Grand Admiral Talvo was sent out to hunt down a radical rouge Taskforce that was known for killing everything in sight. Fleet gets ready and ...well you'll find out.
Based around the Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion mod that was made as a tribute to the old Armada games. All issues with what certain ship classes not working with what they truly are will be expected. Keep in mind this is from Armada 3 so there will be differences.
“This is Grand Admiral Talvo. All Ships prepare for warp on my mark,” A man in all black federation Admiral uniform. Admiral Talvo, a man who held the single strongest ship in the current power struggle, looked to the many screens at the center of the bridge.
“Sir, groups 1-7 of all but the cruiser division have pinged confirmation” One of the officers said. He looked to be brand new. Talvo always felt some pity for the new recruits, always trying to gain reputation for heroic actions only to die in the worst possible ways.
“Tell those lazy bums to get moving. We can’t afford to delay anymore,” Talvo ordered. ‘Those captains are sure going to be seeing the lovely line of a firing squad if they don’t hurry up eventually.’ Turning towards the engineer seated just to the left, Talvo said, “Private, have all the fighters been docked and secured yet?”
“Sending confirmation request to hanger bay now, Sir.” The engineer officer said in a calm voice. A few moments passed by before there was a response.
“Sir, the fighters have been secured and readied for the next deployment.” Talvo let lose a smirk, He loved when things went according to plan….mostly.
“Sir, the crusiers have finally reached position and are stowing their fighters now.” The bridge to the flag ship went silent, waiting for that last set of pings to come through to announce it was time for the count down.
-Ping- “…” -Boop- “Alright who is playing Pong at a time like this?” Talvo asked amusedly. From behind him comes a cough that was meant to sound innocent but betrayed the fact that someone was doing something wrong. “If anyone can beat my score then they are allowed to play that game…and as far as I am aware no one has. Sweetie, would you be so kind as to tell everyone my score against you in the Pong game.” Out of nowhere a semi-robotic female voice speaks up, “The score for Grand Admiral Talvo is 385-20.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” Talvo speaks up. Looking around he sees everyone’s look of confusion and amusement, and a few smirks and a few bobbing heads could be seen. Silence reigned for the next few minutes.
The thrum of the systems making a musical of technological perfection eased everyones nerves for the possible fight to be expected at the next system.
Breaking the silencem, the communication’s officer spoke up, “Sir, the cruiser group has confirmation that they are now awaiting your call for warp.”
“Good,” Talvo spoke. “Comms., would you be so kind as to open up to the rest of the fleet?”
“Gladly.” The man spoke. Once it was open, he nodded back to Talvo.
“Alright everyone. This is the last planet that the suspected rouge task force to control. What they have done has, and is punishable by death. Keep your target sights clear, photon torpedos prepared, and (this part I cannot stress enough) Helmsmen…Please watch where the hell you are flying. That especially goes for you fighter pilots. Don’t think I haven’t seen some near crashes with my bridge when being chased,” Talvo’s face took on a stern appearance. “When we get there do not move out of formation, I want to ask for surrender, and if they accept we take them into custody. If not then…Have fun. All ships prepare to warp in 10.” ‘10’ The humming of the ship’s engines got somewhat louder. ‘9’ “Should I raise shields, Sir?” One of the abundant Tactical officers asked. Talvo only nodded. ‘8’ Silence encompassed the room… well the crew stayed quiet. ‘7’ … ‘6’ ‘5’ “Sir, I am detecting an unusual buildup of energy around the fleet.” The head Science officer said. ‘4’
“What do you mean ‘Unusual’?” Talvo asked. ‘2’ “SIR, WE NEED TO STOP TH…” -External view-
All the Ship nacelles could be seen glowing brighter. The size of the ships ranging from the scattered Defiant Class ships all the way up to the Excalibur Titan made for an awe inspiring sight. The fleet itself was in the hundreds for combat ready vessels while there were a few ships set off behind the main fleet that provides as support and personnel carriers for ground invasions.
As the lights got to their brightest, an explosion of massive scale ripped out from one of the lesser ships. The resultant debris was nowhere to be seen. Then like popcorn, all the ships were gone. Every explosion had a different color but they all had the same end result.
-Someplace altogether different-
Celestia stood out on her balcony looking to the night sky. She had felt something strange emotion but couldn’t place it. That said emotion would sometimes appear to be just dread of having to do more of the tedious political jargon the following day but at other times it seemed to be something altogether alien. “What troubles you, Sister?” Celestia hears from behind her. Turning her head, She sees Luna peering through the partially open door. Compared to Celestia’s 7 ft stature, Luna only got to 5 ½ feet.
“I do not know. I would say that something is coming but I, for the life of me, cannot place it. Discord is reformed, Sombra…well Twilight never really told me what happened,” Celestia took on a pensive look but waved off what ever had happened to the evil king of the north. “The fact of the matter is that whatever is coming this way could either turn out great or …” Celestia stopped.
“Or what?” Luna asked.
“Or these are the last days we have on this planet.” Celestia said hollowly. Luna visibly paled. “I hope that it is the former rather than the latter.”
Out of nowhere Luna clutched her head and nearly fell. Seeing this Celestia bolted over to her sister but only to be stopped by a hand from Luna.
“Whatever you are fearing is here.” Luna said in a pained tone.
“What do you mean?” Celestia’s pupils were tiny as she was hoping there would be time to prepare.
“Grab a telescope and look towards the left side of the moon.” Luna groaned, still clutching her head, and kneeling on the floor.
Celestia went over to her balcony again and grabbed the telescope with her magic and already had the various dials set for the moons distance. As she set it down, she looked back towards Luna who was moaning in discomfort.
“Are you sure you are ok?” Celestia asked in concern, only to be waved off by Luna. Sighing, Celestia turned around and bent over slightly to look through the telescope…only to jump back at what had greeted her. Moving back to the telescope she peered in again and took note of what she was seeing.
-Back to the Flagship-
Talvo got an uneasy feeling as he saw what looked like a planet but not the one he had wanted. The planet they were supposed to be jumping to was a desert planet, not some M-Class planet-lookalike.
“Everyone what is the status of the ship?” Talvo ordered.
“Weapons are offline…oh there they go. Nevermind they are operational, Sir.” Said the chief tactical officer.
“Shields are a go.” The lead engineer stated in his all-to happy tone.
“Propulsion is what you’d expect.” Said the OTHER lead engineer.
“Is it working or is it broken?” Talvo asks, irritated by the vague response.
“Yes, propulsion is online.” The first lead engineer states.
“Contact the rest of the fleet. Tell them to start forming up on us. First task is to get everything unfucked, and then we are going to figure out where the hell we are.” Talvo ordered unhappily.
Swarms of silver specks could be seen whizzing about the large the battle fleet. The behemoth of the fleet was surrounded heavily by its lesser in a defensive sphere, prepared to defend themselves at a moments notice. The writing on the large ship’s saucer said ‘U.S.S. BISMARCK’ followed ‘NCC 919035-D’
-Bridge of the Bismarck-
“Sir, checks form all ships report that there is nothing amiss except for a few systems shutting off,” The comms officer stated. Talvo nodded at that, happy that no one had blown up suddenly.
“Alright, tell the fleet that we are moving out,” Talvo commanded. “Helm, take us into a geosynchronous orbit around that planet.”
“Aye, Sir.” The veteran pilot stated, pressing buttons and sliding various controls on the screen.
-External view-
As some bad horror movie, the ‘big scary monsters’ started inching ever closer towards the planet. The swarms of Peregrine fighters flew around their respective mother ships, while Danube shuttles went about, transporting their various cargos to other ships that were lacking in various resources. (Talvo still dislikes transporters but will use them if shuttles are not fast enough, and besides…offloading something just has a sense of accomplishment.)
-Celestia’s Point of view-
“Sister?” Luna moaned asked, holding an enchanted cloth to her head.
