In orbit over New Rivendon:

"Where's the distress beacon coming from?" Dorin asked the communications officer.

"Sir, I've lost it!"

"What!?? Get it back." Dorin commanded sternly. "Do we have an ID on that ship yet?"

"Aye, sir!" the science officer reported, "It's from that wreck we just left - one of their support craft, I think, sir."

"Sir, I've found the beacon again!" the communications officer exclaimed. "It's moved. Apparently whoever's broadcasting made a jump about the same time we did."

"How long till our J-Drive will be ready for a jump again?" the captain asked irritably. Then he swore under his breath and said, "Just like an elf to lead us on a wild goose chase all across the galaxy!"

"Seventeen minutes, sir." the Navigation Officer informed him curtly.

"I'm going down to the medical deck. Alert me when we're ready to go." Dorin was not happy about this at all, but maybe this wounded elf would be able to give him some answers.

Kregan had been working on the engine(with a little technical help from Odin and the crew) and was surprised when the ship came out of jumpspace. A communication from the bridge asked how long until the J-drive was powered up and Kregan immediately jumped to work. A muttered spell had the Drive in better condition than it had been in years and a full charge, "Ready!" he yelled to the head engineer, and the news was communicated.

Eso dreamt of when the Shilnor had been destroyed.
“Hey a human ship just appeared on the scanners,”
Rancer called. (the elven tactical officer on duty)
“What?” The Admiral Constance asked surprised.
“It is charging weapons,” Rancer said alarmed. “Raise shields!”
“Ensign Esoner I am transferring all the data we have on it already,
prepare to engage,” The Admiral ordered. “All Shloneer pilots
get to the fighter bays. And prepare for combat.”
Then several energy and projectiles from the human vessel impacted
the Shilnor.
“If we don’t survive get the information I gave you to the Elven
Military Intelligence. Use your contacts in the school if nothing
else,” The admiral ordered seconds before the weapons destroyed the
command deck.
Immediately He started modifying the typical combat J-drives.
The typical J-drive on a Shloneer only jumps a short distance as
in no more than one million miles.
After three minutes of watching ship continue to shoot at all of the
possible places that there could have been survivors. He completed
the modification to the J-drives for interstellar transit. As he left
as the Shilnor was destroyed. His estimate of the probability of
survival was near zero.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vonorg of squad 4 watched as the space station blew up. They
united together to search for any who could have survived the
“ork attack”. They found many a few had escaped the destruction of
the space station fewer would live to escape the massacre. They
discovered a drow sitting in his ship masked as a piece of rubble.
Let’s send him a thank you present for the marvelous cloaking
Technology his people have given us, they thought just before they
sent several random shots at various pieces of junk, including the
drow’s ship.

Lord Galelion sat in the captains seat on the bridge of the Prince's Pride,The head ship of the Olive-Branch, Legions. Around him 15 other ships flew keeping a strange but effective diamond pattern.

"Officer Grim what is are location." His tone deep and proper.
"Sir we are about 70,000 miles from New Rivendon."
"Officer Archer any reports from the scanner."
Archer hesitated as he fumbled over the switches of the scanner "Yes sir a vessel, appears to be a hold class, um Dwarfish sir."
"Dwarvish!? hmm well we may have to deal with them I believe factory 11 is short shafted,but how with out invoking alarm of the area."

Archer began to turn the switch back to there previous setting. Then a loud noise buzzed through the hall."Sir a distress beacon"

"Hmm... Jam the signal and replace it with a new one we may be able to get that ship after all." He sent a message to all the other ships to change formation the made a large crescent moon shape spreading themselves wide apart.

"Grim how close now?"
"10,000 sir"
"Good" Galelion pressed a button on his chair "all units prepare to kill engines at 7,000" Galelion couldn't help but laugh under his breath.

Kregan had his mind open, as it always was. It had a very long range, even for a Rider, his Master had commented on it more than once. And now he sensed...something, on the edges of his range, coming toward the ship. "Tell the bridge there's something coming their way and it might be dangerous, I'm going to Odin immediately." he told the head engineer. He rushed to his quarters.

