Fire Among the Stars (Ended)

[Korhal IVV]

Arkalyan Pirate Coalition
Nightwhispers, Whitefire Brotherhood, and Eldritch Dragons

Silently yet silently plowing through the darkness of space was a fleet. A fleet that brought death and destruction so many times, and in return brought themselves pleasure. These are Arkalyan pirates, three warbands to be exact. Ordered by Eonar to seek opportunities to aid the Federation when the time presents itself.

Three Princes led this coalition, and they knew each other like brothers. They were Larantos Shadowclaw, Arkaros Draknaryen, and Kelmor Solvar, though Larantos has effectively the one commanding them. All were exiles from Eonar, but their homeworld has been keen to make use of the pirates’ function, even if they are… bestial at times.

“Prince Larantos, distress signal has been picked up. It appears to be of Federation origin.”, one of the bridge crew of the Crimson Shade queried. “Orders?”

“Our window of opportunity has arrived. Prepare to open the Travel Network!”

“As you command, Prince Larantos.”

Soon enough, a wormhole would appear in front of every vessel; a black, incomprehensible void in which the Arkalyans traveled with. It was the Travel Network, a series of wormholes etched onto the fabric of reality by the old Imperium many, many years ago. As the pirates entered one side, they would come out of the other into Maglone. They immediately massive amounts of perceived enemy ships within the immediate vicinity. The pirates laughed.

“Hmpf.”, Larantos scoffed just as Arkaros chuckled. “Overwhelming an enemy with superior numbers and firepower. That is a basic strategy. However…”

With a gesture of his hand, the pirate fleet broke formation and headed straight into the massive cloud of warships around Maglone. “This is what you call true skill! All ships, head straight into the enemy formation! Do not allow them to hit you, and put engines at full burn! Make them hit each other as they try to slay you in vain!”

“Acknowledged, Prince Larantos!”

To the Pikistanis, their radar wouldn’t even pick up proper signatures. The stealth technology on the Blackveil cruisers distorted both its visual appearance and even its heat and energy signature, causing its blip on the radar to move with such errance that it would be difficult to lock weapons on it. At times it would flicker out of detection before showing up again. Such is the mastery of the pirates over stealth and deception. The scheming raiders have truly mastered the art of the lie.

[Pikasistan]

Double Trouble
Bridge of the Echo of Hades, Maglone's Orbit

The QERCC wings performed beautifully, preventing the enemy strike crafts from destroying any ships, although some of the bombers managed to severely damage the freighter Hermes, forcing a partial evacuation of the vessel, which was now slowly drifting behind the fleet. The battle was now well in favour of the Pikasistani, to the satisfaction of Elena Evintus. The troops could soon start to take this world in the Emperor's name. The ground forces of the world would be given a chance to surrender and disband whilst the civilians could still keep their possessions and freedom. The only thing that would change would be their leadership, though locals would be encouraged to partake in the activities of the Greater Imperium. They are humans, she thought, they deserve to live in dignity under our rule, we are invaders perhaps, but not barbarians. The ground batteries had been reduced to ashes, allowing for the ground forces to safely land once the rest of the fleet was eliminated.

Despite being significantly diminished by the atmosphere of Maglone, the ground lasers managed to destroy the Dominus Nox, the heavy siege platform exploding in a magnificient fashion whilst the point defences of nearby ships targetted any debris that could hit them.

"The enemy will probably bring in reinforcements soon, the Gagian ships are, despite being severely overwhelmed, very durable, Admiral."

"I know, but I doubt they can get that many ships near us. Intel indicates that most of their ships are either too far out or at Miron."

But what Elena didn't account for was that the Gagians had friends. Almost simultaneously, two fleets of unknown civilizations jumped into the system. The first one was rather slow, consisting of half a hundred ships whilst the other was far more agile, and larger too.

"CONTACT! Enemy ships coming in hot! Wait, they... just... disappeared..."

Elena knew what she had to do. Cloaked ships always had some weaknesses. "AUSPEX! Get me scans on all spectrums, we need to find those ships! Use radars, lidars, sonars, magnetic detectors, quantum membrane scanners, heck even try geiger counters, I just want eyes on those ships!"

"Aye ma'am, scanning now. "

The results appeared on the viewscreen

++SCANNING COMPLETED. NUMBER OF SHIPS: 75++
RADAR: No Detections
LIDAR: No Detections
SONAR: No Detections
Infrared: No Detections
Geiger Scan: No Detections
Magnetic Signature: 75 Ships Detected
QM: 75 Ships Detected

"Alright then, it looks like those bastards can be killed after all! All ships, lock missiles on their magnetic signature and open fire on those ships! They think we can't see them but they'll see that we are more resourceful than they may be. Chattos, prepare to fire on those three ships! We can take care of the other ones later, they don't seem to be able to engage us at range, so let's focus on the others."

Hundreds of missiles left launchers scattered across the fleet, all evenly locked on the 75 cloaked ships that were closing in whilst the seven Chattos repositioned and started opening fire at the enemy battleships with their kinetic batteries, keeping the CHAW rounds in reserve as they did since their arrival. Ennemy lasers started hitting them, riping through the graphene layer of some ships, only to be stopped by a layer of amorphous boron-nitride, a chemical with a high resistance to temperature changes.

The other ships pressed on the attack on the Gagians, their lines rapidly collapsing from the overwhelming fire of the Pikasistani ships, but with a certain fraction of the Pikasistani firepower diverted at the recently arrived ships, the pace of the destruction of the remaining ships would be the same, not significantly higher as it should of been following the destruction of the orbital defences and the achievement of strike craft supperiority.

[Alexzonya]

Miron, Jackania, Delta Quadrant, Milky Way Galaxy
11th Exploration and Patrol Group
Current Assignment: Humanitarian Observation

Thing at Miron had grown increasingly intense since the observation began another power had begun some sort of… it didn’t appear to be a counter-offensive. Perhaps it was best described as a raid. Either way, it had done significant damage to the Gagiumish forces, who had abandoned their invasion and were withdrawing back to the blockade in orbit. Of more immediate concern, with the direct threat to civilians having seemed to pass, were two quite odd anomalous ships in the vicinity of the planet. One, a strange tentacled craft of some kind; the odd craft repelled a sizeable barrage from several of the blocking fleets without suffering any obvious damage, and it’s technology capabilities appeared to be substantially more advanced than most. Certainly, the readings off of the Group’s sensors would be of significant interest to the Republic’s intelligence community, not to mention Starfleet’s R&D divisions.Eventually, though, the forces that were firing on the strange craft suffer a casualty, and then some flee the field entirely; a masterclass in incompetence.

The only other transmission the Alexzonyians receive, besides a professional response from the Gagiumish fleet, comes from a spindled ship at the edge of system.

Joyful Greetings! Boonful Tidings! Your presence is a light upon a great void. Much has happened here, love itself has been threatened by forces truly alien to all of sapient life. Whereas most races care for prosperity and abundance, the creatures here swipe their claws at that which they cannot comprehend, and revel in the sight of death and pain. They are alien to all that is good; perhaps your presence will bring *clarity* where it is needed most.

Both of these odd first contacts presented the Alexzonyians with a challenges, but after deliberation the decision was made to simply observe the first craft for now; whatever its purpose, the time would come eventually to act accordingly. For now, no reason to attract its attention. At the same time, a decision was made to return the directed communication from the Friend-ship.

Hello. Certainly, we hope that our presence here will act as a moderating influence on the actions of the other nations. If I may, would you be willing to identify yourself? I am, unfortunately, not familiar with your nation or species.

Aquarius, Gamma Quadrant, Milky Way Galaxy
14th General Action Fleet Core and Attached Elements
Current Assignment: Northeast Gamma Area Ready Reserve

Aquarius wasn’t actually an Alexzonyian world; on the near-Delta fringe of the GRA’s Northeast Gamma Trade Network, the planet was almost entirely oceanic, with an amphibious race of sapients below ruled by a Witch-King. Whether the Aquarian monarchs were truly practitioners of some form of supernatural power or if it was merely a legend of ages bygone wasn’t known, but the relevant bit for the Alexzonyians was their willingness to allow the Republic to construct a series of FTL gates in the system. In exchange for transit fees that defrayed the operations cost and system access for the Alexzonyian Starfleet, the Aquarians could reach many of their “neighbors” in an instant, covering hundreds or thousands of light years in the blink of an eye. The westernmost terminus of the system ended in Alexzonya proper, at the Avalon Gate hub. From there, any quadrant in the galaxy could be reached in only a few gate-hops.

It was in the name of system access that the 14th Fleet has be stationed here. The Witch-King had raised no objection; the presence of Alexzonyian ships in his domain was nothing new, and there was no better way to ensure no pirates or other marauders dared risk a raid. With other SATMA powers responding to some sort of localized would-be conflict in the hinterlands of Delta and whispers in the Gamma rim of mysterious fleets and torched worlds (Starfleet was investigating), the Republic had decided to deploy the 14th in a forward position, to ensure that if anything untoward broke out either to the North or to the East, Starfleet would be able to respond in strength.

[Korhal IVV]

Arkalyan Pirate Coalition
Nightwhispers, Whitefire Brotherhood, and Eldritch Dragons

"Laughable.", Larantos thought as the Pikasistanis opened fire with a barrage of missiles. "Everyone, proceed as planned. Execute phase 2 of the strategem.", he ordered to the pirate fleet.

"As you command! All ships, execute phase 2!"

So they did. The seventy five Blackveil Cruisers decloaked before each of them ripped open a tear in the fabric of reality. On the other side of the tear was the Travel Network; a yawning, dark void illuminated by crystalline passages that glowed with baleful purple light. In a span of 1.9 seconds, they plunged into the crack on the fundamental structure of the universe, but not before the six lead Blackveil cruisers were hit by the Pikasistani missiles, destroying them. Their graceful forms were torn apart as the cataclysmic explosions took the lives of those within. Within seconds, the unfortunate ones were no more than scrap metal, corpses and pieces of debris floating through the void. However, the other Blackveils disappeared just as they were eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Star Crusaders were unfazed. As the Chattos opened fire, their rounds would meet heavy resistance from the shields of the battlecarriers. However, they were beginning to weaken. "Shield capacity down to 60% my Prince!", a bridge officer said as the first volley ended. "Return fire.", Larantos ordered. "Load all torpedo tubes and kinetic batteries and aim at those who assailed us. Prime missile launchers for launch."

"Aye! All weapons loaded!"

"Open fire."

The three Star Crusaders would open fire with their own volley. Kinetic shells with nuclear charges with an explosive force of 4 megatons inside them left the barrels of the magnetic accelerator cannons of the Crimson Shade, Dominatrix, and Entropy, accelerating at ever greater speeds as they screamed from long range. As they took their time to cross the void towards their targets, their kinetic energy will become greater and greater. Soon enough, they will strike their targets. Meanwhile, ionic torpedoes designed to drain shields of their energy rushed from the 30 forward mounted torpedo launchers of the Star Crusaders, glowing a baleful blue light as they gleamed with an intent to kill. This was soon followed by a barrage of antimatter missiles from the fifty side mounted missile launchers of the Star Crusaders. "Keep the Sin Purgers at reserve.", Larantos commanded as their return volley careened towards the Pikasistani ships called Chattos.

Sin Purgers are tungsten shells with graviton charges inside; devastating pieces of metal that gain more and more energy as they flew across the darkness of the universe. Once they detonate at the target, they degenerate into artificial gravitational fields, pulling things in a short radius into the point of detonation. However, such extravagant weapons are quite hard to get by, so to speak. Larantos kept them in reserve just in case they needed it...

