Retribution [IC/AXIOM ONLY]

[The Adrelos Spinrim Cluster]

Gryptonian High Command, Ergoden

---

"Sir, sir! A message from the ship!"

"Let's see here..."

The message is live broadcast from Llangolen to Ergoden, Gryptonia's capital and where the high command is present. the high command views this message. Unfortunately, this means a greeting, but a greeting to a lower class from a higher class, in the Gryptonian caste system. The opinions of the high command are ixed, some claiming it is a provocation and some claiming that cultural barriers exist in the vast unierse. The former had more supporters; and it was official-Gryptonians have chosen to go to war against the Svoyeshui ships. They knew they would die, but they would die fighting. The Olympian forces are almost arriving, just 1,200 miles to the nearest planet, Llangolen.

The Perzerah speaks: "Um, darn. Okay, all ships deploy all drones. Order the drones to disable the weapons of the, uh, gunships, and use ship weaponry to, uh, shoot some of the uninhabited areas. If they keep shooting or the gunships try to ram us, shoot the ground weaponry and the gunships' engines. Otherwise guide the gunships to safe orbits and have as many of them as possible dock with one of the boarding-controls-equipped Zulinyis. Err... Also, keep preparing for an invasion, keep getting those asteroids ready!"

[The Taiidani]

The Rise of an Empire

---

In an isolated region of space, an empire discovers faster modes of travel than just Ion Engines and Chemical Rockets. The Hyperdrive. This, combined with PDA technology, and Cloning technology, gives birth to a new form of empire in this isolated system, the first time the system has ever been unified.

This new state is called the Taiidani Empire, Long hardships have lead to this Empires beginning. Immediately the Taiidan Empire begins construction around a Three Thousand military ships, Via the Phased Disassembly Arrays. The lead ship is the Sajuuk's Wrath, a massive warship, armed to the teeth with firepower and with the "Second Progenitor Hypercore." The Taiidan Empire is still isolated, and has yet to make it's presence known to the rest of the cluster.


Meanwhile on Kharak, The Khar-Toba, the first of her class, starts construction. The 3 Kilometer long Interstellar Ark will be the first ship to leave the Taiidan System, Though, being a Taiidan ship, it will have a small complement of Corvettes and Frigates.

[Isestrel]

TkIS-381F Majii, Fleet C/A-F001
Othlikk System

---

Alarms blared, bright red flashes lighting up the worn surface of the Sekäli bronze walls. The dull glow of the reactors shone through the translucent panels that lined the back of the fire control room, flickering with every pulse. Readings flickered along the various instrument display panels lined up on front of Phase Artificer Nati; a paw hovered above a junction lever as she focused the particle lenses, a claw resting on the particle containment dial. The targeting computer had lined up the Majii with a Maldurii capital ship as it lay in wait, hidden behind the cloak of its radiative redirection cloud as it siphoned the Majii’s electromagnetic emissions away from the enemy. The raised levels of background radiation had alerted them to an anomaly, but the Majii had yet to be detected… The Maldurii would soon pay the price for their inattention in blood.

The TkIS-381F Majii was simply among many others of its kind; the Tesekis-Class Phase Corvette was designed to operate using high-energy distortions made possible by the Astedøs cores, a key component in a warp-modulated phase capacitor bank— a system first theorised by Mekanis Ylës Aemas of the Kelmari Warp Physics Division. While this allowed it to conduct a variety of useful operations while in civilian use, continued research and theory has opened up terrifying possibilities that have yet to be tested… Until now.

As Phase Artificer Nati pulled down the lever, the entire ship shook with the force of an immense blast, contained only by a brief flash from the Astedøs cores; she would have otherwise been vaporised. A bolt of fiery blue plasma exploded out of the lens array, slowly arcing its way towards the Maldurii ship, a Hyperion-class destroyer. While a significant payload on its own, it carried with it a cloud of high-energy neutrons capable of passing through even the thickest of armour; the subatomic spears of the Alliance. By the time the bolt was halfway to the Maldurii ship, the Majii was already beginning to charge its offensive capacitors for the next shot. Nati gazed intensely at the view screen on her instrument panel, a crazed smile on her face; she would be the one to strike the first blow against the Maldurii militants that threatened the Alliance. the Maldurii ship quickly projected its thanurium shields before the bolt could reach it, but it was no matter; although the glowing plasma splashed uselessly against the shimmering barrier, a jet of molten metal squirted out from the ship shortly before its midsection was caught in a glowing fireball; the silence was broken only by the cackling of the triumphant Kaesi phase artificer over the radio waves as she began preparations to cripple the Maldurii infrastructure.

… But the battle was not over.

The Maldurii Home Fleet, alerted by the destruction of one of their ships, turned its sensor arrays towards the source of the attack— it seemed the Kaesi “sleeper fleet” was finally on the move. While the Majii had already relocated itself, the rest of the fleet could still be seen bearing down on Maldur in all its glory— a swarm of interceptors, phase corvettes, and cruisers emerged from the cloud of magnetised coolant that it had spread out for itself. A barrage of plasma bolts rained down upon the fleet, but they were prepared this time; while the extra power to the thanurium shields was not enough to completely dissipate the neutron blast, it was enough to limit the damage enough so that the ships could survive the onslaught— the Kaesi within the phase corvettes had simply not thought to use any more power than necessary. Fusion cannons turned to the various Tesekis-class vessels that had released their blasts, and fired blasts of white-hot particle streams and radiation, scorching and vaporising chunks of their hulls; their offensive capacitors were simply too low on power from the blast to sustain the shields, and scores of phase corvettes crumbled into nothing but floating chunks of debris, warped and misshapen from the destruction of the Astedøs cores.

Kaesi interceptors and Maldurii fighters converged in the crossfire between the two fleets, dodging fusion blasts, fission blasts, and the occasional Casaba howitzer missile. While the vectored nuclear thrust systems of the Kaesi interceptors allowed them to fly erratically enough to avoid several of the fusion beams of the Maldurii fighters, there were simply too many; so many fusion beams were unleashed that it quickly became impossible to dodge. They fell one by one, blasted into little more than chunks of molten scrap. While Kesaselar-class and Isenkestrel-class cruisers attempted to do as much damage as they could with their CIWS turrets and fission cannons as they blundered into the conflict, they too were overwhelmed by the combined pressure of missiles and fusion blasts from both the bulk of the Maldurii fleet and its fighters— many simply overloaded their reactors attempting to supply such blistering amounts of power to both their countermeasures and weapon systems before being destroyed themselves, contributing to the growing cloud of radioactive dust and debris. Fleet C/A-F001 had to either retreat and consolidate its losses or be completely obliterated by the Maldurii fleet that was closing in.

The Majii had miraculously survived the counterattack, having charged up its offensive capacitors enough to deflect and attenuate the vast majority of the energy from incoming fusion blasts. Phase Artificer Nati had experienced the horrors of space warfare during her tour through the pirate-ridden space of bygone war zones from the first Solocon-Lautern War and had picked up a few tricks during her time there— while she knew that the Alliance fleet had to retreat, she still had one more trick up her sleeve to pull out before she left the Othlikk system. In her final act, she revved her ship up to full speed towards the Maldurii fleet as she revved up the offensive capacitors, but it was ultimately fruitless; the Majii it met the same fate as its sister ships as a fusion blast tore through the craft from front to back, obliterating it.

