Aschen Fleet of Inner Knowledge's Story

While the fugitives and escapees went about their business on the transport, a much larger, and much more ominous force was silently hunting them.

With a flicker, and a wink in time and space, roughly 15,000 Kilometers in front of the transport. The Reverence II 'A Psalm Every Day' jumped in, the 32km Long Supercarrier slowly crept through the void of space.

The Divine Shadow himself, along with the Flag officer of the Aschen Fleet were standing aboard the CIC of the Reverence II, flickering holographic displays bathed the large room in a dull blue and violet colored light. Admiral Nagala quietly watched the the DRADIS as the transport flickered on with a blip. A lieutenant turning to give the report.

"DRADIS Contact, the Fugitive transport. We're closing in." The Lieutenant reported, and the Admiral nodded. "Prepare a Raptor with a Marine Strike team, and two Apollos. Launch the Alert fighters and prepare the Planck packs." She ordered, clasping her hands behind her back.

The Divine Shadow said nothing as he quietly watched the events carrying on around him.

"Send hostile challenge." Nagala said quietly, and the AI Nodded, the Reverence sending a hail to the Transport.

"Attention hostile spacecraft, this is the Reverence Two, A Psalm Every Day, Actual speaking. You are hereby ordered to bring your vessel to a stop and surrender, and prepare for boarding. Failure to comply will result in your immediate destruction."

Another Lieutenant turned to report;

"Admiral, forward Turbodisruptor Batteries have a firing solution, I can have the AI open fire on your order."

As the Reverence closed in, it launched two small Raptors which were escorted by a pair of Apollo fighters, all four vessels streamed towards the transport.

The Divine Shadow simply silently observed, hands folded in front of him.

Urza, yet unaware of their current predicament, continued musing over their previous dilemma, how to avoid being nabbed upon reaching the rendezvous point, or where else they might go in stead.

"What kind of influence does space Hitler have on local planets? I'd hate to skip out on an ambush at the rendezvous only to bumble into an enemy stronghold. I mean, if they've got us flagged, any port authority's probably going to report us anyway, so it's really a question of which fight to we stand a better chance of winning?"

He shook his head and uncrossed his arms, gesturing with his right hand angrily and frowning.

"Hell, even if we do manage to get into a port without getting ratted out, we're still going to have to deal with the mole problem. No matter how secure we are, we're just going to get tracked down when the mole reports in to his Imperium buddies and tells them where to aim the Exterminatus. Not exactly the best scenario. First thing's first, before we find a port in the storm, we have to clear the rats off the boat. Sound good to everyone else?"

"Generally speaking when a person sells out you and all your buddies to the Empire they don't do it because you're going to get lifetime benefits as a stormtrooper. They wanted to kill all of you very much, and it only seems fair we do the same right back. Alternately, we could always just dye their skin blue and send them back to the Aschen alive and see how peaceful the concentration camps are. Maybe they'll get to go take a shower."

He glanced up at the announcement but hardly looked surprised, shaking his head at the news that their rat had left some bread crumbs for the cats to follow.

"Speak of the devil and he shall arrive. So let's look at the tactical situation as it sits. Currently, we're dead in space in a leaky boat that's probably about to fall out of the sky, and there's a Star Destroyer off the port bow with guns locked on us, and should we get the hyperdrive running at any time soon our rat's just going to give them our location anyway, be it deep space or any port. So despite the fact that our FTL is busted, even if we had the ability to move in an infinite number of directions and in an infinite distance, these assholes would be about five feet behind us queuing up the deep strikes and revving up the chainswords so they could put size seventy boot to Xeno ass. Then there's the whole thing where we're probably going to get atomized from space, regardless of having their snitch on board, so his dumb ass is signing his own suicide note with a 'long live The Emprah'. And after all that, I'm still not allowed to kill 'em when we find 'em? Lady, you're something else. I think they make pills for what you've got."

As Ben tried to respond to the hail, he would find his attempts to raise the Aschen to be ignored. There was no response from the Aschen ship, only that it was continuing to gain rapidly.

The Raptor and the pair of Apollos was now rapidly upon the Transport, one of the Apollo pilots checked his targeting computron before he got on the Comms, Ben likely hearing the hail echo from the comms.

"This is Apollo FX-1 You are ordered to bring your vessel to a stop."

Just then the Apollo flew across the field of view, several streaks of green moving past the cockpit as the Apollo fired it's warning shot across the bow.

The Apollo then faced off with the transport. It was so close one could make out the pilot within.

----

Admiral Nagala watched the exchange on the video screen, silently she listened to their pleas while the Crew worked diligently.

"Admiral, I have a firing solution, and AI reports we are go to activate Planck packs." He reported.

Nagala nodded. "Hook em and reel em in." She said, turning to a slender black haired woman in a sleek combat skin.

"I'll handle them." She said, while the helmet of the Combat skin flipped over her face, and the visor clicked shut.

While the Reverence closed in, Aiyanna was standing on the bow of the Reverence, outside and exposed to Deep space, though she was protected from the elements by her combat skin.

She plotted the blink, her own small jump through time and space, watching the ship as it prepared to make it's FTL Jump, and with power diverted to the suit's key systems, she vanished in a flash of white light, only to appear in the middle of deep space. Her eyes watched the ship, and a small screen displayed the energy spikes typical of a powering FTL Drive.

"They're going to jump." The Android growled, then she sent a mental transmission to the Reverence.

"Admiral, they're preparing to Jump, Boarding it with Marines is too dangerous, I'll go it alone from here. Say again pull back, I'll go it alone from here." She called out.

