Tahir Bhandari's Story

Tahir was unable to stem the woman's struggles, or her panic and in the end he was forced to relinquish her to a pair of men who took hold of her arms to draw her away towards the as of yet, still healthy Xupra.

He caught his brother, Bandar, by the arm as the younger avorian was moving past.

"Find someone who can speak their tongue, and try to find that woman's family," he told Bandar. "And get them split into small groups and have them limit exposure with each other until we can separate the sick from the healthy."

"Uh... sure thing. Also by our estimates, it looks like at least six of them got out of town on us. Avantia's sending more men to help search the countryside and round them up."

Tahir nodded briefly before moving on. He didn't pay any notice the Binxo's shouts as he moved on to continue corralling the Xupra.

"You need to stay where you are," a nurse spoke up as she joined Binx'o. She was a young human woman, a local from the village who had volunteered to help with the refugees. "We'll get someone over to move you as soon as they can to limit any further exposure, but for now, just try to stay calm. You just got out of a major surgery, you need to rest."

The Emperor sighed, looking at his advisers, who looked like they were ready to shoot themselves. He knew that a lot of the officers in the all the services would be lost as they held secrets that could not going into their hands. He turned to his closed adviser and swallowed, "Destroy every weapons project within the next day. Nothing is to be found." He whispered before looking at the Taiyou Emperor. "And what will happen once the Cybran Nation Surrenders? Hm? You slaughter us by the millions, or even billions. And then you let the Old Order take over again. We are the only ones with experience with such an enemy. The lapdogs of the Old Order will slaughter everyone. Even yourself is given that chance. I am no liar. I have seen what they did single handedly. They slaughtered millions! I was not the leader of them! I want nothing to do with them! The Cybran Nation itself was founded out of their ruins. Their leaders are war criminals! You seen what they did on Terra. We come to support you people and you throw it back in our faces. Let me tell you one thing. They will be back. If you people hadn't arrived here when you did, we would currently be fighting the major stronghold of theirs. But while we sit here and talk about this rubbish we have no such chance." He snapped completely, struggling to stand onto his feet, "You sit here and let millions be slaughtered. The Cybran Military has better things to do." He turned to his adviser again and nodded. The order was given.

HDS Firebrook

"Sir, we have a transmission from the Admiral."
"Put it up then."
"It's for your eyes only."
"Send it to me then."

++Transmission received++
Execute Order Six Hundred and Sixty Five. All units are to continue moving to the Old Order Stronghold, attack then await for further orders.
++Transmission Ended++

"Get all units to push towards the Old Order Stronghold. We are to attack then once the battle is won, destroy all the vessels."
"Sir."

Space around the Chemias System

The entire Cybran Navy's fleet started to move away from the area it had been in, forcing it's way towards the Taiyou ships before jumping into the Hyperwarpium. Within a matter of seconds, the entire fleet had disappeared bar one ship. HDS Peguas.

Kilum listened to the outburst and the talks quietly mulling over what had been said. This was turning heated and he didn't like where this was going. They needed this surrender to happen swiftly and to avoid any further bloodshed. Kilum was about to speak when he recieved a message viva his comm.

"Cybran Military forces are on the move ." A cool robotic voice stated into his ear.

Kilum stood and looked at the Cybran Emeror directly. "Emperor, I do not believe you understand the severity of your situation. The more you resist these terms the worse your situation is going to become. If your Military does not cease all operations immediately we will be forced to use force to stop them. If you have fears about your safety we will provide proper military defense in their place. The SEC military will not tolerate this behavior and will engage if you do not reverse that order. " Kilum said staring the man down.

"You will accept full surrender to all parties here and your military will cease all operations. Once this is done we can begin a discussion on providing defense for your territory. I think I speak for all parties involved when I say you have lets say thirty seconds to surrender or we will resume military action to disarm your people. Once you surrender we will protect you from the old order." Kilum said glancing at the others. He knew that this was brash but he needed to give them one final chance after this all bets were off.

Having been helpfully directed towards what would be a temporary hospital, Enoch thanked the Xupra and began move off in that direction. However, he was almost immediately interrupted by another individual, whose speech was of a strange tongue. And so, Enoch used the same method as he had but a moment ago, pressing into the mind of the other to discern the thoughts. And the man's thoughts were an explanation of the situation (of which Enoch was already well aware), followed by in inquiry as to his purpose here.

