Charles Teller's Story

Among the AXIS ships were 3 Sullen Enterprise ships, one of which towered over the other two destroyers. The crews onboard the vessels appeard to scramble as they tried to paint a picture of what was actually going on.

On the massive Paladin Defender, Admiral Charles Teller looked over the various screens, he was only able to bring a few ships with him but this wasn't an invasion after-all. Beside him stood General Williams, commander of the Enterprises Marine forces. With the fleet here there was a compliment of 4,000 battle hardened veterans. This might not have been an invasion force but the general was taking no chances in coming unprepared.

With the loss of Moff Tarin a few weeks prior, there was clearly still a deep distrust of the situation by many in the military command structure.

Meanwhile back on bridge, Commander Nayar awaited confirmation on the status of the ship's FTL.

The Matokey Shipmaster remained silent, listening to Alric as Kayabuki considered his words, Admiral Mifune was also on the other screen.

"Prime Minister, we need to secure this system as a foothold for the Taiyou Empire." He protested, and the Matokey Shipmaster nodded slightly.

"Though I agree, with the Admiral, we must adhere to the resolution of the AXIS." He said, frowning. "The High Council would be disappointed if we chose to remain." 'Taanz explained.

The Admiral nodded, and then turned to Kayabuki. "I'll secure these enemy ships for Salvage and bring them back through the Hyperspace gate. I'd suggest getting an envoy to send to CONCORD so that we can resolve this matter quickly. It's going to take some time to dismantle the gate, and recover our wounded."

Kayabuki turned to Admiral Yotsuga, a middle aged man who was one of the first to receive the genetic enhancements and become linked with one of the new "Royal Trees" that the Science Directorate had come up with.

"Admiral?" Kayabuki asked, while Yotsuga frowned. "I am prepared to take you to CONCORD, while 'Taanz secures this system along with Admiral Mifune." Yotsuga explained, and Kayabuki nodded. "Proceed, then, let me know when we arrive." She said, turning to find her quarters, while the Admiral opened a link to the Rising Sun.

"Ryu-oh to Rising Sun." Yotsuga hailed, appearing as a three-dimensional hologram on the Rising Sun's bridge.

"I'm prepared to travel with the SOCO Fleet to CONCORD Space, it would be advisable that you accompany us. The Matokey and the Recon fleet are going to secure the wrecked vessels, in addition to their own wounded before withdrawing back to Taiyou Space."

A Transmission line was promptly opened back up to Airic, and the SoCo ships.

"We're ready to receive coordinates, and will jump once everyone is prepared." Yotsuga said, waving his hand over a yellow holographic console.

---

Like clockwork, the Matokey and Taiyou recon ships moved quickly, the Omnicruiser moving to provide a strategic position on grid to monitor incoming ships, while the Taiyou began to make towards the ruined CAID vessels. They would be towed back to Taiyou space for salvage and study.

Alric raised a bushy salt and pepper eyebrow and then turned back to the man behind the console. "Breac dom bealach díreach chuig Sendaya i Derelik. Plot me a direct route to Sendaya in Derelik." The man behind the control console had to question the order. No one in Ayenee used direct routes. They were dangerous and took much longer even than using the gates. "Tá bealach a dhuine uasail díreach? A direct route sir?" Alric nodded and turned back to address the AXIS force as the man went to work.

"Give me a few microns. I will arrange your escort." The communication was terminated. What they wanted from Alric was not as simple as it seemed. Most of the systems between here and low security space were inhibited and SOCO did not have sovereignty in all those systems. If they gave the AXIS force coordinates they would never make it. They would crash against a sandbar and maroon themselves in dead-space. Even with Alric providing a direct route for them they still would need escort for the corridor at some spots would be less than a few hundred kilometers in diameter and they could easily stray. The SOCO sky marshal would also have to call in a favor in Farit and then in Sendaya.

Not only was the direct route dangerous it was temporary for it opened up the Southern Coalition sovereignty to attack from a myriad of enemies. The corridor would be closed behind them. The journey would span the distance of nearly two-hundred and ten light years. It would take them through four different regions: Scalding Pass, Curse, Derelik, and through a large part of Wicked Creek. There was also the threat of the Kraed in the black between systems. They had not encountered this evil since the slaughter of Dodixie but there were rumors and vessels sometimes went missing traveling through the dark spots of Ayenee.