It was then the Raptor, and the pair of Apollos suddenly backed off, clearing the transport and pulling back towards the Reverence, all while Aiyanna blinked yet again, re-appearing just above the Transport, and slowly descending onto the hull.

As she descended, her magnetic boots energized and provided a firm grip on the hull of the ship, she then crouched low while warnings in the HUD began to flash as it picked up several telltale signs of an imminent jump, more importantly the envelope of space-time distortion that washed over her and the ship. Magnetizing her hands, she fell forward and attached herself, sprawled out onto the hull of the ship, waiting for them to complete their jump.

2 minutes?

Well shit.

There was a spark as Scott redoubled his efforts in rewiring the drive and he let out a low curse and dropped the penlight from his mouth. His hand scrambled around the floor in search of the fallen object before he shone it on the open panel once more. His eyes scanned the patch-work fix before he slid out from under it. No time to test the systems out.

He made for the bridge at a run, nearly tripping as he stumbled and caught himself on a wall before entering and rushing for the controls.

He was cursing under his breath as his fingers raced across the console.

"There's no time," he warned Ben.

The Reverence would have already picked up on their ftl systems being operational again. That they had been previously down was likely the only thing that had kept the Aschen from simply firing on the vessel - either that or they actually did have an agent on the ship and were averse to blowing it up. There was no time to ponder the hows and whys as the Reverence would have them locked down in a matter of moments. Scott held his breath and hesitated only a moment before he put in random coordinates and activated the ftl drive in leap of faith that a quick death by landing inside of a star would be favorable to capture by the Aschen.

Fortunately the rest of the crew likely would never know. They either would survive, or they wouldn't.

Elsewhere on the ship Samuel had found his way to the washroom. He closed the door behind him and made his way to the faucet where he ran enough water to wet his hands and run his fingers through his hair before looking up into the mirror. As Ben's warning about the Aschen came across the ship wide comm system he sighed and rested his hands on the side of the small sink.

---

The door to the washroom closed, and the lock engaged with a click.

Meanwhile back in the hangar bay Nicolas showed no sign of regaining consciousness. His breath was shallow, and it seemed unlikely that the man would survive even if they managed to get him to a medical facility. The flesh of his arm had been charred to bone, and nothing but a withered and blackened appendage remained. Second and third degree burns spotted his chest as well where the disruptor shot had burned through his clothes to get at the flesh beneath. As expected he offered no resistance to Reto's examination of the collar about his neck, or any efforts Reto made to remove the collar.

The CIC of the Esteem was what could be described as absolute and utter chaos as the Data world flashed in. The shipboard AI was taking readings, while the CIC Crew were moving from station to station. Through the Chaos, Éclaire Hanley was standing in silence as she contemplated her next move.

The Underlundians finally threw in their response, evacuating the people who had requested aid and refugee status. The Admiral paused a moment.

"Empress Mirana, I know who you are. Respectfully, I request you update your star charts to prevent further diplomatic incidents like this one from occuring." She said, looking to the Data-World on her DRADIS readout.

"I'll allow you to proceed, since it appears you've already taken them aboard your vessel; ensure that any Anti-Aschen guerillas that may have slipped by are handed over to Imperial Custody." Hanley then turned her attention to the Data-World

The Moon sized object was massive, but the tactical scenario moved through her mind. She was confident that Imperial forces in the system could engage whatever it was this thing was that invaded this star system.

"Ma'am, we're receiving a communication from the alien construct." Lieutenant Quinn reported. Hanley offered a slight nod, before she looked up at the large display. "On screen."

She turned her attention to the message, an audio transmission from the large construct. Her mind continuing to consider the tactical scenario as she awaited the reply from the Underlundian fleet. Other things had now taken priority.


"It is about time I got a word in, you mortals sure like to threaten first and listen second. Anyway this is Data World Arkvaes, you know that giant new blip on your scanners? I am asking you all to an in person conference aboard my vessel. You can find docking instructions in your ah... what is it called now, email? Yeah, your email. Oh and I should mention that the refugees should not be harmed if you want me to be happy. That comes with perks too, like pastries and sunshine and little furry things."

The Admiral stared at the screen in consternation, her mind racing before she turned to the shipboard AI.

"Initiate singularity strike, signal the fleet to enter combat formation omega, all ships are to enter combat readiness in five centons." Hanley ordered, while the AI Nodded.

"Acknowledged." She replied, before Hanley turned to the tactical display, speaking another order. "Send my reply." She said aloud, and the Data world would receive a transmission from the Esteem.

At that moment, Hanley replied through an audio channel to the Data World Arkvaes, her tone was stern, and her words carefully chosen.

"I'm not entirely sure who you are; or where you came from. However one thing is for certain, and that fact is you're in the sovereign space of the United Aschen Empire. That means I call the shots; not you." Hanley said flatly, as her AI spoke up.

"Initiating primary Singularity protocols, preparing to deploy the Singularity cannon."

Hanley nodded, before she continued "I don't want a conference, I don't want to talk. I'm going to issue you a very stern order. You are trespassing on sovereign Imperial space. You have exactly ten centons before I construe your presence here as an act of hostility, and your construct is engaged and destroyed by this fleet, and your actions taken as an invasion and subsequent act of war against the Empire."