"I was sent here by the Father," he responded to the man in Caelestic, though he knew the man couldn't possibly know the tongue. He accompanied the words with thoughts of their meaning, allowing the man to comprehend him. "I am here to lend aid unto the children. Thou needst not concern thyself for my duties or my welfare, sir. I cannot succumb to the plagues of the mortals. It is, in part, why I was sent."

He glanced over toward the building that the Xupra indicated for him.

"If thou wouldst allow me, I would see to the aid of those in need."

He then waited patiently for the man's decision.

The Emperor slammed his hand into the table. "We do not need your protection. We can do it ourselves, which is why the Fleet is now away out of the system to deal with the Old Order threat. You want to see the difference between the Two Orders? I will give you cords, but apart from that I will sign this document. But you leave my people alone. I can not speak for all the Cybran Military and civilians. But I will surrender. If my people start attacking you, it is not my fault. Let me just tell you that now."

"The Matriarch says that it is not about what you need," Shanthi spoke up as Avantia weighed in on the matter. There was a bite to the Matriarch's words that was recognizable even as she spoke in the foreign Volarian tongue while Shanthi repeated them in a calmer tone. "Nor is it about what we are offering you, but instead it is about what we are telling you. She says that you seem to be under some illusion that this is for your benefit. She says that you have attacked her people, and killed her men. Millions have died as a result of your rampant disregard for peace. She says that the Old Order will be dealt with in due time for their actions, but that if you do not comply with the terms of an unconditional surrender, cease all military movements immediately, and prepare for the disarmament of your fleets that there is only one course left to us."

The Cybran Emperor had only moments left to retract his orders before his fleet jumped away and likely provoked the Taiyou to re-engage the Cybrans on the battlefield, if the fleet managed to successfully jump out of the system at all with the Taiyou and UDW militarie breathing down its neck. That is, if it wasn't too late already to prevent the Taiyou from moving on the Cybrans once more. Avantia remained unaware of the exact specifications of Cybran military movement as she had not been privy to the transmission sent, and had only Kilum's words to formulate her assumption off.

The Cybran Emperor swallowed and turned to his advisers, "Stop the order." He snapped. He looked around, taking the document and signed it. "I will speak for my people, but I can not grantee that my people will not attack you."

It was Tahir who spoke then, having remained silent until now.

The Cybran Emperor's whisper might have gone unnoticed by Avantia and the rest of the room, but it would take more than whispers to conceal his actions from the avorian male. It wasn't with words that Tahir spoke, but his thoughts were telepathically projected to everyone within the room, save for the Cybrans.

There was no anger in his like there had been within Avantia's, and he informed them of the Emperor's intentions with a neutral calm.

'The Emperor has already given his associate the order to destroy their records by tomorrow,' his voice echoed. 'Now that they have formally surrendered, I urge that we move to prevent any further communications from leaving this ship before that order can be passed on to another. I also urge that we move immediately to seize their military assets and bases before they can destroy any evidence.'

Agency Director Rebekah Issane, quite experienced in receiving information in such a matter, took Tahir's words to heart, plying her own abilities with practiced skill, disrupting the electrical field of the very room's edges with extreme distortion and static in the wake of the belayed order, more than sufficient to completely corrupt any further transmissions from the Cybran contingent, drumming her fingers on the table before her, intentionally letting sparking arcs of psionic electricity hiss and spit between the surface and the digits. Where Killigan's primary trait was one of charismatic leadership, Rebekah's dominating feature was her psionic mastery, to which her political skills were secondary.

"You test our collective patience, Emperor. What is the point in this exercise if your own people will not respect your word as their most supreme power?"

The fingers drummed once again. "At this point, surrender has been established. Those of your people who do not acknowledge it will be destroyed, despite the blood already shed, be they Old or New Order. Of those of us at this table, the faction I represent was one of your potential allies during this period, but the callousness with which you cast your power has ended that leniency. Do I make the standpoint of the United Dark Worlds very, very clear?"