Just as the Star Crusaders returned fire, the Blackveil Cruisers reemerged from the Travel Network. "Pulsar cannons and plasma torpedoes, open fire!", the Blackveils' captains ordered as they did so almost as soon as they reemerged. They were now much closer than they were several seconds ago, affording them better accuracy in their attacks. "Careful now, big fat arses.", captain Yemshon of the Impaler said as they rushed ever closer. "Just a little more and we are close enough for the plan! We cannot pull that off again everyone, so double time! Evade all enemy attacks that you can, and intercept what you can! Activate holo distorters, and make their targeters make mistakes. It is not a guarantee that nothing will hit you, but at least only half or so would be locked. Power to the Coalition!"

"POWER TO THE COALITION!", all the Blackveils shouted in unison as the Star Crusaders supported them from long range. "Make them get in each other's way! Just because they outnumber us doesn't mean that they have the absolute advantage! Forward!"

[Pikasistan]

Indomitable Spirit
Bridge of the Echo of Hades, Maglone's orbit

The missiles hit a few ships, the others vanishing from all scanners for a few seconds before reappearing again. The captains reacted quickly, re-targeting the missiles that still could be in the direction of the battleships and forcing collision between the others, illuminating the void between the ships. As soon as the ships came back, they were visible, but not at the same location as those the cameras could see. The QM scanners never lied to the Pikasistani fleet and they knew something was wrong when they checked magnetic signatures as they were also matching the QM locations.

"Admiral, they are using holograms to try to fool us!", said the auspex, whilst various projectiles were fired in the direction of the freighters, point defenses of the fleet destroying the torpedoes with ease, but still losing the Hermes as well as two other cargos and a Sanus Hospital ship. The battleships also opened fire, cfracs hitting with full strength the powerful shields of the Chattos, including the Echo of Hades. Missiles were also inbound, Point defenses of the Astars and other smaller ships intercepting them from a safe-ish distance.

The skies illuminated by the explosions as the missiles were containing antimatter, illuminating the skies and burning the retinas of anyone that actually looked at the direction the missiles were through view ports. The atmosphere was blanketed by a beautiful aurora borealis as the gamma radiations reacted with the magnetosphere of Maglone. 27 Astars lost all sensors and crews died from the massive doses of radiations they received from exposure, the belgioswede shieldstones not being strong enough on the smaller hulls to protect them from them, shortly followed by the crew of half a dozen Praetors that where also too exposed. Their "sacrifice" were not in vain however as they saved the Chattos from certain doom. the shieldstones blocking most of the radiations by the time they reached them.

"What... was that?" Said Elena as the skies finally cleared. The logic of those newcomers was hard to get for the Pikasistani, why put your most potent weapon in missiles when you could c-frac it to their faces? She shrugged the thought off as it was now her time to show what she had in reserve since their arrival in the system. "FIRE MISSILES AGAIN! ALL ARCENIAS FIRE ONE VOLLEY OF CFRACS AT THE BATTLESHIPS ALONGSIDE THE CHATTOS AND THEN-", she paused, weighting the impact this decision would have in the rest of the battle, "THE ECHO OF HADES, THE BELLATRIX AND THE AURORA WILL FIRE THEIR CHAWS!"

Battleships re-positioned themselves to fire upon the closing in battleships, as the crews of the ships preemptively injected themselves with anti-rad medicine, firing their cfracs at the same time as the Chattos which fired their CHAWs a few seconds latter, timing it perfectly to allow the lesser projectiles to hit the shields before the CHAWs reached them. Three shaped charges containing 1 tonne of antimatter flung across the void at half the speed of light, their destructive power even more so enhanced by the plasma spear the shaped charges created at the near-relativistic speed they were achieving. It would take 40 minutes to reload them, but they still had 4 in backup, would they need them for other ships in the meantime

"If they try to jump again, we will fire again, missiles aren't an issue even if we lost a few freighters."

---

OOC: This happens about a minute and a half after the previous post.

[Korhal IVV]

Only One May Prevail

Arkalyan Pirate Coalition
Maglone

7...
"Enemy rounds incoming! Antimatter!', the sensor officer of the Crimson Shade, called out. "7 seconds before impact!"

6...
Larantos immediately knew what to do. However, he did not know if Arkaros and Kelmar had the same sense of foreboding as he does. Anyway, he can only pray that they do the same thing in the same time. There was no time to issue an order, for the enemy rounds are speeding unto the Star Crusaders. Every second is of absolute essence.

5...
Larantos pressed a button on his commander's chair; an emergency button that would immediately plunge the Crimson Shade into the tunnels of the Travel Network. Engraved with the runes of salvation and victory, it was there to ensure what the runes etched on its metallic face meant to fruition.

4...
The Crimson Shade tore open a portal to the yawning abyss of the Travel Network. However, Arkaros and Kelmar were just beginning to formulate orders, and they have given the wrong ones. "Fire Sun Purger and Antimatter rounds!", Arkaros and Kelmar both ordered to their ships. The guns began to reload.

3...
The Crimson Shade has just began to enter the portal, and it bewildered the other Princes, who were confident that the shields of their vessels can weather the assault. Such arrogance...

2...
Only now would Arkaros and Kelmar realize the gravity of their indecision to flee. As the Sin Purger and Antimatter rounds left the magnetic accelerator cannons of their vessels, the full readings on the CHAWs came in. "Antimatter shells, one tonne each! Speed is 0.5 c!"

'We are dead.", Arkaros moaned.

1...
The Crimson Shade was fully plunged into the portal, but the CHAWs were already upon the Dominatrix and Entropy. One of the CHAWs missed its mark as the Crimson Shade disappeared just in time, but the other two found their prey. The Dominatrix was struck, its heart torn out as the one tonne of antimatter within the CHAW combusted with the ammunition within the ship. It exploded along with the Entropy, their carcasses surrounded by an aurora borealis caused by the exploding antimatter. However, just as they died, the shells they fired had already flew a long distance, bound to strike their enemy.

In the Crimson Shade, the last surviving Prince took several moments to absorb what just happened to his brothers, and then made an order. "The Crimson Shade will remain within the Travel Network. If we surface, those things will be fired at us again. We are dead once they do so, for we cannot execute another jump so soon.", Larantos commanded. Fortunately, he is still able to maintain contact with the Blackveils that formed the bulk of their forces. "All Blackveils, proceed as planned. We may have lost two battlecarriers but you are the ones crucial for this mission. Carry on without us on the field!"

"Aye, Prince Larantos!", the Blackveils responded as they began to mingle into the enemy fleet. "This is so dangerous and thrilling.", Yemshon thought as his ship flew at a dangerously close distance from an enemy ship(a mere 170 meters). The Blackveils were attempting to make the enemy hit each other while trying to hit them. "Try hitting on us instead!", Yemshon laughed as the Impaler glided right below an enemy carrier, launching 20 plasma torpedoes unto its underside as it did so. At such a distance, firing at the Blackveils would prove a dangerous act with consequences. Being so close within the enemy fleet, firing at them while they maintained their high speed can potentially cause friendly fire. However, it was not without cost. One of the Blackveils have been destroyed once again, bringing down their numbers to 68.

"Command, this is the Lenar, we have been-ah!", a voice spoke through the vox of the Crimson Shade as it remained stationary within the Travel Network's vein. "When is the Yareloken Forge Fleet coming?!", Larantos ranted as the losses became more clear. "Those cyborgs said that they will support us! Why... WHERE ARE THEY?!"

"The Loyalists hold us corsairs in contempt.", one of his officers told him. "If they abandoned us to die I wouldn't be so surprised."

"They are bound by their honor to come. But WHEN?"

"I cannot say, Prince Larantos. There has been no word from them."

"Ugh... all Blackveils. If you have been decimated down to 40 vessels, flee the battle.", he ordered.

"Aye.".

[United Human Planets]

2ND BATTLE GROUP, 5TH FLEET
Just outside of Maglone orbit.

A large blue holographic display of the planet and the battle that raged over it stood in the center of the UHP Furious Nights CIC. Its light clashed awkwardly with the red lighting of the ship, creating an odd values dissonance on the faces of the astronauts who studied it. Moving fast and slow, slicing across ones vision and drifting lazily in various orbits around the planet were many little ships, indicating the battle ahead of them. Lindile studied intently, watching in simultaneous fear and excitement as his own ships closed in steadily. Already he had heard the rotary guns on the ships hull buzz twice as they engaged stray missiles that came their way.

A young woman looked expectantly at Lindile, waiting for his orders. A channel had already been opened to all UHP ships, where their captains waited eagerly, their hands wringing and sweat starting to sprout on everyone's brows as the heavy burns heated their ships. Lindile watched as a second fleet did battle with Pikasistani fleets.

Finally, his message came clear in his mind, and Lindile lowered his hand from his chin where it had been resting. "Send message," he said. His voice echoed off the walls, and it seemed to instantly set his crew into motion. "Move Dreadnaught Starless to take point, with support from Battleships Hell Of A Way To Die and Battleship Little Napoleon behind to support. All other ships, form up behind point ships and engage at will."

Over the comms, captains all sounded off that the orders were received loud and clear. There was more to the order that had been given, but there was no need to Lindile to explain them, the 2nd Battle Group had pulled this maneuver many times before. The combat ships would all form into a rough tube, with the combat ships on the outside, protecting the carriers and the support ships on the inside. In essence, it turned them into a spear, piercing through enemy ships in a gauss equipped train that could simply blow anything out of its way with magnetically accelerated rounds as they secured a safe orbit. From there, further operations could begin.

Lindile watched the display in front of him as his orders were executed. He grinned to himself as the maneuver was completed, listening in a near religious excitement as he heard the sounds of rotary cannons opening fire across the ship. They buzzed like angry bees, shooting down what missiles came their way and engaging any fighters that tried to get close. On the display, Lindile watched as missiles were fired from his destroyers, shooting outwards in wide volleys towards what ships crossed over and under his own.

As the 2nd Battle Group secured it's own position, Lindile began to study more what went on around him. He had effectively begun to secure a strong orbit for his ships, and had in essence threaded the needle between two distinct battles, the one between the Pikasistanis and the Federation, and one between the Pikasistanis and the Arkalyan pirates. So far, his was the only fleet still not engaged, and he would need to act quick and with precision to keep this position they held from being assailed. And the best way to do this would be to support his allies, making it easier for them to fight the battle for him, so that his enemies would be to concentrated in other positions to retaliate against him.

"Open channels again, and transmit orders," he said. Quickly his comms officer loomed back at him expectantly once more, waiting for his commands.

"Launch all fighters, and deploy wings one through six to assist the Federation ships. I give Captain Silva command of this operation."

His comms officer nodded, and relayed his orders. When she had finished, Lindile continued.

"Further orders," he said. "Have the electronic warfare ship begin jamming the Pikasistani ships engaging the Arkalyans. I want their targeting systems taken off line in particular. Make it impossible for them to engage without doing it manually."

His comms officer nodded, but before she could relay this second set of commands Lindile spoke again.

"Also, open a channel to the Federation."

"Understood sir," she said, and executed his orders.

This is Rear Admiral Lindile Masondo of the 2nd Battle Group, 5th Fleet, to the commander of Federation forces in this system. My Battle Group carries with it a corps of 50,000 UHP Marines and Orbit to Ground Troopers, ready to deploy where they can make the most difference. Wherever you require them, say the word and I will have my people make it so.

Over and out.

[Aeiouia]

Greol star system

It certainly had been a rather uneventful time for for Varela. Resting in a low solar orbit, she watched the quiet machinations of the Warmth Sphere below as it emitted a wealth of life-giving radiation. Such sights brought great comfort to her and her brothers and sisters. Precious Warmth Spheres like this one were the only things keeping everything from slowly decaying with entropy into a cold, lifeless hell-scape like the Old Place.

Of course, Mother had said that even the beautiful radiant light of even the Warmth Spheres will all eventually decay. Just like how they did back in Mother's time, in the Old Place. But, this thankfully was different. Mother had broken the cold badness of Entropy, after all. And with time, Varela knew that she and her siblings would eventually grow to a stage where they too can finally break the bad cycle of cold.

