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Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Oct 20, 2022 1:37:45 GMT
Date: 2978.177, 0730 ship time Slipspace aboard the Dancing Goddess, en route to the Ylf'na System
Eliza grunted a barely-awake acknowledgement to the alert that the ship was nearing its destination, more focused on imbibing the stimcaf she had brewing. "Veska, what's our ETA?" she called from the galley. It was times like this she was glad she'd kept certain luxuries of the transport that the Dancing Goddess was built from. A full kitchen galley was definitely high on the list, along with a proper bed for when travel was only a couple of days, instead of weeks.
"One hour. You'll need to be ready before then." the AI replied from the cockpit. "I can fly this bird, but you wanted to jump out on top of the star, so I think you'd better be flying once we exit Slipspace."
"Aye, I'll make breakfast quick, then," the Witch sighed, resigning herself to a ration bar instead. At least the coffee was good, but if they had that little time, then she'd need to gear up, and that took a bit more time at present, as she'd yet to build an assembly platform for quick donning and removing, despite the namesake of her armor. Brilliant as she was, Eliza was no Stark, after all.
It didn't take long for Eliza to eat her ration bar, and only a little longer to finish her stimcaf. Once she'd finished her disappointing breakfast, the Witch quickly showered, then donned the lightweight undersuit that went under her techsuit. The next twenty minutes were then spent pulling her techsuit on and bolting her armor into place over it, leaving Eliza with only a few minutes to spare to make her way over to the cockpit to take the helm.
"Cutting it close, aren't you?" Veska remarked with a raised brow, her demeanor so human that even Eliza had a hard time believing that the Macro AI hadn't somehow acquired a level of sapience typically reserved for humans and other organic sapients.
"I'm here, that's what matters," Eliza replied curtly as the weight of her mission began to settle on her. Initially, she'd only intended to cash in on the standing bounty GalFed had on Kromus soldiers, but then she'd been quietly contacted by someone within the Department of Advanced Warfare who evidently knew of the Witch's nature. Ylf'na had gone silent nearly a week ago, and due to their status as an embassy member species and location on the edges of GalFed space, the only party that evidently even cared enough to respond to this was the Terran Confederation. Eliza didn't fully blame GalFed for their inaction, though. The disparate collection of ships and commanders that they were claiming was the Galactic Federation Navy was..less than impressive, and they had far more territory to defend than one system that would take most fleet elements close to two weeks to arrive to gods only knew what sort of forces might be waiting.
"Exiting Slipspace in five, four, three, two, one..exiting Slipspace now," Veska announced calmly, or calmly as she could with the knowledge that they would be skirting a main sequence star to avoid detection by any Kromus sensors.
Sure enough, the vastness of the massive natural fusion furnace filled the viewscreen and most sensors, and Eliza had to move quickly to avoid taking her ship too far down the gravity well to be able to escape, but it was hardly the first time she'd made such jumps. After all, most sensors could detect a Slipspace or Akwende jump if a sizeable mass didn't hide it, and she had a feeling the outer system would be watched more closely. It was the preferred method of stealth infiltration into a hostile system, and Eliza had no intention of being predicted. "Veska, passive scanners only, but what are we lookin' at?" Eliza asked as she maneuvered the Dancing Goddess into position to hide their approach towards the verdant homeworld of the Ylfyn with the mass of the innermost planets.
"As far as ship traffic..not a lot. There's..oh. Oh no.." Veska stared at the sensor readings with a look of horror, then turned towards her companion. "There's no sign of any Ylf'yn vessels in the system, and quite a lot of wreckage in orbit. There doesn't appear to be many Kromus ships, however."
"There's still plenty of Kromus in-system, then.." Eliza muttered as she looked over at the sensor station herself. "Kromus donna gan through th' trouble ta shatter a fleet like that, then leave th' surface that untouched unless they're claimin' it fer themselves. We're settin' a course ta land. And I need ta confirm spaceborne Kromus assets fer Confed," she added as she stood up. "Take helm while I send a probe back home."
"Alright, I'll hold here for now so they don't pick up the jump," the gynoid replied.
Eliza gave no further acknowledgement as she quickly made her way to a rack of Jump Probes, normally used to plot out new Jump Points for her personal use. However, they also made remarkably useful messengers, and it didn't take long to program a Jump path into the drone to make for Epsilon Eridani, to Reach. Eliza then removed her helmet in order for the camera that was to record her message to confirm her identity.