The TkIS-381F Majii exploded spectacularly; the particle wave pushed the reactor core to supercritical status, and a nuclear blast materialised among scores of Maldurii ships among the vast fleet that had so utterly and completely defeated Fleet C/A-F001.

Seemingly untouched by the battle, the fleet slowly stirred as the Maldurii ships oriented themselves towards a rendezvous point in Maldur orbit before entering warp with little more than a passing thought; Maldurich remained untouched by the invading fleet. The operation had failed, leaving only the crippled remnants of the fleet limping back towards Solon.

The KEF had lost 39 Isenkestrel-class cruisers, 17 Kesaselar-class cruisers, 184 Häel-class interceptors, and 42 Tesekis-class phase corvettes.

---

KEF Central, Delski Outskirts
Isel, Astra System

---

“WHAT?!”

A profoundly disturbed Daeles Stekovis shouted into a communicator, astonished at the news.

“…”
“Are… Are you kidding me? Is this… Some kind of joke?”
“… The plan… Has failed?”

“I fail to see… How this could have happened. How could they have defeated us so quickly?”

“… I see…”
“… Then we shall move on to the next step.”

Stekovis slipped the communicator in his pocket before gesturing to a number of representatives from KEF Mission Control Tactical Initiative. They followed him to a terminal located to the left of his desk, printed their signatures on the connected ID pad, and shook hands with him before leaving the room. Solocon had sent a request for Kaesi assistance prior to the operation, and it would serve the Alliance well to comply. While it did involve sending out Kaesi ships outside of the Astra system, it was already well-known among KEF circles that aiding Solon in its defence against the Maldurii threat was in Isestrel's best interests. There was little doubt as to the outcome of the decision; on the 156th cycle of 267 FI, a delocalised transmission was broadcasted to Solocon.

[ S R C : ] K - T R / K E F C T - 0 7
**[KEFCT-{I}-07] -M- [SOL/COM]**

> RESPONDING TO REQUEST FROM [SOL/COM];
> NOTIFYING KEF REDIRECTION OF SHIPS FROM FLEET C/A-F001 TO SOLON SPACE;
> REQUESTING PERMISSION FOR KAESI MILITARY ACCESS;

**[ K-TR ~ END]**

---

All translations brought to you by the Kaesi Interstellar Relations Linguistics Department

[The Taiidani]

"The Launch of a Dream."

---

Nav Officer. PFC-NS Latskoy walks up to the navigational console of the colossal bridge, this is the only place where people would be able to see what's going on. The Main Chamber being too precious to expose to the hazardous asteroids and small materials in the void called space. Latskoy puts her data-pad onto a desk next to the console, and sits down, the entire room is bustling with noise as Men, Women, and Children enter the ship's Main Chamber of the ship, Which is simply referred to as "The Ark".

The Captain's, Captain Armede Vaiino, voice booms throughout the room. "Start firing up the Reactors, and un-dock us from station."

"Yes sir, Releasing bridges, Awaiting signal for reactor activation." Latskoy's response was monotone, as per orders.

Latskoy knew she wasn't actually flying the ship, but instead inputting orders to the ships "Unbound", Or the ship's Neural Computer. This Neural Computer was a person hooked directly up to the ship's systems. These thoughts were interrupted by loud thumps of the bridges' clamps releasing, and a humm reverberates throughout the ship, this hum was the tri-core Fusion reactors.

One of the Engineering Officers' voices boomed throughout the room in a monotone, "Ship's Reactors are online, Reaction Thrusters online."

Vaiino's Response was quick, "Release the clamps and take us to the Launch point Officer."

Latskoy's response was again, monotone. "Yes Sir, Releasing clamps."

The ship's docking clamps released with a loud thud.

"Clamps Released, Manuevering."

The ship slowly pushed forward. After about an hour the ship was 50 Mm away from the station. Now, the ship's main engines activated, pushing the ship into an outer orbit of the System's Star. The ship would take days to even reach the jump point, in that time though, the ship would have to keep the shutters closed, in case of asteroid Impacts.

After about a week, the ship would proceed to slingshot around the outermost planet into deep space.

"Hyperspace to Hiigara," yelled Vaiino.

Latskoy would plot the course and start the Hyperjump sequence. The ship left the system in a brilliant array of blue flashes.

[The Atun Dynasty]

Ignore thank you.

[The 3 Suns]

SA DISCOVERY: ORBIT 90 MILES. TIME: 4:45 PM

The discovery the first of its kind created In The orbital shipyard
Will heading to a system called Cataloun as life is suspected of being there as stray radio signals have been picked up Comming from the system. The ship is equipped with several Rail Cannons as well as 30 Firable nuclear warheads.


The Ship locks in the coordinates of the system. The bridge is filled with commotion as the FTL operator counts down 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2..1 Ignitionit takes a second as the FTL lever is pushed foward engaging the jump as the ship disappears from the sky in a sort of spaghetfication fashion

[Catalonua]

Llangolen, Outer Gryptonia

---

"The hostiles are visible, all railguns and warheads good to go."

"Locking on missiles, activating shields and countermeasures."

"Signal detected-hostility confirmed."

"Fire when possible."

"Locked on, Fire!"

The destroyers, frigates, and carriers all open fire to the Gryptonian gunships and the Gryptonian surface. Not long after the first salvo of fire, Svosyehui ships are visible and are locked on to. They are seen battling each other. The Gryptonians, outnumbered and outgunned, are fighting though the situation looks dire for Gryptonia. Soon, Marines are headed to Llangolen, and fights the Gryptonians.

[Khuras]

Transmission from Khuras Prime

The Khurasan Empire has been formed, the Khurasan Species, once subjected to prejudice, has settled in a new Trinary Star System, Khuras Prime! The new empire, after roughly 200 years of staying hidden, have revealed themselves and the empire they've built. During the 2 centuries of rebuilding, the Khurasans have effectively isolated themselves from the rest of the Cluster, unaware of the conflicts over thhe stars of Axiom

[The Adrelos Spinrim Cluster]

Upratzie System, 5 years ago

What caused the Avadrelij government's downfall was its slow reform process. A confederational government divided so much that even local governments were unable to respond to their own issues, a vast array of different opinions, and growing separations between the planets- between each other, and their orbitals- these all contributed to a slow-burn collapse, and collapse it did. The only symptoms of this known by the rest of Axiom were evident in the three Avadrelij fleets, but soon more would come. The Avadrelij government shattered, and civil war ensued. Orbitals were broken apart, planetary governments splintered, and nearly ten million people died. Out of the dust of that eight-month war came about a hundred independent polities within Upratzie- and between them, the only warlike desire that of friendly competition. Militaries doubled, tripled, quadrupled (especially on Upratzie itself); science underwent a boom. With a total space-navy size in Upratzie nearly four times that of old Adrelos (now, depending on who you ask, an international coalition with some territory on Stoyas or the current government for a continent of Stoyas) and interstellar speeds jumping from 2 SL to 3.2 SL, the conditions were perfect for a diaspora. Starships, Orbitals, and everything below and in between started leaving the system. Upratzie lost nearly 80 million people to this exodus, and most settled their small, weak colonies in the eight yellow stars within 3.2 LY of Upratzie. A few of the more ambitious projects went further, settling relatively near Taidan just recently; and now... well, now some 6 million people each have arrived near Othlikk, Nex Regin VI, Jublaii... and in Eccha.