Less than five minutes later he was fully armored and used a new spell to teleport to th eouter hull, with a bang he appeared next to Odin. Odin, there's something coming. he thought to him, I'm gonna ride you to help defend the ship, just in case. and he jumped onto Odin's back. With that Odin took off, taking a defensive course around the ship.

Dorin had only just left the bridge when sirens suddenly started going off. Red Alert. He rushed back through the door.

"What in Muradin's name is going on?!!" he roared.

"Sir, we've got multiple targets showing up on our scanners, coming in fast, and powering up their weapons. Unusual but clearly military formation." the tactical officer replied.

"Any IDs on them yet?"

"None, but we have a visual." answered the communications officer. "They're not transmitting any codes."

"Get it onscreen!" Dorin snapped. His mood was improving. He smiled smugly. The smile disappeared, however, when he saw what was coming. There was a large, heavily armed ship approaching, flanked by two slightly smaller, similarly armed ships. Around them were clustered smaller support craft. "Muradin save us!" he gasped. "Anyone recognize that design?"

"It's nonstandard - probably initially human, but I see technologies from quite a number of cultures." The science officer replied.

"Looks like pirates, then. Frad! What's the status on that J-Drive?" Dorin was a blur now, rushing from one station to another, delivering orders at a lightning pace. The J-Drives were still down for another 15 minutes. The pirates seemed to have especially fast engines. The Comm Officer reported that the distress signal had moved again and was now coming from the approaching convoy. Dorin ordered the Comm officer to start broadcasting a "Stand down" message, cursing protocol under his breath. He ordered all hands to battle stations and then Frad reminded him that most of the main weapons batteries were down, but the hull and shields were in perfect working order.

Dorin looked back at the screen and swore. "Full speed ahead - set an intercept course for the flagship. Let's give 'em a warm welcome!"

Lord Galelion saw them come closer he knew they've been detected.
"sir they gave us a stand down order." Grim announced.
"Well, we don't want to be rude, do we, power down main weapons." He started to laugh quickly joined by the rest of the crew.
"P-powered down sir" Came the usually meek voice of weapons master Albright in between the laughter
Galelion ordered them stop. "Left and right flank power on engines, drop down, and filter in behind the damned things. Crew of the King's greed and the queen's lust drop 'cargo' on my signal." His lordship pondered for a moment."Grim i want you to keep the distress signal loud and clear, Jamming all incoming and out coming transmissions on every frequency but are own."
"Yes sir frequency jammed with heavens distress."
Galelion relaxed in his thrown of a captains seat. He seemed to have plenty of tricks in his hat.

Kregan had tuned in to the ship's chatter and opened a mental link to Dorin. Dorin, I fixed most o' the weapons bat'eries and the J-Drive's been ready for aroun' ten minutes! With that he charged with the ship toward the enemy(well, Odin did, with Kregan on his back). When he was in range Odin sent a blast from his mouth at the enemy ship. That should let 'em know who they're messin' with! Kregan told Odin.

Grim was shocked at the sight "Sir a dragon!" When the blast shot out.
"Easy Mr.Grim we are a legion of peace and we do not tolerate such blatant attacks"Galelion's tone sarcastic. as he fumbed over the buttons oh his chair "Will the king and queen please drop there cargo. Now!"

Suddenly like a swarm of large machines flew out of the two ships all of them stood like men, they where mech suits. armed and ready. They began to move ahead of the flag ship along with the king and queen. A hale of lazers fired at the dragon and the hold from behind once they reached there position.

"Sir should we power up weapons systems now"
"No Albright we need the power for something else, Prepare the net. Engineer Feathers stand by for J-drive power up." Galelion Started to seem a little uncomfortable with that dragon so close.

The shots that hit Odin lanced off or were absorbed like water on a dry sponge. Dorin! Kregan said through the link, Hail them, I want ta know it is before I competely destroy them. Odin fired another blast, this time aimed at the mechs, and blasted a number of them away. Alright Odin, that'll be enough fer now.

