[Inaius]Deliver Us From Darkness [crisis][semi-open]

Teferaet
Former Archon World

They moved quickly into the building, sweeping down the corridors, clearing any rooms they came across. All the time Annaka kept an eye on the display of HEL’s sensor showing the location of the faceless. One big mass deep inside the building. It was a relief they hadn’t started moving yet, but also a worry. They should have known the Frondauri were there, but why hadn’t they moved?

“If they don’t react before we get there, all squads will hold their position just outside the inner chamber,” Annaka ordered over the comms. “If we can get into position we should be able to wipe them out without too much trouble.” She didn’t really believe that, but she still had hope things would go well.

Her squad leaders all copied her orders. Even Lurgos. So at least he was beginning to come around. Her squad was first into position, and one by one the rest of her squads got into position. Shield walls were put up from which the defenders could stand behind. Shyanar took up positions on the edges, ready with their long spears to drive the faceless against the center where they’d be hit with direct plasma fire. One by one her squads communicated their readiness.

“Alright three Frondauri per squad, move forward to the doors. Open and toss in grenades, and then double-time back to the barriers. We’ll take them as they pour out towards us,” she worked very hard to keep the tremble she was feeling in her legs from coming out in her voice. “No mistakes and we all get to go home, any questions…”

Her voice was drowned out by a loud screech coming through her comms. Some kind of feedback from somewhere. Then a voice came over in a very amused tone. “Hello, party crashers. How are you all doing today?”

“Who is this?” Annaka demanded. “Identify yourself.”

“Ah, you must be the leader. What’s your name?”

“This is Annaka, Commander of the Frondauri Crusader Force. Now identify yourself?

“Crusader force?” the voice asked with delighted amusement. There was even a chuckle. “Well, Annaka, my name is Kruza and the commander of the Faceless force you’re trying to destroy.”

There was a beep on her comms and another voice came on, this time through another channel. “Switch to channel three,” the voice of Protector Went said. Annaka did as she was told, switching channels.

“Keep this guy talking,” she commanded. “We have to neutralize him. He thinks he’s got you in a trap, so be very careful, but we have a trap of our own for him. But keep him talking.”

Annaka didn’t say anything, switching back to the previous channel. “Who are you, Kruza?”

“So they haven’t told you that information,” he mused. “Gotta keep their failures a secret. I do wonder how the Commonwealth was able to raise such a mighty force, and get starship capabilities, in such a short time. Would you be able to tell me how, Annaka?”

“A brilliant scheme by the Supreme Watcher,” she answered to keep him talking.

“I never would have thought Kaifur to be clever enough to figure it out.”

“Kaifur hasn’t been Supreme Watcher for some time,” she told the voice.

“Really?” Kruza said in astonishment. “I wonder who they got to replace him. It’s an impressive feat I must say.”

“I didn’t know the faceless are capable of talking,” Annaka said.

“Oh they are, just not in any way that you would consider to be ‘talking’. It’s all done through a subspace neural link. I’m the only one capable of real speech.”

“And how are you able to do that?” she asked.

“Because, I was once very much like you. I was a Frondauri too.”

His words made Annaka hesitate. Only static over the radio. What did he mean that he was once a Frondauri? She’d seen what happened to Frondauri who were turned into faceless and none of them had been able to talk. “I think you’re lying to me, Kruza,” she stated firmly.

He laughed. “Maybe I am, Annaka. Maybe I am.” He said. “Why don’t you ask your superiors. I’m sure they’d know. That is if Draevin and the others ever got back home. I did send them in the wrong direction.”

At the mention of Draevin’s name her blood ran cold. “How do you know my father?” she asked.

“Father?” and there was definitely bewilderment in his voice. “I think we’re talking about different Draevin’s. The one I’m referring to was just a Guardian acolyte. A good frond, a Pendari. Though that’s no fault of his own. The closest thing I’ve ever had to a friend. Though he didn’t have any children. He was too young.”

