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IRW Venator Stellarum
Computer Bridge Record
Avon, Avonite Enclave

"Subcommander!  Weapons have commenced firing on Avonite anti-air batteries and we are proceeding to the Commander's position.  Forward quantum torpedoes are locked and loaded, awaiting your command to fire at the hostiles on the ground.  Aft quantums have already commenced firing on Avonite anti-air batteries.  We are now 300 metres from the surface of Avon.  We should be much harder to hit now.  Repair crews standing by on systems hit by enemy batteries.  Repairs are estimated to take four hours.  Moderate damage to energy shielding and forward deflector array, sir."  a Centurion bellowed from the weapons console.

Subcommander Semal replied immediately, "Intensify aft shields and forward disruptor fire!  Launch drone fighters and prepare gunships for the creation of a defensive perimeter—" 

Lieutenant Grandek jumed in: "Sir incoming transmission from Romulus!  High Command has dispatched Admiral Pistrix from New Witchmond and his fleet.  They should arrive in a day.  Additionally, the Tal Shiar has requisitioned four ICC Legium-class cruisers in northern New Witchmond, which are to join Admiral Pistrix's fleet en route." 

Damn!  Semal thought.  How are we supposed to last that long against half a planet!?  "Prepare indiscriminate firing sequences and begin routing all weapons controls through the central computer.  All weapons batteries shall continue firing at their discretion."
AvCom
Industries Spirit, Avon
Avonite Enclave

Commander Gela drew her repeating disruptor.  Well, now is as good a time as any, I suppose, she thought to herself.  "Squads 2 and 3 intensify suppressing fire!  I'm going to contact the shuttle!"

She pressed her communications band, "Centurion move the shuttle behind Darkcloak's lines on the surface, decloak, and begin firing main disruptors.  That should help them out a bit.  Also, deploy Squad 1 while you're at it.  We can't let these lines crumble!" 

The response crackled in, "It shall be done, m'Lady." 
,
She watched as below the green Dominia-class shuttle decloaked behind the defending Avonites and began blasting away with its forward disruptors.  Against a capital ship, they weren't much, but against infantry, they more than suffice, she chucked to herself as she continued blasting away at the hostile Avonites from the roof.
Admiral Pistrix's Fleet
IRW D'Venorex Elysia
Southern United Kervian Chain Space
En Route to Avonite Enclave

"Open a channel to all vessels in the fleet!"  Admiral Pistrix barked, as the vessels entered hyperspace, "This is Rear Admiral Pistrix on D'Venorex Elysia!  All crews will continue damage control drills and weapons simulations until this fleet is within two hours of its destination!  We will be prepared for anything!!  Pistrix out."

The clearly discontented Admiral turned to his communications officer, "Have those worthless ICC ships made contact yet!?  I can't believe we're being forced to work in conjunction with that damn mechanised private army! 

Captain Gærn
Satyron IV
Sector (-25, 8 )

Gærn was halfway back to her small force when her tactical officer contacted her.

"Target vessel has lifted off and is proceeding towards the primitives."

"Set target status to hostile and commence orbital bombardment," she ordered. "Status of our Drekrekkr?"

"Eight Valkyries are loaded with Berserkers, and the remaining four have Einherjar with the requested twenty mil's."

"Drop them at the primitives settlement and have the Einherjar hunker down. Have five Valkyries strafe the enemy vessel after drop off and the rest return for more reinforcements."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"ETA on that frigate?"

"Ten minutes."

"We may not have ten minutes... Just keep that bombardment going. Cripple their weapons and engines."

"Aye, Ma'am."

She then connected to the Valkyrie pilots on the ground. "Take off and strafe the enemy vessel. Delay them as much as possible."

"Yes, Ma'am," was their reply.

The Captain and her two soldiers kept running to the ground forces already on the surface, joined by her Sækjar, and had them all fall back to the Primitives.

AFS Volklang
In orbit over Satyron IV

"Helm, roll 90 degrees starboard."

The helmsman worked his controls with ease, and the ship rolled to have the starboard side face the planet. The tactical officer then worked his controls, and the starboard railguns sprang to life, positioning and humming with energy. Tactical then initiated staggered firing, and shells began raining down towards the Exodite vessel.

