Edit: Two things. 1: I had no idea it was this long...so um...you know...hunker down. 2. This is incomplete by the way, although I'll find time to further it...maybe.
3...2...1... action.
------
Current Date: 2267 C.E.
It was approximately only two months?ever since the awakening. In only two months, the Kyrasa managed to infest twenty star systems, most of which were not colonized by any of the known races in the Milky Way. The real problem was, most of those planets had sentient life forms that inhabited them.
Most disturbing was the fact that the Kyrasa had the ability to infest life forms and absorb their attributes for use within their own gene pool. It was due to this ability that they transformed from an aquatic species to a land-dwelling one. The Kyrasa, fortunately, were trapped in Arrika, because they had no means of interstellar transportation.
That changed, when a small Areigan expedition stumbled onto the planet, hoping to use it as a staging point to strike at the Federation. The fleet landed on the planet, and deployed a ground force. The ground force stumbled upon a tomb of sorts, where they unleashed the Kyrasa, who had dwelt within.
They were overwhelmed, and forced to retreat. The fleet deployed a strike team to neutralize the swarm while the fleet prepared to evacuate. The Kyrasa had assimilated the expedition, as assumed by the Areigan command once they lost contact. The infestation of Areigan technology, allowed the Kyrasa to spread from Arrika and form a zone of infestation, a radius of ten systems outward.
The Areigans wanted to prevent the Kyrasa from continuing their infestation, and sent a fleet to burn the infested worlds. Under the command of Executor Metellus, the fleet came upon a jungle world, located several leagues away from the zone of infestation. The Emperor himself gave Order 9632 directly to Metellus. Tasked with using any means necessary to halt the Kyrasa infestation, Metellus set out to neutralize the infestation threat once and for all?
-----
The bridge was bustling as usual, onboard the ?Ligarius?, an Imperator Class Dreadnought, and Metellus? flagship. Aside from the violet colored insides of the ship, nothing was more luminous than the glowing computer systems and terminals on the ship. That day, the fleet of Metellus had rested in orbit over a planet. The planet was lush with jungles and revolved around a blue star. Metellus sat in his own chamber, letting the shipmaster manage the ship, as he looked through old data receptors, information logs, and reports from crewmembers. That was when Prius entered; Prius was a long time friend of Metellus, and a scientist of the fleet?s science corps.
?Metellus, I mean, Executor, we have rested in orbit over a planet. The bridge is awaiting your orders.? Said Prius. A light turquoise crystal served as the termination switch for the data receptors, and received a termination signal from Metellus? wave of his hand.
He then arose, wearing a casual Executor?s robe, approached the chamber?s egress, and left with Prius.
?Prius, when you are in my quarters, no formalities are needed.? Metellus assured Prius.
?But, Executor?? pleaded Prius.
?I understand,? said Metellus as they walked down the hallway.
The egress leading into the bridge, opened upon sensing heat signatures from the two. Flanked by two guards, at the egress, the two approached the elevated rise that was the central control center of the bridge. The shipmaster was standing at the rise, flanked by two high level crewmembers, awaiting the Executor; under the rise was a sublevel that contained multitudes of computer terminals utilized by crewmembers. As they approached the rise and proceeded to elevate through a hover lift, the shipmaster and two crewmembers bowed to the Executor.
?I receive news that you are waiting my orders?what is the state of affairs that I must concern myself with, shipmaster Varro??
?Executor, we have set our position above a new planet.?
?Data??
?Jungle planet, there has not been a name for this planet in the Planets Databanks. It has a large diameter, approximately 47,664 leagues across; there are some inhabitants of the planet. The atmosphere is full of methane, oxygen, nitrogen, and various other gases, similar to our homeworld. I believe in theory that we can breathe on this world. It is basked under the glow of a blue star, your orders Executor.? The scientist stated.
?You believe in theory that we can breathe on that planet?? Metellus was skeptical.
?Be assured Executor, we will use breathing apparatuses if necessary.?
?Be warned, if you fail to inform us of the dangers that lie ahead just as you did now, you will be punished severely.? The shipmaster maintained his silence, accepting the scorn for is ineptitude.
?What is its location in relation to the zone of infestation?? Metellus asked.
?About three star systems away,? Thelus, the Navigator, answered.
?You don?t think that the Kyrasa have managed to get to this planet as well do you, Executor?? Thelus asked worriedly.
