Upon This Ground, I Build My Church [Stardancer, Arad, GIR, open to 1 more]

[Flood]

Ulthane. Colossal creatures that can replicate themselves, heal incredibly fast, don't bleed, and don't die, only defeated. Servants to the Uthjad, colossal and horrific creatures from another existence that slipped into the universe. For millions of years, they've drifted about, creating an army on uncharted worlds in secret, where the Ulthane would build unimaginable ships of catastrophe and destruction.

Kotathe, the only one to know of these beings, attempted to warn several people of great importance about the coming of an alien invasion that would break the fabrics of knowledge, feeling, nature, and being. All refused his heralding and left him alone. Quitting would be no option, so he turned to the standard people. Theorists, conspirators, scientists, and mercenaries. Trained to fight almost as ruthless as a machine. Tossing aside previous lives and joining in a future blockade against the Ulthane and their gods.

Ships were made, and upgraded with what little Ulthane technology Kotathe could spare from his own vessel, he made his own fleet and military, The Corrective. Unique individuals and heroes gained siding with Kotathe, ready to act as the vanguard of the assault on the coming Ulthane fleet in a whole other side of the galaxy.

Kotathe stood within the bridge of the ship. A circular room covered in bronze and silver colored metal, laced with holographic computers worked on by their respective employees of brokers, agents, crewmen, and researchers. The ship was going through its own synthetic portal, traveling to the other side of the galaxy, four other ships on the tail of the main one. Thousands of soldiers were dressed in bronze armor covered in blue lights, readying themselves with kinetic shields and smart grenades.

Everything was almost prepared to fight the Ulthane. But it wasn't enough. The ship stopped its FTL all of a sudden, along with the other ships soon following after. They were all in a solar system filled with twenty-seven cephalopod-like ships, with one having been able to stop the ship's FTL speed, but not stopping all motion. The ship was heading straight for the Ulthane vessel, ready to crash.

"Sir!" shouted one of the operators at a computer. Kotathe looked over his shoulder quickly at the operator. "Status report," he said in a calm, digitized voice. The operator looked down at her computer. "All drives are inactive, weapons are going offline," she said in a panted voice. Kotathe turned back to look out the window as they were just a minute away from crashing into the ship. "What weapons do we have left?"

The operator stared at her computer. "The main gun." Kotathe nodded to himself in certainty. "We're breaching the vessel before us. Our troops will make a beachhead and portal there. The team that I assigned will join me on the battlefield."

Just a few commands later and the main gun on the front of the bronze ship began to power. Three colossal tentacles from the Ulthane vessel reached out to impale the main Corrective vessel, only to be obliterated as a beam of light tore through all three and made a colossal hole into the Ulthane ship's head. The main Corrective vessel soon crashed and scraped through most of the ship, all of the soldiers stumbling about in large numbers and ready to face the undying beings beyond. Kotathe turned to the mic near the window, lowering it to his photoreceptor. "All officers and Vanguard Assigned, report to the Officer's Armory ASAP."

[Stardancer]

The Ulthane and their gods, the Uthjad. Such words if they could be believed would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of most beings. Briia was not one of these. Sure, she had faced a few bad and evil enemies during her short time in the military, as well as faced some trepidation and uncertainty but it wasn't anything she hadn't been trained to handle. Regardless, this mission would likely test her to the very brink of her abilities, being the most challenging of them all. Even more so than the Sepulcher mission she had gone on prior to this. While that had been difficult in and of itself, this current mission she and several others of her people, the Hatuni had been assigned to, would no doubt top all others that had come before. Still she was as ready as could be. Time as usual, was against them, as these enemies sought to destroy and conquer like many villainous types tried to do. Briia had to make absolutely sure she had everything she needed and was as prepared as she possibly could be.

With that said, she was currently training with one of the other Hatuni fighters, a yellow-skinned warrior with pinkish-yellow short cropped hair done in a buzz cut. Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship, sending everyone on board stumbling about including the two Hatuni fighters. Briia quickly found her footing again and got up, seeing the other already on his feet.

"You alright?" he asked her, shaking his head. "That was some crash." the warrior, whose name was Xerllee, commented.

Briia was about to mention they should find out what caused it when the words over the intercom sounded, asking all soldiers and fighters to report to the Officer's Armory as soon as possible. "That's our cue to go then." Xerllee said, and went to make his way out as instructed.

