The Phoenix War: Chapter V

[Destructionator XV]

Previously on The Phoenix War...

"Incoming!"

Zip! Bang! Pow!

"Initiate auto-destruct sequence...."

Bew! Ping!

"Commence primary ignition."
...
"Auto destruct canceled."

Bang! Zziiiiipp!

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

"Whooooo hooooooooo!"

.....

...gurella warfare..

"What!?"

"We must take the offensive!"

"I'll look at our starcharts.."

[quote="Ra"]
"Guerilla Warfare?" Ra laughed. "We're not that desperate, are we?"

The Lord and Lady looked uneasily at each other, but said nothing. The A'millians didn't have the pride of the Goa'uld, but as the rulers of an affluent and civilized power, they also saw the idea of guerilla tactics as unsavory and savage, if not desperate. But they also knew the reality of the war.

"You have an invaluable asset on your side," Princess Leia added. "Us. The Alliance is by its definition, a guerilla force! Fighting against overwhelming odds and overwhelming numbers. This is our best chance for survival, and finding the weakness in the Guardians' defenses you all are so eager to discover. We are also experts at training spies, and battlespace reconnaissance."

"This new strategy is for the best," Galadriel said. "Striking the Guardians at the time of our chosing, and in the most damaging ways possible. I see no wrong in this strategy. But the decision is yours."

Ra sighed. He was not very fond of the idea, himself having been through quite a bit of guerilla warfare and outright running before he found Valinor. "None of us is truly considering this, are they?"

"The only thing setting the Powers back from such a decision is pride. And pride cometh before a fall," answered Galadriel.

Ra grimaced. "Guerilla warfare is not as effective as some of you romanticize it. How many Jaffa rebellions did I crush during my reign over the galaxy? I was able to root most of them out easily, and destroy them utterly. And conversely, when myself and Kar'm went to fight the Free Jaffa Nation, when I was first cloned, we spent most of our time on the run and on the defensive, rather than actually fighting."

"You were also less than a hundred people," Galadriel reminded him. "This is the best chance. But again I say, the decision is yours to make. It is for all of you to make."

"Alright," Ra answered. "If this truly is the best way, then it has my support. But I'm still unsure about the whole thing."[/color]

And now, the continuation...

[Destructionator XV]

"Quite frankly, gurella tactics aren't going to be very effective against the Guardians. They have no soft targets for us to hit; no shipping lines, no fuel depots. They only seem to have hardened military crusiers that can phase out and these mysterious nexuses - neither one make for very effective hit and run attacks."

"However, that is better than just sitting here waiting to be slaughtered. We can gang up in lone ships and destroy them one by one."

"That is true... I suppose it is what we must do. But what of the nexuses, do we know what kind of planets they are usally on, what kind of stars; anything to help narrow the search. Do we even know what they are and how to effectivly destroy them?"

"Perhaps Mr. Khardem would be of use here...."

"Call him in."

[Ra]

Moments later, several A'millian soldiers entered, escorting none other than Khardem. He was in orange prisoner clothes, and his hands and legs were shackled. In addition, there was a headband-like device, likely a measure to prevent him from using any psi-powers on the Alliance leaders.

"You expect me to help you?" Khardem spat.

"You WILL help us, or you're due for a special demonstration of Goa'uld technology," Ra answered sadistically. He then reached into his pocket, taking out a small golden device. It sparked with yellow electricity as he put it on.

Khardem laughed. "You think your device will have any effect on me whatsoever, snake?"

"How about we find out?"

"Tell me the location of the Guardian nexus network," Galadriel said in her calm, serene voice. It then got more adamant, and harsh. "I do not have time for your twisted words and trivial games."

Khardem smirked defiantly. "And why would you want to know that?"

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Khardem laughed. "You think your device will have any effect on me whatsoever, snake?"

"How about we find out?"

"Tell me the location of the Guardian nexus network," Galadriel said in her calm, serene voice. It then got more adamant, and harsh. "I do not have time for your twisted words and trivial games."

Khardem smirked defiantly. "And why would you want to know that?"

Suddenly Darth Kreshna interjects, accompanied by a pair of Stormtroopers and an Interrogation Droid. "Pardon me, milady," he speaks to Galadriel, "but I believe Imperial method would be more efficient."

Darth Kreshna then turns to Khardem and says, "now, Mr. Khardem, we will discuss the location of the secret Guardian base."

The Interrogation Droid hovers forward.






OOC: alright, people. Now I believe it's Dark Silver turn to play Khardem. Will he resist? Will he break down?

[Destructionator XV]

Meanwhile in a remote sector of A'millian space, on a Discovery class science vessel...

[OOC note: The Discovery class ship is like a TNG Nebula class ship with a science pod on it]


Captian's log, ASV Argo, stardate 15432.1. Long range sensors have detected a subspace distortion 4 parsecs from our exploration route. We are moving in to take a closer look.