?Maybe, but let?s hope not, we could use the inhabitants as auxiliaries in our armies. I want a detachment deployed to the surface, legionaries, engineers, scientists. We will survey the planet and the surrounding systems to check for any signs of infestation. The ground detachment will set up a station and begin relations with the natives; I want rock samples of the planet, tissue samples from the natives, anything needed to tell if they are infested or not.? He said, and then looked at Huricus.
?Legate Huricus, I want you to organize and lead this expedition,?
?I am honored Executor.? Huricus prostrated before him. Metellus nodded and continued.
?Also, Prius, I want you to lead a detachment of the science corps to the planet.?
?I will do as you wish.? Prius prostrated himself as well.
?Once we have the necessary knowledge, then we will make an informed decision whether to burn this planet free of Kyrasa, or otherwise.? after Metellus gave that speech, he walked off to his chamber escorted by two legionaries.
?We will need soldiers, and supplies ready.? Legate Huricus said. With that, and a day?s work, the massive productivity of the Areigans went in action. The materials, supplies, soldiers, and vehicles were ready for deployment to the planet. The next day, one could comment on the massive fleet of planetary ships entering the planet?s atmosphere at rapid speeds.
-----
The planet was very lush and the jungles voluptuous beyond any of those onboard the hundreds of Arius Military Transports and Virgil Planetary Gunships that hovered through the planet had seen. The planet?s dense jungles formed a thick canopy, which covered the planet?s surface with shadow. What little sunlight penetrated did only to highlight more underbrush beneath.
Because of such thick vegetation, they could not find a landing spot, as they hovered through the tunnels of trees. Prius was onboard the Arius carrying important members of the science corps. He was staring out of the side view ports, like the rest of the members, shocked and amazed by the landscape. The pure beauty of the planet absorbed them, as the endless trees, plants, vines, and underbrush passed by them.
?Pure beauty? one of the scientists thought aloud.
?Pure?indeed,? Prius responded.
Meanwhile in another Arius transport, Legate Huricus resided in the makeshift tactical center of his ship among his advisors. They as well, were in awe of the dense vegetation that covered the environment.
?Legate Huricus, we?re receiving messages from the lead pilot, here I?ll patch you through.? The comm. speaker relayed from the pilot blurted.
Huricus walked over to a comm. unit to pick up the leader?s message.
?This is Legate Huricus, what is the problem??
?Commander, we?ve been flying for hours now, but we haven?t sighted any clear spots to land, this thick vegetation is making it hard to find a spot, if there even is one.?
?Hmm,? he looked at his advisors.
The comm. unit began again with the lead pilot suggesting an idea, ?Legate, do you think it would be necessary to deploy the Assault Walkers for use to clear out an area to land??
?Hmm, we must make haste, yes, deploy the Walkers, relay that to the other pilots.?
?Right away Legate,? The comm. went off.
At the instance, some the ships lowered their altitudes to open their egress hatches and unload Centurion Assault Walkers. The walkers were equipped with twin plasma lances for arms, and thermal phase cannons on their shoulders. The Centurions had large metallic tripod legs that allowed for movement. Immediately the weapons burst forth and began tearing through the organic vegetation like a hot knife through butter, while the hydraulic fluids within the tripod system pumped and flowed. In minutes, they cleared formerly covered ground large enough for the whole force to land and set up camp.
?Well, the planet?s g force is around 1.0, so we won?t need to worry about that. Does the planet?s atmosphere allow for a breath?? asked Prius.
?The device identifies the atmosphere is breathable without respirators.? One of the scientists declared.
?Well, one of us has to test this first.? Prius said.
?I would gladly do so.? Danacus said.
Everyone prepared his or her respirators, which filtered any other gas in the atmosphere and converted it to breathable oxygen. The transport?s hatch opened, and Danacus took a big gasp of air that was inside the transport, and stepped out. He opened his mouth to take a breath, and began gasping for air, and fell to the ground kicking. The other scientists rushed to his aid, and attempted to resuscitate him. Suddenly?there was laughing, Danacus had stopped asphyxiating, and was jeering the other scientists before they even realized it.
?I would have killed you for such insolence,? threatened one of the scientists out of embarrassment and rage.
?Well, at least we know that we can breathe on this planet, but the denarii that I would give for your faces? Danacus laughed uncontrollably much to the discomfort of those who were humiliated.
?Yeah, yeah humorist, now help unload the transports.? One of the scientists grunted.