Things started to click in her mind. The stories her parents had told her of crossing the Tomb and saving Archaeus. And now the name made sense. She’d heard it before. Her father had been vague about his fate, saying no more than ‘We lost him somewhere on Archaeus’.

“I know of you,” she said. “You’re the Rhodoni. One of the Seven. Draevin is my father. And Izine is my mother. And you’re supposed to be dead.”

“Well,” Kruza said, a dangerous tone in his voice. “This changes my plans.”

And then Wents voice came on the comms. “The mass is moving. All of you get ready. They’re coming for you!”

Annaka checked her sensor and saw the mass beginning to move and split apart. “You heard her,” she said, letting the panic she was feeling come out in her voice. “Burn them all!”

And in an instant the doors at the end of the hallway were torn apart and a mass of faceless came pouring through. The hallway was filled with them as they pushed their way up.

“Fire,” Annaka ordered, hearing the order repeated by the other commanders. The hallway was filled with green plasma and orange flames as they fired into the mass.

---

@Ceretis
Draevin listened to the deeply terrifying voice emanating from the alien who spoke. And when they finished he answered.

“And the Frondauri have never heard of the Trinitui Húd either,” he answered. “But it wasn’t long ago we’d never heard of any of you. We have only recently taken our first steps into space. If your people do in fact claim the Maelstrom, then I guess there will need to be discussion between us at some point about the matter.”

It had never crossed his mind until now that someone would claim the Maelstrom as part of their space. Though having now heard it, it really didn’t surprise him. His first instinct was to argue with these aliens, tell them if they wanted the Maelstrom all they had to do was send ships into it and take it, but he wasn’t here to be antagonistic. Plus he knew the High Chairman would be cross with him for starting a conflict before anyone had a chance to sit down and discuss the situation.

“We can talk further about who the Maelstrom belongs to at a later date, on our homeworld or yours.” He then switched over to the aliens other points, moving to address those. “I hadn’t thought about the fact the Shyanar’s immunity, and the effectiveness of our weapons would look like conveniences. But all I can say is that it is the truth. You have no reason to take me at my word, nor do I expect anyone to. These matters are free for you to look into at your convenience. We are not here to fool anyone. We are here to warn you of a threat to us all.”

He then changed his voice to a lower register, and looked unblinkingly at the alien. “Our possession of Archon technology should in fact back up our claims to having come from their old worlds within the Maelstrom. Who else would have access to their lost tech, but those who live on the worlds they left behind. And if you fear that we are trying to deceive you, feel free to take that risk and hope you're right. Our people will still come to your defense when the faceless come for you, regardless. That is, if anyone else is left by that point.”

@Tardine
Draevin then waited for the Kuvorian to finish speaking. “Thank you,” he told them, “for speaking out in our defense. We share a bond through the Archon’s, as they were responsible for the salvation of both our peoples. This faceless threat is a galactic one, as it once was. The Archon’s sacrificed themselves to stop this threat once, and we can only hope to live up to their example.”

“We are thankful for the Kuvorian support. And we look forward to helping them in these dire hours, as the Archons did long ago.”

---

Cyrn
Sekari Empire

Draevin watched the setting sun drop behind the buildings of the city, casting night shadows long before it had below the horizon. He held a long cooled glass of fungal tea, prepared for him by one of his aides. He’d barely touched, instead lost in thought while looking out on this alien world, so far from the commonwealth.

He waited for the stars to come out. A rare sight in the maelstrom was a sky full of stars. So empty and dark. Most the stars would be blotted out by the great city’s lights, leaving a dull gray sky. But even then, with the stars he could see, the sky would seem so empty. He missed the swirling lights, the nebulous clouds, of the maelstrom.

The door behind him opened and he turned to see the matriarch emerge to greet him. She gave him a wide smile, her long pale arms folded in front of her. She came and stood next to him, staring out at the city as its lights came on and the sky grew darker.

“What are you thinking, my friend?” she asked.

He went to take a drink of his tea, realized it was cold, and set it down on a small table next to him. “I think there’s not enough,” he answered.

