Shattered Bonds IC(ATTN Iron Alliance Members/Signups)

[Ruskland-Preuben]

A power vacuum has formed in the Iron Alliance, and being the best candidate at grabbing the reins of control, the Imperium of Ruskland-Preuben has grabbed power and has become the Supreme Leader of the Iron Alliance though. But such power grabs are not without risk though, as they may be dissenting nations seeking the old status quo and return the vacuum of power, or perhaps anarchists, seeking to plunge the entire, already shaky alliance to be shattered completely and be thrown into the throes of war and chaos, plus all the unsavory things tagging along with those two words. Or maybe outside forces might seek to destroy the perhaps shaky but closely knit bond between the nations of this alliance in order to further their own nefarious goals. Against all of them, The Iron Alliance will come out on top
... Hopefully...

---

System of New Deliverance
The fight for the system was nearing its end, with a Separatist Victory being likely. Johann's fleet was caught off guard when Omegus, the Warmaster of Horde Omega and the one supposed to be supporting him in destroying Swain turned on him, which in turn destroyed the 1st and 2nd Iron Fleets. But Omegus timed it just right when Johann launched his troops and himself to New Deliverance Beta, which, with the destruction of most of their fleet, left them suspectable to orbital bombardment, which decimated their numbers, which were currently fighting against Swain's Forces. This destroyed Lesser Legion II, and weakened Lesser Legion I...

On the surface New Deliverance Beta
He currently was fighting for his life and for the lives of his men, this was Grandmaster Jacks, maybe he wasn't a noble, but his military prowess should not be underestimated lest you lose wars shamefully against him, but this time, he was the one being shamed. He was losing Demon Troopers, elite and non elite alike every second, to orbital bombardment, enemy artillery, enemy Demon Troopers, and many more circumstances.

He bludgeoned a lesser species war slave with his trusty sword, shackled to becoming cannon fodder due to the psychic might of the Dark Lord or Plagueis that was currently controlling it. Two enemy Demon Troopers with axes came to him, and he left behind two corpses with axes embedded in them. "MEN! LET US NOT FALTER NOW SHALL WE?!?! FOR THE IMPERATOR!" He screamed to his men, reinvigorating slightly those who heard the rally and letting them charge through a mass of Demon Troopers, and he was at the front of it all, slicing through many, instantly killing them.

His charge led him to the center of the mass of enemies, the fighting was getting intense every second that came to pass. He finally saw him, the leader of the enemy troopers, Karthus Grand.

"KARTHUS! COME AND FACE ME CRAVEN FOOL!" He shouted out, and Karthus neared him, and did the first strike. His claw would come into contact with Jacks' sword, making a loud pang. The battle would've continued if not for Karthus rapidly drawing his gun and embedding multiple bullets into Jacks. He was a son of the Deceiver! He had to know how to play dirty. But this lead to another man stepping up, larger than Jacks. Warmaster Johann of the Iron Horde came to view, and he prepared to bolt out. But the Warmaster charged and proceeded to knock him down to the ground.

"So you decided to support the traitor? Fool." Johann said as he looked upon the carnage. Karthus looked down, and with a small smile, he rose and screamed out, "FOR AZATHOTH!", and proceeded to attempt an attack. Too bad Johann was wiser than he and proceeded to parry his surprise and bludgeon him multiple times, killing the man. " You were a good commander," Johann began softly, "Too bad you joined the wrong side.". The enemy began retreating when their commander was seen dead. The day had been saved, but Johann pondered about what Karthus shouted. " If it's that bad, I should tell father..."...

[Ruskland-Preuben]

Grand Battle Barge Johann's Fury, Main Section, en route to Communications Hall

In the grand gray halls of the great ship, was the Warmaster of the Iron Horde, Johann of Soissons. He currently was walking a brisk pace to the Comms Hall just at the end of this bigger hall. He passed by a sculpture of a king of old Ruskland-Preuben whose name was lost to time, he looked anguished. "I wonder why they made him like such... No time for trivial things." He would think, then brushed it off as triviality. There were much greater and more dangerous things to be dealt with, like the schism at hand, yeah, that was one out of many of them.

He opened the doors to the Communications Hall, and was greeted by the sight of blinking lights and crackling static. There was so much info running in here and such poor ventilation that the place was slightly warmer than the rest of the ship on a normal day, as in no fighting against traitor kin. He booted up a comms machine, then activating the AI, which would appear as a gray holographic robot. "Authorization?" The AI would inquire in a monotone voice, typical of such slightly outdated AI. "Ugh, you should know by now!" Johann slightly snapped at the AI. "Voice authorization accepted, welcome to the comms Warmaster Johann." The AI answered again in that monotonous voice, the AI on R'lyeh had more emotion than this gray holo, the Warmaster might be thinking as he rolled his eyes and got to work.

He found a secure channel, and began the transmission. "PLEASE WAIT FOR: IMPERATOR." Another even older and primitive AI said, but this one was supposed to just say things like these and announce errors over the intership communication systems. The static that was on the Imperator's screen finally disappeared, revealing his face. "Greetings my son, what's the news?" The man inquired. "The schism is most likely much worse than we thought," Johann's reply began, "A grandmaster of the traitor shouted a praise to Azathoth, and you know what that means.". "Azathothian heresy has infected even our legions, even if they are traitor, Azathothian is something that is much worse." The emperor replied grimly. "Yep, and there's more, Warmaster Omegus Ultran," Johann started again, "The man you sent to assist me, was apparently a traitor and shot us during our battle with Swain's Fleet.". " Hmm, you sound like your fleet had been battered hard," the Imperator answered, "Well then, your younger brother Ioan, he currently is taskless, and now, I see a task for him.". " You want to send that mentally deranged perfection fanatic over here?" Replied the Iron Horde Warmaster in disbelief, "I'd rather have that Aggeron Magnuson over here, or even better, brother Abbadon.". " Too bad both have tasks on their hands as of now," the Imperator smiled, then turned serious, "Besides, don't say that his perfectionism is a bad thing, he still doesn't have a single defeat on his hands due to that.". At that fact, which was true, Ioan still was undefeated, Johann sighed, "Fine, send him over.". " That I did when I heard you got your arse handed to you by a weakling," his father replied smugly, "He'll probably arrive in an hour or two, say hello to him for me please, buh bye!". And the comms was terminated, and then did the lone Warmaster put his hands on his face, covering it, " Oh my Cthulhu...". He vividly remembers that time where Ioan nearly gave the entire Imperium an aneurysm due to his OCD, but at least it ended in a victory as his father and some other Warmasters said, nightmarish times......
...
...
Zzzzz

An hour later

"Enemy fleet approaching, Ally fleet jumping out of the warp.".
"Dammit!" Johann mentally screamed as the alarms woke him up like if a jackhammer was running on hard concrete beside both of his ears, and he went on his way, his eyes bloodshot from the improper sleeping...

