The Liberation of Tamarr

[Raging Deadstar]

Sorry guys, i let myself slip out the story writing loop. This next chapter introduces some characters and is a go between before the next event i'm writing now.

*Shameless Plug* I recommend you head over to the Newbie Galactic Combat II thread, the ending is great and mystefying! Thanks for the great story Ruatha

Now onto our story

A thousand stars, all-burning in their splendour, illuminated the night sky. The atmospheric illuminations shimmered, greens, blues, reds, they all ignited the sky into a mystifying collage. Two of the three meteor raked moons glowed down into the deep valley where the lights of civilisation buzzed around like pretty plasmaflies. A gigantic tower stretched upwards into the sky, it was a grand sandstone-esque tower and its sides shone a pale creamy white in the moonlight, giving off a placid glow. Hundreds of little lights shone out from the grand tower. Its base was hexagonal and all sides sloped up for a mile in height until they reached the grand spire. Around four fifths of the way up large prongs began to stick out before reaching the top that flattened off. The top was finished off by 6 enormous prongs jutting out from each side and sliced their way skywards. A long sleek ship slowly glided its way towards the top of the tower. It’s huge cylindrical engines stretching for half the hulls length across the sides. Its dull purple coating reflected the many lights of the city from below. It slowly came to hover above the landing pad on the top of the tower, firing its landing engines and slowly came to rest. A door depressurised and a couple of guards walked out and made sure the area was secure, although they needn’t have bothered, only a few of the most faithless Tamarrian’s would think and attempt on their rulers life, never mind attempt it. But with an uneasy treaty with the Taeron no one was taking his or her chances. An old Tamarrian staggered out of the space ship, above him the great prongs of the tower cast great shadows. He leaned on his staff and let out an icy breath. The nights were cold here on Alpha Leonis IV for a species used to 18 hours daylight. The coldness rattled his old bones to the very marrow; he put one of his 4 frail hands on passing royal assistant to relieve pressure off the staff he leaned on, he slowly smiled at the kind man and then looked out onto his city. Around the grand tower were many smaller pyramids and tens of gardens. These spread out around the tower in all directions for 3 miles until they reached a circular river that cut off this architectural grandeur. This was home to the many religious temples and shrines, museums, universities and anything deemed cultural by the Omnicrons. On the other side of the river the giant buzzing city began. Large glass towers rose from the ground, seemingly miles from the city below kissing the clouds almost. Thousands of massive buildings in all directions like needles, bridges connecting these tall skyscrapers together in series. It was possible for people to live their entire lives without ever setting foot on the surface of this planet. But as the main temples were found in the grounds of grand tower this was very rare indeed. Many a vehicle floated below his viewpoint, flitting around like excited insects. The old alien sighed and looked to the stars for the answers he sought, only to be reminded of the peril that chased his people. A golden speck of light above the clouds which was a Taeron Cruiser, an everLasting reminder of the Taeron's presence here. It’s gold and blue hull visible through the mist. He turned round sighing deeply, 2 young aliens, also from the Tamarrian race, stood there with their own staffs. They were given to all those in a position of power, carved from the finest hardwood trees of Alpha Leonis IV and topped with grand crystal. But one of the young alien’s was made of a grey dull metal, twisting up the length until it reached a 5-pronged top, not unlike the grand tower they stood on top. The old Tamarrian’s eyes acknowledged the young aliens appearances and ran a hand of his face. His skin ruined by wrinkles and patched with brown blotches, but his black eyes added contrast to his ghostly pale skin. His hair was long and grey but straightened as if by the very wisdom he knew. He was the High Omnicron and the leader of the Continuum, no one commanded as much respect as he did. But the old man cared very little for royal protocol. He ran a hand through his long flowing hair and was about to communicate with his friend.