AvCom, Industries Spirit, Avon, Avonite Enclave

Sgt Kyk Avonman

Ughhhh...ughhhhh....I cant...... ahhhh.....his breath was labored and painful. He could taste blood in his mouth. He could feel the blood seeping out of his chest. His men had fallen back to the secondary defensive line but the enemy was already beginning to break. They were on the verge of routing. At least....at least........

Councilor Kir Darkcloak

She connected the secondary power source. Damn thing had to work now, right? The console beeped, diagnostics lights went off, indicating systems functional. Kir laughed and held up her hand, shouting "Yes!" just as she caught a round to the back. She stumbled and fell off the tower.

AES Murphy, in orbit around Avon

Admiral Fir Hanover

His hands where clenched. He was angry. Very angry. Jil would pay. "Forget the bombardment. Everything we have. Go to Minmus. Destroy her." He considered his next move. "Also, dispatch the Stamper and Western Catolina to engage the Romulan ship. It thinks it can hide below Anti air range? Lets show them the full might of a Pendelton bombardment...."

Avonite Reclamation Station 9, in orbit around Avon

Captain Hik Fallenjager

It was an Avonite but somehow.... not. All pigment was gone. There were black....fissures on his face. His eyes had become jet black. His clothes were torn and battered, as if he'd been wearing them for years and never changed. And his whole form seemed to be......covered in.....shadows. It was like Hik was looking at him through a murky veil. He turned to his comms Ensign. "Get a message to the Santuary of Spode and AvCom. Tell them we need reinforcements. And that.... just...tell them about that!" He pointed toward the viewscreen. A booming voice was transmitted over the speakers. It sounded like several voices merged together at different pitches. "Avonites....of the Avonite Enclave.....yessss.....yesssssss........."

The Wanderer-class dropship Lockhead, Satryon IV,
Sector (-25, 8 )

The targeting alarms screamed and flashed as the Aesir closed in. As the crew suited up in spacesuits for combat, the sound of bullets strafing the ship reverberated in the cabin. The signals Ensign watched as his screen began to fill with red enemy icons.
"Three enemy bogeys sighted!"
"All weapons systems, engage! Officer Den, take over the laser weapons!"
"Aye sir!" The high-caliber rotary coilgun turrets and the laser weapons began to fire, sending streams of deadly light at the Valkyries, and causing one of the painted ships to fall out of the sky and the other to start belching black smoke and retreat. The targeting computer attempted to gain a lock onto the enemy ships as they approached.

Suddenly, the Lockhead jolted nose-up and gained altitude rapidly, causing the Major Weapons Officer to lose his radar lock.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Pilot Eja was pulling back hard on the joysticks. "Trying to save all of your lives, that's what! Keb was right! This mission has gone to hell, and we need to get out of here before we all die!"
Before the Lieutenant could react to this insubordination, the Communications Ensign started shouting a message into his transmitter, causing even more chaos in the cabin.
"This is the Exodite scout ship Lockhead! Disengage, I repeat, disengage!" Another burst of gunfire rattled through the ship. The electricity flickered as a Fleet Engineer repaired some damaged wiring. The Ensign continued.
"Disengage! We do not want to fight you! Don't you see what you are doing? You're going to start a war over these useless primitives! Think about your own species!"
"What are you doing Ensign!? You can't negotiate with them-"
Suddenly, the radar screeched again. "ORBITAL PROJECTILES INCOMING!"
"Shit!"
The ship took evasive maneuvers as the white-hot bolts rained down from the sky...

A horrible "crack" echoed through the morning sky as one of the bolts hit the atmosphere. The shockwave came in from behind and under them, severely damaging their engines. Then another hit nearby, crushing the left wing and tossing the ship away. Jets of fast green fire poured from the wounds as the Lockhead began to lose speed and stall in the air. The ship slowly shifted backwards and began falling rapidly. Only a kilometer before they hit the ground, however, a burst of energy came from the ramjet engines and the ship managed to level itself as the descent continued. Like a slow-moving meteorite, the ship came down in a ball of fire and crashed close to the shore of a nearby lake, sending up a large cloud of superheated steam as it settled on the sands.

