Steve Coops

Jan 03

Merlateenan

 

CLEA DATA FILE

Race Identity:

  • Merlateenan

Appearance:

  • Humanoid
  • Pointed ears
  • Finger nails can morph into elongated points
  • Pointed teeth
  • Blue Skin

Attributes:

  • Aquatic
  • Great Strength – can survive at depth without special equipment
  • Use highly advanced technology
  • Skilled warrior
  • Breathe underwater unaided.
  • The can breathe on land but choose not to inhabit the land
  • They use highly mechanised drone forces. Several individuals can control entire divisions.

Interaction with Humans and Other Races:

  • The Merlateenan are known to conquer other aquatic worlds. Considering most races the Eopua have dealt with are not aquatic they are not considered a galaxy wide threat since the majority of “intelligent” races live on land.
  • As a race they did not set out to directly threaten humans but after clashes would see humans as a problem. Their interest in Earth was merely desired for its strategic position which would enable them to launch attacks of on other races.
  • The Merlateenan established an outpost in the middle of the Pacific. To turn it into a fully established base they need resources which could only be found in the shallows. As on other worlds when they came across other aquatic lifeforms they tried to subjugate them. From the outset they were therefore hostile to our known races of aquatic species beta.
  • After initial parties looking for resources were force away by humans they became aggressive to humans as well and starting deploying their drone forces while attempting to harvest minerals. Since this occurs in the shallow regions, usually less than 200 metres depth, the “zone” classed as shoreline and coastal shelves any conflict with the Merlanteen does not occur in the ocean depths but often within a hundred miles of a coastline. The Merlateenan are not above taking resources from land albeit they avoid using the surface as they are at a disadvantage.

Society:

  • From intelligence, CLEA has learned that the Merlateenan have a strict hierarchy which seems to be based on specific roles, such as soldiers, workers etc. As the only visitors to Earth have been from Merlateenan trying to establish a beach head only their military has been encountered.
    It is believed that their forces obey standardised military ideas with different levels of command. The highest ranking individuals controlling an incursion seems to be “royals” and they can be identified as they have hair and wear black/silver armour. Lower ranks appear to shave their heads.

Notes/History

CLEA has not had much large scale encounters with the Merlateenan unlike other aquatic groups of heroes. Whereas the only other aquatic alien raiders, the Glissen are simply aggressive the Merlateenan have a purpose in what they are doing and could be considered even more dangerous but unlike the Glissen they will not go looking for trouble. However they will attack if challenged and possess technology that makes them unstoppable underwater.

As far CLEA is aware the Merlateenan are conquerors of aquatic planets that they add to their empire. In general they have no interest in “land people”. This means that they would normally have no interest in humans or the Earth. However the location of our planet is strategically important to them for use as staging grounds for attacks on other races, a means to limit stretching out supply lines. Since our world has two thirds of the surface covered in water they have taken the unusual step of trying to establish an undersea base. Since they require water to survive the space ships they travel in are built for speed and defence. They are more vulnerable in space than most other races and so they avoid encounters with other races until planet side.

Since the Merlateenan subjugate intelligent underwater life forms this has made them a threat to the known races of human species beta that live underwater. Unlike on land and even in space where there are many costumed adventurers and CLEA has its own assets, currently there is very little the agency can do to deal with the Merlateenan directly unless they chose to come to the surface

At depth the Merlateenan cannot be fought since only a few military submarines can reach them. However they need to obtain raw materials in shallower regions where they can be engaged . It it was not for the dedicated work of groups such as the Taniwha and the “unofficial” Ocean Deep group who put a stop to the Merlateenan resource gathering, in effect waging a conflict of “attrition” then then the Merlateenan would have managed to gain the foot hold on our world that they so desperately desire.

The Taniwha were the first humans to come across the Merlateenan. They repelled the aliens and thought they had stopped an invasion. Only later did they discover that they had merely dealt with a resource hunting party. Having proven that “land beings” could be a threat the Merlateenan sent future expeditions with more armed support in the form of various drone craft.

It took quite some time for CLEA to realise that after every clash, the Merlateenan did not leave the planet but merely retreated to a base deep in the Pacific. Unlike other alien races which would send in additional forces from outside to deal with problems, the Merlateenan seem to several limit this and instead rely on equipment they brought with them. This could indicate that whenever the steal resources they can actually build replacement weapons. The use of mechanised/automated forces also means that only a small occupying force is needed to control a very much larger “army”.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the Merlateenan force is under the command of a royal prince and princess with perhaps only thirty of forty other individuals in charge of the automated systems. There are also rumours that they occasionally take human captives to study and interrogate. Since such prisoners would be taken to the base on the ocean floor there is no possibility of rescuing them.