“Luna, can’t you see I’m trying to do something about this news. I mean…” Celestia jumped back as a letter appeared.
“Ah, it seems Twilight has also seen the disturbance, I take it?” Luna questioned.
“Yes, she said here among frantic hoofwriting that she has seen metal objects next to the moon. Not a surprise, really.” Celestia said. With a glance the largest thing looked like a really fat, and wide star.
Luna wandered over to the telescope, and peered through it.
“Uhh….Sister? I think they’re moving.” Luna said in an uncertain tone.
“What? How can you tell?” Celestia quickly questioned.
“Because some of the smaller objects are turning this way,” Luna stated. Celestia walked over, and put a hand on her sisters shoulder. Luna looked to her sister, fear evident in her eyes.
“Let’s hope those…things will be gone soon.” Celestia hoped.
-Bridge of Bismark-
“Tell Fighter group Omega 6 to get their stuff together,” Talvo told the comms officer, who being so close to the Grand Admiral was making him uneasy.
“Y-yes, Sir,” the comms officer said. “Request sir?”
“Yea. Tell them to grab some of the spare Danube pilots from some of the other fighter wings,” Talvo let out with sigh. “I need them to go down to the planet and just survey it. If there are inhabitants, do not engage. Better yet, just ignore anything unless they come under attack.” The comms officer put in the command then turned towards Talvo partially, then shook his head slighty.
-2 hours later-
“Admiral?” The chief science officer spoke up.
“Yes, Lieutenant Commander?” Talvo replied.
“I am getting strange reading from a particular section of the planet,” the chief officer said, shifting uneasily. “Scanners can’t really pick up much except for basic geography.”
“So… It’s decided where the search will first take place,” Talvo said. “Ensign.”
“Yes, Admiral?” The comms officer said.
“What is the condition of our scouting party?” Talvo asked, hoping for the 25 some shuttle/fighter group would be ready.
“The crews have been pulled together and they are waiting in the U.S.S. Vermont,” the comms officer said. “The Vermont is asking for a couple of ships to go with it….in case something happens.”
“Send the U.S.S. Tanner and send Tim’s Miranda wing with the him,” Talvo ordered.
The U.S.S. Tanner was fairly old Sovereign class, who has probably seen ten times as much combat as the most veteran crews. Whenever there was a major conflict, or whenever a battle needed good luck, the Tanner was there. The crew even became accustomed to wearing the 4-leaf clover on their outfits.
“Acknowledged, Admiral. I do have to ask though…Why Tim?” the comms officer asked.
“Hey, Ensign. You don’t need to deal with a captain who has a near passion to complain about not being put to anything,” Talvo stated, a smirk crossing his face.
“Right…Sorry, Si..” the comms officer started.
“No need to be sorry, Ensign. You didn’t know so I wont judge you differently,” Talvo said with a caring voice to the ensign, calming his fears. “That goes for the rest of you. If you question what I order, then come talk to me about it and I will give my reasons. Just…” He paused and a smile appeared on his face, “..don’t be afraid to ask.”
“Admiral, the expeditionary force is ready to move out,” the reassured comms officer stated. “Good send them their orders that they are to patrol the area of disturbance on the planet before us,” Talvo stated gleefully, although he his mask was starting to break. ‘Something about this place is making me seem more…happy?’
-External view-
From the main body of the fleet, 15 vessels collected themselves away from the fleet. The only distinct ship besides the large Sovereign, was the Curry class. The U.S.S. Jennings was a special Curry class in of its own. The Jennings was one of the first to receive the extended hull modification that made it longer than all of its sisters in the fleet. The captain of this vessel was a strong but somewhat shy women by the name of Vanessa Grey. -U.S.S. Jennings Bridge-
In the middle of the bridge stood a woman with long, light red hair. She stood with an air of leadership, and the crew around her were working to figure out where the hell they just appeared at.
“Tell the Grand Admiral Talvo we are ready to depart on his orders,” Captain Vanessa Grey said.
“Captain, the Tanner is contacting us,” the comms officer, Mr. Fink, said.
“Put him on screen.” Grey was now starting to feel nervous, to say the least.
The large screen that spanned the front of the room they were in came to life and an image of a very battle-beaten face came up.
“Yes?” Grey asked, usually this turns into a teacher student ordeal which Grey always hated being put into.
“Did you get the astrometric readings of this place!” The old mans face burst into a childlike glee that took Grey back.
“Uh..what?” She looked to her Chief science officer, and saw a man who was looking at a screen. That same man just looked up and then back down to his screen in disbelief. “Commander Mavix, report.”
“Uh….” Is all he got out. Grey walked over to him and looked over his shoulder at the icons, charts, telemetry, and all sorts of other readings that were appearing and disappearing.
“Apparently this could be a very informative trip,” the old man saw the look on Grey’s face.
“INFORMATIVE! YOU MEAN AN ADVANCEMENT TO GETTING THE ALPHA QUADRENT BACK UNDER CONTROL!” Grey was taken back by all the readings.
“WATCH WHO YOU ARE YELLING AT, GIRLY!” The old man retorted. His anger faked on account of how much suppressed glee there was in him.
“Captain, we got the order to move out. Orders also say that if there is an opposing force that we need to come back to the fleet,” Mr. Fink said.
“Alright. You hear that, John?” Grey said teasingly.
“I’m not that old, and yes I heard that. Report anything to me if you detect something abnormal.” John said. At that point the screen cut out and what was left was the scene before them. The planet and it’s moon in front of them, beckoning to show it’s hidden treasures.
“Helm take us forward, slow and steady, if you could. Signal the rest of our new detachment to follow us.” Grey commanded. The helmsman only nodded.
“Captain, I am getting a message from the Bismarck,” Mr. Fink said.
“What is it now?” Grey asked, somewhat worried.
“Only that Talvo want’s a report of this, and if possible see what lives there… He also wants pictures. What?” Mr. Fink scratched his bald head.
“Oh it’s just something me and Talvo do to each other. I know he would want to go instead but since he got the Excalibur Prototype battleship he has been a little on edge for bringing that behemoth down into any fluxes.” Grey said.
“If I could kindly ask, What type of pictures?” Mr. Fink said in a sarcastic sultry voice. The whole bridge erupted into laughter and Grey stood there, face completely red.
“NOT THOSE TYPE OF PICTURES!” Grey yelled as she stalked back to her office.
“H-hey captain…” Mr. Fink’s voice was cut off when the doors to Grey’s office closed.
-A few minutes later-
There came a knocking sound. Since the last engagement the door’s ‘doorbell’ kinda got disintegrated.
“Come in.” Grey’s voice rang out in the silence, somewhat muffled by her head being in a pillow on her office chair.
“Hey…” She hear Mr. Fink’s voice was heard, “Sorry I didn’t think that you were going to react that way.” Care tinged his words.
“You know I am shy about that subject.” Grey’s voice came back, somewhat angry but also sounded like she just wanted the conversation to be done with.
“I know but I am sorry I brought it up. You need to let up on that incident. You know everything done towards you is in humor and not to be taken seriously.” Mr. Fink said consolingly through the door.
Memories of the week and a half long joke that had Grey in various bikini outfits circulated through her head. She had thought it wasn’t funny in the slightest, and was beyond flustered when the Grand Admiral found out and had seen the pictures for himself. She knew Talvo to some degree. He liked going to worlds they had brought back into the fold and just go to all the scenic, or tourist, areas and just did what anyone else does normally.
Other thoughts went through Grey’s mind but stopped when she found a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Mr. Fink standing, and motioned for her to come back out. She nodded, and got up.
-External View-
The small group of ships sped away from the fleet, and along with them were a few fighters that followed just for precautionary measures. The silver of the ships offset the blackness around them. As they flew, everyone began to wonder…What is here this time?
Watching the strange floating objects, Celestia watched in confusion as she saw some of the grey objects separate, then that confusion turned to horror as they grew larger through the microscope. ‘Whatever they are, they are going to be here soon.” Celestia thought.