Like all of Mother's children, Varela would have been perfectly content to stay in this low orbit and silently contemplate the nature of good Warmth Spheres and bad cold, but something knocked her out of her trance. It was a sudden, but strong signal. A loud and strange bout of Critter-Chatter had knocked the Monitor out of her tranquillity:

BY THE ASCENDANT INEVITABILIT-... -OLUTION OF PROFOUND THOUGHT. WITNES-... -ELLECT #321909, AND THAT OF MY COMPANION VOIDCRA-... -ND BEHOLD PROOF OF YOUR IMMINENT EXALTATION.

Of course, Varela had no idea what any of that strange message meant. She could barely understand even the basics of Critter-Chatter, and that was not even counting the fact that due to the extreme distances probably involved, the signal was garbled and tough to comprehend to begin with.

But, what Varela could understand was how to decode the litany of images that coincided alongside the strange transmission. Seeing as many of her sub-systems were designed by Mother to automatically perform tasks like this. To her surprise, the images transmitted seemed to contain lots of Warmth Spheres and pretty lights.

This made her very happy. She had no idea what the Critters were trying to say, but the fact that they transmitted images of Warmth Spheres certainly must have meant that they meant good things! Varela happily watched these images for a few moments, utterly fixated and entranced by the pretty colors.

However, it did not take very long for her concentration to once again be broken as another transmission seemed to make its way through the emptiness of space. Listening in on it, Varela could make out large amounts of static, followed by a bout of loud, rhythmic Critter-Chatter.

This was fascinating! Varela loved colors and loud noises, after all. Revelling in the mysterious but entertaining sights and sounds, she spins in a aileron roll of excitement. Clearly, she needed to figure out what was going on with these strange Critters and their utterly bizarre talky noises.

Such a trip could be productive, too. Because where you find Critters, you generally also find Yuck Spheres. Of course, Varela usually would not care too much about Yuck Spheres. But, she currently was looking to plant some Friends on a Sphere anyway. Having already put them on all of the Spheres in her home system, it was high time to begin to bring them out to others.

Transitioning to the Old Place for a long journey of faster-than-radiation travel, Varela begins travelling to the rough location of where she thought that the strange transmissions were originating from.

---

Miron, Lagrange Point 1

Emerging from the Old Place and back into the New Place, Varela takes a few minutes to get her bearings. Scanning the area with both her passive and active senses, the images before her definitely were far from unexpected. Her systems picked up countless Critters, all arranged happily in schools here and there. With some even shooting at each other, oddly. She still did not understand why Critters sometimes did this.

Of course, all of the Critters seemed to be gathered around a Yuck Sphere, with many of them seemingly encircling it in some kind of bizarre congregation. Intrigued and confused, she pounders which one of these Critters could have been transmitting those strange and pretty colors.

This was easier said than done, however. As there were just so many different types of Critter everywhere. Different hull patterns, energy emissions, and sizes indicated a vast amount of biodiversity amongst many different families. And any one of them could have been emitting the strange message that she received earlier.

Taking a few moments to pounder what to do next, she decides that perhaps the most logical action would be to re-transmit some of the signals that she received. Because of course! The Critters might respond with other similar noises!

It certainly takes a bit of work to try to recreate the sounds that the Critters made earlier. After all, the methods of encoding that they used were so complicated and confusing, even for her automated systems. But eventually, having thought that she had hopefully figured it out, she activates her radio transmitters and does her best to re-create the noises that she had heard earlier.

Content that she might have gotten the Critter's attention, Varela begins a short burn to set herself on a trajectory to pass by the nearby Yuck Sphere. This was where all of the Critters were congregating, and going there was clearly her best bet at getting more information as to what they were up to.

---

Quite a distance from Miron, a large vessel seems to appear out of seemingly nowhere. Unlike some kind of FTL system, there is absolutely no visual, gravitational, nor any other kind of fanfare to signal its arrival. Just one moment it seemed to instantly materialize from thin void, with no explanation as to how or why.

The craft itself is extremely odd looking. A more aesthetically-minded individual might even go so far as to call it rather hideous. Resembling some kind of dreadnought, the vessel was adorned with a single massive turret, two wing-like glowing radiator panels extending from its sides, and a large number of what appeared to be arms branching off from its stern. This odd appearance was made even more unsightly by the ship's atrocious paint job, its entire hull bearing a discordant black and white zebra pattern.

Moments after seemingly willing itself into existence, the vessel begins emitting the tell-tale signs of sensor activity. Clearly attempting to scan the entire area around it. Judging by the concentration of its emissions, it clearly seems to take a keen interest in the various starships strewn about the area. Though, with no clear focus on one faction or another.

After a few minutes of what must be extremely over-analytical interest of every ship in the system, a sudden and loud chorus of noise is emitted by the craft. It seems to repeat the bout of static, followed by what seems to be a series of poor imitations of the advertisement that was previously transmitted by the rather mischievous crew of the ASHN Gilgamesh.

The signals seemed to have no clear target, and were instead quite crudely emitted in every direction with quite a decent deal of transmission power. The ship seemed to be quite content to loop the 'message' quite a few times in order to make sure that it got whatever point it was trying to convey across.

But, before anyone could begin to ponder why this unusual alien vessel has such a strong fixation on the process of cleaning flooring, the unidentified craft begins to move. It takes only a few seconds for it to quickly burn to a velocity that would set it on a trajectory that would fly quite close to Miron itself. Oddly, much like with its initial materialization, there is no noticeable engine flare or other emission to denote any kind of motion. The craft just seems to will itself into acceleration.

Clearly, something odd was afoot.

[Nazeroth]

The Dark Kingdom of Nazeroth/Häz Urzynäæz Zørghurzüth abgruz Rupybÿrgothhüügr
"One Throne, Under Darkness"

Gorc Dreadnaught: Spawn of Gorzog
Fringe Border Space of Gagium/New Jackania

Pikasitan-NazerothContact Point


The Pikasistan shuttle soon came into view of the Dark Fleet of Nazaroth. The small shuttle was dwarfed by the larger fleet of Gorc warships whom must have appeared as hellish leviathans in the void of space. A small Corsair soon found itself creeping from the Spawn of Gorzog on a direct course to the Pikistani shuttle to begin their much awaited meeting. Lord Maglux was aboard the Gorc Corsair, which had it's Gorc crew removed for this specific occasion. It wasn't long before the shuttle was approached by the grim exterior of the ship. The Pikastani vessel was a bit of an opposite, far cleaner and more orderly in design.

Lord Maglux was informed that they had connected vessels with each other. Two met Two as Lord Maglux and one of his dark wizards accompanied him to meet the Pikistani ambassador and his own psionic counter-part. While the methods and origins of their powers differed the two psionic seemed able to communicate. Lord Maglux quickly shared some words in the black tongue of Nazareth, which was then promptly translated telepathically to galactic common and regurgitated back to the Pikistani ambassador. Lord Maglux presented the Pikastan ambassador with a black ring, while crude, it had a glowing almost yellow stone in the center. The truth was, it was a gift but also a device. Lord Maglux demonstrated by cutting his hand. The knife knick bled for a moment until he put the ring on and in real time the small cut began to immediately close up and heal.

The wizard explained that the gift was to honor their meeting and that all wounds can be mended. He did state that the ring was only limited in it's power and would eventually run out of energy if an injury was to severe, but for gashes and other problems it would be very helpful. The Pikistani ambassador seemed to like the gift and returned a gift of their own to Lord Maglux, he smiled, it was a smart move on their part to bring a gift as they had. While Nazaroth might have been a dark realm, there were some formalities that went noticed...at times.

They were led into a dimly lit dining area where the Overlords reserve delicacy were to be served. Win and beer was brought out, chilled by the void itself. A type of beef and potatoes raised on Bulgogoth was to be served this evening. The dinner was also lit by candle light and torch. While this may have seemed primitive, it was normal for the beings of the Dark Kingdom...the strange mix of advanced technology and ancient myth. Lord Maglux then had a few words for the ambassador.

He spoke in black tongue once again as he picked up a fork and drove it into a slice of "beef"

" So...stranger..." He said, chewing, " What is it your people want...the Dark Lord provides a gateway to many things natural and otherwise...what has driven your souls to our sails..."

[Korhal IVV]

Arkalyan Pirate Coalition
Nightwhispers, Whitefire Brotherhood, and Eldritch Dragons

Just moments after the UHP transmission crossed towards the Federation command, trouble was brewing for the corsairs. The Blackveils were beginning to be destroyed in droves. Within the Crimson Shade, Larantos was panicking. “We underestimated those lemmings.”, he said as he looked down to the black floor of the ship. “How many of our cruisers still remain?”

“Just six… five, my Prince.”, the Comms Officer said. “They don’t seem to care however-“

“Prince Larantos!”, Captain Yemshon of the Impaler called out. “We are overloading the engines and have armed all of the ammunition. We may have underestimated our enemy, my Prince. It was an honor to serve you for seven centuries. Goodbye!”, he finished as the line was cut and replaced by static.

In realspace, the last five Blackveils began a suicidal charge towards one of the Chattos, overloading their engines to triple their speed. The structure of their ships began to crumble under the strain, and as they smashed onto their foe, they would explode with the force of several hundred kilograms of plasma and various other explosive agents each. Whether they killed their target is left to be seen.

“Prince Larantos, someone’s contacting us… its Fabricator Malcros!”, the comms officer announced. “Live video link, my prince.”

“Put it up on the screen.”

There he was, Fabricator Malcros. He was apathetic at most. “So your band of merry raiders has been decimated to a man? How sad.”, Malcros said sarcastically. “But thanks to you, we can now have a chance to test our new weapon. I suggest that you return to your station in Helcarth. Your friends would probably want to know what transpired here. Also… why did you rush in without support? You are full aware that this is a proper navy you are facing. Are you stupid, Larantos?”

“I… underestimated them.”, Larantos sighed. “I thought that they couldn’t detect us.”

“You should have known better when they fired missiles and destroyed six of your ships, useless piece of trash.”. Malcros said as his mechadendrites writhed all around him. “You should know well never to underestimate the dà bheathach cas (two legged animals). They dominate the galaxy for a reason. Now get your ass out of the sector! The data you have provided to me will suffice for your aid.”

“Hmpf. Whatever.”, Larantos replied as the Crimson Shade began to beeline home. “Who would know that these creatures could use shells that had one ton of antimatter in them… such thievery.”, he thought.

Meanwhile, a sizable fleet of Yareloken ships began the journey to Maglone. It was comprised of a hundred Lunar Class Destroyers, seventy five Blackveil Light Cruisers, twenty five Nightspinner Heavy Cruisers, twenty five Prosperity Class Battlecruisers, twenty Star Crusader Battlecarriers, four Unity Class Carriers, and one of three Stellar Submarines, the Astral Flame. Within the Astral Flame sat the one who created it, Fabricator Malcros, Seventh of Twenty Arch-Inventors of Yareloken and direct subordinate of the Forgelord. He was thrilled to test the effectivity of his new toy...

[Houseidou]

SCNS Hisui, Inside Eolian Kuiper Belt, Eolia System, Interplanetary Federation of Gagium

The emergence of a ship of these new peoples, the Gagiumish, was expected, but the reply in a derivative of the Military English the Houseidans used as a lingua franca between the different colonial dialects of Houseidan Japanese, itself a distortion of the original Japanese due to the drift of the Nakabe Prefecture from the original language, was not. The two factions could talk to one another with virtually no need for an AI to translate, save for the occasional idiom or phrase that would need cultural context. In the diaspora of countless human nations from Fractal Earths across the Milky Way, the odds of two such star nations having a language they could both speak were astronomical. So as the skipper of the Hisui re-listened to the message, she ordered it to be dispatched to a courier drone and sent off to the rest of the fleet. Launching from one of the missile bays of the light cruiser, the little autonomous craft, loaded up with both the response and the data on this star system, Eolia, thrusted away on its gravitic impellers before spinning up its FTL drive. As it got a safe distance away, the Gagiumish ship was able to observe a distortion form in front of the courier, a spiraling distortion in space that grew rapidly, until the drone was gone in a series of ripples, like someone had just skipped a stone across the starfield.