[Rumona]

Book One: Retribution, Chapter One: A New Awakening.....

Two cutters approach the remains of the Fleet, C/A-F001. One of the cutters, Isharan Warship KL3-84X0 "Krakyios" heads the operation, It's unbound being Klore Xlflkreyureu. Klore floats in a tank filled with a specialized liquid to enhance the already enhanced precognitive ability, whilst unaware of what physical happenings are going on aboard the ship, she is fully aware of it's output and current actions.

Signatures spike as the 2 warships appear on her scanners, and she starts activating systems to contact the ships, alert them that they are trespassing.
This is despite the fact that they picked up the distress signal, yet she has decided to discard it into a storage file. She directs the Ishkaal-class cutter's nose to an intercept course, then pushes the engines to max burn. She hails the Kaesi ships, but gets no response. Even if they were to respond, she wouldn't get the signal. This leads her to think that they are "Hostiles", and instantly enters the mindset.

She'd switch several precognitive systems on, 2-3 camera views pop into view along her peripheral vision. Seeing the Tesekis fire, she immediately fires torpedoes and the Plasma beams. She'd lose lock with the plasma beams, Whilst sensors go nuts as the companion ship is destroyed. She'd turn off the dampeners, and would aim the ships nose at the enemy ship and have it locked on, and would open fire. Sensors pick up tons of neutron beam fire, and Start to wail as the engines are hit, she decides to take the risk and does an emergency jump.


At the same time, The KL3-84X1 Barbados's wreck slams into a Teseki, basically destroying it. Unknown to Klore, is that the second Teseki got away,
Presumably with it's escorts, and she doesn't know where she is either.

Turns out though, she's in Solon space, and she just threw Ishara into a Interstellar conflict.

Border conflict between Isharans and Kaesi ships, Both took heavy casualties, including a Teseki-class Corvette and a Ishkaal-class Cutter, Several Hael-class strike-craft were caught in the crossfire.

PROWLER HAS NOT BEEN DETECTED, AND HAS RELAYED INFORMATION TO CENTCOM
CENTCOM INFORMATION SENT, PROTOCOL 554, DEPLOYING SALVAGE TEAM TO BRING REMNANTS BACK TO RUMON.
CENTCOM TRANSMISSION-OVER.

[The Tenebrean Empire]

Screens around the room showing different images from different angles, ships firing at one another. Explosions and weapon fire making the images flare from the fighting. Watching these scenes captured by Probes is the Collective Council and a man sitting in the shadows overlooking the Council. Sitting at the table are 12 beings. 3 Tenebrians, 3 RhoDorians, 3 Stromians, and 3 Calvera. One of the Stromians slams his fist onto the table and points at the screens, "These civilizations know nothing but war! When they finish with one another they will come after us. The Stromian Congress demands the Imperium takes action against these aliens immediately to safeguard ourselves!" The other two, a grey furred stromian with thin fur with blue eyes and a shaggier brown and grey spot furred stromian, growl their assent.

"We must be calm and logical about this," a monotone voice echoes in the silence, "We do not know which could be friend or foe and do we not still worry about a Plaguer outbreak?" The mechanical Calvera calmly stares down the Stromian, its red eyes glowing in the darkened room.

One of the Tenebrians stands, "The Tenebrean Congress agree with the Calvera, more information is needed before any military or diplomatic action should be sanctioned."

A tall black scaled RhoDorian stands and looks to the man in the shadows, "The RhoDorian congress will support whatever the Emperor sees fit." The councilors all sit down looking expectantly at the man on the throne.

Standing up he reveals tubes and wires connecting him to the throne, the grey flesh of the Tenebrian race even paler than the rest of his species, piercing purple eyes taking in the 12 councilors. "We are dedicated to ancient belief that war is the last resort and science and culture should take precedence over it. Our army is strong and can protect us from an alien threat. However I would prefer to make friends than enemies and they both are powerful considering these videos. Send probes to study them more closely and bring me the reports. Go with the Twelve." He dismisses them as he sits back on the throne. They stand and bow, "May the Twelve Guide us." They reply and walk out talking amongst themselves.

[Infernuii]

Isel, Astra System

The void of space on the edge of the system is suddenyl filled with a flash of light and suddenly filled with a ship, pulsing blue lights, lighting up the silhoutte of the black ship.



The entity on board picking up the communications of a race within the system.The ship letting out a burst into their communications system.

[The Justicar Ascendancy]

Unknown Space, Axiom Supercluster

Floating amongst the stars, countless ships ringing a large superstructure floating in the middle of the Armada.


Sensors on board the Citadel begin receiving data from around the Super cluster filing it away. The emergence of genocidal civilizations bent on racial superiority, A nation split amongst itself, Superpowers in an interstellar war, and the continued threat of a plague. The on board computers begin the wake up protocols. The core, A large A.I core sending out tendrils of energy to the Armada. Jury and Executioners waking from their hibernation as judgment is once more called for in the lawless and chaotic interstellar community.

The large Carriers, the capital ships of the Golden Armada and the Destroyers, the mainstay of the Armada fire up their engines as their "A.I" Engine linking with the main Core. The Armada and its center, The Citadel, begin moving once more headed towards the conflicted superclusters center to bring law and justice to the lawless void of space.

[Maldurich]

The Dragonheart, Eccha System

---

Commander Therani pursed her lips as the inevitable fighter squads retaliated. They had double the numbers and firepower of the Ecchans, but she hadn't expected so much resistance from the other side. No matter, she thought. She had been sent here to force Eccha into Maldur's hand, and she would complete her mission. A Malduri fighter, Poseidon class, burst into flames as it took down its 6th or 7th Solon fighter. Even Atlas cruisers were in the fray, railgun projectiles, plasma beams, and fusion bombs being deployed full scale. It was chaos, yet there was something beautiful about it. They had destroyed one of the Solon Terminals, and laser fire peppered the field of battle. Meanwhile, fighter-bombers had been outfitted with the fusion nukes Maldurii favored for operations such as these, but previous experience had shown that Eccha's underground infrastructure withstood bombing quite well. As a result, they had deployed the BX-67 prototypes to drill into the earth, each about the size of a tree but their numbers corroding the surface. In areas where the cities were visible or close, bombing runs ensued, polluting the area with plasmatic gas and melting the earth from the caves. Primary targets were, of course, nanite factories. Solon refugees were a common sight, but Therani and Sorrd didn't believe in needless slaughter. Instead, their transport vessels were kept contained by the firefight, no one spot free of Malduri ordnance. It was true that Othlikk had the capability to wipe out the planet in three shots, but this way was cheaper, and it was the way she had been ordered. Eccha should be afraid, she thought, very, very afraid.

