[Inaius] Unknown Ship (Closed)

NEAR THE BORDERS OF THE UNITED STARS
USG Scout Authority Outpost, Fen Habbanis

There's something strange with the outpost atmosphere. Sure, this place is mostly staffed by rookie bureaucrats. They get too emotional over the slightest issues. But instead of the smiling anxiety they have stuck on their faces, Johr sees their cheekbones are tighter and more expressionless than usual, and one of them is a robot. Something tells him this isn't another failed first contact with the natives.

"Any explanation as to why nobody's given me the bad news?" Johr took a sip of his steaming cup of coffee. His human face frowning at his colleagues. "I know you idiots screwed up with the locals again. Just let it out so I can send out the reassignments quicker."

"The Diplomatic Corpsssss took over!" A small reptilian hissed as she slithered across the floor. "The secretary from customs in M'henga sssssent a notice."

Johr sputtered, almost spitting out his coffee. "What?! A notice from customs?" I'm in charge of this fucking outpost. HQ didn't bother slapping my sorry ass. "Get me that Mammalian bitch. I want an explanation!"

A lithoid shook his head, gently tapping away in his glass datapad. "I knew we were doing bad. But not THAT bad."

Before Johr could shout another set of demands, a humanoid robot approached and saluted him. "Chief Ranger Johr, the Office of Customs and Governance of M'henga has sent us a new directive. They assigned high priority to monitor USIRV Kothalo. We are expected to assist them in their exploration of uncharted space. They are currently located in an area near this sector. Do you wish to contact them?"

"...Huh? That's literally the reason why the Scout Authority exists." Johr waved it off. "We're scouts. We explore, we find something new. I don't get why we should be concerned."

"Chief!" The lithoid shows a map in his datapad. A red dot is moving slowly towards the white dot marked USIRV Kothalo. "Tavros Station sensors have detected unknown ship movement near Kothalo."

Johr quickly nodded, waving it off some more. "Well, inform them. It might help even though I could see it's completely pointless. They're bound to find something in the unknown."

USIRV Kothalo

"Any word from HQ?" Essel asked Captain Predhn, watching the commanding officer's tentacles dance on the touchscreen control panel. "We can't just engage without identifying this ship."

"I've contacted M'henga. They've notified the nearest SA outpost." Predhn answered. While gulping down a can full of worms and typing multiple copies of a report he just made, he pointed his tentacle at the holoscreen floating above the control panel. The ship and its current position are displayed as well as a very long line connecting the ship to a planet designated Fen Habbanis.

Essel's long, furry ears twitched. "But they're still too far away. Any backup is not gonna get here in time."

USIRV Kothalo isn't a ship made for war and border skirmishes. It's a purely civilian vessel with scientific applications that enhance remote observation and analysis in space. While it might be larger than star corvettes, the ship's size pales in comparison to actual spaceborne warships.

"I just realized this ship might be too colorful in outer space," Essel commented.

Predhn snorted, contracting his slits on the side of his moist face. "You meant too colorless. The ship is as white as the sand in my backyard."

"In the dark expanse of space, white is definitely a color." Essel nervously chuckled. "We're sitting Anseriformes. Whatever that ship is, it can spot us out easy like a beta male in his mateless fertility festival."

"It'll be hard to distinguish the Dawning Star, then. Hehe." Predhn chuckled.

"The United Stars," Essel spoke in a mocking voice, mimicking a politician's speech. "It's a diverse confederation, but our egalitarian flag only has one star. Where are the damn stars, Mr. Grand Elector?"

"What do you think all the white in that circle is? Densely packed stars." Predhn joked.

Whatever that ship is out there, Essel and Predhn shared a laugh.

The Ravager was a small ship. It only had one cannon, and there were only three brothers on board. The rest of the crew was made up of the Shann-Ron, the mindless savages who were forced into the way of salvation. The commander of this patrol ship was Brother Al-Klannesh, some still speak stories of his battles of old, he has been patrolling the space next to the Gensi for decades. This little vessel was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"Brothers, why would such a colorful vessel exist? Do these people not know of camouflage? What could they be doing in our holy space?" Brother Kal-tumm kept speaking aloud while looking at the screen, Kal was an idiot, while some brothers had worked with the Gensi to create amazing tools of war Kal would spend his time with his thumb up his ass. His version of humor was to fart and try and rip off Shann-Ron horns. It was clear that he was never destined to be a high priest. The man though is a fantastic warrior, I have seen him cleave through hordes of enemies.

I am Brother Salum-Tal, I serve as the second in command in this vessel. This area of space is under the direct control of Brother Galmatu High Priest of the Sanak sector. We had picked up on our scanners this colorful ship, it is clearly the outside galaxy trying to see what is happening here. This is something that needs to be destroyed before it gets the chance to go anywhere, I am hoping that we get the opportunity to board it is more fun to hear the screams of our enemies rather than blow them out of the skies.

"Brother Al-Klannnes, I think that it is time for us to go hunting. This ship can be a test of our boarding skills! Why not go in and meet them blaster and blade to blaster, these creatures don't even have a gun on their ship where would the fun be in killing them that way." I looked at the commander and he smiled as his clawed armor reached for his helmet, he put the helmet one his head and looked at us.

