Sector 3,1 (Vita Aedes System)

[Invictus]

Invictus, North Quorlastian Border

Before the car lie the great plains of northern Invictus in all of its splendor. The flowing grassland housed the modest birds which hummed their peaceful song this time of year. Far off in the distance was the modern city of Libertas, its many towering buildings reaching into the sky. Running to the west of the country’s second most populous city was the River Ora. The pure mountain water winded its way down the Ardunes, through the tranquil plains, past Libertas and emptying into the great northern sea.

With a display so calming one would hardly realize the danger that the region posed. The tranquility of the land was merely a deception. Just on the other side of the Ora was the nation of Northern Quorlastia; a country with a complicated past and relationship with its Invictian neighbors. The two plains, divided by the Ora, were now occupied by two opposing forces, each staring at one another.

“Mr. Councilor, I’ve been directed to take you to General Corin. We want to guarantee your safety, of course,” the driver explained to Dyrien in the passenger seat next to him.

Corin… It had been a while since he had heard that name…

“Very well. Take me to the general, then.”

The car proceeded to head east, away from the danger across the Ora. The Quorlastians could be an… unpredictable bunch, after all.

The convoy, safely behind the barricades of the IAF, made its way to the center of operations from which all commands were given and all communications passed. The car promtply came to a halt as Councilor Dyrien was escorted by newly-outfitted IAF soldiers to the General’s tent. Marcus made his way inside the spacious (although hastily assembled) structure, adorned with technological equipment of every kind. Officers within the tent walked to and fro from machine to machine as technicians constantly monitored all transmissions within the area. At last, at the heart of the tent and surrounded by high-ranking officers, stood General Corin.

“Quorlastians haven’t killed you yet, you old bastard?” shouted Dyrien from behind the occupied general.

A bit startled, Corin turned as his face formed into a smirk.

“And the political life hasn’t made you completely gray yet, I see!” Corin said as he embraced his old friend. After such a brief exchange, Corin regained his composure, and began to address the situation.

“I won’t lie, Marcus; it doesn’t look good. No sign of Quorlastian aggression yet; they’re just… waiting… for something. We’ve been tapping into their networks, scanning their radios, and spying from afar, and we’ve found nothing… You’ve got to admit, they’re thorough.”

“What about before this? What information do we have about the closing of the border and hostage situation?”

Corin sighed, looking at his old compatriot, his brows raised slightly.

“From what we’ve gathered, the North Quorlastian government was overthrown by a military junta. We have no information on the condition of the former leaders and the state of the government itself. I can say that this doesn’t seem to be a random revolt. This all seems...cold. Calculated. Efficient. Who or whatever is in charge now is no fool.”

Dyrien’s heart sank. Perhaps his worst suspicions had been confirmed.

Without further ado, a technician shouted from across the room.

“GENERAL! We’ve been contacted by the Quorlastians! They ask for the presence of Councilor Dyrien on the other side of the Ora, sir! They guarantee his safety!”

Corin’s face changed to a sudden state of shock.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

Dyrien nodded. He took a significant moment of silence before speaking.

“General… do I have your permission to enter Quorlastian territory?” Dyrien sighed.

“I think that you would know how to handle this situation better than I, old friend… I can’t guarantee your safety if you go, you know that.”

“I do,” Dyrien replied weakly.

“Alright then. I’ll keep my men on standby. I doubt that he’d pull something in front of our sniper teams, but you never know; he’s quite resourceful. Good luck,” offered Corin, firmly shaking the Coucilor’s hand.

Dyrien exited the tent, and began his walk to the dividing river. Today he had a date with destiny.

[Ardreas]

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

Secretary Vincent, Representative Connors, and several technicians stood around a computer terminal, watching a video stream from Ninabi. The trouble in the colony was perplexing, especially at this time and each of them wondered if it was somehow related to what was happening on the Ascension. "Do we know what's causing this yet?" Vincent asked, but he only received shrugs in reply. Grunting, he turned and looked up at the wall clock. "Guess we'll find out soon enough when the Nubleans get there. Until then," he glanced over at the Zeganasian, "you want to get something to eat?"

Just then the lights flickered in the room. It was only for a moment, and the computers had emergency battery backup systems, but it was a power interruption nonetheless. The digital clock on the wall blinked to 12:00. "Really?" Asked Vincent, shaking his head in exasperation. "A multi-billion Sovereign budget, colonies offworld, and the most sophisticated infrastructure in our world's history, and we can't keep the lights on steady?" He sighed. "Someone check with the power company, make sure everything's fine. I'll be in the dining room. Come on Connor," he waved at the Zeganasian. "I'm in the mood for Trilarian Curry."

The Mall of the Republic, Commercial District, Arrellia, Ardreas

"Oh you're joking, right? Imported Fulgarian leather isn't worth half that price!" Shouted a tourist at the businessman behind the booth. A sign overhead read Lewis Imports. The businessman shrugged. This was normal for the mall, the oldest and greatest bazaar in the nation. It's tradition of trade and haggling went back centuries, all the way to the Wind Age, and it was one of the last vestiges of the old pre-industrial ways left in the world.

"Listen," the businessman said. "I see you're a man of refined taste, and I'm sure we can make a deal. But you gotta understand import tariffs are higher now, so that means prices are higher. Sure, if you hopped on a plane and flew to Agnitio you could get this stuff for much less. But I think you'll find the price of the airline tickets kind of cuts into your savings." He grinned, a wolfish smile that revealed pure white teeth. "How about this? I'll bring it down 10% for you, and throw in those Central Altan moccasins you were looking at for free. You could go for a deal like that, yeah?"

Suddenly the lights flickered and the fan in the corner stopped. All across the mall the lights dimmed, and there was a sudden din of angry shouting. But just as quickly they were back and everything was normal. The tourist raised an eyebrow at the businessman. "That happen a lot around here? I would have thought the capital had the best electrical grid in the country?"

The businessman made a face. "I've never seen the power fluctuate here before, even when there are storms outside. It's a state of the art system. But I'm no electrician, anyway you want the deal?" He smiled, and in an instant was back to the charming salesman that kept convincing tourists to part with their cash.

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

Secretary Vincent and Connor Connors sat at a long table in the Bel Wing dining hall. It was still early, but there was always food here. The nice thing was there were very few other people in the room yet, so it was quiet and peaceful here. He closed his eyes and relaxed for a moment, taking in the smells of all the food and letting his mind drift away. It was good to get out of the control room, if only for a while. Suddenly there was a low hum and the lights dimmed. This time they were out for several seconds before coming back. "Bloody hell!" He exclaimed, looking around the room, his eyes wide. "What is going on with the power system today?" Pulling out his phone he dialed the control center. "Hey, Joans. You guys get ahold of the power company yet?"

"Yes sir," replied the technician on the other end. "They're working on it now, trying to locate the problem."

"Alright... well, let's just hope they lock it down quick," he replied, hanging up. Turning his attention back to the table he dug into the curry. At least the food was great.

The Arrellian Power Company, Ardreas

A din of conflicting voices filled the room as engineers and technicians worked to figure out what was causing the rolling blackouts. CEO Mark Fields stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the scene. Never in all his years as head of the company had they experienced such a mysterious outage. It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and clear. There were no storms, and all the substations were in perfect working order. He shook his head, there's no logical reason for this, he thought to himself. Just then an aid ran up. "What is it?" He asked.

"Sir, section 4 reports what seems to be a power drain in their area. It looks like electricity is being diverted off the grid."

"Off the grid!?" The CEO replied incredulously. "There's no such thing as 'off the grid' in this city!"

The aid gulped, a nervous look on his face. "That's uh, just what they said sir. Several megawatts are being sucked off the grid near the Grand Cathedral."

"Several megawatts?" Fields exclaimed. "That's significant." He pulled out his tablet and thumbed through a few pages. "Alright, I'm going over to section 4 to check this out. Call me if anything new develops," he said, turning on his heel and striding toward the door. This would have to be stopped soon before the customer service department got overwhelmed with complaints. He sighed, people sure are dependent on electricity for their daily lives. I wonder how many would survive without it?

The Ilolia, approaching Ninabi

A low tone signaled that the destination was getting close as Captain Hiller and the Seraphim assembled in the starboard lounge. "Alright men," he said. "Looks like we're getting close to our colony. Be prepared to deploy to the surface. From what I've heard, there hasn't been any rioting or looting yet, but there have been fires and the local enforcement agency is stretched thin. We'll need to stay alert and be fast and mobile if we're to be of any use here." He nodded as the team acknowledged his words. They were well trained, he was confident they could handle anything that might happen on the colony.

A few minutes later the ship dropped out of warp, the stars snapping into focus outside the window. In front, the large sphere of Ninabi hung in the darkness like a chiseled ball of stone. Still mostly uninhabitable, the planet was host to a single Ardrean colony near the equator. Ninabi City, built partially underground, was a hub of activity and a growing center of commerce. Most of Ardrean mining operations had been moved to the colony in a dual attempt to exploit the planet's rich mineral resources and to clean up the environment on the homeworld. So far it had met with huge success, and the fledgling colony now boasted over 300,000 inhabitants.

The comm beeped, indicating an incoming transmission from the planet's surface.

*Static* "...Colonial Authority to the Nublean vessel Ilolia." *Static* "...have located an object that may be responsible for the continuing power drain in the city..." *static* "...to the northeast of the colony. Military personnel have set up a perimeter around it, but we urge caution..." *static* "...may have caused an energy surge that killed a man earlier."

The transmission cut off then. After a moment of checking the controls, the communication's officer spoke up. "Captain, the signal stopped transmitting. It appears the power loss on the surface is spreading, the Central Colonial Authority building has lost power."

[Invictus]

Invictian Public Works: Power Division Building, Civitas, Invictus

The public works councilmen arranged themselves to address the current situation in their allied country to the west. With the fluctuations in the Ardrean power grid, previously deemed nearly flawless, the Invictians were now concerned with their own power grid.

"Do we have any information on why the Ardrean grid is fluctuating? Anything at all?" a councilman asked.

"...I don't think so. There's no telling signs at least. No storms in the area. The weather looks fine... Perhaps tampering with their systems? Failed infrastructure?"

"And, just to be sure, there have been no reported fluctuations on our grid?" another councilman chimed.

The engineer examined the data that he had retrieved before answering the inquiry.

"Nope. It doesn't appear that we've had any fluctuations at all. In any event, if our grid does go down we'll still receive reduced output from our solar farms and wind turbines. The Argentum Dam should remain operational as well."

The councilmen and women spoke amongst themselves for a bit before replying.

"Alright. This is good news. In the event that our grid did go down, we give you authority to access the power reserves as you see fit, engineer. Solis forbid that should happen..."

Ora Base Camp, Civitas, Invictus

General Corin sat in the operations tent near the Ora, observing everything he could on the view screens before him. In two days the Quorlastians had not moved an inch; not said a word. These were obviously disciplined soldiers with great resolve.

It didn't help the situation when he was made aware of the power situation on Ardreas. Was it perhaps another distraction set in place by the Quorlastians to divert attention? Was it a mere coincidence? Who knew.
Didn't he have enough to worry about here and now with the Quorlastians staring him down across the river?

On one of the screens Corin watched nervously as Councilor Dyrien and a select escort of handpicked soldiers made their way to the clear water of the Ora.

He reached for his personal radio. "Gold 7, are you in position?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Should I take the shot if he comes into view?" the sniper asked through the radio.

Corin paused. Tactically, it would make sense to eliminate the bastard if he came into sight. Maybe a war could be avoided. On the other hand, perhaps he would become a martyr. A call to arms could be made in his name. Not to mention the endangerment that Dyrien would then be in...

"No. Do not shoot unless I gave the OK. Is this understood?"

"Absolutely, sir."

************

The metal structure extended itself, spreading slowly across the rapid waters of the Ora. After nearly a minute, it anchored itself into the Quorlastian soil just centimeters into the now foreign land. Dyrien looked up; before him was a now militarized zone, including barricades and war machines of various kinds and sizes all pointed at right at his face.

Taking a deep breath, he began to take his first steps across the artificial bridge, Invictian soldiers in tow behind him. Even at this point, but yards away from the Quorlastian line, he has not yet seen a single Quorlastian soldier.

When had had nearly reached halfway across the bridge, a voice called out from the other side.

"HALT! The Councilor must come alone!" the accented voiced boomed from an unseen speaker.

Slowly, Dyrien turned to face his escort, smiling slightly and nodding slowly at them. Reluctantly, the soldiers made there way back across the bridge to home territory.

He continued forward, no sound in the air but the breeze above him, the the stream below him, and the birdsong around him. If one was blind, one would never know he was setting foot into a war zone.

Suddenly, a familiar face emerged from an unseen barricade before him, coming into full view of the IAF and Dyrien himself. He smiled.

"Councilor Marcus Dyrien," the man said softly yet powerfully, his chiseled face contorting to form a grin.

"... General Akinak," greeted Dyrien falsely, a forced smirk on his face.

"You seem afraid, Councilor, when you have little reason to be. You need not be afraid of old friends," the tan-skinned man smiled charismatically.

"I think acquaintance is a more appropriate term, General," Dyrien said sarcistically, examining the commander before him.

Akinak stopped, looking away from Dyrien to examine the the amassed IAF across the Ora. After a few moments of the scanning the line, he close his eyes and held is arms into the air, breathing in deep but peaceful breaths.

What was he playing at? Marcus wondered. Did he want to taken down by a volley of sniper rounds? No, Akinak was smarter than that. Gold Team could surely spot his white ceremonial hat hundreds of yards away, but they wouldn't take the shot.

After a few moments, he stopped his ritual, letting down his arms and opening his dark eyes.

"Your men won't shoot me. Why? Has Marcus Dyrien truly become the man of peace? I have only heard rumors about such things... You've surely changed," Akinak said, forcing Dyrien to partake in a staring contest.

At last Dyrien had had enough. "Enough with these games. Let's get to business," he said coldly.

The general nodded, exposing his back to the Councilor as he led him across the the Quorlastian defenses and into the invisible underground fort constructed at it's heart.

The Ilolia, En Route to Ninabi

Stroud gazed up and down the Nublean vessel, taking in all it had to offer as he questioned the Nubleans incessantly about it's engineering, demanding that his protege record the information. Would Invictus be able to build a warp core someday? Not in his lifetime, but such information was revolutionary nonetheless.

Although happy about her teacher's enthusiasm, Natalia was more concerned with the near future more than the future of lifetimes to come. Stroud, for all of his ingenuity, had never truly cared for the more biological aspects of science, caring more about the hum of machines than the beating heart of life. There was another alien race, not only in the universe, but this very solar system itself! The opportunity to study such a specimen was beyond exciting to the young scientist. The question remained though, would she be able to study the aliens for herself, or would they be studying her instead?

The Infinitus, Biological Research Lab, in orbit around Aedes

"Woah... This is unexpected... Come take a look at this," the scientist said to Dr. Nolan, now head of the scientists aboard the Infinitus.

Nolan carefully looked into the microscope pointing into the incubator. His eye adjusted as he stated at the bacterial growth before him.

"Solis! They're... bigger, not weaker. What's the reproduction rate?" he asked.

"I recorded to 25-30 reproductions per hour per bacterium."

Nolan finally stepped away from the microscope. "They're reproducing faster too. These gravitational changes must be affecting them... And it's having the opposite effect as we originally thought."