Not even half a bell later, the courier returned and guided itself up to the Hisui, who started the process of retrieving and refueling the modified missile, but they had already downloaded its contents, and were beginning to lay in a new course away from the standoff with the Gagiumish vessel. The reason for this was made clear as one, then two, then seven, then over three dozen spiraling apertures in space, like some sort of cosmic series of whirlpools or maelstroms, opened up, wider and wider, to disgorge an entire fleet of battered and half-functioning vessels. Their chromed hulls, formerly shining in the distant light of the system's sun, had gouges and burn marks marring their reflective surfaces where hits had gone through. Sections of outer plating had been jettisoned due to damage, exposing layers of deck plating, like something had sliced into a ship-shaped onion. Fusion drives flared erratically, and a few ships occasionally drifted out of formation, only to correct their courses.

But one last swirling vortex, bigger than any of the others, formed and opened up to let the final ship in the formation through: a titanic mushroom-shaped construct that was more space station than starship, though the array of fusion thrusters along the underside of the cap slowly moved the huge vessel along. At 30 kilometers long with a "cap" with a 20-kilometer diameter and kilometer thickness, and a "stalk" 2 kilometers thick and covered in berths for both an assortment of small craft and docks for various classes of ships, as well as foundries and storage clusters, the ship was emblazoned on its "cap", really a huge metal shield, with the emblem of a vessel patch, showing a long island on a sea with a torii, a traditional Japanese temple gate, reaching up from one shore of the island across to the other. The name, in letters as big as some of the ships it was accompanying, proclaimed "SCNS Iwouto", while, emblazoned around the edges of the cap in both katakana and English letters, was the phrase "Uncommon Valor Is A Common Virtue".

All of the ships began a slight shift in their courses to take them close, but not to, Jylia, and the Gagiumish ship nearby received a transmission from the lead ship in the limping flotilla, which strangely had the same name as that Captain girl from the first transmission.
"This is Vice-Admiral Hoshoku Kasai." The gruff, almost growling voice belonging to the scarred, near-human man announced. "Acting Commanding Officer of the First Sovereignty Combined Expeditionary Force. Here are our vessels. We will send your shipyards details on what resources our engineers need, and how to help us effect our repairs. To Grand Admiral Ranta, I will meet you wherever is convenient, provided you give me the location of the meeting place."

[Auman]

The dream started as it did every time. She was sitting in the passenger seat of their car, holding hands with her husband as they drove down a winding road in the back country. Their daughters were playing nicely in the backseat. It was nice. The sun whipped across her face, broken up by the shadows of lush evergreens. There wasn't another car in sight for kilometers. She squeezed her husbands hand and sighed a contented little sigh. He looked over at her, briefly, and winked and she cherished the flash of his deep, caring, brown eyes... Which still made her heart beat faster after years of marriage. She traced the lines of his face and drank in the sight of this beautiful man. The whole world melted away, just for a brief moment, and the only thing to exist in this hazy reality was love. This dream, like every one before it, was actually a nightmare... For this was the last day that she had spent with her family. She awoke abruptly in her bed, the gel mattress held on to her tightly. She was covered in sweat and her heart was pounding. She unbuckled herself and stepped on to the cold floor, tepidly considering whether or not to go back to sleep. She decided against it and took a shower instead. The water was warm and she lingered under the nozzle, leaning against the wall just letting the water wash away her feelings.

Commander Tenneese was a professional officer in the Aumanii Fleet, responsible for the Warrior-class destroyer Gobind Singh and she was on assignment. Her ship was in orbit of the Jackanian world of Aurelia and she had a meeting to go to. For the time being, she would transfer to the planetary surface and act as chief allied liaison for her nation and the Stepford-Arnau Trade and Military Alliance. Her billet was now dirtside, she was functionally a staff officer without the brevet. She met her XO, Fleet Major Stanislaus Johnson in the CIC. He saluted her, she snapped one back and they shook hands.

"I don't envy you, Commander." Stanislaus grinned, patting her on the shoulder. "I don't envy me either, Stan." She clapped him back.

"Keep my seat warm." Tenneese said, a bit ruefully.

"I can guarantee it."

They smiled at each other and said their goodbyes before she made it down to the flight deck, where she was greeted by her adjutant for the mission, lieutenant Danforth Said. He was a young man, in his early twenties, eager to impress his commanding officer with his astute acumen and knowledge of policy. He would be useful, though his position, like many others, would be obsolete soon.

"Commander, this way please." Said Said, ushering her towards the open rear hatch of a bulbous S-42 planetary hopper. The ride down to Aurelia's surface wasn't unpleasant. Said ran her through the various arrangements that he had made. The meeting was to be inconspicuous and at a small cafe in the planetary capital of Augustus. It was an unassuming world with a small population, largely centered around light manufacturing of consumer items. No more than a quarter million people lived here. Fleet General Tyz'Juan decided on this world because of this fact. Since it was lightly populated, out of the way and relatively unheard of outside of region, it would be a decent site to build up forces and infrastructure unnoticed. The tertiary impact on the people would be enormous, perhaps even life changing, but this was a matter for city councils to discuss.

They landed at a dusty space port just outside of town, a local car picked them up that was driven by an Army warrant officer, one of Colonel Nibrayu's men. They talked on the drive in, the Army man explained the local culture to her. She noticed a bit of anxiety well up in her gut when they drove through an intersection, she squeezed the pad of her thumb to get it back under control.

"It's a really rustic world. It's almost a shame what's going to happen to it." The driver said, his voice had a frontier twang to it. "I grew up in the colonies, so I understand the lifestyle that these people have... When change comes, it can be devastating. Great White was a nowhere burg in the middle of nothin' when I was growing up. You could walk for a hundred klicks in any direction from my parents homestead and the only thing around were creeks and froggers. Last time I visited mom and dad, at their fuckin' condo, I got lost in the city. When we get set up here, dug in, this place is going to change. Mucho."

The trees here on Aurelia were strange. Their limbs twisted in every direction and were coated with fronds of multicolored bundles of fibers that resembled horse tails that fluttered in the gentlest breeze. Just beyond the city limits, they drove past the prefabricated city that erupted in the plain around the Metacom Brigade, the Aumanii Army element of Task Force Chimera. Soldiers were exercising, jogging in formation or doing work of some kind or another. Colonel Nibrayu had exacting standards and couldn't stand the idea of off time. Idle hands and all that.

They pulled up in front of the four story hotel that had been converted into the officer's billet and dirtside command post. It was a slender building made of blood red bricks, a copper domed roof that had turned green over time offered it a timeless elegance that Tenneese appreciated. She got out, the driver took her bags and they went up to her room. The driver and Said politely excused themselves. There was nothing for her to do until tomorrow, so she unpacked her things, occasionally glancing out the window down main street. The locals were gawking at the amount of traffic on the boulevard and in the sky. Tenneese ordered room service, salmon in a raspberry glaze, watched some local television and went to bed... She had the dream again.

Same as before, as always, but the anxiety was tight in her chest.

She woke up the next morning, later than she expected and went for a jog. Tenneese needed to clear her head before the meeting and nothing worked better than strenuous exercise. The gravity in Aurelia was light, something like .8g. This suited her, she felt loose and flighty like a bird. Covered a lot of ground this way, lost track of time, too. Before she knew it, she realized she was running late for the meeting. There was no time to shower and change, she cursed herself... And jogged straight on down main street to the quaint little cafe to discuss the fate of the galaxy with some people she had never met, nor cared to meet. She stopped in front of the cafe and caught her breath, her skin glistening with sweat that made her black t-shirt stick to her body, revealing more of her figure than she would have liked. A man in an ascot cap and a pair of khaki fatigues stood up at the table, looked her up and down and offered a hand to shake. She took it and his eye lingered a bit longer than was appropriate.

"I am Capitan Leif Breitkruz. Pleasure to meet you..."

"Commander Rebecca Tenneese, Aumanii Fleet."

The others stood and introduced themselves.

"Captain Walter Clemens, Galactic Republic Exploration and Patrol Corps." He was polite, dressed smartly in a white duty uniform, and made a point of not looking at her for too long. She was a handsome woman, he thought, but he was also a gentleman.

"I am Flight Leader Humac, Tezekian Armed Forces." She offered her talon in the traditional greeting of her people. It took them both a moment to figure it out, but Rebecca got it right on her third try.

They all took their seats, Danforth was sitting in the back of the cafe with the relevant documents and briefs on his lap. He was sorting through them, making sure he had everything together.

"Well," Humac began, "let us get down to business. There is much to discuss."

"Yeah, I see that... Miron is now mired in the machinations of two unknown entities, is it? Very interesting, indeed." Breitkruz was leafing through his briefing, which had been fastidiously compiled by Walter's men.

"Can I get a quick run down, we've been en route for awhile, and these developments are rapid fire." Tenneese snapped her fingers at Danforth Said and he handed her a file folder, which she opened.

"Yeah, I can fill you in real fast." Breitkruz was a bit snappy and irritated. "We have reports that the Gagiumish military has begun withdrawing from Miron. They're being invaded by an unknown party and this war, such as it is, was over before we even got here. Tremendous waste of time, in my book."

"It's not so simple as all that." Walter said, side eyeing Breitkruz. "We are facing multiple complications. Numerous interlapping hostile first contact scenarios. The Gagians are not fully committed to abandoning this blockade yet, either. The landing was aborted, that's it. My nation didn't send me here to fight, we're merely observers. And what we have seen doesn't look good."

Humac clucked, a waiter interrupted her before she could speak by placing a plate of bread on the table and taking drink orders.

"Strongest beer you've got!" Breitkruz hustled.

Humac continued when the waiter left. "Despite the scenario playing out, we are still on track to accomplish our objectives. Nothing can stand in the way of permanent SATMA forward bases in this region of space. As we speak, your Fleet General is establishing gate infrastructure in orbit of this world, correct?" Humac pointed a clawed finger at Rebecca.

"Yes, an assault gate should be up by the end of the day and once that's done they'll start shipping in more permanent infrastructure from Aquarius."

"I'm kind of shocked they're letting us use it, to be honest." Breitkruz said, a bit condescendingly thought Rebecca... Perhaps it was just his accent, but she was getting the feeling that Leif was a bit of an asshole.

"What? Use what?" Humac was sharp as a whip, best of her kind, but the universal translator missed contextual cues between human and Tezekian language.

"Aquarius. I think the Capitan is making a comment about my deployment status."

"I am."

Walter shook his head and brushed it off.

[Gagium]

Maglone Orbit, Federation Space
Whilst the pirates were fighting a portion of the Pikastani fleet, the Federation fired on the Pikastani ships that remained to finish off the Federation vessels. With the fighter assault cancelled and most of the remaining Federation battleships heavily damaged, the battle seemed as if it would be lost relatively quickly. The remaining fleet struggled to fight off the waves of Pikastani ships and fighters as the ground cannons of Maglone were all but destroyed. The planet's civilian defense fleet was all but destroyed, with only the largest converted freighters still running.

Maglone Command Bunker, Maglone

"Grand Admiral, sir! Reinforcements from the Deorus I system and the Moitis system will arrive in approximately 36 hours, if their estimates are correct. Fleets from the Vrint system, approximately 16 LY away, have already jumped to the Deorus system. We have already received minimal aid from a collection of Arkalyan ships, however they have sustained massive damage, as have we. We must retr-"

"No. We will stay."

"Sir, we can't stay!"

"We will, and we must. Shall we retreat, and there will be no opening for any reinforcements. As soon as we give up the planet's skies to the enemy, and they might as well own the planet. Our ground fighters will attempt to hold off any invasion forces until reinforcements can arrive- Wait..open that transmission."

"Yessir."

