#humasn are space orcs

[peoplecallmelucifer]

Nightmares

"A knife" Samuel said leaving the table silent for a moment

The silence was broken by a howling laugh of an Attra Space marine sitting next to him

"You can't be serious" they said  as they slightly composed them

"Oh I'm dead serious La" Samuel retorted

LaKarVah  still had a smile on their face but they was obviously contemplating the humans answer

As the table went quiet again a Tool named Shield-3007 spoke.

[Human Samuel James Macintosh. Your answer is illogical. please explain the reasoning]

Samuel downed his drink.

"I will but ya'll aren't gonna like it. Then again we're all soldiers so I guess you might actually understand"

His entire squad and a few neighboring tables leaned in to listen the Human explain his pick.

"EMP's, nukes, bio weapons, plasma lances are all horrible weapons and what they do to their victims is Despicable." Samuel said coldly "But knives..." He paused.

"First and foremost they are silent, completely silent."

"So are puls-laser canons" a centaur like alien from a neighboring table interjected

"True, but there is more to knives. Two things that makes them the weapon of nightmares" Sam continued, his face going dark

"First is that to use it you need to get close enough. so you have to be ready to be surrounded by all sides and at arms length, of  people who'd like nothing more but to end your existence"

This sent shivers trough spines of some of the soldiers listening in to the story

"The second is" Sam continued "you do not have the ability to distance Yourself from what you’re doing. Whether it's the look in their eyes as they go dull or the last breath they let out You're gonna see it.

And you're gonna keep seeing it every night you manage to get yourself to sleep.."

At this the silence in the bar was chilling. at least until Sam chuckled "...At least that's what my Drill Sargent told us to scare new recruits"

This caused several sighs of relieve, grumbles and even some laughter. Humans were known for stories. They thrived on stories, and they sure as hell knew how to spin a good tale when they didn't have any other way out of a debate.

The group quickly settled back in their routine of chatter. Well most of them

La glanced at Shield walking out of the bar and decided to follow.

"Catching some fresh air MetalMan" they said jokingly

[LaKarVah, hello. I'm Processing information.Noise is distracting.This is more socially acceptable than turning off my audio processing unit]

"Fair enough. But now I’m curious. I rarely see you taking this long to understand something. So what's bothering you"

[Data to scarce. Samuel's claims explanation is a second or third retelling]

"Ah. Humans got you with their stories. Pay it no mind. They have a  lot of those"

[This is a known quantity. Problem in logical deduction different. My designation is Shield. I protect my unit. I heal their wound. I take care of their health]

"Yeah you are our medic ... or mechanic. I still don’t get your dilemma"

[Since day 1 of my deployment,  Samuel's Sleeping patterns irregular. Sometimes he stays awake for several cycles]

Realization dawns on The Attra marine as they whisperer under their breath "Oh."

[oracleofbullshyt-blog]

Chapter 16 - Grief

It’s a bit shorter than usual. 

Also i got caught up in explaining something that doesn’t really matter to the story, but i like it so it stayed in.

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The Carver beam flowed gracefully underneath Leonidas’s Shield, bathing sections of the fledgling star system in its iridescent glow as it made its way past. The ship captains watched in bated breath as the stream of super-heated plasma made its journey through the solar system, it past through the centre of their loose formation leaving them untouched in its glory. In the seconds it took for the beam to leave the ship and find its mark, Captain Balme had under gone minutes of panic from dredged up memories and feelings he had supressed, the last time any human had witnessed a Carver beam was in the battle for Earth. The Carver beam embraced an emergent planet in the solar  system, wrapping it in its warm embrace before fracturing it into oblivion. The cloud of gas surrounding the new born planet reacted to the destruction and set the void alight. The Human fleet braced for impact as they witnessed what the Capital ship had meant to. The ring of gas and debris that followed the orbit of the planet around the sun lit up and at once the remains of a shattered planet and hundreds of thousands of years of asteroids came rushing towards them like a wall.

While the ships were under assault by the debris, while the captains tried to reign in the movements of their ships as they were sent whirling into the void something else happened that no one was aware of. It was a rare occurrence in the barren planes of space, only occurring a few times in the galaxies brief history and understood by intelligent ears even fewer. Silent as the winds whisper on a warm spring day, a moan of mourning escaped the ethereal lips of an entity so much more than any one being’s comprehension could touch upon without losing their fragile mind. For that was a planet that one day would have yielded a life that would have meant something.

“We need to get through the shields!” Isabella’s Swarm ship was not small, but the lack of armaments and the upgraded engines she had been using meant she was a lot nimbler than what she looked. Which was her saving grace as she skirted the edge of the Capital ships vision trying to find the meeting point of the shields to get her swarms inside, whilst under fire from its rotating plasma cannons.

“Incoming broadside, 60 seconds out. Using Four-arms new bunker busters so prepare for a surprise.”

Amelia’s whoops came over the wideband in response. “Isabella you may be our Phoenix, but Carlos is definitely the Angel of death.”

Atlaua’s Revenge’s Android featureless face raised itself up from its gunnery platform in front of the bridge and ‘looked’ towards Carlos in the captain’s chair. “My name is not Four-arms, every time I tell you this. My designation is closer to that of what you call a female, I was stuck in ‘this’ specialist body when the network fell.” The android flipped off Carlos as he started to laugh, “I know Petals, it’s a joke. I’m still trying to find you a new body I promise. Let’s just get through this first.”

