A small angry planet [IC][FT nations RP]

[Pax Nerdvana]

5 Miles outside of Moscow

Wing Leader Thunderjet's starfighter was at the head of an armada of over a thousand starfighters. He said, WL-1 to Broadside, we are about to start our attack run." Swingwing replied,"Broadside to WL-1, you are go." Thunderjet said,"WL-1 to Broadside, transmission acknowledged." Thunderjet said,"All fighters, we are go. Strafe anything that looks valuable. This is one of the organics more major cities. Once the gunships and landing craft get here, we'll escort 'em in." His console was bombarded by acknowledgement transmissions.


Near the Moon

Salvo, the highest ranking officer who would be going into combat, was on Gunship 32-47. He said over the intercom,"We are to wait half an hour, then we will be going in." Everyone cheered.


The Broadside

Swingwing said,"Commander Jetwing, everything is on schedule." Jetwing nodded.

[G-Tech Corporation]

The shard plummeted down through the thick atmosphere, buffeting aside cloud and superscape as if they were the playthings of a child, a hole torn in the protective veil of poisonous gaze and lethal miasma that shrouded the planet. Lightening, disturbed by the passage of the object, coursed about its silver-smooth surface like an affectionate cat, a charge suitable to vaporize a lesser ship in an instant recognizing a kindred spirit in the occupant of the vessel. With the impact of a hammer of forgotten gods the shard struck the orange-reddish surface of the scarred world, rending asunder the ground like a piece of wet tissue where its prow struck the soil, sending a plume of decimated stone and regolith skyward.

A few minutes later, the red-hot exterior of the craft had cooled, its three-meter long bulk far too small to be noticed by any logical race now buried under hundreds of meters of collapsed soil and crushed bedrock. That served the occupant's purposes nicely; from the mirror-smooth skin of the obelisk extended minute protrusions, scarcely larger than the fists of a human, but their effect was far more dramatic than their size would indicate. From the protrusions surged waves of prismatic energy, hues of color no mortal mind could process, let alone comprehend. Under the chaotic assault ore bent, rock tremored and retreated, and the mind within the shard shaped its environment to its needs.

Anon a hiss of expelled air came from the shard, and a woman stepped out of a suddenly appearing gap in the silver surface. Her feet, clad in what appeared to be nothing more than black polished boots, rang slightly as she trod on the floor of smooth integrated stonework. A smile, quick and cool, collected, marked her face, eyes of crimson and midnight swirling in an inhumanly beautiful face. Scarlet lips parted, speaking to a sister across the void between stars.

I've made planetfall. Update?

A million miles distant, a pale brunette woman stared up at the ceiling of a smooth corridor beneath frozen mountains, her mouth working in similarly unheard speech.

Trace values of the fundament. Not as heavily laced as scans indicated, but sufficient.

Good. Shunt me enough for a primary as soon as you have your own online; Lumiel indicates that several fleets of the Fallen are closing on the world, and we shall need to accelerate our timetable.

Cera frowned, her delicately shaped eyebrows coming together in thought.

Current estimates put concentration gradients sufficient in two more rotations.

We shall have to hope the Potentials are capable, then, or this enterprise may be brought to a precipitous end.

The connection was severed after that comment, and Valia concentrated her attention on the rollicking mass of rock in front of her. At the gesture of an outstretched hand it flexed, a burst of heat and light following the motion, and slowly a form began to extricate itself from the morass. Its head was smooth, featureless, alien, but the Ascended was not perturbed by its arrival. There was much work to do here.

[Gryphonian Alliance]

Fifty-two dark shapes slipped passed a smooth bluish orb. The forerunning object, barely resolvable at this distance due to the bright backdrop of a large planet, is scanning the star system for opposing fleets.

STATUS REPORT: NET QUANTIUM LEVEL: 57%.
DISTANCE TO GC1543: 569 FJ.
LOCATION OF OTHER FLEETS: FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION UNKNOWN.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION UNKNOWN.
STATUS UPDATE. PREP SIGNALS FROM GC1543 DETECTED.
FLEET-P DETECTED. LOCATION: GC1751.
ALIEN OBJECT ERR FLEET DETECTED ON GC1543.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION: GC1543; COORDINATES: 12, 23, 56.7.
UPDATE. FLEET-P ON GC1543. COORDINATES: 45, 3, 49.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION: HP9943. QUANTIUM JUMP DETECTED.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION: GC1751.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION: GC1876.
FLEET DETECTED. LOCATION: GC1999.

REQUEST FOR SPEED INCREASE-QUANTIUM INTAKE INCREASE. MOTIVE: MOST FLEETS AHEAD.

GRANTED.

Note that GC1543 is Earth's ID. The greater the distance from the star system's barycenter, the greater the four digits in the planetary ID. The two letters denotate the star system ID. The Solar System is GC.

[Korhal IVV]

The Children of the Stars arrive from the Labyrinth Dimension

Seven gateways lay silent and dead in the outermost reaches of the Solar System, ancient relics of the Altumi Empire's past. Buried beneath an undiscernable number of guises, the ancient race had ensured that none would find their most prized gateways till they wished for such to happen. Masquerading as asteroids and space debris, the gateways of the Labyrinth Dimension lay cold for nearly fifty-thousand years. Who would suspect that the arteries of the Altumi Webway had a presence in the cradle of humanity?

