The Strigiforme War

Ugh. Fine Fen.
Edited.

Fen, not to kick your sand castle down or anything but I think it might be wise to provide some canon for the Earth faction so we're all on the same level here.

Ok, here;


After the discovery of several jump nodes in 2660, the Earth governments began sending colony ships and warships through them to other systems. This was completely unregulated, and this led to the Contact war. Little details on the start remain- From scattered reports, it seems that an American colony ship and escorting warships attempted to enslave an Owl population on one of the backwater Strigiforme outposts, the first species encountered. Retaliation was swift, and within weeks, the Earth Governments were barely keeping Strigiforme out of the Sol system. After intense negotiations, the Strigiforme agreed to withdraw, with the condition that a large tribute was sent to the Strigiforme every Earth year.

Expansion began again, albeit slower, as most of the industrial output of Earth had to be saved for the Strigiforme's tribute. During this time they encountered multiple other races- the Valyrians, who seemed terminally insane and were avoided- The Feles, who were generally friendly- the Equestrians, who were friendly, but quickly became one of the most hated races on Earth due to their customs, second only to the Strigiforme. This went on for nearly 200 years.

But eventually, it ended. A war broke out between the Equestrians and Earth, and at first, they were badly losing. With most of Earth's output geared towards tribute, a war effort was almost impossible. The Equestrians refused a cease-fire and continued to bomb Human colonies, which reached a high point with the destruction of the metropolis Aretlas, a highly important industrial world. The governments made a unanimous decision to seize the tribute stockpile and gear all production towards the war, and the Equestrians were driven back. But this did not abide well with the Strigiforme, who learned of the decision through human spies. So begins this war.

Note that, technically, each of the Earth Nations is independent, despite the fact that they work together (kind of). There is no central governing war authority, save each nation. Each nation either builds their own ships or buys from a more industrious nation. So essentially it's a free for all.




Jack accepted, barely.






And we start.

OOC: So... how does this work?

Well, you start in your respective thing with your empire's agenda, which I thought you would have a pretty good idea of. it can't be that hard.

Jack, what country is Beta Group from? If it's NATO I'll just modify my application to match, that sounds way cooler that numerical fleets.

Quadraxis wrote:

Well, you start in your respective thing with your empire's agenda, which I thought you would have a pretty good idea of. it can't be that hard.

OOC: So what is our objective?

Luna wrote:

Quadraxis wrote:

Well, you start in your respective thing with your empire's agenda, which I thought you would have a pretty good idea of. it can't be that hard.

OOC: So what is our objective?

What is Cavnin doing? Whose side is it on? Where does it want Juel?

And don't say no one's or neutral, because Juan didn't become a fighter ace shooting up fertilizer skiffs. At least let's hope so, lol.

Luna wrote:

Quadraxis wrote:

Well, you start in your respective thing with your empire's agenda, which I thought you would have a pretty good idea of. it can't be that hard.

OOC: So what is our objective?

Kill all xenos? Drive the xenos out? Something like that, I'd assume.

Comrade Tiel wrote:

Jack, what country is Beta Group from? If it's NATO I'll just modify my application to match, that sounds way cooler that numerical fleets.

Sure NATO lets go with that.

Soul of Jack wrote:

Comrade Tiel wrote:

Jack, what country is Beta Group from? If it's NATO I'll just modify my application to match, that sounds way cooler that numerical fleets.

Sure NATO lets go with that.

Okay, I'm kinda confused here (again) - in your app you said you were an escort back in the first Strigiforme war but it's been like 200 years?

Comrade Tiel wrote:

Soul of Jack wrote:

Comrade Tiel wrote:

Jack, what country is Beta Group from? If it's NATO I'll just modify my application to match, that sounds way cooler that numerical fleets.

Sure NATO lets go with that.

Okay, I'm kinda confused here (again) - in your app you said you were an escort back in the first Strigiforme war but it's been like 200 years?

*Facedesk* I'm a idiot. Hold on let me fix that.

