Vahin-Syndar, Ascendant Dawn Capital, Royal Palace underground facilities

Sumis looked at the reports of the scorched star and pondered. Standing in front of the palace window overlooking the subterranean chasms he stared down into the darkness with one eye. Usually the holo windows were displaying sights of the overcity, to overplay the somewhat dreary sight of the kilometres deep abyss, with caverns lit up by emergency lighting, housing back up measures, defensive infrastructure, supply tunnels and various other… less public enterprises. Though these illusions were for normal people, he was a retainer of the regent, he had no need for illusions. He also found the depths and secret filled silence of the Abyss comforting. He shook his head, he was drifting off, he concentrated on the document which had ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ written above it in big red letters.

‘Project Class S; Serial Number: 10510577; Observation Report

Topic: Testrun, Aftereffects
After thorough investigation of the resonance feedback loop after the initial test runs, we have found a number of potential sources and targets. Exploration teams are being assembled to be deployed however further orders and feedback are required.

After the first test of Project ‘Legion’, the expected psionic pulse was suppressed however unexpected secondary effects have occurred which are currently still under investigation. Connecting with the other side has not yet been successful, but gestalt has been able to awaken test subjects in the testing area with approximately 87% efficiency at an approximate casualty rate of 70%. Testing will continue after side effects can be reliably suppressed.

The main presence of feedback seems to originate from the ‘Gelos Mal’ system and it is suspected that the resonance had interacted with remnant waves of reality editors, which may be connected to its sudden disappearance, however further investigation is required to confirm this assumption. Several more resonance feedbacks have been detected in interdimensional weave, however at the current stage of development are unable to be tracked or interacted with.

Addendum:
In a recent development, it seems secondary feedback signals have been detected from the Unstable ‘Maw’ Anomaly further counterspinward from the Dead wastes, along with transmission pieces originating potentially from the Infinite Dominion. We suggest an investigation with a specialist team.

He closed the documents. The regent had been quite fond of the ‘Legion’ project, to a degree it was understandable, given how limited they were here. On other hand, he found his commitment to it… confusing. There were many other ways to achieve their goals, seeing him go this way instead of the alternatives was curious.
However, he was not one to question the Lord's will. With a number of blinks he made the corresponding calls, relayed new orders and delegated responsibilities.
He pondered for another moment.
Perhaps he should go on a field trip, given the project's importance.

Outside The Maw --------------

The Almighty, Taros, had been missing for quite some time now. Disappeared from the galaxy in an eventful manner, leaving the remnants of the Dominion to pure chaos, and ravaging the area where the upstart empire had once been with piracy and violent conflict. Some took notice, others chose not to care.

But it seemed Taros wasnt truly gone. Comms signals emanated from The Maw- no, no, that cant be right. Thats impossible! But, the possible seemed to have been thrown out the window when Gelos Mal had first dissapeared. These communications signals were garbled, unintelligible, but were unmistakably upon Dominion wavelengths. They would sound out for a couple days, then cut out for weeks at a time, before appearing again, softly gaining in volume and intelligibility over time.

At first, it was a few words- “Maw”, “Taros”, “Dominion”, words that only served to prove it’s credibility, but told nothing of what was truly happening. This continued for a while, new words adding on every month or so, but giving away nothing big.

Until one day, not long ago, when a single broken sentence was able to be cleaned up.

“Enter the Maw. The Dominion Lives. Taros Almighty.”

Enter the Maw

Enter the Maw

Are they Insane? Clearly being stuck in a Hyperspace storm such as the maw for so long has given them the crazies, they’re calling for people to enter such a place?

It seemed useless and dangerous, but readings from the maw shifted in ever-minute ways. Less energy readings from this sector, less debris in this one. Slowly, over the course of a week or two, a very slightly safer path in the maw had revealed itself; still rife with the inherent dangers of the storm and debris from an old day, it was by no means safe, but it was there, and better a chance than any that had existed before. How long would it last, though? Nobody could tell.

Shalt thee answer the call of the Almighty, and Enter the Maw?

Event Information:

Calls from the maw, a pathway revealed. Will you find answers? steal from the doomed? Make your Decision, and do not go quietly

Event is limited to four or five people. Please limit yourself to a small fleet, (a cap of roughly five vessels), and do not bring anything absurd. (Please limit yourself to a carrier or a cruiser as your flagship, no dreadnoughts or anything of the like.)

And finally, Do note that the maw is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, so be willing to take damages and losses if prompted or would make sense in the story. Not everyone will win, and not everyone will come out of this with a net benefit.

<<Have fun, and May the Almighty guide you>>

    Brank

    Alpha 6775 long-range secure communications line protocol #269
    ////////
    ////////
    . . .
    OPERATION OVERTAKER
    //CLOSED QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS LINE ESTABLISHED… HMS WATCHER…//
    ///////

    .

