Agarran Magthulia's Story

In the dark and cold of the derelict vessel, where no living soul had tread, and fewer still had seen, what had been lifeless and cold and without power for eons, sparked to life. An ancient reserve of power, never used and never needed, after uncountable generations of having been left, abandoned, in the ice, was called upon to power the ship once more. The sensors activated, and the displays lit up. Upon them was no diagnostic, no map or any of the other various things that one would expect on an ancient vessels computers.

There was only a single line, a statement.

"Coordinates locked in, Tarragon Approaching."

Out of the aurora came a massive hunk of rock, or at least thats what it looked like. The object was roughly cone shaped, with a thicker front end than a back, and it moved through space as though it had been fired from a massive gun. It's heading was to the ice world of Cryo.

The structure was near a hundred kilometers in length, it was the color of slate and stone and rough surfaced. Near at it's front were three protrusions, like thorns on a rose. If it weren't for the equilateral distance of these protrusions from each other, you would think the whole thing simply some massive meteorite or perhaps the fragment of a planet. But it was too ordered, too unnaturally natural for it to be anything aside from artifice.

"Such is the nature of it's designers, that all they made is natural in appearance, yet unnatural in occurrence and existence." Mused Agarran Magthulia, the Commander of the Akorn "Atru Van Dalu dor nakt Vashun". Called Vashun's Key for short, it is a massive colonization vessel of the Tarragon Collective, the unnatural meteorite that hurtled through space to Cryo.

Agarran himself lay in his chambers, an Valuntur resting in one hand as he inspected the goings of his ship, as well as the paths they would take, the plan upon arrival, and any number of things he had to sort through. Cryo's Position in the Aurora made it a value to The Tarragon Collective, though little else of the planet was of any value to anyone else. It was cold, inhospitable, and desolate.

All qualities that suited Dragons just fine.

Agarran considered for a moment, then directed the valuntur to Aschen Space and inspected it. Of course it was highly likely that the Aschen would engage the Colonization efforts. They were too proud not to, and even if the planet of Cryo was of absolutely no value to them, they'd still try and prevent it's taking simply as a matter of course.

He then turned rotated through what Intel on the Aschen empire the Collective was able to obtain, it was meager enough. It was known they are an advanced civilization, the use of firearms and heavy weapons was apparent. They were also strong in matters against magic and psionics. Should the Aschen choose to engage the Solaci, it could very well become drawn out enough to require the use of Agnur Domina. That would be embarassing Agarran thought to himself, Especially after so many successful conquests.

Agarran send a command to the helm, confirming the destination and procedure. The Akorn, appearing all the world like a massive meteorite, both natural in appearance, yet unnatural in it's existence, continued to the planet of Cryo.

Big Brother is always watching...

As the alien colonization ship moved through the black void of space towards the planet Cryo, the lone Aschen watchtower situated in a Lagrangian point was tracking it's every move.

Several pairs of eyes became instantly affixed to the massive tracking display in front of them, and the Watchtower Commander, an old man by the name of Golan Jarlath watched intently, before he puffed on his pipe, the fumerello smoke wafting in thin wisps in front of him.



"Signal the fleet." Jarlath ordered, turning away from the display and back to his officers. "Track the trajectory of that object, and signal the nearest garrison to intercept." He ordered, and his officer replied with a crisp salute.

Jarlath slowly turned to face the screen once more, as the Aschen War machine opened up one eager eye, and turned it on Cryo.

---

The Athos, an Imperious Class Command Carrier was the first ship to respond, as it had been the closest. Running a cordon in a nearby sector that was rumored to be a haven for pirates, she was able to make a quick jump from her assigned sector, to Cryo in a scant twenty minutes.

Winking into view, it slowly settled it's position in Geosynchronous orbit above the planet, tracking the alien ship's trajectory.

Commander Aeryn Murios watched in silence as the Command Carrier settled into position, it's escort of six Hastati class cruisers, four Athena class missile carriers, and the Solar Wyvern, an Iconoclast Battleship moved into position, using trajectories being calculated through the datalink, the small flotilla of vessels formed a loose net, with the Command Carrier at it's center.

