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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."

                  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.

                    • ONI likes this.

                    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."

                    • Dumb replied to this.

                      ONI
                      KrankysFirebrand48


                      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?"

                        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."

                          KrankysFirebrand48
                          "hmm..."
                          Dasha stops giving opinions and begin to fiddle with something offscreen, before she, at least seems to be, discovered something important to the stalemate.
                          "Oh um...how should I hand in the referral letter, via transmission or by hand?"

                            Dumb
                            As Dasha has right to ask questions about the procedures the comms operator responds. ”You may sent it by transmission or through this connection.”

                              KrankysFirebrand48
                              "mmm...."
                              Dasha mold several piece of metal together and form some sort of box, which she then put the document in one after another. Soon enough, several digital files are being transferred through the linkage, albeit very slow as if it's via some prehistoric fax machine.

                              KrankysFirebrand48
                              The aftermath of the battle was a cruel drag, besides collecting the debris and wreckage of the destroyed ships, the recovery process of the affected crews was likely the most gruelling task.
                              It would take weeks, until the first batch of the victims of the screams started to recover, even with the advanced neuro implants things proved difficult, as the issue seemed to be more underlying than in solely physical nature.
                              Those who recovered, were plagued by frequent nightmares, and gaps in their memories, filled with a red haze that seemed to eat away at their mental health even as they recovered, although those were actually the better cases.
                              Those who had been exposed to the screams more directly would likely take months to recover according to some experts opinions, not only physically but also in terms of therapy. They were mentally so scarred by the battle that even with the implants some of them would likely not serve again due to severe cases of PTSD, others who would, will likely take even more time to recover unless they Empire wanted to restructure their entire mind.
                              The last group of people, were those few who had survived, or rather had been resurrected, after their stay in the red mist. Their backs scarred with the prophecy which seemed to be burnt into their genetic sequences and their minds shattered beyond recognition, some of the doctors and neurologists called them the 'Broken', their cold gaze staring off into the vast emptiness though their brains should be functioning normally, occasional glints of a primordial madness coming through whenever one looked them into the eyes for too long.
                              In the end, there was no other attack, all they were left with was the ominous prophecy, although soon other news would reach their borders.

                              A message comes direct to the high ministers office. it reads: send a messenger to these coordinates: (1122,32111,21810)
                              tell no one. Have him come unarmed. He wish to talk. The source, when identified is all over the galaxy, with no discernable beginning point.