Once again Atlaua’s Revenge slipped into place next to the Capital ship, the guns aligned along the rails, and the barrage began. This time was different though. The shells rained down against the shields and slipped through with a small flash, there was no explosion as before. They embedded themselves into the ship’s hull and dug themselves in slowly. They started flashing. A gravelly voice came over the wide band as the shields fell on the capital ship, “This is why my name is Petals.”

The flank of the Capital ship lit up; White blooms of light spread outwards from where each shell had imbedded themselves. The pattern of death spread out as they watched, slowly forming a white lily against the charcoal grey of the hull. Then they detonated. Tearing a hole in the side of the Capital ship as big as Long haul vessel.

“Everyone, fire at will.”

The Capital ship desperately attempted to fire back, but without its shields it had no chance.

“Someone get our friends in the nebula to come salvage what they can, and lets head back.”

 Heading back to the station was not the victory parade it should’ve been. Each captain fielded their reports. Almost all the ships had lost crew. Carlos had a failure in engineering as a result of the dark energy surge. Two lost to radiation. Isabella’s ship shield had cycled in the midst of a fighter attack. One lost in the fire, one in ICU. Victor had attempted to shield Amelia from the worst of the debris of the planet. Four lost to a hull breach. Niall was in the medical bay. Third degree burns along his right side.

They limped there way to the station where they had planned the attacks in order to recuperate. Leonidas’s Shield was lucky, they alone hadn’t lost anyone, injuries were minor, and they could rebuild the ship with little effort. They didn’t revel though; they knew what their comrades were going through. They did what they could to work through the ship as the Buccaneers tended to their dead, needing to keep themselves busy. Each crew had their own ways of dealing with their mourning, but eventually they trickled out of their ships and headed to the Bar where it started. They sat in silence nursing their drinks as they thought through the events of the day. The crews were as one, they sat together this time, united in their plight.

 The next day Vat’s, Wolf and Omni walked through the docks carrying a bundle between them, it drew odd glances as they walked along. Unceremoniously wrapped in plastic, one arm had fallen out the side as they had walked. It was small, humanoid and dead. They couldn’t have helped it, but still Omni felt sad at what could’ve been.

They stopped in front of Atlaua’s Revenge and wrapped on the hull. They were met by the faceless android at the airlock. Its four arms crossed in front of it. “I overheard the exchange you and your Captain had, I realised I may have something to help you.” They stood the body up and pulled off the plastic, there stood a maroon shell, smaller and more feminine in appearance than the hulking four-armed specialist shell that was currently being used. The androids arms dropped to its side in shock as it looked over, “Th- thank you, I don’t have anythi-,” Omni waved her answer away as he turned to leave, “Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their body, Sister.”

[peoplecallmelucifer]

Every story ever written

“Attention passengers“ A pleasant voice echoed trough the hallways “We will be arriving to Nithra 5 in half an hour. Please prepare to disembark“ John Was excited and nervous. He was a part of the group representing Earth at the art festival of the Galactic Assembly. Considering it was Earths first Time sending representatives and hew as the one giving the speech his nervousness was justified. AS they disembarked the cruise ship they were greeted by a tall and slender “It’s my pleasure to extend the greetings in behalf of the Galactic assembly. I am Nithra Suenn and was assigned as your guide during your stay“

John  stood on his toes so he would be able to look Suenn in the eyes. “ Oh, thank you. I’m Jonathan grace, you can call me John, This here is Antonio Morena..” “Toni for short” the man replied “...And this is Maria Petova“ “I’m Just short” Maria replied baiting a chuckle out of their Guide May I ask something before we start though“ Sam said “Of course“ Suenn replied “Could you tell us where the envoys of the other two newcomer are.“ “Of course. If you wish I could notify their guides and see if they would be willing to arrange a meeting later today“ “That’d be lovely“ “Now If you would follow me to your quarters. I presume you would want some rest before we start the tour“ “Lead the way miss Nithra“ Sam said with a smile AS the trio followed their guide they took in the sights of the Spacedock, during the 10 minutes shuttle ride to the planet surface Toni and John were debating their upcoming speech while Maria quietly hummed a lullaby as she stared out of the window. “Miss Maria“ Suen said as she noticed the humming “oh, yes Suenn?“ “May I inquire about the melody you were... singing“ “Oh that, I was humming a lullaby I usually sing for my daughter. This is the longest I’ve been separated from her so I’m a bit Melancholic“ “Oh,  quite understandable. We Tlii also have a strong  bond with our family ... I’m nearly 40 and I still call my parents daily.“ The rest of the ride was marked by present small talk. When they landed The Group was given an hour to rest before they head out towards the “Palace of Art” The most famous gallery in the Explored part of the galaxy. “So folks“ John said “First impressions“ “Bit too formal for my taste but not bad. The Guide is cute too“ Maria replied “I’m hungry“ Toni replied “Well go grab something from the hotels restaurant. Suenn Said all the costs will be covered“ John said as Tonis eyes widened “So ... Free all you can eat buffet?“ “Yes“ “And we are staying here for a week“ “Yes“ “...Good bye my summer body“