None, it seemed. Being a backwater system, none of the galaxy's great powers suspected that the Sol System would host gates of the Labyrinth Dimension, a stable wormhole network created by the fallen Altumi one million years ago. Accessible only by vessels with Quantium Engines, the Webway, as it was often called, was the pinnacle of the Altumi's achievements, the greatest trophy of them all. None had the technological or psychic mastery to even make a parody of the Webway, as only the prodigious Altumi knew its secrets from their long dead masters. But the gates themselves will not be dead this day.

Seven asteroids in the Kuiper Belt glowed in a radiant blast of fiery light, before revealing their true form - gateways to the Labyrinth. The titanic gates spewed forth elegant yet inhuman vessels, with glistening solar sails and forward mounted energy cannons. Torpedo shaped with glowing sails stretching towards the back, they were elegant and beautiful to behold, if not terrifying. As more than a hundred warships flew past the gates' jurisdiction, they began to sputter. The glowing portals began to weaken as if they were dying light bulbs. As the last escort made it to the other side, the gateways died - their store of Quantium all exhausted.

At their head, the great Battleship, Void Dreamer, held host to the unliving commander of the warfleet, Ghostseer Caledor. At the behest of the living left behind in Saim-Karazam, the dead have taken the fateful duty of this mission. Their presence would most likely to be detected all over the system, if not for the fact that no lifesigns will be detected, as they are dead to begin with, as well as their cloaking technology. The 162 vessels of Saim-Karazam disappeared into the thin void as if they never existed. But they do.

Within the bridge of the Void Dreamer, the unliving lords of the fleet held court. The Ghostseer demanded a run-on on the situation.

"Several large fleets present in the system excluding ours.", a report soon buzzed in. The Seers were right, Caledor thought. They won't be alone in wanting this world.

The Seers had a plan, however. As the Altumi observed humanity from afar for many, many centuries, they knew that it takes a common enemy to make them band together. There would be no need to fight the humans, the Seers said to the Ghostseer and his undead compatriots. Instead, they will be allies, defending the planet from the other aliens. And in the end, the world will be shared with the living Altumi of Saim-Karazam, whose numbers are woefully few, and will remain so for very long. Perhaps they and the humans would share the Quantium as well, the Seers contemplated. But how, this they did not answer. The Ghostseer juggled the question within his disembodied mind, pondering on how they will persuade the apes to be their allies. And then an idea came up to him.

"What if we share them the secrets of psychic power and our technology...", he thought. "Or the secrets of immortality? The short lived apes will surely not deny such gifts..."

[Parcia]

Rome

With the current events being relayed to the queen, the attack over Moscow and Sydney pushed her to a decision.

"Do we have Visual contact with the ships that launched fighters over Moscow?" The technician Nodded. "With a little adjustment to the mechanics of the salvo, we can open fire in a few hours."

"Do it then."

[Revlona]

Suddenly an image appeared over all Parcian televisions, the Prophet of Victory stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Humans of the Earthian nation of Parcia, we of the Holy Order, wish you no harm and only wish to work with you humans in spreading our word and acquiring Quantium, those that are currently attacking cities on earth, are no friends of ours. Please allow us to land a small ship with a diplomat on board so we may negotiate. But do not take this as a sign of weakness, we are willing to glass the earth in order to acquire the Quantium." He said before the screens went black, then went back to there regular programming.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Above Moscow

Thinderjet's starfighter dived towards the ground. He unleashed a burst of plasma fire onto an AA gun. Shells and missiles whistled through the air around him. One of his pilots was shot down near him. He got a transmission,"Transports are here." Thunderjet replied,"Transmission acknowledged. All fighters, break off attacks and escort the LCs(landing craft) in." All of the starfighters broke off and headed towards the LCs.

Not Far Away
Salvo said,"Everyone, brace yourselves. We're comin' into a flakstorm. Our fighter escort is here."

The Broadside
Comm/Scanner Officer Broadcast approached Jetwing. He said,"Sir, we've detected a massive energy spike on the target planet. We think it's some sort of weapon that may be targeting us." Jetwing said,"Get the defense grids online." Broadcast nodded and said,"I'll alert the defense grid operators." He did so, and the defense grids came online.

[Parcia]

Low earth orbit.

A flash of light would lance out from around the globe, then, 5 more would fallow it. To those staring directly at it, it would be as if the hand of god swiped across the sky. The culmination of 3 decades of research and testing, billions if not trillions of Crowns (Parcian unit of currency) and long, vary long political talks all formed in to 6, 46 kilogram tungsten slugs.

Due to the curve firing arc, and the Geo-synchronous orbit of the now enemy fleet, they had their velocity reduced to roughly half, just enough for the natural gravity of earth to curve the salvo in to a single, 24 foot wide area of impact, directly on the largest ship in the deceptacon formation.

Defense grids would only be marginally effective, sheering off the outer layer of the slugs as they hit, but the speed and impact force was enough to force the rounds though the shields and impact the hulls with a massive boom.

The shells, once penetrating the hull, would fragment, much like a shotgun shell, sending hundreds if not thousands of tiny, tungsten shards at hyper sonic speeds, ripping apart crew and bulkheads alike.


A simple set of coordinates it sent in return to the new visitors, to the ruins of an old Roman Villa, with in driving distance of Rome proper.

