The Nephil:
Past to present
The Erestram's hull trembled as she narrowly evaded yet another beam from the mighty Kol Battleship. Being designed only for planetary investigation, she possessed no weapon capable of piercing her opponents shields and thus was doomed to flee until either reaching the shelter of the Crugeon STL Homeworld or being ripped apart by her assailant.
Inside her command deck, Gertes Suliov, the ship's commander, lay in shock reviewing over and over on his 3D virtual imagery monitors, the sudden apparition of the vessel on the radar's and pondering on how it had single-handedly annihilated in less than 1 minute, more than 90% of his escort. A tear fell from his eyes as he paused the video on the flagship of the Nephil army, Ylitom Aharat (Master of Disguise) seconds before the Kol's laser's struck it's engines setting off a chain reaction which resulted in an explosion whose intensity rivalled the one's of a star.
Gertes crumbled to the ground. 'Yes, he said more to himself than to his flabbergasted crew' stars! Exactly what the humans were in our eyes when we discovered them millennia's ago. *his gaze looked dead ahead of him, ignorant of all the bullets and beams ripping at them*. At that time, they were pathetic creatures, barely rivalling the natural order of the world, but they had this aura about them that said that they would become a great nation.' He got up, walked towards the nearest monitor and entered a command. Few seconds later, the opening of their most popular show 'The Human Saga' appeared on the screen. 'See the Day of Reckoning file for more information'
The entire crew let out a smile. Who had never heard of the Nephil's most lucrative and interactive show? The Human Saga had followed humans ever since they had evolved from monkeys and apes. 'DAD' , echoed a voice in the inter-ship communication relay pulling the crew of the Erestram from its reverie and sending Gerets rushing to the microphone. 'We won't make it, the voice continued, my shield is down and we are taking heavy casualties. Several of our compartments are severed. Another hit from the Kol and we are out of the game.' 'Just hold on Perevst, we're almost there' Urged his father.
Perevst, leader of the Milwa class freighter had proven his worth numerous times in various encounters over the years. He had single-handedly repelled the Polsk invasion (Polsk was a rival faction to the Nephil that had tried to take copyright over the broadcasting of another civilisation) by using deceit and guerrilla tactics. Even in this battle, he managed to destroy the Kol's escort aircraft-carrier with a rain of precise torpedoes. Unfortunately, his shields were no match for the Kol's armament, and he was quickly forced to retreat. As for the rest of the fleet, they were picked off, slowly but surely as they couldn't keep up with the main ships.
An explosion sent the ship flying and banking dangerously to the right. 'Sir, the mechanic yelled, our engines have overheated and exploded. The shockwave destroyed what was left of our shields and cut our speed by 3/4'. 'Can you make quick repairs, begged Gertes, seeing on his monitors the mighty human vessel closing in on him and emitting a high-pitched sound. Proof that it's frontal beam is loading. 'Impossible, Sir. I'am terribly sorry but all our efforts have failed.' An eary silence fell in the command deck. *Was this it? Had the humans outplayed their masters? Had the hunter become the hunted?* So many questions we're going through Gertes head, the only words that actually did make it through his mouth we're 'my friends, it has been an honour to serve with you, we have survived so much together, unfortunately this is where our luck struck out! I hereby declare the ship doomed and relieve you of all your functions! Please, I beg you to hurry to the evacuation pods. Tell our people that the humans have gone loose and that they are coming for us. Prepare for war!' turning towards his son's ship who had slowed down in order to stay with the Erestram, Gertes could feel a knot in his throat, picking up the intercom, he said his final words 'My son, I have been blessed with your abilities. You are a great leader to our people. Unfortunately, this is where our paths diverge. I order you to FLEE my son!! RUN AWAY! 'now crying over the intercom' Save yourself!! Don't ever look back and remember that whatever happens, I always have and always will Love you!! *A silence fell on both ships as the Milwa slowly flew away from the battlefield.
An explosion in the Eretram's rear indicated that the Kol was now in full firing range. In a desperate attempt to gain time to secure his son's escape. Gertes took the command of the ship and in a last burst of strength and tactics managed to nimbly evade the huge beam which was rushing towards him. Unfortunately, only being able to turn, he knew he had no hope of evading the next attack. Aligning himself with the Kol, he converted all remaining power to the frontal shields in order to fend off the minor bullet and beams swarming from the Kol. Being only able to wait for his time now, he sent a final transmission to his son, who was in the loading sequence of his jump, simply saying 'Good luck'! Seconds later, the Milwa vanished from space.
Satisfied with his course of action, Gertes withdrew all shields and activated the self-destruct sequence. He had done his job to the end, and couldn't be prouder!
Nearing the Homeworld, Perevst hastily opened a link to the command tower and prepared to issue his warning. The jump had in fact worsened his condition and now fires and explosions we're raging through his vessel. He was in the middle of his warning when the anti-matter hold imploded, turning his vessel in nothing more than ashes.
A cryptic communication saying 'warning..invasion imminente..humans are loose' echoed inside the walls of the intercom of the Central Command Station. Unfortunately, all the benches are empty. It's the Homeworld's two hundredth's construction birthday and everyone is gathered in the central hall for a party and speech by the Nephil's current leader, Asmodeus Horengi.
The Story Begins HERE!