"Now approaching the distortion, captian."

"Slow to impulse power. Have the lateral array begin full subspace scans and launch a probe into the distortion."

A tiny probe flies out of the Argo, into the distortion.

"Receiving telemetry. Distortion potential at probe 7626 millicochrans... 9432 millicochrans; increasing rapidly. We've lost telemetry; attempting to reacquire."

"What happened?"

"Unknown. The probe has disappeared. Lateral sensors report a warp field surge right before we lost the signal. We will know more when we analyze the data."

[Ra]

OOC: In the spirit of things, I'm going to take the opportunity to answer something that has been left untouched since Kresh attacked the Goa'uld!
--------------------------------
HIMS Fearless
Deep Space; Location Unknown

Captain Mesoth, the commanding officer of the lost Allegiance-class star destroyer, paced uneasily across the bridge. His ship had been lost in space for weeks, its sensor array and navcomp fried.

"How far is this jump going to take us?"

"Approximately seven lightyears, sir," the female officer-of-the-watch, Lieutenant Telo Celtru, answered.

"Seven lightyears?" the Captain exclaimed. "That's even less than yesterday!"

"With all due respect, Captain," the Lieutenant said, "I can't take the risk doing these blind jumps! I'm navigating by sextant, for fuck's sake!"

Normally such talk would have gotten her sent to the brig. But on the desperate Fearless, discipline had broken down under pressure. The ship had been running from the Guardians most of her trip, and blind-jumping as repair crews had tried - unsuccessfully - to repair their navcomp.

Damage from the ambush was just too extensive, and a large percentage of their crew had been killed in the attack. They were running at 75% crew compliment, which was simply not enough on a two-mile long starship such as the Fearless.

"Very well," Mesoth brooded. "Prepare to jump."

"Secure all stations," Celtru ordered. "Begin primary startup sequence."

She had said those words so often that she was getting sick of it. Celtru sighed, and looked at her hand-plotted course on an outdated paper chart.

"Helm, make your course seven-one mark two-two. Stabilization rate at twenty-five percent, jump power at twenty percent."

The helmsman echoed the commands, and punched them in. Celtru then adjusted her uniform, and said, "Jump calculations locked in, Captain."

Mesoth sighed. "Engage hyperdrive."

A rumbling went throughout the entire ship, followed by a deep whining. Suddenly the stars elongated, and flashed, replaced by a hyperspace vortex. Seconds later, the stars reverted.

"Jump successful. I'll varify our position."

One of the other junior officers suddenly said, "Bandit inbound, bearing one-two-six mark three-one!"

"What the fuck?"

"It's a Guardian frigate!"

Mesoth gnashed his teeth. "Sound alert, and bring all batteries online. Maximum power."

[Ra]

OOC: I know I posted last, but I'm moving this thing forward. Fucking post, people!

And readers, be warned that the following is a torture scene.
- Ra

-----------------------
"Your technological toy won't harm me!" Khardem spat.

"Oh?" remarked Darth Kreshna. "I think you're mistaken."

The droid then zapped Khardem, sending the Guardian to his knees. However, Khardem's face didn't even flinch.

"You'll have to do better than that."

"Very well."

The droid then grasped around Khardem's head, and sent out a neural pulse, causing the defiant Maiar to lose all control of his body in a painful shock that would leave most people permenantly paralyzed. He fell to the floor, the droid still attached to his skull, as it bored deeper into his temples. Galadriel, as angry as she was at the Guardians, was unable to watch. Ra, on the other hand, smiled sadistically.

The droid then let out several tools, and bored into Khardem's neck and skull with its painful instruments. He screamed in pain, and convulsed as the droid attached devices to his eyes, putting the Guardian in intense pain.

"You won't break me!" Khardem spat.

Darth Kreshna then clapped his hands. The droid went off of Khardem, and two Stormtroopers brought up a chair and bucket of water. One of the troopers removed his helmet, and punched Khardem repeatedly with his armored hand. Galadriel prayed Khardem would confess before the disgusting Imperials broke his body and mind as well.

The two troopers then grabbed Khardem by the hair, and plunged his head into the bucket of icy water, holding him as he began to drown. He struggled and tried to get out, but they held him firm. Finally, they pulled him out.

Khardem spat at Darth Kreshna, but he was clearly beginning to break. The troopers then repeated the process, again removing him just before he drown.

"Stop this at once!" Galadriel boomed. The troopers, Ra, Darth Kreshna, and Kuat all stared at her, dumbstruck.

"This accomplishes nothing," the Elf spat. "Unhand him, and put away your barbaric machine."

"This is the only way," Ra answered. "We must have the information we need, before we are all wiped out by this plague."

"He will not give us anything but what we want to hear," Galadriel snapped.

