The Imperial Conflict (Open-IC)

[Luminumbra]

Zeiadon was not amused by the broadcast.

Greadus's forces were arriving. The Luminumbran fleet was now swelling to just under 10,000 ships. 2 Admirals were now taking part in the battle, and a resurging morale meant harder fighting.

Greadus was sitting in his chair, "Navigator, what is the status?"

"They've lost 300 ships sir, they apparently fired onto the Insidious Desire but the smoke hasn't cleared and we don't know the situation [OOC: *Ahem*] [IC] Most of Zeiadon's Fighters have been wiped out."

"Alright. Tell Zeiadon that I'm going to take out the source of that annoying broadcast. I want all 50 of my RoyG - Class Dreadnoughts firing all gamma ray cannons at the Seavian fleet. I want not one of the 150 Gamma ray cannons to not fire. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

The Light Affinity dreadnoughts, almost in sync fired their gamma ray cannons at the Seavian war fleet, targetting key ships before smaller ones.

[Eztobrughri]

-snip-

OOC: Not the Insidious Desire. Different Warship. Still, very large and very dangerous nonetheless.

IC: The giant Pirate Warship identified itself to the Loyalists as the Golden Praise. Still very far from the Imperials, they weren't in range quite yet. The Cruisers retained their fire on the Fighters, and the Battlecruisers were breaking Formation. They advanced on the Fleet, and upon entering Range, opened direct fire on the largest Ships in the Fleet. The Pirate's Raid craft were usually shoddy, but these were no normal ships for Piracy and Raids, no, this was a War Fleet. The massive and distant Dreadnought hailed the Luminumbrans.

Hail from the Golden Praise, Attacking Pirate Ship:
"This is Amarra St. Leietoa of the Clan of True Faith and Gold Blood! We order that you surrender at once or feel the full wrath of our Pirate Fleet! This is an order, Imperial Traitors!"

[Seav]

Zeiadon was not amused by the broadcast.

Greadus's forces were arriving. The Luminumbran fleet was now swelling to just under 10,000 ships. 2 Admirals were now taking part in the battle, and a resurging morale meant harder fighting.

Greadus was sitting in his chair, "Navigator, what is the status?"

"They've lost 300 ships sir, they apparently fired onto the Insidious Desire but the smoke hasn't cleared and we don't know the situation [OOC: *Ahem*] [IC] Most of Zeiadon's Fighters have been wiped out."

"Alright. Tell Zeiadon that I'm going to take out the source of that annoying broadcast. I want all 50 of my RoyG - Class Dreadnoughts firing all gamma ray cannons at the Seavian fleet. I want not one of the 150 Gamma ray cannons to not fire. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

The Light Affinity dreadnoughts, almost in sync fired their gamma ray cannons at the Seavian war fleet, targetting key ships before smaller ones.

The admiral swore. "Goddamit, evasive maneuvers! And fire at whoever fires at us, goddamit!"
Too late. 8 battleships exploded under the onslaught, and 4 more capital ships took severe damage.
"Shields up! Why weren't they up before?"
"Admiral, we weren't prepared!"
EDIT: [OOC] oops, forgot to add how many ships I had get injured by that barrage, so I'll just slip that in there, shall I? *facepalm*

[Luminumbra]

“Excellent!” Greadus, focused as ever, barely moving.

“Now order all Dark Affinity ships to fire their gravity cannons at the fleet. Again, I want all 12,194 firing in sync. Activate the hyperspace jammers. Fire on my orders.”

“Sir!”

“Fire!”

“Firing!”

The battlefield became overwhelmingly distorted by gravitational lensing as the cannons fired at the ships.

Just then, both admirals got the hail from the rebel pirate fleet.

Hail from the Golden Praise, Attacking Pirate Ship:
"This is Amarra St. Leietoa of the Clan of True Faith and Gold Blood! We order that you surrender at once or feel the full wrath of our Pirate Fleet! This is an order, Imperial Traitors!"

“OUTRAGEOUS!” Zeiadon replied, going to the rails once again, this time squeezing them hard with his hands. “Rebels calling us traitors?” “They can actually look at a fleet of 10,000 ships and think “Yeah! We can beat that! The arrogance!” He slammed the railing at the word ‘arrogance’. “Very well, let’s fulfill their deathwish. Call on the Eztobughrian Emperor for Reinforcements.”

“Sir!”


The hail was glowing in the bridge of Greadus’s ship.

“Close that sh*t. I’m busy right now. Deploy the fighters and have them strike the raid ships.”

The fighters now deployed and started attacking the pirate craft.

[OOC: Eztobrughri, I had fired all weapons of Zeiadon’s fleet at the bridge of the uncloaked terran dreadnought, Insidious Desire. You Silly goose!

[Eztobrughri]

-snip-

OOC: Of course. Watch in awe, friends, as I pay absolutely no attention to my own RP ಠ_ಠ

IC: "My Holiness, Saint Leietoa, they dare to fire upon us. Our plan?"

Her Holiness continued to stare out of the Bridge window as the Luminumbrans split their forces to try and combat them.

"Focus all fire on their Ships. Full power to Weapons, and while your at it, flood their Communications. We need to inflict any kind of Damage possible."

The Order went out, and massive volleys of Orange lasers flew at the Luminumbran Ships. The distant Long-Range Cruisers, free of Fighters to shoot at, began to focus fire on the larger Ships, cracking one Destroyer in particular in two with a precision hit. The Clan was angry. The Dreadnought, however, was trailing behind, not yet firing.

"My Holiness! We need to Attack with all of our strength! The Luminumbrans' armor is state-of-the-art and we are taking enemy Fire! We need full firepower!"

She looked at the mass of Luminumbrans.

"Focus fire on the largest Ships. We are the biggest fish in the Sea here, show them that." She remained unflinching at the Bridge.

"Right away, My Holiness." The Dreadnought unveiled two massive Banners, marked with the Emblem of the Void Cultists. The Pirates were being Funded, it must have been, by the Void Cult. The Dreadnought then opened full Fire and unleashed entire squadrons of Fighters, which were beginning to make their way towards the Left Flank of their Ships.

[Luminumbra]

Explosions started ripping once more through Luminumbran cruisers. However, they were able to disperse the yield with the magic. Instead of a massacre of closer to 200 ships with damage to over 600, around 50 ships were torn apart, and around 400 ships weakened. The bodies of charred Luminumbran crew members could be seen floating in space.

Greadus was again not pleased. "All fighters engage in the enemy fighters!! Protect our left flank!"

The fighters went after the void cultist fighters.