Diplomatic Convoy to Romulans
Near Romulan Border

"Incoming transmission!" shouted the comms officer.

Donna listened with great intent. She couldn't believe that this would be her chance to propel her career. "Keep my nerve... keep my nerve..." she slowly muttered to herself. She continued listening to Commander Tovanus, catching the invitation to their vessel.

They're inviting us aboard their vessel? Donna thought as she let out a sigh. She didn't think that her conference room was ready and let out a sigh, relieved that it wouldn't have to be. She called out, "Open transmission!"

"We humbly accept your invitation to go aboard your vessel. I look forward to seeing you soon!" She turned her head towards the comms officer and nodded, signaling to end the transmission.

"Prepare the ceremonial guard and a small shuttle." Things are getting interesting... she thought
Wallace White - Diplomat to Aesir
Protheus
Sector (-18, 1)

"Not to worry, not to worry!" said Wallace. "Perhaps we could start a flow of information and knowledge between our two worlds. That would be beneficial to both of us. Oh, and those cookies sound nice. I'm sure everyone here has a sweet tooth!" He paused for a second, briefly glancing up at the chair. "Ah... those... I guess their brittleness did work out in your favor, but probably not in mine... Anyway, the government focuses its budget... elsewhere, not on furniture. I tried to get the chairs upgraded a couple years back and they came up with these sad excuses for chairs. Hopefully the introduction of your chairs will be enough change their minds."

Ambassador Herjall
Protheus
Sector (-18, 1)

"A flow of information would definitely benefit the both of us. As for the cookies, we already have an export set up for Rationalist Science and would be glad to set up an export for Lernaea.

"As for the furniture, it is doubtful that Aesir chairs would make them think about acquiring better chairs. And even Aesir furniture can be broken with the strength of my armor, though not nearly as easily.

"Perhaps we should begin discussion on a more permanent residency for myself on your world. I have the resources and workforce aboard my frigate to begin construction of an environmentally friendly facility, but I currently have no land to place it on."
Captain Gærn
Surface of Satyron IV
Sector (-25, 8 )

She felt the shockwaves from the orbital rounds and saw the enemy vessel drop from the sky at a safe distance. She had heard their transmission, but she did not believe it to be genuine. The enemy commander was too set in his ways.

"I'm thinking about all species," she said to herself. She then turned to her Sækjar. "Survey the crash. Check for survivors."

"Yes, Ma'am." And the Sækjar were gone.

"Everyone else is on me."

The two Valkyries who survived the attack on the enemy vessel returned and landed, one having difficulty with black smoke erupting from its port engine. The pilot of the damaged Valkyrie came out to inspect the damage and begin repairs.

Twelve lights could then be seen in the sky as more Valkyries were on their way carrying reinforcements. The new dropships were redirected to the Captain's location and gently landed, unloaded their troops, and took off to return to the AFS Volklang.

"We are about to stage an assault on the enemy position," the Captain stated on her internal comm. "The enemy vessel has crash landed beside a lake. Einherjar will be positioned across the lake from the enemy and lay down heavy fire on anything that comes out carrying anything that so much as resembles a weapon. Berserkers will make their way around the lake while the rest of us approach through the lake. Any questions?" Silence. "Then let's move!"

The different groups moved to their designated locations with the Einherjar arriving at theirs first. They leaned forward to form the pike nose and held their autorails firmly. Berserkers charged around the lake, jetpacks glowing as they were readied for use. The Captain and her tactical Drekrekkr waded into the water and soon disappeared underneath the surface.

AFS Volklang
In orbit over Satyron IV

The tactical officer stopped firing as soon as he saw the enemy vessel take severe damage.

"Friendly frigate is arriving," reported comm.

The frigate dropped out of hyperspace within visual range and quickly entered orbit beside the destroyer. Two Berarr dropped from the frigate and began their descent towards the planet.

"Comm, give them the coordinates for the enemy vessel."

Coordinates were sent, and the Berarr were redirected to the crash site.

AES Redoubt, In orbit around Drekhimir

Captain Kli Waverider

"Avonite Enclave Ship Redoubt to Aesir homeworld, come in Aesir homeworld."