"Brothers! Its time that we go into battle! Fire at their engines I want them to be stuck in space. Next prepare a boarding vessel, we are going to get dirty today." The ship Roared with excitement and the Shann-Ron got to their battle stations, and began to fire on the now enemy ship. Their mission was clear and the brothers were going to board the vessel.

In the Ship's Bridge

Explosions peppered the sides of the ship, aiming somewhere at the stern. The ship shook, pushing everyone off-balance, and the blows kept coming and coming. The lights are starting to flicker. Multiple warning lights blinked on the control panel. Essel froze in place, too shocked to analyze the dangerous situation. He watched as the captain steered the ship at the wheel, his tentacles frantically pushing buttons, and Essel didn't understand why. A moment ago, Essel and Predhn were sharing a joke. The next thing Essel knew was someone, or something, attacked them. What in the universe is going on? He thought.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Captain Predhn shouted at his fellow officers in the bridge, trying to steer the ship as he increased its speed. That did not make much difference as the ship was too big to make any radical turns or significant distances in so little time. It was already bad that the ship was not designed to chase around meteors.

This is going nowhere fast. Predhn sneered at the facts calculating in his head: This ship ain't quick enough for their escape. Slapping a large tentacle at the edge of the console, he turned on the PA system as his other tentacles continued to navigate a way out, even if in vain. "Seek shelter! Prepare for crash landing!"

"What?!" Essel broke from his trance. "What are you saying?! We're not crash landing!"

Predhn cast a steely gaze at Essel. The cephalopod's eyes looked dead-set and up to something. Whatever it is, Essel figured out he needed to quickly grab as many of Predhn's tentacles as he could before he does something foolish. 10 orbital periods of working together on this research vessel, exploring outside the USG borders for signs of life and civilization, and the veteran captain decides to do the most idiotic thing. Essel began wrestling with Predhn's long tentacles, some encircling Essel to keep him from interrupting. "DON'T YOU FRAGGING DARE, PREDHN!! I DIDN'T JOIN THE USIRV TO DEAL WITH YOUR HERO COMPLEX!!!"

"Let go of me!" Predhn tried pushing Essel, but the scientist wielded a surprising amount of strength. "We're going to hit some rocks!"

Essel put on a confused scowl. "What rocks? We're three days away from this system's planets!"

Predhn looked at the holoscreen. The ship is closing in fast on an area marked with a flashing red label "asteroid belt."

In the Hangar

The unknown ship-turned-hostile has blown very concerning chunks off the Kothalo's stern. The smoke detectors have gone off and prompted the ship's emergency sprinklers to squirt fire suppression gel all over the hangar. With all the crew members and droids running around, panicking and overwhelmed by the blasting, they slipped and tripped on each other as they scrambled for the lower decks.

"What the hell are they shooting at?" The human sanitation specialist asked the plantoid technician, both hiding behind a large exploration probe. "Are they actually aiming for something...or are they crazy-bent on killing us all?"

"Both." The technician stretched her branch arm to point at the flickering plasma shield in the hangar entrance. "If our new friends keep firing their big bad fireworks, the very thing that keeps us safe from the void of space is going to fail."

The human raised an eyebrow at the plantoid, looking at her poker face. Is this leaf chick even aware of the situation? "I'm not a technician. But even I know the about the emergency airlocks."

The technician nodded, too calmly for his comfort. "I was the technician recalibrating the airlocks. They would've been ready if our dangerous interlopers didn't interrupt my work earlier."

Without listening to the human shout about the obvious, the plantoid ran to the plasma shield to finish what she started. The access panel was dangling out wires and conduits. Despite its tangled appearance, all the plantoid has to do is restore the flow of power. Arranging the final set of nodes, the plantoid could hear the human sanitation specialist and the ship's engines get louder as if telling her to get it done or be done in. Once the screen next to the panel indicated the airlocks went online, there was a deafening blast, the plasma shield collapses, and the plantoid rolled to the floor as she braced herself.

Feeling the cold, metallic floor and not sliding to a space vacuum put a smile on the plantoid's face.

"I'm starting to doubt these inter-special amoebas are worthy sacrifices."

The plantoid's smile dropped as she looked up. A chill ran up and down her bark. ...No.

Horned specimens. Menacing in their strange, dark armor decorated in ominous claws. They look like bones. One of them carried a blaster that shot down the last remaining dozen of the hangar crew. The red plasma cutting them down in rapid succession. "Such weaklings!" They screeched.

Another is already in the process of ripping out the innards of a dead Ovir lizard. "You creatures should've armed yourselves."

They could speak Vernacular?

Another one, somewhat more prominent than the rest, went down on bended knee and observed the plantoid. She gasped when the abominable brute grabbed her arm, almost ripping it off with the forceful pull he gave. Already measuring this...monster's strength, the plantoid has learned it is best not to resist them.

"What is this ship's designation? Where is your master? Who is your emperor?" The monstrosity asked in a suspicious amicable tone. Almost mockingly, hiding something beneath their helmet.

Looking at them straight in the eye, the plantoid spoke as clear as her anxious self could handle. "This is the USIRV Kothalo. We come from the United Stars of the Galaxy. Emperors have no meaning in our democracy. We, the citizens, are each master of our own destiny."