Greadus decided to transmit his plans to Zeiadon.
"Admiral Zeiadon, I will engage the pirates and Seavian fleet, you continue with the concordium!"

"Yes Admiral Greadus."

"We still have 2,900 light affinity cruisers. Fire the space-time shockwave cannon to punch a hole in the shield of the void cultist dreadnought and order all of the light affinity cruisers to fire their starburst cannons at the Void cultists dreadnought. Target their bridge. The power of 29 small stars in one sweeping go!!"
This time the battlefield became alight in blinding light as the starburst cannons fired. The heat could even be felt within the fleet's ships.

"All dreadnoughts, activate the tractor beams. Target the fighters, then eradicate them with the point defense weapons!"

Over 200 tractor beams--each capable of capturing 20 ships--targetted the void cultist fighters.

Greadus was focused as ever, not moving an inch in his chair.

[The Terran Concordium]

SNAFU Part 2

---

Commodore Charles Vanmore
CCV Insidious Desire
999th Concordian Battlegroup

---

The 999th Battlegroup was taking quite the beating; multiple frigates had been heavily damaged and crippled while hundreds of fighters were laid strewn all across the chilling and unforgiving vacuum of space, amongst the streaks of wreckage and debris. The thousands of projectiles that had been directed at the Insidious Desire, in particular its bridge, had taken its toll against the bridge defences. The shield integrity was now approaching a perilous level. Fortunately this had meant the rest of the fleet had been spared the barrages of the enemy, with most of the cruisers and other dreadnoughts of the same breed as the Perilous Desire remaining relatively unscathed.

A Sketchup render of the Insidious Desire's class, the Invictus-class dreadnought

The AI's holographic projection suddenly appeared and alerted the bridge crew, "Sir, bridge shielding is at critical levels. Recommend allocating more energy to the bridge shield complex."

"Very well, divert shielding from the rear of the ship to the bridge. Also, attention all ships, assume new formation around my ship. I want a picket formation around the flagship! ordered Vanmore.

Soon enough, dozens of warships began to manoeuvre themselves around to encompass the area around the Insidious Desire, as if forming a sphere of steel and guns. The four other Invictus-class dreadnoughts of the battle group lumbered their colossal hulls in an arrowhead directly in front of the Insidious Desire, covering the front projection in a fearsome array of guns and firepower. The cruisers assumed positions alongside the upper, bottom, rear, port and starboard flanks of the Insidious Desire, while the remaining frigates orbited this sphere of destruction acting as point defence picket platforms, ready to intercept anything that got to close, ship, missile and starfighter alike.

As soon as the formation rearrangement had been completed, a message was received by the Insidious Desire's communication arrays. "Sir, we've received a warp communique from what appears to be a pirate fleet associated with the rebellion."

Vanmore interest was perked. "Display it on my console," he ordered,

[/i]Yes sir![/i].

To: The Insidious Desire, Terran Fleet
From: The Kraios, The Clan of True Faith and Gold Blood's 4th Fleet.

Greetings on behalf of the Commander, Terrans. We will soon be in the area to end the transgressions of the Luminumbrans. We request that you do not fire upon our ships.

"Well, this is certainly interesting. Do send a reply welcoming their assistance. Perhaps urge them to concentrate fire against those pesky dreadnoughts the enemy has.

"Very good sir! replied the communications officer.

"Certainly better for us that they are on our side sir, commented the AI, drawing up some blueprints of a very large vessel. From my preliminary analysis, those rebel pirates have a very large ship, a dreadnought, near the size of our ones..

Vanmore was even more interested.

To: The Kraios, The Clan of True Faith and Gold Blood's 4th Fleet.
From: CCV Insidious Desire

We welcome your support in our battle against the enemy. We suggest you concentrate fire on their dreadnoughts. With them out of the way, surely their fleets will crumble!

As soon as the reply was dispatched to their new found allies, a massive salvo of antimatter rounds was launched out of the main guns of the four dreadnoughts at the apex of the battle group's formation. Vanmore smiled as he saw the rounds hit their targets with utmost precision on the situation map.

"This reminds me. Gunnery, are those warp cannons charged and ready?"

"Yes sir! All warp cannons are ready to fire on your command."

"Excellent. I want you to dispatch five singularities amongst their dreadnoughts. Split them in half."

"Aye aye sir!"

In all of a sudden, at the prow of the five dreadnoughts, including the Insidious Desire, began glowing bright blue with intense furore. A large energy ball began congregating at the prow of each warship, like a kugelblitz of blue fire. Then, the balls of energy disseminated into an intense beam of pure blue energy that instantaneously travelled across millions of kilometers to reach the Luminumbaran fleet, where they terminated and formed a massive unstable disturbance in space time. Each beam had formed a highly unstable and energetic warp portal, which, due to their nature of being disjointed links to warpspace and unusable as transportation portals, were unaffected by the FTL interdiction fields erected by the Luminumbaran ships. These warp portals essentially acted as gaps in realspace and any unfortunate ship caught in the span of a warp portal, was stripped elementally and physically apart by disparate warp forces. Even worse for those warships that only had parts of themselves encompassed by the warp portal, had those said parts immediately drawn into the warp portal, cleanly slicing them apart like a hot knife through butter.

OOC: Like this:

[Eztobrughri]

-snip-

-snip-

Just like that, the Luminumbran Fleet was crippled. Whole Divisions, in the least, were gone. The Center Flank and Right Flank of the Fleet seemed to take minimal Damage, but this would definitely anger the Luminumbrans.

"Saint Leietoa, My Holiness?"

"Yes?"

"...Why don't we have guns like that?"

"I was just wondering the same thing...Either way, tell the Weapons Division to focus Energy Fire on the Center Flank, Fire on the Left. Tell the Fleet they are under free will now. Destroy Them."

The entirety of the Holy Fleet began to Advance. They all had targets-each Commander could see the Plans of their fellow Comrades, which kept Crashes at a minimum. The Fighters were already in Firing Range of the Luminumbrans, really firing on whoever was closest to them.

[Luminumbra]

OOC: Eztobrughri -- we were not crippled, just heavily damaged. we're about to give you the light show of the milenium. Also, folks, I would have made the sound of the black hole cannon a URL. But my computer won't let me. Aww


[IC]
"Evasive Action!!"

But it was too late. The singularities ripped right through the fleet.

5 RoyG - Class Dreadnoughts and 300 more Artisan cruisers and over 500 Templar Class cruisers were caught in the singularities.

Admiral Zeiadon, was getting desperate. He was watching more dreadnoughts appear and he was willing to take more desperate measures now. His smug grin, wiped off his face, he gave the order.