Nolan stepped away, taking all the information. Stroud would surely be surprised upon his return.

[Nubpryton]

As the Ilolia drops out of warp, the Nubleans, Ardreans and Invictians prepare to go down to the surface in their shuttlepods, just as then the helmsman reports that two ships are dropping out of warp near Ninabi.

"Sir, our sensors are detecting two Nublean ships that have also entered orbit around Ninabi"

"On screen, maximum magnification."

As the two ships on the screen appear, Fakenublet sighs of relief - the Nublean reinforcements, the Samson-class frigates USS Cosmos (FRN-99) and USS Hood (FRN-82) have finally arrived to join the Ilolia in the event that they require tactical support if a battle ensues between the aliens on board the Ascension.

"Cosmos and Hood, form up in a diamond formation behind the Ilolia, Ensign, take us into orbit, 2 million kilometers." Captain Borres ordered.

As President Fakenublet, General Marius and Captain Hiller sit in the cockpit of the shuttlepod, the other shuttlepods with the other Ardreans and Invictians the General and Captain bought takes off for the planet's surface, Fakenublet promplt asks them if they're ready to head to the surface.

"Well, this is it guys...are you both ready?"

"Yes" Both replied, in a quick, nervous tone.

"Pilot, take us down." Fakenublet ordered.

As the last shuttlepod leaves the hangar bay, the other four shuttles - 1 for the Ardreans and Invictians and 2 for the Nubleans enter the atmosphere, and they were on their way.

While going through reentry, he contacts the captains of the Hood and the Cosmos through his communicator.

"This is Fakenublet, if we ever encounter any hostile situation on the site where the energy burst originated, you are to open fire on any creature that emerges from that d**n orb..."

As they land, some 900 meters from the landing site, the Nubleans and Fakenublet himself began giving out Environmental Sensor Devices to every Invictian and Ardrean that came with them.

"Here, take this...it'll help you scan for weird energy readings and the like within a range of 10 kilometers, its processor is programmed to used english, so don't worry."

Captain Hiller and General Marius tell their men to scout for any other weird anomalies present in the area, while Fakenublet and his team gives out more useful equipment to everyone that's helping around.

[Ardreas]

The Hills Northeast of Ninabi City, Ninabi

The wind whipped by fast in the thin atmosphere of the barren world, kicking up dust around the landing party. But it didn't have as much punch to it as back home; here, its fury was but a nibble, rustling the cloth on their uniforms like spring breeze. Captain Hiller stood with his men on the ridge, looking down into the basin that housed the mysterious orb. They had been delivered directly to this spot by their helpful Nublean escort. Now they just had to figure out what to do.

He turned to the Invictian General standing next to him, his obsidian armor glistening in the sunlight. "Well General Marius, welcome to Ninabi," he said, a bit of a smile playing across his face. Even though he didn't live here, this was Ardrean territory, meaning that he was now the host and the Invictians were the guests. A nice reversal of roles from earlier. He gazed at the Invictian silently for a moment, gauging his reaction, then nodded. The message had been sent, but now was not the time to play the power game. There was a real danger here, potentially to all of them.

Glancing down at his ESD, he scanned in the direction of the sphere, then panned around in a circle, taking in readings from all directions. "Huh," he said, trying to make sense of it. He was no scientist, most of this was gibberish to the seasoned combat veteran. He was just along for security and government representation. Out of the corner of his eye he saw General Marius smirking at him, but he wouldn't give the Invictian the satisfaction of a response. Turning away, he strode deliberately off, tapping the device in his hands as he went. So fixed on the screen was he that he didn't see the figure in front of him until they collided. The sudden impact jarred his attention up as the device flew out of his hands and he found himself and the other person balancing precariously on the edge of the drop into the crater. "Whoa..." he breathed, reaching out to steady the person he'd almost sent falling to certain death. "I'm terribly sorry about tha-...." his voice trailed off as he found himself staring into the eyes of an incredibly beautiful young woman. Her fair skin and auburn hair were barely visible beneath the protective layer of the rebreather mask she wore, but he recognized the features of a fellow Ardrean right away. Who is this!? he thought, his mind racing through the names of those that had come aboard the Ilolia. She can't be a colonist, we're too far from the settlement. She must have come on the ship with us, but there were no other Ardreans on the station except for my men, and she ain't one of those!

Her soft voice interrupted his chaotic thoughts. "It's alright, I'm fine. My fault too, should have seen you coming." She smiled, "I'm Natalia, Dr. Stroud's assistant from the Infinitus."

"Ah," he said, letting out the breath he just realized he'd been holding. "Well, I'm sorry anyway," he repeated, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. "Glad I didn't kill you," he offered and immediately felt foolish for it.

She laughed, "Well that makes two of us." Then she gestured at his empty hands. "I think you'll need a new scanner though..." He glanced down at the crater, not seeing any sign of his as she went on, "Unless you want to share mine."

He turned back to her then, sure his cheeks were flushing. "Naw," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm a soldier, not a technician. I don't even know why I had one of those things in the first place." He shot an irritated glance back in the direction of General Marius and the Fortisians, but if they noticed his mishap they didn't show it.

"Oh, ok," she replied, sounding a little disappointed.

He turned back to her, staring for a moment at this fascinating woman. What the hell? he thought to himself. Why am I feeling this way? I've had my fair share of experience over the years. And she's got to be at least 10 years younger than me. He shook his head, turning to look out over the crater and clear his thoughts. After a long moment he sighed. That's better, everything back to normal. He cleared his throat, "Have you found anything useful with that scanner?" he asked, glancing casually over at her.

"Well," she began, biting her lip as she studied the screen. "There's lot of electrical activity in the area, but it's odd..." she tilted her head, causing her short auburn hair to fall partly over her eyes and Captain Hiller quickly looked back at the crater. d**n she's cute, he thought. "The electrical current all seems to be moving in one direction," she was saying, and he blinked, trying to focus on just the words. They meant something, surely. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see her gesturing down at the sphere. "There," she said, "all the electrons in the region are going there."

"But..." he began, his attention finally falling into place as he thought about what she said. "That would mean this thing is definitely the source of the power drain from the colony. It's sucking the electricity from everywhere like some kind of vacuum cleaner."

"Pretty much," the scientist replied. "It's generating some kind of crazy positive charge, attracting all the electrons within..." her voice trailed off as she stared at the screen of her scanner. "...within at least a hundred kilometers.

Hiller's mind immediately went to the ships in orbit, and he voiced his concern.

"No, they should be fine," Natalia replied, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. "They're a good bit higher up than that. At any rate, I'm sure the Nublean shields could protect them if this thing did try to sap their power." She gave the captain a reassuring smile.

"Alright," he replied, trusting her to know more about it than he did. "I better go consult with the others about this."

"I'll come with you," she said, falling in step as the Seraphim commander strode back to where President Fakenublet and Dr. Stroud were standing.

"Gentlemen," he said as they approached. "Natalia here says all the electrical power in the area is being sucked into that thing in the crater." He pointed down at the alien object.

"It's like a dampening field," she added as both men turned to her. "Somehow that device is drawing power from the colony. Quite a lot of power too, according to my readings. I have no idea what it intends to do with it, but at this rate that device will have enough energy stored up to... I don't know, generate a warp field? Set off a nuclear-equivalent detonation? Something big."

"Any way to stop it?" Asked Captain Hiller, feeling the weight of his rifle strapped to his back. It was a good feeling, that weapon had been through a lot with him over the years, and he hated situations that couldn't be solved easily with it.

Natalia glanced over at him and shrugged. "According to the information we received from the Colonial Authority here, that device seems to be rigged with a kind of booby trap that reacts on contact. Apparently someone tried to touch it last night and got vaporized." She gestured down at the charred remains of the all terrain vehicle that lay not far from the orb. "If we get too close, it's liable to do it again, only now..." she swallowed. "Now it's got way more energy stored up inside than it did last night. The detonation could be much worse."

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

Another blackout rolled over the city bringing curses from the technicians around the ASA monitoring room. Charles Vincent shook his head, "Bloody power outages!" he muttered. "They still haven't got that under control?"

It had been a long two hours since lunch, and the situation only seemed to be getting worse. The Citadel was fine, at least the essential equipment had emergency backups. But the rest of the city outside must be having the worst day ever. He shook his head, there had to be something going on. Freak blackouts like this simply didn't occur anymore. They were in the last decade of the Ascension Age for Ariel's sake! He tapped his fingers on the desk. There wasn't anything else he could do about it. They'd already talked to the power company, and everything that could be done was being done. They would just have to wait and hope it would be fixed soon.

The Grand Cathedral, Arrellia, Ardreas

"The Venom Raptor is here," whispered a voice in the darkness. "It's foul eggs are already planted, and soon they will hatch." Revered Mother Eunice shivered as the voice whispered, sounding like the hiss of an angry spirit. She stood alone in the antechamber below the Archives, an ancient tome in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Already she was regretting coming down here, but something drew her on. A feeling, deep down, that there was an answer here. Something sinister waited in the darkness, but if it was not brought to light, it would be too late.

She gripped the flashlight tighter, shining it straight ahead to pierce the foul darkness. "Begone demon!" She yelled at the voice. "You have no power here, this is holy ground!"

An echoing hiss lingered in the musty air, but the voice did not return. Eunice breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward, her footsteps sounding strangely muted on the ancient stone floor. After several minutes of walking, she found herself facing a large wooden door, bound in iron. It was ancient, centuries old, probably more. And it stood here at the edge of the catacombs, locked to keep out nosy outsiders from disturbing the resting place of Ardreas' oldest saints. Reaching into her belt sash she pulled out a large keyring and found a dark, black key. It fit the lock perfectly, and the door swung inward. A gust of stale wind filled her nose and she grimaced. This place hadn't been opened in her lifetime, and it felt like it. Ahead the passage turned into a flight of chiseled stairs leading straight down into the earth below the Cathedral. She took a breath, whispered a prayer and stepped across.

[Invictus]

Quorlastian Military Line, North Quorlastia

The small spotted river trout convulsed on the shore alongside the River Ora, begging for water to enter its gills as it baked in the afternoon sun. Its path had been obstructed by the artificial bridge placed by the Invictians, leaving it nowhere to go but to the side and onto the silent soil of North Quorlastia. As tentative minutes continued to pass, others of the same species began to join it, jumping onto the grass, completely helpless. The trout, however, were not the only helpless victims on the border…

*****************************

Marcus Dyrien was escorted by Akinak further inland into North Quorlastia a few hundred yards away from the Ora. Suddenly, the Quorlastian dropped off from the land seemingly into nowhere, startling the Invictian.

“Follow,” the voice said.

Dyrien looked down the dropoff, seeing the entrance to a small cave-like tunnel. Reluctantly, he dropped into the hole, half crawling through and dirtying his favorite suit in the process. After a few minutes of uncomfortable crawling, the tunnel widened, allowing the two to stand and revealing a reinforced metal door illuminated by a light in front of them. At this point, Akinak stopped, making Dyrien the object of his attention again.

“Aren’t you afraid that I’m going to stab you in the back?” the Councilor smirked to the general.

The Quorlastian shook his head, smiling slightly. “No. I know you Marcus Dyrien. You are smart, but you are not honorless.”

“That’s true. I’m honorable to the point of my own detriment, unlike yourself.”

The General took offense. “Am i not a man of my word?”

It was true. The Quorlastian warlord had been a man of his word in the past. He had promised to invade the south, and he had. He had promised to march across the Ora to Libertas, and this he had done as well. Despite his contempt for the man before him, Dyrien had to acknowledge: Akinak was a man of his word.

After a few seconds, Akinak approached Dyrien, placing his hands up and down the Councilor’s suit, searching away.

“I thought you didn’t fear me bringing weapons?” Dyrien asked.

As Marcus finished, Akinak dug into his shirt pocket, removing a recording device specially placed by the IAF. He dangled the device before the Councilor’s glasses, smiling. “I’m not,” he replied.
Smart man. The device had been essentially forced upon him by Corin’s orders, despite Dyrien insisting that if it was indeed Akinak awaiting him on the other side of the river, it would be useless.

Akinak threw the device to the ground, repeatedly stomping upon it until it was nothing but a heap of wire and broken components.

“General Corin. So predictable. Your armed forces need a strategist to lead them; someone who understands Quorlastian thinking. But no, their strategist now fights with words and a fool is left to take his place,” said Akinak, disdain in his voice.

Would Akinak attempt to get under his skin? Would he attempt to win him over with charm? Regardless, Dyrien could not let the antagonist before him evoke a reaction. He remained silent.

After a few more moments of mind games, Akinak approached the door before him, twisting levers and pressing dials in a rhythmic motion, opening to a well-lit corridor in front of them.

Federal Council Chambers, Civitas, Invictus

“Why did he cross the border?!” Praesent Hale paced his office, Councilor Kenning sitting in front of the Praesent’s desk.

“You know Marcus, Augustus. Always had a bit of a rebel streak in him.”

“Akinak will use him as a bartering chip… We’ll need to divert units to help defend South Quorlastia as well, spreading our already thin troops thinner… It doesn’t help that the Fortsians are galavanting about in space, either.”

“Latest reports tell us that Marius and a few Fortisians have gone with the Ardreans to Ninabi. I gave them permission, but that was before the situation with the Quorlastians happened… Should I recall him?”

Hale stopped, a look of panic on his face. “Solis, no! Whatever you do, don’t tell him! He doesn’t need to concern himself with this right now… I don’t want to think about what he’d do if he found out about Akinak…”

Without time for continuing the conversation, the Praesent’s door boomed from the other side. Hale left to answer.

On the other said was Hale’s secretary, her usual smile dominated by a slight frown.

“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Praesent, but I thought that you should know. Father Toris has just passed away…”

Religious Community of Spero, Invictus
Hours Before

The bustling coastal city of Spero roared with life. Ships sailed to and fro from the docks, simultaneously bringing in and taking out goods.People made their way through the crowds, attending to their noontime business. Traffic was building up, leading to congestion and frustration amongst its motorists. Judging from this scene, one would nearly forget the original community on the outskirts of the city; the Solists.

Inside the small settlement, its religious population turned its attention to the failing health of its leader: Father Toris. Toris had led the small religion for the last fifty years through thick and thin. He was a kind and mild sort, not prone to argument and debate with those who would gladly do so with him. Despite this trait, he was disappointed, knowing that he had been unable to not only grow his community, but to maintain its population.

Toris sat on his deathbed, struggling to breathe as coughed repeatedly. Many of his fellow Solists sat by his side, attending to his needs and providing their support. He had been nearly completely silent for weeks as if he were in a coma-like state despite maintaining his consciousness. The others of his flock had been speaking quietly among themselves for weeks. Had the fever fried his brain? Was he actually in a coma? Was he traumatized? Who knew? Regardless, the concern remained nonetheless.

Toris continued his coughing fit, eventually spitting blood onto the white sheet on top of him. A concerned nurse rushed to grab the passing man’s head as the others tearfully began to mourn around him. After a few moments, the coughing turned into silence, and the dying man turned limp. After receiving confirmation from the nurse of the Father’s death, those gathered around him began to cry at the loss of their leader. Toris’ successor, Father Camer stepped forward, wiping a tear from his eye. As was tradition, he advanced forward and grabbed the blood-covered sheet. He slowly moved it upwards, as it slowly engulfed the Solist’s head.