---

Othlikkore, Othlikk System

---

Ezana Torres and Oro Tekkaan viewed the theatre from their seats in the Council chamber. The Maldurii had sustained causalties, but reinforcements were being sent as fast as they could be made. It was a sure victory, in their eyes. A lesson he had learnt in his years as Electorate Supreme was to secure victory above all else. It wasn't a pretty sight - Torres had no love for martial ventures as these - but it was necessary, and the Malduri valued those who put all their effort into a cause. The Solon fleet was en route to the Solon system, while the Jubaali had experienced a collapse in government. Maldurich had stepped in as their allies, and Torres had a passion for rebuilding fallen civilizations. There had been chaos on Jubaal in the aftershock of the collapse - anocracy had ensued, and these warlords were still being put down and neutralized, but it hadn't taken much from the Space Defense. Land troops had been deployed, far outmatching the salvaged weapons the warlords sported, and almost 80% of the Jub'li now lived in peace. The advances from the Jub'li had been implemented in Maldurii spacecraft as well, increasing speeds to 64 times the speed of light, and ships had been refitted with the technology. It wasn't as desperate as it appeared, and Torres knew that the fate of Maldurich was well secured at the moment. Coordinates were being sent to Tusk and the Jubaali fleet for the rendezvous point, and it was only a matter of time before the Solons learnt of Malduri retribution. They could not reign in the galaxy, and Torres would see that balance was restored.

---

[Solocon]

THE CORE - SOLIS, PLANET SOLON

---

Cyron, the HeadDefSect, and the HeadSocSect listened intently to the SolComSect channel as it provided updates about the situation on Eccha. Their fears confirmed, the HeadDefSect immediately requested a backup fleet of 645 warships be deployed to assist in Eccha's defense from Tecon, which Cyron and the HeadSocSect approved. The situation on Solon was faring better: Soloconian efforts to communicate with the Kaesi had paid off, with the orbiting SolDefSect legion awaiting the arrival of a Kaesi backup fleet. SolDefSect's strategists were already in the process of outlining protocols for Solocon to return the favor in the event of a war on the Kaesi homeworld.

As the blue sun drifted downwards towards the hazy horizon, Cyron and the other HeadSects left the command chamber and were preparing to retire to The Core's temporary residence chambers to rest. It was then that a mid-ranking SolSciSect official, catching them in the corridors of the superstructure, informed them that SolSciSect command was ready to communicate with the alien entities on Solocon's moon...

. . .

Thousands of miles away above the brownish, cratered surface of Solon's natural satellite, the orbiting Adrelij spacecraft were temporarily eclipsed by a black shadow which loomed towards the alien refugees. An unarmed, unmanned government research vessel, operated by SolSciSect, slowly descended towards the lunar surface, blocking out the intense blue rays of the sun. As it grew nearer, the shadow seemed to disintegrate, the ship breaking apart into an undulating mass of composite nanites. The black shadow soundlessly rained down on the moon like precipitation, localizing around a preprogrammed point.

Abruptly, the black cloud condensed into a conglomerate of sharp, crystalline fragments which crawled over each other, melding and latching on to the emerging framework of a black, obsidian-like cube: a moon base. The whole process lasted several minutes. As the last sections of the cube's walls pressed into place, several smaller transport spacecraft flew in, carrying the small crew of the new alien research facility. Simultaneously, the spaceships docked to the construct as it powered up, bright blue geometric lines tracing the sides and illuminating the exterior.

On one end of the facility, a launch bay extended outwards, capable of accommodating smaller Adrelij spacecraft. A set of massive black tiles pressed inward and folded down, revealing a blue-illuminated entrance meant for the aliens to use. The top SolSciSect officials and crew now within the facility waited, hoping that their visitors would comprehend their intentions.


TERMINAL 0012 - ORBIT OVER ECCHA, SOLOCON

---

The SolDefSect Terminal's central command chamber was filled with the clicking of strategists, operators, and other officials as war erupted around them in space. Aeium watched the live feeds from outside the Terminal as the Eccha defense fleet opened fire on the Maldurii advance. The small Class III fighters flew into the Maldurii ranks in perfect unison, blown apart by slugs of projectiles and plasma. Bolts of electricity zapped through the wreckage as it crumbled into black dust. Clouds of seemingly defunct fragments amassed around the Maldurii warships on the holoscreen, but the SolDefSect command officers remained calm. What appeared to be a devastating defeat was actually a well-refined war strategy.

Suddenly, under a command from Paladin, the numerous fragments fizzled out into a black mass of nanites, blocking the enemy's field of vision and interfering with sensory arrays. Crystalline tendrils spontaneously synthesized from the black soup, latching onto the nearest enemy vessel. Under another command, the active nanites began to tear apart the outer surface of the Maldurii spacecraft, attempting to shred the hunks of metal into new, fully functional nanites. Small tubules attempted to burrow deep into the hull, intending to tap into the enemy spacecrafts' own energy to power the process. This method repeated itself throughout Eccha.

On the surface, the battle against the invaders was even more furious. As fragments of a Soloconian Terminal burned up in the atmosphere, several unlucky metropolises melted as massive plasma explosions rocked their city centers. Black skyscrapers crumbled, attempting to shift their area of destruction in an effort to save the hapless Solons within and below, the sound of desperate clicking intermixing with the low droll of disaster sirens. While the initial destruction from the invading Maldurii fleets was devastating, it was not total, and SolDefSect was prepared to retaliate.

Working in perfect synchronization, Paladin cooperated with numerous city AI to combat the enemy attackers and protect the lives of the Solon inhabitants. Solocon's massive orbital defense fleet acted to protect Eccha's metropolises, hastily attempting to destroy Maldurii vessels on sight. While numerous invaders slipped through the defenses and wreaked havoc on the surface, SolDefSect's spacecraft fiercely defended a majority of Eccha's cities from destruction. SolDefSect Eccha division had lost numerous Class III spacecraft, and Eccha's automated industries were severely damaged, but if their strategy was successful, the Solons would expel the invaders successfully...

[Maldurich]

Malduryk, Othlikk System

"Today," Vaas Drege began, "marks the beginning of a new era! Maldurich has played too small for too long, and it is time we protect the heartland! The introduction of the Orbital Invishield will give us peace of mind in this dangerous time. But this would not have been possible without you, citizens of Maldur. Cheer with us! Cheer for Maldurich! March to a better world!"

---

Torres looked grimly at the recording of the speech. Pausing it, he slowly raised his eyes, glowering at Drege. "This has gone too far!" Drege reeled from shock. "But... look at them! People need hope in times of war. We're at war! Don't you realize that? There's a point where morale is what's keeping the engines of war going!"
"If I may," Gabriel Rion interjected, "he does have a point. The Ecchan response to the blockade has involved higher mortality numbers than we expected."
"And what kind of hope is this? We all know that the VOS is still in late developmental stages! You can't go around telling our people we'll be safe because of technologies that haven't undergone sufficient testing!"
"Oh please. With all due respect," Drege countered, "the VOS has never failed a single of our tests! And we've done sixty thousand tests!"
"These are people's lives we're talking about here. If we can't guarantee that it's undergone all of our testing, we can't guarantee that it works to military standards."
"Then why don't we implement it?" Rion proposed. "If it's already gone through most of the testing, we can make it top priority and get it done in say... 2 weeks? We are developing these technologies for a reason, right? What better opportunity to show our innovative prowess than to implement something made right here, by our generation?"
"Very well. We'll hold a vote on it, but I'm warning you Drege. If you make this kind of slip-up again..."
"Understood."