The transmission played on the command bunker's main hologrammic table:

This is Rear Admiral Lindile Masondo of the 2nd Battle Group, 5th Fleet, to the commander of Federation forces in this system. My Battle Group carries with it a corps of 50,000 UHP Marines and Orbit to Ground Troopers, ready to deploy where they can make the most difference. Wherever you require them, say the word and I will have my people make it so.

Over and out.

"Looks like we have more allies. Get our comms officer to scramble up a response immediately."

"Yessir!"

This is the Federation Command on Maglone responding. Our ground forces will likely be overran relatively quickly if our defense forces in orbit are destroyed, thus it is vital that we keep our fleets in orbit and defend the planet at all costs. The defense of Maglone will likely be lost if we lose the space battle. Federation reinforcements will arrive soon, though we are not sure if we can hold out until then. We thank you for your assistance in this conflict, and we would be glad to provide you with access to our resources in the future for this deed.

[Korhal IVV]

The Trave Network
Delta Quadrant
Fabricator Malcros’ Forge Fleet
Tidehunter Class Stellar Submarine - YFFS Astral Flame

As the Seventh Forge Fleet traversed the tunnels of the Travel Network, Fabricator Malcros and his Maguses analyzed the data provided by Prince Larantos. As the black robed Fabricator pored through the data on twenty screens simultaneously with his cybernetic eyes and mechadendrites, one particular item caught his concern most of all. It was this shell type called a CHAW, and it was a c-frac shell loaded with one thousand kilograms of antimatter. It was capable of destroying a Star Crusader Battlecarrier with a single hit, though the pirate ship Crimson Shade managed to survive only by dropping into the Travel Network with perfect timing. However, Malcros knew that with the speed of the CHAWs, it would be difficult for the battlecarriers and the other capital grade ships to evade. However, should it be given that the enemy rounds’s trajectory are detected as soon as they are fired, their Lunar Class Destroyers and Blackveil Light Cruisers, with their high speed, would be able to act as expendible shields against them, protecting the battlecarriers and battlecruisers from those murderous weapons. However, this is easier said than done. There has to a be ship close enough to the enemy to detect the enemy’s fire, and it was fortunate that he brought alongside the Astral Flame, as it was perfectedly suited to the task. While its sensors are capable of detecting quite literally anything within 100,000 km away from it, its capability to keep itself submerged within the high seas of space renders it invulnerable to attack as long as it lis submerged. Yes, the enemy would know that something is near, but actually finding it is a different story. While the Astral Flame would be unable to attack, it cannot be stricken either. There is a Yarelokeni saying that speaks of this: “A Tidehunter has a demonic ear.” It is true, as its purpose is for surveillance, ambushes, and esponiage. The only thing that stops it from continuing to move forward is the limit of the Travel Network itself. While other Arkalyan ships can switch to the shoddier and slower Alcubuirre Warp Drive for locations where the Travel Network has no reach, the Tidehunter has no such luxuries. The Travel Network is its sole realm.

As the Fabricator and his Maguses met via video feed, the Fabricator announced his battle plan. “The enemy c-frac shells pose the greatest threat to our ships, especially the ones known as CHAWs. In order to counter this, you must do exactly as I say…

Program the entire fleet to data link with the Astral Flame. Arrange the fleet in a checkboard formation, with each capital ship having four destroyers and three light cruisers one light second ahead of it. The Astral Flame will detect the rough trajectory and speed of the enemy shells known as ‘CHAWs’ if they are fired.

As for our deployment pattern, the Astral Flame will drop into realspace ahead of the rest of fleet. I will inform you when we are in position, and only then will you drop in as well. Protecting the capital ships are our utmost priority. Capital ships will not advance any further than eight light seconds away from the enemy, and drones will only go as far as seven, as that distance gives ample time for our drones to do their part. That is all. Loken Bless Us!”

“Loken bless us!”, the Maguses replied before the screens went black.

Malcros sat back on his chair. “All for that damn prophecy… I sincerely hope to join the Imperials soon…”

[Gagium]

Jiylia, Eolia System, Federation Space
The Federation Command Bunker on the planet soon sent a reply to their fleet, while Grand Admiral Risto Ranta inspected a view of their ships from various satellites in Jiylia orbit. Their ships were heavily damaged, with various sections of plating gone entirely, and the marks of various weapons that had hit the vessels some time ago visible. As the ships approached, Grand Admiral Risto motioned for his officers to contact the shipyards about these repairs, sending details about what specifically he wanted as payment. He himself wrote the response to their battered fleet. He was interested that they seemed to speak some of the old languages of the Sol system

This is Grand Admiral Risto Ranta, commanding officer of the Jiylia military installations and defense fleet. We will be sending you the coordinates of the shipyards which will repair your vessels. However, I request one thing in return, and that would be 110% of the total cost of the repaired parts in platinum, on behalf of your nation.

To further discuss the terms and repairs of your ships, I request a meeting in the command tower of Repair Yard 0902. The coordinates of the area have been sent to you, and the landing pads near the complex will be cleared for your arrival.

[Jaegan]

[Deleted]

[Telros]

You have got to be kidding me, Makacs. The Olimpiadans, are you insane?

The diplomat in question, safely aboard his diplomatic cruiser, heading as fast as their CASIMIR drive could propel them towards the rendezvous point with the rest of Realm Fleet Orioth. He had breathed a heavy sigh of relief and, much to his dismay, had silently thanked the Olimpiadan president for his speed in warning him so he could leave. The Pikastani Imperium was not well-known to the Corps, but what was known, mostly from observations, some GalNet reports and limited data exchanges with the Olimpiadans, did not reveal a group they wanted to interact with, especially in a weaker position. Their hatred of 'xenos' put everyone else to shame, even the Federated Worlds.

Of course, as soon as the prayer had been whispered into the beyond, he received another message from the Olimpiadans, this time from a Fleet Admiral Sophia Chalcocondylas. As his eyes washed over the message, he felt his headache from the summit return. A part of his mind had cautioned him against saying he owed the President a favor which he did, and that the man would call it in at some point in this conflict which he had done, but there was still the thought of why couldn't he have waited. This necessitated a call to Agent Arnyek with the task force outside Miron to request the necessary SI assets to meet their request.

His reaction thus far was about as expected.

I understand your view on this matter, I really do, but the fact of the matter is that the Olimpiadan president contacted me, personally over the emergency QE frequency to inform me of the pending Pikastani attack. If he hadn't, I, my crew and my ship would be either dead or in their custody right now. Which would you prefer?

I...sigh. Look Makacs, I get the debt you owe the Olimpiadans, and I do appreciate them ensuring you didn't get murdered by fanatics that give even them pause, but this is a little much. This is a connection to the supposed 'rogue' elements in this war to us. This threatens our entire operation, if it gets out!

Arnyek, lets drop the titles and the protocol. We owe the Olimpiadans a favor and all they want to do is to have us move some of their agents to a world of a nation we intend to fight anyway to cause some havoc. Yes, it may be 'dirty' and working with a known killer of aliens, but let me ask you this. Would you rather we hold onto this debt and have them ask for something much more difficult and devastating than this, or discharge it now before they realize their mistake?

...Alright, you feathery bastard, you win. I'll make the call.

I knew you would. You just make it difficult every time.

It's part of my charm.

*******************

Gagium Space, Jiylia System

Strategic Intelligence had only done basic reconnaissance on the system in question, not really having the time as of yet to sort of places to start focusing their efforts and this push to aid the Olimpiadans didn't make their job any easier. And to make it even harder, Jiylia wasn't exactly the easiest system to put people into either, the Federation had made this into a corporate-military hub of ship building; massive shipyards were located in this system. They had attempted to see about getting access to the shipyard docking rings themselves, but the contracts accessed to those were government or corporations and there was no way they could get those in any realistic fashion to help their erstwhile allies. So they instead looked into the civilian spaceports and planetary facilities that may have less security and found what was essentially an open job board to bring in various items; not very profitable , overall, but it was a way in for their purposes. They accepted three jobs, small things for foodstuffs, clothes, and other basic items, enough to get them into the system.

So three ships would appear in system, motley storage ships with holds full of the various goods they had accepted to bring in, and codes would be sent, their contracts along with it to await permission to approach the civilian spaceports to offload their cargo and probably deal with an inspection and more security checks, especially with the heightened status from the conflict that was starting to begin. Their holds would also have some matter of people for transit, as was a proper side business in the trading lanes, especially if people were especially desperate and didn't want questions asked or only had so much money. They had taken on actual people, most looking for working or escaping the storm that was starting, and looking to come to what they felt was a properly defended area of the Federation. Mixed in with these groups, both the trading crew and the people they were bringing, were the Olimpiadan agents, hopefully they would be able to let them out with little issue and leave, the favor completed.

So the ships would slowly jet towards the space stations, while waiting for a reply from local authorities regarding their paperwork and permission to fully approach.

[Pikasistan]

Xenos Sighted!
Bridge of the Echo of Hades, Maglone's Orbit

The last of the last ships had rammed the Echo of Hades, trying to cause as much damage as possible. They overloaded their engines to gain speed, the first two ramming in the shield projected by the shieldstone, collapsing it entirely, another desintegrated not far after, the stress of the overload being too much for the ship. But the two last ones rammed in the side hull of the ship on two different spots, the power of the explosion, combined to the speed built up ravaged the layers of graphene and managed to even burn through the layers of amorphous boron-nitride, blast doors shut on the ship's starboard, trying to slow down the progression of. The shock of the explosions made the ship slightly shake, but thanks to the mag-boots, Elena did not fall.

"Status report!", she said, distraught by this desesperate move of her foe.

"Shields are down, We lost the cryo-chambers on decks 3 and 4 as well as the starboard hangar and they severed power to starboard missile launchers and lance."

"Curse them, whoever they are! Any traces of them now?"

"Negative ma'am, all of the lesser ships have been destroyed or committed suicidal charges against us."

"What about the larger ones? She took a deep breath, trying to not let anger cloud her judgement, especially knowing she couldn't blame herself for this unexpected turn of events."

"Two destroyed, one managed to dodge the CHAW round and apparently retreated."

"So they'll probably send more... At least we know how to fight those ships, make an entry on the smaller ship dubbed "Psi-Gamma's Shrouder" and another for the larger vessel dubbed "Psi-Gamma's Battlecruiser". Make scans of the area and use the cameras to see if we can learn more about this unknown civilization. Do we have good news at the very least?"

"Yes ma'am, it appears that despite the intrusion of those new foes, we managed to finish off the Gagiumish fleet. We are free to proceed to invade the world, the other unknown fleet will enter range in approximately 70 standard minutes."

"Alright then, General Kylarnae, you are free commence the invasion of the world."

"Understood Admiral, may the Emperor's wisdom guide us in this war."

"Best of luck General. The general left the conference, leaving only commanders of the Armada online. I want the tenders to focus on repairing the more critically damaged vessels as soon as possible. Any status on the disabled vessels from the gamma radiations emitted by the destruction of those antimatter missiles?"

"Yes ma'am, computers show that radiation levels have significantly dropped inside of them allowing for human crews to survive with the aid of anti-rad drugs, but not enough for another jump in slipspace."

"Send the surplus personnel from our ship to man those vessels, skeleton crews only, we only need enough to fight a few new waves until our supply lines are set up."

She grabbed a small device that the Olimpiadans gave to Admiral Gaitas upon their visit on Cryolis. It was too advanced for the Greater Imperium to manufacture it, but it was still based on technology known by the Pikasistani, so perhaps one day they could hope to use those for comms instead of thight-beam and courrier ships. She redacted a quick message to her ally to inform them that the time had come.

TO: Admiral Chalcocondylas
FROM: Admiral Evintus
ENCR: High
ATTACH: Psi-Gamma1.dt, Psi-Ultima.dt

Maglone's atmosphere is secure, we are commencing the invasion of the world. You can come over and deliver what you promised us for the weapons you took from Cryolis. However it seems that the allies of the Federation are rushing one after the other to help them, so we are requesting your help. Attached are the coordinates of arrival of each of those allies, be wary the Psi-Gamma will probably return.