"United Stars, again?" The one brutalizing the Ovir carcass used a long rib bone to scratch his head inside the helmet. "So that's why our recent sacrifices speak the same language."

"The master of your own, eh?" The monster gave her a once over. They grinned. "Intriguing. I think you shall be a useful guide." They pointed at their companions. The plantoid watched in horror as they butchered her colleagues, including the sanitation specialist. Tears run down from her eyes and onto her wooden face, reabsorbing them.

"I hope you will grant us, weary travelers, a hospitable stay."

"Now, be a gracious host and show us where you commanders are." Al-Klannes stated, his voice distorted by the speech piece. He remained grabbing the creature by the bark. His clawed gauntlet digging into her torso. The other brothers began to remove limbs and heads to make a shrine to the dark one in the hanger. Some of the victims were still alive as the brothers began this activity, the perpetrators did not mind this, instead chanting ancient prayers in the dark language.

"They are in the bridge, upper levels!" The plantoid yelled, tears were streaming from her eyes.

"Now you will show me how to turn off the primary lights. I would like to set the mood." Al-Klannes hissed as he dragged the technician to the door. She directed the quartet to the generators, she was restrained to the wall as the trio of armored men walked to the reactors and proceeded to destroy one of them.

"Power diverted to essential systems only." The announcement went through the ship.

The lights all over the ship went dim and confusion began to spread, the remaining crew members wherever they were began to feel a sense of unease. The Ship that had once been firing on them had stopped and now the power systems went down. The plantoid shook in the corner, as the trio began to separate. One of the large individuals came over and cut some of the branches off of her, his unblinking eyes on his helmet seeming to stair into the soul of the technician.

"While you are not a warrior, and you did not show bravery. I intend to keep this as a reminder of you, you are the first of your kind that we have encountered. Your death will come, while not yet it is soon."

The brothers gathered around and began to speak about strategy.

"We will split up, we shall head to the corners of this ship and find the crew. I would recommend using your swords we would not want the enemy to have the chance to run. I will head for the bridge to cut the head off of this serpent. You two will head in opposite directions and slaughter all that you find." The brothers drew and crossed blades and then went on their way.

---

This is where my hunt begins.

My helmet provides good low light vision, I went left while Kal went right. The coms went internal, I began to sweep the halls. My sword drawn and at the ready, eventually I heard someone coming. Their footsteps gave away their position. As it got closer I realized that it was not one, but several hostiles. As they came I could see their flashlights, they came to the corner that I was hiding behind and I pounced. The first one that I killed did not know what happened, his compatriots had mixed results. Some fell and cried for their lives, others ran.

"Pathetic, beings why will none of you arm yourselves? This is not a challenge, this is no more than practice. Be a gracious host and give your guest what he desires!" I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the wretches turned with raised fists, he intended to fight. This reptilian seemed that he wanted to die a warrior, he was worthy of a good death.

"Fighter, what is your name? Your comrades flee or die, yet you wish to stand against me." I was not worried about this reptilian, he had guts yet he had non chance.

"I am Shaka." The Reptilians voice shook, this was a sign that my idea that victory was already at hand. The reptile lunged and I implied him on my blade, he coughed blood on my shoulder and I placed him on the ground.

"You showed honor beyond what your peers can say, I shall grant you an honorable death." With that, I cut off his head. This Reptile deserved to be honored for his bravery, I will come back and take his head as a trophy. This reptile caused me to forget about the others from the group, the remaining three of the group ran off. I saw them go into a room, they cornered themselves. I grabbed one of the corpses along with me, when I opened the door the first thing I did was throw the body in the room. A scream came out and one of the fools stood up, I shot them. This caused another to vomit, I cleaved them in twine. The final one remained hidden, I continued to walk into the room. I shot the lights in there, leaving it in total darkness.

The last of this group started to crawl through the darkness, I saw her grab a pipe that was on the ground. What happened next happened quick, I took a step and this female human turned and swung. The pipe hit my helmet and the pipe dented. In response I grabbed the woman by the throat, and decided that I would leave her bound here. The cult always needed sisters to assist in religious festivals, I will bring her back later to convert her to the Priestesshood. Converts are in short supply, so brainwashing of non-native borns are necessary.

As I left her in the dark room I went out to go continue my hunt.

In the Ship's Bridge

"Fen Habbanis, this is the USIRV Kothalo!" The technical officer's apprentice cried at the comms dashboard, frantically repeating the exact words since the officers left the bridge. "This is the USIRV Kothalo! We're under attack! Emergency FTL systems have failed! Requesting immediate support, do you copy...?! This is the USIRV Kothalo! We're under attack! Requesting immediate support...! DO YOU COPY?! FEN HABBANIS, DO YOU COPY?!!"

"We're stuck... in an asteroid belt..." Away from the panicking apprentice, Essel sat by the astronautical charts. His blank stare glued at the stars through the bridge front windows. The stillness of the ship in a comfortable space between asteroids gave no real assurance or pathway forward to escape from their current predicament. Captain Predhn gave his orders. No officers can leave until the last crew member has left the life pod bay. Those with the testicular fortitude, or equivalent if they don't, head for the lower decks. By now, the corridors between laboratories and living quarters in midship would be a dark maze of death. Fragging poor technician... Forced to do their bidding. In the end, it still didn't matter. She is going to die like a common household pest.

