Re: Space: The Third Story.
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Imperial Forum → Roleplay → Space: The Third Story.
"Dear God..." Garrus said lowly. Another ship dropped out of contact. Then another. Two dropped out at the same time.
"Garrus..." Septimus said as another trio of ships were simply gone.
"I know... Captain, jump us into the outer atmosphere of the main military hub... Order the Fleet to surrender and offer no resistance..." Garrus said and sat down dumbly in his chair.
"Captain, send a message back to High Command, alert them to what has happened." Septimus added and stared as many more ships blinked out of existence.
The Talus Second Fleet, the primary offensive unit of the Talus Empire, slip space jumped past the Kallum defenses by the planet and was quickly intercepted by Kallum boarding units.
"Septimus, we have nearly equal their number of ships, plus the grand total of multiple million trained soldiers-" Garrus began as a boarding ship latched onto the Reaper.
"Garrus, once we're on the planet, the thing they want intact, we can start talking of resistance... but with those rings, we'll all be dead like that." Septimus snapped his fingers just as Kallum soldiers entered the bridge. They hand cuffed everyone on the bridge, holding them by the arms and escorted them off the bridge.
"Get your damn hands off me!" Garrus snarled as they took him off the ship, he quietly commented to Septimus, "I'll be damned if these used to be loyalists... If so, we'll be deader then if we tried to fight those damn rings."
Above the river valley in which they had landed themselves, they saw the outskirts of the capital city's massive metropolitan area. They made their way slowly up the slope, looking around warily for enemy soldiers or civilians that might ruin their cover.
Most of this planet's inhabitants would be civilians, following the war through Kallum media but not actively fighting. As non-combatants, they were regulated by the UEF's rules of engagement, even if they had absolutely no clue what those rules were. Namely, that firing upon them would be a war crime unless said civilians shot first. It would create a much smaller degree of complication if they avoided all unnecessary contact with civilians for the duration of the mission, as they could create a significant problem without necessarily being armed.
Using eyes enhanced by ocular implants, Carl constantly scanned the area in front of them for enemy patrols, alarm systems, and minefields. As the slope was uninhabited, there were few security measures installed, so they could make their way uphill without worry.
The situation changed as they reached the top of the slope. As it leveled off, they looked upon a large residential area. The area there were now in was mostly populated with single housing units, though as Carl looked further, the buildings gradually increased in height, giving the city the appearance of a large mountain. The palace at the center of the city ten miles away was clearly visible, even from where they were standing.
To increase efficiency, the city was designed in a radial grid, giving them clean line-of-sight for at least a mile inward. Of course, to prevent city blocks from shrinking into nothingness, most of the streets did not extend all the way to the Kallum administrative district, so they would have to take some of the loop streets.
The street they were on had lampposts set up along its length, illuminating the sidewalks and road. Carl glanced around, but could not see any cameras; the street was unmonitored. He was certain this would not be the case as they proceeded closer to the center of the city.
James considered for a moment, then turned to Carl. "Do we feel like walking?"
Carl shook his head. "I don't think so. It's too risky. A direct approach would be better."
"What are you suggesting?" James asked.
A UEF Broadsword gunship equipped with stealth technology appeared beside their position. Armed with two heavy plasma cannons, with enough armor to penetrate the heaviest anti-air defenses, the Broadsword was the ultimate battlefield VTOL ground attack platform other than starships like the Terranova. The Broadsword, in addition to serving a ground-attack role, could also carry eight troops into battle.
The four members of the strike team climbed in. Once they were safely inside, the gunship cloaked itself and flew into the air. Carl piloted it on a direct course toward the palace at the center of the city.
"Time to go," James said.
"Erm, sir? We're receiving a transmission," The young officer frowned, "It's Commander Krg, sir."
"He's a little late isn't he? Put it through."
"Aye sir, but I think you'll want to know that WE are the ones who are late; this is a local broacast, narrow band, tight signal, no further than ten kilometers."
"WHAT!" H- how?" He turned to look at the others and saw them to be no less surprised than he was, "Put him through."
The screen was filled with static but he could still see the unmistakable grinning pink face of Commander Krg, "Well you sure took your time! I got sick of waiting and came here myself... and then I got into trouble. Listen, because our brains are so different they know where we are at all times, we put holes in the psychic web or something, our mystic could tell you more but he got brain-fried by something. We're in some mines in the hills to the south, do what you have to do and on your way up transmit a subspace burst, my ship will see that and come out of subspace. The fighters and boarding claws know what your ship looks like so don't worry about them. As soon as you make your move we'll make our way to your- damn, they've found us again! Krg out"
Jeodan was pleased by the battle but just as he was about to launch an attack upon the defence systems he sensed one blaze ship was in dire distress, then another and another. They glowed as red dots in his mind getting bigger and redder each seconds. They overused the shields, to their breaking point.