Dec 22

“Dr Flervil”

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset Of:

Identity

  • Flervil Haastral Zreegal Weerl II

Special Skills/Abilities:

  • Massive knowledge in xenobiology
  • Can learn almost any information via optical stimulation.
  • Skilled surgeon/medic

Known Weaknesses:

  • None combative
  • Tends to use his superior intellect to rub people up the wrong way.

Notes/History

Flervil Haastral Zreegal Weerl II is a member of the Meerl race, distinctive for the diminutive size. What they lack in size they make up for in intelligence. They have an extremely unusual ability to process data through optical means.This led them to create “learning” goggles which can literally download information into their brains. Since the googles only work on the unique Meerl biology the technology cannot be used by any other race. This has therefore place the Meerl in high demand as academics by other races for use on various projects.

Flervil is a xenobiolist and skilled in medicine. He made his “career” travelling from world to world curing the incurable. He like a lot of others in his race suffered from arrogance. This led him to try and heal a dying Xigol leader. Beleiving that with knowledge he could solve the problem Flervil discovered that no amount of knowledge could cure someone that had literally reached the end of their life. Having claimed that he could cure the leader, after the alien had died he was held accountable and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Flervil though escaped and whilst on the run he came across the Star Patrol team. Realising they were without a medic he offered his services but neglected to tell them that he was a fugitive.

The crew of the Antares would eventually discover his secret when they encountered a Xigol patrol and exchanged information. Some of the information the Star Patrol received related to wanted criminals and Flervil was amongst them. Though the team chose not to hand him over and hearing his side of the story, it took a lot longer to regain their trust.

Dec 22

Dana Knowles

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset Of:

Identity

  • Dana Knowles

Special Skills/Abilities:

  • Cyber implants give her enhanced senses, greater strength and resilience as well as faster problem solving capabilities
  • Highly skilled starship engineer

Known Weaknesses:

  • Fear of darkness/isolation
  • Uncomfortable around large groups of people.

Notes/History

Dana Knowles was the last human to actually join the crew of the Antares and became the ship’s engineer.

She was actually “found” when the Antares happened upon a debris field which indicated that a battle had taken place. Unsure whether it was Myzx activity the crew decided to investigate. Dana was in the rear section of a ship that had been totally severed from the rest of the vessel. Sealed in by bulkheads she was barely alive when an investigation team found her.

After taking her unconscious form back to the Antares, Dr Flervil confirmed that the patient was  indeed human but had been “altered” with the use of cybernetic implants. He presumed that was the only reason she had stayed  alive in a wreck where the only heat was that from the chemical fires that were still burning on the outside of the hull.

It took several days before she awoke. She was fearful around the alien member of the crew but once she saw humans she opened up. She then revealed that she was Dana Knowles and had been part of a crew sent into Earth orbit sent to repair a satellite. The Hawking crew knew of the mission which had some infamy for ground stations lost contact with Dana’s team not longer after it reached stable orbit. They believed their ship had malfunctioned and the crew had tragically been lost.

However Dana stated that once they reached orbit they encountered an  alien craft that kidnapped the entire crew. She described the aliens as looking like the archetypical “greys” albeit blue in colour which the others guessed as being Quarrud-Xiqrons. Though there was no evidence who had taken Dana and the others in her team the modus operandi fitted since she told them that they were fitted with some sort of device that  enabled them to understand alien language.

She could not remember how long she stayed on the ship with the blue aliens but eventually ended up separated from the rest of the humans. Eventually the ship arrived at an orbiting facility whereupon she was “sold” to group of large humanoid lizard like beings. Calachen thought the description matched the Brolevar who were known to have resorted to buying slaves in order to replace crew on their ships which had been killed in an ongoing war with their neighbours the Trajaarn.

Once assigned to a Brolevar ship she was then fitted with cybernetic implants and made to work in the engineering section along with other slaves. As well as a means to “teach”, the implants also made her a more efficient worker. The implants also served a secondary purpose for they could be used to punish either remotely or by proximity. She said when the ship she was on came under attack, she could not leave her post since her “master” had not disabled the proximity sensor. This was why she was still in the rear of the derelict and had not abandoned ship in escape pods along with everyone else. If she had tried to leave the area, the pain would have incapacitated her.

Dr Flervil suggested that when they found her, as the ship was completely dead, that could have been why they were able to remove her without triggering a punishment protocol. Knowing that he was looking at Brolevar tech he reckoned he could permanently disable the pain generator commands but he could not restore her to a normal human since the implants were too deeply integrated in her biology.

