“Its all about MONEY!”

The whole of space has changed since the war between the ISA and the mega-corporations. Over a hundred years ago, the space colonies owned by the mega-corporations seceded. Largely in response to the increasing authority of the ISA over space related matters, the mega-corporations all decided to end their bickering and move away. This prompted a heavy ISA response and a five year war erupted. Although the loss of life was huge, the ISA eventually negotiated a deal with the mega-corporations; Space is yours but leave the two worlds of Noah and Harmony to the ISA.

The irony is that while this was meant to foster peace between the ISA and the power corporations, this created some sort of intense rivalry between the corporations. Once the war was over and the Harmony/Noah Sector Treaty was signed, those who were once comrades were at each other’s throat. The ISA settled back on their comfortable plots of planets while life beyond the asteroid belt became a cheap commodity. This has gone on for over 110 years.

Recently, a corporation known as the ”Kissaki Syndicate” has made a tremendous leap. New technologies over a two year period had boosted their profits over 10 percent. The other megacorps are running scared and have selected their most able corporate military commanders to investigate. Each commander of their fleets have all been given orders to achieve their goal whatever the cost, including killing.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(All players start at or near homeports. Orders to move to destinations will be given once all have made their intro posts.)

_________________
- Join the HUMP LEGION. Leading the Humping and Bumping since time began...*humpa humpa humpa* -

Note to self. Pg541

---Eon 1st fleet/Orbiting: Noah Hex---

The companies most expensive ship slowly rose off the moon's surface. The Excaliburn, the ships huge 15m guns glinted ever so slightly in the light given off by the system's star way off in the distance. This large and hefty ship only went up into what little atmosphere the moon had, to meet up with the ships small company.

Two other ships, the Mjolner and the Demetrios, drifted in waiting for the flag-ship. The Demetrios ever-searching for an enemy that could not be seen, floated close to the protective embrace of the much larger Mjolner. A radio signal went out to all ships as the Excaliburn drifted into formation with its sisters ships.


One man stood, with his arms crossed, at the bridge of the Excaliburn in front of an open com signal the bridge bustled with life as the ships crew worked on the various aspects of the Excaliburn, meanwhile the man stood uneffected by the crew, his attention on the screen, a huge grin on his face. Prasergust Nova, NHSI's most rowdy commander yet.

"OK men!" He started, referring to everyone in the entire fleet as "men"
"We're all up and ready to go. But enough with the small talk. Folks over at HQ gave me some technical starting orders, make sure everything is up and running."

"Mjolner, how are things over there?" Nova asked, with a slight robot tone in his voice, evidence that he was reading off of a paper.

"Uhh, everything is green over here sir. All ships and am munitions are accounted for. We have enough food to last the fleet 5 years."

"Well that's nice to hear I guess. And now for the Demetrios. Watch'a got guys?" It was obvious that Praser had stopped reading the script.

"We have our eyes sir. All instruments are working normally. SEWACS is operating as we speak, and so are the light-data instruments, we could spot a fist-sized asteroid from behind a sun with this baby. It uses light to find stu-"
"Ok that's cool, let's just get ready for our actual orders men. HQ is still getting done with paper-work, company signatures, that whole political deal. Makes me glad I'm not a white collar, ha ha ha."

And so the three ships sat in waiting. Waiting for movement orders, everyone sat in anticipation. Well everyone who could afford to sit in anticipation, everyone else would be working as usual.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

In orbit over Amherst's Camp Davidson on Cirno's moon.

Commander Joshua Lancet stood at attention in the hangar of his flagship the Valus. The shuttle was a half hour late, but it finally drifted lazily into the hangar bay and settled onto it's landing gear. Half of the Valus's fighter squadron had been sortied to make room for a third of the entire crew to appear in the hangar, standing at ceremonial attention. The fighter squadron had met the shuttle and escorted it to the hangar bay.

The shuttle's hatch opened and four men and a single woman stepped out. At the head of the group was William Amherst himself and Admiral Therin Wold, Supreme Commander of the entire Amherst Fleet. He had expected The CEO but the Admiral was unexpected. This must mean there was a change in plans.

Commander Lancet saluted and said stiffly, "Welcome Executive Amherst. Welcome Admiral Wold. We've been expecting you."

"Hello Commander", Amherst said and looked at the Admiral.

"You know this inspection was supposed to be a surprise." The Admiral said sternly.

"The only surprise was that you were half an hour late, sir" The Commander snapped of crisply

"Ha Ha, at ease son. Honestly between you and the CEO here, I don't think a single thing is left unchecked in this entire corporation."

"Yes, the only question is who's information network is more extensive, mine or the Commander's." Amherst said laughing. "You are the golden boy of the entire Amherst holdings. The people love you Lancet." He finished as Lancet became more and more uncomfortable under Amherst's praise.

"At any rate, we have new orders for you Commander, as you no doubt have suspected. You are no longer escorting the research group. We have something far more important for you and the Valus." The Admiral left him hanging and looked towards Amherst

"Commander, I'm sure you have heard of the Kissaki Syndicate and their recent success, correct?"

"I have, sir."

"Good, that will speed things up here. You are being sent to find out how they are doing it. We are extremely worried about this. The Admiral thinks I am jumping at shadows, but any number of things could explain it. The worst would be that they have achieved the technology to leave this system and are using resources outside the Noah system to increase profits. It would also be fair to say that I don't believe that Kissaki could have done it on their own. If anyone is helping them we need to find out who. The worst case scenario would be that none of the other corporations are helping them."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Let's just say I am a firm believer in life outside of the Noah System."