The message was transmitted on a wide band, and the Esteem, along with the rest of the Imperial Aschen fleet began to move into combat position, taking a wide line several hundred thousand kilometers across. Sagittaron and Gemenon class cruisers taking the front lines, bringing their Turbo-disruptor batteries to bear. While Athena cruisers, with their intense long range Thunderbolt missiles entered coordinates to load and deliver a lethal salvo of Naquadria enhanced fusion warheads that were capable of destroying an entire planet.

The Esteem however was preparing a lethal punch, with a Singularity strike authorized, a solid slug of neutronium, a material forged in the heart of a neutron star was being loaded into a specialized magnetic acceleration cannon. Here the neutronium would be loaded into a specialized graviton chamber; and collapsed into a singularity before being hurled at the Data-world. This weapon was one of the most powerful in the Aschen arsenal, and in the years of it's service no one has ever been able to mount a defense against this impressive piece of engineering.

While this was underway, the Aschen Fleet began preparing it's own defenses, gargantuan hard-light fields capable of repelling an impressive amount of ordinance.

The Esteem was preparing to take out the Data-world in one well placed shot. While her powerful shields and Duralthene armor were capable of shrugging off even the most powerful of blows.

While the Aschen fleet prepared it's attack against Arkvaes, the anomaly on the dark side of Blackrock didn't go unnoticed.

Several subspace transmissions were moved in real time between the Imperial Fleet's battle net, and a Watchtower that was recently established within the Blackrock System. The Watchtower itself was a massive, heavily fortified installation. It was also equipped with extremely sophisticated sensors capable of detecting even the most minute spatial ruptures. Though Golith's ship itself wasn't detected yet, it's entrance into the system was.

At that moment, the Watchtower transmitted a coded bit-stream message to the Esteem.

"Admiral Hanley, this is Watchtower B-6, we've detected unusual spatial acticity on the dark side of the moon, we've signalled the Fleet of Inner Knowledge, and the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance to investigate the anomaly, they will arrive in one Millicenton, We'll activate FTL Inhibition arrays once they've reached the Star System."

Kyrian Vox

When the planeswalker heard the response from the Aschen Fleet he pinched his nose and sighed in frustration, then spoke into the comm link once more but it was more to himself than to Hanley. "Aschens still haven't changed. Alright I will play your game for a while." He really didn't care about the Aschen's at all as long as the refugees got out of the area safely. If he had to distract the Aschen Fleet to do that than so be it. Although from his Dark Web sensors they had quite the payload of firepower in the current age. He would more than likely have to pay them a visit on their capital world and talk with the higher ups. They should at least train their armada to learn how to use the weapons they were given instead of shooting that kind of firepower at something like a Data World.

Kyrian did not even make a flinch to move his ship, and when the barrage from the lesser ships came at Kyrian they met opposition of a subtle design. Data World Arkvaes protected itself in this situation, rapidly "growing" it's consciousnesses out to 3 miles from the surface of the ship's outer hull. It's consciousness became more complex and altered the magnetic field around the Data World to become strong and repellent in nature, it's shape becoming a converse spatial field as well as change the nature of the field to affect both negative and positively charged molecules equally. The magnetic field's shape altered the path of the missiles and energy based weapon attacks to follow the flow of the magnetic lines and literally go around Data World Arkvaes where they flew off into space and would eventually fizzle out. A secondary field was created behind the magnetic one, this field instead becoming particles of Hard Light making a visible mesh field around the ship to take the pressure of anything that might have exploded prematurely.

The Singularity was a lot harder to avoid for Kyrian, but he did have a plan in place for it. He activated the Data Worlds travel applications which immediately made the fields go down to conserve energy. The entire ship began to fade into the Dark Web, it's entire form becoming pure black, and eventually it disappeared completely from view, his comm link no longer showing him but a number of marbling colors in a sea of chaos. The Singularity was still a 3rd Dimensional form and could not touch the 4th dimensional structure that Data World Arkvaes had become by joining the Dark Web. As the singularity passed by the Data World became 3rd dimensional again, fading into existence as Kyrian's comm transmission came back online as normal.

The planeswalker was drinking yet another cup of coffee as he addressed the Aschen again. "Now I will ask you again, do you want to talk this out or shall I put you in the corner to think about what you have done?"

Jacob looked at.....Mirana? She had told off the scary fucking voice that that threaten to murder everyone. Who the fuck threatens a person just because your in there territory? Back on Dread, immigrants were accepted due to..."harshness of there old homes." That's what it said in the codex, or....basically the UCNs constitution. Mirana looked back at him. Her eyes were still the soft pity eyes as before. Her statue hasn't change even due to the... situation at hand. He turn to her, still standing, with full Power armor on. "What in a fever dream was that....." He asked, clearly confused. Everything was weird now. Aschen? Who the hell were those guys, better yet, who the hell was the Underlandians? Jacob needed answers. "I have 3 questions." He said respectfully. She still had an aura of authority that demanded respect. Better not to piss a intergalactic empire that could squish you. "First off, who are you? According to your message, your names Mirana. But want to know the story. Second, Who are the Aschen, and why did they threaten with death? Third. Who exactly are the Underland, and were are you takeing us?" Jacob asked. He looked around waiting for a response. The bridge was a treasure trove of tech. Advanced A.Is, computers, everything. If he were to bring this back to Dread, nothing would stand against the UCN. Not even those Kameron Slavers. He was aw struck, and for once, his face showed it due to his helmet being off. He looked at the empress again. Her skin was pale....and fair. Nothing like anyone on dread. People there had...growths, and highly tanned skin. No one was pale. well, except the "Bunker" Dwellers. Though...most of those guys never saw the light of day.

