The Liberation of Tamarr

[sachmo]

Great story! Go Cyria!

[Raging Deadstar]

It's a bit rushed but heres the next installment, hope you all enjoy!

The battle was not going well. The corridors were dimly lit by purple emergency lights and were illuminated by laser fire from both sides. The hallway shone with a blinding light, sending shadows across the law. A high-pitched harmonic noise was heard as a Tamarrian soldier fell to the ground. He could instantly taste the smouldering blood that had been thrown up his long throat as the incineration beam ripped open his chest. He looked down only to see smouldering charred flesh convulsing as his twin hearts ruptured and pumped their final beats round his body. The Tamarrian felt his eyes close and slowly let his life slip from his gasp. It was a painless death; the incineration rifles the pirate boarding party attacked with practically burnt the nerve endings away. Kah’tal Obe looked down at the fallen soldier, more sadness filled him, but a steely core deep inside him made him carry on.
“Get him out of there!” He shouted, trying to hide the sadness that was choking him. Two other Tamarrian’s threw a small spherical orb down the corridor and waited till it exploded. The entire hallway was illuminated by a phosphorous blaze. Using this distraction they dragged the lifeless body out the junction and carried him to the makeshift morgue in the crew quarters, around 60 or so bodies were lying under blue blood stained sheets. The light finally fizzled out in the corridor and the fire began again. Obe hid behind the corner and quickly aimed his anti-proton rifle round the corner. He looked through the computerised Aim screen as it identified the life forms down the hall with red little circles. He tried his best to keep the rifle from bucking out of his hands from the recoil and squeezed the trigger harder, subconsciously hoping it would fire more bLasts, every time shuddering in his grip. Obe wasn’t an experienced soldier, and boy did he wish he had some of them. They were so well trained they could hold and operate two of these rifles simultaneously. Obe was having trouble firing just one, and he was using 3 of his arms, two to just keep it from jerking it’s way out his grasp. He gave the order and a group of 5 soldiers tried to run the 5 metres to the next room. Suddenly there was a large rattling and a barrage of bLasts ripped through them, their momentum sending them backwards into the shots that had pierced them. The Kah’tal knew what that was. The pirates had invented an incineration beam mini-gun. It was equipped with 6 barrels and fired in quick succession with devastating consequences. Obe shook his head, they were losing badly. He decided it was time to surrender. This pained him greatly but as he looked round the corner to the makeshift morgue he decided no more lives could be lost.
“Fall back to the bridge” He shouted above the screams of perishing life forms and rifles. The remaining crewmembers quickly retreated. The bridge was built into two floors with the entrance being on the top floor. The top floor wasn’t much. Two suspended gangways that followed the curving walls lined with computer systems. Obe quickly followed the Last few crewmembers in and sealed the bLast doors. Three layers as thick as the ships hull rolled together and locked. He looked around and stepped onto a platform that slowly lowered him to the main part of the bridge. The main centre of the bridge was a large circular computer desk that projected a large 3d hologram into the air above it. The rest of the bridge’s stations were positioned facing this hologram projector. The remaining crewmembers fell into position and awaited their captain’s orders. Obe quickly brought up a map of the system. He studied it intensely, only distracted by the thuds and explosions from the bLast doors. It would take the pirates a good hour to burst through that. The nervous Kah’tal looked around, every one of the crews tear shaped black shining eyes were fixed on him. It was then it struck him. A Phong Afognak battlecruiser was only 3 sectors away. He brought up the information of the allied ship and decided that it was worth the risk. He hailed the ship hoping that the pirates weren’t blocking all frequencies. It was 3 sectors away from them and in a week could easily pick them up, hopefully by then the pirates would have left the sector and they could be picked up. He pressed a button on the circular desk and watched as a panel of flooring opened up. He ordered the crew to head down there and sighed a breath of relief as the Phong captain’s hologram appeared above him.
“Greetings From the Tamarrian Continuum! I am Kah’tal Obe and my vessel is under attack by a Pirate Clan boarding party! Under the guidance of our Trade and Research Alliance we ask humbly for your help, the remaining crew and myself have a maximum of an hour before we are captured. We plan to jettison ourselves into space using our escape pods, we have enough supplies to survive for 1 cycle but we request you come and pick us up!” Obe hoped that he spoken his words correctly in the language used by all nations allied with the Phong. The Phong captain look worried through his polymer skin. Obe looked at him pleadingly, the Phong were at war with the Pirates and hopefully would be sympathetic to their plight. The Phong captain remarked he was to plead their case to the Phong Military officials and would respond in the next 30 minutes. Obe waited patiently, the crew was hopefully prepared to jettison from the ship. The waiting was excruciating as he then opened up a panel on the walls and pulled out some trilithium explosives and ordered the Last remaining crew members to place them around the hangar where the escape pods were, if they were going to escape he was pretty much determined to make sure the pirates couldn’t pick them back up. He turned round to see the Phong captain’s expression, it seemed favourable.
“Our military chiefs have asked our glorious Chancellor Gerath personally for his approval on a rescue attempt and the Phong Confederation are prepared to annexe any pirate ships in the sector to rescue you and your crew! You shall be picked up in 3-5 days depending on how long it takes to destroy your ship. Any damage to the controls would be extremely helpful!” The Phong captain winked and the transmission ended. Obe quickly smiled and picked up the 2 packs of explosives and fixed them under the navigational controls and the weapons desk. Hopefully that would prevent the pirates from attacking the Phong. He set the timers and quickly ducked under the floor and closed the opening. All along the walls of the hangar were large beams with triangular supports inside, attached to these were around a hundred escape pods, each capable of carrying 2 people, below the large floor was being cleared of all druids to be opened. As he climbed into his pod he looked at his first officer he could only pray the explosives would detonate, otherwise a fate of being experimented, probed on and cloned for the use of pirate clan… well it wasn’t worth thinking about!