“You’re a pig“ Maria said as Toni was closing the doors A few minutes later Suenn knocked on the doors “hello again. I have contacted the guides of the other two newcomers and their envoys said they would gladly meet you but they also requested we arrive fifteen minutes early so that you can have a proper meeting“ “Thank you very much Suenn. Tell them we agree“ Maria said Suenn nodded and left “Why do you wanna meet them anyway“ Maria asked John “Well they are new here, we are new here, none of  us actually knows what’s going on. It might be easier for all of us if we feel confused together“ “Fair point“ The human delegacy arrived 10 minutes earlier than agreed, mostly because of Johns insistence. “Why were you so adamant on arriving early Mister John “ “Well... I was too anxious for waiting in the hotel“ “And waiting here is... not causing anxiety?“ “No, because here I’m sure I won’t miss anything important“ “I can not say I fully comprehend that logic but if it lessens your anxiety I see no problem with waiting here.“ “Can I ask you something Suenn?“ “Of course?“ “I noticed your First name was the identical to the name of the planet. Is that Just a coincidence or something else?“ “It’s actually Tradition. Tlii name their children after  their Birthplace and a name chosen by their parents. I was born on this planet so My Birth Name is Nithra while my Given name is Suenn.“ “Huh. Interesting.“ After a few more  minutes of casual discussions the two delegations arrived. The D’Dret Delegacy consisted of twelve members all sporting their environment suits. “Greeting fellow children“ the leader of the delegation said as he reached out his hand

“Children?” Antonio asked quietly“ “The D’Dret word for artist is the same as their word for child“ Suenn replied “Kinda fits right“ John shook the delegates hand “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m JonathanGrace, leader of our delegation. You can call me John “ “I am afraid my name is quite impossible for the translator to handle so feel free to call me Otra, considering that’s the Star system I hail from“ From the other vehicle disembarked a delegation of twenty Beings of Yellow christening appearance. a leader of the group stepped forth and greeted the gathered “In behalf of Veq Hive I speak the words of greeting” the translator read “In be half of Humanity I accept the gritting and send my own“ John said and bowed, Otra mimicking his actions saying “ I do the same on behalf of D’Dret autonomy“ The Veq leader let out a low pitch pleasant click returning the bow “This one is called Ruea“ “My name Is Jonathan Grace“ “Call me Otra, shall we head inside“ “Certainly“ Ruea and John replied While there were no delegates yet there was a descent amount of visitors to the Gallery and the three delegations as well as their guides drew a number of looks. This seemed to make Johnnervous again, but also even more excited than ever. His companions seemed to share this attitude along with the D’Dret delegates. The Veq did not experience emotions, or at lest not in the way  Humans did. They didn’t know fear,Happiness or anger, but could be inquisitive,curious and mistrusting or frustrated. Although the latter was extremely rare and fairly mild. “How come Humans only sent 3 creators“ Ruea asked “Well Humanity is aware of its reputation. Lots of people in the assembly consider us borderline insane due to our contradictory nature. SO our Academy decided that the best course of action here would be to send a small delegation and not draw much attention on ourselves.“ “A reasonable approach Otra said“ “Yeah, but us three decided we have something else in plan for our speech“ “You would... defy your superior?“ Rue said in intrigued Disbelief “to a Veq that causes great pain.“ “Well If i am not wrong, you are biochemically connected, so acts of defiance are extremely rare since your communication is almost instant and complete” John said impressing Ruea “In our case that is not so. We are very Individual even though we are social beings, and sometimes people in authority refuse to listen to suggestions because they see themselves above others. In that case we become defiant“ “You are a weird people“ Said Otra with a little pause “but than again I’m the one in the EV suit“ The lengthy conversation about differences in cultures and approaches to art between all the members of the 3 delegations attracted a crowd of intrigued listeners even Suenn and the other guides were intrigued and occasionally asked a question or two.

After A an hour Suenn spoke up “Excuse me delegates, but the Ceremony is about to start. Would you please follow your respective guide to your seat“ “Oh certainly.“ John said “Ladi Ruea, Otra It has been a pleasure. Hopefully we can continue this discussion sometimes soon“

Suenn Lead her delegation to a circular room with many levels. filled to the brim with delegations from thousand of species. Humans were somewhere around the middle,Maria Noticed the Veq being almost at the bottom and one of their delegates apparently noticed her waving and looked curiously at her. she than put her opened palms on her troth imitating a traditional greeting they taught her. John noticed Otras suit about two levels above them sat juxtaposed to them and covered one eye with his hand greeting his new friend with their greeting to which Otra replied with a peace sign. “hello and welcome everyone to the annually art festival of the Galactic Assembly.” said a small alien “He looks like a plushy” Toni whispered and baited another chuckle out of Suenn. ” This year the assembly welcomed three new species The Pedantic Veq hive, The crafty D’Dret autonomy and ... Diverse Alliance of human worlds. As is tradition the newcomers will hold their speeches first. Starting with the Humans.“ John stood up “I think you for this opportunity but before I hold my speech I must ask, on behalf of our new friends of the Authonomy  and the Hive. would you allow them to speak before us, as they asked me if I would be willing to swap places with them“ “Well... no one ever turned down the offer of being first to speak before, A kind gesture indeed. I don’t see why not. Verry well. Who of you wants to speak first“ “The Authonomy children will gladly hear out our comrades of the Hive before we speak ourselves“ ”I thank our new friends for granting this request of mine.” Lady Ruea replied as she slowly walked to the podium. Suenn turned to John “What you just did was unprecedented. May I inquire why have you done this“ “As we were about to go our separate ways lady Ruea noticed that her translator was running out of battery and her spare was left in their hotel. considering she didn’t want to miss any of our speeches so she asked if I would let her talk first so she can switch her power cell after her speech. and considering I’m nervous as hell right now I decided to give myself a bit more time to relax and see other speeches before I step down there“ “Coward“ Maria teased him “and proud of it“ he replied