She made three rapid clicking sounds, a noise he’d come to know as her way of showing inquiry. He’d spent a lot of time with the Shyanar after the end of the Rhodoni War, helping them restore their atmosphere, setting up radiation scrubbing stations. A peaceful few years until the crusader fleet was ready and they began building their forces.

“A few of them have agreed to give us support, which I’m grateful for. Others will send delegations to the Commonwealth before making any decisions. But so many of them looked at us with distrust. I doubt we’ll convince them. At least in time.”

“The Sekari support us, and they seem formidable. As well as some of the others.”

“The Archons were formidable,” Draevin said. “Yet the best they could do was trap the faceless. Sometimes I wonder if our best course of action would be to find every last starbridge capable of functioning, and destroying them. Trapping us in the Maelstrom, yes, but also trapping the faceless on whatever worlds they’d conquered.”

“That would not solve the problem,” the matriarch stated.

“No,” Draevin agreed. “One of them..” he gestured towards the cosmos, “...would land a ship on one of these worlds, and the faceless would take them. And then they’d take the ship, possibly.”

“You think the faceless could figure out starships?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, his voice dropping into a deeper register. “There’s so much we don’t know about them. And we need to know.”

“You are thinking about your daughter,” the matriarch stated.

“Yes,” he replied. “She’s leading an attack right now, and we’re keeping secrets from her. Because if she knew, and she was taken, then the faceless would know.”

The matriarch made a chirp, and Draevin knew it was meant to be a comforting sound. “I am mother to my hunters. They are my children. But I am also their ruler and their commander. Many times I have had to send some of my children to certain deaths for the good of all of my children. It is not an easy thing. But it is often necessary.”

Draevin gave her a half hearted smile. She was right, but it didn’t lighten the burden on his conscience. “Hopefully this all works,” he said. “If it does then perhaps this new intel will convince more to join our fight. But if it doesn't, I will have sacrificed my daughter for nothing.”

---

Teferaet
Former Archon World

The faceless burst out of the doorways like a wave, crashing forward towards the defenders. Green plasma fired down into the mass, and the faceless burst into orange flame. But they still came, pushing up the hallway. Annaka could see, they would be overwhelmed.

She ordered all defensive positions to fall. “Like you were trained,” she told them over the radio.

They fell backwards in staggered lines. One line falling back a few meters, stopping to put up their shields, and then firing as the next line fell back. The wave kept coming, and they kept falling back.

HEL’s voice came over the radio. “The mass does not seem to be decreasing,” he reported. “In fact, it looks like a much greater number than we calculated.”

“That’s because you don’t know where you are,” the voice of Kruza came over the radio, a gleeful menace in his voice.

“Explain,” HEL commanded.

But Kruza didn’t answer. Instead she heard the voice of Lurgos next. “They’re coming faster than we can fall back.” His voice was shaky, she had no doubt that he was beginning to feel the panic, but to his credit he hadn’t lost his cool yet. “What are we doing commander?”

Went’s voice came in on the other channel. “Tell him to take the next passage that splits of to the left. It’ll take him to an elevator shaft. The lift should still work.”

“How do you know?” Annaka asked.

“Just tell him,” Went barked.

Annaka relayed the message and Lurgos acknowledged he’d heard. Went continued with her orders. “Tell your other officer, Bastag, to collapse the passageway they’re in and then run as fast as they can to the surface or they will be cut off.”

Annaka relayed that info as well. Bastag acknowledged the order and once he did she switched back to the other channel. “What are we doing?”

“I promised your father I’d save as many of you as I could. So do as I say and I’ll try to do just that.”

She then heard her last officer asking for guidance over the radio. “We’re surrounded,” she heard the voice of Teb say. “They got around behind us somehow. We can’t keep them back.”

“What do I tell her to do?” Annaka asked, but there was no response. “Damn it, Guardian Went, what should she do?”

Went came back on, a sorrowful tone in her voice. “Nothing,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do.”

“There’s always something we can do,” Annaka said defiantly. She switched back to the main channel. “HEL, guide me through these corridors. How do I get to her?”

HEL’s voice was flat and mechanical as usual, but there seemed to be a hint of sadness in his voice. “There is no route. You cannot make it to her.”