Also on board the carrier stood two other figures distanced from the Taiyou officers. Daisuke Nakamura and Aiko Mizushima, Losenji Generals of the Sky and Sea respectively, were present to witness their allies in action. Like the Volarians, they too had come with a show of force to accompany the exercise. Though their military was far less advanced than that of the Taiyou and Volarians, they did possess assets that neither did. Alongside the Avorian pilots soared the glimmering forms of Losenji Dragon Riders, casting flames of all colours down at the android infantry, along with the magical ordinance of their specially trained riders.

The Losenji Navy was largely absent from the battle, as were its airships, due to their relative primitiveness compared to their counterparts amongst their allies' forces. The Losenji forces present largely consisted of their magical support units, those that channeled the currents of the ocean and the movements of the sky to keep the weather and tides favourable for their allies, and those that would bring the wrath of the spirits to bear on their foes on land.

"It is more than time that we embraced the technology of our neighbours." Aiko noted as she watched the devastating barrage from the Taiyou ships released at the Trireme. "We have long desired to make our own progress, rather than be propped up by our allies, but it is foolish to not embrace the advancements they could grant us."

Daisuke gave the stern Admiral a sidelong glance. "Perhaps. Our magic would not stand against the technological superiority of the TNG were they to target us. The Empress seems more willing than her predecessor to listen to such counsel."

Aiko nodded. "She will need to be if we wish to remain relevant on the world stage."

"I think perhaps that is exactly what she does not wish," Daisuke noted, "As it stands, we are incredibly easy to overlook. If we join the arms race, then we become a threat."

"We cannot rely on being overlooked for the security of our nation, General."

"Of course."

Nobuo remained quietly seated on his throne as the Allies of the Taiyou Empire carried out his will against the Cybrans. They were swiftly kept from issuing their order.

"If your people attack us, they will be put down like dogs." Nobuo said sternly, shortly before a single Imperial adviser approached and whispered something in the Emperor's ear, causing his expression to visibly change.

"Perhaps.... we should take an immediate recess from these negotiations. You have your terms for the Cybrans, it is suggested you act upon them." He said, slowly moving from his throne.

"Admiral Yamamoto, assemble your fleet and take it to Sol where you will await further orders."

It seemed something had happened that immediately grabbed the Emperor's attention.

"These meeting is concluded." Nobuo said sharply, before he turned to Rebekah and Avantia.

"If you two could accompany me aboard my ship, I'm afraid I have... some urgent news."

As Nobuo prepared to leave, Shimizu turned to Tahir and the Imperial Warriors in the room. His expression also changing to one of accusation.

"Seize the Cybran Emperor and place him in custody. Ensure all records of Cybran atrocities are preserved, and no communication from Cybran High Command leaves this area without my personal review and approval." The Prince ordered, and the Imperial Warriors almost immediately readied their weapons.

"You understand your actions constitute yet another breach of the peace, and will not be tolerated."

A short time later, several more ships arrived as they blinked into existence among the Taiyou and AXIS ships. While the majority of the ships appeared to be Taiyou in make, the largest among the new arrivals was a first of its kind. A Volarian capital ship. The carrier measured in at about sixteen kilometers in length, and the hull of the ship was an elegant and streamline design that contrasted it from the rougher look of the Taiyou ships that accompanied it.

A hybridization of Terran, Volarian, Taiyou and UDW concepts had produced a graceful ship that was both hardy, and possessing of the aesthetic flair that the Volarian people where known for.

Its internal systems where largely Volarian in make, with heavy usage of Volarian crystal throughout the ships systems, but their AI systems had been refined through their dealings with the UDW. Their weapons systems too where undergoing somewhat of an evolution as the need for projectile based weaponry was on the rise, and though they hadn't forsaken their traditional Volarian crystal in their outfitting of the Volarian ship, it possessed a broader spectrum of weaponry than was typically found among the Volarian military.

---

"We ran into some trouble with our FTL," Commander Aagam Nayar informed the gathering AXIS forces over the comm device within the bridge of the carrier.

