Transmission 24210321-0931hrs Mayday - Mayday - Mayday, This…..UCH Constantine..rep….. multiple hull breaches. We’ve engaged Xirax…………....Nadeis Orbit…... venting O2………..tanks, over. Roger, Constantine this is the UCH Taurus, confirming multiple Hull breaches at Nadeis Orbit. Relay your coordinates, over. 8256…….34…...22…. Constantine, please repeat the coordinates,over Taurus…...multiple……..casualties……………. 23%....ife Support…. Roger, do you have a visual on any enemies in the area. We are spooling engines now. Please repeat your coordinates, over. Taurus……………. 2 frigates……………..and multiple bogies……………..ver Roger, we are relaying the transmission now to other ships in the area. We are 3 mikes out, over. ………..in……….docking……….. Constantine please repeat the last transmission, over They are……enem..……th…...ship’s hangar bay. Hold on Constantine, we will be there in 2 mikes, over …………………….lp us………...………………..on the bridge Roger, going to warp right now, stick in there Constantine, out. END OF TRANSMISSION 3 hrs ago....... The crew entered a lift tube and Tu'kki pressed the down button. A golden rain of light streaked by the transpiranium sides of the lift tube as it fell past the lower levels of the sewers. Aris and his crew were bewildered when suddenly the sewers faded into a large network of underground cities and then a large expanse of space as far as the eye could see. The lift tube plummeted on downward into a large spire and down another tube. More underground cities passed the viewports until they finally reached their destination. The lift tube stopped and the doors slid open revealing a large crystal cavern lit by millions of small luminous creatures, bugs and glowing streams, geysers and hot springs. Aris, Tu'kki and Ras strode out and around a curving corridor with a wall of glowing cyan springs and plant life. Their gaze wandered to the animals swimming in the pools and the bright red orb of water gushing from a nearby volcano shaped rock near them. Frigid air of a nearby Ice vent blew on a blue glacier to keep it from melting while a lava flow lit the corridor on the other side of the cavern. Tu'kki loved the temperate climate of the cavern, despite the cool breeze from the vent behind them. The cavern was the most beautiful place she had ever seen; an underground paradise, but clearly artificial in nature. Some areas were meant to be avoided though, populated with aggressive predators and some of the geysers emitting noxious fumes. The companions followed the path for several kilometers through the cavern to a enormous wall that sealed off one large section of the cavern. Aris reached the broad double doors of the underground fortress. He stepped up to the doors and waved his access card over a identichip scanner to provide his credentials. Denied. Again he swiped the card. A guard appeared in a upper tower on the Wall. "What is your business in the great city of Luk'aris, Stranger." The guard said "We seek to do business with the great Tulaec, Sir." Ras replied "Who told you of this place?" "A lady we met in Ver'as drew a map for us and gave us instructions to contact Tulaec. We need his help to get off Nadeis." "Give us a name, or you aren't getting through." the man said " Her name is Ta'pule." " Ahh, that dirty little whore owes me money. You can come through on one condition, you tell me where I can find her." Ras paused for a moment contemplating whether he should give away the lady's location, when Aris interjected. "She's in the City of Ru'a'eaal, you can find her in the market district. I don't have time for this, I need to meet with your boss now." "Let me call my superior officer and I will assist you." The doors swung wide open with a swish and the Irissi guard welcomed them in. "Follow me and do not wander off my path!" He said sternly He led them through the city and then stopped "This is where I leave you, nobody goes into that district alone. We've been in fights with them before. They don't take well to strangers either, good luck going in there." and like that the guard disappeared down the path they had just walked down. As they drew closer to the spot on the map, the environment had a way of painting Tulaec as more of a mob boss than the honest man Ta'pule had claimed he was. They had come to far to turn back so they continued down the path to meet the man. The beautiful city they had originally entered turned to a slum as they grew closer to the area Tulaec was in. They came to a dark tunnel with a door on the other side and came to a halt. Aris and the others stared into the pitch black tunnel and noticed movement. Before they could ready themselves for what came next, several men walked up behind them in the dark and jumped them. One man carrying a club tried swinging it at Aris but he blocked his blow and dislocated the man's elbow. The party managed to hold the men off to a stalemate and held one of the men hostage. Ras "gently" pardoned the man, and had him lead them to Tulaec. They walked through a series of small passageways that led into a giant atrium. The atrium seemed to be a bordello and many women walked around completely nude or in their underwear. "Awwe, now this is my kind of place" Ras said letting out a sigh of relief "I think I'll be staying here tonight." "Three Companions walk into my brothel unannounced and best 20 of my men, and expect me to comply. Who are you?" Said a strong Irissi man who towered 10 ft tall dwarfing the whole party. Ras and the others turned around in shock, but then grinned figuring out it was Tulaec. "Awweee, you must be the great Tulaec!" Tu'kki said flirting with the mob boss "What is the special occasion that I should