---

The Galaxy, Eccha System

"Sir!" We're detecting a ship entering the system at .3 and 607."
Commander Sorrd acknowledged the admiral's report, and tapped his screen. The tachyonic screening on the ship indeed showed a ship, an Isharan Cutter to be precise, drifting in towards them. It seemed power was off and the ship was badly damaged. Weapons were down, and the ship was closing in on its own momentum.
"Send out a Vulcan."
"Yes sir." The Vulcan gunship shot off and approached the Cutter, its engines on stealth. The black coating was almost untraceable as it skimmed the distance in minutes.
"The Vulcan is reporting a single survivor, sir. There are no other life forms on board..."
"Connect me."
"This is the Commander of the Galaxy. Please state your name, vessel ID, point of origin, and purpose in this system."
Sorrd awaited an answer, hopeful that they comms were functional at all.

---

The Enigma, Othlikk System

The miniscule black wedge was slowly lowered into position, skillfully manipulated by the drone's masterful operator. As the wedge snapped into place, a shimmering field of light seemed to envelop the planet. This was not light, but a thanurium composite shield - the largest scale it had even been applied. The individual components were so small that redundancy could be implemented perhaps 60 million times over, while the ground view of the stars was uninhibited. It was truly a massive accomplishment in Maldurii scaleability. Once, such a planetary blanket was the thing of dreams; now, it was reality. As each of 8 habitable planets in the Othlikk system pulsated with protection, similar systems were en route to Jubaal.

---

Othlikkore, Othlikk System

Councilman Benh-azre reflected on the proposition presented before him - the idea of sending an appeal to the Tenebrean system in hopes that they would ally with Maldurich. If they accepted, there would be a substantial boost in the war effort. It was a consensus - they had nothing to lose, after all. They could not fight another war with another system. In addition, the Space Defense had sent 700 Hyperion cruisers and over a thousand fighters, to combat the losses to nanites. The reinforcements had been outfitted with the new Jubaali technology, while their thanurium shielding had been amped up to max power to combat the nanites' small size. Solocon was winning the battle in space, but those trillions in stealth bomber research had payed off after all, and Maldur was gaining ground on the surface.

---

Jubaal, Jublaii System

A fleet of military and passenger ships entered the Jublaii system, turning more than a few heads. As government officials scrambled to issue warnings and establish communication, the request for 80 Prometheus class vessels and 120 Poseidon fighters was urgently sent to the Capital. Their resources would soon be spread thin at this rate, but it was deemed necessary. General Carrel Maz'rok, who had been placed in charge of the Jub'li rebuilding efforts, was wired to the incoming Adreli fleets. "Halt. You are entering Maldurii space without a permit. Please identify your leader and vessel IDs for further inspection. Detail your affiliations and wait for further instructions." All that was left was to hope they would comply and that Maz'rok wouldn't have to use force.

---

[The Tenebrean Empire]

Excelion System

The Emperor stands up, the mass of wiring and tubes running from him into the throne making light tinkling noises as they bump one another. He looks around the room, nodding to the twelve councilors before holding up a transmitter. "The Maldurii people have asked us for help. The Solocon Alliance is a threat to the continued safety of the Tenebrean Empire and to her people. Recent events have shown that the Solocon nation seeks to spread its influence over smaller states and has already absorbed Isestrel into its sphere. From this moment onwards I declare that a state of war exists between the Tenebrean Empire and Solocon. I have taken the liberty of sending a strike group, before this announcement, to Tecion to launch surgical strikes across the planet. Forewarned by Maldurich of Solon nanite technology and its purpose as building material i have ordered the use of the D-18 Ion smart missiles to neutralize the enemies mines. The Maldurii-Tenebrean Alliance will be victorious. As we speak the Strike Group will have arrived to carry out its mission." The councilors applaud the action, other than the emotionless Calvera.

__________________________________________________

Tecion System, Solocon Space

Captain Skaris stands on the bridge of the TES Resolute, the flagship of the XIII Strike Group, staring out into the blur of hyperspeed. Her tail swishing back and forth as her wings extend slightly before retracting again. A voice makes her jump, "We are approaching the target system, Cartan." She nods as she gathers her wits "Regular deployment, Tyger frigates to provide screening as the Resolute and the other Cruisers for the D-18's at selected targets. Remember we are here to pull a hit and run not a full out battle." Acknowledgment from the other ships Cartans are received one by one and Cartan Skaris nods to herself as they approach Tecion.

Twenty minutes later

The Strike Group exits Hyperdrive at the northern edge of the Tecion System. The Frigates getting under way to provide cover as the individual ships A.I mark targets for the missile strikes. As soon as all exposed mining stations have been marked the seven cruisers launch their full compliment of D-18 Ion Missiles, a combined number of 220 missiles at 14 marked mines. As soon as the missiles are on their way, their engine flares lighting up the dark void of space racing towards the targets, the Strike Group turns around and powers up to make the return trip to Execlion, the ten frigates still providing cover as their hyperdrives power up.

[Paranos]

Exploratory Command Ship Frontier,Jubaal, Jublaii System

The Frontier, the first Frontier class exploratory command ship exits FTL, a fleet of fourty ships, a mix of civilian and military, exit warp. Exploratory Corps Navarch Aulus Arcadius looks out of the command deck's windows onto the planet, noticing something they weren't expecting.

"Navarch, multiple contacts appearing on scanners. Fleets larger then ours, cautioned advised."

"Understood. Have the communcations crew open channels. We're going to make first contact."

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir."

Navarch Arcadius prepared the first-contact speech practiced over and over during the trip across the cluster, intending to get it right the first time. He waited anxiously as the camera came out of a small compartment above him, turning on.

[Rumona]

Book One: Retribution, Chapter One: A New Awakening

---

Jungle of Albagesh, Rumon
28.12.12552

Several T'sau rebels run through the thick underbrush of the Rumon jungle, Behind them is a big tower of smoke, from a destroyed TD-18. One of these rebels' heads explode, due to being hit by an AR-5000 Round. The other T'sau return fire and bunker down, as reinforcements arrive. Though the Isharans wouldn't count a single MG and several more troops with heavily outdated rifles "Reinforcements". The MG sets up and opens fire at the Isharan troops, who also take cover. An ADS-38N Skyhawk flies over, it's belly turret firing into the jungle, and shredding trees. A T'sau fires an RPG-91 at a Skyhawk, but he'd miss, and would pay the ultimate price. The Belly gun shreds the T'sau in a few seconds flat. The Isharan soldiers keep pushing up, firing their AR-5000s and occassionally an LMK-201. Any attempt by the T'sau to retreat would result in them being torn apart, so they stay down, returning fire. The ADS-38N is hit by a 45mm SPAA gun, though the only damage this does is scratch the paint and destroy the belly gun, it distracts the Skyhawk. A second Skyhawk flies in, dropping Several pipes into the jungle, these pipes, upon hitting the ground, explode into brilliant flashes of orange and red, covering the area in fire.

