Flamelord — Roleplayer Guild

The Andromeda lingered on in it's course parallel to that of the Galactic Empire ship, the Osprey in a formation nearby. Things were settling down, if a little, as the crew grew acclimated to where they where, and these interactions that were taking place. They had to represent Earth now, and all it meant, until they could get home, unaware as such of the tumultuous impact their words were having on the ship behind them.

Dmitri was certainly being worked harder than he had ever been since graduating from the Academy. "Sir, we're being hailed by a vessel claiming to belong to a 'United Nations Space Command'. They're offering their assistance."

That certainly piqued the Admiral's interest. "The United Nations you say," he commented with a surprised expression. "The United Nations was the main predecessor organization to the Earth Federation, but they never had a Space Command, at least as far as I'm aware. It took the advent of the Earth Federation to make that a reality." He looked over to Dmitri "Acknowledge, but politely decline."

Dmitri nodded. "Yes sir." He then turned to the comm. "Icarus this is the Andromeda. We acknowledge, but do not need assistance at this time."

More comms chatter came through, instructions from the Culling of Prospero as to landing instructions and the kinds of aid they would need.Still, with the 'Galactic Empire' looming, Hijikata couldn't do this mission himself. He looked down from his command post to the taciturn man nearby. "Commander Roche, I think you can handle this. Take a flight of Cosmo Seagulls across to the Prospero and give them medical assistance. Take a squadron of Marines with you just in case."

"Yes sir," Roche replied with a sharp salute, before turning on his heels and departing for the hangar bay.

Hangar

The hangar was less frantic now as a flight of Cosmo Seagulls was loaded with medical supplies to aid the stricken vessel. Bandages, painkillers, tourniquets, the works. And it was there that Roche arrived, finding a squad of Marines waiting for him, armed with Pulsar rifles and in full battle armor.

He returned their salute with a nod, and then faced the mechanics working on the craft. "Are we good to go?"

"Yes sir, we just finished loading the last supplies," the mechanic replied, and Roche smiled faintly. "Good." He moved for the Seagull then, stepping in with the Marines following. The side hatch closed, and the craft taxied onto the catapult, to be launched into space where they would meet up with an escort of Cosmo Tiger II's, who would take them across the void to the Prospero

Roche whistled as they neared it. "Now that is a ship," he commented, looking out the front of the craft to the vessel that loomed, a frank monstrosity of steel and metal. It was...really big, and if he missed his guess, even the Andromeda would have trouble with that, without her Wave Motion Guns.

Soon they were there though and the Cosmo Tiger II's hung off as the trio of Seagulls moved in for a landing in he monstrous cavern that was the hangar bay, rotating so the side hatch faced the honor guard waiting for them as they taxied to a halt. After a few brief moments, the roar of the engines dying down, the side hatch opened, revealing Roche with the squad of marines after him.

To say he was intimidated would be an understatement. Facing him down were tall, hulking figures with tough armor, which clearly showed the signs of battle. A quick estimate placed his chances in a shootout at very low, all of a sudden.

But he pushed down that fear beneath duty, stepping forward and snapping a salute. "Commander Philippe Roche, EDFS Andromeda requesting permission to come aboard," he said in as clear, confident tones as he could muster. This was going to be fun.

Bridge

There was no more time to contemplate the matter of the Prospero though, as the Imperial response came across, and Hijikata found himself with the dilemma. Let them board, or no? In the end, it was an easy decision to make, and Dmitri sent the message across. "Very well. We harbor no criminals of your 'Empire,' but will allow you to board for cursory inspections to make certain."

Suddenly, concurrent or perhaps even before the message from the Osprey came across, the Andromeda was hit by whatever had hit them before. The encryption protocols were decent, the Gamilons never having gone much for cyber warfare when they so hilariously outgunned humanity, but it was respectable by Earth standards.

Engineering burst into activity as the intrusion was detected. "Sir, we're reading multiple system breaches," called Youssef as he practically pounded on the keyboard in front of him. "Primary firewall...secondary...trinary....sir, they're ripping through our electronic defenses like they don't exist."

Hijikata growled. This was not good, to say the least. With the amount of the ship that relied on automated systems to function, an intruder in the system could cripple them. "Stop them," he yelled. "I don't care if you have to shut down the network and the ship, I don't want them seizing control."

And just as suddenly ,the assault ended. "Sir, whatever it was, it's gone. Systems are clean," Youssef replied, forehead beaded with nervous sweat.

Hijikata harrumphed as he leaned back. "Run a systems diagnostic, make sure they didn't leave any presents behind. Find out if they did anything,"

Dmitri perked up. "Sir, we're being hailed by the Osprey. They're saying that the Icarus was behind the attack."

Hijikata sighed and rose from his seat. "Lieutenant, contact the Icarus and indicate to them our extreme displeasure. Meanwhile, Richards, you have command. I'm going to greet our Imperial guests."

"Yes sir," Brandon replied as he rose and moved to the Captain's chair, the Admiral departing the bridge for the hangar. Meanwhile, Dmitri sent that message. "UNSC Icarus, this is the EDFS Andromeda. Our ship just suffered a crippling breach in security, and we have reason to believe that your vessel was responsible. Be aware that such actions could be taken as hostile on our part, and any such repeat events will result in the Andromeda firing on the Icarus in self defense. We have no desire for conflict, but an attack, be it either physical or electronic, will be responded to in kind. Do you copy?"

Hangar

Hijikata arrived in the hangar to find an honor guard of loaded out marines waiting, earning an approving nod as he took up a spot at the front of the delegation, arms clasped behind his back as he waited for the arrival of the Imperial delegation.

Outside, the defense bubble of fighters would open up to allow the Imperials entry, their craft escorted by a pair of Cosmo Tiger II fighters to the hangar bay, where they would be allowed to land. Time to get the fun started.

Valtare followed along at a decent clip, to the fenced off area where Serena's riding lessons would take place. There he took up a position, following somewhat as they moved about, yet primarily still, watching as he leaned against the fence. As the hour passed by he watched, a smile returning to his face at the sight of the Princess riding, regal and noble on the horse, just like he remembered, like she should be. She was..precious to him, after all.

Too soon though it was over, and Valtare straightened up as Bane joined him and Serena rode away. He considered what he said, and found that he had to agree with the assessment, somewhat reluctantly though. "Yes sir," he replied, his gaze on her and the stables. "But what can we do about it? As a Princess she has responsibilities that need to be followed. The best we can hope for is that she finds someone who actually cares for her, and not just the title." He sighed and moved towards the stables, unsure of what to do.

"Good job out there," he called out as he neared where Serena was. "Gotta keep an eye out on that third jump though. I don't need you ending flat on your butt all the time."

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