The Meknik Union
Muster Point Echo, Grey Fleet deployment zone.

In the dark space between worlds, a fleet base hung in orbit of a rogue planetoid without a star. A hidden base from which to wage war against enemies whom being in line of sight was enough to put one in the crosshairs of death. Secrecy was it's shield more than the hundreds of starships cradled in it's dockyards and hovering in orbit. If need be, the base was one of dozens meant to support and wage war decades after the collapse of the society it was meant to protect.

A mentality of absolute bayonet-point warfare the Union was now paying for, Admiral Angevian sighed as he turned away from the holo of a starscape. It would be so easy to lose track of these bases if it weren't for encrypted locator beacons on obscure frequencies of cosmic waves. A mere misalignment of a single beacon could cause a base like this to be lost, as it was meant to be by design. A fleet base capable of sustaining a entire battlegroup and support elements could be lost by accident and left in the hands of the crew relentlessly drilled for contingencies against discovery by ruthless alien enemies.

Only the enemy was far from ruthless, and had never meant the war to go to the extremes it had......

"Admiral Angevian?"

The greyfur Meknik perked up in his chair, mentally returning to the meeting he was sitting in. Fortunately his daydream had gone largely unnoticed in the reception of the standard general report. Daydreaming during a fleet planning op would have been far worse, but his aide had politely poked him back into reality, which he thanked with a nod as the General Report concluded and the meeting shifted to the real subject of the day.

"So in summary Admirals our internal matters are, while not entirely stable, are under control for the present time. There should be no draw-down of forces slated for the Grey, Green, or Blue fleets or the upcoming operations." Finished Fleet Admiral Rawne.

"Thats a first." Angevian couldn't help but comment, to the agreement of most of the other Admirals in the room, used to shortages and squadrons being called upon to deal with some stray fire somewhere.

"Parliament is taking the recovery of the Lost Margin and the Dark Void Armories very seriously." Flatly replied Rawne. "With the original records destroyed, we have over two hundred large industrial colony missions unaccounted for, launched in the general direction of a cluster we now recognize as being not just inhabited but likely occupied by FTL-capable alien races unlike anything in our local cluster. The possibility of provoking an outside power and sparking another war is a very grave risk ladies and gentlemeks. Worse, these are colonies that do not have access to the Ultani industrial technology we have acquired, which means a repeat of the same garden-world strip-mining and exploitation that got us into this mess to begin with. We must find those colonies and get them to stand down at any cost."

"What about the local Resistance? Taking away this many carriers is going to embolden their fighting spirit." Inquired another Admiral.

"The Resistance is running out of steam and spare parts, we have confirmed they are no longer able to maintain their plasma lances. This takes priority."

"Gonna be a long patrol for those involved." Said Admiral Gaven, looking up at Angevian. "Theres a damn high likeliness you won't be coming back for years."

"Decades." Angevian replied with as much nonchalance as he could muster. "Its going to be six months before we even reach the first survey point to even start scanning. Even with a 200-ship expeditionary force, theres a ton of space to cover. I'm willing to do it. So are my crews. Afterall, there is a serious chance we may have to expand and develop upon those Armory colonies, am I right?"

"Yes. There is no telling what distant alien worlds may hold." Rawne agreed. "The discovery of Tessium on Ajaxis turned our nation's understanding of armor-piercing metallurgy on it's head, plus the unique assets of a dozen other worlds. Those Armory Colonies are just as much a potential asset as a risk. Understood?"

"Crystal. I [i]will[/i] find the Dark Void Armories. We march in a week."

"Admiral Gaven, are you prepared to track the Lost Margin?"

"We're just waiting for the last division of scout sloops. We'll ship out in two weeks at the latest."

"Good. This is a big damn mess we have to clean up, and we have to get it done fast before someone else trips over those colonies. Still, given the Parliament's overwhelming support for this search-and-secure, I would also like to discuss contingency plans for further expeditions. As Admiral Angevian said, its a big galaxy out there. We need to be ready to make the most of however many ships we can wrangle away from occupation efforts-"

As the meeting shifted towards mechanical details of deployments and maneuvers, Angevian's eyes were once more drawn to the holo of a starscape. He couldn't see the stars in that image, only the ghosts of the dead hovering outside the station. Millions upon millions of ghosts looming all around him, rapping on the windows and bulkheads reminding him of his purpose. To not let those deaths be for nothing.

This would not be enough to wipe away the stains of death on his dirty paws. But perhaps it would be the beginning of reconciliation with his ghosts.

"Admiral? You are daydreaming again. Do you need a stim-patch?"


Summary:
The Meknik Union is launching expeditionary fleets to track down two lost Armory Colony missions, designate "Dark Void" and "Lost Margin". Both of which were aimed near the main cluster of our game map and now lost to the Union, who is worried of what will happen if they are found.