Without warning, Father Toris jumped back to life, his blue eyes widened like a crazed man. Those gathered around jump backwards, gasping at the sight, Father Camer included. The old man’s lips began to quiver before words emerged from them.

“It awakens,” Toris said perfectly and without hesitation before returning to death. The onlookers were left staring in shock, alone with the ominous message.

[Nubpryton]

On board the Ilolia, Nublean Expeditionary Fleet, in orbit around Ninabi

As the small fleet of three ships approach the space above the energy burst, the Ilolia began a short-range, much more detailed sensor scan of the artifact that caused the explosion on the surface.

"Ensign, full power to sensor arrays on the starboard side of the ship." Captain Borres ordered.

As they begin diverting all unnecessary power to the sensor arrays, the ship begins having power fluctuations on its starboard side and the ship begins shaking.

"What the hell is going on?!" Captain asked in a desperate, surprised voice.

"We don't know s-"

As the ship begins to shake violently, engineers inside the warp control room realize the ship is beginning to lose power, so far the entire starboard side of the ship is slowly losing power, the starboard impulse engines lose power after a few seconds, causing the Ilolia to steer right, heading for a collision course towards the USS Hood.

"EVASIVE ACTION, THE ILOLIA IS OUT OF CONTROL!" The captain of the Hood quickly ordered.

As the Hood's impulse engines steer the ship out of its way, Ilolia loses its power on its starboard warp nacelle and begins losing main power as all the systems on the ship slowly shut down, Ilolia's starboard docking port collides with the Hood's port nacelle, slightly damaging the bussard ramscoop, anything else was safe, but the Ilolia continues to fall to the surface as it still doesn't have any impulse power.

"Lieutenant, status of the Ilolia!" The captain of the Hood demanded an immediate response.

"She's slowly losing power sir, her port nacelle are starting to buckle under the massive power fluctuations in her power grid."

"Deploy the magnetic grapplers to prevent the ship from falling so we can tow it somewhere safe!"

Without hesitation, the grapplers on the two ships quickly fired the hooks at Ilolia, they hit but because of the massive weight of the Ilolia and the speed she's going, the grapplers are pulled from the two ships and carried along with the falling ship, as artificial gravity plating begins to fail on board the Ilolia, people begins strapping themselves to walls to prevent falling around the corridors and rooms...

OCC: I'll decide if the Ilolia will crash on the surface or get its power restored, everyone near the artifact should probably step back and find a safe place to hide...

[Ardreas]

The Hills Northeast of Ninabi City, Ninabi

"Maker have mercy!" Exclaimed Natalia as the frantic news from the Ilolia came over the communicator President Fakenublet was holding. As one the group turned to gaze up at the sky where the Nublean vessel was just entering the upper atmosphere. There wasn't much to see at this distance, just a tiny light where the air was igniting from the friction. But it lent a sense of urgency to the already tense situation.

Captain Hiller's thoughts went to the cause of the danger and his mind snapped into focus. Turning his attention back to the surface, he gestured at the alien orb in the crater. "It's that thing that's causing the power drain on your ship!" He said to the Nublean President. "We've got to destroy it." He unslung his rifle and hefted it in his hands. This was something he could understand, a clear and present danger that could be identified and eliminated. But, he frowned, his weapon probably didn't have the firepower to destroy the artifact. He looked over at the Invictian commander and their eyes met. For the first time since they had met, back on the Infinitus, he sensed none of the usual hostility there. Both men understood the threat and were focused on defeating it. "Thoughts, General?" he asked.

Marius shifted his weight beneath the armor he wore, the black obsidian glinting in the sunlight as he moved. "We're only carrying small arms at the moment, and no explosives." He pursed his lips, his gaze fixed on the black orb in the crater. "At any rate, if we set it off from this distance, we would likely be vaporized like that unfortunate fellow below," he gestured at the charred remains near the artifact.

"What about an orbital strike?" Asked Captain Hiller, turning back to the Nublean President. "Can one of your ships launch a torpedo or something at the crater?"

Fakenublet shook his head as reports continued to flow over the comm, "Both the Hood and the Cosmos have their hands full trying to keep the Ilolia from burning up. And the Hood's been damaged by a collision. I doubt either of them can get into position to fire in this direction in time."

"d**n it!" Shouted Hiller, making an angry gesture at the crater and the source of their problems. He stood, wracking his brain, trying to think of something that could shut down the device. They were running out of time.

"An overload!" Piped up Natalia all of a sudden. All three men turned to her in surprise.

"Explain," demanded General Marius.

She swallowed, suddenly nervous under the scrutiny. "I mean... um, that thing is absorbing energy, right? It's feeding on the colony, our devices, and the Ilolia. Well, everything has a maximum tolerance for energy input," she went on. "Beyond it devices are forced to shut down or be overloaded." She glanced from each man to the other, hoping they understood. "It's why we have surge protectors for our computers. If they suddenly get a spike in energy it would fry their circuits, so we have to shield against that." She gestured at the crater. "If we can spike that thing with energy, too much for it to handle, it may shut down." She fell silent as the three men took in what she had proposed.

"I don't see what we have that could..." began Marius, frowning.

"The reactor!" exclaimed Captain Hiller, interrupting the Invictian General. "In the colony," he went on, oblivious to Marius' angry glare. "Ninabi City is equipped with a high-output nuclear reactor underground below the northern quarter. It's what this thing has been feeding on and why the city has been experiencing the blackouts." The words were tumbling out of his mouth now as it all came together. Suddenly he understood what had been happening and what they had to do. Pulling out his own comm device he punched in the channel for the Central Colonial Authority. "Get me the governor!" He yelled into the device as soon as it was answered. "Priority 1, authorization Seraphim Alpha." There was a moment of stunned silence, then a beep as the channel changed.

"Who's there? What is this about?" Asked an annoyed voice on the other end.

"Captain Hiller, Ardrean Seraphim Squad 13. We have a Nublean starship on uncontrolled descent due to power loss from the alien artifact. I need you to override the Nuclear Plant's power output past redline and direct all electricity in the city to the northern quarter."

"Are you out of your mind?" Demanded the voice on the comm. "We only have power to the southern 30% of the city now, I can't redirect power to the drained sections or we'll be completely without electricity, let alone redlining the nuclear plant!"

"Listen you bag of hot air!" Shouted Hiller, a furious passion taking over his face and betraying his inner hatred of politicians. "If you don't do this we're going to have a Nublean starship, I repeat STARSHIP crashing into the planet! Now wrap your fuzz-addled brain around this if you can, and picture the fallout on this planet if something that size impacts the surface, and its fusion reactor detonates. Your power-outages will seem like a daydream by comparison to that outcome! Now do as I say immediately! Are we clear?"

He fell silent, his face red and hot from the blood that flowed in agitated spurts through his veins. General Marius cocked an eyebrow, privately impressed by the display, though he would never admit it to the Ardrean captain. Finally the voice on the comm replied, "Alright Captain," it hissed. "I'm instructing the plant to do as you have requested. But I will hold you personally responsible for the outcome. If this fails, and the colony is unable to restore power I'll see to it you don't return to Ardreas. At all." There was venom in the voice, and everyone knew what it meant. The governor was a powerful man on the colony, and he had the resources of the entire settlement at his disposal. Captain Hiller didn't doubt that if things went wrong he would face very unpleasant consequences. But then, what the hell? If things went wrong there was a good chance none of them would live to see any consequences anyway.

"I understand," he said into the comm, then returned it to his pocket. High above the flickering glow of the Ilolia plummeting into the atmosphere was getting brighter. Now all they could do was wait and see if this crazy plan would work.

"Uh, guys," said Natalia, bringing the men's attention back to her once more. "We'd probably better get a little farther from this thing, you know, in case the overload sets it off."

"Haha!" Captain Hiller laughed all of a sudden, the tight pit in his stomach evaporating as her words struck a humorous chord. "Yeah, I guess that would kind of suck, to save the day and yet be caught and vaporized cause we were standing too close." He turned and slung his rifle over his back, striding in the direction of the Nublean shuttles parked over the ridge. "Come on," he waved at the others who quickly fell into step behind him.

They had just crested the ridge and were starting down the far side away from the crater when a strange hum began to fill the air. Pausing to look back, Captain Hiller noticed a green glow building around the orb. It hadn't been there before. As he watched it got brighter and the humming sound got louder. Suddenly the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "Go!" He shouted, waving wildly at the others and breaking into a run. He was half way down the embankment before most of them even registered what he'd said, then they too were off in a full run, careening over the rocks and into a culvert between the hills. Just then the humming stopped and there was a split second of silence. Then a brilliant flash of energy lit up the sky behind them and an energy wave rolled over the hills, blotting out the sky. Captain Hiller found himself airborn as the ground shook beneath them, and he came tumbling to a halt near a large boulder. A dark shape landed next to him, and he recognized the face of Natalia, but her eyes were shut and she didn't respond to the impact. Instinctively he rolled over and shielded her with his body, feeling the heat of the energy wave rippling overhead.

Finally the energy wave passed and the heat dissipated. Letting out a low groan the Seraphim captain rolled over and lay sprawled out on the ground, looking up into the sky. All was still in that alien valley. They had luckily been spared the direct blast of the energy wave, being down in a low spot among the hills. Up at the landing sight on the ridge, he could make out the charred remains of a Nublean shuttle. "Looks like we won't be taking that out of here," he breathed, wincing as a sharp pain wracked his side. "Great, I think I cracked a rib too." He turned to Natalia, but she was still lying there unmoving. Quickly he reached over and felt her neck with his fingers. At first there was nothing, then he breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. She was alive, probably just knocked out by the fall. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked around. Dr. Stroud was on his knees not far away, President Fakenublet with him. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises they looked alright. Several others were scattered around the culvert, he recognized two of his own Seraphim getting to their feet over by the base of a hill. A strained grunt caught his ear and he turned around. General Marius stood a short distance off, scowling at a shard of obsidian in his hand that had evidently broken off his armor. The sight made Captain Hiller chuckle, and he immediately regretted it as another sharp pain in his side reminded him that his ribs had fared no better than the General's armor. At least that armor didn't feel pain, he thought wistfully.

"Ilolia respond," President Fakenublet was saying into his comm. "What is your status? The orb has been overloaded, have you regained control?"

Silently, Hiller sent a prayer to the Maker that this had worked as he, too, waited to hear the news.

The Catacombs Beneath the Grand Cathedral, Arrellia, Ardreas

Revered Mother Eunice continued down the long, musty tunnel that led into the ancient burial chamber beneath the Cathedral. Many of the bodies entombed here were from the Dawn Age, the first era of Ardrean history. To the sides there were occasional doors leading to private crypts, each of which housed a long-deceased person of importance. She knew from her studies that down one of these halls were the remains of several Emperors from the first era: Tyrellius Wolfsbane, and Aluisse the Fair among them. But she was not here to pay homage to bygone rulers. No, there was something else that drove her onward. Down the central hall she strode, her footsteps the only sound in the immense tomb.

After what seemed like hours she finally came to another door. This one was overlayed in bronze and inscribed with a single mark in the center: a red eye. She shuddered, feeling dirty just looking at the pagan symbol. But what she sought lay on the other side. Taking a deep breath she pulled out the keyring and selected a bronze key, inserting it into the lock and pushing open the door. It let out a low groan as it shifted on ancient hinges, but it gave way and she found herself looking into a room older than the Cathedral itself. Inside were several steps leading down from the door, then the room opened up into a large square chamber. The walls were lined with alcoves and recessed shelves carved into the rock. There were clay pots and urns along the walls filled with who-knew what. But what she was focused on was the dais in the center. A great stone platform, unsettlingly like an altar, stood between two bronze candelabras. And on the stone altar, its black sides glowing green with etched runes, was an orb. It was humming, a low and steady sound that she felt in her bones rather than heard. And somehow it felt warm, almost inviting her in. She swallowed, stepping through the door. Her eyes fixed on the orb, she didn't notice the flashlight in her hand flicker and go out. But she kept moving forward, drawn to the object of darkness. It was here, this was the source of it all, she felt it. Somehow it had spoken to her in the dreams, she knew, this was what endangered the city. But what was it? And where did it come from? This part of the catacombs dated back to Antiquity, and as far as she knew it hadn't even been entered in the last few centuries at least. Did that mean that this thing had always been here? Dormant, like a sleeping monster beneath the city as time marched on and society grew and developed? But that would mean... the prophecies by the mad Daegis monk! Were they true? Did he actually know about this? A chill ran down the Revered Mother's back as she approached the orb. What would this mean for her people?

Compelled by curiosity, she reached out to touch it...

------------------------------------------------------

OOC: The orb on Ninabi has successfully been overloaded, at least for the moment it is no longer absorbing energy from anything. It's up to Nubpryton now whether the Ilolia can regain control before crashing. But the dampening field is down.
Also, nobody knows about the orb on Zeganas yet (he hasn't broadcast its existence to us). And nobody knows about the one under Arrellia yet, other than the Revered Mother who is just discovering it. So far, the only orb everyone knows about is the one on Ninabi.

[Nubpryton]

After the orb stops sapping energy from the Ilolia, the Solarium Reactor finally comes online, the lights on board the ship are restored, artificial gravity plating and other environmental life support systems have been restored, as the people on the ground saw the ship burst into flames, despite taking hardly any damage at all, they run for cover as the starship slowly approaches the landing site.

"Reactor is back online!" Systems Management officer shouted immediately as the computer systems finally come online and indicate power has been restored.

"Maximum impulse, Ensign!" Captain Borres orders

Rushing to get the impulse engines back to life, the ensign quickly runs to his post and brings the impulse engines online, as the engines come online, the ship begins moving forward much faster than falling downward as the ball of plasma that surrounds the ship finally disappears, they are still descending at a fast rate.

As they approach the 1,000 meter mark, the ship is still moving forward but still falling, the helmsman tries to steer the ship clear out of the mountains, but the port side of the ship crashes into a small hill just as its vertical speed hits zero and starts gaining altitude, the hull sustains a bit of damage because of this, the landing party below dodges the landslide that the collision generated, as the ship slows down to null its speed and do a safe landing on the planet's surface.

The ship finally slows to a stop, it deploys its landing struts and has a soft landing, vertical speed was 0.3 m/s during contact with the ground, systems officer reports all systems are functioning normally, damage control teams quickly rush to the port side that have been damaged on entry.

Captain Borres has a sigh of relief after the ship nearly crashed on the surface - if it did, the solarite reactor would have generated the power equivalent to a 529 megaton nuclear bomb on the surface...

"Deploy crew lift..." Borres orders, as he wants to set foot on solid ground for a while to let the time pass...

[Invictus]

Hidden Bunker, North Quorlastia

The Quorlastian general led Marcus Dyrien through seemingly miles of reinforced tunnel. How was this structure built? Better yet, how was it built without Invictian detection?

As if he could see into Dyrien’s mind, Akinak replied as he shot a look at his guest, “You’re wondering how we created this without your knowledge, aren’t you?”

Dyrien, previously unfazed, flinched a bit at the accusation. Could he be read so easily?

“I thought so. I’ll entertain you, Councilor. You see, I have advocated for such a thing since the days of the Council of 100. It at last came to fruition when I was made boetharch by Magistrate Malchus. I realized the need to have a staging and monitoring point near the Ora, just as you realized the need to have Malchus deposed...”

Dyrien looked to the ground for a moment. Of course his adversary would bring the topic up.