    Chief Scientific Officer Lalina woke up on a hard and stale bunk onboard the civilian ship Sprinter. She felt how dry her throat was and took a sip from the water beside her bunk. The crew quarters were empty and the lights were on. She got out of bed and checked to ensure the fine powder was still in her jacket. She made her way to the bridge of the ship that was placed at the rounded front of the ship. It was sleek and clean unlike the hulking grey hull of the military ship beside the Sprinter: the giant HMS Supplenisher. A 1.5 km long modified Rotorblade-class battletransport. Cranes, gravitic controllers and recovery equipment protruding from its rigid structure. Beside it was their main defensive vessel. An escort-destroyer of the refitted Anrillia-class defined by her angled hull. Her name was the HMS Unassailable. Lalina was fond of escorts. The other two combat ships on the other hand were aggressive Redeemer-class corvettes. Lalina had insisted that the attack corvettes weren’t needed. They were never in the mission details for the original Operation Overtaker. With the ships that she had assembled, they would never be able to engage any working defences and she didn’t intend to. Lastly the HMS Watcher, a military-turned-civilian sensor, e-war and communications ship that was in service in the state's ministry of technology. Lalina had argued and fought for it to join her expedition. It was expensive and sensitive equipment.

    THUD. THUD. THUD.
    The ships catapulted out of warp space and abruptly halted to return to reality. They had arrived just outside Gelos Mal, or what used to be it. The HMS Watcher immediately began scanning for ships in the area. Lalina watched probes zip past the bridge viewport before reviewing the data sent from the HMS Watcher. She directed it to get more scans on the Maw entrance with its forward sensors and got the HMS Supplenisher to compensate with forward scans.

        Brank KrankysFirebrand48
        As the ships arrived, curiously enough there seemed to another which had arrived quite a while before them, indicated by their engines running cold. The lead ship looked fairly bulky yet had still something elegant to it and was accompanied by four escort sized ships and host of what could be drones, some of which some to be on route towards or from the Maw.

        More surprising than their presence however, was their identity.

        Judging by the colours and the IFF signatures these were rather rare guests in G-S16.
        They were from Ascendant Dawn.

        Sumis stood, perfectly upright and elegant in the bridge, observing the crew and the various screens, with seemingly only mild interest. Even if one didn't know, they could likely tell he was an important figure by his sheer presence even if his clothes were held, whilst elegant, with as little unnecessary decoration as possible.

        Occassionally reports came in from the various automated scouting drones they had sent in, which he listened to patiently but without anay ciable change of expression or mood. They had lost probably a dozen of them already, though they at least had a vague idea now from which direction the signal came and where they would need to start going to not be shattered in an instant. Things would probably have continued in this manner for a couple more hours, if it had not been for the sudden arrival of the Bastonian ships.
        As with everything else, he listened to the report from the comms officer with patience.
        "Sir, we have four new contacts, just left ftl, they are likely Bastonian in origin. No major military presence, mostly civilian and escorts. What should we do?"
        Sumis looked at him for a couple moments without answering, before doing so with a question of his own.
        "Well, what would you do?"
        The comms officer seemed confused for a moment.
        Sumis pondered. If these ships were only lightly armed they were likely to be a sort of research group, likely someone who had picked up the signals coming from the maw, though they probably knew little of the resonance. Whilst their own mission here was technically confidential, which was why the officer had asked him what to do, that did not mean that their presence here was. For all they cared, they could be here just to research the signal, which was in technicality true. If anything, the Bastonians presence could be more of a boon to them than a detriment, so long as they kept their cards to themselves.
        "Open comms channels, I assume they will be contacting us soon enough, see what they have to say. Let them go in first if they wish to."
        The officer nodded and then saluted walked off to his post, as Sumis continued his contemplations. What would they find in here?

        In the meanwhile on the outside, there was obviously nothing to be seen or heard from teh conversation, though the AD cruiser sent a hail and and waited.

              Drakador_Chaos
              ’Five primary contacts. Ascendant Dawn IFF, ma’am. Hailing us.’
              Lalina sighted. She hoped they would have abandoned the system or entered the Maw by now. But it wasn’t surprising that they were there.
              ’Ma’am, the HMS Sojourner has opened comms channels already.’
              She sighed again. Pax wasn’t able to lead any conversation with a foreign power. She would rather have to fight Pax than have Pax start a fight they could not win, regardless of how much fancy flying his bridge crew could pull off. ’Set the HMS Watcher to electronic warfare and cut them out.’
              The comms officer turned around in his seat to question her. She quickly added: ’They have no business in this negotiation.’
              ’Right away, ma’am.’

              .

              /Comms - open frequency
              ’I am Captain Pax of the Bastonian corvette HMS Sojourner. As the system Gelos Mal has ceased to exist, this zone is no longer under Ascendant Dawn jurisdict—‘
              The voice cut out and was replaced with a softer female voice. She just said: ’We apologize for the interruption.’ and waited for the AD to respond.

                6 days later

                The Maw Stood, Unfazed

                As the various vessels of the Bastionians and the Dawners appeared in, they were immediately bombarded with sensor pings, readings, and transmissions.