The speech of Ruea was simple it briefly described the way her people think and the way they approach art, or as they call it creation. How they prefer writing in strict form but are also constantly looking for new forms to write. how their statues are  trying to be symmetrical in every way and yet innovative. After her Otra came down doing the same talking about how Their culture sees artists as people who never lost their child imagination how every new creation is a new unexplored wonder, just like every next step is a new experience for a toddler. Than came John’s turn. He was still a bit nervous but he kept his cool. “As you know. lady Ruea asked me if I would do her a favour and let her speak first. I let my new friend Otra speak second because I was too nervous to do it myself“ a few chuckles were heard among the crowd “AS you know Humans have a reputation and  I was given a ready speech by the people who sent me here to read and stay out of trouble so that I can alleviate that reputation. But than again That’d be to deny human nature.“ Nick said as he ripped a sheet of paper with a written speech “Oh boy here we go“ Toni commented “What is he doing“ Suenn asked “Being true to himself ... and being a jackass“ maria replied “Our leaders only allowed us artists one speech, and a small delegation. I can live with that. But if they want me to speak I will speak however I see fit. And yes I will get in trouble for this if you were wondering“ A few more chuckles and murmurs started among the crowd “I am know that whatever stylistic figures, whatever topic I can think of, someone else in this room will think of as well. The  Ka’ran are called the masters of Romance and yet some of their poets wrote works of horror I find exquisite.  The Hevar are proud of their odes and marching songs and yet I find their lullabies to be incredibly soothing. So I don’t see a point in pretending that you are going to find something new in our works.“

This statement caused shock, intrigue and utter confusion. Are humans really so self destructive they would sabotage their own nation for an act of defiance? But the whispers and murmurs didn’t bother John

“In our statues, in our poetry, in our novels or paining ... all the motives we use I have seen with one quick stroll trough this gallery. So on this day I claim every story ever told has already been told. we just mixed up the words a bit differently.

A silence fell upon the room

I am looking forward, my fellow delegates, to read how you layed out the words we use.“

*Tink* a sound of two crystals hitting each other was heard from the lower levels *tink* as John walked off the podium and the Veq delegacy tried to imitate human clapping with their christaline limbs. *tink,tink,tink* Soon the D’Dred joined in, followed by the Ka’ran and Hevra that John Mentioned. after a few seconds most of the delegates gave a hearty applause.

“Well...“ the  alien small alien from before stepped back on the podium. “... I guess that a lot of rumours about the humans are true. They certainly are unpredictable and reckless... But If more of them are like their delegation I can only imagine how their artwork looks like. I suggest we take a half hour break before we continue“ The rest of the festival passed in a breeze. with the human delegation being followed by numerous new fans wherever they went. after a week and the conclusion of the festival several species decided to take the “scenic rout home“ as Humans said. and stopped on Cyrenca prime, Nueva Galizza, Earth and other human worlds, buying novels, visiting art museums and observing statues... Jonathan Grace was financially penalized for his “insubordination”, but considering he refused to return to earth, proffering to travel the Worlds of the assembly in search of new ideas to write about, that debt was never prayed. _ _

If you managed to get this far congrats, and thanks for reading.

I wrote this because I’ve noticed a lot of stories under these tags ... even the 2 I wrote are always going towards military and conflict situations. SO I turned it around to something I like much more

[oracleofbullshyt-blog]

Chapter 6 - Survivors Anger

Chapter 5 was the first i posted in case anyone is a little lost in the ordering number.

updates may be a little slower than usual now that university has started, but ill try keep them coming as regularly as possible.

Also if anyone would like to help me visualize Vahatu that would be awesome, i draw about as well as a two year old.

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The ground crew got out of the ship and trekked along a ridge for a while, those not able to fly peering over the perilous edge they walked along every so often. When they arrived at an unassuming rock face the captain stopped them and ordered the Avisxian siblings to set the breaching explosives. Vahatu and the ship bound crew watched through the camera feed and listened in over the comms.

They were a well-trained military unit, professional, fast and lethal. Disposing of security systems and autonomous drones as they worked their way through a maze of corridors. They entered a cavernous room that lit up from what Vahatu thought must have been motion sensors.

A pre-recorded monotone message started playing as they got into the centre of the room and each member of the landing crew was suddenly lit up with hundreds of tiny red dots, frozen in fear they all looked towards the captain.

‘’Twos human presence detected, four off world beings detected, state rank and reason.’’

‘’Special Operative Balme, requesting resupply for allied forces.’’

Vahatu took a sharp breath in, the captain was a special forces operator from the war. They were used to infiltrate, disable and destroy enemy ships from the inside, each of their missions were basically suicide missions. Rumours had it that one platoon even held a funeral for their new members.

‘’Access granted, welcome Operator Balme’’

 The crew visibly relaxed as the targeting lasers were disabled and got to work dismantling machinery and looking for crates that still held anything viable, Wolfs even found a loading trolley to help them carry their loads.

The ship’s crew watched the captains feed as he walked away from the rest of the ground party towards a small unassuming door, along the back of the room. As he opened it another automated message played, ‘’For access to storeroom epsilon state post breaking rank and operation.’’

