Arrival Arc

> This Arc occurred between September to October of 2015 and was the first Story Arc.
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## In-Universe explanation

### Detection

On April 9th, 4657, a pair of privately employed civilians aboard ACS *Pottawatomie Creek*, scouting the area around their employers mineral find, detected an unidentified spacecraft moving through Alliance space. It fit no known design, gave off weird power signature, and didn’t respond to any signals sent by the ship. The pair returned to Shield Base to give their report, with the professional opinion that the ship was alien in origin, which was an opinion shared by Admiral of the Fleet Tylar Noche, Aralinna McKay, and Daffyd McKay. This turned out to be correct as the ship came out of hyperspace days later in the Betelgeuse Binary System, where first contact was made by Daffyd. The aliens identified themselves as Eosapians, pleading for help, saying that “they” were coming.

With this information, Tylar began organizing Shield Fleet to prepare to defend against, and repel, an oncoming alien invasion. Part of the plan involved calling Daffyd off of reserve status and back to active duty, as well as promoting him to the rank of Commodore. He assigned two full squadrons of Reliant-class Battlecruisers under his command, as Daffyd had become close to a member of the local government, and was trusted by them.

### The Incursion

The first sighting of the threat was in deep space, about half a light year outside the Sigma-12 System. Captain James Stone, in command of the Lancaster-class Battlecruiser ACS *Ranger*, had been returning to the shipyard for routine maintenance, when the civilian freighter MSV *Kaloth* sent out a distress call, saying it was under attack by unknown ships. Upon arriving to assist, the *Ranger* discovered six vessels attacking the freighter and proceeded to engage. After a rather difficult fight, the *Ranger* and her crew were able to occupy the attackers long enough to allow the *Kaloth* to escape, after which the *Ranger* had to withdraw, due to damage and unusual mental effects from the weapons of the enemy, though after they’d destroyed the fighters and dealt moderate damage to the enemy ship.

Meanwhile, in the Corrin System, another ship came out of hyperspace, within the patrol path of Destroyer Division 613, which consisted of two Weapon-class Destroyers. The ship didn’t respond and a battle ensued that resulted in the destruction of ACS Longsword, the death of a third of the crew, but the enemy ship was destroyed.

Hours later, a third ship came out of hyperspace at the Betelgeuse Binary System and attacked the Eosapian ship, which was still in system. The Betelgeuse Defense Force and the armed merchant ship SS *Free Catachan* opened fire and the enemy ship was destroyed in an instant, though it got a few shots off, which hit the Eosapian ship, apparently causing them mental anguish with each hit.

More attacks were reported. DesRon 1227, which was comprised of four brand new Roland-class Destroyers, had been destroyed and the Kalros System only remained in Alliance hands because the Deity-class Dreadnought ACS *Shiva* had destroyed the ship. Three of the alien ships had demolished a Shield Fleet station in another system before reinforcements could arrive to fight them off.

### The Battle of Betelgeuse

ACS *Shadowknight* arrived with Admiral Noche aboard, who asked to see Commodore McKay, to talk shop and defense plans. The Admiral informed McKay that he was there as an observer and in case something came up that affected the defense plans, but McKay was still in charge. The Flagship of Shield Fleet would be supporting the defense force. The Admiral of the Fleet had predicted the invading aliens would come for the Eosapians. And he was correct. Hours later, 50 alien ships came out of hyperspace and an hour-long battle ensued, the longest naval battle in the history of human space travel. The battle ended with reinforcements from Fleet Admiral Stephanie Harrington’s experimental 7th Fleet arriving and the enemy fleeing the system, after sustaining heavy losses.

### The Aftermath

After the battle, there was uproar among humanity. The Alliance was falling apart and the fact that the aliens, now known as the Dom’Kavosh, were able to strike so deep, without issue, kill so many people, the Alliance was failing. In response, the Alliance was dissolved and the Empire was formed. The Eosapians were accepted into the new Empire with open arms, or they could continue their nomadic ways. Eventually, Dom’Kavosh defectors arrived and were also accepted. The new Empire’s first act was to release the totalitarian control the old government had on space travel, allowing for the first unrestricted human diaspora since 2166.

## Changes to the Group

1. A ten year time skip was implemented.
2. Aliens could now be made as characters.
3. Additional nations could now be created.
4. Unique Tech was implemented.
5. The Image and Prime Universe rules were implemented.
6. Gravitic Propulsion Tech was banned.
7. Sword and Shield officially became a sandbox.
8. Instead of running the story, the Admin Team was now only responsible for enforcing rules and lore.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 No longer in service, all records of the class stricken.
2. ↑ Battle of the Corrin System
3. ↑ Daffyd McKay's ship
4. ↑ All references to this tech was classified at the highest level and buried in the Imperial Archive on Venus.