Briia followed after him, gripping her longblade of power in one hand, energy shield in the other. Soon they arrived and she waited for further instructions to be given.

[GIR]

The ripples started out small, like droplets of water on the surface of an ocean, but, like ripples through water, the ripples in space spread and grew, until what started out too small to be seen against the vastness of space became too big for most visual sensors to miss. The space near the Ulthane vessels was rippling like water being passed through, and, within seconds, sixteen ships burst fourth into realspace, their rifts collapsing like the splash of a diver.

Seven of the ships resembled horseshoe crabs, their size putting them as heavy frigates, or very light destroyers. They, along with six larger vessels of similar design, accelerated toward the Ulthane vessels nearest to them, regardless of whether or not said vessels had already been hit by the Collective vessels, and making no effort to dodge any incoming fire. Three ships, sharklike in design, hung well back, watching the battle for the moment. The sharklike vessels were much larger, clearly cruisers at the smallest, and the 'mouth' of each was sliding open to reveal massive particle cannons. None of the crews made any effort to open communication, either to warn or to announce an intent to attack. The Hestari saw both sides as interlopers, for the time being, with the Ulthane as the more pressing threat.

As each of the smaller ships neared its target, its crew adjusted its pitch to present the underside, the ships heaviest armor, to the Ulthane vessels, large grappling legs unfolding in an attempt to latch on to the Ulthane ships, the legs moving with almost unbelievable speed to close around the targets of those that were able to close. Those that had succeeded in grappling their targets then deployed their breaching tunnels, roughly cylindrical elevators which extended from shielded ports, their bottoms seemingly smooth, except for a rim of nahrium grinding wheels, each hard enough to pierce most armors.

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The assault team waited nervously as the horrible grinding, normally an exciting sound, signaled contact with the enemy vessel. The large, quadrupedal carnivores, an almost centaurlike cross between a crab and a great white shark, checked their weapons as they paced nervously, blood red armor, complete with tanks filled with identically colored water, casting light in odd patterns in the half-flooded tunnel. As a series of loud thuds announced the breaching tunnel's seals bolting in place, the Hestari soldiers spread out, covering the hatches as they waited for them to open, hoping none of the Ulthane would breach the breaching tunnel first.

[Flood]

Besides the one that allowed an accidental but seemingly improvised beachhead, most of the Ulthane ships didn't even react to the other coming fleet. All of the stars in the distant realms of space began to waver and shake as their direction was blocked by the glowing shapes of rectangles and hexagons. Soon, the shapes spread far from each other, bringing in what appeared to be a whole artificial planet. All organic individuals could hear what sounded of a deep, digitized growl.

"You see a tally of my fallen would save your worlds and the mother which bore you existence. All you worship is a lie. You kneel to a mirror of myths and call them your gods... I will show you the sovereign that others have been blessed with," remarked the Uthjad. "The future barons you call Ulthane shall oblige your needs of unity and life. I shall liberate you from this prison and ascend you to godhood like the rest." His voice sounded of rumbles and roar, echoing with a metallic nature.

Some of the Ulthane were standing on black reflective hexagonal spires covered in holograms, pressing different lights and activating different functions around the ship. They had no humanoid limbs but instead had only a chest and head, protruding with tentacles that shot out from their body to touch different lights, then sank back in. However, for the ones not pressing lights, they were somewhat humanoid and marching towards the direction of the assault team. For what started out as only a dozen Ulthane, they soon replicated into two dozen, then four dozen, so on and so forth. It seemed horrifying and bewildering, body parts suddenly falling off and twitching in a bunch of directions before a fully grown Ulthane sprouted from it. For every part lost, it seemed to come back. Ulthane didn't even bleed or tear by the looks of it when it comes to wounds, just blistering.

The Officer's Armory was a round bronze room filled with different holograms and runes of war information concerning the solar system they were in. Kotathe walked down the steps where a door disassembled itself and sank into the ground once it detected his approach. Ico, The Knight of Hunger, rested on a knee with his hammer close, hands clasped upon its pommel. Several officers of different races surrounded the large spherical table in the middle of the armory. Special gear and armor floated in the air, shaking some due to the recent crash just a few minutes ago. "I would hope that it's apparent... There is no return from this. From what the bio-reads I've studied for a years, the only thing that will defeat them is a strike to the chest or their chrome skull being pulled away from the body. They can't die and won't die."