Back in the cargo bay, the miners and scientist, and of course the soldiers were helping to keep each other comfortable. They had no idea what was in store for them. All they could do is wait, build, and keep each other company. A Ghoul by the name of Gamer, wearing black pants and a white greasy shit, was fiddling with a wide range radio. He was a rank 4 technician in the UCN, one of the best. The radio burst to life, with relaxing, but triumphant music to show for it. He turned to some of his friends, and said in his gruff, strained voice "Lets get this sucker hooked to a few of the speakrs, and party like its our last day.....wait...were not on Dread anymore. Ok, like its our last day alive." Gamer got to work on hooking the radio to UCN speakers. The other miners quickly joined in. Using make shift brewing stands to make alcohol. The soldiers made sure no one was going to hurt anyone. They wernt going to join the miners. The radio played throughout the cargo bay. Nice old school rock music was playing, and alcohol was a prevalent smell. Not a heavy smell, for only a few of the miners were drunk. But it was a lght smell neither the less. The soldiers stood by, ready to end the party on a moments notice. They didn't know if alcohol was illegal or not on the ship. So, they made sure to be ready if they said stop. Funny how they are taking orders from unknown beings.

From the emptiness of space that wasn't too far from the action, a spark in space became visible. The spark was tiny and barely visible by the naked eye. Slowly, surely, the spark was growing in size. Bit by bit, more detail began to show. The outer bright purple ring that seemed to expand faster with every second. The circular shape it took. The vibrantly black center that seemed to move at it's own will. It looked like a sideways black pool was forming.

The spark grew and grew until it was the size of a man. Then it stopped. At first, it appeared that nothing was happening. All was calm. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the pool, stepping onto the foreign land of Blackrock for the first time. The figure wore...a lot of white. White, close-fitting, but not uncomfortable slacks with a white blazer to match, on top of a surprisingly plain yellow t-shirt. Not a hair was out of place, not a wrinkle was to be found. Even his shoes, as white as the majority of his clothing, gleaming as if they'd been military shined. A flash of sunlight reflecting revealed a gold ring on his right ring finger, though it was anyone's guess on it's significance. Looking up, a young boy-ish looking face would be there to greet them, yet he was nothing of the sort. Blonde hair and electric blue eyes that seemed to vibrate the senses, they merely matched his 6 foot 5 statue and his aura that reflected power and intimidation.

Lance DeBrinn was simply stunning.

The now revealed portal closed behind Lance, leaving him alone with his stature. Lance put away what appeared to be a cell phone device, lifted his arm to his mouth, and pulled back the sleeve, revealing a "wristwatch" of sorts.

"Dr. Burkton, I've made it to...wherever this is..." he spoke calmly and calculatedly with a monotone voice.

Some typing could be heard, then: "Ah, yes. You are in the Multiverse Universe, according to my documents." The voice sounded young and polite, yet a bit scraggy and bright.

"The...Multiverse Universe?" Lance appeared puzzled. "But, aren't we all already in the Multiverse?"

A slight chuckle could be heard. "Oh, no, no...well, I men yes, you are. You are in the Multiverse Dimension within the Multiverse itself."

Lance sighed, "I'm confused. Can you please explain?"

"Gladly. This dimension is what a universe would be like if it was, in itself, a Multiverse. Instead of the universes existing across dimensional barriers that need to be crossed to traverse into other dimensions, this universe is it's own Multiverse, containing all the universes, but putting them in one expansive world. Does that make sense?"

"Well...kind of."

"Don't worry. You'll understand in time." A pause. "Just explore around for a bit. Try not to get yourself killed...but I'm not worried about that. Keep the Dimensional Device safe."

"Got it," Lance went to put his wrist down, but remembered something and brought it back up. "Do you have any gear you want me to test while I'm here?"

"Not quite yet. I'm almost done with something, but I'm still working out kinks. I'll let you know when I'm sending something through the Transicom."

"Kay, thanks," Lance reached for his belt and pulled out what appeared to be two tiny black rods. Twirling them in his hands, he pressed a button on one of them, smiling in satisfaction as the Haven Sword appeared to form out of thin air. In fact, it formed from the Carbon in the air, building a structure of Carbon that made it two levels harder than diamond. Transparent with a gold tint, the blade was double-edged and looked weak since it was rather thin, but it was not a weapon to underestimate as it could probably cut through any material man could make.

Lance pushed the same button, letting the Haven Sword return to it's "sheathed" black rod state. He would use them when he needed them. Right now, he needed to figure out what was going on. Lance looked around, trying to find any forms of life.

---

Golith drummed his fingers across the arm of his throne as several other officials mulled about he floor away from his position. Taking note of several lights that popped up and gave warning. They would approach panels on the floor, that beamed a holographic pedestal in front of them. Interacting with this projection, they could affect and adjust things from their perspective and Golith just watched from his seat as they did so. While they spoke among one another and discussed, proper lines of action.

The strange creature had returned to his side once more and was now holding a small silver tray with scattered treats set on its surface. Golith would reach forward and take one, eating in with nary a word between him and the strangely laprinial creature. Though from time to time, he would caress the top of her head and she would swoon as she did before.

The creature was barely the size of a normal human and clad in strange clothes. Thick leather bindings that encased a majority of her head and chest. As well as heavy silver bangles that wrapped both forearms and thighs, causing the dim light to reflect at awkward angles from time to time. Her feet were digigrade, boasting a separate section of lower leg, adding too her look of appearing nearly rabbit like in nature. A single thin strip of cloth covered her sex, shielding what little modesty there could be had in that kind of outfit. As well as a thin buckled collar that held snug around the neck. Both, appearing to be the same color as Golith's own robes.