---

Space, and within the Flagship

It was apparently Horde Omega's only fleet, and the only one on the traitor's side that had ships bigger and heavier than a Battle Barge, but everybody had a nagging feeling that was about to change for the worse soon. The admiral of the 3rd Fleet was pacing about on the main section. Watching as the slugthrower cannons of all ships powering up through various screens, he awaited the massive rocking of the ship due to shells hitting or cannons shooting.

The Light Battle Barges and Cruiser Barges light and normal of both sides fired first, both were on the rear and had the longest hitting guns, but they also were the weakest. This salvo was to weaken the energy dissipator shields of both fleets ships, and that they would attempt to do the shells of both sides. The kinetic rods, blazing white due to heat, sailed the emptiness between the fleets at above ultrasonic speed, around Mach 250+, and still were so when they hit home. The flagship rocked as the force of the rods hit them moved them slightly to the opposite direction. The energy dissipators did their job, cooling the rods at breakneck speed, turning them to the heat of boiling water, hot but irrelevant, and slowed down the speed of the already deformed rods to a snails pace, which was on the scale of things, the speed of a boosted old McLaren four-wheel speeder, a crap ton slower than subsonic, but to primitive ships, this was slightly worrisome. The deformation of the rods was caused by them flattening against the shields, and when they hit the Battle Barges, they moved them slightly. They then slowly flew off to cold empty space, never to be touched again.

Those Light Battle and Cruiser Barges continued their assault on the shields. The admiral checked the average of shield strength right now, and saw a good number, 80%+. He nodded sagely when he saw that the shields of the enemy were most likely 60 to 45% strength, and gave the order to prepare the Battle Barges, the medium ones, for firing.

Their slugthrower cannons powered up for shooting, and with a great blast rods shot out, and they would be unnoticeable if not for the fact that they were so hot, they blazed. These rods travelled at speeds around Mach 400+, and it was still so when they hit the enemy ships. Their energy dissipators were put into overdrive, adding 20-33% more capacity, but others were not so lucky, their shield generators preparing to be put into overdrive, only to short out in an explosive way as too much strain was put on them by the speeding rods. This caused a hole to be torn out by the explosion, and some ships had the emergency hatches blown off by the explosion, exposing more areas to the coldness of space, of course, other emergency hatches for these areas activated, stopping the oxygen loss. In an unfortunate case, an enemy Light Battle Barge's shield generator was near the bridge, and due to it nearly completing overdrive, it had large amounts of energy within it, but the rod arrived first, and it blew a hole into the ship's bridge, exposing it to space, and essentially disabling its offensive capability. All this meant that some ships had no shielding, and had to head back.

The enemy was firing back, and brought out its Heavy Battle Barges and Battle Barges. The former slightly medium-long ranged, with extremely heavy guns, some variants of these could blow the shield generator in one hit, unfortunately this fleet didn't have one, they had to make do. The enemy fired their big guns first, the rods streaking through the void at speeds at Mach 750 to 830! Some Light Battle and Cruiser Barges blew their shield generators explosively, and a single Battle Barge's weakened shields shut down from a hit. The admiral grimaced as he saw enemy Battle Barges firing now, and after the onslaught, his side had 65%+, but the enemy began hovering at 30%. It wsd time to finish this, and order was transmitted for an all out broadside. All ships armed guns, and fired. The flagship, one of the most powerful of its kind, even moved slightly! The gargantuan guns of Johann's Fury fired equally as big shells capable of shooting at Mach 1500+, and the greatest flagship around, the Imperator Incarnate, was capable of firing a shell at Mach 2980+, 3240+ if we're pushing it. A shot from the flagship hit a poor Battle Barge, and the sheer task of stopping the Grand Battle Barge's rods we're too much for the Barge, and its shield generator detonated, the force of it reaching its processing rooms, life support, and the navigation area, as well as make a small 1 meter puncture to the bridge, the poor ship would be drained of 85% of its oxygen, and it would sit unpowered and lonely in space for the duration of the battle, and there were no survivors.

The enemy then initiated carrier phase, and the ten carriers of the loyalists strode out of the main group. 10,000 fighters against 5,000. The carriers supported their fighters by shooting homing missiles in the thousands, but if a simple maneuver was made, the missiles would start orbiting the fighter that executed the maneuver, their missiles becoming confused, thus fighters defended by orbiting missiles in a sense, had a temporary shield as these missiles detonated when fuel ran out. These missiles were used to destroy enemies, loyalist and traitor alike, in grazing passes. Eventually the traitors lost and their remaining fighters went back to the carrier, and the enemy fleet and loyalist fleet were at it again, shooting rods against each other.

The fight was over when the enemy's average total shield integrity fell to 0%, and then, they were completely at the mercy of the loyalist guns, and like cowards they fled, but the Light Battle and Cruiser Barges with regular Cruiser Barges were pursuing them before they were able to warp out. They picked off ships, but the rest warped out. They may have escaped, but the battle in the skies was won for now.

Another set of ships would warp in, the Chosen of the Warmaster under Warmaster Ioan "the Perfectionist" of Soissons. Their arrival was welcomed, as much men and ships would be needed to oust the enemy out of New Deliverance and prepare for an incursion into enemy territory...

[Taigawa]

Yul system, the orbit of the Path to Shangri-La Colony, aboard Ascendancy

Sylvia stood proudly in the command center of her starship, the Forerunner Planet-Breaker classed warship, Ascendancy. It had just been repaired after the battle against the Flood that New Year's. Everything had been redone, and as Sylvia stood there, the foxgirl prepared to take command once more for the sake of the Ecumene's interests. This again decided for her by Feng, the Lord of Admirals, and this time not princess Shi'era, who usually was her commander. The walls seemed to be nonexistent, since she had mentally commanded the bridge to give her a view of space as the on board navigation ancilia prepared her calculations for her fleet's Jumpspace vectors. Around her ship stood the 37-ship Fleet of Holy Reconciliation, the fleets assembled for her after she'd destroyed the human-led rebels on Miyesmos and personally led the final attack that liberated Arcadia, the colony's capital city. After some time, the ancilia finished her calculations to the intended target, and all the ships opened Jumpspace vectors and disappeared from Ecumene space.

In the Theater of War

Anyone scanning the system would notice many Jumpspace Ruptures open as Sylvia's fleet arrived. She immediately sought connection to the Iron Alliance's forces in the system.

From: Sylvia Xi Leng, Commander of the Imperial Fleet of Holy Reconciliation

To: Any Iron Alliance Forces

Encryption: Encoded in Thessian Digon (Forerunner Permutation 56-7658)

I have been ordered by the greatest Warrior-Servent rank to come to your aid in the conflict that stands ready to erupt here. My ships stand ready to render assistance where needed. We shall not allow enemies to overcome you.

The Mantle Shelters All

[Ruskland-Preuben]

On Board the Johann's Fury

"More allied ships signatures spotted," the AI began on the intership comms, "Signatures recognized as Taigawan in origin.". " Oh? The Iron Alliance finally heard?" Johann thought, "I see father has been up with his diplomatics again, oh well, AI, record me and transmit this message to them.".