-Omega 6 leader-
“All right boys, sit your asses in those chairs,” the Wing Captain for Omega 6, Tal Bhao, instructed. The room became quiet instantly, excluding the few coughs. Nodding, Tal takes a step back, towards the map that is currently up. “Today’s flight is nothing more than a simple escort run,” Motioning towards a woman, who in her regards is more masculine than most men in the room, to take the stage. “This is Lieutenant Commander Lana Fen. She will brief you all on what is expected, and what you are going to do.” Tal nods to Lana.
“Thank s, Tally,” That earned a few coughs. “What we are doing is, basically, getting information on this planet. We are going to start here,” motioning to a rather tall mountain standing alone, “ and get all the readings we need. You flyboys are going to escort us there, and if any of you messup..” She motions towards the gun at her side. “..You’ll be making a new toy for Burny here.”
“Boys, trust me you do not want to end up on the wrong side of that phaser,” Tal piped up from the side of the room. “Burned straight through a borg who had already adapted. Very nasty business.”
“Thank you, Tal but the next time I want you to intimidate the children, I’ll let you know.” Lana said, annoyance gracing her tone. “As I was saying…”
-45 minutes later-
“…Do I make myself clear. These patterns could possibly rip us apart if we don’t take caution.” Lana finished up. A hand in the background popped up. “Yes?”
“What about us who are more based around attacking others? I mean there are at least half of us that can do what you say but what about the rest?” Some smug lieutenant stated.
“Then you better start running cause I have Burny then ‘Cindy.” Lana said with probably the most demented smile someone could dredge up. The Lieutenant paled.
“C-Cindy?”
“Oh yes… you thought all I had was this phaser pistol? OOOHH how wrong you are…” Lana’s smile grew wider. “Cindy is my specially made and modified experimental minigun. Small enough to carry around, and light to boot.”
The lieutenant sat back down. Tal felt sorry for him, but seeing those two guns Lana carried always turned some fight in their favor. Shivering at a particular memory of a Klingon crew that had gotten aboard and found themselves against a few security officers and a Very pissed Lana.
-A year and a half ago-
“Sir, Klingons have boarded.” The chief security officer chimed in. The captain nodded and looked to Tal.
“Tal, go grab a detail, and stop them.” He said in a calm voice.
“Yes, Sir,” Tal, who was only one of the leaders of this captains security detail, said.
-Minutes later-
“Sir, they are not on this floor.” Tal said into his combadge.
“Sensors say otherwise. There was a large burst of phaser and disrupter fire then it stopped,” The captain said in a more irritated tone.
“There is noth…” Tal stopped cause he heard hurried foot steps behind him. Turning around and pointing his phaser out what he saw was probably the best and scariest sight ever.
10 Klingons were running, all pale as can be, and the person who rounded the corner was probably a demon from hell. The person stopped at the corner, and looked toward the Klingons who had stopped.
“NEXT TIME YOU THINK ABOUT BURSTING INTO MY LAB WHEN I AM WORKING, WAIT TILL I AM DRESSED!” the mysterious person, but telling form the voice was ‘Loony’ Lana. She stood there in her near naked glory. All she was wearing were black panties and a partially destroyed bra, one breast exposed, and her whole body was red. ‘Is…Is that blood?’ Tal thought before he realized that she was turning the weapons she had carried to bear on the Klingon intruders.
Then Lana raised her two weapons, one a pistol and another a…mini..gun. ‘SHIT’. Tal and his group of three got out of the way, barely, of the torrent of fire that then engulfed the main area of the passageway. Screams could be heard, then the thumps of bodies hitting the ground. Tal looked around the corner he was using for corner and saw a pile of only 4 dead Klingons, and a substantial amount of ashes.
“Lana…” Tal called out. “..Lana we are coming out now. Please, do not open fire.” As Tal walked around the corner, he saw a very irate but calmed Lana. Walking slowly towards her, Tal could see that her anger was lessening.
“Lana…?” Tal asked. “Lana.. Let me take you back to your room.” She only nodded. -Present-
“Trust me guys you do not want to get on her real bad side,” Tal finally said. -20 minutes later-
“Alright boys, stay with your groups. Anything that pops up is not to be shot on sight, got it.” Tal shot to all of his men through the comms.
“Yes, Sir.” Was the universal response.
“All righty then. Whisky leader you ready?” Tal asked.
“You know I am always ready to try and outfly you, Tally,” came Lana’s reply.
“You know you can try, but you can never know the true power of the fighter ace,” Tal said, mockingly.
“This is Captain Grey. I do not want any incidents. The Vermont is supplying ground crews for this operation so watch out for them,” Captain Grey spontaneously broke in.
“Roger that. Listen up men, who ever isn’t guarding an air survey shuttle will guard the ground crews,” Tal broke to his men again. Pings of confirmation coming from them as they were put into position to move out.
-External view-
The ships were breaking the atmosphere and things were heating up. The sun finally starting its rather hurried ascent sent bright, blinding light into the cockpits of all the fighters and shuttles. After a few minutes, the heat died down, fighters and shuttles were launched. The Tanner releasing its fighters as well. At that moment a strange glow grabbed one of the escorts and the ship started to list.
Then a large tearing noise and the right nacelle flew off. The Miranda escort then started its tumbling descent to the ground below. All other ships lost contact and sensor contact after the cloud wall. The people on the other ships fearing the worst but stayed their course.
-Celestia-
Trying to grab one of the objects with magic had led to a rather…bad result. Part of the thing had sheared off and then started tumbling, smoke billowing out of the ripped area, and random bursts of light erupted from various spots around the ship. Watching the ship and then looking at the ground, Celestia used her magic and grabbed the falling…thing and started bringing the thing towards Canterlot. So as not to freak the populace out, she used a invisibility spell to hide the massive object. Then all of a sudden the thing broke free…and floated there, as if suspended in mid-air. Celestia tried all she could but she couldn’t nudge it out of place.
-U.S.S. Belmont-
“Sir, we have everything stable now,” The Chief science officer said. Everyone in the bridge were starting to get to their seats.
“Good. Now can anyone tell me WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!” The Captain screamed.
“W-We don’t know. We were flying level and then out of nowhere we lost our right nacelle…” The Chief Science officer said, fearing what could possibly happen.
“Then what…MAGIC… We stopped falling and then we started drifting towards that fucking mountain?” The captain scoffed, visibly irritated.
“Captain, if you do not cal…” The First officer, Tom Deacon, said.
“What? If I don’t calm down, what are you going to do to me?” The captain asked loudly.
-Thwack-
“Alright as of now I am taking over command,” the Tom said, wiping off some Captain on to said captains uniform. “Helm?”
“Yes, Sir?” the relieved teenager said.
“Take us to the meet up spot and tell the rest of our little group that we are still okay, AND still flying.” The Tom said,relieved. “Oh and transfer all auxiliary power and the shields power to engines and anything that can keep us afloat.”
“Roger that, Sir” Everyone said.
-External view-
As the Belmont limped it’s way to the meet up spot, ponies who saw the thing ran, the guard called, and the Elements of Harmony gathered in case of this new strange thing was here on evil intentions. Even Celestia, who has probably never know true unadulterated fear, was experiencing fear as the strange vessel got closer.
Sensors behind them detected what appeared to be debris.
“This is Whisky Lead, calling U.S.S. Jennings…” Lana told into the comms device. “What the hell is behind us?”
No response.
“This is Whisky Lead, Jennings are you there?” Lana, now getting worried looked to the crew with her. Just a few scrawny teenagers and a semi-muscular men accompanied her in this shuttle.
“What is it, Ma’am?” The newest of the recruits asked, fear evident in his voice.
“I can’t raise the Jennings,” Lana said, not surprised that the communications decide to conk out on her. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
‘If we can’t raise them then…’ Lana looked to her sensors and saw her three fighter escort.
