Andromedan Orbiting Operations Center (and offworld adventures)

[Firuthi Dragovic]

*I’ll just beat him up”

"He has a tendency to smell fear-"

"ETA fifteen seconds. Stow some of the stranger talk, we're just about there."

"Okay. Any last questions before we rendezvous with the Duchy fleet, Ahrakas? The flower, Hastur's talents... anything?"

 

[Universe]

"He has a tendency to smell fear-"

"ETA fifteen seconds. Stow some of the stranger talk, we're just about there."

"Okay. Any last questions before we rendezvous with the Duchy fleet, Ahrakas? The flower, Hastur's talents... anything?"

“I’m not scared of him anymore”

 

[Universe]

“What flower?”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“What flower?”

"Cooper was talking about the ingredients of Fenwater Bile and I asked him what we'd use to replicate the recipe in this reality. He mentioned a fairly famous Earth flower that I know as the ipecac flower."

 

[Universe]

"Cooper was talking about the ingredients of Fenwater Bile and I asked him what we'd use to replicate the recipe in this reality. He mentioned a fairly famous Earth flower that I know as the ipecac flower."

“Oh”

 

[Universe]

*I sighed*

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“Oh”

*I sighed*

"I'll discuss it more later. I... think that's a Duchy ship on the viewscreen."

"That's just one of their smaller ships. You should see the view from the bridge, there's massive ships too."

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"I'll discuss it more later. I... think that's a Duchy ship on the viewscreen."

"That's just one of their smaller ships. You should see the view from the bridge, there's massive ships too."

Indeed more of the Duchies fleet began appearing.
Many of them were truly massive and had rather sleek and curving designs. Others looked ancient and appeared to have been in space for a very long time.
The vessels viewscreen was beeping to indicate someone was attempting to hail the ship.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Indeed more of the Duchies fleet began appearing.
Many of them were truly massive and had rather sleek and curving designs. Others looked ancient and appeared to have been in space for a very long time.
The vessels viewscreen was beeping to indicate someone was attempting to hail the ship.

"Ahrakas, Firuthi... and Kurt, if you're still on board.... you might want to get to the intercom."

Tyrim hit a button.

"This is the Asgard, acknowledging hailing frequency. I see you are quite.... ready."

Firuthi's communication was strictly telepathic, to Ahrakas and Kurt.

"Walk me through some of the original discussion you had with these guys again?...."

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"Ahrakas, Firuthi... and Kurt, if you're still on board.... you might want to get to the intercom."

Tyrim hit a button.

"This is the Asgard, acknowledging hailing frequency. I see you are quite.... ready."

Firuthi's communication was strictly telepathic, to Ahrakas and Kurt.

"Walk me through some of the original discussion you had with these guys again?...."

Basically they want everything the Shogun now controls. The Duke also want some relics returned.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Basically they want everything the Shogun now controls. The Duke also want some relics returned.

"Pfft. They do know their time with that control is limited, right?"

Firuthi stopped with the telepathy.

"The man who answered your frequency is Tyrim, the Asgard's captain. I am Firuthi and the High Imperator's on board as well. Loki - or Kurt as I call him - had to focus more on coordinating our troops-"

"I'm pretty sure they can spot that I'm right here. I wonder how much they know about the telepathy."

"-so he's having me, the guy who found him this time, handle the comm for the moment. I see we're assembled. Loki briefed us on our side. First target is Mandalore, yeah?"

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"Pfft. They do know their time with that control is limited, right?"

Firuthi stopped with the telepathy.

"The man who answered your frequency is Tyrim, the Asgard's captain. I am Firuthi and the High Imperator's on board as well. Loki - or Kurt as I call him - had to focus more on coordinating our troops-"

"I'm pretty sure they can spot that I'm right here. I wonder how much they know about the telepathy."

"-so he's having me, the guy who found him this time, handle the comm for the moment. I see we're assembled. Loki briefed us on our side. First target is Mandalore, yeah?"

The image on the viewscreen materialized to reveal an aged looking admiral wearing what appeared to be an archaic version of the Duchies uniform.
Yes, we fought there a thousand years ago before I was cryogenically frozen. It was our last major offensive. Their defenses are quite formidable.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

The image on the viewscreen materialized to reveal an aged looking admiral wearing what appeared to be an archaic version of the Duchies uniform.
Yes, we fought there a thousand years ago before I was cryogenically frozen. It was our last major offensive. Their defenses are quite formidable.

"I have a few ideas for getting past the defenses.... but we might as well try this your way first. Do you remember ever managing to get a ship on to the planet during that last offensive?"

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"I have a few ideas for getting past the defenses.... but we might as well try this your way first. Do you remember ever managing to get a ship on to the planet during that last offensive?"

Not exactly. One of our Battlecruisers that had its reactor explode crashed on the surface. The surviving crew were able to cause some damage on the surface before they were all killed.
The Shogun are very fond of boarding tactics.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Not exactly. One of our Battlecruisers that had its reactor explode crashed on the surface. The surviving crew were able to cause some damage on the surface before they were all killed.
The Shogun are very fond of boarding tactics.

Firuthi reached out with telepathy.

"Kids, Dural... you all catch that? The Shogun loves boarding."

"Ivan's on board and the floors and outer hull have triangular patterns. Boarders won't survive, period."