Mircon: A length of time just over a minute.

"All systems are a go," Liuetenant Arnesh Agarwal called out as the diagnostic results came in.

"Alright, get us prepped to jump," Commander Nayar instructed before he addressed the holographic image of Yotsuga.

"We'll be ready to jump in three minutes," he told Yotsuga as his crew went about prepping the ship for an FTL jump.

Nearby another officer, Lieutenant Ishya Darzi, was in contact with the other ships as well. "Rising Sun to Ryu-oh, requesting jump coordinates," she transmitted, unaware that the SOCO where contemplating other routes of travel.

The whole bridge was a hive of activity as the crew members of the Rising Sun worked over the ship consoles. They where young, like the ship, but they went through the process with practiced ease. It had been the Matriarch's belief that something as new and innovative as the Rising Sun required a young and equally innovated crew to adapt to changing times.

Nayar could see it in the crew. Many where fresh out of academy, though the senior officers on board had some years of experience under their belt. Still, it was a very green crew, and a lot of faces he was still getting to know.

At the back of the bridge, one of the hatches hissed open to admit Ambassador Jaya Kumara and her attendant, Najiv Hebbar.

The three SEC ships would move into a supportive role with the Omnicrusier ,as Charles and his soldiers prepared for what hoped to be an uneventful operation.

"Atlas to AXIS fleet we will hold with the Chzznt in an imperceptive role."

The term dead-space could simultaneously or separately mean a number of distinct things when the term was used by a native of Ayenee or Eden. The first and easiest to define was the area outside of any proper solar system, anywhere from one to one and one half light years from that system's center of gravity.

The term dead-space could also mean the area between galaxies as there is seldom enough energy present within these locations to allow life to prosper. These areas represent one of the most extreme environments known. The recent discovery of the Kraed twenty cycles ago caused the scientific community in Ayenee and Eden to rethink the defining characteristics of life and what was needed to support it. It also resulted in a greater proliferation of system inhibitors throughout the galaxy and the incursion alert system.

The last meaning relates to certain areas scattered around space in Ayenee and Eden that were unsuitable for inter-celestial, inter-stellar, or inter-galactic travel. In these places only conventional propulsion operates properly. These are sandbars that can leave ships marooned for years, decades, and even centuries. Only recently the strategic usefulness of these special areas had been discovered. Ancient acceleration gates, the precursors to the modern gates in Ayeene and Eden could catapult vessels, much like a slingshot, through this space and out of it. These dead-space pockets can then be used as remote safe houses or easily defensible pockets within even high security space. These pockets could also play havoc with sensors and faster than light communication.

Three frigates and a single cruiser exited warp in a tight formation with vibrant displays of bent light and vented heat as they landed on the grid and pealed off in a direction pointed to a distant star. They shortly came to a stop. The four pilots spoke on a secure communication network once they were back in formation. "Is fuath liom an cac. Déanann spás dorcha mo reáchtáil fola fuar. I hate this shit. Dead-space makes my blood run cold." One of the other pilots, a female quickly responded with a serious tone, "Sioc fan ansin. Stay frosty then." Another male spoke up in reply after a chuckle, "Í a choimeád daingean. Keep it tight."

Alric would open the communication channel back up after only a minute. "I am transmitting your route now. Follow it exactly. Your escort will adjust speed to keep with your slowest vessel." The route would come across as eight coordinates, breaking between some systems and also between them to make small changes in course. Some of the distances between coordinates were short, one only a single light year between two points and some were were much longer.

Provided the AXIS force did nothing that could be considered an act of aggression, their gate did not continue to deploy, and they had no questions Alric would speak again. "Godspeed."

While the Ryu-oh was plotting it's course once it received them from Alric, the Matokey and Taiyou Shogunate forces continued to secure their own wounded, as well as the CAID Ships while the Hyperspace continued to unfurl.

Taiyou Communications made note that the Gate would not be able to stop it's process until complete, unless it was destroyed and therefore would stand near the vicinity of the gate while they waited for it to be complete.