“I would never speak of such a thing in council meetings, of course. I knew of your spies. No, I only spoke to the magistrate himself. A bit of convincing was all it took for him to give me complete access to the military budget.”

Suddenly it all made since. How had the Quorlastians invaded Invictian territory so quickly and efficiently nearly twenty years ago? The tunnels…

“You see, Dyrien, I had no desire to start a war with you and your people. Your people never had a desire to start a war with mine. All I wanted was what was ours,” Akinak explained as the two turned down the metal hallway and into a larger room with only a table and two chairs. The Quorlastian stroked his manicured jet black beard as he instructed Dyrien to take a seat at the table before him. Reluctantly, the Councilor sat down on the chair.

Always hated Quorlastian chairs. Much too hard…

“You won’t be getting any sympathy from me,” Dyrien said firmly, avoiding the onlookers fixed gaze.

The white suited man calmly made his way to his seat and sat facing Marcus.

“I don’t want your sympathy. I want your cooperation.”

“We will not give you Libertas. We will not let you invade the south. We will give you nothing,” spat Dyrien coldly, his faced covered in dirt from the cave which he had crawled through.

“Firm, but unfair. My demands are reasonable, and peace can be attained if only you will comply, Marcus. All I need is for you to let go of your inflated pride…”

Dyrien had had enough. He let his emotions get the better of him, just as Akinak had wanted.

He scowled, “What do you want, an apology? Is that all it takes?”

Akinak shook his head. “It’s never quite that simple. One forced apology will not be reparation enough to make up for the lives that were ruined; the children thatwere taken before their time.”

Something stabbed at Dyrien’s chest; a feeling that he had not felt in quite a while. Anger? Guilt? A heart attack?

“Then give me your demands,” he said, straightening his glasses and attempting to regain his composure.

Akinak nodded, removing a collection of papers from a folder on the desk. He sorted through them, before picking one up to read.

He started. “One: full withdrawal from North Quorlastia; both military and civilian.”

“No,” spat Marcus.

Ignoring him, Akinak continued. “Two: Restoration of the Quorlastian borders to pre-Modernus maps. This would include the Quorlastian city of Libertas and the greater Ora Plains region.”

“No.”

“Three: economic sanctions against...”

The Quorlastian continued for seemingly forever. Never would Dyrien concede to such ludicrous demands, even if it did lead to peace. Marcus stared at the man before him; well dressed, clean, and charismatic.Intelligent, capable, and driven. Akinak could have been a great man. A leader. A reformer. He could have led North Quorlastia into a golden age of pacis et prosperitatis, but no. Not now.

Marcus looked into Akinak’s eyes; his hate so well disguised by confidence and conviction. He had obviously had many years of practice of learning to disguise his true emotions. Men weren’t born like Akinak; they were made that way. As Dyrien continued to stare into the Quorlastian’s rich brown eyes while continuing to ignore his dialogue, he at last came to the realization that he had been attempting to avoid for decades; he had created this. He, through his own greed and ambition had created the destabilized North Quorlastia and the creation of monsters like Akinak.

“Thirteen: the acknowledgment of-”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus blurted, before returning to silence.

The general paused, staring into Dyrien for a moment, attempting to read him. A look of confusion swept across his face as he paused. The pause continued; Dyrien looked to the table below him the entire time in order to avoid the man before him. Could everything be solved so simply? Years of anger, bitterness and war? By a simple apology? Dyrien had always been a bit of an idealist. How would Akinak respond?

At last the silent room echoed with sound again as Akinak spoke.

“Thirteen: the acknowledgment of…” he continued.

Akinak was right. After all, it’s never quite that simple.

Outside of orb blast radius, Ninabi

“Thank the Maker!” said Natalia softly but enthusiastically as she smiled, looking up to the Nublean Ilolia beginning to stabilize far above them.

Silly girl. Very intelligent, yet still she believed in a Maker, Stroud thought to himself. In truth, most Invictians weren’t religious despite their country owing its creation to religion. The only remaining religious people in Invictus were the more traditional Czu and the Solists; now considered pariahs in the nation that they founded.

Stroud examined himself after dusting his suit from the dirt that now covered it. Despites a few bruises, scratches, and a tear in the suit itself, he came to the conclusion that he had suffered no major injuries. He sighed in relief.

With himself evaluated, he approached his assistant, still laying on the ground from the blast.

“Try not to move. It seems like you got the worst of that blast,” Stroud explained. He gazed up and down her body, noting plenty of bruises and otherwise affected areas.

“My ribs…” she complained, a look of agony overcoming her face. Stroud then began to examine her torso, slightly pushing inwards.

She screamed for a moment, attempting to keep her voice down, but to no avail.

“Yes… Looks like you might have a few fractured ribs. Possibly internal bleeding…” Stroud pasued, looking around to examine the others licking their wounds and collecting themselves.
“We shouldn’t take any risks. We’ll take you to colony, surely someone there can help,” the scientist offered. With that, Stroud motioned for a few others to help him lift Natalia from the barren Ninabi ground. He reached for her right arm, only to hear her groan once more. The arm had been significantly fractured, from the looks. Poor girl.

“I know it seems bad, but you might not be alive at all if it wasn’t for that Ardrean captain,” Stroud explained to Natalia. She turned her tired eyes to Hiller, who was helping others under his command a few yards away. The two briefly caught one another’s gaze, and each smiled slightly.


Marius stood on the ridge of the blast zone, examining the area for himself. It seemed as if the Ardrean’s plan had worked, and he yet lived. Perhaps he wasn’t entirely useless after all. Marius turned away from the orb and towards Ninabi City in the distance. From observation, it appeared as if the group would soon be going into the city itself to assess the situation. He himself had not entered Ardrean territory for over two decades, and he had no desire to break that streak now. Despite everything within him telling him to avoid the place like a plague, Marius had no choice in the matter. Duty called. He had people to protect; a job to perform.

[Nubpryton]

As the crew lift from the Ilolia slowly lowers to the ground, Captain Borres orders all medical staff to come with him to the surface and treat the injured personnel that was hit from the blast. After a few seconds, the crew lift has contact with the ground, 10 medical personnel including the Chief Medical Officer of the ship himself got off and began running to the injured patients, those who had sustained serious injuries will be treated aboard the Ilolia's medbay, where surgery and full body scan was available. Fakenublet was helping the other Invictians and Ardreans that were injured as well, borrowing a Portable Medical Sensor and went to Natalia and quickly scans her for injuries.

"Hmm, 3 broken ribs, a broken arm and moderate internal bleeding in the stomach...guys, take her to the medbay on the Ilolia, this is one of the more severe injuries we have gotten this mission..." Fakenublet worriedly said to her, and orders the other idle medical staff to take her to the medbay on board the Ilolia, as a floating medical bed comes out of the crew lift, instead of lifting Natalia up, they let a gravitic device so she would be held by gravity instead of arms - a much more comfortable and certainly less painful process than being lifted up by people.

"Now what the hell will we do with this damn orb...?" Borres asked himself, standing next to Fakenublet as they look down at the blast site from the edge of the crater.

"Put a 250,000 terawatt energy shield that'll be hovering over its surface by 2 inches, can't let this thing explode and injure more civilians." Fakenublet ordered, as Borres grabs the mobile communicator from his jacket and tells engineering personnel to erect a energy shield around the artifact.

[Ardreas]

The Hills Northeast of Ninabi City, Ninabi

Captain Hiller sat on a rock overlooking the crater where the alien orb now sat beneath a Nublean energy field. A medic tended to his injuries. Luckily, his ribs were only bruised, not broken like he'd first thought. They would be sore for a few days, but he would be fine. Natalia was not so lucky, but at least the Nubleans had good medical care available. He tried not to think about her too much, there was a mission here that required his attention. But he found his mind kept straying to the attractive young scientist whenever he was idle. He chuckled, then winced as his ribs reminded him that they were still tender. Finally the medic finished applying the protective bandage wrap and moved on to check the others. Hiller took a breath and carefully got to his feet.

"The orb seems to be completely inert now," Doctor Stroud was saying from somewhere to his left.

The captain turned to look at the Invictian scientist. "Is there any danger of it reactivating?" He asked.

"I honestly have no idea," replied the scientist. "This technology is so alien, I couldn't even tell you what caused it to activate in the first place. But," he gestured at the Nublean energy barrier, "I think our advanced allies may be able to help keep it contained this time if it does. At least now we know what it does and how to overload it."

"Right," replied Hiller. "Speaking of that, I need to go check on the colony. With the dampening field down they should have power restored. I'll need to check in at the Colonial Authority and make sure the recovery is moving along." He nodded to the Invictian scientist, "I'll leave this to you and the Nubleans for now. You people know more about technology than I do." With that he strode over to the colonial personnel transport that was still intact, waving at his Seraphim as he went. "You two come with me," he said picking out his most senior soldiers. "The rest stay here and help keep an eye on this thing."

As the men piled into the vehicle he noticed the Invictian General Marius eyeing him from nearby. "You want to come along General?" He asked. "There's room for another in the transport, and you might find the experience interesting." He smiled as the general hesitated. It was clear he was struggling with something. Perhaps he is uncomfortable, being out of his element, thought Hiller, realizing for the first time how all this must seem to the Invictian. There people have never even been out this far from the homeworld... well, all the more reason to enjoy some Ardrean hospitality! "Actually, I insist." He said, startling the general. "I'm going to go have a chat with the governor about his hesitancy and make sure he understands why he was given this position. You know, I think he forgot." A smile crept across the captain's face as he saw he had the general's attention. Neither one of them much liked politicians, he was sure. "Don't worry, this shouldn't take long. Once we get things straightened out and make sure the recovery is well in hand we'll head back here and see if the scientists have made any progress on this little troublemaking device." He gestured back at the crater, then nodded as Marius approached the vehicle. Well, this should be a fun road trip, he thought as he pulled himself into the vehicle and strapped in.

The Catacombs Beneath the Grand Cathedral, Arrellia, Ardreas

A sound pierced the air all of a sudden, like a siren loosing its terrible scream. Eunice fell back away from the orb and stared as its warming green glow morphed into a deep crimson. She hadn't touched it, the sound startling her back before her fingers contacted the device. But something had happened. "Maker save us, what is happening?" she whispered to the empty room. The orb was pulsing slowly now, the red glow of the runes flickering in tune with the throbbing hum that permeated the air. If it had been an animal she would have guessed that it was in distress. But could a machine feel pain? That didn't seem right. But it was... agitated? Yes, that was the word that fit the situation. The orb is agitated, like a bee's nest that has been prodded with a stick. Intrigue mixed with fear crowded the Revered Mother's face as she stared at this alien device. Did her presence cause this reaction, or was it something else? Something elsewhere? A sympathetic reaction? Yes that's it! Like a rash forms on skin that has been irritated as the cells around the damaged ones inflame to keep infection at bay... "Oh that's not good," she said, stepping back toward the door. "That's not good at all."

Arrellia, Ardreas
Midnight, local time

The power outage was sudden and complete. In the blink of an eye the city just went dark, like all the energy had been sucked from it in one big gulp. Even the backup batteries started to drain. Anything that used electricity whether it was on the grid or not, faded as the power was sucked from its system. Lights went out, cars stalled in the streets, and an eerie hush fell over the city. One by one people got out of their vehicles and stood, staring in awe at the stillness all around. And for a brief moment it was completely silent. And then the panic set in. People shouted in alarm as they couldn't restart their vehicles. Some ran for their homes to check on their families, others ran to the police, still others pulled out guns and whirled around like trapped animals looking for a threat. The city would be in chaos soon, and with phones not working either there would be no way to get messages out which would only compound the panic.

As people shouted and ran, no one noticed the tiny door at the side of the Grand Cathedral open. Revered Mother Eunice stepped out and surveyed the scene in the street. Her people were scared, she wanted to reach out to them like a mother and comfort them. But she had to get to the citadel and tell them of what she'd seen in the catacombs. She was sure it was related to this problem somehow. Quickly she made her way across the lawn to the sidewalk. A bicycle lay abandoned, leaning against a car. Quietly she said a prayer of thanks as she got on and peddled down the street. Some people ran by ahead of her, one of them carrying a makeshift torch, but they didn't notice her. Just another faceless refugee in the midst of the chaos she thought, continuing on towards the citadel in the distance.

After about a half hour of riding she was finally at the steps leading up to the grand capitol complex of the Imperial Republic. It was an enormous set of buildings made of ancient carved stone laid down nearly 700 years ago and added to over the centuries, each successive age seeing improvements and renovations making the complex bigger and more impressive than ever before. But now it was dark, and with clouds obscuring the moon she could barely see the stone steps leading to the main courtyard. Careful not to trip, she left the bike and sprinted up the stairs. At the top she met a uniformed security guard who called for her to halt and identify. As soon as he saw who she was he agreed to accompany her as an escort to the palace. So far no one had caused any trouble on the citadel grounds, but with the power still out and five hours until sunrise a lot could happen.

They made their way across the open courtyard and into the main hall that separated the palace wing from the senate chambers. It was even darker in here, but at least the guards inside had managed to put together makeshift torches as well. One was handed to the Revered Mother's escort and the two of them quickly strode through the halls to the empress' chambers. They found her inside along with Secretary of Defense Charles Vincent, the Zeganasian ambassador, and several members of the ruling council. Without waiting for introductions or explanations she immediately started telling them about the orb she had discovered beneath the Cathedral. She said how it had suddenly turned red and started pulsing, and Secretary Vincent mentioned that that was the exact moment the power had gone out completely, though it had been fluctuating for several hours before hand.

"We've got to do something about that orb!" Vincent insisted, waving his torch angrily.

"Agreed," replied Tatiana, her voice a soothing calm in the flickering light of Vincent's torch. "But what did you have in mind? Are you going to just run down into the catacombs and shoot it?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at the secretary of defense.

"I... don't know," he admitted with a sigh. "But if that thing is indeed what's draining power from the city, we can't just leave it there."

The empress nodded. "Very well then, assemble a squad and go down into the catacombs. But don't do anything rash or put yourselves in danger. We have no idea what we're dealing with here. At least for the moment it's only a power loss. The last thing we want is for someone to get killed."

Vincent nodded. "Your will, highness." Then he turned on his heel and strode from the room, waving two of the guards to follow.

"Maker guide him," whispered the Revered Mother as he left.

"Maker guide us all," replied the empress.

The Central Colonial Authority, Ninabi City, Ninabi

The vehicle with Captain Hiller, General Marius, and the Seraphim rumbled up to the governor's building and came to a stop, one wheel up on the curb. The lights were on again, which indicated that power was functioning. "That's a good sign," said Hiller as he pushed open the door and stepped out of the vehicle. The streets were mostly clear. People were probably waiting in their homes for news on what had happened and if it was safe to come out. That's good, the captain thought. Less people to get in the way when I confront the governor. He looked over at the Invictian general who was getting out on the other side and nodded to him. Then he led the way up the steps, his Seraphim falling into step behind.

At the doors to the building they were met by a stern-faced security guard who let them pass only after Hiller had showed his Seraphim ID and dared the man to try and stop them. Inside, the main hall was lined with faux marble pillars and inlaid with gold trim. LED lights ensconced along the walls gave a very posh look to the place, though the captain was sure everything here was synthetic. It would cost way too much to import genuine marble from the homeworld, and even the governor probably couldn't afford it. Up ahead a set of double doors marked the entrance to the governor's office. Taking a breath, he steeled himself to enter...

