An Era Of Conflict

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Entering code yellow, threat level three."

 

A voice intoned calmly from the bridge, fingers moving briskly across the controls before her. Said controls were old, cobbled together from dozens of different makes and manufacturers, but kept immaculately clean, giving the space an oddly eclectic charm. Sensor read outs declared the status of every one of the ship's weapons, from its eight railguns to its missile launcher, and with a few flips of several switches, several of those weapons indicated an increase in power.

 

"Diverting power to railguns one through four, and laser cannons ten through twenty. Combat readiness estimated at sixty percent. All systems nominal." A pause. "Rightmost monitor continues to include a cluster of dead pixels above status indicator for laser cannon number eleven."

 

Smoothly, Aukrante pressed the intercom button. "Ntombi, how are the weapons' power relays holding up?"

[Visaru]

[ OOC ]

 

Let's take a moment to remember that it has been shown Toa can survive in the vacuum of space.

 

 

[ IC | Graxx | Orbit Above Kal Dormus ]

 

The iron corridors of the ship screamed and groaned as it maneuvered through the void. Steam hissed from cracked pipes, and sparks spilled from between the metal panels. It was not looking good for the Kohzan vessel known as The Skies Beyond.

Graxx charged down the narrow hallway, metal feel thudding against the brown colored floor. The dim light gave his orange skin a dull hue. He slid across the ground for a few seconds as he tried to make a right turn. The entire ship shuddered, and he heard a few warning alarms go off in the distance.

He charged forwards, his hands clenched into fists, and a very focussed expression on his brutish face. His heart thudded in his chest. His breaths were shaky. This was probably not going to end well.

He narrowly slid past an engineer running the other way- there were no systems to fix this way. Nothing at all, in fact besides an airlock. Graxx took deep breaths and he ran, trying to calm his nerves. Be logical, he told himself. Use that head.

Without even a slowed step, he jumped into the airlock, one hand darting out to pull a hook from a reel of thick cable attacked to the wall. He took another few steps, unwinding part of the cable from the roll with a loud zipping sound. He smashed his other hand into a big red button that clearly said emergency, and then the circular door in front of him spun a few times and slid open.

Graxx leaped into the vacuum of space.

Sound slipped away as he departed from the ship, the cable he was hooking to his belt his only lifeline to the metal hulk he had just departed from. Unlike most other beings, he did not rely on an atmosphere- a tank filled with water provided him with all the gases he needed. Not to say the void wasn't treacherous- he was this close to flying off into the blackness beyond with no way home, not to mention the various pieces of rapidly moving debris.

It was beautiful out here, the Kranodin couldn't help but notice- the black sky was sprinkled with more stars than could ever be visible here on earth, and the vast ships that obscured them seemed much less threatening with no sound. Even the blasts of energy darting between them looked like an amazing light show. It wasn't this that worried the alien, however. It was the plethora of shrapnel floating or zooming through the distance between the star fighters.

He looked ahead, locking on to his target, calculating the his distance from it. Too far.

Graxx grabbed the cable and spun himself around, narrowly avoiding a sharp metal plate that had been just about to decapitate him. His jump was loosing momentum as the friction from the rapidly extending cable slowed him. He wouldn't make it to his target in time.

His target was so close though- Graxx could make out the details. A Toa, arms flailing, the life giving compounds surging through his body beginning to disappear or bubble dangerously. There were too many things to count that might kill him, and Graxx estimated only a minute or so before he was beyond rescue.

His gaze flew across the battleground, searching for something among the glittering pieces of metal. Aha. There. A half hundred mental calculations…

Graxx nodded. It would have to do.

He unclipped himself from the cord that connected him to his ship and held the cable tightly. His momentum was slowing to a crawl. He wrapped his two thick hands around the hook at the end, made a few more calculations, and launched himself, forwards, away from the cable. Graxx fell through space without a semblance of a safety harness.

But here he was. His target. He reached out an arm, and for a second he was sure he had missed. But no, his hand wrapped around the Toa's foot and held on tightly, pulling the body close to his own. Now he just needed to get back.

Three…

The two beings flew farther and farther away from their only source of safety.

Two…

One.

Graxx's feet planted themselves on a stray piece of hull plating that's trajectory had momentarily crossing path's with theirs. He pushed off with all his strength, sending him and the rescued crew member soaring back towards The Skies Beyond.

