Kobol

Steve woke up and he sat up and for a moment he wasn't quite sure if he was dreaming or not. Maybe it was a testament to his life that he being in an unknown woodland was both equal chances dream and reality, and that neither struck him as particular surprise. As a precaution he reached for his shirt and tugged the collar up and over his head to block the top half of the world from his eyes (and exposing part of his back to the open air).

Finally he climbed up to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. Trees in one direction. Trees in the other direction. A disgusted shiver escaped him and his face pulled into an ugly, unimpressed sneer. Hands ran down the front of his tailor made suit, which had an ugly blue button-up shirt underneath. But probably the thing that stood out most of an otherwise normal person with bad taste in clothing was blue hair.

There was a crashing of something moving through the woods with little regard for the shrubs and branches that got in its way, and from the sound of it, it must have been massive and it was moving right for Steve.

What barreled out of the thick foliage was no beast or monstrous animal though. It was what appeared to be a corgi?

The dog skidded to a halt and growled at Steve, and a small sprite atop its back leveled a needle sized spear at Steve.

"What foul treachery is this?!" the voice squeaked. "Arm yourself, beast!"

The sprite was so small, and its voice such a shrill squeak that it was near impossible to ascertain if the thing was even a male or a female.

Steve's disgusted scowl actually faded to an almost neutral look as he spied the small individual mounted atop a slightly less-small hound. No matter the manner of it, he placed his hands on his hips. "Are you a servant of the master?" he inquired, only to ask a different question, which he expected to be answered first, "Is this all a dream or are we awake?" These were important questions, and he had no time for conflicts of combat. Actually, if he was attacked it was impossible to tell what he might do.

"I said arm yourself, monster!" the sprite squeaked again.

As Steve seemed to make no move to arm himself, the sprite spurred its somewhat less than fierce mount into action. With a fistful of ivy that made up the animals harness and saddle, the sprite bent low almost as if jousting.

As the dog barreled past Steve's legs, the sprite stabbed for his shin with the pint sized spear.

Should the strike land true, Steven would find that the spear was remarkably sharp. It was however still pint sized and would have all the affect of being stuck with a sewing needle. Stingingly painful, but would probably accomplish little more than drawing a droplet of blood.

Steve was actually quite surprised to be stabbed, yelling out in alarm and pain as a trickle of blood ran from his gaping pin-sized wound. But after the shock had passed, he seemed strangely okay with it. "You stabbed me," he stated objectively, "This must be a dream." It was simple logic. Steve knew he was a person, and that anything else must be a dream or reality. So if the things around him failed to respond to him, they must be not real. The irony was lost on him.

He would pivot on the spot, eyes hunting after the small knight as he dropped down to one knee, checking the damage on his leg. "Who is your master?" he demanded, or would have demanded were his voice not indifferent.

"The Endrisili will tell stories of my victory for the generations!" the sprite squeaked shrilly back at Steve. It talked so fast that its words were almost dizzying to try and follow, never mind the almost painful pitch of its voice.

Meanwhile the dog wheeled back about, and this time it was Steve's hand that felt the sting of the sprite's spear while he was trying to inspect his wound.

This time instead of barreling past, the corgi grabbed a mouthful of Steve's pant leg, growling and shaking it viciously.

The spite meanwhile slashed and stabbed at Steve's hand with its spear to thwart his attempts to see to his injury - however minute it might have been.

Steve was still piecing together all of the things when a spear hit its mark for a second time, drawing blood from his hand and causing him to jerk it back. Already crouched, the corgi's vicious attack did little more than cause his foot to shake, but he had an idea of what was going on now. Turning on the spot he demanded, "What does the Endrisili want with my blood? Why have They brought me to this dreamstate?"

Yes it all made sense. This 'Endrisili' demanded a blood tribute for entering their realm. By now his shirt had slipped back down off of his head, leaving his somewhat hairy stomach more decently covered.

The sprite and corgi weren't getting a whole lot of anywhere with their less than effective attacks against their much larger foe, but not for lack of trying.

Finally the spite leveled its spear point at Steve's face as if pointing at him.

"Yield and I will let you live, blue-haired furry beast!"

Steve's brow furrowed. That sounded like a dangerous deal, but he was in little place to negotiate. "I yield," he grunted, dissatisfied. Being a plaything of the greater beings was a sore life. "What is it does your master ask of me?" He slowly rose to stand again, wiping his hand on his pants to try and get rid of the blood.

"I have no masters! I am Sidhgleradiel Kidhrinthor, and you are now my sworn captive! I command you to tell me where we are!" the sprite shrilled loudly and rapidly.

The corgi having grown bored of the game sat down with a plop and the sprite went tumbling off its back into a pile of dead leaves. Sitting up, it blew a leaf from the front of its hair with a scowl. It scrambled back to its feet trying to save face as it pointed its spear once more.

"Speak quickly before I change my mind!"

Was this some sort of trick? Certainly things could take different forms, and the last thing Steve wanted to do was offend a greater daemon of thousand stings, but on the other hand...

"Are you sure you have no masters?" he asked, walking slowly over to the sprite and leaning over, so that his face was out of spear distance (well, not when thrown). From this stance his neutrality seemed almost menacing.

"I am a free sprite!" the sprite shrilled indignantly. "Now tell me where we are! And how did you bring me here?! Speak quickly and I will be merciful, you great bumbling giant!"

The little sprite was practically shouting to be heard as it spewed words out as rapidly as the buzz of an insects wings.