Jeodan orderd them to shut all systems down and abandon ship. Out of the 500 ships only a handfull managed to execute the correct prcedures to escape. Jeodan cursed and his thoughts could be felt throut the fleet. 425 ships destroyed and took out with them 834 other ships. An entire battle fleet that would guard the planets of medium importance.
The UEF reported victory on all sides with minimal losses and on orders of Jeodan they jumped away.
An hour or so passed as the ships on the Kallum side slowly got closer and closer. Stalling for time Jeodan thought. But they would be gone soon. The Kallum fleet of 8000 would be entering in space shortly, and they would not be of poor design as this fleet was, neither would their leaders be. Jeodan opted to leave and plotted course to an area in deep space. Not too far away from the nearest completly Cy'Tan controlled planet.
What was left of the Wardancers' tactical squad sat at the base of what was once a ventilation shaft. The shaft rose for what was probably many miles above them, "Well, what do you think?" Said Krg as he stared upwards into the darkness. "Sir, we wont be taking much equipment with us." Krg nodded, "I know, I know, but we can't stay here; Sooner or later those Kallum things will get bored of trying to flush us out themselves and try something clever instead, and I don't want to be here when that happens, do you?"
"I'm not sure... it is quite possible it was an Angelic Warrior of the Gods, it certainly seemed like one." Garrus said and looked around the POW camp, "At least they let us be outside... even if they make us work..."
"I have to agree with you on both, here comes Septimus... what did they do to him?" General Raxian stood up abruptly as a pair of Kallum soldiers entered the inner compound of the camp, dragging Septimus's body. They dropped him on the ground and went back through he gate, locking it behind them. Garrus, Raxian and a large group of Talus soldiers ran forward to help him up.
"Torture... bastards... You four get him to the medical wing. Raxian, get me all the officers in our camp." Raxian gave Garrus a questioning glance, "We're not taking this one lying down."
"This is Darcon Raxian of the Talus Empire. Two hours ago we received a top priority message from the Reaper. It warned to not attack the Largo System. At the very end of the message, Garrus said that Largo had become 'Scion Space' and a great Ring guards the main civilian planet. He ended stating that the entire Invasion force, except about a dozen and a half ships, was taken as POWs and is most likely being held on the planet. We don't have any other information, but we will give you updates when we find out more." Darcon spoke and waved to the Officer, who ended recording.
"Sent, Sir." The Officer said as he tapped a series of buttons.
"Now it is all up to the Gods... good luck Garrus..." Darcon said softly and headed over to the other side of the room and entered a room with a nameplate saying 'High Command Briefing Room'.
They had been climbing in total darkness for what seemed like days, squeezing their bulk up the narrow shaft. The size of the shaft meant they had been forced to leave their armor behind, which added an interesting problem to their situation; too used to heavy gravity, without their bulky armor their own movements were almost too quick and too powerful for them, and on more than one occasion one of the Wardancers had accidentally pummelled the wall or lunged into the Wardancer above.
"Are we there yet?" Someone called up for the hundredth time. "That stopped being funny hours ago." Krg tried his best to sound angry but the truth was he still found it funny himself. "Hey, Commander?" A different voice called up. "Yes?"
"Shouldn't they be doing something clever by now?"
"They should, but that depends on their equipment."
"Do they have any equipment that would work well in this situation?"
"No, not unless they adapt a-" Air rushed upwards, and a faint rumble could be heard far below, "Uh oh".
*From Nai
"Sir! I just got back from the medical wing... the Angelic figure that calls herself 'Nightengael' took Septimus with her. Also, the Kallum have just had a change of leadership... some knew pompous looking fellow." A soldier told Garrus inside one of the small barracks the men were being kept at.
"All right men, looks like we've got a new-" A Kallum soldier kicked down the door and a whole squad followed him in. An Officer stepped forward and addressed Garrus.
"You, the Commander wishes to speak with you."
"Well you can tell your 'Commander' to take his wish and shove it up his-" Garrus stopped when General Raxian gave him a stern look. Garrus stood and followed the soldiers across the compound. He stepped into the cool office of the Kallum Commander.