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OOC: Sorry for the delay, I often get busy on weekends and don't have as much time to check in here. Anyway, about the orb on Ninabi: It is 1.5 meters in diameter, a perfect sphere. It's outside is solid obsidian with a few strange runes etched into the surface. It is no longer emitting any light or sound and appears completely inert. I would say it is safe to touch at the moment, though how long it will stay inert is not clear to anyone yet. Because it is inert, it could probably be broken open with the appropriate tools if your scientists want to try to get inside. However, since nobody knows what to expect, more scanning may be recommended.

[Nubpryton]

On board the starship Ilolia

As the crewmen on the ship attend to their duties, Natalia is quickly taken to sickbay while a team of doctors swarm around her to inspect and work on her injuries. They check her blood pressure, pulse, heartbeat, breath rate, temperature and brain activity on a large screen above the biobed she was laying on. It is the most advanced hospital room, even more advanced than those on Nubpryton, the medical bay contained all sorts of drugs, medicines and instruments to restore injured or diseased beings back to full health, as they finish doing a full body analysis on Natalia, the Chief Medical Officer tells her the results of the scan.

"Well Natalia, you will recover and you're safe from any other danger as long as we do the proper procedures to put your broken bones back together, but you lost around 30% of your blood  due to the internal bleeding in your stomach, which we have just stopped after applying 15 miligrams of trinomazin that stopped your internal bleeding, a blood transfusion is required in order for your body to work up to its fullest." the CMO told her. "Do you know somebody from the Invictians or Ardreans that are compatible with your blood type?" The CMO added.

"I don't know, but you should probably conta-ARGGH!...contact your leader and find out if there's somebody out there that's compatible with my blood type." Natalia said, in a weak voice and reacting to pain as the doctors treat her broken arm.

"Right...Captain Borres, where are the Ardreans and Invictians?" The CMO asked as he grabbed his mobile communicator.

"They went to the Ardrean Colony just a few miles from here, why ask?" The captain replied.

"Great, just great...tell them we need a blood donor for Natalia here." The CMO told him, turning off the communicator and placing it on a table.

Outside the Ilolia, near the blast site

As the people that remained at the blast site continue to study and analyze the orb on the surface, now being held inside a powerful energy shield, one of the Nubleans inspecting the ground around it found a flat chuck of rock with a familiar-looking glypg, looking like the symbol from the flag of Ardreas...

"What in bloody heck?" The guy said to himself.

He quickly called out the Ardreans and Invictians left behind to see if they recognize the symbol...

As the men gather around the Nublean that discovered the chuck rock with the symbol on it, one of the other Nubleans standy by the crew lift was thinking what would things look like if there was a device capable of detecting new types of electromagnetic waves from the electromagnetic spectrum. "I wonder what extends beyond the wavelength of radio waves?" he asked himself, in his curiosity, he bought up an advanced optical device that can show both infrared, gamma ray, x-ray and other types of radiation, he tuned it to the wavelength past radio waves, in it, he saw a incredibly new universe through the device, he seems some kind of energy waves being emitted from the mysterious orb and quickly contacts the captain of the Ilolia about his discovery and how it can help them.

On board the starship Ilolia

Captain Borres was surprised at one of his crew's discoveries, he quickly runs to the astrometrics lab on board the Ilolia to set all of the Ilolia's electromagnetic scanning equipment to search for radiation that's "longer than the wavelength of radio waves", they found the exact match that was seen on the optical device that one of the crews used, as he looks around with this new spectrum of light, he notices a wave of "black" waves of energy that seems to be coming from the Ardrean colony a few kilometers from their current position and is heading towards the orb, he also notices anything that emits a power source is colored white but the waves come out of the power source instead of being sucked in. He thinks that the "black" waves are sapping energy from a power source - while the "white" waves are emitted from power sources and go outwards.

[Zeganas]

Connors suggested something that Ryan Kyojiri had told him. "If you want your world to be safe, then I would recommend studying one of the orbs, because they all look identical. All the other orbs, what you should do with them is find an unpopulated area for them if they are located in cities or towns before it's too late. Maybe the nubleans are able to study these mysterious orbs."

Connors had looked out a window "if we want our four civilizations to stay alive, we may need to sacrifice some research." then he looks back at the others "We need to.. see what one orb can do, and so far it's glowing red and knocking power out. The day that we find out how these orbs work, we could use them to our advantage, or we may have to dispose of them, sending them off to space towards Rhunar perhaps."

[Ardreas]

The Central Colonial Authority, Ninabi City, Ninabi

"I don't want to hear your whining, governor," Captain Hiller was saying as the fat politician flapped his jowls in exasperation. "The bottom line is: Power is back and nobody died. Right?" He fixed the governor with a hard stare until the big man finally nodded. "Good, then I will make my report to the Citadel, and we will be on our way. I trust you won't have any more problems. We will make sure the orb is never coming back online, I promise you that." He glanced over at General Marius, who stood stiffly in the corner watching the interaction from behind unblinking eyes. The formidable Invictian had said nothing during the exchange, but his presence had helped to cow the governor into minimal complaining. But now that all the talk was over, Captain Hiller found the general's stare to be a bit creepy. At any rate, he had work to do. Stepping around the governor's desk he sat down and brought up the secure comm channel on the computer. Quickly typing out a message summarizing the events on the colony, he sent it to the homeworld and then stood back up. "Well, it should be a little while before the signal reaches home, but I don't need a response just yet." Nodding to the governor, he headed for the door where his two Seraphim stood guard. "We'll be returning to the site of the orb in the hills, in case you need to get ahold of me. But governor," he glanced back at the fat man, "Don't contact us unless it's important. We have serious work to do." And without waiting for a reply he strode out of the office.

As Hiller and the others headed out of the Colonial Authority building, his comm unit chirped and he pulled it out of his pocket without slowing. "Hiller," he replied.

"Captain!" the unfamiliar voice at the other end said. "This is the chief medical officer aboard the Ilolia. We have an Invictian here in dire need of a blood transfusion."

Hiller frowned, "An Invictian? Ok, but why call me? Why not ask one of the Invictians there at the site? You do realize I'm Ardrean, right?" He replied, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Because she was born to Ardrean parents," came the reply. "She may be an Invictian citizen, but she's one of your people by birth."

Hiller froze, his mind filling with an image of Natalia lying on a hospital bed, causing the Seraphim behind him to nearly collide. "What is it, Cap?" One of them asked.

He shook his head. "We're on our way back from the colony now," he said into the comm. "Do what you can, and we will join you shortly." He close the comm and returned it to his pocket. Turning to the men behind him he raised an eyebrow. "Alric, you still eager to test out the grav shocks on this thing?" He asked the young Seraph recruited from the Air and Space Corps.

"You kidding? I'd love to!" he replied with a grin.

The captain nodded. "Get us to the Ilolia in 15 minutes... if you can, and I'll buy you one of these."

The young Seraph stared at him, mouth hanging open. "Are you... uh, serious?"

Hiller fixed him with a hard stare and the young man gulped. "Time's already started."

"Yes sir!" The man replied, leaping into the driver's seat. The others had barely had time to get in and close the doors when the transport's tires squealed and the vehicle shot off down the colony street, the engine roaring at nearly 4,000 rpm. One thing was for certain, it would be an exciting 15 minutes...

The Catacombs Beneath the Grand Cathedral, Arrellia, Ardreas

Secretary Vincent and a dozen Citadel guards made their way through the musty tunnels underneath the oldest building in the city. They each had a handgun in one hand and a torch in the other, since flashlights were still not working. As they walked, they passed ancient tombs that hadn't been disturbed for centuries. Ordinarily this was a place for quiet reverence, but tonight the men moved forward without noticing who they passed. There was a sense of urgency in the tight air of the tunnel. Up ahead lay a monster, and they were moving in for the kill.

After several minutes of walking they finally reached the door that led into the archive room that held the orb. Glancing around at the men, Vincent nodded for the soldier on point to move in. The rest quickly followed. As he ducked under the door frame and looked into the room, his eyes widened at the sight of the artifact in the center. Still resting on the ancient pagan altar, the black orb wreathed in crimson felt like a beast from the depths of hell itself, staring at them all with hideous malice. Vincent fought to maintain his composure in the face of such evil. Whatever it was, wherever it had come from, it had to be destroyed. He nodded to the soldiers with him. "Do it," he croaked.

The man on point brought out a pack of plastic explosives and stepped toward the orb. But suddenly he hit an invisible barrier and fell back, barely managing to keep hold of the explosives as he sat down hard. There was a faint shimmering around the orb where he'd walked into the barrier, like some kind of energy shield. Nervously the other men exchanged glances, each of them silently wondering now what? Just then the pitch of the hum emanating from the orb changed. It got higher, as if the frequency of the pulses was increasing rapidly. As it did, the light in the room changed, the red glow getting lighter until it was a flaming orange. Suddenly the hairs on the back of everyone's neck stood on end and the room filled with a tingling sensation. "Everyone out!" Shouted Vincent, leaping through the door and into the corridor beyond. No sooner had he done so than there was a brilliant flash and the ground around them shook. Cracks appeared in the walls and dust rained down from the ceiling. Vincent lay on the ground, covering his head with his hands, praying that this wasn't the end. After a few minutes it was over, and he looked up, blinking away the dust that stung his eyes. With a groan he rolled over and grabbed for the torch that lay flickering near the base of the wall. Picking it up, he pushed himself to his feet and staggered back toward the door.

Inside, his heart fell when he saw, the room was empty. The walls were charred black and there was an acrid smell to the air. There was no sign of the men that had been with him, but the orb was quiet now. He stood there, staring at it for a long time, still in shock at what had happened. Finally, he stepped down into the room and approached the silent black sphere. There was no energy barrier now, and he was able to reach out and run his hand across the smooth obsidian surface. Frowning he stopped. "Wait a minute..." he said to himself. "Nobody touched the orb, just now. When it went off, nobody touched it. We weren't even able to get near it." He stepped back, his mind buzzing with questions as he puzzled over the alien device. "Why did it go off? Or did it?" He looked around at the walls. There were no signs of structural damage, aside from the cracks that had resulted from the shaking. But there was nothing here that looked like an actual explosion had taken place. "This is very different from what we've seen of these things on Ninabi. It's like this one simply burned the air, but did nothing else."

Suddenly his comm unit chirped and he nearly dropped the torch, so surprised was he at the sound. Quickly he reached down and pulled it out. "Vincent here," he answered, his voice hoarse.

"Mr. Secretary," came the voice of Empress Tatiana on the other end. "I take it you were successful? Power is coming back all across the city. What did you do?"

Vincent frowned, taking in the scene of the charred room and thinking about the loss of his men. He let out a long sigh and replied, "The orb appears to be dead, but I don't know why. We didn't do anything, there was... there was some kind of energy barrier around it and we couldn't get close. Then the thing suddenly went hot, turned orange like fire and then went off. It... I was barely able to make it out, but my men weren't so lucky. They're gone."

There was silence on the comm for a minute as the empress took in his report. Finally she spoke, her voice soft, "Alright Charles. Come back to the Citadel, we'll take care of this properly. Now with power back, we can try to get some answers."

He didn't reply, but nodded, though she couldn't see him. Closing the comm, he dropped it into his pocket and turned for the door. "Maker take these fallen souls," he prayed quietly. "Guide them through the Fade and into rest."

The planet Ambriel, last interior planet in the Aedes system

A ripple appeared between the blackness of space and the surface of the barren planet. A distortion wave, ripping open the fabric of space itself and emitting a red glow, pushed into the toxic atmosphere of the uninhabited world. From the space between spaces, a wave of intense energy shot out, feeding into an object half-buried on the planet's surface. The energy was rich, filling, powerful. For the first time in centuries the object stirred. It had lain dormant here since before the Ardrean civilization had arisen, dormant awaiting an infusion of power. And now it had received it. It was not enough, not for what it needed to do, but it was a start. One by one, long-dead systems began to come online. The low whirring of moving parts echoed through ancient halls, and a gentle hum began to resonate through the blue metallic walls. A light blinked near an alien computer terminal, and a screen flickered to life showing a planet*. It had several scattered continents, a long narrow one in the west underneath a large semicircular one, and a huge one in the east split around a central sea. The image turned to the large eastern continent and zoomed in to a section near the eastern edge of the sea. A tiny dot was glowing in the middle of it. The computer beeped and the dot changed color from red to orange...

---------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: * The planet in question is Zeganas, just to avoid any confusion. It's the last world that still has an active orb.

Also, power in Arrellia has been restored, just like Ninabi. However, the Arrellian orb activated on its own. It was not overloaded. It accomplished what it was designed to do.
Nubpryton, if your men can get the Ninabi orb open, you'll find a sophisticated computer system and a potentially valuable data storage node inside.

[Nubpryton]

Inside Stellar Cartography, on board the starship Ilolia

President Fakeublet gets on board along with unusual timing, long range sensors on the Ilolia detect not one - but lots of powerful sources of power on the planet Zeganas. Fakenublet and Captain Borres look at each other with a worried face on them as they try to find out why the hell are there orbs on Zeganas as well?

As the crisis seems to become worse as the time goes on, President Fakenublet contacts the Fleet Admiral - Patrick Rowland and tells him to order the fleet to go into Yellow Alert and amass 90 starships, 45 will head for the borders of Ardrean space, the other 45 will head for the borders of Zeganian space in the event that something would make the planets Aedes and Zeganas explode, the fleet will be on standby in the event they need help for planetary evacuation of their species.

"Mr. Rowland...I think its time to take safety measures to ensure the survival of our three allies...amass Nublean starships on the edges of Ardrean and Zeganian space, they will come in handy if the Invictians, Ardreans and Zeganians require planetary evacuation." President Fakenublet ordered, in a cold voice.

"..Aye, sir." Rowland said, in a rather nervous voice.


OCC: Well, the three of you will have to do their work now, I have a fleet to assemble.

[Zeganas]

Ambassador Connor Connors got more updates from Ryan Kyojiri personally about the orbs and that the runes had some kind of strange link to ancient Lisari script, and that when Ryan read it, every kamikag apparently had a small surge of energy for a split second and was back to normal, like a jolt. He walks over to Ardrean officials and asks "Good day, I would like to know if you could find some inactive orbs and take a look at each recorded ancient language and hieroglyphic and see if there's a match to this, it might mean something, but I don't know what exactly." He then looks out the window at Arrellia, saying to himself "whatever's up there, bless our civilizations, please."

[Invictus]

Bunker Complex, North Quorlastia

Councilor Dyrien stared his adversary in the face as the lights around them flickered. It was only just a bit; very faint and lasting only a second, but it won Akinak’s attention nonetheless. He looked upwards at the lights fluctuating ever so faintly above him.

“What is the cause of this Dyrien? Would your people have anything to do with this?”

“No. You sure its not that piss poor Quorlastian power grid?” Dyrien remarked slyly.

Akinak brushed the assault off. “I’ve seen to it myself that this complex be supplied by the most reliable power sources in central Altus... Nevermind… Just a flicker.”

The conversation continued between Dyrien and the Quorlastian for a time before the flicker happened once more. This time Akinak’s face showed a more genuine concern. Could he be played? Could he outsmart Machiavelli himself? Regardless, he realized that he would get nowhere with Akinak in terms of negotiation; the man was uncompromising and always had been. Should he return to Invictus without accepting the harsh terms set before him, Quorlastian war machines would surely be crossing the river and en route to Libertas within the hour.

