by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

Post

Region: Empire of Andrew

The Orson Empire wrote:Oceara
Cybus1

2351:

As the Redlight forces continue their massive attack against the LPCN Calleux Line and the PDSS Grand Redoubt, the activation of the PDSS FTL Jammer grids beyond the Redoubt, has resulted in catastrophic consequences for the Orson Federation.

Unlike many other nations involved in the LPCN and the PDSS, the Orson Federation does not have a direct border with the Red Wastes, and has been located relatively far away from the main action of the various "Redlight crusades". The fact that Redlight armies have to either move through Cybusian space force or the space of other nearby nations before even coming close to the Federation has proven to be very beneficial to the Orsonians, and Drakul outbreaks and Redlight infestations are rare occurrences in Federation space as a result. This was even adapted into the strategy of Federation for dealing with a Redlight invasion: allow Elizabeth's forces to exhaust themselves fighting through other nations, and then strike when they were at their weakest. While the Federal Military continued to study the nature of Elizabeth and Redlight, the people of the Federation have remained relatively ignorant of the true dangers of Redlight, with the Federation largely experiencing internal peace and prosperity at the local level while the Redlight wars occurred, and the military nevertheless remained focused on its goals for political dominance over the Senate and Orson. Additionally, the Sterkians are still considered to be the main threat to the Federation after having fought two wars with them, with a substantial amount of military assets remaining near the Sterkian-Federation DMZ.

However, the status quo has changed drastically in light of the most recent surge in Redlight activity, and the Federation's strategies are now working against them. Rather than make a stand at the Redoubt, where the Redlight forces would likely be ground down in brutal fighting against the combined LPCN and PDSS forces (as well as the cooperation of some of the most powerful magic users in the universe in Oceara and Cybus), a substantial amount of Redlight bioships coming out of the Red Wastes have gone around the FTL Jammer grids, taking long routes through interstellar and intergalactic space in hopes of finding easier prey and an easier staging ground for further attacks. Unfortunately, these routes have taken them directly into the outskirts of Federation space.

First, one bioship was spotted in the Aicury Sector, wrecking havoc on several mining outposts and teleporting Redlight forms directly onboard dozens of civilian ships in the area; having never encountered anything like it before, the local security forces were quickly overwhelmed. Following this single bioship were twenty more, which quickly spread across the sector and repeated the same carnage the initial mining outposts suffered. The Aicury Sector was a civilian sector and not under the direct control of Federal High Command, and the military had relatively few assets stationed within the sector. As such, it was up to the local planetary and stellar security forces to hold the line until a Federal Navy force could respond. As these security forces desperately tried to fend off the Redlight incursion in a battle for survival, tens of millions of civilians would be infected, either turned into Drakul or various other Redlight forms (including some of the first Silencers), while Redlight biomass began to overrun and grow over entire settlements. Advanced AI systems were captured and corrupted into Technopaths. Sensors throughout several star systems were jammed, and it would be days before substantial Federal Navy assets arrived over the world of Aicury, the capital and namesake of the sector; by this time however, it was far too late. Following the first twenty bioships were dozens more, and eventually hundreds as they stormed not only the Aicury Sector, but the nearby Klandul Sector as well, breaching deep into inner Federation space in the Milky Way Galaxy and coming within spitting distance of major Federation core worlds. Communications from much of the Aicury Sector have ceased, having been jammed by the bioships, and the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the Federation (who were attending a summit in one of the systems in the Aicury Sector) have gone missing, with the Federal Military forced to pull back and unable to perform a search for them.

Federal High Command has activated the Rapid Response Protocol, and has ordered the mobilization of the entire Federal Military, with billions of personnel being brought out of the reserve forces and thousands of currently mothballed warships being brought into service once more; additionally, forces are being relocated from the Sterkian DMZ and towards the opposite side of the galaxy, where the Aicury and Klandul Sectors are located. An emergency session of the Senate is being held at the capital on Zion.

Elizabeth was surprised at the ease with which the Orsonians has been taken by surprise. She had thought the species which had killed her lover would have been a formidable foe indeed, but now, she thought, they are just as malleable as any other biomass. An easier target too, because they had such little experience. A total of 700 bioships had been deployed, and, as Redlight spread exponentially across the sectors worlds, more were being grown. Her Silencers had feasted well, and she discreetly ordered the oldest among them to be brought back, deep into the security of The Red Wastes. She had plans for them, but the newer ones needed to continue killing and absorbing psionics for now. She knew magic presented a unique threat to her and her Children.
For now, she began to reinforce the sectors, starting to develop a few Hives from which lethal Hive Guardians would be created, and where Runners could “incubate” and develop before being sent to infiltrate uninfected populations as “refugees”.
Every ship in the sector capable of FTL that had not already fled, was being converted for a special mission. She would fill them with biomass and would attempt to infect other worlds, sending them through FTL to random worlds, where they would crash and begin spreading the infection. Finally, she decided the world of Aicury, capital of the sector, would make a good place for her to manifest herself. She would take advantage of the inexperience of the Orsonians and spread her gift far and wide throughout their borders. Something occurred to her, and it thrilled her. If she infected every Orsonian, she could present them as a gift to Alexander. She felt that he would appreciate such a gift. He had always enjoyed being given species of slaves in the past, after all.
The Redlight covered ground shifted as The Red Queen appeared in our reality, every Redlight infected organism in the sector receiving a jolt of energy, Her mere presence made them faster, stronger, hardier, and smarter. Her presence drove weaker-willed psionics across reality mad, sending them into murderous rampages or into rambling fits of madness and hallucinations. Almost anyone capable of sending magical signatures would instantly know that her avatar had been created anew. She waited, patient as a lawyer, for the response she was sure would come. She made preparations, summoning five Hive Guardians and two Silencers. Her magic would not work while they were around her, but her physical abilities could easily match or overpower any mortal foe.

ContextReport