"Sorry if this hurts your sensibilities, Galadriel," Ra smirked.

Galadriel lost it. She slapped Ra in the face, and glared at the Phoenix-Incarnate, who said nothing. She then looked right at Khardem, who smiled defiantly, blood oozing out of his mouth.

"What an alliance we have here. You hate each other as much as you hate us. You are all divided, and leaderless. Against such a united and mighty force as ours, victory is impossible for you."

Galadriel deepened her stare, probing into Khardem's mind. He threw up a powerful defense, and blocked her at every turn. Galadriel channeled deeper within herself, and began to make progress.

A war was going on between the minds of Khardem and Lady Galadriel. What looked to the others to be two people staring angrily at each other belied the fact that two powerful and ancient minds were vying for dominance over the other. Even as Galadriel tried to uncover information on the Guardians' nexuses, Khardem attempted to learn more about Alliance fleet deployments and weaknesses.

The battle of minds swung violently from Elf to Maiar and back. At one moment, Galadriel would tighten up, even begin to sweat as she lost ground to Khardem. Then, Khardem would begin to grate his teeth as he fought of the wise Elf. Then, Galadriel then softened her gaze, and sighed. Khardem screamed in anger, and tried to stand up from his chair, only to fall down from the amount his body was weakened during the Imperial interrogation.

"I have what we need."

Ra raised an eyebrow.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

OOC: wow, Jon! I almost forget about the HIMS Fearless myself! They should be quite far away from Imperial terrirory. In fact, maybe they're in other, far remote galaxy after all? Together with the renegade Destructionator? Maybe we can write our better version of ST: Voyager?

The battle of minds swung violently from Elf to Maiar and back. At one moment, Galadriel would tighten up, even begin to sweat as she lost ground to Khardem. Then, Khardem would begin to grate his teeth as he fought of the wise Elf. Then, Galadriel then softened her gaze, and sighed. Khardem screamed in anger, and tried to stand up from his chair, only to fall down from the amount his body was weakened during the Imperial interrogation.

"I have what we need."

Ra raised an eyebrow.

Trying to be unnoticed by Galadriel, Darth Kreshna throws a glance at Ra; his face shows signs of disappointment, "Aw..." he mutters slowly. The Stormtroopers, despite their fully-closed helmet, also look disheartened as they turn off the Droid and languidly put back miscellaneous interrogation devices into their toolbag. One of them also grumbles -albeit in low voice, "show's over, buddy" while his partner merely shrugs.




Meanwhile, aboard Executor-Class Command Ship Ares...

The AEGIS Network is by no means the Empire's panacea to win the war. In fact, one thing it cannot do is revealing the Guardian's homeworld; which is a necessity for the Empire to launch a major strike at and end the war.

However, the AEGIS excels at what it is designed for; detecting and tracking Guardian ships while they're still non-corporeal dimension, enabling the Empire to intercept Guardian's maneuvers and pre-emptively defend themselves from Guardian attacks.


And now, the Imperial Naval Intelligence has detected a Guardian fleet withdrawing from A'millan Prime.

The fleet is relatively small compared to the that which assaulted Coruscant some months ago. In fact, it is no bigger than a typical Guardian attack on Imperial planet. However, coincidentally Imperial 157th fleet and 14th fleet are currently patrolling near the border of the Trollish Imperium; a region will be soon passed through by the withdrawing Guardian fleet.

Admiral Hauser sees this as an opportunity to intercept the weakened Guardian ships. The more Guardian ships being destroyed or captured, the better. So after proposing his plan to Grand Admiral Thorne, the 157th fleet and 14th fleet are vectored into Trollish space for ambush position.





OOC: Alright, where's Dartzap? The Guardians and the Empire will have another showdown at Trollish Space. I imagine there will be great collateral damage as usual. What the Trolls will do?

[Destructionator XV]

"Take Mr. Khardem back to his cell."

"Yes sir," a trooper responds as he escorts the battered man out of the room.

"What did you learn, Lady Galadriel?"

***

Captian's log, ASV Argo, stardate 15433.7. The subspace distortion remains stable after swallowing one of our probes. We have just finished analysis of the sensor data on the anomoly.

"What do you have for me, gentlemen?"

"Captian, the distortion gets more powerful the closer you get to the centre. Right before we lost contact with the probe, we read a massive negative tachyon flux in the low level subspace node which envloped the probe."

"So you are telling my the probe was sucked into warp speed?"

"Well, basically, yes."

"Any idea where it went?"

"We aren't sure, but judging from the Cochrane levels and distribution of the subspace tachyons, we have plotted a guess. In normal warp travel, the low level subspace tachyons are all coordinated in the direction of travel with symettrical spins; about half one way, and half the oppositte. The tachyons in this distortion all had the same spin and were moving in a circle around a point."