Since the Antares was months away from Earth the crew decided to let Dana spend that time recovering. However she soon realised that they ship did not have anyone that had in depth knowledge of FTL drives and offered to act as the ships engineer, figuring that though the Brolevar had changed her and she had been through an ordeal, the best way forwards for her was to remain on the Antares and hopefully ensure that the ships presence would deter other alien races from making victims out of humans.

Dec 19

Calachen and Alvanu


CLEA DATA FILE

Asset Of:

Team Identities:

  • Calachen
  • Alvanu

Special Skills/Abilities:

  • Incredibly strong
  • Agile fighters and capable of using many weapons.
  • Thick skin and adaptive biology means they rarely need the equivalent of space suits worn by other races.
  • Nitrogen breathers
  • So good are they as bounty hunters, the Eopua frequently hire them for eradicating isolated threats.

Known Weaknesses:

  • Not popular among their own race
  • Tend not to follow orders
  • Aggressive if challenged

Notes/History

Only two are known too have visited Earth, the male Calachen and the female Alvanu. They were the pair that Vanguard freed from the Myzx prison. As per their customs they owe a “life debt” to the team. This is despite the fact they have been told on several occasions that the debt has been paid.

Considered allies of Vanguard they have assisted the team on more that one occasion. The pair have even been hire to capture dangerous aliens on Earth. Though the Eopua has tried to prevent any outside races visiting Earth to avoid messing with the great “experiment”, as Calachen and Alvanu are known to Vanguard and in the Eopua’s opinion, humans in general, the damage has technically been done. This means that they and they alone are the only members of their race with unrestricted access to the planet, but only on assignment.

Consequently the two have also become known to CLEA. Though they are a proud people and avoid assistance, after working performing missions in which CLEA and other heroes of Earth are also engaged in, rather than trying to compete with them they have begrudge accepted help. Often though it still ends up more of a competition since the Luzerran would prefer to show off their hunting prowess.

Despite the fact that members of their race engage in the illegal game hunting of Jamicst, both Calachen and Alvanu are strictly against the blood sport and have been known to take on bounties for their own people involved in such activities. This has made them hated by some of their own people but their success rate makes them feared far more which is why they are rarely challenged by their own people.

Though the pair, like Luzerran in general do not generally work well with other races they will work together in a fashion and Alvanu and Calachen are part of community of Hunters. As a group they share information on each other’s targets but will not directly hunt another’s bounty unless a specific request has been made.

Dec 19

Nalon U’Sokkor and Xensi Z’Tuchan

 

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset of:

Team Identities:

  • (Male) Nalon U’Sokkor
  • (Female) Xensi Z’Tuchan

CLEA Classification:

  • Alien

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Exceptionally skilled with blade weapons
  • Cyborg implants give them the means to process information quicker as well as boost healing capacity and physical attributes.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • EM pulses can have a detrimental effect on them.
  • As they fight close quarters they are vulnerable to ranged weapons.

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • N/A

Notes/History

So far the Earth has only been visited by two member of the race known as the Zellarians. As Reavant only knows them as belonging to a closed society, CLEA cannot determine if the entire race is friendly, or just this pair.

Most information regarding the pair came from a human, Elijah Fitton. He had been an oil worker in the far northern reaches of Canada and kidnapped by the intergalactic slavers known as the Quarrud-Xaiqrons. Having been fitted with a device that enabled communication with other races, Fitton had managed to talk to other prisoners on the ship. This is how he met the pair of Zellarians.

A proud race, the Zellarians were unusual in that they embraced advanced technology as a way of improving their bodies but preferred to revert to simpler weapons for fighting. The Quarrud-Xaiqrons had plans to either sell them as hunters or as fighters. Since the Zellarians were known for the combat prowess capturing the pair had been quite a lucrative move on the Quarrud-Xaiqrons since the race rarely left their home system. This meant they commanded a high price on the slave market.

Though prisoners were not supposed to mingle, Fitton had noticed that the guards must have underestimated human ingenuity for they tended to ignore him. Having been made aware that he was going to be sold as a slave, he thought that the best chance to escape had to occur before the ship reached its destination. Aware he could not do it alone and being the only human on board he had seen he chose to befriend the only prisoners that seemed to at least acknowledge him, namely the Zellarians.

Working as team the trio managed to break out of the prison holding area and steal a jump ship. From then on it was a case of outrunning the Quarrud-Xaiqrons who were not too keen on their prized pair escaping on them. By the time the slavers had given up, Fitton was a long way from home. The Zellarians also wanted to get home but knew that the human stood little chance of making it alive with so many dangerous aliens around so they chose to honour him helping them by going with him to Earth.