“General… It wouldn’t be a room of reinforced fission generators acting as your main power supply, would it?” Dyrien asked, a smirk on his face.

Akinak flinched ever so slightly, confirming the Councilor’s question. Lucky guess. Akinak shouldn’t have led him through the complex without a blindfold. A rookie mistake; certainly below the great General Akinak.

The Invictian smiled bigger, revealing his pearly teeth. “General, you call me a great tactician, and I’m truly flattered, but it seems as though you underestimate me again. You believed that we have had no knowledge of this installation all this time? That’s almost comical, coming from you.”

“What are you trying to say?” Akinak asked as he regained control over his face.

Marcus hung his head low before shaking it from side to side before his cyan eyes then rose to meet the mahogany ones of his rival.

“Take a guess. I did what I do best…”

A look of fear swept across Akinak’s face. “You’re bluffing! This bunker is impenetrable. I know every man here on a first name basis!”

“Not well enough, it seems.”
Akinak stood to his feet, grabbing the communicator on his waist as he began to speak into it with another man; presumably that of his lieutenant. “... He might be lying, but I’m not taking any chances. Round all of them up. Whatever you do, make sure none of them have access to those generators. If a story doesn’t add up, you have my full permission to use persuasive techniques.”

Not killing the spies this time, eh? You’ve learned from your mistakes well enough. It’s better to have bartering material… or in this case fake bartering material. Akinak had believed the lie after all. He would give into his paranoia and take his captive to the safety of the Quorlastian capital alongside the other political hostages. Had Dyrien made himself a prisoner of a foreign land? Yes, but he had avoided war today, and that was surely worth it. To cross the Ora would mean death for the Invictians that awaited his return, but to be led, even as a prisoner, into the heart of Quorlastia would give him an opportunity.

A platoon of armed Quorlastian soldiers entered the ‘negotiation’ room, shooting the Invictian evil glares before forcing him to his feet. Akinak stepped forwards, looking at Dyrien and obviously annoyed.

“We’re going on a trip, Councilor. We’re headed to the capital. It’s been far too long, hasn’t it? Quorlastia has missed you, and will surely embrace you as you deserve to be embraced,”

With that, Akinak, Dyrien, and Akinak’s personal guard made their way to an armored truck after trekking the the underground complex. The Quorlastians and their Invictian guest quickly piled in before revving the engine and and speeding away westward to the heart of North Quorlastia.

Ora Base Camp, Invictus

“Target acquired. I see him and he’s… he has the Councilor with him, sir!” the lookout radioed to General Corin, pacing within his base of operations.

“Describe the scene, is Councilor Dyrien being restrained in any way?”

“...No, sir. He’s getting into the vehicle on his own accord.”

What the hell? Now was no time to rebel. Lives were at stake. He had been sent in to do a service. What could Akinak have done to have convinced the Dyrien to make himself a political hostage? Only time would tell…

[Ardreas]

On board the Ilolia, on the surface of Ninabi

The lights on the medbay ceiling blinked soothingly as Captain Hiller relaxed on the bio bed, the fast-acting agent already dulling his senses. He rolled his head to the side to get a glimpse of Natalia being prepped for the infusion. Suddenly he was struck by the absurdity of the situation and whether it was the meds acting or simply his mind cracking, he started to laugh. Here they were, in the medical bay of an advanced alien starship, hundreds of thousands of kilometers from home, facing the most imminent threat to their civilization they'd ever known, and he was putting himself under to save a girl. Nevermind about the billions of people back home who were in danger if the aliens couldn't be stopped, there was only one face that floated in his mind as the medication kicked in and he lost consciousness...

Outside the Ilolia, near the blast site

Three Seraphim stood near the now-inert orb along with the Invictian scientist Dr. Stroud and his hulking Fortisian bodyguard. Quietly they watched the Nublean technicians test the rocks and gather information about it. The discovery of the proto-Ardrean crest was disturbing, but they'd all seen the video feed from the Ascension's landing party where they'd seen that symbol on Rhunar. It was odd seeing it here again, but it was consistent with what they knew of these aliens. This just proved that the orbs did indeed belong to the same species that had hijacked the Ascension. Whatever their intent, it extended far beyond just the outer planets.

"I wonder if these orb things are actually from Rhunar?" Commented one of the Seraphim, gesturing with his weapon at the black sphere. "I mean, they're made of obsidian, which is common as dirt on that weird planet, cause of all the volcanoes." He shrugged, "guess that doesn't prove anything really, but still, you think that's actually their homeworld?"

The others were silent for a moment, then Dr. Stroud mused, "I find it highly unlikely that a species could have evolved on that planet. It's extremely hostile to life as we know it. Your expedition there found no liquid water on the surface, correct? And the tidally-locked nature of its orbit has produced hellish volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, not to mention the temperature extremes." He got a distant look in his eyes as he considered something, then went on. "Also, your astronomers have theorized that the planet itself is not even a native of this star system. Which means it must have formed in another system a very long time ago and been drifting through deep space for eons. If that is the case, I highly doubt any life as we understand it could call that world home. Logically, it's reasonable to consider that these aliens may actually be from somewhere else."

They let that sink in for a while, thinking about what the Invictian scientist had said while the Nubleans continued to scan and study the area. Finally one of the Seraphim spoke again. "Wait a minute, didn't the expedition find a bunch of ruins or something underground in those caverns? Couldn't that mean that the aliens were surviving underground? Like bears hibernating in winter?"

"Yeah but winter doesn't last for thousands of years," replied the other Seraphim, shaking his head. "I don't see a whole species living holed up in a cave for ages while their planet just drifts around in space. That's just a bit far-fetched."

They went on arguing and discussing the aliens for some time. Then suddenly one of the Nubleans got excited about something on the orb. Stepping in to get a look at what he found, they saw a small indentation near the edge of one of the runes. It was the size of a pinkie finger and quite unremarkable. In fact, to the untrained eye it would look like any other part of the unrecognizable rune etched on the surface of the orb. But this was different. The Nublean energy shield prevented them from getting any closer to it, but it looked like it might be an access port of some kind. Of course, there was only one way to find out...

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

"And with power back to 100% it seems as if all systems are normal, and there is no damage to the grid or any systems that we know of." The engineer stood straight as he gave his report to the Empress and the assembled cabinet. Dawn was breaking in the eastern sky, marking an end to a long and difficult night. But now things seemed to be back to normal, at least on the surface.

"Very good," Tatiana replied, dismissing the engineer. When he was gone she turned to Secretary of Defense Vincent. "Has there been any sign of activity from the orb since..." she let her voice trail off as he shook his head silently. "Alright then, since it appears that whatever it was designed to do has been completed, we must make haste to figure out what exactly its mission was. Have a team bring the orb up from the catacombs and secure it in lab 6 for observation. I want a team of the best scientists and technicians in the city brought in to comb this thing that crippled our capital and find out everything there is to know about it! I want to know what its creators had for breakfast!" She nodded emphatically as the group scattered to start carrying out her command. Once the room had cleared, she went over to her private communications console and brought up a secure line to Ninabi. Then she read through the report from Captain Hiller describing what had happened at the colony and considered just how similar it was to the events that happened here overnight. "This is too similar to be a coincidence..." she mused. Then she quickly typed a reply summarizing what had happened at the capital and transmitted it to the colony.

The planet Ambriel, last interior planet in the Aedes system

Another ripple formed against the black of space and then tore open, scattering light and energy into the upper atmosphere of the barren world. This one came from Zeganas, and as its energy reached the surface the object stirred even more. New energy coursed through its systems, long-silent machines hummed to life and whirred with activity. The power flowing in was revitalizing, and the ancient artifact awoke. More computer systems came online, and soon a deep thrumming reverberated down long-empty halls and through the deep blue metallic walls. It was time. The awakening was in full swing and there was no going back now. One of the computer screens changed images and focused in on a tiny object in deep space. Slowly it zoomed in until the shape came into focus, a cylindrical vessel sliding through the void: the Ascension. A ping sounded on the computer as another red dot on Zeganas turned to orange. But this time there were no ripples at Ambriel. This time the ripple opened in front of the Ardrean spaceship and unleashed its stolen energy into the hijacked vessel. The engines flared to life, and the Ascension picked up speed yet again. It was barreling toward Ambriel now at 144,000 KPH and would arrive in a matter of days...

[Zeganas]

Connor Connors had asked to see the Ardrean government officials of an urgent situation on Zeganas that has developed in the past week. When in contact with top government officials to keep the matter secret. He said "Ryan Kyojiri seems to have some kind of connection to this awakening, but he, along with the rest of the Zeganasian government, doesn't know much about it. I beg to wonder if the planet of Ardreas also has a chosen one as well, if each of our planets are meant to be lead by chosen people that only they can get the power to defeat this species, I am only making guesses here, but at this point, everything and anything is possible. I just have to ask, but do any recorded languages lasting since ancient times on your planet have any links to these runes found on the orbs?"

[Nubpryton]

The blast site, on the surface of Ninabi

As the others continue to study the orb on the surface, which was protected by an energy shield to prevent it from going off and generating an explosion, the Ilolia's Chief Science Offier, Mari Kyle Pablo gets off the crew lift, she believes she might have found out a way to crack open the orb without damaging whatever is inside it, she immediately asks one of the engineers nearby to get her a Type II Solariton Pistol.

"Sir, get me one of the pistols in the ship's armory, quick!" Pablo told the engineer, as he runs off back to the ship to go into the armory and get a pistol.

Then, her mobile communicator suddenly begins beeping, she answers it and its Captain Borres, asking her how can she open the orb using a Solariton Pistol.

"This is Captain Borres, Ms. Pablo, how are you going to exactly open that orb using a solariton pistol? You might make things worse and set it off! We already know it feeds on energy." Captain Borres asks Pablo, doubting about her intentions to open the orb.

"Trust me Captain, if anybody's going to open this orb, its going to be me." Pablo confidently replied.

"Alright then...but if anything goes wrong, you accept full responsibility of your actions, Borres out." Borres replies, turning off his mobile communicator as he monitors the operation from the bridge.

As the engineer gets back from the armory carrying a solarite pistol, he immediately gives it to Pablo.

"Turn off the energy shield." Pablo ordered the engineer as he gets to work to deactivating and removing the shield generator placed near the orb.

"The shields are gone, you are free to fire." The engineer informs Pablo and runs for cover, shortly afterwards.

"Alright, everyone get back!" Pablo shouted, as everybody behind her runs back and looks for cover.

As everybody runs for cover behind large rocks or behind a hill of dirt, Pablo aims for the outline of the Ardrean crest carved on the orb, after she gets her aim right, she shoots it with a concentrated beam of solariton particles, feeding the orb with a controlled amount of energy, the outline begins glowing red as the orb begins to emit light again as if it was going to explode once again, but instead of white light, it was red this time, but because everybody takes cover before Pablo shot the orb, she runs for the nearest boulder and hides behind it, as the orb explodes, the shockwave ripples throughout the location and slightly shakes the Ilolia as the powerful energy from the explosion hits its hull.

As the smoke clears, Pablo asks everyone if they're hurt, they were slightly shaken and a bit dizzy when the shockwave hit but other than that, everyone is fine. But then all attention is suddenly diverted towards the orb - now looks like some kind of computer chip that's made of obsidian, glowing red along its circuits as bolts of electricity constantly arc from it. 

"What the hell...?" Pablo whispered to herself, walking over the orb to examine it further.

[Ardreas]

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

Empress Tatiana Fenris stood with her hands clasped regally behind her back, regarding the Zeganasian representative with interest as he spoke about the situation on his homeworld. When he had finished, she pursed her lips and thought about what he said. Finally she replied, "I have not heard of any such awakening here on Aedes, at least not in the Imperial Republic. But then, we did apparently interrupt our orb while it was operating. Perhaps it did not finish its task after all?" She fell silent then as her thoughts suddenly turned to Secretary Vincent and his team heading back into the catacombs to retrieve the supposedly inert orb. Her eyes widened as she considered a possible danger. Quickly she nodded to the Zeganasian and turned to hurry over to the comm. Opening the device she selected the Defense Secretary from the contact list and transmitted. But there was no response. Silently she cursed the bad timing of the news. Then she turned to Mr. Connors. "He must already be in the catacombs, I can't reach him on the comm." She gestured to one of the guards by the door. "Go after Vincent, don't let him get near that orb." The man nodded and hurried out the door. "Maker don't let it be too late," whispered the empress.

Outside the Ilolia, near the blast site on Ninabi

"Maker's breath," muttered one of the Seraphim as he stood up and dusted himself off. He surveyed the blasted bits of obsidian that lay strewn about where the orb had been. "I had no idea Nublean chicks liked blowin' stuff up so much." He flashed a grin at Science Officer Pablo. "You know, I've got some pretty impressive weaponry myself. We could find some time later and set off a few inter-species fireworks, if you know what I mean."

"Shut up you idiot," said the Invictian Dr. Stroud, brushing past him and walking over to the computer chip that had been revealed by the destruction of the orb. "We've got something important on our hands here. Your little mating rituals can wait until later." He knelt down next to the device and carefully inspected the circuitry. After a while he nodded, satisfied. "The device appears to be intact. I would say the explosion of the orb was not meant to be destructive, but more like an ejection. Like when a pilot has to escape his aircraft, the canopy blows away so the seat can be ejected. It looks like that here, the orb itself was just a shell around this core. With the shell gone, the core remains. But what the core does? Now that is the mystery..."

The planet Ambriel, last interior planet in the Aedes system

The ground shook and several large rocks fell away from a spire of stone that stood like a finger at the head of a long valley. Something stirred beneath the surface. Dust filled the air. Then suddenly a section of dirt collapsed, then another, revealing a large bluish metallic frame. The object that had been buried here was fully awake now and struggling to free itself from the stone's embrace. More tremors shook the land, and the object rose, a long section of hull emerging from the ground and shimmering in the pale light. It was a ship. But it was no ship that had ever been seen in this region of space before. It was the definition of alien. And it was active.

High above, in the deep black of space an object drew closer. The Ascension was almost to the planet. It was as if two long-lost friends were running toward each other. The closer the Ascension got, the more the half-buried ship below struggled to break free. Soon they would be together. Soon all would be made right, and the sleep of eons would fade into a distant memory...

The Catacombs Beneath the Grand Cathedral, Arrellia, Ardreas

The guard's footsteps pounded on the stone floor of the tomb. Surely the dead were not sleeping peacefully this day, with all the running about and commotion of the past 24 hours. But there was no time to consider the rest of the deceased. He heard voices up ahead. Secretary Vincent's group must be near. He rounded a corner, then suddenly skidded to a halt. There in the hall, emerging from the orb's room, was the Ardrean Secretary of Defense. But he was no longer human. His eyes glowed with an inner fire, and blue lines etched across his face. He regarded the stunned man with contempt and shook his head. "Ignorant pawn," he said, his voice low and gravelly. Then with a gesture from his hand, suddenly the guard was lifted off his feet and thrown into the wall by some invisible force. As he hit the ground, he saw Vincent striding back toward the entrance, his body radiating heat as if a Rhunari volcano raged within him. Then the guard's vision blurred and he blacked out...

