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[b]S.S Anara. Luxury Liner - Antares System.[/b][/center]

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Michael Forsett was taking his personal luxury liner Anara for a cruise, this for a good couple of reasons, firstly he had several dignitaries aboard the ship, the aim to put this larger class of luxury ship to be available on the market… For those wealthy enough to afford it of course, the Anara was his personal ship with a crew of eight, along with several security and his daughter, the latter of which didn’t really get a choice on whether or not she wanted to come along and was hiding out in the ships shuttle. If those viewing the ship were impressed enough, then maybe several sales could be made to go along with the small and medium class luxury liners already available. 

The second reason however, was what some would consider more sinister or at least silly ulterior motive. While ships were flying through the system, which normally would not be considered too much out of the ordinary with plenty of civilian traffic going about the inner parts of the Antares system. However, the ship was heading further out from the inner part of the system, more specifically steadily closer to a restricted zone of space to where a certain incident had happened thirty years’ prior, the approximate location of where the gate was. The Alliance had made it clear no civilian traffic unless authorized was to enter an exclusion zone that was set around it days after that historic Incident. 

A tall dark haired man had made his way up to the bridge, he was clean shaven and looking sharp in his black suit, he proper looked the business type, exuding confidence, he had just spent an hour or so pretending to be super interested in what his guests had to say, although he did well to do his part in the selling points of the ship. Adjusting his tie, he stepped beside the captain of the ship. [b]“Are things all in order George?”[/b] George, a man, dressed in an outfit one would expect for a civilian captain of a ship, similar to those of their ancestral past that sail the Terran oceans in luxury liners of the past. Adjusting his hat, the man did his best not to show intimidation to the man that basically pays to top credits to keep his ship in one piece. [b]“Yes Mr Forsett, everything is running smoothly, But…”[/b] 

[b]“But what Captain? If there is something on your mind, then please speak up, I am not a mind reader.”[/b] George swallowed, he didn’t want to upset his boss but, he felt it he had to say something. [b]“Well considering what it is we are really doing out here, are you sure this is a good idea, we are closing in on the exclusion zone, no doubt we are being monitored, no matter how inconspicuous we try to be. The Alliance would be on us very quickly, if they haven’t already dispatched a ship to intercept us.”[/b] The captain placed his hands behind his back as he looked out the window ahead.

[i]‘Hmm’[/i] Michael rubbed his chin for a moment in thought. [b]“You worry too much George, I get the crew might be on edge over it, but something is going on out here, for almost thirty years the Alliance closed of this area of space, yet military ships quite often patrol it, they are hiding something and I intend to find out what is it, weather my board of directors like it or not.”[/b] He paused for a moment, [b]“Look it is no secret what happened all those years ago, but seriously what do you think has been going on since?”[/b] The conversation was cut off by a female helmsman. [b]“Sir, we have just entered the no exclusion zone, Alliance Navy have ordered us to reverse course and await to be boarded.”[/b] 

Michael smiled, if anyone knew him well enough, he wasn’t one for doing what he is told when he sets his mind to something. [b]“Well no point hiding it now, set course straight for these coordinates. Ignore them for now.”[/b] The bridge crew were set to work, various buttons and noises could be heard. [b]“I can’t Sir, they are already blocking communications, we can’t contact anyone.”[/b] That didn’t surprise him at all. [b]“Hmm standard procedure, alright light up scanners, let’s see what’s got their panties in a twist.”[/b] 

[b]“Sir, We can’t…. An alliance ship has jammed our sensors.”[/b] 
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[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xH9qcir.jpg[/img]

[b]Tiberius Station. Alliance installation.[/b]

Within Tiberius station, an alliance installation finally built a few years ago in a defensible position from the Antares gateway, Commander Carleton Hurston was sitting in his ready room adjacent to the operations room. Although mostly a military installation, at the insistence of a vote within the council, civilian infrastructure was also built within it. This not only allowed the station to properly defend itself, it could also act as meeting place or outpost for trade and as such was equipped with external and internal docking facilities. This meant the station was always well stocked and had only light traffic really to deal with from the inner part of the system, mostly freighters and other various ship came to and from. Plus, several Alliance naval ships where often docked there or on patrol nearby, this would help cut down response time. It was clear to the higher ups there was always a chance the gateway would reopen.

Over the years it didn’t however and as such things just got quieter, many would say it was a boring assignment but it allowed the good commander to get a good rapport with his fellow officers and others that came to call this home away from home. Today however was just like any other day, everything was running smoothly with the only thing brought to his attention was S.S Anara had deviated of its flight path, despite not being scheduled to arrive at the station.

[b]“Commander Hurston to ops”[/b] letting out a sigh under his breath, the commander got up and straighten out his uniform, he wasn’t lazy by any means but it did interrupt him going over station reports. Stepping out through the doors of his ready room the commander made his way towards the centre of ops. [b]“What you got for me Lieutenant Commander?”[/b] A female Terran officer acknowledged her superior officer as he walked towards her. [b]“Sir, we have a slight problem with the S.S Anara, she has flown into the exclusion zone and has thus far ignored our communications.”[/b] Moment after her reporting a male Krentasian spoke up from his ops station. [b]“I took the liberty of ordering the Zetec to intercept the vessel, Prometheus was still docked.”[/b] 

This prompted both the commander and lieutenant commander to turn and look at the officer.[b] “I think sending the Prometheus would’ve been a little overboard for a single civilian ship lieutenant don’t you think?”[/b] the Krentasian nodded. [b]“Quite sir.”[/b] This caused the pair to smile before bringing their attention to the data before them. The Zetec was on patrol nearby and was only a few moments out from intercepting the Anara. The Corvette would easily catch up to the luxury liner. The commander was quite baffled; why would anyone violate a no fly zone? Or even for that matter head to where the gate was? There had been no activity from it in like thirty years. 

