(Unknown Civilian) Ryk
Location: Alta-VII Section, Alta System; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; Intorak Intelligence Agency Science Ship
Federate Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1556
Race: Freeborne
Voidic Mage: Y/N
Mage Variant: Evoker (Terra)
Age: 58
Sex: Female
Gender: Female
Her lungs were burning, and her legs were sore. She could hear the alarm blaring, and the metallic footfalls of her captors. Sprinting with total abandon, she wished to be free. The broken metal chains on her wrists were painful and tight still. She began to turn her attention to her surroundings, and realized she was coming up to an intersection in the corridor. Raising a hand, she felt pain course through her body, watching as the veins in her hands began to turn black, starting at her fingertips. She stumbled, and fell, screaming out in pain, as the backlash of her attempt hammers into her body suddenly. Several of the mechanical abominations turned the corner, facing Ryk, and aiming their rifles at her. The adrenaline, still coursing through her veins, causes her to quickly focus on the metal floor, and she hears a gunshot as she manages to move the metal into place to defend herself. Covering herself in a bubble of metal, she could hear the bullets plinking off the thick metal.
With this small respite, she reaches up to her head, brushing the remaining feathers in her hair. She could tell she looked almost like a Human, even in this pitch black darkness. She reaches behind herself, touching her wings, and checking for injuries. Taking a large breath, she pushed her body to work, and calm. Trying to quickly readjust to getting no oxygen. A slamming sound is heard, and she feels the metal dent a little, pushing slightly into her left wing. She was out of time. She needed to run now, so she reformed the metal below her, causing her to fall through, and onto the lower layer. She kept reforming the area around her, as a synthetic Nexil could be seen raising its rifle at her on the new floor. She blocks its bullets, and rips the wall open, causing a fast rush of decompression. She is yanked out into space, with the Nexil, who continues to try firing at her, but cannot, as its rifle does not work in the vacuum.
She grins, and continues to hold her breath, unfurling her wings, to quickly flap away, trying to quickly adjust to the vacuum of space once again. She feels small strikes of pain as she flaps her wings, getting away from the ship. As she continued escaping, she felt a chill down her spine, and turned just in time to see the ship’s weaponry turning to bear down on her. With a swift movement, she dodged the first shot, and continued quickly trying to escape. She began to use her Magic again, using what little molecules were nearby to create a shield strong enough to withstand the attack, but too small to cover her fully. As the third round is fired, she brings the shield to block it, barely managing to save herself from certain death, but she feels herself launched through space, and she loses her senses for a brief moment. As she comes to, she feels sharp pain in her right arm, and looks to find a metal shard from the impact. Panicked and disorientated from flipping in zero-g, she begins to try stopping herself, only for the pain to distract her, making it impossible for her to stop her uncontrollable flight.
She begins to slowly realize how fast she is going, and soon, redoubles her efforts, attempting to stop her movement, she was already far enough away that she did not need to worry about her kidnappers. Using her uninjured arm, she began to manipulate the metal, pulling it out, and using it to slow her uncontrollable spin. Taking stock of the situation, she notices ships in the distance, and starts sending herself in that direction; her adrenaline keeping her pain lower than it should be. She heads towards the ships, finding her path undisturbed. As she nears the ships, she can read on the sides of several, in bold silver letters and numbers, serial codes. The only ones that do not have serial codes, are much larger, and instead read, “AMEV Holy Smite” “AMEV Immortal Magi” “AMEV Necromantic Shock”.
She smiled, knowing she was safe, at least until she felt a disturbance. Looking ahead of the convoy, she saw a group of rifts open up, swallowing the stars behind them. Out of the rifts came eight ships, which immediately began to separate, bringing their batteries to bear on the Andromedan Vessels. Ryk began to realize what was happening, as memories from before her kidnapping came to her. She was likely on the frontline of the Union of Andromedan States’ Civil War. Which meant the vessels charging the Andromedan Military Defensive Convoy, with their identical designs but blue markings, were Tamwhyn Resistance Vessels. She began to fear her safety again, but kept course, heading for the Andromedan ships, knowing they would likely win this fight, even with their enemy having more guns. She reached into the void, sending a signal to the Andromedan ships, one that every Freeborne is taught to signal to nearby ships in their path. And for good measure, she adds the signal of distress.