"Get to the point, Doctor."

"This distortion did not move that probe through space."

"But it isn't where it was. Where did it move?"

"There are two possibilites. It either traveled through time or it traveled to another universe."

"How can we tell?"

"Launch another probe and this time watch the neutrino emmissions. Using conservation of Energy, we can tell."

"Make it so."

[Dark Silver]

Khardem wasn't as foolish as Galadrial and the others suppossed, while he may have been drained from the battle of wills, he wasn't completely powerless.

Galadrial obtained information from his mind...but she obtained the wrong information. Everything she pulled from him, was a falsehood, a frabrication, inserted by the Archmagus, for just such a event.

Before the guards took Khardem out of the room, before even reaching the door, the Archmagus' form appeared before them. Energy bolts flashed as the guards dropped Khardem, and drew thier sidearms and fired.

The bolts disappeared before they even struck, and the two guards were flung back a flick of the Archmagus' eyes. Within the shadows of the hood, his face was invisible, eexcept for those old eyes, locked on Khardem. His voice echoed dully in the room, as he addressed the Maiar agent.

You have failed me for the last time...Mr Khardem... T

The eyes flashed for a moment, as Khardem cried out in protest, begging for his exsistance. Khardem's body began to glow, lightly at first, then brillantly, as the mortal seeming was ripped away, and the Maiar form was exposed, etherial and beautiful, before that began to decay, the Maiar glow brightening to blinding levels, before it died out.

The husk of Khardem, a pale grey corpse, fell to the ground, crumbling into dust.

The Archmagus looked upon the group which were still in the room, Ra, Galadrial, Darth Kreshna, and the Lord and Lady of Am'milia, and they could feel the cold, murderous smile which came upon his lips.

You are all fools.....If you submit to Me, then I can assure your continued exsistence.....unlike Khardem here...

[Ra]

The Alliance leaders then met in a large conference room. Galadriel was the first to speak.

"When I was probing Khardem's thoughts, he threw up a powerful defense. However, he betrayed the locations of several key Nexuses. One he seemed particularly concerned about is located on Ezezira IV. I believe that should be where we proceed next."

"Ezezira IV?" Ra remarked. "Where would that be?"

"Back in our galaxy," Galadriel answered. "Far from your old realm, however."

"Does anyone know about that system?" Leia asked. Like Galadriel and Amiwen, she had been less than impressed by the Empire's methods of interrogating Khardem.

"Nothing here," answered Ra. "I believe Yu sent some ships out in that region of space once, but now he's dead. And there are no Stargates in that part of the galaxy."

"No Stargates?" Amiwen exclaimed. "I thought the Ancients built them galaxy-wide, in several galaxies, for that matter."

"That should tell you something about the system," Ra said darkly. "If the Ancients didn't go there..."

"The Asgard have not explored the sector in question, either," Thor remarked. "Although we planned to before the Replicator threat."

"Damn bugs," Ra muttered. He then said, "We should go at once. However, we need a fast way to get there."

"I believe I can help," Sandra Kuat chimed. "As I mentioned during the Battle of A'millian Prime, we've been busy as of late."

"Oh?" Ra quipped.

Sandra Kuat showed the leaders a hologram. It was of a long, elegant ship. The vessel had the basic shape of a dagger, with a long, blade-like hull and two forward-swept wings, sprouting off an aft spherical hull, elements very reminiscent of a Sienar design. Radiator panels sprouted off of the wingtips, and two large engines were placed in the aft hull's equator.

"This is Aurora," Kuat introduced. "She's been designed in secret, and entirely using my family fortune. As you can tell with the ship, she has some distinct Sienar elements, thanks to SFS engineer Rea Nilano and his team helping my people on the design. The ship's basic engineering is done, but she's also designed to be highly customizable."

"Weapons?" Ra instinctively answered.

"Two light ion cannons, six turbolasers, and two heavy turbolaser turrets," Kuat answered. "She's designed for a standard Class-IV Hyperdrive, and military-grade shielding. The ship can also fly in the atmosphere, and land, although you obviously need lots of room to park a nearly 200-meter long starship."

"I know there's already lots of guns, but is there any way to equip this thing with missile launchers?"

"There is," Kuat answered, "but I don't see the point. We use turbolasers heavily in favor of missiles for a reason. Missiles are slower, have to take up room aboard ship, and can be intercepted."

"A few naquada-enhanced nukes never hurt anything, m'lady," Ra added.

"True, but your weapons are based on rather old technology," Lord Adam said. "Lots of your nukes were intercepted mid-flight. However, if we were to combine them with photon torpedoes... We would have a very formidible weapon system, and one that takes up less room than a guided missile, and is able to travel at warp speeds or very high c-fractions to the target."

"Indeed..." Ra nodded, smiling sadistically. "That sounds like an excellent plan."