"I have an Idea, but it's one of serious consequence. If need be, we can fire a black hole with our Biv - Class dreadnought. The consequences will be enormous though, I feel I should consult my men first."

The Biv - Class Dreadnought had a particle accelerator several times bigger than the one at CERN, yet had its power amplified by magi-science, allowing it to create lasting black holes, while still being a relatively small sized accelerator. The magic had effectively allowed a smaller design of the black hole cannon that could be fitted onto starships. The particle accelerator had a connection to the cannon, which it must fire the black hole immediately if it does not want the ship itself getting destroyed.

"I don't think we should do it sir. The black hole could grow and swallow the moons. This will upset the Emperor and the Empire we came to fight for."

"Yes. You're probably right." The admiral sighed.

"Send out the order to hold out for a general retreat in 15 minutes. Regroup with Greadus's fleet."

"Sir!

From:Admiral Zeiadon
To:Zeiadon-Greadus Fleet Ships

Attention: Retreat outside the combat zone in 15 minutes. Let us meet 100 AUs from here, and begin a prayer for better results in the next battle.

Greadus, baffled, asked Zeiadon.

What is the meaning of this??

I've ordered a general retreat. We request you do the same.

Alright...

"Sir! Fighters approaching!! They're firing at our center and right flank!!"

The hundreds of thousands of point defense weapons were firing at all fighters. Tractor beams attempting to capture them, and point defense weapons firing upon the captured ships.

"Where are my allies? And why would they deploy so few ships? Those imbeciles!! Luminumbra had to fight nearly this entire battle by herself, and she paid for it almost solely with her own blood!"

"Tell the Grand Dietus that we fought bravely with few allies, but lost just over 1,100 ships and must retreat, and then request that the Emperor give more assistance."

"It shall be done sir."

The Grand Dietus was preparing for his wedding, when he got the message. He was furious to say the least.

"Request an audience with the Emperor. I want more assistance out of him. Such a man should be more invested in defending his own territory than I am. A weak leader! SAD!"

[Interplanetary Strategic Alliance]

Arrival

The blackness of space folded in on itself as 15 ships of 10th Expeditionary Force arrived at the edge of the system
and begin setting up a defensive formation around their transports.

Aboard the Bridge of the ISA Reapers Dawn

Rear-Admiral Joseph Blaton entered the bridge, quickly sitting in his chair and give orders to the crewmen on the bridge.

"What's the current situation of the of the battle, Tac Officer." said the Rear-Admiral

"Sir,unknown we've entered on the far edge of the system and our scanners are having a tough time trying to decipher who's who."

"Roger that, Move the fleet into defensive formation around our transports and slowly advance toward the combat zone,
Comms Officer open a transmission on all frequencies."

"Yes, Sir!"

To: All Fleets in the System
From: Rear-Admiral Joseph Blaton
"Greetings, This is Rear Admiral Joseph Blaton of The Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, We have come to pledge our allegiance and support
to the Eztobrughri Empire and wipe the insurrectionist threat out of their Empire. Anyone who tries to stop us from this goal will be eliminated,
There will be no quarter!"
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR AND ETERNAL MAY HE REGIN!"

[Luminumbra]

-snip-

"Sir I have great news! We have back up support!"

Admiral Zeiadon got up so quick it startled the bridge reporter.

A transmission came in.

To: All Fleets in the System
From: Rear-Admiral Joseph Blaton
"Greetings, This is Rear Admiral Joseph Blaton of The Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, We have come to pledge our allegiance and support
to the Eztobrughri Empire and wipe the insurrectionist threat out of their Empire. Anyone who tries to stop us from this goal will be eliminated,
There will be no quarter!"
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR AND ETERNAL MAY HE REGIN!"

"Heavens bless us! This is what we've needed. Cancel the retreat- CANCEL THE RETREAT!!"

To: Rear-Admiral Joseph Blaton
From: Admiral Zeiadon, 15th Sacred Fleet
"Greetings,

This is Admiral Zeiadon. You've come just in time. We were in the middle of preparing for a General Retreat. We think we can give this one more go with due cooperation.
We have sent you a fleet report to help you identify us. We have around 3,900 ships left. We will buffer your defensive positions with our cruisers if you wish.
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR AND ETERNAL MAY HE REGIN!"

[Interplanetary Strategic Alliance]

Aboard the Bridge of the Reaper's Dawn

"Sir, Incoming transmission from an Admiral Zeiadon, Patching it through now."

To: Rear-Admiral Joseph Blaton
From: Admiral Zeiadon, 15th Sacred Fleet
"Greetings,

This is Admiral Zeiadon. You've come just in time. We were in the middle of preparing for a General Retreat. We think we can give this one more go with due cooperation.
We have sent you a fleet report to help you identify us. We have around 3,900 ships left. We will buffer your defensive positions with our cruisers if you wish.
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR AND ETERNAL MAY HE REGIN!"

The Rear-Admiral began reading the message once he was finished, He sat up in his chair and pulled up a tactical map of the system.

"Comms officer, send a message to Admiral Zeiadon and tell him we are moving to his position to reinforce him and tell him if there are any other allies of the throne
to have them link up with his fleet so we can consolidate our forces."

"Yes, Sir!"

To: Admiral Zeiadon
From: Rear Admiral Blaton

Admiral Zeiadon, Understood we are moving to your position to help better consolidate our forces
and request that you inform any of our other allies to do the same, What is enemy's estimated current strength,
Our scanners are having a tough time deciphering who is friend and who is foe.

[Luminumbra]

-snip-

"Admiral, we have another incoming transmission."


"Open it."

To: Admiral Zeiadon
From: Rear Admiral Blaton

Admiral Zeiadon, Understood we are moving to your position to help better consolidate our forces
and request that you inform any of our other allies to do the same, What is enemy's estimated current strength,
Our scanners are having a tough time deciphering who is friend and who is foe.

"Send the report."

To: Rear Admiral Blaton
From: Admiral Zeiadon

Admiral Blaton,

There is a fleet of around 75 ships of the Terran Concordium, of which 5 are dreadnoughts. They have singularity weapons so be careful. There is a Seavian Fleet, which we are able to subdue, and a fleet from the Void cultists which is giving us a bit of trouble but it is not out of control, we believe we will be able to destroy the rebel house fighters with our just under 500,000 point defense weapons. We have been holding them all off this whole time by ourselves, as an earlier imperial fleet has pretty much been destroyed. The main threat are the dreadnoughts of the Concordium. We cannot penetrate their shields. We even used our weapons that were specifically made to destroy shields on their bridge, and we came close, but they've re-directed energy to the bridge. This was just 1 dreadnought. We have 4 others to deal with. We need to penetrate the shields of the dreadnoughts. Perhaps we can try to board their ship and destroy the shield generator?