-Equestrian Government to: Orbital Prison Complex 457-

We discovered 15 spies within our borders, taking information from multiple sources to return to their homeworld. The list is as follows;

4 Librarians: Working together to monitor social interactions, arrested 4 days ago.

6 Humans: Working together to construct a home, blueprints suggest intent to produce weaponry inside

2 Strigiforme: Hacking top-secret data terminals in Capital, fifth incursion this month

3 Skytherians: Present at 15 of the 17 major political assemblies this month: suspected of spying for ARK-0


Orders are to interrogate them using any means available. Permission to use in Weapon Testing once interrogated is granted- The Skytherians are particularly valuable, given their psychic abilities.

Glory to Equestria!
-Message End-


As the message arrives, a ship appears on sensors. High Security Transport ship, confirmed to carry 19 individuals- 15 prisoners, 4 crew. It begins docking procedures with the station after relaying all access codes and transmissions.


-Crew Broadcast on Scorpion-

The Carrier is moving into a large asteroid belt for training maneuvers before we set out. This section is extremely dense- Have your wits about you, and you won't crash. Report to the flight deck in 4 hours.

-End Message-

Tiiv stood looking through a wall-sized view screen displaying the blasted and barren human world "Harvest". He and his Strike Group had made quick work of the planet's defenses, moving in to fire their laser arrays at the surface. The lasers boiled away the atmosphere and left large scars in the land.

Tiiv should have left ships to establish a garrison, but he needed to get to Epsilon Eridani in 2 weeks with as many systems in between, leaving him in a rush. The rest of the Sol Push was moving through various areas, but much of the Strigiforme Fleet had to remain in their home systems to guard against retaliatory attacks.

While the Strigiforme might not have properly shown the insolent apes their places 200 years ago, they would know them soon. Tiiv left the viewing room for the CIC, already planning the next attack formation. His flagship and its 24 escorts began spooling up their FTL drives.


--------STATUS--------
Harvest(Epsilon Indi) destroyed.
Strigiforme battlegroup en route to Chi Ceti, next location unknown.
Known Strigiforme rendezvous-Epsilon Eridani

-Urgent Message: Strigiforme Command-

Do not enter Chi Ceti; Report from Strike Group Jiyyit indicates Man in Black is operating within the area. System is presumed a deathtrap and quarantined- Redirect route through Theta Cyndi worlds

-END-

Captain Remembrance looked up from his newspaper, when the message arrived.
He then activated his microphone, reaching to the entire security staff of the station.
"Attention! We are going to have to interrogate 15 spies. Prepare the prototype AlAmCa." [OOC-note: Alicorn-Amulet-Cannon]
He then sent a message to the ESO. [OOC-note: Equestria SpecOps]
--- OPC-457 to TW-5 ---
We are currently recieving 15 spies cought on the surface.
We assume you were involved with their capture.
Requesting information on what actually was found besides them to ensure maximum efficiency in the process of interrogation.

D'riqnar stood, dagger in hand; glaring at the officer huddled down on his knees before him; one of his colleagues had found him trying to contact the librarians; though it was uncertain if any information had been sent. He would have to contact D'laria's council for orders. The young Valyrian had not been allowed to absorb plasma since he was discovered, and his genetic code was rapidly degrading; he had mutated to the extent he was barely recognisable. D'riqnar lunged forwards; and carved a deep gouge into his shoulder; moving along his arm with the razor blade, smiling at the blood pouring out of the traitors veins, he withdrew the knife, and stabbed a hole between his ribs, puncturing a lung as the officer began to cough blood; pouring in a great torrent out of his throat, as he gargled his last; D'riqnar cut open his ribcage, and feasted on his still-beating heart, crimson fluid running down his chin from the dead mans heart. After he had finished, he cut again, and again until the Valyrian was but a pile of lacerated flesh; left to rot on the ground.

//Message to D'laria's council//
One of the crew members was caught trying to transmit data to the librarians; it is uncertain whether anything got through; requesting orders?
//end//

//Undocking Initiated//
//Please Wait//
...
//Undocked//
//All Systems Are Green//

"Alright then. Sending a message to Command." John said with a smile.

>>Message Start<<
The Blazestar is undocked and waiting for orders.
>>Message End<<

Jack turns on the intercom." Relax for now crew." He turns off the intercom. "Because they sure need it."