Aeryn pondered the next course of action, the strange object must not be allowed to land on the planet, so that left her with one choice.

"Colonel..." She called out.

"Give word to the cannons; make ready and fire!"

The Athos' massive Frag Cannon batteries slowly lined up on the ship's axis, while precise measurements were being calculated.

Each of the six three-barrel frag Cannon batteries loaded their ordinance, a massive ferric-tungsten projectile that was accelerated to near relativistic velocities, which would impart planet-cracking amounts of kinetic energy on a target.

The Iconoclast Battleships and the Hastati cruisers followed suit, triangulating short, and long range armaments.

"This is Watchtower to Command Carrier, be advised Planck packs are online and charging, bring your reinforcements in before we lock down the system."

In a bit of pride, Commander Murios chuckled.

"This will be an easy fight."

A single sound, like the peal of a church bell, disturbed Agarran from his contemplations. He picked himself up off the ground and made his way out of his den to the primary command center of the Akorn, a massive sphere shaped room wherein Canturs and Marnols were at work with the many control, navigation, and mapping systems that controlled the vessel.

Report Agarran gave the mental command to his subordinates, who immediatly responded with images of the aschen vessel.

Hmmm, it has a curious shape doesn't it. He mused as he watched identifiers marking external weapons on the Aschen ship, he noted with mild interest that the identifiers indicated that the same weapons were being armed.. I doubt they will listen, primitive brutes that they are, but try and send a hail to them. Remember to send the signal along either a radio or electromagnetic spectrum, otherwise their technology won't read it.

His subordinates leaped to the order, sending a ceasefire signal across multiple channels. The Akorn itself did not stop in it's movement, but reoriented itself so that it's front was facing the Aschen vessel.

Three battle ships of Imperium make flashed into the sector they where soon followed in by ten ships of Aschen make the ships sent no hails and it was clear they where powering up weapons and shields.

On the Bridge of The Sacred Flame the largest of the Imperium ships a Lich named Kolvin watched "prepare to destroy this Aschen scum all imperium ships open fire...Aschen ships stand down make them think you are the help...for now."

The Imperium ships opened fire on the true Aschen with no warning or hail they ment to overwhelm the Aschen.

Commander Murios watched the approaching vessel quietly on her displays, when a communications officer turned. "They're broadcasting a ceasefire signal. I've also got confirmation that the first fleet is en-route."

Nodding slowly, she cleared her throat. "Send hostile challenge and ID, standard protocol."

With a curt nod, the Comms officer turned and picked up the communications receiver, broadcasting a hail on multiple channels.

"Attention unidentified vessel, this space is under the dominion of the United Aschen Empire; your unauthorized contravention of our borders is currently being construed as an act of aggression; identify yourselves and state your intentions, or we will fire upon you."

At that moment the Command Carrier shuddered from weapons impacts, her shields flaring brilliantly in protest as the unidentified ships jumped in.

"They're Imperial, but no valid IFF Signatures. The XO reported. "The others seem to belong to the Imperium of Man."

Growling, Commander Murios barked her next set of orders. "Bring us about! Full military thrust! Activate the recall protocols on those Aschen ships, and destroy the Imperium ships!"

Slowly, the Command Carrier reoriented it's position along with two of the Hastati class cruisers. The opposing Aschen ships, would likely suddenly begin to experience technical difficulties, glitches in firing control, shields fluctuating, until suddenly they would shut down, and refuse any inputs from their crew, like flipping a switch, the Aschen ships would shut down and become unresponsive to their crews, leaving them vulnerable.

The Imperial Ships were next, as the Command Carrier unleashed a volley of projectiles that were originally intended for the strange ship, each massive frag-slug careened through the void of space, and upon impact, would impart enough sheer kinetic energy to single-handedly overload void shields, as was demonstrated against the forces of the Crimson Slaughter when they attacked the Cosmora Archipelago.