[Stone Mill]

Another good one, R_D.

Hmmm... escape Pods. Wonder if anyone had sugested this as a game component for SEV? Seems like it could work.

In any event, it may keep Obe alive to fight another day...

[Ragnarok]

Very nice read RD. Alot of pretty intense action and suspense. Looking forward to the next edition.

[Ruatha]

Yep, good stuff, I need more, give me more!

[Raging Deadstar]

Sorry guys, i let myself slip out the story writing loop. This next chapter introduces some characters and is a go between before the next event i'm writing now.

*Shameless Plug* I recommend you head over to the Newbie Galactic Combat II thread, the ending is great and mystefying! Thanks for the great story Ruatha

Now onto our story

A thousand stars, all-burning in their splendour, illuminated the night sky. The atmospheric illuminations shimmered, greens, blues, reds, they all ignited the sky into a mystifying collage. Two of the three meteor raked moons glowed down into the deep valley where the lights of civilisation buzzed around like pretty plasmaflies. A gigantic tower stretched upwards into the sky, it was a grand sandstone-esque tower and its sides shone a pale creamy white in the moonlight, giving off a placid glow. Hundreds of little lights shone out from the grand tower. Its base was hexagonal and all sides sloped up for a mile in height until they reached the grand spire. Around four fifths of the way up large prongs began to stick out before reaching the top that flattened off. The top was finished off by 6 enormous prongs jutting out from each side and sliced their way skywards. A long sleek ship slowly glided its way towards the top of the tower. It’s huge cylindrical engines stretching for half the hulls length across the sides. Its dull purple coating reflected the many lights of the city from below. It slowly came to hover above the landing pad on the top of the tower, firing its landing engines and slowly came to rest. A door depressurised and a couple of guards walked out and made sure the area was secure, although they needn’t have bothered, only a few of the most faithless Tamarrian’s would think and attempt on their rulers life, never mind attempt it. But with an uneasy treaty with the Taeron no one was taking his or her chances. An old Tamarrian staggered out of the space ship, above him the great prongs of the tower cast great shadows. He leaned on his staff and let out an icy breath. The nights were cold here on Alpha Leonis IV for a species used to 18 hours daylight. The coldness rattled his old bones to the very marrow; he put one of his 4 frail hands on passing royal assistant to relieve pressure off the staff he leaned on, he slowly smiled at the kind man and then looked out onto his city. Around the grand tower were many smaller pyramids and tens of gardens. These spread out around the tower in all directions for 3 miles until they reached a circular river that cut off this architectural grandeur. This was home to the many religious temples and shrines, museums, universities and anything deemed cultural by the Omnicrons. On the other side of the river the giant buzzing city began. Large glass towers rose from the ground, seemingly miles from the city below kissing the clouds almost. Thousands of massive buildings in all directions like needles, bridges connecting these tall skyscrapers together in series. It was possible for people to live their entire lives without ever setting foot on the surface of this planet. But as the main temples were found in the grounds of grand tower this was very rare indeed. Many a vehicle floated below his viewpoint, flitting around like excited insects. The old alien sighed and looked to the stars for the answers he sought, only to be reminded of the peril that chased his people. A golden speck of light above the clouds which was a Taeron Cruiser, an everLasting reminder of the Taeron's presence here. It’s gold and blue hull visible through the mist. He turned round sighing deeply, 2 young aliens, also from the Tamarrian race, stood there with their own staffs. They were given to all those in a position of power, carved from the finest hardwood trees of Alpha Leonis IV and topped with grand crystal. But one of the young alien’s was made of a grey dull metal, twisting up the length until it reached a 5-pronged top, not unlike the grand tower they stood on top. The old Tamarrian’s eyes acknowledged the young aliens appearances and ran a hand of his face. His skin ruined by wrinkles and patched with brown blotches, but his black eyes added contrast to his ghostly pale skin. His hair was long and grey but straightened as if by the very wisdom he knew. He was the High Omnicron and the leader of the Continuum, no one commanded as much respect as he did. But the old man cared very little for royal protocol. He ran a hand through his long flowing hair and was about to communicate with his friend.