"Honestly sir?"

"I'm sorry but the timetable is very precise, sir. If I may." The admiral interjected.

"By all means, Admiral."

"The reason for us coming here personally, isn't only to tell you your new orders, nor is it for an inspection. We have brought 3 individuals that we believe will be of great service to you. Ensign Cody Belvadere, Lieutenant Jennifer Yamada, and finally Captain Ashton Grace." Each one stepped forward and saluted when he heard his name, even the Captain who was higher ranking than Lancet.

"Each one of these three are specially trained individuals, each with their own talents. I'm sure you will become more acquainted with these talents as you work with them, but I will give you a brief overview. Belvadere here is one of the best Weapons Command Specialists we have ever scene. We can't figure out how he does it, but he makes better shots than the computer does about 75% of the time.

The Admiral continued, "Lieutenant Yamada is the best pilot we have ever trained and is the only pilot who scored above 75% synchronization with the Valus. We have trained her since then and in simulation she scored above 95%. That's a nearly impossible figure even on our older ships."

The admiral paused before saying, "And finally this is Captain Ashton Grace. He is one of the best Ground Operations Commanders that we have. We suspect that you may have to infiltrate a location planetside, so we are also reinforcing your marine company and transferring a spec ops team on board the Valus. We aren't taking chances on this. That is all that I have for you, and seeing how you knew this inspection was coming, I imagine that I won't find anything out of order. So we'll just skip that formality. It was good to see you again Lancet." The admiral said as he returned to the shuttle and turned to wait for CEO Amherst.

"Thank you, sir." Lancet turned to the new recruits, "Get yourself on the roster. See Chief Polanski for your assignments and rotation order, except you Captain, I'll talk with you about your assignment later." When they were gone he turned to Amherst. "Executive?"

"Just Amherst I think, Lancet. If our professional positions weren't so rigid it would be a first name basis, as it is I don't want you being completely formal around me."

"Ok, Amherst it is."

"I want you to know how dangerous this mission is. There is a very high chance that you won't come back at all. Your father wanted to be here, but he is our delegate on Noah. It would have been impossible to get him here in time. He sent me this though, and I had it recorded safely on this drive. If you decide not to go through with this, I will send Admiral Wold. The next in line will take his place and you will take that man's place as a Sector Fleet Commander. And I won't need to give this to you. This mission is important enough to send Wold instead of you and no one will know, save us."

"I'm sorry, sir. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let somebody else take my responsibility on their shoulders, but thank you."

"I thought you'd say that Lancet. Here is the drive. The order will be given as soon as you signal us that the fleet is completely prepared." Amherst replied resignedly.

"I'm ready for this." Lancet said

"I hope so." the CEO said as he returned to the shuttle.

Lancet watched as the man that was almost like a second father to him disappeared behind the shuttle door. Lancet turned to find the Captain and speak with him, and in his revery nearly forgot that a full third of the crew was standing at attention behind him. He turned around and loudly called out," Dismissed, back to your stations." before heading to the bridge.

<[]Salazar Bohimiate, Expeditionary Launch Ceremony, In orbit over Noah 6[]>


Striding into the austire hangar bay in full ceremonial wargear, respledant in gold and livery, Salazar was greeted by nearly a full regiment of the pinkerton organization, the Lucifers, who were contracted almost solely by the Bohimiate, with fanfare and all. He strut down the isle formed between the rows of soldiers followed up promptly by his honour guard, a set of eight highly trained pilots and lauded warriors wielding chimera las-pikes, polearms with personelle laser weapons attached at the base of the blade, wearing scale mail robes.

At the end of the isle sat his personal Interceptor, The Striking Hunter, along with the eight uniform shapes of his honour guards' Interceptors. The flew out of the hangar in a flurry of engine fire and heat, flying in tight formation up to Salazar's new flagship, The Boundless Reason, flanked by The Phantom's Edge and The Red Dawn.

A similar greeting awaited him on board his vessle, though now it was crewmen, deck officers, and his personal contingency of soldiers, all in file and rank, awaiting his command. From there he swiftly went to the Strategium Command Deck, taking his place in his command throne. The lithe figure of his first lieutenant, Ravia Cromwell, stood to his right. "You weren't at the ceremony." he said without even turning his head.

"Commander." she responded. "My apologies. Did you require a hand to guid you on your big day?" Her voice was cold and measured, but her commander could easily read her sarcasm.

"It's good to see you Ravia. Hail the Dawn. We have new orders."

"Of course Commander."

_________________
'Samus. That's the only name you'll hear. Samus. It means the end and the death. Samus. I am Samus. Samus is all around you. Samus is the man beside you. Samus will gnaw upon your bones. Look out! Samus is here.' - Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all obsta-- *runs into a pole*

Belisarian Family Fleet/ Orbiting: Noah 14

Floating above Noah 14 was the space station The Balatorian, owned and operated by the Belisarian family as well as serving as their HQ. The space station is oddly shaped, outsiders saying it was designed by a madman, which bristles with hidden weapons. Nearby, with their engines on standby, was the Belisarian Fleet. Onboard The Undaunting Might, Captain Lysander sat at his command throne, checking in all of the ships. “Helmsman, status report.” Lysander called across the command bridge.

“All systems are green sir. The mass accelerator is up and running, the ammunition and missiles are secure in their holdings and the reactors are working at maximum efficiency. There are no breaches in the hull and the crew is ready.”