[Zeganas]

Connors had noticed that the guard should have been back by now. "Where is that guard? He should have been back by now, what do you think we should do to know what's going on? I have a lot of fears about what might happen and what could arise. The leader of Zeganas is a supernatural being, many things happening between our systems." He sits down and look at the Ardrean Leader. "Do you think the orb could have killed them both using some mysterious energy field thing? For all we know, some of these orbs may choose to pray off of lives for energy, not just power grids."

Just then, Connors receives a message from Ryan Kyojiri that must be shown to Tatiana Fenris. He stands up and asks her for her attention to this letter that appears on his graphene scroll.

______
DEAR FAKENUBLET, DEAR FENRIS

This is an urgent message from the executive leader, Ryan Kyojiri, of the Imperial United Republics of Zeganas. There has been a mysterious blue glow in his eyes and on strange markings under his fur that just appeared, he also reports feeling a weird pensive feeling, and started feeling stressed for no reason. This is an unusual event as nothing on Zeganas has been going on as of late, and it is essential that this message see a response with a most accurate answer to be offered. I thank you for your service.

-Ryan Kyojiri
_______

[Nubpryton]

Outside the Ilolia, near the blast site

"It seems to be compatible with the ship's computer systems, the Ilolia uses a unimatronic computer system, this circuit seems to be based off unimatronic computing technology as well." Science Officer Pablo explains to everybody as she continues to analyze the ancient computer circuit.

"What are you suggesting, Ms. Pablo?" Captain Borres asked her as he walks up to the away team.

"Maybe we could link the computer circuit to the Ilolia's computer systems? It could give us a clue about the power outages it produced, maybe even show the Ardreans and Invictians the origins of their civilization and history."

"Are you sure this won't be dangerous?" Captain Borres asks as he takes a closer look at the circuit.

"The risk is worth taking if its to save the crew on the Ascension." Pablo implied as she looks back to the Ilolia.

"....Get our Chief Engineer down here and bring the computer cir-"

As Captain Borres orders the computer circuit to be installed on the Ilolia, he receives an urgent, encrypted message from Ryan Kyojiri, the leader of Zeganas.

______

DEAR FAKENUBLET, DEAR FENRIS



This is an urgent message from the executive leader, Ryan Kyojiri, of the Imperial United Republics of Zeganas. There has been a mysterious blue glow in his eyes and on strange markings under his fur that just appeared, he also reports feeling a weird pensive feeling, and started feeling stressed for no reason. This is an unusual event as nothing on Zeganas has been going on as of late, and it is essential that this message see a response with a most accurate answer to be offered. I thank you for your service.



-Ryan Kyojiri

_______


"Well, that's just lovely. Ilolia is still busy down here...I think its time to bring out our new toy." President Fakenublet told the others, as he contacts Admiral Rowland to use the new "toy" to help Zeganas out with whatever kind of crisis they have.

[Ardreas]

On board the Ilolia, on the surface of Ninabi

It took several hours to get the alien core safely moved into containment on the Nublean vessel and hooked up to the ship's computer network. There were a lot of safety concerns to be addressed, but eventually a connection was established in a secure area of engineering. Science Officer Pablo supervised the process with the Invictian Dr. Stroud watching closely. The Ardrean and Invictian soldiers stood at the far end of the room, watching as best they could while the technicians hooked up the troublesome alien device. Finally it was all set and the computer terminal near the core began displaying information from it. It was a jumbled mess at first, the Nublean computer trying to make sense of the alien data storage, but as Ms. Pablo worked on it, the information began to unscramble.

"There is an incredible amount of data here," she breathed, her eyes fixed on the screen. "It's almost too much for the computer to decipher." She entered a sequence of commands and the screen changed as various segments of data appeared. It was like watching an auto-loader in a warehouse sorting boxes and stacking them. Her fingers flew across the console working almost as fast as the computer itself, drawing out the alien data cache and making it readable. The Ardrean Seraphim admired her work, thinking that her fingers must be pretty incredible. After a few more minutes the display blinked and a new window opened. There, a list of files was displayed: over 300 terabytes of information, much of it encrypted in a very unfamiliar format. But there was some easily accessible information. One file in particular stood out. It wasn't labeled in text, but simply had a black symbol representing the file. It was unmistakably the crest of the Ardrean flag. Ms. Pablo looked back at the Ardreans and raised her eyebrows in a silent question. The men nodded, stepping forward to see what it was, other thoughts pushed aside for the moment.

The file opened. There was a lot of text in an alien language that nobody recognized, but next to it was an image. It was a depiction of a star system with two suns, one bright and yellow, the other red and small orbiting at a distance. "Hey, that looks like here. Vita Aedes!" said one of the men. Unable to decipher the text, it was impossible to know what the image was supposed to convey, but it certainly piqued everyone's interest. Later in the file there was another image. This one was of the surface of a planet with an enormous red star in the background. The star was unfamiliar, but it looked like a red giant. The surface of the planet was dotted with buildings, advanced structures that appeared to be the remains of an alien city. The text was also in the unreadable alien language, but from the image it appeared that the civilization was highly developed. Then scrolling on through the file, there was a diagram showing what appeared to be a large object moving through interstellar space.

"Hold on there," said Dr. Stroud, stepping in to get a closer look at the display screen. "Ms. Pablo can you overlay a modern star chart onto this diagram? Matching the star systems in this depiction could help us to understand what is going on."

The Nublean scientists nodded and got to work. After a few minutes there was a new image as the computer blended the alien diagram with a modern star chart. Now the path of the object could clearly be seen originating near the area marked as hex 9,6 and headed toward the upper left ending in 3,1 the Vita Aedes System.

"Now that is strange," commented the Invictian scientist. "By our charts it would appear that the object, whatever it was, came from within the nebula at 9,6. But the diagram shows no such nebula in that hex..." his voice trailed off as his eyes widened. He hit the control to scroll the document up to the earlier image of the alien planet with the red giant star in the background. "I see," he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "So that's what it was then."

"Uh, that's what what was?" Asked one of the Seraphim, a confused look on his face. "You lost us, doc."

The Invictian scientist sighed. "Their planet," he pointed at the image, "was in orbit around a dying star. And when you combine that information with our current star chart which shows no such star in that hex, but instead a large nebula, and then look at the diagram in this file it is pretty clear what happened." He looked at the men, his expression bleak. "Their star went supernova."

There was silence in the room as each of those present took in what he had said. Then one of the men spoke up again, "Wait a sec. That nebula's been there for thousands of years. This couldn't be them. I mean, where have they been all this time?"

Dr. Stroud and Science Officer Pablo exchanged glances. Then the Invictian spoke again, "Well, if you consider the standard orbital speed of a planet in the habitable zone of a red giant star and compare that to the diagram shown in this document, plus factor in what we know of Rhunar..." He fell silent again as he gauged the men. But their blank expressions prompted him to continue. "It would take about 200,000 years for a planet to travel from that system to Vita Aedes, drifting through interstellar space. Which is what your own astronomers have theorized is the origin of Rhunar. They say it is not a native planet of the Vita Aedes system and that it was trapped by Daegis' gravity at some unknown point in the past. Well," he gestured at the alien document. "I submit to you exhibit A. I believe there is enough information here to formulate a working hypothesis that the planet you know as Rhunar is indeed the alien homeworld, blasted through space more than 200,000 years ago by the explosion of its original star. The star then went on to form the nebula in 9,6 while the planet drifted through space. Now it orbits the companion star here, and its residents are waking up."

"Wait a minute," interrupted one of the Seraphim. "Didn't you just say earlier this morning that Rhunar couldn't have developed such a civilization cause it was too inhospitable?"

Doctor Stroud nodded. "Yes I did, but that was before we found this cache of information. At the time I was thinking, if Rhunar was a native planet to this system it could not have developed life. However, given the evidence here, it is logical to consider that Rhunar actually formed in that star system and indeed did support life. Then the disaster of its host star being destroyed turned it into the barren waste world that it is now."

The men nodded, taking in what the scientist said. It was a lot to consider, and most of it was far above their understanding. But it did mean one thing: "Those aliens must be really advanced then," said the Seraphim soldier, gripping his weapon. "If they found a way to survive a disaster like that, they've got to be powerful. And I imagine they're pretty pissed too. Losing their home system would probably do things to their way of thinking. Maybe..." he swallowed. "Maybe they want to take ours to replace the one they lost."

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

The communicator beeped and Empress Tatiana answered. A frantic voice came through on the other end. "...couldn't stop him! He just waved his hands and our weapons flew away as if they'd been grabbed by an invisible giant. Now he's headed north toward the river!"

"Slow down," the empress commanded, her calm voice breaking through the tension. "Who couldn't you stop?"

"Defense Secretary Vincent," came the reply. "He came out of the catacombs a few minutes ago, but he didn't look normal. Like something has happened to him, but I don't know. We can't get near him." There was a burst of static, then the voice came back. "I've been following him. He's moving at a crazy fast speed though. I'm having to run to keep up, but he doesn't even look like he's trying. And the air... it feels tingly like there's static electricity building off his body."

"Alright, just stay with him if you can," replied the empress. "I'll have a team meet you. Do not engage Mr. Vincent until they arrive, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," came the reply. Then Tatiana switched her comm to a new frequency and brought up the contact for the Imperial Seraphim Headquarters. She quickly conveyed what was going on and ordered a squad of the special forces to intercept the men moving north. She warned them to be careful, and to bring in Secretary Vincent alive if possible. They acknowledged, and when she had ended the transmission she let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and slumping back in the chair for a moment. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and looked over at the Zeganasian representative.

"Not a very fun first assignment, eh ambassador?" She chuckled, a strange sound amid the chaos of the day. But somehow it felt good to laugh. The stress had been building and it was only getting worse. She could only imagine what Mr. Connors was thinking, being in the middle of such a crazy situation. At least he can go home when this is all over and not have to sort through the aftermath... she thought. But so will we. We'll sort through this and carry on. We must.

On board the Ilolia, on the surface of Ninabi

Captain Hiller stirred, his thoughts a jumble as the medication wore off. He awoke on a biobed in the Nublean medical bay, for a moment struggling to remember why he was here. Then it came rushing back to him, and he turned his head, looking for Natalia. She was on a bed in the corner, her vitals blinking regularly. Well that's good, he thought. A distant commotion caught his attention then. It sounded like a bunch of voices coming from down the hall. He sat up and immediately the room began to spin. Closing his eyes and gripping the sides of the bed he waited for it to pass. "Damn blood loss," he muttered. But after a moment the room was steady again. He strained his ears, trying to make out what was being said, but it was too far away for any words to make it through to his addled brain. Carefully he turned to the side and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. Then he slowly leaned forward and let gravity pull him out of the bed. He stumbled, but managed to catch himself on the door frame. Standing there, breathing heavily for a moment, he waited for the dizziness to subside. Then he began to make his way down the corridor, keeping a hand on the wall for balance. As he drew nearer to the voices he began to make out a discussion.

"That still doesn't explain the symbol or why it was chosen to represent this file. I mean what the hell does the Ardrean flag have to do with some supernova and planetary migration!?" The voice sounded Ardrean, and Captain Hiller surmised it was one of his Seraphim. But what was he talking about?

"Maybe it does. If only we could translate this alien text, then we could find out what they had to say about this event and maybe figure out the answer to that question too!" Lamented a voice that Hiller recognized immediately as Doctor Stroud.

"In the mean time, how does this help us deal with them? They still have the Ascension under their control, don't forget, and while I'm sure their past is a lovely sob story, I don't see how this information is immediately useful."

"We've only just begun to search these data files," replied Dr. Stroud. "There is certainly more information to be found in here regarding our new enemies. Be patient and give us time to sort through them. As soon as we find more useful data, believe me you'll hear about it."

Captain Hiller reached the door then. The 3 Seraphim, along with Dr. Stroud, a Fortisian, and a Nublean Science Officer he didn't know, stood around a computer terminal. They didn't notice him at first, but then one of the men caught his movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see who it was. His eyes lit up as he saw the captain. "Ten'hut!" he shouted and the other Seraphim snapped to attention, catching the Invictians and the Nublean completely by surprise. They all turned to gape at Captain Hiller, standing there barefoot in a loose surgical robe. "Sir, what are you doing up?" One of the men asked. "We thought you'd be out until tomorrow at least."

"Catch you at a bad time, did I?" He replied with a wry smile. Then he shook his head. "Sedatives never could keep me under for very long. Anyway, looks like you boys found something interesting. Fill me in," he said, stepping into the room and looking at the console. After a brief moment of hesitation they nodded and got to work bringing the captain up to speed on what they'd discovered about the aliens and Rhunar.

[Invictus]

Quorlastian Convoy, En Route to Sylvattica, North Quorlastia

The convoy made its way out of the Ora Valley through the seemingly endless plains as the Quorlastian roads wrapped around the soft hills of the eastern grassland. All was silent except for the hum of the truck's engine and the occasional comment in the Quorlastian tongue between Akinak and the driver that Dyrien could not understand. He had surrendered himself to the enemy, surely leaving the Invictian forces perplexed back across the Ora. He was a hostage. He was guilty of a darker past. He may be killed in this land far from home. Regardless, Marcus had to look on the bright side of the situation; despite the guns, the tanks, and the threat of a costly war, he hadn’t had such an adrenaline rush in years. Being stuck back at an office in the capital manages to suck the life out of you.

Suddenly Marcus awoke to being bathed in sunlight pouring in from the windows on the still moving vehicle. He had apparently fallen asleep and had not been startled to alertness the whole night through. This was quite different from the restless nights back in Civitas, but, Dyrien had to admit, crawling through underground tunnels and being taken capitive at his age was not so easy on the body.

“You are awake. This is good. Surely you were exhausted from yesterdays events. No matter,” Akinak smiled falsely. Suddenly, the window next to him began to roll down, fully exposing him to the sensation of a warm Quorlastian sun, a slight breeze, and blinding light to his unadjusted eyes.

“We will be reaching the capital momentarily. It’s been quite awhile since you’ve been here, hasn’t it, Dyrien? I thought that you could appreciate the view…”

At last, empty plains became quaint country houses. Quaint country houses became suburban residential houses. Residential houses became massive public buildings. The convoy had at last entered the city. Beautiful minarets towered toward the sky. Domed castle-like buildings reflected the sunlight from their golden surfaces. Quorlastians walked to and fro through the clean and orderly streets, which gave the appearance of being paved only yesterday, judging from their perfection. Unlike many cities Dyrien had seen, this one was not simply a concrete slab. Beautiful violet-flowered Marinal trees were on nearly every corner and clearing, housing the birds which filled the air with their songs. Many places in the city were reserved for gardens and vegetation, in which Quorlastians could be seen relaxing on the benches while children played. To the east of the city flowed the clean Irathian River, which had been conquered by ornate bridges created in true North Quorlastian style. The other side of the calm white river was bustling with activity from people visiting shops and other attractions. This was the Artisan Quarter, if Dyrien remembered correctly. North Quorlastian architects and artisans were second to none on the entire continent, and their incredible structures here proved that.

Dyrien looked on in awe of the seemingly perfect city. Could this actually be the same capital that he had visited so long ago? Twenty years ago this place had been a ruin of a dying civilization; today it was as prominent as the renowned Czu Empire of old. Marcus thought that he would arrive here to see a city blockaded and filled with soldiers. Instead, he found himself in a city that rivaled - or perhaps even surpassed- Libertas.