After many adventures the trio reached Earth and parted company. Though the Zellarians were now free to return to their home, they felt they had the opportunity to explore the galaxy, something that would have been denied them if they returned to their own people. Also having seen the threat from slavers and other races who preyed on other they felt that it was their duty to protect their own people from such threats which included other intergalactic criminals. Before leaving they left Fitton with a communication device.

As well as returning to Earth on the odd occasion the Zellarian pair have crossed paths with other intergalactic heroes and leant their support.

Dec 19

Fraal and Seveline

 

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset Of:

Partnership:

  • Fraal (Male)
  • Seveline (Female)

CLEA Designation:

  • Alien

Special Skills/Abilities:

  • Very agile and extremely quick
  • Have an adaptation that allows them to “stick” to vertical surfaces and ceilings
  • Able to make themselves invisible in normal light
  • Have some psychic abilities. This allows them to quickly adapt and understand unfamiliar languages. It also allows them to communicate with each other but there has been no records that they can “mentally” talk to other races/species.

Known Weaknesses:

  • Nervous around aggressive races

Notes/History

Seveline and Fraal are the only recorded Jamicst that are known to be living freely away from the Luzerran homeworld. The pair were encountered when the Vanguard ship was damaged and they chose to set it down on what the crew thought to be an isolated uninhabited forest moon.

The team were unaware they had in fact landed on one of the places that Luzerran engaged in illegal hunting of Jamicst and at the time a hunt was in progress. Being chased by a hunting party Seveline and Fraal happened across the Vanguard ship. Since the loading ramp was down they were able to cloak themselves and sneak on board undetected. Their intention was to stowaway on the alien ship and escape. Though they had no idea if the crew of the ship were hostile they feared the Luzerran more than the unknown.

Despite being able to move unseen the pair were soon picked up on internal sensors. Not knowing what had got onboard and more importantly if it was dangerous, the crew raised the ramp and then began a room by room search for the intruders. Eventually despite the fact that the pair were invisible, the crew were able to corner them. After stunning the pair the Jamicst lost their means to remain cloaked and that allow the Vanguard crew to take them to a holding cell until they worked out what to do wit the intruders.

Having a good deal of knowledge, Stellar reckoned she knew what species the pair were and told the others that Jamicst were only known to be found on the Luzerran homeworld, except in cases where they were being used for sport. Since she had worked at a bar in a space station where the clientele were dubious at best, she had often heard rumours of Luzerran groups trying to find “venues” for their illegal hunting. The fact that they each had a tracking/slaving collar had made her consider the pair had arrived on the moon by accident.

Before she could explain any more her hypothesis was proved by the arrival of the Luzerran hunting party. Titan chose to go out and meet them. Unlike the only other Luzerran they knew, namely Calachen and Alvana, the quartet before them seemed more “hostile” and the one he took to be the leader demanded they hand over their “hunt” which he took to mean the intruders.

Not wanting to engage in battle with the Luzerran group, Titan returned inside and found Stellar conversing with the captives. Though they were alien, he could tell they were frightened. He asked what the Luzerran would do to them if he handed them over and was told. Titan got an answer he did not want to hear for Stellar explained that they would be chased down and killed.

Returning to the waiting party, Titan explained he could not simply hand the captives over to be killed. The Hunt Leader though warned him that if he did not then they would destroy the ship. Since the Vanguard was in no condition to fight, Titan talked with the others and tried to find a way around the problem. Together they came up with a plan but it all hinged on handing the Jamicst over to the Luzerran.

Having done as asked the Luzerran took their prey and immediately let them go in order to resume the hunt. The team now mobilised. Mercury used his superspeed to try and find the Luzerran ship. They presumed it was on the ground since they had not discovered anything in orbit on their approach to the moon. Corona then used her ability to generate a thick smog to get Stellar over to the “enemy” ship. In the mean time Mercury, Titan and Protostar created false trails to distract the Luzerran.

After two hours Stella and Corona were back on board. Mercury then raced off to bring back the two Jamicst who had managed to keep their distance from the Luzerran due to the unwanted distractions created by Protostar, Titan and herself. With everyone on board, the Vanguard lifted off.

By the time the Hunting party were aware of what had happened, the Vanguard was already heading out of the atmosphere. Furious at what being duped the Hunt Leader rounded up his crew and went back to their ship with the intention of giving chase, only to find that the weapons, FTL drive and take off thrusters had been sabotaged. This took some time to repair, by which time the Vanguard and their prey was long gone.

Though Fraal and Seveline were now safe and free to move about the Vanguard, the were still suspicious and frightened of the crew. Having never seen an “alien” before they did not know if they had swapped one group of dangerous individuals for another.