(FC, Senior Officer, Frigate Escort Fleet Commander) CAPT Hannah Tummel
Location: Alta-IV Section, Sub Section Delta-G5, Alta System; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; AMEV Immortal Magi
National Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1610
Race: Human
Voidic Mage: Y/N
Mage Variant: N/A
Age: 30
Sex: Female
Gender: Female
Through the screen, in the far distance, Captain Tummel could see a combat fleet engaging Rebel forces that were headed planetside. As a convoy escort, she could not break off to assist, and she would instead need to protect the convoy at all cost. She then heard a yell from the Voidic Radar Specialist, who called out, “Captain! Voidic signatures at heading 043 of the convoy! Counting eight! Hostile IFF coming through!” Hostility entered her body, and she called out, “Radio Operator, warn our sister ships and the cargo vessels!” She pressed her hand on the ship-wide intercom’s button, “General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battlestations. Repeat, all hands man your battlestations.” The alarm began to blare, ensuring any Fleetman that was still in his bunk was scrambling out and getting equipped. A voice came over her personal radio, female and very stoic, “What’s going on up there Hannah? Do you need my Knights to prepare for boarding action? Over.” Hannah pressed on her comms, “Negative, Blake. Remain on standby with the Magi’s Orbital Shocks. If we need you, you and the Lieutenant Colonel will know. Out.”
The Rebel ships exited their rifts, already moving to intercept and block their way, as if they knew the Convoy would be there. “Captain! Smite and Shock are requesting orders!” Hannah looks at the Radio Operator, and answers, “Tell them to ensure the safety of the convoy. Land Force Command needs these resources, it is our utmost priority.” The Voidic Radar Specialist calls out again, surprising Hannah, “Captain! Freeborne contact! Flashing friendly and SOS!” Hannah looks to the Internal Comms Operator, and speaks, “I need a shuttle rescuing that Freeborne, immediately. We cannot allow them to be injured by crossfire.” The ICO begins to relay the order, choosing a specific shuttle and pilot, “Transport Alfa-3, prepare for cold launch. Immediate tasking, Freeborne SOS.” Swapping channel quickly, the ICO continues, “Medical, prepare for possible injured Freeborne.”
Captain Tummel stares at the screen, seeing the movements of friendly forces, and the enemy approaching. She prepared for the engagement to come, ready to take down these cocky Rebels. She began to examine the composition of the enemy force, and her own. Her ships consisted of three Lambda II Heavy Frigates, with six total Sol II Gunships. Though they can dish out heavy firepower and damage, they cannot be the only attackers, and thanks to the three squadrons of Sol III-A Interceptors, they would likely not lose any Sol IIs. She could see their sister ships already launching one of their two Sol IIs. She smirks, and then begins to tally the enemy force. Four Lambda Light Frigates, one Canis Heavy Destroyer, and three Virgo Light Corvettes. Captain Tummel nods, liking their odds, as she says, “The Fighters need to be out immediately. That includes the Gunships, we need firepower. We may be outnumbered and outgunned, but by the gods they are outmatched.”
(AC, Sol III Troop Transport Pilot) A1C Charlie Carlson
Race: Nexil
Voidic Mage: Impossible
Mage Variant: N/A
Age: 27
Sex: None
Gender: Female
Rushing to Alfa-3, the Nexil Airman was sprinting, her synthetic skin feeling the circulated air of the hangar passing by. Reaching her transport, she enters, leaving the back open. She won’t need oxygen where she’s going, especially since no one else is going to be in the transport, if she can get in faster than her Co-Pilot and Crew Chief. As she takes her seat in front of the controls, she speaks, leaving all the doors open, “Alfa-3 to Control, ready for deployment. Over.” Hangar Control responds, his voice calm and calculating as usual, “Copy, Alfa-3. Tasking is Freeborne SOS. Location is being uploaded. Transport is being moved in 3, 2, 1-” Charlie feels the transport begin moving along its track, headed for the large airlock launch bay. She could see the two Sol II Gunships moving to other large airlocks, their engines already warming up. Control continues, “Cold launch, do not begin engines until nearing target. Once near target, begin descent, and evade any enemy fire while RTB. How copy, over?” Charlie smirks, answering calmly, maybe a little excited by the prospect of a cold launch. Something she’s never done before, “Solid copy. Ready to launch. Over.”