                First, the radiation. Hundreds of Millions of Rems in radiation clashing against the ships, the only barrier between the squishy flesh inside being the radiation shielding of the vessel's hulls, holding ever-strong against the storm.

                Secondly, the transmissions. Waves of dozens of the transmissions from Taros flooded out of the maw, being so close to it allowed more clarity in the transmissions, and more frequent pickup. Some were military, some were government, and others were civilians with comms units crying out for help. It was, in a sense, quite depressing.

                Thirdly, FTL sensors began to ping off, from multiple directions that weren't the Maw. Both reading as Imperial- or now named Dominion Hyperspace.

                >>Seeker Investigation Fleet<<

                "Flotcommodore, Est. Arrival time Thirty seconds."

                "Good. Bring us up to REDSTAT Two, all weapons and shields online. I expect company when we arrive."

                "Understood."

                Soft klaxons blared through the Destroyer Lustengos as her weapons began to shift online, particle lances being fed power all the same as fusion cannons and missile batteries. The ship glowered for a moment as projectors across the ship came online, ready to project directional barriers- be it plasma, hardlight, or particle barriers.

                Shhhhh.....

                The quartet of vessels let out a soft hiss as they slid out of Hyperspace, their black forms dotted with glowing reds making a hard-to-spot sillouhette in the depths of the void. The fleet consisted of the Destroyer Lustengos, an Espionage-Class- the Gravitas, a Chitin-Class Brawler.

                The last ship- the Majestika was far smaller than the rest, but gave off the most passive energy readings, powerful sensors scanning the area, and sending off a lasbeam connection towards the Dawner ships. It hosted massive radiators, seemingly needing a lot of power for it's sensor suite.

                Meanwhile, the Lustengos sent an open transmission to the HMS Sojourner.

                >>Dawner Tightbeam Communique<<

                Ascendant Dawn Vessels. This is the SVS Majestika, on behalf of the Seekers of the Future. It is to our understanding that, elsewhere, our two polities are undergoing diplomacy of some sort. It is of request of Flotcommodore Jameson that we try to stay friendly during this operation. Will this be possible?

                >>Open Transmission to HMS Supplenisher - From SVS Lustengos

                On the screen, a tall man with a thick brown beard and a dark complexion- that of a rich milk chocolate- stood, his shoulders straight.

                "Bastonian Vessel HMS Supplenisher, this is Flotcommodore Jameson on behalf of the Seekers of the Future. It is to my understanding, you and our originating polity, the Dominion, have had tensions in the past. At least for this mission, we request that you refrain from firing upon us, and we will do the same. Is this recieved well?"

                >>Fleet of the Fifth Imperium<<

                With a silent crash, two exceedingly massive vessels appeared in space, though most of the hull-space was taken up by pointless decoration and signs of nobility, rather than anything useful like weapons or point defense, The Mesmit and the Mouradis, a Nemis-Class Heavy Destroyer and Teo-Class Science Vessel respectively. The Mesmit stood- from stem to stern- six kilometers, and the Mouradis sat at a comfortable two kilometers.

                This was quite clearly a show of strength by the nobles of the so-called Fifth Imperium, a band of rich pricks who want to become as famous as the Old Imperium.

                A pre-recorded message was openly broadcast to all present vessels, featuring a squat and stout man with copper complexion, and a permanent resting bitchface. His face was contorted in exaggerated swagger and anger as he spoke.

                "This is the IWS Mesmit, of the Fifth Imperium. If we are fired upon by any present parties, they will be crushed into dust and fed to the Morati working belowdeck. Watch your step, Kouvi."

                Wasting no time, the Fifth Imperium vessels hit their drives, and began their lumbering and comical push towards the Maw's new pathway.

                The Seeker Vessels, however, hung back, waiting for their responses.

                  Brank
                  ’Doctor Lalina we got incoming. Two contacts… dominion ma’am.’
                  Lalina fixed her posture and her eyes filled with life. Not because she was glad but because she now suppressed her tiredness and embraced the rush of adrenaline. She sensed some relief however when the HMS Supplenisher forwarded the Seekers transmission. Since Lalina was on an open comms line with the AD ships, the HMS Supplenishers captain responded.
                  // Transmission start //
                  ’Greetings flotcommodore. I am captain Hedari of the battletransport HMS Supplenisher. While we have military escorts, this expedition is civilian and we will not seek to engage your vessels in any circumstances other than self-defence.’ The man paused and the transmission went silent for a minute before he returned. ’We are however unable to assist you and must ask you to respect confidential recovery and information gathering operations.’
                  // Transmission end //

                  ’Ma’am additional contacts.’
                  The transmission played and Lalina immediately looked upon her communications officer. ’Is the HMS Sojourner still jammed?’
                  ’Yes ma’am. You never ordered me to cancel it.’
                  She knew this would provoke Pax. She knew that those military commanders would try to overrule her and make this into a race to the finish. She could feel the temptation herself. Her curiosity and will for exploration. It was what had taken her this far in her career and what made her. Now it was like the devil on her shoulder telling her that she had to be first. A discovery is only yours if you were first. She paused and then finally said:
                  ’Don’t mind them. Wait for the AD to answer and analyze these scans and radiation pickup.’