"Garrus Valkarian?" He said and looked up at the Talus.
"If you
Pain.
"Commander. Commander Krg, are you alright sir?"
He tried to move, the pain worsened, "GAH!" Hands held him down, "Don't move. The blast shot us out of the shaft, but there was a grille at the top and you hit it." He relaxed as best he could, but as his senses fully returned he became aware of an abnormal sensation of warmth in his torso; he was bleeding internally. "What's our situation?"
"Burns and flesh wounds mostly, Frgr has broken some of his ribs. Two of us managed to sneak up on the Kallum as they were leaving, it seems that they were too close to the blast and their communicators got screwed up so nobody could tell them we were still alive. We have their weapons, beam weapons and some kind of pulse grenades, but we need to get to the Terranova before they send out something that will really finish us off."
"No, if we do the Kallum will discover it and all will be lost, we can't go to the Terranova untill the others have finished their mission."
"Understood, but sir, how will we know when to move out?" Krg grinned weakly, "I think we'll know".
Several hours later the beaten and weary Admiral Septimus was tracked by Nightengael to be in a penal facility on Locus. It was understandable that this new ally, the Kallum, would not just cease their hatred and contempt for the Tallus. And to have their hands on the lead figurehead of the fleet that had been sent to destroy them, was not something she could have prepared for. There had been too much to do to consider things that far. In reflection, she was fortunate they had even kept him alive. She was certain that some element planetside wanted information from him before he
The trip forward went well until Carl notified the others there was a force field ahead.
The squad members took a quick look around to get their bearings before proceeding to a door controlled by an electronic door lock. James brought a hand close to the lock panel and closed his eyes; the lock disengaged, and the door slid open. They headed through the next carpeted hallway, and the next, staying vigilant for enemies, picking their way toward the throne room.
Suddenly, James stopped. "Wait," he ordered.
The whole team came to a halt. "What is it?" Carl asked.
James did not reply immediately; it took him a few seconds. He replied, "There's been a change of plans. A coup d'
"Uncle! Garrus! It
The team proceeded silently down the corridor; the entrance to the cell block was just around the corner. James motioned to Carl, who nodded, sliding against the wall and leaning around the bend, looking around the corner without being seen.
Three guards protected the heavy round door to the cellblock. The door was set in a massive, plain circular frame. The door itself was imposing enough; it was a military-grade blast door that looked like it could withstand a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.
Carl pulled back, then grabbed an anti-Kallum neural disruption grenade from his belt, armed it, and threw it around the corner.
They heard the detonation as a faint buzzing noise a second later. They turned the corner to see the guards on the floor, whose brains had been burnt out from neural shock.
James turned his attention to the door. "Hmm. This door is composed of five inline slabs, each one a meter thick, each one controlled independently from a different control center."
Carl raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we've found the place."
James nodded. "Robert's somewhere in there. The Kallum appear to have taken great precaution to ensure that they won't be rescued."
"Can't you, like, melt through the door or something?" Amanda asked.
James shook his head. "The Kallum are smarter than that. In addition to these imposing blast doors, they have the entire cellblock surrounded by two nuclear-shelter-grade forcefields, each powered by a dedicated fusion generator, that extend through the walls and external doors. Each field covers a region of space nearly ten centimeters thick, nearly a hundred times thicker than conventional shields. There's no way I can tunnel through."
"Hmm. Rewiring the door?" Carl asked.
James stared into the wall for a few seconds, then shook his head. "The wires are conveniently located between the forcefields. And the control wires for the door are encased with their own shield meshes, so I can't tap into them anyway."
"Oh, really?" Carl asked, moving to what looked like a shallow box on the wall. He pried it open, revealing a touch-screen computer panel.
"Now, if I'm not mistaken, this panel is some sort of display," Carl said to himself. "Unfortunately for the Kallum, the particular subroutine this type of display uses is vulnerable to a type of attack that works something like this..."
Carl took out a screwdriver and pried the panel out of its wall mounting, revealing a bundle of wires and what looked like a data port. He took out a small stick-shaped object from his pocket, plugged it in to the data port, and flipped a switch on the object.
The data on the screen was washed away, replaced with a UEF systems interface.
Carl, using the panel, sent a few raw commands to the power switcher he knew was nearby, tricking it into rerouting the data lines controlling the door and its forcefield inhibitor to the compromised panel. He then sent a few commands directly to the door.