Of course the ship would suffer hiccups on its maiden voyage, Commander Nayar thought with a grimace. It had been an honor to be selected to take up command of the Rising Sun, an honor which he was resolved to uphold. Military ran in his blood, and he was the fifth generation of his family to serve in the Volarian navy. That they had encountered technical difficulties before they had even arrived within Ayenee had left the man's mood soured.

"We're running diagnostics on it to make sure everything is a go," he added.

They had got their FTL back online, but he didn't want to be caught out here a galaxy away from home without running a full diagnostic on it.

---

Najiv walked down the halls of the Rising Sun in search of the Ambassador, Jaya Kumara. After what had occurred in Cybran space, Avantia had been insistent upon the presence of the Volarian ship in accompanying the AXIS ships to Ayenee. Furthermore, she had selected an Ambassador from the royal family itself to act in her stead within the foreign region of the Onyx Galaxy.

Najiv was a relatively new attendant within the Volarian royal palace, and it had been something of a shock that he had been asked to accompany Jaya on this voyage. He had never been away from the capital before, and truthfully he was a bit apprehensive and uneasy about the whole matter, but he had dutifully departed the city of Volary without complaint.

Weeks on the Rising Sun hadn't left him any closer to learning his way around the ship though, and the Ambassador's location proved elusive for the time being.

---

Tahir lay in his bunk in the small living quarters that had been provided for him and the few other members of the royal guard who had accompanied the Ambassador on her voyage.

It wasn't a particularly large room, and the bunks where stacked uncomfortably close with one on top of the other to make the most of the space available. Personal belongings consisted of whatever one could fit in a small box on their bunks. It was somewhat constrictive for the avorian passengers who where accustomed to spacious rooms and open skies, but he didn't particularly mind the living arrangements, and for the time being he was occupying himself with a book.

It was a classic that followed the journey of a young Volarian in his quest for the ancient dragon of the Shénshèng Mountains, Kunlong. He hadn't read it since he was a boy, but with little to occupy the time during the weeks on the Rising Sun, he had turned to reading to pass the days. It was one of several he had brought with him.

Alric did not appear impressed or surprised at the appearance of other ships, how they came, or what they looked like. There was some small chatter behind him but nothing that could be discerned.

There were still enemy ships on the grid even after the CAID carriers had been destroyed. The SOCO carriers started to align off as cruise missiles exited warp tunnels in a steady stream to detonate with tremendous explosive force against targeted CAID battleship hulls. Rainbow waved fronts started to form at the bow of each CAID ship that remained on the field. "Micri-léim tiomáint! Micro-jump drives!", said a woman behind Alric. He just nodded and replied in a disgruntled tone. "Is ea. Tá siad ag dul chun éalú. Yes. They are going to escape."

His eyes lifted to the communication screen. "We would prefer that you did take them home as this is our sovereign space now. I can only guess at the reason they attacked. They saw a target of opportunity. They are pirates. That is what they do but it may be more than just that. Onyx is no small place and coincidence is seldom just that." Just as he said this the fifty-two remaining CAID battleships jumped forward a great distance and cleared the grid. Their images shimmered and they vanished as they went straight into warp. The cruise missiles made a beeline for them but each missile eventually joined the thousands of drones, frozen corpses, and hundreds of wrecks drifting aimlessly and without direction through space. The CAID ships left intact and bouncing around had only one way out of the system. There was still heavy fighting around distant moons, planets, and amid asteroid belts and floating ice.

The CAID carriers warped away but this did not effect communications. "As to your question on the geopolitical situation: Wicked Creek, the region and even the system you are now in was previously Cáidheach sovereign space but CONCORD has raised the bounty on them and requested their removal as a sovereign organization from the star map. That is ongoing work and multiple mercenary organizations seem intent to collect the reward. CAID has been recognized as a terrorist organization by CONCORD and the empires for more than a few cycles."

On several occasions throughout CONCORD's history, relations between the empires deteriorated to within an inch of all-out war but were nursed back to health through the organization’s diplomacy and deterrence. Such was not the case late in YC 119, four cycles ago, when a fleet belonging to the Human Elders and the Cáidheach Tribe conducted a strike against CONCORD’s core communications hub, crippling its rapid response teams and enabling the Elders to mount a large-scale offensive against the Sekhmet Empire. This marked the beginning of what would become known as the Elder War. Ever since this time CAID has had a bounty on their head.