They saw everything in the security monitoring room. There are three psychopaths on board, ripping apart people to play with their flesh and bone. They pile up body parts like a litter of kittens trying to build sandcastles.

The sight of it... Essel kept gagging. Something keeps coming up, and it ain't hairball. He wanted to keel over and faint and hope those pirates kill him while he slept. He tried to lay his ears as flat as possible to deafen the screams coming from the security room. He couldn't even look around to check how long this torture has been going on. He couldn't wait till all of this was over.

His scientist subordinates, disloyal professionals, and immature interns alike are getting in the life pods. Who would've thought being the most senior scientist in a doomed research ship would, for the lack of a more enlightened phrase, suck eggs? Predhn ordered me to stay, and I'm the one who calls the shots here! Essel complained in his head. It's like the entire deck department forgot this is a USIRV survey operation.

Predhn left before he could defend himself and his shitty decisions. Molluscoids only show balls when they want them out.

"Doc! Dr. Essel, Sir!" An arachnid arthropod, missing a couple of limbs, limped her way to the melancholy science officer.

Essel only looked at the arthropod. The bug-eyed bipedal is a mess in her tattered officer's uniform—The Kothalo's First Mate. Essel smirked as he recognized her stars and rank insignia. "First Mate..." Essel greeted. ...I forgot her name.

"There's only three of them going around." The First Mate said, rummaging under the central workstation. She took something out and clicked it open. Once she emerged from the workstation, the arthropod brandished a blaster pistol. "The Captain wants us to try and stop the pirates. There's more of us than them. It's a clear 10 to 1. They're going to lose."

"You mean 1 to 10." Essel scoffed. A cynical smile plastered across his face. "You've seen what they're capable of doing. Didn't you see how big they were? So, what's a little blaster pistol going to do?"

The First Mate looks unfazed by Essel's blatant apathy. "It's everything we have. It's gonna to have to do while we wait for help."

Essel watched the First Mate disappeared into the shadowy passages. Yeah. Play hero with Captain. Essel thought.

Licking his paw, Essel turned to face the astronautical chart table and took a TABLET from his pocket. He turned on the voice recorder. His tail is bouncing for no particular reason. Probably, his adrenaline is kicking in for self-preservation. He's using the extra energy to suit his vanity. The rest went to his tail.

"Begin recording. Send to Fen Habbanis USG Outpost upon completion," Essel commanded the device AI. "Science Officer Essel speaking. Pirates of unknown origin have boarded the USIRV Kothalo. Massacre in the hangar bay. Evacuation ongoing. Captain Predhn joined other officers in repelling the pirates. There is a standing order for officers to stay on board until every crew member is in a life pod. No officer was left on the bridge to make entries in the ship's log. 'Might as well do it. What else am I supposed to do...? Meow?"

Essel meowed. He silently laid his furry forehead on the table, succumbing to hopelessness and fear. His TABLET is still recording.

Portside—Life Pod Bay

"THE PODS ARE ONLY HALF-FULL!!!" Captain Predhn roared at the defiant crew inside the pod. One of them manning the control panel. Predhn pointed at the dark corridor behind him. "THERE ARE OTHERS LEFT BEHIND!! JUST WAIT AND WE'LL-!!!"

"I'm sorry, Captain." The crewmember clicked a flashing button in the pod's controls.

The airlocks shut in the captain's face. The life pod began its launching sequence. Predhn screamed through the airlock glass as he watched the pod launch and join other pods zoom away. Teary-eyed, he shrunk and wrapped himself in a mound of his tentacles.

"That's the last one," Predhn murmured. "We could've fit the last ones inside."

A tall lithoid stood next to Predhn. "Help will be here before we know it. Let's go."

Predhn slowly nodded. The last notification from the nearest USG outpost indicated the authorities are aware of the situation. It won't be long before the United Navies put a stop to this.

"None of you are going anywhere!"

The lithoid pulled Predhn up and dragged him as they ran to the far end of the life pod bay, dodging and weaving the blaster beams shooting their way. They hid behind another dark corridor, peeking at the dark figure walking towards the center of the bay. He stood there, menacing in the silence. Predhn instantly recognized the blaster pistol in the pirate's hand.

Predhn seethed. "BASTARD-!!!"

The lithoid clamped Predhn's beak with a solid, stone hand.

"This ship's first mate and her fellow officers were brave enough to face me." The pirate pointed at the empty life pod chambers. "Unlike your fellow weaklings, the ship officers made the terrible mistake of challenging me." The pirate guffawed, gesturing at the pod chamber controls and the glowing colored pathways to each chamber. "You believe erudite qualities alone measure the power of every creature in the universe...? That, somehow, our advancements and conveniences grant us the right to live like we are equals...? HAH!" The pirate started shooting randomly. The sixth shot disabled the emergency lights lining the way to the pods. It dropped a thicker obscuring shade on the muted features of the pirate. "My brothers and I fly a craft fully fitted to blow this affront to holy space into pieces. Yet, we did not. We never dare disgrace the Dark One by doing the cowardly thing."