Considering an entire volley was launched, the Imperial cruisers in the Command Carrier's line of fire would likely suffer withering damage from the initial salvo, while the Hastati cruisers jumped away, winking in among the likely now disabled Aschen ships, they were beginning to prepare Marine strike teams to retake the stolen vessels, and kill all those aboard.

Agarran blinked as what appeared to be an entire fleet shock jumped into the sector, and then opened fire on the aschen vessels. He peered closely at the screen, and in response to his will it zoomed on the new ships. Some of them are Aschen, but others are different.... A query came to him from one of his underlings, and he responded.

A new signal was broadcast, a message that sounded like nothing so much as deep resonant chords struck on several piano's at once, along with similiar musical sounds forming an orchestral piece that, if one was imaginative enough, quite actually sounded like a unique form of speech. Alongside this audible message was a text based one, in case the first message was indecipherable to the recievers. It read as follows.

I am Agarran Magthulia, Escion Commander of the Akorn Atru Van Dalu dor nakt Vashun. I mean no offense, nor do I believe it is necessary, but I offer assistance in dealing with your assailants. If you accept, we shall engage targets you indicate to us in the manner of your kind, if you do not, we shall await patiently to engage negotiations with you.

There... hopefully that won't be seen as too... rude, to them. In that same moment he gave several commands which, due to the psychic nature of the draconid species, were received and responded to at the speed of thought, near instantanously the forward motion of the Akorn ceased, and at the same time many gemstone like objects located across it's hull began to glow with a soft blue light, preparation of the weapons system to fire.

The Aschen would find that the recall protocols had no effect on the former Aschen ships. They may be dead but they weren't dumb enough not to have removed such systems years ago. So the Aschen ships that winked within them got the unpleasant surprise of being fired upon by the ships they thought disabled.
Meanwhile the Imperium ships pushed forward seemly not caring about damage as they increased to ramming speed guns blazing all the way towards the Main Aschen ships.
One of the Imperium ships opened to reveal it had been repurposed as a giant carrier. Swarms of fighters of all kinds launched forth using their speed to harass the Aschen ships and nick away at their shields as the larger ships closed in.

The problem with the Aschen recall having no effect on these ships, would require whoever managed to commandeer them, to dismantle key systems without triggering the self destruct, a tedious and often specialized process that required the skill set and the command codes belonging to those who originally constructed the ships. It was a system hard wired into every Aschen ship and impossible to remove without completely gutting the ship's systems and utilizing only the ship's hull and chassis.

Thusly did the recall system begin to take effect among the Aschen ships, and those that somehow didn't take to the recall, automatically began to self destruct, which meant these commandeered Aschen ships began to self terminate in brilliant explosions, as dormant code hard-wired into the very computer systems the ships depended upon came to life.

So the moment the Recall systems were somehow rendered inoperable, the Aschen ships among the strange fleet simply exploded in brilliant flashes of white, sending debris in all directions. This left the Imperial ships alone, to endure another withering salvo from the Command Carrier.

"Prepare the second volley! Be quick!" The Commander ordered.

"Sir! Incoming message from the aliens, they're offering to render assistance!"

Growling, Commander Murios nodded. "Send a reply, tell them to pick their targets and engage, we'll discuss their compensation when this battle comes to a close."

Nodding the communications officer sent a reply to the strange Tarragon vessel.

"You've been given weapons free, pick your targets and engage, if you assist us, you will be rewarded."

Agarran licked his chops as the response was received and projected across the mental link. He then smiled at the mention of a reward.

As ever, these primitives think of giving us gems and gold, never realizing the true bounty lays before them in all it's grandeur

At that, the blue glowing gemstones scattered across the surface of the Akorn lit up with a terrible bloody red light, and all at once a series of crystaline orbs, thousands upon thousands, were floating in the space surrounding the Akorn. These all flashed once, and then were rendered into a series of beams that lanced towards and through the imperium vessels, like needles and thread they wove about and through and among the imperium vessels. Void shields were completely useless against the attack, if any were even still active to speak of, as the beams that lanced through the vessels were not only weaving through the ships, but were weaving through the physical and nonphysical planes as well.