"This is Hunter Eliza Lockheed, registration code ETC-944828. Date of record is 2978.177, 2124 Zulu Time. I have arrived in th' Ylf'na System and confirmed suspicions based on comms blackout that th' system has fallen. Kromus forces have eliminated th' local defense fleet and have set up an occupation force, much as was observed at Jigrad. Be advised, there is currently only a single picket line of Kromus vessels, and it is my professional opinion that th' system is a viable target fer liberation. By th' time this message reaches command, I will have landed and begun further investigation ta assess th' possibility of trainin' resistance cells. Consider this a self-imposed comms blackout until such time that either I have exfiltrated fram th' system or allied forces have arrived ta liberate it fram Kromus occupation." Once the recording was completed, Eliza donned her helmet and carried the drone to the airlock, to deploy it out into space, so that it could depart for Reach.
"Jump detected," Veska commented idly. "I'm bringing us in, now. How bad do you think it'll be down there?"
"Th' Illumidas dinna eat people, and that was bad enough," Eliza replied as she took her seat once more. "Hopefully, there's plenty of people down there that can still fight," she muttered. "I've got helm fram here. See if we canna find a nice spot ta hide this girl.." she added as she took the controls, wholly unaware of just what truly awaited her on the planet that loomed larger with every passing moment.
Yl’fa had no shortage of old growth forests. The elf-like humanoids possessed a great respect for the natural world, and the largest forests were often set aside as sanctuaries, their ecosystems preserved and only maintained through minor outside intervention. One in particular was especially venerates: it was the oldest known forest on the planet, and was considered to be the purest location on the planet, practically uncharted and untouched for thousands of years- so spiritually important was this forest, it wasn’t even given a name even now… for to name something so primeval carried a hubris that none dared to court.
The Kromus, by contrast, had no such compunctions. The entire planet was nothing more than a prize to be won through conquest, and the vile pirates thought nothing of burning and razing anything that stood as an obstacle to their goal- no matter how sacred to the little creatures they saw as mere prey.
In order to protect themselves and this most ancient of forests, the Yl’fn defense force made the solemn decision to begin using The Forest as a sanctuary for civilians and a staging ground for a potential resistance movement should outside aid fail to liberate them from the Kromus. This decision was one of bitter desperation, and the consequences of what would happen if the Pirates decided to invade the Forest in force were too dire to contemplate.
This situation was the one Eresh Tarren found himself in- having spent the past several days working alongside the Yl’fn defenders during hit-and-run attacks on patrols foolish enough to attempt to enter the dark depths of The Forest, and escorting the odd refugee to a makeshift relief center deeper within the arboreal safe haven. In another life, he would’ve found the affair to be surreal, almost perverse.. but now after living with the consequences of his own sins for so long, aiding the people of Yl’fa felt to be a fitting path of atonement. It wasn’t enough, but it was a start.
He just hoped he could make enough of a difference for it to matter, and with how things had been deteriorating it seemed to be unlikely. Still, he would remain as long as he could doing as much as he could. And if that meant dismembering Kromus and hanging their remains From the trees in order to frighten the superstitious creatures enough to keep them from wandering into the woods too deeply for just a few days longer.. so be it.
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Oct 26, 2022 4:46:51 GMT
The final approach and entry into Ylf'na's atmosphere had gone as smoothly as Eliza had planned. After all, spotting a single ship the size of the Dancing Goddess with as much debris and traffic as the system had near the occupied world would have been an effort even without the ship in question being what amounted to being a military recon vessel, and with the modifications it possessed, it would have taken active searching to have every spotted it. The drawback to such success, however, was that it required an irritatingly slow pace, lest the drive exhaust ports give their position away.
"Veska, how's it lookin' down there?" Eliza asked quietly, her demeanor subdued as she saw the damage to the world through the viewscreen display. Though she was Terran through and through, Eliza had viewed the Ylf'yn as distant cousins ever since meeting them more than 400 years ago. Seeing the devastation was nearly as painful as if it had been a human world, especially when she saw the Forest.
"Most of the major population centers have been partially bombarded with plasma, consistent with recorded incidents of Kromus occupations," Veska replied. "There seems to be significant Ylf'yn activity in and around the Forest. Likely civilians, given the destruction elsewhere."
"Scan th' Forest. I want ta confirmation on th' status of those Ylf'yn. If there's military, there's a possibility we can link up ta increase combat effectiveness," Eliza ordered.
