ic Incursion: Meaning in Destruction

[Exaccus]

"Now is not a time for pettiness, the enemies are at the gates." moon-moth says, as much to himself as anyone else "I Will aid you in activating your relay, Lelak; Just tell me what you requires me to do." he says evenly, not wanting to ignite the mounting tensions any more than they have been so far.

 

<Things were different back in his day and age, for certain, the grief certainly isn't helping eithers, best to just walk on eggshells for nows; Not an ideal solutions but it'd be a waste of both our times and energies to be knocking each-others around whilst the enemy burns the universe down around us.> he sends through the internal communication systems.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

The reptillian warrior snorted and tried to explain himself. "The enemies are at the gates, but we came here to do more than save just this one world. We came for information that could help us save the whole galaxy. If it will not take us much time to help Lelak, we should do it, but more worlds remain in danger." He bit back comments on what he would like to do to Lelak afterward. Unproductive, immature. He crossed his arms and waited sullenly for instructions on how to help the little ingrate.

[Tiffany Korta]

Sitara smiled at her two Praetorians she had know for so long. She’d knew that they’d would agree to help, they’d work together long enough to know each others mannerisms.

 

“Well help you however we can Lelak. But we need time to make sure that everyone evacuates from the surface.†she turned to Solar Sentinel and addressed him directly, she didn’t know him enough to know how he’d react if things went wrong.

 

“I think one of us should help with the evacuations. Would you mind handling that for us?â€

[Avenger Assembled]

"On it," said Solar Sentinel, who looked to have a healthy desire to avoid Lelak. "Let me know if you need any help," he added, tapping his helmet. "I can tap into your systems." He headed out through the narrow passageway as Lelak explained the situation to the Praetorians, the latter glaring after the departing Solar Sentinel for a long and ominous moment. 

 

On one of his screens, Lelak called up a jittery, faded image of Kestevan I - one old enough that grey-green oceans wrapped silvery continents covered with cities. The planet before the supernova; the planet of Lelak's birth. "The relays are here, at the poles, and the great city at our antipode. If you activate the systems by powering the graviton generators, I will be able to access the gateway network and transport Kestevan at the edge of the Cygnus Arm. Four galactic revolutions," he nearly choked on the words, "will have...no doubt changed the region, but there were no stars there before, and there will be none now." 

 

He showed them the relays, triangular outposts about the size of their starship, sure enough still buried in the shattered earth of . "Ensure that the...evacuation is complete before we leave," he added, nearly spitting the words out. "And leave yourselves," he added, a trifle more calmly. "Before the final activation. Other species will not survive the gravitic transfer. And I owe you my life. I will go to the antipode" he said before suddenly flying out - directly through the ceiling with a thunderous boom. 

 

From Moon-Moth's communicator came the voice of the Praetorian they had left aboard their ship. "Woah, guys, something just left your location at a hypersonic velocity! Everything all right?" 

[Tiffany Korta]

Sitara watched Lelak leave with a mix of relief and concern, it a delicate balance to keep the alien on their side and one that might change as soon as they’d completed his task.

 

“For now he’s on our side. Send the Kavaca to come pick us up we have work to do.â€

 

She turned to her fellow Praetorians a rather grim look on her face.

 

 

“Thoughts? Options? We’re not in the best of position with the Communion due anytime nowâ€

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"I question if he had his full race with him whether he would be any better than the Communion. I hear a desire to shape the whole galaxy to his liking" said Dragonid, "With just the one of him, he may make a useful ally if we can convince him that have something to offer him. I would not trust him, though. He will likely accept our help saving his world and then abandon us."

 

"Let us just do it, and get back to finding ways to fight the Communion."  he said with resignation.

[Exaccus]

"One problem at a times friends." moon-moth sighs as he looks up and out of the hole that lelak has made with his exit before activating his communicator "Was just a native, wes got a bit of a chore to do befores we go, i assume we'll be heading back and taking the aquilla, so bes preparing for lunch." moon moth says, before tapping the communicator back off a little too stressed to focus on the bothersome language that was galstandard.

 

"I dids what i could to help speeds the evacuations butts im unsure how much good it did." moon moth mentions "4000 puppies is a lot for one moth to pull out of his hats,"

[Tiffany Korta]

Sitara started to make her way out of the structure sure that the other were following, she could see the appeal that Amara saw in command.