"We could also see about equipping your ship with advanced systems," Thor intoned.

"Some Asgard cannons would be nice," Ra laughed.

"We are not as eager to share weapons technology, and the new photonic weapons and turbolasers should be very adequate," Thor answered. "However, equipping the Aurora with an Asgard hyperdrive, shielding, and transporters would not be beyond our generosity. This alliance needs an edge."

"And we should add a Ring Transporter, just in case," Ra added.

"Would we be able to add an impulse drive to the ship?" the Lady of A'millian asked.

"I don't see why not," Kuat agreed.

"A'millian impulse drives have superb agility and a high rate of acceleration," Lord Adam explained.

"Our ships, even the larger ones, are extremely agile," she added. "An impulse drive would be ideal for this vessel."

"Alright," Kuat answered, "Everyone have their engineers meet us at the construction site, and we'll get to work on fabrication. The basic spacefrace has already been assembled."

"Well then," Ra added enthusiastically, "Let's get to work."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

As everyone is having a meeting, a Stormtrooper suddenly rushes in and interrupts. "Sir!" he says with an urgent tone.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Darth Kreshna replied irritatedly.

"The prisoner was gone."

"You mean escape?"

"No. Uh, you may want to see yourself, Sir."

Everyone feels both irritated but curious on what happened as they leave the meeting room and follow the Stormtrooper. When the arrive at a Death Star's corridor, they noticed several Stormtroopers and Goa'uld Jaffas are building yellow police line surrounding an area.

On the floor, there are two corpses of the guards, as well as a pile of dust between them.

A pile of dust that, although at the moment still unknown to the Alliance leaders who are witnessing the murder site, was once known by the name Khardem.

And suddenly Darth Kreshna clutches his head while bends down. His Phoenix Aura is screaming and writhing with pain.

He senses a presence. A presence near the murder site that is currently unseen to naked eye.

He senses the Archmagus.

[Ra]

"OK, how the hell did this happen?" Ra barked.

"Simple," said Amiwen. "He failed his master."

"He is here," Darth Kreshna added.

"And going to bark something about our general inferiority, no doubt," Ra snarled.

Then there was a deep laugh. "You are all fools.....If you submit to Me, then I can assure your continued exsistence.....unlike Khardem here..."

"None of us will submit to you," Amiwen answered calmly.

"I'd rather die than bow before to you," Leia sassed.

"None of us would you spare, given the chance," Galadriel said. "All are to be consumed. I understood the prophesy correctly."

"By serving the Being of Fire, you have already sealed your deaths," the Archmage said darkly. "When the Gate is opened, you will be eaten first."

The Alliance leaders looked at each other, and considered the Archmage's chilling statement.

[Destructionator XV]

Captian's log, ASV Argo, stardate 15435.2. We have successfully launched another probe into the anomoly, and this time we were able to establish two-way communication with it on the other side.

"Captian, the probe has detected the first probe. It is intact and functioning; the travel through the disturbance seems to have been safe. We are also detecting a similar disturbance on the other side."

"Will it permit two way travel?"

"Moving the other probe back into it. Receiving telemetry, neutrino flux negating; it has arrived back safely."

"Bring this probe back inside and begin data analysis of its findings."

"Yes, sir. More data from the second probe coming in; acquiring navigational data with its data now."

"How long?"

"Captian, the star layout is the same. Neutrino emmisions picked up around the disturbance as we passed though."

"Your conclusion sometime today, please."

"The probe is in the same location in space and time. It seems to be in a paralell universe."

"Is this disturbance a stable gateway to another universe?"

"More that that, sir. As matter passes through, the energy levels increase inside it. It seems to hold the energy of anything on the other side."

"Can we take the ship through?"

"We beleive so, but we shouldn't bring any more than we have to. If the energy inside becomes too large, it may destabilize and catastrphically collapse."

"Understood. Jettison our recorder marker and take us in."

"Going through..."

[Ra]

The Fearless accelerated to full speed as the Guardian frigate approached. Her shields were at full strength.

Captain Mesoth paced uneasily across the ship's massive bridge. "Range?"

"Closing on less than one light-second, sir," Lieutenant Celtru advised. "There're staying out of our primary firing arc."

"Naturally," Mesoth snarled. "Is there any way to determine where we are?"

"No, Captain," Celtru snapped. "Not unless you want to give me a week or so to plot star positions!"

"Very well. Have all available turbolasers open fire."

"Aye, sir."

The Fearless fired off several turbolasers, tearing into the Guardian ship's shields. It immediately returned fire, its biolasers hammering back with equal furiocity.

"Rotate the ship ten degrees to port."

"Helm ten degrees to port!" Celtru ordered.