                  While the ships stayed in their place, a few probes ventured into the rift that led into the Maw, one following after the Fifth Imperiums ships.'

                      KrankysFirebrand48 Brank
                      The man in the transmission, Sumis, so to wait for a couple more moments, as if to see if anything else would come from the Bastonians end, then he simply nodded. His voice had something regal and superior, though without seeming arrogant.
                      "I see. You may tell your colleague that the dominion had never been under Ascendant Dawn jurisdiction or protection, however, I suppose that is a moot point. We have no interest in the territory or the planet as an material asset, though we calim the right to appropriate any Ascendant Dawn related items or technology, should they be present in the system."

                      He paused for a moment watching the Seeker and Fifth Imperium ships arrive.

                      "Beyond that we care little what you may do here. We would be interested in the sensor data you collect in this area, if you are indeed willing to share it, for a price, of course. You may go on ahead, we will be following shortly."

                      He muted the transmission for the moment as he turned to another screen this time contacting the Seekers, once more he nodded in a calm manner.
                      "That is indeed possible and in our mutual interest, we have no desire invite any more danger to this area than there already is and if there are negotiations underway it is all the less reason to engage with you, so long as you do not interfere with our operations."
                      He himself had no business with the seekers, nor had he been involved in any planning regarding them, so was no reason to make any huge negotions or exchange hostilities. If the Regent had plans for them he would stay out of them until asked to involve himself or having his hand forced.

                      On another screen he watched the Fifth Imperium ships pass and leave for the maw. narrow minded fools clinging onto lost glory of an ill perceived empire. He simply shook his head as his captain was about to ask for orders in regards to them, he looked... rather irriated by their presence, was it just the history and national pride or something more personal? Perhaps he would ask him at some point.
                      "Leave them be, we have no business with them, if stars so want they will die on the way in for their arrogance."
                      As such, the Fifth Imperiums braodcast remained unanswered by the Dawn Vessels as well. Looking at the sensor data which had been carefully picked apart by the Gestalt AI running the ship, he noted that, besides being massively scrambled beyond normal recognition, a likely side effect of the strong radiation in the area, many of the transmissions seemed to repeat themselves in the same voice and wave patterns, less so than being sent repeatedly, more as if echoing.

                      How rather curious.

                      "Look through the government and military transmissions, use the encryption keys we have claimed whilst they were still under our hand.", he ordered, turning back to original screen with the Bastonians afterwards, unmuting himself and waiting patiently.

                            8 days later

                            Drakador_Chaos
                            She turned off her camera and microphone for a moment and there was a short pause until she resumed.

                            /Comms - open frequency
                            'I will. And I have afraid that any data we collect here is confidential. I lack the authority to override our mission parameters. I'd like to add, this is a civilian mission on behalf of the Bastonian state. We have military escorts but they are simply for self-defence. Furthermore, we are aware that the Dominion and Ascendant Dawn were related in some manner. To what degree is a certain Dominion technology considered related to you?'

                                5 days later

                                -Bastonians-

                                >>GBE Transmission Ongoing<<
                                "Understood, Hedari. we will avoid engagement as well. SVS Lustengos, out."
                                >>Transmission End<<

                                With that, the transmission line came to an end, and the Seeker ships ceased connection to the GBE ships, only a tiny handful of cameras even bothering to point at them.

                                The probes dotted into the Maw one by one, blips casted out back towards their motherships. Their readings- what of them they could get through the hyperspace interference- would show them that the Fifth Imperium had already lost a vessel in their overzealousness, having cast themselves deep into the maw and straying off the trail for the sake of shortcut. It also shown that there was considerably less hyperspace debris in an odd winding path, towards some of the Tarosian signals.

                                -Ascendant Dawn-

                                >>Dawner Tightbeam Connection Held<<
                                Understood, Dawners. We will keep weapons offline unless immediate threat presents itself, and we will avoid getting in your way. Trust is placed with you to give the same.
                                >>Tightbeam Link Severed<<

                                Beyond the veils of encryption and garbled jargon, the decoded military and government transmissions began to paint some semblance of a clearer picture. The government transmissions were mostly more formal cries for assistance or help, but without ever mentioning the words 'save us' or 'help us', talking of being stuck in the maw.

                                The Military transmissions were less direct and more complicated. They were weak, and seemed to just be the effects of the transmissions echoing from their original intended destination due to the sheer power of military signals, and they seemed to be harder to decode. Some talked of moving fleets from planet to planet, others talked of decommissioning something to make something else, and others yet talked of shots fired.

                                There was never quite enough to fully paint that picture, but the puzzle was being pieced together.