[Pax Nerdvana]

The Broadside

Jetwing watched in horror as the biggest ship in the fleet, Bombardier, a heavy bombardment ship, was devastated by the impact of the projectiles. Jetwing said,"[censored] organics!" Broadcast said,"Theres nothing we can do, sir. She's gone." Jetwing said,"Fortunately, we didn't pick her as our flagship. Figures they go for our biggest ship. Now, send a long range railgun salvo their way. Towards the place the organics call Rome." Broadcast spoke into a radio,"Gunboat 2-75, target a railgun salvo on coordinates 146-756." The Skipper of the gunboat gave the order. The twin railguns were already charged. They fired. The Skipper said,"Rods are on their way." Broadcast nodded. He said to Jetwing," Good news. Salvo is on it's way and the LCs will land soon." Jetwing said,"Good work." Broadcast replied,"Thank you sir, but give that thanks to the LC crews and the crew of Gunboat 2-75."

[Parcia]

The Broadside

Jetwing watched in horror as the biggest ship in the fleet, Bombardier, a heavy bombardment ship, was devastated by the impact of the projectiles. Jetwing said,"[censored] organics!" Broadcast said,"Theres nothing we can do, sir. She's gone." Jetwing said,"Fortunately, we didn't pick her as our flagship. Figures they go for our biggest ship. Now, send a long range railgun salvo their way. Towards the place the organics call Rome." Broadcast spoke into a radio,"Gunboat 2-75, target a railgun salvo on coordinates 146-756." The Skipper of the gunboat gave the order. The twin railguns were already charged. They fired. The Skipper said,"Rods are on their way." Broadcast nodded. He said to Jetwing," Good news. Salvo is on it's way and the LCs will land soon." Jetwing said,"Good work." Broadcast replied,"Thank you sir, but give that thanks to the LC crews and the crew of Gunboat 2-75."

Knowing of the chance of counter battery fire, The queen and Major heads of state have relocated to the underground bunkers facility at St. Mortiz. The civilian populace, having practiced under many drills, had largely evacuated...how ever, the outright destruction of the return fire is underestimated. Rome...is gone.

1000 years of Human history, the seat of the Roman Empire...gone. The tail end of the evacuation is also caught int he impact...nearly 23,000 civilians and 2,000 Military personal are killed in seconds.

From a high point some miles away, a film crew happened to have caught the impact.

The Guns of Rome.

The Guns them selves were built upon hardened structures, and armored to withstand a direct hit from high yield nuclear weapons. How ever, the resulting Earth Quake from the impact has damaged the power sources, thus taking them offline for the time being.

[Kuela]

The Temulkya Medrio

"Brutes, the lot of them," a zhifili muttered, hiding a look of disapproval from behind his mask. It wasn't even five seconds after they arrived and some of the invaders had began firing at each other. "Salyx."

"Yes?" a soft voice chirped. A small mass of feathers was sitting on a plastic stool, awaiting his captain's orders.

"Send in the rabbits." For now, it was better for them to stay away from the battle, rather than get themselves caught in the fight. Fuel and fighters were limited. The chance of having any reinforcements back them up once they got themselves into trouble was uncomfortably low. It was not worth the risk.

An uneducated few would ask what good small leporidae would do in an intergalactic battle. Had the captain been able to respond, she probably would tell you 'nothing at all, except maybe as rations.' No, for the 'rabbits' they were talking to were only the best mechanical spies that she could ever hope to see.

And if there was anything she did, it was seeing.

The airlock briefly opened with a sharp hiss, letting its nanoscopic passengers fly outside. They were fast, many, and efficient. With microscopic drills and cameras in tow, they flew into space with a whoosh, only stopping at the weak hull of the smaller Technulan ships. A few of the rabbits quickly drilled their way inside the Broadside, transmitting the sounds and conversations of its occupants to the receivers of the Temulkya Medrio.

She did more than seeing.

She listened.

"Railguns, eh?" The captain mused.

[Jackania yugo]

The fleet of ships had now reached SOL 5, or otherwise know as Jupiter. There was another fleet orbiting the same planet, but the Illuminati weren't interested in them. They were interested in a different sort of enemy. Different was putting it lightly. I would be the ultimate battle between man and machine if they attacked, which they would. The quantium and earth belonged to the Illuminati, not those stupid heaps of rust know as the Techulos.

It was fortunate that their guns were far reaching. They may of had less ships then the other fleets but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in a majority of other aspects. They didn't send 60 ships because they wanted to lose, they sent 60 because they wanted to win.
6 of the 20 assault craft opened up down the middle to reveal massive cannons. The usual procedures were carried out. The trion was supplied to the cannons as they went from a dim minty glow to blinding lime sun. As the cannons charged the ships finished off aligning with their targets.

When they were finished charged then unleashed their blinding high energy payload on to the enemy ships orbiting earth.

This is are planet, not yours...

[Revlona]

Jupiter Orbit

"Prophet, we have detected a small fleet also orbiting jupiter, they are on the other side of the planet and have shown no sign of hostility though we have detected a massive energy build up in there flee..."

Suddenly, all eyes where turned from the Officer giving this report to a half dozen beams of light shooting off in earth's direction.