The Vanguard crew also had issues of their own, namely what to do with their guests. Stellar reckoned that any attempt to simply drop them off would result in illegal hunters picking them up again. Returning them to the Luzerran homeworld was not an option either since the crew had now learned that Jamicst lived on reserves which effectively meant their freedom was still restricted. In the end the decision was made to set a course for Earth.

Once there the Jamicst were deposited in the only place the Vanguard crew considered might be safe for them, the Harmony Island Beach Resort. Though free to do as they pleased there and adapting quickly to their surroundings the pair were still suspicious of humans and it took a long time for them to learn to trust an alien species they had only just encountered.

When Seveline and Fraal finally learned that they had nothing to fear, they wanted to return the kindness of others and found a way to do that by volunteering their unique skills in helping some hero groups they had met when they had stayed on the island. In time they were offered replacement clothing but both of them refused. Though the suits were a reminder that they were once “prey” it was also a reminder of how far they had moved away from the past.

Whilst the pair “live” at the resort they are not considered member of staff and hence did not appear on any personnel lists. However being surrounded by humans and not their own kind made them feel “different”. For this reason when they learned that CLEA was setting up the combined human/alien Star Patrol they chose to join.

Dec 19

Hawking Crew

Top Left: Fournier,Top Right: Doherty, Middle Left: Shimizu ,Middle Right: Mendoza ,Bottom Left: Mahoe , Bottom Right: Alesana

 

CLEA DATA FILE

Team Identities:

  • Kalea Mahoe (Mission Specialist – Electrical/Propulsion Engineer)
  • Bevely Mendoza (Mission Commander)
  • Evie Doherty (Pilot)
  • Izuki Shimizu (Mission Specialist – Xenobiology)
  • Loto Alesana (Mission Specialist – Systems Engineer)
  • Percy Fournier (Flight Engineer)

CLEA Classification:

  • Skilled Humans

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Many varies skill across the crew such as engineering, navigation, flight training etc.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Outside of their ship they are have only normal “human” capabilities.
  • Inexperience

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • N/A

Notes/History

The Hawking Crew is the unofficial name of team that made up ESA Space Mission 226B.

Following the Breach Day event a large space ship was discovered orbiting Earth. The ship appeared to be in a decaying orbit and various space administrations feared what might happen if it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.  Since  CLEA had to provide reports on its operations in order to continue operating internationally, many governments were aware of the existence  of a number of space faring “teams”. The situation called for urgency but none of those assets were available and CLEA had no control to request them either. That meant the crisis was left to civilian space agencies to try and resolve. The general opinion was to assess if the craft was hostile  or if it was “dead” as believed. The latter then left two choices, one being to boost it to higher orbit or  to destroy it altogether.

ESA was the first agency able to put a launch together and assembled a crew suitable for the mission parameters. They also chose to send Izuki Shimizu a renowned xenobiologist in case the ship was alien in origin. For orbital operations, ESA used a Star Child transfer vehicle which normally seated four but could in this case be adapted to take six.

At six in the evening the mission was classed as go status “Hawking” left the launch pad. When the Hawking got out of Earth’s atmosphere and the crew performed its orbital burn they were able to glimpse the unidentified craft for the first time. Of most interest was the fact it looked similar to designs proposed for the future of Earth space exploration, only the technology had not yet been developed.

Another series of burns brought the Hawking to within forty feet of the unknown craft. It was the noticed that the docking port was of ESA design which was strange. At mission control’s request Mendoza asked  Doherty to dock with the larger craft.  Boarding the vessel they discovered it was in darkness and there was no life support. A plaque indicated it was called the Antares and the ship was indeed of Earth design albeit not from our universe. The ship also appeared to have a lot of burn marks indicating that some sort of fire fight had taken place.

When the team located the bridge all the systems it seemed as dead as everywhere else. Mendoza asked Mahoe if she could try and restore power, thinking that if they could not then they would have no choice to destroy the ship as the Hawking would not have enough thrust to raise the orbit of such a large mass.

Mahoe headed down to where she thought the engine section might be and found the electrical systems by following the power conduits. Near the aft of the Antares she located what appeared to be the engineering section of the ship and  found that all the electrical breakers had been tripped. She felt that they had been deliberately shut off because she knew that even in an accident not all breakers would trip.

Resetting each one in turn the entire ship then came alive as the various computer systems awoke. First lights, then life support and then an artificial gravity which took them by surprise as the crew ended up falling to the floor. As more systems became active a small army of drone robots powered up in the alcoves.

At first Mendoza was worried it might be self defence system but the robots ignored them and rapidly started to repair the ship. Once the computer systems on the bridge went live, Mendoza was able to get into the ships log and discovered that on the reality the ship had come from, the Myzx had over run the planet.