“You should fall back,” said Went on the other channel. “They’re moving to cut you off.”

Teb’s voice came back on the radio, calling for support. There was no mistaking the panic in it. “Gods help us,” she screamed. “We’re being overrun. Oh gods! Oh gods!” There was a final long scream that eventually faded away into silence.

While this was going on Annaka’s force had continued to fall back. The mass growing closer.Faceless forms pushing forward and through the flames of their burning comrades as green plasma fire poured down into them.

“You’re going to be cut off,” Went raged over the comms. “Move!”

And they picked up the pace. Her front line was pulling back past a split in the passage when she saw a second mass of snarling faceless pushing up towards them. They’d escaped the trap by only a few moments.

“You're almost back to the surface,” Went assured her. “Once you're clear of the structure, move your people immediately to the left.”

She relayed the command to her people and they fell back the last few meters, coming out into the green haze of the toxic atmosphere. They moved to the left just as they were told. One of the Guardians was waiting, and he directed them along, telling them to keep moving. Annaka noticed that the typical brown armor of the Guardian had been replaced by one made of an amber colored metal.

As they left the passageway plasma started raining down all around, pouring into the faceless mass as it pushed up to the surface. Airships were stationed above the open ground and gunners were pouring heavy fire into the open.

“Keep your people moving,” the Guardian in the weird armor told her. “Get past the markers.”

They kept going and Annak saw the markers. Thin poles made from the same amber material had been driven into the ground at even spaces, stretching out in a semicircle off into the distance just past the starbridge plaza, before coming back to the structure. As she passed the markers Annaka looked back and saw another faceless mass pouring out another entrance.

There were so many, even the plasma fire from the airships wasn’t enough to keep them back. They now spread out over the field, rushing towards the pockets of Frondauri standing just beyond the markers. “Hold your fire,” the Guardians ordered as the faceless barrelled down on them.

Annaka’s people gave her a confused look, but she had no answers for them. “Weapons ready but hold your fire,” she commanded.

Then as the faceless approached the markers something unexpected happened. They slowed to a stop, and began hissing and screeching. They’d try to approach but something seemed to be pushing them back.

“The barrier seems to be working, Protector,” she heard a Guardian say over the radio.

“Thank the gods,” Protector Went responded. “Strike teams, we have the enemy distracted. Sweep and destroy and find out why their numbers aren’t going down.”

Annaka switched her radio to the channel the Guardians were using. “Protector I would love to know what is going on?”

“You’ll have to wait for the post-mission debriefing,” Went responded. “In the meantime I have a mission to complete…ah, there he is.” She then had HEL cut off her ability to use the channel, but Annaka could still hear. “Priority target in the open.”

She looked towards the structure and striding out of the doorway was an imposing figure. He was tall by a few heads then the rest of the faceless host. And where they were all pale of complexion, wearing torn rags, he had dark ashy skin and wore a black robe draped over his shoulder. On his head was a mighty helmet, fashioned of black steel. And his great long horns pointed nearly directly upwards giving him even more height.

Plasma fire was redirected from the horde at him and his form was soon engulfed in a towering inferno of green flame. The barrage lasted a full minute before it was ordered to stop and as the flames died Annaka was shocked to see his form still standing there, completely untouched by the attack.

Kruza’s voice came back over the radio. “My turn,” he said. And then in the distance Annaka watched him lift his hand and the faceless moved to comply. They fell back towards him, beginning to climb on top of each other. Higher and higher they climbed, turning into a mound of clawing and climbing pale flesh.

“Airships pull away,” Went ordered and the airships moved away to get out of reach. One was too slow and the mound rose up under them. A single faceless lept the last bit if distance and pulled itself up onto the deck. The Frondauri brought their weapons up, but it was too late to save one of their crew mates. The faceless passed its arm through his chest. He was only starting to turn when the others on the airship opened fire, and then he and his attacker disappeared in a green flame.