Predhn almost jumped with the lithoid. The pirate is right in front of them. He looked at the cephalopod captain with the blaster pistol pointed at the skin bumps between his eyes. "Look at you two. Hiding like guilty whores. You call this a sign of intelligence...? You, self-proclaimed citizens, of the so-called United Stars of the Galaxy?" The pirate shook his head. "There are dozens of you amoebas and only three of us. We were easily outnumbered. Instead, you panic and scatter, dividing yourselves into smaller groups. Forcing us to play your game of hide-and-seek, as your tedious lifestyle calls it. I feel more embarrassed than you and your sorry lot will ever be in your miserable existence... These are your final moments, tentacled-one and rock-face."

"SHUT UP!!!" The lithoid charged and tackled the pirate to the floor. "Run, Captain! Get to the bridge!"

Predhn hesitated. The lithoid didn't say another word, too focused on bashing the pirate beneath him with some hard punches. The pirate laughed. "HAHA!! NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!" He threw the blaster pistol at a confused cephalopod.

"TAKE IT, CAPTAIN!!!" The pirate shouted, pronouncing Predhn's title with a mocking emphasis, as the brute grabbed the lithoid by the sides and rolled together to exchange places. "FOR YOUR RANK, I SHALL HONOR YOU A FIGHTING CHANCE!!" Using the flat end of a large blaster weapon, the pirate broke a near-deadly piece off the lithoid's face.

Reluctantly, the captain grabbed the blaster and slid off.

The sound of a whistling blade echoes with a loud crack. Predhn gasped, almost gliding as he made his way, determined not to look back.

Starboard—Life Pod Bay

"HALT!!! It is forbidden for unauthorized personnel to board this ship." The droid said as he approached the intruder. The intruder is too busy to notice, tying up a horned female mammalian. He is wrapping her with large electrical wires he ripped out from a life pod's chamber control panel.

The droid continued, "Furthermore, acts of violence are punishable by variations of life imprisonment and capital punishment, consistent to each sister republic and constituent civilization. As we are outside Galaxian territory, punishment falls under federal jurisdiction, and, therefore, your crimes are only punishable by imprisonment. Surrender yourself now or face the full extent of the law-"

The intruder who calls himself "Kal" blew the droid up with his blaster.

"Noisy heap of scrap metal..." Kal grumbled.

Smoldering husks of metal scattered around him, along with various entrails, internal bodily fluids, and pounds of torn-up flesh. It's a multi-special soup throughout the life pod bay and a motionless android watched closely, acting like it was disabled. As the ship's boatswain, the android plans a solar's worth of work and assigns tasks to the deck crew based on specifications from deck officers. He is also in charge of a combination of managerial and menial tasks that do not normally fall under a specific officer role—in this case, coordinating evacuation protocols. It had miscalculated horribly when the intruder arrived. Many life pods were still waiting on the boatswain's instruction to fill them up. Only two pods managed to launch. The unfortunate crew members were too late when Kal, punching one chamber control panel after the other, accidentally initiated a hard system reset that disabled the chamber launch systems. The rest is history and all over the place.

Kal picked up his sword and cut off the uniform tunic from a dead ship officer missing half of his body. He was the ship's second mate. He tried to override the android to launch all life pods against the Captain's directive. The life pods were under the remote control of the android. It denied the remaining crew members any chance of survival.

The intruder used the tunic to wipe off the stains on his sword.

"You will never succeed, pirate." The female mammalian sneered. "The United Navies has zero-tolerance for your kind. If I were you, I'd gather what I could sell or salvage and...hope that I get away as far as possible."

Kal grunted. "Too bad I will never be like you, wench. You will learn your place once you begin your new life as a priestess to the Dark One."

"That won't happen." The mammalian glared in defiance. "The United Navies will come and find us. I have a wife and two children. My family will look for me. The United Stars won't let terrorists kill Galaxians citizens and get away with it. You will not-"

"If you do not shut up like that droid, I will take this colon..." Kal reached for the second mate's and yanked it off. "-and use it as a gag in your mouth."

The mammalian broke down sobbing, quietly as she could handle.

Bridge:
As Al-Klannes reached the door to the bridge he had several thoughts, he had just slaughtered a group of eight that were trying to escape. They did not fight, they tried to run. Their blood dripped off of his blade, but his real thoughts were about the legends of the outside galaxy. There were supposed to be great warriors that managed to defeat the Dark One and drive the cult back to the shame of the holy sector. There were supposed to be fleets that could defeat the thousands of Star Dreadnoughts that once flowed from Salak-Kal. These, quivering creatures were not that. Al laughed as he forced open the door to the bridge and saw the feline at a table speaking to a tablet.

"I take it you are the commander of this masquerade that you call a crew. I will let you know that your "civilians " are awful warriors, why is it you would dare to venture into the darkness and nothingness of Holy Space without a warrior in sight. I was hoping that my soldiers would have some sort of training with you. But this is no more difficult than killing a heard of livestock, how pathetic can it be that even with the overwhelming numbers at your possession you still cower and run. I know ask you, as a bargain to make your death quick, what do you know about the Yviiri. Has this accursed race recovered to the extent we have heard about?"