                                -Event-

                                The ships of the Fifth Imperium had already arrogantly entered the maw, dissapearing into its undulating depths, no longer visible optically. The whispered purple drive-trails left behind in the wakes of their lumbering vessels faded away, making it feel like the ships were nothing but a memory. To someone unknowing of the maw, it would've looked like they'd been swallowed up by an unforgiving purple storm, never to be seen again.

                                The Seeker ships themselves began to power up their mix of fusion torches and antimatter drives, sending plumes of red-and-blue light in massive trails behind them, the ships gently pushing them forwards, while the long spindly quartet of arms spun around the core of the SVS Majestika in a centrifugal force. They seemed to be on a slow course for the maw, but small droid-probes had already begun speeding ahead of them, dipping into the purple swirl of hyperspace's imprint on the galaxy- the maw.

                                  9 days later

                                  Brank KrankysFirebrand48

                                  Sumis pondered on what they had found so far, as the bridge stayed busy trying to decrypt additional data, from all it looked like the Dominion assets in the maw had little way communicating, let alone escaping their new prison and given the state of their comms they likely also did not know what happened, nor about the Dawns potential involvement in it.
                                  In a way it was likely their own fault though. Playing with precursor technology, especially the kind reality editors were, should be a proivilege of the only the most sophisticated.

                                  He gave a couple of hand signs to the bridge crew, the ships energy signature raised and their engines came to life.

                                  He continued.
                                  "That is greatly unfortunate to hear, though I suppose there is nothing to be done about it. The Dominion and the Dawn are in related in that we share a mutual precursor in the High Imperium, however, there is little which binds us to them. My former note was merely in the off-chance we might find something related to our own assets, which have been derived of the Imperium or acquired illegitimately by the Dominion."

                                  He paused again waiting.
                                  "I believe we are done then, yes?"

                                  His final note had something... dismissive, however not outright hostile. He didn't seem to consider the Bastonian group an enemy though a potential nuisance under the wrong circumstances.
                                  As he he was waiting for an answer the AD group made preparation to move into the Maw, using the data they had collected prior to the others arrival.

                                        6 days later

                                        Drakador_Chaos Brank

                                        /Comms - open frequency
                                        'We agree. Yes we are done.'

                                        She severed the comms link and focused on the results the probes had brought. Upon seeing the path she ordered all ships to move forward.
                                        'Ma'am,' said the comms officer, 'Incoming comms line from Captain Pax.'
                                        'On screen.' Lalina said, trying to uphold her posture when faced with uncertainty. She didn't wait for him to speak first. The moment his face appeared on screen she said,
                                        'Have I missed any additional military precautions, Captain?'
                                        Pax didn't take the question seriously and immediately gave his request.
                                        'I request that the HMS Sojourner is allowed to dock with the Sprinter when we have entered the Maw and have secured our ships' safety.'
                                        'Please provide your reasons to dock.'
                                        Pax response was so quick that Lalina almost flinched, but his voice was still steady and devoid of excess.
                                        'We've had a failure in plumbing. My crew needs to use your hygiene facilities and we need to borrow the time of one of your engineering officers.'
                                        Lalin was suspicious of his wariness. He was calm despite the recent assault on his dignity. She was certain the HMS Sojourner did not have a mechanical failure. Due to his reckless manoeuvring, Pax's ship had some of the best maintenance for a corvette in the navy. The ship was built to handle over 20g's consistently. It was obviously a cover. She couldn't deny though. Pax wasn't stupid. She presupposed that he had some sort of military protocol that guaranteed the acceptance of such a request. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked.
                                        'We'll grant you docking access when we have set our course.' she said, trying to hold balance as the Sprinter and the rest of the expedition headed forward. The ships arranged in such a manner to have the HMS Watcher and Sprinter positioned behind the attack corvettes and in front of the HMS Unassailable for full protection. Together they approached the rift with full intention to dive right in.

                                              Clouds of missile vapour crisscrossed in the vacuum of the darkness of space, as the Paradise Lost fired of a volley of Archer missiles at the rebel frigate Truculent.

                                              The frigates point defences managed to stop a few of the missiles before several impacted on the armoured plates protecting its rear engines. The ship shook as detonations rocked it. The _Truculent dove as it tried to stay out of MAC range of the destroyer chasing it. The UNSC destroyers MAC guns were one of the strongest non nuclear weapons apart of the human arsenal, capable of gutting enemy capital ships or executing total vaporizing shots depending on the size of the gun.

                                              The Paradise Lost trailed the rebel frigate hoping to get a shot off with its MAC battery, a specialized gun that had two barrels mounted on top of one another running to the middle of the vessel along its spine.

                                              As the Paradise had drawn closer, bearing down on the frigate, it managed to get within the kill zone with its MAC battery. Quickly firing of a couple shots hoping to hit the Truculent.

                                              The Truculent fired off its Archer missiles causing to create a screen to stop the MAC rounds as it in the few seconds of time it had manuevered out of their trajectory.

                                              A clean miss. Very unlikely, but however possible.

                                              The rebel frigate then powered up its Slipspace drive as the Paradise readied another MAC and missile volley.