He couldn't help but feel a surge of relief. He was still alive. So little space left to cover.

A flurry of laser blast passed by only a few feet from the two, sending Graxx's heart rate up a few notches, but no matter, he was almost there, so close.

Three…

The Kranodin suddenly noticed something he had not taken into account. Another hunk of metal was about the cross paths with them, but this was was more on the direct collision route, moving fast enough to crush them into powder.

He needed to reach the hook that was drifting slowly back to the ship before he hit that metal meteor.

Two…

One.

Graxx's hand wrapped around the hook, and found the retract button just in time. With a sickening jerk, he and the rescued Toa shot towards the source of the cable, moving just out of the way of the metal projectile. He shot through the void for a sickening speed for a moment, the world blurring into a mess of bright lights, blackness, and faint white stars.

Then Grazz let go, flying through the airlock and slamming on the shut button. He and the Toa flew through the corridor and landed on the far wall with a thud before slipping to the floor.

Graxx groaned and to his feet, feeling for a pulse on the unconscious body beside him.

A surge of relief went through him as he felt the steady beat of the Toa's heart.

Shakily, he rose to his feet, and put a hand on the wall to steady him as the ship shuddered. Hopefully, he never had to do that again.

[Silvan Haven]

OOC: Alright people, I'm kicking this off with a bang.

 

 

High Orbit- Kal Dormis

 

IC: The battle was heating up, both sides sending more and more ships to the contested space. Flashes of light filled the empty space as weapons of immense power impacted against shields that were just as sturdy.

 

It was only a matter of time until somebody pulled out the big guns.

 

A rip in space opened several hundred thousand kilometers from the main conflict and a ship began to emerge. It seemed to go on forever, kilometer upon kilometer of black metal plating and weapon emplacements that whispered of untold devastation.

After almost half a minute of ever increasing dread to anybody watching, it finally emerged fully, reality closing behind it with a snap. The ship was a full six thousand meters long, give or take several hundred meters. whether it was some form of paint or if the metal was like that naturally, the behemoth seemed to devour all the light that dared to come into contact with it. In general shape, it resembled a giant diamond. Here and there jagged spikes thrust out, sharp enough to cut if anyone wished to tempt fate an touch one.

On the front four bulbous shapes could be seen if one looked closely enough. Those who had read the file for the ship would know that these were energy projectors. Based off of the technology behind the Guurahk staff weapon, each projector could send a beam out that would reduce anything it touched to a random collection of molecules drifting through space. A collection of more conventional plasma cannons were placed along it's length, each a fearsome weapon in it's own right. In addition to those were the innumerable point defense cannons and missile silos that dotted it's surface like boils

It's shield was capable of taking hits that could crack the surface of a planet. And, while they did not recharge very quickly, those inside were as safe and secure as one could be on a Brotherhood warship.

 

For several minutes, Admiral Zikon vak Nartke stared out at the battlespace, taking it all in. Breathing deeply, he spoke in a tone so secure and certain that to challange it was to face death of a most painful kind.

 

"All the death and despair. Does it not smell wonderful?"

 

Nobody answered, he was not expecting anybody to.

 

"Forward! Let us show those vermin the might of the Brotherhood!"

 

With a flare of it's great engines that would have been the screech of a banshie had anyone been able to hear them, the Despair class Shadow of Fear moved to join the battle.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Silvan Haven

[Eyru]

IC

 

Why haven't I gotten a headset yet?

 

It was a question Ntombi asked herself often, but never did anything about. Instead, she did what she always did, and duct taped the intercom to the side of her head. She needed communication with the bridge as well as both hands free to keep the Wombat chugging.

 

"They're good," she replied, eyes flickering over her console to check on the ship's diagnostics. "We've got a a buffer of four and a half percent- that's about one and a quarter laser cannons if things get ugly. Don't push it."

 

Ditching the screens for a moment, the mechanic moved to check on the engines directly. Everything was working normally, and hopefully it would stay that way if things got hot.

 

"Savina, I'm powering down one engine. Lose maybe fifty k's off what we're doing now. Allocating half of that to fore shields, and a quarter to rear. Gonna keep that last quarter in my back pocket in case we need it. Copy?"

[sunflower]

IC:

 

One by one, the Order of Mata Nui's ships began to turn their weapons upon the massive behemoth that had crawled out from between the stars. Those at the forefront of the battle continued to duke it out with the smaller ships of the Brotherhood of Makuta's taskforce, oblivious to the world around in their desperate fight for survival.