In a bold move Steve reached down for Sidhgleradiel with one grabbing grasping hand, looking to just scoop him up and hold him in his palm, not too tight or firmly. He was testing his boundaries. A sick feeling was starting to sink in Steve's stomach. But his answer came freely, with all the weight and drama it held to him clearly in his words.

"I do not know where we are."

"Aha! Treacherous beast!"

The sprite dove away from Steve's grasping hand and between his legs where he jumped up and snagged the man's pant
leg to begin scurrying upwards. If successful, Steve would feel the sharp bite of the sprite's spear in his right buttocks before the spite scrambled higher up the back of his shirt to avoid getting swatted.

If anyone ever asked, Steve would not be able to live down this indignity, but unfortunately the small sprite was his only lead on what was going on and he really didn't want to kill them when he could reserve that for later. Letting out a grunt as his fleshy shell was poked and prodded and pierced, reaching a hand out to swat somewhat weakly at his back. "Cease!" he ordered, "Do not be victim to Their games or we both face oblivion; or worse!" He gave a small voluntary shudder at his own warning.

The Lightbringer Crimson Nova appeared in a flash of light followed by five Daylight class battleships, four Cloud carriers, five each of Day, Sunburst, and Flare class ships, ten Fireblast class ships and a massive colony ship.

"This planet shows no signs of ownership it's cities long in ruin and devoid of those that made it. It is a world prefect and ripe of our colonization" spoke an officer

" Good send in the scout teams and prepare the colony ship for landing" Nephthys ordered.

Soon the Mauhasinan forces began thier landing fighters and transport head down in vast number as the colony ship started to desend.

"Send a message to my sister I want her reports" said Nephthys as she watched the colonization.

Kobol, it was a rather enigmatic world, but still nestled within the heart of the Administrative territories of the United Aschen Empire. Dubbed a protected planet, nature preserve, and holy site, the Aschen had worked to meticulously preserve the planet's heritage from development.

The fact that an Alien fleet had come to colonize it would not likely be received well.

In high orbit, conducting geological surveys, a single Archaeological ship was drifting rather aimlessly, the ground crew had just returned from surveying an ancient forum within the ruins of Eden City, the presumed capital of one of the continents on Kobol.

"By the gods..." The Captain said as he stared at the readout, one after another the alien ships began jumping in.

Picking up the receiver he called out.

"Get me someone with Fleet Command!" He shouted. "This is the Sherah, I've got some unusual activity around Kobol, Alien ships, dozens of them just jumped into the system!"

Following the brief, but panicked communication, a single message went out on the Datalink.

"Alien invasion of Kobol in progress... Deploying the Imperial Defense Force."

Surrounding the Mauhasinan Colonials a fleet of roughly thirty ships began to filter in, one by one, specifically the Reverence II Solemn Penance, the temporary flagship of Admiral Claire Hanley, along with the Command Carrier Keeper of Abbasid.

Completing their jumps they moved almost immediately into an attack formation, forming a wide crescent formation to surround and envelope the alien fleet.

"All ships check your target, watch for crossfire and ensure as little collateral is done to the planet. We do not want to explain this to Command when the dust settles." Hanley called out on the Comms.

Clearing her throat she beamed a message to the alien fleet next, in a firm, yet demanding tone, she reached out to make first contact.

"Unidentified alien vessels, this is the Imperial Defense Force, this world is sovereign territory of the United Aschen Empire, and this act is currently being construed as an invasion, Engage your jump drives and vacate this system immediately, or you will be destroyed. This is your one, and only warning." Hanley ordered.

Turning to her XO She nodded. "All ships prepare to engage."

Nephthys glared at the comm and the fleet around hers " I thought you cleared this planet as unoccupied!"
"High Priestess, The planet is devoid of anything but ruins long dead we have no idea why the Aschen have come to claim it."

Nephthys sighed and took the comm " This is High Priestess Nephthys Bastia of The Mauhasinan Empire. We do not seek war with you but we fail to see how this abandoned planet belongs to you no one has lived here for many ages. We will not be bullied off our claim just because you want the planet​. Give us proof of your ownership and we will leave in peace if such proof can not be given then you have invaded our claim and we will defend our new world."

Nephthys waited for an answer as her fleet took up a defensive stance raising light Shields and charging weapons just in case.

Almost everyone on board the Keeper of Abbasid and the Solemn Penance were silent at the nerve of these aliens. Perhaps it was ignorance, perhaps it was something else.

Hanley had a job to do, so she keyed up her response to the strange aliens before them.

"This planet is called Kobol, and it is the ancestral home-world of our people." She replied. "It is intentional uninhabited out of respect for our ancestors, and out of respect for those who perished in the exodus." She explained, maintaining a sense of professionalism in her voice.

"This world is believed to be the planet in which humans have evolved, for an alien race to set foot on this world would be an affront to everything we stand for as a civilization." Hanley added.

Turning to her tactical officer, she made a series of gestures, a command was relayed to the gun crews, the word had also reached Hanley that the pilots had reached their ships.

"Very well Aschen we apologize for this misunderstanding we hope that any future meetings of our people's will be more friendly" Nephthys said.

Nephthys then turned to the helmsman "order the fleet back to Mauhasinan space.."

"Ma'am won't the Emperess be upset that we didn't set up a colony?" Asked an officer

" She would be more upset if we started a war.."

The Mauhasinan fleet soon moved for jump and would leave the system baring no tricks from the Aschen.

Lord Baphomet looks around cautiously.

Baphomets question was answered by the whispers of trees, and the ghosts of the past as the ruins of a city could be seen on the horizon.

Lord Baphomet looks towards the ruins and wonders what happened.