From: Warmaster Johann of Soissons, Warmaster of the Iron Horde
To: Sylvia Xi Leng, Commander of the Imperial Flees of Holy Reconciliation
Maximum Encryption, Cthulhu's Eyes

Greetings!

You may be late to the party, as the conflict already has erupted, but all friendly reinforcements are welcome here! We currently are guarding our ground forces from the traitors followers, and currently in space, we are at a 2:2 situation due to the two enemy fleets, whose positions we will give to you, in the system, as well as my younger brother Warmaster Ioan's fleet and ground forces, but with your arrival, it is now a 2:3. We shall give you data of what's going on.

Attachments:
traitorfleetpos.data
loyalfleetpos.data
traitortroop.data
loyaltroop.data
fleetandtroopnumber.data
enemyfleetandtroopnumber.data
1TB, Compressed to 800GB

---

Darsail(Separatist Border System 60 light years from New Deliverance), Planet Draxus, Geosynchronous Orbit

Warmaster Karl Ludwig, known as "the Angry", currently was on his flagship the Spite. They were ordered by the Grand Warmaster, Abbadon, to pacify and reclaim the system they were in. This one was of strategic importance, as it had a shipyard. If the separatists were able to fully conquer Darsail, they would most likely use the system's shipyard to create new ships, this could not be allowed, and so, the order.

"When will we start the bombardment? I want to get this over with." Began Karl Ludwig, he had that signature scowl on his scarred face, as was usual. "In a few hours sir, we have located the enemy fleet, and they don't seem to be a full fleet, but just a bunch of Light Battle Barges." began the captain. "This is Swain we're talking about, he can destroy your fleet with a smaller force through sheer deceptiveness and shrewdness, and he has both multiplied by a thousand." Began the Warmaster of the Earth Scorchers, and the captain only nodded in reply.

A few hours later

"Sir, we are i-" the captain paused, "We are being hailed by the traitors sir, should we patch them over?", and Karl nodded, a poor choice. Swain's face appeared on the screen, " Greetings Karl! How are you doing?" He began. "Straight to the point now Swain, I got fleets to blow up and planets to bombard.". " Straight to the point eh? I love that in a commander, and I desperately need another one.". "Are you trying to get me to your side? Never!" The Warmaster replied incredulously. "Oh but I would appreciate you, unlike them." Swain replied in turn, "Tell me Karl, was there a day someone within hearing range said that you were nothing more than a angry person? Or a campaign where your so called fellows didn't admonish you? Or even getting a single praise from the populace?". " No... Bu-". "But nothing, your so called comrades simply think you as an embarrassment, they feel ashamed of you!" Swain began, "But I, will do none of these things, I will think you are great, I will fell proud of you, I would... Admire you?". " What do you want?" Karl asked. "Simple, I want you to join me, and you shall be the Grand Warmaster of MY imperium. What say you?". There was a pause, then Ludwig sighed. "I renounce my oath of loyalty to the emperor, My Earth Scorchers will serve him no longer, instead we pledge to Imperator Tiberius Swain, all hail he!" Shouted Karl, and Swain smiled, and cut the transmission. "CAPTAIN! Stop the bombardment, we work for someone else now...". " What? Oh, okay." Began the captain as he told the admiral, and the admiral in turn told the entire fleet, and the campaign stopped.

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Sylvia was saddened that she had arrived late, but at least she was here now. She sent them a simple message, still encoded:

Thanks to the data you provided, I have a plan that should turn the battle even more in our favor. See, my ships are capable of pinpoint FTL transition due to our technology being more or less reverse-engineered from the Forerunner ruins in our home system. If you can provide a diversion, I will jump my fleet into the center of their formation, and target their flagship with The Composer. None aboard the target vessal will survive.

Attachment:
Footage of The Composer being used.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

On Board the Johann's Fury

"So they plan on making our huge force diversionary and they will teleport near the enemy flagship and vaporize everyone on board?" Johann said to himself, "Welp, it's good enough to be worth a shot, send a response and order the fleet to prepare to execute without flaw diversionary tactics.". "Aye Warmaster," the AI responded, "Scanning your mind to form the response and order. Scan completed, transmitting."

From: Warmaster Johann of Soissons, Warmaster of the Iron Horde
To: Sylvia Xi Leng, Commander of the Imperial Fleet of Holy Reconciliation
Maximum Encryption, Cthulhu's Eyes

We've heard your request and we have accepted it, after half an hour of positioning and baiting, you shall be able to warp in, which shall let you destroy their fleet inside out. Here's an attachment. Also, beware their ships, we have kinetic based weapons, and we lob them at above hypersonic speeds.

Attachment:
battlesimulation8716.data

From: Warmaster Johann of Soissons, Warmaster of the Iron Horde
To: Admiral Henrik Jute of the 3rd Iron Fleet

This transmission has an attachment, please position the fleet to the positions specified in the attachment. Movement to positions without response means you get it and will do it flawlessly.

I trust you'll get it perfect as you always do.
Attachment:
newposition.data

---

Space

And so the fleet began moving, it was seen from the Taigawan side, and it meant to get ready for that teleport and to prepare for one heck of a war that was going to last for some time...

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Using the time provided by the allied fleet, Sylvia had her ship's ancilia prepare it's calculations. In minutes it was ready, and then the whole fleet opened Jumpspace vectors and disappeared, only to reappear seconds later in the midst of the enemy fleet formation. As her fleet opened up with anti ship artillery, particle cannons, plasma torpedoes, magnetohydrodynamic laser weapons, and assorted plasma weaponry, Sylvia brought the Ascendancy with range to fire the Composer at the enemy flagship. As it charged up, she also deployed sentinels in front to serve as an anti fighter screen. After a few minutes, the neural physics-based superweapon fired. Her vessal then formally joined the melee. In addition, the Fortress-Class warship she had brought fired it's Composers as well, but at other ships. Those enemy ships that found themselves under Sylvia's formation were subject to the Projection Array, a beam of high-powered, superheated plasma typically used to glass planets. The smaller ships of her fleet would eventually be forced to flee as their shields failed, but the larger ships, which bore stronger shields, remained virtually untouched.

[Atomic Utopia]

Six Months Ago, Sheemnal, Chulran
The capitol, Sheemnal, was an ancient city. It had existed for nearly a thousand years, growing first as a small village known as Nahlmack along a large bay. It then grew and flourished as trade routes ran near there, becoming the largest city in the world at the time. There nuclear fission was first discovered, the source of energy that ultimately rose the Chul civilization from peasantry and serfdom to its present state. The once little kingdoms of the world were united under the power and terror of the atom. Space travel was achieved a mere 61 years after that fateful day nuclear fission was discovered, and ships expanded out into the stars. The planet soon thereafter was united under the P.D.G. and the city now known as Nahlmak was renamed Sheemnal, or Capitol. Then they began a series of massive public works projects to drain the huge Shilan bay, an undertaking that took nearly 40 years, vastly growing the city in its scale. Then the coup in 83 S.D., over 144 years after the development of nuclear fission, brought the city into a new era. Now the city stood in the rain, vast signs lighting up the darkness, advertising various wares and products from the many different companies that now dominated society. Then there was the C.R.D. buildings, vast blocks of steel and glass, ordered with a perfection that utterly contrasted with the inchoate construction of the rest of the city. It was an odd and florescent sight to behold.