                                              On the viewscreens of the Paradises bridge, a large radiation surge was detected as the rebel frigate tore through the fabric of space, leaving the destroyer behind.

                                              In the fragile moments the Truculent had, it had it executed a random Slipspace jump bringing it to whatever this shattered place was.

                                              Officially according to UNSC records of the skirmish the Truculent had jumped to a random vector. Unable to be tracked. The ship was deemed lost with all hands. A small blip in the UNSC's counter insurgency operations.

                                              However, this would not be the case...

                                              The crew of the Truculent had found themselves in an unknown system. None of the data they had in their astronavigation data banks could explain where they are. the frigate began a slow crawl and prepared to power up their Slipspace drive.

                                              Errors washed across the bridge screen as the drive powered down. "Great, were were stuck here. The drive would most likely need to be re calibrated." the chief engineer reported to the commander of the ship. "This can be a dangerous job to the ship. It will take some time, but I think the boys and I can get it up and running in a few days minimum.

                                              On the frigates radar and sensors, a plethora of unknown ship designs appeared. Most likely the other nations fleets in the area, however, there was something pulling tugging at them. Almost calling out to them. Whatever this phenomenon was, it could be a likely cause for the malfunctioning drive, with little less than an hour ago was operating at a reasonable rate.

                                              Naturally, the Truculent moved closer to what was grabbing at their sensors....

                                              The Maw...

                                                20 days later

                                                Drakador_Chaos KrankysFirebrand48 Darkstar

                                                Infront of the rebel ship, a vastness called their name. Fleets of ships seemed to be prodding at one another with communications systems before setting their own courses into that tantalizing purple void, one by one. The fleets of vessels- including the almost insignificant Truculent- found themselves immersed into a purple-blue swirling of madness. Debris zipped about at absurd speeds, and clouds spun around them, a cacophony of whispers- although not all heard them. Most likely just the placebo effect of entering a place so infamous for it's death and destruction.

                                                The real whispers were that of the transmissions coming from down the path, more garbled or encrypted messages from Taros- mostly ones the Dawners had already picked up on. Cracking through them told the same story that the Ascendant dawn had heard- chaos, pain, infighting. None of it sounded good.

                                                Traveling through the maw was slow, and a constant agony of staying out of the path of hyperspace debris within moment's notices. Shrapnel and chunks flitted about, one shard ripping through the bottom-most spire of a seeker corvette, spraying more debris to join in the symphony of the maw's void.

                                                And in the distance, one chunk of debris made itself very noticeable. Surrounded by the Fifth Imperium's last remaining vessel. This ship was painted in the greys and reds of the dominion, and was massive for it's origin as a dominioner vessel. It bore the unmistakable red-gold-purple coat of arms of the dominion, and a set of text running around the three-sided toblerone of a dreadnought. The text was in high speech, the old language inherited from the Imperials- but was easily translated:

                                                "In the blazes of war, victory is not a suggestion." it read, and was unmistakable. The old flagship of the deceased dominion, sister ship to the homeship of the seekers; The I.D.S. Harbinger.

                                                Getting onboard or into it's systems would reveal so very many pieces to the puzzle, and could solve everything.

                                                But there's one problem; the Fifth Imperium's ship floating around it. Maybe negotiation would be on the table? Although unlikely, due to their inflated sense of ego.

                                                        4 days later

                                                        Brank

                                                        The HMS Sojourner was docked to the sprinter with an extended docking port as the ships stayed in the shadow of the HMS Unassailable.
                                                        ’You are clearly undermining my authority, Chief Officer. You deliberately interrupted my comms message.’ Pax said as he and Lalina were walking down the compact corridors of the Sprinter towards the control room.
                                                        ’This is still a civilian operation,’ Lalina said, adding: ’Captian. I spoke with the Commodore and he said he had not assigned you to the task. We are both in agreement that you were not authorized to speak on that channel.’
                                                        ’You attempted to humiliate me in front of my crew. Unacceptable.’ he said in an angry but controlled manner.
                                                        Lalina wasn’t particularly intimated but she was on the verge of breaking out in a sweat. The expedition would not work without the support of Pax and his dogs. She needed to be on good terms with him. She could not afford aggravating the Ascendant Dawn but she could afford to aggravate the Fifth imperium. From her impressions, they were the kind of people who were easier to threaten than reason with. It wasn’t optimal but she knew what Pax was about to suggest next and she had to get on his good side, else the expedition be doomed.
                                                        ’With the Fifth Imperium ships there, trying to stabilize the wreck won’t be possible. They will ruin and tamper our precise inputs. They have to be removed.’
                                                        ’Or we could wait for our turn and negotiate who takes what.’ She suggested.
                                                        ’Ha! Not even a Free Worlder would consider such an offer. Try negotiation. When it fails I already have battle plans thought out. Go ahead.’ Pax said as they both reached the bridge.
                                                        ’Hail them.’ She ordered.
                                                        The fifth imperium fleet received a hail and a transmission.

