Varden Expeditionary Fleet's Story

An equally small voice but this time not computerized spoke. "Kenshi I got your mark. It is going to be tight but the pilot thinks he can do it. What is some paint anyway? We are on approach and will be deploying light combats at one 'K'. Tell your them not to hit us with the anti-aircraft."

Thunder reverberated from a distance to the south but the sky was clear. This was followed by two distinct sonic booms and then a sound like two jets flying overhead in the distance to the same direction.

A female voice issued from the device. "The Varden are a peace keeping organization formed when five empires; the Solari, the Zolarian, the Ardenian, the Sekhmet, and the nomadic humans who make their home in the Ayenee galaxy cluster struck an accord. Before the accord was struck there were many wars between these five empires but eventually, after a few millenna the situation stabilized and treaties were proposed. A thousand years later the accord gave birth to what the Terran government would classify as an intergalactic police force.

The empires maintained their military forces and substantial naval forces but allowed the organization, originally called the Accord to police all of their nations based on tenants proposed by all five governments. This brought untold advances in technology and peace throughout their sector of the universe."

There was a thunder clap, much closer and over the car-park. Electrical current coiled off of a vessel as it uncloaked and torrential winds blew away anything not tied down. A small voice issued from the metallic ring on Vena's neck, almost drowned out by the wind. "We are setting down and counting 100 'M'.

"This is Charlie, Oscar, One Three, Two in close to Wing City. I have a Taiyou vessel close into the city. Looks to be targeting the city. Advise. I am transmitting cords.", the message repeated back into a loop, was encrypted, and shot through subspace broadband. Even if it was intercepted they would get a piece or two only and it would take anyone years that to decrypt it if they were not familiar with Varden encryption methods.

"Charlie, Oscar, One Three, Two, this is Sol Stat. Wait one.", was the reply.

"Charlie, Oscar, One Three, Two, this is Sol Stat. Per Warden Rye. Do not engage. Observe. Bravo Oscar in route.", the channel switched after the transmission.

"This is Sol Stat. Prepare medical teams.", the transmission ended.

"Sol Stat. This is Bravo Oscar Two, One. In position. Advise."

"Break Break. Fast Movers. Evasive. Bravo Oscar."

As the situation changed the battleship reported. "Sol Stat. A rag tag Aschen fleet just jumped in with a single Reverence. Transmitting align to.", thought the pilot and thus the transmission was sent. A reply came immediately. "Bravo Oscar One One, Sol Stat. We are aligning. Uncloak and align out. Test the waters."

With a spark, the electrical current raced down armor plating as the one kilometer long Solari ship uncloaked. She had already made an alignment before uncloaking. Defensive hardeners went up and she waited for the communication or the strange feeling of firing impacting her shields. The Varden symbol was clearly visible.

The δικαιοσύνη, the battleship that Nagala had called a frigate class vessel by Nagala was just passing the threshold stated. The pilot felt the sensor's scanning the vessel she was so intimately connected with. The camera drones could see the guns and various implements of war. She even felt the light touch of the crew member who came to check on her. It was a strange feeling standing between those two different worlds. Seven ‘frigate ‘ sized turrets deployed and turned to look down their barrels at the Reverence but did not fire. "Sol Stat. Bravo Oscar One One. I am being targeted up."

The vessel did continue its relatively slow approach, falling now well within the stated limits. “Sol Stat, Charlie One Three Two. I am in position and ready to light the beacon.” There was a brief delay in communication now between Sol Stat and the two vessels in close proximity to the Aschen fleet. There were two vessels as the frigate that had just transmitted was cloaked. This ‘frigate’ was a true to the size classification given to it by the Varden.

“Vessels at location 187367 wait one.” There was another brief delay. “Sol Stat to ships on location please attempt to open communication with Aschen fleet to watch Warden Apis through.” So it was that an attempt was made by the black operations battleship to open communications with the Reverence and Nagala.

[color=green]Was this David versus Goliath? It would certainly seem so as a ship that the Aschen considered a mere frigate took the brunt of fire from the fleet that was posed against it. All those perfectly and precisely targeted weapons locked onto a lone ‘frigate’ sized ship did not give reason why the majority of the strikes that should be hits missed the Varden battleship completely. Not all missed glancing off an energy shield made apparent on a hit and as close to the vessel’s hull as a second skin. This hydromagnetic shield rippled ever so slightly with each hit that actually landed.

Despite this apparent display of technology the pilot groaned as the feeling of her shields being breech filtered from digital data to slight physical pain. “Sol Stat, Bravo Oscar One One. I am under fire and taking shield damage.” So much for frigate sized ship being destroyed or severely crippled in the first volley.