A male behind Alric spoke. "CONCORD é ag iarraidh nuashonrú ar an staid leis an Taiyou. CONCORD is requesting an update on the situation with the Taiyou." Alric raised his hand, palm forward as if he were telling him to stop speaking and then turned back to the screen. "CONCORD requests news. You should send an envoy. I don't like being a messenger boy. I can provide escort to low security space. I also ask that you stop in your preparations to activate your gate. Whoever you have grievance with it is not us and this is SOCO space."

cycle: measurement of time; app. one standard Earth year (365 days)

"Still reading kids stories, Tahir?" Ira questioned as he walked into the room and over to his bunk, one across and down from Tahir's. "I like that one, though. Isn't it the one where the kid drives off a whole nest of harpies by using the echo of a cave to pretend to be a dragon?"

The Ambassador wasn't the only member of the royal family on the ship, but he might as well have been. As nephew to the matriarch, Ira was technically a prince - but he had placed enough distance between himself and the court that it was seldom relevant. The royal guard was where he felt at home, not playing at politics or courtly etiquette.

"You know, when I was little, if you'd told me one day I'd be on a ship in another galaxy, escorting an ambassadorial mission to resolve conflict there, I'd have thought you were crazy. First time I've been away from Shintenchi, and it's galaxies away. It's difficult to comprehend. I'd thought maybe I might visit Aslund at some point, but that's the furthest that ever really crossed my mind."

"It helps if you don't think about the fact that the walls of this ship are all that stand between you, and the vacuum of space," Tahir answered without looking up from his book.

He seemed distracted. Then again he was always distracted these days. He had been rather on the quiet side ever since his return to Shintenchi, but he had withdrawn even further after the events that transpired within The Chemias System. He never spoke of what happened there, but even the vast span of the galaxies hadn't been distance enough to keep news of the Cybran massacre from making its way back to the small nation of Shintenchi.

"Thanks." Ira said dryly, "I'll keep that in mind. Or won't, I guess."

He took a seat on his bed, sighing. "I'm just anxious to get this all over with, if I'm honest. I feel a little redundant while we're just sitting here waiting for the ambassador to need us. Won't make much difference if we're here or not if a missile or plasma blast tears through the ship."

He paused. "Sorry, that's probably not helping you not think about the vacuum of space thing."

"I could just dismantle the missile before it hits us," Tahir answered as he turned the page in his book.

It was difficult to say if the man was being serious or not.

"Well, okay. If I'm here or not, then." Ira corrected, folding his arms and leaning back on the bed to stare at the bottom of the bunk above him. He slid a hand under his pillow to pull out a small tablet device, and lifted it up to start tapping on the screen, distracting himself with a game.

Arjuna entered the living quarters and noticed Tahir reading the book and Ira playing a game on their tablet. He thought to himself. Interesting view of two separate ages of technology only mere feet from each other. He walked over to Ira's bunk and hopped up, pulling himself onto the one directly above it. He laid on his stomach to give his wing a little extra room as he pulled up the ship's schematics and started studying them.

The spacetime storm had wrecked its havoc, and when the Rising Sun re-appeared, it was drifting through space, seemingly dead in the water. The interior was a hive of activity though as fires tore through passageways, and the crew responded to combat their spread. Entire sections of the ship where being evacuated and sealed off so that the fires could be vented out into space, but for many aid came too late.

Wounded where accumulating in the med bay, some with blunt force trauma injuries inflicted during the collisions, and others who had suffered injuries from the fires.

Through it all, alarms blared through-out the ship even as they tried to get their systems back online. With their navigation systems down, they could be spiraling straight into a sun for all they knew.

Little did the crew and passengers of the Rising Sun know that they had re-appeared in an uncharted and desolate stretch of space far from any known civilizations. It was likely the rest of the envoy would presume the Rising Sun destroyed, given the damages it had sustained before vanishing into a wormhole. Not that anyone would know where (or when) to begin looking for it even if they had cause to think it might have survived intact. The wormhole had closed behind them, and adding to their predicament was the fact that the spacetime storm had moved them through time, as fluidly as it had space - a fact not yet ascertained by the crew.