“Good. Inevitable Doom, status report.”

“The Inevitable Doom is structurally sound commander. The void shields are ready to activate at a moment’s notice, the plasma cannon is primed and ready, and the reactors are working properly. In others words, all systems are green.”

“Excellent. Silent Hunter, status report.”

“All systems are green sir. The cloaking system and the field disruptor are both in working condition and the missiles are secure. The enemy will never know what hit them when we engage them.”

“Alright.” Lysander said and on this went for the other two ships, each giving him the green light and naming off various functions of the ship that were working. Once the last ship was reported in, Lysander sat back in the command throne and lit a cigar while pressing a button on the throne, opening up communications with all of the ships. “Alright men, you know what’s going on. For any ship commander who didn’t pay attention last time here’s what we’re doing. We are currently waiting for orders from my father , who is currently with his advisors for the most sound course of action, so we need to be ready for anything. If ordered to attack then we will attack every Kissaki Syndicate ship we come across, and if we are ordered to capture their ships and take any cargo they have then we will. Whatever course my father chooses we will follow it through.” Acknowledgments were voiced as Lysander watched the activity on the bridge, men working at their designated areas and making sure nothing was out of place, as they awaited orders.

Valhalla station - Hex, noah 16

"Let there be light!" And there was light.. the Raganrok’s systems all coming alive as if from a deep slumber as its captain spread his arms within the empty control deck in a grand gesture of power, “People of the IAWR Flag ship Ragnarok!”the comm’s came on without warning or command, all the staff looking up from their station’s to listen to their young captain. “We are a new breed.. We are the first of our kind.. This will be our First.. True.. Mission!” A cheer rose from the below deck.. The captain smiling a small smirk “We will not fear! We will rejoice in the rapture of bringing solace to this peace-less system!”

Valhalla Began disengaging the docking clamps, and the two sister ships began to float away from the massive research/weapons platform, the station herself looking like a huge snowflake.. a web way of struts and platforms full of huge Rail guns and plasma cannons.. at the tip of each point sat a huge Ion flux cannon.. a bigger version of the one that sat under the plates of the Raganrok.. at its centre a huge research station cloaked by a vast fortress shield..

“Support Ship Celestial, Are your crew in place?” The captain needed no status report, in his mind he could see both the Ragnarok and the Celestial were fully functional with all systems on-line... “Valhalla.. Requesting Co-ordinates.. all systems functional and ready for launch.. all weapons primed and ready.. all defences are working to maximum capacity..We are ready for launch”

---1st fleet Eon/Noah Hex---



Nova sat in his captain's chair, and after a few moments hit the small button on the right arm of his captain's chair. The COM-channel disappeared on screen, HQ having expressed its orders to Nova and his men. Swiveling around in his chair Nova stood up, his arms crossed, facing towards the crew. Everyone turned in anticipation of their leaders next order. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a radio-men

"Uhh sir, we have one more message on the com. It just came in, secondary orders from HQ. . ."

"What? What is it now???" The confused man let out.



-------------------------meanwhile--------------------------

A message was sent out to the two large battleships. the NHSI considered the smaller company an ally, as such they also would supply them with information.

"To whom it may conscern:

Based on our companies mutual respect for each other, we have advised that both our fleets work together on this assignment. Your company knowing about the Kissaki Syndicate is no coincidence, we would like to extend a protective hand and ask for your fleet's service in this mission. We believe that what ever the Kissaky Syndicate has would be extremely valuable and advantageous for both our companies to have.

As such we will be supplying our main fleet and putting them under your companies command until the mission has been completed. Our ships, the Excaliburn, the Mjolner, and the Demetrios will be under your command for the time being. Please consider this an act of good will. Should you choose to turn down our help, please be advised the danger and cost of such acts will no doubt hurt the relations both our good-standing companies have.

--Sincerely, Nardictin-Helbarter Specialized Industrial"

And thus was the message read. . .

-------------------------Back at the Excaliburn

"WHAT? THEY OFFERED US UP AS GIFTS??"

"Uhh Yessir, HQ wants us to wait for the IAWR's response, if they say yes, then HQ tells us we will be under their command instead of. . .well HQ's command."

"HOW? HOW? WHY?"

"They want to maintain relations with the research institute sir. We don't have very many scientists, so this seems like a good ide-"
"I DON'T CARE, LET ME THINK. . ." Nova said, pacing the bridge angrily. This mission was supposed to be about showing the fleets might, not about establishing panzy relations. In fact Nova had no reason to trust the Institute at all. They were just a bunch of over-funded scientists willing to sell their products to make a living. Unlike the NHSI who actually built and maintained every part of their ships. Oh well, Nova guess he would deal with it (for now).

"F-fine. We. Shall. Wait. Then. . ." The commander finished, slouching back down into his chair, his chin resting on his hand. "I hope they say no, so we can blow them up. . .untrustworthy scu-" He said stopping mid-sentence purposefully. The three ships all st in quiet silence, HQ's message having been relayed to all three ships in the fleet.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

The message quickly came on screen, The young commander tossing his hair around to get it straight before reading it properly.. “Interesting…” He sat on the lonely leather chair and pondered a little, “Valhalla.. Register on the flight path that we took a detour.. And send a reply..” The Ragnarok’s engines fired up, the Celestial echoing the order.. Her massive shields coming on-line as they began to move, they were taking a trip to meet the neighbours..

