Keyguyperson

From Stardust, To Stardust

WilsonTurner said
No, not a "HUGE" explosion. That'd be unfair- attaching FTL drives to a simple drone, and then warping it into coordinates near an enemy ship would do far too much damage. I think Monkeypants has a better idea- the result of that woul be debris flying off at high speeds in a single general direction, from what's essentially directional instant compression and implosion, which will then react to the force hitting the front stuff, and essentially just turning into debris. KeyGuy's FTL, if fired correctly, or rather, incorrectly enough, could destory the system behind it. Obviously, this is very unfair. I believe he edited that bit out.

It's still totally possible, it's just that destroying a system is so absolutely terrible that the humans believe it would make it impossible for them to ever be redeemed. So they'll never do that. even if I make them into a proud warrior race or something, there'll be something there to prevent using the warp drive like that. Of course, if, let's say, terrorists got a hold of one of the interstellar ships...

And that's why all of your naval officers should be black belts in three different martial arts, as well as plasma saber dueling champions.

Apollo26 said
Im happy with my 50 ships, biggest fleet in Septonian history!!!

The funny thing is that the Terrans are in awe of your tactile holographic displays.

From Stardust, To Stardust

The Dreadnought, The Last Hope
As Fairlan coughed, his face took on the look of a frightened child's. His antennae folded backwards, pressing against his wet, black hair. Still, he wiped his face clean furiously, retreating slowly backwards into a corner. Once he finished cleaning his face, he took his hand away, revealing his eyes, opened as wide as they would go. He desperately tried to make sense of his surroundings, but it was just a blur of light to him. He groped around with his hands, after hearing the voice, they immediately became fists. His antennae wiggles furiously now, as if searching for something.

"Where am I?" He said in a panicked tone "What did you do to me, what the hell was that liquid? My arms are too light, what planet is this!?"

After a mere moment, his fear faded into a full panic, his antennae picking up speed as he continued to grope around as if trying to pick something up. His breathing became faster and faster as he began to sweat.

"Where's Emily?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?" He screamed, as his eyes began to glow a brilliant purple. He stood up abruptly, waking straight up to the man and grabbing his uniform. With the man closer to him, he could see his face. The image was still blurry, but basic features were noticeable. He certainly looked like a human or maybe Boskop, but Fairlan had never heard the man's accent before. He suddenly realized that the man had asked if he was okay, an odd thing for a captor to ask. He slowly let go of the man, using his freed hands to massage his temples.

"I have no idea who the hell you are, so let's start with a request: give me my visor. It's that glass strip that looks like it would clip onto my head, I kind of need it to see. I also need to know just what happened to Emily, and I would prefer to have the latter first."

((WIP, posted because I gotta get this bit out))

Colonial Powers, A NRP of colonisation, conquest and diplomacy.

For the Empress of Corustaria

[i]Wise Empress Emmeline,

The United Vanjanan Empire will most certainly give you access to our lands, for a price, of course. Unless you are prepared to bring enough food for such a march, you will need to take supplies from our own lands. While we are more than willing to allow this, we cannot simply give away food and water. Thus, military access would be, say, one million Fryas. However, the reason for your invasion is quite obvious, Parra is Vanjana's only equal in the game of economics, and Corustaria is most certainly not an economic equal to either of us. Their navy is also somewhat impressive, obviously not when compared to your own, but they could easily make it so. You feel threatened by them, as do we. As the saying goes, 'A wise man can hear profit in the wind'. I see an opportunity for both of us here. For a percentage of Parra's GDP, our soldiers would march with you and Lancia. Losses for both of you would be minimized, and you would still gain a large part of Parra's economy. What is your decision, march alone for a paltry fee, knowing we would give the same benefits to your enemy, or allow us to take a percentage of Parra's GDP, knowing that our soldiers would march with yours and we would not back down from the deal?

Jade Sigfrid I, United Vanjanan Empire

Outskirts of Ragnhildstad, Anhängare av Stjärna Frö Monastery
A boy no older than sixteen rode up the cobblestone road towards the monastery, his brown hair flying in the wind. The monastery itself was a building carved into a small crater on the side of a mountain. Myths abounded as to the crater's origin, the most common being that it was where the Yagdasradich arrived. In reality, however, it was a simple impact crater from a relatively small meteor impact thousands of years ago. However, such scientific knowledge did not yet exist, so it was considered the holiest site for the Anhängare av Stjärna Frö.

