paladinrpg
Well-Known Member
Jun System, Great Southern Nebula
2200 Hours, planet time
T'was the night before Yuletide, and all through the system, not a starship was stirring... hmm, perhaps not. A ripple in spacetime from afar soon became a wave as suddenly a large group of what appeared to be mining freighters appeared into normal space at the edge of the system, their cloaks of aether dissipating into tiny motes of energy that faded into the placid red and purple stellar backdrop. Their appearance was not particularly noteworthy, being very similar to the numerous civilian cargo haulers that visited the sleepy mining system every day. However, their timing was unusual, being so close to the holiday festivities every other crewed vessel had long since departed with their load of treasure or landed on Jun II to join the colony's modest celebrations...
As the fleet moved swiftly towards the terrestrial planet, they hailed the Frontier Starport to request landing clearance. The response was understandably slow, as only a lone blue-haired Minkan male was manning the traffic control tower at the time and having trouble keeping himself awake. But even his groggy state he could notice something was wrong with the transmission and followed protocols when he saw some what looked like dodgy sensor returns as well. "Jun II tower to cargo fleet. I'm.. uh... having trouble identifying your IFF coding for landing clearance. Please re-transmit and wait for my signal."
As he waited for the response, he noticed that the grouping on his radar had not halted and was still in motion, without waiting for the go-ahead or even returning the ping. All of them seemed to be shimmering too, as their volumetric projection systems began to experience the turbulence and the truth beneath became revealed to the sensor sweeps, mottled brown hulls appearing where once was silver.
Suddenly the display lit up with red as the <unknown> dots were replaced with something no controller ever wanted (or expected) to see: NMX. 11 NMX "Pillager" Class Light Cruisers were now positively identified as rapidly descending from orbit into the upper the atmosphere, along with a Tivurthinth-class Patrol Ship remaining in orbit as overwatch. It was not long before the apparent flagship of the sudden invasion trained its anti-starship turrets on the constellation of Emrys Satellites whizzing by... and promptly opened fire, creating a ring of explosions that encircled the planet as all civilian communications were suddenly blacked out.
Visibly shaking with fear, the operator sounded the warning sirens on the tiny starport, "B-Battlestations! W-We're under attack by NMX raiders! Tower defenses activated - all units scramble, scramble!" Armed towers turrets and missile launchers swiveled into position and took aim on the incoming ships. The Shi-rudo towers also flared to life, projecting a shield to protect the base as grounds crews sprang into action pulling all sensitive cargo and equipment beneath the fortified ground where it could be protected from the raiders. A lone Plumeria gunship, the YSS Kashiwa, was the only SAoY asset that was docked there that day, and was barely manned with most of its Nekovalkyrja crew enjoying shore leave on planet with friends and family. It would take time to get into the air to combat the invaders, who had already begun the attack.
The effort was valiant by the defense garrison, but it was simply outgunned against so many Pillagers attacking as a cohesive grouping with the element of surprise on their side. Their Furious Main Cannons pulsed in a deadly rapid fire pattern that pummeled the shield generators on the ground faster than they could compensate. The base's counter attack did little against the enemy, anti-armor rounds barely scratching the blunt noses of the NMX cruisers, while their missile barrages were shot down by the enemy's anti-smallcraft turret fire before they could impact.
The final blow to the stunned defenders came in a barrage of aether torpedoes fired from the rapidly descending armada, plowing right into the defensive towers as their shield generators overloaded and failed. They erupted into four bright pillars of fire, pieces scattering all over the landing tarmac. The Plumeria began a last-ditch attempt to lift off its pad but it was slammed back down and its landing gear and belly crushed beneath it by another two of the torpedoes that crippled the gunship. "Shimatta..." The traffic controller cursed his luck with his final breath, forced to watch in horror as one of the Pillagers came down right on top of the central tower, crushing him and everything in it to the ground as it and its sister ships deployed their landing gears and came down with a thud amidst the ruined starport that was still smoldering around them.
The ships wasted no time dropping their ramps to the floor, as scores of Battle Buggies and Cargo Trucks piloted by lightly armored NH-29 Nekovalkyrja zipped out followed by the more ominous treaded Prisoner Handling Vehicles crewed by the tentacled Mishhuvurthyar. A handful of Fox T4 Shuttles also took to the skies along with a handful of shock trooper Crab-Types, as the raiders spread out and exchanged fire briefly with the remaining handful of broken and scattered members of the infantry garrison, bowling them over on their way towards the nearby settlement that was home to most of the colony's 50,000 inhabitants. It was obvious by the NMX's daring, lightning raid tactics that they were here to steal as much resources and "human capital" that they could, before the Star Army could send in reinforcements that were only a short distance away.
And pillage they did, as the now unimpeded Mishhu invaders thundered down the roads to the central square of the mining town, a beautiful tree placed there that was lit up in all its beautiful year end celebration glory. Anyone else would have stopped to marvel at the festive sight with ooh and ahh's... but instead the colonists who looked on screamed as the Crabs extended their tentacles in unison, wrapping around the majestic pine and bringing it down to the cold ground in a mass of green needles and sparking lights that sent revelers scampering like snow.
The music of the holidays soon faltered, video screens showing nothing but static as a predatory, psionic voice echoed in the Yamataian victim's heads: "Foolish prey. That will be the last tree that you ever see! Now begins the year of your eternal torment...!"