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Valhalla station relayed the message quickly back,
Dear Nardictin-Helbarter Specialized Industrial,

This comes from the mind of Captain Hadrox Viveria, Master controller on board the Experimental Battleship Ragnarok, I speak For our fleet, and have been allowed to speak on behalf of the corporation and would be honoured to improve upon our relations by undertaking this project together.
I will departing port immediately to arrive at the position of your fleet.

I wish however that your Captain remain in command of your fleet, As you may know these ships are Prototypes of the highly Experimental Thought Control Project, and the Patented IAWR Command/control suit I wear is sensitive to commands. Therefore commands for your captain that I make may be blurred with commands for our own fleet... Resulting in poor battle strategy, I trust your captain in his competency, and look forward to meeting him.

Yours with warm regards,
Captain Hadrox Viveria on behalf of the institute of Advanced weapons research
“Peace through Superior firepower”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes passed before the Ragnarok and the Celestial jumped into the fleet space, their weapons were deactivated, and communication Channels open “Hail, the is the IAWR Experimental battleship Ragnarok and Her sister ship the IAWR experimental Support battleship Celestial.. I am Captain Hadrox Viveria.. please respond.”

Nova quickly shifted in his seat at the sound of Hadrox.
"Who was that?!" the startled man asked.
"It's the IAWR's fleet commander sir. I patched them through as soon as they sent in a request." Answered the radio-man with a bored look on his face.

"We also received their message, it should be on your private screen."

"Oh right, I knew that!" answered Nova pushing a button on the seat's arm, a small screen popped up displaying Hadrox's message. After a few moments of quiet deliberation Nova turned to the radio-man.

"Well tell them I'll do it!"
"Uhh, sir they are right on the channel over there, your already talking to them they can hear you. . ."

"Oh. . ." Nova said turning to the screen a little humbled by his own act of tom-foolery. He cleared his throat in an attempt to stir up a more professional air.

"Uhh right. I Am Prasergust Nova proud commander of the 1st Eon fleet. I'm in charge of these three brilliant vessels. The Excaliburn, that's this beauty right here, the Mjolner, and the Demetrios. As you can tell the Excaliburn an the Mjolner are for attack, but we can provide data support with the Demetrios. I don't know about how good your ships are, but judging by the look of it (them being battleships and all) I'd guess your ships aren't good at sniffing those little fucks who like to hide about. Bwa ha ha ha, don't worry, we got your backs covered, just have ours covered and we'll get along, see? Just don't try anything stupid, otherwise we'd have to deal with you ourselves, Bwa ha ha ha Sir that's not a good way to "maintain relations" Shaddap you!

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

"Good to hear it Commander Nova" Hadrox Got up and began pacing around the command deck, "The Ragnarok is a Direct attack vessel designed for destroying ships of a large size, She carries the Experimental patented Ion Flux arc technology in the form of her main weapon, she also carries mass driver batteries and plasma weapons for close combat." He smirked, talking for the company made him feel powerful..

"The celestial is the first advance in battleship technology in decades.. we took a step back from the typical battleship design and thought 'What if we take away the direct capacity of the ship and used it else where?' and so was born the idea of the support battleship, she uses the power which would be normally used for weapons and places it into a defence network consisting of the patented Ion Flux Anti missile Anti fighter array, a networked point defence battery, and the powerful Ion Fortress defence network.. patent pending" The two ships floated close to the flag ship, And the Celestial fired up the defence network, putting its huge shield around both fleets.

"Now you do have me their commander, Specialist tactics and Radar are on the to-do list along with the Armageddon project.."

-Over a moon orbiting Noah 7 (Mukyu), NTC Corporation Space-

Sigmund sat in the captain's chair, a rather eloquent design built into the raised metal in the center of the bridge. Anywhere that wasn't covered with holographic buttons or screens was smooth metal, reflecting back at you. Circled around him were a dozen others, all working at their respective stations performing last minute checks on all systems before launch. Nearly all had or probably had some sort of cybernetic implant: It was rather encouraged with long term employees, with a fair discount for long service. As for the captain himself, he was also looking through the systems, along with a handful of message from family members congratulating him on the first day of his new assignment. With a family as large and connected as his, it was nothing new.

He had been sitting in the chair for a while now, having come aboard for the first field run of the ship before most of the crew. In a way, he felt like he had been there longer. The time between his promotion and today was mostly spent reading over countless files. Personnel files, fairly easy with so many jobs taken up by computers or droids. Ship schematics, Aegis shield system files, and others on both the Aegis and the Longspear. It was simply Novus policy to be informed, and doubly so for members of the R-S family....

Finally, confirmation came through. A new screen popped up before Sigmund, a direct line for Novus HQ. A green star. They didn't believe much in fancy ceremonies for new ships. Closing his other open files, he turned on the ship intercom system. "This is Commander Sigmund speaking." Like many, he avoided using simply Seiter except on certain occasions. Best to avoid mix-up with the other Seiter's and Ross'. "We have been cleared for launch. Our initial orders should be coming in momentarily." His hand moved with trained precision, turning off the intercom and sending a message to the Longspear. It was less a message as much as an encrypted signal and code used among Novus ships. Less specific, but faster and less understandable if intercepted. The return message from the fellow ship was clear. All systems go. The 3rd Arcis was ready for duty.

_________________

Orbiting the Chiron moon installation, preparing for IP travel to Octal's 25th moon

Commander Lancet was reading over the assignment overview when his communications officer cleared his throat.

"Sir, the Executive's flagship has just sent us a direct line encoded message, no audio."

