ships? You have never traveled the Warp?"