Part 1: The Never-ending Night

Cannon was nervous on his command chair... the Science Officer then says:

"We have detected a small high density object nearby our team... It seems high density carbon mineral..."

"Diamonds?" Asked I

"Might be sir... But we only detect that piece of mineral... nothing more..."

"Hmmm... Can we contact our team?" Asked I to the comms

"No, sir... They're inside a electromagnetic sand storm..."

"Ok... wait till they communicate..."

Sadow and Zera continued to stalk the human's exploration team, cowls around their faces as a dust storm started to pick up. He knew this mission was important to the High Queen, but why did the humans have to pick an old deserted planet for? The Aerelians would probably come back later and start to terraform it to get it back to it's original glory days. He and Zera stayed close, and tried to blend in with the humans, hoping that they could get to the ruins before the human's spotted them.

(electromagnetic sand storms? o-0 LOL)

Symphona had a long flight in front of her. Flying all the way across the USA, up into Canada, on to the crash site. According to most of humankind, except some conspiracy theorists, it was the crash site of a Soviet nuclear satellite. In reality she made a rather rough landing there after a collision with said Soviet satellite. While the drive of the insertion pod was absolutely irreparably fried, the communications system was still fully functional.

Flying all the way, only stopping to pluck flying prey out of the air, she reached the site within a day and a half. She landed on a spot she knew to be within several feet of the barrier that protected the site and rested for a few seconds, shivering and resting her sore wings. It took her several minutes to morph back into her very own shape. She shook her head to get rid of the dizziness and then passed the barrier. Everything immediately changed. the air inside the barrier was much colder, but the ground was completely blackened and the trees were reduced to sharp, small and broken pitch black stumps. The barrier had still preserved the area just as it was for almost half a century. Several parts of the Kosmos 954 were scattered around the area.

She wasn't really worried about the radiation, even though the area would probably still emit enough radiation to make the skies around the site glow in the dark if it weren't for the barrier. She knew her body was constantly repairing any radiation damage due to her shapeshifter nature, although it would cost her even more energy on top of the huge tap she used on her reserves lately. She walked almost a mile into the bounds of the barrier where in the center of the area was the craft on the bottom of a crater. once again she thanked her mechanics for the immensely robust gravity suspension system which kept the experience of the landing more similar to a slow car collision than an unregulated atmospheric entry.

She opened the roughed up craft and entered. She immediately began interfacing the system, which was thankfully still intact. Several minutes later a heavily encrypted high priority subspace message was shot into her race's communication grid. The message, containing no more than eight characters, explained her position, situation and three all-important words: Humans reached FTL. Ten minutes later an equally urgent message was bounced back.
"Symphona. We know. They are about to reach Delfak within hours. Pickup is on the way but will take at least another six hours. No holiday for you though, immediate debriefing and new briefing on the way to Delfak. Oh and please, wash yourself in the meantime please. you're all covered in ashes.

The sun was just setting on the horizon as the marines finally made their way into the ruins. Devon looked around. Each piece had writing on it, but it was unlike anything he had seen before, and he highly doubted even the best linguists on earth could decipher it. Suddenly one of the marines shouted and Devon and the others ran to where he was. There was a stone tablet with more of the writing on it, but something else was there. Writing, in the sand...in english.

"Dammit, someone knows were here!" the commander muttered.

Devon knelt down and studied the writing intently. There were images, depicting a great war, but something was different.

"Look here" Devon said, "This war that this is depicting, do you see any sort of weapons descriptions, anything like that...look, this is like....is this possible...."

"Devon, you're beginning to sound like a lunatic" the commander stated bluntly

"I know sir, sir, I think this war was fought using the mind. Look, all this destruction and yet not one scorch, not one crater, and in the pictures, these creatures, it's like they thought something...and it happened. Sir, with all due respect, this is a power beyond us, if any of them are still around, perhaps the one who wrote this transcription for us, they could be quite dangerous and these guns could be quite useless. We need to get back to the ship"

"No Devon, we came here for a reason and we're not leaving until we get what we came for, understand that,"

"And what exactly did we come for?" Devon asked

"That's classified" the commander replied before walking away

Jacob now calm looked at the human team through his binocular like equipment. Listening onto their converstaion with the personal probe, he cursed.

"The creators destroyed it with their minds? You have to be a lunatic to think of that kind of thing! Though the creators were powerful they weren't that advanced! I'm getting tired of lieing in secrecy. I'm going to give the humans a formal visit. In person..."

Jacob got onto his rover and sped towards the human party. Though he knew that the humans would probably shoot on sight, the ships creators had installed shields on even the vehicles. Also Jacob loved the new shield technology the Delkonies had created with the help of creator artifacts found.

As Jacob got closer to the humans, he began thinking about how he would communicate them. Then he remembered he had learned the language. Next he was afraid that the humans would desecrate the memorial. He picked up the speed, making a dust cloud in his wake.