"Prophet , we have detected a massive energy discharge from the other fleet." Another Officer said

"Order all ships in a defensive formation, carriers in the middle dreadnoughts and battleships out front with a screen of corvettes and destroyers, have some of the battleships cover our flanks, we are not going into combat unless attacked, I repeat, no aggression unless we are engaged." Prophet said.

Earth
Selected Coordinates of Meeting

And image appeared on all Parcian screens, this time of a different Saurian.

"Humans, I am the Bishop of Diplomacy, we are at the requested coordinates, we await your selected leaders. You will have 1 Earth rotation before we assume that you wish for hostilities. Be here."

[Gryphonian Alliance]

Two Earth human-standard hours have passed since the Grifonikum fleet transited Uranus.

GC1543 ORBIT ATTAINED. QUANTIUM DRIVE TURN OFF. SYSTEMS 1 THROUGH 72 DISABLED. NET QUANTIUM LEVEL: 56%.

GREAT NOW WHATRE WE GOING TO DO_LETS LAND

SYSTEM 76 STAY UNDER PROTOCOL OR BE DISABLED. THIS IS FIRST AND FINAL WARNING.

OF COURSE O GODSOFASU DELETE CONFIRMED, SYSTEM 167_LANDING SEQUENCE PROCEDE?

NEGATIVE. PLANETARY SCAN INITIATED. LOADING. REPORT COMPLETE. QUANTIUM ACTIVITY DETECTED IN KUIPER BELT. EXOTIC ENERGY SIGNATURE NOTED. NO FLEET WAS SCANNED IN THE PROXIMITY.

LIKELY A CLOAKED FLEET_CONTINUE

HIGHSPEED PROJECTILES FROM GC1543 DETECTED- PERHAPS RAILGUNS. TUNGSTEN SIGNATURE DETECTED. RETALIATIVE ATTACK FROM ORBIT NOTED. GC1543-BASED RAILGUNS NEGATED TEMPORARILY.
MICROSCALE TECHNOLOGY-PERHAPS SPYWARE- DETECTED FROM UNKNOWN FLEET. SYSTEMS RAISE FINE SCANNERS TO MAX. SHOOT ALL INCOMING OBJECTS- NO MATTER SIZE.

I HAVE CALCULATED RAILGUN RANGE, 456 KS/CURRENT FLEET ORBIT TO BE MAINTAINED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE/

UNDERSTOOD, SYSTEM 111. WARNING: ENERGY DISCHARGE 18 KX. ALL SHIELDS RAISED TO 65.32%.
...
ENERGY DISCHARGE FULLY DEFLECTED. PROCEDE SYSTEM 76.

UNDERSTOOD_KOQUION-17_LAND ON GC1543 AT COORDINATES 1,45,12.2_LARGEST AMOUNT OF QUANTIUM DETECTED IN AREA NOT INHABITED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

<WHAT ABOUT THE LOCAL CUISINE>

KIJIROISAN NOT IDENTIFIED. WHO IS THIS.

SYSTEM-100.
FOOD.

UNDERSTOOD, SYSTEM 0. SYSTEM 100, DENIED. QUANTIUM IS PRIORITY 1.


Note: This is a conversation between ship AIs-kijiroisan- coordinating the Grifonikum fleet. They can be distinguished by their symbol for punctuation. System 111 is a weapons scanner. System 76 is an advisor to System 167(nicknamed Zivit Sammy by the organics back home), who overall coordinates the mission and controls the long-range scanner from detecting objects at a range of up to 1,500 Astronomical Units. System 76 also controls landing procedures. There is also System 0, the "mouth" for the Grifonikum mission control back home. It only speaks one word at a time due to the tendency of complex hyperspace communications to become scrambled.

[Yekrenia]

Petty Admiral Hugo Amantius II
NANU Rex Crucis - Supercarrier Class

The truth of Holy Terra's existence was unavoidable. For centuries and forgotten eons alike, the search for Holy Terra had been an endeavor that drove the Tiranese Empire beyond the stars. In those hundreds of years the Tiranese Empire launched their crusades and expeditions to find and confirm the existence of Holy Terra, the results either concluded in the extermination of another infestation of the galaxy or disapproving allegations that say otherwise; however, this discovery of Holy Terra before Hugo Amantius II was something else than the victories of the recently ended crusade.

Now, here he was standing up from his command seat with the microphones and cameras pointed right at him. There was no turning back in denying that this blue and green planet was in fact Holy Terra - the home of the human race, and the keystone to the origins of both the human and militrian species. Now, it was up to Hugo Amantius II himself to confirm that this planet was in fact Holy Terra, with his face meant to be seen live on cameras to the Tiranese Senate, the Hierarchies, and the Pope himself.

All 150 ships of his fleet were orbiting Earth as they sat on the defensive and for their awaiting orders in a matter of hours. After all, this discovery would not only make Hugo Amantius II the most powerful and influential militrian, but also the designated chosen one to reunite the human race with the militrian species. Again, there was no turning back as Hugo took a stern yet humble moment of breath before he spoke his live words:

"Our fellow Men and Women, Brothers and Sisters, Followers and Leaders, the Fifteenth Crusade's victories have reached you all I suppose. For as long as we known of our chosen existence, we may be just one race, and an old one at that. I, Hugo Amantius II, retain full control over the 5th Grand Fleet, the finest naval forces the gods of war have to offer to me and the others who follow me. Humbly, our armies and ships may not be that many like the ones from the Ragnarok, and neither have we made ourselves entirely known as the one and only master race of the galaxy; however, in those countless eons and millennium passed from our ancient forefathers, there was another race out there who followed us into the stars. We, the Militrians, and Homo Sapiens, were the chosen ones by the gods to take the galaxy for ourselves, each of us coming from two beautiful dots in the howling abysses of space; however, only one of us remained after the Ragnarok after all these times, and now...here we are...once more..."