 

Round upon round fell upon the Dreadnought, impacting against shields as often as armored hull. The seemingly endless stream of particle beams, lasers, plasma bolts, and missiles lit up the Shadow of Fear's until it's forward shields glowed with a star-like brilliance. The unending attack looked almost like a lightshow put on during festivities from many different worlds. For a moment, the display was bright enough to drown out the light of the blanket of stars around, casting the all-encompassing void's occupants into an eerie red glow, interrupted only by the flash of energy weapons and the spark of projectile exhaust.

 

It was almost impossible to make out the Dreadnought's evil form beneath the blanketing attacks. The fire from the numerous Order weapons slowed to trickle, as magazines were reloaded and capacitors recharged. As the glow from the attacks died down, as second one started to take it's place. Though this one seemed to originate from the Dreadnought itself.

 

A beam suddenly shot between the space dividing the Dreadnought and one of the smaller Order of Mata Nui ships, moving at impossible speed through the inky darkness. There was no explosion, no blast of energy as the offending beam struck the targeted ship. The ship just crumbled, literally, as the power of the beam broke the molecular bonds holding it's very atoms together. The effect started near the impact point, and rapidly spread as the ship disappeared like sand in the wind.

 

There was a loaded moment of silence, a silence that was more than just a lack of sound in the void.

 

And then the battle resumed.

[Snelly]

IC: Savina

 

"Roger that!" Savina responded as she lowered the thruster output. The nice thing about being in orbit with the planet was it was giving the Wombat a considerable speed boost as they 'slingshotted' around it.

[Silvan Haven]

Kal Dormus- High Orbit

 

Shadow of Fear

 

IC:

 

"Shields down ten percent."

 

"Second and third forward beams are ready for firing, fourth one needs another ten seconds."

 

"Plasma cannons charged and ready.

 

"Reactors in the green and stable."

 

Reports flew in from all over the bridge, bombarding Admiral Zikon vak Nartke with a deluge of information. He stood calm and collected in the middle of it all, hearing them all but responding to none. A grin started to slip over his scaly face, one that promised death and carnage to any that dared to appose him.

 

"Excellent. Open fire with the plasma cannons, three to a ship. Save the forward weapons until something bigger comes in to play."

 

A wave of red death flew back across the void at the fleet facing them as the dreadnought's three hundred plasma cannons opened fire. They worked in small groups, targeting single ships until their shields were overwhelmed and the short lived flash of an explosion showed their demise.

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

Space.

 

Starkly beautiful, unnervingly majestic, terrifyingly vast. Backdrop to the birth of worlds, the death of stars, and everything in between. The endless void to end all other endless voids.

 

Currently on fire.

 

Feris Roh, foot soldier of the Brotherhood of Makuta, stared out of the voluminous window embedded in the side of the Shadow of Fear's hull, watching the bursts of ionized laser fire explode in the deep darkness like Naming Day fireworks, high above the green jewel of Kal Dormus below. Mesmerized at his first sight of the spectacle, thoughts of his task at hand had fluttered from his mind, and he could only stand in rapt attention as the two sides of a galactic war tore each other to pieces, all from the comfort of their desk chairs. To call it "beautiful" would be too generous, of course, but calling it "brutal" seemed ... wrong as well; it was both, and neither.

 

His musings were interrupted, however, by the shrill call to arms blaring from the ship's intercom systems. With a final, forlorn look at the sweeping picture just beyond the metal walls of the Shadow, the once-Toa-now-corpse grinned sadly, and leapt from the catwalk where he once stood, hitting the floor below in a three-point-landing. He flicked dust from his armour as he straightened himself up to his full height, checking his walking stick all the while for any signs of hairline fractures. None could be found.

 

The hanger air, reprocessed for perhaps the millionth time that day, was crisp and chill, and the room's gravity was scaled back slightly, to allow for pilots to reach their ships quicker and engineers to get out of the way more efficiently. It also meant jumping from catwalks was mildly easier than anywhere else in the ship. Was such a move still dangerous; well, obviously. But if it meant being able to skip out on taking the stairs, then Feris was a happy man.

 

After seeing the majesty that he was missing on the outside, he really had no time to waste

 

The Grin waited for no man.

 

-Void