The female alien stepped forward and flicked her red flowing hair. She smiled at the old Tamarrian and bowed. She was obviously in the Last few tenths of pregnancy and her blue dress slightly rippled as a breeze blew past.
“Welcome Back Your Highness, I am glad you arrived back safely, shall I take the plans?” she asked, cocking her head slightly sideways.
“Thank you my dear.” Replied the High Omnicron, undoing a bond from his wrist and passed the girl the metal armoured box. She slightly buckled misjudging the weight but easily recovered. The old Tamarrian felt slightly unfair giving this to a pregnant lady who was obviously beginning to show the strain of carrying children so he motioned for a guard to help her.
“Please take this to the War room, the Kah’tal are eager to see the new designs. Also please come and see me in one hour, I think it’s about time you took maternity leave.” He added, the female smiled and gladly accepted the guards help. Tamarrian pregnancy was extremely hard in the Last few tenths, as usually Female Tamarrian’s carried multiple babies. They left for the lift in one of the stone prongs and the male alien slowly walked forward from the shadows. Dressed in white robes with a metallic blue sash and a gold embroidered symbol on it. His hair was dark and fell in short spiky curtains around the side of his forehead. His eyes were almost black in the dark night and his skin a lot more purple than that of the old man. The young alien’s mouth opened slightly and a melodic sound floated through the air. Originally Tamarrian’s had communicated by harmonic melodies generated by their vocal chords, but as they encountered other races they eventually conformed to a language that most races in the surrounding systems spoke.
“Your highness, contemplating tomorrow’s decision?” he asked, his voice fair and comforting to the old Tamarrian’s ears.
“You know me too well my good advisor, yes tomorrow I fear will be a sad day for our continuum.” He sighed once again. For tonight was the Last night of his reign as High Omnicron. The wind blew silently making both men’s white robes rustle and wave like they were swimming in an invisible ocean.
“A’tush, are you sure you’re making the right decision? I fear you retire to soon.” The old man coughed slightly, the force shuddering through his decaying larynx. He was old, 179 years old to be precise, and in A’tush’s opinion far too old to be running an empire under siege.
“Maliki you are young and the passing year makes no difference to you, but my time is soon and my Ascension is due, it is time my old friend, I sense the continuum will grow in such a way that the Taeron will fear!” Maliki nodded, and held out his hand, indicating they go inside. A’tush nodded and followed him into the tower. The insides were decorated with gold walls, not real gold for it was far too precious. The walls glittered and shined nonetheless though, the floors paved with marble, it was an extravagant piece of architecture.
“Young Maliki I know I can trust you to be aware of the murky shadows, I fear for the new High Omnicron, young Jyttsche is a more able successor than many think, but she is not accustomed to the ways of the Taeron, I assume you will protect her with the same care as you have with I?” Maliki closed his eyes, put one of his many fists on his heart and bowed, as was accustomed to requests of superiors in the Tamarrian Continuum. A’tush smiled through his ancient lips, he knew Maliki would serve him well, he always had. Maliki thought quickly to relieve the awkward atmosphere the conversation had brought on.
“Were the Phong’s reactions favourable?” He asked quietly. A’tush smiled remembering the courtesy the Phong had shown him on his stay. The Tamarrian’s were deeply shocked by the failure of their cruisers in the Last year and had decided to revamp the entire design of their ships and units, a highly unpractical move but one the Military and Seers thought was necessary They had decided to get the Phong’s top architects and engineers to review their designs, and with a few minor suggestions to increase performance the Phong agreed these new ships would serve the continuum well.
“Yes, we have a few flaws to get rid of but otherwise these new ships will be in soon, hopefully they will give us an edge if the Taeron decide to invade!” A’tush answered, even though the Taeron had forced the Tamarrian’s into a subjugation treaty and were aggressively pushing for complete surrender. A’tush looked around the exquisite hallway and sighed, he hoped the continuum would rally behind young Jyttsche, he also hoped that his and Jyttsche’s proposed plan of the future would hold up before the scrutiny of the Seers and the Naturists. These thoughts haunted him as he strode off towards the Council Leaving Maliki to catch some rest, the next few tenths would be exceptionally hard. Maliki never noticed however the lurking creature behind the shadows of an intersecting corridor, unfortunately the Tamarrian’s weren’t as wary of the shadows as they should have been.