He walked to the table with his rifle on his shoulder, pointing to a map of the Ulthane vessel they crashed in. "We'll keep the blockade here and all of their attention on us so that our allies can pass through and attack from within on multiple vessels. However, with the presence of the Uthjad, it's not known what this specific one would want here. From the scans right now, all control is at the top of the vessel. An Ulthane engineer works from a cube that works like a brain. If we can use that, we could finish this all easily by destroying their own ships with their own technology. Those present with the names of Briia, Xerllee, and Ico will go with me on the frontlines and push it to the top of the ship. Once we control it, we can possibly win this..."

[ARAD V1.0]

And the highly dangerous combat droid was sat in a corner, waiting. It was always waiting. A slow blurt resounded from him. He merely observed the sparring that was going on infront of him. Knowing well that he could easily beat anyone on this ship in a duel. Then again, he was designed just for that. Close quarters combat. An explosion violently rocked the ship, causing Arad to grab his seat to stay in place. A voice cracking over the intercom, commanding each and every special duty soldier or officer to report in.

And he knew he was one hell of a special duty soldier, standing up without a word. He followed the other two to the officer's armory. The crimson scarf swaying and following his movements. Arad folded his arms and started listening. He was a paid mercenary with tremendous amounts of expertise, so he'd better listen up to the briefing. Literal mental notes formed in his mind, seeping through in a deeper consience that was what was left of his humanity. Yet his name wasn't called out. Perhaps a mistake. Perhaps he was to be assigned somewhere else.

[Stardancer]

Briia listened attentively to the briefing, as did her companion-in-arms Xerllee. The mention that these Ulthane could not truly die, only temporarily defeated, was a troublesome prospect. If they couldn't actually be killed for good, who's to say they wouldn't come back decades or centuries later and try again? By then their forces might be even greater than they've ever been, making it so no one could stop them.

Briia shook her head to clear it, as such thoughts were far from being constructive. They would win this, they had to. All they had to do was find the enemies' weakness and exploit it. All enemies had one, no matter how powerful or strong they were. If luck was on their side, the enemy would have more than one weakness. It was unlikely they could reason with the Uthjad, as some of her people had already tried and failed. How many of her own kindred had been lost to these destroyers, Briia did not know and she tried not to think about what part of them was now a part of the very foe they were trying to destroy now considering the Ulthane could not only replicate themselves but also others' DNA as well. Her people were not exempt from this danger and it was a risk that she, along with Xerllee and the other Hatuni were taking when they agreed to come on this mission. While about two dozen of her people were on the Corrective, many more of her people would come to aid when and where needed on the Hatuni's own ships. Three of the five warships had been designated to this task, as the others were being employed elsewhere. A few of their smaller ships would also bring supplies and communication as needed too.

Despite the fact that diplomacy was not likely to succeed here, it was an option that still needed to be kept open, just in case. Her people were not just warriors but also trained diplomats and they needed to be on the top of their game at all times for whatever might happen. The female green-skinned warrior glanced at Xerllee then, and he gave her a small smile of encouragement in turn, though she noted his expression also seemed a bit worried. Still, there was no going back and Briia wouldn't even consider backing down from a mission she had dutifully signed up for. The only way to go on from here was forward and to whatever that would bring.

Looking at the map in front of them on the round metal table, Briia was about to ask a question but her companion beat her to it first. “Which route would you recommend us to take? From what I see, there are two routes towards the top of their vessel, the first one being the most straightforward but more than likely is the most heavily guarded while the second is a much longer path to cut through. It's possible that way will be met with less resistance.” Xerllee said to the cyborg construct who was the head of this whole endeavor.

Briia nodded at Xerllee as she too awaited an answer.

[Flood]

"We're not playing safe here, we're going to be playing lucky. The first route is the one we're taking. Once at the top, it should be a straightforward task of taking out the Ulthane and getting control of this ship." Kotathe stood away from the table, looking to the artificial being in the corner. "You'll be on our team. If you see any of the Ulthane walking towards us, strike the chest. Hitting the head or anywhere else is pointless." He walked to the hall leading outside of the ship, as the room it led to before was now half a mile away due to the ship's crash. "We don't have any time for questions. We have to move now!"