Avonite Reclamation Station 9, in orbit around Avon

Captain Hik Fallenjager

Hik just stared for a good minute. No one spoke. No one moved. No one even breathed. Finally, in a strained whisper, Hik spoke"What....what are you?" The...thing on the view screen spoke, again in that unnerving voice. "We....we.....are your destiny.....yesssss....." Hik swallowed and whispered "Who are you?" Again the figure replied "Before we enlightened this form he was known as Admiral Lajardi Voidwatcher. But now...he is a vessel for the First. Yesssss...." He lifted his arms in a grand gesture "We are Spode's First, the original forgiven. And we....we are here to enlighten the Avonites. Yesssss.....yesssss......."

The wreck of the Wanderer-class dropship Lockhead, surface of Satryon IV,
Sector (-25, 8 )

When Lieutenant Ledif came to, the steam was just beginning to clear. Slowly, he managed to cut himself out of his seat using his decorated Caishing sword. Around him, he saw shifting figures doing the same dazed stumbling about. Pilot Eja was confusedly making unnecessary repairs to her shrapnel-damaged pressure suit, until one of the Second Lieutenants reminded her that the atmosphere was okay. He saw an injured Soldier helped the old Occultist walk out of a flaming wreck. The crash, apparently, was tame compared to how most spaceship crashes end. Despite that, casualties were high: most of the Soldiers, who were preparing for a landing instead of a crash, were killed.

Suddenly, the Lieutenant saw something running and stumble and fall over the tossed corpse of a Soldier. Drawing his phaser, he walked closer to the figure and saw that it was not a Damli: it was that blue-skinned primitive they had caught earlier. Ledif fired a low level stun shot, causing the primitive to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Suddenly, he realized something: if the blue-skin was free, the Cells must have been compromised. And if the Cells were compromised...

"LIEUTENANT, LOOK OUT!"

A Carbine bolt whizzed over Ledif's head, impacting a piece of the Lockhead's hull and shooting out a shower of white sparks. Ledif took cover, set his phaser to "KILL" and waited for the enemies to reveal themselves. From the smoke and steam, a sight emerged. A bloodied and bruised Major Jiden appeared holding a Carbine, all but one of his arms broken unnaturally backwards. A large shadow followed him.
"I'm... I'm... I'm sorry, Lieutenant... That bastard made a run for the Armory, while us Soldiers were still recovering... I tried to stop him, but... he made me take the shot, Lieutenant, he was... he was gonna kill me!"

Jiden was thrown down before the feet of the shadow, causing him to groan in pain. Smoke and steam blew by, and a Damli wearing a War Mantle and holding two Carbines was revealed. The few soldiers who were in the cabin leveled their guns at him, causing the War Mantle user to chuckle.
"Ensign Keb Diden," Ledif said quietly, seeing just how useless his phaser would be here. "Disarm yourself immediately. We... We can talk about this."
The War Mantle's folds shifted and shimmered. Keb was a part of the machine now. "I WILL DO NO SUCH THING, LIEUTENANT SIH LEDIF," came the warbling, gravelly response. "BECAUSE OF YOUR IGNORANCE AND MISPLACED PRIDE, YOUR SHIP HAS BEEN LOST, DOZENS OF DAMLI ARE DEAD, AND A TOTAL WAR WITH A EQUAL SPECIES IS IMMINENT."
Seeing how the crew now stared at him with resentment, Ledif paused, then dropped his weapons and opened his arms in an embrace. "I am aware. Do to me as you wish: death will be upon us soon regardless."
"NOT AT ALL, LIEUTENANT." The thing that was Keb approached the surrendered Ledif, drawing a energy-field enhanced Caishing. "THE LIZARDS, HOWEVER, WILL BE READY FOR YOU."
"Wait, what? No! NO!"
The Lieutenant's screams echoed over the forest.

In the direction of the Aesir, a wounded Damli appeared. Wearing the officer's uniform and the pressure helmet of the Lieutenant they had spoken with earlier, he was easily identifiable as that Lieutenant Sih Ledif. However, he was maimed almost beyond recognition: his white uniform was stained with ash and dark red blood. His two underarms were completely missing, sheared off by a sharp blade and turned into bloody, cauterized, poorly-bandaged stumps. He fell to his knees in front of the Aesir and collapsed.
"Please... kill... me..."

