[hider=Collab]
Collaboration between Klomster and CowboyCommando.
[/hider]


[b]Ostersund system.
Federal Meridian Union space.[/b]

With a flicker, the roughly six hundred metre long vessel of the ancient materialized close to the third planet of the system.
It casually began to make contact with the relay and zoomed along the system.
As it it initially couldn't contact the relay, the ancient moved closer, as it did it noticed similar miniscule metal satellites, ships and orbiters as it had done in the previous location.

Perhaps it was more of the same type of creature? No, the scans showed they were different biologically. But there were loads of them. Fascinating, this was the first time there were advanced biological creatures with space travel and the like in the ancients history! Or memory. It couldn't remember all the details.
And in several locations as well! Truly exciting times.

The union satellite network quickly picked up the alien vessel and sent out warnings all over, an alien vessel roughly the size of a Huai-hai assault dreadnought had appeared from nowhere and was travelling through the system at ludicrous speed.

[b]Aboard the Leipzig class heavy cruiser "Tricamarum"[/b]

"What the hell!" The Com Nav specialist said, the Cruisers bridge was small, Spartan. An armored cell placed in the heart of the ship, reinforced by bulkheads. 

"Stop yammering over the comms, we have an incoming unidentified target. I want every ship undocked, ASAP that means anyone outside the ship, or on the colony are sitting this out." The acting CO, Brigadier Colonel Rushdi el-Hamed watched the status screen. This ship was nothing anyone had ever seen. None of the ship logs on known alien vessels cropped up a hit. And whatever it was, it was nearly breaking light-speed like it was a cake walk in the park.

The speeding alien vessel was heading straight for a cluster of moons on the furthest gas giant in the system. The only thing stationed here was a task force that just happened to be refueling at the Helium mining colony Alspar V. Rushdi had a bad feeling about this.

"Whats the sitrep on undocking?"

The Communications officer promptly replied "We have eight minutes, the light cruiser Sena Gallica has three. The corvettes have already departed on a broad intercept course as you requested. The relayed information just keeps getting... stranger and stranger.

Rushdi looked over the logs, nothing from MajCom yet though it would be a few minutes, and that's all it would take for this crisis to end.

The corvette's bristled with intermediate range multi-purpose Nuclear weapons, cheap implosion type nuclear shrapnel bus's meant for both ship and interception use. Though he doubted they would have much effect, whatever this ship was it had capabilities way beyond their's no doubt. The energy coefficients probably godlike compared to simple fusion and fission machinations Humanity had perfected over the course of thousands of years.

A warning signal at the speed of light was lasered in the general interception courses for the Alien vessel to receive, not to mention radio and simple light signals from a bygone era. 

The blip on the screens was growing closer by the second, deck hands raced back and forth in the halls. The corvettes were ready for their order's, well spaced but close enough to support each other the squadron numbered five in total. He just prayed whatever happened, that they wouldn't die in vain; whatever happened, he'd rather die than let that ship kill the eight thousand souls or so inhabiting the Helium farm colony.

The ancient darted past some space debris of some strange alien contraption, it recognized the material. Species 4'1, violent, no need to send warning before engaging. Luckily it was just wreckage from long ago, so the ancient promptly ignored it. Blasting away a piece that would have hit the hull with a directed matter to energy conversion beam which promptly annihilated the piece.
The ancient also picked up some more debris, unknown species, not the same as the current dwellers, ignore.

As it gently corkscrewed through space it ran into the warning signals sent from the Union ships whom desperately were trying to stop the thing from closing.
However, from the ancients point of view they were blinking lights and sending radiation towards it, were they trying to attack it? It didn't seem like it, scans showed that they have far more power available within their ships.
Then it hit it, perhaps....

The ancient slowed to a halt within a second, the G's would have killed most biological lifeforms with ease as it came to a violent stop. Which for the ancient was more like stopping mid-step.

Perhaps they were like the previous species? Perhaps they as well were trying to communicate? The ancient now realized that similar radiation was launched upon the different satellites and orbiters and ships within the system, it must be communication!
However, the ancient didn't really have time to chat, what was disturbing was that it still hadn't got contact with the relay.
Had they destroyed it? Surely a signal would have been sent out to awaken it to rush to its protection?

No other options were left.
Overlaying the vision of those present within a light minute, a moving image of a being similar to the ancient overlaid some of the visual spectrum of those present. Effectively showing a picture in picture with the message, with a simple translator enabling all creatures to understand it.
-"This unit is performing a task important to the goal, stand down any aggressions or be forced to surrender energy. You have been warned. What is your intentions?"

The Sena Gallica had just undocked, the group of corvettes achieving geo-synchronous orbit with several strategic moons ideal for skirmishing. It seemed as if engagement was inevitable.

Everyone aboard all vessels had dawn their battle rattle, readied their side arms, with damage control teams praying for the best; and expecting the worse. "We got an update!" Comm Nav announced, a single pure burst of Laser fire flashing across the void at old space Hulk's from the Chimeric Wars, slagging the tough nano-composite hulls like it was butter. Murmurs filled the bridge, before shortly after another update came through deciphered by Comm Nav. 

"Something is going on here..." Rushdi said to himself. The ship had stopped entirely as if shedding of velocity and inertia was child's play, from the calculations relayed to him. It was a dead stop. Only possible in the theoretical sciences of warp drive travel. But fine tuned to such a degree it boggled the best minds of the onboard to even begin guessing.

Then the message began to play.