 

“I suggest that we split up to get the work quicker, if we finish quick we can assist in the evacuation. We’ll hold off the final repair until the evryone has left, just in case Lelak isn’t completely honest with us.â€

 

She gave them a minute to process her suggestions, she knew they would voice any suggestions that would improve her plan.

 

“I’m going to need the Kavaca to get to get to my spot so you’ll have to fly some of the way by yourself. We’ll work out destinations once we’re in the air.â€

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"I will fly to the closer pole to activate the device there" suggested Dragonid, "But it will take some time, I am somewhat slower than the Kavaca. We should start that while the evacuation continues, while someone remains here to trigger the device here." He flexed the artificial wings on his back, itching to get away from this distasteful place and embrace the freedom of the air.

 

He looked to Moon Moth, "Has the evacuation problem been solved? Were you able to find a way to fit everyone aboard the ships?"

[Exaccus]

"Most probabilities, I believe i managed to put around a thousand and a half of there young as well as about 500 of the blood simples into a dimensional pocket I'm maintaining at this moment." moon-moth says matter of factly as he follows them out "It will probably not be possibles for me to use other magics whilst doing so..but i have other talents and stout allies with me, it should prove only a minor setsback." he rolls off matter of factually. "Unfortunately this means i am unable to teleports and i am not a very fast flyer...mayhap i should hitch a ride in our Aquila with you sitara?" he offers humbly.

 

"Dragonid and our Mysterious friend are both much faster than myselfs."

[Tiffany Korta]

Sitara stood for a few second admiring the stark beauty of the devastated landscape laid out before them, she wondered what Lelak saw when he looked out on his now dead world. It wasn’t long before the teardrop shaped craft the Aquila class that she had been allowed to call Kavaca was floating before them.

“For now let’s stick together. I’m sure the Terran...†the word still sounded strange to her and not what she thought of as her own kind “...Solar Sentinel can handle the evacuation. We’ll do both of the stations at the poles before coming back here.â€

Stepping aboard the Kavaca she took a few moments to check that the data had synched up, including the information on her home world re-found, before choosing one of poles at random and instructing the pilot to make there way to the site.

“We don’t know what we'll find, Lelak’s people might have left traps behind, so let’s take things careful and be prepared for the worst.â€

[Avenger Assembled]

On most planets the south pole was a cold region - but on Kestevan, with internal heat coming from the dying terraforming system left behind by Lelak's people, the south pole felt no different than anywhere else. Beneath the multi-colored blanket of the eternal auroras overhead, what Lelak had described as a 'relay' was still there. Though its outer coating had been heavily abraded by a million years of grit and ash, and before that the supernova had sagged the mountains all around, the device itself still rose clearly out of the glassy soil. The relay itself proved nearly opaque to their sensors, though it did radiate gravitons at a shocking rate for something that wasn't a star. 

 

Stranger still was the land all around it, honeycombed as it was by a series of hollow tubes sunk hundreds of meters into the bedrock all around the relay. Many of these had been sealed by collapse or sand accumulation, but as the Kavaca maneuvered for a landing near the relay, some of the tubes still gaped open to the sky overhead, their insides reading as a strange mix of organic and inorganic matter. 

[Tiffany Korta]

As much as Sitara had wanted to watch the planet rush by the ship she’d spent most of the time working on the sensor suite to improve  it’s gain as much as she could manage. She wanted to try and gather as much data as they could, this would probably be their only chance to examine such ancient technology.  Whilst she was a warrior she had also trained herself over the centuries to be a half decent mechanic and engineer and enjoyed the challenge of trying to understand the device as she did the thrill of combat.

 

“Okay stop here and do a slop circuit of the sire, I’ll try and gather as much data as we can.†she activated the controlled and watched as the data flooded into the ship

 

“I want to examine this before we start working on the device, it should make working on the other ones much easier. If you two want to take a look around feel free, though be careful and don’t touch anything.â€

[Avenger Assembled]

As far as Sitara and the others could tell, their sensors shouldn't have been able to penetrate the relay at all. That pitted black hull that had survived uncounted ages was all but opaque to their sensors. But sheer age had worn away the outer casing in places, allowing them to get a limited idea of what lay inside. The great device was, by all appearances, a massive wormhole generator - one that would when activated generate first a series of small wormholes, then a single greater wormhole effect that would cover the southern hemisphere of Kestevan. It was impressive to imagine a people who could bend space inside an atmosphere and not die - while such a thing was theoretically possible for the Delaztri, a work of this particular magnitude had been beyond their science five thousand years earlier - already eons after Lelak's people have lived and died. 