He got within sight of the humans. No doubt they saw him. As he drew ever close, he wondered why they weren't shooting. Then as if they did it by reading his mind, a shot hit the vehicle's shield. He stopped within twenty meters of them, got off, and waved.

Maybe they will at least stop shooting because of me waving

"ALL RIGHT BOYS, WE HAVE FOUND WHAT WE CAME FOR!!!!" the commander yelled out, "AND WHO THE HELL FIRED THAT SHOT?!?!" the commander's face was ablaze with fury as a young marine tried to hide behind a rock.

"I'll talk with you later" the commander threatened the marine.

"Sir, what exactly did we come for?" Devon asked

"I m now going to complete your orders. When we discovered the alien planets, we discovered more then one, i fact there are seven. When an alien ship crashed on earth years ago, it was quickly covered up and our scientists went to work. The craft appeared to be a ship that had representatives of each race of these planets. Most of them died in the crash except for two of them. The ship was loaded with advanced technology, including the FTL drive that powers the Discovery. Our mission, is to collect samples of each of the aliens, and that's one of em up there on that hill" the commander pointed to the rover in the distance.

"So, what good is our guns against advanced alien species?" Devon asked

"None. That alien ship had all we needed, and we...persuaded the survivors to teach us how to use it" the commander pulled out a small cylinderical device from his utility belt, "let him come to papa" The commander threw the device at the rover. The moment it impacted, there was an EMP pulse and Devon could see whatever was sitting in the vehicle slump over and then fall to the ground.

Symphona was sitting on the small stealth cruiser she got picked up with. Apparently there was great haste with the mission, the cruiser was going at speeds way beyond the usual silent mode. She had expressed her concerns about their visibility, but the ship's captain told her their stealth tech had advanced in the past 50 years, but also that it didn't matter. They would still slow down as they neared the planet.

"What's the ETA, captain?"
"A couple of hours at max. We'll be entering through the nebula, so exposure will be minimal."
"What will be my mission?"
"Nothing as of yet. We'll keep watching and interfere if anybody interferes. Based on the information you and your sisters have gathered we'd absolutely do NOT want them to have interaction with any other race. We already have had enough genocides in the Orion belt lately."
"So what is my role in this?"
"Mostly observe, and interfere if necessary. it might be necessary to, ahem, 'exchange' some crew member and you're our best option if such occasion arises."

A crew member walked in the room.
"Captain, we're arriving at the nebula any minute now, slowing down to silent mode.'
"Good. we'll be on the bridge ASAP."

"...Devon to sci lab 3, Devon to sci lab 3" the Discovery's PA system crackled. Devon grumbled ta the PA system as he made his way down the halls of the ship. After sliding down a ladder, he eventually came to the lab. He punched in his security code and entered the lab. There on the table was the creature they had brought back from the surface. The ship had taken off and was heading back for Earth. Cannon, a scientist and the marine commander stood huddled around the table.

"I was called for?" Devon asked

"You do know that after this, the next return we will make to Earth will be in two years?" Asked I

JPB18 wrote:"You do know that after this, the next return we will make to Earth will be in two years?" Asked I

WTF are you talking about?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Devon finished asking why he was here, a nurse came up from behind him and sedated him. He collapsed on the floor, just before losing conciousness, he heard the commander say "let's begin"

The Zeraila trailed the human vessel, still observing.

"I can't believe we lost our chance to contact them because of that stupid alien. That's it. Decloak and make us known. I am tired of sitting and waiting around for the right moment." Sadow ordered, his anger rising. The Zeraila decloaked and passed the human ship, turning abruptly and passing in front of then ship's field of view, passing by before having the human ship colliding into the Aertech metasteel hull.

"That better brighten their day." He smiled, trying not to laugh.
"Sir, should we hack into their communications? I want to see what they say." Zera asked, unable to hold back her laughter.
"Do it."

ooops... forgot continuation...

and Jay... we're at ftl now...

--------------

"Why do you say that, captain?" Asked the XO...

"Because, after this small enconter, they're gonna to equip the Discovery with the necessary materials to 'upgrade' Devon..."

"Oh... that means Earth will be pretty out of sight after this..." said the helm officer...

"Yes, and, along with the mission our duty will be to explore for scientific events... And searching for an outpost for mankind..."

Devon phased in and out of conciousness, hearing bits and pieces of conversation

"they finally found us........"


"......appear friendly......."

"......cannons targeting their power core........."


Devon awoke in the med bay, sparks were spurting from an erupted console. Devon tried to get up, but realized he was strapped in.

"What the blazes" he muttered.

Devon looked around, it was as if everyone had left. His head was throbbing. He struggled to focus.

"Must get out of these restraints"

Devon got up, the restraints breaking fairly easily.