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The transport comes to a stop, and the airlock closes fully. Control continues, knowing the Nexil pilot is prepared for the tasking, “Launching in 10.” Silence for five seconds, as the outer airlock slams open, expelling the oxygen inside and decompressing everything. Charlie felt the absolute cold suddenly envelop her, but she did not shiver or shake, unaffected by the cold. “5, 4, 3, 2.” Control goes silent again, and then Charlie feels her transport being launched down the rail after another second. Thrown out of the ship, the transport heads straight, and Charlie checks the display in front of her. She sees the distance the Freeborne is at, and prepares to start her engines and come to a stop in about 100 meters. As she comes up on the 100 meters out, she realizes the Freeborne is moving fast as well, and she starts the engines, realizing she should have started them far earlier.
She passes the Freeborne, but only stops around 35 meters away. Turning and approaching, the Freeborne begins heading for her as well. Slowing in pace, the Freeborne manages to get on, stopping her signaling as Charlie sees something heading towards them. A squadron of Rebel fighters were blazing a trail towards her, likely to get at the Magi from the side. Charlie calls behind herself, then remembers that she’s in the vacuum of space. The Freeborne can’t hear her, so instead, she quickly starts to close the doors to protect them. Then she goes for full throttle, not wanting to be caught out by these Sol I Exo-Fighters. Old and antiquated, but still dangerous to an unarmed transport such as herself.
Pressing one of the buttons on her controls, the whole of the transport’s internal lighting goes red, and she begins her evasive maneuvers, as the flight of six engages them. All she had to do was get within the Magi’s Countermeasures range, and as she yanks the stick control, she can feel a thumping on the metal of the transport. She feels a little bad for the Freeborne in the back, but she has to, otherwise they would be ripped to shreds by a gun run, or lucky exo-missile. Speaking of, she sees the warning for a missile lock, and checks the display, waiting for the missile to be almost 50 meters away. She then presses the button she needs on the Countermeasures Dispensing System Panel, watching as the lock disappears thanks to the chaff that was deployed. Smirking, she nears the Magi, and pulls up, then down; maneuvering just above the hull of the Frigate, as the fighters are engaged by the Magi. She quickly flies them down the other side of the Frigate, and then underneath, returning to an Airlock that is told to her through her display.
Nearing the airlock, she slows, and lands on the rail. Letting Control take over, she remains seated, ready to do what is asked of her, as she sees air being pumped into the airlock. She takes that as her que to completely shut down Alfa-3, before she gets up, and enters the back, where the Freeborne is laying on the floor, groaning slightly in pain as she holds the back of her head. Charlie approaches, and speaks, “Sorry about the rough ride. Couldn’t let those Rebels take us out.” She crouches beside the Freeborne, noting the broken chains around her hands and legs, the ragged cloth dress around her body, the metal ring around her neck, the injury to her right shoulder, and the very messy thin dark brown hair. The Freeborne looks up to Charlie and just smiles weakly, clearly tired and out of energy. Seems she’s going to have to keep this Freeborne awake until they get to medical. A rumbling could be felt as Charlie begins picking up the Freeborne carefully. Looking around the hangar, she could tell that the Fighters and Gunships were out, and judging by the small rumbles the ship was doing, they were either in a rapid movement or taking fire from the hostile ships.
(FC, Senior Officer, Frigate Escort Fleet Commander) CAPT Hannah Tummel
“Helmsman! Hard to port, steady at 320, shield the convoy with our hull! All batteries fire at will!” Captain Tummel could see the Rebel ships firing their guns on the convoy. Glancing down at the signals of the fleets, she could see one of the cargo vessels’ disappear from the fleet, indicating it had been destroyed, or its comms had been disabled. Gritting her teeth, she yells out more orders as the Magi blocks a hefty amount of fire, “Get those Gunships to target their batteries, we need to decrease the amount of fire or we will be taken out!” On the screen she could see the six Gunships, with their escorts, heading for three different ships. As the Gunships near their targets, she can see missiles being launched from the Gunships and the Canis. Looking up at the normal screen, Captain Tummel sees the enemy fleet in the distance, firing at the convoy. As the Gunships fire missiles and take smaller point-defense fire in return, the Rebels begin exiting formation, with fighters engaging the Interceptors to get at the Gunships and the Lambdas increasing in pace.