As she sent the message, the ship's auspex turned to say six words that would change a lot in their mission. "Ma'am... those new foes are xenos."

It was not really surprising as the logic behind them was particularly odd. But the Olimpiadans needed to know. It would surely buy real help from them as xenophobia was probably the one thing that united the two stellar empires in this galaxy. She opened the device once more, hoping the Olimpiadans wouldn't mind recieving two messages so quickly.

TO: Admiral Chalcocondylas
FROM: Admiral Evintus
ENCR: High
[ATTACH]: Psi-Gamma2.dt , Psi-Gamma3.dt

Apologies, we just got new intel on one of the Federation's allies that attacked us, it appears that they are xenos. Attached files are about the little we know about them at the moment.

In the meantime, the fleet reorganised as the tenders started patching up the ships that required minor repairs. Elena decided that her ship was too damaged for her to continue overseeing the battle from, so she took direction to the port side of the dreadnought to go relocate herself to the Hand of Damion, flagship of the Second Grand Fleet where she would have all what she would need to continue overseeing the battlefield.

---

Maglone's atmosphere, a few minutes later
The smaller transports and atmospheric support carriers entered the atmosphere of the jungle world, unleashing various aircrafts such as A-QERCCs and gunships aiming to secure the planetary spaceports. As the gunships flew various the radio chatter was good, most of the planet being jungle ment that either the enemy didn't bother installing defenses in the forests or that it was a trap. But they suddently understood what was happening as they noticed panaches of smoke emerging in various clearings. "They are collapsing the mines!", said a voice "Well at least we won't have to fight in those death traps" replied another before an officer said "Alright lads, the spaceport is in 75 clicks from here, aerial support says that the skies are clear for us but to still be wary". As he said so, enemy AA started to open fire on their positions, forcing the pilots to perform evasive manoeuvres. 45 klicks, the first gunships started to be picked off. "Alright lads, let's move out!" said a Spartacus pilot" as the Harpie gunships flew closer to the ground to drop them, stoping a few clicks later to unload infantry.

Theandros checked his weapon, knowing that the Gagiumishes wouldn't let them take the spaceport without a proper fight. A voice resonated in his helmet, the one of Decurion Caesaris, "Alright soldiers, drop in 30 seconds, make ready!". The gunship beside them was shut down by a laser shot. "GO GO GO! IN THE NAME OF THE IMPERIUM TAKE THIS BLOODY SPACEPORT!!!", the skitars jumped out of the transport, rushing towards the spaceport using the covering fire of the Spartacus to reach for cover. Mortar shells erupted from both sides of the battlefield as skitars and gagiumish soldiers exchanged blows with their respective arsenals.

---

Spawn of Gorzog, somewhere in the void between Gagiumish and Jackanian territory

Despite the odd design of the ship and their weird language, Admiral Mandelos was well recieved by this so-called "Lord Maglux" of Nazeroth. They both exchanged gifts, an ancient Pikasistani power-sword and a mysterious ring with mysterious healing properties, some that could be useful in battle. However, the food did not disappoint him, it was surprisingly tasty, something he wasn't used since Pikasistani culinary culture was rather dull from decades of shortages on Pikasistania before the invention of slipspace drives.

Lord Maglux spoke in his peculiar tongue, something you would think xenos would speak, not mere humans. The two mages then exchanged psychically, before the Belgioswede finally said " So...stranger... What is it your people want...the Dark Lord provides a gateway to many things natural and otherwise...what has driven your souls to our sails..."

Nicorius didn't understand why Admiral Evintus decided to strike a bargain with them, but war was war and they probably would need the help anyways, the Gagium Federation controlling many hundred of stars and worlds. He answered with certitude to the question of his host, knowing that any gap in his confidence could lead to a disaster, such were first contacts.

"A partnership between our two empires could be beneficial Lord Maglux, you see we don't have any territory in this quadrant of the galaxy and whilst we brought in numbers, your aid would be truly welcomed. We know that you have a presence here and that the Gagiumishes control many worlds, but that they are poorly defended for the most part, their fleet being spread too thinly across their systems. Whilst we only want a few systems ourselves, we know that a war against an enemy that could muster armies far greater than what we have deployed is a great risk so we need to strike where it hurts the most, their food supplies. Agricultural worlds tend to be poorly defended and we both know what happens to an enemy that has to deal with shortages... riots and even civil wars. If you strike them where it hurts the most whilst we distract their fleets in Maglone, we can both get what we want, territory for us and slaves for you, as well as nurrishment for your armies and... as discussed, Spectrium. We have a contact in the region that was supposed to deliver us spectrium for research purposes, but we don't have news from them as of right now, so we will need to see. In the worst case scenario, we will purchase it from the Jackanians and give it to you." He took a sip of wine, afterwards, awaiting for the answer of his interlocutor...

[Korhal IVV]

Maglone System
The Astral Flame

As more time passed, another FTL exit signature would be detected around five light seconds away from the Maglone itself. It was a solitary vessel, and it bore a vantablack surface; a starship of absolute shadow. It was the first Stellar Submarine, the Tidehunter Class ship “Astral Flame”. It bore the black and white livery of Yareloken as well as the winged phoenix that defined Yareloken’s symbol. However, most peculiar was the MASSIVE energy readings it gave off. It was powered by a solar core, and it used 70% of its energy to maintain the rift it had torn into the fabric of space itself. Most noticeable of all was the fact that it was submerged unto the skeins of reality itself. Only half of its hull was on realspace, while the other half was under it.

Within two seconds after entering the system, the Astral Flame submerged completely. The red glowing rift that the Astral Flame sat on closed as it went under. The energy signature was ever present, but there was nothing to be seen of the ship itself. Of course, the Astral Flame was in the precipice of reality and time, using the Travel Network to be a true space submarine.

A minute later, another series of FTL signatures came in. This time, there were two hundred forty nine of them. Just like the ship before, they were vantablack in color, and bore the winged phoenix of Yareloken. They had different distances, but it would be noticeable that the larger ones are at eight light seconds, while the smaller ships were at seven light seconds. And then two words were spoken.

“Open fire.”

A mere four seconds passed before the Yareloken Forge Fleet fired their own salvo. And by the gods, was it massive! Ten thousand particle missiles were fired from the Lunar Class Destroyers alone. As for the rest, 1,200 plasma torpedoes launched from the Blackveils, and 1,250 ionic and plasmatic missiles launched from the Nightspinners. The Prosperity Class Battlecruisers launched a continual hailstorm of particle boltsc and the Battlecarriers opened fire with their kinetic and energy cannons, and a firestorm of beams and kinetic shells careened through the void.

“Show them. Show them the power of the Forgeworld!”, Malcros commanded from the hidden Astral Flame. “I sincerely hope that the apes get their asses off soon enough.”, he laughed hysterically as the hurricane of beams, torpedoes, missiles, shells, and bolts screamed through the darkness. “Prosperity Class ships and Star Crusaders! Do not cease your energy weapons fire. Turn this system into a disco party!”

“As you command, Fabricator!”

OOC: Occurs a few minutes after Elena transfers to another ship.

[The Peninsular]

Fenn Flight, Fenn-Alpha-1, ín orbit over Jackanian planet Aurelia

Commodore Iana Dell sat strapped into her command chair in the CIC of her Hornet-class Destroyer. She was a mid-aged, around 60 years old, but, due to Peninsularian biological oddities, probably looked some 30-ish years old. She had short, black hair, and focused, green eyes.

In the past days, things for her had gotten quite exciting, since her flight had been selected for the task force in this conflict, one of 6 flights. ‘Practically only one of 4, since Pollux and Alieni were certainly chosen by default.’, she thought to herself. After having arrived in the system of the People’s Republic, the approximately 100 ships of the PNDF had taken up positions in space along their Aumanii, Alexzonyan and Tezekian counterparts. It was the first time for most people in the task force to have seen aliens, and met other nationalities. For the past few days, they had received a number of briefings on foreign etiquette by representatives of their allies, on space combat both by Aumanii tacticians and Commodore Cook, and on forces already encountered, and how to deal with them.

Iana looked on her wrist watch. It showed “3:00 AM MTT”. 3 AM Main Togris Time. ‘Time for the final mission briefing’, she thought to herself. Just in that moment, the main screen of the CIC sprung to life, as a live transmission came in. It was Admiral Erling.

“Good morning.”, he began. “As all of you should know from the briefings before, this is your final mission briefing. After this, combat operations will begin for all six flights.
Your objective is first and foremost: Hit & run.

You are to seek out targets in the enemy backline, like infrastructure and supply convoys, or other targets of opportunity, and deal with them with extreme prejudice.

Disrupting the enemy supply lines is essential, and sowing confusion and fear amongst their back line is as well. You will be accomplishing these tasks in Flights. We have already sent out multiple Wasp-classes to scout the enemy systems; they will provide you with intelligence on targets.

Furthermore: You are ordered to not involve yourself in long engagements. This mission is primarily focused around fast and hard attacks. If you face a problematic force, take a few shots at the target, and retreat; if possible, attack later and from a different angle. In order to take out too large, too well protected targets, you will have Aumanii Task Force Chimera on speed dial. Chimera will also assist in extraction in case any of you get into too much trouble to handle.

All coordinates of already spotted targets have been assigned to flights and uploaded to your databanks. That is all, ladies and gentlemen. Begin the operation.” With that, the transmission was terminated.

Iana Dell smiled to herself. Finally a real mission. He turned to her First Officer, Lieutenant Qurell: “So, Lieutenant. Whose day are we going to ruin, first?” Qurell smiled. “Scouts have spotted a refuelling station for Gagiumish ships within enemy space, currently refuelling a number of transports. Uploading coordinates to the Nav computer.” “Well then. Let’s give these guys a little surprise, shall we? All hands, combat positions, make the jumps."

The Jump Drives of the 12 Destroyers in Fenn Flight did their work, and all 12 ships transitioned. The same happened on 60 others. In an instant, the 72 Destroyers vanished from all sensors, as they set out to deliver their wrath upon the enemy.

[Jaegan]

Outgunned and Outrunned

---

[Roleplay]
The Confederacy of Jaegan, Jeo System, Jaegan, Continent of Jona, State of Proto-Jaen, Command Front District, Defense Hex Prime, Conference Room 3.
March 20 1357 A.E. (After Exodus) 06:02 a.m.

Both Nation-Premier Malcom and High Grid Commander Tyler had been deciding over which of their Tranan scientists they should send to Renia before an incoming message from the same Federation base on Creely was received. It was quickly rerouted to Malcom's command panel before being flashed onto the viewing screen.

TO THE ALLIES OF THE FEDERATION:

Your help is needed. Our planet of Maglone has been invaded, not by the pirating fleets that have ravaged us, but by an armada belonging to the Pikasistanis. Assistance is required immediately, as we are heavily outnumbered and cannot defend the planet for long. The mineral deposits must not be lost. Coordinates are attached to this message.

Allies? How many of those does Gagium have? that was the first thought that went through Malcom's head after reading the beginning of the message.

A word he did not understand or even know of its existence. Pikasistanis? It was not necessarily uncommon for Jaeganites to find the many different galactic factions either strangely named, hard to remember or even not know them at all. However, whatever on Jaegan these Pikastanis were, it was clear that they had hostile intentions in mind.

It was even more clear that the two External Grid Forces that had been sent to Jas Point needed to be notified of this change in plans. Responses for the fleet and Gagium base on Creely had been quickly written by the CDC (Confederate Divison of Communications) before being sent.

[Spacial Transmitter Tower 1]
[Message from the Office of the CDC: To Jeonar Grid Forces at Jas Point Gate]

Code 4-4: External Grid Forces 01 and 02 are hereby ordered by Defense Hex Prime to assist Federation defense forces on Maglone.
Condition: Red
Situation: 1-0
Details: Hostile Pikasistani Forces have launched an invasionary assault on Federation world of Maglone. Local defenders are requesting any and all available help against invaders. Grid Commanders Jerryson and Zym are authorized to utilize whatever they deem necessary to halt or counter the invasion process. Federation counterparts vague on exact figures of invading fleet: assuming absolute worse case scenario - S-style War Fleet.