The boy's horse had well-groomed white fur, and it's reins bore a silver four-pointed star. The boy himself wore a blue and white Vanjanan army uniform with golden buttons, a garment somewhat similar to a Corustarian Admiral's uniform. However, he also wore a blue cape over the uniform that was buttoned to it, flapping in the wind as he rode. A longsword hung in it's sheath, which was decorated with blue and gold patters. A blue tricorn sat atop his head, sporting gold trim. Leather boots sat in the stirrups, polished clean before he had entered the city. Two men rode alongside the boy, both had muskets strapped to their backs and wore the same style of uniform as the boy, but with white and gold instead of blue and white. Their chests were covered with a golden four-pointed star, the uniform of the royal guard.

The current head of the monastery, Kvinnasomdyrkar Tessan, was standing in the road, her own brown horse tied to a stake beside the road. She wore a simple white dress, decorated with a golden four-pointed star in a similar manner to the uniforms of the royal guards. Under the dress she was, of course, wearing pants. It was hard for a woman to ride a horse while preserving her modesty with nothing but a dress. The three horses slowed to a stop just in front of her, and their riders dismounted. Despite his age, the boy was just as tall as the two guards, and slightly taller than the shorter of them. Tessan curtsied, and the boy returned the gesture with a slight bow.

"Prince Kalle, what brings you to the Plats av trappavsats?" Asked Tessan, to which the boy responded with a soft smile.

"I heard word of refugees from the religious turmoil in Iria, did they say exactly what's going on there? The only word from Iria I can get my hands on comes from the few merchants brave enough to go there."

"Yes, it's anarchy there. Everyone here was almost killed by extremists, the Queen is trying to calm them down, but they say it'll never work."

The Prince frowned, his head hanging downwards as his eyes focused on the cracks in the cobblestone road.

"I was afraid of that, there are five thousand recruits and regulars as well as five thousand arquebusiers kept at your monastery. All of them are faithful men and women, prepared to fight for the Yagdasradich. I wanted to hear your opinion on whether or not I should order an invasion."

"It may be necessary Prince, but how do you plan to stop the chaos with fifteen thousand, a third of whom are armed with near worthless weaponry?"

"I am Kalle Halvar, Prince of Vanjana and chosen of the Yagdasradich!" He said confidently "The Cadzigrara tremble before me! Assemble your troops at the border, it is time to defeat the Cadzigrara once more!"

Descended From

Well, back onto the topic that this thread is actually supposed to be about...

I'm descended from the MacLean clan.

So call me crazy

That's not crazy, that's just a recurring dream that kind of haunts you. Same thing happened to me when I was about five, I've also had it happen along with sleep paralysis (only when I'm really sick, interestingly). Over time, the former went away, but for about a month or so I barely got any sleep at all.

I feel like lucid dreaming would help a lot in breaking these cycles, if the same dream happens but you're aware of the situation, then you might be able to just change the dream into something else, or if you want to have some fun with it, fight back. Alternatively, you could write about it. Not like you did in the OP, I mean turn it into a story. I've found making a story about your problems is a great way of releasing stress over them, not sure if it'll work for you though.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

The OOC thread for my RP. All of it.

I'll just leave it at that.

From Stardust, To Stardust

WilsonTurner said
Ok, instead of having a big long debate, let's just go with-This breaks FTL- no worky in zone around it when the switch points at ON, nor can anything else that moves at slightly below lightspeed or more.

This is probably the best choice.

From Stardust, To Stardust

Monkeypants said
Fox, both isotope and I use a similarly functioning ftl hammer. Blocking any entry from any dimension.FTL *J*ammer

Only dimensions?

My FTL works in real space, so you might want to redefine that.

Also, I am quite happy that two socialist/communist nations are joining. Perhaps they'll be interested in an ideological alliance?