The civilians of the nearby town that got bombed look on at the inferno, not as much as horrified, than knowing that the remainder of the rebellion would be crushed, and that, hopefully, things will be peaceful once more.

---

KL3-84X0 "Krakyios", Ishkaal(Dagger)-class Cutter, Eccha.

Klore floats in the "Think Tank" unconscious, unaware that the ship is being contacted, and the rest of the crew is dead from Cheknorov Radiation Exposure. Several thumps and breaches later, Klore comes to life, her HUD glitched to the point where it doesn't show any useful information. She hears a little dinging noise as an alarm goes off, something breached the hull. A drone, belonging to the Maldurii Navy, slowly moves down the abandoned corridor, several troops in tow. They end up finding the Think Tank. They decide to drain it, after fiddling with the console. After a minute or so they arrest Klore, just as a loud ringing noise goes off. Several Isharan words are said before the ringing continues, as the reactor has breached. Whilst the soldiers thunder down the empty halls, dragging Klore behind them, The tiberium fuel grows, consuming matter in a unstable and uncontrolled chain-reaction, which is growing at an exponential rate. The Vulture Gunship undocks and books it, just in time too, as the conduits and circuits overload.
The Krakyios detonates in a brilliant green flash, it's debris going everywhere in a deadly storm of metal and tiberium.

---

[Xah]

Policy of Morthanveld
Morthan Sky Nest
Cycle 120, Hour 35

The faint glow from Xah shone out across the system, entirely unappreciated by the sensory perceptors of the current Speaker for the Supreme Nest, Yet-ji-koc-mak. Instead, the eighty year old Morthanveld was savouring the heady mix of a mildly narcotic chemical it'd just released from a container. Being the head of the collective Speakers of Morthan had some advantages, even if it was offset by having to ascend to this Progenitor-forsaken place in space. Like most Morthanveld, Yet could tell the waters of this giant orbital were different to that of its home nest, different to any under the blessed ice. The engineers did their best, but it was too pure, too filtered. A good nest should taste better. The door alert juddered, sending coded vibrations into the room.
{enter} Yet resonated back and quivered its spines in recognition at his visitor. {Most Ancient, enter, please} Always in awe of those who were able to recall aspects of their past generations, Yet rotated his spines in deference.
{Speaker} the other Morthanveld echoed back. Somewhat younger than the Speaker, Ancients always exuded an feeling of being much older than they were.
{you know why I am here. a decision of such magnitude requires the consent of the Nests. even if just a formality}
{The World Nest concurs with the decision. you have our acquiescence in this matter} Quite why this needed to be done up here wasn't communicated. Yet kept those thoughts to itself.
{good. we wish for you to be here for the send off. it is a big action for the Polity, one not to undertaken lightly}
{it is an honour.}
The Most Ancient dipped slightly in the water, a sign of acknowledgement. {come then} it slowly moved out of the Speakers room and away down the corridor. The Speaker followed, being led across the section, through a flowtube to one of Sky Nest's many command centers.
Taking up the middle of the large space was a spherical icon bank; a 3D shape that displayed the contents of space outside the center. Occupying most of that space were the twenty or so ships of the Intersessor Fleet.
The Most Ancient turned its attention to the Speaker and the chatter of the room stopped as its pheromone signaled for silence.
{Speaker please, the order is yours to give}
Yet was acutely aware that its every movement and emanation was being sensed. It paused for a moment then {let it be so}

Outside in the darkness of space, the ships turned and banked then, faster than the senses could detect, vanished into FtL.

---

In several systems around Xah

The Starcruisers suddenly appeared in their target systems, as close into the main centers of population as non-threateningly possible, broadcasting signals indicating non-hostility. The Morthanveld had arrived on the supercluster scene, taking their unique brand of diplomacy to the warring factions around them.

[Solocon]

SOLAUTOSECT TECION NEXUS - PLANET TECION, TECION SYSTEM

---

Alarms droned on in the chamber as SolAutoSect operators scrambled, attempting to assess what had just happened in the last few solar ticks. Tecion was usually a quiet planet, save for the hundreds of Soloconian mining operations, but at this moment the colony's SolComSect channels filled to the limit. SolDefSect's warships were not deployed and were not ready to counter the mysterious alien attack. SolAutoSect documented the total destruction of 14 mines and several civilian Solons. While mining operations on Tecion would continue, the incident hurt SolAutoSect's resource exports and the government in Solon was contacted immediately.

PLANET ECCHA - ECCHA SYSTEM, SOLOCON

---

The war for Solocon's second-largest habitation raged on. SolDefSect's battle strategies had proved useful in defeating the Maldurii in orbit above the planet. Solocon's forces had broken through the blockade and were rapidly gaining control of the skies. On the ground, however, the situation worsened. Nearly half of Eccha's metropolises lay in ruins as the Maldurii continued their advance over Eccha's surface. The escalating war had already left billions of Solons dead, and the Interplanetary Superstate was in danger of losing control of the surface.

[Isestrel]

KEF Mission Control, The Labyrinth
Isel, Astra System, 161st Cycle, 267 FI

---

KEF Mission Control was shrouded under an solemn shroud of silence. The faces of the Kaesi that passed by were downtrodden, darkened by the gloom of the recent defeat; voices never rose higher than a whisper, and many lay slumped over their desks, weeping. Many of those at Mission Control had friends, family, and some even their children among those on duty with Fleet C/A-F001 at the time of the defeat. Many of those same people were also missing from work, leaving the building emptier than it ever had been since the beginning of the Solocon-Maldurich conflict; some were busy attending the funerals of their loved ones, and others had simply crumbled in the face of their grief. Whether they liked it or not, the members of KEF Mission Control played their part in Fleet C/A-F001’s defeat— they were had not simply failed; they had become the architects of the deaths of their companions. Yet, even now they would not find time to mourn, nor time to rest.

Displays beeped and screens flickered; suddenly, an alarm sounded, shattering the muffled melancholy of the Kaesi there— if at least temporarily.
“Everyone to their stations immediately, I repeat— everyone head to their stations now!”

The plasma screen at the front of the room flickered to the sensor displays of two TkIS-type Svieska skirmishers that were stranded in space near Eccha, as two unidentified ships appeared. They loomed ahead of the two vessels; moderately-sized ships bristling with weapons of an unknown type. All the while, the pair appeared to be broadcasting signals, yet they were coded in a format that appeared to be completely incompatible with contemporary Kaesi, Solon, or even Maldurii systems. All that came through was a series of loud, jarring screeches that rattled the few crew members on board before the open communication channel was shut off. A quick scan revealed the absence of any Maldurii signatures; in fact, even the technology seemed to be vastly different in nature from that of Maldurich. The unidentified ships surged forwards at incredibly fast rates, yet showed no sign of the bulky fusion reactors required for such manoeuvres characteristic of Maldurii designs— clearly, another force was at work here.