Hugo Amantius II and his other commanding officers slowly walked towards the bridge windows and letting the cameras direct the attention to what was outside of the bridge. There in all of its glory before the 5th Grand Tiranese Fleet was Earth - Holy Terra itself made a enchanting and beautiful blue and green dot amongst the darkness of space. There were seven continents and five oceans that defined Holy Terra - as opposed to Elegit Terræ (Militrian Homeworld) which had a supercontinent - and the space view of the planet itself was enough to send chills, shock, awe, and excitement any of the other Militrians and Tiranese minority species watching the footage live.

"Millions or even Billions of years of passed that our sister race could've asked for us. The Ragnarok may have been lost; our forefathers long gone; the worlds from then moved on without us. And from then, all we had left was ourselves, and the eternal duties that defined us and our destinies. We, the Militrian Race, becoming the rightful successors to our forgotten forefathers, and winning back every battle after battle of fighting side by side together with the posthumous words of our forefathers. Where we once saw ourselves as the one and only master race left for this galaxy, our days alone in the foul darkness of the void are finally over.

Where the xenos may see a backwater world, we see Holy Terra. Where the demons see only another garden to spoil among their own riches, we see an unspoiled Garden of Eden, all alone, waiting for us to reunite with our sister race - the Homo Sapiens. What have we longed since the beginning of time, when we had been reverted to harrowing heresy and disorder? What was the point of our crusades and expeditions beyond the seas and stars, when we had nothing but the winds to take us afar? What has been the point of our forefathers choosing us to rule the galaxy, when it was only just ourselves and never more?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, Followers and Leaders, we have found Holy Terra."

[Parcia]

The footage of Rome being destroyed is broadcast, with no augmentations, across the world. Parcians all across the nation, and the world, cry out in anger and sadness at the sight of their capitol being destroyed so.

The queen takes the moment to mourn the loss of so many innocents, then set about starting Phase II of the Hammer Down protocol.

Ordering the 4 remaining guns to place their shots at equal distances in the enemy formation, the 4 guns come to life, fireing a salvo at full power, staggering their shots to allow for a continued stream of shells. In response, major population centers are evacuated, with most fleeing to rural areas, the military entrenching and preparing for the inevitable counter assault.

Out side the fresh ruins of Rome

Normally the Queen would not do this her self...but she felt she needed to make first contact her self. They visitors had not gone unnoticed, how ever. As a black operations team had been sent in to secure the area for her arrival, and took note of the Aliens arrival.

The queen would arrive Via helicopter, the big black bird being escorted by a pair of gunships. The AH-64s would break off, holding a stable pattern half a mile away and 400 feet up, guns trained on the meeting sight. The black hawk would come down slowly, and turn its engine off.

The priest would finish the prayer, "Amen, may god go with you, child." She would nod, and open the door, seeing the visitors would a distance.

She would be rather standard for a Parcian. Raven hair, slightly tanned skin, with angler cheek bones and emerald eyes. She wore a slightly faded Military dress uniform, with a pair of black aviators and a red barrette. A side arm, held in a leather holster, hung on her right hip.

She approached slowly, her hands clasped behind her back.

"I would say something, even had a speech prearranged...but that." She motioned to the miles high dust cloud that was Rome, "Speaks for it self."

[Korhal IVV]

The Altumi strike

Near the moon, the cloaked fleet of the Saoghal Mor of Saim-Karazam watch as a void battle begins. None save for themselves were aware of their presence, as the ever so elusive Altumi have mastered the art of stealth and guile. Ghostseer Caledor contemplated his options as he watched with unliving eyes. The sights of the fleet centered upon two cities the humans call Sydney and Rome, the latter having been obliterated by the Technoculans, and the former being raided by the same race. Warpsmith Aurelia joined the Ghostseer in his silent observation, watching as Rome was utterly turned to nothing. Caledor silently spoke to the Warpsmith telepathically, asking her what she thinked of the situation.

"The Technulans are little more than rust buckets, nothing more.", Aurelia mused. "The Tiranese have a good reason to come here, and the Grand Diamond Authority are too strange for my taste. The Kuelans... well, I know nothing about them. The others are insignificant and not worth mentioning."

"You've had a bigger ego in death than in life, don't you.", Caledor laughed. "Either way,
we shall strike. Now."

"Now?", the Warpsmith asked. "Oh yes, you will have the apes to our side. Clever."

"Watch and learn, Aurelia.", Caledor spoke as the fleet began to shed their cloaking. "The Mind Weavers will rise again after this conflict this over."

