[b][u] Americana System No Man’s Land Desert Moon of Mojave In Orbit of the Gas Giant Bunyan [/u][/b] [img] https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/006/322/526/large/robbert-middelkoop-space-battle.jpg?1497695407 [/img] The dark void of space was lit aflame as the fires of war raged within its vacuum, as two opposing fleets are locked into pitched combat, the ordered battles lines having crumbled into total disarray, ships breaking formation as they engaged whatever target was in sight. In between the chaos, smaller strike and support craft zoomed past one another, exchanging shots at one another, dodging all sorts of hazards in the form of starship debris, passing ships or incoming torpedoes. The 5th fleet of the Free Republic Navy was tasked with pushing past the enemy lines, the main objective was either taking and holding the one of the Ascendancy’s frontline orbital bases, or if they were repelled and all else failed, they were to destroy it. From the CIC room of the flagship, FRS Roaring Tempest. Admiral Jiaal Farus stood with the other command staff as they enriched a table with mini holo-projections of the battle outside. The Tempest’s hull shuddering, tremoring, and wailing with every enemy round taken as the shields were slowly worn down. “Status on our boarding teams?” Jial asked, looking to his Security chief. She paused a moment as he placed two fingers over her ear. Nodding to whoever responded on the other end, looking back to the admiral. “All green, sir.” She replied. “Ready on your go.” “Good, no time to lose, la-“ Before the Admiral could give the order….something odd was occurring. A new alarm rang out throughout the ship. “Admiral!” His XO shouted. “We got a new energy signature! It’s…..big, really big!” The new signature materialized outside the battle, first came a small bright orb, it had begun to swirl and swirl, growing brighter and brighter. Pilots on both sides could clear see this miracle occurring, the first witnesses of a truly historic moment. In literally a flash, a bright, blinding light “exploded” in a sense, sending a shock wave throughout the region, letting itself be known to all inhabitants of the system. The Gate has reopened. “By the Gods…..” Jiaal uttered weakely. However, there would be little to properly process what just occurred, the initial activation of the Gateway pulling in ships from both opposing fleets, the sheer strength of the pull knocking all standing to the floor. “We’re getting pulled in!” One of the officers cried out as they entered the unknown. Within moments, a small portion of each fleet had vanished from the face of the galaxy. [hr] [b][u]RADX-001[/u][/b] The Tempest and her counterpart, the Cerberus both found themselves no longer in orbit of Mojave, but an entirely alien world below. A seemingly lush world of endless green. For a moment, both ships went dark, but gradually sparked back to life as systems were restored. Jiaal stammered back up, letting out an audible moan. “What in the hell just happened!?!” “Your guess is as good as mine..” XO Bashir spoke. The holo-table was restored, showing the enemy flagship, and an endless sea of error or uncharted signs. Screens booted up, showing a visual feed from the outside, showing a planet unlike the desert moon they fought over. “Where are we?” Jiaal ask, looking to his navigation officer. She was silent for moment, still in shock over the whole experience, almost in a trance. “Navigator Adams!” Jiaal raised his voice to get her attention, she shook her head, snapping back to reality. ‘Sorry, sir, give me a moment….Admiral, not only are far from Moajve…we’re not even in the same system anymore..” Jiaal looked in disbelief. “So...we just “jumped” out? In a whole different part of the galaxy? “That’s exactly what happened, sir.” “The legends were true…” One of the human officers muttered. “The Gates are real!” “Is that Earth?!!?” Another shrieked with excitement, looking to the new world they see before them. The moment of reprieve would come to an end as the ship shook once more. “Enemy flagship is online!” “Even now, those bastards won’t let up.” Jiaal said to Bashir, both men nodded as they tended to their duties. “Focus all batteries on the flagship! Launch whatever’s left in the hanger! Bring that monster down!” [hr] [b][u]Laurasia[/u][/b] It all came so suddenly and without warning, the Janissary Cruiser, the Prosperity in one moment, was in pitched combat against an encroaching enemy fleet, suddenly she and her FRA counterpart found themselves in parts unknown. Darius Garza laid on the steel floor, barely conscious as he heard muffled screams all around him, the ship’s sirens blaring out, dark featureless shapes morphing back and forth, he almost slipped back into the darkness before he felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly, a feminine voice slowly breaking through the darkness. "DARIUS!" A pale-skinned young woman called out to him, her hair as white as snow, her jade eyes, filled with deep concern, welling with tears as he regained consciousness. “Thank the Gods…” Darius at first was slow to stand on his two feet, but he managed the strength to do such a task. He rubbed the back of his head, sore from the nasty fall he took. “Alice…What the hell happened...” He asked, his voice slightly slurred, barely awake. “I don’t know…there was a big flash, then we ended up somewhere….else.” Alice replied the best as she could, she honestly could barely believe it herself in truth. The ship trembled as both slow their ground, the Americanan vessel was not wasting time, and continued the battle. “We gotta get you out of here.” Alice said as she lifted Darius, both shoulder to shoulder as they left the bunk. Once the doors slide open, it was chaos, as the Properity’s crew scrambled about, the sirens still blaring out, followed by “Red Alert! Red Alert! All personnel in combat stations!” Pushing through the corridors. The duo moving down the path leading to the sick bay. ---------------- The captain of the Prosperity, Lyro Ordius waited with anticipation and dread as the battle unfolded, staring intently at the holo-projections of the two stranded vessels. On one end was Prosperity herself, and on the other end was a Resilience-class Cruiser. Between both ships were dozens of small blips on the map, representing fighters and other craft for both sides as they duked it out. The ship trembled once more, breaking the balance of all the CIC staff. "Captain! Shields are down to 30%!." One the staff called out. The captain focused his gaze at the battle unfolding, even if they ended up on the other side of the galaxy, he refused to yield to the enemy. “Focus any available batteries on the enemy cruiser! Blast the heathens to stardust!” “Aye Aye, Captain.” Another officer replied. “Broadside batteries reconfiguring target….now!” The ship let out a low rumble as the heavy batteries let out a shot. “Enemy cruiser shields down by 20%.” The officer declared. Caption Ordius continued to survey the battlefield, circling around the table, bright red lights illuminating the dark room. “We can worry about where we ended up…once we purge the system of their heresy.” [hr] [b][u]Salome[/u][/b] On another corner of the Galaxy, another pair of ships would find themselves in an alien environment, far away from home, although for this group, was a somewhat familiar sight. The command crew of the FRA carrier Endurance looked in awe, they were certainly in orbit a Gas Giant similar to Bunyan, but there were a few facts that seemed off. The fleet was nowhere to be seen, and the gas giant above was even the wrong color, and whatever moon they were in orbit of, it wasn’t Mojave for sure. “Captain, orders?” XO Hudson spoke to captain Grayson, shaking off the shock of what seemed to be an alternate reality, as crazy as it sounds. “Status on the enemy?” “Whatever that thing was, it affected them too. “XO Hudson stated.” Their ship’s gone dark, but is slowly coming online, like us." "Location?" One of the command staff spoke up. "All I know is...we're not where we're supposed to be....and we've just detected new signatures...matching absolutely nothing, not friendly or Yulzan." “I want the ship and crew to remain on alert, the moment the Yulzan ship comes back online, no doubt they’ll start shooting...and we can only pray these new contacts are friendly.”