Essel looked on terrified, the large armored figure was there with him. These beings had slaughtered his cremates, and friends. Yet here the leader stood, asking him for information. The anger that Essel was feeling came out in a hiss as he looked at the menace of his ship.

Al began laughing at this hiss.

"Is the kitty mad? Does he see the blood dripping off of my sword? I welcome your anger, fight me. Prove you are worthy of the rank you enjoy, show me that your nation will be able to withstand the Black Crusades that will come for you."

Essel heard these words and knew that he was no dealing with pirates, rather that what he was staring at was an ancient evil long thought dead.

---

Hallways:
Predhn was running, or what he would call it, he just heard his lithoid friend get killed by the assailant that was making his way through the halls after him. Predhn would fire shots behind him, however they missed. The pirate was gaining and gaining fast. The dark halls hid the figure in darkness, eventually Predhn could no longer hear or see the figure. That is when out of a separate hallway, the assailant jumped out and tackled Predhn the duo wrestled around until the armored being was on top, and was attempting to plunge a knife into the Mollusciloid tried to stop the knife but realized that he would not be able to hold off the armored figure. Predhn had one choice and he took it, he used the cartilage of his body and slithered out and went into a tight space in order to escape the assailant for a brief time.

This is when the two subservient brothers met, and began to tell tales of what they have done.

"Brother, I have slaughtered twelve of these weaklings! There have been very few that have attempted to fight, unfortunately some have fled crying into our holy space!"

"I know they have, I was a bear moment from stopping a vessel from escaping into space. I was too late to stop the wretches from leaving. However they will be pulled into the ship via tractor beam. They will be the final sacrifices needed to bring the Dark One back to his Unholy throne! We must return to the ship, gather prisoners and trophies and set charges on the power cores of the ship. Once the commander is done we will blow the ship from the outside."

"Very well soon we shall take our revenge on the sleeping galaxy."

The Duo began to walk to the hanger in order to prepare to leave.

OOC NOTE: Co-written with @Andrenne.

In the Ship's Bridge

Predhn reached the bridge when he skidded to a halt, watching an uncharacteristically ballistic Essel throwing claws at the laughing pirate. The barbarian took Essel's scratches like it was a form of playful intimacy, raising the feline doctor to his face and let him try to inflict some harm in the open seams of his armor, around his neck.

"LET HIM GO!!!" Predhn screamed, aiming his blaster pistol at the pirate.

The pirate's eyes locked with Predhn's. He slammed Essel down on the floor and charged at the captain's twitchy tentacles.

A single shot fired. It echoes through the empty halls now completely deserted of the screams that, only moments ago, sounded the alarm of trouble as it stalked the dimly-lit corridors of the ship. All that's left of them are either in life pods or in the piles these monsters call shrines. Like at his dying crew, Predhn gasped as Essel fell on the floor with a see-through hole in his forehead.

"...Did you just-" The pirate snickered. "HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Predhn choked in his heightened breathing. Disbelief poured into his head as blood spilled out of Essel's, pooling around the lifeless body of USIRV Kothalo's science officer. He has been busy trying to save as much as many crew members as he could. He even ignored Essel's commands, even though their positions dictated otherwise. Predhn did the right thing. He thought resolve would lead them to make amends at Maccadam's over a nice drink.

Now that will never happen.

The pirate continued, roaring in laughter, almost keeling over in his heaving entertainment. He got too carried away when he did not even see Predhn charging towards him, pulling the trigger of his blaster pistol over and over again as he desperately aimed at the pirate. Predhn never trained to hold a gun, but he will exercise his constitutional to meet his maker.

The pirate disarmed and distentacled the cephalopod with one swipe of a blade, ending it with another slice through Predhn's head.

"Just before you go." The pirate began, "My brothers and I wasted more breath taunting you than we did the last cheap prostitute we had."

Predhn dropped on the floor. Eyes wide open, staring at the pirate's smirk.

"-That's the last time we're visiting the Sekari Empire."

Tamani Planetary Spaceport, M'henga

"THAT'S THE LAST TIME WE'RE TRUSTING A HUMAN!!!"

"Keep your voice down!" A Clidian had to step in between the angry feline and whoever they're calling, and holographic communications already separated them. "Ma'am. Firstly, mind your language. That could be a hate crime. Secondly, Chief Ranger Johr will get his when his superiors debrief him at SA." The Clidian threw the stink eye at Johr, bending his eyes stalks to emphasize his anger towards him. "Because of your inaction, you've single-handedly failed to mitigate what could be the deadliest terrorist attack in our republic's history in a lifetime. May we see you in court, Chief Ranger."

"What's going on?" A human male whispered in Arnite, sitting on the Emperor of Hork-Bajir's lap.

"They're loud." Emperor Ikran flicked his long, forked tongue. Cringing at the air surrounding the feline, which smelt like three different perfumes. "I don't like what that stinky Caitian said about humans."

The feline stomped around like a petulant hatchling while the Clidian just smiled at the onlookers, both passengers and attendants, processing their business at the check-in desks lining the long counter in front of them.