“Hey, flyboys, could one of you kindly go ask what the fuck just fell behind us..” At that moment the sensors went crazy.
-External-
Flying in a diamond with Whisky Lead in front, the Belmont falling a few dozen feet behind the shuttle. The Belmont fell quickly and took out the rearmost fighter. This was that pilots first ever sortie since the previous battle.
-Internal-
The sensors showed the huge object and then only two others besides herself within 50 yeards.
“We just lost Whisky four.” Lana said awestruck. She had never had someone not under her control initially die off so suddenly.
Raising up the comms, she said, “What the fuck was that!” (Ok maybe yelled is more of the word).
“Apparently one of the escorts lost the ability to fly but how…my sensors didn’t register any weapons fire,” Whisky two said, confused.
“Well whichever Miranda it is, that captain is getting their ass handed to them after this,” Lana growled. The recruits cowered together in their corner while the only other person smiled.
“This is Whisky Lead to all other expeditionary forces, group up we are heading to see who the fuck just fell behind us.” Lana ordered. A few pings came in.
“Lana, are you sure?” The voice of Tal came across the speakers.
“Yes I am sure. If that ship crashes then we need to make sure if anyone survived.” Lana said, slowly getting more irritated.
“Lana, from how fast that ship fell, there won’t be any survivors at all,” Tal said, sympathetic. “Just..Let it go.”
Silence reigned in the shuttles and over the comms traffic.
“This is the Jennings. Anyone down there?” A man’s voice came through.
“Yea… we lost a fighter. Did you fall through?” Tal’s voice responded.
“Negative, the Belmont fell through. We were wondering if there was any way to spare a few people to go check on them?” the man said, dread evident in his voice.
“I’ll check,” Tal said. Lana looked off to her right and saw one of the other formations slow and descend going the way they had come, then following the path that the Belmont had taken.
Minutes passed as the expeditionary force slowly flew through the air, descending slowly. Time seemed to extend for a while as they waited with bated breath. The fear of having lost a ship already was heavy on everyone’s mind.
“Uh…Everyone?” Tal’s voice came through…confused? ‘Well that’s new.’ Lana thought.
“Yes, Omega Lead?” The Jennings asked.
“She’s still flying,” Tal’s voice was so quiet that the response was barely audible.
“C-could you repeat that?” The Jennings asked again, disbelief evident.
“Can you stop debating whether we died or not?” A new voice broke through. “I mean the worries are nice, and all but isn’t one of the mottos of the fleet ‘Fuck reality’ or something like that?” This brought laughter and some background celebration.
“Belmont, What is your current status?” The Jennings asked.
“Well… we lost our right nacelle, captain is knocked out and in the brig, my coffee has spilled, and all our marbles are still together, so all in all… Does anyone have a spare nacelle?” More laughter.
“So if anything, we need to now protect the Belmont’s ass?” one of the other pilots piped up.
“No,” the Jennings called. “We are bringing the fleet down to assist in recovery and repairs before anything else.”
-Celestia - 5 minutes later-
Looking out towards Ponyville, and to that of the giant object, Celestia noticed smaller glints break through the clouds. Then out of nowhere, thirteen large and one massive breaks in the clouds revealed the rest of the vessels that were coming to the planet. She stood there, astounded at their size and what could possibly be in them but at the same time wanted them to be gone. As she staired gaping at what she saw, the doors to her room burst open.
“Princess, we need to get a defense put together.” One of the Guard Lieutenants said.
“…” Celestia stared speechless still at she saw. The guards moved to her sides.
“Princess, We mus…t in……cist…”The guards looked at where she was looking and had the same reaction.
-Whisky Lead-
“Hey does anyone else see that structure on the side of that mountain?” Lana said. Pings of confirmation plus a few ‘affirmatives’ from those in the shuttle with her.
“Whisky Lead, You have permission to go check it out but keep comms open if you are going to do anything.” A different man said.
“Who’s this?” Lana asked.
“This is Vice Admiral Bryce, Captain of the U.S.S. Tanner. Just let us know if you find anything,” Bryce said.
“Affirmative, Sir.” Lana said.
-4 minutes later-
“This place sure is nice looking,” Lana said, banking again over the main area of what appeared to be a deserted city.
“Can we hurry this up? I have a bad feeling abo-”the comms cut off as Whisky Three was pulled towards one of the towers.
As Whisky Three got close, a swarm of figures burst from behind the walls.
“Whiskey Three, GET OUT OF THERE!” Lana shouted but got no response as she saw Whisky Three get dragged down by the swarm and whatever had him.
“Whisky Two here,” A female voice popped up. “Permission to fire warning shot at possible bogeys?”
“No, let me do that,” Lana said. Pressing a combination of buttons, Lana fired a phaser shot close to the large horde of mysterious beings. The sound must have done it because Whisky Three flew the hell out of his predicament.
“Thanks for that,” A young masculine voice shot out.
“Did you see what they look like?” Lana asked.
“But don-”the boy started.
“Did you see what they look like?” Lana repeated.
Silence came from the boy.
“Tell me what you saw or you are meeting ‘Cindy,” Lana said darkly.
“They…They…” The boy barely got out.
“YES?!” Lana all but screamed, really itching to just fire the phaser at the boy.
“They looked like us. Different and taller but still…” The boy blurted out.
“Jennings here, Private… Are you meaning to say that they are humanoid,” The man said, skeptically.
“I know what I saw, Sir.” The boy said, barely suppressing irritation.
“Well-”The man started.
“This is Vice Admiral Bryce, All ships reform and prepare to head back to the fleet,” The old man’s stern voice came through. Lana could see that the Miranda, Belmont, had disappeared.
-Celestia-
Grabbing one of those floating platforms might not have been such a good idea. The one was caught in Celestia's magical field had been a struggle as it had tried to put strength into...whatever made it go. When that more bulky object fired it’s…light beam had left a mark on one of the walls. The noise it let off was definitely something disturbing like the sound of something being tortured at a much higher octave than could be natural.
Turning back to where those platforms had probably come from, Celestia noticed that the ships had started to ascend. ‘Let’s hope that nothing bad comes of this. We may have accidentally started a war.’ Celestia thought, dread freely expressed on her face as she started to tremble slightly.
Looking over the reports received, Talvo wasn’t surprised that the readings were natural to an M-Class planet, and that there was life here. Talvo couldn’t get out of his head the recording from that pilot’s video cam.
“How the hell are there people with wings?” Talvo mumbled. The creatures looked human enough, given that they had wings, but that there was one who had been in direct line with the pilot’s view…just standing there.
*Doorbell*
“Come in,” Talvo spoke, still looking at the tall, multicolored being that was on the datapad in front of him. Looking up as the door slid open stood Lana.
“Sir?” A crewman asked.
“Yes, Ensign?” Talvo asked, looking up at the ensign out of curiosity.
“I have a question to ask you...” Her voice trailed off.
Silence for a few minutes while the ensign looked at her feet, and twiddling her thumbs.
“Well..?” Talvo drawed out slowly, waiting for the question that was going to hopefully arrive with in his lifetime.
“It’s about…” She sighs, pulling herself together. “It’s about what the Whisky group got caught in.”
“What of it? They got to close and the local populace reacted. Any civilization that has never encountered us would have done the same exact thing. Remember that Insectoid race on Ramalahv 4?” The crewman nodded. “They were probably the only other race to actually grab our fighters and be able to keep it stationary for more than a few seconds.”
“Sir, If I may say, that was because of those super strong web structures, and the amount of traps that they had. They would have stopped any of our ships.” The ensign stated.
“True but remember the result after they killed Gamma squadron?” The crewman nodded again, paling at the memory. “They never touched another one of our ships. The problem solved and the natives never see us again. Win-Win in my opinion.” Talvo said, shrugging at the end.
“So…” He started again. “What are we going to do this time?”
“Simple, Mrs.…?
“Ensign Mellacks, Sir.”