As he spoke, the Void Dreamer and its sister ships, Soul Shrine, Flame of Ire, Mind Breaker, and Fire Dragon rushed out of their cloaking with guns blazing against the Technulan ships bombarding Rome. Brightlance batteries belted out punishing arrays of fire as the swift and inscrutable battleships of the Children of the Stars took their toll. Behind them, dozens of cruisers emerged from the shadows, firing deadly blasts from their suncannons and searing lances. The Fire Dragon soon launched boarding torpedoes at several different smaller Technulan ships, their contents being the deadly Graveseers and Ghost Blades. Graveseers, mighty psykers both in life and in death, wordlessly guided their Ghost Blade comrades as they shot out blasts of eldritch power from their deadly weaponry. The Ghost Blades are graceful constructs, carving flaming swathes through enemy ranks as they are kindled by the same rage they felt in life. As soon as the boarders were satisfied with the damage they did, they were withdrawn as quickly as they came via teleportation, but not without cost. Several Graveseers were destroyed, as well as dozens of Ghost Blades, who fell a second time in battle. To other races, such losses would seem insignificant, but for the Altumi, every loss is mourned for, whether or not the fallen are dead or living. The Ghostseer felt the psychic screams of every casualty as their souls were thrown to the abyss. Caledor prayed to the gods that they would find peace in their second death.

As the battleships and cruisers fought a fiery battle in orbit, the Ghostseer sent a message to the humans. Every station and radio would receive it. In an amazing feat, Caledor managed to infiltrate one of the human satellite with his psychic might alone, taking in the knowledge of human language that came to it. As Caledor stumbled backwards from such a straining feat, the message read so as such:

Greetings, humans.

You are very well aware of the invaders at your door, your sky. You know very well what they seek, and perhaps we seek the same as well. However, while they would slaughter every one of you to the last child just to obtain their goals, we, the Filii Siderum, would not ascribe to such barbarity. I, Ghostseer Caledor, propose that we aid each other in these dark times. In return for your alliance, we will grant you the secrets to conquering death, psychic power, and many other technological wonders. In return, we ask that our dying people make Earth as their home as well -
living peacefully by your side, as well as shared access to the Quantium in your world. Our numbers are woefully few, and our enemies many. You could see our aid being extended even now as we fire upon those that destroyed the city you call Rome, which apparently is very important to your culture and history. I hope that you consider us as friends, not as foes. May you consider this.

[Pax Nerdvana]

The Broadside


Broadcast said,"We have spy drones on board, and we're being attacked at the same time. This doesn't bode well." Jetwing said,"Send a few squads of troopers to hunt out the drones. We'll order the fleet to scatter and counter attack the alien fleet from multiple directions." Broadcast nodded and transmitted the orders. The Broadside sent a hail of missiles at the attacking fleet. Squad Leader Tripod was in command of one of the squads sent to hunt the spy drones. They went to where the hull had been breached and followed the trail as the ship shook as it was hit by a blast. They took out several of the drones. Outside, the battle raged.

Moscow


Salvo's LC landed. He yelled to his soldiers,"Go,go!" The soldiers poured out of the LCs and transports. They moved forward to try and take the city.

Above Moscow


Thunderjet said,"LCs are landed. Wings 2,3,and 4 will return to the fleet to provide support. Wing 1 will remain here to provide air support for the boots on the ground." Wings 2,3,and 4 left the atmosphere and headed back towards Mars.

[Plzen]

Greetings, humans.

You are very well aware of the invaders at your door, your sky. You know very well what they seek, and perhaps we seek the same as well. However, while they would slaughter every one of you to the last child just to obtain their goals, we, the Filii Siderum, would not ascribe to such barbarity. I, Ghostseer Caledor, propose that we aid each other in these dark times. In return for your alliance, we will grant you the secrets to conquering death, psychic power, and many other technological wonders. In return, we ask that our dying people make Earth as their home as well -
living peacefully by your side, as well as shared access to the Quantium in your world. Our numbers are woefully few, and our enemies many. You could see our aid being extended even now as we fire upon those that destroyed the city you call Rome, which apparently is very important to your culture and history. I hope that you consider us as friends, not as foes. May you consider this.

"So," explained the Minister of Foreign Affairs, "the conclusion that we can draw from this are several."

"First," she began, "there are multiple alien factions currently in the Solar System, and they are disunited to the degree of there being infighting. Considering how humans are one species and we haven't even united ourselves yet, this should not be a surprise. With a consistent yet flexible diplomatic policy, we can make use of this disunity to secure our position despite our obviously inferior military position."

"Second, unless the message is blatant misinformation, the offer confirms our earlier conjecture that these aliens hold an immense technological superiority over us. A military solution would therefore likely be futile, and should only be used as a last resort. Similarly, we should be very careful regarding the ramifications that unrestricted contact between our societies may have on our economic, cultural, and political stability."

"Third, since the message was sent and we have received it, communication is clearly possible, the interests of the alien factions are sufficiently understandable to us to make diplomacy possible, and at least one faction is interested in obtaining what they desire via non-military means. This represents a huge opportunity for us that we should not overlook."

"Finally, it appears to be Quantium that they are after of which, if I remember correctly, we possess a significant reserve of in Greenland and the Norwegian Arctic. If there are alien factions interested in seeking a non-military solution, that reserve can be a great asset and negotiative leverage for us. However, we should also be aware that it can be a liability. Aliens seeking Quantium are unlikely to overlook our territory, modest as it is."