Nalksoom Ghalsoom overlooked this sight from her posh apartment located on the land above the drained bay. She sipped at her coffee as she sat on the patio and contemplated how absolutely strange it would have been for her ancestors to stare upon it. They could not have possibly dreamed of the might that she now wielded. But she also knew she was weak in a way. For all her might, for the leadership of the largest fleet in the S.U.A.U., for her vast industry, she was but a fly to some forces that lurked in the cosmos, a bug no larger than a flea, and no more difficult to squash. But today, today a decision had been reached, a conclusion made. No more would Chuls be bugs, rather they would be rulers of the cosmos, taking their rightful place among all species as the superior one. Today, after nearly two years of preparation, of organization, a strike force had been launched into a system of another civilization. They had been assembled from battle hardened loyalists, troops who held her desire for Chul primacy. But now she would have to wait, six months was the travel time, and six months would be how long she would have to prepare for the inevitable deceleration of war. Hopefully, hopefully this would force the hand of the rest of the union.

She sipped again at her glass of coffee, a black silty concoction, and stared back out over the glittering city, and saw in it the flags of victory.

Near a star located in SF-221 Binary System
It had been six months in flight at 80 times the speed of light to reach here. Six months of waiting, planning, training, attempting to stave off endless boredom. Six months of growing tension for this day, this very hour. However, now it was nearly done. They had finished the longest leg of their warp, having stopped within half a solar radius of the sun in the system as to mask the radiation flashes produced by their ships dropping out of warp, not that that really mattered. They would be at the target planet before the radiation would reach that world. But first, first there was the matter of commemorating this momentous occasion. Thus the commander of the fleet, Khalnak Nahlpeul, opened the fleet wide channel to give a few inspiring words before the final assault. He held the glass of wine he had in his hand, giving it a short swig before putting it down and beginning the short speech he had prepared.

"Today is the day we end ten thousand years of indignity and suffering. Today is the day that we once more take what is rightfully ours and liberate it from the savages that inhabit it. The Chul people have been hamstrung by our leaders, left to be impurified by the hordes of aliens who seek to overthrow us. But today, today we end that. Today we end the era of stagnation in our government, today we galvanize a movement forwards into space and into power. Today we end the era of human occupation and human supremacy on the planets of this system. Today we will usher in a new era of superior Chul leadership on top of the corpses of the fetid human gnats. Our machines of industry will be lubricated with the blood of our enemies, and all that oppose us will have no peace but the embrace of death. Today is a new era, an ending of an era of indignity and disorder, and the founding of a new golden age of the galaxy.

Today we are to land on a world controlled entirely by human savages, and we are to take control of it. I would urge you to avoid wasting ammunition on killing civilians, though if civilians should come to harm from bombardment or prove to be a danger, do not hesitate to kill them. We are to take this planet in less than three days, else we run the risk of the enemy fleet successfully warping in and destroying our only way back home. We will, once this speech is done, enter warp at 1.3 times the speed of light to the target, and then drop out of warp just above their atmosphere. Today, today we will see victory."

At the last sentence cheers erupted in the ground troops. They had hungered for nearly six months in space, and now they would see what they had prepared for over two years for, combat on an alien world. Now, with the speech done they began to warp to the target world at nearly 1.3 times the speed of light as per orders. They would soon arrive at the world, and hopefully, if all occurred correctly, they would see a quick victory which would drag the rest of the Union into the war.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

*snip*

On Board the Flagship Parasite

Some people had the benefit of being a Demon Trooper, the rest slave away or get recruited as a Regular Trooper, the admiral thought these as the Taigawan ship charged its weapon. "Uh, sir, they're char-", my friend, Captain Lothar didn't get the chance to finish, he slowly and painfully turned into ash, the pain must've been so strong that it disabled him. The admiral on the other hand, genetic modifications from birth all the way until now, didn't suffer the same fate, but the pain was so excruciating that he invited death...

But he never came...
...
...

"Sir? This is the Battle Barge Worm," he could barely distinguish the words, the pain had ripped his mind into pieces figuratively, "Sir? Please respond, the other channels on your ship are just making static, is everyone dead?". " Urrgh, this is, Admiral, nggh, Corax..." He slurred, but it was distinguishable, "All the normal humans up here, gnhh, dead... Fuck!", the pain still was lingering, and it still was excruciating. " Holy crap sir, what about the Demon Troopers?" Asked the man on the other side. "Ughhh, most likely alive, rrr, send in help.". " Aye aye sir, sending in the Worm, medical teams in about a minute or two, hold on!" The man replied before terminating the link. The admiral slurred and grunted before he succumbed to the pain and was knocked unconscious, the grafted organs within him got to work, helping him out.

---

Space

The Taigawan strike was devastating, the energy dissipators of lighter ships detonating from overheating, and coupled with the loss of most men on the flagship as well as the knocking out of most Demon Troopers on board, which meant it was disabled temporarily. The Battle Barge Worm would park itself next to the Parasite, sending men on board. They parked their right side to the flagship's left, thus the Battle Barge's left was able to fire upon any passing Taigawan ships, killing some and damaging the others.

The Projection Array of the enemy was devastating, the massive amount of power within them one shotting the hit Battle Barges' energy dissipators, which exploded. Light Battle Barges on the other hand, were totally glassed as they were hit, melting away to simpler elements, and cooling into blobs of metal floating through space.

It was time to initiate carrier phase, fighters were released by the thousands from the carriers, which held a thousand fighters. They engaged the sentinels, with carriers releasing many deadly missiles onto the hodgepodge of fighters and sentinels, they locked onto the enemy fighters.

Meanwhile, the Battle Barges began firing upon the Taigawan ships, throwing rods across the vacuum of space at speeds of Mach 250 to 700+, the superheated rods of steel smashed against the shields of the loyalist ally ships with massive force. If their shields were not there, they would be ripped into literal pieces as the rods would tear through their ships like a katana through a man.

The only fleet of Horde Omega finally arrived after some repairs to support their comrades, their Heavy Battle Barges spinning around then stopping once their guns faced the enemy's ships, they then fired, throwing rods at Mach 830+. The Iron Fleet would then move in, no longer a diversionary force as the Taigawan ships already done the deed, but a fearsome forward meant to tear fleets apart, all ships powered up at the same time, and fired at roughly the same time, firing rods at varying speeds.

Everyone felt that everything would be shaken up now, and right they were when the Chul fleet arrived.

---

*snip*

Bridge of Flagship, Grand Battle Barge Johann's Fury

The Warmaster paced around the hall, thinking about what was happening. A battle report came to him, and he read it through a visor, and it seemed the Taigawan fleet did it without flaw. He was about to send an order to go forward before he almost fell down as the ship's guns fired, "Oh admiral, always taking the initiative." He murmured to himself, steeling his body from further near falls and getting used to the shaking of the Grand Battle Barge as it fired its guns.