"Feed it directly to the Command Console." Lancet read over the newly arrived orders. "Lieutenant Yamada, I'm sending you the coordinates for our first mission objective. Prepare the IP drive for immediate debarkation. Ensign Ferguson send this reply: Acknowledged. Estimated time of debarkation 10 minutes."

"Sir, permission to ask a question."

" Granted Belvadere."

"What exactly is our assignment?"

"Ensign Ferguson cut off all communication networks to the bridge and activate the dampening field."

"Done sir."

"I can only guess that the use of non-audio encoded messaging means that the Admiral has detected an anomaly in this system. It is almost without a doubt residue from a distant solar flare, but on the off-chance that the Admiral really has sniffed something out, it can't hurt to be safe."

" Our current mission objective is the interception of a Kissaki Syndicate transport ship. You all know the sensitivity of this matter now. The transport itself is relatively harmless, but a rival corporation has sent two destroyers on their own intercept course to capture the ship. Depending on the timing of our arrival we may or may not have to deal with them at all."

"I would rather this entire operation be completely bloodless. The alternative for the transport is the OSEC policy of "no witnesses". I'm sure that they will rather prefer my decision to remove any and all illegal contraband on board their ship, while leaving them with their lives and the knowledge of an imminent OSEC attack."

"So that is our mission as it stands. Ferguson let Captain Grace know that he will have a boarding operation very soon. Then, signal all ships in the battle-group to form on the Valus. We debark in 2 minutes."

Lancet stood watching the CEO's fleet. The massive Battleships glinting with the reflected light from Chiron's atmosphere.

"Sir, forty seconds until planned departure."

"All ships prepare for IP travel." Lancet announced over the now open lines and then sitting into the Command Chair. The chair automatically secured him for travel. " And though our days be filled with the sound of flash and thunder, let the night be filled with the reasoned discourse of rational men. ~William Amherst Sr.~ Truer words have never been spoken. I speak to you now as your Captain. We will cause much flash and thunder in the coming months and years, but let us not turn a blind eye to compassion. When others do not, we shall retain our humanity. God speed."

With the Commander's final words the fleet accelerated and quickly left Chiron behind.

[]Salazar Bohimiate, heading out.[]


As the comm system activated, linking with The Red Dawn, the voice of the veteran captain crackled into Salazar's earpiece. "We have new orders Commander, the tour has been postponed. Instead we will be sent on reconissance to Noah 8."

"Why?" the fleet commander growled, annoyed that his glorius ascension would not be granted in the lavish fashion of a full system tour. "What's so special about Noah 8?"

The man on the other end sighed. "Sir, please calm yourself. It is only temporary, I'm not particularly thrilled to be sent on observator missions myself, but this is improtant." There was a tense pause. "We are to quitely observe the Kissaki Syndicate, using an ISA convoy as cover."

Salazar's reply was brief as he closed the link and began barking out orders to proceed. These new orders were shameful, for lesser, more tired fleets, not a fresh, new Expeditionary force. They arrived at the planet in short order, taking full stealth actions.

_________________
'Samus. That's the only name you'll hear. Samus. It means the end and the death. Samus. I am Samus. Samus is all around you. Samus is the man beside you. Samus will gnaw upon your bones. Look out! Samus is here.' - Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all obsta-- *runs into a pole*

-Noah 7 (Mukyu), NTC-

Sitting patiently, going over some data, his screen was once again overridden. The NTC signal for a message from HQ appeared on the screen. Sigmund quickly reached over and touched it, inputting his Corporate password. The file opened, the mission orders for the Arcis inside. It took him mere moments to read it. His head leaned over to his primary Navigator. "Navigator, prepare for a stealthy jump to Noah 8. I've sent designated coordinates and timing to your console." The man replied with a brief "Yes sir" and quickly began preparing the ship for jump. Quick and to the point, Novus was trained to avoid wasting time, at least while on the job. They prided themselves on their professionalism.

Opening a line to the Longspear, he sent the file to the counter-part ships' Captain. "We've gotten our orders, Captain. Prepare for a jump to Noah 8. Keep it quiet, we've got an observation mission."

The response was quick, but obviously more relaxed than Sigmund's. "Yes sir, Commander. Nice and quiet. Bit odd to send such fine combat vessels like ours on recon, though." As a matter of fact, the captain of the other vessel was one of Sigmund's third cousins, Wilfried. They seemed a tad more likely to put family members in command positions of an Arcis, but perhaps this was simply because of the training they received. And loyalty, of course. Regardless, some of Wilfried's tone mildly agitated Sigmund, who wanted perfect professionalism. Especially on their first mission. Probably just nerves.

"Perhaps, Captain. Maybe HQ is expecting trouble. Regardless, we jump in IP in... 30 seconds." Cutting off communications with the sister ship, he decided to open his own little countdown program in front of him. He felt a bit of excitement when it hit zero, and both ships quickly made the journey between Noah 7 and Noah 8, moving in stealthily with a STI convoy supposedly covering them.

_________________

-Octal...8th planet of the Noah System-


Octal was a big blue giant ball of gas. Nine moons and almost zero noticeable features despite the presence of several stations and gas mining areas. However, a Kissaki research station, located here on the 15th moon has been reported to be the primary source of innovation for the Kissaki Syndicate. Now corporations from all over have begun to closely watch, slowly waiting for the Kissaki to mess up. Six of the Kissaki's best crews, all in six, newly commissioned warships patrol the area. In the past two months they already took out several spy probes belonging to rival corporations and scared off hundreds of would be trespassers.