 

It looked as though they'd be able to power up the relay by establishing a connection between their ship's engines and the absorbent structure of the relay itself, perhaps by the engineer's stand-by, a direct EM discharge. 

The material in the tubes, that strange mixture of organic and inorganic matter, proved harder to penetrate - though some of the chemicals down there, in what must have been in stasis, were the sort used to power antique chemical rockets! An odd anomaly indeed on this dead world of technological marvels. 

[Exaccus]

"Wormholes....bleh...why not moth-holes, I am much cuter than a worm am i not?" moon-moth jokes softly trying to dispel his own unease at the situation, he didn't get technology that well; possibly a result of his monastic and mystic upbringing, though it had enraptured his entire family very quickly when they were first exposed to it.

 

"and chemical rocket residue? someone have a antique vehicle expose here?" he asks somewhat perplexed by the readings as he looked them over "...Don't likes that its in holes eithers...suggests it might be some sort of strange life form." he ponders softly as he gets out of his chair and prepares to disembark.

 

<Really hopings it not worms that guard the wormhole generator; lelaks species doesn't seem to have a sense of humor likes that.>

[Tiffany Korta]

“If there anything like the insects back home we don’t exactly want something that feel the need to fly towards the nearest moon or heavenly bodies on whim.†Sitara beamed back at her fellow Praetorian

 

As she joked with Moon-Moth something still bothered her, a problem that she needed to share with the others.

 

“If they had all this set up and ready to put into practice, why did they never use this when their planet was doomed?â€

 

She considered things for a few moments before adding.

 

“Either way we’re going to have to start this thing up, anything you want to do before I engage to EM burst?â€

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"Wormholes?" asked Dragonid, "Did the Curator's lackey say the Communion used a wormhole on the Lor homeworld? Is that why they are interested in this world?" He looked over the whole structure with suspicion, but understood none of the technology. He knew he did not trust Lalek, but they had yet to meet any allies that did seem worthy of trust.

 

"Start it up, we still have to go to the other pole and back to the catacombs and we still do not know how much time we have before the enemy arrives and destroys us all."

[Exaccus]

"I woulds like to examine the holes first, any delays or interruptions could proves costly if not deadly." moon moth pipes up, not one to leave these kinds of thing to change "Could be some form of swarmer colony we set offs like angry space stingers with our EM pulse-thingies." he adds as he move towards the airlock "won't take a moments." he chirps as he lets himself out and floats down to the nearest hole.

 

No one could accuse moon-moth of being cowardly nor praise his caution, this proved especially true as he slowly floated down towards the edge of one of the openings and poked his head down it for a closer look.

[Tiffany Korta]

Sitara continued her work to prepare the EM burst to be emitted from the ship, with something so important it was worth double checking and it gave Moon-Moth a chance to finish his own investigation. Dragonid word gave her slight pause, especially as it brought into focus one of the several things that had been worrying her.

 

“Every FTL method tend to have it’s own special signature and every race has a range of harmonics that is unique to them. Once we start the process to generate the wormhole we should be able to compare the harmonics of it to the one the Communion used.â€

[Avenger Assembled]

Moon-Moth stuck his head inside the tubes. The sealed tubes were an interesting story - blue-grey pointed cylinders with bright red tailfins and nose cones stacked downward as far as he could see. These, clearly, were the source of the rocket fuel mixture he'd picked up. But what purpose could they possibly serve? Even in happier days in this system, rockets like this would have been lucky to make orbit. They looked deliberately primitive to his practiced eye; as if cast in the shape of old-fashioned craft by skilled engineers. The broken tubes were a tangled muddle of grit, sand, and broken bits of metal - and what looked to be thin, gossamer bones small enough to have easily fit in Moon-Moth's cupped digits. 