(more to come)
2200 Hours, planet time
T'was the night before Yuletide, and all through the system, not a starship was stirring... hmm, perhaps not. A ripple in spacetime from afar soon became a wave as suddenly a large group of what appeared to be mining freighters appeared into normal space at the edge of the system, their cloaks of aether dissipating into tiny motes of energy that faded into the placid red and purple stellar backdrop. Their appearance was not particularly noteworthy, being very similar to the numerous civilian cargo haulers that visited the sleepy mining system every day. However, their timing was unusual, being so close to the holiday festivities every other crewed vessel had long since departed with their load of treasure or landed on Jun II to join the colony's modest celebrations...
As the fleet moved swiftly towards the terrestrial planet, they hailed the Frontier Starport to request landing clearance. The response was understandably slow, as only a lone blue-haired Minkan male was manning the traffic control tower at the time and having trouble keeping himself awake. But even his groggy state he could notice something was wrong with the transmission and followed protocols when he saw some what looked like dodgy sensor returns as well. "Jun II tower to cargo fleet. I'm.. uh... having trouble identifying your IFF coding for landing clearance. Please re-transmit and wait for my signal."
As he waited for the response, he noticed that the grouping on his radar had not halted and was still in motion, without waiting for the go-ahead or even returning the ping. All of them seemed to be shimmering too, as their volumetric projection systems began to experience the turbulence and the truth beneath became revealed to the sensor sweeps, mottled brown hulls appearing where once was silver.
Suddenly the display lit up with red as the <unknown> dots were replaced with something no controller ever wanted (or expected) to see: NMX. 11 NMX "Pillager" Class Light Cruisers were now positively identified as rapidly descending from orbit into the upper the atmosphere, along with a Tivurthinth-class Patrol Ship remaining in orbit as overwatch. It was not long before the apparent flagship of the sudden invasion trained its anti-starship turrets on the constellation of Emrys Satellites whizzing by... and promptly opened fire, creating a ring of explosions that encircled the planet as all civilian communications were suddenly blacked out.
Visibly shaking with fear, the operator sounded the warning sirens on the tiny starport, "B-Battlestations! W-We're under attack by NMX raiders! Tower defenses activated - all units scramble, scramble!" Armed towers turrets and missile launchers swiveled into position and took aim on the incoming ships. The Shi-rudo towers also flared to life, projecting a shield to protect the base as grounds crews sprang into action pulling all sensitive cargo and equipment beneath the fortified ground where it could be protected from the raiders. A lone Plumeria gunship, the YSS Kashiwa, was the only SAoY asset that was docked there that day, and was barely manned with most of its Nekovalkyrja crew enjoying shore leave on planet with friends and family. It would take time to get into the air to combat the invaders, who had already begun the attack.
The effort was valiant by the defense garrison, but it was simply outgunned against so many Pillagers attacking as a cohesive grouping with the element of surprise on their side. Their Furious Main Cannons pulsed in a deadly rapid fire pattern that pummeled the shield generators on the ground faster than they could compensate. The base's counter attack did little against the enemy, anti-armor rounds barely scratching the blunt noses of the NMX cruisers, while their missile barrages were shot down by the enemy's anti-smallcraft turret fire before they could impact.
The final blow to the stunned defenders came in a barrage of aether torpedoes fired from the rapidly descending armada, plowing right into the defensive towers as their shield generators overloaded and failed. They erupted into four bright pillars of fire, pieces scattering all over the landing tarmac. The Plumeria began a last-ditch attempt to lift off its pad but it was slammed back down and its landing gear and belly crushed beneath it by another two of the torpedoes that crippled the gunship. "Shimatta..." The traffic controller cursed his luck with his final breath, forced to watch in horror as one of the Pillagers came down right on top of the central tower, crushing him and everything in it to the ground as it and its sister ships deployed their landing gears and came down with a thud amidst the ruined starport that was still smoldering around them.
The ships wasted no time dropping their ramps to the floor, as scores of Battle Buggies and Cargo Trucks piloted by lightly armored NH-29 Nekovalkyrja zipped out followed by the more ominous treaded Prisoner Handling Vehicles crewed by the tentacled Mishhuvurthyar. A handful of Fox T4 Shuttles also took to the skies along with a handful of shock trooper Crab-Types, as the raiders spread out and exchanged fire briefly with the remaining handful of broken and scattered members of the infantry garrison, bowling them over on their way towards the nearby settlement that was home to most of the colony's 50,000 inhabitants. It was obvious by the NMX's daring, lightning raid tactics that they were here to steal as much resources and "human capital" that they could, before the Star Army could send in reinforcements that were only a short distance away.
And pillage they did, as the now unimpeded Mishhu invaders thundered down the roads to the central square of the mining town, a beautiful tree placed there that was lit up in all its beautiful year end celebration glory. Anyone else would have stopped to marvel at the festive sight with ooh and ahh's... but instead the colonists who looked on screamed as the Crabs extended their tentacles in unison, wrapping around the majestic pine and bringing it down to the cold ground in a mass of green needles and sparking lights that sent revelers scampering like snow.
The music of the holidays soon faltered, video screens showing nothing but static as a predatory, psionic voice echoed in the Yamataian victim's heads: "Foolish prey. That will be the last tree that you ever see! Now begins the year of your eternal torment...!"
(more to come)
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