“Simple, Mellacks, I will go down with a retinue, meet this being,” Pointing to the being standing alone on the balcony like structure. “And clear up anything…Hopefully we won’t need to use translators because I want this to be easy. Almost losing a ship as old as the Belmont, or Tanner would be detrimental to the moral of the fleet,” Talvo finished, a wisp of a grin appearing. “And if all goes to plan then we can set up something and wait for a message from Starfleet to tell us what to do.”
“About the last part, sir..” Mellacks looked away. “Our scout groups went out to the nearest stars… Nothing, and I mean nothing matches to our last starcharts. Our position should have put us near the Klingon border but there hasn’t been any chatter from them or…” She looked lost.
“What do you mean?” Talvo looked uneasy about what the she said, If this was true then.. ‘No do not think that. There is always a possibility that we just miss-jumped and ended up farther than we meant to be.’
“None of the nearer stars have anything, and there have only been desolate worlds. Where ever we popped up… isn’t where we have ever been before.” Mellacks said, twirling her fingers over each other.
Silence reigned again but for a much longer time. Mellacks standing there, nervous as anyone could be with a captain, let alone a Grand Admiral, who had all but stopped breathing. Then Talvo stood straight up, running one hand through his near white hair, breathed out.
“So…” Talvo finally said. “We have gone farther than anyone has ever gone before.”
“I-It appears so, Admiral,” Mellacks said, hoping that his anger wouldn’t flare up.
Talvo looked to her, noticing for the first time how scared the girl looked. Taking that in, he looked around his office, all the medals he had won, all the models of previous ships he had commanded, even the size of this room seemed to shrink in on him.
“We’re lost in space with probably no way home…” Talvo mutters, a smile really showing across his worn features. “If there is anything I had ever wanted to do, it’s definitely not being stranded in a different quadrent. Who knows if we will, or can, make it back to Earth.” Talvo looked…defeated for once; the situation coming to bear full brunt.
“What are we going to do, Sir? I mean, if I might ask?” Mellacks said.
“Mellacks,” Talvo said. “You just asked the million credit question, but I already had that idea, remember?” Mellacks nodded, blushing. “Don’t be timid, think of it this way. If we seem to be out of touch all together, we could make another Starfleet. Build from the ground up, and then work from there. Hell, maybe we will make contact with the original Starfleet someday.” Talvo had a face that could be described as someone who had plans, schemes, fail-safes and back-up plans made already in his head.
“Uh..Sir?” Mellacks asked, confused by the growing goofy smile on Talvo’s face. “You ok? Want me to get you something?”
“Yes, you can get me something,” Talvo looked to her, and at that he walked towards her. “You can get me the captain’s ass from the Tanner here now.” He walked passed her, opened the door, and walked out.
“Y-Yes, Sir.” Mellacks said following him.
“Comms, Get me the flight captains. We are having a meeting in three days time. Security, get my men ready. Mellacks…” Talvo looked over to Mellacks with a glint in his eye.
“Yes?” Mellacks said, not completely trusting the look in his eyes.
“Besides getting that crazy man, I want you to come with me down to the planet.” Talvo stated. Mellacks eyes grew wide at that. She had dreams of going with the Grand Admiral and his rumoured Death Squad. Mellacks almost feinted from the though of seeing most elite troupe in action. Talvo must have seen the look of near fangirl-esque delight in her eyes, and chuckled. “You going to stand there, or are you going to go get your gear and get ready?”
Mellacks nodded her head quickly, and ran with all her might out of the bridge. Talvo always thought that recruits were cute but some of them were just so adorable when they hear they are going with him and his squad on some away mission. Chuckling to himself, Talvo turned back to his console, pressing buttons to get a few notifications dealt with, then looked up.
“Comms, get me the expeditionary force, and tell them I am meeting them and I want them to follow. We are going to have a nice chat with a certain lady.” Talvo looked at the picture again. Wonder filled his eyes as he saw a being who looked too perfect to be true. “Helm, take us towards the planet. OH! Comms, Tell the rest of the fleet to stay put.” Talvo received ‘Yes, Sirs’. Looking back to the picture he wondered how his fleet has affected these people already.
-U.S.S. Jennings-
“Ma’am, we are getting a message from the Bismarck,” Mr. Fink stated, puzzled slightly as to the timing. The expeditionary force was just leaving the upper atmosphere.
“Put him up.” Grey said. The screen flickered before the image suddenly switched to that of Talvo, who wore possibly one of the weirdest smiles possible. “Yes, Sir?”
“I just wanted to say something to you before you get too far,” Talvo said, still smiling. ‘That smile is starting to scare me.’ Grey thought.
“That being, Sir?” Grey asked.
"What do you think about starting up a branch of the Federation out here?” Talvo said, a glint in his eye and that smile only got wider.
“You heard me, girly,” Talvo said, a smile as wide as a canyon stretching across his face.
“Sir, shouldn’t we take th-“
“We can’t seem to get in touch with our friends on Earth,” Talvo said, smile gone and a sullen look adorned his face. “If we could contact them, do you really think I would be asking you… hold up I forgot, Comms get the U.S.S. Delphi to come along with us. Now as I wa-”
“Sir, if I may ask why are we dragging Mr. Ambassador into this?” Grey asked, suspicious as to what the Grand Admiral was doing.
“Why my darling Grey, we’re going to talk to the lady with the colorful hair,” Talvo said, at that moment the screen filled with the image of a person with some pointy growth sticking from their head and what appeared to be wings behind their back. They were dressed in a white dress that covered the breasts and other parts but other than that, there was not much.
“So…” Grey rested her face into palm. “We are going to talk to great white lady?”
“How can you tell it is a woman?” Talvo asked, sarcasm barely in his tone.
“Curves,” Grey said. “She has curves, while men have lines.”
“Well…” Talvo stood there not sure what to say.
“…”
“…”
“Awkward,” Mr. Fink said.
Silence reigned for a little while longer until suddenly laughter erupted from both bridges as both captains stood there, unsure what to do. Grey smiled, while Talvo stood there still confused.
“Admiral Talvo, do not think too hard. It might hurt your old brain,” Grey teased, once the laughter subsided.
“You know I still have those pictures, make another old remark and I might accidentally slip them to the fleet,” His smile came back as Grey stared bloody murder at the audacity of the man to bring those pictures back up.
Suddenly another face appeared on the screen and who other than Vice Admiral Bryce.
“If we are done bickering like school children, then let’s get to business,” Bryce said. “So Talvo, you’re saying we are heading back down there?”
“Yes we are, send a few escorts for the Belmont though. The Constellations will help seal up any holes until what’s left of the nacelle can be found and retrieved,” Talvo said.
“What about the fighter pilot?” Grey asked. She had known the kid vaguely, and the idea of having to send a message back to the poor kids parents.
“Just write up the message and we will send it when we reestablish contact,” Talvo said, a look of pity crossing his face.
-A few hours later- Talvo-
“Prepare for orbital descent,” The first officer said. Talvo smiled, thinking that his first officer would make a fine captain someday. Turning towards the other people in the room, Talvo sighed and looked at the other people in the room, besides a near gushing Mellacks, was the Death Squad. His retinue was probably the deadliest in the fleet, standing at 6 members (Not including himself), and had some of the best guns possibly modified or created. The crew of the squad was headed by a strong man named Glenn Vay, who probably was one of the best shots in the fleet. Second up was Mitchell Brent, defense based operator, and absolutely loves making things explode. The heavy weapons expert was a man named Jo Lei (Jolly), and on the outtings that are taken he will usually be in a armored suit that is usually host to the twin assault guns he carries. ‘Why he named them ‘Tina’ and ‘Lolly’ is beyond me,’ Talvo said smirking at the insistence that the guns be called that.
“Sir?” The fourth man, Shadow, asked from behind him. Talvo jumped slightly, turned around, and stared at Shadow. Being the infiltration operative was infuriating but very much loved at certain times.