The female alien stepped forward and flicked her red flowing hair. She smiled at the old Tamarrian and bowed. She was obviously in the Last few tenths of pregnancy and her blue dress slightly rippled as a breeze blew past.
“Welcome Back Your Highness, I am glad you arrived back safely, shall I take the plans?” she asked, cocking her head slightly sideways.
“Thank you my dear.” Replied the High Omnicron, undoing a bond from his wrist and passed the girl the metal armoured box. She slightly buckled misjudging the weight but easily recovered. The old Tamarrian felt slightly unfair giving this to a pregnant lady who was obviously beginning to show the strain of carrying children so he motioned for a guard to help her.
“Please take this to the War room, the Kah’tal are eager to see the new designs. Also please come and see me in one hour, I think it’s about time you took maternity leave.” He added, the female smiled and gladly accepted the guards help. Tamarrian pregnancy was extremely hard in the Last few tenths, as usually Female Tamarrian’s carried multiple babies. They left for the lift in one of the stone prongs and the male alien slowly walked forward from the shadows. Dressed in white robes with a metallic blue sash and a gold embroidered symbol on it. His hair was dark and fell in short spiky curtains around the side of his forehead. His eyes were almost black in the dark night and his skin a lot more purple than that of the old man. The young alien’s mouth opened slightly and a melodic sound floated through the air. Originally Tamarrian’s had communicated by harmonic melodies generated by their vocal chords, but as they encountered other races they eventually conformed to a language that most races in the surrounding systems spoke.
“Your highness, contemplating tomorrow’s decision?” he asked, his voice fair and comforting to the old Tamarrian’s ears.
“You know me too well my good advisor, yes tomorrow I fear will be a sad day for our continuum.” He sighed once again. For tonight was the Last night of his reign as High Omnicron. The wind blew silently making both men’s white robes rustle and wave like they were swimming in an invisible ocean.
“A’tush, are you sure you’re making the right decision? I fear you retire to soon.” The old man coughed slightly, the force shuddering through his decaying larynx. He was old, 179 years old to be precise, and in A’tush’s opinion far too old to be running an empire under siege.
“Maliki you are young and the passing year makes no difference to you, but my time is soon and my Ascension is due, it is time my old friend, I sense the continuum will grow in such a way that the Taeron will fear!” Maliki nodded, and held out his hand, indicating they go inside. A’tush nodded and followed him into the tower. The insides were decorated with gold walls, not real gold for it was far too precious. The walls glittered and shined nonetheless though, the floors paved with marble, it was an extravagant piece of architecture.
“Young Maliki I know I can trust you to be aware of the murky shadows, I fear for the new High Omnicron, young Jyttsche is a more able successor than many think, but she is not accustomed to the ways of the Taeron, I assume you will protect her with the same care as you have with I?” Maliki closed his eyes, put one of his many fists on his heart and bowed, as was accustomed to requests of superiors in the Tamarrian Continuum. A’tush smiled through his ancient lips, he knew Maliki would serve him well, he always had. Maliki thought quickly to relieve the awkward atmosphere the conversation had brought on.
“Were the Phong’s reactions favourable?” He asked quietly. A’tush smiled remembering the courtesy the Phong had shown him on his stay. The Tamarrian’s were deeply shocked by the failure of their cruisers in the Last year and had decided to revamp the entire design of their ships and units, a highly unpractical move but one the Military and Seers thought was necessary They had decided to get the Phong’s top architects and engineers to review their designs, and with a few minor suggestions to increase performance the Phong agreed these new ships would serve the continuum well.
“Yes, we have a few flaws to get rid of but otherwise these new ships will be in soon, hopefully they will give us an edge if the Taeron decide to invade!” A’tush answered, even though the Taeron had forced the Tamarrian’s into a subjugation treaty and were aggressively pushing for complete surrender. A’tush looked around the exquisite hallway and sighed, he hoped the continuum would rally behind young Jyttsche, he also hoped that his and Jyttsche’s proposed plan of the future would hold up before the scrutiny of the Seers and the Naturists. These thoughts haunted him as he strode off towards the Council Leaving Maliki to catch some rest, the next few tenths would be exceptionally hard. Maliki never noticed however the lurking creature behind the shadows of an intersecting corridor, unfortunately the Tamarrian’s weren’t as wary of the shadows as they should have been.

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Raging Deadstar:
unfortunately the Tamarrian’s weren’t as wary of the shadows as they should have been.

Goodie.
Much scene building whith rich descreptive text.
Btw I really like the Taeron shipset, my new favorite in PBW!

(Taeron cruiser above Alpha Leonis IV