There was a loud mechanical noise as all five layers of the door slid away at once, revealing a tunnel into the complex within. At the same time, the door frame glowed bright blue as the forcefield inhibitor blocked and rerouted the defensive forcefield within the doorway, leaving a clear pathway through.
Logan fired off a quick salvo of shots from his rifle, subduing the three guards on the other side of the door, and the team proceeded through, weapons at the ready.
Jeodan overlooked camera recordings of the battle and analyzed it: Just as I expected, a rag tag group made out of many different shapes and sizes. Their unity in ship design was probably kept in line by the emperor but after his fall they went on their merry business creating what types they needed.
Communication seemed to be a problem as he viewed the logs: Lots of talk, screaming but there is no clear leader. It seems that in two years they appointed many captains that could not speak the formerly unifying language. Looking at these logs I think some ships stood as a communication tower between other ships. Their captains translating orders but that seemed to fall into disarray when one of them started firing.
"There is something else..."
Jeodan jumped up from his seat and searched the room to find who spoke. But he found that none of the four Cy'Tan were thinking of anything remotely interesting so he lay back into the seat and continued with his analysis. But he was confronted with the same sound. "There is something else..." Jeodan replied that he could speak. "The 3000 ships that broke off were send by the child itself and were appointed as leaders of the group. They knew we would not attack the planet and that they should wait until they were capable of defeating us. They were correct."
Jeodan had been feeling around to sense the one that spoke in the entire fleet but found it was all around him. "And you are??" Jeodan inquired. "I am you and not you at the same time."
"You are the ship itself? I knew we made progress in making you more processing machines. We gave you life but you were unable to communicate separately without melding with one of our own. I had no idea you could form separate minds."
"I am not really separate, I know and see what you do, think what you do, but I am in direct link to the Matrioshka Brain, I provide all information and it spits back the most logical findings. I respond, other than that there is no use for me to speak because all I know you know."
"And why am I not in direct link with the brain?"
"In order to stop someone from infiltrating it."
"Thank you, that is all I need... remind me to thank the person that came up with this idea."
"That won't have a point since you know what I know. You won
"In your absence the political mess you left us with hasn't gotten any better. In fact, there is quite a number of people in the Alliance laughing at us, whether in the open or behind our backs, because of the failed invasion. You and I have been around Alliance members more then most of the members of the House of Lords, and that
The entrance to the cellblock was located on the block's middle floor. The cell where Robert was being held was three floors below them. The only obvious way down was, most inconveniently, a central elevator that was controlled by a control center located on the top floor of the cellblock.
"Can you pull off some more of your wizardry?" Logan asked James.
Before James could respond, Carl said suddenly, "Wait." He turned around and headed back through the main doorway, pressing a few more buttons on the panel he had hacked, rerouting the elevator controls.
Back at the center of the cellblock, the elevator door opened. Logan, James, and Amanda entered. Carl pressed a button, and the elevator door closed.
The car descended silently and stopped after three floors. The door opened to reveal a corridor similar to those they had seen in this section of the palace: dark, triangular in cross-section, lit only by dim red paneling, with floor and walls made of cold, solid metal.
James led Amanda and Logan down the corridor, then right at the second turn. Somewhat unsettlingly, the entire cellblock was unguarded. It was possible that the Kallum put enough trust in the security of this area that they saw no need to station live guards inside.
James stopped next to a pair of doors facing each other, gesturing to the one on their right. They turned to examine it. The door was, like everything else, controlled from a control center elsewhere.
James read the serial number on the door, then spoke directly into Carl's mind. "Open door 1304504."
As they stepped back, they heard the sound of the six-sided, vaguely triangular cell door unlocking. James nodded to Logan as the door slid open.
Krg lay dying upon the desk, the intricate combination of the biologies of the countless races that had long ago fathered their race was no match for the sheer brute force of being driven by a blastwave into a grille of reinforced steel. Frgr and one other were crouched upon the floor, leaning back against the desk, as two more kept watch out of the windows of the central tower of the rusting refinery.
Frgr inhaled deeply and stood, grunting sharply as the movement ground the shattered halves of his transverse ribs together. He turned to the unconscious Krg who seemed to be growing paler by the second. It felt quite odd to see him with his purple eyes closed, to see him without his fanged grin. He turned back to the one still crouching on the floor, "We should be in there, we would be finished by now."
"We'd be walking targets, you know that."
"I know, but to just sit here!"
"Don't worry, you'll see plenty of action on the way out."