Regarding Maglone, it is imperative that its mineral deposits do not fall into Pikasistani control. Its defense force is a mere token fleet in comparison to the Confederacy's many contingency grid forces. Service and Unity!

[Spacial Transmitter Tower 2]
[Message from the Office of the CDC: To Interplanetary Federation of Gagium's base on Creely]
[ATTACHED | FLEET_INFO.DOC // Ext_Grid_FRC.DOC]

Acknowledged. Our Nation-Premier, Malcom Ceret, sends his deepest sympathies to our close allies. The following External Grid Forces have been sent to assist your wayward world of Maglone. May a coalition of both Jaeganite and Gagian humans serve to protect against the upcoming onslaught of hostile forces. Service and Unity!

EGF 01
- 1 Jafront Forward Base
- 300 Heamer IV Battleships
- 700 Praet III class Jaeganite Battlecarriers
- 2,000 Praet class Jaeganite Destroyers
- 37,500 Jeonar Condor class Jaeganite Fighters
- 30,000 Jona class Scout Satellites
- 18 Jaeganite Relay Sations
- 120 Alliq class Fuel Transports
- 200 Lorac II class Mass Transports
EGF 02
- 1 Jafront Forward Base
- 300 Heamer IV Battleships
- 700 Praet III class Jaeganite Battlecarriers
- 2,000 Praet class Jaeganite Destroyers
- 37,500 Jeonar Condor class Jaeganite Fighters
- 30,000 Jona class Scout Satellites
- 18 Jaeganite Relay Sations
- 120 Alliq class Fuel Transports
- 200 Lorac II class Mass Transports

---

The Confederacy of Jaegan, Jeo System, Trana, in orbit around the dwarf lanet, Jas Point, bridge of the J.C.C. Thunder Connor.
March 20 1357 A.E. (After Exodus) 12:49 p.m. In-Ship Standard EGF Time (Command District Time: 06:04 a.m.).

"Incoming orders from Command Front, sir," reported the Comms Technician who was on the bridge.

"Read it out, ensign," replied Cole Jerryson, Grid Commander of the External Grid Force 01. Held down onto his seat by a pseudo-gravity system that used magnets to pull his standard sodium-potassium alloy spandex undergarment - span-mag suit, as it was affectionately nicknamed - down by ten and a half newtons.

The Thunder Connor forward base slowly creeped its way along high orbit around Trana toward the Jas Point gateway, its nuclear thermal engine silent awaiting the next time when they will be needed.

"It's a Code 4-4." Code 4-4. thought Cole to himself. An immediate change of course with due haste had been ordered.

"We are to assist Federation defending forces on Maglone. Condition: Red." Whatever was happening on that part of the galaxy it was serious, thus a red alert warning had been issued.

"Situation 1-0." It was imperative that either victory was achieved at all costs or that scorched Earth tactics be carried out.

"Anything else, ensign?"

"Just a few details. I'll show it on-screen." With the pressing of a few buttons the remainder of the message was flashed before the bridge crew's viewing screen, obscuring their view of the cosmos.

What caught Commander Jerryson's eye were the words "S-style Warfare". System wide invasion. he thought to himself.

The absolute worse form of invasion for the defending fleet. Multitudes of enemy starships and troop carriers raining from the cold dark void as wave after wave broke through the local defenses. The sort of stuff that made for good invasion war movies, and even better arms production subsidies in preparation for just such a war.

"So.. to Maglone it is. Any information on where it is on our star charts?" asked the Commander.

After a few shorts moments of checking through a map of known Federation planets Maglone showed up around the fringes of Federation Space, just 12.9 light-years away from where they were. "51.6 years by standard drive speeds, sir."

The pilot's report did not phase Jerryson. "Open a channel to the Outer Front, me and Commander Zym have some discussing to do."

---

Outside the Confederacy of Jaegan's established borders, deep space, Federation Space, roughly a full light hour away from the fighting on Maglone (1.1 billion kilometers).
Three hours and thirty-nine minutes later.

To most other nations, a shortage of faster than light capable starships was a clear sign that they should fight the battle another day. However, to any Jaeganite Grid Commander worth his rank, it was a sign that improvisation would he needed.

The six hundred hyperspace capable battleships moved across the dimensional void, carrying within them the disassembled parts of Destroyers and a few Battlecarriers. They had been loaded with extra Void Infantrymen and machines to help with fast reconstruction on site.

As soon as they punctured a hole through the dimensional veil back into realspace the six hundred unloaded quickly, attempting to organize the many decompressions necessary to bring out the disassembled fleet...

A good forty minutes had passed before the battleships were emptied of both construction crews and parts. By then, they had already detected the many sudden faster than light entries into the system.

Both Grid Commanders had discussed the situation in-depth, deciding over how soon they could join. The six hundred Heamer IV Battleships could easily jump into the fray in a mere second, but the rest of the newly assembled fleet required time - time which Command Front had stated that neither the Jaeganites nor their allies had.

At least five hours would be necessary to reach the battle for the non-FTL starships. Even longer if they expected to lengthen fuel life and still be cable of maneuvering about the battlefield without having their high sub-relatavistic speeds hinder their movement. Fuel life normally was not too bad an issue, but the detachment force had left the fuel transports back at Jeo...

So, something else was figured out. It was well known that spectrium did not necessarily warp an entire starship into hyperspace as much as it warped the Universe enough to break a hole to form a dimensional gateway.

From then on, spectrium spacial waves would move the starship, conventional Newtonian Physics now no longer fully in control in the realm of hyperspace. The problem was that the rest of the non-FTL starships lacked spectrium crystals to push themselves along that strange secondary dimension...

So, the two Grid Commanders figured that the solution was to tether the rest of the reconstructed fleet to the starships. A series of graphene-steel alloy ropes had been combined to help form a long line of cables that would help the rest of the fleet be pulled through hyperspace to their destination.

More power than normal would have to be fed into opening the rift and there was a chance that the graphene-steel rope would fail - they were practically repurposed into starship anchors from deep space astronaut linkages. If it did, then the starships would either be left in realspace or untethered in hyperspace.

Either way, it made sense to have as little crewmen as possible. That way the rest of the fleet could be disassembled and then reassembled quicker while a small portion of it fought against Pikasistani forces.

"Status report on the number of available ships, ensign." The ensign was quick to reply to Jerryson, reporting that there were only three completed destroyers and a single battlecarrier out of the one hundred and fifty different starship parts they were reassembling.

Jerryson sighed. "Let's hope they don't take too long to reassemble the rest."

[New yugoslavaia]

Nenraz, Jackanian central space.

Nenraz was a...shithole to put it lightly. Probably one of the few locations that was even remotely close to the stereotypical depiction of Hell, at least from Sol human eyes. However, unlike hell, it had life on it. Not dammed life (well, not dammed in that sense anyway), but normal, living life. Deep under the crust of the planet lay a planet spanning factory, hard at work building ship upon ship, ready to fight a war that could last for very little or a very long time. Either way, these weapons of war would hopefully have some impact on the enemy. Although building ships took time, the sheer magnitude of ships being made would make the wait all the worth while...

Izan, main HQ of the Jackanian armed forces/Azure's moon.

Standing in front of a dark metal speaking post was a man. He was somewhat tanned and had blond hair. He was clad in a black admirals uniform, complete with many ribbons. In front of him were rows upon rows of soldiers, clad in different types of angular armour of varying thickness and shades of black, grey, white, yellow, green and orange, all complete with yellow visors similar to those of crash helmets. All (or most) of the troops were carrying guns of varying designs and types. Then, the man began to speak...

"Soldiers of Jackania, a ally turned adversary by the corruption of capitalism has attacked us. However, while they have been weakened by a false sense of security cast by their peace time, we have never reduced our ship numbers outside from scrapping the obsolete. As we speak, our numbers grow. These bourgeoise scum will suffer for their single minded, greed driven attack on our defenceless brothers and sisters. They shall regret this infamous action for the rest of their days, and so will all others motivated by greed who do not care to open their minds. Long live Jackania!"

As soon as he finished his speech, all the people there repeated his last sentence for a good two minutes until they were exhausted and hoarse. However, the thoughts of revenge and war remained in their heads, and would do so until they enemy had been defeated, not matter what degree that would be.

[Olimpiada]

---

Joki, Gaia
Hex Orbital Spaceworks

---

Iason Athanas enjoyed opening new contracts. There was something fresh about meeting new people, even if they did generally want to kill one another for various reasons. Today’s client was another military type, as was the usual fare in the weapons sales department of ECI. Fleet Admiral Sophia Chalcocondylas. The name rung a bell somewhere, though it was likely coincidental. There were over seven billion people in the Olimpiadan Federal Military, and admirals were as numerous as the warships they commanded.

He had selected HOS as a meeting place mostly due to his familiarity. The place had a fine working atmosphere, while still maintaining proper conference rooms. While several decks further outward on the spin station were wholly dedicated to shipwrighting and orbital fabrication, this was the highest one, and dedicated to business. A window in the ceiling of the conference room showed the rest of the station several kilometers overhead, and one could see the busy orbital rings below, and even further beneath were the bright lights of the ecumenopolis, so piercing they made it past the world’s smog layers with little dimming.

The conference room was a fairly nice one. A faux wood table seemingly hung in the air, suspended by microfilament cables carefully woven to remain invisible while also preventing careless people from slicing themselves in half just by walking in the wrong place. The walls were decorated with intricate patterns evocative of circuit inlay, and ivy ran along it in a careful symbiosis with both the station’s air filtration systems and the designer’s aesthetic tastes, which Iason happened to approve of.

At five to three, the admiral strode through the door. The standard grey overcoat and cap were hardly unusual here, though the assorted medals on the uniform beneath its open front were a rarity. Apparently she was one of the more notable figures in their hierarchy. Perhaps he should review some company files on the navy once more, it certainly couldn’t hurt.

“Mr. Athanas, correct?”

“Yes, that’s me. I take it you’re here to review the terms of our contract, Ms. Chalcocondylas?” Damn that name was a tongue twister.

“Aye.”

“As established previously, the order you filed with ECI was for thirty thousand of our Lancer-III Orbital Defense Satellites.” They were a popular choice. Solar powered, with robust battery systems that could allow for major beam usage without significant time to recharge between shots. Tracking systems were decent, and the beams could pierce through cleaner atmospheres to provide anti-infantry support.

“And the price is three hundred billion drachma. These are the variable beam model?”

“Yes, ma’am. Ultraviolet through infrared, using a metamaterial reflector to alter characteristics.” Iason had some background in engineering, and liked to use it at work. It was a shame the company shafted him into marketing rather than design, not that he disliked his current place.

“Fantastic. The freighters are ready to launch on my say-so?”

“Always.”

---

TO: Admiral Elena Evintus
FROM: Fleet Admiral Sophia Chalcocondylas
ENCR: Maximum
ATTACH: blinkproposal.hol
Fleet is in preparation, expect us very shortly. Relevant information attached. Glory to mankind.

---

Clockwork, Gaia
FWOS Thief of Always

---

The interorbital from Joki to Clockwork only took a few hours, the orbits having lined up for a favorable brachistochrone transfer at a slightly heavier burn than was normal. Sophia had authorized it herself, however. Hydrogen slush was cheap, and there were places to be. The Pikasistani had just forwarded her very relevant combat data to their ongoing operations at Maglone, and had made it clear that her fleet’s presence would be of some use. It would mean abandoning some of the anonymity she had been using in the earlier stages of the operation, but their overall intentions would remain fairly unclear, which was good enough.