Both in plain clothes, the reptilian monarch and his consort blended well with the spaceport crowd. Wearing matching shirts that read Frag the Grand Elector! with an artistic depiction of said elector, the current one—Jhomneel, bending over with zis legs apart, and other bits and details that would be offensive to the moderately prudish people. To the multi-specieal community of the United Stars, they look like every young adult couple on their college break.

"Majesty!"

It was another reptilian, shouting in Arnite. He just finished talking with those two hysterical people, who are supposedly from M'henga's Customs and Governance Office. In comparison to the imperial couple, he dressed appropriately in a plain, decorless shirt. He was arguably taller and more muscular, but Ikran was not willing to admit that to himself, especially to his consort. If ever Trink notices, I'm getting a more average-looking aide.

Ikran grumbled. "Colonel Bek. Why are those Yeerkish weevils messing up my peace and quiet?"

"They're going downtown to visit the local USG office. Something happened near the borders."

Colonel Bek handed over a datapad to Ikran. "This just came in from the Interstellar Public Safety Commission. A preliminary report for the Federation Council."

Lacking an eyebrow, Ikran raised the upper rim of his eye. Reading aloud, "USIRV Kothalo Incident?" Ikran snorted. "Don't tell me the lower house insects decided to delegate Scout Authority oversight to us. I don't want to spend time digging through biodata of every new germ they discover."

"I'm afraid it's a lot more serious than that, sir." Colonel Bek hesitated to continue.

"...Yes?" Ikran insisted.

"I think it's best if we continue our conversation in the starship." Colonel Bek glanced at the other people sitting on the bench with the imperial couple. "It's not appropriate to discuss classified information in public. Even if we're speaking Arnite."

The Horkbajiri monarch nodded. He no longer wanted to hear more of the unnecessary drama started by the Customs and Governance officials.

Ikran patted his consort's thigh. "C'mon. It's time to go."

Apart from this incident near the border, Ikran had to get back to work. He invited a Yviiri diplomat to join him on his trip back home. The diplomat, coincidentally, was on his way back to his embassy in Ringworld One. It's their last stop before homeworld.

Luck seems to favor Ikran as he has been looking for a Yviiri contact. They were very hard to reach with the administrative firewall set up by the Diplomatic Service. Though it wouldn't be hard for the everyday merchant to find their own way, Ikran is too high profile to go where he needs to be without getting tangled in a mess with the Peacekeepers. When the federal government shuns, they expect even the most absolute rulers in the federation to bend over backward to the will of a wimpy republic.

They arrived at the private hangar. Waiting at the entrance to Ikran's starship is what would pass for an arthropod from a viewing distance. The supposed arthropod didn't look like a crawler when they got closer, even with those four arms. Or the antennae or the exoskeleton. As Colonel Bek introduced the Yviiri diplomat, Ikran decided to greet him in the Horkbajiri custom.

Ikran went up to the diplomat, close and quite personal. "It's great to meet you finally."

Up close, the monarch just noticed how tense the diplomat looked with a reptilian invading their personal space. Ikran thought, since one is a sovereign of a founder species and the other a mere foreign diplomat, it's obvious who will be required to respect the local culture. Ikran shifted backwards as he watched the Yviiri's antennae suddenly droop.

Bugs. I messed that up. "... Let's go in first, shall we?"

Ikran could've sworn he heard clicking noises.

"I thought you needed the Yviiri, not the other way around?" Trink teased.

Scoffing it off, Ikran didn't want to admit he made a mistake and forgot which needs the favor of which.

Entering the conference room, Ikran kissed Trink in the forehead and slapped the imperial consort's ass as he, Colonel Bek, and their other retainers left the room to the emperor and the Yviiri.

"Now, to business. But first, would you like me to order some refreshments?" Ikran pressed the intercom panel on the ornate table. "I just realized we haven't officially introduced each other. Of course, you would know who I am. So, who is the esteemed plenipotentiary from the Yviiri Combine?"

"You wouldn't have anything for me to drink anyways." The insectoid dismissed the attempted gratitude, pressing the button on their side of the intercom panel. They were as still as a statue, their many-eyed gaze focused on the exiting group, before their head snapped towards the monarch almost robotically. "Zariks. I serve no House. Only the Combine."

They were referring to the internal structure of the Combine; the majority of Yviiri people were part of a Great House. These houses dominated Yviiri politics.

Their voice was gravelly and deep, especially so for a Yviiri. "Why do you call for me? I don't have time for… What is your word for it? Pleasantries?" They spoke Imperial Vernacular surprisingly good. Most Yviiri struggled with the language, but not Zariks.

"Strictly business, huh?" Probably too harsh for my liking. Ikran pushed a button. The door to the corridor closed. "I like that, Zariks."

Zariks spoke Imperial Vernacular the same way many federates do. It was a bit creepy to hear the pronunciation from a foreigner. Is Ikran speaking to a Yviiri diplomat or the Electorative Envoy? Ikran couldn't even pronounce the words correctly. Growing up in a constituent civilization, he didn't learn the same things federates would study in a sister republic or in a federal school system. The primary Horkbijiri curriculum only taught him Arnite.