-- Admiral Zeiadon

Meanwhile, the war department back on Luminumbra Prime was hard at work on developing a shield system and a new magnetic cannon. They were testing out many designs, and the prominent one was to shield new ships in materials with higher magnetic permeability. This would essentially allow for the destructive magnetic shockwaves to channel themselves around the ship and firing a beam, turning the ship itself into the weapon. The target power of the weapon that researchers are going for is 10 Trillion Gauss -- the power of ten neutron stars. Consequently, it would mean only the biggest ships could equip 1 one of these weapons. New magics were being tested to try to figure out how to generate the energy needed with smaller generators, so that they could fit one on the ship. An Ion cannon had also just been developed and the first fleets were beginning the retrofitting process. Zeiadon's fleet however, would have to wait for the new Ion cannons.

[Vogega]

Imperial Summer Palace
Emperor Alek Morningstar sat on the patio of the so-called summer palace. It wasn't a true summer palace, as it was located on a largely tropical planet, so it was 'summer' all year round, but the term stuck as the Emperor's first summer palace was located in the tropics on the seaside. So despite the fact that he could travel here all year long and enjoy summer weather, it is still called the summer palace. Following the same logic, the winter palace was located on a planet that had almost year-round winter in its northern and southernmost parts of the country without it being an arctic desert.
He took a sip from his martini. The liquid slid down his throat and would be processed into energy, not that they really mattered as he was powered by a matter-antimatter reactor. However, his taste receptors sent the feeling of the liquor into his mind, but he could turn those off at will. He took another sip of his martini, but before he put it back his internal communications pinged.
He sighed, running a space empire was a lot of work and despite it best efforts to help it run without bothering him every 10 minutes he still seems to deal with all off the crap that goes on.
"Go ahead"
Mertly Gert's voice came over the comms, "The Eztobrughri empire has fallen into a civil war between the emperor and his loyal vassals against the older houses in the empire." The chief of state sounded perfectly calm. The Emperor sighed. While the empire was no great friend to to the Vogegan Empire, it had stayed within its borders and not tried to push for some land that had been disputed in years past. For that reason, it was to the Empire's advantage to have him remain in power.
"We need to help keep him in power."
"I agree, but we can't deploy too much. We still need our border fleets intact."
"How about the Ghost Division."
"It's not fully operational yet."
"They could use the practice, and we need to nip this in the bud."
"Of course."
The connection ended and Emperor Morningstar returned to gazing out over the ocean waves.

Training Facility MK-17
Trainee Hortrand was nervous. It was the final day before he would become an operative. He was facing the final test that should he fail, he would not be allowed to graduate. He entered the simpod and the green lights shined up and down his body as he sat in the pod and the neural interface entered the back of his neck and connected to his central nervous system.
He awoke to see himself standing outside of a building. His mission briefing flashed up on the HUD of his helmet.
Eliminate the hostiles in the building and retrieve documents
He nodded and then a countdown started.
3..2..1..Begin
As soon as it started Hortrand sprinted into action. Three guards were standing outside the building. He sprinted up to one and slammed his head into the building. He then drew the man's sidearm and fired at the other soldiers. The bullets impacted them and splattered them over the wall. He turned the gun on the man he had smashed into the wall. He pulled the trigger once and the man fell to the ground. He then drew his own pistol and entered the building. Three floors and 20 corpses later, he emerged onto the top floor of the building. The documents were in the next room and he listened quietly. He could here scuffling on the other side of the wall. He stepped back and fired three shots through the wall making a triangle. A thud indicated that the person had hit the ground. He entered the room and grabbed the appropriate documents and left. He tossed an incendiary grenade back through the door as he left.
Mission Accomplished
Three days later, Hortrand was receiving his assignment after the graduation party.
"Lort 3?"
"I know, but they said you were needed there, so there you will go."
"When do i leave."
"At 18:00 hours VST tomorrow."

System Azar-117
The fleet had been travelling through hyperspace towards one of the more important worlds in the Eztobrughri empire when they were yanked from hyperspace. This fleet had been assigned because of the plausible deniability the Vogegan Empire had. The fleet was stilling being kitted up with a last shipment of Class A droids and several operatives being received before the fleet headed out. The 'Ghost Fleet' was being sent to assist against the rebels, but without being too overtly obvious. However, they did not reach their intended destination. They were yanked form hyperspace as their engines screamed in protest and warning sirens started to sound.
On the bridge, Captain Brekker stood as the sirens started warring. The gray view of hyperspace stopped, then revealed stars and in the distance, weapon fire.
"Where are we?" he demanded.
"We are in the Azar-117 system."
"Why did we stop?"
"We detect some sort of hyperspace jamming in effect."
"Well, scan the area."
After a minute, the scans came back.
"Looks like we have several fleets from different nations attacking another fleet that is supporting the loyalists according to our intelligence."
"Well, intelligence is worth jack unless we can verify it. Broadcast this message on an open frequency."

Attention all fleets. This is Captain Brekker of the Dekamontan. Please state your reason for being in this system and why your are currently firing open each other. We did not plan to be here, but someone's jamming pulled us out of transit. Please respond in a timely manner.

[Luminumbra]

A second transmission bleeped into the bridge.

Incoming message! Incoming message!

"Now what? Open It." Zeiadon.

Attention all fleets. This is Captain Brekker of the Dekamontan. Please state your reason for being in this system and why your are currently firing open each other. We did not plan to be here, but someone's jamming pulled us out of transit. Please respond in a timely manner.

"Let him know that we will guarantee his safe exit from the jamming field. We cannot allow the Concordium to use their hyperspace drives."

From: Admiral Zeiadon, 15th Sacred Fleet
To: Captain Brekkler, Dekamontan

Greetings Captain,

It seems our hyperspace jammers have caught you within its grasp. We normally would ask the same of you, but seeing that it was our hyperspace jammers that brought you here we might as well tell you. We're in the middle of a civil war. You see, an uprising has started within the Empire of Eztobrughri. We felt the need to preserve this empire and crush the terrorist rebels who wish to bring chaos to the empire. If you wish, we will delegate some ships to guarantee your safe exit of the jamming field by providing cover.

"Sir, all weapons have cooled down. They are ready to fire!"

"Then fire 3/4ths of all weapons and the space-time shockwave cannon at the bridge of the Insidious Desire, and fire the other quarter (which is hundreds), at various identified weak points on the ship. We should have broke through their shields, but if we couldn't do it that time, that must have meant they re-directed energy. Put pressure on the bridge and fire at the other parts of the ship!"