‘’Now Captain Balme, Operation Retribution’’

‘’Access to Metamorphosis core granted’’

The door hissed open and in the middle of the room was a deep black sphere plugged into the walls by a series of cables, the captain went about unplugging and carefully put the sphere into his padded bag.

The crew made their way back to the ship, the android carefully taking the bag the captain handed him and placing it in his room.

 They had left the atmosphere cloaked and were busy plotting the jump route when an Angamar military ship jumped into the system and appeared on their sensors. A small ship only slightly larger than theirs, it was probably only coming into the system to see the legacy their species had left.

 ‘’They have our colonies, they destroyed our planet but all they got was an embargo, all they had to do was half the fleet size, we lost everything. A slap on the wrist. We lost everything’’

The Captain sat there with the controls in his hands, shaking with rage. Vahatu had never seen a human change colour, but with every tremble and word the captains face got redder.

 The captain aimed their ship and accelerated so hard the artificial gravity lagged, the crew tried to grab onto what they could to not fall over. The impact warning klaxons onboard the ship sounded, but the captain just overrode the safety measures. The ship’s crew scrambled for their seats trying to strap themselves in. The sub light drives were being pushed to their max their heat gages well into the red, and at the last minute the Captain uncloaked.

The Angamar ship desperately tried evasive measures but it was too late.

Hit by two metres of mangalloy steel their ship was effectively and cleanly ripped in half, the tail section was sent spinning off into the void. Vahatu stared in shock at the wrecked ship as it was wracked by a series of small explosions, as they prepared to jump, he noticed how few lifeboats emerged from the wreckage.

 Leonidas’s Shield came to rest at a docking bay with a view of the large violet gas giant the space station orbited. The Captain left the bridge without a word to the crew and met with Omni and Ben by the airlock, disappearing through the labyrinth of narrow streets bustling with activity.

The crew finished their docking checks and locked the ship out, they departed together and went in search for a bar that was preferably not too full. Vahatu walked through the street vendors lost in thought at the brutality he had witnessed. The small dimly lit bar off the main street was perfect for their needs and soon they found themselves inside talking about anything to occupy the time. Vahatu spotted the three that had disappeared with other humans he had never seen before in a small sided booth.

Vahatu stood up but before Initium could warn him off what he was about to and went to the Captain’s table

‘’Did no one warn him about human meetings’’ hissed Mantis in fear,

Slugs covered his now human face with a decidedly unhuman claw, ‘’I really liked this one, now we have to go and find a new one.’’

Five sets of predatory eyes turned sharply towards Vahatu before he even made his presence known, his scales flashing red in fear he could see he had interrupted something important. The unknown humans had open looks of death in their eyes and snarls painted across their face.

‘’Get out of here now’’ Ben said without even looking at him.

 Vahatu scrambled back to the crews table without a second glance behind him hoping he wasn’t going to be followed.

‘’Tip for the future, don’t ever interrupt a group of humans who are talking’’ Mantis whispered into his glass.

‘’Especially those two, they’re more than likely discussing Operation Retribution.’’

Vahatu pulsed in shock, ‘’Retribution, against the Angamar?’’

‘’You saw what he did when that ship came into orbit, well rumours have it they’re planning something big and even if you’re considered allies like we are they won’t let you in.’’

 After a lot of pointless small talk, the cook detached himself from the table he was sat at and walked over to the crews table, his hands in his pocket he looked awkward and unsure of what to say. ‘’Look I’m sorry about that, but we can’t just have you barrelling in to sensitive information ok?’’

Slugs slid partly around the table and partly over the top to the cook, ‘’But what was that, I’ve never seen him act like that before?’’

A soft whisper shocked them all from behind them, ‘’not everything can be so easily explained’’ the captain had a haunted look in his eyes.

[oracleofbullshyt-blog]

Chapter 14 - The Storm

Ship reference: (Because i’m terrible at preplanning)

Destroyer       – Atlaua’s Revenge     - Carlos  Cruiser           – Vodyanoi’s wrath      - Victor Swarm           – Phorcys’s Fury          - Isabella Fighter           – Salacia’s Retribution - Amelia  Rocket Salvo – Arrow of Ullr              - Niall and Christine

I dont usually swear in my stories but there are one or two in here somewhere.

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Time unfolded slowly in front of Balme’s eyes as he watched the fleet thrown into chaos. Something had gone wrong; their information was incorrect, and they were thrown into disarray as soon as the enemy fleet had jumped in. Their careful plan was ripped to shreds in front of his eyes as each captain battled to stay alive from the onslaught of the enemy.

“WHO THE HELL THOUGHT A CAPITAL SHIP WAS AN INFILTRATOR,” The wild shouts of Amelia came of the wide band as she flashed past the bridge of Leonidas’s Shield trying to outrun the two fighters that were latched onto her tail, desperately she weaved through the clouds of the system trying to lose them.

Atlaua’s Revenge was being bombarded by a constant onslaught from the swivel mounted rail guns of the Capital ship, this one miscalculation that no one had seen coming could cost them dearly. Vodyanoi’s wrath had been forced to place all power in its shield amidst the constant onslaught from the two destroyers that had blocked her in. Phorcys’s Fury and the Arrow of Ullr were stuck in a stalemate battle against the frigates, desperately trying to outmanoeuvre them. The crew of the Leonidas’s Shield sat amidst the battle still cloaked trying to decide the best course of action in order to turn the tide of battle but none of the simulations that were being run by Omni showed any chance of victory.