The crew seem confused, even Rushdi. The image of a... godly? Angelic like? Perhaps advanced form of life played across his mind's eye.
"This unit is performing a task important to the goal, stand down any aggressions or be forced to surrender energy. You have been warned. What is your intentions?"
There was no tone, just meaning that formed into words in his mind. He grimaced, this new encounter was a wild card. If it really wasn't hostile there was only one way to find out.  Keying in a message of his own devising and punching it through. The message relayed in Binary, with a packet of references; though the chance of it being enough for the Alien vessel to understand itself would be very slim considering.

[i]This is the FSMF Cruiser Tricamarum, you are invading Federal Meridian space, you will be fired upon if you enter range as an act of self defense. Do not approach, break off.[/i]


The ancient had sent the message, now it was just time to wait for a response.....
It took a good minute, and all the while the biologicals were sending radiation and light towards it. It stored the scan logs but forgot to put mind to it until it realized.
They can't communicate this way.

The ancient was puzzled, never before had it been subjected to biologicals in vessels. In the memory databanks there were encounters, sure, but they were not its....
Not its memories.....
The ancient dismissed this thought, it needed to figure out how to communicate with these lifeforms. It checked the logs, worked to make sense of the radiation patterns, the lights.

For several minutes it sat dead in space, it was however giving off some odd energy readings. It was no spikes however, no buildup.
It was about here it realized it was stupid.

All ancient units are fitted with a universal translator, it just needs to somehow implement it upon these data.
In the meantime the ancient would have to do something, the biologicals were getting more vessels ready, they might be hostile.
The ancient decided to try something that was actually prohibited, but the great had not come in a long time, and the goal justified all means. So it took specific parts of the message and added some from another, and thus sent it.

Again a vision was seen of those present within a light-minute. This one however was more choppy and bore obvious resemblance to a video crudely edited to say something different. With a slight flicker at times.
-"This unit is performing a task important to the goal... await further instructions... your intentions... stand down any aggressions... this unit... intention... perform... task important to the goal..."
The message would have to do, as the ancient was trying to figure out how to translate the seemingly random radiation pulses of the biologicals.


Another vision had stricken the crew, Rushdi rubbing his temple from a throbbing headache. "What should we do sir?" Asked the Americano senior NCO. He habitually chewed on a tooth pick, eyeing the status board in the CnC. A  red dot that had been  speeding across it like a bat out of hell, now stationary. 

He had no answers as to what would be the right thing to do, but there was protocol for this. If all else failed unidentified vessels were not to at all costs be able to invade Meridian space. Time was ticking away, and the options were few. The readings coming off the vessel heading right towards them didn't bode well. It was even more powerful than what the Chimerics had thrown at them in the past.

But the FMSF had always fought against the odds, doctrine dictated survival of war vessels was above all else even in the face of an enemy approaching a small habituated object. All those souls down bellow didn't equate into value compared to the Patrol group.

But when all else failed screw the odds. The Alien vessel might not seem hostile, but chances couldn't be taken never. It would simply have to listen or figure out what they were saying. But perhaps their was a middle ground? 

The Tricamarum had finally undocked, however instead of joining the rest of the patrol group it would orbit the  gas giant and catch the Alien Vessel in a six way cross fire if it entered to close. The speed at which it could approach would mean all ships would have to achieve the slowest possible orbits, as to hopefully stay behind the planets until the last second. "What to do?" He finally said the bridge dead silent. "We'll wait. Cut off the warnings and messages, if it couldn't understand or already has. We've done all we can."

In the belly of the ships crewmen prepared launch tubes, ECM MITWBs(Mulitple independently Targetable Warhead Bus) were prepared for the first volley aboard the Tricamarum, with it's 525mm N.B.C being brought up to speed, system checkouts and loading procedures starting. As crew in Hazard suits loaded the Boron projectile and Nuclear Implosion pellet into the breach.

Everyone changed into vac gear. Their uniforms designed for such use, with the simple addition of a helmet and pair of gloves needed. It would be only a matter of time now. It was obvious of their intent, don't approach. But it would be obvious to a human, perhaps not an Alien.


The situation had reached an impasse, the ancient could not translate the biologicals messages, nor did it want to destroy them. Since it seemed to be curious about the ways of the biologicals, even if these ones were more difficult to understand than the previous types encountered.

But as it couldn't close any further without risking miscommunication with the biologicals, nor could it stand in place for it task was clear. It came down to one option.

The ancient activated its fade drive.
With a flicker that most reminded the Meridians of shuddering jello, the ancient phased out of real-space and closed with the planet in hyperspace.
That planet Being Ostersund.

In the sky at a measly 10 kilometre height the ancient vessel materialized over the main continent of Ostersund, the purple and black droplet of pure power hanging there like gravity was not even a concept worth mentioning it let loose four smaller droplets which began to spin around it in a perfect square.

The small orbiters span first slowly, then began to speed up, until they were moving at a speed which was close to 200 revolutions per minute.
All within ten seconds.

Then it fired. The orbiters lashing out continuous beams which with the spinning made the entire vessel into a massive matter to energy conversion laser drill.
It lurched into movement, glided into the earth like it was nothing and disappeared into the crust of Ostersund.
The resulting explosion was massive, not from the impact but the continued use of the beam array. It shook the earth of Ostersund, triggering a local earthquake and destabilising the natural geological patterns. Albeit only temporarily.

Deep inside the planet it found what it needed, the relay was intact, the composition of the planet had disrupted the ancients scanners, but the relay was working at optimum performance.
After reaching its target, the ancient was pleased. If that was a concept it had at all that is.
With another flicker, the ancients fade drive activated once more and within the second, it was gone from federal space, as suddenly as it had appeared.

The federal meridian union was stunned at the event.
What they had not realized yet though, was that at 800 kilometers depth, the ancient relay waited to be inspected.