The massive Allegiance-class star destroyer began to slowly and lazily rotate on her axis, bringing more turbolasers to bear. Several of her heavy batteries were also now available, and thundered into action. The Guardian ship started to maneuver in kind, trying to get back out of the ship's firing arc.

"Sir, they're getting back around us. The ship is just too fast!"

"Rotational thrusters at maximum power!"

The Fearless lurched around somewhat faster, but not fast enough to keep the Guardian ship from staying under its ventral surface. Mainly point-defense weapons engaged the Guardian ship, along with several medium turbolasers.

"Captain..." Celtru's voice trailed off.

"Don't tell me..."

"Seven Guardian ships inbound. They'll be on top of us in fourty seconds."

Mesoth considered his options. Was he going to order another blind jump?

"What's on your charts, Lieutenant? Quickly!"

Celtru ran over to her nav chart, and looked over it hastily. She then said, "I think there's a nebula and hundred and fifty lightyears from here. It's not safe, and we might-"

"Do it."

[Ra]

Ra, Galadriel, Amiwen, the Lord and Lady, and Darth Kreshna walked down a drab corridor, following Sandra Kuat and a KDY engineer. Reaching the end of the corridor, a large door raised, revealing an expansive hangar bay. Ra walked in, and immediately noticed the large, sleek vessel sitting in the center of the hangar.

The vessel was painted in a dark gray livery, and had her boarding ramp extended, coming from the very bottom of the spherical aft hull. The Aurora might have looked nice in her holographic presentation, but the completed ship was large, and at once magestic and menacing in appearance.

"Very nice..." the Goa'uld said in a low, impressed tone.

"I thought you'd all like her," Kuat said happily. "The Asgard just finished integrating some of their systems into the ship. She's ready for trials."

"I'll take that as meaning ready to fly," Ra answered. "Let's get aboard!"

"Um, m'lord, you don't understand. Several systems still need to be-"

"We can handle ourselves," Darth Kreshna smirked.

"Yeah, but how you folks gonna fly this beauty?" chimed a somewhat arrogant voice. "You need a pilot."

The Alliance leaders turned around to see the Rebel pilot, Major Grace, taking a drag off of her cigar. She then put it down, and offered a sloppy salute.

"Major Grace, reporting for duty, sir!"

"Will the Rebel Alliance be willing to release you from service?" asked Galadriel.

"Already took care of, ma'am."

Ra shrugged. "Then, what are we waiting for?"

Moments later, the Aurora swooped up into orbit, leaving the planet of her construction falling swiftly behind. Grace sat back in the helmsman's seat, enjoying every second of flying the large but agile starship. Even so, she was only flying on repulsors, and was itching for the chance to get into open space.

"We've reached orbit," Grace chimed.

"Full impulse power," Lord Adam ordered.

Grace punched a few buttons on the sleek, ergonomic Sienar-designed consoles, and the ship began to let out a soft whine. The Aurora's twin impulse engines illuminated with a bright crimson glow, causing the vessel to quickly shoot out of orbit. Grace laughed as she pulled the ship into a lazy barrel roll, an action that caused Galadriel to grimace ever so slightly.

"Have we cleared the planet's gravity well?" Ra asked, swinging his chair back and forth.

"Yes, sir."

"Then, by all means, set course for the Ezezira System. Engage hyperdrive."

Working her controls, Grace plotted a course, and hit the hyperdrive. A small blue-green window opened in space ahead, and the sleek vessel shot into it at incredible speed.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Splendid," Darth Kreshna opens a bottle of Champagne as the Aurora lurches through hyperspace, "but jolly good fellows, it is unfortunate that we have forgotten to christen the ship. Thus, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you don't mind to share the toast with me."

An adjutant distributes the glasses and the Sith Inqisitor pours the drink for everyone, "for the Aurora." He raises his glass.

While everyone's doing the same, Princess Leia defiantly holds her glass still, refuses to join the toast. Darth Kreshna notices this and inquries with polite, yet accusing tone, "hath something bothered thee, my good lady Princess Leia, that wilst thou not join us in good cheers and decent entertainment?"





OOC: pardon the ye olde English, I just re-read Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe so what can I say?

[Ra]

Leia didn't answer at first, but then snapped, "What bothers me? I honestly didn't think you had the gall to say that."

Darth Kreshna smirked, and was about to say something else when the Rebel leader put her glass down.

"Excuse me," she said, shooting out of her seat. Leia then left the room, leaving almost everyone surprised. However, Galadriel looked on, concerned for what was bothering Leia, not her abrupt departure.

Ra also looked on, holding the glass just beyond his mouth. He pondered, but Leia was far from his Goa'uld mind. Ra briefly looked at Darth Kreshna, before taking down his glass, swallowing it hard, and bitterly.

"The Goa'uld do not christen their ships," he said bluntly.

