I thought you folks might appreciate this ....
Dec 26, 2017 14:08:12 GMT
apophys, thorneel, and 3 more like this
Post by SevenOfCarina on Dec 26, 2017 14:08:12 GMT
I arrive at Tarain amidst a maelstrom of gravitational energy, the corridor depositing me within four-point-nine meters of the predicted exit location. My emergence is unmarked save for a minute perturbation propagating through local space-time, but I am certainly not unnoticed.
It takes less than a second for the nearest relay to ping me, and our conversation flashes across the void at the speed of light. A laser locks on, and exabytes of information surge towards me, leaving me in the possession of eight weeks' worth of sensor data. The fortress embedded at the focal point of the warp-link is nearly seven light-minutes distant; I am relieved to be spared the ordeal of a quarter-hour communications delay.
The data corroborates my predictions, though it is not without a tinge of hope that I survey the ruins of Karnal's satellite system. As expected, the Union has been thorough - turbulent scars mar the serene azure of Karnal; the moons that formed the industrial heart of the system either spewing subsurface water through punctured crusts or mangled beyond recognition.
I swivel my scopes to Jhalawar, only to be greeted by a similar sight. Union lasers have accomplished what proximity to Tarain never could - swathes of the crust have liquified under intense bombardment, the cities that lurked beneath surface vaporised, the ashes of nineteen million scattered to the void in an unceremonious cremation.
Nothing lives here, not anymore - the familiar chatter of civilian communications has been quieted, no friendly drive signature yet lights the void. Tarain has been reduced to a ghost-system, its vibrant worlds eternally silenced by the Union in their unholy crusade to end our civilisation.
I feel my crystalline skin caressed by the blustering stellar winds of a flaring dwarf, soft radiation dancing across hullmetal, and I sense the vestiges of anger boiling the boron in my veins.
The Union fleet is yet nine-point-eight trillion meters distant, twenty-five vessels spaced apart in a formation a comfortable ten billion meters wide. The fusion inferno that they ride on leaves them unmistakable against the raging firestorm of Tarain, and my scopes have no difficulty in tracing the Union lettering on their hulls. Fortress Two would have hurt them, undoubtedly, as would have the defences of Karnal and Jhalawar, yet I sight no scar upon their armoured skins. I have only the Union logistics train to blame, already snaking its way towards Jhalawar, already defiling the mass graves orbiting Karnal.
My scopes trace back to the Union fleet, and the sight of twenty-five murderers rampaging their way towards their next victim ignites my fusion heart.
I surge forward to meet their challenge.
This is my first attempt at writing on these here fora, and I honestly hope you like this snippet. Feel free to blast away, critique is appreciated.
It takes less than a second for the nearest relay to ping me, and our conversation flashes across the void at the speed of light. A laser locks on, and exabytes of information surge towards me, leaving me in the possession of eight weeks' worth of sensor data. The fortress embedded at the focal point of the warp-link is nearly seven light-minutes distant; I am relieved to be spared the ordeal of a quarter-hour communications delay.
The data corroborates my predictions, though it is not without a tinge of hope that I survey the ruins of Karnal's satellite system. As expected, the Union has been thorough - turbulent scars mar the serene azure of Karnal; the moons that formed the industrial heart of the system either spewing subsurface water through punctured crusts or mangled beyond recognition.
I swivel my scopes to Jhalawar, only to be greeted by a similar sight. Union lasers have accomplished what proximity to Tarain never could - swathes of the crust have liquified under intense bombardment, the cities that lurked beneath surface vaporised, the ashes of nineteen million scattered to the void in an unceremonious cremation.
Nothing lives here, not anymore - the familiar chatter of civilian communications has been quieted, no friendly drive signature yet lights the void. Tarain has been reduced to a ghost-system, its vibrant worlds eternally silenced by the Union in their unholy crusade to end our civilisation.
I feel my crystalline skin caressed by the blustering stellar winds of a flaring dwarf, soft radiation dancing across hullmetal, and I sense the vestiges of anger boiling the boron in my veins.
The Union fleet is yet nine-point-eight trillion meters distant, twenty-five vessels spaced apart in a formation a comfortable ten billion meters wide. The fusion inferno that they ride on leaves them unmistakable against the raging firestorm of Tarain, and my scopes have no difficulty in tracing the Union lettering on their hulls. Fortress Two would have hurt them, undoubtedly, as would have the defences of Karnal and Jhalawar, yet I sight no scar upon their armoured skins. I have only the Union logistics train to blame, already snaking its way towards Jhalawar, already defiling the mass graves orbiting Karnal.
My scopes trace back to the Union fleet, and the sight of twenty-five murderers rampaging their way towards their next victim ignites my fusion heart.
I surge forward to meet their challenge.
This is my first attempt at writing on these here fora, and I honestly hope you like this snippet. Feel free to blast away, critique is appreciated.
