Tami System, Ninth Fleet Territory
Day thirty, fifth month, thirty-first year of the Imperial Calendar…
The system-wide transit suspension, put into effect by Ninth Fleet Command quickly after word broke that the Mishhuvurthyar had attacked several Yamataian systems with great success due to their use of a parasitic subspecies, proved to be an effective defensive measure and froze all incoming traffic two Astronomical Units away from Tami’s atmosphere. If a ship had managed to break through, it would surely have had to have been under the watch of some force infinitely more powerful and wise than the Star Army and more visionary than its leadership’s plans for the defense of Yamataian worlds. Thousands of civilian vessels stretched out for dozens of kilometers, hundreds in some of the more concentrated areas, as Ninth Fleet warships patrolled and maintained the perimeter.
Aboard the YSS Oushikuso, an Eikan-class designated as patrol group leader, the monotony of monitoring and logging all arrivals and departures forced a pall of tedious boredom over the entire bridge, if not the entire vessel. The hours and days that the heavy cruiser had been on duty doubtlessly dulled the crew’s alertness, so when the Origin-owned ship SS Nanashi entered Tami space not one of the Oushikuso’s operators took note. It was just another vessel that would have to wait until command gave the word that allowed traffic to resume on any basis, after all. Not even as the Nanashi accelerated did any alarms raise, right up until its course was so blatantly obvious that what the ship was doing could not be discarded as a small oddity or abnormality in navigational skill.
“SS Nanashi,” a Nekovalkyrja Shoi monitoring the nigh impossible-to-discern blanket of sensors data said in a bored, plain voice as she caught the fast-moving ship on her equipment, “decrease your speed and divert course. Repeat: decrease your speed and div—” she continued until the Origin ship’s signal merged with another. “Damn it! Civilian escort vessel, designation “SS Nanashi” has collided with re-supply contracting vessel, designation “SS Hastati,” she barked, breaking the droning murmur that had been present for so long.
“Put it on screen, now,” the cruiser’s male Yamataian captain said, leaning forward in his chair as brought a hand to his chin with a shocked and eager expression on his face.
The scene that projected large upon the Oushikuso’s main bridge view screen was one of fire and twisted metal, gouts of vapor escaping from the formerly-sealed ships and particular matter glinting in the far-off sunlight. For all of the damage that the supply ship and Nanashi seemed to have, neither had erupted and doomed the lives of their crews. And as the Oushikuso mobilized a rescue plan, planning to send one of its group’s Plumeria to clean up the mess and carry away survivors, the collision was repeated at the various clusters of civilian ships waiting for admittance to planetary space as more vessels came speeding in from the void beyond. Each carried the darkest seed of mayhem within — crews infected with NMX subverters. Escape pods were jettisoned from the damaged ships just as Star Army rescue parties reached those they intended to save, each colliding or being taken in by another nearby vessel.
And so, that was how Mishhuvurthyar parasites spread their kind throughout the thousands of ships being kept off of Tami, their infection raging like wildfire, even to some of the Star Army ships sent in to assist with passenger recovery. By the time it was blatantly obvious what was happening and the patrol groups ordered to open fire, small groups of reinforcing NMX raiders had arrived, harrying and picking off Yamataian warships as they tore through masses of civilian vessels, infected or not. The level of confusion present in the space around Tami reached astronomical levels within an hour and a half after the Nanashi impacted the Hastati’s hull. Both the innocent and infected, civilian, Star Army, and Mishhuvurthyar were slain as the quarantine perimeter broke down with the uncounted masses of newly-christened NMX ships rushed in to attack the planet from all directions.
Ninth Fleet Administration Complex, Tami
Hokusai Akiyo-taisho’s staff had made quick work of packing all important and relevant information, files, and fleet artifacts into the transport shuttles that’d been so hastily scrambled to evacuate the fleet’s commander and non-essential personnel. Up above the planet, streaks of light could be seen soaring through the atmosphere as the tide of battle loomed ever-closer to the surface. What was left of the patrol groups had been called back to the core force a few hours earlier, helping to mitigate further losses past those in the initial clash, but the Taisho knew her small, new fleet could not hold out for much longer.
As some of the last shuttles launched from their makeshift landing zones throughout the freshly-constructed administration complex into the yellow evening sky, made even more brilliant by the battle above, the Admiral marched to her own small getaway ship as it landed. The installation’s entire security force stood at parade formation around the shuttle as Hokusai approached, escorted by Akechi Ikkyu-shosa, the garrison’s commander.
“All of the infantry stationed at outlying installations have been informed that you are in command, Major,” Hokusai said, stopping to speak with him before she boarded the shuttle. “Send those Mishhuvurthyar foolish enough to stay after the fleet is gone to Jigoku—show them no mercy whether they be possessed citizens or monstrous abominations.” She looked out towards the complex’s mustering ground where Yamatai’s banner waived in the evening breeze. “I expect that to be here when I return, Akechi-san,” she told him, turning on a heel to enter the small craft that would bring her to the fleet’s flagship, the YSS Amagi, and the safety of a faster-than-light jump out of the fallen Tami system.
“It will be as you command, Hokusai-taisho,” he replied, bowing as the admiral stepped up and into her salvation. As the shuttle’s airlock closed and sealed the Taisho in, the Yamataian man bowed deeply and the multitude of personnel at attention followed his lead. “Dai Yamatai Teikoku!” he bellowed, his booming voice carrying well beyond the compound's retaining walls.
“Banzai!” the bowing security force shouted in unison, continuing as the Admiral’s shuttle took off and disappeared into the darkening sky. “Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!”