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Raging Deadstar:
unfortunately the Tamarrian’s weren’t as wary of the shadows as they should have been.

Goodie.
Much scene building whith rich descreptive text.
Btw I really like the Taeron shipset, my new favorite in PBW!

(Taeron cruiser above Alpha Leonis IV

[Stone Mill]

I hope those new ship designs are based on some breakthrough technologies. And I hope the crews get some practice at the ship/fleet training facilities fighting off pirates and such...


Keep it up.

[Raging Deadstar]

*Ba Da Bump*

Shameful, but i'm going for another 2 opinions and see if i should string the plot out a bit more! But I have a feeling you want me to get to the action soon!

[Ragnarok]

I just now had the time to read your story RD. Very nice writting; I enjoy how you put into great detail the way the buildings are set up and so forth. No detail is too small to be left out. Hopefully whenever I get back to my story it will be half as good as yours is turning out to be. (Note: I'm working on a plot like for this chapter in my head now. So hopefully I can put that into 'writing' soon.)

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Raging Deadstar:
*Ba Da Bump*

Shameful, but i'm going for another 2 opinions and see if i should string the plot out a bit more! But I have a feeling you want me to get to the action soon!

Yep, more action.
Explosions and death.
Destroy those beutiful buildings!

[Raging Deadstar]

Ok this is kind of a fill-in chapter so i can implement some new characters and link it to the ideas i have, the next chapter should be up tonight, i'm writing it as we speak

The grand street of Ashguard stretched far out into the distance, packed to the edges with the people of the Tamarrian Continuum. Thousands of colours adorned the sea of people, each wearing a sash to represent their cult. On each side the large pyramids and temples grew like trees on a riverbed. The street was roughly a mile long and paved with sandstone slabs. People hung from the large statues that stood proudly on each side of the road. Heroes of the Tamarrian’s past. The road led up to the 50 or so steps that led up to the grand tower of the Continuum. At the top of these steps stood a glass podium, a small microphone waited for its speaker. Beyond the glass podium a large marble plaza stretched on before the giant tower that was the Grand Temple reached up to the sky. It’s pale stone sides glowed in the twin suns that bathed everything in a pleasant luminescence. A’tush leaned on his hardwood staff and proudly walked out, the crowd erupted into cheers of adoration. The thunderous applause continued till A’tush modestly signalled for silence. He was dressed in white silk that shone and glimmered, around the neck and the ends of the sleeves were silver with strange blackened inscriptions. Upon his head stood a circlet of silver encrusted with small diamond like jewels between the entwining wires. He looked behind him nervously, the smile returned to his face as he saw his two advisors Maliki and Ara’drei, Ara’drei was a tallish Tamarrian with a noticeably longer neck than most, dressed in a long white robe with a black piece of fabric draped over one of his shoulders to his opposite waist, A symbol that he was in the Death Cult. His cheeks were quite narrow; his eyes were a rare dark brown and shined almost unnaturally. He had a small crop of hair that met in a V shape on his forehead. Beside them stood the 10 members of the High Priests and around them the Omnicron guards clad in metallic armour and large azure cloaks carrying large staffs with sharpened blades. A’tush coughed slightly and cleared his chest.