LOCATION: Kuiper Belt, near Haumea, aboard Flintlock

On the bridge of the Flintlock, Aras glanced again at her new crew logs. The Scandinavian Union was running short on ships and people. They began running covert ops on secondary targets with anyone they could get. Aras and her ship were valuable, she was quickly given her first crew, a full compliment of ex criminals, mercenaries, and bounty hunters. People she would be perfectly comfortable dealing with had they not been assigned to run her ship. All moderately capable infiltrators, assassins, pilots, or engineers. All expendable. There was a skilled pilot among her crew, but she had navigated the Flintlock for years and wasn't fond of the idea of someone else behind her controls.

The Flintlock drifted towards the grey ellipsoid blob that was Haumea. On its horizon appeared the small gleam of an orbital Hyperspace Coordination station. Aras activated her long-range communication system and opened a channel with the station.

"Coord station 0301, this is Hex, commander of the Flintlock. Requesting permission to enter hyperspace"

"We read you, Hex. What's your destination?"

"Epsilon Eridani."

"That's a warzone, civilian pathways are shut."

"We have clearance." She sent the station data containing her encrypted security codes. "Key is Black Dragon 07."

"Uh, okay. Yeah, I see. Alright, Hex. Permission granted, pathways are free. Bearings are being sent now."

"Thanks." She slipped her headset down over her eyes and linked into her comm system. A series of triangles indicated the proper bearing. She began charging the drive capacitors, aligned her ship with the path and fired her its main engines.

"You be careful out there, Flintlock."

"Will do." The drive capacitors emptied, a portal opened at the ship's bow and the Flintlock was thrown into hyperspace.

As the officer was lacerated, coordinates were relayed from unofficial channels in the Librarian network to nearly 200 independent researchers before the communication was shut down by the government. As the ship awaits orders, a Librarian fleet jumps in- headed by the prominent Akheton Corporation battleship, it begins sending the lesser ships in waves to attempt to capture the Valyrian ship intact, and therefore, D'riqnar, who was probably worth several trillion in bytes.

Of course, they severely underestimated the power of the Silence.

Shit.

The one word raced through Nova's mind before he dived to the deck, navy fatigues wrinkling as he pressed himself against the steel plating. A broken beam - twisted beyond any recognition by a deadly combination of Equestrian weapons fire and vacuum, buckled inward to occupy the space where his body was but a few moments before. Nova scrambled to his feet, wasting no time as he raced out of the hallway compartment, only pausing to breath as he passed the airlock's welcoming maw and palmed a red button seated conspicuously in the bright yellow lining of the aperture. But whatever the interface did, it clearly wasn't working.

Nova turned around, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared down into the corridor he was just in. A mighty metal groaning filled the air as one, two holes appeared in the hallway's wall to reveal the blackness of space. Time seemed to slow as the weakened metal of the hull and nonexistent bulkheads conspired to crumple the compartment. Nova turned to run, but it was far too late - the sudden extreme pressure difference tugged at his clothes, his very body, and it was all he could do to clumsily lash out with his hand to grasp a peaking edge of the poorly soldered steel plates before the vacuum rendered his legs irrelevant. There he clung for what seemed like an eternity, his muscles screaming to release the impossible hold even as his mind cringed at the screeching of the metal behind him.

But just as soon as it begun, the pull reluctantly yielded. A resounding clunk resonated from behind Nova, who now once more lay flat on the floor. He risked a nervous laugh, glancing behind him to look at the heavy metal slab that served as the airlock's door. It had responded to the signal a little too late for comfort, but he was grateful nonetheless that it had functioned at all. Humanity's warships were modular beasts, created by welding mass-produced compartments to a generic frame and then layering the finished product with shaped slabs of processed scrap metal. The results weren't always aesthetically pleasing, and not all the modules were necessarily compatible, as Nova had initially feared was the case with this particular corridor segment, but it was the only way to field a fleet with what industrial output was left over from the Strigiforme tribute.

Newer ship designs made the most of Earth stiffing the expansionist avian empire this year, but those were far and in between - not nearly enough to turn the tide of the war humanity now fights on two fronts. It started with the Equestrians seizing a colony here, a colony there, and soon enough the horse-like beings were on the Sol system's doorstep. Earth had to withhold paying 'owls', called such due to their similar appearance, their yearly tribute to push back the invaders. Naturally, the Strigiforme did not take kindly to this, and elected to commit to an assault on humanity's colonies as well. It is a war they are gradually losing. Every serviceman knows it, every admiral knows it, but the alternative is taking utter annihilation lying down.