The SpaceTech convoy had unknowingly blocked the sensor system of the station responsible for all inbound and outbound flights. This short opportunity no doubt orchestrated by agents from other corporations allow any ships entering the stations vicinity via IP drive undetected. However, the time was short and no doubt this oversight probably would have been reasonable...only three minutes of sensor outage.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The two OSEC destroyers dropped out of IP drive just behind the Ronin. The Kissaki transport was busy making its final approach when the OSEC destroyers fired on it. Two lashes of lasers beams kissed the shields of the transport as the plume from its engines flared brighter as it tried to outrun its pursuers. The OSEC ships simply plowed onward, nothing apparently getting in their way. Since the Ronin's ability to send a message was blocked by the planet, the Kissaki research base being on the far side of Octal, there was no way for the ship to ask for help. If it tried to ask for help from other firms, they would simply act like the OSEC ships would be doing; plundering its vital cargo.

_________________
- Join the HUMP LEGION. Leading the Humping and Bumping since time began...*humpa humpa humpa* -

Note to self. Pg541

((the "private message" was discussed via pm))


---Eon 1st Fleet/Leaving Noah Hex---




"Yeah, yeah yeah, look I'd love to sit here and talk pleasentires, but we are on a tight schedule. I'll give you a brief on the situation that we are about to Embark on. Strategy always comes first. Using information from both our fleets I've hammered out a plan. I'll send it to you as a message via private terminal, as soon as you've read it I'd assume you would know how I want to hash out this battle. We aren't the fastest ships around, and neither does our location help much, as such I would expect us to not be first on the list to get to the Kissassians transport. As such, we have permission to eliminate any and all hostile vessels we come across. HQ has given me permission to decide on a case-by-case basis who is hostile and who is not. Bwa ha ha ha! Nova laughed. If there was anything he was itching for, was for a battle. With his "plan" they would surely score a multitude of hits if not destroy vessels outright. The only enemy Praser had now was time, because just as he said, the location of Noah Hex was not necessarily the best for deep strikes into the system, but it was not like they were slow, they just wouldn't be among the first there. Although they did not need to, the battleships would arrive and sit at a comfortable distance, well out of sighting range but well with-in shooting range, as for the other craft. . .

"Commander, all engines are warmed and ready to go."
"Sir this is the NHS Demetrios, we're all ready here."
"This is the NHS Mjolner we're all green."


"Well kid, it looks like all my ships are ready to go. You've read the message, when we get as close as we need both our flagships will sit at the planets outermost range. No one will want to touch us from there, but oh boy will we be able to fire on them. Enough talk, for now WE MOVE! BWA HA HA HA HA! FOWARD MEN" Shouted the loud man standing at the helm with his arm crossed defiantly. All three ship's engine flared out as they shot off. Their destination glowed on each ship's nav-map. Noah 8 Octal: estimated time of arrival: 50 minutes

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*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

"aye aye..." Hadrox raised his arms in a fluid motion, bringing the navigation and engines online once again.. "Follow my lead Celestial.. i'm transmitting co-ordinates and the battle plan now.." The captain of the Celestial replied with a short "yes sir" before his ship followed suit, both turning towards Octal "Captain Richardson.. is the celestial fitted with 'the package'?" Hadrox casually asked as the ship began its jump "Yes sir.. she's hiding in the network and ready to be fired.."

The young captain chuckled, 'piece of cake..' he thought to himself, lounging back in his leather chair as they began to speed towards their destination...

[]Salazar, Noah 8[]

As the Bohimiate fleet drifted nearly dead in the void, running only necissary systems and scanners to avoid detection, an OSEC fleet dropped out of IP and began firing on the subject of Salazar's attentions.

"Helmsmate, who are they?" the fleet commander demanded harshly, the woman with the position of helmsmate flinched replying, "It's the OSEC, sir. What are your orders?"

There was a moment of silence followed by a long sigh. "Hail the flagship, private line would be preferable." He spoke calmly now, rubbing his temples as the helmsmate issued out and distributed the order. "We shall see what there intent is.

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'Samus. That's the only name you'll hear. Samus. It means the end and the death. Samus. I am Samus. Samus is all around you. Samus is the man beside you. Samus will gnaw upon your bones. Look out! Samus is here.' - Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all obsta-- *runs into a pole*

-Noah 8 (Octal) / near the 25th moon-

The two OSEC destroyers continued firing their lasers, each successive lash of energy drained more and more from the transport's shields. However, the Bohimiate ships had already attracted the attention of the OSEC captain leading the attack on the transport.

"Do not interfere! The Kissaki transport Ronin refused to comply to a standard search and thus...we are legally entitled to disable and board! Leave immediately!" the reply came back. The channel soon went dead as the two ships refused all further communications from the Bohimiate fleet. The two OSEC destroyers continued to fire until the shields of the Ronin collapsed. A bright flash of light and the Ronin was now trailing gray smoke from one of its engines having suffered a direct hit from a laser beam.

Strangely enough the Ronin was not calling for help.

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- Join the HUMP LEGION. Leading the Humping and Bumping since time began...*humpa humpa humpa* -

Note to self. Pg541

The Valus came out of IP drive a small distance away from the battle. The Valus would be able to engage within 20 minutes

"Ensign Ferguson open up a channel with the Kissaki ship Ronin." Commander Lancet ordered

"Done sir, as long as they accept the hail."