-----
Huricus? ship landed at the center of the encampment, and the egress hatch opened for him and his advisors to exit, and drones to enter and unload supplies. Huricus was exchanging ideas with an engineer as how the camp layout should be.
?The supply tent should be here, and your command center here.? The engineer said.
?Right, you see to it that this camp is properly laid out.? The engineer saluted him and proceeded to his duties. The camp was setting up fast, as ships unloaded, they exited the planet to reload, and new ships took their place and unloaded.
Some specialized Arius transports were capable of being used as living quarters for soldiers or commanders in the event that mobility was of importance, or the ground was just too resistant for any reasonable solution at hand. And of course, workers both Areigan and drones were hard at work setting up the fortifications and many habitation units and structures that were of necessity to a militaristic and scientific expedition on an unknown world. At that moment, a young female officer approached Huricus with speed, and requested he proceed to the tactical command center.
The tactical command center besides holding a war room for commanders also included their living quarters. Inside the tactical war room, was a crystal powered holographic map that relayed images from the orbital observation systems of the ships of the fleet. There were multiple computer terminals and holographic comm. units in the tactical war room. Each had access to multitudes of data that spewed across digital networks. Huricus reached the war room to receive a transmission, which prompted him to access the hologram comm. unit.
?This is Legate Huricus?? he spoke into the comm.
The comm. unit activated and the holographic receptors displayed a cyan glowing pixelated visual of Executor Metellus, it was a miniature version of him, but nonetheless still retained his aura of authority.
?Hail! Executor?we have just landed and are setting up camp currently. The pulse generators are online and powering our systems.?
?Excellent?We will be disengaging from the system to investigate surrounding systems for signs of infestation. I will leave behind a contingent of ships to continue supplying you from orbit with whatever you might need.?
?That is excellent Executor, we will continue our operations planet side, and we wish you success with your explorations. For the Empire,? Huricus saluted.
?For the Empire,? Metellus ended the comm., the cyan glow dissipated; the holographic receptors regressed back inside the metallic core and the metal panels slid, closing the opening. Several people entered the tactical war room; some were workers carrying in metallic crates. Others were scientists, led by Prius for a proposition.
?Legate Huricus, we wish to begin surveying the surrounding areas.? Prius stated.
?Will you need the Arius transports for aerial survey?? questioned Huricus.
?I don?t believe so; a mere trek with some escorts would be enough. Besides, the thick underbrush would make it hard for us to sight farther distances.? Prius concluded.
?You make a good point, Captain Quintillus, I want you to assemble a force to escort these scientists for a small surveying trek.? Huricus commanded one of the Areigan legionaries.
?Right away Legate,? Captain Quintillus said and began with haste to gather a force.
?For the Empire,? Prius saluted with stoicism.
?For the Empire,? Huricus saluted. Then the scientists left to prepare, while Huricus went to his quarters to relax. He need not worry about anything for the time being, as the compound was being set up, he decided that some private time was in due order.
-----
Captain Quintillus believed that it was in appropriate to add some land speeders and Hellfire Hoverdynes. He gathered approximately two cohorts, numbering about 840 Legionaries, and several vehicles to allow for transportation of the scientists, and other research equipment.
The trek began through a densely forested area, which seemed to continue endlessly, like most of the planet. However, the scientists were following the orbital imagery provided by the fleet above. The zipping sounds of Khvnid bugs filled the jungles, and occasionally was the reason for several irritations among the group. The scientists led the group, with Quintillus and the legionaries marching alongside the convoy.
The soldiers and civilians were interspersed. At some points, legionaries had to use their Gladius swords to slice and hack through growing vines that blocked a path. They continued, as the scientists took note of the large amount of vegetation, and the large quantities of never before seen plants and flowers. They had trekked for about an hour, and decided that it was time to take a break. The legionaries took out several provisions and distributed it to the group members.
They sat and began to devour the foodstuffs and take a rest. Despite completely covered from sunlight, the interior of the jungle was sweltering hot. They had to make use of cooling systems to lower their body temperatures to a point that was not critical. Quintillus decided that it would be best to activate their armor suits, lest they be dehydrated and suffer from hyperthermia. After the short break, they continued on, with Captain Quintillus providing transmissions back to the camp on their status. They arrived at a large dark and murky swamp, the water was undrinkable to say the least.
?How do you propose we cross this, Captain?? asked one of the legionaries.
?We?ll have to use those land speeders and Hoverdynes,? answered Quintillus apprehensively.