From Stardust, To Stardust

Monkeypants said
Naru-Sen Vaursa The Capital world itself is a world slightly larger than earth with a slightly higher gravity. The world has a purple hue to it due to a large purple nebula cloud that is nearby. The cloud itself is remnants of a gas giant that was knocked off course by a huge asteroid, propelling it towards the star itself. Many wonder what the system would look like today had that asteroid not pulled the Giant off course.Aside from the two galaxies, it is exists as a small area consisting of seven worlds. Two of which are heavily populated. In excess of twenty five Decillion. As a official census has been tried and failed thousands of times, the general community believes this to be the general number but many speculate it is far more. The Hau covenant is vast, panning two entire galaxies. The Hau employ a super way-gate to a new location to begin spreading the word of the Hau. This gate is an extremely powerful worm-hole that connects to pre-set defensive points inside the far distant Hau empire territory. The gateway has the potential to bring hundreds of thousands of objects from point to point in a matter of hours. Even if one point is destroyed, any craft already travelling to that point will arrive as if the gate was still functional, although they would be stranded. Hau military forces are always striving to have the most top of the line technology that one could think of along side keeping things simple and flexible.Like their navy, the army is prided on being strong and mobile , a necessity to protect and project power over such a large territory. A benefit from having such a large territory and many different races thinking together is sheer scientific potential, allowing many exotic technologies to come around and with the resources available, both raw and refined, enables it to function as a economic powerhouse. It's hard to define a nation so vast that doesn't have the specific warlike or pacifist traits. National Socialist Meritocracy/Timocracy. Each member nation has a total of four seats in a senate. Above the senate is a head of state titled a matriarch, which functions much like a president but is revered more like a queen figure. A general mix between socialist and capitalist mindsets. Basic necessities are provided by the government however commodities are purchased and sold over a free market system.The nation itself has many races and with them, many religions. There is no one majority religion and the government proper only does not swear by any particular one. They generally believe that each person must swear fealty to the nation itself. Some say that the undying loyalty to the Hau Covenant cause is a religion onto its own.There are three primary member and three lesser races currently though the Hau are still the dominant and most numerous making up just over 43% of the total population.All the races have a natural life span but many have surpassed it due to biological engineering and other augmentations. Immortality is well doable but many Hau still value a limited life, to better value the time you have. The Hau race has dominated the Covenant from day one. Their beliefs on personal and family honor as well as undying duty to the Covenant itself has shaped every aspect of any members people so far. The Hau Covenant itself has a strict moral code revolving around personal and societal honor. The more one accomplishes in life, the better that ones life will be. As all people have basic provisions guaranteed, those with high 'morals' would have the manors and estates, The ones with high standing within the military due to actions, are the ones that captain their star ships and lead the armies. The ones with no honor from committing crimes are normally relocated to mining facilities where they have a single chance to regain their honor. If that fails, they usually find themselves in a dark hole in some corner of the nation. Even though they may be mourned by family, families know that the nations well being comes first.Hau technology in general has always advanced from military applications. The Interactive holographic displays used in homes for streaming news or entertainment was originally a high end ship damage control system, to give crews a actual visual of the area before going in or for salvage teams unsure what to look for inside a ship. 'Matter Replicators' that can turn basic powdered ingredients into a full blown meal within a minute, came from a solution to ship food supply problems. Even the way-gate systems Hau use for transportation is based on earlier military rapid response technology.Below is more prolific technologies that the Hau have developed for their continued advance across the stars.Hau forces are very numerous and possess potent weapons of war, coupled with a huge economy and access to every resource necessary, makes them a true force to be reckoned with but with that force, is always the drawbacks. Its huge borders is the biggest of those drawbacks and early on, it was obvious that rapid response forces were the only way to bolster system defenses. These rapid response fleets are usually full strength fleets that most nations would field but are far more mobile due to the type of warships the Hau employ. That, along side posted system defenders, usually fleet strength as well, give systems a chance to survive. A typical Hau fleet consists of 400 individual combat vessels. This is split in to four battle groups of 100, which, at the direction of that fleets admiral, can be split in to any number of individual task forces, depending on the mission. Currently, there is only one full strength fleet in the current galaxyAlong with those fleets, are various static defenses. Everything from tiny gun drones to massive carrier sized battle stations protect the systems themselves. The Hau also have various defenses deployed in the harder to detect areas, like blank star systems and nebula's as sensors have a harder time in them. The vast area of space however, has fewer defenses but with that area much easier to scan, rapid forces are able to be deployed before a fleet travelling "in the open" would arrive. There are larger defensive concentrations along certain borders that the Hau deem tactically important.When humans were looking to the stars, the time of realization that they weren't gods but rather bodies far off, when they discovered that their world was not the center of the solar system, The Hau were already landing on their first moon to use as a spring board to the rest of their system. It's well known among Hau that the expansion into space could have occurred decades sooner but they had a problem bigger than any doomsday weapon at the time, Males.During the Hau's long history, the males lead it down the path of destruction. During a final battle of what would be a seventh world war and millions lay dead over the course of ten years, an unlikely uprising came about. Females rose from the ashes and with a quick and heavy-handed action, took down most of the major nations. The males weren't happy and as they were prone to extreme violent reactions, tried to take their world back. It was futile though as females at this point, after so many had died, outnumbered males three to one. The males were eventually, over many generations, sidelined to a role of mating utility and after a few more decades, somewhat rose to a better social status. The females however, had every right to veto anything a male would do and males were also not allowed to be in any position of power.With the females in charge, many weapons of mass destruction were dismantled and the world basked in an unbelievable unity and with it, came quick expansion to space. With the resources of the solar system at their command, Hau spread like wild fire through their immediate region of space. sleeper ships would fly many light years to reach a new world, to spread the Hau's influence. As technology progressed, they discovered and created many new technologies like the way-gate systems to spread further. As they continued to conquer and consume races and nations in to their own, the Hau became determined to conquer all that they could see through many means available. The initial being mentally, to convince others to join the Hau peacefully. As the Hau's endeavor continues, a choice is made depending on a number of criteria if a military force is needed to conquer the remaining nations. Aside from their home galaxy, they have successfully conquered one and now have their eyes set on a new one. Pioneers arrives recently and have constructed a long range super Way-gate but have not activated it yet as it may attract attention as it would be detectable from halfway across the galaxy.