This attack, that tore through the thickest plates of armor, and what it couldn't penatrate it simply phased through, was coordinated, though it seemed little more than madness. The beams would first make their way through the weapon systems, obliterating cannons and launchers, before moving on through critical systems such as the engines, life support, hanger bay, and bridge.

After the beams had threaded themselves throughout the vessel, they would vanish, taking with them the surrounding matter as they deatomized.

The end result would be a quite satisfyingly disabled series of ships, which the aschen could board and deal with as they wished, should that be their choice.

As the former Aschen ships had years before been taken and striped of any recalls or self destruct systems and now ran on ghost power there where no blown up ships. But the Undead had wasted enough time here and their ships faded away almost as if they where an illusion gone forever from the system before the dragon beams could even reach them.

With the odd incursion swiftly dealt with, the Aschen could finally turn their attention to the strange alien vessel that still remained, again the query was set and Commander Murios waited in silence.

"We appreciate the assistance, and will be willing to hear your requests for compensation, however the fact remains. This space is under the control of the United Aschen Empire. You have proven yourselves at least somewhat non-hostile for the moment; we still need to ascertain why you have come here. Therefore we ask you state your intentions here."

Murios listened intently to her bridge officer as he communicated to the strange alien vessel; behind the scenes, a second bridge officer was signalling for reinforcements, in the event things did not go well.

The massive vessel's weapons began to power down, as evidenced by the fading glow of the gems scattered across it's surface. This was done mostly to further show Agarran's nonhostile intent.

Agarran himself was contemplating what to do from here. On the one hand he had been given express permission to use whatever force was necessary to secure the colony on Cryo, on the other, he truly did not feel like getting embroiled in a conflict that would undoubtedly last for many, many, many thousands of years. He could request his father's deployment to the sector, but he really didn't want to listen to that old beast lecture him once again upon strategic maneuvering and tactical variety.

On the other hand, the Aschen fleet was present and would undoubtedly see his Akorn's colonization as hostile. More than likely they had some sort of base or colony of their own located on the planet itself, and the Akorn's process would most likely obliterate that, and that would not be good. Adding to this was the fact, as he learned from his subordinates via their telempathic link, that the lead vessel was sending deep space communications, probably calling reinforcements.

This annoyed Agarran, though he understood the reasoning. They had just seen the Akorn's Defense system in action, and no doubt they had deduced it's ability to decimate large vessels with relative ease. Agarran even supposed they would have come to the conclusion that it wasn't a single target specific weapon either, or at the least he doubted their commander had ruled out the Akorn's ability to decimate an entire fleet, at least the current one. And so the best course of action, the one Agarran would have taken, was to call for reinforcements to increase the number of targets and thereby increase the drain on the weapons power.

The reason this annoyed Agarran was because it was an all too effective strategy. Indeed the weapons system had already been powered down to redirect energy to the phasing field. And with that in place, the Aschen weapons would be rendered useless, they'd never even come near the Akorn, as the Phasing field acted as a sort of shaped wormhole. The Aschen fleet could fire anything at the Akorn, but the Akorn would be completely unnaffected, as everything that went into the phasing field passed into a different phase of reality, one where the Akorn was not present. This defense made the Akorn essentially untouchable, but had the annoying drawback of restricting the Akorn from doing anything at all.

The result: a stalemate that could essentially last forever, or until the Aschen empire fell apart. Agarran wondered if he could afford to wait that long.... No, the aschen government was totalitarian, which made it effecient and long lived. It could be millions of years before it even began to decay. Too long a delay to be seemly before the court.

Well, that only left Agarran with one discourse. Diplomacy.

He shuddered at that.

Once more the melodious signal was sent to any active receiver, underlying it was of course the translation, which read as follows.