"This is the commander of the Amherst Holdings flagship The Valus, Joshua Lancet. I will be frank with you, as you no longer have a choice. I am under orders to destroy the OSEC destroyers and seize any illegal contraband within your ship. I, unlike the OSEC will take prisoners. And Amherst Holdings unlike the OSEC will release their prisoners. If you comply with the following terms: That you will allow the seizure of illegal contraband within your ship and will board the Valus as temporary political prisoners; then I will eliminate all OSEC forces and evacuate all of your personnel. Or you can take your chances in escape pods with the OSEC destroyers. End Transmission."

"Do you think they will comply sir?"

"I'm not sure. Ensign Belvadere, Cycle the MAC gun, unlock all missile batteries, and remove safelocks on all laser weaponry."

"On it sir"

"Lieutenant Yamada ahead 50%. Ensign Ferguson open the Command channel." Lancet said. Once the channel opened he began issuing his orders. "All Valus fighter and bomber squadrons launch and set up defensive formations. Relentless assign your squadrons to defend the Silver Dagger and Final Dawn. Final Dawn you are to dock with the Ronin once the OSEC destroyers are subdued. Silver Dagger you have escort duty with the Final Dawn. Relentless you are assigned to the Valus, keep pace, but keep out of the fight unless ordered otherwise. Close channel. Ferguson direct line to Captain Grace."

"Yes sir, it's open"

"Captain are your men ready?"

"And willing sir."

"Good make 5 teams. Use the gunships to close with the Ronin. You will have two fighter squadrons and a bomber squadron to each gunship as escorts. Those squadrons will then provide defense for the Ronin. Divide the teams into three priorities. 2 teams are to assist in the pre-evacuation of all Kissaki personnel onto the Final Dawn. 2 teams are to search for illegal contraband. The final team is to download the entire system logs of the ships. Once the Final Dawn has docked with the Ronin mark all locations with illegal materials and hand over the search and retrieval operation to the Final Dawn team. All units need to be back on their gunships and returning to the Valus before the Final Dawn's operation is complete. The mission parameters have been set, now let's clear them and get home."

"Sir we have an additional fleet on sensor."

"Their ETA to attack range?"

"45 minutes, sir."

"Our own operation will take a minimum of 55 minutes, we just have to hold them off until then."

---Eon 1st Fleet/ At Battle-ship class attack range, from Noah 8---

The fleet of five ship's jumped out of drive far out of reach of any lesser crafts guns. Praser had waited for a long time to finally get back into the ring. He was ready to get his hand wet, ready for a fight. Standing up near the bridge, Praser pointed towards the planet off in the distance. if one looked hard enough they could see small flashed emanating from the direction of the planet, evidence of the battle going on there.


Praser quickly turned on his heels. The screen behind him glowed as it relayed a message to the entire fleet, Hadrox's included.
"Men, we're here for one thing and one thing only! To get what's in that ship! With the help of our allies we can accomplish that goal with minimal casualties! Although, I can't say the same for the enemy! Bwa ha ha ha, all ships involved with the Kissassian transport are considered hostile and are to be shot on sight. The Excaliburn and the IAWRS Ragnorok will sit here on the out-most edge of the planet and provide long-range attack support. The Mjolner and the Demetrios will go on direct offense with the aide of the IWARS Celestial. The Demetrios will spot for both of our ships, if there's anyone hiding out there we will see them, that and the Demetrios will mark any special targets for us too. The Mjolner will go in directly, providing anti-craft support, with all of here craft and attempt to board the Ronin, as all ships should be tied up by both our fire, the Mjolner and the Ceslestial, and the Mjolner craft. From there the the transports will attempt to board the Ronin, with direct protection from enemy fire by the Celestials shields.That's all men, you've been given your orders, get to it. And Commander Viveria, I'll be cutting communications with you from here on out. Inorder to lessen any "interference" you may receive, the only link that will remain open will be for information regarding targets displayed by the Demetrios. Commander Nova signing off." And thus the signal was cut off. As Praser stood at attention, he stared at the planet in the distance.

"Tri-system ready sir. The MAC is warmed and so are the LRAS (Long Range Anti-Ship) lasers. the Mjolner is still deploying craft, but she'll have all of her units ready by the time they get to the Ronin, her boarding assault transports are ready as well. Both her and the Demetrios will stay in the Celestials shield until we reach the Ronin"

"Right. . .BWA HA HA HA!"



The Demetrios flew above both of the larger ships, while the Mjolner flew parallel to the Celestial. As she flew many fighters and bombers could be seen exiting the Ship's bow hangars. 5 gunships also exited the front of the ship, in support of the fighters, they would engage any craft in the vicinity. The three ships were fast approaching the ensuing battle, it would not be long before they would be upon all who were there. Meanwhile the two battleships sat, waiting for the signal. Nova would receive target coordinates, based on what the Demetrios would be seeing, from there he would relay the target to Hadrox.

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*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

The celestial became a hive of activity as soon as she had jumped in, A globe of energy began to expand around her until it filled the space around all their ships.. then criss crossing lines of power segmented this into neatly cut hexagons, The domes on the ships hull all began to detach.. each one deploying a shield of its own and beginning to spark with electricity "Celestial Defence grid on-line, Point defence on-line, Fortress shield and threat detection standing by.."