As one of the Hestari lifts was making contact with the Ulthane vessel, its passengers suddenly looked at the direction of where they could sense the life. One low rumbling horn meant to be a voice gave a command and Ulthane started marching towards the lifts.

With the Hestari securing the hatches, Ulthane were making way to them. Several dozen went to the breaching tunnel, trying to carve their way through with their blade-like fingers, making violent screams at them. The Uthjad began speaking out once more to all minds, its voice just as rumbling and metallic as before. "Beg that our reign takes foot, and amen, your deliverance shall be!" Other Ulthane decided instead to start crawling up the Hestari lifts, trying to reach their ships.

On the vessel with the Corrective crashed upon, troops were marching out in large numbers, firing at the sprinting Ulthane. The first row found trouble as some of them were torn apart or snapped into pieces as the chests of the Ulthane devoured them. Hexagonal pillars led up to the top, making different hallways with how they ascended and descended. Gore of black Ulthane liquid and red blood of the troops dotted the sudden battlefield. Kotathe was standing right at the doorway leading to the outside, motioning for the group to follow.

[GIR]

[Quick note: The ones crawling up the lifts would need to be on the outside of the ships in order to do so, or have breached inside them.  They're designed to seal to the ships they're breaching in order to not only not vent the ship being breached, but also to prevent just such a tactic.]

In each of the breaching tunnels, the hatches sprang open, two of each assault team opening fire the second the hatches began moving in order to cover the openings with a sheet of suppressing fire, with the other members of each assault team joining in as the growing numbers of Ulthane turned their attacks from an assault to a defensive stand, with less than half of the total Hestari assault forces even able to make it out of the breaching tunnels.

Meanwhile, plasma cannons underneath the Hestari ships began firing at any Ulthane attempting to climb the breaching tunnels, with little regard as to whether or not stray shots hit the tunnels themselves, which were designed to take such fire.

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<Fleet Hunter, all Valari Hesta assault teams are reporting limited progress. Numbers two, four, seven, ten, and eleven report tunnels breached>, a comms officer on the largest of the three Cruisers reported, <Likelihood of contamination 87%.>

<Transmit self-destruct to all breached ships. We do not need more of those perversions. As soon as the signal is sent, order Sehru to retreat for backup. Gunners, focus main cannon on the newcomer. Let's see if this talsak speaks as shallow with Hestari gunnery pounding his ship into oblivion.>, the ship's captain ordered.

<Transmit self destruct to infected Valari Hesta, then send retreat order to Sehru. Aye, Fleet Hunter.>, the comms officer repeated, then began making the transmissions as two of the three cruisers began opening fire on the Uthjad's vessel.

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As the cruiser that hadn't opened fire began to rotate itself in preparation for fleeing the battle, five of the horseshoe-crab-shaped vessels exploded, flinging graphene and nahrium shrapnel into all nearby ships, friend and foe alike, all but one of their assault teams having only just escaped the breaching tunnels, and fighting even harder to get to the control centers of the ships they were now stranded on.

On the ship that the Corrective had crashed on, the hatches had failed to open automatically, forcing the assault team inside to trigger the manual release, a process just lengthy enough to put the team in the middle of a firefight between Corrective forces and Ulthane. <Focus fire on the abominations. We'll leave the intruders to the Fleet Hunter's discretion.>, the assault team's Schoolmaster (equivalent to a Commander) ordered, publicly and in a common language used for communicating with humans, as he and his team began firing on the Ulthane, careful to aim for their chests.

[Stardancer]

Given that command, both Briia and Xerllee made to follow Kotathe through the hallway. No more words were spoken between the two Hatuni, though Briia did wonder how the rest of her people fared on the Corrective. The others had been deployed to various assault teams and from the looks of things, it had not gone well. Several of her fellow fighters were lying dead in pieces on the ground, whole chunks torn out of them, their blood mingling with that of the Ulthane, red upon black. The enemy themselves fared no better, several Ulthane corpses could also be seen lying alongside the intersecting hallways and corridors of the downed ship. That was a comfort at least, that her people had managed to take them down before any mutation or replication had occurred. There were bodies of others around too, some of them were human. Briia wanted to take a moment to mourn her people's loss, but now was not the time and she well knew that. It was not a new thing for her, but the Hatuni female had only been promoted within the last half year and so sometimes these sights still struck a chord within her. They had to move on and take the fight to the enemy. Xerllee showed more control, eyes looking ahead ever vigilantly, having only spared a brief glance at the bodies of his comrades-in-arms. It wasn't that he was unemotional, just more used to dealing with such casualties as he had done this for longer than what Briia had, at about fourteen years now.