"The Authority of your government is recongnized, therefore I shall respect your demands and explain my presence. I am Agarran Magthulia, Escion kithid in charge of this Akorn. I have been sent by the Tarragon Collective, the governing body of my people, with the express purpose of Colonizing worlds. The collective has designated this world, the one you call Cryo, as my next assignment. As such, I intend to Teraform and Colonize that planet in order to make it habitable for my species."

"Understandbly, this may be undesirable to you, however I can assure you allowing me to proceed with my task could be more benaficial to your government than would otherwise seem. If you have the Authority to Negotiate on behalf of your government, it would be my pleasure to invite an envoy of yours aboard my Akorn to make arrangements for resolution of this situation, and the betterment of our respective civilizations."

Those inside the Command Carrier's CIC were understandably perturbed at the message that followed, there was an overbearing silence as the creature's message played on the speakers.

Murios simply watched the displays, shaking her head, they were coming to take this world from the Aschen; this was a demonstration, some kind of trick. Perhaps it was to buy time, either way the protocol was clear.

The Aschen Empire would sooner obliterate Cryo rather than allowing an alien civilization to gain a foothold so deep in their space.

This was a lot of weight on the Commander's shoulders, and Murios could see the merit in delaying these creatures in talks while preparations were made to remove them.

They seemed confident, but Murios knew the Aschen held the cards.


The Aschen fleet before the Akorn was but a fraction of their combined military might, the Command Carrier a mere taste of the might they could bring against the Tarragon.

"Agarran of the Tarragon Collective, I am Commander Aeryn Murios, please understand that there would be very little to benefit my people by merely surrendering this world for your colonization, allowing you to obliterate whatever settlements are upon this world. It's a rather large, and somewhat unrealistic proposal to think we would simply allow this to happen. I will forward your requests for negotiation to my government, but it will take some time for them to consider your proposal. In the meantime, I would gladly forward you star charts of planets that are close to Cryo's parameters, outside of Aschen space."

She frowned, which only deepened when the realization set in, she had to buy time for the rest of the reinforcements to arrive, with a brief gesture, a large display erupted before her, while several officers worked to transmit the message back to the main fleet in the Gaelian System, and the Ministry of Defense.

It was turning to be a very long day.

The Process of even beginning to negotiate the surrender of a planet was a long, unrealistic one. Ceding territories required a unanimous quorum vote, a unanimous Parliament vote, and consent from the Emperor.

The circumstances would have to vastly benefit the Empire, and be of strategic and geopolitical importance. Even for a backwater planet like Cryo, it was still an Aschen possession, one they would defend with the full might of their military capabilities.

Agarran sat back on his haunches while he contemplated the Aschen reponse and formulate his own reply. Of course he had expected their commander to be extremely resistant to the idea of allowing their colonization, but he was quite pleased that the immediate response had not come in the form of weapons fire.

Clearly their commander is of a greater intelligence than the usual prospects... or perhaps our intel is not as current as we thought.... Musings for later.

He frowned suddenly as his subordinates once again discovered transmissions into deeper Aschen Territory. He sighed then, realizing what the commander was playing at.


Once more, a signal was transmitted.

"Primarily, allow me to dissuade you from the use of negotiations as a delaying tactic while you signal for reinforcements. You have not witnessed it yet, but my Akorn's defense systems place us outside of your phase of space, you quite literally could not touch us no matter how many ships you have present. This defense system also prevents us from either firing or relocating while it is up, but that is not of consequence for me. My species is quite immortal, and I am very much capable of waiting through several millenia of negotiations."

This first segment was accompanied by a musical note that was quite obviously a sound of irritation and aggravation.

"Secondly, I can assure you that whatever settlements you have in place need not be decimated by our colonization. Measures can be taken to allow us to terraform the planet while also leaving your established presence entirely untouched. I refer again to our defense system, a technology i am fully authorized to present to you as a gift.

