[u]Arc II: Old Acquaintances[/u] "It quite strange, Reese. We uncovered fossils of the species a week ago, dating back over five million years, only to discover a herd of them grazing, unaltered and unchanged. No evolution, mutations, nothing. Quite odd." Elisa said as she was broadcast on the Holo-Screen, from Tiloy-IV, a recently discovered Tier I planet, capable of supporting a colony. The person she was speaking with, was Fleet Admiral Reese Jaeger, on board the flagship of his Fleet, August Proxy, the FDD [i]Diligence[/i]. Currently, they resided inside the space of a star system, Regith-II, a medium yellow star with two colony worlds within it's orbit, Regolith-I and Vercrose. "Maybe you and your team missed them during your Bio-Scans. It could be endangered, so it'd be a easy mistake...." He trailed off as his wife scowled at him, obviously offended by his remark. "Or, it could be faulty equipment." He said, coughing awkwardly under her gaze. "No, no, I'm su-.... checked twi-...." The Holo-Screen started to falter, skipping and repeating images in loops. "Lieutenant, what the hell is happening?" Jaeger asked, looking over his Command Deck. "Not sure, Sir. Some kind of electromagnetic disturbance. We're working on clearing it up." The Lieutenant replied. "Electromagnetic? This ship is hardened against even the most powerful EM-." [i]Whoom![/i] The entire ship suddenly listed to the side, throwing it's crew on to the ground and into the walls. Jaeger smacked into the floor with thud, before standing, slowly. "Sit-rep. What the hell just hit us?" He said, his voice aching. "N-Nothing..... we weren't hit by anything physical. Some kind of gravitational pull.... it's centered from Regith-II. Bringing it on screen." What they saw.... silenced all. The formerly yellow star, only a few million years old, young by galactic standards, was rapidly aging, gaining mass and heat, engulfing it's planetary system. [i]Whiirrrnnnnn.......[/i] The ship listed to the side once more... and remained as so, as it was dragged towards the now red giant. "Can we contact the colonies! We need a evacuation!" Jaeger yelled, as he activated his mag sole in his prosthetic leg. "Negative, Sir..... they've.... they've already been swallowed. At this rate of expansion, Regith-II will collapse upon itself, forming a Black Hole...... at this distance, we won't be able to escape it...." "Damn...... Damn it!. All hands, prep for emergency Warp rupture!" Jaeger sounded over the Fleet's Comms, ensuring all his ships followed suit. The personnel on his Command Deck strapped themselves down, as he hoped the rest of his crew, nay, his Fleet did, as this would be dangerous. "Admiral! Warp Rupture ready!" Someone screamed. "On my mark! Three..... MARK!" The ships lurched forward rapidly, throwing all aboard into the frame of their seats. It had happened in nearly half an instant, but the G-Force alone made it feel as if it had been hours. "Sit-rep...." Jaeger said tiredly. "All ships accounted for........ Regith-II.... is now gone. A White Dwarf remains." Looking down for a moment, Jaeger thought to himself. How the hell did a star go through it's entire life cycle in a few minutes? He thought back to what Elisa had been talking about.... the animal not being touched after millions of years..... the fossils being found. This was not isolated... not a coincidence. It couldn't be. "Contact the Senate. We'll need to plan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [u]Origin System, Mars, Galactic Coalition Firebase A-1[/u] Jaeger sat quietly in the Assembly Hall, watching as familiar and foreign faces entered. Most, as he had feared, had similar stories to his, things being out place..... events accelerating.... entire millennia of history erased.... something was broken. He had attended alone, as he had asked others to do. He didn't want anyone jumping the gun, acting alone, and making the situation worse, so he regulated it to those he had invited, those who had potential solutions to the problem.. Elisa, she had returned to Alexandria, to watch after their child. The last of the people trickled in.... it was time to start. [spoiler]Open. Relate your experiences with broken time. [/spoiler]