Drakador_Chaos
Since the beast was not maneuvering it would make the move that Stantine was planning more viable. He ordered the AI to synchronize all the spinal lances and railguns to fire at a single point in the beast to penetrate deeply through the entire thing and lastly hitting the eye of doom in the front. The AI positioned the ships to allow it. The bow gates opened up. The lances fired one after another into the exact spot as armour penetrating shells rained into the same spot. As the lances had fired he ordered the fleet to reverse the thrust and slow down.
the Great Bastonian Empocracy (updated)
KrankysFirebrand48
After a short break regarding the signal, the screen comes back to life.
//Transmission: GSR Code//
"It obviously is not. Ve have returned and are growing stronger in numbers zhan ever before. Over zhe last year ve have built up both in economy as well as military. Now zhe question remains to be asked: Vhat side are you on, and is zhere any interest in renewing old bonds?"
//Transmission End, awaiting answer//
boombox
The minister of foreign relations spoke, "If we are to re-establish our bonds we must make an official government investigation of your nation. You must understand that there are many conditions, some of which may have changed, to being a military partner to our nation. Certain grudges must also not be held. I believe our positions have been switched from the last time we initiated our alliance, for now we are the ones who do not want to be dragged into your wars, considering the GSR was wall know for its militaristic nature and bonds we have with some former nations that contributed against us in the war of the third coalition."
KrankysFirebrand48
There was no response for a while, then a short transmission arrived back:
//Transmission: GSR Code//
"Ve vill under no circumstance allow your nation to "investigate" us, vhatever zhis may entail. Ve are who ve are and you know exactly who ve are. A peace offer is a peace offer, and you refused it."
//Transmission End//
With this the German ships swiftly turned and FTL'd out of sector, maybe never to be seen again..
@KrankysFirebrand48
A shuttle devoid of any markings appears near GBE space, it repeatedly attempt to hail the nearest station, while also maintaining some distance from the figurative border.
boombox
The minister of foreign relations looked at the others in the room. "how undiplomatic." he uttered, "Are you certain these were members of the actual German Space Regime? I refuse to believes these were nothing but trolls to waste our time. They didn't even try to negotiate!"
One of the men started sweating.
"Sir, all identifications showed that it was them."
"Well, did you get a gene confirmation? I thought not! Everyone in this room is dismissed."
.
.
Dumb
They get contact with one of the communications station around the defensive fleet centered around the cruiser HMS Lancaster.
KrankysFirebrand48
"eyy....wait, this is on?"
The screen shows Dasha in a rather...untidy suit, sitting unpolitely on a beany which seems to be composed of metal parts. The graphical transmission is immediately cut off, and promptly restored back to normal, showing a clean and mechanical interior of what seems to be the shuttle.
"Ahem, hello there, this is Dasha from the Forge of Babel, hereby seeking a private meeting with...someone who can at least be in charge of diplomatics."
Dumb
In return she hears a scrambled voice. "Who are you and what do you want? The ministry of foreign relations is very busy and strangers cannot request meetings, especially from outside our borders."
KrankysFirebrand48
"tsk civilian grade stuff don't always work eh?....."
A series of aggressive patting later, Dasha shouts through the comms with relatively loud voice.
"This Is Dasha, Owner of the Forge of Babel, Seeking official first encounter procedure!"
Dumb
"First contact? Well then, Ma'am you will have to choose between the digital interaction or the in-person procedures. Note that the latter option is a lengthy process where your privacy, body and biology will be completely violated and your ship will be put under surveillance if you are a private person. Should you be a representative of a country or corporation, you must have negotiated and made an agreement outside our territory."
KrankysFirebrand48
"huh...Does the referral from the Prime Minister of the United Earth Government helps shorten the wait? or else I will simply go to the Embassy and knock over there."
Dumb
"Do you have proof of said referral?"
KrankysFirebrand48
"...are you in a position high enough to receive a direct link with the PM? I can try to route one but I fear it may cause you some unfortunate events."
- Edited
Dumb
"While I'm not in a position of commencing any talks with the Prime Minister, I will however check whether it's legit and further it to someone in the ministry if I determine it as true. I may also question him if I need to."