Major Grace poured herself another glass of champagne, smiling to herself.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Leia then left the room, leaving almost everyone surprised. However, Galadriel looked on, concerned for what was bothering Leia, not her abrupt departure.

Ra also looked on, holding the glass just beyond his mouth. He pondered, but Leia was far from his Goa'uld mind. Ra briefly looked at Darth Kreshna, before taking down his glass, swallowing it hard, and bitterly.

"The Goa'uld do not christen their ships," he said bluntly.

Darth Kreshna stares blankly at the Goa'uld System Lord. He then throws his arms to the air while rolling his eyes, "I can't believe this! I left the Empire and showed my good will... and this is the welcome I get?? Alright, I'm getting tired of all diplomatic facades; if you have something against me then state it NOW. "

[Ra]

Ra curled his nose, and answered in his Goa'uldish voice, "I have nothing to say to you. You want to stop the Guardians, I want to stop the Guardians. This isn't a social club, it's a war."

Ra then rose, and dumped another glass of champagne down his throat. Reverting to his host's voice, he added, "Now if you'd excuse me, I won't bother you any further!"

Ra slammed the glass down, cracking its base. He then strode out of the room. Galadriel quietly observed everything. She knew that things were about to explode. The Alliance was holding on by a bare thread. And that thread was beginning to unravel.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Ra slammed the glass down, cracking its base. He then strode out of the room. Galadriel quietly observed everything. She knew that things were about to explode. The Alliance was holding on by a bare thread. And that thread was beginning to unravel.

Darth Kreshna sighs. He knows that it is not about the toast; the Goa'uld still hold grudges against him nonetheless. Despite the fact they are all allies now, he knows the level of trust among them is still fragile.

The Sith Inqusitor now knows that he must be prepared for whatever will happen after the war ends.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

The Dreamworld.....

The once-paradise of the afterlife is now nothing more than frozen wasteland. Bitter cold winds blow through the land as a hooded man wakes up from his meditation.

Despite his existence, he can perfectly observe the ongoings in the corporeal dimension. The hooded one chuckles as he considers the behaviour of his former apprentice, as he has witnessed how the Sith Inquisitor is getting more and more inclined to please himself with pleasantries and self-indulgence.

Darth Kreshna is a bitter man; perfectly susceptible to the temptation of the Dark Side.

But now, all the dark emotions had served their purpose. Now the Phoenix and the Sith has perfectly merged, there is no need for the corporeal Darth Kreshna to hold all the emotions anymore. That also explains why his attitude has been disturbingly cheerful since he woke up from his comatose.

No, all the negative emotions that feed the Dark Side should be here. Here in this non-corporeal paradise; it will not be released until the Archmagus successfully absorb the Phoenix Entity.

The hooded figure glances at the frozen Darth Kreshna; the source of all the bitter coldness that howls through the afterlife paradise. The embodiment of all his bitterness and negative emotions.

Yes, the Archmagus shall absorb the Phoenix Entity.

And from the ashes of the multiverses, a new god shall arise.




The hooded figures chuckles and mutters to himself, "everything is proceeding as I have foreseen..."

[Ra]

Less than an hour later, a greenish-blue aperture formed in space, as the Aurora suddenly dropped to sublight speeds once more. In the distance was a small, green world.

"Frack me, that was fast!" Grace exclaimed. "I want it! I want this ship!"

"Scan the planet," Galadriel said.

Destructionator XIII, who had also come along for the trip, said, "I am detecting a pre-industrial humanoid civilization on the surface. Population: approximately two billion."

"Yes, yes," Ra sighed. "What about Nexuses? Guardian ships? Interphase signatures? Kuat DID give this thing an AEGIS scanner, didn't she?"

"Indeed she did, sir," XIII answered. "I am detecting no interphase signatures. However, there are highly anomalous readings on the northern continent, at these coordinates."

The android brought up a map of the planet, showing several points marked in red.

"They may be parts of a Nexus, or possibly another kind of Guardian presence."

"Very well. Major, engage cloak, and prepare to land the ship," Darth Kreshna ordered.

"I advise caution," Galadriel warned. "Something is amiss."

"Whis ISN'T something amiss?" Ra muttered. "But yes, we'll be cautious."

"There is a village less than a kilometer from the anomalous structures," Destructionator XIII added.

"Then we will begin our search there," answered Galadriel.

Moments later, the cloaked Aurora slipped into the atmosphere of Ezezira IV. Grace located a thick forest, and soon came upon a clearing in which to land. She set the ship down, and the shaking from landing legs hitting dirt followed.

"There we go," Grace said. "Perfect landing!"

Seconds later, the group was disembarked, leaving several soldiers and armed crewmembers to guard the cloaked ship. All were dressed in clothes intended to blend in better with the local population, rather than their typical attire.

Ra looked back, and said, "Don't forget where we parked..."

