Battle of Iknothep
Origin
Following the open accessibility of the Time Keepers archive at the time, a small branch of researchers gained knowledge about a separate plane of reality, The Lacuna. Interpreting it as a potential source of untapped artefacts, power and potential that could grant them the same level of power and respect the Time Keepers held, the group set out to open a gateway to the realm. Having acquired detailed instructions in constructing a portal, as well as the corresponding rituals, they were successful in opening a portal which almost led to cosmic disaster and thus ensued the Battle of Iknothep.Time Keeper and Military Response
Routine system reviews fortuitously lead some Time Keepers to find the files in question had been accessed, recently. The overwhelming consensus agrees these files should have been kept much more closely guarded. Alerting the Illadrians guard, a race began to track down the reckless individuals before it was too late. Fortunate for history, the Illadrian response to the potential threat was not dismissive, rapidly assembling a sizable fleet of 136 ships backed by an additional 98 Kromas battle cruisers, an armada of this size had never been assembled and, by all accounts, it was almost not enough. Had it not been a time of peace amongst the stars it is doubtful enough ships would have been able to answer the call. One Time Keeper was placed on almost every vessel with a larger staff on the main Illadrian flagship, almost their entire staff. The aim, to keep any of the non-mission specific information from leaking out and becoming a problem again.The Battle
The Time Keepers, tracked the rouge agents to a small unusual solar system, the system of Iknothep. The strange purple sun, while presenting an interesting research topic was surrounded by a colossal asteroid cloud comprised of mostly of tungsten, Iketrium and silica compounds which overall made the system both undesirable to navigate and unprofitable to risk mining. The system had remained mostly unexplored through modern means. Yet the Time Keepers knew, on one of the closer asteroids was the home of a long abandoned ritual site They had no choice but to enter. Instructing the assembled vessels, the armada progressed slowly through the field, carefully deflecting, destroying and circumventing asteroids in their path. As they approached the mid point of the field, scanners registered a singular vessel on one of the larger asteroids near the star, a Treliteys vessel. Attempts to contact the vessel failed but no response was needed for seconds after, disaster struck. A gargantuan stellar shockwave emanated from the asteroid shaking the armada and filling the crews with an immense sense of dread. The purple star blazed, purple and green solar flares erupting from its surface as the star itself appeared to split open, like someone peeling open the outer layers from a piece of fruit. While the sun continued to blaze around the split, within the tear was said to be a sight too horrendous to put into adequate words. A million eyes stared out of the rupture both near and far through some thick translucent fluid, unaffected by the stars incredible heat. Dark oily tentacles as large as a string of small planets emerged from the tear, twitching, throbbing, feeling around as if the fabric of our universe was an elaborate tapestry composed of fine tangible threads. For a long while the armada remained motionless, weapons primed but no one dared move, transfixed by the unbelievable nightmare before them. Then it began. A projectile reminiscent of a large black stalactite shot from the rupture and decimated one of the larger Kromas battle cruisers, the ship exploded into thousands of pieces, all becoming coated with a black tendril like mesh. Ships fell into disarray as blind firing ensued, and many vessels were soon struck glancing blows by friendly fire as further projectiles erupted from the rupture wiping out almost a quarter of the fleet indiscriminately. After a time, the attacks subsided, the tentacles throughout this commotion had reached far beyond the asteroid cloud as small black vessels began to emerge from the tear. The lead Illadrian flagship in conjunction with one of the remaining Kromas battle cruisers led the charge towards the tear, smaller vessels and fighters erupting from the carrier ships mid-flight as the full-scale confrontation ensued. Armed with a large collection of relics the Time Keepers, on board the Illadrian flagship boarded and launched a small highly manoeuvrable craft, making a direct path towards the asteroid from which the shockwave had eliminated. Illadrian and Kromas ships alike protected the vessel with both weapons fire and their own hulls, ensuring the safety of the crew. Reaching the asteroid was not a smooth landing, with the ship crashing into the surface. It was fortunate indeed that this asteroid possessed a breathable, if not foul smelling atmosphere, as the ruptures caused by the landing could have ended all hope there. The Time Keepers hurried towards the entrance, to what appeared an ancient stone temple, carved into the asteroids side. Inside they were presented with a large chamber, four plinths stood erected around a central monolith, on each plinth lay the mangled, bloody and almost unrecognisable corpse of a Trelitey. The time keepers knew that this was not part of the ritual. Panicking slightly at the scene the Time Keepers hastily cleared the plinths and attempted to utilise a variety of ancient artifacts and power stones, items which under normal circumstances could devastate a city, or small moon if used correctly, or incorrectly, but to no avail. Every item they tried became dark, overcome with strange oily web before crumbling to ash on the plinths or before the large onyx monolith. Outside the battle raged with over half the vessels now laying in oily ruin, with negligible casualties suffered by the invaders. The Time Keepers hastily explored their options when a deafening roar filled the chamber, a large, lumbering, dripping, mangled amalgamation of life clawed its way from within the monolith. It was at this moment one Time Keeper, Leonus, overcome with dread, took their sword and plunged it into their chest whispering a profession of love to all they held dear. It is not clear if this act was deliberate, but as his body landed atop an empty plinth, blood soaking the hard stone, a wave of energy passed from plinth to monolith appearing to cause disruption. As the abomination lumbered around the chamber clawing and cutting down the terrified Illadrians, three of remaining Time Keepers, Tria, Incara and Vulentus all stood before the remaining plinths and, professing their love for their homes, family and planet, and sacrificed themselves. As their bodies fell upon the plinths a shockwave erupted from the chamber, the monolith shattering as the purple star blazed again and began to close. The ever-expanding tentacles seemed to twitch in pain before they rapidly slunk back into the closing rupture. Unconfirmable eyewitness accounts suggest as the rupture closed a large cosmic humanoid terror appeared at the forefront of the rupture and attempted to hold open the tear to no avail. While all reporting individuals were deemed insane following the incident, identical accounts came from several Illadrian and Kromas vessels, so their ramblings are believed to hold credence. The entities and creatures which remained after the portal closed were either destroyed or appeared to simply disintegrate, the cause of which remains unknown. Fifteen vessels survived the battle, 6 Kromas, 9 Illadrian and of those survivors most ships were damaged beyond repair. Despite the immense loss, the battle is widely considered a success as the potential alternative is regarded as universally apocalyptic. Despite recommendations, remaining Time Keepers refused to destroy the related files, arguing they were not the only copies and they would be essential for study to prevent future re-occurrences. The entire system has since remained under close quarantine and guard.The Aftermath
Following the open availability of certain records which had led to the Iknothep catastrophe a internal Illadrian review was conducted into the events, resulting in the ruling that all Time Keeper records be immediately locked down with no further outside access permitted. The social standing of the Order fell greatly with mass paranoia, fear and distrust spreading amongst the population of several worlds. A fear which took several decades to begin to subside. Despite the Orders numbers having been greatly reduced after the battle the Order did eventually recover, in part, its great academic reputation.Overview
Illadrian Ships Deployed
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