The faceless began moving forward towards the stabridges. They swarmed up and around the archways as the airships fired from higher unopened fire again. A faceless must have had a crystal because the mass began to deplete and when the starbridges came back into view the faceless were pouring through them to destinations unknown.

Annaka could only watch as they raced forward, getting away through the archways. She wanted to scream at the Guardians, why hadn’t they built their barrier between the structure and bridges. She raised her weapon and moved to charge forward, to stop the enemy from escaping.

But she was stopped by the Guardian. “Wait,” he said.

Kruza was moving forward with his host, raising his hands to command them to draw fire from the airships, to block them from blasting the archways as they made their escape. He was like a general, commanding his forces with merely the wave of an arm. As he drew up to the starbridge plaza something fell out of the sky. Three objects dropped onto the ground in front of Kruza. They were heavy spikes made from the amber metal. Kruza recoiled, and then two more slabs fell behind him. He moved to the left, and another slab cut him off. He moved to the right, and again. Though there were gaps wide enough to move between, he could not approach the metal. Instead he stumbled about, as if disoriented. He was holding his helmeted head in his hands, wobbling back and forth, before he fell to his knees.

“Target is locked in position,” Anaka heard Went say. “The rest of the enemy is expendable. Obliterate them.”

The sky then seemed to open up as long beams of green light poured down out of the heavens. The starbridges were reduced to ash and soon the faceless horde had been burnt away. Starships dropped out of the sky, the descending Lancers of the crusader fleet. Annaka expected the faceless to flee back into the structure, but they kept pouring out. She checked her display and was shocked to see that the Guardian shock teams were driving the faceless out of the tunnels.

She then realized what the amber armor they were wearing was really for. And she also realized that if her people had had the same armor, they would have survived the fight. Teb and her crusaders would still be alive. An anger began to build up in her.

As the last of the faceless were destroyed by the mighty plasma lances of the fleet, she made her way forward, passing the markers. She headed straight for the lone figure still on his knees inside the barrier of metal slabs. A handful of faceless were also caught with him and the hissed and snarled like wild beasts caught in a cage.

Kruza had removed his helmet and he seemed to be puking onto the ground in front of him. He hadn’t lied to her, he was a Frondauri. Nothing more than a Rhodoni. But then he lifted his head and stared right at her, his eyes were a cold black, like the depths of space.

He gave her a warm smile as she approached. “You must be Annaka,” he said. “You look just like your parents.”

---

Trouble - Adam Agin

For most of the conference, the High Admiral had sat in his seat with his chin buried into his hands and a finger across his mouth, simply just listening to the questions and statements and concerns that the rest of the delegates had said. As they each spoke, none of them were asking the questions that he was most curious about. If this was a ploy, what was the goal of it? What would these recently undiscovered people have to gain from announcing a galactic level threat to the scale of the Leviathan? There was no selfish motivation that he could gather from this conference taking place, besides self-preservation.

Most were skeptical, and some were supportive, but what camp would he and the Ithorians ultimately fall into was the real question. He was intrigued but remained silent for the duration of the conference until its very end whenever the delegates were dismissed. He wanted a chance to be able to talk to the representatives of these unknown people himself, one-on-one.

Dressed in a white officer’s uniform, which was standard color for members of the Ithorian Navy, with metals adorned all over his left shoulder signifying his rank and many victories, he approached Draevin and the Matriarch. As a traditional military man, he was all business and no play and did not mince words, preferring to get straight into the business at hand.

“To be quite frank with you both, I find this whole situation a little hard to believe but I have no reason as of now to distrust you. I am not currently willing yet to promise you any aid, but I do have questions and I hope you will be able to provide me with some answers. If you answer them I am not guaranteeing that we will be able to offer support, but it would give me something to work with to deliver to the rest of the High Command.” He waited a moment to ensure he had the interest of Draevin and the Matriarch before he continued.

“First, how sure are your people that these Faceless people would be able to infect members of other races? I am aware that you stated that the Shyanar are immune, but who is to say that Ithorians are not immune or those puny little humans? Second, if a Starbridge were to be found in our space, what would need to be the proper defenses or measures we would need to secure it in the event that a horde of random ‘Faceless’ come through? And third, what is the most pressing form of aid your people require now in order to combat this?”