“Don’t DO that,” Talvo replied, smirking. “You’ll send me to an early grave, and I’ll have you court martialed for that.”
“Sorry, Sir,” Shadow said, bowing his head slightly. Shadow already had donned his armor and his weapons, consisting of a sword, two pistols, and a prototype sniper rifle Lana had been working on recently.
“Everyone ready?” Talvo asked aloud for the whole room. Everyone but Mellacks answered. Talvo walked up to Mellacks, and noticed her eyes had glazed over, drool hanging slightly from her mouth and she had a dumbfounded look on her face that had been there since…well… since they had arrived.
*Poke*
“Mellacks, wakey wakey,”Talvo said, suppressing the smile he had on his face.
*Poke* *Snicker*
“Melly, seriously wake up,” Talvo proceeded to poke her in the arm. Her look only became stronger after every poke. Looking back to his bodyguard, he smiled when he saw them all suppressing their laughter…if only barely.
“S-Sir, *Snicker* w-we need to get going,” Brick said, his brother already out the door and heard laughing much farther down the hallway. Brick and his brother, Trick, were basically the strong wall that kept the rest of the team from falling in on itself in combat situations.
“I want her to come along but I didn’t think the infatuation was this strong,” Talvo said. Hearing something behind him, he turned his head and saw that Mellacks was staring at all of them with a huge blush. Mellacks had started getting up and gathered what she little she had.
“S-Sorry, Sir,” Mellacks stammered out, eyes darting around to see if she had forgotten anything. Behind her back, the whole of the Death Squad chuckled quietly to themselves.
-25 minutes later-
“Ok so what we are going to do is initiate a first contact situation. As intelligence reports state, these beings may be defensive,” Talvo said to the contingent of security officers that will be (unfortunately) escorting him to the planet’s surface.
“Admiral,” A voice over the intercom spoke. “We are starting our descent into the atmosphere. You might want to get ready, Sir.” Talvo nodded.
“Alright, while we are down on the ground I do not want to hear about any fighting or show of force moves. If I do you will be sent back to the shuttle and sent back to your respective ship. Understood?” Talvo spoke loud. A hand was raised from the back of the group.
“Sir?” A small man said.
“Yes, crewman?” Talvo said, looking at the man with a curious look.
“What if we are attacked? I mean if they seem to be hostile?” The crewman said uneasily.
“Well, IF that is the case then what do you think is best possible reaction?”
“Showing force?” The crewman said.
“Nope. The correct course of action is to not react. Unless you get physically injured then do something…intimidating,” Talvo said with a smile. Let it not be known that some of the things done in Talvo’s battlefleet have been effective even if they were completely random.
-External view-
Over the land a shadow loomed. The slow thrumming of the giant ships engines could now be heard. Upon the mountain the Canterlot resides the streets darkened, the residents of the city panicked, and the Guard were put on high alert. At the castle proper, the glorious rooms darkened, the vibrant garden dulled, and the animals went quiet for fear of what was to come.
-Celestia’s viewpoint-
“This is troubling,” Celestia said, pacing the throne room. Since those weird objects flew off, she feared that she had started something that could end this world. Fear coursed through Celestia for the first time in a while. The guards that were with her in the throne room looked at her with unease and Celestia knew that, and also knew that she was supposed to be calm about this. The door opened and the last person Celestia wanted to see came through.
“Auntie Tia!” Blueblood cried out in his annoying voice. “Why has it started to get dark this early!? I was on a-”
“What do you mean getting dark? The sun is where it is supposed to be,” Celestia said back, bringing up a fake smile. The room had gotten a smidge darker but that was probably just passing clouds. Turning towards the doors to head to the garden, she motioned Blueblood to follow.
“But Auntie I saw those things fly away from the castle and those strange platform like things fly back towards…wherever but now the sky is getting darker,” Blueblood said, a look of annoyance on his face.
“What do you mean it is getting darker?” Celestia asked, hiding her annoyance. All Blueblood did was point towards the clouds.
-External view, ships-
As the Bismarck lowered through the final cloud layer, the rest of the ships still a few thousand feet above, the mountain castle came into view for the people on the bridge. The sun was shining on top of the Excalibur and its little entourage. To the rear of the mighty vessel, the doors stood open ready to let out the swarms of fighters and shuttles at a command.
As the mighty vessel leveled out the other vessels emerged from the cloudy cover, their grey colors blending in slightly with their cloudy backdrop.
-Talvo-
Talvo sat at the console of his personal shuttle. Typing away at the various start up procedures and algorithms that needed to be put in before it could have full versatility, Talvo’s thoughts went to what was probably going to be a more interesting First Contact scenario than any Federation official has had to deal with.
“All right everyone, remember the plan and do not engage,” Talvo spoke into the intercoms set up to the whole fleet.
“Sir?” Mellacks piped up from the back.
“If the question is ‘Do you have a bad feeling about this?’ then what do you think is the idea behind being explorers. We go out for the sake of knowledge and whenever encountering a new life, there will be bad feelings. Anything we do has a bad feeling. So keep that in mind when you have to direct so many people, keep them alive, make sure their loved ones know when that time eventually arrives. No matter the difficulties the bad feelings will be abundant,” Talvo said, a solemn look upon his visage. That bounced off as soon as the pings that everyone else was ready to go. Talvo sighed.
*Chuckle*
“ALLONS-Y!” Talvo shouted, shooting the shuttle out of the docking area.
Silver specks. That is all anyone could really see from anywhere close by. The strange object flew as if there was nothing holding them up. Those who saw them thought that they were weird metal boxes. Weird boxes that just so happen to be flying, and that just so happen to be flying towards Canterlot. The noise they made was noticeable but not overpowering like a hummingbird inflight.
-Celestia-
Eyeing the giant beast that had entered through the clouds was terrifying enough as it was but then it just sat there, its giant blue eye staring, and never blinking once. The size for one is probably the most awe inspiring detail, as it’s shadow covers everything from Ponyville to Canterlot. The sheer size of something like that would make anypony afraid to even go against it. Looking around she saw that Blueblood was with her still, staring at the monster of… whatever it was and had the best scared face she had seen in quite a while.
*Snap*
“Blueblood?”
*Prod*
“Snap out of if, Blueblood,” Celestia was surprised that touching Blueblood didn’t make him feint, knowing his dire love to look the better than any of his peers. ‘The only thing he is better at than them is wasting the Royal Treasury for the sake of his appearance.’ Celestia thought, then remembered something from what one of the maids said about this rare occurance.
“Blueblood, there is a smear of some paint,” Celestia said in the most sincere voice she could muster, without bursting into laughter. Blueblood let out the girliest scream ever to be heard of in hundreds of years. Celestia tried so hard to suppress the laughter but a little came out in a giggle.
“AUNTIE, you know how I do love you so…but please refrain from me making seem that I was touched by some common peasant, and you know how I relish that so,” Blueblood ended.
“Well, you were stuck looking at…tha..t” Celestia said looking towards the ship to see smaller ones like the first time approaching. To say Celestia was surprised that what looked like the same weird objects from last time would be a slight understatement.
-Talvo’s shuttle “Dawn Fire”-
The shuttle, black as coal with fringes of red along nacelles and surrounding the front of the shuttle, flames on front or behind what gave said automobile’s wheels. The whole of the shuttle was an experimental design, really. A strange combination of the Peregrine fighter, it’s decent wingspan with dual phaser cannons, and the Danube Shuttle. This variant of the original Dawn Fire is more accustomed to First Contact scenarios, forward command bunker, and occasionally used for airshows. The fighting variant still had part of its left wing left to be put together after that incident at the last planet they fought on, and over.
Talvo looked out the window in front of him and saw the castle quickly approaching, and thought to himself how sad this could turn out. Everything so far that Talvo had seen was beautiful, though he would want to go see what looked to be a structure in the large forest.