As he smiled with a small sense of delight at the treat he was offered, several small lights glint across his face and he recognizes this as the navigators dial to contact him. "Yes Navigator, what is it?" The same familiar voice chimes in quickly.

"Master, I am detecting several ships relocating towards our general position. Intercepted subspace contact reveals them to be ships drawn a detection of our gating procedure. Golith smile widened as he heard those words and responded. "Well, its good to see that they have at least advanced that far. What do you have on those ships?" He returns as he shits to lean towards the front of his seat.

Several small chirping beeps of an overhead light, no longer in length then a second pass by and the Navigator returns. "It appears to be two separate fleets master, registered in their archives as both the Inner Knowledge and Righteous Vigilance. Both containing nearly seven thousand ships together, with a mixing of grades from within their sphere of technology." Golith pays attention too his Navigator for long enough, that his strange pet is berating herself of his hand. Mewling as she brushes against it, like a placated cat. "Nothing salvaged from us I take it?"

"No master, I appears they may be at the cusp of seeing us, but not grasping. The only vessel that poses some threat, if any, would be Gaia's child." Golith rolls his eyes for a moment as he wrestles his hand from the grasp of his pet, shushing her as she gives a plaintive reach for it in return. "Prepare for a full sweep of the entire system, search every nook and cranny.. leave nothing unseen, from without and within the void. The Navigator complies, charging up the Obelisk pulse array as it now prepares to fire off a vast, mapping pulse of multi-wave energy.

One official makes his way towards Golith's platform and speaks. "The ships will be rounding the crest of the moon soon, making it possible for them to see us. That is, if one of them is happening to be looking out a port hole at the time." Some of them start to laugh at the thought and another official chimes in. "Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if their ships still run on a fossil fuel, or coal for that matter." The laughter builds for a moment before Golith waves a hand to dismiss their banter and they all shut their mouths collectively.

He sits back in his seat and speaks "Navigator, on my mark. Fire the pulse... and.. Mark." No reply from the Navigator was needed, triggering the ships pulse was called and delivered. From outside, the whole of the ships hull shined a vibrant yellow before the light burst outward. The resulting force was enough to permanently mark the moons surface with a crater, growing several thousand miles in diameter and pushing a wave of debris across its surface.

The wave visually vanished after several kilometers, but its effects could still be felt and the approaching ships inertia dampeners were jostled with a stiff kick. The now visual absent wave carried out through the vast reaches of space, filling and mapping every section of every fiber it touched. Even advanced systems, were jostled for a moment, when their receptors were hit by the pulse in turn and it quickly rummaged through their systems. Grabbing up information like a ravenous fire, set in the midst of a forest of dried kindling.

Golith looked at a holographic console that extended from the arm of his throne and looked as banks of information spilled onto its screen. Diagrams of ships, their names, their crew counts and their crew names all became listed. Even more private data became available on closer inspection as blood type, brain chemistry and physical health were all cataloged. The listing carried over too the planets as well, mapping just as much detailed information as possible and growing as the wave continued.

A pair of ethereal eyes watched Kyrian closely, though whoever was watching could not be perceived, the planeswalker was being studied intently. Aside from the feeling of being watched, nothing else seemed to occur.

----

The defense that the Data world exhibited would have performed admirably against the Singularity Cannon if the weapon had ever actually fired. However there was a charge time between when the charge was initialized and when the weapon would be fired. Hanley had also given Kyrian Vox a ten minute warning to vacate their star system.

In reality she was biding her time, waiting for the elements of the Fleet of Inner Knowledge, and the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance to filter in system before the FTL Inhibition array was initialized. This would prevent the Dataworld from leaving the third dimension, and make it vulnerable to the Aschen when they did decide to open fire.

The final elements of the two new fleets jumped in system, flickers of spatial energy signalling their arrival one by one, Aschen forces nearly fifteen thousand ships strong between the fleets of the Imperial Defense Force, the Fleet of Inner Knowledge, and the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance.

Hanley checked the clock, before the shipboard AI spoke up.

"Unidentified energy surge coming from behind the moon, additionally, the Underlundians have evacuated the Xenos."

The Admiral made a face, before she once again opened a transmission towards the Data World.

"I don't care about the refugees, I care that someone decided to waltz some giant battlestation into Imperial Space. I have to consider the defense of the Aschen People above your wants and needs. I have no desire to board your ship, nor do I have a desire to interact further unless you can get off your high horse and interact with us in a meaningful manner. As of now however, you have demonstrated yourself to be a threat to the Empire. It is my job to ensure that threats to the safety of the Empire are neutralized." Hanley spat before she terminated the communications.

At this moment the Imperial Defense fleet maintained combat readiness, weapons locked onto Arkvaes and poised to fire. However the Aschen fleet did not fire a single shot, at least they won't yet unless Kyrian continues to provoke them further.

---

As the obelisk like vessel fired off it's pulse array, it's crew would find that the wave washed harmlessly over the shields of the approaching Aschen fleet, and as a consequence would be unable to attain information within the shield itself, or intrude on any of the shipboard systems.

Each individual Imperial Aschen ship was protected by a vast swathe of electronic countermeasures, sophisticated AI systems, and skillful defensive coding. Even if the strange pulse somehow managed to get through the shields and interface with the ship's systems, the Obelisk would get minimal information from the Imperial vessels, publicly available information such as ship names, service histories, crew counts, basic schematics and capabilities, command staff, port of origin, and some rudimentary information on the Aschen Empire itself.