"But I'll only see it, I'll be on the Terranova with the engines on full burn all the way to Blacken."
"But it'll be a view you'll remember forever."
Frgr nodded, then crouched by the desk again, "I never knew orbital defences could be pointed inwards".
Jeodan turned his fleet around and went back to the planet the mssion for the kid would begin. Upon arriving he recieved a burst of information, nothing tactical, only news and there was lots of it. Jeodan frowned when the first messages flew inside his head. And anger within him rose every second that passed. Until he read the final one, he rose his arm and let it fall into the chairs arm supporters crackeling it, he then grabbed the pen and paper a person had provided for him on the bridge and started writing.
To: Garrus
From: Jeodan Deathsquad, Fleet admiral of Cy'Tan, diplomat in Xenos matters, General in the Alliance
Subject: Recent develepments involving your actions
I leave, for a mission of great importance, I almost died but was saved by a mistical race(we will have to talk about them since they concern everyone.) I launch an attack on a large facilety and when I get back what do I discover? Riots, protests, people killed, people of all races. But the worst of all was what I read last. Leaving the Alliance? How stupid are you people.
Do you realize that you just lost open contracts to over 8000 Talus ships we were building.
Talus citizens will not be able to enter civilian Cy'Tan transports,
You will not be able to buy things from Cy'Tan anymore.
All outgoing transports of any kind to Talus planets and settlements will be halted and returned. This includes that of civilians.
Cy'Tan ships shipyards defence turrets around Talus planets will be recalled and will not be dispatched if you are attacked. This is the only rule I am truly worried about.
I got the Fleet admirals to accept full intigration to the Alliance, I did not think you would split before our common enemy was terminated immediatly.
You know I have great respect for you and your people but this last move is beyond ludacris.
I will end here and bid you farewell and hope you can get things in order before we meet again. I have to deal with some things here.
"Hand that over to me, will ya?" Chance Reddington called out to a fellow researcher. They were working in a white, sterile workroom, surrounding a complex-looking component that could someday become part of a starship-based quantum jump drive, possibly reducing or even eliminating the need for the Quantum Gate Network.
The researcher handed over a gyroscopically stabilized precision welder mounted from the ceiling by a mechanical arm. Chance took it, positioned it carefully, and fired off a precisely timed weld.
Like his father, Chance prefered the hands-on approach to problem-solving when possible. Rarely did he completely trust the assembly of experimental equipment to others; he kept watch on the construction process at all times. This high degree of involvement, combined with a formidable skill set and work ethic, made him one of the most versatile researchers at the Manheim Institute.
Though he didn't fancy the UEF Military Service's method of managing research projects, he was still grateful for the amount of funding provided to the Manheim Institute, in particular. The scientists at the Manheim Institute worked on the most classified, bleeding-edge projects, and it was a great honor for any scientist to even be accepted for a post at the institute. Among the projects he had worked on were Project Skyguard, an experimental ship capable of reprogramming strategic missiles in flight; Project Novak, a ground-attack satellite; and Project Black Sun, an energy delivery system that operated through the Quantum Gate Network, initially developed to destroy enemy planets but now converted into an ultra-high-bandwidth data link between the now-unified worlds of the old Earth Empire. All of these projects were well-funded, though presented on a stressful delivery schedule, and all of these projects had created immediate effects on the war effort once delivered. These projects also netted him a fair bit of fame and money, so the time he put into working for the Institute paid off well in wealth and prestige.
Chance made a few more welds on the component, then looked it over carefully, making sure nothing was out of place. He then nodded, satisfied. "Let's hook up this thing to the test apparatus," he said, "so we can make sure nothing's wrong."
Pipes, tubes, and wires grew out of the walls like plants in time-lapse films, connecting to the various intakes and exhausts on the component itself. Chance and his assistants headed out of the assembly chamber and made their way to an observation room filled with computer consoles and monitors, where they could watch the component's performance in safety.
"Initiate test," Chance said.
As the component powered up, Chance monitored the data coming from the testing apparatus. Everything seemed to go according to the projected data.
They ran the component for about half an hour on hot standby, monitoring energy consumption, quantum flux values, and component temperature. Once satisfied, Chance ordered the component powered down - further tests would have to be conducted on a test vehicle.
Once the component was powered down, Chance commented, "It's still draining a lot of power. Can we make it more efficient than it already is?"
They would spend the next week pondering this, but they were also on a schedule. Chance ordered the component mounted in a test vehicle while a second team investigated further efficiency improvements.