"Perhaps I should teach you the pincer boarding technique, Dural. A lot of space armies use it, actually. I don't think Ivan's fast enough to keep up with that."

Firuthi stopped the telepathy while Kurt relayed the details of boarding tactics and the pincer technique to the Lords. The question being whether the Lords who fought the Shogun last time encountered the pincer technique and had a counter - Kurt would relay such a counter if a Lord brought it up.

"A crucial detail. Loki's relaying that to our teams now. Did that crew manage to relay anything about actual planetary defenses in their final moments?"

 

[Baron Tredegar]

Firuthi reached out with telepathy.

"Kids, Dural... you all catch that? The Shogun loves boarding."

"Ivan's on board and the floors and outer hull have triangular patterns. Boarders won't survive, period."

"Perhaps I should teach you the pincer boarding technique, Dural. A lot of space armies use it, actually. I don't think Ivan's fast enough to keep up with that."

Firuthi stopped the telepathy while Kurt relayed the details of boarding tactics and the pincer technique to the Lords. The question being whether the Lords who fought the Shogun last time encountered the pincer technique and had a counter - Kurt would relay such a counter if a Lord brought it up.

"A crucial detail. Loki's relaying that to our teams now. Did that crew manage to relay anything about actual planetary defenses in their final moments?"

Not much. There were some mentions of heavily fortified ports, military installations, and the Palace. The only meaningful thing we got from them is that on the surface the Shogun use human wave tactics. Just an endless barrage of soldiers, from the descriptions we believe the Shoguns soldiers might be on some sort of stimulant drug to make them fight harder.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Not much. There were some mentions of heavily fortified ports, military installations, and the Palace. The only meaningful thing we got from them is that on the surface the Shogun use human wave tactics. Just an endless barrage of soldiers, from the descriptions we believe the Shoguns soldiers might be on some sort of stimulant drug to make them fight harder.

To the surprise of those on the Asgard, Tyrim telepathically relayed a message to Firuthi, the other dragons on board the ship, Ahrakas, Kurt, and the crew of the Rukbatian vessel they'd picked up.

"Human wave tactics. Hahaha... reminds me of the Webbed One's last-ditch swarm efforts. They're no match for a decent Chorus squad or a single dragon, I can-"

"Shelve the telepathy, Tyrim. I'm trying to have a conversation here."

"Wait, what? I'm using telepathy?!?"

"Yes, and it's throwing me off. Maintain psychic silence."

"I'll see what I can do."

Firuthi stopped the telepathy.

"Endless barrages. I have some doubts about the Shogun's armies if they have to resort to those... but no matter. I think I only have two more questions before we begin the assault. Do they have any favored formations for their ships, and do they prefer ballistic, laser, plasma, or other energy weapons in their armament?"

 

[Universe]

Cosmos:”They are no match for my power”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Cosmos:”They are no match for my power”

"One moment."

Firuthi resumed telepathy, specifically aimed at Cosmos.

"We can brag about that all we want - actually learning how they function is critical for putting that overwhelming power to work most effectively."

Firuthi included Universe in the next bit of telepathy.

"Tyrim seems to have acquired outright telepathy, and not merely limited to his Chorus - does Alpha have proper telepathy too? Tyrim might need some quick lessons - the psychic static off of him's ruining my concentration."

 

[Universe]

"One moment."

Firuthi resumed telepathy, specifically aimed at Cosmos.

"We can brag about that all we want - actually learning how they function is critical for putting that overwhelming power to work most effectively."

Firuthi included Universe in the next bit of telepathy.

"Tyrim seems to have acquired outright telepathy, and not merely limited to his Chorus - does Alpha have proper telepathy too? Tyrim might need some quick lessons - the psychic static off of him's ruining my concentration."

“yes Alpha can”

 

[Universe]

“I can hear you”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“yes Alpha can”

“I can hear you”

"Please educate Tyrim while I finish negotiations."

Firuthi stopped the telepathy and resumed speaking.

"Sorry about that. Communications issue."

Meanwhile, Tyrim piped up on the telepathy again.

"Okay, I don't get this. The only psychic voice I had was through that gryphon of mine, Collective Soul. What's happened to me? Was this part of the upgrade suite or something?"

 

[Universe]

"Please educate Tyrim while I finish negotiations."

Firuthi stopped the telepathy and resumed speaking.

"Sorry about that. Communications issue."

Meanwhile, Tyrim piped up on the telepathy again.

"Okay, I don't get this. The only psychic voice I had was through that gryphon of mine, Collective Soul. What's happened to me? Was this part of the upgrade suite or something?"

“Affirmative”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“Affirmative”

"So.... walk me through this whole telepathy thing. The perks, the pitfalls... it was already strange enough that I was awakened with a Chorus in the first place, now we're delving into powers that are always touted as a necessarily flesh-and-blood experience - when the evidence is right in front of us that it's not limited at all."

 

[Universe]

"So.... walk me through this whole telepathy thing. The perks, the pitfalls... it was already strange enough that I was awakened with a Chorus in the first place, now we're delving into powers that are always touted as a necessarily flesh-and-blood experience - when the evidence is right in front of us that it's not limited at all."

“our code is evolving and learning at an incredible rate we learn as fast as the celestial dragons do that’s the best way I can explain it”