"Sir!" Once again, thousands of weapons were fired at the bridge, except now there were a few hundred weapons of all types firing at various spots on the Insidious Desire. Meanwhile the point defense weapons were still erupting in a flurry to try to stop the rebel fighters.

[Eztobrughri]

GILDED BULLETS

---

The Emperor had received news of the Onslaught in the Garden. His fleets had the Area encircled, but how had such a small encounter led to this? It didn't matter now. He needed to-

"Sir, I have messages from the Luminumbrans."

"...Messages? What kind of messages?"

"Virtual Comms. Multiple, actually."

"Very well. Play them for me."

The Messenger began to play the Messages-Multiple Captains and Commanders were asking for assistance, and as time went on, they became insults and attacks. They grew restless.

"Why didn't you get these to me sooner? We could've lost the whole battle!"

"There was nothing I could do, Sir. Communications to and from the Garden are delayed because of issues with a large Singularity near a Communications Beacon."

"Send in the Fleets. Tell them to win the Battle for me and they'll get a Hero's welcome home."

"Yessir."
---
The 314th Fleet, 273rd Fleet, and 71st Fleet all entered the Battle Zone. The massive Coalition of Fleets made a wall of Steel at the edge of the Battle area that dwarfed the other Fleets. Their chatter was encrypted, but the static coming through the Communications Systems of nearby Ships hinted that there was a lot of talking happening. The Shipmaster, Kalorr, stood at the Bridge with his hands crossed behind his back, looking at the wreckage in the area. The light from the nearby Star glistened on his blue, scaly face.

"Contact the Luminumbrans. Tell them their saviors are here."

"Yes Shipmaster. Is there anything else?"

He thought for a moment on that. "Drown out their screams with our songs of Pride. Blast it through the Rebel ships. Let them hear the Emperor's Anthem and let it be the last thing they ever hear."

"Right away sir."

The Officer walked off, and the Shipmaster watched as the Battle began to die down in intensity for a few moments. Surely, neither side of the Conflict expected this much of an Imperial reaction.

[Luminumbra]

"Admiral! The Gods have answered our pleas! They truly love us!"

The bridge reporter began making little gestures with his hands, the counter part to the cross that catholics make on their chest.

"What's going on bridge reporter?"

"His majesty the Emperor has sent three fleets to end this once and for all!"

"More reinforcements. First the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance and now the Emperor's men have arrived. What little weaknesses I had in my faith have now all but disappeared. The Gods are truly our saviors."

"Excellent news!"

The imperial forces were now swelling to unimaginable numbers. Morale was beginning to skyrocket again, as if the struggles of the past few hours had not even been had.

Greadus then decided to then finish off the Seavian fleets. "Fire once more the gamma rays!!" A symphony of lights erupted from Greadus's fleet shortly afterwards.

"Let's start picking off the rest of the Terran fleet before the dreadnoughts. But first, a prayer."

The bridge of Greadus's ship then came to the railing, where Greadus started giving the prayer.

"O' Gods, Goddesses, Kings, Queens of the Universe. We ask that you give us the strength to finish implementing your iron ~will --'aamen!'-- The iron will that cannot be ~shaken, that has the foundation of the holy prophets and their highest disciple ~Gamaris --'aamen!'-- We ask that we be blessed with your love and sacrifice that we be able to finish off our ~enemies -'amen'- follow your holy ~path -'amen'- that we may one day enter the kingdoms of the afterlife! --'aamen!'-- Let the Emperor follow your divine will and be lent your power that he may be able to help us in bringing about your ~crusade --'aamen!'-- so that he too may one day enter the kingdom of our afterlife! --'aamen!'-- And, of course, we ask this with the favoring of our blessed leader,Graaand Dietus Alphus Brei II! ---'Aaamen!!'---

Moments later "The gods are great!!" Thousands of gravity cannons fired in sync at the rest of the Terran fleet that were supporting the dreadnoughts.

Right afterwards, they could hear the Anthem of the emperor. It was truly a sight to behold. The walls of steel from Eztobrughri, the Interstellar Strategic Alliance transports ready to take action, and the massive numbers of weapons firing from the Luminumbran ships, working together like some kind of orchestra, and just as the Luminumbrans began a massive counterattack, just as the ranks swell, the anthem plays. It was an iconic moment of symbolism that will earn its place in Luminumbran textbooks.

Greadus, a notoriously level-headed man had even lost his cool, his excitement forcing him to emit a "Yyyahh!!" as the weapons fired. The bridge navigator, startled, "Sir! Are you okay?"
"Keep firing!!" He had never seen Greadus so invested in a battle before. "Yes sir!"

The time to wipe out the Concordium fleet was now!

[The Terran Concordium]

Let Loose the Hounds of War

---

Commander Archer Finch
Battlestation Intrepid Solemnity
Sub-Sector Command
Sub-Sector Rorvai

---

The battlestation, Intrepid Solemnity was in a state of utmost urgency; it had its usual uneventful duties be disrupted with the constant battle reports being sent out from the 999th Battlegroup back to Sub-Sector Command. As the glow of one of Sub-Sector Rorvai's many stars glistened in the distance, the darting shine of the computer consoles in the command deck of the Intrepid Solemnity was aflush with zettabytes of data pinging into and off screens like some kind of daft musical medley. Of which consisted of live feeds, situational maps, round expenditures, ship statuses and the like. Far too much for some bunch of ordinary humans to understand, but good thing synthetic intelligences had assimilated into society centuries ago.

"Sir, I've just received word from the 999th. It's not looking too well; the Eztobrughrians have deployed a large armada comprised of multiple fleets to engage the 999th. "

Commander Archer Finch frowned as he saw the blips, or rather walls on the quantum sensor array. "So. Couple thousand warships couldn't handle our ships huh. Well, since they're bringing in some reinforcements, it would only be fair for us to do so as well. Get Commodore Lima on the line."

"The 801st sir?"

"Yes, get her to warp immediately to the 999th's position.."

"However, those warpspace jammers are still active sir."

"They are really there to stop ships from leaving. Warping in should only result in a more bumpy entry from them getting dragged out of warp."

"Very good sir. Dispatching now."