Yotsuga waved his hands over the controls of the Ryu-oh, unaware of the sandbars and other eddies that existed within the Galaxy. FTL Travel in Andromeda was relatively straightforward, done either through shipboard Hyperdrive, or hyperspace gates. All of which was heavily regulated by local governments.

----

Yotsuga reviewed the coordinates, and then he looked up to a large screen, his hands relaying the controls to the ship's central intelligence. The Ryu-oh would transmit them to the Rising Sun, and sync it's drives as it made the last checks for jump.

"Rising Sun, jump on my mark, I'm transmitting the set of coordinates now." Yotsuga said calmly, turning to survey the Taiyou crews going out to the wrecked hulks in Sudden Transports, and Yari Midget ships to tow what they could carry back through the gate.

The 'Chzznt itself remained relatively stationary, acknowledging the SEC Ships, while watching for more pirates.

"Jump on Ryu-oh's mark," Commander Nayar instructed the crew.

"Coordinates received, preparing to jump," Lieutenant Darzi called out.

Several other voices chimed out in succession through the bridge as jump preparations where completed, and the Rising Sun would vanish along with the Ryu-oh, leaving behind the vessels that had accompanied it upon its arrival.

Time: YC123
Region: Scalding Pass
Constellation: QI1M-Q
System: V-S9YY
Security: -0.13
Sovereignty: SOCO

They came out of the jump close to the fifth planet of the V-S9YY system. The blue and green globe below them floated beset on all sides by ribbons of vibrant red and orange colors. A pink sun shone brightly in the distance.

Scalding Pass is a vast stellar nursery, the birth place of stars. A harsh and unforgiving region of space home to violent ion storms and rocked by intense solar winds, the Pass is littered with the wrecks of ships that were blindsided by the unpredictable dangers this region holds.

The Ayen ships came out and into normal space just before those they were escorting and aligned for the next leg of the journey. "This is Scalding Pass.", said one of the pilots over a channel the fleet had been sharing. "We have a short hop and a course correction before we get to Curse. This will take us through a tight spot between some mean dead-space. Keep straight and do not stray. The fleet commander had to call in a favor to pull down Farit's inhibitor but be ready on your guns. The Cartel is not to be trusted.", warned the female SOCO pilot.

Brilliant flashes of light erupted off the vessels as they surged forward on the next leg of their journey. Not long after they left the orbit of that blue planet they would exit into normal space. There was no bright star here. The void surrounded them. This was the route that explorers had taken many eons ago before the creation of the gates. The pass consisted of a narrow choke point between two dead-space sandbars. It had been centuries since the natives had come this way. This was interstellar space between Scalding Pass and Curse.

The three SOCO frigates and the cruiser were the first to come into normal space. The rest would be right behind them. They were on edge and for good reason. The inhibitor activated behind them. There would be no going back.

Darkness surrounded them. The passing ships cut neat, narrow lines through the very epitome of emptiness - small, insignificant barges wading through an ocean of black space. The void echoed silently around them. There were no planets. No debris. The nearest system was lightyears away and the distant starlight in the canvassing darkness looked almost non-existent. Silence settled upon them - the symphony of the void - the utterly deafening sound of absolutely nothing.

They were right to fear.

It came without warning - a massive shockwave of relativistic energy. To the inhabitants of the ship, it would feel like an earthquake. It hit the convoy with monstrous force, pushing them on either side like a sailboat caught between opposing typhoons. Spacetime on their left and right flanks began to bend and warp into ungodly shapes. EMP pulses and radiation drenched them. Something was coming.

The Convoy continued to sail through space, with the Rising Sun, the Ryu-oh, and the Taiyou ship escorts, along with the SOCO ships.

The blackness of space surrounded the tiny specks of ships, imposing as a velvety blackness that silently stood, watching as if something was lurking in the darkness.

The relativistic explosion rocked the un-shielded Taiyou ships, shaking and causing them to buck about. Radiation shielding dampened most of the radiation, and hardened electronics helped with EMPs, but many taiyou ships found themselves affected.

Panic rang across a multitude of Taiyou ship bridges as the crew tried to stabilize their vessels, some of them losing power as a result of the EMPs and relativistic energies.