“Balme we need to do something! They’re being torn apart!” “No! Balme stay in cloaking, figure out a way to end this, we’re keeping them at bay for now, they still don’t know you’re here,” Isabella’s frantic voice came over the radio as one of her swarms flashed towards a fighter group in an arrow formation attempting to shred through them.

Omni’s voice came through to him in a low metallic voice, “Captain the odds of every ship coming out of this battle intact is increasingly getting smaller. We have lost, we must regroup and run. Your human lives are too precious to lose at this point.”

The captain looked up at his first mate in shock as he heard these words from the android, “There has to be a way, we can’t leave not yet.”

Omni looked at the captain levelly, and removed all emotion from its voice, “Not even you can do anything to change this, Balme.”

Balme looked at the android lost for a moment before his anger bubbled to the surface, he sat there staring out the bridge window for a moment, the anger evident in his face before bracing himself against his seat and standing up, “Fucking watch me, you glorified toaster.”

“Fleet notice, we’re coming in hot. Vodyanoi’s revenge hold in there, help is incoming. Vats all remaining power to the rear engines, Omni aim us at the starboard destroyer’s power rooms, Initium full frontal shields only. Ben load the heaviest hitting round we have into that rail gun and fire it on my signal, we’re going to force a full shield cycle so there’s nothing in between us and them.”

Vahatu looked on in shock at what he was hearing, “Captain the ship can’t take that kind of stress on its hull”

“Yes, she can Vats, she won’t let us down. Everyone ready for impact. Sciaal a favour please. Full spectrum transmission, all known frequencies, I want every being in this system to hear us. Its time to play our Anthem.”

Across every comm line and speaker in the system, both human and Angamar, a slow rhythmic noise could be heard. Down the length of every corridor and in every room of every ship heads turned at the sound. The Angamar fleet was confused at the sudden and unexpected outbreak of noise, not sure as to where the source was. As the Angamar fleet methodically broke down the defences and shields of the Human fleet the Captain of the Capital ship sat unsettled in his command seat, he had heard this noise before. Something deep inside him was pulling at him to be wary of this rhythm.

The bridge crew of Vodyanoi’s Wraith looked at each other with smiles growing across their faces as they heard it, Victor sat with a grin spread from ear to ear as it washed over him, “You hear this Marines! Wait for the signal and then it’s our turn to show them what we can do.”

Carlos stood in the bridge of Atlaua’s Revenge tapping his foot in rhythm with a smirk. “Ah, and now the show begins.”

Isabella punched the air as she heard it, she stood up from her seat and started shouting orders, her crew became wide eyed with hope, “Now it’s our turn boys and girls!”

Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap,

The Captain of the Angamar’s Capital ship looked up as it dawned on him where he had heard this before. His eyes opened in shock as he frantically started scanning out into space for the source.

Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap, Stomp Stomp Clap,

As it reached its crescendo across the system, and the first line of the song was heard,

Buddy, you’re a boy, make a big noise

The Angamar were forced to watch in horror as a ship uncloaked, headed straight at one of their destroyers. It approached at a ferocious speed not making any attempts to slow or change course. A single round flashed out of its railgun hitting the shield of the destroyer a split second before the ship did allowing it through unhindered. In dread they watched as the ship ploughed into the midsection of the destroyer, cleaving through as if it was made of paper, they sent the two halves of the destroyer hurtling through the system towards the fledgling star. Smaller explosions wracking the halves of the ship as it was sent adrift. The Angamar were temporarily slowed in their assault at the sheer brutality of what just occurred, and it was in this lull that the fleet took a chance to regroup and try to distance from their respective enemies.

“All stations report, full damage assessment.” “Guns operational” “Engineering requires heavy attention, core is unstable, hull is damaged, multiple cracked pipes, but still operational.” “Shields need to recycle keep us out of combat for a bit captain.” “Communication operational.” “Response team dealing with fires throughout floor one, Cargo has a hull breach and is in lockdown, South end of floor two is in lock down due to hull breach.”

The captain looked relieved and then gave Omni a smirk, “That went better than expected I reckon. All of you attend to your station we’re going back into the fray.”

“Put me on the wide band. All ships listen to new assigned orders. Atlaua’s Revenge disengaged from the Capital ship, I want full broadside on their destroyer with every shield piercing round you have, don’t let up until its dust. Vodyanoi’s Wraith, you’re the only one with the shields and armour to handle the beating of that Capital ship, get in its face and wait till backup arrives. Phorcys’s Fury disengage those Frigates and get behind Vodyanoi’s Wraith, cycle your shields and use your swarms to handle the fighters. Arrow of Ullr prepare for backup we’re coming to help with those frigates. Amelia, wherever you are, bring the Salacia’s Retribution around and jump into our shields to use us as cover. Take a moments breath and cycle your shields, we’ll need you to finish off the fighters.

A chorus of enthusiastic ‘Aye Aye, Captains” came over the comms as the orders were relayed. Now was their time to take control.

A metallic voice came from behind Balme, the smirk was audible in its voice, “I knew that would work.” “Excuse me you overgrown cell phone, you told me the odds were too small.” “Exactly, all known possibilities TO ME, said we could not win. However, the possibility of a human doing the impossible and changing the outcome of the battle was still there. 72% possible to be exact. As long as a suitable challenge was presented” “So what you’re saying, you self-aware kettle, is that you pissed me off to change the odds of us winning?” “Yes, but did it not work?” “Do that again and I’ll throw your Walking fridge ass out the airlock.” “Yes Sir, Captain Ham Sandwich sir”

The captain hated that the talking USB was right, but he had to admit that it worked, it still didn’t mean he couldn’t grumble about it though. He saw the human fleet begin to move to their new positions as he ordered and set about for the ship to get to the Arrow of Ullr in time to help. Now they just had to survive the rest of the battle.