Ikran only started speaking Vernacular basics when he became emperor. Wishful thinking in Ikran hoped Zariks won't ever notice.

"…Last time we met. You know, at the USG Void Corridor Fleet HQ in umm…one of my planets, you know which one. You were talking about those cult sightings." Ikran pressed another button in his panel. The holoscreen flashed on in front of them, projecting from the middle of the table. It presented graphical representations of USG trading companies and their stakes in the USG-Yviiri trade, among other statistics. The numbers in an 8-orbital period were big but noticeably unimpressive on an interstellar scale. "I never liked charts and figures. I think you do. Even though restrictions were relaxed, many of us are still having a hard time with red tape far up our intestines. Most of it on purpose, too." Ikran reclined on his chair and put up his clawed feet on the table, sighing in satisfaction. "You already know what I like. Well, apart from human males, and not just any human male. With a little insider help to make things easier for my company to enter the USG-Yviiri trade market, I think I can give both of us what we want-"

"Your Majesty—Sir!" Colonel Bek is on the holoscreen, speaking from the ship's bridge.

"What the-" Ikran stared down his aide through the holoscreen. "Frag my scaley behind... Say it before I send you to the brig for the remainder of the trip."

Colonel Bek caught himself in an awkward pause. "…The Electorative Envoy in Alolar said there's an emergency meeting in the Federation Council."

"…What? Who called the emergency meeting?!"

"The Co-President of the Autonomous Clidian Gardens."

"Great!" Ikran frowned, glaring at his grand elector shirt. "As if one walking mound of slime fragging me isn't enough."

Ikran looked at the Yviiri diplomat, who, despite looking stiff, gave off vibes that he did not want to be here, especially right now with this surprise development. Ikran groaned. "It seems like we'll have to continue this later. We will still have the rest of the voyage."

Ikran planted his feet back on the floor and stood up. He offered the diplomat a curt nod. "Regretfully, this meeting is highly confidential. I will need the room to myself, for now." Ikran pressed a console button to open the door again. "See you later, Zariks."

Before Zariks stepped out of the room, Ikran tapped him from the back and handed over the datapad. "Mind if you do me a favor and return this to Colonel Beks?"

The door closed behind Zariks. The datapad shows a transcript titled Final message from Science Officer Dr. Essel Xenforo. The words Holy Space and The Black Crusades caught Zariks's eyes. Especially a particular group of words. …The Yviiri. Has this accursed race recovered to the extent we have heard about?

As the trio returned to the Great Temple the High Priest met them on the landing pad.

"You bring back sacrifices, good. Our master is starting to wake up. Soon we shall see what true perfection looks like."

The throne room was full of the armies of the Cult. They stood by their standards, all in formation as thousands of individuals were brought into the throne room. The throne was made of a darkened steel, with red trims. The room was a massive space, steel and chains made up a majority of the walls and ceiling. They were bound, and gagged. The sacrifices were brought to the edge of a large hole in the ground, the hole had a crimson glow coming from the bottom. If one was to look down the hole they would see spikes and other obstacles on the way down, it was called the gateway to hell. Through every sacrifice that has happened the crimson glow had gotten brighter until now where it was almost blinding. At the edge of the hole stood the High Priest, and members of the clergy. Once everything was in position a hand was raised, and he began to talk.

"Brothers, I come to you today with the most joyous news. Our master will awaken after this ceremony, now let us begin." As the remainder of the sermon went on throats were slit and thrown into the gateway to hell. "The universe began in darkness, this is known then the biggest insult to the natural order happened. the Big Bang, from this event stars were created their burning being an insult to the holy void that surrounds us all. Serving as the fuel for the continual insult against our lord, life. Life is a fleeting thing that does not see its feeble nature, this insult needed to be punished, so out of pure void our master was created. The Ultimate counter to life, the unlife. He feeds off of the loss of life, it makes him stronger. His goal of wiping life out in our dimension was almost complete, then the infernal race of the Yviiri happened. They stopped us, and we failed our master. His form was destroyed and he retreated to our most holy of worlds. Now we give him our retribution."

As he finished the last words, he knelt down and had one of the other priests cut off his head. After he cut his head off, all of the priests killed themselves and threw their bodies into the pit. As the bodies entered the glow became blinding before it dulled in an instant. A black vapor filled the air as a pair of glowing eyes were seen on the Unholy Throne. The brothers of the cult dropped to one knee the Shann-Ron bowed and began chanting. The room began to shake with excitement, and finally a booming voice came from the figure on the throne.

"Bring me the souls of the galaxy my children. I have returned."

The commanders of each unit of the brotherhood stood and saluted their god. It was an event that would mark the final blow against life, now that the Master was back there would be nothing to stop the cult from going fourth and destroying what was left of the ancient enemy, and the rest of this universe.

"My faithful, I will now go and announce myself to our enemies. Their desolation will come, they shall fall to the blade and the blaster. We shall show this sleeping galaxy what real power is, go fourth and prepare your crusading vessels. Each Archon is tasked with destroying a government and killing all that stand in our path. My faithful, their feeble lives and defenses will no longer insult us, their insulting lives will no longer be an affront to holy space. We are powerful, and only the powerful have a right to live on."