Captain Tummel sees her chance, and gives the order. Raising a hand forward, “Helmsman, hard to starboard, keep the enemy to our port bow! Engines, full power! All ships, full power to engines, and demolish those Lambda Frigates! Convoy, burn to Zion, and never look back! For the Andromeda!” The entire bridge and command crew echoed her call, shouting their salute as they did their duties. The Heavy Frigates burst forward with extreme speed, headed for the charging Light Frigates, who began breaking formation properly, spooked by the escorts’ bold decision. Captain Tummel looked to another screen, this one displaying the status of the Magi. The front starboard armor was at 79 percent integrity, while the starboard bow was at an overall 89.1. The starboard aft was at 73 percent, with the starboard battery blinking red, warning about it nearly being disabled. Luckily it returns to green almost immediately as she lays eyes on it, and she smiles, glad to have her crew. She looks to the main screen, and sees the starboard battery moving to engage the targets. As it fires, she sees the two barrels recoil to cycle another round, but she does not see the projectile, as they have not been using tracers since the start of the battle.
Looking down again, she can see the convoy moving towards the planet, and the enemy fleet is trying to get rid of their harassers, while the Escorts engage their predecessor design. As the ships close the distance, she sees something she had not expected, and presses her comms, “Captain Mural, Lieutenant Colonel Hanline, I need the Knights and the Orbital Shocks immediately. Confirmed contact with TRV Legatus. Prepare for boarding action. HVT target, Rebel Captain Scott Ulman. Standby in port hangar. Out.” She then yelled out, “Disable the Legatus, immediately!”
(KC, Southern Knights Attaché) SKCPT Blake Mural
Race: Genetically Engineered Human
Voidic Mage: Y/N
Mage Variant: N/A
Age: 36
Sex: Female
Gender: Female
Captain Mural finished polishing her blade as the call came through. Quickly looking over the estoc-styled blade, she began to stand, taking note of the engraved Knight Weapon Code on the grip. “LS-012”, or the “Lady-in-Waiting”. Sheathing LS-012, Captain Mural begins leaving her small quarters, yelling out, “Alright! Line up, Southern Knights!” She sees the three moving swiftly, and then standing at attention side-by-side. Approaching she stops and looks at them, “We’re a long way from our section of the Defensive, but we’re here to assist as much as possible. Right now, the convoy is engaged in combat. We have confirmation that the TRV Legatus is present in this battle. We will be boarding the ship, and taking the traitor Captain prisoner. Remember, these people are our countrymen. Do not go overboard, and allow those that surrender to live. We took the oaths, and we know our duties. Defend the Orbital Shocks and yourselves, along with any and all prisoners taken. Understood?” The three Knights answer in unison, “Yes ma’am!” The Captain then nods, and continues, “Then prepare for boarding action from the port hangar. Dismissed.” The Knights begin running out of the room, already equipped and prepared. None wore cloaks, allowing their shielding generators to be seen on their hips, each with yellow hazard stripes on the ends.
Captain Mural steps over to a locker, and opens it after inputting the code. She grabs one of the three shielding generators, and glances at a picture taped to the inside of the locker. Smiling slightly, she stares for a few seconds at the two women with black hair, wolf-like ears, and piercing bronze eyes, despite the warm and happy smiles on their faces. Both were wearing Military Dress Uniforms, one in the silver accented black Knight Dress Uniform, which had its red shoulder cape on the left, and a golden chain to help hold it up. The Knight’s silver accented black Dress Cap had a gold strap, at the end of which hung three red strands of yarn, while in the center a Private rank insignia was emblazoned on a patch. The other’s dress cap was almost exactly the same, just with one black strand, and instead being a reddish gray in color, along with her entire uniform, which had a black shoulder cape instead. Captain Mural puts a hand on the image, and mumbles to herself, “Once I’m done with this deployment, I’ll try getting us some leave. You’d better stay safe, Lizzie.” Closing the locker, she glances at the shielding generator to ensure she grabbed a CQC rated generator, and began to put it on when she had read “A-9a Frontline”.