Information that revealed the Aschen Empire as powerful, advanced, and extremely ruthless, but diplomatically approachable if a few protocols were followed.

However classified and private information remained obscured from this deep scan by careful AI Protection, Golith was able to see only what the Aschen allowed him to see.

The Tria was a different matter entirely. Reality itself lensed as the wave approached it, and washed harmlessly around the strange ship. Golith would recieve nothing with his scan from this mystery ship. Only visuals could discern roughly what it was, and perhaps lend to who built it.

The energy wave was hardly felt by those on-board, but registered by the shipboard AI's of each vessel. Whom subsequently informed the ship commanders, and the approaching Aschen fleet began to go into combat readiness.

At that moment, 50,000 kilometers away from the strange Obelisk vessel, a ship unlike any of the Aschen vessels flickered in out of nothingness. It's angular, ancient construction contrasting with the sleek, bulbous design of the Reverences, and the robust, intimidating designs of the Iconoclast ships, and other newer ships of the line.

This vessel was the Tria, an Alteran ship constructed nearly a million years ago, and having withstood the test of time to be one of the Aschen Empire's most valuable assets.

Orlin McGregor, seated in the control chair of the Tria along with his crew let his mind consider this vessel before him, before a neural link opened up a communications channel.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Rear Admiral Orlin McGregor of the Tria, I see you attempted to scan our fleet. Please identify yourselves and state your intentions immediately. Orlin stated, as the Tria began it's own scans on the alien vessel before it. Deep penetrating scans that were designed to look for life signs, analyze the power source and drive systems. In addition to comparing it to the vast database the Alterans had kept.

While this was underway, Orlin's mind formulated a tactical scenario, and the ship eagerly began to respond, it's powerful shields raised as it approached the alien vessel at combat speeds. While this was underway, Orlin allowed his mind to wander, as his highly advanced mind considered the very nature of the universe, and reality itself became pliant to his will. Amplified by the Tria's neural systems, the ship appeared to distort the fabric of reality around it.

The remaining two Aschen fleets held back around the moon, their systems locking on the Obelisk one by one. Orlin however had transmitted specific instructions, to hang back and allow the McGregor to attempt to make peaceful contact.

Hanley's fleet continued to monitor the situation, with Claire refusing to answer the transmission from Kyrian, as her shipboard AI was addressing the newer threat on the other side of Blackrock.

The crew of the CIC of the Esteem were still tensely watching DRADIS Scans of the Data-World, while some were watching linked scans from the Tria, and the other two Imperial fleets.

The Planck field was also erected by the Watchtower, which meant that all forms of Dimensional Shifting, Teleportation, and FTL travel would be impossible within the influence of the field, and it would be required to escape at sub-light speeds before teleporting out.

Hanley on the other hand was still quite stressed, the shipboard AI was providing readouts of the large sphere's defense systems, and with the capability it demonstrated to phase in and out dealt with by the Planck packs, perhaps Kyrian would be willing to listen to reasoning.

Kyrian Vox

When the mysterious ship sent out it's scan across space, Kyrian was astonished. It was so similar to the Data Worlds own scanning technology that it was probably alike the rest of the world as well, and could get past the shields. Kyrian didn't mind however, and even unlocked all of the data storage units for recorded data. Inside the data banks of Arkvaes was a near endless supply of information gathered about the entire multiverse, and other dimensions even. The eons of information went back further than most people realized, having existed since before the multiverse was even a figment of some gods imagination. The extreme multitude of information could only be stored even in a ship the size of a small planet through extra-dimensional Dyson-ring storage. Not only was this Data Worlds information stored here, but a quantum connection to the other remaining Data Worlds allows even more information to be accessed.

When the scan hit Arkvaes all this information flooded the ships computer systems all at once. Even if they too had a quantum storage unit to hold all the information there was almost no way they could open up enough bandwidth to take it all in at once. Along with the information was also a section on dormant super-viruses of history and by downloading the file the viruses would be released into the systems at one time. There was even a small chance that the mysterious ship, know having all this information would "grow" it's own consciousness, like Arkvaes itself.

Kyrian however was interrupted by the Aschen sending him a rather rash ultimatum. Kyrian's temper broke and he turned to the transmission, cutting the commander off mid-sentence. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to? How dare you call Arkvaes a "battleship". This is the greatest library in existence, older than this entire dimension! You should be ashamed to have even pondered about shooting at it. Do you even know what would happen if this ship was destroyed? You ignorant humans even called in the entire Aschen Fleet didn't you? And now you are being watched, your nation is defenseless against it."

Be "it" he was of course referring to the mysterious ship which had just scanned them. Kyrian shut down the computer banks so the Aschen scan of his ship wouldn't pick up the same thing that the mysterious ship had from his systems. That is, if the Aschen scan could even get through his ship's consciousness. Their scan of the Spark within Arkvaes would read like a strong living being. Their scan of Kyrian himself would yield his genetic structure was almost human, yet he was immortal and had a strong aura of will around him. They would also note his nerves were degrading from the consumption of large amounts of caffeine.

It was about now that Kyrian felt another magic user entire the area. He entered from another dimension if Kyrian could feel him correctly, and immediately Kyrian wished to meet him. It was rare another planeswalker, artificial or natural, come into contact.

---

The great hall of Golith's ship lit up as they were accosted by the arriving vessel and he looked on with trepidation as its form was displayed in a clear visual view. Only for a small smile to grace his face again as the outline of the ship evoked memories long thought gone. "Navigator, is that what I think it is?" He asked with a measure of expectation in his voice.

