Prelude. -2-

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Several weeks later...
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    Elements of 21st and 13th Kasparov Battlegroups, Huneeus-Rudloff drive stream. Entering gravity well of uncharted system, the last known location of RFB Battlecruiser Tannhauser.

"Shareholder Arkany Vasslev..."
"Hmm? Yes, what is it?"
"We have confirmed coordinate lock on our exit point. The flotilla is ready to leave transit on your command."

    Arkany Vasslev moved his not insignificant bulk, looking around the bridge of the fast-attack cruiser Pale Blade's assembled crew. The shik and human officer crew present were engrossed in their tasks, ensuring the flotilla slipped through the void between stars with no issues.

    It had been three weeks since they departed from the Data Zone at the Federal Republic of Bazikstan held system, Yusbeff. While the majority of the 27th, 13th and 21st Kasparov fleet elements were still gathering at the Data Zone in Mekkhere, Arkany's task force was moving far into the haze at the edge of explored space.
    The coming conflict in the Devart sector would soon ignite the space between stars. And the Kasparov factories. Arkany Vasslev grimaced, reaching into a breast pocket to grab a handkerchief,  wiping away sweat from his brow. War was good business, if a bit messy at times.
    It wasn't cowardice, to not be joining the main offensive. The role of a majority shareholder isn't to engage in silly conflict with troublemakers, Arkany mused to himself. It was to achieve maximum profit. And that was exactly what he was doing here, on the outer edge of nowhere.

    Arkany's contacts in the Federal Republic of Bazikstan (It was undignified to call them spies...) had given him some very interesting information. The RFB's battlecruiser Tannhauser had been escorting a science team around the far reaches of allied space. Just one standard  month prior, it had left charted space, moving beyond Bazik held sectors. And several days later, it had suddenly stopped sending standard status updates.
    The shareholder didn't know what the science team was doing out there on the edge of the nebula, but he knew an opportunity for profit when it presented itself. What ever the science team and Tannhauser were looking for had to be valuable. Arkany's contacts were recycling old status updates, bouncing the signals off deep space relays.
    When his taskforce reunited the ...stranded, and obviously malfunctioning battlecruiser with RFB space, his pocketbooks would be graciously padded. Obviously the spoofed communications would be ceased, once the true condition of the Tannhauser was determined, but only after that point, no sooner. It would not be polite to make the RFB space command worry needlessly over a battlecruiser whose communicators were damaged.

    Tucking the sweat dampened cloth into a pocket, Arkany addressed the shik standing by his chair.
"Align the task force to the system plane. Disengage Huneeus-Rudloff drive when we are all synchronized." The Dreselandes, his advisor, and acting commanding officer for the cruiser coolly regarded him. Rapidly tapping commands into a small tablet in her hands, she nodded towards the shareholder.
"It is done."

    Observed from a distance, the act of a coordinated faster than light drive jump is impressive. The mostly empty vacuum of interplanetary space split apart, and the flotilla entered reality, trailing green energies and screeching radiation. A truly observant watcher could easily count the ships as they emerged, back-lit by the massive energies of their Huneeus-Rudloff drives spooling down. Twenty four vessels in total, in fact.
    As the rifts dissolved, the hulls of the Kasparov vessels glittered in the blue glow of the uncharted system's dwarf star. Keen eyes coldly noted this disturbance.

"Shareholder, all ships reporting complete drive sequencing. We're here." The Dreselandes coolly reported.

"Advance group is reporting in, they're sending us a welcome... Seems they were bored out here." The communications officer spoke up, addressing the bridge.
"Sir, communication from heavy cruiser Journeyman. She's at the rendezvous point, they're saying something about contact reports. RFB identification, but they're pretty weak signals."

Good, time to solve this mystery. Arkany Vasslev stood up, speaking to the bridge. "Great job people." Looking to the commanding officer. "D43-Li-4, merge the advance group with our flotilla and move us into the system. Let's get to the bottom of this, and pick up what pieces we can."
Arkany smiled as he removed his glasses, and headed off the bridge. "It's what the Tannhauser's crew would have wanted, after all."

"Oh, and when you're done here, Dalia, come to my quarters. We need to discuss some ...fleet maneuvers."

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<sub>Some time during the early weeks of the Goeliathian Devart Sector war. An expedition is underway to track down some strange signals. Signals of possibly extra-dimensional source?

Who knows what they found out there...

is a crazy artist type dude, who happened to create a whole pile of awesomeness. The Nebulosa Ots, a sci-fi setting, is a nebula that host many factions of his, and other artists on deviantart.
The concept of shiks is an artificially gestated human, generally a designer product built by these large Mega-corporations. They're also really... really cute.</sub>