 

Much to everyone's relief, the EM discharge did not destroy them - or set Moon-Moth's head on fire. Sure enough, in the glowing sky above them, a wormhole began to take shape, the gateway's other side flickering a few times before settling down to a distant blue-white world barely visible on the other side. It did indeed look like a smaller version of the wormhole that the Communion had opened inside Lor-Van. Meanwhile, Moon-Moth heard a distinct sound of rumbling from the tubes beneath his feet.

[Tiffany Korta]

Any joy that Sitara had at her successful technique was blunted by the flood of reading that came from the newly opened wormhole. It finally fitted with several things that Lelak had said earlier.

 

“It exactly the same technology that the Communion used on Lor-Van. We could be looking at the origin of the ancestors of the Communion. The only thing we need to figure out is if Lelak’s people did it purpose or it was all an accident.â€

 

As she spoke she made sure that the data gathered by the Kavaca was bundle and transmitted back to their temporary base, even if Lelak betrayed them now the remaining Praetorians would know everything they had discovered.

 

“Moon Moth if you’ve finished playing around we need to get to the second site. Still while all we’re here let’s have a look at where the wormholed ended up.â€

 

 

Something about that little blue green planet look familiar, but then again so did a lot of places she visited in the centuries. She focused the sensor on the planet beyond the wormhole.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Dragonid shook his head. "Whether they did it on purpose or by accident, the Communion are on there way here to recover this technology. They probably plan to use it as another weapon like the one that struck these Lor. Can we afford to leave it in Lalek's care? I would rather find a way to drop in to a sun where it will safely remain beyond both their grasps."

 

"If we just follow Lalek's plan, I fear the Communion will just follow it to that world beyond the wormhole." He pointed at the blue white world. "And take it anyway."

[Exaccus]

Moon-moth sighs defeated as he slowly starts to float back up towards the aquilla, an angry buzzing in his mind about his team mates haste and the collateral it may have just brought down on the heads of the species on the tiny blue world beyond the window in space time.

 

he walks right in and sits down in his chair "Oh don't yous want to sees the after effects of your blind rushing?" he asks in mock concern "do you not want to see that world be peppered with children of lelaks species because you couldn't wait for me too checks it out!?" he all but screams "welcomes to the baby shower." he gestures out the window towards the pits "scatter fire incubation rockets. its going to be raining intolerant, would-be god kings on that little world...lets hope they're too busy destroying each other and that world to make matters any worse than they are hmm?"

[Avenger Assembled]

With a deep bass rumble, a line of rockets erupted from the ground and flew straight through the wormhole towards a planet that was clearly Terra! Sitara could see the hauntingly familiar outlines of the continents she had left behind so long ago, but now the nightside was covered with the glowing gossamer webs of an advanced civilization! As they watched, the rockets headed through the portal and began to spread out, clearly making a beeline for Sitara's lost homeworld! Meanwhile, a familiar voice hissed to life on their radio. 

 

"<This is Lelak. I have activated the antipode - and I see your system is live as well. You should proceed to your next task.>" 

[Tiffany Korta]

“One thing we have over Lelak is that to him most of this is theoretical to Lelak, whilst I’ve had my hands inside more FTL drives than I can count. If need be I’ll make the wormholes try to occupy the same space, it would probably take out at least this system if not more so if comes to that I want you and Myothizar to leave with the evacuees.â€

 

About that time Myothizar himself turned up agree about something he’d seen, she’d always admired his passion and concern for others but now wasn’t the time for such things.

 

“Now is not the time for emotional outburst we need to know what is happening, not wild accusations. If you feel I’ve done us wrong I’ll happily commit to a court martial with what remains with the Praetorians.â€

 

As the rocket’s began the launch toward the wormhole what Moth-Man had said made horrible sense they wouldn’t have long to stop them contaminating the world beyond, that just happened to be her long lost home.

 

“Okay I need the two of you to stop as many of them as possible, disable if you can until I know better we’re assume they're all innocent in all this.†she looked toward Moon-Moth “If you can do something similar to what you did for the pups that would help. We’ll go the other side of the wormhole in case any get through.â€

 

She gestured for the pilot to take the Kavaca up toward the Wormhole as she set the comms to send a message through the Wormhole towards Terra, ignoring the message from Lelak. She just hope  that her Homeworld had advanced enough that they could understand Galstandard.

“Terra this is the Praetorian ship Kavaca, we are in need of you assistance...â€