The shockwave however washed effortlessly over the Ryu-oh's shields, like water ebbing and flowing around a stone in a river, the Ryu-oh remained unaffected as Admiral Yotsuga watched a large holographic display, surrounded by the interior of the Ru-oh




Yotsuga frowned as he stepped back. He was going to ready his ship for battle. "Something is lurking out there..." He said, thinking that the ship would need to be ready for battle, which it responded by engaging it's shields, but with no visible weapon emplacements, one would wonder if it was armed at all.

"...but for all our purpose, we are tiny, ember-flecked sparks of stardust and ash
Flickering bravely, hopelessly in the undying night
Oh brief, foolish light that wanes dim in the shrouding dark
From nothing you have come, to nothing you shall return
Your color, your warmth, your passion
All lies. All breathless, beautiful lies
For where your gasping flame is smothered and snuffed
Oblivion will follow..." - Excerpt from Rakitin's 'Theopany'

The Solari call them the Ogdru Hem. In their religion they are the sons of the Ogdru Jahad, the dragon of their book of revelation. While the three Garmur class frigates and the single Onyx weathered the massive shockwave of relativistic energy, EMP pulses, and radiation like the Ryu-oh they knew from the stories. It is one thing to be able to stand in the presence, even in the awe of a great elder dragon or old god but something completely different to survive its assault. The battle hardened SOCO pilots already knew what it was.

"Align! Align! Align!", the female pilot shouted over the fleet channel. The Onyx broke off and started to burn for the shock waves origin point. "Adh mór. Good luck.", said a male voice. The alignment for the next destination set the fleet just two hundred kilometers off the shockwave origin and in line with a distant star. "Ná lig dóibh a ghlacadh tú beo Healy. Don't let them take you alive Healy.", said another male voice. "Ní bheidh mé. Téigh anois! I won't. Go now!"

...great globes of light massing toward the opening, and not alone these, but the breaking apart of the nearest globes, and the protoplasmic flesh that flowed blackly outward to join together and form that eldritch, hideous horror from outer space, that spawn of the blankness of primal time, that tentacled amorphous monster which was the lurker at the threshold, whose mask was as a congeries of iridescent globes, the noxious Ogdru Jahad, who froths as primal slime in nuclear chaos beyond the nethermost outposts of space and time! - The Scriptures, Book II, Apocalypse 34:6

---

Many millions of light-years away, in The Andromeda Galaxy...

It was about this day and at this time that Ayen ships first appeared in Taiyou Space and started to attack outlaying worlds, turning once fertile farming planets into ruined, cracked globes. No person living on those planets survived and those planets would not be alone in their fate. Over the course of the following days the attacks would continue. Any outlaying planet or outpost not defended with a force to repell the black-operations fleet would be attacked. Billions would die and once lush worlds would be reduced to smoldering, ash covered remnants that would never again be able to support life. This was only the beginning...

Spacetime moved in a tempest. Wormholes opened like cosmic-windows and gave glimpses into alien universes. Foreign galaxies spiraled across an empty void. Unnamed worlds formed and shaped before their eyes. Life took root. Technology and art flourished. Empires rose. Resources withered. Living things suffered and died. Stars exploded. Sentience died in spectacular apocalypse and oblivion ruled all. It was the history of existence in an instant. From nothing to nothing.

And then it came.

From a jagged tear in spacetime it lifted its leviathan head, a writhing mass of worms and scales, formless and hideous. Its body writhed and wriggled like a nest of insects, morphing and coagulating into geometric impossibilities. Claws thousands of miles long lifted into the black expanse of space in silent tribute to the void. A mouth large enough to swallow planets whole looked at the passing envoy as a dark-spirited child looks at a bird with a broken wing.

It roared, soundless and terrible. A wave of radiation and cosmic force careened into the envoy of ships, likely sending them spiraling out of control unless their ships were sufficiently stabilized. With wormholes frantically openening and closing on every side of them, there was no telling where they would end up if they lost control of their ship.

If they survived the blast, they would suddenly be assaulted by another force - gravity. The monster was as large as a planet. Its gravitational pull was crushing. The ships would find themselves pulled slowly but steadily toward the mass of the beast, wriggling worms from its body reaching out to snag any ship that strayed too close.