She then began to sprint, exiting the Knights’ quarters, and rushing towards the port hangar. Though she would likely run out of breath by the time she reached it, she would have the time to recoup after arriving. She passed by Fleetmen and Troopers alike. The Fleetmen tended to be in basic full body armor, with oxygen supplies for the event of them being vented into space, while the Troopers were in fully enclosed combat gear, with rank insignias on their left shoulder, and the Andromedan Flag on the right. While she ran, a few Troopers began to follow, heading in the same direction. One began yelling over the alarms as he ran, “Sergeant, what are our orders!?” One of the other Troopers following the Captain responded, “Don’t know! Likely boarding action, or we’re about to repel hostiles!” Captain Mural responds immediately, “Boarding action! Target is the TRV Legatus! HVT onboard, check your fine when we arrive, Troopers! Let us Knights worry about taking the enemy Captain!” Only the Sergeant responds, “Understood, Captain! You heard the lady, so relay to the other teams when we arrive!”
When they arrived, they slowed their pace, and began to speed walk to their respective groups. Captain Mural headed for her Knights, and looked them over quickly, before moving towards where three troopers were standing. Their helmets were off, revealing their faces, one of whom looked like a grizzled old veteran with facial scarring, one was completely metallic and had no visible features aside from the visor-like screen that displayed nothing, and the final one was a younger looking woman with draconic horns on the top of her head, which were accommodated by her helmet. As she neared the three, the Veteran spoke in a calm and collected voice, “Captain.” The other two looked at her immediately, and saluted, bringing their fists to their sternums and angling their arms directly down.
Captain Mural brought a hand to her head, and saluted honor in response, causing them to relax as she spoke, “Lieutenant Colonel, how are your Troopers.” LtCol Hanline looks at the assembled lines of Orbital Shocks, and just nods, “Well enough. We’re still missing one squad, but they should arrive soon. Once they do, we’ll be loading up.” Captain Mural smirks as she throws a playful jab to Hanline’s shoulder, “You’ve got four Knights with you. I think we’ll be a nice addition to your ‘well enough’ Troopers. We just need to grab oxygen supplies.” Hanline nods in response, pointing to a set of lockers at the edge of the hangar, “They’re over there. Lockers are unlocked in case of emergency. Grab them, and allow your Knights to prepare.” Captain Mural nods, and turns, heading for the locker.
When she arrives, she opens the locker, and grabs a human-specific helmet and oxygen supply. All Battle Dress Uniforms and Fatigue Uniforms are designed in a way to allow for a closed system, for the event in which a serviceman were to be lost in space. The fatality rate is still extremely high, but the chances of survival are far higher. She puts on her own, then takes three more, each for the specific race that each are. Once she had them, she moves towards her Knights, who each take a helmet and oxygen supply, putting it on as well. Captain Mural takes off the helmet, and holds it under her arm, ready for what is next. But as the final squad finishes arriving, the ship shakes violently, nearly throwing all of the personnel to the floor. Captain Mural looks at LtCol Hanline, and both share a look of realization. The situation was turning for the worse.
She presses her radio and speaks into it, “Bridge, Knights!” She gets a response from the Captain, “Go ahead.” Captain Mural continues, “What the hell was that!? Did they ram us!?” The Captain responds with a grim tone, “Affirm, Captain. The port bow has taken heavy damage, and we have lost the extended armor plating. Prepare the boarding party for immediate action. Port Hangar opens soon. The Legatus is right on us. Out.” Captain Mural yells out, “Helmets on! Hangar opening! Weapons at the ready! Target is just outside! Prepare for boarding action!” The Boarding Party finishes their preparations quickly, and then they see everything go dark, and then red. Beside the normal ship exits, a large door begins to open, sucking out the oxygen rapidly, and as it opens, each of the personnel remain completely still, locked in place by their boots as they see the side of the Legatus going past and pulling away slowly. Captain Mural hears a voice through her helmet, the voice of LtCol Hanline, “Jump, jump, jump!” The Troopers sprint forward, launching themselves from the hangar and into open space. The Knights follow immediately, drawing their blades as they use the small thrusters on the oxygen supplies to boost themselves with the Troopers.
Reaching the ship quickly, Troopers lock their boots to the surface, and begin splitting up. Some moved towards the port hangar of the Legatus, some grouping up near a spot where several were planting charges, and pumping a small bit of oxygen to help the explosion work far better. Captain Mural speaks her orders to the Knights, “Lance Corporal Grant, Staff Sergeant Lindsey, move with the Hangar team. Corporal Randal, on me.” The Knights split up, and the horned Dracan Corporal follows the Captain to the breaching team. As they get close, the explosives go off, and the battle for control begins.