Akinak apparently noted the look in the Councilor’s eyes as he looked around. The northerner smiled again, this time in a different way than the usual false one. This smile seemed to be one of satisfaction.

“Welcome to Sylvattica.”

On board the Ilolia, on the surface of Ninabi

Marius awoke, drenched in a cold sweat as he forced himself quickly into a defensive position. Without thinking, he grabbed the ancient obsidian dagger that he had always carried, and dropped to his knees, waiting. After a few moments he began to calm down; his heart slowly returning to a normal rhythm. It was over; there was no threat here. At least no foreseeable one.

Another nightmare, he concluded as he wiped the sweat from his face. This was nothing new. He had been periodically having nightmares for years; always finding himself in combat situations which had ended long ago. He had been having them much more frequently, however, ever since he had been assigned to the Infinitus. It seemed that fate had chosen him to a life of constant battle, always placing him in these situations no matter how much he had wished to escape them. These thoughts would pass through his head every day, and even at night while he slept he could not get away from them. They haunted him like a vengeful ghost, convicting him of his failures and missed opportunities. Had he not had been so disciplined in his conduct, he would have broken by now, but no; he was strong. He had to be.

The general collected himself, managing to clean and dress himself for the rest of the day before him. That was enough napping for one day.

The Infinitus, In orbit around Aedes

“Dr. Nolan! Come take a look at this!” shouted one scientist enthusiastically to the now leader of the scientific team aboard the Infinitus.

“Argh! What is it, Annia? Can’t you see that I’m busy?” the short-tempered man replied in an aggravated tone.

“This is important, sir! You’re going to want to see this!” the younger scientist called across the bio lab.

The sleepless scientist sighed and made his way over to the microscope perched over the incubator, pressing his eye into the scope and adjusting the view.

“Sweet Solis! The population is exploding!” he exclaimed as he watched the bacteria trapped within the machine. This was unlike anything that the team had anticipated. Stroud had hoped that the proper conditions, in addition to his catalyst, would allow the bacteria to grow somewhat faster than the bacteria back on Aedes, but this sample was reproducing at 10x the speed that Stroud had estimated. Not only this, but they… looked different. They looked healthier somehow. Stronger. Regardless, this turned out to be quite the experiment indeed, and one that should be watched closely.

[Zeganas]

Connors alerts Fenris about Kyojiri's planned arrival at Ardreas. "Lord Tatiana Fenris, Ryan Kyojiri has given word that he is on his way to the Vita Aedes system, he said it was some kind of energy that was pushing him to come to this system, and will land on this planet, I'll pinpoint his landing location when he arrives. For all I know, this might have something to do with this....I don't know how to put it. This might all be some kind of.. awakening."

He then gets up and looks out the window into the sky and sighs. "Long live our civilization, my worst fear is that Kyojiri's actions are linked to Vincent's actions." Then he turns around and looks at Fenris. "Would you say that could be a possibility, Lord Fenris?"

[Ardreas]

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

The palace room felt rather crowded as Empress Tatiana Fenris paced by the window. Since the secretary of defense had gone rogue, several top advisers and military leaders had been called in to consult. In addition to the Zeganasian representative, they now made quite a crowd in her normally too big office. And now Mr. Connors was talking about his people's leader coming to see them as well. She sighed quietly, but nodded politely. Her thoughts kept pulling her attention back to the window though, thinking about Mr. Vincent out there and hoping he could be saved. Suddenly she felt a presence at her side. Turning, she saw a dark-haired man in a black suit. He had steel grey eyes and a hard jawline that would have looked more at home on a pro wrestler. "Mr. Rukhan," she acknowledged. He was the secretary of internal affairs and a member of the prominent Integration party, a neo-political organization dedicated to the promotion of equal rights for all people of Aedes.

"Your majesty," he said, his voice deep and gravelly. "The Zeganasian Mr. Connors raised an interesting point, about some kind of awakening taking place. And I wonder if there might be something to that." He gazed out the window with her, his grey eyes scanning the horizon as if he too was looking for the defense secretary. "I hate to even mention this, considering my stance on equal rights, so please don't get the wrong idea, but I wonder if race might have something to do here." He turned his attention back to the Empress, fixing on her with his hard steely eyes. "You do know that Mr. Vincent isn't entirely Ardrean, right?"

Tatiana caught her breath. She hadn't even thought of that. Ardrean society had been integrated for hundreds of years. She thought no more of race than she did of hair color or clothing style. And to hear a suggestion like this come from one who embraced international racial equality was even more surprising. Frowning, she shook her head. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Charles Vincent," he continued, "is descended from the old Andover tribes. He was born in Abaline to parents who were both also of Andover descent. Or did you not notice his dark hair and rugged features?" He smiled coyly, running a hand through his own black hair as he did so.

Tatiana stared at him, a sudden realization coming to her: this man was also of Andover descent. She recognized it in his features, now that he'd brought it up. The Andover people had been integrated into Ardrean culture more than 500 years ago, and most of them had long since intermarried to the point where there were no "pure blooded" Ardreans or barbarians anymore. But there were still some that had a strong heritage of tribal descent. She nodded slowly, "Alright, so he is of Andover heritage. Do you think that means anything?"

Rukhan shook his head. "I don't know, your majesty. But it would be prudent to consider all possibilities. If only certain people are being affected by these alien orbs, then it stands to reason that there is something causing that. Considering also that this orb was buried since before the birth of the Imperial Republic, it is possible that it has some kind of connection to a people older than Ardreas. And the only ones who inhabited this continent before were the Andover tribes."

Just then the comm beeped, and Tatiana turned to answer. "Your highness," came the voice. "We couldn't stop him at the river. He used some kind of force to rip our weapons from our hands, then he took a boat and is headed up river. What are your orders?"

She opened her mouth, staring back toward the window as she took in the news. "Follow him," she said. "If you can disable his boat and bring him in alive, do so. If not... you have my authorization to use deadly force."

"Yes ma'am," came the reply, and the comm went silent.

"So, he's headed up river," said Rukhan, stepping up beside the empress again. "That's interesting. You'd think if he was attempting a coup he would come here. I wonder where he's going?"

Tatiana shook her head. "I have no idea, Mr. Secretary. But I hope to the Maker he can be brought back in one piece. He's a good man." She fell silent, staring glumly at the window. "Too good a man to die like this..."

On board the Ilolia, on the surface of Ninabi

A few hours later, Captain Hiller and his Seraphim were startled by a yelp of excitement from the Nublean science officer studying the alien core on the computer. "What is it?" They asked, crowding back around to see what she had discovered.

"This encrypted file," she replied, indicating an icon on the screen. "I finally got it open, and look at this!" On the screen was a new document written in the alien language. But this one looked very different from the historical one they'd seen previously. Embedded in the text was a moving image, like a video clip, of a planet. It wasn't Aedes or Ninabi or Rhunar. It took a few minutes of studying the image before Captain Hiller realized, "It's Ambriel." The others turned to him, surprised. "Oh don't look at me like that. I may be a soldier, but I'm not a dummy. Our solar system only has 5 planets. I learned to recognize them all when I was just a kid. And that," he pointed at the image on the screen, "is Ambriel."

"Curious," replied the Nublean science officer. "Why would the aliens be interested in Ambriel? Is it not a desolate, radioactive world with no inhabitants?"

"Yeah, it's certainly not the kind of place I'd find appealing," replied Hiller. "But we do know that the aliens who hijacked the Ascension were headed to Ambriel. This is more than coincidence. Obviously the aliens have some kind of interest in that place. And I'd bet Sovereigns to Kroner this document explains why... if only we could read it."

[Nubpryton]

On board the Ilolia

As the Nublean scientists work on the ancient computer core and the medical staff tend to the patients in sickbay, Captain Borres couldn't help but notice that since the computer core was installed on the Ilolia, they've been having headaches on the ship, but this headache disappears when they leave the ship. Disturbed, Captain Borres and President Fakenublet asks the Chief Medical Officer to find out what's causing the headache among them and their crew.

"Doctor, is there any reason why the crew have been getting a headache recently?" Fakenublet asked the Doctor.

Waiting for a few seconds, the Doctor fails to reply and suddenly falls asleep along with everyone in sickbay. Captain Borres, President Fakenublet, Captain Hiller and the other senior staff evacuates the Ilolia as most of the crew that has suddenly fallen asleep suddenly stood up and began getting out of the ship in a sleep-walking like state.

"What the bloody heck is going on?" Captain Borres shouted as he watches the crew exit the crew lift.

"Sir, the impulse engines and warp core are suddenly coming online, the Ilolia wasn't meant to do that by itself." The Chief Engineer tells the two as he takes a breath after running out of the Ilolia.

As they wonder why the ship systems are suddenly coming online for no reason, Ms. Pablo speculates that the ancient computer core has taken over the primary functions of the ship, as they continue to wonder why the computer chip took over the ship, the Ilolia retracts its crew lift and takes off from Ninabi's surface. The Ilolia - now under control of the computer core seems to be heading for Ambriel to rendezvous with the Ascension.

"Somebody tell me what just happened..." President Fakenublet spoke as they watch the Ilolia disappear and go into warp.

"Well, Mr. President, how do we get off Ninabi's surface? The computer took off with Ilolia..." Captain Borres muttered.

"Don't worry, I've sent a ship called the USS Ella Samson towards Zeganas, if the Zeganians let us take care of Ryan Kyojiri on that ship, the Samson will head towards here, come pick us up and intercept the Ascension and Ilolia." Fakenublet told the others.

[Ardreas]

On the surface of Ninabi, near the orb site

"Maker's balls!" cursed captain Hiller, glaring up at the sky where the Ilolia was now a tiny speck at the end of a trail of light from its engines. His thoughts flickered to those still on board, including Natalia. Suddenly this whole situation with the aliens and the orbs became a lot more personal. Growling, he gripped his rifle with both hands, a murderous look in his eyes. He'd never been one to contemplate racial genocide before, but right now he was willing to kill every last one of those aliens if he got the chance.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned around to face the others. "We better... gah," he choked, his throat constricting. He shook his head and swallowed, then tried again. "We better head for the colony. The oxygen in our rebreathers won't last forever, and I needn't remind you that Ninabi's atmosphere is not quite friendly to humanoids yet." With that he walked back over to the colonial all-terrain-transport that was still parked on the ridge.

* * * * *

An hour later they were all back at the Central Colonial Authority building in Ninabi City. Needless to say, captain Hiller was not looking forward to seeing the governor again, not after the way their last meeting had gone. He could only imagine the smug look on the fat man's face as he would taunt him with something like, "What's the matter soldier, did your ship leave without you?" He scowled at the thought, but pushed it aside. At least in the building they would all be able to rest and breathe while they waited for another ship to arrive and get them offworld.

They entered the main hall, and as luck would have it the governor had left for the day. An aid escorted the group to an open parlor room. It wasn't very big, but it was enough to accommodate them. Two of the Seraphim collapsed onto a couch, tossing their rebreathers into the corner and stretching out their legs. Captain Hiller paced over to the window and gazed out at the street of the colony. Had it really been just yesterday that he'd been here trying to shut down the alien orb? A lot of good that had done... "We should have just blasted the thing to bits while we had the chance," he muttered.

"And waste the chance to gain valuable data about these creatures?" came a voice at his side, and he was startled to see the Invictian Dr. Stroud standing there. "Call me an old fool, but I think knowledge is a powerful thing, and worth acquiring."

"Worth Natalia's life?" asked Hiller, a bit sharper than he'd intended.

The scientist's eyes took on a sad expression for a moment. "I don't know," he replied. "I'm hopeful we can still get her and the others back."

They were both silent for a while, just standing there by the window. Finally Hiller nodded. "Yeah, me too. We've just got to get back up there." He turned back to the room and gazed at the others assembled there. "We get back up there, and destroy every last one of those monsters. And this time we don't stop to play with their toys."

The Imperial Citadel, Arrellia, Ardreas

The comm chirped again, and Empress Tatiana answered. "It's no use your highness," came the voice. "Mr. Vincent keeps using some kind of telekinetic force to deflect projectiles away from the boat. We can't hit him."

She pursed her lips, thinking. "Has he done anything else?" she asked.

"Uh, no ma'am," came the reply. "He's just continuing up river, full throttle. He just blew past Velengard and is still going. At this rate we'll be entering lake Venetor soon and he'll have a lot more room to maneuver... not that he needs it."

Tatiana furrowed her brow as a new thought came to mind, something she remembered reading about a long time ago. "Alright, fall back," she said into the comm. "Don't engage him again, but just watch to see where he's going and report back when you find out." She clicked off the comm and sat down at the desk, deep in thought. What was that story? So long ago... it involved a secret door or something.

She turned to the computer and brought up a selection of historical documents. So deep in concentration was she, paging through the records, that she didn't notice the presence looming near the desk until he spoke. "An interesting time to be brushing up on history, your majesty."

She jumped, then shot a glare at Mr. Rukhan before turning her attention back to the screen. "If you must know, I'm trying to look up something about Lake Venetor, where Mr. Vincent is headed. There's something... something about that lake that just strikes me as familiar." Her voice faded as she focused on a historical text from Antiquity. After a few minutes of reading, suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Aha!" she exclaimed, startling everyone in the room. Her cheeks reddened momentarily, then she spoke, indicating the screen as she did. "In A:320 Antiquity, during the time of the classic Azurite Kingdom, a prince was born to the king in Azure City on the very same day as a Blood Eclipse. Because of this people thought the prince was cursed. In the superstitious hope that he would be spared from death, his father named the boy Ambriel, after the guardian of the celestial temple, the same one the planet is named after." She glanced at the others in the room, letting the name sink in. "But the boy's life would not be an easy one. In 304, on his 16th birthday, his father the king died suddenly of a mysterious illness, leaving the boy to inherit the throne. Then in 296 his wife the queen died in childbirth. Everyone was convinced King Ambriel was cursed because of the Blood Eclipse and death surrounded him on all sides. But then in 288, he heard a story about a fountain on the island in Lake Venetor that was embued with the magic of Phoenixes and could break curses. He took his son, prince Ilestrian, to find it and see about breaking the curse he thought he was under. But King Ambriel never returned. It says here that in 285 the young Ilestrian returned alone, visibly shaken by whatever had taken place on that expedition. Eventually he said that they had found the fountain and that the curse had been lifted, but that his father had been taken in payment. Ilestrian then went on to outlaw all travel westward to lake Venetor, even going so far as to build Velengard as an outpost to keep people away from the area."

She fell silent as everyone considered what she'd read. After a moment one of the regional lieutenants spoke up. "Wait, you don't mean the Holy Island, do you?" He asked, incredulously. "The same island where Ariel the Prophetess was born in A:43 during the War of Exile?"

"Yes that would be the one," replied the empress. "It is the only island in lake Venetor, after all. And history shows that the Azurites knew about it, though their tales of course are steeped in beliefs in magic."

Mr. Rukhan spoke up. "Surely that account is somewhat skewed by those superstitious beliefs of the Azurite people. I mean really, curses and magical fountains? If such things existed we would know about them."

"You're probably right," Tatiana replied. "But even legends have a basis in reality. King Ambriel was a real person, and we do know that he had a very unlucky life and that he did go on an expedition to lake Venetor, from which he never returned. In light of the recent developments with the orbs and Secretary Vincent, I wonder if there might actually be something buried on that island..."