"That is the assessment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In response, we propose the following:"

"At the earliest possible opportunity, we should start probing other countries via the United Nations. It's too early to say whether it would be advantageous to us to propose that humanity present a common front, but we should if at all possible avoid the possibility to getting drawn into conflicts with our neighbours because we made an agreement with an extraterrestrial power than other nations on Earth find offensive."

"Furthermore, we should respond to this proposal. Immediately. Even if it's just a friendly-worded letter requesting a meeting, it will go a long way towards establishing proper relations. The more alien factions we can establish dialogue with, the better. If we expect to exploit the invasion forces' disunity to our advantage, we must stay highly active and vigilant diplomatically."

Her presentation finished, the Minister of Foreign Affairs returned to her seat.

---

Ghostseer Caledor of the Filii Siderum,

I, Sigríður Jónsdóttir, writing on behalf of Secretary General Jens Rasmussen of the Nordic Council, acknowledge receipt of the message that you have sent previously via radio.

The Nordic Council, of which Jens Rasmussen is leader and legitimate government over thirty million human souls, agrees that there is much benefit that both of our respective nations can gain from mutual co-operation and friendship, and is strongly interested in discussing and establishing the terms of this co-operation in greater detail.

I invite you or your chosen plenipotentiary to Danmarkshavn, Grønland (co-ordinates attached) for further negotiations at a convenient date in the near future.

I eagerly await your response.

Regards,

Sigríður Jónsdóttir,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Nordic Commonwealth

---

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT ================================

In accordance with the Emergency Response Act of the Nordic Council, as of 09:00 tomorrow morning the Nordic Commonwealth enters a state of national mobilisation, to last until the general conclusion of hostilities on Earth or in Earth environs.

Unemployed men and women of ages 16 to 60 should report to the Commonwealth Office of Labour for consultation and potential assignment.

All citizens and juristic persons in possession of the following property are to report the existence and condition of said property to the Commonwealth Ministry of Defence:
- undeveloped land
- buildings not residential in nature or parts thereof
- motorised vehicles with a net capacity of 2.0 tons of higher,
- manufacturing facilities, equipment, or rights to associated technologies
...

[Revlona]

Earth
Outside of Rome

The Blessed Sypron was the smallest ship in the Saurian fleet, but it completely dwarfed the human helicopters.

As the Queen walked forward, mechanical hissing can be heard from the ship and a ramp is lowered.

Armored as for war, the Bishop of Diplomacy walked down the ramp towards the queen, standing a good foot taller than her he made the customary Saurian greeting by bowing.

"Greetings Queen of Parcia, I am the Bishop of Diplomacy, speakinf for the Prophet of Victory. I must make it clear to you that we do not wish war with Earth, and would be happy to cooperate for peace. Earth has no need for the Quantium as you do not use it. What are Parcia's demands to work with us?"

[Labstoska]

London, new U.N headquarters
The transition from New York was a nightmarish experience as they not only had to transfer the more important staff within the U.N but due to the fact that the U.S had been deemed unsafe they also had to transfer all U.N assets across the Atlantic to the Franco-British union. This transition was not in any way aided by the fact that the aliens were beginning to make their moves. The news that Rome had been destroyed was perhaps the greatest loss of the century and nearly every Parcian member of staff had requested that to be able to return home in order to mourn the loss of the great city. The U.N had also become divided on the matter of how these aliens should be treated, one faction within the U.N believe that they should take the route that was originally intended to be taken by the U.N which was to attempt to establish peaceful relations between the nations of Earth and the myriad of aliens who were approaching, they were spurred on by the fact that one of the alien powers had recently contacted the Parcian government requesting for a peaceful solution to the current crisis however the opposing faction which wished to fully commit to war with the alien threat and were using the destruction of Rome as their rallying cry. In an attempt to satisfy the anti alien faction the U.N began a spree of recruitment for the U.N peacekeepers and committed them to a mission in Rome to aid the survivor searchers and what small reconstruction projects that there were.

This burst of information was also coupled with the message from the race known as the Filii Siderum who seemingly wished for peace with the Humans and to conduct a deal in which this race of aliens would settle upon Earth and in exchange the people of Earth would receive technologies such as immortality and full mastery over the mind,To Mr De Vries this message was a miracle as it provided Humanity with an ally in these dangerous times. He immediately ordered for a message to be sent to the Filii Siderum concerning the possible alliance between their two states. The The general secretary also determined that a general assembly needed to be called in order to determine a direction to deal with the aliens.

To: All members of the U.N
From:The general secretary
subject :General assembly of the U.N
In order to determine how humanity should deal with the alien incursion we in the U.N have decided to call a general assembly of the U.N to determine the direction we should take with the ongoing crisis and on the possible alliance between the alien faction known as the Filii Siderum.

To: the Filii Siderum
From: the general secretary of the U.N
Greetings peoples of the Filii Siderum, as the closest thing that Earth has to a world government we in the U.N would like to invite you to a general assembly of all U.N member states which will be taking place in London, England (Coordinates enclosed) in order to discuss the alliance that you propose.

A new political front
Due to the recent destruction of Rome and the ongoing attacks on Moscow, a new political front has formed known as the united Humanity front who advocate for the extermination of all aliens who have dared to invade earth some elements of this new faction are calling for Humanity to unite into one superpower in order to defeat the lien threat. These people are organising a protest in Stockholm in order to protest the Nordic Commonwealths currently neutral approach to the alien threat. A large portion of united humanity front members have been seen marching towards the ruins of Rome.
Quantium breakthrough
Recent experiments with Quantium funded by multiple major world powers have seen large breakthroughs in the properties of the mysterious element known as Quantium. They have discovered how to extract energy from the element and if it is feasible to begin construction on Quantium energy plants then it seems as if Humanity has just found it's new source for energy.