In addition, your governments authority, as I sated before, is already recognized, thus the establishment of this colony would in no way mean the surrender of the planet. I believe the term your species use is... rented? Something of that nature. The point being that, once the colony is established and self sufficient, the Tarragon Collective will relinquish control of the colony and it's denizens to you.

And as a final note, you were just witness to the firepower held by a civilian colony vessel, a defensive turret. With that in mind, imagine the power of our warships. The benifits of a military alliance between your government and the Tarragon Collective are quite a deal more substantial than you may believe, I assure you.

Again, Invite you to send an envoy for more fluid and direct negotiations."

Agarran Magthulia curled and lay in as comfortable a position within his ship as he could. There had yet to be a response from the opposing forces, though their weapons remained in ready state. Agarran sighed inwardly, and the grumbling discontent of his mind translated across his subordinates, driving them to greater degrees of efficiency, mostly out of fear of having that discontent taken out on them.

In the end, Agarran could only wait for the reinforcements of the aschens fleet to arrive, little difference they would make. The Collective could and would willingly remain in that sector for eons if it had to. Such waiting was necessary at times, for them to set about to the task to which they were made for, the raising of colonies for their people to propagate within.

It had been weeks, months even since the initial contact was made between these alien vessels. The Aschen Fleet remained stationed in orbit, un-moving despite all that was going on back in the Empire.

The only thing that changed, was the Command Carrier transmitting a message to the Akorn.

It was a set of coordinates for a vast, uninhabited patch of ice fields on Cryo, and a laundry list of conditions.

Murios followed up with a voice transmission. "The Quorum of the Empire has reached a vote, and have opted to allow you to settle this world provided you do not settle any further worlds controlled by the Empire; secondly they have asked you share your weapons technology, and provide for the defense of this province." Murios hailed.

"When it has been deemed that we can trust you, the Emperor will send an envoy to cement further diplomatic contact with your people..." The Commander continued, as the Imperial fleet began to slowly move out of position.

"Those are our terms, and they are non-negotiable."

Agarran sat silently in thought, perusing the information as it was presented. The fact that the fleet began to move out of position lended itself to the truth of their statements.

Not an unreasonable set of conditions. The offer of weapons technology was already presented, so it makes sense that they would accept. Defense of the province was, again, going to be a given anyway. Theres a few other things that need to be cleared up first though before we proceed, but that shouldn't be any hindrance. The dragon mused to himself, giving orders to his crew. The Akorn shimmered, as the phase shift was disabled, and began slowly moving towards Cryo. As it did, a message in their fashion was sent back to Murios. In the signal was an Audio File.

"Your Terms are accepted, but two points of clarification are needed. First, are we given leave to teraform the planet, or only to forge a colony. Either case is acceptable to us, however some preperations will be needed for Teraformation, both on our end and on yours. Secondly, we willingly agree to share our weapons technology, however it's function and use may be inaccessible due to your species physical limitations. To circumvent this, we offer a consultant to serve as liason, to better explain and demonstrate the function and use of our technology, and to assist in it's adaptation for your purposes and intent. This consultant, as well as several functioning weapons, will be awaiting retrieval by your representatives upon our arrival to the planet."

After the message was sent, the Akorn continued on it's way to Cryo, Agarran laying his head upon his forelegs as he hummed to himself. The bump in the road had been navigated, and now things could proceed as normal.

"You are relegated to the region of the planet highlighted in the coordinates we sent you." Murious clarified. "You may not make any attempts to terraform the planet, or to expand your colony beyond the borders we have set fourth; to do so would result in unfortunate consequences for both of us." Murios replied.

"I will relay your approval to my superiors, and they will dispatch an envoy to meet with your people in person, to finalize our agreement; additionally we will remain here to supervise your efforts."

Agarran nodded silently, and the Akorn proceeded to the planet of Cryo, the coordinates recieved and designated to his crew. As it passed by the Aschen Cordon, they would discern no visible thrust or propulsion system, the whole vessel really did look like nothing more than a long, rough surfaced, gem covered spear of rock that nevertheless proceeded smoothly towards the planet.