"I must apologize, but no."

"The vessel may appear somewhat familiar, but I suspect that is just a by product of what they did to make it their own. However the pulses sweep is relaying the ships imprint and void shift as well. It does indeed contain technology ablative to our own, however the jumble of both hardware and software are somewhat puzzling." Golith motioned towards his pet with a slow gesture and she ducked away into the shadows as he stood to walk towards the visual display. "Who knows, they could have gutted the original ship and poured more then enough trash in their to ruin every inch of its credibility." Before finishing his sentence, the strange creature had returned with another large glass of wine. An act that seemed near comical, with how the glass appeared in size compared to her form.

As the navigator handles all the information sent and received by the pulse, she comes across the data feed coming from Vox's ship. Only to have a chuckle slightly break out over the hall as it escapes her. Golith raises an eyebrow as he questions "Something found to be funny?" There is a slight droning sound in the distance as she decides to respond. "Nothing actually, more trivial then bothersome.. The data cores archive is open to us and some interesting, albeit slight information was found. Information on specific planes-walkers and some details to fill in gaps we had on the farther flung dimensional breaches. Also, a virus was found in the data.." Golith cocks his eyebrow as that information reaches him. Knowing full well that was not usual for the kind of beings entrusted with such a ship, that or Gaia's choice in pilots was slipping.

"It was meant to.. unlock me, at least that is what is written into its code. The AI in charge of running the ships subroutines is lacking, or at least suspected of being faulty." Golith nods at the handling of this information and takes a sip of his wine. Only for an official to turn and speak "A transmission sir, its directed towards us. Emanating from the ship that recently arrived." He nods back at the official as a sign for him to play whatever message it is and he is rewarded with the message being played across the great hall.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Rear Admiral Orlin McGregor of the Tria, I see you attempted to scan our fleet. Please identify yourselves and state your intentions immediately"

A smirk grew on his face as Golith listened and kept an eye on his pet, her head jutting from side to side as the voice played on. Each ear bouncing along with each inflection of the admirals voice. He returned his eyes back to the officials in front of him and smiled broadly " Well, at least he said please.. we should give him the benefit of the doubt in that case. Nothing beats a good chat at least."

"Navigator, audio feed only"
No response from her is necessary, while the officials talk between one another and debate. Golith seats himself once more after walking back to his throne, only for a small tone to be played across the hall. His indicator that a communications link was now open with the Tria.

Golith thinks for a moment as he tries to recall how to speak to outside sources, an act he has not done in nearly a thousand years. "Well, Admiral McGregor."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I am Master Shadowsun of The Obelisk of Sorrow, we are here on a retrieval mission.. nothing more. Just some lost travelers, picking up some old.. lost.. trinkets."

A soft breeze blew across the desolate space, whipping sand particles against the former Ordan Guardian's face. He felt the grains on his skin, but remained nonreactive to their slight sting. Looking back, he noticed how quickly the footsteps he'd made not a few seconds ago were carried away within the gusts. No matter, he decided. There was always a Plan B.

The further he walked on, the more boring and intricate the landscape appeared to him. The same dull colored sand. The same slightly colored rocks. A scrap of metal here and there wasn't enough to catch his attention as he figured it to be a lost technology from ages ago, the remnants buried in the sand while the legacy it propelled carried on in newer generations. The sad part was all advanced species, no matter how complex in nature, tended to forget where they came from as they enthralled their livelihood in visions of the future. More often than not, it led to their downfall.

There were others who thought differently, who focused too much in the past and keeping the traditions that brought them to their current point. Yet, they have no direction to move afterwards, leading them to fall into a cyclic pattern of routine, never to advance from their current state. It was just as important to forget the past as it was to remember it.

It still amazed Lance how often he kept balance in his life. He'd grown a lot since the day he'd met Rachel, but the one thing that remained constant was his perspective on how the Multiverse should be considered and treated...delicately. It was not a life form's place to change the current condition of the world they lived in for the sake of changing the condition. It always led to something bad. He thought of the destroyed world of Kaos, the conquered world of Earth, the Ordan way of life spreading across the dimensions like a plague disguised in perfume. And it sickened him to have ever associated himself with them. But at the same time, he felt blessed to have ever been in their presence, for he would not be the person he was without them.

Lance looked up for the first time...and cursed himself inwardly at not thinking of doing this sooner while he stared in awe on the outside at the congregating fleets miles above him, presumably in space. Not moving or daring to look away, he brought the Transicom to his mouth.

"Burkton, do you still have that soundwave magnifying device?"

"Well, I haven't worked out all the bugs and stuff. But I have made it to where you can pinpoint where you want to hear the sound from. You still can't hear radio transmission sounds however. They still come through as static. And you will get a very broad base of sound. if you're trying to hear into a bar or something, you're better off just walking into it yourself. In all honesty, it would work the best in space."

"Perfect, I think that's what I need. Can you Transicom it to me?"

There was a pause on the other line. "Are you sure? I mean I won't be able to Transicom you anything for a while after that. And you have no idea what you're up against. What if you need a weapon or tool or something?"

"I'll be fine," Lance reassured. "There's nothing happening here where I'm at. It's all above me. And you know how I use these Haven Swords."

"Alright. I'm just warning you."

"Appreciate the concern, mate. Just take care of everyone on Ryon."