[oracleofbullshyt-blog]

Chapter 13 - The Calm

The bar was unusually quite amidst the drum of the space station, its usual patrons had been asked to leave in order to allow a secluded meeting to take place. The chairs and tables had been pushed to the edge of the walls allowing a large space in the middle, where a rather large round table had been placed. Around the table sat six humans and three androids. The captain of the Leonidas’s shield sat with the captains of the Buccaneers. A human response fleet meant to deal with threats against human colonies. Each a veteran of the battle for earth. 

Their respective crews sat around the room drinking and talking. Quietly eyeing out each other they usual raucous behaviour was instead replaced with solemn intent, they sat with one ear pointed to the table so they could hear what was being said. The crews were much of a same size except for one which almost dwarfed the rest of the others, yet Leonidas’s Shield was by far the most alien in membership, with most other crews having at most one or two aliens within their ranks.

The captain looked up from the individual ship reports that lay around him to the hologram that showed their ships massed together amongst the rubble of a newly forming solar system that they had chosen to use as the grounds of the battle. Omni looked past the display at the assembled captains that sat around them.

To their left sat Niall, the redheaded Irish man in his signature bomber jacket, he sat looking intently at the hologram. The captain of the Rocket Salvo ship was best used as a long-distance weapons platform, raining down a vicious onslaught upon their enemies knocking them into submission. Next to Niall was Isabella, a brunette woman slight of frame and with eyes of steel, at her elbow stood an android with a multitude of antennas reaching out from their shoulders and head. The woman was the proud captain of a Swarm ship, its hull covered dotted in pods that were able to be used both defensively and offensively, the onboard android controlling their movements. This technology was unique to humans and the androids as the processing power required was immense and previously unheard of, they were an answer to fighter ships without having to worry about loss of life. Opposite captain Balme sat the captain of the Destroyer class vessel Carlos, he had an open face and a warm smile, he was the one who started the fleet when it was needed. The android that accompanied him had four arms of equal length and size to help in controlling the ship, its head unnervingly lacked any visible sensors that could be used to substitute a face. The destroyer itself had few moveable guns preferring to use its shields to get close enough for a broadside barrage, his tactics were old but incredibly effective. Next to him on the right was Victor, an older man kind but stern in his ways, he was the captain of the Battle cruiser and the also the captain with the biggest crew that happened to be all human. His crew size was due to the lack of an onboard android, rumours had it he was still weary of them. His battle cruiser was by far the largest vessel in the fleet, it has multiple layers of shielding allowing it to take a pounding when it needed to. Finally to the right of Balme sat Amelia, she was loud and confident and not afraid to give her opinion. She flew a fighter class vessel, that used the old earth standard model as a base, but between her and the android fleet they had modified the ship to be the fastest and most manoeuvrable jump ready fighter in the galaxy. It was also the most illegal.

Isabella crossed her arms and was followed in suit by her android, rumour had it she had an internal chip implanted so they could communicate without speaking, which showed the level of trust they shared, “So let me get this straight, they have two destroyers AND two frigates, and you called only us? Why not the some more punch? We need at least another cruiser, preferably a dreadnought.” “We can take care of the big ones no problem, but those fighters are what worry me. They’ll be armed for fleet battle, that means a full complement of torpedoes and possibly even ion disruptors,” Carlos remarked from where he sat. Victor looked over the plans laid out in front of him, “How many fighters are we looking at?” Balme looked at them all and sighed, “Initial scout reports show fourteen, but we’re unsure of what could be hiding or docked, we couldn’t get too close.” Amelia looked at Balme, “I can take maybe five by myself possibly even seven if push, but the issue remains, they out gone us, that second destroyer worries me. I can’t deal with the big ones alone, I can push into their shields and disrupt things yes but not disable.”

They sat there at the table for the next few hours manoeuvring ships around the hologram and drawing up plans, sighing and growing frustrated when the androids ran the simulation and severe sometimes even debilitating damage was sustained by any one ship. The crews were consulted, and members gave input on what they could do and achieve from where they sat, but ultimately the captains sat around and decided what their plan of action was going to be.

Victor looked up from the hologram they had in front of them, their battle plans laid out meticulously after hours of deliberation and strategizing. Lines were drawn over the hologram  in confusing patterns and intricate swirls indicating the paths of each ship as best as possible during battle, enemy ships were numbered and crossed out in the order they were to be destroyed according to the plan, each captain new what they had to do and was ready, their crew was quite and determined in the background.

“Let’s go over it one more time, from the top please. Before we get a goodnights sleep.” “Everyone waits in formation around the dust clouds of the system as we discussed, engines ready to move and shields well cycled. I’ll get the Angamar’s attention with a series of quick jumps in and around the nearby systems, maybe even one or two shots to make sure they follow. Once they have my trail I’ll jumps into the system where everyone awaits, when their jump signatures are registered, I’ll run out to the edge of the field to bombard them from afar preferably trying to get to their flank so we can stretch their shields thin. Then Victor opens up on the closest Frigate to himself until their shield is down and forced to re-cycle where I’ll finish them off with a few well-placed salvos getting them out of the battle.”