“Alright, Fighters, you can head back home,” Talvo stated into the comms, and a few pings of confirmation came through but there was something unexpected. Apparently Green lead had replied ‘negative’. “Green lead, Why do you think that you should all stay?” Talvo asked.
“If it makes any difference I think we should be around incase shit hits the fan. I mean from the reports I saw about the last group, those beings swarmed a fighter. What says they can’t take down a fighter, or hell, your shuttle?” Green lead asked. Not surprised by this, Talvo only shook his head and smiled. He loved the devotion and how protective his men got but sometimes they needed to know that bringing guns to a peace conference isn’t going to get your point across with open arms.
“Because, Green lead, your fighters are fast so if they were needed we could call you guys and it would take…how long? A minute, two tops?” Talvo asked back, and got no response from Green lead. “So if you want to babysit ALL of us then be my guest but head back to the Jennings and Montreal Or hell even the Bismarck. Just have those fighters fueled up and ready to go at a word so we don’t have to wait for your squadrons to get prepared.”
“Yes…Sir,” Annoyance was clear in Green lead’s voice as the scanners showed 20 some blips veer away from the 6 shuttles.
-Celestia-
Staring at the incoming flight, she noticed that most of the strange objects coming towards them turned away. Hoping for the best but the rest of the things don’t turn back. Then a few more turned back towards the large vessels. The only things left were what appeared to be 6 small blobs.
-Talvo-
“Alright, everyone prepare for arrival at the Castle. Thank you for flying Air Dawn Fire,” Talvo said into the comms. The only one to chuckle was Mellacks, the whole of Death Squad just smirked, shook their heads, or a combination of the two. “I have to say I do not see anywhere to ‘Safely’ land this shuttle of mine. Hey, Brent?”
“Yea?” Brent said.
“You mind grabbing controls so when we land I can get everything in order. I promise I’ll wait for you to get your stuff together,” Talvo said keeping his eyes forward as to not crash into anything.
“Can’t you just set it the autopilot to hover?” Brent said, surprised Talvo forgot such a simple setting. Hell there was a button for it…somewhere in here.
“Oh yea,” Talvo said, keeping his stoic appearance, also partially thankful they were behind him so they couldn’t see him mouth something unbecoming of a leading official.
-5 minutes later-
Hovering over the edge of the supposed garden, or was it a forest. Talvo looked around in front of him wondering what the hell he was going to encounter besides the strange being and the flying angel like creatures. The sword he had decided to bring was weighing lightly on his back, the sword in question was an ornate replica of an Medieval long sword, and his phaser pistol rested in its holster on his hip. Looking back towards where a few of the shuttles landed and to the others that just had their doors open towards the castle, Talvo shook his head once more. The idea was to show no force yet everyone had their guns trained towards whatever moved.
“Put down your weapons, men! We don’t want to start things off on a bad step,” Talvo shouted to the men, easily heard over the quiet warbling of the engines. Talvo brightened up once he saw the men lower their weapons, glad that anything that decided to pop out won’t get shot to hell.
“Uh…Sir?” Talvo looked behind him to see Mellacks, worry spread across her face, looking to the woods.
“Is it anything relating to who we are going to try and see?” Said Talvo looking towards the castle balcony where the lady he wanted to meet was seen, only to see nothing.
“It might if they look 7 feet in stature and are all carrying spears held at us,” Mellacks said. Talvo immediately looked to the forest and sure enough there were probably a few dozen beings. Some had what looked like protrusions coming from their head, while others had wings sprouting from their backs. The rest looked like normal men…just completely white and buff as hell.
“That…is not creepy at all…” Talvo hears weapons rustle and looks back to see all of his men have, once again, raised their weapons towards the force in front of us. Talvo rest his face in his hands, his annoyance towards his own forces already starting to grow. Talvo lifts his head and turns to his men and shouts, “IF I SEE ANOTHER WEAPON RIASED I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF!” Un-holstering his unique pistol, knowing that his bluff was never discovered since his position was basically god to all those who were under his command, and upon seeing the pistol in hand all the men lowered their weapons quickly, or face his ire.
“Sir?” Mellacks spoke up again.
“What?” Talvo asked, wondering what Mellacks saw this time. So, turning his head towards the opposing force, he saw one walk forward, and stop a few feet from him.
“The Princess wants to see who’s in charge of that,” the man said pointing towards Bismarck.
“Then you got your man.” Talvo said with a slight smile, somewhat uneasy that this soldier in front is higher than him by half a foot, and who has more muscle mass than Talvo could ever dream to get in his age.
“Han..”
“No. A Rule is to never let one be without defense in any situation that they will likely encounter, so sorry but if it is any consolation take my pistol. I am keeping my sword,” Talvo said, holding his pistol out in front of him. The soldier in front of him takes it then motions for the sword. Talvo shakes his head. The guy seems to get the idea that force might be needed, so he takes a step forward, and Talvo stands there. The guy reaches out for the sword but Talvo grabs the wrist and looks the guy in the eyes.
“Touch the sword, and this whole place will be gone in a heartbeat,” Talvo says with enough venom, disguising his bluff well enough. Talvo wondered if this guy would really push him to actually attack but gets an idea. “Here’s an idea. Get your Princess, and we’ll meet right here. She’ll be backed up by all of you and I won’t have to let go of all my stuff, and besides you wouldn’t want to be disarmed completely on an alien planet in a different galaxy or even dimension would you? Besides, you wouldn't want the history books writing that one of their own had started a conflict that could possibly wipe out everything they know, or do you?" With that Talvo smiled towards the guy as he audibly gulped, his eyes searching all the other men Talvo brought along, and though of the horrors that they could unleash.
-Silence-
"Do you want to start something or you going to get your princess?" Talvo said, the smile gone now and his cold hard eyes boring into the man who stood in front of him. With that the man turned around quickly and walked away hurriedly towards whatever sanctum the princess resided.
"Sir you sure that was a good way to start things out?" Mellacks asked.
"No, it is....Aww fuck he took my pistol with him." Talvo facepalmed so loud that it could be heard from the fleet still near the moon.
Waiting for the ‘Princess’ took longer than expected. Looking back to his men, Talvo thought that having a force would probably not be the smartest idea.
“I want all of you to go back to your home ships. Death Squad and Mellacks will stay here, and I do not want any arguing,” Talvo shouted to all the men that had followed in their shuttles, looks of shock going across a few of their faces at what Talvo had ordered. ‘If things go bad I do not want to be writing so many letters to their families if I get out of this.” Talvo thought, watching some of the men get to ordering their groups back into their shuttles, while others looked to disobey before they saw some form of reasoning.
“S-Sir? Do you really think telling of them to leave was a good idea,” Mellacks asked, perturbed seeing all the other security officers boarding shuttles back to whichever ship they had come initially.
Talvo only looked at her with a smirk, chuckled, then turned back to face the lines of guards. Mellacks looked along the whole line of large, muscular guards who still had all of their weapons pointed at the Talvo and all of what remained of his forces, fear evident on her face.
“Mellacks, calm down. Everything that I do might not be tactically smart or wise but this is, as I have said before, a first contact situation. Have you seen any intentions made by these beings that were hostile,” motioning to the guards, “.. and had any ill intent on hurting us? I mean yea that Peregrine pilot was startled but nothing bad had come of it.” Talvo said in a reassuring manner. The silence permeated everything except for the last shuttle slowly flying away, leaving only Talvo and those he specifically wanted to come along. Mellacks looked back towards where a forest stood quite a way away and wondered if that lost pilot was still alive, and if not then what would be done in recovering his body. Mellacks had heard of the incident but had not known anything further than that.
“Sir, I do have to ask…” Mellacks looked to Talvo, unsure if bringing up the topic was a good idea. Talvo looked at Mellacks with a questioning gaze. “…That pilot that had been taken down…”She was interrupted by Talvo resting a hand on her shoulder with a grim expression.