Accepted, while extra-galactic species are kinda sorta a taboo here, from your PM I trust that you will maintain a certain level of balance.

Isotope said
Faction: Union of Cooperative Free Peoples Democratic Socialist RepublicsSpecies: PravdianDescription of government: Single Party State. The Great Peoples Party reinforces the great ideals of equality and prosperity by recruiting only from the ranks of the peoples military and leads the nation through a congress where all members are granted an equal vote save for the party leader who is granted half the votes of the rest of congress.Description of military: The proud People’s Army is the second most important institution in the UoCFPDSR. Mandatory for all individuals fifteen and up for a minimum term of twenty years the organization serves as the economic and technological backbone of the nation. The Army is composed of one Grand Division per planet and is in a constant state of expansion as is necessitated by the Unions vast military industrial complex. As a result often planetary military leaders are judged by the size of their armed forces.Technological Overview:Instant or “flash” printing is a sort of 3D printing where all construction is done in less than one millisecond. Instant Printers are a common sight in all civilian and military aspects of Union space and are used for everything from food to munitions. Instant printers are not the most advanced construction technology in Union space but they generally are the most widely used as their simplicity makes them easy to use and easy to fix compared to significantly more advanced machinery.While commonly called paint the Nanomachine coating used in Union construction is something significantly more potent. It is a coating of specialized Nanomachines that after being added to a materiel can manipulate it and itself to self-construct the rest of a larger structure in the presence of other coated parts. As a result Union ships can self-repair; using Nanomachine paint to replace parts destroyed by battle or if the damage is very extensive cannibalize other unimportant parts to make more Nanomachine paint to fix the important ones. Nanomachine paint however is used in a smaller civilian role too, all construction not covered by printing has been supplemented by “part dumping” and allowing Nanomachine paint to quickly assemble the parts. This has made Union industry extremely efficient. The Absorption Shield is a Union state secret and the primary defense on all their vessels. Acting as an energy sponge the shield absorbs all the kinetic or direct energy put into it until it reaches full capacity and falls in a powerful discharge of energy. The energy discharge would be a catastrophic explosion if not for limiters making it a slower process of constant discharge. The Shield can be brought back up after this, but not until a suitable time has passed for the energy banks to entirely discharge. Local shields work by the shield being a multi-layered construct, with one large general shield over the ship’s hull and one to two shields above this that only activate after an incoming threat is detected, minimizing strain on the main shield and providing a sort of means to maintain the main shield’s integrity through extended battle by the first and second layers discharging and covering for each other if there are two outer layers. If the incoming fire is not concentrated this means of taking the damage and discharging while the other shield takes the hits can be maintained indefinitely so long as the shield has local outer layers. As a result volume of fire and concentrated fire are the most effective means of countering absorption shields of two local layers. Single local layer shields are more vulnerable to large singular hit weapons that can drop the local shield and leave the general layer exposed, however if the volume of fire is too low from even a large weapon the general shield and the local shield can swap out similarly to the two local shield system. This however leaves the ship proper exposed to fire for a split second. Currently three shield layers, two local and one general, is the effective maximum before energy discharges of the first layers begin to influence the general layer and cause a drop of all shields. A variant of the systems used on ships, walkers and medium to large mechs often make use of the M-LAS as it is called. Lacking any general shield the M-LAS operates with only a low power version of the first local shield used on ships. Activating to intercept incoming munitions the M-LAS operates identically to its larger ship borne counterpart, however lacking a general shield the M-LAS is more vulnerable to sneak attack or mines, if the attack cannot be anticipated an impact against the armour of the mech or walker is unavoidable. The M-LAS however