"New fleet arriving, scanning database for information..." The AI then declared, "Database scan completed, ships are of Chul origin.". "Oh? Those traders? What are they doing here?" He asked, and the AI promptly responded, "Scanning their crew, and scan is complete, there is hostility, they seem to be wanting to take over the place.". " Heh, I'll let them know," Johann began, "When united we rule, hit us divided get schooled.". " Send a message about what the hell they are attempting.".

From: Warmaster Johann of Soissons, Warmaster of the Iron Horde
To: Leader of Chul Fleet

Okay, I shall make this short and blunt...
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

Attachment:
wtfyoudoing.img

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Sylvia was smug knowing her fleet had done what she wanted it to. However, her ship shook as the enemy returned fire. The smaller ships of her fleet now opened Jumpspace vectors and disappeared back to Ecmene-controlled space, or else had their shields overwhelmed and were destroyed. Sylvia tracked waves of fighters engaging her own 747 Furies, and the sentinels that supported them. She merely committed her vessels to the melee even more, and when the enemy fighters got close enough, found themselves under attack by ultraviolet lasers connected to the ships' GUARDIAN anti fighter defenses, and by Forerunner defenses made from Hard light, the latter being especially abundant on the three Planet-Breakers and the Fortress-Class warship. As sentinels were destroyed in the battle, more were deployed, some Aggressors, and some Super Sentinels, which were more powerful. Those enemy ships that still survived the bombardment of plasma and Forerunner weaponry soon found themselves being boarded by Promethean Knights, who sought to destroy them from the inside. At the same time, Sylvia fired the Composer at her target again, then continued the engagement, since she knew her ally had joined the battle shortly after her initial charge.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

Space

The crew of the Worm waited for the Composer to finish firing, after that, they went in, helping out everyone, all knocked out Demon Troopers, as the human crew on the ship all turned into ash, which currently was flying through the halls of the ship. They revived everyone, eventually finishing almost an hour later. They made the flagship retreat, it had enough attacks for now. The Taigawan fleet would pay dearly, and the enforcer of that payment would be coming soon, in a half hour. For the time being, they had to cause as much damage as possible upon the enemy while sustaining less damage, not to mention having to hold them off.

But through retreating and guiding the still warping separatist fleet elsewhere much more strategic, they could still kite the enemy. They would then avoid getting hit as much as possible, after that, the ally fleet would warp in and save the day.

And that they did, retreating and firing at the enemy at the same time. They would be able to flee to a farther place and they guided the Warmaster Karl Ludwig's fleet over to their new position. The void of space glowed eerily, in a sickening mix of scarlet, magenta, and the color of exposed flesh, and a enormous grand battle barge would appear.

In reality, it was just three Heavy Battle Barges with their bottoms facing and connecting to a rather large and long gun in the middle. This was Warmaster Karl "the Angry" Ludwig's flagship, the Spite, captained by Captain Schwerin Schwarzkopf, and the gun in the middle was capable of firing a rod at Mach 4000! But that wasn't all, other than the fast speed, the rods would be capable of splitting mid flight, separating into five separate smaller rods that would still retain their speed and heat. Heavy splash damage. The ship also had a small compartment on the butt of the middle gun, in which they had two heavy duty energy dissipators, the main one covering the outermost, while the other would be there in the event the main one failed.

The great flagship was then flanked by the rest of the 1st Hordefleet, led by Admiral Brassant Bridger. 5 Grand Battle Barges, 10 Heavy Battle Barges, and 12 Battle Barges, this fleet definitely was a heavy hitter. And hit they did when the Spite fired its middle gun, the rod sailing the vacuum of space, then splitting into five, all had a high probability of hitting an enemy ship.

---

Bridge of Flagship, Grand Battle Barge Johann's Fury

"That motherfucker Swain," Johann whispered to himself as he was told the Earth Scorchers Horde turned traitor, and that the remnants of the loyalists in Darsail went silent, "I knew that Karl, well, is Karl; but I didn't know that traitor was capable of turning him, one of our fiercest former supporters into a traitor with a few honeyed words.". " Tell my brother Ioan to prepare his fleet to assist us in engaging the enemy fleet," Johann said to the AI, "We're going to have one hell of a fight.. " Way ahead of you, just sent the message." The AI responded quickly. "I didn't know that AI have initiative." Johann quietly murmured to himself in surprise.

---

Main Section of Flagship, Grand Battle Barge The Perfection

The ship stayed true to its name, it's halls plated with gold, the equipment on board cutting edge, and the weaponry, most devastating. In the middle of it all, in the Navigation Area, was Warmaster Ioan "the Perfectionist" of Soissons, Warmaster of the Chosen of the Warmaster Horde, and the only commander to have the most victories, and no defeats.

He had heard his brother's message about preparing to engage the enemy, and he sent the message, through a neural link connecting him to the rest of the crew, only the higher ups in the ship had this, as to relay messages faster. His link though, with the admiral, was capable of connecting to the entire fleet, and unlike the Admiral's, his link was capable of connecting to all of his Horde's fleets and his ground forces, although that took some concentration to maintain, as well as some headsplitting migraines, he mastered it, and was able to connect to any higher ups in his fleet.

The ship was humming as a confirmation that his orders were followed, and neural pings from the captains of the other ships, confirmed that they too, were moving and readying their weapons.

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Sylvia watched as the flagship retreated, only to be replaced with a massive amalgamation of three enemy capital ships that instantly fired upon her fleet. The rods shook the ship frightfully as one hit her ship, and another a keyship, and three others hitting the Fortress-Class warship. Her ship had it's shield strength instantly halved as splash damage spread from the point of impact, while the Keyship lost it's shields completely and was damaged severely by the follow up explosion. The Fortress-Class warship, the most powerful vessal of war constructed by the Ecumene, took the brunt of the attack. Although it's shields were far stronger then any other ship built by the Imperial Navy, it too had it's shield strength halved, since it had moved in front of the Ascendency in time to block more rods from hitting the ship. This prompted Sylvia to order her Forerunner ships to arrange themselves into a configuration known as a Pedigram Array. This formation focused their fire into a single, high-powered attack that Sylvia hoped would cripple the vessal and give her time from a withdrawal from the fighting so the shields could recharge and damage could be repaired. Each Forerunner ship angled themselves to a central point and fired The Composer and particle cannons at a the same location, forming a sphere of energy that then directed an intense beam of Entangled Sympathies and Directed Energy at the enemy vessal. After this was done, Sylvia ordered her fleet to retreat to the dark side of the nearest planet, and one by one, her ships opened Jumpspace vectors and disappeared. As she did this, she opened a channel to her ally.