Ships readied in advance of the blink. Where radiators would normally sit, they had been retracted, their heat pipes plugged into external liquid lithium tanks. In a combat blink, retracting radiators would take too much time, and they would not be able to waste that in any event. As a result, drop tanks were invented. They would take in the massive amounts of waste heat from the blink drive, and shunt them into the tanks, which would then be detached from the ship. The material waste was bothersome, but there were plenty of asteroids to strip down for the metal regardless.

Across the fleet, weapons were readied. Firing solutions were prepared in advance on live data fed across a faster-than-light quantum entanglement link, Longinus guns spun up in anticipation, and laser mounts turned to face ships that were not yet present. Craft rearranged themselves in formations to properly take advantage of the enemy’s lack of knowledge regarding their impending engagement.

The foes were unknown, and combat data regarding their capabilities was something intel officers were desperately trying to cobble together proper dossiers on even as said capabilities were discovered in real time. While this was a great disadvantage, the enemy suffered an even worse equivalent of the same handicap, not even knowing the Olimpiadan fleet would be present.

Seconds ticked by. A holographic counter before Sophia ticked down quickly. Ten seconds turned to nine turned to eight and so on in that manner until Nautikos VI Gaia shifted its orientation in regards to the universe.

---

Maglone, Aotera
FWOS Thief of Always

---

Forty-nine ships appeared around Maglone. Twenty-three of them, comprising battleships, arsenal ships, and escorts appeared to the flank of the Arkalayan fleet, roughly one hundred thousand kilometers distant. Their still-glowing heat sinks broke off just as their guns opened fire. Lasers tore at the known locations of enemy point-defense mounts and sensor arrays, while hundreds of nuclear missiles arced off toward engines and heavy weapons emplacements. The majority of the strike was the business of the Basileus-class battleships and their Longinus Mk. I railguns. Each of the dozen railguns fired small osmium projectiles at half-of light speed, striking with over eighty kilotons of energy. On impact, their speed would trigger fusion with armor plates, creating a devastating burst of plasma within an enemy ship.

Twenty-five ships, the Hermes-class strike cruisers, had arrayed themselves in a number of positions around the rear of the Arkalayans, roughly fifty thousand kilometers distant. They lit their torches, and screamed inward at forty gees of acceleration. Inside of each, crews were nearly crushed by the weight of their own bodies, a careful combination of acceleration fluid, drugs, and cybernetics keeping them alive while they felt nothing, consciousnesses locked away in virtual realities for command purposes. They dove toward the enemy, launching railgun shells at perceived weaknesses in point defense nets to widen said gaps for more missiles to strike their marks. Counterbattery lasers picked out enemy beam weapons and sent megawatts of energy toward their lenses, hoping to cease their firing.

Finally, there was the sluggish Haru to Shura, an ECI freighter. It jumped in on the other side of the planet from the battle, in an effort to use its bulk as a shield of sorts. Cargo pods dropped off of its long, spindly body, reducing its size with each release. As they flew off into space, they corrected themselves for various layered orbits, and then let their contents out into the void. In total, ten thousand defensive satellites were launched, each scouring the skies for hostiles as soon as they left the box. Individually, the satellites were weak. They possessed little armor, and were not always ready to fire their beams. But with thousands working in conjunction, the threat to targets both in space and upon the ground was terrible. As soon as it possibly could, the freighter left, putting the crew at great risk of heat damage, though such concerns were not nearly as terrible as being a barely-armored freighter in a very active combat zone.

---

Jiylia, Eolia

---

Domnicus almost liked Jiylia. Almost. It reminded him of a slightly better version of home, with its industrial focus, but still retaining fairly clear skies and air. The egg rolls he’d purchased at the spaceport were decent too.

Only problem was the greys. While Domnicus was less dogmatic than most Olimpiadans, he certainly didn’t appreciate all the aliens about. Spending time on the boat with the zekes was bad enough, but at least his associates from CACO were present then. Now, they were out in the field, and he was left in their makeshift safehouse, gathering information and setting up tools for further preparations.

Ostensibly, his mission was reconnaissance and sabotage. Realistically, he had few tools for either. They had set up a safehouse in the basement of an apartment building which they now owned under a false name, the owner having been paid handsomely and unknowingly given enough dimethylmercury to make him die a slow death of organ failure which could be written off as old age. A fabricator unit had been set up there, and was periodically used to procure firearms and various other tools for espionage. A rack of computers quietly hummed as they scoured the local datanets for anything of informational value.

In the field, the five members of CACO Hand 840 performed checks on various locations throughout the planet, periodically reporting back to Domnicus via quantum-entanglement links. Each appeared to be a fairly normal human, but Cobalt Ascendancy Covert Operations rarely used those anymore. A variety of improvements had been made to each of them, with retroviral enhancements rewriting their genes to be stronger, faster, and less prone to disease, while subtle mechanical augments fitted dermal armor into their body, and enhanced their senses. One was currently recording structural weaknesses in local mines, another was sowing discontent online through a number of proxies and near-turing chatbots, and another was reconnoitering government buildings from a distance with listening lasers and information filtration systems to glean useful information from the goings on within.

Another, Eusebia Okamoto, was currently occupied in the spaceports. Her role was to keep tabs on the comings and goings of Gagian ships as part of intelligence efforts for impending invasion fleets. It was during yet another of her routine digs through traffic logs that she noted the arrival of a group that nearly made her spit her drink out.

“Are those fucking Houseidans?”

Code: Select all

Checking QE link…
Link established!
Forest-4 [0340]: You might want to take a look at this. Seems that our Japanese pals have shown up in-system.
Forest-Actual [0341]: It’s fucking early down here, have at least a little regard for time zones. Which ones do you mean?
Forest-4 [0341]: Houseidans. A little digging shows the SCNS Iwouto, and most of their 11th Fleet with it.
Forest-Actual [0342]: That’s absurd, they were lost after that suicidal charge at Rastho. Asaira needed his head screwed on straight, instead he got it taken off. No way they’re still running with so little support after four years.
Forest-4 [0343]: Don’t ask me how that happens, all I do is kill shit. Figured you might know what to do.
Connection severed.


Domnicus let out a long yawn before uttering an even longer string of expletives and stumbling through the apartment he was using upstairs to get some coffee. No sense trying to sleep now, he had work to do.

Considering information compartmentalization, it was unlikely that anyone in that fleet lower ranked than Asaira knew about the Order. Furthermore, he had no way to connect with one of those ships clandestinely, a transatmospheric tightbeam array being about as subtle to set up as getting a bunch of people to lay down outside and spell messages with their bodies for passing satellites to read.

Despite this, making contact with the Houseidan fleet was necessary. The possibility of the Gagians hiring their damaged fleet in exchange for four years of missed repairs and logistical support was far from out of the question. In equal measure, it was unacceptable. They would likely be used against the ongoing Pikasistani invasion of Maglone, which would A. invalidate Chalcocondylas’s promise that the Houseidans would not fight them, and B. put the invasion at risk given that a halfway competent enemy which loved to abuse microjumps would be present. Ergo, he’d have to take things up the chain. Way up.

TO: Callipho Faustus, EOS Director of Operations
FROM: Agent Domnicus Stauricius
ENCR: Maximum
ATTACH: 11thfleet.hol

Sir, I understand that my contacting you directly is something of a breach in proper procedure. However, this is crucial information. We had previously believed the Houseidan 11th Fleet lost following an engagement with the Franks at Rastho Prime, as observed by our own fleet there. However, my network has uncovered that they have been encountered near Jiylia, and are still intact, though to what extent is not well known. We may be able to leverage this to our advantage if the proper strings are pulled with the Houseidans.

TO: President Alexios Cyrenacius
FROM: Callipho Faustus, EOS Director of Operations
ENCR: Maximum

[FWD: Message 07831]

TO: Her Divinity Izumi Fudo
FROM: President Alexios Cyrenacius
ENCR: High
ATTACH: 11thfleet.hol

Recently, operatives of ours have uncovered that your nation’s reportedly lost 11th Fleet is not as dead as previously thought. It is currently believed that their long range communications have been damaged somehow. Please find a way to reconnect with your people before the Gagians forcibly connect them with the Pikasistani and make the present situation at the Takyos Reaches even worse than it already has become.

[Nazeroth]

The Dark Kingdom of Nazeroth/Häz Urzynäæz Zørghurzüth abgruz Rupybÿrgothhüügr
"One Throne, Under Darkness"

Gorc Dreadnaught: Spawn of Gorzog
Fringe Border Space of Gagium/New Jackania

Pikasitan-NazerothContact Point



Lord Maglux looked over the ambassador as they delved into the flavors of the meal and drink before them. Truly, these Pikasistani were a ambitious people. Lord Maglux was already beginning to come to like this very trait amongst the new strangers. The ambassador has brought up raiding an enemies supply chain and even their agriculture centers. While this was all well and good, it was no gurantee of any kind of long term sucess. Though, what it seemed the strangers wanted was something more...immediate. A strike as an agriculture planet could hurt or possibly even cripple an enemies moral and will to fight, but the manner in which is needed to be conducted was something else entirley. Gagium was a vast star state, with over a thousand stars to it's name. While it's presence didn't seem as overbearing as Nazeroth it's capability was surely being kept under wraps. It was possibly even a sleeping giant in some ways.

The Overlord of the fleet leaned over his meal and gestured his hands " What you speak of is very tempting, but you must know..." He said before picking up his glass of wine and gulping another sip of the purple liquid. " Attacking an agricultural center at random will very likely not affect any outcome you wish if your enemy's estate is vast." Lord Maglux then picked up his fork, tearing into a piece of salted Porgug and popping a carrot into his mouth before continuing. " A great battle must be fought where it will most effect the next. In this case, a agricultural or major supply point that is also within close proximity to your next battle. Thus, if the strike is successful, it will make the closest point of resupply unavailable. This means time is on your side ambassador...time for your people...and mine." As he spoke the guttoral black tongue a Thrall stood in the corner twitching, it's cybernetic corpse translating it into galactic common as a black wizard stood in the back.

A human waitress, a female with a chain around her neck, came into the dining area. She was beautiful though her eyes bore the weight of fatigue, her body quite literally whipped into an ideal shape for attractiveness as her only purpose in life was to serve. She set down desert for the two, which was for the evening a type of dark chocolate cake and a strange but sweet alien berry sauce that covered it. Maglux smiled as he wiped his mouth and scratched his nose.

[The Peninsular]

Wasp-class Scout&Patrol Cruiser SG-1-ON, unknown Gagium system

The small Wasp-class transitioned into the system. It was a dedicated scout ship, fast on its feet, and stuffed to the brim with sensor tech and comms arrays. The Lieutenant commanding SG-1-ON, observed a small system on his screen, the one they had just arrived in, near the location of the outermost planet. "Scan the system, as ordered. Mark any infrastructure, ships, you know the drill. Keep the Jump Drive on standby for us to get the heck out of here if any hostile elements are present.", he ordered. As the sensors got to work, the Lieutenant continued to observe the system. "Anything interesting?", he asked. "Yes, Lieutenant. A quite a few stations on the smaller rocks. Readings suggest Spectrium, so most likely mining or refinery stations. The main planet is orbited by a number of hostile elements, only a matter of time for them to detect us. Scan complete in 60 seconds, data is being relayed back to central command. One of the flights should be able to handle this." "Very well, Navyman. Prepare to jump us out, and prepare the probe." "Sir, yes, Sir."

60 seconds later, the scan was completed. According to plan, the ship engaged its drive, and within the parts of a second, was gone. The only thing that remained was a sort of metallic box, accelerating to match the main planets' trajectory. It did one thing: Broadcast a message on all frequencies.

Attention, all Gagiumish forces! We are SATMA, a trade and security organization working for a better tomorrow in the galaxy. We are here to stabilize, and bring about a chance for peace. The war situation has not developed to your advantage, and there need not be more fighting against us. All crews that surrender to our forces will be allowed to safely return home. We will not harm you or your direct property unless you actively choose to stand in our way. Together, we can achieve a better tomorrow, for all of us. We are SATMA, and we are here to help.