encounters a problem less present in space, the energy discharge. The M-LAS as a result can run in two modes, a common mode that flares the energy into the sky when the M-LAS reaches maximum, this can obviously reveal a combatants position. The second mode deactivates the M-LAS at 99% capacity; this is risky as a hit to the M-LAS would result in a massive energy dump. However this mode is still somewhat popular among risk takers as mech and walker pilots have been known to use the M-LAS as a bomb in this mode, giving them another munition if they are in trouble. Usually however the M-LAS is simply dumped or thrown far away after it reaches 99% in this mode when it is used by the general soldier. The Neutron Cannon is a powerful energy weapon that works though a simple means. Stripping neutrons from high atomic number elements through the use of a powerful Neutron generator and forcing those highly concentrated neutrons as well as the associated products into an accelerator that fires them at relativistic speeds. The Neutrons in this state are free and as a result they are underdoing neutron decay further increasing the impact energy of the weapon. Despite its already fearsome potential the Neutron Cannon has another secret, by pumping the gamma rays created during the stripping process into a Graser and focusing them into a containment beam the Neutron Cannon gains increased focus and coherence as well as a secondary beam. Needless to say this increases the precision and destructive potential of the weapon significantly. There also exists another type of Neutron cannon in use with the Union, this one utilized on the ground. In this smaller mounted weapon the same process as is used on ships is utilized. High atomic mass elements are stripped of neutrons and the cannon accelerates the free neutrons and other products while the graser contains the beam. However the difference in the ground variant is obvious enough, the destructive potential is considerably reduced simply because the beam must be slower and smaller in order to stay within power generation capacity. While the weapon is less useful than others in some atmospheres the other weapons used by the Union army more than compensate.A field generator installed on every ship is able to form a large bubble within which any ships exiting FTL are hit by an enormous energy feedback due to interference from the field. This feedback immense and proportional to the energy generation capabilities of the affected ship, the result is without fail complete destruction of the offending vessel. The device is largely used in battles to maintain formations and on occasion as a weapon if the exit location of an enemies FTL window is known in precise detail.This simple device can be mounted on missiles or ships and projects a field that causes an excruciating pain resulting from every pain receptor firing at once to users of psychic, psionic, or “magical” abilities when said abilities are used within its radius of effectiveness, magic use attempting to circumvent that restriction usually initiates a worsening of the effect where other nerves are fired, often causing heart failure. Used as a frontline defense both on the ground and in space against races with abnormal abilities the MID has a long history of success.This machine affectionately known as “Mad Bobushka” is a killer for any massive body like a planet. Generating vast amounts of random exotic matter whose interactions with conventional matter cause unpredictable and devastating effects the machine only shuts down when the reaction reaches a maximum, by this point the damage to most planetary bodies is irreversible.Cultural Overview: All cultural aspects of the Union are focused on spreading the dream of peace and equality. The military serves as the heart of culture moving forth as a valiant sword to cut away the capitalist and structured societies of lesser states and replace them with the great message of quality for all and that all people work for a nation that works for them, anything that benefits the nation benefits the people. This is taken very seriously and has become almost religious as a belief due to generations of teachings.History:The Union began when the Pravdian empire, a society rich with injustice and ruled by monarchs underwent the Great Peoples Revolution. The empire began to collapse under the popular evolution almost immediately and soon the great Chancellor leader of the party was the only ruler the people would salute. Though the early days of the Union were hard soon the grand army rose and times became a serious of great wars, the dream of continuing the revolution was alive.Now the Union is vast and commands many species and systems and on occasion goes to war to liberate the oppressed proletariat and incorporate another race into the fold.Other: None