Hadrox Tapped into his ship, Its proud main weapon opening up and beginning to charge for its first shot “First stage warning! Ion Flux array open and active!” All over the Ragnaroks hull, plates slid into place, The four large bore rail guns began to shift on platforms to different heights to they could all fire forewards “Main weapon primed, LBMD array online and targeting… Shields to maximum, Thought control working at a one to one ratio.. Estimate command transfer rate one point three five six nano seconds”

The captain looked to his sister ship and silently gave an order, From the top of the ship her singular LBMD twisted up into position and loaded a round, “Special operations device primed.. Firing..” A dull thud rocked the Celestial as a black pod was fired out of her main cannon, trvelling at a rate nearly three times that of a normal shell it was out of sensor rage of their fleet well before they could identify it as anything other than a normal round..

-The Moon-

The black pod flew straight and true, entering the moons atmosphere and firing its retro thrusters to bring it slowly downwards… Using the sensor outage it could get closer to the base than anticipated… and decided to land on a overlooking ridge, its black hull then began to unfold.. over the next few minutes it folded out into a flat black shape similar to that of a snow flake, all over it lay sensors and cameras, which began to rise into the air and gather information on the base… Transmitting back to the Raganrok on a highly encrypted channel in bursts every ten minutes… to liken the chances of not being detected it used the hulls of other ships to bounce its signals off of, making it look like battle chatter to the base.

-Near the 25th moon of Octal-

The Kissaki transport suddenly began to execute a slow spin, no doubt the result of excess gas venting from its now damaged engines and fuel tanks. A laser beam ignited the gas trail and now the ship was in deep trouble. However, the Kissaki transport was not responding to any hails but garbled transmissions from the damaged ship began filtering over to the assembled fleets.

"...No...-nnot break away. Probably make a run for the research base and contact the...-ecks five and six venting...various enemy ships from various corporations, will self destruct if they get close. Cargo must not...into enemy hands...-ta of the Tenshi Fleet?"

Despite this, the Ronin refused any hails it got, even with the OSEC ships still firing on it. However, one the OSEC ships broke off and headed towards Eon fleet. Two laser beams fired from it indicated it was not in the mood for negotiation.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-Kissaki Research Base...on the 15th Moon of Octal-

Strange energy readings came from a group of crates bearing the seal of the Kissaki Syndicate. Small figures from the base crowded around it, throwing belts and lashing tape over it. The crates seem to be a cargo waiting to be transported to some other place. Small lettering indicated that the cargo crates were destined for a place called, "Shukenja Alpha"...whatever that meant.



(Timer67 gets +1 Point for discovering the destination of mysterious cargo crates)

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- Join the HUMP LEGION. Leading the Humping and Bumping since time began...*humpa humpa humpa* -

Note to self. Pg541

"Threat detection! two incoming lasers! deploying Hex's twenty one alpha and thirty six beta!" Two of the Fortress shields panels sprung into life, becoming solid and rotating into the path of the incoming fire, "Incoming Fire, threat Minimisation active, Estimated damage Zero percent" The AI of the Celestial read aloud to Captain Richardson as the lasers fizzled against the massive shield.

"This Captain Hadrox, first fire has been made upon our vessels... Under Section forty three alpha of the IAWR charter we must now return fire until all threats are destroyed.." Hadrox leapt to his feet.. he always loved reading the charter... "Capitan Richardson.. Fire at will!" The Celestial's Plasma caster opened up the first shot, letting the ball of lumious green energy fly towards its target.. she then followed that by opening up with her large bore mass driver, the shock of the weapon causing her hull to shudder as the shell left the bow..

"Lets not Get behind on the party my followers... Let there be light!" The front end of the Ragnarok glowed a bright blue, Her main weapon already charged... the aimer streaked through space, putting a tiny blue light on the window of the command deck of the unfortunate target.. "Firing!" The deadly lash of blue lightning jumped the space between the ships in an instant.. an almost blinding cackle of lightning as the Ion beam struck the shields and began to try and overload the emitters "Stage one active!"

((all upto you now how much damage the Ion Fux array does Zako.. it feels good to be the first one to make a shot ))

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The Information from the spy bot now recieved, It began transmitting to command... the information bounced off the Ragnaroks main satellite array and towards their home base..

Commander Joshua Lancet [near the 25th moon of Octal.]

"Sir, did you hear that!?"

The Commander sighed, "Yes. Captain Grace, pull back now, all strikecraft groups pull back and engage the OSEC battlegroup. All ships attack the OSEC destroyers, I won't let a defenseless ship get blown away." Even if it is filled with stubborn zealous morons. "Open the channel with the Ronin, no encryption, let the OSEC know what we are doing.

"Open, sir."

"Hailing the Ronin Captain, if you have any control at all bank your ship starboard, it will give us a clean shot on the OSEC ships. Once your out of our shot move down trim and out of the fight, we'll cover you there. Ferguson, switch output to command channel.

"Sir one of the OSEC ships have engaged a new target."

Good that makes our job easier. Final Dawn, Silver Dagger flank starboard and port respectively. Relentless stay on us and fire if the opportunity arises. Yamada continue course at 75%. Belvadere I've painted your target on the TCCI (Targeting, Command, and Control Interface), Begin assault.

With that all 6 of the Valus's laser weapons opened up on the remaining OSEC destroyer, closely followed by the rest of the fleet's. The Valus and Final Dawn's MACs would not be fired until the Ronin was clear.

"Belvadere launch missile pods A1 through A12, and fire plasma cannon."

The Commander leaned back into his seat with a sigh, his first mission was already on it's way to failing. He'd have to make damn sure the Kissaki paid him for protecting their ship.

"Open a channel with that Captain Hadrox."

"Done."

"Captain Hadrox, please continue your assault on your current target, we will eliminate the second OSEC ship, is this amenable to you?"