Eso woke up with a jump. I forgot to add the encipher*.
He thought alarmed. I have been broadcasting to everyone.
Not good. I would be kicked out of the lab for three months for a mistake
like this.
Eso jumped to his feet. Then he felt the blood rage start to surface.
Oh that is not good. He pulled out the transmitter. He
started by jury-rigging the encipher to the broadcaster.
Come to think of it the signal is kind of weak. Perhaps I should
increase the output. “Personal code activation 1234300leaf,” Eso
said activating the encipher. “Using Faorn’s constant theorem I
should be able to increase the power 4.5 times. That ought to be
picked up. Right now my clock has powerful signal.”
Eso started working on increasing the power of the beacon.
* Encipher is a device that the elven navy’s R&D developed to
discourage enemies from using the emergency beacon’s signal to find
and capture stranded Elf troops. It sends a spell form of a computer
virus along the signal that affects ships without the proper
equipment in this manner. First it takes out navigation. Second it
hacks into the computer and starts broadcasting the identification
of the ship to the galaxy.
NOTE: Elves have given their allies the systems to negate it.
[/i][/u]

Mirtek grimaced as the shots flew at his ship. He immediately sent the ship screaming forward on its powerful engines. To the outside observer, his ship would have seemingly jumped forward on cold engines, which more likely than not would result in internal explosions. This was not the case, however, as Mirtek was always prepared to make a fast getaway. His fingers flew over the controls, his ship rolling to the side as a hot, gas spewing peice of debris flew at his ship. He didn't dare try and return the attack against his opponent. His ship wouldn't last long in a firefight.

His fingers moving with a madness that could only come from years of getting familiar with the ship he set the nav coordinates for a jump. His computer gave the green light on the coordinates, signalling that he wouldn't be jumping into a sun or through any asteroid belts, although the system was uncharted and unexplored.

Mirtek swallowed, the sound loud in his own head, and his finger depressed the launch sequence activator. His ship reverted to a full stop, Mirtek jerking forward against his safety harness. The ship rotated and spun, automatically pointing in the direction of the launch coordinates. The stars seemed to elongate as Mirtek was pushed back against his seat, the ships inertial compensator keeping the G's from crushing his body. One last glimpse at his attacker and Mirtek was gone, blindly flying into an unknown and unexplored star system...


((Sorry for the shorty, I'll start posting longer if my internet connection stays up))

OOC: Hey guys sorry for the ooc post in the IC but I have a problem spaning
a great deal of the posters on this site and I am not sure how many of you
were still reading the ooc post so I bring this problem to your attention.
Could you please post more often. There are those of us
who enjoy reading your posts. It only take a few minutes and gives the
rest of us something to post off of. If you don't post the storyline will
advance and you will be left behind, or this story will be abandon all
together. I personally am enjoying this story and would like it to continue.
If nothing else you can have freinds post for you. Without your help
This thread will become extinct please post. that is all and if the
DM makes me take this down I will. Remeber Arath . He is rapidly being forgoten.
How can we let this injustice stand. So please post so that you also do
not become forgotten. ok back to my regularly schedualed post...

How predictable, Squad four thought as the little ship fled.
That is an unusual design for a drow ship. Perhaps it should have
been brought in for examination. Most likely it has something to do
with “magic”.
Squad four paced the decks of its ships, carried out experiments on
various creatures , modified the cloaking fields, and other such
things. [i]Elves seemed too frail for extended keeping and studying.
Every other race was strong enough to last for several cycles but elves just died.
Just recently one of the longest held elven captives after ten cycles of captivity
had died. Shey* had dumped his body his body among the ravaged remains of an Elven
battle cruiser. Shey had destroyed it to promote war. It was annoying
the creatures of this sector were not cooperating with thir* plans.
In another one hundred cycles shey would enact the ally division plan.