To: Allied fleet

From: Fleetmaster Sylvia Xi Leng

Encryption: Encoded in Thessian Digon (Forerunner Permutation 236-8931)

My fleet has been damaged by the enemy and the shields won't survive another attack like that. To that end, I have ordered a strategic withdrawal so I must see to repairs and our wounded. I hope my final attack with the Pedigram Array configuration was enough to cripple them so you may have more of a chance at hurting them further. I have ordered my fleet to the dark side of the planet and shall stay there while we prepare for another attack and discuss strategy with my fellow officers.

The Mantle Shelters All

[Ruskland-Preuben]

Main Section of the Flagship Spite

Karl looked in delight, or more like scowl in delight even as the flagship shook due to the enemy firing, the main shield was shut down to prevent detonated, and a fraction of a second later did the secondary activate, soaking up the rest of the attack. He made a slight "Heh!" as the enemy loyalist fleet began to slowly turn and flee slowly with their tails between their legs when his ship shot them, and he smiled, or yet again, more like scowled further when he saw that the fleet of the enemy began their short range FTL and fled them. "Hah! We got those cowards on the run boys!" He shouted, his crew cheering, "Now let's give our former friends a piece of Swain's Grand WARMASTER!". And he gave that last word more power, he was simply flexing his authority, and it seemed it had the desired effect as his crew moved the Spite forward in space, its powerful three engines pushing it forward in the void. The rest of the fleet soon followed, and they prepared to engage the enemy. It was time to initiate positioning phase.

Space

And that the loyalist fleet did as well, coinciding with the enemy positioning. They turned their ships to the side, their main guns facing the enemy fleet, and they would prepare their guns for the incoming barrage from either the loyalists or the traitors depending on what point of view you were on. The sound of guns charging was evident within both side's ships, it was a loud humming, and if close enough would give a weak human a massive headache, temporary deafness, and dizziness, not to mention blurry eyesight or temporary blindness due to their eyes vibrating...

---

From: Warmaster Johann of Soissons of the Iron Horde
To: Fleetmaster Sylvia Xi Leng

We hear you loud and clear Fleetmaster Sylvia, and currently we are detaching a Heavy Battle Barge and two Battle Barges to go alongside your ships should the enemy be bold and so foolish to attack you while you start repairing.
Also, we ask that you begin dropping some ground troops, as the situation down there is slowly turning from dire to worse.

---

On the ground
Indeed was the situation on the planet turning from dire to worse, as Warmaster Karl dropped his 4,000,000,000 Madmen onto the world's surface, gaining ground rapidly as they raged through allied lines, breaching them and flooding them. Their combined axe/plasma shooter were devastating, being able to switch from ranged to melee in no time at all, earning them an advantage as they would continually fire onto loyalist lines while moving towards them, then immediately switching to their axes when they smashed into the fortified lines of the loyalists.

[Higher Japan]

Theater of war

A large wave of probe droids ran through in between the ships as some got shot down, but they still outnumbered them as they screened and profiled the ships before another smaller slow moving wave swept through the dark side of the planet as a fleet battered up from combat was detected. After much scanning, alarms were all raised as they were classed under the ships of a member of the Iron Alliance, sending a message to the base as it requested for a fleet to scramble.

"Empress we're getting red alerts of a fleet."

"So? Send a few frigates or something i'm busy." She said dismissively as she pressed a few virtual screens around her throne.

"It's part of the Iron Alliance." As the head officer said that, she immediately slammed the button for a scramble as she pressed another, sending the throne on tracks to the 'Countess of Purgatory' The current flagship at the small base as 20 frigates, 15 cruisers, 1 carrier and 6 battleships were sortied. As it came into the system, a few pieces of scrap were shot down by the frigates as the fleet sent a message before coming after the enemy fleet.

To all ships:
State your purpose and we shall grant you mercy.

Planet surface

After hearing on the situation, 4 landing support battleships came down as they used their down facing weapons to bombard soldiers of the iron alliance as only 2 were left to protect the flagship.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

snipped

Flagship Johann's Fury

"Oh? Higher Japanese?" Johann asked in mock surprise. "Apparently they're here sir," the AI said, "They seem to be pissed off as you humans say.". "Huh, well, better remind them of their place in this galaxy," the Warmaster said to himself, "Tell brother we got some more target practice along with the traitors.". "As you say, sir." responded the AI, who began the scanning his brain, or more like his mental network, and formulating a message from the data he gleaned from the Warmaster's mind, "Scan completed, and the message you asked for has been formulated and sent to your brother Warmaster Ioan.". "Good, it's time to rock and roll." The Iron Horde Warmaster declared. "Again, as you say sir." The AI said with its usual monotone voice.

---

Flagship The Perfection

A mental ping, saying that his brother had more target practice for both of their fleets in the form of those annoying Japanese. He thought of them as nothing more than a nuisance, an itch that needed to be applied cream in the form of superior firepower. He mentally sent a message the origin of the mental ping, ordering a message to be sent confirming that his request was loud and clear and he would be churning out more rods from the ships in order to keep up with the annoyance called the Japanese' large orders for a bombardment. Another mental ping from the same source told him that the message was sent, and the Iron Horde's Warmaster replied with a resounding "Loud and Clear.". He chuckled, not in a mental way, but in a real way, the sound waves escaping his mouth, and being registered in his crew's minds, some pings of surprise that were easily quashed with a quick shaking of the head, and he smiled.

---

To Japanese Fleet
Our purpose is to weed out the traitors and blow up anything that shoots us. That clear enough?

[Higher Japan]

Countess of Purgatory

"Well, we got the response and after some intercepting of their transmissions, our supporting ships are in danger." The head officer said as she followed the empress while they both walked through the halls of the ship, eventually reaching the hangar. As a few more fighters laid dormant in there before they were sortied out as they circled around the ships on the planet as they prepared for defense.

"Call up a few more cruisers, get me 10 more support types. On second thought, call in 5 more battleships. Solar"

"Yes milady."

As the command was given, she went back to the bridge, overlooking the small flashes on the planet as the support jumped out of hyperspace, 5 cruisers diving down to continue bombardment as the battleships prepared their weapons and low power to fire rapidly. "Well, let's hope this works."

Very well then, you are not what we are after

As the message was sent, the ships turned their guns and began opening fire on the fleet of Taigawa as all shields were up, some cruisers even making an overhead pass to bombard the ships.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

snip

Space

A small lull as the Japanese shots sailed the void that was space, then the loyalist fleet roared as their guns blazed, throwing superheated rods of metal through the emptiness at speeds far above a hundred mach. They would most likely hit their mark spot on. The Warmaster of the Iron Horde would not like this new development, and it seems that his scream of frustration could be heard in space, in the form of the warfleet of the Warmaster Ioan "the Perfectionist" of Soissons sending a heavy contingent of ships to move against the Japanese ships.

---

To the Japanese Upstarts
It seems that you missed the meaning of my message, I was referring to the ENTIRE Iron Alliance wiping out these separatists, but you seem to had an episode of brain death when our message arrived, and now you will pay dearly firing upon our ally.