?Are you sure that would work?? asked one of the scientists.
He looked at the scientist with a grin, ?There?s a first time for everything,? stated Quintillus.
Due to the number of speeders and number of members, it would require trips back and forth from both sides to carry the entire group across. The scientists moved on ahead of them with a group of escorts, while Quintillus and the main body of legionaries stayed behind for the second crossing.
The speeder tore through and forced the water to ripple under the blast of the thrusters. The scientists landed, and the speeders began returning to the other side during which one of the legionaries began to wade through the water.
?What are you doing?? questioned Quintillus with slight anger.
?Captain, I do not think there?s any need to get on those speeders, it would be much faster to wade through, so we can get this trek finished.? The legionary answered.
?Hmm, I suppose its better than waiting for the speeders, alright, load the equipment on the speeders, those of you that can wade through this, follow my lead.? Quintillus ordered.
On the other side, one of the scientists took a sample of the water, which was pure blue, into a tube. Using an optical data scanner worn on his left eye, he concluded the water was full of microorganisms, and pollution was not much common on this planet.
That was a sign that whoever lived on this planet, developed ecologically efficient technology, or were still living in a pre- or even perhaps non-industrial society. This had been a sight that was not too rare as catalogued by the Imperial Archive.
However, it was obvious that the abundance in flora and fauna had pointed to that. Alternatively, perhaps, proposed one of the scientists that, with the size of the planet, the development of an industrial society would not have affected the planet severely enough for the naked eye to discern. Another theory, civilization occurred underground, it was possible, and again, the number of subterranean civilizations that Imperial explorer fleets had discovered were not few but were not many either.
Quintillus arrived on the other side, still dripping with the clear water of the river, following him were the other legionaries, with their blasters slung over their shoulders, and Gladius swords at their sides. The Hoverdynes, platforms, and speeders brought in the last of the supplies and legionaries onboard.
?Dr.Prius lead the way, we want to get these supplies readied.? Quintillus requested, as he directed several legionaries to set up the equipment
?Alright, let?s head this way?? Prius pointed randomly into the thick underbrush.
-----
Back at the complex, Legate Huricus awoke from a deep repose that was quite nourishing. Once he had left the tactical war room to survey the status of the construction, the stark reality of the burning heat engulfed him, as he noticed the legionaries and workers had donned their armor suits to condition their body temperatures. He is not one to receive blame for his ignorance though; his tactical war room retained the right temperature for any Areigan. At any rate, he retired to his war room once more and surveyed the construction from there, the surveyor drones hovered throughout the unfinished base feeding him with images and streaming.
The drones were his correspondents with the outside world, as technicians, engineers, and analysts circled him in the war room. He was content to stay dormant in the tactician?s chamber as the beverage container served a drink to him. He took several short sips, allowing the drink to last longer, and for him to savor it. Huricus was a lean figure, and considered above par when it came to his health, but even that could not prevent the heat from exhausting him.
Though very experienced as a leader, Huricus has proven himself capable in several engagements on the Empire?s frontier territories against bandits and pirates. Accordingly, he led an expedition that thoroughly wiped out pirate presence from the Aeteii March to the Balus March.
For the most part, he still had much to prove to fellow commanders seeing that his father helped pull some strings to get him to where he was. Nevertheless, he was still a skilled leader in his own right after distinguishing himself, if he succeeds in eradicating another supposed threat to the Empire, his fame will accumulate exponentially.
Not far from the compound, in the dark and steamy jungles, appeared several dark figures who were content to stay out of the compound?s visage. They observed the bustling complex with some awe, perhaps with perplexity and curiosity, but mostly hostility and fear. The workers setting up the complex were busy, while the legionaries on guard were unable to detect the spies. Indeed the heat had beaten the legionaries, who donned armor suits after constant perspiration. The canopy of trees was supposed to provide shade from the sweltering sun; however, it seemed to enclose the land into a furnace.
?Who are they?? asked one of the figures to his hidden comrade, as they looked on.
?Nobody knows, but their?technology?is very advanced?,? noted one of the others with some apprehension.
?Should we tell our chief of this?? asked one, with a hint of fear over these newcomers.
?Perhaps?? one of them considered as he continued observing silently.
?Let us return?,? said one as they retreated into the recesses of the dark breathing jungle.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/C7O_amoIYzE/viewtopic.php
nightline brady quinn brady quinn bloom box fat tuesday obama sweet home chicago accenture match play
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.