The Antares had been created as a warship in a last ditch attempt to fight the invading forces. Having made many allies in their fight against the Myzx, the ship had been given a lot of alien tech, much of it untested. It was to be the first in a series but before it received its crew compliment the ship had been abandoned.

Mendoza assumed that the Antares had somehow got caught up in the breaches of the “Breach Day” event and pulled to our universe. Though far in advance of our own tech, as it was designed by humans she felt that if they could get some sort of engines working and it could be saved the ship would provide years worth of research.

She did not have to wait that long for without warning the computer announced that the jump drive was activating and a moment later the bridge area was surrounded in a bright light and once it cleared they were no longer above Earth. The space jump had also destroyed the Hawking.

Now stranded the team worked together to discover what had happened and how they could get home. The Antares was well stocked so food and water were no problem. In time the crew learned from the logs that the jump drive used a special energy that was limited. The entire system was under the control of an alien system which the crew were unable to decipher. They assumed that the jump drive was perhaps an automated emergency response.

Piecing together the data they worked out that the Myzx had attacked the ship resulting in the drive activation which the crew had attempted to shut down by turning off the power. Why they chose to abandon the ship though was a complete mystery, other than a hypothesis they knew they might be stranded like its current crew.

Though they had no control over the jump drive and the system now appeared to be dead, the crew still had hope for the Antares was equipped with another FTL of a supposed “standard” design but there was a down side. It would take them a long time to make it home. As the crew got used to months on board the Antares they started to learn its many systems which included a faster than light communications system. Finally able to send a message home they learned that they had been thought dead. That record was now set straight but apart from morale support and some technical help, essentially the crew were on their own.

Of the many systems of board they discovered it had some impressive defensive arrays consisting of multiple energy beam cannons. It also had eight hangars. Four of these seemed to be set up for small interceptor like craft, albeit none were on board. A further two housed two small shuttle transport craft and the last two seemed to be for auxiliary usage.  The team theorised that the original crew had used one of these to come aboard before the Myzx arrived and had then left by another means, perhaps the missing fighter aircraft if there were not many on board.

Having transport meant that the team could visit planets on the way home as well as docking at alien space stations. Without the translation technology other humans had “acquired”  bartering for supplies and not getting killed by hostile aliens was something of a problem. The team were predominantly scientists and engineers. They did not have any military training or experience.

Despite their lack of combat skills the ingenuity of the team meant that after only three years after leaving, the Antares finally made its last FTL jump back to Earth. At first they got a heroes welcome.  They were ordered to remain onboard until the various world governments decided who should take charge of the Antares and things started to turn quite nasty.

The crew therefore decided that in the interest of world peace and to better protect the planet from some of the dangers they had seen on their travels that it was best if they kept custody of the Antares, thus creating  a balance of power between world governments. If nobody had it then nobody had an advantage.

Naturally the crew deciding to go rogue did in fact create a unified response. They were told to hand over the Antares or face arrest if they ever set foot on Earth. Potentially losing a valuable asset by forcing the Antares crew to leave, caused CLEA to get involved. Though they rarely entered into political turmoil, CLEA had experience with Vanguard and Galaxy Force. They therefore felt that in the best interest of protecting the planet they could take charge of the ship. As the same governments that wanted the crew arrested were the same ones that allowed CLEA to operate, they listened to the organisation and were forced to accept the compromise out of fear of leaving a hole in planetary defences.

The crew of the Antares accepted CLEA’s compromise also but were concerned that they would be replaced by a rookie crew. CLEA top brass though felt the current team were best placed to handle the ship since they had been onboard for three years. Instead CLEA only wanted to send to agents up to liaise with other “space” assets.

Seeing as the crew had already admitted in reports that they had no combat experience and that the ship had four fighter bays but no fighters, the agency supplied both in the same package by sending aboard Agents Mishra and Dadachanji.

As the Earth was relatively protected by the Eopua it was decided to release the ship for a purely defensive role and allow it to tackle threats to humans that managed to get past the Eopua. This was only made possible when the ship took on a number of aliens who had both experience outside of Earth and/were capable warriors.

Dec 17

Antares

The Antares is the space ship used by the “Star Patrol” group. Though it is of Earth design outfitted with alien technology it is not from our reality but believed to have fell through a portal during the “Breach Day” event. Her crew had abandoned her and she appeared in orbit in out reality.

The ship was visited by a civilian space agency after satellites and ground arrays detect a large unknown object in orbit. Once the crew were on board they discovered the ship was dead and in restoring power they restarted an experimental jump drive which transported the ship and crew to a position outside of out galaxy. Using the “standard” FTL drive engines the crew were able to return home but the journey took three years. During that time they were able to learn a good deal about the ship.