Bridge Communications Records
IRW Venator Stellarum
Avon, Avonite Enclave

"Subcommander!  The Hostile Avonite Fleet has moved to engage another on the far side of their moon.  Two cruisers, however, have disengaged from the rest of the fleet and are attempting to give fight.  Shall we give or evade, sir?" a Centurion L'Cerak questioned from the weapons console. 

Suddenly, the communications channel lit up, "Gela here EMERGENCY BEAM-OUT FOR COUNCILLOR DARKCLOAK PRIORITY 1!!" the panel roared.

Semal turned to his tactical readout immediately.  "Transporter room lock on and beam Darkcloak directly to the infirmary immediately!  She must have been hurt while attending to the antenna!  Hold for my mark to beam out the rest of the landing party, as well!"

Infirmary

Doctor Rolex had the Infirmary in a frenzy, "Get two hyposprays over here.  Prepare trauma kit and ready surgery for near-immediate operation!  Prepare 4 CCs metacotizene!"

The various medics and nurses on the ship were frantically moving around as Kir Darkcloak materialised in the Infirmary...
AvCom
Industries Spirit, Avon
Avonite Enclave

Commander Gela watched as Kir plummeted toward the ground.  She had caught what was going to happen while she was about to stumble, and had given the Stellarum as much time as she possibly could to catch the Avonite...
Communications Records
IRW Pevatha
Romulan Border Zone

"All Shuttles, you are cleared to depart from the Hangars on the authority of Major Ledaren."

"Commander Tovanus!  The Lernaeans are dispatching a small shuttle to the Pevtha."

"Excellent, Centurion Borark!  Prepare the shuttle bay for foreign arrivals and ensure that the Ceremonial Guard is in tip-top shape!  Hopefully the Officer's Dining Hall will meet with their approval... have the chef produce a truly Romulan meal.  Include Romulan Ale, of course!!"  He chuckled.  We'll figure out these aliens quite quickly! he thought to himself. 

Captain Gærn
Satyron IV
Sector (-25, 8 )

The Captain and her Drekrekkr stood just beneath the surface, waiting for the all clear from the Sækjar. She soon got it, and her and her soldiers surfaced. Their heads broke the surface first followed by the rest of their bodies as they slowly moved up and out of the lake towards the crashed ship, water rolling off their armor and onto the mud beneath them.

As she drew near, a hatch opened up. The Drekrekkr all leveled their guns at the opening and prepared to fire, but Gærn just stood and watched. A single Damli exited the ship, wearing the uniform of the enemy commander but cut and mauled with two limbs missing, and slowly made his way to the Captain. He fell before her, his whole body shaking like a leaf.

"Please... kill... me..." the thing said.

The Captain gently placed a clawed hand on the enemy commander's back. "Stay down," was all she said to him before removing her hand and moving up with the rest of her team to the opening.

The two Berarr making their descent landed beside the Einherjar. Their ramps dropped to the ground to reveal two Grey Wolf tanks. The tanks promptly rolled out and faced the enemy ship, their turrets trained on the weapon systems which looked operational. Plasma Anti Tank Fin Stabilized (PAT-FS) shells were loaded and the railguns charged.

The Berserkers made a jump across the last part of the lake and landed by the ship. Some performed another jump to get over and around it, surrounding the ship and cutting off escape.

"Move in!" the Captain ordered, and she led her 39 Drekrekkr into the ship to secure or kill the remaining Damli.

AvCom, Industries Spirit, Avon

Councilor Kir Darkcloak

Something was happening to her. She felt like she was being ripped apart, molecule by molecule. She was approaching the ground pretty quickly. She hit the roof with a slam, landing on her side. Seconds later she was teleported to the Romulan battlecruiser. She'd lost consciousness before that.