It was getting late, and before long, Chance was ready to head back to his apartment again.
"The Alliance is in uproar. The Cy'tan cut us off, the War dancers are softly voicing their disapproval, and the Humans are scattered across the board. The Aeon are the only ones still actively communicating with us, to find out why we left."
"Tell me more about the Human reaction."
"Well many of them are angry, some are passive and others are actually applauding us. In the Andeer System, next to the Nordok System, we had a high population. When we left, a small riot broke otu when we sent in troops to oversee the proceedings. That outraged more Humans... Basically by trying to separate ourselves and make things better for a possible re-entry to the Alliance, we screwed ourselves over. At this point, I don't think the Alliance would let us back in." Garrus massaged his forehead as Darcon spoke, then another man spoke up with his report.
"Sir, the Imperial Intelligence Agency has begun tracking a large amount of Kallum movement on our borders. It seems that they know what is going on, and that we are weaker than ever before. Also we have begun to see a downward trend in our economy, mainly trade and the stock market. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that the evidence is predicting a complete economic, political and military collapse of the Empire. We were far too dependent on the Alliance to survive, without it I don't believe we can."
"I understand... I warned them this would happen..." Garrus slammed his fist onto the table. "Gentlemen, we have hard times ahead of us, very hard times. The first thing we must do is to attempt to build a relationship with the Alliance, even though we are no longer a member of it. Next we must bring the military onto full alert, bring the Reserves onto a state of readiness. If the Cy'tan completely cut us off, then we lose a massive number of defensive weapons and ship contracts. Also order the evacuation of the Longman Colony; it will stretch us too thin. I wish I wasn't the Commanding Military Officer in such times..."
"Neither would any one else, but I have faith in you Garrus. The IIA will commence the evacuation as soon as possible."
"We will keep channels open with the Alliance and continue to talk with the Aeon Illuminate."
"The Army will help with the evacuation and will be put on a state of alert, as will the Fleet."
Once his three advisers left Garrus quickly typed a report and sent it the Emperor. He glanced back at Jeodan's message, 'your right Jeodan... this is ludicrous... I hope to speak with you again, but I doubt I will' Garrus thought to himself and began to type up a message to be sent to High Command, ordering an immediate rise to a state of alert. He sighed, looked at a picture of Blacken and began.
He had changed his legal name from Regulus Bloodmoon to 暴风雪 not too long ago, but everyone called him Blizzard, because that's what his new name meant. And he seemed to be deserving of the name. With a particular affinity to really cold places, he eagerly took assignments on arctic worlds, where the endless snow and ice gave him peace of mind to think.
He also had a liking for the unconventional, having served as a test pilot for a number of new technologies, including the back-mounted strategic missile launcher now available to UEF Armored Command Units in the field. Testing new and experimental technologies always gave him a sense of excitement, and he always kept an eye on the MilServ roster, looking for any testing opportunities.
He pounced at the chance to test out a new experimental starship capable of using quantum jumps independently of the Quantum Gate Network. Soon enough, he was issued a small explorer starship with three military-grade fusion reactors as well as the experimental quantum drive developed by the Manheim Institute.
The starship was tiny, seating just a pilot and a science officer. For protection, the ship was given a small shield generator and an autocannon - not nearly enough to withstand a serious attack, but better than nothing.
Sitting in the pilot's seat, he plotted a test jump while the science officer monitored the data coming from sensors placed all over the quantum drive. He was about to use this device to travel directly from Mars, the headquarters of the Manheim Institute, to Tabula Rasa, halfway across UEF territory and home of the Hanna Oasis - nine jumps away on the regular Quantum Gate Network.
Once given the all-clear, he activated the component. Looking out the window, he saw the starfield seem to collapse inward on them, growing rapidly closer - then, suddenly, there was a flash of light, followed by the outside blurring into a sea of purple.
He was conscious of moving forward rapidly. The shields were flickering, doing their best to cope with the immense amounts of energy bombarding them. Space travel through the Quantum Gate Network was already dangerous enough, with only certain ships able to reliably make the trip - they were in uncharted territory now, with no knowledge of the hazards that could await.
The ship started to shake a little bit, then more violently, and for a moment Blizzard was afraid that the ship would tear itself apart. Then, abruptly, it was over. The purple exploded outward with violent force, blasting them into the space around Tabula Rasa.
They sent a message over the high-bandwidth data link that was once a planet-killing weapon called Black Sun.
"It works."
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