The Antares was intended to be the first in its class. At the time of its commissioning the Earth was imminent threat from the Myzx. Other races who had been attacked by them rallied to support humans and together they constructed the ship. The FTL drive, advanced jump drive, pulse cannons and energy shields were of alien design which is why we do not have comparable tech in our reality.

Eight bays are located midships, four either side. Records left on board it appeared the ship was supposed to be fitted with a compliment of four space interceptors, albeit they never arrived before the ship was abandoned. Two shuttles were found on board in similar sized bays although this d

Agents Mishra and Dadachanji

 

CLEA DATA FILE

Agent’s Job Speciality:

  • Liaison/Military Support

Identity:

  • Cyrus Dadachanji
  • Sneha Mishra

CLEA Classification:

  • Agent/Skilled Human

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Can pilot Aurora space fighters
  • Combat trained
  • Protective Armour protects from a wide variety of weapons

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Same weaknesses as a “normal” human when not wearing armour.
  • Cannot wear armour suits in zero gravity environment

Notes/History

Agents Mishra and Dadachanji are CLEA’s liaisons who work with the Star Patrol team. After returning home with an advanced space craft, the Antares, various world governments argued amongst themselves as to who took charge of the ship. After seeing all the bickering the crew of the ship realised that in the interest of peace no one government should have ownership and decided not to hand over the craft. This resulted in the governments actually unifying for a change, but only to threaten the crew that if they did not hand over the ship they would be arrested if they set foot on the planet.

It was at that moment that the CLEA chiefs decided to get involved. Having already secured help with Galaxy Force and Vanguard in protecting Earth from dangerous aliens, they felt the Antares was too much of a valuable asset to lose. They therefore managed to broker a compromise between the various governments and the crew of the ship whereby CLEA took control of the ship. Since the agency was already recognised in most countries and had no bias they would ensure that the Antares was on hand to protect all the countries and not just individual ones.

The compromise was accepted but the crew were concerned they would be replaced. They felt that having been stranded on the ship for three years after it “jumped” beyond the border of our galaxy then they were better to deal with any threats than a rookie crew. CLEA though had no intention of doing that for the very same reason and were proposing to send two agents aboard to help the crew liaise with other  assets belonging to CLEA and its allies.

Since the original mission which had got the crew on-board the Antares before it jumped had been managed by civilian space agencies and those same groups had worked with the crew up until it arrived at Earth, it meant that unlike a military operation CLEA could get access to the various status reports. From them they learned that none of the crew had any military training and this had led to some tricky alien encounters. The reports also indicated the ship had two fighter bays but no fighters had been found on board.

Using these two items of data, CLEA decided it needed to send up a pair of agents with combat training. The Agency also reached out to the Knight’s Forge to see if they could build a pair of fighter craft suitable for operating in space.

As the Knight’s Forge got to work, CLEA began combing through its record looking for suitable agents for the assignment. Though none had any experience in working in space, several candidates were found that matched most of the other criteria. These then began a specialist training program before being whittled down to two, Agent Mishra and Agent  Dadachanji.

By the time their final training was complete the Knight’s Forge had the prototype fighters (codenamed Aurora) ready for them to try. This involved a few more months of training for the agents but before they could join the crew of the Antares, CLEA reached out to Vanguard and asked if they could give the pair some experience of working in a zero gravity environment. For another month the crew joined that crew on their adventures before being brought back to Earth.

Once here they then had to take the Aurora Fighters outside Earth’s atmosphere and learn to fly them in space. More time was lost but CLEA wanted their agents to have as much experience as they needed. Eventually training came to an end but before joining the Antares, the Knight’s Forge donated a special armoured body suit to each of the agents. The design was similar to that they had given to some costumed adventurers. Though not suitable to use in a zero gravity environment as they lacked any life support equipment, the Knight’s Forge felt the items would be handy to deal with hostile aliens in other situations.

Dec 12

The Confused Alien

Holo Video Clip 001
The screen shifted from black to colour and the confused image of a human face, Ross Devane appeared.
“Hey is this thing working. I did as you asked but it does not seem to be doing anything.”
Another face, light grey, belonging to Ix, an member of the Acen race approached from behind and stared at the screen.
“Yes its working Rizz.”
“I keep telling you my name is Ross!”
“That’s what I said Rizz.”
Ross fumed and rubbed below his left ear. “Damn these translation implants. They can convert any speech pattern and yet they can’t do my name correctly.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the implants!” argued Ix.
“Then say my name as Ross. That’s R-O-S-S, Ross!”
“Rizz” said Ix
“Of forget it!”
“So what is it you are doing again?” asked Ix.
“I thought as I had a few hours to kill I’d finally get on to my project, the one I told you about.”