Another minute passed in silence as Eliza set a course towards the densely forested region that gave it its name before Veska spoke once more. "There appears to be a significant number of Ylf'na Guard in the area, as well as a refugee camp, and..curious." Veska frowned as she eyed her display, then looked over to Eliza. "There's a ship located in the Forest, but its profile matches no known classifications in any databases we have access to, nor does it conform to Confed military designs."
"Huh. That is strange.." Eliza remarked. "Set a waypoint and I'll set us down there. If they're by themselves this far in th' Forest, they're either suicidal or a friend."
"Marking waypoint. ETA should be three minutes."
"Three minutes it is," Eliza agreed, not wanting to be too obvious by flying supersonic at low altitude. Whoever this stranger was, they warranted a visit.
At this point, Eresh had been busy at work packing up his current campsite, planning to move to another section of The Forest. The past few hours had been abuzz with reports that the Kromus had been gearing up to push into a portion of The Forest in order to begin harvesting lumber.. and that wasn’t something he could abide. As he finished up however, he caught a noise on the wind- and he immediately began scaling one of the trees, climbing up to a branch two thirds up thr tree… taking cover and bringing his rifle up- looking through the scope.
He heard the tell tale sound of a star ships engines in atmosphere.
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Jan 15, 2023 0:28:34 GMT
Three minutes passed quickly, and by the time Eliza had secured her helmet and retrieved her weapons, Veska was already landing the Dancing Goddess and powering down the engines. A slender silvery brow perked as she received a message from Veska over comms, but she answered all the same.
"I'm barely even ta th' entry ramp, ye already have somethin'?" she asked the android.
"Thermals are picking up something. On the edge of the clearing, looks close to 3 meters tall, biped, if I'm looking at the image right," Veska explained.
"Think it's th' pilot? Na too many that get that tall that a tree will hold that high up," Eliza mused as she brought up an image of the image in question on her HUD.
"Hard to say for certain, but likely. You see-"
"Aye. Looks like a rifle. Readings donna look like a Kromus, though.." Eliza frowned slightly, then activated her armor's photoreactive panels and slowly made her way down the ramp and out onto the ground. "Close th' ramp. We donna need an unwelcome guest if our friend here turns out ta na be so friendly," she instructed, and stalked towards the figure warily, hoping that they weren't hostile, or if they were, they didn't have the means to see through her armor's stealth capabilities.
Watching as the ship landed outside the clearing that serves as the temporary home for his own vessel, Eresh kept his weapon trained, using the scope to keep a closer watch. A disturbance of a bit of brush caught his attention and he turned his weapon in the direction of the foliage.. though he saw nothing.
Until he then noticed a strange distortion. It was faint.. but a portion of the air reacted to light strangely- and he noticed another discrepancy.. the distortion was moving slowly. Unsure of the disposition of this stranger, he would fire a warning shot. The rifle gave a nearly silent electric buzz followed by a quiet pop, and the dirt a few yards in front of the distortion disgorged a small cloud of dust as the magnetically accelerated round made impact. No further shots followed, but then again there was no need. The message was clear:
He knew they were there, and he expected them to identify themselves before he fired again.
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Jan 16, 2023 0:58:56 GMT
"I think they spotted you," Veska chimed in over the comms, prompting Eliza to roll her eyes as she raised her own rifle to sight down at the shooter. "Aye? What gave it away?" she groused as she studied the figure through the enhanced imagery of her Valkyrie's optics.
"Well, the fact that they fired on you, and that it was clearly a warning shot. If they can see you well enough to fire, then it's likely they spotted the distortion of your armor," the AI replied in a tone Eliza could have sworn was amusement. Even so, that did not bother the Witch nearly so much as the figure's appearance. It certainly looked like a Chozo, though she'd only ever seen holovids of the reclusive avians. To the best of her knowledge, though, the Chozo were pacifists. Too many unknowns were at play here, and Eliza didn't particularly enjoy working with unknowns. Without another word, Eliza deactivated the panels, and rerouted the power to her shields to bring them to full strength.
"Alright, so ye found me," Eliza called warily in stilted and heavily accented Chozia. "Who are ye, and what's yer business here?" She sincerely doubted this Chozo was helping the Kromus, but she'd also never seen or heard of a Chozo taking up arms, and stranger things had happened around her before. No sense in taking risks that weren't needed.
Likewise, Eresh was equally befuddled. He had not met a single person in this Galaxy as of yet that understood, or even spoke the tongue of his people. And yet, from her accent it was clear to see she was not a native speaker of it- so she definitely wasn’t Chozo. This mystery was what compelled him to return to the ground, leaping down once he was at a safer height.. rifle still trained on her shimmering, now visible figure.