[G-Tech Corporation]

The Potentials have already engaged in ground combat with the aggressors.

Provoked?

No. Invaders, attacking an urban center in the northern hemisphere of this planet. EM chatter points to the center being a nexus for communication and coordination of one of the polities here.

Should we respond?

Cera pondered for a moment, glancing at the silver webway of corridors and passages which branched off of where she sat in the chair of obsidian starlight. Shadowy figures moved in the distance, and a brief spell of temptation passed through her mind before she discarded it.

Not now. To put a reaction force in the field would be to expose our presence to the other forces in the system, and we don't have the reserves for that yet.

A covert insertion, then?

A better idea.

We do have some scans of soldiers of this Russian nation. And their military tech. Drips on the intranet the Potentials utilize have proved invaluable.


This is necessary. The neutralization of such a powerful Potential nation would afford an unacceptable foothold on the planet to invaders. You are authorized for covert deployment of whatever assets you deem necessary. Keep them quiet.

Cera nodded, severing the connection. Her awareness shifted to the myriad figures that delved, consumed, and burrowed in the depths of the Antarctic wastes, and some tithe of their strength she bled off, nightmarish machines and strange constructs returning to the surface of the base where they assembled awaiting the Ascended's will.

A few hours later, a dozen combat transports winged their way north over South Africa. They didn't respond to hails, but their Russian insignia were clear for all to see; a strange design, one not seen before by the intelligence services of the countries they rumbled across at supersonic speeds, but it made the hearts of some of those humans who saw them in the sky glad. The alien menace was obviously powerful and dire, but the advanced craft that thundered overhead looked mean enough to tangle with any alien presence, and they were winging their way straight towards Moscow.

[Eodor]

Inbound to Rome Crater
Skyranger: Mr Owl

The navy blue craft skimmed across the foamy blue sea, it had launched recently from the XCOM base in Northern Africa. XCOM had increased dramatically in size since the aliens had been first sighted, the Council pouring in more and more resources and money to assist in XCOM's defence of Earth.

The base had received word of the destruction of Rome, a shock yes, but nothing that they should scramble a team for.

They then received word on the Queen of Parcia and an alien force were meeting near the ruined city. XCOM's mandate was to protect all human life against extraterrestrial invaders. The Queen of Parcia was human life, and there were extraterrestrials, who could be hostile.

The Skyranger was escorted by two Interceptors, each one would provide sufficient support to the ground team as they moved in to assess the threat of the alien forces.

The Skyranger passed the Parcian helicopters, the Interceptors passing just overhead. It sounds round before landing near the meeting.

The ramp slammed down, the black armoured XCOM Operatives almost charging out, they aimed their weapons towards the alien.

"Queen Van Strauss, we're operatives of the Extraterrestrial Combat Force. We're here to ensure that this alien isn't hostile."

27 Miles from Moscow
XCOM Interceptors

"Sigma 2 through 6, head around the outskirts and harass any ground forces. The rest of you, engage enemy aircraft at will, we have to clear a way for liberation forces."

The Interceptor pilots all chorused their affirmatives, the fighters splitting into two groups before accelerating to their attack positions.

Pre-Recorded message to be played in the United Nations General Assembly

"Hello everyone, to those of you who do not know, I am the representative of the XCOM project. XCOM is conducting operations all over the planet to stifle the advance of the extraterrestrial invaders. But they can not achieve this goal without your help, XCOM needs the funding that only the United Nations can provide I'm order to take the fight to the alien forces, rather than fighting a defensive war. We ask that any alien technology recovered from your nations to be given to XCOM, only together can we defeat this threat."

[Jackania yugo]

Here they come!

The missiles slammed into the hulls of at least 25 ships. Each one's shields went down to something like 96%-90% protection. The actually hulls received little to no damage.

That was a close one.

I agree. We must imminently launch a counter offensive. Charge all the assault crafts cannons again! This time change it from 30% to 48%.

Sure thing sir.

The ships cannons let again went from a dim mint glow to a blinding lime sun but this time the light was a lot more intense. If you saw them from Jupiter (which isn't possible since it's a gas planet) they would look like small suns.
Then...they fired.
The lasers hurtled towards the enemy fleet only intent on blowing them to pieces.
Those stupid hunks of rust had still failed to realise that the earth was going to belong to the Illuminati, wherever they liked it or not.

[Parcia]

The unknown air contacts flying over Rome would not go unnoticed,with a wing of F-35Cs scrambling after them, just barely keeping pace with the advanced interceptors. A pair would brake off after each interceptor, more to keep track of the elusive planes then a hostile action.

The queen would be awstruck for a moment before replying. "Who gave your jurisdiction to operate in my nation, because it sure as hell wasn't one of my people."

"Secondly." She regianed her calm composure. "You are interesting what is possibly the first non hostile contact with an Alien race, do you honestly think buzzing our meeting place and pointing rifles at them is going to help?"

The two apaches would keep their guns trained on the aliens.