It's not normally a requirement, but could you give us some ship numbers? Just wanting to make sure that your military isn't insanely overpowered.

Also, Rouge, you can resume posting now. I'll have to keep the Dracs banned though, I think that they were a mistake on my part and on yours.

From Stardust, To Stardust

Sol, Mercury
The captain gulped, slowly approaching the... being that stood before him. The two guards held their weapons at the ready, but not aimed despite every instinct they had telling them to open fire right then and there. It was painfully obvious that the humans were afraid of the man, and judging by the looks on their faces, they would much rather run and shoot than talk to him.

"You look like one of us who hasn't eaten a bite in days, yet you seem intimidating. Am I correct in assuming that you have powers other than the physical?"

Ocean of Jul
A few of the humans looked to the man who had introduced himself as the diplomatic officer, a questioning look on their faces. The man nodded, and they rushed to the top deck, eager to see what their training engagements were like. Before that, the humans had seemed impressed at the fact that the hologram was made to be touched itself, instead of making movements outside of it's borders. It was odd, considering the fact that they had just landed a multi-kilometer warship in the ocean, which was commanded by a diplomat.

"An apology for being in the middle of war games?" Said the diplomat "Watching war games is one of the best ways to learn about another culture, this is the first time we've been able to see others fight without needing to focus more on firing our own weapons!"

After a few moments, the diplomat continued, looking at the holographic display.

"Even the fact that you have separate weapons systems for long and short range speaks about your history and thought process. We think alike, most of our seagoing ships used the same setup. However, those ships were recently replaced by ships that use variable range cannons. It takes extremely complicated calculations to target them though, only those who are genetically modified like me can operate them." He said, tapping his forehead. It wasn't obvious at first, but his head was abnormally large when compared to the heads of the others.

"But that's a story for later, let's see if your opponent has any tricks." He smiled, walking closer to the holographic map. His eyes moved incredibly fast, apparently analyzing the entire map every second.

New Condia
As the Normady was torn apart, it's commander smiled. It's entire crew smiled with her, knowing that the enemy's words made no difference. All that mattered was that they died to protect a people they had called their enemies, just because they asked. The Admiral's thoughts were not in turmoil over their imminent demise, for the first time in her life, she was truly, perfectly calm. She had redeemed herself, her crew, and every last Terran that fought in the battle. She knew that she had brought the Terrans one step closer to redemption. What she didn't know was that redemption would not come from other battles, but from the aftermath of New Condia.

With the enemy ships gone from orbit, the rest of the Terran fleet prepared to land ground troops. However, they found that the EU ships were bombarding the surface of the planet, the still occupied planet. The new commanding dreadnought, the Warsaw, sent a message to the EU forces.

"What are you doing?! You're killing your own people! We have ground forces, we can take back the planet! We all fought to protect the civilians here, I won't watch as they're killed to destroy the enemy!"