“Welcome Children of Tamarr! Like all things that the beauty of nature bestows upon us things must come to an end. The grand trees that line our forests, the beautiful flowers that enchant our gardens, even the twin suns that shine above us will fade to dusk…” The crowd was silent, all waiting in hushed anticipation, many had guessed that today High Omnicron A’tush would step down as leader of the Tamarrian Continuum.
“And as the fabled empires that forged the stars rose and came to rest so must my reign over such wonderful citizens. I’m afraid my time has past good friends, and I cannot represent such a great empire any longer. Over my years I have seen the strongest of our people travel to and beyond the extreme, in our future I can see us travelling further, to the stars and beyond, as a great nation! So I must proudly step down and with all my honour give way to the new High Omnicron, her highness Jyttsche!” Some of the crowd burst into applause, not only for the new High Omnicron but also for A’tush retiring. Maliki gulped slightly, it was hard for him to see his most trusted friend step down from his position, it worried him slightly that A’tush was nearing his ascension. He looked over at the row of guards; there were 10 on each side facing each other with their staffs held above their shoulders, creating a triangular arch in which the new High Omnicron began to walk under. Maliki gasped and many people turned their heads, she was so… Maliki couldn’t search for a word that summed her up; beautiful in his opinion was too much of an understatement. Her blue hair was long and straight, glinting in the sunlight like sapphire, the tips were strangely a faint silver colour that parted across her shoulders. Along her face around her eyes were two darker symmetrical patterns that spread like wings across her lilac face, under her hair ran a chain that then ran across her forehead, a silver jewel hung from it. She was dressed in white robes, her sleeves and top of her chest were veiled in snowy mesh and strands of the mesh fell from her wrists in an arcing loop to the backs of her arms. She slowly walked underneath the staffs and approached the podium, A’tush bowed and handed over his circlet and bestowed it upon Jyttsche’s head. The crowd erupted into applause and cheers as holocams flashed dazzling all with a phosphorous blare. Large projectors beamed the pictures into the sky as thousands gazed upwards. Maliki gazed at the beautiful young women that was his new ruler, her face radiated euphoria. But she had an aura of caution, as if the enormity of the task before her was weighing down on her shoulders.

[Raging Deadstar]

Ok a more exciting chapter, hope you enjoy

The long train of ships slowly crossed the Metallah system. This system was the Last system claimed as Taeron space and one of the warp points led to Alpha Leonis, home system of the Tamarrian’s. The ships were essentially quite small compared to an escort but they were a staple to the Taeron Confederacy. This train was one of many that carried the valuable resources the colonies produced. This particular one was heading for the Gryphon Planetary Space Yards, the main homeworld of the Taeron. The ships were the typical blue and gold of Taeron design and looked like miniature Versions of their medium transports and the storage compartments were bursting with all resources. There were 8 of these tiny transports and 2 gunship’s to protect them. They never noticed the small group of 7 strange ships close in on them. They were all silver and the stars light reflected and shimmered on the hulls of the deadly looking craft. There were no distinguishable markings on any of these crafts and they didn’t give off any signal declaring their allegiance to any empire, they cruised along and quickly formed an attack formation. These ships were a joint venture created by the Tamarrian/Phong Alliance. These particular craft belonged to the Tamarrian’s intelligence agency. Their mission was set, to capture as many of these transports and bring the resources to Alpha Leonis. 1 of them was a fleet control ship and the rest specially designed “mini-fighters”. They weren’t as strong as a Taeron Gunship but with a number advantage they had an advantage. They split into 2 Groups and quickly flew in, opening fire with lasers as they attacked. The purple beams began to demolish the gunships.

“The battle goes well, order the fleet to disable offensive craft and then board as many of the transports, hopefully our communications jamming technology will stop them sending out a distress call!” The captain smiled and turned round to his first officer. The Captain was a Tamarrian and the first officer a Phong. The Intelligence agency allowed any race to join to give it a better chance of avoiding detection. The first Officer looked around, his large eyes scanned the displays and his strange polymer skin gently twisted into a smile.
“I shall order the boarding teams to start, and signal our defectors to disable their engines Captain!” Replied the First Officer, he quickly pressed a few buttons and barked out some orders. This raid was possible because many of the Taeron transports used slave labour and it was pretty easy to find a disgruntled Taeron to defect and do the intelligence’s dirty work, it was much more cost effective compared to setting up enough defectors on all ships to overthrow the crew. The two aliens watched as the ships finished off the gunships and began to board the transports. They knew exactly what ships to board first, the defectors were on board the ones that would attempt to escape. Suddenly a giant explosion ripped through 1 of the ships that was escaping, the shards of metal flailing off into the void of space.
“Alas, it seems one of the defectors had to improvise, At least those resources won’t be used by the Taeron, her sacrifice won’t be in vain.”