Niall looks to Isabella to continue the battle path with a nod,

“I’ll use my swarms to keep the fighters busy, with their lack of shielding however I’ll be spreading them wide so they can’t be easily tracked and between Amelia and myself we hope to finish them off before too long”

The baton is picked up by Victor as he starts to speak,

“Once I’m done, I’ll switch all power to my anti fighter guns and load flechette rounds into the big guns to combat the fighters as well. I’ll move to get above the frigates to draw their weapons as I do this.”

Balme looked up with a nod,

“Whilst you guys are busy with all of this I’ll have used this time to pick up speed while I’m cloaked so that I can disable the remaining frigate while its busy with you guys, with enough speed we can get through the shields and crush their bridge with the battering ram, effectively removing them from the fight for a few hours. That just leaves the Infiltrator. Amelia and I will work together to disable its engines and then the ship itself.”

On cue Carlos pointed to the hologram in front of them,

“That leaves the two remaining destroyers for me. They have swivel-based guns, so they’ll be focused on Victor above them hopefully, allowing me to close the distance between us while their attention is shifted. Niall will weaken their shields with a continuous barrage, empty your missiles if you must but those shields need to be near cycling by the time I get through Niall. I’ll get in between the two and with my destroyer I’ll unleash hell with a duel side broadside manoeuvre, while they’re panicking the rest of you’s will come and help mop up.” “Sounds like a solid plan boss.” “Drinks back here then?” “Of course, standard procedure.”

The crew of each ship took time to make piece for the oncoming battle in their own way. At the next rotation the ships jumped to the fledgling system they had chosen for the battle, standing silently each ship took their position amongst the clouds of dust and asteroids that swirled lazily around the star at its centre. Eventually the slow turmoil would give arise to new planets and potentially even become habitable, maybe far in the future the planets would house life, which would spend their days doing nothing but fight for survival. This life could turn into intelligence, perhaps maybe even on one of these planets one small individual would unwittingly set into space making history and recreating the future around their action’s unseen. For now, it would be witness to a battle. Small and seemingly insignificant to those who held a part in it, by far not measuring up to the fabled battles that predated the creation of the galactic federation. Or even the first contact wars of the Humans and the creatures that were once known as the Gha’al. Nor as desperate and seemingly important as the battle for Earth that left humanity changed forever. Yet in this small insignificant star system, with its young and lazy star at its centre, would bear witness to the beginning of something new, something grand and great at its core, a movement that would change the galactic playground.

Unknowing of their position in history, Leonidas’s Shield stood still in the vast expanse of space, flanked by its comrades and well cloaked. They waited for the arrival of the Angamar pursuit fleet to start their manoeuvres and end the threat. Each member stood ready at their respective stations waiting for the combat klaxon to sound, their only indication that battle had commenced since the blast shields had been raised. Each was outfitted in full combat space suits, equipped with an atmospheric supply and life support in case the worst outcome came to fruition. They stood in silence contemplating the upcoming events, aware of each other over the comms always.

The familiar distortion of space that indicated an incoming ship from jump speed heralded Niall’s Rocket salvo ship. It folded out of the distortion and immediately took a sharp turn and moved out of the way to where it was stationed.

Christine’s voice came over the wide band of the bridge, elevated in fright but with a determined tone, “They took the bait, they’re incoming.”   The distorted haze of other jump signatures was visible soon after in the expected tight formation they had worked on for the planning.

Captain Balme hands tightened on his seat in the bridge as he heard these words spoken over the wide band, he looked on with a calm expression not allowing the crew to see how truly worried he was. His foot sat tapping against the seat unknowingly. Omni stood to his side his servos whirring endlessly, he ran every possibility and every minor detail through his core, storing each as a possible solution to some minor infraction in their plan. The Designations of the other two androids in the fleet present in his processing space, it was calming have others of his kind with him again. The Avisxian twins sat ready at their stations on the bridge in front of the captain and Omni. Looking over the readings of the sensors and scans, they sat nervously waiting clicking out a soft tune they had learned as hatchlings before life lead them to this. In engineering Vahatu stood ready and waiting for his commands, pulsing in colour of calm purpose he knew he would do what was needed to keep his new crew alive. They were the first crew he wanted to stay with, the first so accepting. He pulled up the life signs and vitals of each crew member and stuck the hologram into place on the wall, his eyes flashing back to Initium’s every so often as he worked through the ships core systems. Initium looked around her station in shields, they were newly cycled and ready for the upcoming battle. She laid her head against the back of the seat and sat readying herself to react to the battle as she was required. Sciaal sat with his headset on in communications, ready to intercept and disrupt the oncoming fleets chatter. Proficient at pattern recognition he had what it took to decipher the calls of the oncoming fleet, often throwing in false calls of his own as well to disrupt their manoeuvres. Ben and Slugs stood leaning against the loading hatch of the main forward gun waiting for the battle to start, they kept the guns reloaded, the systems working and the guns moving, they were the ships best way of defending itself. Mantis and Wolfs sat across from each other next to the airlock, they nodded to each other as they tightened their straps, it had been awhile since they had to be on full alert like this. Wolf looked at mantis who sat idly clicking her mandibles, they had to be fast and strong, they were sent where they were needed the most, they were the response and damage control team, he knew they had to keep the ship safe so the others could do their work.

A calming voice came over the radio,

“This is it everyone get ready.”

A fleet started to unfold out of jump space where the distortions had been.