---

Commodore Vanessa Lima
CCV Ardent Justice - Anvil-class dreadnought
801st Concordian Battlegroup

---

Commodore Lima sat down in her command chair and ushered in all her crew. She was at the helm of the aptly-named, Anvil-class dreadnought, the Ardent Justice. The Anvil-class were designed as heavy breakthrough units and were henceforth equipped with innumerable numbers of weaponry intended especially to crack open the ranks of enemy fleets. While the Anvils was not as massive as the the Invictus-class that the Insidious Desire belonged to, it still commanded a bulk of over 55 kilometres and a mass of dozens of millions of tonnes. Its distinctive boxy appearance cloaked the massive arrays of shielding and armour that lay underneath the vessel, protecting it to a degree that was considered at almost equal to those of the Invictus-class, though it traded this for speed and manoeuvrability.

Commodore Lima looked at her situational display; showing the gathered ships of the 801st Battlegroup, a famed naval battalion of several claimed glories in battle. Arranged together with the Ardent Justice were another 19 Anvil-class dreadnoughts and over 100 cruisers and 200 frigates. This fearsome formation of death machines prepared itself for an immediate warp jump to the specified coordinates of the 999th Battlegroup. As the warp drives of 320 warships spun up in glowing halos of neon blue, Lima commanded an imposing speech unto her crew.

"Warriors of the 801st. We plunge into the depths of war; knowing well what lies before us. The enemy is fearsome and unwilling to surrender. They believe their numbers superiority will surely claim victory; but they are fools. Our brothers and sisters in the 999th have already stalemated their forces with only 75 of our war machines. They enemy may have doubled their ranks, but it only gives us more prey to hunt. Warriors of the 801st, unsheath your fangs and let loose the hounds of war!"

"Oooorah!"

---

Commodore Charles Vanmore
CCV Insidious Desire - Invictus-class dreadnought
999th Concordian Battlegroup

---

Vanmore was becoming impatient; the obstinate enemy, knowing their pathetic failures at taking down a small Concordian battle group with their cherished thousands of warships had sought reinforcements to save their wretched hides. Even as the incoming hailstorm of enemy fire picked at his frigates and cruisers, knocking some's shields down while hitting and ripping apart other vessels, he was steadfast. Vanmore smirked as he saw thousands of projectiles, energy blasts and rays fizzle away at the shielding of the four Invictus-class dreadnoughts that was covering the Insidious Desire. He had just received news of the impending arrival of the 801st Concordian battlegroup, led by someone very familiar with Vanmore. Just as a few frigates exploded around the perimeter of the sphere formation and one or two cruisers suffered critical hits, Vanmore looked out the frontal observation projections to see a few hundred blue whizzes of energy spark just to the left of the formation. Within an instant, the ships of the 801st had arrived.

A voice over the intercom of the bridge shortly began, "Attention 999th, this is Commodore Lima, of the 801st. We wanted in on some of your fun."

Vanmore smiled. "Heh, Lima. Always trying to butt in for that glory."

---

Commodore Vanessa Lima
CCV Ardent Justice - Anvil-class dreadnought
801st Concordian Battlegroup

---

Lima looked over the large tactical map table that presided at the centre of the Ardent Justice's bridge. On it showed the thousands of hostile blips comprising the forces of the Luminumbrans, Eztobrughrians and other smaller fleets of little significance. What she was really concerned about was the main lump of targets that made up of the main thrust of the Luminumbran counterattack. She smiled as she knew the Luminumbrans had let themselves bunch together, become easy pickings.

"All ships, both of the 801st and 999th. Listen up. All warp cannon equipped vessels, ready yourselves to fire on the designated coordinates on my command!"

"Affirmative ma'am. Target coordinates designated, ready to engage."

"Wait, there's more; all the cruisers of the 999th, spread out. Ready your warp cannons as well!"

"Aye aye! Beginning manoeuvres now!

While this new change of formation had resulted in some of the cruisers losing their cover of the dreadnoughts, which resulted in several being hit by the full brunt of the counterattack's hail of weapons fire and exploding in large bursts of energy from the severe punishment, there were still well enough numbers of warships for what Lima planned. When all the cruisers had swiftly manoeuvred to her desired formation, she gave the order.

"All ships. Fire."

Over 500 rays of white-blue energy streaked out of the frontal prows of the combined forces of the 801st and 999th, accelerating their deadly contents many more times than the speed of light at the target coordinates, which happened to be right in the middle of the Luminumbran and Eztobrughrian counterattack formation. Right in the thick of their ranks, hundreds of warp portals tore open holes to other dimensions, unencapsulating their fatal packages. Those warp cannons of dreadnoughts produced larger warp portals than those of cruisers, however, the combined portals of cruisers often merged together into megaportals of the same size as dreadnought warp portal, becoming even more violent and powerful in the process. Soon entire patches of space that used to be filled with Eztobrughrian and Luminumbran warships was now a festering sea of dimensional infractions and singularities.

Vanmore grinned as he then gave the order for all ships to return fire with every gun emplacement, missile battery and lance they had against the enemy. "All ships fire at will!"

The chaotic portals that tore into the centre ranks of the enemy was now being greeted with lovely osmium tipped shells of antimatter, lances of plasma and swarms of hundreds of thousands of torpedoes and missiles.

"Missed me?" asked Lima over the personal intercom.

"Yes. Now that you mention it," replied Vanmore.

[Luminumbra]

It was done...another 500 ships had been lost. Body parts and helmets could be seen floating in the space. A few limbs had managed to wipe across the bridge windshield of Zeiadon's ship, leaving a trail of blood, now starting to boil off the window.

And now a bit of chatter, mistakenly on the wrong frequency, had made its way to Zeiadon's bridge.

"Ehehe, yeah, pathetic. They bring in 5,000 ships and they still can't take us!"

Zeiadon's face tensed up as the sound of laughing could be heard in the background.

He was furious.

The thoughts started racing through his head.
"The Luminumbran fleet had suffered the consequences of not having shields, of not having powerful enough weapons, and yet, for it's very first war in over 100 years, it had been able to destroy all rebel fleets in a matter of seconds before the Concordium's arrival, inflict damage on the experienced Concordium fleets, nearly took out the bridge of its enemy forces, and even started taking out the rest of their fleet, albeit with great losses. --Bless the gods. The Concordium had abnormally strong shields, as the shockwave cannon, a weapon as old as the country itself, had never failed up to this point to produce a hole in enemy shields. It was designed solely for that purpose. Had the concordium had slightly weaker shields like its allies, its entire battlegroup would have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Luminumbra had, by itself, faced multiple enemies and yet had been able to hold the line for longer than usual until reinforcements from the emperor had arrived. And yet these men mock us?? They mock the defenders of the heavens? Of the Gods themselves??! How dare they!!"

His fists slammed on the railing, again startling his navigator.

But results were results, and it was becoming clear that Luminumbra's foe was far more advanced than had been estimated. As soon as Zeiadon saw the destruction of those 500 ships, he realized his mistake.