                                                        // Transmission start //
                                                        ’This is chief scientific officer of the Bastonian civilian vessel Sprinter. I am requesting for our expeditionary fleet to approach and investigate this wreck. For safety purposes this would require your ships to temporarily move away from its vicinity.’
                                                        // Transmission end //

                                                            Brank
                                                            Sumis observed the wreckage with concern.
                                                            It was neither the fact that they lost two scout drones on the way here, nor the state of the ship they had found.
                                                            By the regent, he could not care less that the Fifth Imperium had lost an entire ship on the way here either, in fact their very presence was what concerned him. For all he cared they could have just died on the journey here, it would have been far more convenient.
                                                            They would be hard to negotiate with, if they let them negotiate at all, in that they were likely no different than the Dawns own nobles, not surpising considering they may even be from the same descent. However, even if they negotiated, it would cost them precious time in an area that was everything but stable.
                                                            Yet, starting conflict in area like this would only invite death.

                                                            He sighed and shook his lowered head, then looked around the bridge, it would be tempting to just send in some drones and see what happened, though they did not have time for such gimmickry.
                                                            "Sir, Bastonian ship is contacting the Fifth Imperium."
                                                            He turned his head and lifted an eyebrow, perhaps the Bastonians would be useful after all.
                                                            "Request permission for a mutual commlink with the Bastonians, I think we would like to be part of this conversation, for both our and their interest.", he paused.
                                                            "Should we also contact the Fifth Imperium in the process?", the comm officer piped up.
                                                            Sumis nodded.
                                                            "Yes.", he thought about it for a brief moment. "...but not separately, do it together with the Bastonians.", he added.

                                                            "If we present ourselves as a closed front we may be able to intimidate them, they are nobles and will hardly act in our interests or acknowledge our authority, however if nothing else even the foreign nobles would like to get out of here alive."
                                                            His gaze moved back to the singular Fifth Imperium cruiser that was left. 'Especially after what they already lost', he added in his mind.

                                                                23 days later

                                                                KrankysFirebrand48 Drakador_Chaos

                                                                "You really think we will give in to your petty request?" the noble asked condescendingly. He had a look of frustration of anger on his face. "I will kill you and everyone you l-"

                                                                He was cut off as the Dawners joined in on the transmission. He almost spoke up, then the Seekers followed suit, appearing in the transmission line, flickering onto the screen.

                                                                "You.. Bastards. Fuck," he said, exhasperated, then grunted. "Fine, My ship will leave. But dont expect this to go unremembered, Morati. Curses..."

                                                                The transmission was swiftly cut, and the behemoth of a vessel flickered to life as its thrusters turned it and pushed it forwards. Slowly, it lumbered out of the way of the temporarily-combined might of the three polities. Oddly, no transports ever returned to the Imperial ship.

                                                                "Keep a watch out for them," spoke Jameson. "It isnt like the Fifthers to just slither away like that, they have some sort of plan. We should at least land our search teams nearby one another, in case theyve set some sort of trap, then we can go our own ways."

                                                                With that, the small seeker fleet cautiously moved forwards. The destroyer's magnetic fielding flared up as a corvette was pulled around by the powerful field, turned to face behind the seekers and pulled along by an invisible rope as it kept pace with its reverse thrusters and the support of the Destroyer's field.

                                                                The Harbinger laid across the void, barely moving. One of the vast hangar bays- larger than even some of the ships present between the trio of fleets- was ajar, enough to fit a large transport. As well as this, several airlocks were visible- probably easy to break through. FInally, the observation deck was visible, and it could as well be broken into with charges of some sort.

                                                                      20 days later

                                                                      Brank
                                                                      Sumis stood silent for a couple more moments as the transmission with the fifth imperium closed then he frowned and shook his head, turning towards the others in the call.
                                                                      "I, too, would be careful, they may have 'retreated' but knowing our other 'cousins' they do not seem to be the kind to see reason."
                                                                      He turned away from the screen, muting himself and began to issue new orders to deploy to the ship.

                                                                      A couple of minutes later a number of shuttles departed from the leading cruiser of the AD group, headed towards the wreckage, if it would've been an old imperial ship they could've probably tried to search for its floor plans but evidently it wasn't. All of the shuttles, bar one, landed in the hangar, a couple of people in EVA suits coming out, followed by what looked like some sort of automated exploration units or robots, waiting to link up with the other deployed units, most notably however, was the shuttle which broke off from the group, 'parking' in space above the observation deck and deploying a couple of drones, though rather than trying to break it open they seemed to be merely observe the inside for now.
                                                                      As the various shuttles deployed the mainline ships of the AD kept their point defense active and their sensors trained on the direction of the fifth Imperium. Curiously enough, a couple of their exploration drones seemed to be standing by near the AD cruiser, sitting outside of their hangar a decent distance away from the ship but still in relatively close proximity.

