[b][u]Enned System
Letona's Gaze[/u][/b]

"Captain, we have a [i]large[/i] problem over here." The Sensor Officer's voice was calm as he spoke into his headseat, although the frenetic and rapid manner in which his index finger was repeatedly hammering on his console's alert button told a different story. "A large vessel of unknown configuration has just exited FTL, in orbit over Enned at five hundred kilometers. No weapons, but sensors are having trouble penetrating the hull."

Rising from their sleep in their quarters, the Surveyor's captain swore their way to consciousness, groping clumsily in the darkness as they grasped for their communicator. Seconds later, a shipwide alert was initiated, orange lights blaring while a calm feminine voice spoke over the intercom.

[b][i]"Alert. Proximity intrusion by an unrecognized vessel, configuration unknown. All personnel stand by for possible acceleration. All personnel stand by for possible emergency FTL Jump."[/i][/b]

The captain found their communicator and made contact with the bridge. "Herne, get in contact with the GNT forces on the ground immediately and have them stand by to intercept any landing craft. Issue orders to apprehend any intruders on the planet the instant they set foot on the ground. AFTER you have done that, issue a cold contact C&D to the intruding ship. Rolland, get all the walkers out working on the breach inside, don't get hung up about leaving equipment adrift." He thought for a moment, and then remembered that there were two carriers in-system. "And send a request to the Federation carrier for Strike-Craft screening. Even if that thing doesn't have weapons, better safe than scrapped."

[b][u]The Watchman's Eye[/u][/b]

Jia-Jio's neurological implant, already alerting her to the presence of the dozen or so ships buzzing uselessly around the planet, abruptly alerted her of an incoming tightwave transmission from the one loitering near the Ennedi Starbase. The message being relayed included a visual emblem of the Straylight Institute's banner, and was written in Baceran - an old language the Straylight Institute used to initiate contact with every new species it encountered. While the Straylight Institute had made contact with Anuku some time ago, there was no guarantee that [i]The Watchman's Eye[/i] had it on record. Or that Jia-Jio would even care about having one more alert to ignore.

[hider=Straylight Message][b][i]Unrecognized vessel, you are trespassing in a secure planetary zone! Planet Enned is under the provisionary authority of the E.R.C. as described by the Beta-Aquila Convention. If you attempt to make planetfall, your personnel will be apprehended. If you initiate hostilities, you will be destroyed. Withdraw from Planet Enned's orbit to a minimum distance of five million kilometers immediately, or E.R.C. enforcement will board and seize your vessel.[/i][/b][/hider]
[u][b]F.S.S Mars[/b][/u]

Aboard the Federation Carrier's bridge, the communications officer received a communique direct from [i]Letona's Gaze[/i] half a minute after the unrecognized ship had materialized above Enned.

[hider=Letona's Gaze Message][b][i]F.S.S. Mars, an unrecognized vessel of unknown configuration has appeared in orbit above planet Enned at a distance of five hundred kilometers. Please send a small force of drones to provide screening for our vessel, as we do not have any defensive systems of our own.

We have issued a C&D message to the vessel along with a statement of our legal authority in this system under the Beta-Aquila Convention. Your forces are permitted to board and seize the vessel if it does not immediately begin to withdraw to a minimum distance of five million kilometers from Enned. GNT forces are standing by on the planet to apprehend any unauthorized landing parties, and you are permitted to engage the vessel directly if it should instigate hostilities.[/i][/b][/hider]
[b][u]Planet Enned
Alien Industrial District
Seven Kilometers from GNT Basecamp[/u][/b]

Down on the ground, what should have been a harmless milk-run devolved into a tactical nightmare made reality.

Why the Ennedi of old had decided every intersection needed an array of turrets was a mystery, and unfortunately for the Seventh Division Infantry Teams, they found themselves surrounded on all sides, caught in the middle of a kill-box with no immediate cover. The turrets lifted from their cradles in eerie silence, the vacuum of the planet's surface completely masking both the smooth whirring noise of the motors guiding their movement as well as the tell-tale hum of imminent energy discharges. Each turret's construction consisted of a long, metallic rod easily wider and longer than most vehicle railguns attached to the end of wide parabolic dish, connected at the back to a ball-mount - each device looked sturdy and unworn despite their eighty million year long sleep.

Thankfully, however intact they appeared on the outside did not extend to their inner workings. One of the turrets failed to stop orienting, continuing to spin in circles while its projection dish wobbled up and down erratically. Another turret simply appeared to have suffered a mechanical jam, oscillating back and forth in its cradle as it attempted to orient on the intruders. Beyond that, more still tracked individuals in the infantry team and simply failed to fire.

The ones that stilled worked made themselves noticed. With a brief burst of ultraviolet light, they began to fire invisible EMR Lasers at the infantry, each ray capable of passing straight through their armor and cooking them inside their suits by liquefying their flesh.

The soldier who had activated the capacitor was located in a niche tucked away in a wall several meters to the side of the massive intersection, and so was hidden from turrets - but the alcove entrance, rimmed by a metal lip, had suddenly filled behind him with a faint but just barely visible wall of shimmering evanescent light, its purpose unknown yet not too hard to guess at.