- Edited
KrankysFirebrand48
"then how bout you just go check it real quick instead of going through the obligatory procedures eh?"
the transmission is...disturbed, slight fuzziness looms over the channel as if the connection is being shared...
@ONI
The cube, previously given by Dahsa, starts to hummed on low frequency but can for some reason be perceived on far distances, as if it is on some sort of advanced vibration mode designed specifically for disturbance.
Dumb
"You must understand that the obligatory procedures are for safety reasons and that they can potentially save millions. We are at war and biological warfare is still the most destructive and easy way to knock us out. It is pivotal that if you are a threat, that we find out, Ma'am."
- Edited
As the retreat continued, even under heavy fire, the beasts did not even seem to flinch, the UEG's bombardment of the retreating beasts burst several of the samller ones to red mist, which was also being dragged back to the rift...
Then, a flash of light, a burst of neutral particles, the GBE fleet firing it's spinal weapons, all directed at the same target, with a dull satisfaction they watched the massive warpriest being torn apart, accompanied by one last terrifying psionic screeching, just before they actually reached the eye and the beast burst into red mist...
The Warpriest was gone.
So, were all the other beasts...
As the last patches of the red mist were pulled back into the otherworldly tear and the sensor interferences ceased, all that was left was corpses and debris.
Standing testimony for the price they had paid for what was an unclear victory...
Then, reality seemed to shudder, time-space bent, stretched, convulsed and the tear closed and with the last readings of the tears presence fading, the massive black tendril disappeared from the borders as well, as sudden as it had appeared...
It seems that, at least for the moment, the invasion was over, it's purpose and reason still lying in the dark.
As both nations were collecting the corpses, debris and escape pods across the battlefield, they made yet another rather terrifying, although at this point not surprising, discovery.
The occupants of each and every escape pod which had been cought within the confines of the Mist, were dead, not killed killed by physical trauma or violence, rather it seemed as if something had almost literally, fried their brains, overloading them with an excess of information, shortly before they broke down entirely.
Though, it was not the last of it, aside from the ominous dead, there was also one other thing of... rather disturbing nature.
Each and every corpse had a message carved into its' back, most presumably after their death, those who had been still alive, likely during the information overload...
Even more ominous than that was the fact it was not written in any known language, more something akin to runes, yet each individual looking at them, could quite clearly tell what it said.
The 'message' sounded almost like a part of a prophecy, like a short segment out of something... greater.
Something yet to come.
As Light and Darkness fall,
Chaos will rise.
Judgement will be passed upon the world by the abandoned and fallen,
rising from the ashes of forgotten empires.
The following days were... unexpectedly peaceful, there was no new tendril, no tear, no beasts storming their borders and yet a feeling of uncertainty was hanging over the battlefield for quite a while after the attack...
Drakador_Chaos
Stantine finally sat down after almost throwing himself on the floor because of the screeching as the guns silenced. He sat there in complete silence for maybe hours and just stared into nothing. There was no satisfaction in this victory. Only relief. The beaten-down fleet waited, licking its wounds until finally, the replacement defense fleet arrived. The HMS Fortune and her ships turned around and returned to the dockyards of Xolvia Prime.
The insane crew from escape pods and wrecks of ships were immediately taken to a medical ship where they attempted to restart their brains and remove traumatic parts of their memories. They inserted computers and neural links into their brain to add nonfunctioning parts of their brain and giving the brain everything it'd need to function while keeping the braincells alive. The medical ships were at maximum capacity, some patients being forced to be treated on the floor or in corridors.
KrankysFirebrand48
"I'm just saying that, presumably the UEG being a close ally of your country, won't it be better off to just ring a bell and either blow off such an easy cover or finish the confirmation, instead of waiting for the truth to slowly waddle towards you through the layers of obnoxious bureaucracy?"
- Edited
Dumb
"It is very easy for private persons like you to own an AI capable of perfectly replicating direct communications with any public person, especially important people. Just safety precautions. You may remain silent until the Prime Minister connects."