She looked around the giant room, the main generator of the ship was before her and behind that the ion drives. She could hear the giant rings rotating and grinding round the engines. She was a Taeron, dressed only in the blue uniform that all of the “weak” on the ships had to wear. Originally the Taeron had ordered all those classed as weak to be destroyed and it worked for thousands of years. But eventually they found it easier to use them as slave labour. She quickly entered one of her superior’s codes. She shuddered in disgust, remembering the seduction of the captain of the ship, she hated the Taeron’s way of life, she hated the society, hated the rulers, hated those who enforced meaningless bloodshed and labour! She could remember countless family members being killed off because they reached the age of “elder culling” She had lost both parents that way and she despised them for it. The computer screen flashed and she began the process of shutting down the large engines. Giant vents of steam began to stem from ventilation vents and the room slowly began to be filled with a slight fog. Pushing all thoughts of hatred to the back of her mind she continued shutting down the engines, she never heard the gentle clinks of someone coming down the ladder into the room, she never heard them drawing the bLaster and only when she felt the barrel push against her temple did she stop her actions. Her breath grew quicker and instinct took over as she span round and punched the Taeron straight in the face, leaving an orange bloody mess. Suddenly the room was illuminated for a second and she felt numbness in her thigh, She looked down and saw the burnt mess that was her thigh, orange blood-oozing out at an alarming rate, but she never felt it, the bLaster had burnt all the nerves in her leg. She staggered back and hit the generator control cylinder and leaned against it. The male Taeron was swearing expletives as he came over and kicked her legs from out of her. She staggered and fell to the floor, landing on her knees. She felt a subtle singe of pain shoot up her thigh and let out a slight gasp. The Male now proceeded to push the bLaster against her head again and was still swearing. She felt her legs giving out of her and she quickly began typing gently, the male hadn’t noticed and began to give her a lecture on betraying the Taeron Confederacy. He never noticed her pushing a fatal sequence and entering the captain’s password, he never noticed her push the captains key card into the drive. He finally stopped his boasting of loyalty and his face radiated pleasure, dreaming of promotions he could get for stopping a sabotage operation and killing a Taeron traitor.
“Any Last requests?” He asked, the female realising the Terran phrase. She pressed the key and watched as blue lights started flashing everywhere and sirens sounded.
“Only that your death is slow and painful!” she replied coolly, she felt a pain, the most intense pain she had ever felt before, but it was only for a split second. The side of her head exploded into a mess of blood that covered the computer and sent bits of burnt muscle and flesh everywhere, her head banged off the keyboard and she toppled to the floor, leaving the world for a better place, and leaving her enemies to a quick and unavoidable death!

[Raging Deadstar]

Bump

Come on guys, one opinion on the Last chapter, thats all i'm asking

[dogscoff]

Enjoying it thouroghly, especially the planetside action - I always enjoy descriptions of alien planets and cultures, and yours is particularly vivd.

As for the intel attack: Yeah, good stuff. THere are a few writing-style things I noticed, but I assume you're looking more for comment on the story. I like the way you've focussed on one of SE4's less prominent aspects (intel) - more ppl shoould do this.

I have to say the whole story is kind of scattered - I get the feeling you didn't plan it much, or that you didn't stick to the plans you made. You're pulling it back together though, so I'll just shut up and keep reading=-)