“Sol Stat, Charlie One Three Two. I am lighting the beacon now.” To the left of the Aschen fleet, about .25 au out a blinding ball of light sprung into place next to a 65m long vessel. “Jumping.” Space erupted, boiling to the left as frigates jumped and then aligned in the direction of the center of the fleet before jettisoning small orbs. As soon as the orbs were jettisoned the used the inertia of each frigate as they were released them to enter a warp conduit and were shunted to a few kilometers off the port side of the Reverences bow. As each landed the Aschen would find each one to be about one half as destructive as the Reverence’s singularity cannon and also they each exploded out to engulf the fleet that had positioned in defense of the Reverence.

The bombers who had already aligned out entered warp, moving right through the Aschen fleet and off into dead space. Of course the black operations battleship open fired upon the Reverence. They would find soon that the weapons on board this frigate were designed specifically to bypass shield ba

based defense systems and lay direct into the armor below. Though these beams were not nearly as hard hitting as some other Varden weaponry.

The frigates with exception to one through the Aschen certainly put on a good display, being able to defend against the equivalent power output of fifteen singularity cannon strikes positioned so close to their hull and with crippled shield and power systems that had been jury rigged.

The missiles impacted on one target, the battleship, δικαιοσύνη. The event horizon formed seemed to grind against the ships shield as it started to shred but apparently the Aschen did not have the technology to penetrate even the relatively weak Solarian shield systems. The ship dragged itself away from the black hole, having to engage its warp drive, moving a few times faster than the speed of light, and landing .10 to the Aschen fleet’s starboard side.

The only true frigate that was left was the covert operations frigate that had lit the beacon. It was locked with the beacon’s pull, perfectly balanced and unable to engage its warp drive. Those missiles did not hit the frigate however. As a fifteen kilometer long vessel came out of warp and took the missiles broadside. It shrugged them off and started to turn as six capital ship guns opened up on the reverence and drones flooded onto the field.
“Sol Stat, modulating tachyon beams for their shields. We are getting data feedback. Few more shots Sol Fleet.”, said and thought the pilot in the black operations battleship.

Meanwhile the bombers cloaked and realigned from a different angle.

The frigate that lit the beacon warped away and into dead space.

The titan class vessel continued to turn to face the Reverence as the bomber wing came through again. Apparently they had better luck this time. Perhaps the Reverence’s sensors would detect strange fluctuations as power was rerouted to ready up the larger vessel’s primary weapon. Capital size turrets continued to fire, applying massive heat and electromagnetic damage to the Reverence’s shields.

The huge armor plates all the way down the ship’s length pulsed a few times even as the Reverence’s weapons impacted the titan’s bow. Piloting this particular titan was Warden Rye Apis, second in command of the fleet, most of which was not here. He gritted his teeth as the shields took the hits. Alarms went off around the ship but it was only a warning that the shields had been breached.

In battle the Solari crew knew that this alarm meant nothing and it was the armor warning that caused them to consider running for the escape pods. Hardeners went online and nanites swarmed the hull, repairing damage as it was taken. Thick, impossibly hard armor was gashed and then filled back over as if the hits had never taken place. Still even with all that armor some shots got through, inflicting minor hull damage that forced the crew to take action. “Sol Fleet this is Apis preparing judgment. Get minimum.”

The black operations battleship peeled away, still firing lasers as it aligned out.

With that the black operations battleship warped out but the unexpected did happen. The capital ship sized turrets ceased fire and would wait ten seconds for the Aschen fleet to cease before resuming. The weapon’s where still trained on the Reverence but where no longer firing. Two cruiser class ships, almost twice as large as the frigate that lit the beacon warped in and started to orbit close to the larger vessel.

The Aschen communication was answered. “This is Warden Rye Apis, Admiral.” There was no picture at all, just the audio transmission.

“Sol Fleet this is India one two three aligned and ready to enter the field.” Warden Apis contemplated bringing in the heavy interdictor and a few more ships to finish the Aschen murderers off. “India one two three hot align.”, was the reply from Apis.

“You are free to leave. Do not enter Sol system.”, the audio communication to the Aschen chirped and ended. He had no other words for the them at this time.

General Allen sat in an office at the old Sanctum base. He was here while preparations were being finilized on the new Joes base. It took over a year to build since the attack by an Aschen agent crippling their previous base but it was almost done. But he was here to get work done. Over his desk he worked on two serious letters. One to the Terran Government, the other to the Invictus leader that was calling for Terran Reform.


To the Leadership of the Terran National Government,

Hello, My name is Dave Allen if you do not recognize the name from your briefings I am General of the GI Joes a counter terror organization. Your records may show that our previous base was destroyed durring the Aschen occupation of Terra. We do not fade easily. But this letter is in regards to recent events. Over the past year terrorism has seemed to be running rampent throught Terra. The people are scared but I have seen no action taken on behalf of the TNG. Therefore I suggest this, if the TNG does not step up and take appropriate action then the Joes will. I am leaving exactly Twenty-four hours in place to see something take place before I begin to send out my counter terrorism teams.

Sincerely General Dave Allen.


He finished the letter and printed copies mailing them not only to the TNG but other various organizations as well. Then he went on to write the second letter to the leader of Invictus.