                                                                          7 days later

                                                                          Brank Drakador_Chaos
                                                                          Pax looked upon the interaction and watched carefully as the Fifth Imperium ship disengaged. 'We're still getting into combat formation. Go ahead and land.'
                                                                          Knowing Pax wasn't the one who had the position to authorize a boarding, Lalina ordered the HMS Supplenisher to close in to the wreck as Pax was going back to his ship.
                                                                          'Janir, you got the deck. I'm going in with an EVA suit.' she said without protest this time. There was nothing more thrilling than going into the unknown.

                                                                          Tethered to the derelict ship, multiple personers exited the Bastonian vessels and used their suites to move into one of the hatches. Two shuttles, one from the civilian ships loaded with scientists and engineers, and one from the HMS Supplenisher with marines and combat equipment. The shuttles closed in to land in the hangar bay.
                                                                          Lalina heard 'Realspace actuators have recalibrated and are stable. The area is fully anchored.' over the comms line in her suit as she absorbed a soft impact to her body when she collided with the ship close to the airlock her team of engineers were working on opening safely.

                                                                                16 days later

                                                                                Drakador_Chaos KrankysFirebrand48

                                                                                IDS Harbinger - Hangar

                                                                                Alongside the Ascendant Dawn's transports landed a few from the seekers- sleek and smooth with no visible thruster flares, as they lowered themselves to the ground, flanking a much larger transport- similar shape, but wider and with one singular fusion torch.

                                                                                From the bowels of these came a tiny assembly of soldiers in sleek EVA suits, with a clattering of light, but well-covering armour bearing the markings of mostly Nautae Belli- normal marines. A few in the crowd had much darker black, red, and blue armour, with a large device on their back, and weapons who connected to the device via tubing. They bore the marks of Umbra Nautae- the seeker's equivalent to the Shadow Marines of the old Dominion.

                                                                                From the larger of the transports, there was a loud whirring, as a quartet of robotic companion drones stepped out- two with sidearms and a multitool-arm, and two carrying small crates of supplies. Behind those drones, a larger metallic figure stepped out- low, on all fours, and coloured a sleek black with red markings, and a sharp face. It was four legged, and looked vaguely similar in build and shape to a vaiaelon- although close up, the anatomy was all wrong, and it was simply a beast of metal.

                                                                                The Prowler drone shuddered and moved forwards into the hallways, slipping into the darkness with red eyes that flickered, and then dissapeared as it's gravitational cloaking set in.

                                                                                Meanwhile, the Seeker forces integrated with that of the AD and Bastonians, and they linked their radios.

                                                                                "Prowler drone will move forwards and scout things out. It ain't armed, but in a pinch it can rip a man to shreds- if it isnt turned into scrap first. We can either stick together and move forwards behind it and your scouts, or we can split and go our own paths. Your call."

                                                                                IDS Harbinger - Airlock

                                                                                The inside of the airlock that the Bastonians had crawled their way into were dead, and looked barren on the inside. The control panel was ripped up, torn from it's place and thrown around. The inner door was jammed, and slightly ajar, but not very broken. The grey walls were stained with a brownish-red splatter, and there was a lump of something under a tarp in the corner.

                                                                                IDS Harbinger - Space

                                                                                With eagle-eyes the three fleets watched the Fifth Imperium's ship retreat. But it was going slow- lingering almost intentionally. Its thrusters werent even at half their power, and it was burning at a weird angle. Almost looking diagonal to it's flight path. Then more. And more. Was it slowly turning around..?

                                                                                      Brank
                                                                                      The GBE attack corvettes manouvered between the wreck and the fifth imperium ship to cut line of sight. They cut thrusters and put their hulls into a slow but controlled drift towards the wreck. The destroyer, HMS Unassailable put itself into GBE effective artillery engegment range of the fifth imperium ship and activated its plasma shield.

                                                                                      Hangar

                                                                                      The Bastonians were moving with haste, setting up their boarding protocals. Bastonia had experience, albiet these soldiers looked like they were fresh from marine training. Some combat engineers deployed drones of their own. Meanwhile an officer was overseeing the deployment of cover and logistics crates while discussing with one of the civilian engineers. The military shuttle had a 20 mm autocannon turret on the top, overlooking the hangar and covering the entrences. The Bastonians deployed their own scouting drones into each available corridor.

                                                                                      /Comms
                                                                                      'This is communication officer Hendra.' said a female human voice 'This communications line was just cut from the main EM comms of our military forces on this ship. If you want to reach them, you talk to me. Our civilian personnel are handling classified information. Do not approach them.'
                                                                                      The were a couple of marines around the scientists computational setup most notacibly there was a larger drone eyeing its soroundings with a large qcomm array on it.

                                                                                      Airlock

                                                                                      One of the marines took a sample of the brown splatter on the door and handed it to Lalina who put it in one of their sealed utility pockets. The marine then left the airlock while the only remaining marine in it engaged his magnetic boots and attached an EM spectrum device to the inner door to scan for anything on the other side. He turned his attention to the lump in the corner and scanned that as well.

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