be honored with the presence of an Irissi Princess." he said noticing her royal garbs. Tu'kki blushed and said, " We are trying to get off this rock to save my husband's people and the authorities won't help us out. So we heard about the great Tulaec in the sewers, and we are willing to make a deal with you." "Go on." Tulaec said "We will allow you to keep the freighter we hijack, and you and ALL your companions can join us!" Ras said eying one of the nude girls "We need to head out ASAP, the police are preoccupied with looters." The two men began arguing over payment and Tulaec disagreed with their offer. " Why should I comply with your demands. What is in it for me and my people." Tulaec said Tulaec began walking off and his guards intervened blocking the party from continuing their debate. "I'm not going to stand here any longer while I lose my one and only chance of leaving this rock!" Aris said screaming in Basic. Tulaec turned around bewildered. "I thought this one didn't talk" Tulaec said "I am one of few in my species that can speak the tongues of others, but that is something we can discuss later. How many men do you have ready right now?" Aris said " I have over 500, but I haven't agreed to anything yet. I want to hear your offer” “50,000 credits, and 5,000 to each man that helps us” “Double that and you have a deal. You will pay me 100,000 credits when I get there or you will be my slave till you can pay it off. Everything else stands as is, the ship and all. Or......" he said looking at Tu'kki " I'll just take the ship and your wife!" "100,000 it is! Let's go now! Grab your weapons." Aris said "Alright everyone, you heard the man. Grab your weapons and fill a backpack with food and ammo and meet us downstairs in 5 min." said Tulaec " And ladies bring some clothes, it gets cold in space" Everybody rushed to get their stuff and 10 min later everybody as downstairs dressed in battle gear and ready to go. Aris and Tu'kat'eta had just recruited over 500 Irissi to join their party to help seize a interstellar freighter and they were going to make sure it worked. March 20th 2421-0100hrs That night, , one year to the day that they first encountered the Irissi; the uprising of Ver'as took place. At 0139 AM, the second rocket raked up the lines of communication to the spaceport. Aris had just taken out all communication with the outside world and the spaceport was completely in the dark. The charges set on the gates surrounding the airport went off in unison and 567 members of Aris Kumani's party ambushed the spaceport. They met a heavy resistance immediately entering the spaceport. A hail of gunfire battered the invaders, killing more than 20 soldiers before they even made it to the tarmac. Enemy troops rushed to take up fighting positions and opened up with overwhelming firepower. Nadeis was flooded with Xirax mercenaries paid directly by the Hua'tarian Government. The USS Constantine, a captured UCH vessel from the United Council of Humanity, was parked on a landing pad nearby. The men rushed to the nearby frigate that was being pre-flighted by the flight crew and several of Tulaec's men managed to make it on board before they closed the ramp. "They have to open the ramp......................They have to open that damn ramp...................Ohh....COME ON.......hurry dammit!" Ras said while hugging the ground to the right of the ramp. Incoming rounds ricocheted off the pavement all around them. They waited what seemed like an eternity and then the heard the thunk of the ramp's elevator engaging. "Yes, they did it!" everybody on the ground cheered. The ramp lowered and the companions rushed aboard. Aris and Ras made their way to the control room while Tulaec and his men pulled rear security at the ramp. The flight control deck had two different cockpits and the crew had been in the process of sabotaging them both. The team aboard the bridge had already swept the main control room and the flight control deck taking out more than 30 crew members and capturing 10 more. "Ras you have the controls. Let's get off this rock!" Aris said Ras started the #1 & #2 powerplants. The ships engines hummed as the increase in energy flowed to them. "#1, #2, #3, #4 Engines all good." Ras said as he booted the onboard CPU. "Shields coming online, now. No outer hull breaches. Everything is good. Begin startup, on-board AI and Navigation. " Aris called out "Roger that, Navigation coming on board now. AI is booting. Closing all hatches, sealing all exterior panels. Ship is ready to go!" Ras said as he finished the Pre-flight list. Hundreds of rounds pinged off the energy shields as they waited to begin taxiing. "Forward thrust 13%, Hold it together. Bring up those nav charts Aris" "Nav charts coming online" "Right turn to Runway A, OK. We're good, let's get this bird in the air. VTOL engaged, Thrust 42%, all rudders, flaps and and landing gear off. Crew and passengers, mission equipment" Ras said completing the checks "Check, we're all good, just a bunch of crazies down there on the flight line." Tukki said with a smile. "Good, then let's get the hell off this rock!" Aris replied winking at his wife. The frigate shook as it exited the atmosphere of the moon. Aris, Ritarik Sejsa, Tu'kat'eta , Tulaec and the 478 others that had survived the fight, were now crossing the threshold of the Nadeis Sinas-net(network of defenses to protect the moon from invasion) and finally making their way to Hua'tar. "Alright, Entering Orbit. Send me those jump codes!" Ras said finishing a scan of his instruments "Sending.........." Aris said as he thumbed a touchpad "Now, you got them?" " I just received them. Entering coordinates. Here