[i]To the current leader of Invictus,

My name is Dave Allen General of the GI Joes, a counter intelligence group on Terra though I'm sure you already know this so I'm going to get straight to the point here. We have received word through our intelligence and your broadcast regarding your calls for Terran reform. I am in complete agreement with this and have attached a letter that I sent to the TNG. Terra is not defending it's people, something has to be done. I am more then willing to step up and help, so I am offering my support to your cause and more importantly the people of Terra. I would be happy to discuss this in person if you so wish.

-General Dave Allen, JOE CO

A small number of frigate, cruiser, and battle ship sized vessels remained separate and observing. Since they were cloaked these covert operations, force recon, and black operation vessels remained undetected and had been there for quite some time now.

Unsure what to say, Josiah would merely sigh, "Even in a peace conference they try crash the party. I am sick of these frivolous interruptions. We are trying to make history here and still a waning empire in it's death throes is begging for attention. Eulogy Bastion shall not be a place for likes of those, only those who can work with others shall be part of the whole deal. I encourage all of you to reply, you are all the beginning of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds an organization like no other, the goal is to preserve peace, encourage dialogue and be a shining light to all others. Each one of you have something to offer to the construction, UCON have proudly accepted they will help crew the station, while my people shall as well, this is something the likes you people never dreams, but it shall be done and in the smoking ruins of the tyrant kings in the destroyed left overs of the xenophobic bastards a new order shall emerge. The days of tyrants and empires end today with the foundations of this group, we are leading stars to all others."

The Pandorian Alliance delegates each listened. Sarasha then spoke after him. "Yes, we shall be a beacon for those who wish to see change and peace, and a stronghold for those who would wish to harm our ideals. However, we will need some of our people to crew the station as well, mainly just to install, manage, and oversee our unique and powerful Rift Tech. Our scientists are required to do research and work that usually spans a decade, maybe two decades, of learning to be deemed suitable to be trusted with handling such technology. You can understand this, this is very powerful tech, and we do not want something bad to happen...". Artemis was quick to agree with her, and so was Hadaksha.

Artemis then added "We will also be providing our extensive medical knowledge and technology. We need to have a place to for people to look to as an example, a place without a bloody history to forge its creation, but a peaceful combination of several different nations who share similar ideals".

Glaorb Nuurk and his fellow representatives landed in the docking bay of the massive piece of technology. He marveled at it's angles on the way in. There weren't many angles anywhere on their home world, and the species preferred to live without most of the time. However, there was something in the sharpness that Glaorb truly appreciated. As they drifted closer, so close that all they could see was the vessel, Glaorb marveled at the Here-ness of it. Nothing they had in their worlds was so solid.

They docked, and were treated of course respectfully as they were escorted to wherever it was among the webwob of halls they were taken. It was a room with the others, diplomats of course.

The doors slid open, and there stood Glaorb. He was a five foot pillar of jelly, contained and moist despite his lack of trail. The bottom of his form was completely ambiguous, shifting to occupy floor space accordingly. He had arms which seemed stable and hands that morphed fingerlings according to his need. Glaorb's eyes were large, black, shining spheres absorbing all light. His race could see most of the color spectrum.

"Goolevenin!" Glaorb Nuurk said to everyone, sludging to an empty seat. "Peas, Peas," He said to everyone, as did the other diplomats that followed him. They were practically identical in construct, with varying consistencies, heights, and general dispositions.

Sadir checked his update quietly. Yes he was aware there were supposed to be no use electronic equipment in the shuttle. He almost jumped in boyish glee at the concept. Holy crap nuggets! He was in SPACE! Where he was exactly was a private space shuttle that had been built with the interior of a luxury airliner. This was a historical event to many, the peace conference was bringing all sorts of people together and it was being televised internationally. Those that could afford a front seat to observe the session were among them now, Sadir looking around seeing leaders in industry, world famous celebrities and Artists, International Spiritual Leaders and Scientists. Was this all a rouse because the world was going to explode? Possibly.

They did have all the brains, talent, muscle and enterprise on this shuttle nearing very close to their destination. Perhaps it was the secret bunker where they would restart society until they all went crazy with Space fever or the super computer managing the whole thing went HAL 2000. He chuckled quietly as he set his phone away. The shuttle was now using fuel to decelerate as it was, the luxury interior was being prepped instructing the large mass of VIPs to return to their seats. Sadir waited quietly bringing his legs back downward. He couldn’t keep the blasted things from not hovering off the ground. Damn 0 Gs.

The shuttle docked and the large crowd of people were being herded over, Sadir could not believe how crowded it was. Packed with all kinds of people and aliens and creatures as the Terrans were being moved to their personal box in the viewing of the session. A large skybox that was built to accommodate the 600-700 individuals that were all influential or rich enough to attend in person; Sadir should have just saved the stacks of credits and just sat on his lazy bum and watched it all at home.