"Odd"

Devon struggled out of the bed and stumbled into the hall. It too was abandoned and their were scorches marking the walls and fires everywhere. Devon came to a small hath that had been closed. The escape pods had been launched.

[okay]

The Zeraila circled the Discovery. They hadn't meant the fight to occur, but the humans had fired first. That was always the outcome of the direct approach.

"Sir, I'm picking up one life sign aboard. The human is uninjured, but oddly his biosigns are fluctuating. Shall we board the vessel and take him?" Zera asked, looking over her console.

"I think so. With the way the ship looks, it's in no condition to remain in one piece. Try and take this one without any casualties." Sadow ordered, sitting in his chair.

A combat squad was sent to the boarding craft, and it a cable was attached to the Discovery. They boarded it, and the leader approached Devon cautiously, weapon drawn.
"Sir, I would like to ask you to come with us. We mean you no harm."

correct, let's just say you won

[okay. Edited my first post.]

Cannon was now launching the last escape pod... she did fought well... but she never had a chance...

Cannon looked a last time to the ship, with a tear in the eye, and hopped that everything was gonna be alright...

Baddly has he launched the escape pod, he saw a boarding party entering in the ship... sad...

A group of beings stood before Devon, what looked like guns trained on him.

"I suppose I have very little option here do I?"

Finally, my computer and brain are fully functioning. I can't believe I actually blacked out.

As Jacob got off the table, he looked around. Nobody was around. The ship seemed to have been deserted. The probe was hanging on by a thread, but mostly working. As Jacob was recieving the data, he scanned the ship with the probe's help. Though there were no obvious signs of life, he decided not to fool around this time. He carefully got access to the bridge. As he looked around he saw the commander guy's body.

Blast, somebody got to him first

He hacked into the ships controls, found out the FTLS and Engines were still working and plotted a course back to Delfak with all the power the ship could muster.

If the humans wanted to make me angry, they've done it.

Symphona raged at the captain.
"WHAT THE BLAZES!? I thought we were meant to interfere?"
"We were meant to, yes, but it would have been madness to..."
"Hell, even 50 years ago we had point-defense and deflection shields that could have shielded us against the minor poking they sent against them. What's wrong with you!?"
"That's the problem, Sym. All our battle capabilities have been omitted to make more room for the stealth equipment. Although are shields were a lot better, if that 'minor poking' had hit us at a weak spot, we would have suffered major damage too."
"Are they completely out of their minds? Even full stealth does not allow for this lack of defense. There's nothing wrong with a direct asswhooping now and then."

The communications screen flickered to life.
"I know, Sym, but complete stealth was necessary for your retrieval. We have a dark suspicion we're not the only ones in on this."
Symphona nodded curtly. "Majesty." The captain of the ship saluted.
"So what will we do now, majesty? The Aerelians are probably going back to their home world while the humans are stuck in their escape pods without FTL drive."
"I know. You don't have to worry about the Aerelians. Our ambassador will speak to them about this incident. We'll just hope that they refrain from seeing this as an act of war as rumor has it that there was royalty on that ship. Otherwise it'll be a bloodbath."
"Tell me about it. that ship had no chance. Speaking of them, what will we do with those escape pods?"
"You will intercept them and take them with you, they have nowhere to go anyway."
The captain forgot his rank and blurted out.
"My majesty, i am sorry to interrupt you, but we do not have the carrying capacity nor the universal docking gear needed to do that."
"I know, captain, that is why the ship of the line Oneiroi is already approaching fast. On rendezvous Symphona will be transferred and the humans will be taken on board and detained. Then we will try to 'persuade them' to stay on their little ball of rock for a little longer while."
Both answered in unity. "Yes, majesty."

The Captain pod was intercepted by the Stealth ship of the prisioner... It was piloted by the Chief-Engineer of the Discovery...

"Thank god you run away with that ship..." Said I...

"Yeah... I know, I'm good..."

"Sure... Can we hold the ships crew inside?"

"Unfortunately not... The ship was designed only for carrying 15 people, but it's normal crew complement is one guy... or machine... or both!"

"Rescue the bridge crew and a few marines, and then head back to that planet... I have a ship to retrieve... And engadge cloak..."


"Aye, sir..."

Devon was being escorted down an alien hallway. It was quite magnificent really, to be aboard an alien ship. It was actually fairly large inside and Devon presumed that the tech was way above his head, but the interior was almost decorated, there was something else odd, a weird whipering, like people were talking to themselves, except in a different language. Suddenly there was a massive pain in Devon's head and he yelled out. The whispering got louder and then Devon was hit with another pain in his head. Devon collapsed on the floor in agony.

A cloaked ship entered i orbit of Delfak... there, they found their ship...

"Ok, you little Borg sample... You better give back our ship or you will have to handle us pretty bad..." said Cannon for himself...

After decloaking they opened a channel...

"I noticed you have found my ship... Now, will you surrender peacefully or shall we show you open space pretty close?"