He stared at both of them waiting earnestly for a response.

Planet Bramisk
Kuvori Space

The glade had been quiet for a long time. The last footsteps to disturb its quiet had been over a century gone. Deep in a mountain valley, difficult to reach. The last passerby had slowed to give the crumbling stone structure a curious glance, wondering at the strange archway overgrown with moss and lichen; wondered if it was natural, and then continued on his way. After that only the forest creatures knew of the place, and thought very little of it.

But the quiet came to an end. A strange vibrating hum began to emanate from the arch. A shimmer, like heat rising in the desert, appeared alongside the hum. The greenery growing through the arch was severed and fell to the ground. A small tree rodent stopped to look curiously at the archway, chewing absently on a seed.

Then something stepped out from the shimmer. Slightly hunched, covered in tattered rags, pale skin that seemed almost translucent. There was no eyes, no nose, no features on the things face. Only a dark red mouth filled with sharp teeth. The tree rodent caught a scent of it, a foul rotting reek, and dropped the seed it was nibbling and fled through the underbrush.

The interloper heard the critter scurry away, cocked it’s head as if listening (though there no ears) and let out a rumbling growl. A second creature stepped through the arch behind the first. The moved forward into the glade, their clawed feet crunching on dead brush beneath.

Another one came through the archway. Then another. And another. They fanned out into the forest, their sightless faces swaying back and forth, as if looking or listening for something. More and more of the creatures came through the archway. A small but growing horde. The sounds of the beasts and fowls that had filled the forest air had fallen silent. The buzz of insects were now gone.

One of the creatures, the one that had came through first, stopped dead in its tracks. It was as if it had caught a scent, or heard a distant sound. It’s faceless face snapped to face a direction towards the sun, still riding towards midday. It made a loud his from its mouth and all the others stopped and snapped their faces in the same direction. They all heard it, or smelled it, or sensed it. Their new quarry. Far off in the distance, beyond the mountains and forest they found themselves in, they knew there was a settlement of the life that they craved. Beings they could turn into their own.

As one the horde began to run in this direction. A wave of snarling beasts crashing away through trees and brush. As more creatures came through the archway behind them, they joined the wave crashing towards an unsuspecting shore.

---

Cyrn
Faceless Conference

Draevin listened to the speaker, a blue skinned man that looked human, but with red eyes. When he finished Draevin did his best to answer.

“Honestly, I’m not sure they can ‘infect’ other races. But caution seems the best policy, especially since we know that they can change at least three species. I can’t say that humans or anyone else can be, but I’d not gamble on that point. But if you find Starbridges on your world, then the best defense would be to destroy them. No Starbridge, no faceless. Though after 250 thousand years, these Starbridge can remain undiscovered or even appear as natural geological formations. If you want tactics for fighting them, we are still developing those.

“What we need most in this fight against the faceless is intel and cooperation. We have to strike quickly when the faceless are found. Stop them before they can spread, before their numbers swell. Before they overrun a planet and move on to the next.”

Administrative District of Varopia,
The Floating City
Janohakia, Kuvorian Republic
Afternoon

---

---

---

*Data cubes: as the name may suggest, they are cubes that contain data
*Priority Level One: the top priority level of Kuvorian affairs, almost never used
*State Level 0: all worlds are to be under a total quarantine for an indefinite period. This is the first time the SL0 is used ever

The Lancer had taken off from the surface following the fight against the faceless. Annaka and her company had boarded and it carried her up to the awaiting fleet. They were disembarked aboard the fleet's largest ship, a Bombardier, where they were debriefed on the battle.

When she was finished Annaka searched out Guardian Went, who she found hanging out near one of the drop bays. There were at least two dozen Guardians posted around the door to the bay. Went was talking with a Kolonai male who was in the uniform of a Crusader star-captain.

She waited patiently for Went to finish speaking, and then she headed over as the captain walked away.

“Commander Annaka,” Went said warmly. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we talk?” she asked.