Carleton let out another audible sigh. [b]“Open a comms channel.”[/b] A few brief moments past before it gets a nod from the communications officer he is live. [b]“S.S Anara, this is Commander Hurston of Tiberius station, you are in violation of an exclusion zone set up by the systems alliance advisory board. This is a no fly zone and as such I order you to stand down, you will be escorted to the station, upon your arrival I will most certainly look forward to hear what perfectly good reason you have for this stunt.”[/b]  The commander waits for a reply but none came. Silencing the channel from their end. “Did they receive that?” His communication officer nodded. [b]“Yes Sir, they most definitely received us, they are simply ignoring us.”[/b] 

[b]“Hmm, very well….. Signal the Zetec, tell them they are cleared for boarding action, secure the ship safely as possible.”[/b] Soon people were hastily getting to work, hearing everything working in synchronisation made the commander proud, despite how it has been since the station came operational, everyone carried out their duties as one would expect. Now why was Forsett being so stupid for? 

[b]“Sir! Massive energy spike detected within the exclusion zone!”[/b] there was urgency in his second in commands voice as several alarms sounded off. [b]“Now what!”[/b] the commander blurts out... [b]“Good god”[/b] are the next words uttered from his mouth as they all watch in amazing or more like a reindeer caught in headlights. A new signature was detected at the location of the Anara. First came a small bright light, soon It blossoms suddenly out of black space, with multiple layers of swirling gaseous clouds, miles in diameter, centered with a mushroom dome that irises open to reveal a tunnel pulsing with an energy field of rippling shock wave that explodes from the aperture, literally everything in the system must have detected it. 

The gateway had reopened… A historical but concerning moment in history. When scanners returned to normal, The Anara was nowhere to be seen, the Zetec reported light damage from the shockwave where its proximity to the gate compared to the Anara was not as close and being a naval vessel. There was no debris to be found meaning the Anara was not destroyed, the only conclusion was the civilian ship was pulled into the gate, being on top of the gate when it opened must have meant the ship was badly damaged and its location unknown. The Zetec had reported upon closing on the gate that multiple gate addresses had become available when it interacted with the ship while the navy scrambled ships to secure the gate from both Tiberius station and other ships further in system. 

[u][b]Americana 
No Man's Land
In proximity of Mojave DMZ.[/b][/u]

Not long after its disappearance from the Antares system, a new signature emerged from the gate within the Americana system. The Anara came out ass first into the system amongst garrisoned forces with some hull debris, the ship was heavily damaged and was spiralling out of control, engine systems appeared to be offline as the vessel was in a gradual spin, external lighting dimming from time to time due to some sort of power loss. Much of the crew and guests were unconscious with the ships emergency backup systems keeping what it could online, otherwise the crew would more than likely be thrown around like ragdolls. Some however were conscious with the captain checking on his bridge officers. On other decks, some pf the passengers were in a panic, some cries and screams could be hard among the flickering lights. It was not the best way to enter a system unannounced nor a good first impression, but then again, no one had expected the Antares gate to open, suck in a ship and spew out to god knows where, making it difficult for the Alliance to form a rescue plan. 
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[@Sigma] [i]An unscheduled arrival.[/i]

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[center][u][b]Terra Nova, Elysium.[/b][/u]

Within a couple of hours, life was somewhat returning back normal, well as best as it could be considering the historical moment that had occurred. News was still a buzz with the knowledge of the gateway opening for the second time in three centuries, however; unlike thirty years prior where it opening only to destabilise and close, this time it had stayed open and stable. Questions still remained however, such as, who else was out there? Who opened the gateways, was it the Alliance or someone else? Did the home the ancestors of Terra survive? Smaller elements also wondered about the extremists that took off through the gate thirty years ago? Although there was great joy among the populace of both worlds and moons, there was also concern. 

For the time being news agencies like the Alliance News Network were gathered outside the alliance government building in the city of Elysium, people were waiting upon the leadership to present official comments of the current situation. A presenter and crew was finishing up setting up, they waited for when they go live, when it was time to do so the camera was rolling. [b]“This Christian Danielson of the Alliance news network, as you can see I am currently standing outside the FSA headquarters where the current leadership of the alliance, including the respected leadership of the three nations are currently in discussions about the historical moment that we all witnessed not so long ago… We are still awaiting any official word or press release from the president, however; we did get a brief statement from an alliance spokesperson.”[/b] 

Those watching the monitors wherever they are looking at the broadcast would see the screen change to a spokesperson who briefly addressed the media earlier. [b]“The President is currently speaking to all members of the board including leadership of the respected branches of the alliance at this time in regards to todays unexpected events. However; at the moment we can confirm that as witnessed by many earlier today, the gateway has indeed opened, we can assure everyone that the situation is under control, we like to take a moment the thank the Alliance navy for their swift response to the current situation and has since secured the area surrounding the gateway, while investigations are ongoing at this time we cannot speculate as to what caused the gate to open but can assure all our citizens that all precautions are being taken and there is no need for concern, We hope that everyone can celebrate this historic occasion, we are not taking questions at this time, thank you.”[/b] 

The screen goes back life to the reporter. [b]“As you can see, many are indeed celebrating the opening of the gate, but of course and quite understandably there are those that are concerned. Either way this is a historical moment and that many hope to open up new avenues and opportunities. It is expected at some point today that the president will address the alliance, until then, there are of course many issues to discuss and we will continue to do our best to give you as much up to date news as the situation develops. I am Christian Danielson, of the alliance news network”[/b] soon the live feed but of back to the studio that would carry on with other news, just what did the future now hold for everyone, no one truly knew. [/center]