Councilor Irk Flowchaser

The comms array was operational again! Reports were flooding in, requests for orders, sit reps, battle data, everything military on Avon went through AvCom. SHACom in particular was very interested in sending reinforcements to AvCom. Irk wasted no time in calling them in. One report in particular puzzled him. A Romulan battlecruiser was under fire from a ground battery and was being chased by 2 Pendletons. Damn, he had to inform Gela though he was sure she already knew. He got up just as a report from the Admiral Innsmouth came in, along with an emergency sit rep from Avonite Reclamation Station 9....

The wreck of the Wanderer-class dropship Lockhead, surface of Satryon IV,
Sector (-25, 8 )
A Scout gave the first battle cry. "ENEMIES INCOMING!"

The surviving Soldiers clicked their Carbines and aimed towards the Aesir forces. The Fleet crew drew their phasers and and set them to "KILL". The Occultist fell to her knees in the water, weeping for her species. Keb, however, did something quite different.
"I have a plan," he said to the surviving Second Lieutenant. "If they attack me, open fire and retreat into the forest."
"I..." He paused. "Alright, Keb. Unless you want to suffer a worse fate than the Lieutenant for treason, you better succeed."

Keeping the black folds of his War Mantle ready, he dropped the two Carbines he was holding into the water. He pulled his grenade holster off and threw them deep into the lake. Finally, Keb found the primitive (who had been too frightened by the scene he just witnessed to escape) and gestured with his sword, leading the blue humanoid in front of him as he approached the Aesir, slowly and practically unarmed

When he was but five meters away, Keb shoved the blue primitive on the floor of the beach towards the Aesir and briefly stood above him. Keb then took his sword and drove the blade deep in the sand. Slowly and calmly, he sat down with both legs crossed in front of the Aesir and breathed.
"I am here to represent the Exodite Dominion. I trust you want to see us in chains or dead and gone. Am I wrong?"

Drekiheimr
Sector (-23, 14)

"We read you, Redoubt. Is there something we can help you with?"
Captain Gærn
Satyron IV
Sector (-25, 8 )

Upon arriving at this...scene, the Captain halted her soldiers with a few timed clicks. She slowly approached until she was a meter away then sat as well.

"For attempting to commit this crime against the native population of this planet, I would see that you all be captured and held prisoner. But unlike your previous commander, you wish to speak. So speak."

AES Redoubt, in orbit around Drekiheimr

Captain Kli Waverider

"Roger, Aesir homeworld, we'd like to meet your new Jarl if that's possible. Is there any way we could get in touch with her?"

AvCom, Industries Spirit, Avon

Councilor Irk Flowchaser

Irk opened the door to the roof just in time to see the Ascencionists retreat. They'd been beaten back! He caught sight of the Romulans. He came running up "Hey there! They've been beaten back and our comms are back up! Reinforcements should be here in no time!" He looked around. "Where's Kir?"

Avonite Reclamation Station 9, in orbit around Avon

Captain Hik Fallenjager

This..... this was completely screwed up? Spode's First? What the hell was going on? "What the hell are you talking about? What are you?" He yelled at the screen. The figure seemed incensed and leaned closer. "We are the original forgiven. We where the servants until he turned on us....yesssss....yesssss...he locked us away after trying so hard to enlighten us....yesssss....yesss... he failed and abandoned us for centuries..... until....more of our kind came....we took them, slowly, one by one, for centuries more....yesssss........ and now...with these ships, we rebuilt our escape...and can finally finish his work... enlighten all Avonites...yesssss.....yesssssss"

Ensign Keb Diden
Surface of Satryon IV
Sector (-25, 8 )

The Ensign folded his upperarms. His left underarm absentmindedly drew circular patterns in the sand, while his right underarm tapped the ground thrice (a signal of polite disagreement in Exodite culture).
"What crime do you speak of? The only thing even slightly close to a crime that the Damli have done here was kidnapping this blue one. If that is what you want, you can have him back. He is of no use to us now." He gestured towards the primitive, who was kneeling in the sand. "Even if this primitive is sentient like us, I am afraid that we are what we are, Great Lizard. It is our nature to conquer lesser species. Birds fly, grass grows, and the Exodite Dominion expands. Unless this planet is your territory, and these primitives your slaves, I fail to... see why you are acting the way you are." He waited patiently for a response.