Looking up at the hexagonal pillars leading in a myriad of crisscrossed directions, Briia steeled herself for what was to come and continued to follow the others. Xerllee was just ahead of her, his hand positioned at his side to retrieve his plasma gun at any moment should a group of Ulthane come upon them. His energy sword sheathed at his side as well and in his other hand he held the tower shield all their fighters possessed, being technologically enhanced to withstand many an assault and not just physical. Briia was similarly equipped, but her gun was an energy gun instead.

The remains of the ship shook then as the Hestari vessels self-destructed, both Briia and Xerllee having to catch themselves on the walls in order to stay upright. Then they reached the doorway. No sooner than they had done that, the hatch opened and all hell broke loose between the Corrective forces, the Ulthane and the Hestari. Xerllee shot at an Ulthane that dared come too close, hitting it in the chest and killing it for the time being. Briia provided backup holding out her own gun at the ready and brought up her shield just in time to deflect an attack from a stray red bolt fired from the Hestari as it was meant for the Ulthane just up ahead of the group. More and more of them emerged into the narrow hallway, tentacles writhing and coaling as they prepared to fight. They were truly an abomination, there was no doubt about that.

Both Hatuni focused their attacks at the Ulthane, firing off energy and plasma rays alike, being careful not to hit any of the Hestari who appeared to be no threat. At least not yet. Ducking twice as tentacles reached out to swipe at her, Briia fired off another shot toward the chest, killing it instantly. However there were still plenty more to deal with. As Xerllee went to attack another one, Briia brought up her shield to protect her from an Ulthane that was creeping up on them from above in one of the hexagonal pillars, aiming a shot at it, but narrowly missing the chest. Black blood spurted out onto her and she took aim once more and got it this time. The body dropped like a dead-weight on top of her and Briia pushed it away from her with a look of disgust.

- - - - -

Outside the ship, one of the vessels of the Hatuni came into view then, but maintaining a safe enough distance from all the mayhem going about. Inside of it, a transmission screen flickered to life and a voice boomed over the intercom to address the Uthjad being inside its mighty dreadnought.

“This is Captain Koru of the Hatuni forces speaking. I offer you this one chance to leave and take your troops back with you. If you desist, we shall have no choice but to open fire at you. I repeat, leave now and no more harm will be done.” Somehow he doubted the Uthjad would listen, but it was protocol for all the Hatuni military to reason where they could. Failing that there was nothing else to be said, only with weapons, blood and death.

[ARAD V1.0]

Arad noddedd as Kothathe spoke to him. Their primary weakpoint was the chest. Good to know. Slowly, the battledroid rose to his feet. Information he had heard was registered. His programming was adapted. A lethal killing mchine. Yet a mercenary. Ready to earn his keep. The odds were against them. But he wasn't meant to worry about odds. He was meant to become a part of a team. And Arad didn't feel like carrying corpses today. Not of an enemy. But certainly not corpses belonging to his allies.

Arad followed Kothathe without question. And the instant he spotted a hostile, the blades slid down from his arms and he charged forward. Fearless. Relentless even. The first of the Ulthane falling victim to his blades quite instantly. Yet. After having racked up two kills, the robot was smacked backwards at an incredible velocity. Leaving a deep dent in the crashed vessel's hull.

He dropped down on solid ground again. Several parts in the cracks and sliths of his armor starting ti shine a crimson red. "Pain inhibitors.. Disabled. Fuel capacitators in overdrive. Defragmentation unit polarised. Overdrive mode enabled." Within a blink of an eye, he dissappeared from sight. Immediatly appearing between a group of Ulthane. A group butchered within the blur of a movement. He fragmented next to Briia and pulled off the Ulthane corpse off of her before defragmenting once more, throwing himself in the group with his relentless assualt, several bullet holes and scorchmarks seen on his armour. It seemed he was still functioning at peak efficiency, however. Only the red particles and distortion of his defragmentation matrix a certainty of his location.