Went nodded, and turned to another Guardian, telling him she’d be right back. They moved up the hallway until they were out of earshot. “What’s up?” Went asked.

Annaka felt uncomfortable. Went was a close family friend and a veteran of the Rhodoni War. She remembered as a kid even calling her “Razi*” whenever she visited. But what she had to say was important. “Why wasn’t I informed about this Kruza person, or that the entire operation was a trap to catch him.”

Went sighed, giving Annaka an understanding nod. “We didn’t know for sure he was on the planet. HEL’s intel told us the faceless were behaving with more restraint than usual when he saw them passing one of his sentry bots. It was really just a big gamble on our part that he was there. We didn’t mean to put you in the center of the trap,” Went reassured, putting a friendly hand on Annaka’s shoulder. “We still needed to eliminate this little pocket of them, regardless of whether Kruza was there or not. Thus we kept our real plans quiet until he spoke to you over the communicators.”

Annaka took the answer in stride. She knew Went was telling the truth, at least as much as she could. It didn’t lessen the sting of having been used as bait, and that one of her squads had been lost in the battle.

“Who is this Kruza? Why is there a Frondauri among the faceless?”

“I can’t disclose that information,” Went said. “I have my orders.”

“Whose orders?”

Went gave her a sad look, a look that said ’You already know that answer.’

“My mother,” Annaka stated. Went didn’t respond, which was answer enough.

“Listen,” Went said. “We’ll be returning to the commonwealth. “The rest of the fleet is headed out. There’s a new faceless attack on some planet called Bramisk. The local authorities have requested our assistance. Your crusaders need some down time, so I requested you accompany us. You can ask your questions when we get back.”

“If I can get them answered,” Annaka said frustratedly. Went made no response.

---

*Razi = Aunt

Draevin had received word of the fleet being dispatched to Bramisk. He left the Shyanar matriarch in charge of the delegation on Cyrn, and boarded his lancer, setting out to join the fleet.

The crusade should not be without its Procentor. This would be the first real fight against the faceless. So far they’d only struck at them in uninhabited worlds, or worlds they were still infiltrating. With Bramisk it seemed the faceless had quickly overwhelmed defenses. They must have attacked in force, instead of relying on stealth to build numbers.

“Have you arrived at the planet yet?” Draevin asked the HEL probe assigned to his lancer.

“Finding a route with still functioning starbridges has proved difficult,” HEL replied in his cheery mechanical voice. “The majority of starbridges are either destroyed or just completely gone.”

“The faceless found a way there,” Draevin reminded him.

“Indeed,” HEL responded. “If I could ask them for directions be assured I certainly would have.”

“Point taken,” Draevin said. He checked the ship's speed against estimated time to arrival. They’d be an entire day behind the rest of the fleet. And it was no good asking for more speed. The lancer was already going faster than its technical top speed.

---

The crusader fleet arrived over Bramisk. They sent the local authorities a message stating who they were and that they were there to help.

“Standing by to assist,” the fleet commander ended with.

“Once we get confirmation from the local authority get a space bridge up. We’ll want to quickly bring in reinforcements as needed.” The order was taken and sent to the ship responsible for setting up the bridges.

In the meantime the rest of the fleet prepared for assault. Lancers, docked up to the larger interceptors, began loading their crusader troops. Mixed units of Frondauri and shyanar boarded their designated craft.

As soon as word came through the locals had accepted their assistance, hundreds of lancers moved away from the fleet and began their descent planetward. The salvation of this planet had begun.

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*High Commander, Commander-in-Chief and Navigators: the Kuvorian military ships are composed of a High Commander (the first in command, equivalent to a Marshall), a Commander-in-Chief (second in command and commander of the Deck Room, equivalent to a General), a Overseer (the one who oversees the Navigators) 4 or more Navigators (depends on the ship's size; they are the ones who calculate and do the jumps; operates "below" the Deck Room), and the soldiers in their respective ranks.

*Deck Room: the principal room of a military ship, where the jumps are precisely calculated and the higher ranked stay.