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Sylv acknowledged her ally's plea for surface-bound reinforcements and decided she would ablodge him. Her Fortress-Class warship took position over where there was minimal fighting in the darkside, along with a number of smaller ships and Sylvia's Planet-Breaker. Once in position, they dropped a number of Cloaking Spires to the surface , the purple-blue and black structures crashing to earth beneath the ships, particularly concentrated beneath the City-sized Fortress-Class warship. Once deployed, Sylvia's entire fleet disappeared from existence....or at least appeared to do so. In reality, they were still very much tangible, but hidden from all means of detection by the stealth field generated by the Spires. Each Spire, upon crashing to the surface, deployed a purple electromagnetic shield around themselves that would protect them from any kind of bombardment. The Spires and anything built nearby were viable, but anything conducted within the shield itself would be hidden.

Within the shields of the Spires, Constructor sentinels were teleported in. There non-offensive ancilia were tasked with building a network of antiaircraft and anti ship particle cannons around the spires to defend against attack. As these were being built, Promethean units were also teleported in and began setting up ground defenses around each Spire, mostly consisting of Splinter Turrets and automated lazer turrets, most being materialized by Watcher Sentinels, which were deployed by the Promethean troops themselves. Behind the ancilia-controlled units were organic units, who slowly began to build a small base in the shields around the Spires, slowly spreading from them. In the meantime, Sylvia moved from her Planet-Breaker to the Fortress-Class warship, where she would coordinate the surface activities of the Imperial army, as she had done at Arcadia. Whrather the foxgirl would join the battle herself was yet to be seen.

[Higher Japan]

Space

"Rods huh? How primitive. Activate the shield generators, call up more gravity well cruisers. We're going to need a lot of those." The empress said before she walked into the control room as the rods hit, causing some damage to the hangars but most ships were able to get their shields up in time as another admiral stepped up to the bridge. This one had spider like mechanical legs with a face that was a mask with an opaque panel and 8 sensor units. His metallic claw like fingers tapped on the bridge's command as he looked at the scene.

"Finally admiral. I thought you would be a no show."

"Now my dear empress, i wouldn't dare defy imperial orders. These primitives will make a fine target for our fleet." He said as his sensors quickly darted around the space, before he pressed a few more buttons as the fighters around the Taigawa fleet signaled their location, while the supporting battleships turned to landing craft as multiple troop transports landed on the surface, bringing in 5,000 spider tanks and 4,000,000,000 troops as they charged towards the last recorded location of the forces. Using the EMP detectors and the psionic powers of some soldiers, they began charging towards the spires.

[Taigawa]

Command Center, Fortress-Class warship

Sylvia called up a hard light representation of the area around the Spires. This soon revealed the Japanese had chosen to do a massive surface attack upon her spires. However, wrather then being frightened, the foxgirl laughed. "This civilization wants to attack me unprovoked? I'll damn them all like I did the Brotherhood!" She declared, before ordering smaller ships to descend upon her enemy. "Glass the upstarts." She ordered. The order was transferred between her fleet by their ancilia, and soon the dread order was confirmed-The area around her Spires would be completely destroyed as if the Japanese were The Flood.

Area before the Spires

As the enemy moved about the mountainous terrain surrounding some of the Spires, the few small ships that were left came down from where they were hidden by the stealth field of the Spires, and fired their Projection Arrays. The ground would at once burst into flame, before the soil itself was converted into a lava-like mixture of it's component materials. This was the dreadful process known as Glassing- a destructive process by which entire planets could have their surface completely destroyed, reversible only by reterraforming. Those who made it beyond the areas being glasses would face the ancilia-controlled Forerunner defenses.

[The Imperial Regions of Commerce]

Commercian Arrival

The 22th, and 772th Commercian Battle Fleets had hyperspaced jumped to the battle location. The fleet was being commanded by Laark Huk. The flagship of the joint fleets, an Asserter Class Star Dreadnought, had begun to be move torward the enemy fleets. The fleet stood stationary as it waited for all the warships to join. Admrial Huk would be commanding the fleet from his Resolute MK II Class Heavy Support Craft, the Guardian. Multiple Munificent Class Star Frigates immediately opened fire, being supported by Recusant Class light destroyers. The Super Star Destroyers, one Asserter Class and two Bellator Class stood behind, supported by various warships. The Resolute Class ships stayed in the middle, than the Lucrehulk Battleships, then the Destroyers and Frigates and smaller Geonosian assault ships. The carriers deployed swarms of Vulture Droids, Hynea Droid Bombers, Scarab Fighters, and Trifighters. The bombers began to drop payloads on frontal enemy ships. The Trifighters targeted enemy fighters. The other fighter classes harassed enemy ships. The carrier ships deployed formations of C-9979 landing crafts which, being escorted by fighters and bombers, descended onto the foreign planet. Two frigates followed them. The crafts landed and deployed squadrons of B1 Battle Droids, and B2 droids as well as Droideka and Commando Droids. AATs rolled out as well as MTTS. Homing Spider Droids slowly walked over the battlefield. The droid army opened fire on the shielded spires, and droid bombers pummeled the shields. Above two frigates could be seen in the sky. Out of the frigates came a small fleet of Conqueror Class atmospheric dreadnoughts. The Dreadnoughts began to bombard the shields of the spires with immense firepower, as well as destroying any enemy fighters in the area. Near the established perimeter, Proton Artillery Cannons began shelling enemy positions as well as the shields of the Spires. The Droid Army marched toward the enemy.

[Lotrabme]

OUTSIDE IRON ALLIANCE SPACE

--- "Admiral, we are picking up a great deal of chatter, and all scanners read positive as to exchange of fire."

"I see, Ensign, keep the scryers on those readings, I want to have a full monitor on this system's activity."

"Yes sir" replied the ensign looking back to his station. Admiral Khoffu turned his head up to see the viewscreen's projection of deep space.

Ozmandias Khoffu was descended from a collateral line of the House of Vulcon, the Imperial Family. His immediate family were all servants of the Armada, and he was no exception to that rule. He had a mind which thought in offensive and defensive modes. Everything was strategy to him. This was one of the reasons he chose to send his fleet to the site of the Iron Alliance Civil War. He expressed his misgivings about the international situation abroad to his cousin the Polemarch of the Fleet and the other Admirals of the Commission. While somewhat concerned with his forwardness in regards to breaking the Mind Empires traditional neutrality and trepidation, it was agreed by many of the Admirals that a massive civil war required at least SOME attention.

This also garnered the interest of more unsavory and hungry characters, particularly the Ombroj Warlord Teek. He and his warband flotilla were one of many in the four allied tribes who received letters of marque from the Empire to pillage. Admiral Khoffu saw the advantage of a semi-separate party to be involved and brought Teek's flotilla with the Fleet of Malcontent, his detachment.

From the bridge of the Apollodoros Admiral Khoffu could command a view of his whole fleet, his own battlefleet contingent, all of Teek's fifty five longships, and the twin Hulk Galleon support vessels. All reports from the maintenance teams showed full operative power and health. For now the Admiral meant to keep it largely that way.