we go. Jump in 5,4,3,2,1.....Go." Nothing happened, when Ras entered activated the short range warp drive. "Ohh, that wasn't supposed to happen. We just lost engines #1 & #3. This craft is so old" Ras said as he monitored his instrument panel "No problem though, I've flown and landed ships with less." "Awwe that's reassuring, let's just land this in one piece this time, I'm still getting used to my prosthetic leg. I don't desire losing the other one." Aris said getting more anxious by the second. "Enemies sighted, Xirax sir" said the midshipman manning the radar "****" Ras cursed as he applied full thrust to the working engines. Two frigates followed them on the right and left and a destroyer tailed them at a distance. The frigate to the left was around 300 meters and the one on the right was around 100 meters. They couldn't get an accurate account of the large destroyer tailing them, but they guessed it was somewhere between 600 and 800 meters in length. Right in the middle of everything was the 287.5 meter long x 115.6 meter wide UCH Constantine, with a crew full of soon to be dead men and women. Just then, seven missles slammed into the port side of the ship cracking the vessel from port to starboard. The stern section of the ship containing the engines blew off from the result of micro explosions in the hull. A deep ominous screech let out when the as the frigate cleaved through the hull of the Constantine in the upper atmosphere of Nadeis. The hull rippled under violent waves of cataclysmic tremors from the impact. Flames leapt out of exterior vents, while nearby lifeboats jettisoned from the ship . Then something happened that no one expected. The lights went out. “ Sir we've lost power! Bays 8, 9, 12 and 14 are venting and they've taken out our engines.” "No ****, hurry get on the radio and send out a distress call" Aris said to the young lad. " Aris called down to the engine room and got the engineer on the line "Ras as soon as the generators come back on line get us into warp!" "Trying......" Ras trailed off as he was busy manning the flight controls. A few minutes went by as the ship sat derelict in the upper atmosphere of Nadeis. Gunfire erupted in the lower levels of the ship as boarding parties cut their way into the ship. Aris looked around at the crew members busy at work in EVA conditions, working frantically to bring systems back on line using redundancies. He could hear the screams of men dying in the corridors below and prayed the nightmare would end. Just when he thought it was all over the lights on the bridge flickered and gravity did its job. Crew members picked themselves off of the floor and Ras sat there yelling into the comm system. "Engineer is the warp drive back online." "Roger, warp drive is spooling now , activate when ready." Ras pressed the controls and the deck of the ship stretched as the frigate entered warp. Space folded around the ravaged ship and the stars that lined the viewports disappeared into shades of white, blues and yellows. A few seconds later, the ship rocked violently as it exited warp near Hua'tar. A few minutes later the bridge of the UCH Constantine shuddered as it plummeted blindly towards the dark terrain beneath them. Flames leapt out at it from exterior vents obscuring their sensors and vision. As the ship pierced the upper atmosphere of Hua'tar, it fell into a steep nose dive and everybody fell against the bulkhead except for those seated at the pilot controls. The veteran pilot was able to manuver the ship back into a slowed descent but he was losing control over the thrust reversers. Aris picked himself off the floor, perhaps with a few broken ribs and a slight concussion. Tu'kki had landed on top of another woman which had broken her fall, unfortunately it had paralyzed the woman. Several crew members were out cold, who had either struck a bulkhead on their fall or had been crushed underneath a pile of people. The rest were on the floor clutching broken arms, tending to gashes or open wounds, and 6 of them had even died. “Secure Yourselves and the others!” Ras screamed Another crew member fumbled around with the Emergency transponder. “ Sir I can't get this thing to switch on.” “ It's a short wave beacon. We are so far out over the ocean, that I doubt anybody will find us anytime soon. Let me see it.” “Sir, we are going to make a hard landing, and I have manual control of the aircraft now. I'm going to pull up on the cyclic right before we hit the ground to try to lay down the belly on this large island here.” Ras said briefing Aris He pointed to a large clearing on the map. “We should be able to set it down some what 'gently'. I'm using the word gently sparingly, because the alternative would be to go back into a nose down and go splat. There is no guarantee we will live, but we have no other options.” “Thanks Ras, I can always count on you to cheer me up. I understand, do what ever you must.” The pilot put the craft into a corkscrewed dive and the starcruiser plummeted towards the surface. He managed to pull out of the dive around 1500 ft and the craft shot across the planet surface slowly descending until finally striking the ground at a crust-shattering 400mph. It skimmed across the surface scaring the land for miles until it finally coming to rest plowing into the cliff face of a large mountain. Most of the starship had fallen apart and what was left was only a fraction of the once great UCH Constantine was left. END OF PART 1 @Hummel-o-War @Captain Jack II @Frigidman @piddlefoot @Tyrax Lightning @Kassonnade @medicineman @oojimaflip @Kieve @Blackhawk @EleonGameStudios @Fractalite @Siege Inc. @Christianholmes @Kane Hart @rainyday