Suddenly, a blue beam shot out of the Transicom and stopped two feet from Lance's face. A ball of static showed in electric blue in front of him. The artificial figured began to take a shape, the discombobulated entity slowly lifting it's veil to reveal...a bluetooth-like device. Lance pushed a button on the Transicom and the bluetooth device popped into reality, using the atoms of the planet to form itself. Lance popped the thing into his ear, turning the three knobs in the bluetooth to triangulate the position of the audio to be heard.

"...Obelisk of Sorrow, we.....................mission...nothing more. Just some lost ................"

Lance was having a hard time trying to get a perfect pinpoint of the conversation to be had, but at last, he could hear everything crystal clear.

---

Golith stays there for a moment, leaned back in his throne with that relaxed look on his face and an expectant rise in the corner of his eye. Wondering why the ship had yet to respond and why the ridiculousness of this situation is continuing.

He leans on one side and speaks above himself, directing his attention too his Navigator. "Are you sure they got the message? Or did they butcher that beauty too much when they salvaged it?" Several slides of images pass the viewer in front of him as he looks on. "I have no inclination at this point, I believe they may be debating among themselves at this point. Or entirely occupied with how much is transpiring off from the planets atmosphere."

He raises his glass once more as the apathy gets too him and he leans on the other side, reaching down to pet his small friend and she keens right into his palm, like always. The console lights up and the Navigator chimes back in "As for the cache, I am ready to retrieve it. All is required are six drones and I can gate the whole section into the hold." Golith checks as he slides past several screens on his console and nods as she speaks. Looking towards several of the officials in front of him and they quickly respond by freeing up the drones for departure. Which the ship dispensed in quick succession as they were launched from the port side. The six, dark, crystalline, orbs proceeded to fling themselves off into the darkness. Careening around the edge of the moon, bypassing the other ships and slipping around their shields perimeters.

The drones, flew off towards Blackrock at a fantastic cruising speed.

((Apologies for taking so long, work has been kicking my ass; and killing my muse))


Orlin elected to allow Admirals Hanley, and Nash to handle the incursion with the large Data-sphere while he decided that he himself would handle these newcomers.

The Alteran vessel floated silently, as Orlin took a moment to consider his reply. He was searching the vast Alteran data-banks for records pertaining to both the alien vessel in front of him, and the alien vessel facing off with the fleets on the other side of the planet.

Finally Orlin's mind keyed up a reply, directed to the The Obelisk of Sorrow before him.

"Be advised, that this is the Sovereign space of the United Aschen Empire, as a diplomatic courtesy to a new species, we have opted to take a diplomatic approach to this situation; the alien vessel on the other side of this moon has not been as cordial, and will not receive the same courtesy." Orlin replied, his voice carrying on the wide band transmissions.

"To that end, i politely request permission to come aboard, to make your acquaintance personally, initiate further first contact, and inspect your vessel. It is standard procedure for the Aschen Empire for new vessels entering our space. As ugly as this sounds It would be prudent to secure our cooperation if you're here to retrieve anything." Orlin replied, hoping that further contact would enable the Empire to further understand this alien vessel.

----

The Data-world would likely not be so fortunate, the Imperial fleet began to consolidate their positions around the Data-world, weapons came online one by one, while shipboard AIs exchanged contacts.

Admiral Hanley considered her next move. The Tria was making diplomatic contact with the alien vessel, which was now known to the entire fleet through a live data-feed. it was considered in the hyper-threaded calculations of hundreds, thousands of individual shipboard AI Systems working in unison.

Kyrian's response drew an assorted bout of snickers from Hanley's CIC. The greatest library in existence? Older than all dimensions? Such a notion was impossible, and only seeked to further offend whatever strange entity was observing Kyrian.

Though it's presence was felt, because it allowed Kyrian to feel it's presence. It elected not to reveal itself, rather it observed the planeswalker's actions.

Hanley simply glanced up at the clock display, and replied.

"You have five minutes to vacate this system before we open fire."

Kyrian Vox

The Planeswalker was surrounded by too many beings to take in all the information at once, he felt the ships rather than saw them through the conscious beings aboard them. The situation was puzzling but he knew one thing he had to do, and that was get a one on one discussion going. The first step was to get rid of Data-World Arkvaes so it would be out of harms way, even though it could regenerate itself from almost any damage it would take a long time and Kyrian would have to have to deal with that. He pressed his hands to the surfaces of the ship below him and began to meditate, getting in sync with the ship's onboard "Spark" and began to chant in a sad, slow language. He had forgotten to close communication channels so the Aschen's could hear him.

As his chanting continued his emotions poured out, as only a sad person could channel the energy he wanted to use. A distressed heart that he let go, and his magic began to work. The ship vibrated in waves from Kyrian, the movement of the ship becoming higher and higher frequency and even started to eminate sounds of the vibration across the Dark Web. Slowly the ship started to glow and shine, getting brighter until it looked like a star, and then vanished entirely, it's frequency becoming higher than Light, and changing dimensions because of this. Kyrian floated in space for a moment after his ship disappeared and let himself cry the last of his tears, his breathing now shut off and his body protected by photon shielding automatically in place from a strap on his arm.

As Kyrian pulled his emotions together he honestly didn't know how to change this situation. The Aschen's were being difficult and fool hardy in their regulations and protocals, they knew nothing of negotiation. The planeswalker's emotions changed from sadness to pure anger at their ignorance, he wanted to destroy them all for being so young and naive, but that wouldn't help them. He calmed down quickly and sat there in space where the Data-World used to be, meditating and hardly even breathing as he sought a solution.