"All ships, spread out and form groups of 10, minimize the impact of those warp cannons!" The ships started spreading out in clusters of 10 ships at a time.

Greadus's fleet however, was relatively untouched, and still boasted close to 5,000 ships. They were on the starboard side of the terran fleet, and this whole time had been focusing on the smaller rebel fleets.

Greadus, seeing that Zeiadon needed some help, decided to ramp up the action on the concordium. He took this chance of the dreadnoughts sacrificing their cover to attack Zeiadon's fleet to attack the dreadnoughts themselves.

"All starburst cannons, gravity cannons. Fire at the starboard of the dreadnoughts." Greadus's fleet also had not used its space-time shockwave cannon, and, while the Insidious Desire was busy focusing energy onto shielding its bridge, this was the optimal chance for Greadus to destroy the main systems of the ship.

"And make sure to fire the shockwave cannon to burst through their shields."

Immediately, thousands of weapons now found themselves being fired at the exposed dreadnoughts, instead of the rebels.

War Department Report

2 Luminumbran Fleets, near Saturia, have now been retrofitted with Ion Cannons.

1 Luminumbran Fleet, near Chromion, has now been retrofitted with Ion Cannons.

The First Magnetar Weapons have been successfully tested. Prototypes are now in the works.

Magi-Scientists estimate a working shield system to be 1 month away

Magi-Scientists estimate working plasma lances to be 2 weeks away

[The Terran Concordium]

Return Fire

---

Commodore Vanessa Lima
CCV Ardent Justice
801st Concordian Battlegroup

---

The incoming fire had begun their assault unto the combined Concordian battlegroup formations, showering numerous ships with hails of weapons fire. The exhausted shielding of some of the 999th's frigates and cruisers finally gave way and their armour took a beating from the thousands of projectiles that was now upon them. Unfortunately for the Luminumbarans, their usage of the shockwave cannon went to waste, as the Insidious Desire was well covered in front by the four other dreadnoughts of the 999th Battlegroup, whose near full capacity energy shielding was able to resist the heinous weapon. Even more, the Insidious Desire's shields was now operating at over 85% capacity and Vanmore decided to refocus their shielding to equal parts of the vessel.

Commodore Lima was overseeing her tactical displays and situational monitors, checking on how the battle was coming. The synthetic intelligence on board had long predicted such an attack would be taking place and noted how the 801st was not the main target of the Luminumbran attack. Lima decided it would now be time to respond with equal force.

"Order all ships to return fire with prow batteries! Hit them while they're not looking!"

Thousands of guns from the ships of the 801st began to open fire against the enemy; throwing relativistic ordinance straight into the unprepared ships of Greadus' fleet. Teratons worth of antimatter projectiles slammed through every second; the response of the Concordian warships was easily up to par with what the Luminumbrans had dished out just minutes before. The massive railguns of the Anvil-class dreadnoughts of the 801st slammed their rounds out of their barrels every 5 seconds, furiously pumping out punishment at near light speeds. Plasma lance batteries unleashed a torrent of plasma fire onto the Luminumbran warships; their streams of scorching ionised particles zoomed across the cold vacuum of space like a stream of lava over ice. Newly launched starfighters and starbombers sped out of hangars and sped towards their targets, each armed with smaller versions of warp cannon munitions mounted in a compact torpedo package. These swarms of spacecraft cruised in, dodging enemy fighter craft and point defence fire, launching their payloads simultaneously at their targets. While not as powerful as their ship borne variants, these warp missiles still made their impact along the outer perimeters of Greadus' fleet, intending to soften them up for my barrages of weapons fire from the 801st.

---

Commander Archer Finch
Battlestation Intrepid Solemnity
Sub-Sector Command
Sub-Sector Rorvai

---

Commander Archer Finch frowned as more and more data came pouring in from the battle that was occurring between the Concordium and those damned aliens. He had grown impatient as what was supposed to be a localised scuffle had developed into an annoying incident involving two Concordian battlegroups fighting entire fleets of a minor interstellar power. This would certainly not go well with Sector command; his superiors there may even chastise him for these developments for getting one of the Concordium's outermost sectors involved in an interstellar grudge match.

Finch directed for the AI to connect him to a secure link, "Get me a line with Sector command."

"Connection established."

"Admiral Nimra, Sector commander."

"Sir. We have a situation. Two of our battlegroups have engaged in a large scale battle with several enemy factions. I'm sending you the battle data now sir."

Admiral Nimra paused for a moment to process the data, "Glory of Earth, how the hell did this happen? It's like we're at war with these bloody Luminumbrans and Imperials!"

"Sir. Perhaps we should open an immediate dialogue with these peoples. Engaging a war of annihilation against these people won't bode well for the galactic sphere."

"Hmm, perhaps. As much as I would love wiping these fools off the face of reality, achieving a better outcome through diplomacy will perhaps be better for all parties involved. I'll arrange for it as soon as possible."

From: Sector Commander Admiral Nimra
To: Luminumbran and Imperial Commanders

Your charades have gone on long enough. Perhaps you should take a look at the broader picture of what you have been perpetrating; you've caused a major interstellar incident that has managed to get the attention of a Concordium sector and cause devastating losses for your peoples. Since we are conscious of our own decisions, we offer you a chance to end this useless bloodshed and enter peace talks. For your own sake. Any further hostilities, and you are looking at war.

[Aeiouia]

Retreating to the relative safety of her cloak, Zanthe continued to watch the amusing carnage unfold between the big schools of Critters. This was quite the show, especially when a few of them started emitting gamma radiation at each other. Zanthe loved radiation. After all, it was one of her favorite things.

But as much as she loved seeing pretty lights, the fact that she was in need of more minerals was sadly too important to ignore. After silently observing the crazy schools of Critters for quite a decent amount of time, it was indeed time to plan her next move. Perhaps another volley of missiles? No. The Critters were finally sufficiently distracted, and she had already waited far too long to attack. It was time for a direct intercept.

Conducting the best scan that only her passive sensors would allow for, she did her best to try to pick out the biggest and most mineral-heavy Critter that she could spot. There were certainly quite a few contenders, especially some of the ones that had been emitting so many pretty lights earlier. But, she eventually decided on the target; one of the ones that was currently firing some kind of heavy weapon. Its strange energetic hull seemed to radiate its mineral value, and fact that it lacked shields would make it easier to crack through.

This was always the most exciting part of Critter-Mining, and Zanthe could not wait to commence the attack! Planning a trajectory, she began her burn.