“Start talking stranger. You already have proven you are either a friend of the Chozo, or a foe.”
“Depending on your answer, I will not give my name until I can determine your disposition.”
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Jan 16, 2023 17:31:27 GMT
"Neither, if truth be told," Eliza answered tersely. "I've never met or spoken wi any of yer kind," she continued in her passable attempt at Chozia."I simply thought it a useful language ta pick up, given their cultural significance ta GalFed. Th' question is, why are ye on Ylf'yna?" she demanded. The entire time the Witch spoke, her rifle never wavered, keeping aimed at the towering avian's chest. "I'm here ta see what can be done to aid my friends here."
Likewise, his rife never lowered as he listened to her, though at the mention of her wishing to help the people of this planet.. well he decided to relent, if only slightly.
“That is my purpose as well. I have been on this world for nearly seven planetary rotations, aiding the people here against the insects that are plaguing it. My name is Eresh Tarren, Chozo Warrior.”
He was careful not to divulge his Tribe’s name, but he felt that she deserved to know that he was, indeed, one of the Chozo.
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Jan 16, 2023 17:50:39 GMT
A full week? It was better than what many could claim against a Kromus occupation, and at last, Eliza lowered her rifle. "Eresh Tarren? That Chozia fer Big Bird?" she asked with the faintest hint of humor in her voice. "Eliza Lockheed. So.. what can ye tell me of th' Kromus forces here and th' Ylf'yna Guard?" she asked. "Are ye workin' wi th' Guard, or on yer own?"
His response was surprisingly quick witted “If ‘Eliza Lockheed’ means ‘Small Elf’, then yes it means ‘Big Bird’,” he replied, his tone not quite as stern as before. “If not, when loosely translated my name means ‘Silent Talon’.” He then slowly lowered his own weapon as he walked closer to the stranger.. his motions careful and methodical.
“As for the situation, it’s somewhat hard to say. Reports that I have been privy to have estimated that globally, there is possibly ten.. maybe fifteen thousand Kromus on the planet in various bands of differing sizes. Locally, there is a war band terrorizing this sector numbering at least five hundred strong.. well it was about that size a week ago. I’ve been pruning the wayward branches here and there as I can.”
Now with the defenders, his voice became more somber. “The defense force is holding its own, but only just. There is a mustering area and refugee center about forty kilometers northwest of here, deeper in the Forest, that’s the largest concentration of resistance within three hundred kilometers. As for me, I am technically on my own. But I have been working more or less Pro Bono- minus a few supply drops here and there to keep me armed and fed.”
He then looked in the direction of the newcomer’s ship, before turning his attention back to Eliza. “Out of curiosity.. were you able to detect any concentrations of Kromus in the area as you made your approach? Your arrival most definitely attracted attention if there were any patrols nearby.”
Post by Eliza Silvermantle on Jan 22, 2023 1:02:45 GMT
Eliza listened intently, depolarizing her visor to reveal her face to the Chozo as a sign of trust. It certainly sounded as if Eresh was some sort of ranger, or possibly even another bounty hunter. She didn't know much about Chozo arms or armor, though, so she couldn't say for certain. What mattered was that he was willing to help, and and had already been doing so.
"Aye, we saw th' band ye mean. They're around 100 kilometers fram here at th' moment, but they can cover that ground easily enough. Doubt they saw us, though. Th' Dancing Goddess is a stealthy wee thing, after all," she said with a touch of pride. "Also, Eliza Lockheed donna mean 'small elf'," she added with a smirk. "I'm only half, anyway. Mam was a Terran woman, da was a Ylf'in," she explained, a lie, but an easy one. The truth, after all, would lead to a number of awkward questions. "That said, ye've my thanks fer yer help here already. Perhaps we should team up, do a bit of..how did ye call it? Prunin'?"
Eresh let loose a chuff that could be interpreted as laughter, and he slung his weapon over his shoulder. The Chozo didn't remove his helm, but the stowing of his weapon was a close approximation of the gesture.
"I didn't know humans and the people of this world could intermix, interesting," He mused as he then tilted his head, accepting her thanks. "No thanks are necessary, but they are appreciated. If the Horde is on the move, however, we should probably make haste in heading them off." He said, walking past her and towards his own craft, hidden in under the canopy.
"You were about to propose that we work together, were you not?"