On the screen, the ship came into clear view as it approached maximum engagement range. While it at first seemed to have peaceful intentions given what appeared to be efforts at communications, what visible weapons it had began to light up with an eerie glow, casting bright rays that contrasted starkly against the pitch black shadow of its hull in the darkness of interstellar space. As if aware of the growing agitation of the crew, the TkIS-type skirmishers began allocating power to the engagement capacitors thanks to the many autonomous systems that governed them; but no matter the cost, the Representative Alliance of Isestrel was to cast a favourable impression at every opportunity. While a Kaesi-Solon Alliance could very well be fully capable of defending against the onslaught of Maldurii ships, they could not afford to bring yet another opponent to bear in the growing conflict— not when Solocon had already suffered a full-scale planetary attack in the opening stages of the conflict. Operator Etélr, a communications officer of Strategic Initiative, entered a delocalised transmission route directly to the two straggling ships, but to no avail; the localisation beacons had been damaged in the battle at Othlikk.


Hundreds watched the scene unfold in horror as countermeasures and jammer signals washed over the stragglers, their own electronic countermeasures left unattended and deactivated. In a last-ditch effort to protect themselves, the TkIS-type skirmishers began to charge up for a deadly burst of neutron fire; a beam of plasma cut through the air, but was fortunately deflected by the magnetic shields that had risen just in time, mere seconds after the particle lens released a deadly blast of subatomic particles. Several torpedoes narrowly missed by hundreds of meters, and a single torpedo clipped one of the thruster vanes as it barrelled past, tearing it clean off the spacecraft. The vital components had survived, but its manoeuvring capability was severely crippled. A brief flash sparked in the distance as a spout of molten metal spewed out from what appeared to be the engine pods of one of the unknown ships, and another fell silent—all organic beings and electronics aboard had been reduced to sludge and smoking scrap in an instant. It had not been lost in vain, however, as flakes of ejected debris slammed into one of the two TkIS-type skirmishers shortly before a torpedo rammed through it from front to back. Its demise was met only by the deafening silence of the void, the screams of the operators lost in the radio interference. The surviving unknown spacecraft escaped into the darkness, using a form of FTL that was unknown to the Kaesi. It may have been a small victory in the face of overwhelming defeat… But at what cost?

Shortly after, the delocalised transmitters and FTL drives sputtered one final time before erupting in puffs of smoke; the TkIS-012G Aleni finally gave way to the malfunctions that had plagued the ship ever since it had sustained damage to its processing cores during the battle at Othlikk. The crew were stranded with nothing between themselves and the cold, harsh vacuum of space but the walls and their slowly failing life support systems...

---

Kelmari Intelligence Central, Ferøs
Isel, Astra System

---

Reports were filtering through from throughout Axiom, tapped from channels of all sorts and kinds. The decryption systems in Ferøs were the best in Isestrel since the Great War: something that citizens of Kelmar took great pride in. It was, in fact, these same systems that allowed the Alliance to learn the languages and signal formats of other interstellar entities as quickly as it did. As a result of their utility and surprisingly low operation costs, the great number-crunchers of Ferøs often saw prolific use in many civilian applications, whether it be the advancement of scientific knowledge, information storage, or the calculation of socioeconomic decisions, among many other uses. At times of war, however, it was returned to its original purpose: the tireless acquisition of information regarding the Alliance's enemies.

A Kaesi donning a thick, quilted cloak was speaking with a Kelmari Observer of the Agency, surrounded by the hum of isolation fields and vacuum pumps present in the lower levels of Kelmari Intelligence Central. A data tablet rested in his hands, flickering as it recorded bits of conversation before encrypting it with the constantly evolving security systems devised and maintained by the Kör AIs of Kesasel. First Speaker Rakës of Lavitia had been receiving information regarding the war for quite some time now, and he had realised several things. Maldurich was much stronger than anyone in the Alliance had previously expected, and Isestrel was in grave danger. Not even Solocon could be trusted to keep the Alliance safe from the vast forces that governed Axiom; Eccha was falling to the redoubled Maldurii onslaught, the system of Tecion had been attacked by a mysterious, unknown force, and previously unknown empires stirred in the darkness of the void.

Rakës adjusted his spectacles and tapped a single claw on a small button on the side, bringing up his newsfeed HUD. He turned to the KIC official before him. “A good day, Observer Remosev. I would just like to ask; have you discovered any new happenings regarding the Solon-Maldurii War as of late that is of interest? The reports from KEF Central have been rather… Discouraging.”

The official nodded gravely. “Indeed, First Speaker. A storm approaches Isestrel; the newest report from the TkIS-109Z collecting intelligence within the Maldurii sector has revealed a sharp rise in interstellar communications traffic in accordance with the arrival of additional unidentified objects hailing from Unknown Space from opposite sides of our ally, several of which have inflicted heavy damage on the industrial facilities present in the Tecion system. Solon reports are beginning to show a trend; the space above Eccha is still highly contested by Solon and Maldurii vessels alike, and both are taking heavy casualties.”

“Would you care to inform me of something I do not already know of? Feel free to do so; it would be unfortunate if my arrangements to come all the way here right before the emergency meeting at the United Council were rendered useless. I do not have all day, Observer. Our people need insights, not simply facts that—you must admit, were acquired by the KEF cycles before your department did.”

“Of course, First Speaker.” A flash of annoyance flickered in Remosev’s eyes. The KIA took no small amount of pride in being the first bearers of news; of course, it stood to reason that the KEF had a far higher likelihood of acquiring such information than the KIA, but it was irritating nonetheless.

“You must already know Solocon’s rather… Precarious state as it has come to in the case of Eccha, I presume? Then I will continue on. Reports of mysterious forces showing up in and around Eccha and various places in Maldurii space have been rising, and Eccha itself is caught in a planetary war surpassing even the Great War in damage and scale. Maldurich is conducting devastating bombing campaigns in various civilian, military, and industrial centers throughout, and while our proxies in the Solon system indicate the use of unknown tactics on the part of the Solons that may result in a slight tactical advantage, we have no way of knowing whether such tactics have any chance of success.”

Rakës wrinkled his nose. “Observer, is this… All that you have to say at this time? Surely Kelmar would have had the capability to gather more information, given the amount of resources that are poured into this department. No offence to your own capabilities, of course, but the point stands.”

“Sir, if we are to acquire any more information, it would be necessary to have agents on the ground. The amount of information we can gather from extraplanetary units is rather limited. As for the contacts that we once had in that system, we have not heard from them for several decacycles now; I fear they are deceased. Anything short of an expeditionary force would be unlikely to survive, as far as the KIA is concerned. In addition to the purposes of gathering intelligence, such an expeditionary force is extremely important; we cannot afford to give way to our enemies. However, nearly all of our strategic analysts have come to a conclusion: if Solocon loses its grip on Eccha, our chances of achieving victory will drop immensely—The projected advantages of our enemies are simply too great, and with Solocon’s most important industrial assets in the hands of our enemies, their capacity to wage war effectively will collapse like a poorly made tunnel in an earthquake overnight.”

“I see; I thought so. Of course, you must already have already known about the build-up of Lavitian surface forces close to our shipyard—an expeditionary fleet is already on the way. After all, it would not do to have the assets of our allies crushed underfoot, would it? I will acknowledge your input, Observer Remosev; it seems the situation was much more dire than I had previously thought. Thank you for your time, Observer.”