Ross Devane was the first human to join Galaxy Force and had encountered many problems in working with aliens, mainly related to culture clashes and trying to get to grips with completely alien technology. As such he had decided that should another human or humans ever get permission to join Galaxy Force, then he felt it was his duty to put together some notes so they avoided the same catastrophe’s he had.
It seemed odd for him to be doing this when most humans accepted the idea of Angels, Demons and Alpha humans. The average man even understood the fact there were cyborgs. However when it came to aliens they either believed they did not exist or they well all little green men from Mars. The real irony was a lot of aliens he had encountered referred to humans as ‘Big Pink Men from Sol 4.’

“Ok then so its on!” he said steadying himself in front of the camera.
“Yes…” said Ix getting irritated. “How it is it you can master our weapons yet fail to grasp this simple holographic camera?”
“A gun I get – you hold it at one end and aim the other end at something you don’t want to see and find something like a trigger and pull it. Then the thing you don’t want to see is normally no longer there. I think its a universal idea wherever you go. Now this camera on the other hand…so many buttons.”
Ross reached forwards and the screen went black.

Holo Video Clip 002
“Right I got this, now I’ll start again. Hello there fellow Earthlings.” Ross scratched his chin. “No that’s not right”
The screen went black again.

Holo Video Clip 003.
“Hello fellow humans, my name is Ross Devane, the first ever human to be admitted into Galaxy Force. I guess if you are watching this, then like me you are human and want to master some of the basics of integrating with aliens. First of all by now you will have been fitted with a translation implant.”
He tapped just below his left ear. “These are amazing pieces of technology. They convert any alien language to a structure we can understand. The other members of crew on your ship will have similar implants so they can understand humans. Now like all technology it’s not perfect. In my case the implant seems unable to translate my name properly hence the crew call be Rizz instead of Ross. Also in high stress situations it will often be unable to convert the expletives of your fellow crew members…”
“It converts expletives just fine!” interupted Ix.
“I thought you were going.”
“I was….and then I got interested in case you decide to mention me.”
“All right then, you can stay but don’t interupt as I’ll never get this done.” He paused. “Hey if the implant works with expletives how come last week Reptar said ‘Graan vild asdiat fleergil’?”
“That’s because its more of a regional dialect that the implant failed to understand. It has not direct conversion to human language hence it could not translate it. I think the nearest thing you humans have is ‘you dumb ass mother f-‘”
“That’s Okay I get the picture. Besides I think he likes me.”
“Just because a Bornur has not killed you it does not mean he likes you. That might be good to put in your guide. Also if he urinates on you its actually a sign of affection.”
“Now you’re just making it up!”
The screen turned to black.

Holo Video Clip 003A
“Hello, its me, Ross again. Now let’s take a brief look at alien customs. When you first get assigned to your ship be very careful. Whilst the Galaxy Force ships are very clinical on the interior and a little stark, be very careful what you bring from home if you want to brighten up your quarters. I was not aware that new crew members are expected to bring something to eat. Something like a shared meal to bond everyone together.
Well I felt a little greenery was needed from my apartment so I brought a pot plant. And the crew actually thought it was a snack!”
“It was tasty,” said Ix.
“You ate the pot!”
“Very crunchy.”
“Personal note. If the crew visit Earth and go to a garden centre, god help them!”
The screen turned to black.

Holo Video Clip 003B
“Back again. I might get this done whilst Ix has gone for a snack. Maybe she’s eating one of the ship’s bulkheads, who knows? Anyway where was I? Ah yes, alien customs. A quick tip, when meeting a member of the Grulverage, a race which look a bit like large blue blobs, don’t hold out you hand as a gesture. To them its an insult. I nearly got disintegrated before Ozias cleared up the misunderstanding. Actually breaking wind around them is considered a compliment, unless its over 50db and then it’s an insult and the whole disintegration problem comes back.”
“Oh you’re doing that alien guide thing,” said Lyisse approaching Ross from behind. A member of the Cid race, Ross considered her the nearest alien to humans albeit she had twin sets of brow ridges.
“I’m trying to do it.”
“Sorry do you want me to go away and come back later.”
“Oh what the hell…why not invite everyone!”
Screen turns to black.

Holo Video Clip 004
As the screen changed from black, Ross is sat facing the camera and just behind him are all the other members of the crew, also staring at the camera.
“Yeah, forgot to mention,” said Ross, “aliens don’t do sarcasm!”
Screen turns black.