"Adjutant" he said in his commanding voice. A young Haman officer looked up with a bright "Yes sir?"
"Please bring up a comm link with Warlord Teklin Teek."
"Right away sir!" The eager Adjutant responded dialing the short range battle-net link with Teek's personal longship. "He's answered, sir."
"Please display our friend on screen, Adjutant" the Admiral said as the young officer projected the image of the furry, small eyed and clawed Warlord appeared on the main display as a hologram near lifesize. The Admiral approached it. "Good afternoon friend. I hope our system monitoring is not to dreadfully boring to you?"
The holograms audio crackled a bit from some stray interference, then he spoke "Not terribly so Admiral, but my warriors grow impatient. We were told there'd be booty, if we don't get our promised loot we will leave for more familiar space.
"I advise you keep your men patient Warlord. Their combat skill in ship to ship and melee is well prized and will come in handy soon. But right now, I need your men to do some... closer reconnaissance."
"Ahh..." The Ombroj hummed through his trunk. "This may yet be a profitable venture soon aye. What do you want me to do Admiral?"
"There's been fighting over one particular planet, and it seems most of the combat has turned to the surface, yet there is some ship to ship action still. I want you to take some of your ships in to do a bit of taste-testing. And you have free reign to take any ship hulls or loot you find in the wreckage in orbit."
"Sounds like a plan to me" said Teek clearly pleased. "We are heading out Admiral."
The hologram went off after this. Admiral Khoffu beheld in the distance part of the fleet would detach. Teek's personal ship accompanied by ten other Longships left the fleet and dove closer to the star who's planets hosted the fighting. For now, the Admiral would remain behind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warlord Teek gazed upon a wreckage site in orbit of the world known as Draxus. It was clear the fleet of the Iron Alliance and their enemies had been and still were engaged in serious combat. The arrival of eleven Longships while possibly noticed may have been drowned out by the fog of war.
"We like birds of prey" Teklin Teek said donning his space-combat suit, walking among the Ombroj warriors on board his ship "are both carrion feasting and predatory. We clean up the messes of the world, finding riches in the trash of others. But we also fight for what we want, and take what we desire by force."
"Chawm!" the multitude shouted. As the warlord connected his helm the others formed two lines behind him. One recently incapacitated vessel, cracked in twain, was drifting aimlessly in the void. Teek's ship and two of its companions slowed their approach to minimal speed and latched on with clasping tethers to the hull. Once well positioned near a hole in the vessel the airlock door opened, Teek and his host descended upon the craft and entered. Whilst inside they would scrounge up every round of compatible ammo and a number of wealthy aesthetic items which could be found. Some of the computing experts also attempted to data mine the vessel for any information of strategic value. After a fair thirty minutes the host of Ombroj began to return to their longships and departed for another. The other eight Longships were conducting similar activities. They did their best to remain in the shadows to the other combatants for now.

[Taigawa]

In the Theater of War

Sylvia didn't like her situation at all. There was now three enemy factions to contend with, and they all seemed to be hell bent on the destruction of her cloaking spires, which Sylvia knew full well would compromise the position of her fleet. She had but one recourse, since she had already glassed the immediate area. This was to bombard the enemy from orbit, with the aim of destroying at least some of them before the power core of the Spires were overwhelmed with the efforts of maintaining their shields, which if they failed, would reveal the Forerunner defenses and bases built within, as well as expose the spires themselves to attack. To this end, she ordered the organic units to fall back and return to her ships should the Spires be exposed. In addition, she also primed the Spires to self-destruct if compromised, thus preventing the Ecumene's stealth technology from being stolen. Her lesser ships, having returned to her fleet after glassing the surface near where her forces and the Spires stood, were now retasked with bombarding the enemy ships with their Projection Arrays and Plasma Torpedoes, in addition to the Forerunner particle cannons around the spires, which had by now also engaged the enemy. Sylvia also opened a channel to the rest of the Imperial Navy, calling for additional ships. If she was forced to retreat even from here, the foxgirl was determined to make it cost her enemies dearly.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

snip

Space

The bombardment from the fleet was continuous, and it seemed that a Grand Battle Barge joined in, throwing slugs at speed above a thousand Mach. Then another fleet, bearing the sign of the Chosen of the Warmaster, arrived. This was the 2nd Armada of the Chosen of the Warmaster, under Admiral Haakon Knuta. It's golden flagship imposing, it was the Grand Battle Barge Warmaster's Fist, captained by Captain Ioannes Basilisk.

They all powered up and fired upon the Japanese fleet, hundreds of rods covering the emptiness between the fleets at varying speeds, from Mach 400 to 1400+, a devastating amount of firepower, capable of shutting down shields in one hit, or two. It mattered not though, all enemy ships would be hit multiple times by speeding slugs of superheated and hardened rods of alloy.

Elsewhere, there were small sporadic battles with the now slightly disorganized separatist fleet, though it seemed that the latter was preparing to retreat to New Deliverance Alpha, a small molten port world they captured before the battle began, as judged by their current average movement, which showed a slow, sproadic, but sure retreat out of the planet of New Deliverance Beta.

Ground

The Warmaster was getting much more frustrated at the arrival of more enemy ships, such as those IROC bastards. And so a full ground landing was begun, drop pods of a thousand Demon Troopers, Bloodmen, and Madmen, and even some human regulars. The pods, numbering in the tens of thousands, containing either elite or non elite Demon Troopers, streaked through the skies, basking the ground with an eerie red orange glow. They, in a few moments later, they would strike the ground, deep within enemy lines, some launched droids and Japanese into the air, and others were lucky enough to pluck a few fighters in their descent, even one was able to lodge itself in an enemy atmospheric dreadnaught.

Then they descended, slashing multiple enemies at once with their human long swords, and shooting at the enemy from afar with their guns. Then came the tanks, Millennium 3s, armed with a machine gun on top, a cannon at middle, and a flamethrower in the bottom, and a few gas dispensers, it wasn't called an All Purpose tank for no reason. Gap Closers, fastest tanks in the imperium, meant to run deep into enemy lines, shredding enemies and dispersing fatal gas, and returning to the main formation, firing bullets and dispersing gas on the way.

[Taigawa]

Space, In the Theater of War

Sylvia's plea back to the Ecumene, made by sending an encoded signal though a Jumpspace vector, was soon answered, though not by a voice, as the foxgirl expected, but by additional Jumpspace Ruptures. From these emerged even more ships, two Fortress-Class, four Planet-Breakers, and ten Keyships. The lesser ships meant primarily to shield the city-sized Fortress-Class warships from attack. All these ships released swarms of sentinels, mostly the weak Aggressor sentinels, but among them were mixed Super sentinels, and the even more powerful Strato-Sentinels, which were mostly reserved to terraform planets prior to colonialization. The strato and super sentinels went straight for the enemy starships, intent on opening them to allow boarding by Promethean Knights, who would try to destroy them from the inside. The Aggressor sentinels would attack fighters, and ensure the larger and more powerful variants reached their targets. In addition, once the Planet-Breakers and the Fortress-Class warships got into position, each charged up the Composer, and fired upon the enemy ships.