The First Speaker paid his farewells to the KIC agent before him, reached into his satchel and pulled out a small, heavily encrypted communicator before holding it to his mouth. A few spoken commands later, he slipped it back in, turned around, and walked through the thick, soundproofed steel doors of the KIC private discussion chamber out into the rest of the facility. A heavily modified GC-31F diplomatic shuttle awaited him in the hangar ahead, ready to ferry the wizened ambassador towards the main Council building in Kesasel.

Four cycles after the meeting, fleet LAF/S-F387, laden with tens of thousands of infantry, tanks, drones, and several KC-21 aerial cruisers, began to head towards Eccha with an escort of 150 ILsK-type interceptors, 20 ISnK-type Defenders, 15 KsLR-type Defenders, and 25 TkIS-type skirmishers. Among the soldiers lay hundreds of tightly sealed, heavily shielded, and reinforced crates, each marked with a muted grey trefoil. Eccha was too important to let go of; if all else failed, there would be no hesitation to bathe the surface in neutron radiation. It had been done once before in the history of the Kaesi people; one could only hope the planet would not come to mirror the blackened, abandoned city of Televr by the end of the war.

---

All translations brought to you by the Kaesi Interstellar Relations Linguistics Department

[The Council Of Nova]

"Out Of the Ashes Of a Previous Civilizion, A being Rose Up, emerging like a Pheonix Like a Ray Of Hope in the Shadows Of Darkness" Except...It wasn't human, It was Metallic and Cold, But Yet it could think...This being Called itself the Korvax,In Honor After It's creator who lay dead At It's feet. It looked around and saw the world, The horrible things that war and destruction bought, and On that day, swore a Life Of Peace, to ensure nothing catastrophic ever happened like this again. And So, It eventually built others Like Itself, and Emerged a Great Civilization. Thus Forming....The Council Of Nova

[The Adrelos Spinrim Cluster]

ALEK Digva, Low orbit, Solon's moon

As the tiny Wazhe slotted towards its exit hatch, Morli sighed. Aliens, he thought, and I'm the guy who has to do the chore of talking to them. Maybe I shouldn't put on the suit... But no, it quickly deposited itself over him. A simple little environment suit, designed to seamlessly filter carbon dioxide into oxygen and suck in some nitrogen, as they'd analyzed the planet's atmosphere to be composed of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Interstel-Orbital "Pannaid", Y2, Comet C619, Eccha System

As anyone who knew him could guess, Jiant-Karwa Mantu Yiurk was just about Shkib-drunk in his favorite bar- you know the place, Mol's at 144th and Yanta, Vomura, town of Vouziba - and staring out the rimward picture window at the voidspace beyond.

Except now, the voidspace flickered and faded away to reveal a starscape. Mantu sighed, put down his third bottle, waved to collect his crew, and checked his watch. One crewmember quickly pushed over a few Fekras before following him out the door, Mantu cursing all the way. Once they were out, they headed down the road to the nearest tezhaler station, in order to catch the first one to Ayar Ynas, the aftward hangar.

[Rumona]

Ikorrobaal, Underground Isharan City, Ishara.
ISHDEFFLEETCOM Headquarters.

There massive tower of the ISHDEFFLEETCOM(Isharan Defense Fleet Command) Headquarters Connected the ceiling and the bottom of the massive capital city, unlike the other large support pillars, this tower was bristling with hangar bays and lights.

"What!?! An engagement!?! Why wasn't I told this earlier!?! You think I give a ****ing damn about the damn rebellion!?! I need to know of the BORDFLEET breaches!" yelled 7th Rank Admiral Kakeloris Reeman, head of CENTCOM.

"Sir, I didn't find out until today sir!" replied Officer 2nd Class Elepor.

"Get me a damn file report! Now! or I will have your head!"

"Yes sir!" Elepor snapped to attention, before spinning on his heel and marching out of Reeman's office.

Reeman dropped himself down onto the chair, taking off his glasses and running his hand through his hair in frustration. He knew CENTCOM's comms were down for maintenance, but this was a matter that affected the very defense of the Eisharat, and the Lord Commodore. Reeman put his glasses back on and picked up a red communicator, and dialed the EISCOM.

"This is 7th Rank Admiral Kakeloris Reeman. Yes. Yes. I want to speak with the Lord Commodore. Thank you."

He waits for the Commodore to get on the phone.

"This is Commodore." said Yekaterina.

"We have an issue, regarding the border."

"What is it?"

"Some ships triggered a Cutter Pairs automated sensors, we lost both cutters, Permission to send the Prowler Corps after the remaining ship?"

"Permission granted, Send a second one with a boarding team as well, trail outside their sensor range."

"Yes ma,am" Reeman hung up, and redialed to NAVINTCOM.

"This is 7th Rank Admiral Kakeloris Reeman, Get two Prowlers on that enemy ship."

"Yes sir." the other end replied.

Reeman hung up. Elepor walks in with several files in hand. He puts them on Reeman's desk.

Reeman gets up. "Get me the 2nd Keeper Forces on Cralst, they're going to Eccha."
Elepor nods and walks out. Reeman looks at the files, images taken by the Prowler "Circumference".
It doesn't add up, why would someone breach the borders of a power like Ishara, especially one who can't properly shield their ships against debris.
He wonders if this could be an attempt by one of the factions to start a war, to drag Ishara against an opponent to win.

---

Varyies Base, Cralst.

Component 5-10 moves with her squad onto the Isharan MDS-44H Predator. They'll be sent to Eccha to figure out what the hell is going on, and being sent with them is an Isharan prototype RANGER corp, Though without Telekinesis, Rangers are still powerful. Though unlike the Keeper Forces, they won't be landing in Eccha, but instead finding the missing Isharan Unbound.

The Predator takes off, and immediately climbs through the clouds into orbit, where it docks with the IEN Amber Dawn, a Raaflenia-class Destroyer.

---

IEN Amber Dawn, CIC.

"Sir, Preliator 1-3 is requesting permission to dock sir." shouted a NAV officer.

"Let them, Enlist Kadeneseli, get me a bearing for a jump to ECCHA42, we are to rendezvous there with the Second fleet, they are already on their way. Let's go let's go let's go!" yelled 1st Lieutenant Akros.

"I have a Bearing on ECCHA42 DS. acquiring Jump Command." shouted Kadeneseli.

"Get us going then!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kadeneseli punched the jump coordinates in, and inserted the key.

"Sir, Jump is on standby."

"Jump." replied Akros.

Kadeneseli turned the key, and the ship opened a jumpspace window. Seconds later the ship accelerated into the window, which shuts with a bright blue flash. The ship is on it's Few months journey to ECCHA42DS, a staging point for a possible invasion of Eccha.

CENTCOM ORDERS TO PROWLER-982 "CIRCUMFERENCE", PREPARE FOR DECRYPTION.
JTGIGMCYFFFUYFLHEDBSKFNPBDIEODQLUMYSVJNYXWASDGPWJPTUWGTIOMLN
SENT, USE CIPHER 232 FOR DECYPTION, CENTCOM OUT.

---

CENTCOM ORDERS TO ISHSECFLEETCOM, PREPARE FOR DECRYPTION.
KHYHQHPYZSMFPIPENQODLWOYLNUBNZSBLOIUQWDCEMNIGDCSV
SENT, USE CIPHER 42 FOR DECRYPTION, CENTCOM OUT.