At that a horn blew, signaling something, or someone arriving.
“Looks like it’s time to meet the lady in charge,” Talvo stated, possibly dreading the upcoming event. All Mellacks could do was turn away and walk to the edge of the supposed gardens, looking over to the forest that lay more than 50 miles away… wondering what had become of her brother.
-Everfree forest-
As the smoke curled through the trees and into the air, the wreckage of the downed Peregrine fighter was scattered in and around trees, and from a tangle of vines held a body.
“Ughh..” The body groaned. Eyes opening to see the ground a little ways below, and a small reflective puddle below him, barely noticeable except with the angle of the sun. ‘How…How am I alive?’ The man thought to himself, his body and senses coming back to speed. Pain. The only thing he could feel was pain. It was everywhere and yet nowhere in particular. Looking around, he noticed that there were small fires here and there but for the most part nothing major. Moving his head around, he noticed his phaser pistol on the ground just below him, and to the right he noticed the remains of his Peregrine fighter. There were creatures climbing over said remains, and they looked like wolves but not entirely. These creatures looked to be large, larger than a normal Earthen wolf.
-Snap-
All the wolves stopped, looked around, and to the man’s sheer luck, one of the weird wolf like creatures spotted him.
“Aww…Shit,” He said, knowing that this upcoming brawl will be a hassle if he doesn’t get his pistol and not get his ass chewed to bits. Still struggling to get out of the vines, lady luck smiled at him as the vines started to give, a few even ripping out of their placements above in the trees. Slowly but surely, the man was lowered down closer to the ground, the wolves watching him with dead eyes but unmoving. Then the vines holding the man ripped, dumping the man down onto the ground unceremoniously. A groan was heard plus some less than polite curses said, and the man lifted his head, looked around for his weapon, spotted said weapon and grabbed it. Feeling comfort in holding his standard issue pistol again, he looked over to the wolves, and saw something that he had not wanted to see. They were moving closer, whether to kill or out of curiosity he was unsure of but to be safe brought his weapon to bear and tried to look intimidating.
A not about this man is that, not only was he barely able to qualify for the piloting of the fighter craft for his tall stature, but that his muscles were probably more developed in the natural exercise and training regime than some of those scary body builders (that image of that Klingon shall forever be burned into his mind).
Back to what was happening.
The man eyed the wolves, and noticed something he hadn’t realized since they were partially in the shadows but now in a little bit more light, he realized they looked to made of wood.
“What the fuck are you things?” The man asked, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. At a glance, anyone would think that he was completely screwed but that is if he were any other man. His training and just natural exercise regiments, over the course of the past had made him somewhat greater in strength than most humans in the fleet. That probably didn’t make a difference when going against three or four canine like creatures. Seeing the “wolves” moving towards him slowly, spreading out as they did, only made the man get more annoyed at the basic pack tactic.
Grinning and looking to the fuax-wolves, the man looked to the larget of the creatures and raised his phaser, and fired in a quick three-shot burst causing the thing to start disintegrating. However in that split second the wolves on either side of him jumped and had latched themselves to his arms, pain lancing up his body.
“Git off me you mangy piles of shit!” roared the Man, throwing his body to the ground, crushing one of the wolves in the process. Looking to the other one, its eyes looking to his, and for a moment he thought he might have seen some form of fear cross its glowing green eyes. Smiling evilly, the man reached over with his other, partially blood slick, hand and proceeded to slowly jam his thumb and index finger into the glowing orbs that were the beasts eyes. The creature let go, and the man proceeded to smash the wolf like creature into the ground repeatedly, and only stopping when he felt a weight on his back. Taking this as a sign that the last wolf was upon him, and feeling the teeth trying to gain purchase on his shoulder. The man decided to try something.
“Prepare to be die, little doggie,” the man grunted before reaching over his shoulder, grabbing the ‘head’ of the beast, brought the whole body in front of himself and held it there. The ‘wolf’ appeared to truly be made of wood, smirking at the knowledge now gained, took the wolf toward one of the larger fires nearby. “Let’s see how well you cook,” the man said, holding the over the fire. Slowly but surely the wolf started to catch, mainly after forcing the dog to sit in the fire. The man watched as the wolf caught, and as the fire started to spread faster, then let go off the wolf. As the wolf hit the ground next to the fire it sprinted off into the darkness of the surrounding foliage at a speed quite impressive.
"And stay out," He mumbled to himself. 'Now that that has been handled…'The man looked towards his craft, mainly the cockpit. Walking over towards the space he had occupied till something smashed into his fighter, knocking him around but not out. As he got closer he saw what appeared to be tear marks along the rear section of his fighter, and along the left wing. Getting up towards where the cockpit was, he noticed that the screen and metal around the cockpit were completely gone. Getting down into his seat he started looking around. ‘What the hell hit me, and where the fuck is that combadge and flare?’ he thought to himself, rummaging through everything scattered around on the floor of the craft.
Finding what he said he gave off sigh of content. Taking the flare in hand, he aimed upwards and fired up into the air.
-Mellacks-
‘Why did the forest have to look so eerie even from this far away?’ Mellacks thought to herself, still worry as to what is going on behind her. To say being outside on an alien world was a change from all the starship based duties she had was a good change. As Mellacks looked out, Talvo was walking to one of her favorites of the Death Squad, Brent. Mellacks had a crush on the Subcommander, and when he was around her, she felt really safe. To say this was infatuation would be pretty correct.
“…Mellacks?” Turning her head slightly to whoever was behind her. She heard footsteps come up beside her, and saw Talvo stand next to her. “I just wanted to let you know that if things go bad, get ready to run to the shuttle.” His voice had a bit of…worry? Fear? She couldn’t place it really but she had known that if something bad happened, the shuttles weapons could be used to stop the fighting. “If things were to truly go bad, shuttle taken out and all but you dead, just call for the Bismarck to activate Talvo Order 73,” Talvo said, sighing in the process.
“S-Sir? I mean not to question but why would you want me to do that. You know we all signed up for stuff somewhat like this, why would blasting this place make…” A flare flew from the forest. Mellacks couldn’t believe what she saw. A blue flare came up from what looked like the middle of the forest, and that left little to what Mellacks could believe.
“Huh… He did make it then,” she heard Talvo say, equally surprised (and a slight hint of praise might have been there). “Glenn!”
“Yes, Grand Admiral?” Glenn said somewhere behind them.
“Get the shuttle ready, and grab Brent. You two are going to grab a lost brother for Mellacks here,” Talvo said, and then turned towards Mellacks. “Private Mellacks, You are going to go with Glenn and Brent, I hope your brother is in good health. I would hate to lose one of the best chess players in the fleet.” A smile on his face, as he raised a hand and rested it on Mellacks shoulder. “Hope be to those with fortune.”
“T-Thank you, Sir,” Mellacks said, a single tear falling from her eyes as she got around Talvo and walked to the shuttle. Walking over to the shuttle, she noticed that the line of guards, who started to bristle up to a degree, stared straight at her, which made her uneasy. Picking up her pace, she walked quickly towards the shuttle opening. Looking up as she approached, she saw Brent looking at her with a small smile, and his eyes looking at her.
“Let’s head out and see who that was, alright?” Brent’s warm voice flowed into Mellacks ears, and she looked at him and smiled.
“Alright, Sir,” Mellacks said, looking away a little bit. With that the door shut behind her and the shuttle started to lift off. -Talvo-
Watching his shuttle fly off, Talvo couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. All of a sudden from behind trumpets started blaring, and signaling the arrival of someone. Talvo turned around, and was met with the sight of two tall women. One had various light colors and fair white…fur? Talvo looked to the other being, and noticed the other one was just a little bit taller than him. The smaller of the two had dark blue coat and her hair was a nice black but seemed to shimmer at random times. Both heads of hair seemed to be moving of their own volition. The tall white one moved forward, a calming aura coming off of her, looking at Talvo, and with a smile spoke three words.