Earth Orbit, 2051
The hissing of ruptured pipes and the screams of the crew filled the bridge of the OSV Rudneva, lights and computer screens flickering in the background. The captain's body floated in the air, blood flowing out of his head as his hand slowly lost it's grip on the ceremonial sword he had recieved as a gift so many years ago. The rest of the crew was struggling to stay conscious after the surprise attack, which had forced their ship into a two-minute seven-g spin, with the exception of one woman. She was the ship's scientist, usually operating the small onboard lab or the quantum communication equipment. Somehow, she was perfectly fine, no signs of any pain appeared on her face.

The rest of the crew looked around the room, their seats having been previously occupied by the actual bridge crew, the dead bodies of which now occupied the walls of the bridge. They were all low-level personnel, most of them just enlistees. Despite her being little more than a science officer, the woman was now captain of the ship. It was an impossible battle, five rebel escorts against a single OSA patrol vessel, but everyone had heard the stories. Praskoviya Lovisa, the science officer, had become famous for one fateful day in Siberia five years ago. She was just fourteen years old, but she destroyed an Active Denial System that had been modified to be lethal. Taking that into account, it was no surprise that she felt no pain from the crushing maneuver.

"Tactical, sitrep!" She yelled in a thick Russian accent, grabbing hold of one of the many handholds on the bridge.

"All external weapons systems disabled, electromagnetic redirection is still active!" Called the tactical officer, pulling up the system monitors on his computer screen.

"Perfect, nobody destroys a valuable ship. Now that we have their attack vector, our redirection systems can deflect anything they fire at us. The only way they can hit our hull is with a large missile, which would destroy us. They'll be forced to board the ship, using standard weaponry. Those ships can hold at most fifty marines."

"How does that help us?" Replied the tactical officer "We've just got pistols in here!"

"They can't fire on their way in." Said Praskoviya, grinning devilishly.

"You can't possibly be suggesting suited combat! Guns have too much kickback, and a single mistake with a plasma saber could kill you! You know that, dammit! You can;t expect anyone to throw their lives away for a battle we can retreat from! Just fall back, our redirection system can cover their fire!"

"I'm not ordering anyone to fight them. I want everyone on the redirection systems, I'm going to deck 2."

Before anyone could protest, she flew out of the bridge, headed for the airlock on deck 2. She picked up a spacesuit on her way, it was one of the newer form-fitting ones. As she floated towards the airlock, she put it on mid-air. The simplified, one-piece design made the process quick and simple, though somewhat painful due to the tightness. She took her plasma saber in her hand, heading out the airlock after a nerve-wracking depressurization sequence that seemed to last an eternity.

The moment she reached the outside of the ship, the disorientation kicked in. Up and down no longer had any meaning, especially with the absence of a floor to stick to. Still, she turned to face the three enemy escorts, finding exactly what she expected: fifty marines headed towards the ship. She activated her plasma saber, the ceramic cylinder was instantly obscured by a cloud of blue argon plasma. The enemy marines continued towards the ship. After all, what could one woman with a melee weapon do against fifty marines?

They would soon know.

She launched her self at them off of the ship's hull, cutting one of them straight in half effortlessly. The others opened fire without a second thought, sending themselves spinning and killing ten more from friendly fire. With no way to defend themselves, she cut them down one by one with immunity. The battle was already won, the rebels couldn't do anything but leave now. Still, she flew towards the enemy ship in the middle of their formation, landing just below their bridge window. With her plasma saber, she cut a hole in the floor, depressurizing the compartment and sucking them all out into space.

After the air was gone, she swung herself inside the bridge and opened every door and airlock on the ship, overriding their manual controls. The rest of the crew met the same fate as the bridge officers, a short but painful death by vacuum exposure. With a network connection to the other two ships, she used the same tactic on them, depressurizing both ships at once. The combined seventy crew of the three enemy ships, dead within the time span of a few seconds.

Praskoviya activated the transmitter in her helmet, connecting it to the one on the Rudneva.

"This is Lieutenant Lovisa of the Orbital Security Agency. The OSV Rudneva has engaged and captured two rebel escort/transports and one enemy battle escort. All enemy vessels are in full operation condition, and we will begin a rendezvous with the nearest station."

They shouldn't have messed with an outdated ship named the Rudneva. She thought. That's like naming a ship Icarus, then sending it to do scans of the sun.