Day thirty, fifth month, thirty-first year of the Imperial Calendar…
The system-wide transit suspension, put into effect by Ninth Fleet Command quickly after word broke that the Mishhuvurthyar had attacked several Yamataian systems with great success due to their use of a parasitic subspecies, proved to be an effective defensive measure and froze all incoming traffic two Astronomical Units away from Tami’s atmosphere. If a ship had managed to break through, it would surely have had to have been under the watch of some force infinitely more powerful and wise than the Star Army and more visionary than its leadership’s plans for the defense of Yamataian worlds. Thousands of civilian vessels stretched out for dozens of kilometers, hundreds in some of the more concentrated areas, as Ninth Fleet warships patrolled and maintained the perimeter.
Aboard the YSS Oushikuso, an Eikan-class designated as patrol group leader, the monotony of monitoring and logging all arrivals and departures forced a pall of tedious boredom over the entire bridge, if not the entire vessel. The hours and days that the heavy cruiser had been on duty doubtlessly dulled the crew’s alertness, so when the Origin-owned ship SS Nanashi entered Tami space not one of the Oushikuso’s operators took note. It was just another vessel that would have to wait until command gave the word that allowed traffic to resume on any basis, after all. Not even as the Nanashi accelerated did any alarms raise, right up until its course was so blatantly obvious that what the ship was doing could not be discarded as a small oddity or abnormality in navigational skill.
“SS Nanashi,” a Nekovalkyrja Shoi monitoring the nigh impossible-to-discern blanket of sensors data said in a bored, plain voice as she caught the fast-moving ship on her equipment, “decrease your speed and divert course. Repeat: decrease your speed and div—” she continued until the Origin ship’s signal merged with another. “Damn it! Civilian escort vessel, designation “SS Nanashi” has collided with re-supply contracting vessel, designation “SS Hastati,” she barked, breaking the droning murmur that had been present for so long.
“Put it on screen, now,” the cruiser’s male Yamataian captain said, leaning forward in his chair as brought a hand to his chin with a shocked and eager expression on his face.
The scene that projected large upon the Oushikuso’s main bridge view screen was one of fire and twisted metal, gouts of vapor escaping from the formerly-sealed ships and particular matter glinting in the far-off sunlight. For all of the damage that the supply ship and Nanashi seemed to have, neither had erupted and doomed the lives of their crews. And as the Oushikuso mobilized a rescue plan, planning to send one of its group’s Plumeria to clean up the mess and carry away survivors, the collision was repeated at the various clusters of civilian ships waiting for admittance to planetary space as more vessels came speeding in from the void beyond. Each carried the darkest seed of mayhem within — crews infected with NMX subverters. Escape pods were jettisoned from the damaged ships just as Star Army rescue parties reached those they intended to save, each colliding or being taken in by another nearby vessel.
And so, that was how Mishhuvurthyar parasites spread their kind throughout the thousands of ships being kept off of Tami, their infection raging like wildfire, even to some of the Star Army ships sent in to assist with passenger recovery. By the time it was blatantly obvious what was happening and the patrol groups ordered to open fire, small groups of reinforcing NMX raiders had arrived, harrying and picking off Yamataian warships as they tore through masses of civilian vessels, infected or not. The level of confusion present in the space around Tami reached astronomical levels within an hour and a half after the Nanashi impacted the Hastati’s hull. Both the innocent and infected, civilian, Star Army, and Mishhuvurthyar were slain as the quarantine perimeter broke down with the uncounted masses of newly-christened NMX ships rushed in to attack the planet from all directions.
Ninth Fleet Administration Complex, Tami
Hokusai Akiyo-taisho’s staff had made quick work of packing all important and relevant information, files, and fleet artifacts into the transport shuttles that’d been so hastily scrambled to evacuate the fleet’s commander and non-essential personnel. Up above the planet, streaks of light could be seen soaring through the atmosphere as the tide of battle loomed ever-closer to the surface. What was left of the patrol groups had been called back to the core force a few hours earlier, helping to mitigate further losses past those in the initial clash, but the Taisho knew her small, new fleet could not hold out for much longer.
As some of the last shuttles launched from their makeshift landing zones throughout the freshly-constructed administration complex into the yellow evening sky, made even more brilliant by the battle above, the Admiral marched to her own small getaway ship as it landed. The installation’s entire security force stood at parade formation around the shuttle as Hokusai approached, escorted by Akechi Ikkyu-shosa, the garrison’s commander.
“All of the infantry stationed at outlying installations have been informed that you are in command, Major,” Hokusai said, stopping to speak with him before she boarded the shuttle. “Send those Mishhuvurthyar foolish enough to stay after the fleet is gone to Jigoku—show them no mercy whether they be possessed citizens or monstrous abominations.” She looked out towards the complex’s mustering ground where Yamatai’s banner waived in the evening breeze. “I expect that to be here when I return, Akechi-san,” she told him, turning on a heel to enter the small craft that would bring her to the fleet’s flagship, the YSS Amagi, and the safety of a faster-than-light jump out of the fallen Tami system.
“It will be as you command, Hokusai-taisho,” he replied, bowing as the admiral stepped up and into her salvation. As the shuttle’s airlock closed and sealed the Taisho in, the Yamataian man bowed deeply and the multitude of personnel at attention followed his lead. “Dai Yamatai Teikoku!” he bellowed, his booming voice carrying well beyond the compound's retaining walls.
“Banzai!” the bowing security force shouted in unison, continuing as the Admiral’s shuttle took off and disappeared into the darkening sky. “Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!”