---

In an instant, a glowing glare of light and radiation appeared centered on the hull of the Biv-Class Dreadnought equipped with the Space-Time Shockwave Cannon like a magnifying glass. A few thousand kilometers behind the central line of conflict between the Luminumbran, Eztobrughrian, and Terran battle line, the strange stealth dreadnought from earlier is sighted as the culprit. Barrelling down a direct collision course with the Luminbarian ship, its central laser turret continues emitting large amounts of energy onto its target.

Moments after decloaking and firing, the black and white striped vessel begins emitting numerous flares. Each pod itself glaring with a bright point of light, clearly being an attempt to distract targeting systems by drowning out the emissions from unusual vessel's large glowing radiators. Moments later, a hail of what appears to be point defense fire erupts from the vessel as well. With an assortment of rather unconventional weapon systems attempting to fire upon any projectiles that neared the craft.

The strange tricks do not end there, however. As once the vessel gets within a few seconds away from colliding with the Biv, its cross-section abruptly changes quite dramatically. Its stern section of the vessel seems to unfold, revealing quite an odd sight. The ship possesed numerous arm-like tools all along its hull. With these manipulators either mounted with claws, or more worryingly massive motorized mining tools akin to what one would find in a quarry. It was obvious that the vessel was clearly attempting to impact and subsequently grapple the Luminbarian warship.

[Seav]

“Excellent!” Greadus, focused as ever, barely moving.

“Now order all Dark Affinity ships to fire their gravity cannons at the fleet. Again, I want all 12,194 firing in sync. Activate the hyperspace jammers. Fire on my orders.”

“Sir!”

“Fire!”

“Firing!”

The battlefield became overwhelmingly distorted by gravitational lensing as the cannons fired at the ships.

Just then, both admirals got the hail from the rebel pirate fleet.

Hail from the Golden Praise, Attacking Pirate Ship:
"This is Amarra St. Leietoa of the Clan of True Faith and Gold Blood! We order that you surrender at once or feel the full wrath of our Pirate Fleet! This is an order, Imperial Traitors!"

“OUTRAGEOUS!” Zeiadon replied, going to the rails once again, this time squeezing them hard with his hands. “Rebels calling us traitors?” “They can actually look at a fleet of 10,000 ships and think “Yeah! We can beat that! The arrogance!” He slammed the railing at the word ‘arrogance’. “Very well, let’s fulfill their deathwish. Call on the Eztobughrian Emperor for Reinforcements.”

“Sir!”


The hail was glowing in the bridge of Greadus’s ship.

“Close that sh*t. I’m busy right now. Deploy the fighters and have them strike the raid ships.”

The fighters now deployed and started attacking the pirate craft.

[OOC: Eztobrughri, I had fired all weapons of Zeiadon’s fleet at the bridge of the uncloaked terran dreadnought, Insidious Desire. You Silly goose!

[OOC: Apparently I can't remember that I had an RP post on the forums that wasn't saved when I closed my web browser. And also, sorry for the really late response, RL decided to kill me recently. Regardless, on with the battle!]

"Admiral! Incoming fire!" yelled a lieutenant across the bridge.
"Shields up! Maneuver 32 degrees up, centered on the main star. Full thrust."
"Yes Admiral."
The Seavian fleet, moving at .5C shot upwards across the field of fire, evading the bulk of it. The four damaged battle cruisers were unable to make the maneuvers in time, along with one of the carriers, and a cruiser. They all were hit by the cannons and were destroyed.

"Full speed towards the source of that attack. Engage all vessels that enter your threat envelopes. And volley projectiles at them as well. Employ every weapon we have in our arsenal. However, do not launch fighters. If they don't know we have them, then perhaps our strike force can penetrate quickly enough to deploy. And activate FTL jammers. Don't let them escape."

"Yes sir. Ordering fleet maneuvers now."

Another officer broke in.
"Admiral, the Reaver and the Invincible have broken off from the fleet, and are making a full speed attack run. They can't possibly hit anything at the rate their going. By our calculations, their combined engagement speed is approximately .7C!"

"What the hell are they doing?"

"Sir, those ships are lightly armored, and have incredibly fast propulsion and high levels of shielding. My analysis sir, is that they are going to ram that enemy fleet."

"But why? They know that there is no point. Their ships are in prime fighting condition."

"Sir, the captain of the Reaver, his wife was aboard the Skystrike when it went down. And, well, the captain of the Invincible is a hothead, and believes that his ship's name will protect him. Regardless of the fact that the loss statistics for ships named Invincible seems to be much higher than other names."

"Idiots. The both of them. They're going to cost us two cruisers. What are they targeting anyways?"

"Sir, they appear to be targeting the ship we have tentatively assumed to be the enemy command vessel."

"Well, at least they're targeting something useful for us. Strike my previous order. Prepare the tachyon drives. I want to jump out of here. Now."

"Yes sir."

[Luminumbra]

Seeing the desperate situation, the coming destruction of the Biv-Class Dreadnought. The Luminumbran commanders have decided to agree to the negotiations the Concordium has decided to set up.

Admiral Zeiadon came to the railing.

"Men, we have fought hard enough. Be we've lost close to half our fleet. The Biv-Class Dreadnought, our greatest asset is going to be destroyed. I want us to retreat and re-group."

To: The Terran Concordium Commanders
From: The Luminumbra Commanders

Greetings Concordium,

We speak on behalf the Luminumbran fleets only. We wish to accept your offer of negotiations. But one thing you must understand going into these talks is that the Empire did not instigate this conflict. Had the rebels not started their antics, there would be peace right now. That is a given. If you wish for us to enter talks with you, you must do so with the understandng that you have aided and abetted terrorist factions. That is the platform you will be negotiating from.

The two Luminumbran admirals both sighed at the exact same time, as the transmission was sent across the battlefield.

But they sighed in different ways. Zeiadon gave a sigh of relief. Greadus gave a sigh of anticipation. Zeiadon had not contacted the Grand Dietus, as it was only under the Grand Dietus's power to allow Luminumbra to enter negotiations. Admiral Zeiadon will be reprimanded for this at the very least, and possibly even sacked from his position at the very worst.

War Department Report

5 Luminumbran Fleets, above Radia, have now been retrofitted with Ion Cannons.

10 Luminumbran Fleets, near Luminumbra Prime, have now been retrofitted with Ion Cannons.

2 Luminumbran Fleets, above Shaddon'Krat, have now been retrofitted with Ion Cannons.

Just around 6 or so Fleets remain without Ion Cannons.

The First Magnetar Weapons have been successfully tested. Prototypes are now in the works.

Magi-Scientists estimate a working shield system to be just under 1 month away

Magi-Scientists estimate working plasma lances to be just under 2 weeks away