"I never forget, sir," Grace chimed. She then took out her blaster, and scanned the terrain. Galadriel, meanwhile, walked gracefully, happy to be in a forest once more. Even so, there was something strange about those woods. They were certainly alien, but the Elf could sense something else, a presence she wasn't familar with.

Within minutes, the companions had reached the village, a small and quaint place on the edge of the forest. None of the villagers seemed particularly interested in the group, although one or two did regard Galadriel. Then, one of the citizens walked right up to the group. She seemed surprised.

"You came here through the forest?"

"Yeah..." Grace answered.

"The forest is very dangerous at night. No one dares enter."

"Of what dangers do you mean?" asked Galadriel.

"Horrible, horrible things. Some of the folks tryed to hunt them down because they killed some of our people, and they never came back. Others... they say others even make sacrifices to them."

"We did not know," Galadriel said. "We are visitors from far. Although we would wish to learn more of this terror you mention."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Horrible, horrible things. Some of the folks tryed to hunt them down because they killed some of our people, and they never came back. Others... they say others even make sacrifices to them."

"We did not know," Galadriel said. "We are visitors from far. Although we would wish to learn more of this terror you mention."

The alien tribesman shooks his head, "no. You must not learn about this terror. Old Alharzd learnt, and Old Alharzd went insane. Devoured he was, by a presence unseen yet so horrible. The inhuman, peculiar wailing is still remembered by those who accompanied Old Alharzd."

Darth Kreshna interrupts, "we understand, good fellow. We shall not ask further, then. Please understand that we came with goodwill, so if there is anything we can do to alleviate your situation, please let us know."

The tribesman seems to hesitate, then he turns to his comrades and speaks with alien language. Meanwhile, Darth Kreshna turns to Galadriel and whisper, "this people are scared, milady. I guess we better do our investigation in more subtle way."

Shortly later, the alien tribesman returns to the party and tells them, "the daughter of our Chieftain. She has been lost in the forest since this morning. We need to find her, but none of us dare to go into the forest at night."

It was already dark indeed when they landed. Darth Kreshna thinks, this will be a search and rescue operation. If everyone agrees to help finding the Chieftain's daughter, then he will order the Aurora Captain to drop a squad of Stormtroopers and AT-ST Walkers to aid the search. He also guess that the Lord and Lady Adam is willing to perform the SAR mission, and A'millan technology -tricorder and the likes- could help as well.

The Sith Inquisitor looks at Galadriel. Will the lady agree to help the villagers?

[Ra]

OOC: First, the villager is a woman. Second, how can you fit an AT-ST in the Aurora? She can carry a few shuttles and maybe fighters at best. (I admit, I didn't think to design the ship to have any ground troop carrying ability, so you'd be lucky to find room for a modern Abrams in her). Next, we don't want to scare the villagers with big, loud, lumbering walkers. They're pre-industrial, and we have to maintain the illusion that we are as well.

That said...

=============
"Of course we will help to find the missing woman," Galadriel answered, smiling kindly.

"He's so worried about her... His last troop hasn't returned yet. An entire column of broadswordsmen... feared lost."

"We will be careful, child," Amiwen reassured. "Do not dispair."

"Let's go," Ra said.

They went back out of the village, and travelled to the outskirts.

"Have the ship scan for any signs of life," Galadriel said.

Major Grace switched on her communicator. "Aurora, scan the woods for humanoid lifesigns. And any signs of fracking Shogs, while you're at it."

"I have detected several indiginous lifesigns, bearing zero-seven-one. Five individuals. However, would you repeat your second request? 'Fracking Shog' does not compute."

"SHOG-OTH, you fracking machine!" Grace snarled. "Trust a gods-damned machine."

"Beam us to the location," Ra stated.

"Acknowledged," the AI chimed.

"And you shouldn't be so hard on the AI," Lord Adam said. "She still has to learn, after all. Treat her like a child."

"Right, sir," Grace answered. "Still, I don't trust machines that think for themselves, even A'millian computers."

At that, the group vanished in the flash of an Asgard transporter...

...reappearing in the woods. Ra looked around, and heard some chanting in the distance. Walking on, the group saw what looked like several people in black clothing and cloaks, chanting over what appeared to be an alter.

Amiwen then took up her staff.

"They're praying to the Guardians!" she said in disgust.

There was a scream. Amiwen saw a young woman being held down by the group, and one of the men raised a knife.

"Sdenna fhtagn..."

"What the frack are you doing?!" Grace yelled. She got out her blaster, and shot at the man, blowing the knife right out of his hand. The entire group looked over in shock, but then drew swords, approaching swiftly.

"Sdenna fhtagn!" they chanted.

Galadriel reached into her tunic, fingering the hilt of her lightsabre. Others reached for blasters or phasers, while Amiwen kept her staff at the ready.

"I don't think you want to try that," the Istari said calmly.