*from now on I am refuring to them as shey or possessive as thir

Dorin watched in astonishment as dragon and rider shot ahead of the speeding ship. Then a smile spread slowly across his face. Once, as a boy, he'd accompanied his father on a dragon hunt. He'd seen firsthand how the high energy weapons had bounced off the scales of the huge beast they'd tracked. He'd seen the damage their breath could do to a ship. Those pirates were in for a very big surprise.

Then he heard Kregan's voice in his head. Dorin, I fixed most o' the weapons bat'eries and the J-Drive's been ready for aroun' ten minutes!

Odd, He thought How did he fix the weapons without the parts to do so? Well, don't look a gift dran* in the mouth, Dorin.

"Slow down and ready the weapons!" He ordered to everyone in general. Any other captain wouldn't even have dared to make such a nonspecific order. It was a gross breach of protocol. Dorin hated protocol, so everyone on his ship knew how to react when he made such an order.

Hail them, I want ta know it is before I competely destroy them. Came Kregan's voice in his head again.

"Any replies to our hails thus far?" He asked the comm officer.

"None so far, sir" came the reply.

"Hail them again. Make sure to explain to them that we can and will destroy them if they do not reply."

-----------------------------
*Dran: a tall, goatlike creature native to the dwarven homeworld of Duradan. Before motorized transportation was developed, they were a common mode of travel. The health and age of such a creature could usually be told by looking at the quality of it's teeth, which is where this expression originated.

Mirtek coughed, the black mist shrouding his vision clearing up a little. The world around him moved about, his head dizzy. He opened his eyes as much as he could, tried to shake away some of the grogginess, and was left with an even bigger headache. The pounding in his temples was loud and painful, his breath coming out in ragged gasps.

An unprepared jump through a highly experimental wormhole generator tends to do that to people.

Mirtek's vision finally became clear enough to see. The blurriness went away somewhat, though black fog still shrouded the edges of his vision. He tried to look at the sensor screens, but the ship had completely shut down all power except for emergency life support to regenerate it's energy supplies.

He looked up, groaning as his stiff neck popped and pain shot through his spine. His eyes, moving between blurred and clear, gazed upon a large nebula spread out before him. The last thing he saw before slipping back into unconciousness was the eery green mists of the expansive nebula...

((It's time to introduce my ZOMBIE RADIOACTIVE THINGS!!! And sorry for the OOC post in the IC, but I lost the OOC link ><

And Arath will return soon. I have not forgotten about him, I just need to find a way to get the energy flowing in his veins again. I know that I've been gone for a while and things have slowed way down for me, but don't count me out of the thread yet))

"Sir!" the Comm officer called. Our transmissions are being jammed.

"Muradin's Beard!" Dorin cursed. "Alright, then, let's send them a message they will understand! We'll scorch it right into their hull!" He turned to the tactical officer. "Target their flagship and give 'em a good broadside. That oughta get their attention! Launch fighter crews to take care of the smaller ships." Dorin smiled. They don't wanna talk. he thought to Kregan. They won't even say "Hello"!

He noticed that his enemies were still rapidly approaching them. "Full stop and bring us around to give our weapons crews a good angle." He ordered the helmsman. "We'll let them come to us."

"Aye Sir!"

The ship slowed, turned, and stopped, it's gun emplacements bristling and primed.

"Fire!" Dorin ordered. The whole ship rocked as a massive barrage was simultaneously set loose. "Let's see if they're in a more conversational mood after that!"

OOC: OK guys, I know what you're saying is important, but it's my job as GM to remind you to please keep all OOC posts in the OOC thread. Here's the link to the first page: Athatar (OOC/signips)

Kregan laughed, Got it, Dorin. was his reply. Alright Odin, let's show them why Dragons and their Riders are feared and respected. Odin gave a hearty roar and charged toward the formation, sending a shot at the flagship right after the Dorin's Hold's broadside hit, fully crippling the warship and taking it out of the fight for now. He proceded to hit the next-largest one, depleting the shields and melting a few layers of armor plate.