Nova pulled out his communicator as he strode to the fore of the ship. "Commander Orlis to bridge."

"Confirmed. What's up?" A breathless voice responded, doubtlessly taxed by coordinating the battle transpiring just outside of Cestius's atmosphere.

"We have decompression on compartment Echo-twelve. I repeat, module Echo-12 has lost pressure."

Nova heard an oath muttered, but held his tongue until the voice returned.

"Orlis, did the airlock auto? We're not reading shit up here, interior sensors are all over the damn place."

"Negative, had to manual."

Another curse, this time much more audible, then, "You know what that goddamn means, right? We've lost contact with the engine bay. The whole mainframe must've fucking failed."

Nova gulped, despite himself. Echo-12 was located near the rear of the ship, but there was a good length between it and the engines. "Spaced?"

"What the fuck do you think I mean when I say the mainframe failed? Listen son, I've been the commander of this battlegroup for twelve years and I'm going to tell you plain: we are absolutely screwed right now. There's no way to alter our throttle from up here - it's only forward from here on out."

"...what's our speed?"

"Enough to cause a good amount of damage. See you on the other side."

The line went dead.

Shit.

//Orders Received//
//Protect Cestius Colony//
//Plotting Course To Cestius//
//Jumping To: Cestius//

John turns on intercom. "Prepare for Battle crew. For Ireland!"

Beta Group disappears is a flash of light.

-Ireland Communique-

Redirect course to the Cestius Jump Station 15, which guards the largest accessible jump point in the system. Cestius is lost, but we need to prevent additional Equestrian forces from entering the system. Cestius has access to nearly 5 other major worlds. Jump Station 15 is currently under attack by a large Equestrian battleship, designation Godeye.

American ships are engaging the brunt of their assault- with any luck, they'll destroy the majority of the forces before they fall. Do not assist these vessels; Jump Station 15 is the priority.

-END-



As the battle raged on above Cestius, a large flash signified the arrival of a new ship. It's architecture greatly resembled that of the Equestrian lasers currently glassing the planet below, yet these ships quickly moved in to engage the ship. It spat out three beams, each disintegrating an Equestrian frigate, before contacting the Axios.

"U.S.S Acolyte reporting, what's your status Axios?"

As the prison transport docked to the station, Captain Remembrance walked to the interrogation area.
It appeared those new prisoners were of great importance.
When the prisoners, too, arrived at the interrogation room, he first sent in the humans, as there was currently a war going on with them and therefore the human's information propably is the most urgent.


Cpt. Remembrance: What Terran country sent you?
human 1: Like we are gonna tell you, donkey!
Cpt. Remembrance: That's what they all say in the beginning, but I don't take kindly on that insult. (to staff) Fire the AlAmCa!

The psionic weapon was fired on the humans, striking a mix of feelings into each of them. After the fireing had finished, the chaos of contradicting emotions had left them confused and dazzled.

Remembrance: Okay, I´ll ask again, who sent you?
human 2: I... it was...
human 3: shut up, fool! we were trained to withstand that kind of shit!
Remembrance (to human 3): OH, you´re a professional, aren´t you? Well, let´s see how professional you stay when you get an extra dosis. (to staff) Give that guy a double charge!
human 3: AAAHH! please, no, wait, help... I´ll tell you everything!
Remembrance (to staff): shut it off! (to human 3) Okay, now tell me everything you know.


15 minutes later...

---message from OPC-457 to Equestrian Government---
Humans interrogated.
AlAmCa has great effect at interrogating humans.
Interrogation results are attached to this message.
Proceeding with Strigiforme agents; humans have been sent to cell block 18-F.
---end of message---


OOC: the AlAmCa is a non-lethal weapon, except if used on the highest setting, which is not available in the current prototype, but due to its psionic nature, it makes for an excellent interrogation device on lower settings.

-Equestrian Government Communique-

The Librarian's ship has been located and searched. From the data gathered there, it appears they were working to gather information for the Akheton Corporation in exchange for money, given their accounts.

Since the Librarians possess extremely advanced technology, recommend dealing with them as soon as possible, so that we may integrate their systems into ours.

-END-